The Story of Stuff

Recently, my best friend posted a link on her facebook page to:

http://www.youtube.com/storyofstuffproject

She added to the post, "Worth the time to watch," which made me all the more interested, since she doesn't normally promote these types of things. 

So, I watched.  And I was moved. 

I continued my investigation by following links to other youtube.com videos related to "The Story of Stuff" project.  I also read the critics reviews of the documentary, but as all socially challenging projects emerge, so do their bashings. 

Regardless, I took from it what I feel was meant to be absorbed:  the way of life that Americans are living is exploiting the rest of the world's cultures and resources, infecting our culture with unregulated toxins, and creating a "throw away" mentality that must be stopped! 

I mean, seriously, what happened to fixing things?  Nowadays we simply throw them away and buy newer, supposedly better versions.  For example, the video mentions how the one part of a computer that technologically changes every year is a very tiny piece that, due to its irregular new shape each year, forces us to have to purchase an entirely new computer! 

The message is simple.  The current rate of consumption will ultimately be our planet's demise if we don't start acknowledging our consumption activities as reckless.  Period.  End of sentence.

Another part of the video discusses the way in which our society has been trained to consume in order to be valued.  If a person is wearing last year's styles, or driving an older model car, carrying a late model phone, etc, then society judges them for not "buying into" the pool of consumption lately. 

Taking the consumption a step further, while out at a night club in San Diego last week, I witnessed a group of people celebrating their evening by shaking up a bottle of Veuve Clicquot (easily a $150 bottle of champagne at the club) and spraying it all over each other just for fun!  It illustrates exactly what the "Story of Stuff" is teaching.  That beautifully crafted bottle of champagne was wasted in its totality to prove some guy's value in society. 

But don't get me wrong - I am not blaming anyone.  These ideals have been programmed into us.  I just hope that we can un-program them before our reckless consumption has created irreversible effects to our earth. 

If you haven't heard of Freeganism yet, check it out: http://freegan.info/
Freegans are the epitome of the counterculture to consumerism and are usually really down-to-earth, amazingly brilliant people, too!  Last year I joined a group of freegans in Kansas City and gained access to many resources and ideas that I had not even considered before: like where food comes from and how to survive on $10 a week, how to convert your diesel to veggie oil, how to seek the many surplus warehouses that are full to the brim with books, toys, supplies for living, etc.

I'm pretty sure that most of us could completely survive off of the surplus of this country alone, but we are not willing or ready to give up our shopping sprees and the temporary sense of worth they give us.   But as we have all seen, like in the TV series Hoarders, this mentality can be taken to the extreme.

And what does "stuff" give us anyway?  It adds more weight to our already heavy load and that extra stuff continues weighing us down day after day.  It piles up in a secret corner of a closet, or room, or maybe in its own storage unit? Regardless, it is not a healthy relationship - us and our stuff.

So, take this post for what its worth: knowledge. 

To be aware of the problem is the first step to figuring out our own solutions.  We are all unique, with different levels of attachment to our things, but what we do share in common is our relationship to this ONE earth and it is our responsibility to educate ourselves about the consequences of our actions!     

Thanks so much for reading! 

Loyal for a Night

Day 2:

Welcome back!  In today's blog I will honor the inspiration that I've had to write about my unique experiences in bartending.  Caution! This article may contain content not suitable for younger readers. Thank you for your consideration and I apologize in advance if I offend anyone. Enjoy the adventure!

Loyal for a Night

by Amanda Steinhaus

Every show I bartend at the Midland Theatre brings a different crowd.  The audiences, young and old, range from buttoned-up conservatives to neon-clad ravers rolling their faces off!  No matter the origin of my guests for the night, the Midland becomes a celebration vessel for all.  As the doors open and we embark on the night, I revel in thoughts of who will cross my path and vow loyalty to me and my superior bar etiquette for the rest of our voyage together.

You see, bartenders possess special gifts -- spirits.  Truth is, the more infectuous their spirits, the greater the chance that a total stranger will befriend one.  The friendship is lively, short-lived and celebratory, and in some cases participants may feel comfortable enough to share deep, dark secrets and experiences. 

Imagine, one special night, your favorite band is jamming, you've got your pals by your side and your pocket is jingling with enough dabloons to cover a couple of rounds.  Then you meet me, the bartender.  Smiling and ready to serve you, our eyes meet and we make that initial connection, that first impression that is oh, so important in the service industry. 

I ask, "Is this your first time at the Midland?" as you gaze at the grand staircase and gigantic chandeliers abound.  You answer and sip the cocktail I just made you and then, BOOM! You are hooked! 

A few more of these encounters occur throughout the evening and the next thing you know, you're either inviting me to a swinger's party or telling me about how your ex just sent you a picture text of his ginormous package that you admit you miss, while your husband sits back in the theatre waiting for you to return with his Jack 'n Coke. 

It's crazy, people, just crazy!  As a bartender I have seen it all, which is exactly why I feel the need to document the crazy stuff I witness.  Drunk people are great subjects and continuously say and do things that I cannot pass up writing about. 

The most recent encounter with those of the wasted world was when the Midland hosted a Pretty Lights show:  DJs, incredible light shows, loud beats, lots of glow sticks, and lots of people with dialated pupils.  It is at electronic DJ events like this that the crowd arrives more socially awkward than normal.  One couple in particular took a liking to me and by their second trip through my line, the female lifted her shirt, not once, but twice, to show me her amazingly perky fake breasts that according to her husband, were "bought and paid for."  The male bartender next to me had no complaints. 

Their next time through, they were laying on the compliments pretty thick, so I asked them blatantly, "Are you guys swingers?"  They said, "Duh!" and proceeded to invite me to a swinger's afterparty.  I said politely, "I don't think I am ready for that yet." 

However, my curiosity kicked in.  I wondered what swingers do at real swinger parties.  So, upon their next visit, I asked them and the girl answered me, "We show up, have a few cocktails, I change into my special panties (she parties topless), hang out with who ever we want, and hook up with who ever we want."

Wow!  A bonafide swinger's party...in Kansas City...and I got invited!  However, as flattered as I may sound and as tempting as it may be to others, I just see it as it really is:  a STD fest with a bunch of mentally compromised weirdos.  No, thanks.

But thanks to the couple for being so loyal, offering up not one, but two viewings of the lady's tan boobies and tipping so generously -- possibly in hopes that the more money they flaunted, the more likely I would be to join them in the swinger adventure.  Sorry folks, I'm deeper than that. 

But it was fun anyway and makes for one helluva story!  Ha!

Here is a picture of the inside of the Midland

Blog-a-thon :)

I signed up for a blogging challenge to get my butt in gear. 

You can check out my name on the list here:
http://michellerafter.com/the-2011-wordcount-blogathon/2011-wordcount-blogathon-blogroll/

For the entire month of May, I will blog every day.  Sounds simple enough.  It's kind of like running a 5K to me.  Once you sign up, there's no turning back!  Additionally, once it's finished, you find out how easy it really was. :)

I 've done a lot of reading and some writers suggest to blog once a day and to visit ten other blogs and leave comments to help build your own traffic.  This is partially why I have chosen to participate in the blog-a-thon. I will use this as an experiment to test the advice and see how it goes.   My blog stats allow me to see how many views I get hourly, so I will be sure to post data periodically. 

Thanks for joining me on this journey!  If there is anything you would like to read about this month, throw me a suggestion!  I'm always open to new ideas and inspiration!

I sincerely plan to post every day and stay true to myself in my topic selections, which, to me, is the biggest challenge of them all.  It is easy to write.  What is hard is originality and supreme discipline.

Wish me luck!

Questions

I was recently asked,

"Are we helping the natural flow of enlightenment, or causing symptoms that hinder the process? If God looked down on the people of earth what would be said about us?"

I immediately replied, "Your question is quite deep.  I will think about my answer and get back to you."  Two weeks later, I answer this:

Part I: Are we helping the natural flow of enlightenment, or causing symptoms that hinder the process?

As a race that occupies this earth, I feel we are a part of the natural flow already.  We would not be where we are intellectually if not for the many before us who have paved this road -- building wisdom and testing the power of empire building.  It's all a cycle and it is bound to repeat again and again! That is unless we can use our wisdom to correct our karma now.

I believe that is the true nature of enlightenment.  We can continue to raise our individual and even group consciences, but as a universal soul, we are presented with the ultimate challenge.  It would take many like-minded individuals achieving peace within themselves and sharing that positive energy with others.  An energy so positive would easily gain respect and mimicry, possibly leading many to enlightenment.

However, as is the law of universal balance, for every good deed there is an equal evil out there.  Therefore, I believe that we are doing both:  helping and hindering enlightenment.  Unless evil is banished, which sounds so glorified, but it is the dead truth, we will never reach enlightenment as a whole planet.  Enlightenment as a whole simply cannot exist with the existence of evil and wrong doings.  Princess Diana's brother, Charles Spencer, wrote, "Genuine Goodness is threatening to those at the opposite end of the moral spectrum," and I think that is so important for all of us to remember as we battle the swift currents of social evils and fight our own good fights!

Part II:  If God looked down on the people of earth what would be said about us?

God is in us, with us, all around us, speaking to us through everything, helping us, saving us, and showing us our paths.  I do not perceive God as a "man above in the clouds" who is looking down.  I see Him as the light/life energy and the universal soul.  He is where we originate and where we return when our time on earth is up.  This short time is our chance to excel in God's school -- to learn and create the greatest gifts of good with what we have been blessed with in life -- and to read His words to know what is right and wrong.  If God said anything, it would probably be, "Remember that I am with you." We all have within us that Divine light.

What would you answer? 

Earthmotions

The world is one big ball of emotions
Spinning and winding through
The universe inside itself.

With life,
Love is alive.

With death,
Love steals our breath.

Trees care for us
Offering ecstacy to our body
And euphoria to our minds.

The ocean cleanses our souls
As a hungry dog listens to our woes.

Sadness drips
Drops of despair into the air.

Anger fumes jealousy
As shame enters our brains.

Lies ride the highways
Like semis on ice.

Jubilance melts the roads
And hope keeps them dry.

Worry sighs at pride
Like a regretful old maid who hides

Her fear in the shadow of suffering.

Frustration mates with anxiety
Trying its damndest to make us hysterical
With rage and hostility

Until we breathe
The gas from the trees

And expell
A stink from hell.
Our dioxide rich with disgust
Feeding the earth with distrust.

And we expect the earth to continue giving
Yet, we keep unbalancing it
With every shameful breath
We accept

And we take
And take
And take
Until that tired
Ball of emotion
Spins out of control.

And we wonder, Why?
How?
But the answer is inside us
Now.

Breathe peacefully
Wholly
Positively

Lovingly.

Sigh nicely,
Patiently
With understanding.

And maybe,
Just maybe
Our universe will heal itself.

"Dreams come true! It can happen to you...if you're young at heart."

Today I awoke from a vivid dream, which was reassuring to me as I haven't written an interpretation in my dream journal in two weeks! Dreams are messages from my unconscious to my conscious and bring about greater self awareness. I feel more connected to my unconscious, more balanced, like I am a complete functioning being -- rather than living separate waking and sleeping lives. It's a positive union; one that gives me great confidence throughout my day.

When interpreting my dreams, I first write a complete description of the images and events, then decifer the spiritual messages on a basic level, trying not to read too deeply into the book's meanings, but more into the context of the dream and my own personal emotions toward the events. I then sit back and relish in my psychic abilities as I watch my random dream images appear in the day's events. It is really quite fascinating to hear someone ask me a question about potty training a puppy, when in my dream last night, I had to discipline a puppy for having an accident in the house. These types of occurances help me build trust with myself and develop faith in my abilities. I highly recommend trying dream interpreting. It is life changing.

So, today I awoke from an episode in which a very ego driven man came to my house and somehow destroyed all of the branches of a tree in my front yard. At first I was bummed because I've dreamt about trees before and I know how they are directly related to the soul and the life principle. To have my "spiritual" symbol decapitated like that -- I was worried. As the roots represent the past and the foundations of my personality and unconscious, I could rest easy knowing that as least THEY were still in tact. With most of the trunk remaining, which relates directly to my present situation and social role, I was feeling less and less intimidated. You see, the branches symbolize the future and my higher functions, and well, to be completely honest -- I havent' felt as creative and inspired as I was when I began this mission.

...until today.

I met that ego driven man on the big screen in a movie called, "Limitless." Bradley Cooper plays an amazing role of a writer who finally taps into the other 80% of the brain that is not typically used and creates the life that he has only dreamed of. It's genius! Even if I don't have an endless supply of NZT, the brain enabling pill he takes, I can draw from his example and apply it to the growing branches of my new and improved future. By eating healthier, walking taller, staying alert and on point, outlining my dreams in steps and boosting my brain power -- I can make anything happen!

"He that have patience can have what he will." --Ben Franklin

"Persistance and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan 'press on' has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race." --Calvin Coolidge

It's easy to see now that the guy who destroyed my tree was really my unconsciousness clueing me into the possibilities of a new, better future than I even imagined. And that is why. I must imagine it first, piece by piece, step by step, with a quiet integrity and saavy persistance. I feel like I can now forge ahead with new energy and fervor -- almost as if I had my own dose of NZT and have tapped into my full brain potential with every synapse crackling. I have connected my conscious to the power of my unconscious dreams and can now comprehend the complex equations that will unlock the door to my waking dreams.

"Dreams can come true! It can happen to you...if you're young at heart." --Frank Sinatra

Don't let the old, skeptical person inside hold your inner child hostage! Get inside your mind and PLAY!

Haikus for April Fools :)

So, as a nod to April Fool's Day and the fact that Bill Cosby is performing in Kansas City tonight, I have compiled a few silly haikus ;)

Its April Fool's Day
We got Bill Cosby all night
Telling racist jokes.

The first of April
And TV dad, Bill Cosby
Sang some gangsta rap.

Bill cosby, the man
Who makes the funny faces
Sure likes Jell-o shots.

Bill Cosby still finds
Silly in the serious
After all these years

How can I not think,
"Take the Cosbys to the pool"
When I poop tonight?