After watching the movie Divergent I was reminded of another reason for choosing the name Revolution – because I have every intent on starting one (in a non-violent way 😉 I want people to see and think outside of the box. To realize that a majority of what they do think is based on a belief system that isn’t theirs. It’s something that has trickled down from past generations, society, the government, media, religion, schools and everywhere else, everywhere except us.

How many decisions, words and choices a day do we make based on account of something that’s been filtered into us? Based on account of habit and comfort and because we were told at some point? Told we need to vote this way, told we need to have a degree to make us job ‘worthy’ in the work force, told in order to see heaven we need to attend a religious ceremony. In the media we’re told how many more murders have happened in a day, how shit the economy is, how many more are homeless, how many are on welfare, which politician is ‘right’ and why and then after we’re fed all of this, we find ourselves either depressed or needing to take a ‘side’ to argue over which is “correct or better”, to make sure we stand superior to the next guy in line that doesn’t deserve health care or how another country deserves to watch their children die in front of them due to lack of vaccinations and food – all because we know more, do more, and simply are “the best.” And it isn’t just that we’re told this, a majority of it is actions over words – we see it. We see it in others actions, even when their words say otherwise, we see it in the news even when we aren’t sitting down to watch it, it’s still being filtered into our background, we see it all around us in some form. We self justify everything, and when we can’t, we simply point the finger the opposite direction. But why?

Maybe because we all live in a state of fear. Maybe because having to face it, them -ultimately ourselves – is harder then coping in the comfortable ways we’ve trained ourselves to do. Maybe because we’re fearful of what a spouse, parent, co-worker or friend might say. That they may be disappointed because that just isn’t stuff we discuss at the dinner table. But what if it was? What if we quit relying on the news to filter their bullshit and we quit listening to it? Does it matter what side of the story is who’s? Why do we feel like we have to take a stance on one side of the fence or the other every time?! What if the rebellion and revolution had less to do with everything outside of us, and more to do with everything inside of us?

What if we were hooked up to a machine and our worst subconscious fears were played out in front of us? What would they be? And what if they came true? Why are we so consumed by it, why do we feel like we have to ‘fit’ into the ‘norm around us? Fuck the norm – there never was one – I mean really, everyone has their own definition of the word anyways! We weren’t put here to stay stuck, to be superior or inferior to the next guy, to be confined to our past, to be confined – at all! We are each here to pass a test that has nothing to do with society, with being a good law abiding citizen or anything outside of or around us, and everything to do with our souls purpose. It’s not a pass/fail course – it’s a keep making it better, keep growing, keep loving, keep redirecting the sails kinda journey. It’s learning to silence the mind and start listening to our own inner intuition, something that can’t be scientifically proven. It’s learning to quit relying on ‘concrete answers’ and start trusting in something bigger and experimenting with what that means to each of us. It’s learning to go back to our childhood and remembering who it was that we were before we conformed, before trauma overtook us, before we were buried alive on account of everything and everyone around us. It’s learning to break ourselves from the chains that bind us and that it’s possible.

I want people to wake up to the madness of this world and the bullshit that we’ve been fed to make us ‘believe’ something that really isn’t the truth anyways. I want people to learn that words are words – they’re man made and they only hold as much meaning as you give them. We think there’s no way out of our 8-5 jobs, that our kids have to excel in every sport and class, that without a college degree they may not survive, that they need things to make them better and happy and keep up with others. That they need constant access to electronics to keep them entertained and able to stay in the loop. What if we’re just brainwashing them even more? What if we did less promoting of that, and more promoting of how to teach our kids how to volunteer, to stick up for others, to have a voice of their own, to choose something they’re passionate about and truly enjoy, even if it takes them till they’re 30 to figure it out! (Yep – that’s me 😉 Does it mean they’re less of a human being because they don’t have it all figured out? Shit who does?! Does it mean they won’t get far in life because they don’t fall within the guidelines of standardized testing – or is it that they just won’t meet our or others expectations?

It’s hard to even begin tearing down these walls and start asking ourselves why we think the way we do about certain subjects, because it’s something we haven’t been trained to question, whether it be from subconscious thinking, manners or ‘respect’. Maybe we’re all divergents, maybe none of us are supposed to fit into one category in life and only excel at that. Maybe we can be good in all of them, selflessness, peace, honesty, bravery and knowledge and practice them in every area of our lives, not just under certain masks or around certain people. (And yes, again, still a work in progress – right here!). Instead of thinking because our neighbor doesn’t work 60+ hours a week, he’s lazy, or because they don’t have initials behind their name, they’re stupid or because I don’t own the things my friends have I must be the odd man out. Maybe we should be focusing more on the good we could do, like instead of worrying about what bragging rights we have on account of what we own, we not only donate money to an organization, but we go work for them as well. Maybe bravery doesn’t have to come with a bullet proof vest and an M-16 standing on foreign ground, fighting for shit we think we deserve and own, maybe it can mean sticking up for something that isn’t morally right, even when it isn’t the ‘cool’ thing to do. Maybe the problem is we don’t question enough, or we’re questioning the wrong things and the wrong people. Maybe by starting to step outside of the box and tearing down the box that we’ve all managed to do a fine job of fitting in to some degree, we take a step back and ask “why” like a 3 year old does! Why do I think that, why do I do that, why am I this way, is there a reason behind my way of thinking or doing? Most likely, yes – you’ve just never taken the time to sit down and question it. Instead we all just keep yelling at brick walls trying to get a point across that has been slammed into us and we don’t even know why or if we really truly believe that on every level! Maybe, we start having faith in ourselves, more love and forgiveness towards ourselves – which will eventually overflow into other aspects of our lives which will become a domino affect, little by little. Maybe we should stop seeing it as we have no options/it is what it is/that’s just life and start seeing that we have more options then we think! We are the people – we do have choices – we do have a voice – it’s a matter of learning to quiet it when it comes to arguing and speaking it when it comes to the real truth. Maybe we’re just giving into what has been embedded into us by thinking we have to take a side, be something or someone specific. Maybe it’s learning to send each other off with a blessing, even when they are still screaming and knowing we’re worth more then that type of treatment.

I hope this planted some seeds and I hope you continue to question and water them and make them grow – for noone but yourselves. I hope you learn that there are things, ways and people outside of the ‘norm’ that aren’t quite as batshit crazy as you’d think, if you took the time to break down your own walls. That outside of the ‘norm’ can be where the exciting shit happens, where conversation spreads beyond who did what last weekend, which team is going to win the next set of playoffs, what garbage came out of Kanye’s mouth now or who sways which way in what election. To remember that we are the gate keepers to what and where we want to go, in the limited time we have to be here – I hope your revolution has begun – one of another way of thinking! 🙂