No Time to Think!

On By Pamala CliftIn Education, SocietyLeave a comment

We are modern and important. We have LOTS to do. We need to time-manage every moment. There are only so many minutes in a day. The river of life doesn’t slow down for anyone.

These are the precepts of our life these days. No introspection, no free time (unless it is scheduled and then few know what to do with it).

If I wanted to make people sheep this is exactly what I would do.  Make them rush around after false goals. Tell them they are not successful unless every second is managed. Make their so called off times filled with entertainment, music, noise. That way they don’t have time to think, to question the status quo.

Hunger games, 1984, Brave New World, Animal Farm all have heroically pointed out the step-by-step method of dominating a society. Propaganda and more regulations should eventually shove everyone into line. We will be controlled. 

This is all there is to it:

1. Make entertainers positions of idolizing and the media God.

2. Regulate with insurance, taxes and complex laws every ounce of innovation out of the masses, so only those already in control can survive. 

3. Make sure healthcare is controlled so we can decide who lives and who dies. 

4. Fill their minds with stuff that means nothing all the time so they have no time to think. (paperwork that no one reads, but is there just in case someone wants to sue or the law says so; noise, closed in spaces, ratings or data so they can believe something is better than something else and they can fill their time chasing erroneous data projections or the almighty dollar which is a fiction as well.)

5. Fill their food with stuff they won’t let you know about-Monsanto.

6. Keep the people controlled with the unbridled Family courts that even regulate personal relationships.

It is horrible to think with all the information available out there we still don’t think. We don’t know how to think. We constantly look to someone else to think. The Pope, president, scientist says… instead of thinking ourselves.

Vacations have to be filled with amusement parks, Vegas, family demands etc. Not once have I heard, I am taking a vacation to go sit on a rock to think. lol

I have watched kids who have been filled with noise and meaningless activity wither in almost pain because they were forced to sit outside and think.  It is an unknown activity.

The body is not set up to deal with these constant multiple inputs; so we have sleepless nights as our brain works to defrag the day’s events into a cohesive manner it can store in memory. Instead we take pills by-passing memory-saving to the point we don’t remember what just happened and wouldn’t have the resources for proper introspection anyway.

The Roadside Philosopher’s is just a small little organization. Many there have disabilities that prevent them entering the rat race and they actually enjoy examining new viewpoints and thinking. They have time. 

How can we grab those moments back? How can we actually live?

Those who succeed tend to be those artistic kooks, who write, philosophize, make music or art. They are those whose inner being will not be denied. They travel a journey most often close-to-poverty just so they can express the being that is them. To show the world, wonder or a moment of beauty is all that is required.They enjoy the journey. 

Please find time to think and discover your own feelings and thoughts, so you too can enjoy the journey.

Hugs, Pam

The Roadside Philosoopher

Façade or Reality?

On By Pamala CliftIn Philosopher comments on RealityLeave a comment

Glamor? or Façade?

Glamor Shots use to be a big deal. Get yourself all fixed up, hair teased, sprayed and dressed up and take a picture.

We would look at ourselves and not recognize us. Who is that person in the mirror?

So 45 minutes of drawing on our face, covering our spots, making our eyes bigger, lashes longer, minimizing wrinkles … and THAT is reality for most women.

We can’t seem to go out in public without “putting on our face” Why is that considered Real? Why is that considered right?

Does it mean that we do NOT want reality; we want a story? We want the fairytale story of being beautiful forever…no matter how long it takes to dress up reality. It is only proper for a female to make an effort to please others. We have to reach for a visual perfection to be taken as relevant. 

Men have a different story they play. They want to be seen as macho so they get big trucks, tear their shirts, lift weights to get pumped up to look like the dude on the magazine… OR they let themselves go scruffy as if to say, “See I don’t care what I look like.” …but macho dude, you still need a bath. 

We keep asking for truth, but keep spending our effort in creating fantasy. 

Our politicians give us fantasy because that is what we want to hear. Media creates “reality TV” which is FAR FROM real, because the drama is something we desire to see.

Almost everything in our society that is considered acceptable is window dressing. The core of the truth is never examined if it looks pretty, or as we expect.

I did an experiment one time back in school. I wrote a paper in about 1/2 hour, did almost no research, put no effort into the quality of what was written, but… I put it in a wonderfully decorative high quality paper cover with clear plastic over a highly decorative font all laid out beautifully and typed with lovely spaces.

Guess what? I got an A. The paper was garbage. It doesn’t appear to matter. This is what we have become. So when I say, “We do not live for reality; we live for our fantasies.” it is not just in virtual that this paradigm exist.

How can we get this to change when we put value on the valueless? 

Politics is a bore, since we spend our time realizing it is all for show and have no idea what the candidates really think, or more important who is backing them, controlling the puppet strings. We don’t know and don’t seem to care.  He came in on a pretty helicopter. She is always dressed so nice. He is articulate and speaks lovely. 

If we want the world to change we are going to have to change what we expect and what we examine. There actually may be great beauty in that person sitting on the corner in that torn jacket. There might be greater wisdom in the withered grandmother than the PhD in the suit.

If we don’t spend effort in digging for gold, we will continue to get fools gold.

Enjoy the journey ! Hugs, Pam

Drone Thrills & Privacy Issues

On By Pamala CliftIn SocietyLeave a comment

 I got my order from Discovery magazine about Drones 360 and I was excited.

How fun to be able to fly visually over anything you wanted, gain new perspective and learn how to fly and run a drone! Wouldn’t everyone be jealous and want a chance to run it?

I saw so many uses for them, farming, photography, security, news reports, catastrophes, search and rescue… my mind was reeling. My Geek was showing.

Then I started seeing the vicious attacks on drones. Shooting sprees, hate mail to those that would use them and especially the American government and I had to step back. 

Sneaky invasion of privacy. Well privacy is only an illusion anyway but with YouTube and other venues simple biological needs can be truncated and photoshopped into anything and put it out in public. Yuck.

Wait! What if they are going to shoot people both with photography and weapons? I starting reading about the government making small insect like drones to deliver attacks or some such. Wait… *scratches head perplexed trying to remember the biblical stories of my youth*.

Quick Google search brought the chapter in the Bible referring to Revelations 9:4 “Then out of the smoke came locusts upon the earth, and power was given them, as the scorpions of the earth have power. They were told not to hurt the grass of the earth, nor any green thing, nor any tree, but only the men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. And they were not permitted to kill anyone, but to torment for five months; and their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it stings a man.”

Could these bug like things be a form of drone? Was I becoming a luddite? I saw things from another perspective. These could be great weapons for distributing anthrax, biological attack or a deadly gas and no one would most likely know where it came from.

That is really what is scary, to look up in the sky and see a strange drone above you and not know or be able to find out it’s purpose?

So I came upon an idea. Let all drones be a fair mark for the shooters, rams or baseball bats IF… they are not labeled. Meaning every smartphone could have an app that would show when a drone is near, what the drone id is, the owners, and purpose. So at any time you can look at the app and see if there are any registered drones in the air and their path. Planes have to have a flight path registered, if they don’t know their path they should be able to send out their id to the app so we can track them.

I would smile if I looked up and saw a drone and the app said it was a special event drone getting distant shots of a wedding party… or pizza delivery drone returning to home. I wouldn’t even mind if it was being used as a toy for learning to fly, or litter surveillance. 

If they can see us, we should be able to see them. If they refuse to register the drone or can’t send an id to a scanning smart phone, then get the guns out boys. Fair is fair.

Technology is jumping ahead by leaps and bounds, lets see if we can get a balance on every new technology before it is put out for the world. Every tool can be used for good or ill we need balance. Definitely living in interesting times.

Enjoy the journey,

Hugs, Pam

Old or the Alternative?

On By Pamala CliftIn SocietyLeave a comment
Youth rule! That is what today’s western culture wish us to believe. The old should do as Scrooge says, die and decrease the surplus population.   
That would cure so many of societal ills, if all the old and infirmed would not put such a heavy burden on the rest with Social Security, pensions, and medical needs.  

Those near retirement are being fired early and no one wants to hire an elderly person, even if they don’t SAY that. They figure you will point out the things they do wrong and they want to be boss. No one should know there is another way of doing things. Keep the peasants dumb.

I watched as they have worked to dumb down the population? It was cool to be an idiot?

I figure somewhere along the line they will taint the flu shots and “poof” problem solved. All of course except the 1% who are in charge of the government and know not to take the flu shots. 

I went to a Lakota Sundance the other day and “The Elders” were honored. The young would give you their place in line, move over so you could sit down, help you with your tent. It was an amazing feeling, not just for the elders but to watch the young people serve! They were acknowledging that they were needed! They had value! All the members of the tribe were validated. The youth got their energies focused in worthwhile efforts, and the elders got to tell stories of what they knew to help the young. Wow!

Not now in our culture. Sad really that neither the old or the young feel of value. I would like to see the beginnings of a turn around but not the way things are now. Pretty soon we will have Logan’s Run and all that is of value will be to be Renewed!

Someone asked if I could envision the next 40 years? I can’t, but it is even harder to visualize the alternative? *smile*

*holds up her hands palms up like a balance* Being Old on one side: Dead on the other.  Being Old then doesn’t look so bad as the alternative.

It is not a journey that should be predictable but it is a journey to be enjoyed for whatever good you can gleen from what is presented you.

Hugs, Pam

When Preparedness Meets Opportunity- Instant Success?

On By Pamala CliftIn Education, SocietyLeave a comment

You often hear the phrase. He/She was an instant success! 

That means they were suddenly brought out of obscurity into the public eye for their expertise.

Did they just develop that expertise overnight? The public eye may have become instantly aware, but the expertise was developed over years and many trial & error struggles.

The railway couldn’t have sent their first train to the west, until many things happened: the idea had to be conceptualized, the land surveyed, purchased, people hired and years of effort made to lay tracks. Were there hiccups? Absolutely, problems were there. Many times changes and compensation for errors had to be made. The success came only after all the work was completed. Only then could the train go over the tracks to the targeted destination.

Developing an expertise or a project is lonely. You’re trying to do something that hasn’t been done before so there is no one to grade you except you when what you envision does or does not solidify.  Many can’t take that. 

People want someone to validate them at every step, hence academia tries to launch self-thinkers by giving them validation with grades and certificates. But many times what they do is just get people into an addiction awaiting fast-food validation. (forever students) A validation that may or may not be valid, because nothing new has been established. The student has just regurgitated back what was already known from another forever student who has spun reality from their vantage point.

Those who get fed up with being told what to do usually leave to create their own reality. Working solo, fighting naysayers, trying to make things workout for the new set of problems that they see. Only after the thought has been envisioned, the research done, the money has been invested, and the years of effort to lay one track after another will the opportunity possibly come for a chance at instant success. lol

So prepare your passion, do your work, don’t care if you’re not recognized for your labor. Most artist, composers, authors and philosophers are not seen as great until after their death.

What you will get is the fulfillment of engaging your life with your passion. That is the blessing. You are contributing something new to the universe, a viewpoint, a creation that most likely will never go viral…or lead to instant success (which has its own difficulties), but has value. Believe in that.

If you’re tired of being just one of the sheep, and have the endurance for the long haul, get started now for your instant success…. possibly decades in the future. lol

Enjoy the journey!

Hugs, Pam

To Copy is to Lose! Be Unique…

On By Pamala CliftIn Interpersonal RelationshipsLeave a comment

When you imitate another you will always lose. You can never be the same as the original. So the best you can hope for is second place.

We often compare ourselves to others. I am not as strong as he is; or I don’t have her beautiful hair. This list goes on and on with things we are not as good as someone else. 

But no matter who you compare yourself to, one thing is certain… they will come in second if they try to be you.

You are unique. A huge component of strengths and weaknesses that spin a composite that no one can rightly imitate. There is beauty in that. There is also wonder. Every snowflake is unique. Why is that? 

Where do we get this compulsion to be like everyone else? Why does someone else get to dictate how another should be?

Almost everything in the universe has uniqueness. Nothing is exactly like something else. The trees are all different, animals, rocks…I am sure if we were to be able to discern completely the components of insects and molecules there would be uniqueness.

So why is everyone trying to be like…? I need to dress like so & so. I want to be cool and hip like…? You are cool and hip & YOU. Don’t follow.

When you interact with someone they hand you the rules, sometimes they do it with their dress. (I am a Dr so you have to treat me like X.) So we take our cues from the mannerisms, dress, and customs of the culture. That is all fine and good when you wish to play someone else’s game.

You can never win someone else’s game, because THEY have set the rules and will change them so you can’t. So play your OWN game. Make up your own rules. Hand off the cues to others so they will treat you the way you wish to be treated. We create our reality. We don’t need others to buy into it for it to be our reality. We need to be unique, our fully unique self. One that follows our passions.   

If you are a dog person…be totally that. Don’t let the “I love soccer” people rain on your parade. We all have different directions our soul takes us, just like water freezes in a snowflake with unique directions. Does that mean we are not a snowflake? 

Be your passion. Create your game. If your idea of points is how many licks your dog gives you…and that makes you happy, then that is your game and the points. You don’t need to be a speed skater, a great painter, or worse of all… The points are $/money. That means you are competing with the world for points that don’t bring you happiness. 

There is awesomeness in those that think for themselves. I marvel when I see a person no one else talks to because they don’t look the same. I WANT to talk to someone unique. I am drawn to the people who have not taken sheephood as a religion.

Look in the mirror. Marvel at the being that is you. Make you all that your passion and direction wish to be. *wink* I will be looking for you!

Enjoy the journey. Hugs Pam

Solidify Reality by Where You Focus

On By Pamala CliftIn Education, Philosopher comments on RealityLeave a comment

One of the hobbies I enjoy is reading books on Quantum Physics. So many unknowns speculated upon and extrapolations made. You can’t help think that philosophy is not dead…just renamed scientific hypotheses. 🙂

The illustrious double slit experiment is spun in so many different ways and used to validate new ideas almost daily. 

So to again try and explain the outcome of a complex experiment with a truncated definition; “Waves and particles only solidify into reality upon observation!”

I am going to leave it at that for this article. There are tons of resources if you wish to research it, but based on that, I have my own key to understanding reality.

Wherever we focus IS reality. Reality is a program where we choose the subroutines of our existence with our focus.

So if i focus on what I am missing in my life, it is a miserable life. If I focus on the beautiful sunrise and the things I do have, I couldn’t be happier.

I am writing the Hiccup Chronicles (will it never end…lol) and its premise is that we are outside of the universe engaged in a simulation program called our physical existence. (a slowing down of the energy waves so things can be solidified)

The physicists speculate that there are multiple worlds. Which I believe is partly correct. The program of this existence has already been written. We are just exploring all desired subroutines of that program. We possibly are creating and expanding the range of possibilities. How would the butterfly effect of “NOT taking that toy truck away from my younger brother actually affect the entire program of the universe?”

People yell at me quite adamantly when I say you choose your subroutine in the program. “I would NEVER have this problem or this illness or trouble if I had a choice. You must be freaking kidding me!”

Well lets look at the things we enjoy. We like to play games. We like to make artificial rules and then try to see if we can win with those limitations. We workout, take on challenges, create and build things.

If this world WAS just a game or an artificial construct, and we knew we existed elsewhere, then the difficulties we have here would be like moving the game from easy to hard. 

If reality is anything we can conceive and we have played this game on easy level, sometimes we will raise the difficulty, lift a heavier weight, run a greater distance.

The interactions of this program only allow us to engage with 5 senses, all of which have been scientifically proven to be foolable, yet we only count those interactions as reality?

There are obviously more senses out there. Animals have all sorts of abilities we do not. (radar, animal-direction sense for migration etc.) So we are limited.

We create measurement tools/math of our own creation and then act as if those are the only definitive truth? 

We try to quantify things and make rules saying “Well it works for A, B, C; so if it doesn’t work for the rest of the alphabet it must be the “things” that are wrong, not our measuring stick?”

In our digital age we try to put all the rest of the alphabet into an algorithm. It can’t be reality if we can’t shove it into our self-declared measuring compartments. 

If we limit our life to ONLY looking at the measurements of our self-created compartments we will miss a very entertaining existence.

Wonder, philosophizing and enjoying the “not knowing” is the journey. 

Focus and slow down on what you WANT to see, experience, choose your subroutines and enjoy the journey. 

Hugs, Pam 

The Honeymoon of a New Relationship

On By Pamala CliftIn Interpersonal RelationshipsLeave a comment

When a new connection is made, life is a whirlwind.

Trying to make your significant other happy. Hoping that as they get to know you they don’t hit an impossible roadblock. (Nope, I can’t be with someone that clips their toenails in bed…type thing)

It is as stressful as it is exciting. Will the rough edges of the two of you eventually interlock? Can he/she be everything they are portraying? Are they lying? Playing you? Are they just a leech and will run out on you when you can not provide any more stuff? All those thoughts run constantly in the back of your mind as your emotions and desire for the ultimate fairytale relationship continue to race to the infinity sign of the universe. This has GOT to be IT!

There are those that find a perfect relationship and ruin it with all their questions and fears. How can you get past that knowing at any moment it can all come crashing down on you? 

My solution: Nothing is perfect. People change. For every “Hello” there will be a “goodbye”. (even if it ends at the death bed)  So there you have it. 

“What?” you say? That is a very dismal attitude.  No, it is a very freeing attitude. It allows you to forgive in advance the eventual demise of that honeymoon closeness, which will come. 

The honeymoon phase of any relationship will shift and change. Nothing can ever be the first kiss, or first orgasim with your new partner. People remember firsts. Once you have gotten past that you have other things to discover, but they will be different. It is a good thing to understand that.

Once you make up your mind to attempt a merging, live it to its fullest. Do not question yourself. You have chosen a leg in your maze of life, some will be good, some will be bad. Nothing will stay the same, but this is an exciting journey. Don’t dampen your full engagement with this experiment to play with doubts and troubles that have not arisen yet.

Too many people are doing the “Well, I will stick my toe in the water.” not fully committed to exploring, discovering, changing and merging. Guess what? If you only give a bit…you will only get a bit. That is something no one wants. So give it your all. In for an ounce…in for a ton, good, bad, or ugly you are choosing this path. If it crashes and burns, that is ok because you forgave in advance. 

It then becomes totally freeing. Enjoy this upswing of feelings. Know that it most likely will end and certainly change. But many things end. The roller coaster ride ends; the last bite of the banana split ends; your favorite book and movie end…none of those endings will stop you from choosing to engaging in them just because they will end. Why should you require infinity for a relationship to be true and worthwhile?

Engaging with life shouldn’t end, until your life ends. Be comfortable with being the fool, because that step off the precipice will be one hell of a ride. lol

Hugs, Pam

April Fools…?

On By Pamala CliftIn Interpersonal RelationshipsLeave a comment

We are all strange in our approach to our existence.

NO ONE likes to be the fool. No one enjoys being the brunt of a practical joke, but yet we hail the jester that can pull it off?

It is fun to see someone else fall, get scared or embarrassed. Why is that?

The internet holds an extra layer of anonymity that makes it even easier to set someone else up for an untruth. We can create multiple personalities, stories, and attacks and feel it is not us…it is just a joke. 

Trolls & griefers have separated themselves in their mind from their actions, because “It was all for a laugh.” So the philosophical questions are “Where ARE we? & Where do we begin and end?” The line seems to be drawn in different places. 

If we do harm: it wasn’t my intention… If we all laugh it was because of me.

I was a professional clown and could play the fool, knowing… I was setting myself up… I was the one pretending to be surprised. People enjoy watching things go awry. 

If we were God, having that same propensity, we could look at this existence with greater humor. Existence is always pulling tricks on us. What we think will happen and what does happen, rarely match.

The answer to the confusion is intent. Selfish or generous? Did you put honey on the toilet seat to make them laugh or you? Did you slip the money in their shoe, knowing the surprise would delight both you and them?

Simple rule: Do unto others as you would like them to do unto you.

This April Fools Day enjoy the delight of the absurd and the surprises. Be creative, just be mindful of what you create may go awry. Everyone’s perception is different.

Enjoy the journey. Life is too important to take too seriously from our only one perspective.

Hugs, Pam

The Vacuum of a Break-Up

On By Pamala CliftIn Interpersonal RelationshipsLeave a comment

What people are totally unprepared for when a breakup occurs is the vacuum.

Now a spot that has always been filled is gone? That hollow feeling, which repeatedly screams something-is-missing eats away at any resolve that constituted the breakup originally.

Vacuums are uncomfortable. Change is uncomfortable. Being a free ion probably is uncomfortable. Whenever there is a need to break, whether it be with a career choice, a significant other, a geographical location that is loved, anything that we considered ours and part of our identity …now missing, gives us that hollow feeling.

Some people are so distressed by it that they will return to a bad situation just because it is better than the vacuum they feel inside. Abused women and children have been known to do this, men return to a bad job all because their identity can not stand the vacuum. Their identity has been painfully depleted.

This is when an imagination is important. Create a new you. That image might initially be missing a leg, but it will walk. That hollow inside is very noticeable but you have to remember…Nature abhors a vacuum. Something will come fill it. Be cautious what you let fill it, because usually it is very nearly the same as you escaped.

We often do that. Grab the familiar, and put ourselves in the exact same situation. I do it as well. (gasps) 

Vacuums are opportunities to choose again. Remake yourself again. Being comfortable with a vacuum is a difficult thing. I wish I could give you an easy solution, but I can’t. Recognize the vacuum. Mourn the lost, and be very choosy as what to let replace it.

Life wouldn’t be fun if it were easy, so enjoy the journey.

Hugs, Pam