spirituality is the new vice

i've been around for a little while; maybe not as long as some people, but certainly longer than others.
in that time, i've seen and done a few things; maybe not as much as some people, but certainly more than some others.
i've kept my mouth shut about a lot of things.
this isn't one of those times.

the more and more i look around this city, the more i realize how out of touch people really are - not with what goes on around them, although there are a fair number of you, too - but with what is going on inside them. they don't see themselves for what they really are. or they do, but they decide to mask that over with something a lot different. something that looks a lot like someone else's idea of a good time.

how many people do you know, who are NOT doing something that makes them happy every day? how many people do you know, who dislike their jobs, but feel they have no other options ~ they HAVE to make a living SOMEHOW? i see a fair number of these kinds of people every day. they come in to a lecture that they think will somehow cure them of their unhappiness, their boredom, their lack of wealth, or health or any other goddamn thing. they think someone else can tell them how to be happy. now how the hell would they know what makes you happy? and why on earth would you think they do?

let me get one thing out in the open, straight up and to the point: nothing worth having comes easy. and why should it? where would the satisfaction come from if it weren't a challenge? becoming the person you want to be takes an honest, hardworking committment to the cause. you've got rally the troops, defeat the naysayers and fight the good fight.

but of course there's that new age bullshit telling you that it does come easy. all you have to do is close your eyes, relax, and picture piles of money, health, children, customers, or whatever it is that you think you need, surround it by oodles and oodles of beautiful white energy, and manifest your dream item with an affirmation. the thing they don't tell you, is that you have to keep doing this until all of the shit that is currently in your way either gets dealt with or destroyed by your committment to making it happen. it's not about manifesting something out of thin air -- it's about reminding yourself everyday to put on your shoes, step out the door and risk everything while you actively SEARCH for whatever makes you happy.

but people cling to these damn seminars that make promises they can only keep if you promise them to keep up your end of the bargain. they come again and again, trying different topics, different angles, different styles. they try anything that will distract them from the realization that they are simply adding to the problem. the answers are really very easy to see, if you're looking in the right places.

go on and look for them. not outside yourself, but not so far inside yourself that they have no meaning in the real world either. put down that cigarette, that g&t, that martini, that joint and that self-help book. get up off your ass, put on your shoes and start living your life, learning from your life -- that's really all it's there for.

/pk