tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-48285961570640700212024-02-20T18:22:27.923-08:00Love EgoLachihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02607714797615176209noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4828596157064070021.post-54453605538368872602013-03-08T09:36:00.002-08:002013-03-08T09:36:33.479-08:00In Your Corner by Revolution"<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WN14QBQ0hBA">In Your Corner</a>" by <a href="http://revolution-musik.com/">Revolution</a>, a West Philadelphia native, is a very refreshing, positive and encouraging hip hop track focusing on loyalty, integrity and love, real love, the type of love that only comes from true loyalty and integrity. Revolution is not only a skilled and artistic lyricist, he also endeavors to uplift his listeners through his music, other creative arts, and through cultivating friendships, evident in his latest track "In Your Corner." Check out the laid-back feel-good video for the tune below:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/WN14QBQ0hBA?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br />
Not just because I spent a good bit of my formative years growing up in West Philadelphia, I tend to really appreciate the hip hop that comes out of Philly, from Eve to The Roots to Cassidy and even Will Smith (his earlier stuff). A good deal of philly hip hop always comes across genuine, authentic, community-driven, and Revolution's music fits this mold as well.<br />
<br />
The song "In Your Corner" speaks of something I consider a rare and lost art. Loyalty. The ability to stand by a friend through right and wrong, ups and downs, thicks and thins. An act lost in today's society due to a lost in overall integrity. Getting flustered and lost in others' judgements of us, we tend to drop integrity, devalue the worth of our word, hold and give little trust, and often find ourselves feeling is if we have no one to call on, not realizing it's because in possessing no integrity and putting forth no loyalty, we in turn receive no loyalty and integrity from the ones around us. A self perpetuating act that leaves trust, few and far in between.<br />
<br />
Revolutions brings it back and informs us to take pride in loyalty, exercise it and allay any distrusts by simply letting your friend know straight-up that you are in their corner and willing to fight with them when they do not want to battle alone. He drives these points hope with poetic glory throwing in lyrical gems such as:<br />
<ul>
<li>"When you're running through the flames, I'll be there running too. I'll meet you at the finish line, waiting right in front of you."</li>
<li>"To everybody special in your life, take time to let them know that you will never take flight. You're still there whether they're wrong or they're right. You're still up in their corner, you're along for the fight."</li>
</ul>
Leave a comment on his youtube video, and stay in his corner by checking out his website at <a href="http://revolution-musik.com/">revolution-musik.com,</a> and showing some loyalty!Lachihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02607714797615176209noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4828596157064070021.post-25065542372339092422013-02-09T11:21:00.003-08:002013-02-09T11:21:44.173-08:00Analyzing Integrity by way of "Tailspin" by Manteye<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/tailspin-single/id597730323">Tailspin</a> by <a href="https://soundcloud.com/manteye">Manteye</a> is an Americana-esque pop rock tune headed up with a soothing piano line, hints of a soulful organ, and headed up by thoughtful well-sung, catchy vocals. Manteye showcases a wide range of vocal emotion in this song, along with a respectable knack for writing not only a great hook, but moving lyrics.<br />
<br />
<br />
<iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F73234133" width="100%"></iframe>
<br />
A lyrical phrase that caught my attention in particular: "It's as if integrity don't mean nothing anymore. It jest wears down all your defenses." People tend to assign power to the wrong things and un-assign it from the right things. For example: feeling a sense of power in anger, threats, sarcastic wit, physical force, et cetera (as opposed to recognizing these things for the weaknesses they truly are), and finding weakness in truth, altruism and integrity. Truth has always held the power of faultlessness, now we see it as a crutch or view it as an unintelligence. True altruism possesses the power of strengthening yourself by strengthening others, and now it is viewed as an inevitable response to being conquered. True integrity was once a source for one to possess power: acts of chivalry by men, acts of keeping-ones-word by officials. Now, with the death of chivalry, and the unpopularity of principals, acts of integrity and the holding of a true and consistent moral value system is seen as a weakness, an insecurity that must be guarded. So when one's integrity is questioned or put to the test, our defenses are challenged and slowly worn down. It's when we reevaluate and begin to see integrity for what it truly is, strength and power, that our drowning tailspin will end in glory.Lachihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02607714797615176209noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4828596157064070021.post-75944030622336463312013-01-30T14:58:00.003-08:002013-01-30T14:58:23.442-08:00Rainy Day by RubinNow this is the type of art for us Whimsicals of today! <a href="http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j224/carlyhall/RainyDay2009EnamelAcryliconcanvas18x24_zps372ea229.jpg">Rainy Day</a>, enamel acrylic on canvas by contemporary artist <a href="http://anyarubin.com/home.html">Anya Rubin</a>, embodies an unconventionally beautiful yet accurately fragmented depiction of modern day reflection. With many different shapes, trials and happenings piecing together to for the gestalt of a wistful, or perhaps patient, seated female figure, Rubin accomplishes the very difficult task of conveying to you exacltly what she wants you to see, yet allowing you the opportunity as an art lover for vast interpretation. <a href="http://tvfishbowl.com/get-some-culture-why-dont-cha/">TV Fish Bowl</a> hales Rubin's art as revealing " what could be called the collective consciousness of contemporary society," as she capitalizes on the concept of forming a whole through the synergistic collection of many moving parts.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j224/carlyhall/RainyDay2009EnamelAcryliconcanvas18x24_zps372ea229.jpg"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j224/carlyhall/RainyDay2009EnamelAcryliconcanvas18x24_zps372ea229.jpg" width="237" /></a> </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
I like this piece on a social level because it is easily appreciated by contemporary art connoisseurs due to it's undeniable confidence in conceptual prowess, yet accessible also to those unfamiliar or even disinterested in modern art or art all together for the very same reason. It speaks.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
But I like the piece on a personal level, because (apart from the fact that I feel it sums up the perception of our memory with time...memories fade with the millions of other stimuli that poke us from every which way, but still remain as a faded stamp among the bombardment) it puts into Art, a concept I have been trying to put into words, but have not jumped into yet on this blog, since it's still a budding yet seemingly fundamental concept: The concept of the construction of many little working parts banding together to create a whole as it applies to the microcosmic level of many atoms making a molecule, many molecules making a cell, many cells making tissue, much tissue making an organ, many organs making a body, many bodies making a family, many families making a society, many societies making state....and the macrocosm level of many continents making a planet, many planets making a solar system, many solar systems making a galaxy, many galaxies making a universe and....so on?</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
If at such a microscopic level at a division even smaller than atoms, quirks and bosons, many independently different aspects of matter and energy coalesce together to form something greater, and if at every level on up this gestaltan concept remains in tact, does it not render that at the end of the day our entire galaxy could just be an atomic particle within a molecule of the acrylic paint making up one of the many pieces that form our wistful yet patient Rainy Day female figure.</div>
Lachihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02607714797615176209noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4828596157064070021.post-59408243469099419432012-12-06T06:41:00.001-08:002012-12-06T11:19:09.770-08:00"Look" by Anti"<a href="https://soundcloud.com/i-am-anti/look-prod-by-anti">Look</a>" by <a href="http://www.iamantimusic.com/">Anti</a>, an indie alternative-hip hop artist influenced by an array of genres, is a laid back and mellow production with a haunting and almost soothing chord progressions along with an almost hypnotic percussion line. Hints of Mike Shinoda but with an aspect of raw realness come to mind. It's poetry set to music. In 2/13, Anti will release Blend, an EP featuring the singles "Look" and "Choices," for free! Check out "Look" below. <br />
<br />
<iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F66776614?" width="100%"></iframe>
<br />
<br />
"Look" tends to phase tangentially onto an eye-opening (no pun intended) topic I often find myself musing over. How we tend to lose love for our partners or friends due to an increasing intolerance of their flaws. The caveat being that we are indeed only seeing our own flaws in them and are in essence simply unable to tolerate ourselves. They reflect to us each day our own weaknesses through their own, due to our intolerence. It's a difficult concept to grasp let alone put into words; but it is a fundament for internal growth once understood. <br />
<br />
The greatest human strength is love, i.e. forgiveness. Thus, the greatest human weakness is the inability to forgive....whether it be to forgive one's self or others. So when someone presents you with a flaw of theirs that you just can't <i>get over </i>or<i> tolerate</i> (i.e. forgive), then you are being presented with your greatest flaw...the inability to <i>get over</i>, <i>tolerate</i>, or forgive (i.e. love). This inability is a weakness, an insecurity. So when slapped in the face with your own deepest insecurity (again the inability to forgive others' flaws), you begin to feel a halo of negativity associated with that person and want to get away, break up, or spend less time with them, or even worse, hurt them to show some sort of superiority (essentially a misguided attempt to show strength through an act of weakness).<br />
<br />
In a slightly confounding, yet succinct and poetic way, "Look" touches on this subject. I would encourage not only the artist, but the reader, to look deeper into the concept and unfold it to a raw ingestable state in order to arm oneself and others with that knowledge, and to utilize it for further self-growth.Lachihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02607714797615176209noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4828596157064070021.post-67431326841647166872012-12-02T08:01:00.001-08:002012-12-02T08:02:05.971-08:00"Why Dare" by Ate A Clock"<a href="http://soundcloud.com/ate-a-clock/why-dare-improved-mix">Why Dare</a>" by <a href="http://soundcloud.com/ate-a-clock/">Ate A Clock</a>, a professional musician (fiddle player/singer) and Singer/Songwriter from Melbourne Australia and living in Dublin Ireland, is a haunting melody with new-age sociopolitical lyrics yet a spacey Thom Yorke meets George Harrison feel. The chord progressions played elegantly and classically on the guitar introduce a soothing feel, and you're whisked away throughout the tune.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<object height="81" width="100%"> <param name="movie" value="https://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F69407761"></param>
<param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param>
<embed allowscriptaccess="always" height="81" src="https://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F69407761" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="100%"></embed> </object> </div>
<br />
The song asks "Why Dare?...Why care?" A very simple yet appropriate life-question. Why dare to dream? Why dare to ask for that raise, to ask for her phone number, to sell those stocks...to get up each morning? Dare. It is always the risks in life that warrant the great rewards, as one is not living until they take risks....until they further from crawling to walking thus heightening their ability to explore. If you can garner enough inner strength to take responsibility for the outcomes of your decisions, then you have nothing to fear. Why dare? Because without our backbone, we are not whole. If we are not able to take-on the baton and run, we are simply standing still, we are not living. Lachihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02607714797615176209noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4828596157064070021.post-60606307989899949942012-11-21T04:58:00.002-08:002012-11-21T04:58:45.508-08:00"Sure as I'm Sitting Here" by Five Townz"<a href="http://www.tunecore.com/widgets/show/44984">Sure as I"m Sitting Her</a>e" is a classic-esque rock tune by emerging rock/blues/folk band, <a href="http://www.fivetownz.com/">Five Town</a>z. With a great catchy hook and some nostalgic BeachBoys style harmonies rare in today's rock music, Five Townz pumps out some good retro warmth. The type of warmth we don't realize we're complaining is missing in modern music when we gripe about music no longer being as good as it use to be.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
"Sure As I'm Sitting Here"</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<object height="160" width="400"><param name="movie" value="http://widget.tunecore.com/swf/tc_run_h_v2.swf?widget_id=44984"></param>
<param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param>
<param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param>
<embed src="http://widget.tunecore.com/swf/tc_run_h_v2.swf?widget_id=44984" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="400" height="160"></embed></object> </div>
<br />
The song presents several life idioms and backs them up with "as sure as I'm sitting here." There is only one thing human's have in their control, and it is the belief that they exist. The only thing I can prove to myself with inexplicable certainty is that I exist and am. Not sure in what context I exist, but I exist. To try to convey truth by swearing upon your mother's grave, or to bet your bottom dollar, or even to sign a document, none of that holds the same authenticity to you, than the belief you hold that you exist. So to say, "I love you, I swear on my last penny" or "I love you. Here is a document stating that"...holds no candle to..."I love you, sure as I'm sitting here"...as certain as I am that I exist, the only certainty I 'know' to be true, I love you.<br />
<br />
<br />Lachihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02607714797615176209noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4828596157064070021.post-13959698275653150772012-11-17T10:16:00.001-08:002012-11-17T10:17:20.176-08:00"Suffocating" by Daley Phillips The tune we look at for this week is called “<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1179176979794786532#http://soundcloud.com/daleyphillips/suffocating">Suffocating</a>”
written by <a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1179176979794786532#http://www.reverbnation.com/daleyphillips">Daley Phillips</a>,
a songwriting and production team out of Boston. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It starts with a good ol’ classic rock guitar
intro.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s got that late 80’s early
90’s comfortable rock feel that came about before all the effects took over
music.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s got a catchy refrain and
great melodic discourse in the rhythm and lead guitar with a good use of the
four chord structure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Could have been
cool and fun as a hard rock tune.<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<object height="81" width="100%"> <param name="movie" value="https://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F63327385&show_comments=true&auto_play=false&color=ff7700"></param>
<param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param>
<embed allowscriptaccess="always" height="81" src="https://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F63327385&show_comments=true&auto_play=false&color=ff7700" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="100%"></embed> </object></div>
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This song is about feeling suffocating within a relationship
and the want to stop struggling. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most
people allow the weakness of their partner, within the relationship, to get
them down, allowing themselves to be controlled by the other’s weakness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And it’s a downward spiral. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With each using their insecurities to gain
control over the other’s insecurities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It’s like a battle between two animals made of insecurity-claws.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But once you’re on top of yourself, then either the person
you’re with will leave because they prefer insecure / abusive-esque
relationships, or you’ll get someone who will want to be better too, because
you’re better, because they see you are in control of yourself, and they want
that for themselves. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Being the best you can be is infinite, so there is never a pinnacle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You can always be better.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And once people start to realize that, they
will never feel suffocated, because nothing can suffocate infinite
progress.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The knowledge that we can
always be better as individuals is the innate truth that is buried beneath all
of our insecurities. </div>
Lachihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02607714797615176209noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4828596157064070021.post-51714854811917022832012-11-05T11:07:00.001-08:002012-11-05T11:07:55.872-08:00GOLES<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.goles.org/" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="252" src="http://www.goles.org/images/homePage_cnt_center.jpg" width="570" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.goles.org/">GOLES</a> "Good Ol' Lower East Side" is a neighborhood housing and preservation organization that has served the Lower East Side of Manhattan since 1977. Goles has shown a tremendous effort in the wake of the 2012 superstorm, Hurricane Sandy. Harboring good hard-working goal-oriented individuals in mind, GOLES stears a way from the bureaucratic hullabaloo of some of the more "mainstream" relief organizations and is making true headway here in NYC. It's organizations like this, with real people doing real things despite the odds, that keep this grand molecule that is Earth a-spinning.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
www.goles.org - Donate to aid Hurricane Sandy victims</div>
Lachihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02607714797615176209noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4828596157064070021.post-18903935892417572042012-11-05T06:24:00.001-08:002012-11-05T06:38:08.191-08:00Mona Lisa - Etch-A-Sketch<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.toptenz.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Mona-Lisa-265x300.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://www.toptenz.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Mona-Lisa-265x300.jpg" width="176" /></a></div>
This etch-a-sketch of the Mona Lisa defines in part the revolution of
human creativity, where ingenuity and resourcefulness becomes trumps
true artistic talent and becomes it.<br />
<br />
Once an abstract
work of art who's features were heralded due to an inability to be
recreated in essence, now a stepping stone for the massive amounts of Da
Vinchi's today to start from and build upon the new found intelligence
that was not available in the past.Lachihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02607714797615176209noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4828596157064070021.post-926583396250705662012-11-05T05:29:00.001-08:002012-11-05T06:42:23.241-08:00Adiemus - Karl Jenkins<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /><object width="320" height="266" class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://0.gvt0.com/vi/Y6q_MpLZg0A/0.jpg"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Y6q_MpLZg0A&fs=1&source=uds" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Y6q_MpLZg0A&fs=1&source=uds" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></div>
<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Songs-Sanctuary-Adiemus/dp/B000000WFU">Adiemus</a>, written by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adiemus">Karl Jenkins</a>
and sung by South African singer, Miriam Stockley, fell into my lip
misnomered as a song by Enya. I tend to appreciate an epic battle with
love, politics and war all wrapped into one short song. The thriving
points are the chord progressions and it's fun with the relative and
natural minors. In the second stave, the very classical Bach'esque
back-and-forth progression catches the ear instantly...but it is the
change to E/G as well as the treat of being brought back to the vocal
stanza at the end. The victorious conclusion is almost enough
in-and-of-itself to water the eyes and really stamps the beauty of
victory after a struggled life not devoid of hope.Lachihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02607714797615176209noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4828596157064070021.post-72214911835277963172012-11-05T05:03:00.001-08:002012-11-05T05:15:11.952-08:00Deadmau5 4x4=12<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/8-bU5zKYSBQ?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br />
Dubstep / Clubland music is slowly creeping into the mainstream thanks to artists like <a href="http://www.amazon.com/4x4-12-Deadmau5/dp/B00474ADMU">Deadmau5</a>
and the guy from the Window's 8 commercials. There's a certain
engaging flow that persists throughout the mix of the entire album; one
not as overbearing as dubstep tends to be. From the smooth
swallow-this-pill intro, to the intensity of "Raise Your Weapons."
Always a good reaffirmation of good club music with this one.<br />
<br />
It
holds an integrity not only to rhythm, but to melody allowing for
smooth, seamless transitions. The record is an epic voyage through
different phases in melodic growth. There are several instances of an upward walking baseline that culminates in starting over, along with instances of a constantly uprising higher pitched sound. As we continue to push forward at the surface level, we don't even realize we're just roaming around in circles at the base of things.<br />
<br />
4x4=12 in base 14, as 12 in base 14 = 16 in base 10; 16, the meter in which dance music is measured. Lachihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02607714797615176209noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4828596157064070021.post-20292002015078421842012-11-04T16:51:00.001-08:002012-11-05T06:28:42.668-08:00Alex Grey<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://deepenglish.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/alex-grey.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://deepenglish.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/alex-grey.jpg" width="456" /></a></div>
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Grey">Alex Grey.</a>
Perfection can only be attained through omniscience. What can the mind
not fathom that keeps us from becoming infinite beings? The eyes of
knowledge are jewels among gold.<a href="http://deepenglish.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/alex-grey.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a>Lachihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02607714797615176209noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4828596157064070021.post-32834415661861076222012-11-04T15:37:00.000-08:002012-11-04T15:37:07.811-08:00Joseph Mallord Williams Turner's<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.famous-artists.net/images/Buttermere-Lake-with-Park-of-Cromackwater-Cumberland-a-Shower-artist-Joseph-Mallord-William-Turner.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="301" src="http://www.famous-artists.net/images/Buttermere-Lake-with-Park-of-Cromackwater-Cumberland-a-Shower-artist-Joseph-Mallord-William-Turner.jpg" width="400" /> </a> </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._M._W._Turner">Joseph Mallord Williams Turner</a>'s"Buttermere
Lake With Park Of Cromackwater Cumberland A Shower. Something about
this painting...it strikes me with the vastly all-encompassing system of
nature.
Lachihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02607714797615176209noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4828596157064070021.post-12777606599293779302012-11-04T06:04:00.004-08:002012-11-04T08:26:15.977-08:00My issue with the term LOVE is that there
is no currently accepted Universal. The term is multifaceted, elusive and frankly misinterpreted. Ask four different people what "a chair" "a dog" and "love" is, and the Universals for the chair and the dog will be significantly more similar to each other than that of love. A great majority of thinkers limit love to how they feel (or are supposed to feel) about their family, close friends, significant others, and hobbies. However, true Love is not just a feeling, it is a positive force...it is not weak or feeble. It is strength:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMfrcAzhffoNv36q5jCLTHjTgokQTd3bI4LzAh9LpjVKjqMa_5yLWWMn-NdjJLflBZ8bM1sLJ0swn_96IwH2lRrnn0Rq2asHl3CWS1jZR0AvlBNcH7O7wA6KCmYvyCHBDQ98EIOqFYh0M/s1600/images-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMfrcAzhffoNv36q5jCLTHjTgokQTd3bI4LzAh9LpjVKjqMa_5yLWWMn-NdjJLflBZ8bM1sLJ0swn_96IwH2lRrnn0Rq2asHl3CWS1jZR0AvlBNcH7O7wA6KCmYvyCHBDQ98EIOqFYh0M/s1600/images-1.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
Love is not hating your boyfriend for cheating on you; love is forgiving his act of weakness. You can part ways, or remain with him....but love is being above petty anger and vengeance. People show more love (simple positivity) towards strangers on the street with thoughtful politeness and consideration than they do their own friends and lovers to whom they show sarcasm, slight distrust and a growing unforgiveness.<br />
<br />
Love is "the power that is the cause of everything good...because when
you love, you are using the greatest power in the universe" ~Rhonda
Byrne.<br />
<br />
Love is an infinitely unattainable perfection that would require an omniscience physically unattainable to the restricted human mind. Thus the goal would be to try ones best to attain that perfection, despite their human limitations.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Lachihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02607714797615176209noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4828596157064070021.post-11331413329343773712012-10-06T12:32:00.001-07:002012-10-06T12:32:12.412-07:00The Love Ego (the origins of this searching mind)<br />
I have decided it is time to begin documenting these thoughts on a non-fleating medium (assuming the not only the internet, but the blogger blogging site remains in tact for the infinite eons to come, and that English never becomes a dead (in tongue, scrit and historic interest) language.<br />
<br />
It began with a break down, as self-enlightening journey's often do. A woman proclaimed to be a best friend and sister to me, opted to help diligently with my career and to to be there for me personally. Then she got bored and disappeared ignoring my pleas and apologies, though I really hadn't a clue why I was apologizing. I was betrayed heavily, and broke down. If imitation is the greatest form of flattery, then being misunderstood and ignored must be the greatest form of anti-flattery. But I mention the break down because it put me in an interesting place. Having never been betrayed like that, with such depth and apparent malice, I'd hit rock bottom, and was ready to grab onto anything to lift me out of it.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Atlas-Shrugged-Ayn-Rand/dp/0451191145"><b>Atlas Shrugged </b></a><br />
<a href="http://lifeondoverbeach.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/atlas-shrugged-book-cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://lifeondoverbeach.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/atlas-shrugged-book-cover.jpg" width="116" /></a>At the time I was struggling through the final third of Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged which mixed my befuddlement with a random disdain for liberals but taught me something else; do what's right. Don't do what's right for a 'personal' gain, don't do what's right for 'others,' just do what's right. This concept is truly manifested in Dagny not giving up on the national railroad system, even when her comrades turn their backs on those they considered to be "looters" and began their own community. Of course the book goes far beyond that message, really in the wrong direction at times, but the message is there, it's loud and clear, and despite the rest of the book, heed to the message should still be taken. So I took the female empowerment-esque themes of self-responsibility and attempted to allow it to keep my head up. It honestly didn't do to much to help with my breakdown, however. Having only read crimes/mysteries with the random exception of Dean Koonts and Robert Heinlein, I didn't know how to allow books to truly effective my inner being. Not until the next piece. <br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=anathem">Anathem</a><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51aijLgrKNL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51aijLgrKNL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
As I struggled through a pronounced metaphysical emptiness full of random paroxysms of tears and unresolution, a head trip of a book fell into my lap really beginning my journey, Anathem by Neil Stephenson. An ontological speculative fiction set on planet Arbre, the book centers around Fras and Suurs (similar to monks) who, within their monasteries, instead of expanding upon religious endeavors, seek to expand on intellectual endeavors concerning physics, metaphysics, existence, and physical and social sciences. In my fatally depressed state my hard pressed philosophies were now a blank open notebook and anything I took in was running ink. I allowed the book to fill my mind with the questions it wanted me to take from it, such as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Many-worlds_interpretation">Many-worlds Interpretation</a> of quantum physics (in short - all possible pasts and futures are real somewhere in the infinite universe) and more importantly the discussions of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platonic_realism">Platonic Realism</a> (the concept of universal truths -- there are many chairs, be we all have a universal concept of a chair) and it's relation to ethical realism (universal good or right and universal bad or wrong) and the almost antithetical discussion of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formalism_%28mathematics%29">Mathematical formalism</a> (the idea that all concepts in logic and math have no meaning unless they are given semantics). How he wrapped all of this into a fiction, I can only praise, but it had to be, or I would never have understood the concepts.<br />
<ul>
<li>* The first thing this book made me realize, truly realize, was that I was sitting on a rotating rock somewhere in space, and that when I looked up, I was looking at an infinite expanse.</li>
<li>* The second was the concept of infinity. It doesn't mean, a whole lot....a whole lot is finite. It doesn't mean way more than I can count...way more than I can count is finite. Infinity is everything. You can't count infinity...it is only a concept not an actuality since it is imperceptible. So when riding down the slide of the Many Worlds Interpretation, if one says the universe is infinite, the only gut reaction must be that in an infinite universe, anything that can exist, does exist. A very fun concept that Heinlein and others touch on. While reading Anathem, this awesomeness of this concept only hit the surface. I get into it much deeper later.</li>
<li>* Universals - If we can perceive the Universal of a "chair" to be a metaphysical concept of what a chair is (thus if someone brought you a desk chair, a dining chair, or even a piano bench you'd say thanks for the chair...but if they brought you a banana you'd politely explain that you cannot use that as a chair) then we can perceive the Universal of good or right. There's a reason why we all know and love Plato. Stabbing a human being in the face, verses giving a homeless man a sandwhich...there are ethical universals....the book only slightly touches on this....but I took it and swallowed all facets.</li>
</ul>
The book was actually a bit too much for my rock-bottom state and placed me in a weird metaphysical cloud, making it tough to think and even sleep as I parried with thoughts of "if I died today....(not would any one even care, but) would I notice? or would my metaphysical being continue onto one of the many infinite tracts that are still alive.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&ved=0CDIQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FHabits-Highly-Effective-People%2Fdp%2F0743269519&ei=xHhwULKvCsWJ0QGLloGAAQ&usg=AFQjCNFP251StDSMEa9Bkv54wLZ9C-zOlg">7 Habits of Highly Effective People</a><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/a/a2/The_7_Habits_of_Highly_Effective_People.jpg/200px-The_7_Habits_of_Highly_Effective_People.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/a/a2/The_7_Habits_of_Highly_Effective_People.jpg/200px-The_7_Habits_of_Highly_Effective_People.jpg" width="130" /></a></div>
A couple months later, as time allowed for me to slowly heal, I got hired by the US Army Corps of Engineers NY District, and on our new employee orientation, we were advised by some of the senior staff to read "7 Habits of Highly Effective People." by Dr. Stephen R Covey. I did. It's geared toward Business Management and Managers; however, the approach taken is so foundational and fundamental on a personal basis that anyone could gain from it. He discussed very refreshing concepts that I really needed to hear on a pupilist level. For instance<br />
<ul>
<li> Habit 1. Be Proactive - Taking responsibility for one's actions. Saying, even though you did something negative towards me, it's up to me to choose to be hurt by it. It's up to me to get out of this depression. It's up to me to turn the other cheek and rise above. But also, take responsibility for the consequences your actions cause to happen.</li>
<li>Habit 4. Think Win-Win. There's no such think as a free lunch. People only help if it benefits them in some way....so make them see the benefits in helping you for them...and if there are none, make some.</li>
<li>Habit 5. Seek first to Understand then to be Understood - All life's problems stem from misunderstandings. People hurt and hate due to misunderstandings. People only take advice or correction once they feel understood....and once you understand someone, you find they really aren't so bad....usually just misinformed.</li>
</ul>
These 3 were the most important three, with the first 1 being a heft ultimate and the 5th being a distant but still very poignant penultimate. Covey gave the example of a woman who nursed an old man who continued to treat her like crap. Her life was miserable because of this old man, but after reading Covey's book she learned that there was an instant in between his negative actions and her decision to choose how she will react to those actions. She chose not to let his actions effect her, and how regardless of his attitude, she is happy with herself and her life. The book very thoroughly engrained self-responsibility and choice into me and truly helped me out of a long lasting funk. I owe a lot to this book. Rule 5, came into play very hard later on, but not at the stage of reading it. Reading it fed me Habit 1 and I integrated it into my life, a paradigm shift of no more blame....only responsibility for my choices, and the understanding that others are responsible for their choices, including the aforementioned woman (who claimed she would help me then disappeared) 's choice to get off on attempting to hurt me.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Secret-Power-Rhonda-Byrne/dp/1439181780">Power</a><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61mggtXrCXL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61mggtXrCXL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
Several months later as I allowed the 7 Habits to consume yet also embarked upon a study of physics and quantum theories due to Anathem, this book, The Power by Rhonda Byrne, was recommended to me by someone who didn't entirely pan out as awesome, but I took the advice because I was itching for something to put the many truths I was finding into one. Anything that could better my intellectual, spiritual and ethical plight. It was like, I knew there was a right answer and that it was infinitely unattainable, but that I was even still too far away to say that with certainty. I took the book, and though it definitely got kookie at times, it was the perfect remedy to my thirst, as I focused on the non-kooky aspects.<br />
<br />
The book talks about the <b>Power of Love</b>. The power of positivity and positive thinking. Concepts like...<br />
<ul>
<li>Love is not pain, and jealousy or annoyance with a "loved" one....love is positivity and we can actually love complete strangers more than we love our "best friends" since when we see a stranger we give them the benefit of the doubt, yet when we see our "lover" we are already read to jump into negative.</li>
<li>The book presented the idea of empowerment through gratitude. That we don't thank others or apologize/forgive others for their benefit, but for ours. That feeling positivity about something is a personal choice...no one can make you happy but you! This is in alignment with the 7 Habits. </li>
<li>Funnily enough, however, the book also sort of aligns with Anathem. Rhonda delved into concepts of Many-Worlds when she spoke about how any random dream we want is attainable since the universe is infinite and any possibility that can exist does exist somewhere. </li>
<li>She also touched on concepts of how our actions are a projection of our feelings and our feelings are a projection of the amount of "love" or "positivity" within us regarding the thing we are feeling. Feeling upset, means a lack of love/positivity, feeling jealous is a lack of love, and feeling happy, truly happy, is when there is an abundance of love/positivity.</li>
</ul>
What I gained the most from the book is that true actual love is unconditional and platonic. It is a positivity, a warmth, a (for the lack of a better conceptual word) motherly attachment to a child, whereby no matter what the child does, the mother understands it only does bad things due to lack of knowledge, and forgives it regardless. That is love. <br />
<br />
<br />
Alas, my internal, biblical, poetic, musical, religious and metaphysical journey searching for a closer step to "the answer" begins. The amorphous question being, "what are we truly attempting to attain upon our pursuit of happiness?" "what is knowledge and intelligence, and how does it effect my ability to love and/or forgive" "what is love and why does it make us do stupid things....and does it?" "why do we feel empowered when we do bad things?" and "why do we need to defend ourselves by any means necessary, and seek the company of those we know will comiserate."<br />
<br />
I want to be able to automatically commit to the Universal Right at the base pre-decision making level with more strength than any defense mechanism...and I want to relish in the blissful elation such a life would render. My first attempts at the definition of the Love Ego, and my first steps to attempting to attain it.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Lachihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02607714797615176209noreply@blogger.com