I have reached something of a turning point in my life recently. My love of art and spirituality, my dispassion for the current culture and priorities of the world, and my own deep capacity for love and empathy have combined over the past year or so to decimate most of what I thought about myself and the world at large. This has significantly intensified during the current year.
When I look around at people I mostly see wonderful creatures, with power and potential beyond their wildest dreams, who spend much of their lives in pain and suffering and weakness. Not only is most of this agony self inflicted, it is done so willfully, and (at least ostensibly) in an effort to avoid the very thing created. Through fear, denial, violence, and rationalization, we wreak emotional and physical havoc- least of all on perfect strangers, more on those we profess to love, and most of all on ourselves. And somehow we manage to convince ourselves that this is the only way to live. Like the puritans of old, through fear of hell, we create hell. It's an obsolete occupation and it needs to go away. There are quite enough ways to suffer- we don't need to create our own.
I believe the world is ripe for an advancement in consciousness like it has never been before. Contrary to the "hell in a handbasket" theory, I believe the world is almost ready to become a much nicer place to live. I would like to help.
It is a fallacy to presume that life should be painless. Clearly, life is not without pain, and never will be. If it were, there would be no pain involved in birth or death. The idea is, that instead of denying that pain, perhaps you should accept it. Perhaps you should use your pain to bring more beauty in the world, instead of trying to slough it off onto your fellow man, and creating more pain in the process. It's emotional alchemy!
To this end, I would like to give you two questions that, if used wisely, will change the way you see your life, and may just serve to unlock your truer power and purpose.
Be cautious, though... rationalization is a powerful tool. Just because you can think of a logical response doesn't make it true. This exercise requires that you listen to that naive childish voice deep inside you that seldom speaks safe, and always speaks true. And if the answer is an honest "I don't know", that's good. Now you know to start looking.
The first question was asked me a couple years ago by a great friend and a true brother. At the time it was in discussion of a political agenda that (like all politics) I still consider too narrow to bother with. But for all his talking, that question was perhaps the wisest thing he's ever said.
1. If you never had to worry about money or security again, what would you do with your life? How would you spend your time?
The second question is of my own contrivance. It is meant to deal with those situations where a choice must be made, an answer provided, or action taken, and the path is not clear. Stop, take a breath, and ask;
2. Where is the love in what I am doing?
If these questions do not seem very reasonable, realistic, or logical, good. They are meant to appeal to a deeper part of you- one beyond rationalization.
Try it out. If it works, tell your friends. Remember, there's nothing I would love more than to see you peaceful and happy.
Here is an awesome song that deeply represents the emotional alchemy I refer to. This, at its best, is what art is. As an artist, I'm proud to say it's what I do.
Love
-Mojoe
Monday, May 16, 2011
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Death and Travels
SO! Some of you, but likely not all of you, have heard of my trip this summer. I will be traveling the U.S. with a bag and a guitar, in true bluesy fashion. I have yet to make any definitive purchases yet, but I will soon be buying an Amtrak rail pass for the grand sum of $600.00. This will give me 12 travel segments (basically defined as anytime I get on and off the train) and 30 days in which to travel them. I now have a tentative route- still no idea how long I will stay where or anything like that- I'm a shitty planner. But I hope to book a couple gigs on the way, so that may help me flesh out the scheduling. In order to allow your better imagining of my epic journey, here is a map!
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=218034421956240013613.0004a294a867484c081a7&ll=32.435613,-91.142578&spn=5.284152,9.876709&z=7
...with an appropriately epic URL. It also took me an appropriately epic amount of time to set this up... Google maps for some reason loves to rearrange all my location titles as soon as I save the map. I think it's worked out now, though. Lemme know if it isn't.
I don't really have any idea of where to stay when I hit Portland and New Orleans, or really what to do in any of these places when I get there... I won't have overmuch extra cash for fun stuff. No theme parks or any of that crap. Some good music never goes amiss, though... Let me know if you have any suggestions...
Also, I wrote another poem awhile back. I've been working through a veritable ocean of personal shit lately... becoming more conscious of myself, etc. etc.- most of it centered around a girl I love that ain't around, largely thanks to my own actions I suspect. Cliched, I know, but... there it is.
So one of the main themes in all this spiritual and emotional exploration is death. Not so much literal death, like with corpses and whatnot, but symbolic death- the cessation of one form and its transformation into another. I suspect that's a pretty constant factor in spiritual development, as development, almost by definition, is transformative.
Death is largely a taboo concept in our society.
Like sex, it's something everyone does and everyone more or less acknowledges goes on, but if you get to the nitty-gritty, most people (with the notable exception of many artists) shy away. Where we come from, death is tragic, death is bad, and death is always too soon. Awhile back, I told the aforementioned girl about a premonition of mine-that I would die relatively young. While that premonition is no longer with me (in an odd symbolic sense I already did a couple weeks back- going back to that transformative thing), what remains with me is the reaction. The look on her face- one of deep pain and fear. The notion that "too many people had died with their potential unfulfilled" and the fervent denial of her own mortality. In fact, that is the only subject I ever remember her refusing to discuss. But death is more illusory than not- and its tragedy is found primarily in a clinging to set form, rejecting all else that might exist beyond the veil. The obsession with "what was is gone and can never be again".
I think i told you, a couple wordy paragraphs ago, that I wrote a poem. Without further ado, here's my take on the whole death thing:
P.S. I promise I'll make one of my posts a little more sunshine-and-daisies one of these days...
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=218034421956240013613.0004a294a867484c081a7&ll=32.435613,-91.142578&spn=5.284152,9.876709&z=7
...with an appropriately epic URL. It also took me an appropriately epic amount of time to set this up... Google maps for some reason loves to rearrange all my location titles as soon as I save the map. I think it's worked out now, though. Lemme know if it isn't.
I don't really have any idea of where to stay when I hit Portland and New Orleans, or really what to do in any of these places when I get there... I won't have overmuch extra cash for fun stuff. No theme parks or any of that crap. Some good music never goes amiss, though... Let me know if you have any suggestions...
Also, I wrote another poem awhile back. I've been working through a veritable ocean of personal shit lately... becoming more conscious of myself, etc. etc.- most of it centered around a girl I love that ain't around, largely thanks to my own actions I suspect. Cliched, I know, but... there it is.
So one of the main themes in all this spiritual and emotional exploration is death. Not so much literal death, like with corpses and whatnot, but symbolic death- the cessation of one form and its transformation into another. I suspect that's a pretty constant factor in spiritual development, as development, almost by definition, is transformative.
Death is largely a taboo concept in our society.
Like sex, it's something everyone does and everyone more or less acknowledges goes on, but if you get to the nitty-gritty, most people (with the notable exception of many artists) shy away. Where we come from, death is tragic, death is bad, and death is always too soon. Awhile back, I told the aforementioned girl about a premonition of mine-that I would die relatively young. While that premonition is no longer with me (in an odd symbolic sense I already did a couple weeks back- going back to that transformative thing), what remains with me is the reaction. The look on her face- one of deep pain and fear. The notion that "too many people had died with their potential unfulfilled" and the fervent denial of her own mortality. In fact, that is the only subject I ever remember her refusing to discuss. But death is more illusory than not- and its tragedy is found primarily in a clinging to set form, rejecting all else that might exist beyond the veil. The obsession with "what was is gone and can never be again".
I think i told you, a couple wordy paragraphs ago, that I wrote a poem. Without further ado, here's my take on the whole death thing:
Soul’s Return
-Joseph Carlisle
Do not fear or choose to dwell
On that which time must always sell
On things once bright, whose time is served
And now to darkness must return
For when the hourglass has spun
All things which flew must now come home
And even you, with face upturned
May someday join the bitter earth
But do not fear or choose to dwell
On that which time must always sell
For -evening's light and dawn's red glow-
A line defined by pebble's throw
With tragic eyes and head turned down
See now, upon that burying ground
The rose's bloom, and dare to smile
At Beauty borne, Decaying’s child
See now, with every vow that’s broken
Chance that truer words be spoken
See with every building burned
The ash’s nourishment to earth
And do not fear or choose to dwell
On that which time must always sell
See even tears, which seem to burn
As blessed jewels of soul’s return
That's about it for now... as far as my own death, whenever that may be- I don't care so much what you do with me, as long as you don't embalm me or any of that sick shit. And if you have a funeral, play this:
Bye for now!
-Mojoe
P.S. I promise I'll make one of my posts a little more sunshine-and-daisies one of these days...
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