Relationships are not just about people - we are all part of the same larger equation...

In my last post, the Next Beginning, I hinted that ‘Your Enemy, Your Friend’ is not a lengthy, linear narrative of any one critical aspect of our humanity. It is essentially an eclectic and diverse collection of related ‘way of life’ insights that are elegantly weaved – and when required, violently interwoven - for the sole purpose of achieving Emotional Freedom by triggering Greater Awareness; an awareness that enables you to distinguish your ‘way of life’ constraints when they refuse to otherwise reveal themselves as constraints. The entire book is, in point of fact, an unashamed expression of - ‘being’ - a departure from conventional belief frameworks, value systems and ‘way of life’ doctrines that introduce and conspire to preserve Existential Obsolescence; an involuntary refusal to accept a new idea, another point of view or to try on a fresh perspective that conflicts with or contradicts what you believe to be right, real or true. Especially when what is being threatened by a change in perspective, is your manufactured identity, preferred reality or perceived sense of value. Add a handful of rogue egocentricities and insecurities to the mix and you will have yourself a recipe for rationalising your own emotional and intellectual imobilisation; i.e. your capacity to change.

Change is fascinating because it underpins the very fabric of existence. Not a single moment passes in which everything from the tiniest particle to the largest object doesn’t undergo some kind of change. It is a remarkably fluid process that for the most part, remains generally imperceptible despite being a powerful universal constant that we are inextricably connected to. Indeed, you might think that the most logical and indeed easiest thing in the world for anybody to do would in fact be - to change; i.e. to evolve by challenging perspective, by exploring possibilities and embracing alternatives for ‘different’ – just in case ‘different’ makes more sense in a given moment – and in my view you would be right – if – that capability was properly nurtured rather than learned away. Instead, what I observe inside of our community behaviour reveals the very opposite. What occurs for us in abundance is a learned resistance to the forces and the flow of change. I’m not referring to the natural and healthy kind of resistance that emerges from our inherent sense for safety and self preservation, rather a brazen and extreme kind of resistance; so powerful, that not only can it compel us to defy logic, it can enable us to accept the unthinkable and to ignore and resist evidence and ideas that reveal the unthinkable as unthinkable so that the unthinkable can remain palatable.

I will take a calculated risk with you today of the 'violently interwoven' kind. If I do not, I would not be presenting myself authentically and the stigma of personal hypocrisy would be a difficult pill for me to swallow. You should know that I do not write simply to entertain, I write to breathe, to feel, to engage and to trigger transformation even at my own peril – if I determine that cause to be worthwhile. Today I was angry; truly and deeply angry. Not violent, not irrational, just plainly overwhelmed with a desire to see a different kind of tomorrow. I recently listened to the words of one Phillip Wallan on Animal Cruelty. Lookup up ‘Animals Should Be Off the Menu’ and give Phillip that moment of your time that’s hard to give when the information being presented conflicts with your preferences. Phillip raises the bar for Greater Awareness re: our relationship to nature, the animal kingdom and marine life. An awareness that I submit is compromised by the very same learned value and belief systems that conspire to sustain our personal unhappiness whilst they remain undistinguished, because they have been finely tuned to almost entirely dismiss the possibility that our animal 'counterparts' are of value beyond that of lifeless commodities to be processed and traded. Further, that, as a society we have learned to ignore unspeakable atrocities and entirely unnecessary acts of constant and systematic horror being carried out by ‘human’ beings upon - other entirely ‘sentient’ beings - in nothing less than biblical proportions on a weekly basis by sanctioned industrial farming practices that purport to carry out the worst kind of criminal behaviour – ‘humanely’ by way of vile and despicable acts that cannot be properly contemplated by a healthy mind without the risk of an emotional cataclysm.

Phillip exposes the human capacity for cruelty, selfishness, arrogance, apathy, and self-deception in every way that matters, and it should matter to you !!! - because what Phillip exposes is a critical vulnerability in the human psyche that will remain exploitable for as long as we continue to subscribe to conventional, disheveled and destructive ‘way of life’ notions. As it turns out, in ‘Your Enemy, Your friend’, I touch on this topic rather aggressively - which is why I have chosen to make a point of it here. Our relationships begin with people, but they do not end with people and to assume that they do - is plainly destructive. Our life ecosystem does not inherently make an allowance for human beings to disrespect other beings, and particularly, not in the unimaginable ways that we enable by our community-sanctioned indifference. I realise of course, that my reference to an Industry is rather ‘large’ and I do not expect that you might contemplate a revolutionary act in the moment that you read this. So I’ll peel the message back to a more granular, consumable, household level; where the possibility to identify and connect with this ‘way of life’ state of mind, emerges more tangibly.

Imagine that an otherwise perfectly healthy family dog has been injured and the cost of treatment is determined by the owner to exceed the allowable budget. Often and without a second thought, the dog’s life will simply be taken. The children (the pet’s intended guardians) will be lied to by the parents about the dog’s disappearance, or the reality will be cleverly obfuscated by common euphemism such as ‘Put to sleep’ or ‘Put Down Humanely’. What does that even mean? Only ‘humans’ can put down ‘humanely’ as per the word’s origin, and the only act being described by this word is the process of a human taking a life, and making it sound pleasing with a phraseological sprinkle of regal entitlement. This linguistic trickery empowers people to perform thoughtless and barbaric acts whilst agreeing to believe into their reality the comforting idea that a noble obligation has been carried out with a sense of duty, care, sadness, peace, goodwill and a clear conscience. It’s not the euphemism that’s the problem because the euphemism ‘does’ in fact have its place. But the place I describe here is not that place. The place I describe here is a cowardly excuse that exists inside of an unfathomable kind of arrogance that only the human being is capable of manufacturing. Plainly, it is a needless act of killing with an indifference to life that is masked by humans the world over who agree that it’s acceptable to leverage a euphemism that masks a despicable truth. It is far too common - and in my view, entirely ‘unacceptable’ if the animal can otherwise be saved.

The same applies to the case of any animal considered to have somehow outlived its usefulness, according to whatever arbitrary measure we ‘superior’ humans decide on - and it very much applies to animals being culled by the hundreds or the thousands for whatever financial reasons we choose to breathe life into on the day. The point, is that conventional belief and value systems uphold this thought process as a ‘way of life’ principle that appears prima-facie acceptable, because it is held firmly into place by the illusion of a righteous or noble purpose that is intended to make it excusable though conditioning that rewards the behaviour by agreement, when simply – it is NOT. No matter how hard you try to fool yourself, you know you’ve done the wrong thing when you have to hide the reality of your actions behind smoke and mirror wordplay and lie shamelessly, rather than look at your child squarely in the eye and say: “Yep, I killed the dog that brought you happiness and that you loved unconditionally, because I couldn’t be arsed spending any money on it. Its life simply wasn’t a priority, and I would never actually consider blowing my high octane fuel budget on it. Sorry kid, that’s ‘life’ – or as is the case here, - ‘not’.

Being Your Enemy is not just a game, it is a way of life...