Brainsprain.net

My greatest challenge of late is becoming more tolerant of intolerance. I find it very difficult to deal with groups that rely on exclusion or judgment of others to build themselves up. I want to develop more compassion for people who spend more time trying to limit the choices and actions of others than to really understand their own choices and actions. I also realize that this is a contradiction because I am spending time right now concentrating on the actions of others instead of finding peace in this moment.

Western society encourages fear-based living. Most commercials are formulated “product x” is here to save you from “enemy y”. Even feminine hygiene products are referred to as protection. Protection from what? Embarrassment over our own bodies? Ruining a very expensive pair of designer pants? Why did you spend that much on those pants? Are they really THAT much better or was it a purchase based on fear of being uncool? Recently, I heard a girl say “I feel sorry for people who don’t understand how important this Louis Vuitton handbag is.” I believe that attitude is where my compassion must originate. It must be very frightening to live with that kind of fear. I hope that I can transform myself to become more accepting of the unaccepting. I hope I can find more tolerance for the intolerant. Most of all, I hope to find more love for all creatures and know that we are, none of us, better than the other.

In a disused field
at the end of an untraveled road
sits an abandoned warehouse
a forgotten boy
gives an unseen performance
he has practiced for weeks
charted the progress of the sun
across the gritty floor
so the light would be perfect
he plays all the parts
he is riveting
and captivating
and his audience
which is also him
gives him a standing ovation
and when he bows in gratitude
a single teardrop
hits the floor
and mixes with the grit there
and dries
and is also quickly forgot
and the flowers outside
which are not beautiful
because, he was told once
by someone who knows
are merely weeds
nod their indifference
to the dry unfeeling breeze
are his harshest
and only
critics