For What It's Worth

 

When I was younger this was my favorite song.  Well, for that matter, it still is my favorite song.   I first heard it on vinyl from my stepfather's collection.  The album cover had a woman covered in whipped cream so perhaps that is what made me pick up the album in my pubescent years.  The song's beat, guitar, and lyrics all do it for me.  It picked up some more life in several movies a few years ago and so I think it is a pretty mainstream tune.

I remember the first time that I heard it and really listened to the words.  "Battle lines being drawn," "nobody's right if everybody's wrong", I thought to myself wow what a crazy time that must of have been.  I am so glad that we worked all that out.   Things like that aren't happening anymore in our country.  But the truth of the matter is that this song is good because it is timeless.  It's words still ring true today.  And so for what it's worth, here is my two cents post my 35th birthday. 

Maybe it is a prerequisite for birthdays past 30 to become reflective about life.  Or maybe I am just melodramatic.  I think it is the latter.  Nevertheless here are a few points that I pondered this weekend.

True Wealth

True wealth is having good health - both mental and physical.  It is having good relationships, and it is about being happy.  I mean the true happiness, the kind that resonates in your soul, like your first kiss happy, or Christmas time as a kid happy.  The stuff money can't buy.   I believe two things when it comes to happiness.  1) We all control our own happiness, and 2) if you have good health and good relationships happiness happens.

Our country touts itself as the wealthiest nation on earth.  But as you can see, until all our citizens have access to good health we aren't even close.   True health isn't going to come from a Dr.'s prescription pad either.  So even though I believe it incumbent on our country to provide health care, I believe it is up to each citizen to take responsibility for their own health.  Quit smoking, exercise daily, and eat right.  Let's treat ourselves with respect first and stop trashing ourselves and then maybe our government will treat us with respect.

The point of life is to be creative

Why are we here?  What is my purpose?  Heavy questions to ask yourself and for me I think the point is for us to express our creativity.  For the most part this is a positive thing so let's not split hairs and talk about the A-bomb and such.  What I am talking here is art, music, literature, good healthy cooking, artisans, poetry, dancing, singing, architecture, etc.  Of course I think all of these things need to be done sustainably but the end state is still the same.  We, as a species, are the most beautiful when we are the most creative.  Yet so many of us toil away, day after day, to make ends meet.  Take the time to work on something that expresses who you are.  If you can share it with your family and friends that is even better.  We should all be masters of a craft of our passions.  

Things aren't great and it's our fault

Battle lines are being drawn.  Or rather they've been drawn and we are just starting to see them.  There is no magical race of super wealthy puppeteers pulling all the strings.  The mythical "They" who are calling all the shots is, in reality, is US letting things happen through our ambivalence.  Sure there is a super wealthy elite who is benefiting from our collective do nothing attitude, but they are only doing what we let them.  In our system there is an inherent flaw of "looking out for one's self."  If I look out for myself then for me to get ahead you have to lag behind.  Or in a more economic sense.  For me to make money I need to separate you from yours.  The more I separate you from yours the more I get.  My motivation is to repeat that with as many people as possible.  Now add a thousand of me doing that to as many people as possible.  What you get are millions of tiny one-sided transactions.  Collectively they add up to create the world in which we now live.  We've allowed the world to go so askew that no one - without extreme lifestyle choices - can live without being a hypocrite.  

I took the back lot tour at Universal Studios and saw a billboard for a movie with the handsome leading man with a woman scantily clad on each arm.  I thought to myself that we still objectify women, then I thought to myself I'm just being anal about this.  But I'm not.  I'm no hard line feminist and I'll probably watch the movie on Netflix when it comes out and there is the rub.  Deep down I know it is wrong but it doesn't really matter or so that is the pervasive thought that we all have.  Same thing goes for Styrofoam, plastics, bottled water, natural gas fracking, pollution, oil use, war, debt, poverty, obesity, child diabetes, crumbling education, shitty politicians, crooked businessmen, bailing out Wall St........ 

I visited a friend that works at the Aquarium of the Pacific today.  Mel and I dropped off the dogs at her apartment because she graciously offered to watch them as we went to the aquarium.  After they gave us free passes.  They live up in Long Beach, next to L.A..  We were talking about allergies and she was saying how bad her's was there in Long Beach.  "Really, I asked."  "Oh yeah there is Diesel dust on everything from being so close to the port."  She lifted up her bare feet and they were black.  Black I tell you and that stuff was in the air landing on everything.  And we were still 7 miles from the port.  She said it as if it was an expected part of life.

We need to take back responsibility

We need to take back responsibility for living.  It is so easy for us to live today, in this country.  All it takes is the ability to fork over money - or in its absence credit - to pay for every service that we need.  Then when we are done with it we throw it away and let it become the problem of someone else.  Well we are all each others' someone else.

Learn how to do some of the things you pay others to do.  Learn how the plumbing in your house works.  Learn how to sew your clothes.  Learn how to cook at home with vegetables and animals you raised.  Learn how to repair something vice throw it away.  Put some effort into life.  Feel the sweat of chopping your own firewood then the coolness of the soil as you plant two replacement trees.  Think about that next throw away cup of coffee, even if it claims to be recyclable.  

Think about the times when we were all younger and right and wrong were black and white.  When our decisions were being made based on principles we were taught.  When going against those principles wasn't even an option.  Think about how wonderful the world would be if we all had that view point again.  Now just know that it can be like that again, for what it's worth.