The Grove
The Grove
June 5th Full Strawberry Moon
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June 5th Full Strawberry Moon

History's rhymes are on my mind. Can tides be turned or can we only surf the waves?

It's not just on the screens. People turning on each other, turning in on themselves. Escalation. Systemic cascades. These aren't just words.

What's the point of music now? The Spectacle Itself seems to be running the show. But the Spectacle Itself has no sentience. It's just feeding and growing on our fears. I fear what it's going to take to shake enough people out of complacency, of clinging to business as usual, for longer than the span of adrenaline fueled crises.

Music is not the point. Our emotions are not the point. This writing is pointless. Still, we play, we talk, we write. What is it we're doing here?

Derrick Jensen wrote this observation almost two decades ago:

"Our culture's deep foundation of competition creates waves of rage and hatred. Not only does the anger get misdirected because it's easier to express it against the powerless, and not only because we are routinely pitted against others of the powerless, but , most especially, because, if we were to focus on the real sources of that rage and hatred, we would soon find ourselves questioning our very identities.
Because so many of us have identified ourselves so deeply as civilized, as producers, consumers, workers, engineers, soldiers, policemen, teachers, we have forgotten that we are human beings.
And what does it mean to be a human being? We have no idea.
To identify so deeply with the system of production that permeates the deepest recesses of our bodies… is to identify with the founding processes of civilization: conquest and repression.
To recognize that our lives are based on these processes would - if we reject them instead of embrace them - set us adrift in unknown territory. Who would I be and how would I live if I were not a part of this system?
If we were to truly turn our rage and hatred.. toward the right targets, we would find ourselves questioning the basis upon which anyone holds power over anyone else. We would find ourselves questioning the basis for our own privilege..."

Derrick Jensen, The Culture of Make Believe, 2004, pp 506-507

And then there's Hazrat Inayat Khan, who said that “There are two aspects of individual harmony: the harmony between body and soul, and the harmony between individuals. All the tragedy in the world, in the individual and in the multitude, comes from lack of harmony. And harmony is the best given by producing harmony in one's own life. ”

What's bullshit and what is true? What matters most to us?

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