Get off Our Buts

 

Oh no, I just saw something about the President of the United States going after The Belgian Congo of Africa. Not again.

Not a week goes by after reading Margaret Kingsolver’s astounding book The Poisonwood Bible, where I learned that President Eisenhower set those poor people into a starvation tailspin in an effort to get their resources. And now another President? In their endless hunger for valuable resources—minerals and diamonds of the Congo, they are willing to starve the people.

Stop it.

Get a GRIP. Get a Heart. Get some decency.

Crapola, I am so tired of this greed and corruption. We could all get along with just a little effort. How much is enough? We could feed everybody. We could find a little peace and harmony in our lives.

But no, we like dissension and unrest more.

I’m mad.

I’m disgusted.

Do you guys feel the same?

Join the group

Say Hi. Say something.

It’s time for people to wake up and smell the coffee and get off our buts, yes buts, well butts too, but right now I’m talking about this kind of but.

I do it too.

It came home to me recently when I read my hero Jane Goodall do it and I realized how often I do the same thing, “All’s right with the world. But…”

Is that negating a positive affirmation?

During a recent visit to Tanzania, Ms. Goodhall spoke at Roots and Shoots, a youth-action program of the Jane Goodall Institute founded by Goodall. While there, she attended an event where the neighborhood came together to share projects and socialize with lots of laughter and enthusiasm. When they wrapped up the meeting, they got together and shouted. “Together we Can!” (Meaning, set the world right.)

Goodall took the mike and said, “Yes, we can, but will we?”

Well, that brought the room down somewhat, but then—you know how you can’t keep good people down, they rallied and yelled:

 

“Together we can, and together we will!”

 

When I say leave the buts off, and although it appears truthful to have them there, if we believe in any wee bit that Positive Affirmations work, or that our word had power, we ought to leave the buts off.

I just posted a blog post on The Best Damn Writers Blog on the Block on the Block (I’m the only one writing one) www.bestdamnwritersblog.com/ after complaining that my writing sucks. I was at the end of my rope, and nobody commented or followed me. I was about to go into the yard and eat worms when, on Monday, I checked into the blog and saw that 2009 people read it that day. I was surprised to see that blog surpass this one, and I thought this was my go-to blog.  

Are you going to let those guys beat you?

(My Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday on the other blog. Thursday here.)

Hey, my follow does work---I just tried it. Scroll to the bottom, put your courser over the Follow button and give a little push.

Links, Dogs, Writing, and Houses

My heavens, I thought as I read a post I had written on June 28, 2022; I do not remember writing this. 

 

It came back to me as I read it, though—I'm not entirely out of touch with reality.

 

Bless the heart of the blog reader who reminded me of it and thus gave me the link. How they found that post is beyond me, but I am so glad they searched and commented. Thank you.

 

https://travelswithjo.com/2022/06/

 

As I mentioned in the last blog, I've been reading Steven Pressfield's weekly blog, "Writing Wednesdays." 

 

https://stevenpressfield.com/blog/

 

I wanted to talk more about the Wilderness. You know, by The Wilderness, we don't mean the forest or running off to Alaska. It's that place we wander before finding our true calling. Or, there is another possibility: We know our calling but refuse to answer it.

 

All stories are about the Wilderness. (Good ole Joseph Campbell wrote The Journey of the Hero long before it was made famous by George Lucas in Star Wars. Lucas said that without Campbell—renowned mythology researcher and writer—there would be no Star Wars.)

 

The Wilderness is really the second step for the hero. After the hero finds his calling, he usually wanders for a time. (Maybe he wanders alone, worried, dejected, depressed, resisting, or procreating.) It could be that wandering has value, for he is composting, gathering data, letting it perk until it is ripe for the taking.

 

Even Jesus went to the Wilderness and was tempted. As did Buddha, Ulysses, and Bruce Willis in Die Hard, and Jimmy Stewart in It's a Wonderful Life. All stories contain the Wilderness.

 

We resonate with it. It reminds us that we aren't the only ones who have wandered.

 

Now advisors remind the wanders to "Find yourself." Do they know what that means? Do we?

 

And which self are we finding? Pressfield's "Find" is the calling of our soul to express ourselves. The meta-physicians might say it is the soul's calling to find our core beliefs, the ones that run us, and check to see if they still serve us. There are probably a few hundred more possibilities. 

 

(I wrote a small story once called Where the Tiger Belches, where a young woman sets off in the jungle to find that spot that is her calling. She believes it will be where a tiger belches,) 

 

I have noticed that the infamous "They" do not discourage people from being doctors, teachers, computer programmers, preachers, researchers, inventors, or other tech people. However, in the field of the arts, it is another story. "You will starve." "Get a real job." 

 

Aren't you glad some don't listen?

 

So, get out there and express yourself!

 

Love from Jo

 

P.S. Some say that dogs, too, like to have a job. (A calling?) Sweetpea's job is to sit by my feet while I am writing. She pushes me, too, to go to work. When I say, "Let's go to work," she's ready. That means going to the Wayback to my office. 

 

And then there is Dog Blog By Peaches, which someone commented on. Daughter dear told me that Peaches should write more on her site, as she inspires me to be happy. She's been silent for a time as she wanders around heaven.

 

https://dogblogbypeaches.blogspot.com

 

Intro to Peaches' Blog: 

"My momma says that everybody and their dog blogs. I wasn't writing a solitary thing, but I'm correcting that right now. When momma got me, she named me Peaches The Pink Party Poodle for Peace. Now I'm Peaches, The Pink Party Poodle for Peace Pontificating. My pontification of the day is to tell you that the purpose of life is to have fun, hee, hee, and chase lizards. I love to chase lizards--never catch them, though, they taste like rotten toes."

 

P.S.P.S. And I finally got the search engine to our Real Estate Website--it only took a month. 

https://vibrancerealestate.com

 

                                                                 Our business card.

 

 

   Note, the "menu" is a list at the bottom of the page.