KNOWLEDGE IS POWER

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KNOWLEDGE IS POWER

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Nobody wants to be the fly in the ointment

The traffic jam on the highway of life

The pimple on the ass of progress

We mostly go along to get along

Preferring to not rock the boat and make waves

Until

A real and credible threat

Rears it's ugly unconstitutional head

Then we are prepared to stand up

And use every tool we can muster

Oh we might look like ordinary citizens

Going about our daily routines

In our chest beats the heart of a Patriot

We are a hidden militia, hidden in plain sight

We will not give up our rights without a fight

If we must take to the streets we will - to express

Our dissatisfaction with government actions

We hold these truths dear to our hearts and mind

Together

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GRATITUDE/ ATTITUDE/ PLATITUDE

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GRATITUDE/ ATTITUDE/ PLATITUDE
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"This could work to your advantage"

I say to encourage myself

When events take a sudden turn

"No one can foretell the future"

I reassure myself when things look alarming

"Every cloud has a silver lining"

Words like a clapperless bell, but I repeat them anyway

"Where there's life there's hope"

This is embroidered over the heart

Of the ragged teddy bear of philosophy

I drag along behind me everywhere I go

A teddy bear named "All Is Not Lost"

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HERE COMES THE SUN

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HERE COMES THE SUN

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When Ego pays us a visit

Everything must go their way

Because they have Main Character Syndrome

They are the star of the play

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Just when you start to get sick of them

You've had about all you can take

They can steer you off the course of reality

Because everything about them is fake

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It is best not to confront Ego

Best to just smile and nod

Until you can escape their orbit

Even if elsewhere is flawed

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It is still better than being a hostage

When the ego's agenda is done

Then suddenly everything's brighter

Cause they have stopped blocking the Sun

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The Sun, the actual main character 

Shines warmly on you and on me

It is a wonderful equality teacher

And always the sunlight is free

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TIME OUT

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TIME OUT
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What we all know now

Is not what we all knew three hundred years ago

Or three thousand years ago

What we all know now

Is not what we will all know

Three hundred years from now

Or three thousand years from now

So, I hold what I know in this moment loosely

Letting it slide, giving it slack

Because knowledge is constantly on the move

We can but follow the flow

Knowing that knowing is just an illusion

A mirage

Existing only in this moment

Shifting with the sands of time

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PARTYING WAYS

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PARTYING WAYS

A demon stopped by for a cup of regret

And a thick slice of fault and blame

But I've had this pointless party before

I'm done playing this losing game

So I picked up my broom

Chased this grey imp of doom

Right out the ever-loving door.

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UNARMED

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UNARMED

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Two guys went out on a Saturday night

Had a lot to drink, got into a fight

They threw a few ineffective punches, wasn't much of a fray

They apologized and laughed about it the very next day

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Two other guys went out on a Saturday night

They had words about something, got into a fight

Since they both had guns they had a shoot out

The guns made a difference, I have no doubt

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We have our rights, but we also have sense

Why bring out your gun to win a fight?

Someone can always take offense

But a bullet can't decide who's right

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FREEDOM FIRST AND LAST

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FREEDOM FIRST AND LAST

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We all want peace, but it ends in war

Sometimes we don't know what they're fighting for

All I know is I need to be free

To nurture and grow peace inside of me

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So many want to control our ways

Rein us in, take our days

But from childhood we have been wild and free

That is the natural state of you and me

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We do what we must to meet our needs

Our spirits unbroken we do as we please

We are willing to stay with our band

As we roam free, we take a stand

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No one owns your body or mind

No contract can be sealed and signed

That forces us against our will

We were born free and remain free still

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HERE HERE

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HERE HERE

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Nobody knows how hard you tried

How many desperate tears you cried

They only see the surface, not what's inside

On your way to get here

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If you saw what looked like a break

An opportunity you should take

Even if it was a huge mistake

It has brought you here

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The past is gone, the future's not yet

Right now is the only time we get

So take heart, dear friend, and do not fret

Together we all arrived here

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CONSULTANT

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CONSULTANT

When you've tried everything you can think of

But your efforts just make things worse

You have completely run out of ideas

You fear your life might be cursed

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This is when you need a Consultation

With a Consultant that's always top shelf

You need to have a conversation

With your Highest Self

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Your Highest Self sees the situation

But does not have an ego motive

Instead you look for the highest good

A candle of hope that is votive

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Your Highest Self does not participate

In Ego's plots and schemes

Yet your Highest Self can guide you

Like a beacon for your hopes and dreams

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NOMENCLATURE

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NOMENCLATURE

We should rename war 

"Destroying Children's Lives"

Because telling it like it is

Is the first step towards not 

Destroying children's lives

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THE END OF YOUR ROPE

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THE END OF YOUR ROPE

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Avoid inner conflicts

Especially the conflict where part of you has an urge to do something

But part of you also does not want to do it

Because of undesired consequences

Inner conflicts set us up to fight with ourselves

Which means you can never completely win

You are not a weak person who doesn't know their own mind

If you see yourself getting into a tug of war with yourself

Get a rolled up newspaper and whack your existential self

On the spot that says "Self Deception" until one side lets go

Then drop the rope, you don't need it anymore

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MORNING WISHES

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MORNING WISHES

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May a swordfish not chase and stab you

Nor a meteor fall on your head

May the Sun not go supernova

May your path be scenic and pleasant to tread

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CYCLE ROUND

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CYCLE ROUND

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The merry-go-round spins faster and faster

Until everything around is just a blur

The music is loud and lively 

Time spins away and the moment is pure

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No matter how fast the ride might go

Or how fancy the carousel horse struts

When it stops we are in the same place

But we have changed our outlooks

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CONDITIONS FOR SUCCESS

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CONDITIONS FOR SUCCESS

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We must be ready for success

Hydrated, centered, lots of rest

Eating healthy, feeling frisky

Avoiding investments that are risky

You most certainly can succeed

When you become the "you" you need

Once you are in training you can win

Is today the day that you begin?

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RECIPE FOR A NOMAD

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RECIPE FOR A NOMAD

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Once your goose is cooked

Serve it smothered in gray, lumpy self-pity

With a flaming hot side dish of blaming others

Serve this morning, noon, and night

Until you are heartily sick of this meal

Then you begin to forage for something with nutrition

And leave the sackcloth and ashes 

To blow away in the winds of change

Which never let up and sculpt our landscape wonderfully

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SPRUTAN

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SPRUTAN

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We can't re-do the past

Nor can we pre-do the future

We hold only this moment 

In the palm of our hands

A seed we can tenderly nurture

Until it grows and grows

Into a mighty tree whose branches

Reach to the stars

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NIGHT TRIP

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NIGHT TRIP

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Without a worry, without a care

I rose and floated in the air

I zoomed out into outer space

No helmet needed for my face

I whizzed by planets, I circled stars

I walked around on mysterious Mars

I spun and twirled utterly free

Until my alarm clock awakened me

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MY FELLOW AMERICANS

 

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MY FELLOW AMERICANS

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How does patriotism

That swelling affection for one's homeland

How does that become hatriotism?

That destructive rage towards those who have different ideas

This is a case of love turning sour, curdling, poisonous

We need to know when patriotism goes bad

Here are some signs:

Are you speaking to your fellow countrypersons

Or speaking to the enemy?

Are your words and actions aimed to increase understanding

So we can stand on common ground

Or do you merely want to shut the Other Side down

Silence them, drive them off with stones and curses?

We all acknowledge there are differences among people

These differences can not be irreconcilable

All our ideas are thrown into the melting pot

And can produce a great benefit to progress

If we can stop chucking rocks like enraged primates

We, who love liberty, free speech, equality under the law

Being the land of progress

Must make progress our goal

We are the shining city on the hill that all look up to

The hope of the future, the healing of the past

The motto "Love one another" goes double in times

Like these

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SYSTEMS

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SYSTEMS

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Systems are the worn paths

We use to navigate our days

We must invent new systems 

If we want to change our ways

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The tried and false solutions

We leave by the side of the road

Our new, better ideas

Will actually lighten our load

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Get rid of excess baggage

Like the regrettable parts of our past

Our eyes are on the future

And the solutions that will last

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