Boxes (FYI: a bit of a rant)

*Before I start this post, there is something I'd like to share with all of you. A lot of my traveling is simply that, travel for enjoyment and for exploration. But most of my traveling has a deeper purpose. For those of you who don't know, I walk the Red Road. It consists of living Native American truths, and for me the teaching comes from (mostly) the Lakota. Part of the reason I decided to hit the road was to be more available for ceremonies, learning and teachings. And the road has taken me to some incredible places both externally and internally. I was hesitant to share anything from this aspect of my journey on this blog, but I feel like it's okay now. There has been a lot of learning and the time has come to share some of it. So I will be integrating my spirituality into this blog. This blog is mine, afterall, and my spirituality makes up the whole of ME.*

We exist in a series of boxes.

We live in a box,

Sleep, wake up, make love in a box,

Shower in a box,

Put a bunch of useless things that we don't need in mentioned box,

Walk outside for a brief moment only to get into another box while talking into a box,

Drive that box to another box where you'll spend all day working to pay for all the boxes you've accumulated.

Come back to your box after a long day and turn on a box while eating out of a box.

Repeat.

Our society, as a whole, has been programmed to believe that this way of life is something to strive for. We must learn about the world in a box where you get precisely 7 minutes to get from one box to the next, we must then buy a box to live in and a box for transportation. But wait! The boxes we have now just aren't big enough! We must then spend 80% of our lives working in a box in order to buy bigger boxes for the shit we don't need. And the heartbreaking part? We are now part of the program, the illusion, and our children become a part of it too....staring into a box while holding a little box and pushing box buttons. Sound familiar?

It's a sick cycle. A heartbreaking cycle.  But it doesn't have to be that way. We, as a society, just need to wake up. It's time to expand our consciousness and see beyond the little box window we've been raised to look out of. You didn't have a choice of the way you were programmed to see the world, but you do have a choice now. You have a choice in how you choose to live within this world. People are slowly waking up to this skewed illusion we as a society have created. IT IS NOT REAL. Your boxes may feed your ego, but they don't nourish your soul.

This world is not a scary place. You don't need your boxes to protect you. Stop taking everything so seriously, including yourself. There is so much magic in this world, so much power, so much learning, experiencing, true existing. It is not an option but our responsibility as human beings to go out there and expand our minds, our world, our consciousness. This world of boxes is not sustainable! It is not healthy! It stifles our spirits, mutes our intuitions, it kills the life inside of us until we become robots, programmed to believe the illusions and lies around us. Go out there and see for yourself! When you step out of the box, you slowly begin to see the truth and real meaning in life. When you step away from that box of security, the promise of a secure future, that's when you really start discovering your life's purpose, that which elevates you to levels of contentment and joy you never thought were possible. The scary part is recognizing and seeing past the illusion you exist in. Once you really see it, and feel it, you will get past it and really start living the way you, as a human being, are designed to.

You might think I'm full of shit. And that's okay. But don't make judgments until you go out there and live this life. I've lived yours and I challenge you to live mine. For a month, a few months, a year, maybe even forever. Your career and education will not crumble and your boxes will not disappear in a months time.

I am not saying that houses, cars, phones, TV's, office jobs are bad. But there has to be a balance. And as a society, we don't have that balance. We don't know what it's like to hit the road for a few weeks with no plan. We have to plan a vacation where we sleep, eat, and exist in a box with an occasional stroll down the beach. We kill living animals in the most cruel ways for food, we use them for entertainment purposes, we abuse them, we forgot that they are alive because we no longer feel alive ourselves. We don't know what our breath feels like expanding within our lungs. We don't take the time to feel that rise and fall of that which gives you life- your breath! We don't know what it's like to look into the eyes of a dragonfly or hear the flapping of a birds wings. We forgot what grass feels like under our bodies as we spread out to read a book. We think that we are so important and everything that we do and say is crucial...it's not! The next time you're at the ocean and a storm comes in, go out there and see how small you actually are. Stop taking yourself so damn seriously! How can we strive to change other peoples lives when we ourselves don't know what it's like to feel true happiness and freedom? Stop trying to change the world and begin by changing yourself. And then together, we can unite and enter a new way of living and existing. Change comes from unity, and unity comes from love, compassion, and co-existence. How can we co-exist if we're too busy hiding within our boxes all day?

Why would you go to the gym when everything you need to stay healthy is right outside your front door? That leather jacket you're wearing, do you know where it came from? Can you imagine yourself looking into the eyes of the cow as it is brutally murdered so that you can make a fashion statement? I have nothing against leather, in fact I own a few things made out of leather. The difference is, I know exactly how the cow lived, the way that it was sacrificed, and the person who took its life. I know that every piece of that cow was used in a respectful way, and that it's life is being honored in gratitude. What about food? Do you know where your food come from? Or do you just go to a box and pick up food in boxes not knowing how much pollution, death, and destruction that food has caused? Again, I'm not saying that grocery stores are bad. But we have to be aware of where our food comes from. You can choose organic and local produce. Yes, it's more expensive. But your lack of medical bills will make up for that. This doesn't mean that you should never go out to eat or get a pizza and watch trashy reality TV shows. Hell, that's what I do every time I treat myself to a hotel room. But it's not a common occurrence. It's an exception, not the norm in my life. You see, it's all about BALANCE. We don't need to exclude the "luxuries" of the modern world from our lives, we just need to be more conscious and aware of our actions. We need to see past the illusions and realize that this isn't the way we are designed to exist. We need to reconnect with the natural world, and with that reconnect with our higher selves and our stifled intuitions.

Go for a hike.

Go play in the snow.

Take a week off work and hit the road with no plan.

Grow a tomato plant.

Just do something outside of your boxes!

It's not just a choice, it's our responsibility. We have to make changes or we'll create a world where our children and grandchildren will know deep suffering. And eventually they will die a very painful death because our Earth cannot sustain this way of life. And to be honest, what's the point of living with a paralyzed spirit and a programmed mind? We, as a society, are a bunch of robots. It's time to wake up!

I apologize if I offended any of you, but I hope that it made all of you contemplate something, even if a tiny bit. I have so many great links, connections, and information if any of you are interested in expanding your consciousness, hitting the road, or anything, really! Just leave me a comment, send me an email, shoot me a message. I am open to hearing from all of you.