Responsibly Running

I was born on a Saturday in '86, the afternoon before Mother's day. She said I was her gift that Sunday, and this weekend will be the first I will not be able to give that gift to her; followed by my birthday that lands the day after this year. Needless to say, I am not looking forward to the constant reminder of my Mother's absence, and have already made plans to be at the beach all weekend.

A close friend of mine looked directly into my eyes the other night and asked sincerely if it is out of an attempt to "run away". I don't remember my exact response to her, but it was an honest mixture of "yes" and "no". In a separate discussion, another friend asked if all of the moving around, and impulsive uprooting; this go with the flow wherever the wind blows mentality was really as irresponsible as many people make it out to be. Or, what the possible difference was between running and responsibly leaving, if that exists.

I can't answer for the personal details of her decisions, but I can say that, yes, I am running from any comforts of walls that resemble home this weekend, and, no, I do not believe I can run to anywhere that my sorrows couldn't follow. In essence, on Mother's Day I have nowhere that I actually need to be. There will be no celebration lunch, balloons or cards, cake served on the "You are special today!" plate that we have in our family. Instead, I am running to the one place that I want and need to be: the beach. Sitting on my board in the ocean, the smell of the salty breeze, camping in the sand, the one place where I am able to be alone and responsibly cope.

I call the Re-Beats Project a "movement" because, like all things, you have to move to make things happen in life, and they will never happen sitting stagnant. However, I can't determine for anyone, except myself, how far you have to move, if you are fearfully running away, or boldly running towards the place you ultimately need to be. I hope you find a little more clarity in which is most necessary for your own life though.

Origins of Revolution

In my little world, ideas are constantly swirling. I have a good grasp on some of them, but am not afraid to say that I need help taking others from uncoordinated thought to verbalized coherence. The best way to get to that point is to constantly talk to people, and willingly accept their input. No matter what side of the fence you are on, I don't get all of these political programs now that claim to accept other views on their show, but never allow their "guest" to get a word in before shouting over them the point that they wanted to get across in the first place. To think that one person, or one view, contains complete correctness is not only arrogant, but stupid. I have had two conversations this week that have had my head beautifully spinning.

The first was the origin of all revolutions. Mass movement always tends to come from one source: disconnection. This is broad, but can be configured to support every historically significant era. "Just feed them cake" says the French queen as a solution to the widespread starvation issues; "No taxation without representation"; "Liberty at all costs over the tyranny of someone that doesn't understand the peoples needs" (masters & slaves, dictatorships, separate but equal); and peace rallies versus wars our youth was previously drafted into without a clear explanation for the necessity of their presence.

Food for thought; we are said to be in an age where our societies are the most connected ever, but are we really? Have we lost the ability to communicate efficiently? Has tv taken over dinner talk? Does anyone else see the impersonal behavior of a text over an actual conversation? How many of your facebook "friends" are really friends? How much of our youth (supposed future leaders) care more about the idiots in the specific regions of the east and west shores of New Jersey and Laguna than global affairs? Similarly, how many can tell the difference between reality tv, and actual reality; the truth in news and spewed sensationalism? Does anyone else see the need to reconnect realistically? Just wondering.

Second, there are only several ways of describing, "going against the grain", "non-conforming", "different strokes for different folks", etc. without sounding redundant and outdated, but I have struggled for a long time to put into words trying something different, and only just heard it expressed really well. We have certain thought processes (good & bad), and ways of doing things without thinking anything of it because it is just "the way" it has always been done; TRADITIONS. It was pretty cool to hear that concept challenged in the misconceptions that tradition means repetition, but in fact tradition is something that is done for the sake of being passed down from generations without changing. To elaborate: tradition has lost progressive purpose in a solitary mindset that will never allow for advancement. Some traditions are fun, and harmless, but how many of those are hindering us from advancement? What do you think? Are we disconnected, and stuck in a traditional trap? Is it time for a revolution of the mind...