Robert Gale Ongley

Category: Uncategorized

  • WHAT I’VE LEARNED FROM YOUTUBE

    I doubt anyone reading this will learn something new about YouTube. There are many people in this world who know more about the phenomenal streaming service than me. Like most humans, I have had lots of exposure to YouTube, so I do think I’m at least qualified to share some stories and observations about it. I hope this amuses and will be of some interest to the reader with low expectations.

    My Introduction

    I can’t say what year it was I first learned about YouTube, but it probably wasn’t long after its launch in 2005. It was introduced to me in the office at my workplace. A friend walked over to my desk and said he had something to show me. Just doing so was out of bounds when it came to how we should be spending our work time, but the content was a little questionable as well.

    “Have you ever heard of YouTube?”

    “Heard of what?”

    “YouTube. It’s a website where people post videos and other people watch them.”

    “No, never heard of it.”

    “Well, I have to show you this one. It’s a Hasidic Jew doing rap.”

    I don’t believe my friend’s choice was born of bigotry. He’s a member of a minority group himself. He was most taken by the incongruity of the music with the rapper’s lifestyle. I learned this day that YouTube could entertain me with the unusual.

    My First Time on YouTube

    I haven’t done much posting on YouTube. The first time was silly and inconsequential. We were visiting our son in Portland, Oregon. He was living on a farm at the time. He had a friend who also lived there, but the friend lived in a room in the loft of the barn. In an open area down below, there was a ping pong table. While we were hanging out, I started playing ping pong with our son’s friend. My wife made a video of our back and forth. I think it lasted for about 15 seconds. She posted it on YouTube. It had no lasting value at all, but it seemed to catch a wave another video was riding and our poor ping pong display got some attention. I learned this day the thrill of getting some YouTube hits.

    Promoting Myself on YouTube

    When my novel Boundless Trust was published in 2016, I received an offer from a friend to interview me about it at a local public access television studio. I accepted and we shot it soon thereafter. We posted it on YouTube in hopes of spreading the word about the book. I just checked today to see how many views the interview pulled. 19.

    A snapshot of the interview

    In 2021, I entered a songwriting contest hosted by a group I subscribe to called Braver Angels. The group is organized to carry on a dialogue between Republicans and Democrats, conservatives and liberals. I had become disgusted with the vitriolic tone of rhetoric between the two political counterparts and had written a song called Listen to urge people to stop preaching their own views so much and to listen to the other side. I made a video for the contest and we posted it also on YouTube. I see now the number of views for the post has reached 14. I learned this day my artistic endeavors are not as interesting as cats.

    Anything You Want

    As you know, YouTube has grown to be media giant. It has grown to be the second most visited website, second only to Google Search. The folks who created it eventually sold it and its owner now is…Google. I’m sure I’m not unique when I say to others, “Anything you want is on YouTube.”

    I’m not a handy guy. When I need to do something that amounts to handiwork, I tune in to YouTube. The tutorials I get there are phenomenal. Just this week, I learned how to reload trimmer line onto a spool for my weed whacker. I’m very excited and proud. Thank you, Meandering Yogi! Last year, I learned the right way to use my drum auger for clearing clogged drains. Thank you, Leah!

    From the practical to the sublime, it’s all there! It was about four years ago when I discovered a video that helped me control my fibrillating heart. That was a life-changer. Thank you, Amaris!

    For a simple source of relaxation, there’s an unlimited supply of music. There’s information of all kinds, and some of it’s even true!

    And There’s More

    I’ve just scratched the surface. You can learn how to do so much or you can watch stuff that just fills you with serotonin or you can surf the waves of many oceans. By the way, there are other streaming services that are alternatives to YouTube. Daily Motion and Metacafe come to mind. Others include Vimeo, Crackle and DTube. Spread yourself around a bit. You may learn something new.

    The 3D Universe

  • FINDING LOVE (PART TWO)

    My post on finding love continues. I reflected on my childhood and adolescence in Part One. Following are segments on my adulthood experience and my projected future with love across its full spectrum.

    Adulthood

    I think now of my first real girlfriend. That was when I was 18 and spending a summer going to school in Washington, D.C. She was staying in the same boarding house as me. We met by spending time in the evenings, sitting with a group of young people on a stoop in front of the building. I was attracted to her. She looked like Anouk Aimee, a French actress in the film A Man and a Woman. I didn’t really know how to express my interest, so I showed how aloof I could be. I would sit while others did the talking, laughing at times, but staring off into the distance as though I didn’t care much about the conversation or the people around me. The ploy worked. The young woman took notice. We started talking and we were engaging wonderfully. It didn’t last more than two weeks, but it was a start for me.

    As it happened, it was a few years before I had another girlfriend. We had a blind date arranged by mutual friends. We weren’t much alike, but we hit it off and a relationship developed. She was two years older than me, had two small children and was a widow due to a terrible auto accident. She wanted to get married, a thought that hadn’t occurred to me. Nevertheless, we were moving in that direction when our differences became too much and she broke up with me. Looking back on it years later, I realized I didn’t actually love her. I was infatuated, but not in love.

    I entered into a new phase of my life following the devastating breakup. I gained confidence and eventually became wiser about my choice of girlfriends. I learned to look for qualities beyond sexual attraction. I considered shared goals and purposes in finding a life partner. I fell in love with two women during the next six years and married the second of the two. I found love.

    Here’s the rub. I’ve never fully overcome my inability to love with all my heart. To be sure, I have had my moments with my wife and my children and others and the Entity that shall remain nameless. More often, though, I’ve been aloof without harboring any conscious negative feelings. It’s uncomfortable for me to say “I love you.” My wife has trained me to be totally fine with hugs, but I tend to default to non-expressed love. It may be all my own shortcomings, but I suspect it’s connected to my upbringing.

    Where I’m Headed

    I’m working to improve myself in this area, using two tools currently. First, I’m using meditation and contemplative prayer to tap into the reservoir of love within. I believe doing so will enable me to pass this love on to the people in my life in the form that is appreciated according to the needs of each.

    Secondly, I have reviewed the “5 Languages of Love” as written by Gary Chapman. I’m reminded they are demonstrated by acts of service, gift giving, quality time, words of affirmation and appropriate physical touch.

    What I’ve found is that I need to learn to be naturally free and easy in the give and take of the love that’s part of the core of my being. Hopefully, I can unlock it and throw away the key.

  • FINDING LOVE (PART ONE)

    Living in a world without love would likely be a heartbreaking experience unless you didn’t know what love even is. You wouldn’t know what you were missing if it simply wasn’t part of reality in a given universe. Or how about living in an environment where the language of love is different from the norms of general society?

    My Childhood

    Here are some snapshots of how I remember it. Our family was the usual for our time and location. There was a mother and a father. There were four of us kids and another came along after my sister had grown up and was pregnant with her first child. Dad was an employed mechanic and Mom was a housewife most of the time. The grandparents were around until we moved to another state. There were lots of gatherings and Sunday dinners. Meals were served at a table and almost always included meat and potatoes.

    Dad was a hard worker and came home in clothes covered with grease and grime. Mom kept a good house and was the disciplinarian of the family. Dad was quiet usually. Mom was loud, direct and sarcastic. They both liked having fun, which meant they spent weekends going out to bars and night clubs in those early years of my life. I don’t remember them going to school functions. Their lack of interest in our personal lives meant we were given a long leash. We had a “live and let live” operation by the time I was 10.

    We didn’t verbalize or physically demonstrate our love for each other. Probably due to our mother and her side of the family, there was an element of jocularity in our home. My brothers generated much of it and I think I eventually learned how to contribute some of my own humor. From my perspective, my parents’ sparse teaching was through example. Their love was unspoken, but present in deed. They were solidly together. Though we moved a lot, we had a roof over our heads and food on the table.

    None of that really mattered to my immature mind. I was content with things as they were. I did start to awaken to the intriguing possibilities of romantic love by the age of six. I don’t remember much about my feelings and thoughts from that time, but I do recall an incident in 1st Grade I’d like to relate. It was recess and I was in the school yard with other students. I was hanging out with a girl named Candy. Somehow, it became general knowledge that she was my girlfriend. Some of the students were making fun of me about it. They were taunting me mercilessly. I was anything but a violent boy, but I became enraged and started lashing out. I took off my winter hat that had a buckle on the chin strap and I swung it around viciously, hoping to hit somebody with it. I guess I wanted to get back at anyone who said I had a girlfriend. Coincidentally, a couple of years later, I remember knowing this other girl named Candy in our next neighborhood who was supposedly my girlfriend. I was standing with my mother at her family’s front door when this “relationship” was referenced in a mildly amused way between the adults.

    I had my first crush on a girl in 6th Grade, I think. Those feelings were a mixture of excitement and bashfulness. I started learning how to be aloof to protect myself. I wouldn’t consider letting her know I “liked” her. I worshipped her from afar, across a classroom.

    Adolescence

    In 8th Grade, we had just moved to a new town. I was just getting to know students and to be known by them. At a school event, I was walking through the hall when a girl flirtatiously said, “Hi Paul” to me. She mistook me for a classmate of mine who I resembled. I think she did that again soon after. That made me take cover behind more misplaced antagonism. I rudely pointed out to her, “I’m not Paul!” That put an end to this nonsense. She backed off and never flirted with me again. Then I began seeing how pretty she was and I developed a long-term crush on her that I could never bring myself to reveal. We eventually became friends, but I could not tell her how I felt about her.

    Not much changed through junior high and high school. I became moderately popular and a bit of a class clown. I learned to dance and singled out girls I would dance with, but I didn’t have the confidence to talk with them despite dancing with them many times. I did ask a couple of girls out, but was rejected and stopped asking. I was fixed up for my two prom dates. The second one was a great girl and we shared an exciting affection, but I didn’t continue to go out with her, for no logical reason.

    At home, my younger brother by nine years and I became the only two left at home. My mother started working. I was given a puppy at about the age of 13. That made me very happy. I adored him. Unfortunately, he was chained to a dog house outside and I did nothing for him except feed him. I even forgot to do that duty once in a while. He was an obvious choice for my dormant love, but I wasn’t interested in him anymore. Because my parents left me babysitting my brother while they went out sometimes, we grew close in some ways, but I was given to treating him cruelly at times. I would scare him with pranks and stories that could plant fears in his impressionable mind. It’s good to know all these years later that he doesn’t recall those incidents.

    Mostly, I liked people. I poked fun too much, but I wasn’t mean-spirited. I wanted to make people laugh and be liked back because of my sense of humor. I didn’t find love in my adolescence, except in the form of friendship. It was great, but not enough.

    Part Two of this post is available and comes next in the Blog menu. It covers my adult life on the subject of finding love.

  • NEUTRALIZATION OF THE EGO

    Why would I want to do that, you might ask. What harm is my ego doing? I’m not a narcissist or anything. I’m just a regular person and I need a little ego at least to keep some sense of pride. To understand why you might want to neutralize it, a clarification of its meaning might be in order.

    What is the Ego?

    There are quite a few unofficial definitions of ego. My home dictionary has five official ones while yourdictionary.com offers the best 19 ones. I don’t want to be redundant or split hairs to get this term understood well enough for the point of this post.

    Here are several to mention which can suffice. The most common might be the “I” or self. It would be the being who declares, “I think; therefore I am.” The definition from the field of psychoanalysis is the part of the mind that is consciously aware of the material world and which mediates between the id and the superego. Philosophy defines it as the enduring and conscious element that knows experience.

    There’s a spiritual slant on ego, however, that is presented to us by Eastern religions. I found this excerpt in a wonderful blog post from a website called Mind Valley. “Spiritually, ego is the veil of individual personality that bars you from having a universal existence.” The article goes on to say it’s ego that causes us to “get the perception of separation from other beings, the universe, and God.  Also, this separation by ego is the root cause of all sufferings in the world.” This is the aspect of ego which makes it necessary to be neutralized.

    Why It Has to Be Neutralized

    The separation obsessed ego is the being’s own worst enemy. So caught up in being a virtual island, it perceives others as a threat, their goals as contrary to their own, and their actions as working against them. Obviously, it’s not how most of us are consciously thinking as we walk around every day. These thoughts and attitudes are very basic and buried. But let’s face it, we think of ourselves as separate, destined to die alone even if surrounded by loved ones to the end. That final journey into the unknown must be walked in solitude. Or does it?

    One of the best teachers on the subject of the ego may be Eckhart Tolle. His insights about ego strike at the heart of its existence and self-importance. I share with you now a few I’ve selected.

    “The ego itself is that dysfunctional way in which the mind works.”

    “There is no ego apart from thoughts, the identification with thoughts is ego.”

    “The identification with thinking becomes ego. Which means simply that you believe in every thought that arises and you derive your sense of who you are from what your mind is telling you who you are.”

    “The ego has all kinds of ideas of what it wants to be because it wants to have a better image of itself.”

    Consciousness has nothing to do with ego. It’s being, not thinking about being or whatever it thinks about. Those thoughts are made to prop up our individuated sense of self, which is a complete illusion based on such things as confusion and fear.

    What to Do About It

    To paraphrase Paul Simon, there must be 50 ways to leave your ego. I don’t wish to evangelize here because there are probably numerous valid paths to freedom from the ego. I will instead offer insights that come from an assortment of people wiser than me. Tolle is one and this quote rings true for me. “The ego cannot dissolve itself but in the light of awareness it dissolves.” Increasing awareness can be accomplished through some time-tested methods. Meditation would be one of those. Deep prayer in which the focus is on simply being is another.

    Returning to being childlike, your natural self before all kinds of artificial aspects of personality were added, can free you of egoic mechanisms.

    Communication is an excellent elixir for mental and spiritual ailments. This could be in the form of a therapy routine with a professional, but just being part of a group that gathers and discusses ego might yield results. Communication with yourself through journaling about your ego could bring insights and increased awareness of your own behaviors. The important factor in all this is honesty. Facing the ego and your many foibles requires being real. The ego is cunning and you can delude yourself into thinking you’re dismantling the ego when you’re actually reconstructing it.

    Make it Simple

    If a self-improvement technique is getting complicated or convoluted, there’s probably ego involved. Keeping the ego neutralization simple is important. So, I reiterate some of the pointers I’ve mentioned here. Be rather than think. Be as a child. Practice honesty. There’s one other thing I read in my research of this subject that should be touched upon. Transcend the ego. Don’t try to crush it. We can’t undo it with a sweep of the hand. Patiently work on it. Humbly acknowledge it. With effective techniques, gradually rise above it to find the real you. Free of ego.

    One parting quote from Tolle: “Don’t take the ego too seriously. When you detect egoic behavior in yourself, smile. At times you may even laugh.”

    Ego With Humor

  • HUMILITY

    In a society where some politicians are increasingly bombastic, where celebrities are celebrated more than philanthropists, and where we common folk are led to self-promotion for “likes,” the perceived virtue in humility can be obscured and even lost.

    Yet, in the past and even now there are people who have accomplished great things, who have risen to heights few of us have known, and they have seemingly remained humble through it all. In this post, I want to highlight five influential human beings who couldn’t help but shine in spite of their inclination to avoid the spotlight. There’s so much that could be said about each, but I will be brief and hope you’ll be inspired to learn more about the lives of these remarkable standouts.

    Lou Gehrig

    One of the elite members of the New York Yankees in their long history of success, Gehrig was quietly magnificent. Being a key contributor to many championships, he was consistent to the degree he set a long-standing major league record for consecutive games played–2130. Despite his statistics which would have made him the greatest star of most baseball teams, he played second fiddle to the flashy and charismatic Babe Ruth. He did so with grace and class.

    When Gehrig had to retire due to contracting the disease which would come to be known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), he was honored at Yankee Stadium in 1939. He reluctantly gave a speech that made him an iconic symbol of humility, in which he minimized the sentiment he had been given a bad break. He referenced his parents, his wife, his teammates, the press and the fans, then said he considered himself “the luckiest man on the face of the earth.”

    Mahatma Gandhi

    Gandhi was a rare individual indeed. He was a serious devotee of the Hindu religion while also being a lawyer. When he was finally enjoying success representing wealthy clients, he found his calling to dedicate his skills, time and energy to public service. Political, economic and social justice for the oppressed became his focal point in his practice. His material pursuits gave way to helping others.

    Eventually, he took on the British government in his cause of independence for India. He sacrificed much in this lofty goal, putting the lives of his countrymen ahead of his own comforts. As part of his nonviolent civil disobedient strategy, Gandhi fasted in protest of British rule multiple times, the longest one lasting 21 days.

    He was quoted many time on humility. Here’s one. “The seeker after truth should be humbler than the dust. The world crushes the dust under its feet, but the seeker after truth should so humble himself that even the dust could crush him. Only then, and not till then, will he have a glimpse of truth.”

    Mother Teresa

    Mother Teresa is almost synonymous with putting others before oneself. She dedicated her life to Christ at the age of 12. At the age of 36, after having been a nun and teacher for 17 years, she began her work caring for sick and poor people. She started The Missionaries of Charity order for this purpose. They created a hospice, centers for the blind, disabled and aged, and also a leper colony.

    She was tireless in her work, which earned her a Nobel Peace Prize in 1979.

    From the Catholic Exchange website: A priest once asked St. Teresa of Calcutta what she would do when she was no longer Mother General. 

    “I am first class at cleaning drains and toilets,” Mother Teresa answered, as told in the book Where There is Love, There is God.

    Fred Rogers

    When Mister Rogers (how can I possibly refer to him merely as Rogers) was a senior in college, he realized television could be an educational medium for children. He changed his life path and started a career in television. He became disillusioned with commercial TV and helped found WQED in Pittsburgh, the first community-supported station in the United States. The next year, he became involved with The Children’s Corner.

    He was eventually ordained as a Presbyterian minister, but he always kept his purpose to serve children as his main focus. When he launched Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, his deep, wholesome compassion and caring for pre-schoolers was an inspiration for children and adults alike. His genuine sincerity and selfless attitude come across in this statement he made.

    “I’ll never forget the sense of wholeness I felt when I finally realized, after a lot of help from a lot of people, what, in fact, I really wasn’t. I was not just a songwriter or a language buff or a student of human development or a telecommunicator, but someone who could use every talent that had ever been given to me in the service of children and their families.” 

    Clara Barton

    Clara Barton was a shy girl. When her brother David was extremely ill, she helped take care of him to restore his health. At the age of 18, a family doctor recommended she become a teacher and her parents made it happen. She founded two schools over the next 13 years.

    Her life of service really hit its stride when the Civil War started. She took it upon herself to deliver supplies to the Union soldiers who were short on them. In 1862, she was given official permission to bring supplies to actual battlefields. This led to treating injured soldiers and being tabbed as “angel of the battlefield.” General Benjamin Butler gave her the title of head nurse for one of his units despite her complete lack of medical training. Once the war ended, she dedicated herself to finding missing soldiers.

    In later years, she lobbied for the establishment of the American Association of the Red Cross. She was elected president of the organization. While there for the next 23 years, she carried out her administrative duties while personally helping disaster victims, the homeless and the poor.

    Who Are These People?

    Of course we know the special ones listed here. Their actions have spoken loudly over their soft words. There are many more famous luminaries who live humble lives. They are virtual beacons whose light is often hidden under bushels of good works in service of others they hold up in respect. In my next post, I would like to take a look at how life might be lived in the neutralization of ego. For now, let’s hold dear those who grace the rest of us with genuine humility.

  • FOLLOW YOUR ROAD

    “With so many roads that seem to lead down to the sea
    I wonder which road will be the right one for me
    Others may fall away, dead ending left and right
    But there is this one road that journeys far out of sight.

    Have you wondered where your road will lead you?
    Maybe to a bright day of sunshine or a starry night in heaven
    Or it might be you’re afraid to go, afraid to go
    But you’ve got to follow your road, or you’ll never know, never know.”

    These are the opening lyrics to one of the most inspirational songs you possibly never heard. The chorus ends with “You’ve got to follow your road, follow your road, follow your road. And maybe someday your road will take you far away.” The song carries the same title as this post. It’s Follow Your Road. It was written by Pauline Wilson and recorded by Seawind back in the ’70s.

    For a person born with a passion for the arts, this song speaks to you, heart and soul. My primary drive in the arts was about writing. I wasn’t that great at following my road, but I always found my way back.

    Finding My Road

    Here’s an excerpt from my memoir, The Quest and the Resistance. “Once I learned to read and write at the country school, I found I loved both. I would say television contributed to the passion for storytelling, but as soon as I was doing cursive writing, I began weaving tales of fiction. I knew I wanted to be an author and that’s the term I used. I wrote my first story. Heroic dogs were big on TV at the time and I took my cue from Lassie or maybe Rin Tin Tin. My story was of a boy who fell in a hole. He was rescued by a dog…The End. It wasn’t quite that short, but it was no doubt very brief and to the point. It’s tough to flesh out characters or design nuance and subplot when you’re six.”

    My vocation was decided then. Ah, but life has its distractions. There was fishing. There was baseball. I actually supplanted my goal of being an author for a few misguided years with a far flung dream of being a major league baseball player! There were insects. There were girls. And reading.

    Still, throughout my childhood, I kept writing stories. I wrote a mystery in Fifth Grade that I was honored to read in class. I wrote a fictional Alamo account that centered around Jim Bowie which ended with his death and fake blood trickling down the final page. I wrote about Hannibal of Carthage because of my fascination with his African war elephants he drove across the Alps in an assault on the Roman Empire.

    Setbacks

    In high school, I could barely get my homework done, let alone put many stories down on paper. I recall one short story and it was done for an English class taught by Elsie Schall–Mrs. Schall to us. I created a modern tale that emphasized my budding consciousness of current affairs. It was partially inspired by a news story about a person in some big city who was standing on a skyscraper ledge with the crowd below chanting “Jump! Jump!” Oh, the humanity…or lack of it. I wrote about a social worker who was dedicated to helping others, but he met a dubious, tragic end that I left to the imagination of the reader. That bit of contemporary ingenuity earned me a C minus in the bespectacled eyes of Mrs. Schall.

    Though I don’t have a memory of the short fiction I was writing, I do remember my infantile attempts at marketing. I submitted a few pieces to magazines such as The Atlantic Monthly and The New Yorker. I learned about rejection slips.

    Staying Power

    Despite the many distractions of puberty, poverty and production, I found my way back to my destiny–writing for the sake of writing. I had my first taste of publication by becoming a sportswriter for the weekly newspaper in our little town. I covered basketball and wrestling for a year or two. Later, the paper published a travel article I wrote about a Bluegrass Festival I had attended in Santa Barbara. Here and there through the years, I’ve done some reasonable work and several people have taken a chance on me. The passion is still within and will stay with me to the end.

    I feel so fortunate to have had a road to follow. I’m thankful I was able to get back to it when I was lost. Whatever your road, may you never lose your way.

  • EGOMANIAC DREAMS COME TRUE (PART II)

    Cold and Calculating

    I imagine dealing in person with the cold, calculating mind of Vladimir Putin brings about uncertainty and anxiety. He probably makes passive aggressive statements to throw you off guard, but his manner is so confident it makes you wonder what he is actually thinking and whether he would actually to what it is he implies. In ordering his military into Ukraine, he made good on his threatening postures. Then, reacting to blistering sanctions against Russia, he quickly played the nuclear card to the degree of putting his forces in that area on alert.

    Would a man such as this be determined enough, sociopathic enough to subject the entire planet to nuclear war? Is he so bent on achieving his imperialistic objectives that he would ruin his own country financially for the pleasure of having conquered another nation? If he succeeds, would he be willing to keep moving into other countries such as Poland and other NATO countries where he would be met with Allied military might?

    We don’t know the answers to these questions, but there are projections about the effect on the world based on his actions in Ukraine up to this point. Let’s take a look at what the experts and pundits are telling us.

    World War or European Pain in the Neck

    Following is an excerpt from the Voice of America website.

    “In the hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an invasion of Ukraine — although no country has declared war on Russia — many are asking: ‘Is this the start of World War III?’

    ‘No, it’s not,’ according to Joshua Pollack, editor of The Nonproliferation Review and a former consultant to the U.S. government on issues related to weapons of mass destruction, including proliferation, arms control and deterrence. ‘The real question is whether it’s the start of Cold War II. The answer may depend on the longevity of Putin’s regime.’

    Naoko Wake, Michigan State University associate professor of history, concurs.

    ‘This appears to be one of the beginnings of a second Cold War, which we have been seeing so many manifestations of around the globe in the recent decade,’ she says.”

    The New York Times has this to say. “Rising energy costs and potentially slowing supply chains will take their toll on consumers. Russian cyberattacks could cripple electronic infrastructure. A new refugee crisis will require international assistance. And an era of relative calm in the West that has pervaded since the end of the Cold War might be coming to a close.”

    Paraphrasing the same Times article, NATO is moving member country forces into strategic locations to Eastern Europe and the Baltics in anticipation of further aggression by Russia. The CIA will look for ways to support resistance in Ukraine with intelligence and possibly armaments.

    Logic would suggest Putin would be deterred by such massive resistance to further expansion of his “empire.” Whether logic has given way to madness and unlimited recklessness isn’t known. My guess is he remains cold and calculating.

    The Diplomatic Community

    In this environment characterized by attack versus resistance, diplomacy would seem to stand little chance. It’s surprising to see Russia has agreed to have talks with the Ukrainian government. Unless the defenders can keep the aggressors at bay for a long time, I don’t expect much to come from any negotiations.

    On a broader scale, the United States introduced a resolution at the United Nations to condemn Russia for its invasion. It may get great support, but Russia will veto any enactment of the resolution. Diplomats are likely to be hamstrung in their efforts to rein in Putin for a while until he has motivation to pull in his fangs.

    The Economy

    The West places its hope for Putin’s motivation toward peace in damaging Russia’s economy. The European Commission, along with the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada, is denying Russian access to crucial financial systems. This alone will have heavy consequences for Russia. Other countries such as Japan, New Zealand, Australia and Taiwan and even neutral Switzerland are joining in with their own sanctions to put a stranglehold on the aggressor’s economy.

    There is one weakness for the West which I’ve read about, and that’s the need for Russia’s oil and natural gas. To keep Russia from exporting their energy commodities would be painful for the people of the countries that depend on them. I don’t know if this sector of Russia’s business will be enough to keep the war machine going, but it may help them maintain for the immediate future.

    Fidelity Investments published an article written by Jeff Sommer about the likely effect of the invasion on global stock markets. The gist of the piece is that historically, markets take a hit in times like these, but they rebound from the shock of war and disaster. Nuclear war would make for an unpredictable future, but if Putin remains cold and calculating, he won’t unleash that level of misery on the world. If this operation ends in Ukraine, the likelihood is the global economy won’t be down for long.

    The Human Factor

    What really matters in this crisis is the effect on the common citizens of Ukraine, Russia and the rest of Europe. Loss of life, property, liberty and security will bring difficult changes to those directly affected by war. We who are far from the epicenter cannot forget their suffering when we no longer feel the relatively mild uncomfortable effects of this unwarranted hostility. May the oppression end soon and life return to the cherished traditions for the resilient folk of Ukraine.

  • EGOMANIAC DREAMS COME TRUE

    I will begin by saying I don’t know much about world politics. I suspect that even when I believe I know why international events unfold as they do, I don’t really have a clue. World leaders probably aren’t the people actually pulling the strings of a complex puppet show. For me to discuss what happens on and off the earthly stage seems pointless somehow because so much is not as it seems.

    Having said that, I do have a reasonable expectation that certain events covered by mass media reports backed by video from a wide variety of sources have a basis in truth. When we see a hurricane ravage the Caribbean and much of the South of the United States, we can feel convinced of its existence. When we witness one country invade another on real time video, we observe actual human cruelty followed by suffering that isn’t play acting. Russia’s assault on Ukraine in recent days is an assault on our human sensibilities. I feel compelled to share my views about this undeclared war and how it may affect the rest of the planet.

    The Violation of Borders

    When Russian forces finally crossed over into Ukraine last week after a long, sustained build-up of troops and military equipment, no one was taken by surprise. Yet, the violent attacks from the ground and the air chilled me to the bone. The outraged citizens of Ukraine mobilized their own military to take up arms and start shooting back at the armed invaders. Protesters in at least 48 cities in Russia endangered their own freedom to demonstrate their vigorous objections to Vladimir Putin’s acts of war aimed at their friendly neighbors. More than 2000 of the protesters have been arrested thus far. Echoes of the Soviet KGB rang across Russia as the oppressive government cracked down on whatever freedom of speech was being exercised while spouting its own ridiculous propaganda.

    The North Atlantic Treaty Organization and non-member countries have imposed severe economic sanctions on Russia and Putin, aimed at crippling the invaders financially and making them pariahs. I’ve seen countries condemn violators of other sovereign nations in the past, but nothing like this do I recall. The response is widespread and more thorough than anything I’ve seen in my lifetime. It’s been over 60 years since a country has undertaken an unprovoked full-blown military operation with the goal of overthrowing a neighboring government. Putin has taken to calling Ukraine’s governing body Nazis when it’s his actions alone that remind me of Nazi Germany. What bitter irony!

    Fruits of Their Labor

    The effects on human life by this uncivilized behavior are too great to recount here in full. A few examples, large and small, will have to suffice for now.

    I saw a news report showing a woman who was cleaning up broken glass in her apartment. The windows had been shattered by gunfire or perhaps by the impact of a nearby blast. She was singing a national song extolling her love of Ukraine as she wept and did her work. She was apparently unharmed physically, but her pain was nonetheless real. And it touched my heart with sadness to see her suffering.

    As the advance by Russian forces continued, approximately 400,000 have fled their country. Most are women and children. Men have stayed to mount resistance and fight for their country. The latest numbers I found indicate 198 Ukrainians have been killed, three of them being children. An additional 1115 citizens have been injured, including 33 children. These numbers don’t seem high at all, considering the amount of fighting and air attacks that have taken place. We can take heart in that, but there can be no joy in the face of any loss of life. There is much grieving around 198 deaths, especially sudden deaths by violence. By the way, Radio Free Europe reports about 500 casualties among the Russian military. Their lives being lost under orders of a fascist narcissist is tragic as well.

    A Touch of Levity

    I discovered a video out of Ukraine which has reportedly gone viral. A citizen of the country is driving along a rural road and comes upon a stopped Russian tank. The Ukrainian pulls over and asks the soldiers if they broke down. One of them says they ran out of fuel. The driver of the car offers to tow them back to Russia. The soldiers laugh.

    I understand there are other examples of Ukrainians handling this horrible invasion with humor. I have no wish to take it lightly, but it’s one thing I love about human beings. We can find humor under the worst of conditions.

    There’s More

    Another post will follow, examining the effect this war may have on the world in the future. Check for Part II, coming soon.

  • THOUGHTS ON TRANSCENDENT EXPERIENCE

    As you know, we live in a universe that is constantly changing. We’re along for the ride and all too often we might feel like a bronc bustin’ cowboy holding on for dear life, but not all change is traumatic. In fact, it’s a blessing when we can transcend one condition for a better one. A grubby caterpillar metamorphosing into a grand butterfly is magnificently symbolic of how wonderful transcendence can be. In this article, I hope to flutter around and alight on ideas around the concept of transcendence that will inform and inspire.

    Okay, So What is a Transcendent Experience?

    Merriam-Webster states, “A transcendent experience is one that takes you out of yourself and convinces you of a larger life or existence; in this sense, it means something close to “spiritual”.

    In an article written on magellantv.com, Eden Arielle Gordon wrote:

    “ ‘Transcendent experiences’ ” are events that bring us out of our ordinary minds, making us feel connected to the world around us. People report accessing them through use of certain drugs or through spirituality, magic, and the occult. They can also be triggered by nature, meditation, and even near-death experiences. Additionally, new scientific studies are discovering that transcendent experiences – however they’re reached – could be helpful for our mental health.“

    I admit I’m partial to the spiritual aspect being part of a transcendent experience, but I would like to put in a word for the possibility of it being less lofty. For example, a person could be training to do something such as setting tile and after some struggling, the process suddenly clicks and the worker goes from being a tile setting student to a tile setter. When an aspiring dancer fully understands all the steps and nuances of a choreographer’s creation, she transcends to becoming an accomplished dancer. As stated in the Merriam-Webster definition, a larger life or existence is realized.

    Random Thoughts

    Several years ago, I attended quite a few meetings of International Association for Near-Death Studies (IANDS). People in the group shared some amazing stories of their near-death experiences. As they were losing their grip on their bodies, they found themselves as spirits beholding things they never had when completely body-bound. Most of them transcended to states of peace and love, letting go of any fear of death.

    I believe a transcendent experience will not inflate the ego. It will be humbling in a way, but most importantly there will be raised consciousness on unity with others. Ego inspires separateness. If the tile setter or dancer settle into pride over their accomplishments, they have sacrificed much of their transcendence.

    I wonder if a true transcendent experience is always permanent. First times for many life events are often the best of their kind, never to be equaled. They can’t be recreated and the sweet memories of them don’t reach the heights of the original. Quite possibly, the true transcendent experience is above and beyond the materially-oriented ones. Still, standing on a mountain’s summit and contemplating the interconnectedness of all life may not hold up years later in the face of a bitter divorce and broken family unit. I suspect there are no absolutes here. In the final analysis, a person is forever changed by a transcendent experience whether they fully retain the improvement it brings or if it fades like a dream.

    A Few Techniques

    The transcendent experience can happen spontaneously, but it’s rare. One of the ways it can occur without going much out of your way is to sit with nature for extended periods of time. That’s one of Henry David Thoreau’s suggestions. It’s a meditative exercise.

    Speaking of meditation, this practice can definitely lead us to spiritual transcendence. With persistence and dedication, the meditator can improve concentration and use techniques for deeper and deeper dives.

    Contemplative prayer done with sincerity and single-minded intensity can bring amazing results. By contemplative prayer I mean a passive state in which a person sits silently and contemplates God. It can bring unimaginable love and insights for those willing to wait and listen.

    Although I don’t recommend it, psychedelic drugs can produce transcendent experiences. If a person is so inclined, it would be best to find a professional therapist who can administer the drug and guide them through the “trip.”

    A Final Thought

    There’s more to life than the mundane human existence. Our five senses are limited. When we open ourselves to experiences beyond the ordinary, we can widen our horizons in ways that are enriching and even astounding.

  • THE ARTS IN THE WAKE OF PESTILENCE (REVISITED)

    In April of 2020, I posted an article with a look at the history of pandemics and how the community of artists reacted to them. I wanted to understand and convey the effect these tragic events had on the arts. Now, almost two years later, there’s been enough new art produced to get some perspective. I’d like to share what I’ve found.

    Broad Strokes

    There’s a website out there whose URL address is covid19streetart.omeka.net and their name is Urban Art Mapping. A quote from their home page pays immediate homage to street art. ” Artists and writers producing work in the streets – including tags, graffiti, murals, stickers, and other installations on walls, pavement, and signs – are in a unique position to respond quickly and effectively in a moment of crisis. Street art’s ephemeral nature serves to reveal very immediate and sometimes fleeting responses, often in a manner that can be raw and direct. At the same time, in the context of a crisis, street art also has the potential to transform urban space and foster a sustained political dialogue, reaching a wide audience, particularly when museums and galleries are shuttered. For all of these reasons, it is not surprising to see an explosion of street art around the world created in response to the Covid-19 global pandemic, even as our movement in public spaces is limited due to public health concerns.” Urban Art Mapping displays an archive of Covid-19 street art from around the world that conveys deeply touching images.

    Songs in the Key of Covid

    Aarp.org published an article titled, Pandemic Songs: The New Music Genre. An excerpt gives us an idea of how the pandemic has given painful birth to lots of music.

    “COVID-19 pulled the plug on live music. If there’s a silver lining, it’s how musicians have responded to the pandemic through songs of pain, frustration, anger and hope.

    Spotify data analyst Glenn McDonald maintains a playlist, The Sound of the Virus, that tracks tunes about the pandemic. The tally, updated daily and ranked by popularity, exceeds 8,300 songs and is currently topped by “Stuck With U” by Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber. Every genre, mood and point of view crops up in COVID songs. You’ll find hope and inspiration in “Sing for Life,” a passionate ballad from U2’s Bono and Jennifer Hudson, will.i.am and Yoshiki. Optimism radiates from Beach Boy Mike Love’s “This Too Shall Pass,” featuring John Stamos. Queen + Adam Lambert retooled the uplifting “You Are the Champions.”

    Our Kindred Spirits band leader has composed a few songs while in “retreat,” as he likes to refer to it. I’ve written a couple as well.

    Films and TV

    It was inevitable for the pandemic to show up in movies and television dramas. It reflects our altered culture and to ignore it would have been impossible. One area of fertile ground had to be the plethora of medical shows. We watch a couple of these in our home. The Good Doctor brought the virus front and center for a while upon their return from hiatus. New Amsterdam gave us a close view of possible ramifications for a leading physician to be stricken with Covid-19.

    Early on, I found that every tribute I saw to front line medical workers brought on a wave of emotion within me, often resulting in tears.

    From what I can tell in my limited research, there have been approximately 55 films released which center around the Covid-19 pandemic. All genres are represented, including drama, comedy, romance, science fiction, horror, thriller, documentary and short. They’re domestic and international, live action and animated. Of them all, I’ve seen two and both were streaming at home. One was Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, a hilarious satire in the inimitable style of Sasha Baron Cohen. The other was a French dramedy about seven families who have stayed in their apartment building while many have fled Paris during lockdown. The film is titled Stuck Together. Many stories of this historic time have been told and apparently everyone has a unique way of telling them. There will be ample opportunity for future generations to witness how it was to endure this pandemic.

    Comedy

    The final artistic category I will cover is stand-up comedy. I’ve seen one sample, Jim Gaffigan’s Netflix special, Comedy Monster. Gaffigan spends much of the time joking about the circumstances of the pandemic. His insights are astute and they’re delivered with his usual brilliant blend of deadpan absurdity and timing. It was an entertaining way to have the pestilence put into perspective.

    Of course, there have been numerous other comedy specials that have provided commentary about the pandemic. A few that have made a “15 Best Stand-up Specials” list compiled by the e-zine Paste include Live From the Pandemic by Mary Lynn Rajskub, Inside by Bo Burnham, and # Hashtag by Josh Johnson.

    Write On

    Let this strange time be a time for growth, for learning to live and love in the face of disease and fear. So, yes, write on and paint on and dance on until you lie your head on your pillow in creative exhaustion. Show the world your talent against all odds.