Garrett Stevens

47 followed by 48 on the spinner rack was probably peak comics for me

Lotta pro-business accounts on the other site are encouraging people to avoid getting political and just keep talking shop. They need to ask themselves if eroding the rule of law and roaming gestapo is good for business.

In either case though,
we can only start with ourselves, and it is in more of us doing that work that the fate of humanity
rests. But to truly accomplish this, we need to be able to access a type of consciousness where
Ubuntu is possible, and more than just a mental construct.

In conflicts between countries or cultures, the offenses of the “other” may go back generations
and involve enormous debts that can never be repaid, at least not by the living. With
interpersonal issues, the wounds might be fresh, or they may be ancestral.

In either case, rigidity soon sets in, and we don’t want to be moved, as that would
require some acknowledgement of being wrong, of surrender, or giving ourselves up. Invariably,
we’ll find that the problem instead rests with the people in the opposing camp, the “other.”

We might settle into our own
particular stance immediately, based on emotional response, or after long and careful study or
consideration.

For many of us, we’re not even aware of any sense of “I” beyond our personality, or familiar
sense of self. In times of great conflict, this phenomenon becomes accentuated…surely there
must be a correct side to be on…a winning team…a just cause.

Indeed, the stakes are so high because we perceive our mental content to
be intrinsic to who we are…to our very sense of self and worth.

From a Western perspective, rooted in the individual, Ubuntu can be difficult to understand. We
are so conditioned to have positions, beliefs, ideologies, which must be defended, sometimes at
any cost…even death.

It speaks to our broader shared humanity, and a bond
that connects us all.

Ubuntu is a word I seem to see cropping up with greater frequency, whether it be in coffee shops,
wellness literature or even in technology. Originally it is an African term, which means “I am
because you are; you are because I am.”

A very intriguing thread for the philosophically inclined.

Trump’s Christmas message

Sung to the tune of “North American Scum”…

I think it's important not to misunderstand what these social media platforms are. They are not public arenas where we bravely take on reactionary forces in honorable combat. They are apps that expose you to stress and thereby simulate the feeling of having done something useful

Best 4 issue run of all-time imho, and 49 is my fave all-time cover

Which brings me to this: when we each do our inner work, we become conduits for
unbounded energy. And then, our world starts behaving less like a closed system. So keep
going. Keep chopping wood. Keep carrying water

As you become an explorer of consciousness, you can answer this question for yourself.

What if the physical world is merely a projection of a higher-dimensional reality not
bound by space and time?

Coming back to entropy, there’s an important caveat: the second law only applies to closed
systems. Physics tells us the universe is a closed system, so entropy rules. But what if it
isn’t?

Examples may include: going really fast is the same as being at rest; in aloneness there can
be great intimacy; and in truly understanding the question, we have the desired answer. Or,
as it relates to self-realization, there is no self to realize.

As we move beyond the ordinary and away from the physical with greater regularity, we
routinely encounter paradox —the need to hold two seemingly contradictory truths at
once. Zen koans work in this way.

Of course, life keeps moving. There’s still a roof to maintain and meals to make. And that’s
okay. Chop wood, carry water, as the saying goes.

But deep down, I feel the truth in it. And in that moment of surrender, my own vibration
shifts. I become present, clear, even self-realized.

Then I’m reminded of a lesson I keep relearning—simple, yet deeply uncomfortable to the
rational mind: There’s nothing I have to do. Nothing to fix. Everything is unfolding exactly
as it needs to. My mind resists this—it feels outrageous, even intolerable, in a world that
seems so broken.

We need to raise the global vibration! What am I supposed to do about it?!

At times like these, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed—like we need to save the world. I’ll
admit, I felt that way while sitting down to write this post. What could I possibly say that’s
equal to the task? The world needs awakening!

And increasingly, it feels like the same is true of our society, our public discourse, and our
basic sense of human decency. Isn’t it all devolving…badly?

We see
this in our homes, our gardens, and our relationships—everything requires energy just to
maintain the status quo.

In simpler terms, things invariably move from order towards chaos and disorder.

The second law of thermodynamics states that entropy always increases, or at best,
remains constant.