CJ>>"A happy mind is a healthy mind, a healthy mind is an effective mind, and we need our minds to be as effective as possible while we work to awaken our civilization from the lies of the empire."
Caitlin, THANK YOU! This is what I have been suffering from (an unhealthy, depressive mind), especially since Oct 7, 2023. There is so much work I need to do on myself, and your article today explains EXACTLY WHY and brings the point home.
I have to work on my mind if I want to make a positive difference in the world out there (but it is so difficult - there are so many things in this world that are currently depressing me).
But, I will try. I must try. Thank you for this much needed advice, Caitlin! Love and gratitude ❤️
I've recently rediscovered joy in cathedrals. Not as religious objects certainly, but as enormous works of arts of artists and artisans -- as swell as containing immense wealth of art-- carvings, paintings, sculpture, and the music of five-manual pipe organs, which I've had the privilege to play, which Bach wrote for; and which fill one's soul with sound, the original sound synthesizers. All in all, cathedrals express some very good aspects of the human spirit.
Absolutely, the artistry of mosques is generally fantastic. And I say all this because I'm generally so prone to derogatory commentary on the human race that to find value in human artistic achievement is a truly necessary counterbalance.
That brought a smile to my face…Cathedrals…standing in Salisbury Cathedral, my 10 year old son stated, after looking around, “ if you’ve seen one cathedral, you’ve seen them all”. I look for things to smile about for my well-being while I protest.
Never had the pleasure first-hand, only online images. Gorgeous upsweep of those gothic arches has amazing power. My first love has always been the Duomo of Firenze (Florence) ; I just love the tricolor marble work in the facade.
I had forgotten about Rosslyn Chapel. I remember visiting it many years ago, when I lived in Edinburgh, and being very impressed. However, I am now in the far north, and don't spend much time in the Lothians.
Happiness, like wealthiness, is an ephemeral mirage. As you achieve it your standards change and what you come to perceive as happiness remains just out of reach.
Happiness isn't to make us happy. It's evolution's carrot on a stick to keep us doing stuff. It's no coincidence the US Declaration of Independence talks about the right to *pursue* happiness, not achieve it.
Find meaning in what you're doing in the moment. Horizons are for gazing at, not chasing.
No that's not true. Happiness is the default position of human consciousness. It's not something we need to chase, it's something we actively trick ourselves out of in each moment. All that's required is to bring consciousness to the ways in which we trick ourselves.
Not surprising that many share this “happiness is a mirage” mentality, especially when you see them equate it to something like wealth. And when you consider the never ending deluge of things=happiness bullshit that we swim upstream against daily. As you observe, happiness lies in being present in moments of authentic relationship- to nature, to other beings, to (god forbid) ourselves. Thanks for your writing, Caitlin. I only discovered you recently, and with every word I read came that delightful feeling of recognition. Oh thank god, here’s another one of my people. We are not alone. We are not alone. We are not alone.
I think some of the debate in the comments comes from the idea of happiness as a goal in the future, which is used by the Machine as a carrot on a stick. The pursuit of happiness (often deferred to the afterlife) is sold to us as something dependant upon external factors beyond our control.
Whereas, if I receive your meaning, you're talking about happiness as an ever-present auto-generated possibility we can allow ourselves, not as an end in itself, but as something vital to our health, like nutritious food or some sun on your face each day.
Perhaps you're confusing happiness with the bliss of equanimity, though your statement that we need to 'trick' ourselves into it suggests you're not. It also contradicts your earlier post about a 'truth-based relationship with reality'.
I'll stick with my search for truth and leave fooling yourself to the self-improvers and happy clappers.
No contradiction at all; happiness is the natural byproduct of a truth-based relationship with reality. I didn't say we need to trick ourselves INTO happiness, I said we trick ourselves OUT of it.
But I'd still suggest happiness is the drive to satisfaction that Saint Mick assures us we can't get (even if we smoke the same cigarettes as him).
I'd agree there's a blissful natural ground state of consciousness concordant with unconditional love and acceptance, but that's not what I think 'happiness' means.
Regarding truth, while it's very important to me I don't think it's a path to happiness and my experience thus far suggests it may be just as much a mirage as happiness is.
'Truth' doesn't seem some kind of destination that can be arrived at but rather the process of seeking it. The more you uncover the more questions about truth are raised - including 'truths' you previously believed to be settled.
What's more, in my experience 'truth' is likely to alienate you from your society and culture and all the 'necessary lies' that maintain it. That also means alienating you from people who are important to you. It's not very conducive to happiness, especially if you compare it with the apparent happiness so many seem to find in shared lies (or do you go around educating kids as to the truth about Santa?)
Of course epistemological humility helps a lot. Understanding your 'truths' tentative, subjective and, very possibly, untrue facilitates wearing them more lightly and not as an armour to shield and define yourself against the 'truths' held by others. But if it's possible to care about the truth without being discomforted by the propagation of what seem to be untruths that's a skill I'm yet to develop.
There's a big difference between "your truth" which is based on your personal experiences colored by whatever meanings you choose to assign to them, and "the truth" which is far out of the reach of our finite individual minds. Truth is reality plain and simple and 99.9% of it is beyond human comprehension. That reality is a mystery that keeps life interesting and worth living. It's okay not to know everything. The lie is telling ourselves that we should.
According to Buddhist teachings existence is dukkha (unhappiness/unsatisfactoriness/disappointment/unease/suffering) because we crave things we can't acquire or attain, things that don't satisfy us and things we have but will inevitably lose.
How can wanting what you have be divorced from anxiety about losing it?
A friend of mine once observed that everyone frets because 50% of marriages end in divorce without considering what the other 50% end in.
Right, A! I don't want to get too heavily philosophical but since the bluebird of happiness tends quite often to crap all over our collective birthday cakes, it's wisest to not get our hopes up too high, but to wait for the occasional, generally fleeting experience of real happiness, and to extract from it what we can.
Have you confused happiness with money? Declaration of independence also talks about merciless, savage Indians, and counts blacks as 3/5ths a human being.
For example, you make a new friend. That makes you feel happy. A year or so later your friendship is less of a source of perceived happiness than the 'new normal'. Then you have a bust-up with your friend. You've now become even more unhappy than you were before you became friends. Ergo your standard of happiness has adapted to the changed circumstances.
It's not just biological processes which are subject to homeostasis. It's also your emotions, including happiness. As any junkie can tell you, if you want to maintain your level of happiness you have to keep increasing the dose of whatever makes you happy. There's limits to that.
As for the Declaration I was in no way endorsing it, just pointing out its authors weren't silly enough to say "All men have a right to happiness". Of course that standard has also changed after a century of consumerist mass marketing and many people now believe they *do* have a right to happiness; usually via rewarding themselves with the latest piece of worthless tat.
Thank you Caitlin. I often feel joy in my activism and privileged, I’m learning about history, politics, power, and I understand more and more about the world while engaging and writing for Palestine. But I frequently had the feeling I mustn’t feel joy knowing about the pain of one side and the sadism of the other. How may I be happy when others are dying an unjust death? Reading your text I see I’m not serving anyone being miserable and sad all the time. It makes me weak and not strong to go on.
I have no doubt that Caitlin is right. She has a habit of scoring high points in my book daily.
But, I doubt if I can shake the little Palestinian boy, shot by a sniper, purposefully wounded, calling for help and when help arrived, they were all bombed.
I saw it. I can’t shake the image.
Just one more. Amsterdam. The lies from the Western Press. My country up there with the worst of them.
Nor can I ever forget little Hind, barricaded in her Aunts car while one by one her family was shot around her, and she pleaded for someone to help her - after her 10 year old cousin was also shot and killed beside her while calling for help. She was afraid, and wanting help. She was 5 years old. After finally being granted permission from the Israelis to rescue them without being shot, her remaining family discovered sweet Hind, also dead. Never will I get that recording of her pleading for help out of my mind.
Large scale wins ignore the perspective of the bigger picture. You(we) need to fight every day and keep fighting. The Chris Hedges quote is right. You can't expect to win against an army as a single person, you can't possess resources to win the battle of attriction against billionaires, you can't down an international rogue government in a short period of time. That mentality is set in failure.
We have to think like guerillas and use tactics that make sense in our situation. We will more than likely have to break laws. Censorship, disinformation, propaganda, psychological operations, political correctness, changes in law, these are all the things we have to deal with that aren't physical. We will have to organize and work together, we can't be everywhere but there are those seeking to stop oppression every where.
You can't fight to just win, you shouldn't fight to win, you should fight on a moral ground, you should fight in what you believe in, regardless if you will win, because if you don't, the only possibility is defeat. Perspective, some times rather than winning we just have to make a stand, to make progress.
For me, happiness comes from doing what I believe in for people. An expression of whom I am as a person. I make mistakes, say fuck it, some times, make changes, improvise, but at the end of the day, every day...I just decided to not give up, to find something or someone to fight for...
Lastly, Caitlin, you are a hero and for me, you will never disappoint.
I needed this. Lately, I have become fixated on how much I hate Israel and the United States, thinking no one on the planet could hate these two abominations more than I. The depression that's come with this has made me think more and more about suicide, in an Aaron Bushnell vein. I'm going to take your advice and (try to) turn back to seeing beauty in animals which I have loved as much as I've come to hate Israel and the U.S. I've always known the same deep well where one holds one's grief, is the same place that holds one's love. Thank you.
I replied to your comment last night and I wasn't clear about my point. If you succumb they won.
I thought about you until midnight when I went to sleep. I'm obviously still thinking about you. Please follow Caitlin's advice. Take up a hobby. Do community service and keep it local. Donate to Islamic Relief Organizations to help Palestinians, Lebanese and Yemenese.
Don't let hate get the best of you. It's unhealthy. Convert it to anger but maintain control (Cool😎). Vent on the Net like Caitlin.
I wish you the best. Never quit, never give up, adapt, improvise and overcome.
There are so many others working against all odds to try to ease the suffering. We, who care, have the ability to join, and support them in any and every way we can.
There are those inside Israel who stand for justice and humanity, made up of committed Israelis and Palestinians working together to protect the Palestinians. We need to give them all the support we can. They are taking huge risks.
Work on the Ground: Transforming Lives in Israel-Palestine — American Friends of Combatants for Peace
"Truth has so much difficulty getting a word in edgewise."
It does, but that doesn't mean we stop telling the truth, preaching the truth to power, believing in the power of truth. When we all decide to defend the truth from those who wish to live in a world of lies, we find a happiness that the liars can't take away from us. We have the joy of living in the truth. Don't forget it!
You nailed it across the board. You have given excellent advice and made a realistic assessment. I'm with you 100%.
We must do what we can and not run ourselves into the ground. I was once advised not to harm myself helping others because then I'll be unable to help myself either. I'd be in no position to help others.
You wrote about a healthy mind but there are also physical and spiritual health to consider equally. Balance and proportion are paramount.
We are making incremental headway and get results. We've been successful poking holes in the Narrative and opening eyes. As long as we keep it up, never give up and grow the resistance network the headway will become exponential.
I have been sinking lately. Your post today is just what I needed to hear. I have been repeating a quote over and over to myself lately (don't know who said it) "The only thing worse than the world ending, is the world ending without a struggle." I have been struggling so hard to resist what is happening in our world that I have fallen into some strange kind of despair. I decided, even before I read your post, that I have to start looking for things that are good in the world. This depression has pushed me to be impatient with people who don't deserve my impatience. Thanks for this article.
"You have the right to work, but for the work's sake only. You have no right to the fruits of work. Desire for the fruits of work must never be your motive in working. Never give way to laziness, either." - Bhagavad Gita
Also, I can say from hard experience that if you invest yourself in the outcomes of your activism you'll burn out fast. If the job is important, easy and rewarding someone else is already sorting it.
Admittedly, I cannot agree with your first quote at all, but that is because I believe that only God can delineate between right and wrong, good and evil, and arbitrary assumptions of unnatural conclusions, or right or wrong, doesn't contend with the fact that you don't muzzle the ox when he treads the grain. Caitlin is correct about happiness being one of the touchstones to good health, and the glory of doing something well and helping others to understand is reward of itself.
This is why my country and the Zionist State🇮🇱 are the world's foremost terrorist states.
In Germany during the 1930's while the Nazis were building their movement so were the Zionists. They actually considered each other useful to attain their goals. Both wanted Lebensraum, Living Space. The Zionists wanted a homeland and the Nazis wanted more territory and resources.
The Nazis bit off more than they could chew and were crushed. The Zionists succeeded. Three years later the Zionists got their state🇮🇱.
Ever since the Zionists landed in Palestine to colonize and eventually steal it, it's been a reign of terror including the concentration camps Gaza and the West Bank.
Oh, the irony! The Zionists are acting exactly like Nazis! Then again, it makes perfect sense because Neocons and Zionists have a Nazi mindset. They're entwined like they were during the 1930's. They're easy to spot with their crossed 🇺🇸&🇮🇱 lapel pins. They're AIPAC🇺🇸🇮🇱 the most powerful and influential blobby in DC. They control Congress hence the government. AIPAC is a cancer that must be excized to save the life of our nation. They have turned our nation into the world's foremost terrorist state. The Nazi Project started in 1945 and ramped up in 1948 with the creation of NATO🇫🇲 and Israel🇮🇱.
We've become the 4th Reich!
Oh, if I only had a Nazi flag in my emoticon list!
They🇮🇱 consist only 2.4% of our population and they have us believing the 2.2%☪️ population is the problem. The power of that 2.4%🇮🇱 is astounding! They must be G d's Chosen!
You know how it goes. One bad apple, 1% fucks up the rest. One gang controls a neighborhood, Cartels control provinces. 🇮🇱 controls 🇺🇸.
According to the Gita it was God (Krishna) who said that.
But my Goddess leaves it to me to work out right and wrong. She doesn't concern herself with the petty dualisms we divide Her universe with. If your God is the one I think He is, She'd agree with Him in Isaiah 45:7.
My God is the father of all spirits, and his only begotten son Jesus Christ. He lived and embodied the law of all the commandments, and gave his life to show us that the Love of God is stronger than death and goes well beyond the grave. But when you refer to "my Goddess" I have no other reference than your first line, although esoteric knowledge is that darkness that Isaiah 45:7 speaks of, and indeed he does all these and more than we could ever know. But in him is light, and there is no darkness in him. 1st John 1:5. Ergo, let your light (the love of God) shine, like that candle on the candlestick. If I were to offer one meditation for this day it would be this: "
There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love." 1st John 4:18
Has it occurred to you that darkness is relative? What's dark to you and I can be well illuminated to a cat.
Perhaps the Truth of God/Goddess is of that esoteric knowledge that remains largely in the darkness beyond any possibility of human conception, much less anything that can be represented with an archaic English translation of a 4th century Roman compilation of Scriptures.
So, as with the Jain fable of the blind men trying to know the nature of an elephant, perhaps God/Goddess manifests differently according to the beholder. To some He/She is "the father of all spirits", to others He's Jahweh, Allah, Krishna, Great Spirit, Baayami ... even Mahakali.
God is without limits or boundaries. Our understanding and ability to communicate are limited by experience, culture, language and the human condition. What we say about our God may be true, but what we can say about God can never be True. Neti neti.
Speaking from experience, having crossed that veil between this dimension and the next, from a corporeal world of limited understanding into that realm where time does not exist, and all plurality becomes a singularity. There is one limitation of God, in that he cannot lie. Perhaps you have heard that" In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word (Greek preferred Logos) was God, the Same was in the beginning with God." Although you poem presents an amusing word salad, The Alpha and Omega cannot be simply cast off with negations of doubt. As Jesus testified in John Chapter 4, "God is a spirit, and those who worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth". Our corporeal minds and bodies are limited to an incomplete picture of what is to come, but make no mistake that we should never quit seeking out that which is good, right, and true regardless of what others may think of us, we need not be confined to the darkness of our own imaginations, where there are words to enlighten us to our plight. In the Gospel's, men are called everywhere to "repent" and believe the Gospel" but understanding the limitations of our vanity, we cannot chose for others, every individual must resolve within themselves if they really want to make peace with their maker, or to continue to make war with those eternal, immutable truths. In a culture that rejects mercy, truth and due consideration for the human condition, what else should we expect from fallen man?
My understanding is that followers of Abrahamic religions are 'fallen' because of forbears who ate of the fruit of knowledge of good and evil.
Perhaps by not seeking to divide Creation and the Divine into dualisms such as truth/lies and good/evil you can become unfallen and accept *everything* Creation blesses you with without having to impose your ego-based judgements upon it. Maybe you can realise your unity with the One and no longer be cast from the Garden.
If you have truly experienced a realm(?) in which "plurality becomes a singularity" (I suspect 'singularity' doesn't mean what you think it does) such concepts will be familiar to you even if my attempts to express them fall short.
I’m taking care of a friend’s two dogs this week while they’re on vacation. They’re so happy and excited when I show up, knowing they’ll be fed and petted and they’re so grateful for these simple acts. No wonder dogs are popular — they’re everything good humans should be. Happy to be alive, simple in their needs and grateful to have someone to love and be loved in return.
I can vouch for what Caitlin said. Since mid 2020 I have sort of lived in a perpetual state of insignificance. I went from fear and despair to wtf is the point. Essentially waiting for the doom or karma to reach out and back slap us upside the head. I got to the point of either officially going crazy or simply shrugging it off.
I would be lying if I said that I wasn’t getting nervous again. I don’t believe it can ever hit me as hard as it did before tho. That which does not kill me makes me stronger sort of thing.
No doubt, we live in a world full of it. I’m starting to feel like I am back for the most part. I have been highly upset about the escalation in Ukraine and Russia tho. It’s frustrating me. It was something even I did not expect. ☹️
Totally bizarre. I didn't really grasp how desperate our Western leaders are until now. They appear to be gambling the future of humanity and indeed all life on earth for nothing more than greed and ego.
I have remarked about it before over the last year or so. Only when I came to understand what is at stake did it occur to me. The system that they have built is collapsing. They could have easily walked into it with a positive attitude. A new planet not dominated by anyone bloc or group (multi polar).
But I had a sinking feeling that the lust for power may be too great. So great that they would rather die and take the world with them. Nobody felt more of a sense of relief after Trump’s convincing win. I wrongly assumed they would have to capitulate.
Lavrov warned us a week before the election not to even think about it. Oh but they did and now they are discussing arming Ukraine with nukes. I don’t know how serious they are but it would not surprise me in the least if it gains traction. JB signing that ATACMS deal was a very ominous sign.
Because of the betrayal on Minsk I fear there can never be peace. After all, fool me once shame on you. fool me twice shame on me. I sure wouldn't sign a contract with anyone who had so egregiously violated the previous one. Unfortunately the only way out is probably a fight to the finish. I feel sorry for Mr. Putin. Being a Christian this must weigh heavily on him.
All those innocent children dead because of Western greed and arrogance tears my soul in half. Ending the existence of these evil creatures cannot happen soon enough. Still, I grieve for the children.
Thanks Caitlin. I needed that. It’s just so hard to stand by and watch all the radical evil the past year while hoping the collective world would put an end to it.
CJ>>"A happy mind is a healthy mind, a healthy mind is an effective mind, and we need our minds to be as effective as possible while we work to awaken our civilization from the lies of the empire."
Caitlin, THANK YOU! This is what I have been suffering from (an unhealthy, depressive mind), especially since Oct 7, 2023. There is so much work I need to do on myself, and your article today explains EXACTLY WHY and brings the point home.
I have to work on my mind if I want to make a positive difference in the world out there (but it is so difficult - there are so many things in this world that are currently depressing me).
But, I will try. I must try. Thank you for this much needed advice, Caitlin! Love and gratitude ❤️
Amen!!😢☮️🇵🇸
I've recently rediscovered joy in cathedrals. Not as religious objects certainly, but as enormous works of arts of artists and artisans -- as swell as containing immense wealth of art-- carvings, paintings, sculpture, and the music of five-manual pipe organs, which I've had the privilege to play, which Bach wrote for; and which fill one's soul with sound, the original sound synthesizers. All in all, cathedrals express some very good aspects of the human spirit.
So do Mosques.
Absolutely, the artistry of mosques is generally fantastic. And I say all this because I'm generally so prone to derogatory commentary on the human race that to find value in human artistic achievement is a truly necessary counterbalance.
That brought a smile to my face…Cathedrals…standing in Salisbury Cathedral, my 10 year old son stated, after looking around, “ if you’ve seen one cathedral, you’ve seen them all”. I look for things to smile about for my well-being while I protest.
LOL on your son's comment. Maybe I'm a Philistine, but that's kinda how I feel, but have many other causes of happiness . . .
One of my favorites is Sainte-Chappelle. The lower chapel fills me with joy.
Never had the pleasure first-hand, only online images. Gorgeous upsweep of those gothic arches has amazing power. My first love has always been the Duomo of Firenze (Florence) ; I just love the tricolor marble work in the facade.
Yes. I have been there and an incredibly interesting History.
I had forgotten about Rosslyn Chapel. I remember visiting it many years ago, when I lived in Edinburgh, and being very impressed. However, I am now in the far north, and don't spend much time in the Lothians.
Happiness is healthy; it's not silly. Some of the happiest people I have come in contact with were the Cuban revolutionaries.
Happiness, like wealthiness, is an ephemeral mirage. As you achieve it your standards change and what you come to perceive as happiness remains just out of reach.
Happiness isn't to make us happy. It's evolution's carrot on a stick to keep us doing stuff. It's no coincidence the US Declaration of Independence talks about the right to *pursue* happiness, not achieve it.
Find meaning in what you're doing in the moment. Horizons are for gazing at, not chasing.
No that's not true. Happiness is the default position of human consciousness. It's not something we need to chase, it's something we actively trick ourselves out of in each moment. All that's required is to bring consciousness to the ways in which we trick ourselves.
Not surprising that many share this “happiness is a mirage” mentality, especially when you see them equate it to something like wealth. And when you consider the never ending deluge of things=happiness bullshit that we swim upstream against daily. As you observe, happiness lies in being present in moments of authentic relationship- to nature, to other beings, to (god forbid) ourselves. Thanks for your writing, Caitlin. I only discovered you recently, and with every word I read came that delightful feeling of recognition. Oh thank god, here’s another one of my people. We are not alone. We are not alone. We are not alone.
I think some of the debate in the comments comes from the idea of happiness as a goal in the future, which is used by the Machine as a carrot on a stick. The pursuit of happiness (often deferred to the afterlife) is sold to us as something dependant upon external factors beyond our control.
Whereas, if I receive your meaning, you're talking about happiness as an ever-present auto-generated possibility we can allow ourselves, not as an end in itself, but as something vital to our health, like nutritious food or some sun on your face each day.
Perhaps you're confusing happiness with the bliss of equanimity, though your statement that we need to 'trick' ourselves into it suggests you're not. It also contradicts your earlier post about a 'truth-based relationship with reality'.
I'll stick with my search for truth and leave fooling yourself to the self-improvers and happy clappers.
No contradiction at all; happiness is the natural byproduct of a truth-based relationship with reality. I didn't say we need to trick ourselves INTO happiness, I said we trick ourselves OUT of it.
Quite correct. I misread your comment. Apologies.
But I'd still suggest happiness is the drive to satisfaction that Saint Mick assures us we can't get (even if we smoke the same cigarettes as him).
I'd agree there's a blissful natural ground state of consciousness concordant with unconditional love and acceptance, but that's not what I think 'happiness' means.
Regarding truth, while it's very important to me I don't think it's a path to happiness and my experience thus far suggests it may be just as much a mirage as happiness is.
'Truth' doesn't seem some kind of destination that can be arrived at but rather the process of seeking it. The more you uncover the more questions about truth are raised - including 'truths' you previously believed to be settled.
What's more, in my experience 'truth' is likely to alienate you from your society and culture and all the 'necessary lies' that maintain it. That also means alienating you from people who are important to you. It's not very conducive to happiness, especially if you compare it with the apparent happiness so many seem to find in shared lies (or do you go around educating kids as to the truth about Santa?)
Of course epistemological humility helps a lot. Understanding your 'truths' tentative, subjective and, very possibly, untrue facilitates wearing them more lightly and not as an armour to shield and define yourself against the 'truths' held by others. But if it's possible to care about the truth without being discomforted by the propagation of what seem to be untruths that's a skill I'm yet to develop.
There's a big difference between "your truth" which is based on your personal experiences colored by whatever meanings you choose to assign to them, and "the truth" which is far out of the reach of our finite individual minds. Truth is reality plain and simple and 99.9% of it is beyond human comprehension. That reality is a mystery that keeps life interesting and worth living. It's okay not to know everything. The lie is telling ourselves that we should.
Happiness isn't having what you want but wanting what you have.
Or trusting yourself to deal with what life offers, bad as well as good.
According to Buddhist teachings existence is dukkha (unhappiness/unsatisfactoriness/disappointment/unease/suffering) because we crave things we can't acquire or attain, things that don't satisfy us and things we have but will inevitably lose.
How can wanting what you have be divorced from anxiety about losing it?
A friend of mine once observed that everyone frets because 50% of marriages end in divorce without considering what the other 50% end in.
... death. ;-)
Right, A! I don't want to get too heavily philosophical but since the bluebird of happiness tends quite often to crap all over our collective birthday cakes, it's wisest to not get our hopes up too high, but to wait for the occasional, generally fleeting experience of real happiness, and to extract from it what we can.
Have you confused happiness with money? Declaration of independence also talks about merciless, savage Indians, and counts blacks as 3/5ths a human being.
Nah. It's obvious if you think about it.
For example, you make a new friend. That makes you feel happy. A year or so later your friendship is less of a source of perceived happiness than the 'new normal'. Then you have a bust-up with your friend. You've now become even more unhappy than you were before you became friends. Ergo your standard of happiness has adapted to the changed circumstances.
It's not just biological processes which are subject to homeostasis. It's also your emotions, including happiness. As any junkie can tell you, if you want to maintain your level of happiness you have to keep increasing the dose of whatever makes you happy. There's limits to that.
As for the Declaration I was in no way endorsing it, just pointing out its authors weren't silly enough to say "All men have a right to happiness". Of course that standard has also changed after a century of consumerist mass marketing and many people now believe they *do* have a right to happiness; usually via rewarding themselves with the latest piece of worthless tat.
Ok. In your first post it was like you were speaking of money (never enough...).
I like dancing. Hard to be down when you are dancing. And I just forget everything for a few delicious moments.
Thank you Caitlin. I often feel joy in my activism and privileged, I’m learning about history, politics, power, and I understand more and more about the world while engaging and writing for Palestine. But I frequently had the feeling I mustn’t feel joy knowing about the pain of one side and the sadism of the other. How may I be happy when others are dying an unjust death? Reading your text I see I’m not serving anyone being miserable and sad all the time. It makes me weak and not strong to go on.
I have no doubt that Caitlin is right. She has a habit of scoring high points in my book daily.
But, I doubt if I can shake the little Palestinian boy, shot by a sniper, purposefully wounded, calling for help and when help arrived, they were all bombed.
I saw it. I can’t shake the image.
Just one more. Amsterdam. The lies from the Western Press. My country up there with the worst of them.
Nor can I ever forget little Hind, barricaded in her Aunts car while one by one her family was shot around her, and she pleaded for someone to help her - after her 10 year old cousin was also shot and killed beside her while calling for help. She was afraid, and wanting help. She was 5 years old. After finally being granted permission from the Israelis to rescue them without being shot, her remaining family discovered sweet Hind, also dead. Never will I get that recording of her pleading for help out of my mind.
Large scale wins ignore the perspective of the bigger picture. You(we) need to fight every day and keep fighting. The Chris Hedges quote is right. You can't expect to win against an army as a single person, you can't possess resources to win the battle of attriction against billionaires, you can't down an international rogue government in a short period of time. That mentality is set in failure.
We have to think like guerillas and use tactics that make sense in our situation. We will more than likely have to break laws. Censorship, disinformation, propaganda, psychological operations, political correctness, changes in law, these are all the things we have to deal with that aren't physical. We will have to organize and work together, we can't be everywhere but there are those seeking to stop oppression every where.
You can't fight to just win, you shouldn't fight to win, you should fight on a moral ground, you should fight in what you believe in, regardless if you will win, because if you don't, the only possibility is defeat. Perspective, some times rather than winning we just have to make a stand, to make progress.
For me, happiness comes from doing what I believe in for people. An expression of whom I am as a person. I make mistakes, say fuck it, some times, make changes, improvise, but at the end of the day, every day...I just decided to not give up, to find something or someone to fight for...
Lastly, Caitlin, you are a hero and for me, you will never disappoint.
I needed this. Lately, I have become fixated on how much I hate Israel and the United States, thinking no one on the planet could hate these two abominations more than I. The depression that's come with this has made me think more and more about suicide, in an Aaron Bushnell vein. I'm going to take your advice and (try to) turn back to seeing beauty in animals which I have loved as much as I've come to hate Israel and the U.S. I've always known the same deep well where one holds one's grief, is the same place that holds one's love. Thank you.
I replied to your comment last night and I wasn't clear about my point. If you succumb they won.
I thought about you until midnight when I went to sleep. I'm obviously still thinking about you. Please follow Caitlin's advice. Take up a hobby. Do community service and keep it local. Donate to Islamic Relief Organizations to help Palestinians, Lebanese and Yemenese.
Don't let hate get the best of you. It's unhealthy. Convert it to anger but maintain control (Cool😎). Vent on the Net like Caitlin.
I wish you the best. Never quit, never give up, adapt, improvise and overcome.
Absolutely! Giving in, means they win. Not gonna happen.
The Hind Rajab Foundation has filed a case with the ICC against 1,000 Israeli soldiers for war crimes in Gaza.
https://www.hindrajabfoundation.org/perpetrators/hind-rajab-foundation-files-historic-icc-complaint-against-1000-israeli-soldiers-for-war-crimes-in-gaza
I think they might could use our help. Please read the article and join me in making a contribution. https://buy.stripe.com/cN228hbY5g7jaM84gg
There are so many others working against all odds to try to ease the suffering. We, who care, have the ability to join, and support them in any and every way we can.
There are those inside Israel who stand for justice and humanity, made up of committed Israelis and Palestinians working together to protect the Palestinians. We need to give them all the support we can. They are taking huge risks.
Work on the Ground: Transforming Lives in Israel-Palestine — American Friends of Combatants for Peace
https://www.afcfp.org
CfP’s Solidarity in Action Campaign: https://drove.com/.2Mcf
For factual information:
https://www.btselem.org
Teach-in Network educating for justice
https://teachinnetwork.org
Gush Shalom has been on the side of peace for many years:
http://zope.gush-shalom.org/index_en.html
Breaking the Silence
https://www.breakingthesilence.org.il
New Israel Fund
NIF.org
ANERA
https://www.anera.org/
ADALAH
https://www.adalahjusticeproject.org/defend
Other organizations working for justice, and an end to occupation in Palestine
https://www.codepink.org
Christian organisations:
FOSNA
https://www.fosna.org
SABEEL
https://sabeel.org
https://paxchristiusa.org/
Jewish-secular organisations:
JVP
https://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org
If now now
https://www.ifnotnowmovement.org
These are only some of the courageous groups working for justice in Palestine. They all need y/our support now.
"Truth has so much difficulty getting a word in edgewise."
It does, but that doesn't mean we stop telling the truth, preaching the truth to power, believing in the power of truth. When we all decide to defend the truth from those who wish to live in a world of lies, we find a happiness that the liars can't take away from us. We have the joy of living in the truth. Don't forget it!
You nailed it across the board. You have given excellent advice and made a realistic assessment. I'm with you 100%.
We must do what we can and not run ourselves into the ground. I was once advised not to harm myself helping others because then I'll be unable to help myself either. I'd be in no position to help others.
You wrote about a healthy mind but there are also physical and spiritual health to consider equally. Balance and proportion are paramount.
We are making incremental headway and get results. We've been successful poking holes in the Narrative and opening eyes. As long as we keep it up, never give up and grow the resistance network the headway will become exponential.
I have been sinking lately. Your post today is just what I needed to hear. I have been repeating a quote over and over to myself lately (don't know who said it) "The only thing worse than the world ending, is the world ending without a struggle." I have been struggling so hard to resist what is happening in our world that I have fallen into some strange kind of despair. I decided, even before I read your post, that I have to start looking for things that are good in the world. This depression has pushed me to be impatient with people who don't deserve my impatience. Thanks for this article.
Loved these lines..
Find your happiness and continue to fight ferociously, without placing too much importance on whether your efforts will succeed or fail today...
Happiness is a skill that can be learned with practice, and it is worthwhile to learn that skill. ...
"You have the right to work, but for the work's sake only. You have no right to the fruits of work. Desire for the fruits of work must never be your motive in working. Never give way to laziness, either." - Bhagavad Gita
Also, I can say from hard experience that if you invest yourself in the outcomes of your activism you'll burn out fast. If the job is important, easy and rewarding someone else is already sorting it.
Admittedly, I cannot agree with your first quote at all, but that is because I believe that only God can delineate between right and wrong, good and evil, and arbitrary assumptions of unnatural conclusions, or right or wrong, doesn't contend with the fact that you don't muzzle the ox when he treads the grain. Caitlin is correct about happiness being one of the touchstones to good health, and the glory of doing something well and helping others to understand is reward of itself.
This is why my country and the Zionist State🇮🇱 are the world's foremost terrorist states.
In Germany during the 1930's while the Nazis were building their movement so were the Zionists. They actually considered each other useful to attain their goals. Both wanted Lebensraum, Living Space. The Zionists wanted a homeland and the Nazis wanted more territory and resources.
The Nazis bit off more than they could chew and were crushed. The Zionists succeeded. Three years later the Zionists got their state🇮🇱.
Ever since the Zionists landed in Palestine to colonize and eventually steal it, it's been a reign of terror including the concentration camps Gaza and the West Bank.
Oh, the irony! The Zionists are acting exactly like Nazis! Then again, it makes perfect sense because Neocons and Zionists have a Nazi mindset. They're entwined like they were during the 1930's. They're easy to spot with their crossed 🇺🇸&🇮🇱 lapel pins. They're AIPAC🇺🇸🇮🇱 the most powerful and influential blobby in DC. They control Congress hence the government. AIPAC is a cancer that must be excized to save the life of our nation. They have turned our nation into the world's foremost terrorist state. The Nazi Project started in 1945 and ramped up in 1948 with the creation of NATO🇫🇲 and Israel🇮🇱.
We've become the 4th Reich!
Oh, if I only had a Nazi flag in my emoticon list!
They🇮🇱 consist only 2.4% of our population and they have us believing the 2.2%☪️ population is the problem. The power of that 2.4%🇮🇱 is astounding! They must be G d's Chosen!
You know how it goes. One bad apple, 1% fucks up the rest. One gang controls a neighborhood, Cartels control provinces. 🇮🇱 controls 🇺🇸.
According to the Gita it was God (Krishna) who said that.
But my Goddess leaves it to me to work out right and wrong. She doesn't concern herself with the petty dualisms we divide Her universe with. If your God is the one I think He is, She'd agree with Him in Isaiah 45:7.
My God is the father of all spirits, and his only begotten son Jesus Christ. He lived and embodied the law of all the commandments, and gave his life to show us that the Love of God is stronger than death and goes well beyond the grave. But when you refer to "my Goddess" I have no other reference than your first line, although esoteric knowledge is that darkness that Isaiah 45:7 speaks of, and indeed he does all these and more than we could ever know. But in him is light, and there is no darkness in him. 1st John 1:5. Ergo, let your light (the love of God) shine, like that candle on the candlestick. If I were to offer one meditation for this day it would be this: "
There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love." 1st John 4:18
Has it occurred to you that darkness is relative? What's dark to you and I can be well illuminated to a cat.
Perhaps the Truth of God/Goddess is of that esoteric knowledge that remains largely in the darkness beyond any possibility of human conception, much less anything that can be represented with an archaic English translation of a 4th century Roman compilation of Scriptures.
So, as with the Jain fable of the blind men trying to know the nature of an elephant, perhaps God/Goddess manifests differently according to the beholder. To some He/She is "the father of all spirits", to others He's Jahweh, Allah, Krishna, Great Spirit, Baayami ... even Mahakali.
God is without limits or boundaries. Our understanding and ability to communicate are limited by experience, culture, language and the human condition. What we say about our God may be true, but what we can say about God can never be True. Neti neti.
I once wrote a poem to that effect.
https://neurodrooling.wordpress.com/2013/07/18/god-spoke-not/
Speaking from experience, having crossed that veil between this dimension and the next, from a corporeal world of limited understanding into that realm where time does not exist, and all plurality becomes a singularity. There is one limitation of God, in that he cannot lie. Perhaps you have heard that" In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word (Greek preferred Logos) was God, the Same was in the beginning with God." Although you poem presents an amusing word salad, The Alpha and Omega cannot be simply cast off with negations of doubt. As Jesus testified in John Chapter 4, "God is a spirit, and those who worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth". Our corporeal minds and bodies are limited to an incomplete picture of what is to come, but make no mistake that we should never quit seeking out that which is good, right, and true regardless of what others may think of us, we need not be confined to the darkness of our own imaginations, where there are words to enlighten us to our plight. In the Gospel's, men are called everywhere to "repent" and believe the Gospel" but understanding the limitations of our vanity, we cannot chose for others, every individual must resolve within themselves if they really want to make peace with their maker, or to continue to make war with those eternal, immutable truths. In a culture that rejects mercy, truth and due consideration for the human condition, what else should we expect from fallen man?
My understanding is that followers of Abrahamic religions are 'fallen' because of forbears who ate of the fruit of knowledge of good and evil.
Perhaps by not seeking to divide Creation and the Divine into dualisms such as truth/lies and good/evil you can become unfallen and accept *everything* Creation blesses you with without having to impose your ego-based judgements upon it. Maybe you can realise your unity with the One and no longer be cast from the Garden.
If you have truly experienced a realm(?) in which "plurality becomes a singularity" (I suspect 'singularity' doesn't mean what you think it does) such concepts will be familiar to you even if my attempts to express them fall short.
I’m taking care of a friend’s two dogs this week while they’re on vacation. They’re so happy and excited when I show up, knowing they’ll be fed and petted and they’re so grateful for these simple acts. No wonder dogs are popular — they’re everything good humans should be. Happy to be alive, simple in their needs and grateful to have someone to love and be loved in return.
For me it would be cats ! What can be better than food , warmth and lying around alternating with very vigorous exercise ?
Hey Caitlin, great to see you come around!!
You were really upset there for a while. (So was I)
Yes, we need to be joyful and maintain inner peace and prioritize on the things within our control.
A lot of people could benefit from reading this, Caitlin, especially the young and idealistic. Thank you.
I can vouch for what Caitlin said. Since mid 2020 I have sort of lived in a perpetual state of insignificance. I went from fear and despair to wtf is the point. Essentially waiting for the doom or karma to reach out and back slap us upside the head. I got to the point of either officially going crazy or simply shrugging it off.
I would be lying if I said that I wasn’t getting nervous again. I don’t believe it can ever hit me as hard as it did before tho. That which does not kill me makes me stronger sort of thing.
Just beware of the great killer of the human spirit. Apathy.
No doubt, we live in a world full of it. I’m starting to feel like I am back for the most part. I have been highly upset about the escalation in Ukraine and Russia tho. It’s frustrating me. It was something even I did not expect. ☹️
Totally bizarre. I didn't really grasp how desperate our Western leaders are until now. They appear to be gambling the future of humanity and indeed all life on earth for nothing more than greed and ego.
I have remarked about it before over the last year or so. Only when I came to understand what is at stake did it occur to me. The system that they have built is collapsing. They could have easily walked into it with a positive attitude. A new planet not dominated by anyone bloc or group (multi polar).
But I had a sinking feeling that the lust for power may be too great. So great that they would rather die and take the world with them. Nobody felt more of a sense of relief after Trump’s convincing win. I wrongly assumed they would have to capitulate.
Lavrov warned us a week before the election not to even think about it. Oh but they did and now they are discussing arming Ukraine with nukes. I don’t know how serious they are but it would not surprise me in the least if it gains traction. JB signing that ATACMS deal was a very ominous sign.
Happy Thanksgiving sir!
And a happy Thanksgiving to you sir!
Because of the betrayal on Minsk I fear there can never be peace. After all, fool me once shame on you. fool me twice shame on me. I sure wouldn't sign a contract with anyone who had so egregiously violated the previous one. Unfortunately the only way out is probably a fight to the finish. I feel sorry for Mr. Putin. Being a Christian this must weigh heavily on him.
All those innocent children dead because of Western greed and arrogance tears my soul in half. Ending the existence of these evil creatures cannot happen soon enough. Still, I grieve for the children.
Thanks Caitlin. I needed that. It’s just so hard to stand by and watch all the radical evil the past year while hoping the collective world would put an end to it.