1. Instead of saying “Man has dominion over all life say, “Man has responsibility to it.”
2.
Give of yourself generously and freely, but do not neglect yourself. A
wise person once said, “Carry your sanity around with you as if it were a
kitten in danger of being eaten by dogs.
3.
Take the words back that people and institutions have held hostage all these years. Tell
the church, “You don't own the word God!” Tell Christmas, “You
don’t own the colors red and green!” Take them back! They are
rightfully yours. If we can’t get them back, then let us make up new words
for beauty, ones that have to be grunted.
4.
Never assume that you are understood by anyone. We are alone, but we
are pieces of the same fragment. Remember Antonio Porchia, “I know what I have given
you, but I do not know what you have received.” No one can
understand your suffering completely, even if you give yourself in an honest desperation to be understood. Do not be sad; it is not
their fault. We are all our own vast, little, and terribly unique
universes of experience.
5.
Protect the innocent and the weak. When someone hurts and you turn your back, an injury to your own conscious occurs whether or not you recognize it. The
inner being cries at the thought of inflicting or witnessing dominance no matter the abstract reason for it. The part of
us that enjoys violence is the part of us that is in pain. To fall short
of your own conscious is to lose an amount of sanity with every
injustice. Violence is not honorable. It is better to run and hide. From
a subtle dominance, to a gunfight, to war, it is never justified.
Always reject it. The “fight for peace” is an impossibility and is
used to rationalize dominance.
6.
Honor others like you want to be honored. The only pillar we have is
each other. We interact to check in, to gain perspective,
and to justify and validate our
experience. We need each other.
7.
To heal from trauma and emotional pain, write down your resentments and
things that give you grief. Think of your attention as a flashlight
and your issues as darkness. Do not fear your phantoms. If you
shine your consciousness into your past, void of pity, you can
disintegrate your shadows and depression. It is not a struggle to heal,
even though it may feel that way. Admit your faults or they will devour
you. The only hurdles are your mind and its babbling, the resistance
to make the decision to heal, and fear. You must be fearless and
thorough, exploring the things that make you uncomfortable the most.
After you have written them out, read them to someone you love and
respect. Do not be afraid of rejection, because if they
are genuine, they will accept you. Then you will know yourself, be able
to heal, and be set free from your faults.
8.
Do not feel threatened by others. Instead, ask them, “What is written
on my forehead,” and don't hate them when they have the courage to tell
you. Accept their critique and use it to grow.
9.
Listen to your inner voice or it will go away. Every time your gut
tells you to do something, however seemingly trivial, and you disregard
it, your intuition gets quieter. If this continues, eventually, one day
you wont hear it any more. If your inner voice has already left
you, fear not, it can be re-cultivated with diligence and an open desire
to listen.
10.
Do not be ruled by your thoughts. Meditate. Your brain is a tool that
is endlessly calculating and running ideas and situations through to
their possible ends. It needs a break every now and again. Don’t worry;
you won't slip into a void of unintelligent nothingness. All of the
jabbering will still be there when you’re done resting and you’ll
operate better for your effort. Be nice to yourself.
11.
Speak your mind and do not hold back. Someone might depend on you.
Something you say could change their life forever. It could be the
opportune moment, when their ego has finally exposed its crack, making
their rigid exterior vulnerable to penetration. That’s when you strike,
not with advice, or tough-love, but with truth spoken in a non-judgmental, compassionate tone and intention.
12.
With every decision, also consider your last breath. Ask yourself,
when life inevitably ends and its events flash before your eyes, will
you look back with regret at the decisions you have made, or rejoice
that you have done right by your own conscious?
13.
Burn the book that claims to hold the only truth, because that's what
your intuition is for. Anyone or ideal claiming an absolute truth is a
lie. No one knows your truth but you. No ideal is concrete. Reality is a
dynamic and continuous collective learning experience. We are all
born into this world bare backed and without a manual so why would
anyone else know any better than you what is right for you, who to hate,
or how to live? Trust your gut; it’s all you have.
14. Have courage. The last thing the world needs is more spineless people. Act out and rebel whenever it serves love, life, and freedom.
© 2012
© 2012