The Loving. The Aged. The Fearful.

I was reading over my previous blog entries when I came across "The Creators." Sometimes I let my fingers and mind do the work, with very little filtering through my mind so that you can get (for the most part) the raw images and ideas that I feel or think at that moment in time. So I was quite surprised to find out some of the things that I had written, markedly was a section in "The Creators" that kind of made me stop and think twice...

"[Think] ... what would this world be like... if we all contributed... just... something. Nothing big, nothing crazy, nothing seeking grandeur or splendor in recognition, but rather... just make a bookshelf. Make a bracelet. Make a song. Make dinner. Make someone happy. Make love. Make peace. Something simple, and it starts within your own heart and conscience, and nobody will benefit from it but you. I cannot image what kind of change that would bring to the world!"

I think the few things that caught me off guard were the make a song, make love, and make peace. For starters making a song is something that anybody can do... it's just a shame that we think that our song is not as good as someone else's. My studies of 21 century western music theory have lead me to believe one thing, and that is that ANYTHING is a song and ANYONE can create a melody. There are finite rules laid before us as to what is pleasing to hear and what is marketable in  the music society, but that is in no way indicative of your creative ability. We can all create, but we are not all bold enough to share our thoughts and creations.
Next is, make peace. I guess I meant that more of a personal creation. I wish we could CREATE inner peace. Not find it, not nourish it, but create it. Some of us have already found it, and it is more than acceptable, and that is our peace... I guess THEN you can nourish and grow it, but I feel like I come in contact with too many people who are trying to come to terms with an inner peace that they don't even know that they have or only THINK they have. We need to create it, finding it would imply that it was at one point lost... I don't think a human would let go of their inner peace once they had found it, it is too precious to those who really know what it is. No. I think create is the perfect word for inner peace, or peace in general, and once you think you are content with the peace that you have with yourself, move on to other, help others gain the strength to create, it is a effect so exponential in its outreaching that you as a single person could affect more lives than you can probably count... not in this lifetime, but surely, your influence will be seen AND applied.

Lastly is love. I don't know why this is so poignant to me, but I feel like there is uneasy settling in a fair amount of people when I say it's important to make love. I assume that (as it was the first thing to pop into my head,) the physical act of making love (coitus... sex) was the first thing that popped into yours. I think delving farther... there is love you can make on a more emotionally and personal based level, not to disregard the beautiful and powerful nature of the physical act of making love. But I was wondering the other day... why are people so afraid to make love? Why are they so afraid to invest in relationships? Or even to start them, or attempt to start them? Is it the fear of pain that drives people away from pleasure? That question stayed so vividly in my mind. Is it fear that controls people, are we a people ruled by fear? Is that why we avoid conversation, or the truth? Is it the reason we never have the guts to ask people on a date? Is it the reason we never pursue our dreams? Fear? How powerful do we really think we are when we're controlled by the idea that the outcome (before we've even made the decision or attempted to make the decision or even THOUGHT about making the decision) might be what we don't want, might be something that could harm us, or make us feel bad, or break our hearts.
Now... I don't mean to sound cynical or degrading, but it sound rather cheap and stupid of us to cheat ourselves of happiness because there is a potential risk of loss or pain involved. Some of my greatest journeys and adventures (which have also been my greatest lessons and loves in life) have involved the greatest loss.
I am astonished every time I think of a loss in my life. I do not regret the actions taken or even the loss itself... yes, it is quite bittersweet, and sometimes more bitter than sweet and sometimes more sweet than bitter, but I think that investments made were worthwhile while they happened. Rarely have I thought This friend was a waste of time or there were few contributions that this person made to my life, and maybe it's just the way I am, but I believe that EVERYONE has something to offer to our lives and something great to give us to add to our collection of knowledge and virtues. Yes... there is loss out there, but better to have loved and lost and lived and experienced, than not loved at all.

There are stories that I hear grownups tell all the time, stories of adventures and childhoods, carelessness and freedom. Though it was a different time, I can't help but marvel at some of these stories, these adventures, ideas, experiences. The mature and knowledgeable are like that simply because they have been there and done that, they have lived, learned and experienced. And though we think that it is a trial far too difficult for anyone to endure (simply because it is happening to US, right then and right there), people have been there before, and their attempts to help us from their experience is their attempt at making love. Even in their old age, there is the chance at rejection, there is the chance they are ignored or averted, misplaced or disregarded. But they are just as much a person as you are (and some of us don't like being told what to do, or who to be, or where to go, or how to handle things), but again... it's because of our fear. Our fear that we are wrong, our fear that we don't know how to admit that we DON'T know what to do, our fear that someone is better than us, or more knowledgeable, more successful or happier than us. Fear plays a very large part in our lives. It is the indicator of what we are capable of. Some of us don't go cliff diving because we fear death, some of us don't love because we are afraid to get hurt, some of us refuse to contribute because we're afraid of getting duped in the end. We live quite vicariously through fear, and that is not a bad thing when tempered correctly, but let fear rule and ruin our lives can be. Some people don't Live, because of fear.

So here's my challenge to you (and many of you won't accept it because of the fear that you will gain nothing from investing your time and efforts, do with this what you will). The challenge is comprised of three sections, do them all in one day or do them one at a time... the challenge is to do them.... period. First! Just for ONE DAY, love without inhibition. Love until you can love no more, give EVERY person you interact with that day a hug or a high five, take five percent more effort than you would on normal interactions. Step up the "Hi," to "I like your dress," or "hair," or "eyes," toss in a compliment on top of that "Hello," toss in a hug on top of that compliment. Part two, treat EVERYONE as though they know more than you (this was the hardest part of the challenge for me to accept,) but you only have to do it for ONE DAY! Act as if EVERYONE as information that you do not, and treat them like they are the one person that day that is going to change your life because of the insight and information they have to offer. Really and truly listen to them, soak in their information and knowledge (whether it's bogus and crap or truly insightful and enlightening...), this only has to be done for ONE DAY! It's not TERRIBLY hard, I've done it... Finally part three. Do one thing that you would not normally do, and do it for no reason. Create an act of deviance (within reason, I am in no way condoning poor living habits, but those boundaries are up to you to decide, I think you know how to make wise choices,) do something just because. I mean it. Wear a pair of underpants on your head to school, say no to a teacher, lay down in the middle of the sidewalk in the crazy traffic of the day and just relax, make farting noises in the stalls at a public restroom, scream at a stop sign, do your laundry on the front lawn... something, ANYTHING! Do something you would not dream of, or dare doing otherwise, use this challenge as an excuse, throw me under the bus, blame it on this blog, take no blame or responsibility for yourself, just do it.

The objective of this challenge is to get you to forget fear. Live just ONE day, where fear is not the contributing factor of your decisions. Don't do your homework (fear that you could get in trouble or receive a bad grade), Show love and appreciation, even affection, to someone you wouldn't normally (fear of being rejected or of being seen by "someone else"). Let go of the fear, let go of the pain, just for one day, be someone other than yourself, do something you wouldn't normally do. There are adventures to be had and a life to live, and you can't do it when you are afraid of the outcome. I hope nothing but good things for you, and wish nothing but blessings and the best of hope for you and your future (and to accept and overcome this challenge.) You get life once, don't waste it.

Challenge Accepted!