I mean?

Have you noticed how often people say "I mean"?  I'm hearing it all the time now and it's driving me insane.  I even catch myself saying it.  I mean, what's with that? Do you think it is the new form of "uh" or "um"?  Is it a kind of exclamation point?  I'm just not sure.  Have you noticed this?  For some reason I just started to notice this recently  I mean, is it just me?  Heck, I'm even hearing it from journalists and commentators on NPR and PBS for gosh sakes.  Sometimes, after being asked a question, the first thing they say is "I mean" as a preface to their opinion!  I don't think I'm reading it in books though...but maybe I just haven't noticed.  I mean, it seems to be almost unconscious.  I'm not sure that the people saying it are even aware that they are saying it.  I mean, what do you think?

I Know You

I know you.  I know what you are.

I know what you’re thinking.  I see it in in your eyes, your mouth, and your gestures.  

I know when you’re listening.

I know when you’re seeing.

I know what you’re feeling.

I know your worry.

I know your fear.

I know your sadness.

I know your joy.

I know your love. 

I know your hate. 

I know when you don’t care.

I know what you want.

I know what you need.

We are so connected. 

But I don’t know where you’re going.

And I don’t know who you are really.

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© Steve Stewart and SeeNextRock, 2015 Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Steve Stewart and SeeNextRock with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Living the Dream

"I like to dream yes, yes, right between my sound machine

On a cloud of sound I drift in the night

Any place it goes is right

Goes far, flies near, to the stars away from here" ....Steppenwolf, Magic Carpet Ride

I generally enjoy my dream life.  I hardly ever have "bad" dreams.  But when I was a young child I had a recurring nightmare.  It went this way:  I was not conscious of my body but felt waves of pressure and flashes of light.  That's about all I remember about it now except for three things:  It was scary, I always woke up screaming, and I never visualized anything but light.  Until the last one that is.  On my way out of that last one I saw a mountain ridge covered with pine trees.  It was a sunny day, not a cloud in the sky.  There was nothing special about this scene but I remember it perfectly.  It is seared onto my brain.  This time I didn't wake up screaming and immediately knew what this vision signified...and how crazy it seemed.  I'll share it with you if you are interested enough to contact me.

Some say our lives are composed of three parts:  our waking life, our dream life, and deep sleep.  

We call our waking life being awake but I wonder.  Mostly we are lost in thought... trapped in memory or scheming a future.  When we do this we aren't all that conscious of what is going on around us.  This is dangerous when driving 80 miles an hour on the freeway.  In essence, we are dreaming.  We are only rarely in the present moment.  We are somewhere else.  In fact, if you look back onto your day you only remember highlights.  Most of it is gone.

"Well," you might say, "When we're awake, it's just that, we're awake. We're thinking. We are in reality.  It is only when we are asleep that we dream.  Dreams aren't real!  Just like Jiminy Cricket says, they're just "a figment of your imagination!" Please don't go cosmic on me with all your BS!"

A "figment of my imagination" eh?  Who's quoting a Disney character? Hey, my dreams are just as real as my waking life.  When I touch objects, they're solid.  When I am injured, I hurt.  If I have sex, it's great. And everything's in color!  I meet people I've never ever met in my waking life and have conversations with them about subjects that I've never given a thought to otherwise!  Some of these people have been around in my dreams for years too although interestingly, I don't know their names.  My dreams don't feel like leftovers from my waking life.  They are a life.

Deep sleep is another thing entirely.  In deep sleep we are not conscious of our 'personhood'.  There is no 'I'... no thought.  Where are you then?  Where did you go?

I love to think about this stuff but in the end, I may just be blathering about my own concepts- making it all up as I go along...just dreaming.  As a seer once said:

"All concepts, are false."

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© Steve Stewart and SeeNextRock, 2014 Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Steve Stewart and SeeNextRock with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

STFU for a Change

This is not earth shattering news but here you go anyway:  we are a noisy species.  We just can’t seem to shut up.  Try this:  go anywhere people have gathered, be still, close your mouth, and just listen for few minutes.  Here’s an example:

I wrenched my back and am in physical therapy for a few weeks.  The therapist gives me a massage and ultra sound then sends me to an assistant who guides me through a stretching routine.  It’s nice and really helps. After stretching, she has me lie down on an ice pack for 10 minutes.  During this 10-minute period she helps others so I just lay there quietly.  It’s a large room and isn’t crowded.  I’ve never seen more than 10-12 people in there at any time.  But, the din is incredible!  Don’t you ever stop talking?

Which reminds me:  I’m sure you’ve noticed groups of animals exhibiting the same behavior.  Monkeys come to mind.  But there are others…such as ducks.

We have a water feature in our neighborhood and we enjoy walking the paths around it especially in the spring when the baby ducks are everywhere.  Now that it’s late in the summer the survivors have grown up.  The other day I encountered a team (or brace) of ducks.  I counted them:  35 strong…and they were swimming my way.  I stopped while they exited the water and waddled right in front of me to a lawn where they gathered together…quacking constantly.  I don’t know what they were saying to each other but they were loud and in a way, sounded just like… all of you.

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Interesting mind-blowing fact: green-rumped parrots name their children.  Check this out:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Ed9A4HPdXgQ

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© Steve Stewart and SeeNextRock, 2014 Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Steve Stewart and SeeNextRock with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.