Afterlife

 

Where do you go when you die? The eternal question without an answer.

Religion was created to promise good living on earth will give you an on ramp to heaven. This heaven place is better than anything or anywhere you have experienced on this planet. Sounds good, but you still have to pay for it. You are not tithing the church; you are buying a spot in heaven.

Of course, if your life is questionable and you missed a few of the commandments, Saint Peter may not find your name at the entrance to the Pearly Gates and send you to the down elevator to the H-E-double toothpicks. There you get climate change throughout eternity. No so much fun but you can smoke.

Our Lord is a forgiving God and may waver on the rules so you can be seated at the holy table. You get to wear an oversized white t-shirt with wings attached. You don’t need to wear shoes even though the streets are paved in gold. You get a harp and a halo (which is kinda like a sleep lamp that never goes off). No one has done any painting to say if you pee or poop or eat or drink or sleep or have sex in heaven. It might not be as great as what was read in the book?

Others will believe that the holy spirit evaporates from the elastic shell that will be put in a box and dropped in a hole to rot. This spirit may become a cloud or a whiff of wisdom for those who listen or return as a tree or a bird or a statue or a ghost.

Some names engraved on the tombstones may be recognized as great writers or singers or politicians or movie stars that will live on with their reputations. Others may have done fantastic interesting things but only the family remember until they are all gone. Then there are photos with faces and names written on the back that no one recognizes or remembers.

I heard someone who had a different theory of what is ‘afterlife’.

When you take your last breath, that is it. Unless you are a vampire or a zombie, you are done. Nadda. Life is over. There isn’t a dark dream to wake up from. All you are is a corpse to be disposed of. Ashes to ashes. Dust to dust.

And there is NO heaven or hell. You won’t be seeing your loved ones or even your ex’s. No homemade apple pie with Aunt Elma or sweet kisses from your first crush. There will be no burning for eternity even though you may have been a scoundrel.

The only thing left for your ‘afterlife’ are the memories. The photos and videos that remind others what they thought of you. Perhaps someone will write a biography, but you are not around to proofread it and confirm or deny what is written? There will probably lots of things that were important to you that will be missed?

The ’afterlife’ memories will vary from those who knew you in elementary school to those who ventured through life after school, but didn’t know previous elements of your being. Most will have a bias view from whatever interaction you had with them and these observations can be filtered in time mixed with other’s opinions.

Me?

I’ve had a legacy. Some know parts of it. Others don’t remember. At this point, many are not around to verify the findings.

This blog (if you are still reading) is a journal or a diary of recollections, experiences, people and places that I remember. Many of the details are fuzzy, yet illustrations and recordings fill in some gaps.

Whether some future critic will view my words and pictures and come to some conclusion is not my concern. What I have done (the good and the bad) is my path in the sand that will be washed away by time.

There will be no gravestone to lay flowers on and talk to for your emotional release. When the power fades so will all the Google references.

This will be my afterlife.

Retribution

 

Ever felt you’ve been wronged?

Maybe a neighbor threw trash in your yard? Maybe you got a ticket for what you feel is an unfair law?  Does the neighbor always park in front of your house leaving you no space? A co-worker got a raise you feel you should have gotten instead? Your one-and-only partner ran away with someone else? Bought a ticket to a concert and the performance wasn’t what was expect? Your neighbor fusses about property lines? Your daughter gets cat calls walking home? The lotion you bought that promised to grow your hair back doesn’t work?

What do you do?

Do you shake it off, pull up your drawers and move on?

Or do you seek…

Revenge is a desire for vengeance or retribution, an act or instance of retaliating in order to Get Even. Taking an action that is an opportunity for getting satisfaction against the wrongdoer.

Paint your neighbor’s cat green? Impregnate his little sister? Let air out of two of his tires? Clip her fiber line? Paint a work of art on his fence with a spray can?

If that doesn’t satisfy your need for judgment, you can always use the court system.

What are your rights?

When you are born you have the right to breath the air. No one owns the atmosphere so we all share it to stay alive. Some are more toxic but we must have air to function.

There is no ‘right’ to water. Unless you live next to a bubbling stream of clear blue water, you got to pay for it. H2O is a necessity of existing on this planet, you do not have the right to drink it. Someone has to drill for it or collect it into little clear plastic bottles to keep you alive.

The bill of rights (which is a legal amendment to our Constitution) states our agreed upon basic principles and laws of a nation, state, or social group that determine the powers and duties of the government and guarantee certain rights to the people in the land we live in.

Rights are legal, social, or ethical principles of freedom or entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal system, social convention, or ethical theory.

So, if you feel your ‘right’ has been offended; you seek retribution.

Insurance may pay for monetary loses, but are you emotional rectified with the solution?

The first bill of Rights (to our Constitution) states we all have the right to follow whatever faith we choose. Most of these religions have writings that state, and in some cases, command certain actions be followed as demanded by a supreme being.

Then there are legal rights to have weapons and form well-regulated militias for security (but not allowed to stay at your house), peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances, to be allowed to have free speech and a press to spread the news, cannot have your personal belongings searched without legal warrants stating a possibility of a wrong doing, then it goes into more legal definitions in detail of don’t mouth off to the police for it can be held against you and wind up on TikTok.

What got me started on this rant was a statement made by a person presumably a Republican candidate campaigning for the top office of the land. To quote:

"In 2016, I declared 'I am your voice.' Today I add: 'I am your warrior. I am your justice, and for those who have been wronged and betrayed, I am your retribution,'" Trump said at the political conference.

Now, as I remember in those old timey faith writings, that the Creator of all, Lord, God or whatever title he or she wears, is the one and only to perform retribution.

Retribution is a concept that refers to the act of punishing or seeking revenge on someone for their wrongful actions or behavior. It involves intentionally inflicting harm, penalty, or suffering upon the wrongdoer as a means of providing justice and balancing the scales. Retribution aims to restore a sense of fairness and accountability by ensuring that the person responsible for the wrongdoing faces consequences for their actions.

Only the Almighty had the power to smite the sinners.

An eye-for-an-eye instead turn the other cheek?

BEWARE: what you wish for.

Did You Reach Your Dream?

 

Did You Reach Your Dream?

Everyone has a dream job. Some are able to achieve the goal and grab the golden ring. Others not so much.

If you were lucky enough to have the skin color and the family name to have a step up, the ring is much closer and obtainable. In some cases, the ring is handed to you without effort.

Others of us have to work to attempt to grab the ring.

What is YOUR ring?

Maybe it is prestige? Maybe it is money? Maybe it is adoration? Maybe it is sexual prowess? Maybe it is too many shoes?

If the ‘what do you want to be when you grow up’ answer is 1. An Astronaut, 2. The President (of a distant island), 3. A Savoir with words and manners, 4. The finder to the answer of the meaning of life, or some such unobtainable ring; what will you do if you miss it?

Much like your date to the prom, you have to settle for second best.

Will the race car driver wind up tinkering on his engine on weekends listening to the race on the radio awaiting the big crash? Will the ballerina dance alone in the kitchen servings babies with little applause? Will the rock star yearning fame and fortune wind up in sleezy bars as a balding alcoholic with no grandiose stories to tell? Will the great patriotic hero warrior surrender when the powder runs dry?

Good luck and take another swipe the next time around.

Adapt

 

Through the years of growing up, one adapts to the surroundings. This includes cultural and climate changes.

With age, there are reflections of adapting through the years.

The first adaption is fitting into a family. You are too little and without any power, so you must obey those bigger than you. They provided food and shelter and gave directions on how to walk and talk and poop. That is what families do.

The second adaption was being enrolled into education. Unless your parents were homeschooling, you (and many others your age) were assigned to a building and then divided into classrooms where a person of knowledge was presenting information to you as you sat at your desk quietly and absorbed every word only to be tested to see if you were paying attention.

This was the time of adapting with other individuals that are not family. We all bond under the tutelage and the class room number. We experiment and compete against others who are not familiar and learn socialization.

As we process through the educational system, we adapt into pacts of friends among the classmates. These are the people you will eat lunch with.

By high school, the groups of acceptability have become cliques requiring more than just jokes and palling around. Each student had to decide whether to adapt or not. Did you go to the prom?

The next adaption is either start meaningful employment or voyage into higher education. Either usually takes you away from the family core and make daily decisions.

To adapt to the world requires meeting new people you would not have associated with before. Seeing new traditions, listening to new languages and ideas, tasting different foods, bonding and romantic connections or conquest.

I adapted to an office. Closeted gays, unattractive older women and a super load of white misogamy. Also adapted into drinking as a reward for coping all day with the ridiculous interactions, but it paid the bills. I adapted to relearn everything I’d been taught, with new techniques and tools.

I adapted to living with another person. A roommate with perks. I adapted through an affair. I adapted to buying a house. I adapted to buying a car. I adapted to disco. I adapted to Civil Rights, Women’s Rights, Gay Rights, etc. I adapted to riots in the streets. I adapted to mass shootings in schools. I adapted to girls who want to be boys without just temporarily dressing us. I adapted to eternal wars.

I adapted to a divorce and living alone. I adapted to the digital age.

I adapted to a seduction that lasted 25 years. I’ve adapted to death. I am adapting to old age.

The next generation will take many of these items as regular occurrences deciding whether to wear a mask or not. Will mankind adapt to climate change or go the way of the dinosaurs? Will they continue to procreate until the food runs out? Will they continue to fill the air with smog until the sun can’t show through? Will there be polar bears? Will all the losers still be sore?

Seems I’m getting some new neighbors. Can I adapt to them? Can they adapt to me? Will they have a free ranch cat? Will they have screaming kids or barking dogs? Will they throw wild loud parties?

Changes continue to happen. Living is how we adapt?

The Interview

 

Imagine, if you will, you sit down with a person (face-to-face) and have a conversation. There are no microphones or cameras but there may be a mental script of questions.

Meeting a stranger or talking to a long-lost friend, you are having an interview. There are questions you want answered and the response is what cannot be expected.

The usual interview starts with mild questions about the weather or some other subject that can get the conversation started without offense. In a good back and forth interview, the interviewer will also have some questions to answer.

Recently I’ve been recording conversations. Some are ole school buddies or work associates to complete strangers. All are told beforehand there will be a microphone recording the statements (along with the background noises).

What is interesting (particularly those known for years) is hearing the phrasing and pitch to make their voice recognizable. How a response can become a story or just a comment? Who butts into another’s verbiage to divert the flow or ridicule the answer. Remember: with EVERYONE having a camera (with sound) on their phones, every word you speak can be recorded.

At the end of the conversation (interview), did you come away with the answers you wanted. Can I borrow your car? Will you keep your kids and dogs off my lawn? Can I sleep with your wife?

The interpretations of conversations are what makes life interesting. They may have not said it, but the irrational mind confused the answer to what you wanted to hear.

It is all mindless chatter, until you play it back.

Listen.

Bling

 

Since the first bipod strapped a shell around their neck, we (as a species) like to adorn ourselves with ‘bling’. It is a sign of wealth or status. It is a sign of religious affiliation. It is shiny and a distraction from our lack of personality.

My first bling was a wrist watch. It may have had a Mickey on it, but it was a Timex. Every Christmas it was a certain present from Santa to get an upgrade watch (along with cuff links and a tie clip). Somewhere along the way I got a gold watch. It was bling. I didn’t wear it until I didn’t need a watch. I got lots of comments about the fancy watch and just realized it was bait for a robbery. I threw it away. No one else needed that temptation.

I wore rings. I wore a ring that was given to me at a farm joust. It turned my finger green. I designed the wedding rings for my first wedding at Kambourian Jewelers. Circles in gold. My second wife wanted me to continue to wear it to keep away predators. I bought her a diamond ring she fancied at the Best Products going-out-of-business sale. I hid it in a sock to surprise her at Christmas. She took it to Schwarzschild to be appraised. Seems she her step-grandfather was a jeweler and taught her the value of the clear stones. The appraiser found a ‘blue’ spot in her ring which lowered the value. I went back to Schwarzschild and bought another diamond with a little blue box. That satisfied her so we could move onto cultured pearls and scarab bracelet. I wore a Celtic pewter ring until I had to get it cut off. I wore a chain dog collar bracelet (that doubled as knuckles). I wore (wear) my uncle’s ID bracelet. The wedding rings I donated to the ocean.

I bought my mother a diamond ring. It was a 5 and Dime with a huge stone. She would wear it to the fancy events and flash it around to impress other members of the social elite.  No telling for taste.

When I was traveling, my wife got me a St. Christopher necklace. I didn’t wear beads during the hippie period, but did wear puka necklace during my surfing period in Carolina. She wore a cross toward the end of her life. She gave me a gold chain even though disco was over. On our 25^th anniversary she added a key with a heart charm. I still wear it.

Not just talking about jewelry, but fashion, make-up, cars and houses. That is why these things are stolen for they show your wealth and prestige. Who are you wearing? At the end of the day, the make-up is washed off and you are that person in the mirror.