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The History of Independence Day REMIXED
Education as Ed
America as Eric
Britain as Britney
Native as Nat
Africa as herself
My grandfather Ed used to tell this story every year. Now I know it by heart and I pledge allegiance to it. The day was July 4th, 1776. Baby Eric ran away from his abusive mother Britney. Britney was crazy, but she thought she was great. Despite her size, she had a heavy fist, hitting him over the head with taxes and acts. Unlike most parents, she made Eric pay excessively for the necessities of life such as paper, glass, and tea. Following an earlier massacre, Eric got fed up, took all her tea, and threw a party. She got mad.
Britney thought this was an intolerable act. Eric thought it was common sense. He declared his independence at 13 and left home with a pair of blue jeans, a white t-shirt, and a red coat. He should be in his adolescence now. The last I heard was that he grew up to be more abusive than his own mother. As much as he tried not to be like her the more he became just like her. Ironically the place he lived was called New England but he still had the old England mindset. He couldn't escape her or himself. Destiny always manifests. After Eric revolted against his mother, he went to live with his older brother Nat. He abused Nat and his distant sister Africa. A bastard child, he grew up with no guidance or direction. All that mattered to Eric was freedom...for himself at least.
Hence Independence Day, the day Eric became free at the expense of the rest of the world. Compared to everyone else, Eric is still young. He had to grow up fast...a little too fast if you ask me...but it's not all his fault. He's dealing with the quarterlife crisis, a stage of life that every 23 decade-year-old person deals with. His money is tight. He doesn't know his identify. He needs purpose. All of the things that helped him get this far in life aren't working anymore. The world is flat and changing faster that he is willing to change. That boy has so much potential. I've seen glimpses of hope. But as long as he tries to be independent and do everything on his own, he will fail. Life is not in-dependent...it's inter-dependent. It's bigger than Eric and his ego. That's the lesson he has to learn if he wants to actually become as great as he already thinks he is.
To be continued...
Britney dropping Eric when he was a baby
Mother's Day & Creative Menopause
Happy Mother's Day to the women and men that have given birth to goodness in this world beyond the physical realm (ie children). Mother Nature has no gender. Nature is simply our nature. It's in all of us - both men and women. All creation must be mothered and fathered though religion has taught us to only honor The Father. You don't have to create a day to honor something that you should honor ever day.
Many men and women are dealing with creative menopause. Menopause literally means the permanent physiological, or natural, cessation of menstrual cycles that women face in the biological realm. Our creative spirit approaches menopause every time we say "no" to a great idea. Ideas impregnate us at unique times for unique reasons to carry within and then ultimately give birth to. But after constantly aborting those ideas by saying "no", we bring creative menopause upon ourselves.
Oftentimes we blame our careers for killing our creativity. False. Our creativity is just going to our careers. At work we're expected to create value which our company captures as money, pays us in a salary, and then takes a profit. If you aren't creating value, they won't continue paying you.
We are all have a mother and father in us for we all came from a mother and father. In this divorce-driven society, I've seen single mothers successfully raise beautiful children because they were able to access the father in themselves. I'm not saying that's cool, but masculine energy is in women and feminine energy is in men.
Therefore, today, I'm not honoring a particular gender. I'm honoring anyone who has given birth to a child or idea seeded in them by Spirit.
Thank you all,
The Santa Claus Syndrome
As a child, I remember sleeping by the fireplace on Christmas Eve in hopes that I would catch Santa Claus squeeze his way down the chimney without getting a speck of black soot on his red velvet suit and without breaking my new Nintendo on the way down. Though my house had 4 doors, many windows, and a garage, I assumed that the chimney was the only way Santa could deliver. Despite practically sleeping in the fireplace through Christmas morning, I never caught Santa Claus come down the chimney, eat the Oreo cookies, or drink the 8-hour old milk. Somehow...some other way, my presents found their way under the tree.
In life, we limit the way the Universe can deliver its gifts to us. Many of us have our own 5-year plan...you know...the get married by 30, house by 35, and multi-millions by 40 plan. We assume that we're going to get what we want, the way we want it, exactly when we want it. By doing so we limit all the possible ways our good can come to us just like a child limits all of the possible ways Santa Claus can deliver its gifts.
I call it the Santa Claus Syndrome and the Chimney Constraint. The Chimney Constraint occurs when a person erroneously expects big gifts from God to fit down their own narrow planned path. While we stare at the chimney with our backs to the tree, mad that Santa has yet to come, little do we know that our gifts are already under the tree awaiting us. We must recognize that everything is in-possible to the universe and the channels (opportunities, people, information, etc) by which God can reach us are infinite. Be careful what you wish for; the Universe will always give you exactly what you ask for, though it may come later than expected, perhaps an after-Christmas sale. Step back from the chimney and observe the gifts already sitting under the highly decorated tree that is you.
Mary Christ-Mass Eve!
There is no independence day
I am dependent on you and you are dependent on me
No man or woman is an island unto themselves
Name one man or woman that wasn’t birthed through a woman
What is the self?
Self-reliance can’t be
The universe is myself
I am the universe
All of this is me
I am dependent on the universe to eat...to live…to breath
I am self-reliant when I am in harmony with the universe
There is no independence day
Look around you and examine your clothes tags, food labels, and automobiles
Imagine if everything that has been imported disappeared
Name one country that has no imports of people, goods, or ideas
What are we free from?
A thief who escapes the authorities is captured by fear
A country extricates itself from one oppressive government only to create a mimic of that which it just escaped.
We will run further and further away thinking we’re getting freer and freer
Until there is nowhere left to go and we have no alternative but to face ourselves
We will look in the mirror and realize, freedom is within
And it doesn’t depend on external conditions or circumstances
For an ever-changing world will always have conditions and circumstances
As an adolescent, my desire was to be independent
However, as much as I craved both, I couldn’t have independence and security
As I mature, I’m finding that I seek to be more collective
Within a collective, I have role in which I am able to exhibit independent thought in my area of expertise, while trusting and depending on others to do the same in theirs. I pray that young America doesn’t tear the world family apart as it endures the same struggle I faced during my teenage years.
