1. |
Float Downstream
03:03
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“Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don’t resist them – that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.” – Lao-Tzu
What is going with the flow? It’s rolling with the punches. It’s accepting change without getting angry or frustrated. It’s taking what life gives you, rather than trying to mold life to be exactly as you want it to be.
We swim against the current and we don’t even realize it. Our mind believes that it can and should control our environment. Good luck. The vast majority of processes within as well as outside ourselves are not in our control. Navigate through the river instead of trying to control it.
“I accept chaos. I am not sure whether it accepts me.” – Bob Dylan
(Speaking words of wisdom) "Let it be" – Paul McCartney
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2. |
Silence = Complicity
03:17
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“In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
SILENCE IS COMPLICITY. This is not a time to be silent. This moment calls on us to reflect on the type of society we want to build. The future depends on it.
White people must step up and take action, and hold each other accountable. It is our responsibility to examine how we are complicit in the spreading of this virus of racism, and how we benefit from it every day.
We must side with the truth. We must call the thing by its name. We must call a lie a lie, an insurrection an insurrection, a treason a treason.
Do not be complicit. Do not be silent.
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3. |
Stillness
02:43
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“Be still. Stillness reveals the secrets of eternity.” ― Lao Tzu
“To the mind that is still, the whole universe surrenders.” ― Lao Tzu
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4. |
The Philosopher King
03:19
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The philosopher king is a hypothetical ruler in whom political skill is combined with philosophical knowledge. The concept of a city-state ruled by philosophers is first explored in Plato's Republic, written around 375 BC.
Plato argued that the ideal state – one which ensured the maximum possible happiness for all its citizens – could only be brought into being by a ruler possessed of absolute knowledge, obtained through philosophical study.
Plato argues that “there will be no end to the troubles of state . . . humanity itself, until philosophers become kings in the world . . . and political power and philosophy thus come into the same hands.”
That is, an intellectually curious person who pursues knowledge, is intelligent, reliable, wise, and embraces the simple life. Trump is the opposite of the philosopher-king. Zelenskyy just might be the real thing.
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5. |
Is World Peace Possible?
03:06
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The history of humanity can be told as a history of war. From the classical age through the dark ages and into the middle ages, the renaissance, and modern history, warfare has always been a significant part of human history.
Although world peace may not be possible immediately, it is possible if each of us does their part. One can spread kindness and selflessly help others. Mahatma Gandhi famously said, “Be the change you want to see in the world.”
World peace is possible and it has to start with us.
On the other hand . . .
Due to the nature of humankind and the imbalance of wealth and power, global peace does not seem like a genuine possibility. “Cain killed his brother Abel" and it has not stopped since.
There is evidence that humankind did not always live violent lives. In fact, I assume most people reading this are not habitually violent, and do not desire to watch someone suffer. We have the capacity to be both selfish and kind. What matters is which quality we chose to focus on and bringing that quality into focus within ourselves and the world.
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6. |
Reflections
02:39
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“A lake is a landscape's most beautiful and expressive feature. It is Earth's eye; looking into which the beholder measures the depth of his own nature.”
― Henry David Thoreau, Walden
“Weak people get revenge, strong people forgive, and intelligent people ignore.”
― Albert Einstein
“All truly great thoughts are conceived while walking.”
― Friedrich Nietzsche
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7. |
UPBEAT
02:25
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Upbeat people are optimistic, cheerful, positive, confident and hopeful. We think of them as happy.
Humans are inherently social animals, so contact brings happiness. Extroverts seek out contact, so extroverts seem happier. Watching and learning from people very different from you is a great way to learn to be happier. Going against your instincts can help make you happier.
Surrounding ourselves with people just like us will not inspire new ideas to raise our life satisfaction.
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8. |
Petulant Oligarchs
03:00
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We live in an era of "petulant oligarchs."
"Many of the superrich, who as a class used to be mostly secretive, have become celebrities instead. These very privileged are surrounded by people who would never dare tell them that they're behaving badly."
- Paul Krugman (Nobel economist)
Elon Musk, Donald Trump, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Larry Ellison, Vladamir Putin, Silvio Berlusconi . . . to name a few.
The U.S. is an oligarchy: a system of government where a small number of elites rule. Everyone else? Not so much.
America's oligarchical influence extends from healthcare and fossil fuels to the industry of war itself. American companies account for more than half of all arms sales worldwide.
Once the pandemic hit, Big Pharma's oligarchs were able to parlay their political power into exclusive patent rights for Covid-19 vaccines. Moderna made $17.7 billion from its vaccine in 2021 and anticipates making $22 billion this year, from a formula developed with $2.5 billion in funding commitments from the US government. The money from these government-granted profits could vaccinate the entire world, but they've been used to enrich shareholders instead. That's oligarchy.
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9. |
Fibonacci
02:55
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The Schillinger System of Musical Compositionis is a method of musical composition based on mathematical processes. Schillinger concluded that music is a form of movement and any physical action or process has its equivalent form of expression in music. He applied everyday mathematics to the making of music. He believed that certain patterns were universal, and common to both music and the very structure of our nervous system.
FIBONACCI was an Italian mathematician considered to be "the most talented Western mathematician of the Middle Ages." The FIBONACCI sequence is one of the most famous formulas in mathematics. Each number in the sequence is the sum of the two numbers that precede it.
So, the sequence goes: 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, and so on.
I have taken the first 9 numbers of the FIBONACCI sequence (not including 0) and assigned them notes starting with middle C.
So 1=C, 2=C#, 3=D, 4=E, 5=G, 6=C, 7=G#, 8=A#, 9=G
Music has been seen as a mathematical art, and the relationship between mathematics and music has fascinated generations.
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10. |
Things have changed?
03:23
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Remember the good old days? Maybe they weren't so good.
"Things just aren’t what they used to be."
Things have changed extraordinarily over the last century. But contrary to the popular mindset and pervasive feeling of nostalgia, they have in most cases changed for the better. Or have they?
We do have better access to healthcare, less malnutrition, less violence, less war, less pollution, more education equality, more human rights, more democracy, and more freedom.
But then there is the impending disasters brought on by climate change, the increasing political divide around the world, the War in Ukraine . . .
The good old days were good for the privileged class but meant severe hardships for most.
Maybe things have not changed that much.
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11. |
Agitato
02:56
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"Agitato" is Italian for restless and agitated.
It implies a state of excitement, disturbance and worry.
It implies the act of attempting to stir up public opinion for or against something.
There seems to be a lot of it around these days. "On both sides."
War in Ukraine. Political fighting. Gun violence. Pandemic. Climate change. Suffering and death.
The world is overwhelming, and an inescapably negative news cycle creates an atmosphere of existential gloom. We humans can be so unkind to each other and to our planet.
Maybe, "agitato" is the appropriate response.
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12. |
Music The Mediator
03:28
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"Music is the mediator between the spiritual and the sensual life. It is the one incorporeal entrance into the higher world of knowledge which comprehends mankind but which mankind cannot comprehend. Music can change the world.”
— Ludwig van Beethoven
“No matter how corrupt, greedy, and heartless our government, our corporations, our media, and our religious & charitable institutions may become, the music will still be wonderful.”
― Kurt Vonnegut
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Steve Shapiro Oakland, California
Steve Shapiro has composed music for hundreds of radio and TV commercials, documentary films, infomercials and other TV programs. He was the music director at Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, which produced hundreds of award-winning educational films and recordings. He has a BA in Music from Brown University and an MA in Music from the Manhattan School of Music. ... more
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