Monday, April 1, 2013

Darkness in the Mantra


I am soul searching tonight. I find it necessary the older I get to just find a center and add a mantra to it and then live by it! Here is my most recent personal mantra I'm working towards:

"I love to live and I live to love!" 

I derived this by going into the words of Bobby Dillon...

"If you ain't being busy being born, you're busy dying!" 

I find when I love to live or live to love, I am the most happiest! When the darkness creeps in and taints my life, it takes a long time to recover from it... With that, what I have figured out: Life is to short to do the wrong thing and live in the darkness... Self: So do the right thing and don't dwell in the darkness (the past). It will eat you alive! But it's hard.  Just because you don't dwell on it, that doesn't make it go away... It's just not wasting your time... well... as much. 

Relevantly... Adding the mantra to my my concentrated thoughts and living by it doesn't make the darkness go away. It just buries it where no one can see you hurting.  It gets covered.  But it's always there and waiting for you to let your guard down.  Unfortunately, it always creeps in when you're alone, when it's quiet and you can't make it go away... It creeps in and just hurts... But it can be hidden from everyone as well as yourself, in my mantra...

I love to live and I live to love and this makes all the difference. It does for me anyway. And then I'm not busy dying!  Thanks Bob!

Thursday, February 21, 2013

My Political Philosophy - Originally Posted on FB Feb 3, 2013

LANCE GRIFFITH - Houston Tx

A friend and I was talking the other day and I was asked about my political affiliation. Interestingly enough I proudly said this (paraphrased): "I am a registered Republican that Voted mostly democratic over the last few major elections." Here, I wont say who exactly I voted for but I will say that a lot of Republicans who mark X straight down the ...Republican lines would freak out!

Rather than give you who I voted for and why, let me tell you what I do before EVERY election that I vote in:

1) Read the Declaration of Independence
2) Read the Constitution
3) Read the Bill of Civil Rights
4) Study the Current Republican, Democratic & Independent Ideology & Political Principles (believe it or not, these change but not much!)
5) Study All of the Candidates Ideology & Political Principles (believe it or not, these don't map up to the candidate's party ideology & political principles)

First off, I love the Republican Ideology & Political Principles. It was founded on "We the People..." will Free the People from our oppressors, who ever they may be as is outlines in the Constitution! (Abe Lincoln was the first Republican President) It was also developed purely out of the literal interpretation of the Constitution of the United States. It follows the lines of our Rights as citizens as described in the Bill of Rights.

I also am a staunch Conservative & Traditionalist (More than I am a Republican or Democrat)! I believe that the core of what we started with is what we should end with. I do not believe that the government should change to meet our society's changes but that our society should attain the standards that the government sets as we the people have requested. Change is inevitable but our morals and beliefs should not change!

From that core foundation is what I base my voting on. And let me just say this as far as the President goes... Outside of Executive Orders (which we all should pay attention to closely), the President only has limited power. We the people are represented by our Congressmen and our Senators. This is where we really need to be focusing when we vote. Nothing becomes anything until it gets through those two congregations! Then and only then can the president have power to make something that affects us citizen happen. And more times that any, unless it it vetoed, the approvals that the president makes has already been approved by a majority of the people that represent us, The People!

I think, and almost would be willing to bet some good money, if you go back and followed the 5 steps that I set out above with the people that you voted for over the last 1 or 2 elections, and followed your parties ideology and political principles, that you would have 1) voted differently and 2) be surprised to find out that a lot of the people that you thought were representing YOUR Ideology and Political Principles actually lean differently than the party they live in!

I love my country & I love our government laws and principles--This is "My United States of America!!!" Make it yours too!

I want to thank my friend for inspiring me to write this. 

Love as a Metaphor - FB Entry Feb 13, 2013


Lance Griffith - Houston, TX

Lightening events of today and being 1 day away from Valentines Day made search the metaphor, "Falling in Love..." Matt Cunningham, a contemporary philosopher, says:

"Accordingly, most of society does not start the day with the intention ...of finding love... we sit back and wait for love to come to us"

In my life, every time its happened... I'm amazed when the "love train" pulls in the station and I'm happy when it does! A few times, even recently, I thought I heard the "love train" coming only to find out that it was actually a bus that was already full and another time that I was at the wrong station and could only hear it off in the distance. Hopefully the next time around, I am reading the train schedule correctly and that the engineer has the plans to pull into my station!

In my search tonight, I came across an article in ASK.com by Richard Nordquist called "Love is a Metaphor - 99 Metaphors for Love" In the article, Richard has found so many great ways to picture Love in words. In this article I looked for my own picture through someone else's words. I loved what Neil Young had to say about a Rose (4), what Henry Ward Beecher described about young and old love (27), what Ralph Waldo Emerson says is the sharpest-sighted hunter (39) and as bluntly described in Wall Street by Gecko as an addiction that keeps people from jumping out of windows--this one is true but makes you laugh because it's true (71)

Look for your picture of love! I want to challenge you to find your picture of love because is so important to know what your goal in love really is. Look at these metaphors and find your own poem of love. Or better yet, make your own metaphor like I have!

For me, love is love! But I know, that every time it has come, is coming and will develop in the future, the poem changed, is changing and will changes... but really--my metaphor that I picture today is a train and what I can only describe by "what I am starting to see off in the distance is a train that seems to be pulling into my station and I really hope the switch on the track is thrown my way! If I don't find it this last time, I might take up walking next time I need to go somewhere and I hate to walk!" This one is true but it makes me cry because its my truth...

I love you all, and not metaphorically!

Happy Valentines Day!

Lance