Hello everybody!

Welcome to this rainy (at least in my corner of the world) day!

Last night the sonic boom of thunder woke me from a deep sleep, and the rainstorm outside proceeded to play Marimba music on the metal shutter over my bedroom window. Suffice it to say I was rendered sleepless, so I wrapped myself in thought and realized some things.

I keep telling you guys we should talk about stuff, that the answer to a problem is to sit and talk about things. I realized last night that sounds kind of stupid if not explained, so let’s all get comfortable, grab a beverage of your choice (mine is coffee) and have a little chit chat about that.

I’ve stated in the last week that we become our thoughts, which become our words, which become our actions, which become our effect on the world, which becomes the World. Gandhi put it this way:

“Your beliefs become your thoughts,
Your thoughts become your words,
Your words become your actions,
Your actions become your habits,
Your habits become your values,
Your values become your destiny.”

Even Buddha talks about how thought becomes who you are.

We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think. When the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow that never leaves.

Yesterday I broached the subject of sexual harassment and abuse in the town where I grew up. When I would talk with my mom about this she would always make the point that the biggest problem in her day was how no one talked about it. The problem was ignored, and by being ignored it made the behavior seem acceptable. Change eventually came in the form of legislation allowing lawsuits for misconduct.

Why do we rely on these things? Are we, individually, so irresponsible that we have to rely on another to dictate that we be good. Are we a nation of three-year-olds? I believe firmly in the idea of self-reliance and self-monitoring. I believe that our system has a legal system that is far too complex. We could argue over why indefinitely, but that would come to nothing. Really, the corruption of the legal system is a chicken or the egg question (is the system corrupted to be exploited, or exploited because it is corrupt–as usual, the answer lies in the middle). Truth be told, we dictate what happens to the system with our actions, our beliefs, and our fears–or, rather, how we allow those fears to be used against us.

Ignoring something that is frightening only causes the problem to grow bigger. Those who are of a more exploitative nature will use this as a shelter for their actions. We need to find our courage, and with it our voices–not as the fearful rabbling of a frenzied crowd, but as the informed individual voices of a collective. Debate and argument are stupid. I prefer discussion, and so I talk and hope that more will join the growing number of those talking because talking is a beginning.

Talking is the start of planning. We have to understand a problem before we plan for a solution. You see, I learned in my brief foray into anthropology that trying to affect change without first understanding what you are changing and why will usually create more problems with the “solution.” Even with the best of planning, problems are still going to slip in. But those problems are easier to address when the initial problem is better understood. Every angle has to be considered, even if those angles frighten us.

So, let’s talk.