#Understanding - Sapience: The Moment Is Now

March 3, 2023May 2, 2026

Being in a World Where Ukraine Is Free & Putin Is Gone

Creative Resistance, Ukraine, Culture, Resistance, Defiant Imagination, Struggle, Justice, Freedom

Preface from 2026 for Being in a World Where Ukraine Is Free

In 2023, when I first wrote this reflection, I still believed the world understood what was at stake in Ukraine.

I believed that after the twentieth century—with its mass graves, shattered democracies, concentration camps, engineered famines, and the terrible human cost of authoritarian power—we had learned enough to recognize the warning signs before the fire spread.

I was wrong.

By 2026, the war in Ukraine has become more than a war over territory. It has become a test of democratic memory, moral courage, and political imagination. And too often the world has failed that test.

The tragedy is not simply that authoritarianism returned. The deeper tragedy is how ordinary its return felt.

People still went to work. Markets opened. Families argued over dinner. Politicians performed certainty. News cycles churned. Social media raged. Many treated the destruction of a free people as background noise—something terrible, yes, but somehow distant, abstract, survivable.

History often arrives like that.

Not as thunder.

As normalization.

That is one of the reasons I keep thinking about Dickinson and Emily Dickinson.

In one of the most moving moments of the series, Emily is surrounded by fracture. Her aunt has died. The country has already been bleeding through two years of civil war. Her family is coming apart. Her brother is drinking. Her father nearly dies after a family conflict that tears the household in half. Her church burns. Her beloved pushes her away. Death hangs everywhere—personal, political, spiritual.

And yet amid all of it, she sees a bird.

Or imagines one.

The series never fully resolves whether the bird is “real.” Most people around her do not see what she sees. But that is precisely the point. Her imagination is not denial. It is perception. It is the stubborn human capacity to recognize possibility while surrounded by evidence of collapse.

That vision became her poem, “Hope is the thing with feathers.”

That poem matters even more now.

Because 2026 feels uncomfortably familiar.

The world again stands in a season where many people insist things cannot really become what they are already becoming.

The reelection of Donald Trump did not merely alter American politics. It sent shockwaves through alliances, institutions, democratic norms, and the fragile moral architecture that helped restrain authoritarian power after World War II. When America weakens its commitments, the consequences do not stop at its borders. Ukraine pays. Europe pays. Democracies everywhere pay. The cost is measured in fear, fracture, disinformation, abandonment, and lives.

That is why Ukraine matters.

Ukraine is not merely defending land.

Ukraine is defending the proposition that truth still matters, that free people still possess agency, that brute force and imperial fantasy do not have the final word in history.

In 2023, I imagined a world without Vladimir Putin.

In 2026, I understand that the deeper question is larger than one man.

It is whether the world can free itself from the political psychology that keeps producing Putins, Trumps, oligarchs, cults of grievance, and systems built on fear, spectacle, and obedience.

That is the real struggle.

And that is where Emily’s bird returns.

Hope is not naïveté.

Hope is not passivity.

Hope is not pretending the church is not burning.

Hope is seeing the fire clearly and refusing to surrender the future to it.

A world where Ukraine is free would not simply be a world without Putin.

It would be a world where people stop mistaking cruelty for strength, propaganda for truth, domination for order, and fear for patriotism.

It would be a world that remembers what democracy is for.

It would be a world that learns, at last, how not to build another Trump.

Introduction to Being In A World Where Ukraine Is Free | 2023

Resistance requires bold acts of creativity. Without creativity, we lack the ability to imagine a better world.

This blog focuses on creative acts of resistance and resilience regarding Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. These five Bs are just but a few of the billions of ways we can resist violence and hatred wherever and whenever it pops up in our world. Without resistance, destructive people like Putin will turn our world into a Hellish place.

Food, art, dance, and storytelling (in any form) have always been creative tools of resistance and resilience for oppressed people living anywhere in world during any age or time. There are many ways to resist creatively, as many as there are human beings alive on the planet right now.

Wherever you are, know you are not alone, and you can resist creatively. The world is slowly catching up to the realization that we cannot leave any human being behind to be devoured by beasts like Putin or other fiendish, fascists monsters.

Each human being, be they rich or poor, famous or obscure, is critical to the social currency and fabric of human life on Earth. Not one person is dispensable or disposable, no matter how much the haters want us to think this is so.

**Being in a World Where Ukraine Is Free:** Art by Monika Aichele | The New York Times | *What Makes Some People More Resilient Than Others*
The very earliest days of our lives, and our closest relationships, can offer clues about how we cope with adversity. By Eilene Zimmerman, Published June 18, 2020

I. Bake for Ukraine

There are so many ways everyone around the world can help the people of Ukraine overcome Putin’s War. Bake for Ukraine. If you sell your creations, donate some of the money raise to individuals as chef José Andrés and his organization World Central Kitchen who are providing food to people trying to survive in places devastated by the same beast that held Europe in its grip in the wars that became global: WWI and WWII.

There is no ignoring this beast lives inside of Putin, his stooges, and his flying monkeys. We must stare it down right here, right now. We need to do what ever we can to help every Ukrainian wherever they are and in whatever way we can. We must merge our collective will into a force greater than the beast inside of Putin. If we fail, it will only grow stronger and swallow more of the world dissolving it into its acid of hate.

This is a beast desperate for its intoxicating food, which is destruction and death. So bake, shout, write your congressmen and women. Tell them to do more for Ukraine and all people suffering from brutality or indifference wherever they live in the world. If we do not deal with this now (if we do not stare down the beast wherever it pops up in our world), we will pay the collective price for ignorance (that is ignoring what we can do now to help others rather than just helping ourselves).

A. Bake for Ukraine — Acts of Creativity Are Acts of Resistance

Being in a World Where Ukraine Is Free: Bake for Ukraine | Acts of Creativity Are Acts of Resistance

This is a video I made of us (really Elena) creatively baking Putin out of our world.

Music: Sally Cooper by Foubert [as featured under Neutral Music on iPhone]

Series: Bake for Ukraine

Photos/videos: Me

**** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** ****

The world sits at a crossroads once again.

Do we turn to the right or to the left?

One way leads towards greater freedom and self-determination for people and countries. It is not any easy path for it roots out corruption in imposes consequences on the people who steal from others, who lie, who double-deal, who smear and slander others, who take what others need to live, including their lives.

The other way leads to less freedom and no self-determination for people and countries. It is an easier path because you just have to follow the crowd and keep your mouth shut, even if that means your business is taken from you to line the pockets of some rich billionaire or your child is beaten up for spraying painting an act of resistance against a fascist government or showing too much hair under a veil. This is the way towards dictatorial rule of a few people who want to control everything.

Everybody on the planet is choosing right now. What will you choose?

B. Bake, Bake, Bake for Ukraine and to Free Oppressed People Everywhere

Elena baked all these gorgeous cakes! Drawing on her rich and beautiful Ukrainian culture and heritage, she is mixing and baking a better way to be and live in our precious, fragile world.

Bake, Bake, Bake for Ukraine | Cakes from October to FebruaryBeing in a World Where Ukraine Is Free: Bake, Bake, Bake for Ukraine | Cakes from October to February

This is another video I made of us (really Elena) creatively baking Putin out of our world.

Music: Space Space [I made this song using GarageBand!?!]

Series: Bake for Ukraine

Photos/videos: Me

**** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** ****

Creativity is a powerful act of resistance.

When people are eating together, they are not fighting each other.

We all choose our path in life. Do you choose love and kindness, sharing food and fun times with other people.

Eating together also requires physically being in the same space, something increasingly rare in our fast-moving, high-tech world. Do you choose hate and rage using your keyboard to troll and disparage others sowing seeds of fear and loathing through dark myths, lies, and misinformation… a evil form of creativity, closely associated with Dark Empathy and Narcissism.

C. World Central Kitchen

Food brings people together. Food nourishes people. Food is an act of love!

When people are eating together, they are not fighting.

Cook, bake, and create for the people of Ukraine and all people who are living under tyranny or trying to escape it. When we cook and bake for people, we are not ignoring them or turning them away from our borders after desperate journeys of survival and escape from injustice and violence.

Being in a World Where Ukraine Is Free: World Central Kitchen founder vows to keep helping Ukrainians in need

II. Banksy & Other Street Artists for Ukraine

**Being in a World Where Ukraine Is Free:** **Music**: Ukraine Is | ROXOLANA [1] Очима 3:18

A. Who Is Banksy?

My good friend from Germany sent me a video about Banksy’s art in Ukraine. I did not know who Banksy is and had to look him up. Then, I was shocked I didn’t know about him.

Who is Banksy? The top theories and how he keeps his identity a secret --He might be one of the most famous names in the art world, but the same can't be said for the man himself -- By Sophie Prideaux Feb 10, 2021

**Being in a World Where Ukraine Is Free:** An artwork by Banksy showing Napoleon rearing his horse, wrapped in a red cloak in Paris, France. EPA

Banksy might be one of the most famous names in the world of art, but for the person behind the tag, it’s a different story.

The street artist, whose thought-provoking works have appeared in almost every corner of the globe, could stroll past you in the street, and you would be none the wiser.

Banksy has managed to maintain anonymity despite years of making global headlines, thanks to a combination of careful planning and a trusted inner circle.

But, if you look hard enough, there are a few details out there about the elusive artist.

B. Banksy in Ukraine

**Being in a World Where Ukraine Is Free:** *Ukraine |* banksyfilm | Click here to watch on YouTube

So, then I searched for more of his street art in Ukraine and it is absolutely thought-provoking and inspiring!

Notorious graffiti artist Banksy reveals new work in war-torn Ukraine -- by CGTN

The world's most famous street artist Banksy has unveiled his latest piece of work, this time choosing a very special location to showcase his signature graffiti style: war-torn Ukraine.

Banksy posted a photo of the mural - a girl gymnast performing a handstand on a small pile of concrete rubble - on Instagram late on Friday.

A work of world-renowned graffiti artist Banksy is seen at the wall of destroyed building in the Ukrainian town of Borodianka. /Gleb Garanich/Reuters

His work is a creative act of resistance against the brutal, evil will of Putin and his fiendish cronies. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says if the Free World remains united like a fist, Ukraine will win this war started by Russia.

C. Other Artists Supporting Ukraine Through Creative Acts of Resistance

As I scrolled through Banksy’s work, I also saw other beautiful and inspiring murals, graffiti, and creative acts of unity and resistance. Art is a powerful form of symbols, and symbols have long united human beings in accomplishing difficult and dangerous collective action.

Now is no different than 10,000 from now or 10,000 years ago. We need each other to do difficult, dangerous things. And untied, as President Zelenskyy says, we will smote the evil flame Putin light on his bomb of greed and hunger to control and crush anyone who does not worship him.

Street Art, Ukraine, despair, hugging, mutual support, empathy

III. Ballet for Ukraine

Ballet has always been used to symbolize and defy great powers of death and destruction and to inspire hope. Here are just two examples of how ballet is defying Putin’s hate.

A. Ballet dancers from across Ukraine bring ‘Giselle’ to the Kennedy Center

**Being in a World Where Ukraine Is Free:** NPR | United Ukrainian Ballet Company members Liza Gogidze and Oleksii Kniazkov in *Giselle*, choreographed by Alexei Ratmansky.
*Altin Kaftira/The United Ukrainian Ballet*

Some 60 Ukrainian dancers are scheduled to arrive in Washington, D.C., this weekend from The Hague. They'll perform Giselle, with choreography by Alexei Ratmansky, at at the Kennedy Center.

The dancers are refugees who fled Ukraine after the Russian invasion. With help from local officials and dance professionals, they formed the United Ukrainian Ballet Company. The artistic director is Igone de Jongh, a former prima ballerina with the Dutch National Ballet.

The stories of how these dancers fled Ukraine by train, bus, car and by foot are harrowing. Vladyslava Ihnatenko was dancing with the Odesa Opera House when the Russians invaded. She decided to leave when she could hear explosions from her apartment.  -- NPR, 1/28/23

**Being in a World Where Ukraine Is Free:** NPR: United Ukrainian Ballet dancer Vladyslava Ihnatenko was dancing with the Odesa Opera when the Russian invasion began.
*Yevgeniy Repiashenko*

B. Ballet for Refugee Kids in the Czech Republic

I learned about this beautiful program taking place in Prague, Czech Republic that helping Ukrainian refugee children find joy during a time of incredible stress and dislocation. I learned about this magnificent program from a friend who is in a writing group that we both belong. The story of how this program came into being is just as wonderful.

In the summer of 1995, Greater Europe Mission’s president, Ted Nobel, visited GEM workers Greg and Debby Nichols in Odesa, Ukraine. As they walked along the beach, Debby told him about her crazy thoughts and dreams of organizing an evangelistic concert at the Philharmonic Hall of Odesa. President Nobel said, “But what if those are not ‘crazy thoughts’ but rather the still small voice of the Lord prompting you to move ahead with this dream?” Those words still ring in Debby’s ears today. That was the beginning of three yearly outreaches reaching thousands of Odesans.

Fast forward to 2022. The Nichols now live in Prague, Czech Republic where part of their work has been with refugees over the past six years. When the Ukrainian war began in February 2022, the Nichols jumped in with both feet to minister to their hurting friends. After many years of practicing listening to the still small voice, they are quicker to discern. And yet, it still surprises them when God invites them into ministries that only he could think up.

As they personally provided help to over 50 refugees who journeyed out of Ukraine, the Nichols sought to bring Christ’s healing in varied ways to the bodies, minds and souls of the displaced Ukrainians. Out of this sprang the idea to create a ministry Center in Prague from which to better operate. As Greater Europe Mission sought to maximize its efforts toward the Ukraine crisis, GEM focused resources on two main areas of refugee ministry –Bucharest, Romania and Prague, Czech Republic.

You can learn more about ballet for refugee kids in the Czech Republic and Greater Europe Mission’s work here.

Special note, I just received an article from my friends that Prague unveiled a powerful new mural on anniversary of the Russian invasion.

**Being in a World Where Ukraine Is Free:** ***Prague unveils powerful new mural on anniversary of the Russian invasion*** | Expats-CZ
The creator of the piece, street artist ChemiS, designed a street mural with a similar motif in March 2022.

“Ukrainians are brave, you can see it every day. And they often stand on the ruins and speak for Ukraine to be free.” – ChemiS
Expats-CZ | ChemiS

I think it is also important to point out that Czechoslovakia was invaded by Hitler for the same reasons and in the same manner as Putin invaded Ukraine. A very good friend of mine who is German told me his father who lived through Hitler’s tyranny of German said that Putin gave the very same speech justifying why Russia was invading Ukraine that Hitler gave before invading Czechoslovakia.

Hitler invaded Czechoslovakia before Poland. The world did nothing. Hitler kept going.

Our next-door neighbor is Peter Stein and he has written a truly compelling book about being a boy in German occupied Czechoslovakia. His father was Jewish and sent to a concentration camp. His mother was Catholic and forced to work in a German factory for long hours throughout the war.

As I wrote in my last blog (February 23, 2023), Never Again the World Once Said... and yet here we are again.

A Boy’s Journey: From Nazi-Occupied Prague to Freedom in America by Peter Stein

Amazon: Peter J. Stein was a witness to history, a keeper of Holocaust memories and teller of its stories. He grew up the child of a Catholic mother and a Jewish father who was forced into slave labor and later disappeared. Nazi-occupied Prague was full of German soldiers everywhere and Peter’s loved ones vanished in mystery and secret. As a 12-year-old immigrant in America, he searched for a new identity that left his past behind. But as Faulkner tells us, the past is never past. When, as a college professor, a group of students sought his help to challenge a Holocaust teacher, Stein’s memories of his childhood resurfaced. A Boy’s Journey makes the past present and carries it into our future so that we do not forget.

C. BALLET BENEFIT RAISES FUNDS TO HELP UKRAINE’S CHILDREN

Throughout history, dance — ballet in particular — has played a vital role during times of war and exile. Ballet and other forms of art were used to both symbolize and defy great powers during World War II and other times of conflict. Today, as we near the one-year mark of escalated war in Ukraine, dancers from Ukraine and around the world are fighting back.

In August 2022, the National Ballet of Ukraine performed at Steinmetz Hall in Orlando, Florida. Presented by the Ginsburg Family Foundation, the Ukraine Ballet Benefit invited audiences to experience Ukraine’s culture through its national artists while raising funds to support those whose lives have been upended by the war. The performance, with the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra, was professionally filmed by the Parable Foundation in partnership with Full Sail University, and the resulting feature film is now available for free streaming. -- Unicef USA, Ukraine, Ballet Benefit to Help Ukraine's Children, January 25, 2023

Ukraine Ballet Benefit

Coming Soon, the historic performance by the National Ballet of Ukraine from the Taras Shevchenko National Opera House, live from the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts in Orlando, Florida. Accompanied by the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra, this monumental performance brings together Ukraine and the America united for the hope of Ukrainian independence and sharing the light of hope to the world through the art and power of ballet. Presented by the Ginsburg Family Foundation, this performance was filmed and produced by the Parable Foundation, in partnership with Full Sail University. All proceeds raised are donated directly to Olena Zelenska Foundation, Razom, and UNICEF to provide humanitarian aid relief to Ukrainians impacted by Russian military invasion. -- Promo - Ukraine Ballet Benefit

Ballet and dance are most definitely brilliant, powerful ways to resist fascism and unite the Free World in collective resistance to smote the evil flame Putin ignited when he invaded Ukraine in 2014. Dance is a brilliant flame to counteract any evil flame ignited by a budding evil fascists or hater in the world.

Let’s dance our world back into harmony and peace so all can live without fear and terror.

IV. Blook & Blog for Ukraine

Where would we be without writing and words? Probably, we’d still living in caves, I suppose. The first volleys of every modern war (even medieval wars) begin with words of hatred and dehumanization of the target to the aggressors seeks to diminish, control, or destroy. It has always been this way. The war begins inside the mind.

So too does the resistance and resilience. Words and stories and video blogs (aka blooks) help reconnect us to what is most essential about ourselves and each other. Words inspire us to be better humans and to act in ways to create a better world. During times of war, words will destroy the swords and bombs because they live in the hearts and minds of people.

A. Blooking

I first learned about Olena from Anderson Cooper when he interviewed her in the first horror-filled and savage days after February 24, 2022.

Olena | What Is Ukraine

I created a playlist of some of her video blogs, also known as blooks, that I call: Olena in Ukraine Reporting Each Day How Terrorist Russia Inflicts Pain & Suffering in Her Homeland.

B. Blogging

Blogging is another powerful way to show what Putin is doing to real people, right now. And another powerful way to galvanize the world’s collective will against fascism and hate of any kind. As I explored in my last blog, fascism and hate is not confined to Putin and his cronies. It inflicts China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, the Philippines, the United States of American.

Fascism, hate, and ignorance lives inside of all of us. But, we do not need to be slaves to it. It only takes a little conscious awareness to illuminate the fullness of who you are and the choices that lay before you each day. It only takes a little self-awareness to choose loving kindness instead of hate and dictatorial impulses to control and degrade other human beings. No one on this planet is dispensable or disposable. No one!

To read more about this, see my previous blog entitled: Ukraine | “Never Again” the World Once Said

https://www.sapience2112.com/ukraine-never-again-the-world-once-said

V. Believe in Ukraine

Beliefs form our life boats upon the sea of being that we must all navigate throughout our lives. Here are two powerful individuals sharing how people survive against all odds to overcome the impossible and to thrive once again.

A. Love & War

I first learned of Esther Perel from my daughter who sent me a podcast to listen to from the series called We Can Do Hard Things with Glennon Doyle and an episode with Esther Perel titled Love & War.

Esther Perel: The routines, rituals and boundaries we need in stressful times | TED

This is a deeply moving and compelling podcast. It illuminates just how devastating Putin’s insane war has on every dimension of being human. War…wherever it happens, however it happens, however big or small it is…it tears apart the nature and fabric of life and everything life needs to survive.

Anyone who desires war and can’t wait for the shooting and killing to start is a deranged human being. This is something my brother-in-law actually said to his son just before the events of January 6, 2021 unfolded. My brother-in-law is a deranged human being devoid of empathy, filled with hate, and obsessed with himself.

Perhaps our modern world has done this to vulnerable human beings in the world making them feel unmoored, frightened, and insecure. Like animals, a hurting human can lash out and hurt other humans. But, there is something more ominous and menacing going on in the world today. A thing that is boiling over into the rise of hate groups around the world. A thing that puffed up Putin into a blimp of terrific terror who is pummelling the world with his particular brand of hate and horror.

I think Esther Perel is a wondrous voice of healing, hope, and regeneration beginning inside ourself and spreading throughout every relationship we have in every moment of our crazy, draining modern lives.

Esther Perel: The Power of Relational Intelligence |

This is another talk by Esther Perel that dives in deep into how relational intelligence guides us towards well-being, success, and a better, healthy, more nourishing life. We need to nourish ourselves so we can nourish each other. We need this sort of nourishment, this sort of insight and self-knowledge desperately now before we blow ourselves up with hateful wars or destroy our planet with woeful ignorance and lack of the collective action to save our planet from our self-destructive actions based on competition, greater profits over the greater good, and self-annihilating focus on things, power, and control.

Love always finds a way. When it doesn’t, the world will end.

B. The Will to Win

Clarissa Ward has been reporting in Ukraine since Putin’s dramatic escalation of his ugly, brutal war on February 24, 2022. Nearing the one year mark since this horrible day one year ago, Clarissa returned to some of the places where she reported to reconnect with people and places during the earlier days of this invasion. And she connects with survivors of Putin’s indiscriminate killings.

It is a compelling testament to the resilience of the Ukrainian people and how love is overcoming hate each and every day of Putin’s hate. It is the Will to Win!

The People Fueling Ukraine’s ‘Will to Win’ | It’s been one year since Russia invaded Ukraine, setting off the bloodiest land war in Europe since World War II. Since then, the bravery and ingenuity of the Ukrainian people has been on full display while its military has defied the odds and inflicted staggering losses on the Russian army. In today’s episode, we hear some of their stories and look at what comes next as the conflict drags on.

Whatever your joy is, whatever you like to do when you can really relax and sink deeply into yourself, do it now in one magnificent, massive act of creative resistance that will utterly, totally blow Putin’s flame of evil and hell out.

Archetypal Animations

Both Archetypal Animations Draw from These Creative Sources

Image From: Europe – CGTN | Notorious graffiti artists Banksy reveals new work in war-torn Ukraine

Image From: The Mirror | New Banksy rumours in Ukraine after painting spotted on demolished building

Image From: Town & Country Magazine | New Banksy Artwork Confirmed in Ukraine

Image From: BBC | Banksy unveils Ukraine gymnast mural on building shelled by Russia

Image From: BBC | Banksy unveils Ukraine gymnast mural on building shelled by Russia

Image From: CNBC | The art of war: Artists around the world leave their mark in support of Ukraine

Image From: Illawarra Mercury | Banksy reveals artwork in war-torn Ukraine

Murals believed to be by Banksy have appeared in the Ukrainian town of Borodyanka, near Kyiv. (AP PHOTO)

Image From: CNBC | The art of war: Artists around the world leave their mark in support of Ukraine

Six months on since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, artists around the world have created poignant murals to support Ukraine. Here’s how artists have depicted the war across continents: (Go to their gallery to see the images) -- CNBC | The art of war: Artists around the world leave their mark in support of Ukraine

Image From: GraffitiStreet | Street Artists Paint in Solidarity with Ukraine, Worldwide 2022

Street artists worldwide are paying tributes to Ukraine amid Putin’s invasion and showing their support for Ukraine. The invasion on 24th February 2022 has been widely condemned internationally as an act of aggression and has triggered Europe’s largest refugee crisis since World War II.

French street artist Seth Globepainter painted a little girl in Paris three days after the war began that symbolizes the Ukrainian people’s courage and determination to face the Russian invasion. Seth Globepainter visited Ukraine in 2017 when he painted a mural of a little girl for the Back to School Project at the Popasna school, located close to the frontline of the Donbas war, curated by Oleg Sosnov, Unicef Ukraine and Sky art foundation. The artist states that the school children he met in 2017 were the inspiration for his mural “Onwards Ukraine”. -- GraffitiStreet | Street Artists Paint in Solidarity with Ukraine, Worldwide 2022

Image From: Prague street artist unveils new mural in support of Ukraine | Expats CZ

A new mural featuring a young girl taking shelter under a Ukrainian flag with popular figures from children's entertainment can now be seen on Mojmírova street in Prague 4, a few blocks from Náměstí Bratří Synků.

ChemiS, the artist behind the work, told journalists on Friday that the mural is an an expression of his stance against the war in Ukraine, and an appeal for continued support of Ukrainians affected by the war.

Image From: Let’s talk about Ukraine | It’s more than just the economy. | Make Me Smart MarketPlace

Image From: Street art mural featuring Ukraine’s besieged capital Kyiv appears in Cardiff | ITV News

A new street art mural has appeared in Cardiff depicting Ukraine's capital Kyiv under siege.

The artwork, which appears to show the city of Kyiv reflected in a person's tearful eye, has appeared in Northcote Lane in Cathays.

It was painted by the artist 'MyDogSighs', who has become known for his designs showing reflections in people's eyes.

A second piece of art, showing two hands held together in the shape of a heart in the colours of the Ukrainian flag, has also appeared in Llanelli.

Image From: Notes from Poland | “Graffiti is my weapon against aggression”: Polish street art in support of Ukraine

Image From: Radio Free Europe | Murals, graffiti and other art in support of Ukraine

Image From: Association of Performing Arts Professionals | A Message from Lisa: In Solicarity with Ukraine

Image From: Grid News | War inspires art

Image From: Deccan Herald | 10 powerful murals & art pieces in support of Ukraine

Image From: CNN | Banksy Confirms 7 New Murals

Image From: The Lo-Down | Street artist Hektad leaves his tribute to Ukraine

Image From: CBC | Murals, graffiti and other art in support of Ukraine

Image From: Deccan Herald | 10 powerful murals & art pieces in support of Ukraine:

Image From: The Culture Map | Street Art: Huge Wall Murals In Kyiv, Ukraine

Image From: Ukrinform

Image From: Outlook India | In Pictures: Artwork By Famous Artist TvBoy In War Ravaged Ukraine

Image From: Bored Panda | 50 Of The Most Powerful Street Art Pieces Made In Support For Ukraine All Around The World

Music: Ukraine Is | ROXOLANA [1] Очима 3:18 &#j [4] Не своя 2:26

February 3, 2023May 2, 2026

American War: A Novel About How Damage Begets Damage, Then & Now

Perspective from 2026 to American War

In 2026, American War feels less like speculative fiction and more like warning. When I first wrote this essay in 2023, I believed the United States was moving dangerously close to internal fracture. That concern has only deepened. We are living in a period of escalating political extremism, organized disinformation, civic distrust, and widening economic inequality. The social fabric has not snapped, but it is fraying in visible ways. What makes this moment unsettling is that daily life still often feels normal. People go to work, scroll their phones, plan vacations, argue online, and carry on. That is often how societies approach rupture—not with sirens, but with routines.

Watching Dickinson sharpened this recognition for me. In its portrayal of the years before the Civil War, Emily Dickinson and her brother Austin seem more attuned than many around them to the gathering storm. Much of their white social world behaves as though ordinary life will continue indefinitely. But history shows that political denial does not stop momentum. It often accelerates it. Before the American Civil War fully erupted, the country passed through years of polarization, moral evasions, regional grievance, media agitation, and failures of civic courage. That emotional atmosphere feels disturbingly familiar now.

Since writing this essay, I have also published my book, Sapience: The Moment Is Now, available on Amazon. The book explores how societies drift toward authoritarianism not only through violence, but through psychological conditioning—through propaganda, manipulated perception, mythmaking, oligarchic capture, and the gradual corrosion of shared reality. Its central argument is that democratic collapse rarely arrives all at once. It advances through normalization. Citizens adapt. Institutions bend. Language becomes weaponized. Fear becomes political currency. When enough people stop distinguishing performance from truth, a plausible dystopian future becomes possible. That is why the world imagined in my book is not fantasy. It is built from pressures already visible in our own time.

American War remains powerful because it understands a hard truth: damage begets damage. Nations that fail to confront trauma, injustice, inequality, and historical fracture do not escape them. They carry them forward until those unresolved forces erupt in new forms. The question in 2026 is no longer whether America is immune. The question is whether enough people will recognize the warning signs early enough to choose a different path.

Introduction to American War | 2023

I was captivated by another Throughline that aired on January 19, 2023. This episode explores possible Extremist Futures as envisioned by Omar El Akkad in his novel American War.

Omar’s novel is about America’s second Civil War. He imagines 50 years into our future. A time when climate change has turned Florida into an underwater theme park and climate disasters devastate the world. His vision is very similar to mine in my novel Sapience: The Moment Is Now (not yet published).

In American War, the world finally understands that it has to stop burning fossil fuels and bands them–but it’s too little too late. The US is the last to band fossil fuels. All states agree to switch to more sustainable energy except Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia. These three states take up arms, deciding they would rather secede than stop burning fossil fuels.

They lose, again, but what follows is a years-long insurgency. This is where his story is mostly centered.

American War: Ignorance

Something Omar says in the beginning of this Throughline needs to be emphasized. He says, “We read to feel into another.”

This is how we come to know and understand each other. A country or a state (I’m thinking of you Florida) that bans books because they might be subversive… God Forbid… they might give children ideas… is a system that seeks to keep its citizens in ignorance.

Break down the word: ig — nor — ance. States and countries that ban books are teaching their people to ignore what they see with their very own eyes.

And, people who are kept in ignorance are a heck of a lot easier to manipulate too!

He also says, “Story is the final act of Resistance!“

American War: Disturbingly Plausible

The New York Time’s describes his novel: “Omar El Akkad’s “American War” is a disturbingly plausible case in point — a tale of a future America torn asunder by its own political and tribal affiliations.“

This is what caught my attention too.

Throughline plays some from the audio book of American War that includes sound effects. Had I not caught the beginning, I might have thought I was listening to real, on-the-ground reporting.

Omar’s story feels real, very real. It feels like it is already happening.

He grounds his story telling by his real life experiences as a boy in Lebanon where he was a witness to the devastation of war and what happens to people in refugee camps.

Omar says, “A society subjected by warfare is akin to moving backwards in time.”

Think of what Putin is doing to his people and to the beautiful people of Ukraine. Every image coming out of his sick ego trip is likened to images from WWI.

The Academy Award nominated movie All Quiet on the Western Front vividly paints the insanity of rich, powerful men who send other men to die for their personal power and glory. In this movie (and of course the book), Paul Bäumer and his classmates are just cannon fodder for a fatherland that has gone mad.

American War: All Quiet on the Western Front | Official Trailer | Netflix

If you are having a hard time remembering the horror and senselessness of death of WWI, then watch All Quiet to remind yourself that quiet means dead. Watch as these young, gifted boys sign up for service and get pumped up by grumpy, old narcissistic men who stuff them full of overly romanticized, patriotic notions of war and how they are defending the fatherland. It’s on Netflix, so you have no excuse.

American War: Euphemistic Fraudulence

Omar describes this souped-up patriotic messaging as euphemistic fraudulence.

Texas University’s McCombs School of Business published an article that was written by Robert Prentice titled: Euphemisms Inflict Collateral Damage on Integrity.

This article begins with the college admission scandal that caught up actress Lori Loughlin and fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli in acts of fraud to get their children into the best schools.

Robert writes, and this is important:

In an earlier blog post we suggested some reasons, grounded in behavioral ethics, that might help explain why reputable people and loving parents became involved in these frauds.  The conformity bias, the self-serving bias, and incrementalism all may have contributed. The evidence disclosed in the indictment offers additional clues.

A euphemism, say’s Webster’s, is “the substitution of an agreeable or inoffensive expression for one that may offend or suggest something unpleasant.”

Famed Stanford psychologist Albert Bandura writes of “moral disengagement,” suggesting that people, such as Loughlin and Giannulli, who think of themselves as good people can do something bad so long as they can selectively suspend morality for their activities. One way people do this is by use of euphemisms.  Bandura notes:

“Language shapes the perception of events and the thought patterns on which people base many of their actions. The personal and social acceptability of given activities, therefore, can differ markedly depending on what those activities are called. Euphemistic machinations are used widely to detach and depersonalize doers from harmful activities. Cloaking detrimental activities in euphemisms can be a powerful weapon.”
“Working the System” – Euphemisms Inflict Collateral Damage on Integrity

Examples of the “sanitizing and convoluted language” (Gambino) of euphemisms that have helped people make their peace with wrongdoing include the following:

Dead civilians = “collateral damage”
Mass firings = “right-sizing”
Lies = “alternative facts”
Burning down villages = “pacification”
Fraud = “creative accounting”
Genocide = “the final solution”

Empirical studies indicate that “euphemistic labels can psychologically sanitize unethical practices, facilitating our participation in them.” (Moore & Gino).

American War: The World is Either Good or Evil

This is a lie. Every modern human being born today is told this lie.

Omar talks about how this idea is used to twist us into doing all sorts of evil things. It is a notion, an idea, a belief drilled into us since the day we are born until the day we are dead.

It is this very idea that the world can be cleaved into a good side and a bad side that allows us to be manipulated.

I would add it is precisely splitting the world into Good and Bad parts that lets us justify just about any abominable violence we can dream up.

It is also what allows ruthless rulers to turn plain, ordinary, decent human beings into killing machines and monsters.

Ruthless Rulers are already monsters and include men such as Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping, Ali Khamenei, Kim Jong-um, Denis Sassou Nguesso, Abdullah Aziz Al Saud, Bashar al-Assad, and there are many more (see the list of Current World Dictators).

**American War:** World Dictators In 2022 By Location

We live with these monsters right here, right now on our planet. And they are pounding our world straight back to the Stone Age just as fast as they can.

**American War:** This is a comprehensive, up-to-date list of the current world dictators and authoritarian regimes. In 2022 **there are 57 dictatorships in the world.** We define a dictator as the ruler of a land rated “Not Free” by the Freedom House in their annual survey of freedom.

What do you think? Are they winning? The Red countries that is… are there more red countries than yellow or green?

That is exactly what they want you to believe. But, perhaps you are beginning to sense out it is precisely this idea of division that is the problem.

American War: Empathetic Liars

One of Omar’s characters is an empathetic lair. He is the character that goes into the refugee camps and radicalizes the kids there.

Omar says there is no such thing as exotic suffering, but empathetic liars make you believe there is. Empathetic liars parse the fine threads of what we do and what is done to us. Empathetic liars play upon the lack of self-agency in a place like a refugee camp (or one of Putin’s prisons) and use it like a gleaming lure to hook their targets–kids (or Russian prisoners) whom they plan to turn into cannon fodder.

Omar says, “People go to bad place when their self-agency is taken away from them.” And the more damaged a person is, the more their circle of Trust closes in, making them extremely vulnerable to empathetic liars

And that is exactly what autocrats, dictators, and pretty much most of the Republican Party in the United States are doing. Whoever they are…all close ranks around their strong man, hype their followers up on Fraudulent Euphemisms, and close the circle of Trust until only one man can be trusted.

And, there sure are a lot of want-a-bee dictators who desire to be the one and only man the entire human race can trust–Putin, Trump, Xi Jinping, Ali Khamenei, Kim Jong-um, Denis Sassou Nguesso, Abdullah Aziz Al Saud, Bashar al-Assad, or pick your poison.

Yes, Omar is very right to envision the coming of America’s Second Civil War! Heck, we might be staring down the path to WWIII.

I think Empathetic Liars is another name for Dark Empaths. Dark Empathy is not a good thing. Dr. Ramani does a very good job in this video explaining why all of us need to be on the look out for Dark Empaths and Empathetic Lairs.

TAmerican War: he Dark Empath VS the Narcissist: The Signs | Med Circle

American War: Reality? What Reality!

Omar talks about when a group of people believe anything they want to believe is real… you’re living in a very dangerous place and time.

Add the element of violent insurrection being a central part of a country’s narrative, and you have a tinderbox waiting to explode.

He admits he’s been amazed how reality has out did his fiction.

He warns, “There is a particular Force that when it emerges within a group of people, it must be stared down directly.”

I would add that when this Force is encountered: You cannot blink. You cannot turn away. And, if you falter, it will destroy you.

I’m writing about such a force too. I was reminded of a prologue I was playing around with to describe my story. I realize it is exactly what Omar is warning us about.

American War: The Last DJ on Earth | I wrote and read the beginning of this video. My husband plays the Last DJ and my friend Brain (who has since passed) plays the Persuader

Will we listen? Can we listen anymore?

American War: Feature Archetypal Animation

Image from: American War by Omar El Akkad, book review: Should be read as a cautionary tale | The Independent — This impressive debut imagines a second American Civil War set from 2074 to 2095 and is set apart from other dystopian novels because of the fully realised plausibility of the scenario

Image from: Penguin Random House Audio | “Powerful . . . As haunting a postapocalyptic universe as Cormac McCarthy [created] in The Road, and as devastating a look as the fallout that national events have on an American family as Philip Roth did in The Plot Against America. . . . Omar El Akkad’s debut novel, American War, is an unlikely mash-up of unsparing war reporting and plot elements familiar to readers of the recent young-adult dystopian series The Hunger Games and Divergent.”
—Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times

Image from: Book review: American War by Omar El Akkad | The Times UK

Image from: The American Civil War, a Summary | AAREG

Image from: A Fictional (So Far) History of the Second American Civil War | The New York Times

Music: 1865: Songs of Hope and Home from the American Civil War Anonymous 4 | [15] Home, Sweet Home / Polly Put the Kettle On

American War: First Archetypal Animation

Image from: PlanetRulers – Current Heads of State & Dictators

Image from: PlanetRulers – Current Heads of State & Dictators

Image from: PlanetRulers – Current Heads of State & Dictators

Image from: PlanetRulers – Current Heads of State & Dictators

Image from: PlanetRulers – Current Heads of State & Dictators

Image from: PlanetRulers – Current Heads of State & Dictators

Image from: PlanetRulers – Current Heads of State & Dictators

Music: Heaven Or Hell | Don Tolive | [1] Heaven Or Hell

Current World Dictators

October 22, 2022May 1, 2026

Free to Choose: Mirror of Deeds

In the second episode of Shantaram, available on AppleTV, Lin steps out of his friend Prabaker’s tent in one of Bombay’s sprawling slums. He looks around at all the people in the bustling slum who are looking at him and wonders if they are afraid of him and hate him. He knows he doesn’t belong there, but fate has put him there.

Thinking to himself, he says something like this: “It is what people know about themselves that make them afraid of you.“

Free to Choose: Mirror of Deeds: In A World…

I rewound and watch this moment again. I was not expecting a nugget of wisdom in this drama. But, there it was…something real, something true, something very pertinent to the world we live in now. Today, no matter where you live, we live in a world….

…where MAGA Republicans think all Democrats are evil beings who drink the blood of children. This belief makes liberals and Democrats not really human. If they aren’t really human, then that makes it all right to kill them, all of them.

“Oh? You don’t believe me?”

Listen to this man right here. He’s the man with the littlest Wiennie of them all. The man in the middle touting hate, lies, deception, stories of separation, fear, and division. He’s Steve Bannon.

Free to Choose: Mirror of Deeds: Steve Bannon Swears Revenge On His Democratic Enemies After Being Sentenced To Prison — Politicus Media; 10.2K subscribers

This little man, Trump’s Rasputin, knows that a democracy divided is easy to control. And he wants to control everything. Look at his beady eyes and scrubby stubble. He’s a tormented man doing everything to create confusion, chaos, and destruction so he can rise as a Christ for a world of sinners. If you have not seen CNN’s special report Divided We Fall, it is time to watch it.

**Free to Choose: Mirror of Deeds:** CNN SPECIAL REPORT: **STEVE BANNON, DIVIDED WE FALL** Reported by Drew Griffin

“Oh — you don’t trust CNN?“

“You say it’s the radical left touting Joe Biden’s radical agenda…and before that it was Hillary….and before that it was Obama…and before and before…”

How far back should we go with the blame game and ‘I don’t trust you‘ contest? To Adam and Eve? Is it really that nasty little snake who started it all?

If you’re playing this game, you have already swallowed the Red Pill, and it’s working its toxic poison deep inside of you. It’s a poison that makes you deeply afraid of others and deeply afraid of your own shadow. And, you probably should be deeply afraid of your own shadow.

That is what Lin is aware of while standing alone in the slum of Bombay. That sneaky shadow that lives inside all of us casting its evil intensions and desires onto everyone else, except for you.

If you are playing this game, you have joined the ranks of people who violently participate in the denial of diversity. You do this to legitimize your own violent fear of anyone who doesn’t walk like you, talk like you, look like you, act like you, or think like you. You secretly believe and harbor a wish to bring into being a world that obeys and worships you.

The dirty little secret is hidden deep inside of you is a greedy, little, bloodthirsty thing who rages and whines about inflicting pain and suffering onto others. You want to do this so that you can enjoy your comforts and privileges. You need to do this because how would you know you are enjoying comforts and privileges unless others are suffering?

When you get called out on your racism, homophobia, antisemitism, and racism, you rage. You rage against the radical liberals who are merely pointing out your evil shadow. But, you don’t want to see the evil inside of you. So you build a wall. It’s a really tall wall that is made from the seething anger and rage boiling inside of you. If anyone gets too near, it burns like a living fire.

‘God damn it!’ if anyone is going to penetrate you inner wall and see that howling, wounded, frighten, greedy thing that lives inside of you.

That thing…. that scoundrel, that fiend, rascal, rogue, fraudster, trickster, beast, son of a bitch, deviant thing, loser, weirdo, cry baby, stupid brutal bastard, and bully. But guess what? So am I, and so is everyone else you know. We all have this evil thing living inside of us.

It never goes away. It bubbles and boils and burns inside us all. It pursues and terrorizes us in our dreams. Lin says, “A dream is when a wish and fear come together. A nightmare is when they are the same thing.”

Remaining ignorant of your evil being merely locks it inside of you where it is hidden behind the carefully constructed idea of yourself (your persona: the role you play in your community and for your family). It is your personal internal prison cell behind the giant wall that you built to conceal your evil being. You built the wall so well, most of the time you can’t even see your evil being locked inside your mental prison cell with you.

This thing inside of you is relentless and torments you night and day. In an act of utter desperation, you spew it out onto others and shout in a voice dripping with rage and fury:

“There! There is the boogeyman!

There is the Devil!

There is the Evil Thing that must be annihilated!”

Or, if the other person (the boogeyman) was once part of your exclusive club of people who know the Truth and what is really going on, you might shout:

“Hang Mike Pence!!”

In a world where Putin calls the people of Ukraine Nazis. Never mind he is the one acting like the Nazi. He is the one full of hate. He is the one who has driven out close to a million Russian men because they don’t want to fight in his barbaric, poorly equipped, and pretty bad army. He is losing. So he resorts to lies and double downs on stupid while waging his limp, impotent Nuclear Weiner.

Do not be fooled by Putin’s weak, victim-based, impotent hysterics! He is exactly the type of man who would push the button.

In a world where Iran’s Moral Police beat up and kill young women simply for wearing their hijab too loosely. But it is themselves they are really policing. They are afraid that if they see a single strand of hair sticking out from a hijab, their Limp Weak Weiner will grow. And if this happens, they are afraid they’ll lose control and turn into the Devils they know themselves to really be deep, deep down inside. This corrupt and bankrupt regime has already killed 272 young people and beaten and/or tortured 1,110 others.

In each world outlined above, each man’s rigid, inflexible thinking and bullshit is camouflage for the shitty little men they really are. They lust after power and cluster together helping each other hold onto power and control in their stinking palaces riddled with long, long corridors of terror.

Free to Choose: Mirror of Deeds: Maps of Hate

This is what the corruption is and this is what it does to human beings. It is a kind of moral bankruptcy. It takes root inside individuals who find each other and clump together in groups that try to take control in order to enforce their style and way of thinking. If they do get control, they quickly create systems that exclude diversity and impose their way of doing things in brutal ways meant to terrorize everyone else into compliance. When a government becomes populated by such individuals, it turns into a structural system of terror bent on brutalizing anyone who is not exactly like them.

There are three main mappable categories of this deadly psychic virus: Dictators, Terror Groups, and Hate Groups. But the corruption lives inside everyone and is readily expressed in every day transactions. You see it in families, in workplaces, in schools, between friends and lovers. It thrives in ignorance and lack of self-awareness. It particularly loves to reside inside narcissists!

Dictators of the World

This is a comprehensive, up-to-date list of the world's current dictators and authoritarian regimes. In 2022, there are 57 dictatorships in the world. We define a dictator as the ruler of a land rated “Not Free” by the Freedom House in their annual survey of freedom. See the interactive map and photos below or click to visit the current dictators category.

Of course, the dictators of the world will point to all the yellow areas of this map and claim, “There! There is the evil capitalists who are draining the world of resources and polluting our planet!”

They are not entirely wrong, expect they think in black and white, good and evil, right and wrong. They split the world into opposite halves. Then, they step inside the Good Bubble, created entirely inside their mind and spew out their pent-up boiling hate, vengeance, and destructive tendencies on everyone else. They never take responsibility for themselves. They are the consummate victim, and always the hero in their narcissistic story. And so, it is in this way that we (the human race) will split the planet into two unreconcilable halves and all die together in a seething puddle of hate.

Free to Choose: Mirror of Deeds: Terror Groups

One step behind dictators and authoritarian rulers of the world are terror groups such as Boko Haram, ISIS, and Taliban (which actually managed to retake control of Afghanistan bumping them back up to the dictator map above). The map below shows terror groups around the world and provides a list of largest terrorist groups worldwide.

These are groups of people who twist words and religions to bolster their brutal causes. They are mostly stateless centers of terror who are trying to grab some land and people who they can crush and ruin.

**Free to Choose: Mirror of Deeds:** **2021 Global Terrorism Index**

Overall Terrorism Index Score: GTI is a composite measure made up of four indicators: incidents, fatalities, injuries and property damage. To measure the impact of terrorism, a five year weighted average is applied.

Free to Choose: Mirror of Deeds: Hate Groups

One step behind terror groups are hate groups. Rather than centering their brutal activities in one spot or country, hate groups operate like a distributed network that hock, sell, and propagate hate. It is easier than ever to breed hate with the advent of the Internet and people who live their lives online.

Hate groups traffick outrage and outlandish accusations designed to divide the world into Us and Them, into people you can trust and people you can’t trust. Hate groups are insidious and invade peoples minds like a drug. Once you become addicted to hate, it is an addiction that is harder to kick than heroin. It is a poison to your mind that is more destructive than Meth. Hate literally changes the neural pathways of your brain.

The following images are from Jigsaw, an incredible website that helps you visualize hate.

**Free to Choose: Mirror of Deeds:** **Red Pilling:** Signalling allegiance to a group or ideology often becomes an all-consuming project for extremists. Even once an extremist has been formally admitted into a group or online forum of extremists, formers described the need to prove themselves as “down for the cause” or “white enough” by committing more and more time and energy. This performance of dedication often escalates in a competitive fashion, resulting in hate speech and violence.

**Free to Choose: Mirror of Deeds:** **Red Pilling**: The rise of informal white supremacist communities online over the last 20 years has made it easier to find, join, and become radicalized into white supremacist groups. Whereas groups in the past might have recruited at white power rock shows or amenable bars, online radicalization no longer requires this investment of in-person time and physical vetting. Today a person can spend hours online moving through increasingly radical content and discussion forums. The immersive nature of these online forums and communities can create a “new normal” that contradicts offline social norms28. This also means younger children and teens, who could not be recruited at bars or white power concerts in the past, can more easily join white supremacist groups at impressionable ages. One former interviewed had entered a white supremacist forum at age 13 and, drawn to the provocative memes and secretive chat forums, had adopted national socialist beliefs by 15. By 18, he was part of a neo-Nazi terrorist organization proscribed in the UK.

**Free to Choose: Mirror of Deeds:** Formal and informal extremist groups often coexist online, playing complementary roles

**Free to Choose: Mirror of Deeds:** White supremacy is a globally networked movement

Another excellent mapping project is the Hate-Map using real time data of hate events to create a map that shows hotspots and how hate is growing worldwide.

**Free to Choose: Mirror of Deeds:** Interactive Hate Map | You need to go to the site embedded in the Hate Map, but as you zoom into an area, the number of incidences increases in the the places that appear white in the map above this one.

The Hate Map is populated with data submitted both by our internal researchers, the public and our network of volunteers. This data largely stems from publicly available news-sources and consolidations of information from other public data-sets and records. Existing records are however often limited in scope and fail to give a comprehensive picture of the global activities of the far right ranging from spread of propaganda and low-level activities through major terrorist incidents.

All data in the Hate Map is verified and quality controlled by internal researchers who are experts on far right extremism and experienced in the field of open source intelligence (OSINT) building on public sources and providing verifiable documentation before it is made available in our public-facing database and dashboard. Our researchers take great care to verify sources where there might exist any doubt. Links to external sources are provided for all our database entries in order to ensure that the public further can verify any incident independently.

Our dataset is cross referenced against the work of other institutions and organizations mapping the far right in order to ensure as comprehensive a picture of the global situation of the far right as possible, in keeping with the highest academic standards.

The Hate Map is a living document and both recent and historic events are added and verified on a daily basis. -- The Hate-Map

Free to Choose: Mirror of Deeds: The Playbook

Regardless of if you are a dictator; an authoritarian ruler; a leader or member of a terror group; a leader or member of a hate group; a narcissistic boss, sibling, friend, or parent, you play from the same dirty handbook. That book repeats one mantra over and over, which is to inflict as much pain, terror, and suffering on your enemy (which is anyone who does not agree with you) while constantly claiming to be the victim. And if you can’t win that way, then you have the right to destroy everything.

This attitude, belief system, behavior is all a big cover up of who you really are. It is a smoke screen and distraction because deep, deep down inside yourself you feel inferior, impotent, dithering, confused, frighten, and like a limp Weiner. That’s why you run around the world hurting everyone else. If you can’t have it your way, then you want to be the first to destroy it!

Looking at these map, it is pretty clear we are not doing very well as species. No wonder we are not paying attention to Climate Change. Perhaps we won’t need to after all. The way things are going we will blow ourselves up before nature cleans us off the surface of the planet with climate disasters that are only getting bigger and more deadlier by the year… and this trend is only going bigger and badder not the other way.

Perhaps we all better stop, take a deep breathe, and listen to the Whale Songs again. The ones Vermont biologist Roger Payne captured and brought to us in the 1970s!

Free to Choose: Mirror of Deeds:
Songs Of The Humpback Whale – by Dr. Roger Payne
Gordon Snyder; 494 subscribers

Free to Choose: Mirror of Deeds: Yetzer Harah

I realized this thing Lin said in the second episode of Shantaram is part of the puzzle of the Yetzer Harah.

I first heard about the Yetzer Harah while listening to Alan Watts lectures who describes it like this:

So, in Hebrew theology incidentally. That there is a thing called the yetzer harah. And in the beginning of time when God created Adam he implanted in him the yetzer hara and the yetzer hara means that wayward spirit. He put something funny in man so that man would be a little odd and it was a result of the yetzer hara that Adam was tempted by Eve who was tempted by the serpent to eat that famous fruit. And, but the Hebrew believes that everything that God created is good. Including the Yetzer Hara. Because if it hadn’t been for the yetzer hara, there would have nothing ever happened. Everybody would have obeyed God and God would have said well this is kind of a bore.

Now that you see, you can’t you can’t just get up to someone and say disobey me, because if they do there are varying you. See that’s a double bind. Say to somebody disobey me but God is much more subtle than that. He didn’t tell Adam to disobey he told him to obey.

But suddenly he put this yetzer hara thing in like that so that, God would say well I’m not responsible. For this thing’s going to happen on its own because what everybody wants is something to happen on its own. And everybody wants that.

Because you see, this sensation of being you. This curious lonely center of awkward sensitivity, subject to the most peculiar feelings and pains and anxieties and all that sort of thing all that. Is an essential prerequisite for feeling something else. These two experiences go together. -- 2.4.9 Way Beyond Seeking Part 2; Alan Watts Organization

In short, the Yetzer Harah is why we do evil things, why we fear people we don’t know, why we wage wars, why we cheat each other… pretty much why we are living in the mess we made of the world today.

Shantaram tells the story of how Lin made a mess of his life (surely guided by his inner Yetzer Harah that tempted him into making a lot of bad choices that landed him in prison). Then, Lin makes a courageous choice, escapes from prison, and gets a second chance to live his life, which he is messing up again–gosh darn it!

I’m only on episode 2…so Lin is probably going to embark on different mistakes. And I bet he is going to grow from these mistakes because Lin demonstrates the capacity to reflect on his new situation and past mistakes, which pushing open the door of the prison cell inside your head, just a little bit, but if you look…there is vast and beautiful field of wisdom beyond your prison cell behind your wall of ignorance.

Is wisdom perhaps the reason God implanted the Yetzer Harah into man at the very beginning?

I suppose we will never know because clearly we are going to kill each other long before we can collectively learn how to embrace diversity and celebrate life in all its many facets and ways of being in the world.

Free to Choose: Mirror of Deeds: Images For Archetypal Animations

Feature Archetypal Animation

Alice In Wonderland Clip Alice Falls Into a Rabbit Hole 2010 HD

Shop Alice Falling Down The Rabbit Hole Designs in Fabric

Music: Down the Rabbit Hole: Emma Wallace [1] Rabbit Hole 2:02

Second Archetypal Animation

I was searching for exactly what Lin said to himself when he woke up the first morning in his friends tent in the Bombay slum. I could not find it, but I found a lot of other great quotes from Gregory David Roberts who is the author of Shantarm. So, I have sprinkled these in between the credits of where I found the images for this animation.

“Civilisation, after all, is defined by what we forbid, more than what we permit.”
― Gregory David Roberts, Shantaram

“Fear dries a man’s mouth, and hate strangles him. That’s why hate has no great literature: real fear and real hate have no words.” ― Gregory David Roberts, Shantaram

“For this is what we do. Put one foot forward and then the other. Lift our eyes to the snarl and smile of the world once more. Think. Act. feel. Add our little consequence to the tides of good and evil that flood and drain the world. Drag our shadowed crosses into the hope of another night. Push our brave hearts into the promise of a new day. With love; the passionate search for truth other than our own. With longing; the pure, ineffable yearning to be saved. For so long as fate keeps waiting, we live on.”
― Gregory David Roberts, Shantaram

“The past reflects eternally between two mirrors -the bright mirror of words and deeds, and the dark one, full of things we didn’t do or say.”
― Gregory David Roberts, Shantaram

Charlie Hunnam And Shubham Saraf Tell Us About How The Spirit Of Chaos (And One Drunken Night) Fueled ‘Shantaram’

“While I was chained to a wall and being tortured, I realized, through the screaming of my mind, that even in that shackled, bloody helplessness, I was still free: free to hate the men who were torturing me, or to forgive them. It doesn’t sound like much, I know. But in the flinch and bite of the chain, when it’s all you’ve got, that freedom is a universe of possibility. And the choice you make between hating and forgiving, can become the story of your life.” ~ Gregory David Roberts

“The truth is that there are no good men, or bad men,’ he said. ‘It is the deeds that have goodness or badness in them. There are good deeds, and bad deeds. Men are just men – it is what they do, or refuse to do, that links them to good and evil. The truth is that an instant of real love, in the heart of anyone – the noblest man alive or the most wicked – has the whole purpose and process and meaning of life within the lotus-folds of its passion. The truth is that we are all, every one of us, every atom, every galaxy, and every particle of matter in the universe, moving toward God.” ~ Gregory David Roberts

“It’s forgiveness that makes us what we are. Without forgiveness, our species would’ve annihilated itself in endless retributions. Without forgiveness, there would be no history. Without that hope, there would be no art, for every work of art is in some way an act of forgiveness. Without that dream, there would be no love, for every act of love is in some way a promise to forgive. We live on because we can love, and we love because we can forgive.” ~ Gregory David Roberts

Charlie Hunnam Fell In Love With India While Working On ‘Shantaram’ But Also Fell Severely Ill!

“There’s a truth deeper than experience. It’s beyond what we see, or even what we feel. It’s an order of truth that separates the profound from the merely clever, and the reality from the perception. We’re helpless, usually, in the face of it; and the cost of knowing it, like the cost of knowing love, is sometimes greater than any heart would willingly pay. It doesn’t always help us to love the world, but it does prevent us from hating the world. And the only way to know that truth is to share it, from heart to heart, just as Prabhakar told it to me, just as I’m telling it to you now.” ~ Gregory David Roberts

“Love is the passionate search for a truth other than your own; and once you feel it, honestly and completely, love is forever.” ~ Gregory David Roberts

“Some feelings sink so deep into the heart that only loneliness can help you find them again. Some truths are so painful that only shame can help you live with them. Some things are so sad that only your soul can do the crying for them.” ~ Gregory David Roberts

**Inde. Bombay ou Mumbai, il faut choisir son**

Music: Shantaram (Chapter Four)Various Artists [1] Aeternum 9:16 [2] Inner Fire – Yuriy from Russia Remix 9:15

October 2, 2022May 1, 2026

UFOs No… But Unexplained Inner Phenomena, Yes: Now

Inner Verse, Psychology, Inner Phenomena

Who doesn’t like UFOs?!

Think Close Encounters of the Third Kind:

UFOs No… But Unexplained Inner Phenomena, Yes:
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (2/8) Movie CLIP – Chasing the UFOs (1977) HD
261,453 views, Oct 7, 2012

Or ET:

UFOs No… But Unexplained Inner Phenomena, Yes:
E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (2/10) Movie CLIP – Getting Drunk (1982) HD
4,391,816 views, May 27, 2011

UFOs No… But Unexplained Inner Phenomena, Yes: But Are They Real?

David Kestenbaum of This American Life says: U-F-No!

Not long ago, in an extremely rare moment of bipartisan unity, Republicans and Democrats came together to discuss UFOs, now called unexplained aerial phenomena or UAPs by the military. It is the first Congressional meeting on the topic since 1969.

**UFOs No… But Unexplained Inner Phenomena, Yes:** Deputy Director of Naval Intelligence Scott Bray, left, and Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security Ronald Moultrie speak Tuesday during a House Intelligence, Counterterrorism, Counterintelligence, and Counterproliferation Subcommittee hearing on “Unidentified Aerial Phenomena” on Capitol Hill in Washington. *Alex Brandon/AP* — Image from NPR Report on Congress UFO Hearing

David listened into the hearing along with Mick West.

Mick West is a British science writer, skeptical investigator, and retired video game programmer. He is the creator of the websites Contrail Science and Metabunk, and he investigates and debunks pseudoscientific claims and conspiracy theories such as chemtrails and UFOs. Wikipedia

This short episode of This American Life is a curation of their discussion of the Congressional Hearing while they listened to military officials present a report to Congress that includes about 400 incidents, which is up from 143 assessed in a report released about a year ago.

Mick explained a lot of the unexplained aerial phenomena as camera artifacts such as these:

Scott W. Bray, the deputy director of Naval intelligence, told lawmakers there is no evidence of aliens, and they still haven’t uncovered anything “nonterrestrial in origin,” although there remain incidents they can’t explain.

UFOs No… But Unexplained Inner Phenomena, Yes: That Doesn’t Mean They’re Not Real

Despite lacking physical evidence that proves the reality of UFOs (other than other explanations such as camera artifacts, mylar balloons, and contrails) that does not mean there isn’t something very real going on. Indeed, this unexplained phenomena is as old as man’s ability to articulate his experiences to others. What makes humans extraordinary on this planet is our shared ability to perceive and share physical reality through words, symbols, and ideas. Human beings also share the ability to perceive and make sense of inner realities. Indeed, mankind’s most spectacular ideas and inventions originate from this inner dimension of being.

Carl Jung is best known for his theories of the human subconscious and the idea he termed the Collective Unconscious. Through his practice as a psychiatrist, he came to believe humanity shares a subconscious mind that stores the memories of all human beings, dead and alive, that are available to us through images, visions, dreams, and other phenomena humans experience, especially at times of stress, trauma, life and death.

**UFOs No… But Unexplained Inner Phenomena, Yes:** The notion of collective consciousness was put forward by Carl Gustav Jung (Image: Lightspring/Shutterstock) — Image from: Carl Jung and the Concept of Collective Consciousness

Jung wrote a book about UFO and paranormal phenomenon. Here are two summaries of this book:

While Jung is known mainly for his theories on the nature of the unconscious mind, he did have an interest in the paranormal. In this essay, Jung applies his analytical skills to the UFO phenomenon. Rather than assuming that the modern prevalence of UFO sightings are due to extraterrestrial craft, Jung reserves judgment on their origin & connects UFOs with archetypal imagery, concluding that they have become a "living myth." This essay is intriguing in its methodology & implications as to the nature of UFOs & their relation to the human psyche. -- GoodReads: Flying Saucers: A Modern Myth of Things Seen in the Skies

In the threatening situation of the world today, when people are beginning to see that everything is at stake, the projection-creating fantasy soars beyond the realm of earthly organizations and powers into the heavens, into interstellar space, where the rulers of human fate, the gods, once had their abode in the planets.... Even people who would never have thought that a religious problem could be a serious matter that concerned them personally are beginning to ask themselves fundamental questions. Under these circumstances it would not be at all surprising if those sections of the community who ask themselves nothing were visited by `visions,' by a widespread myth seriously believed in by some and rejected as absurd by others.--C. G. Jung, in Flying Saucers Jung's primary concern in Flying Saucers is not with the reality or unreality of UFOs but with their psychic aspect. Rather than speculate about their possible nature and extraterrestrial origin as alleged spacecraft, he asks what it may signify that these phenomena, whether real or imagined, are seen in such numbers just at a time when humankind is menaced as never before in history. The UFOs represent, in Jung's phrase, a modern myth. -- GoogleBooks Summary

Jung maintained throughout his life that man’s inner life, dreams, images, visions is real and carries a reality, a gravity that can be felt in our lives each and every day.

Sources for Images Above: Myth CraftsCarl Jung and UFOs: Ancient Alien Art – Myth Crafts; Brill[PDF] Judaism and the UFO; with Emphasis on the Vision of Ezekiel; Cambridge University PressTrauma, flying saucers and the art of Ionel Talpazan | Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences | Cambridge Core; Saatchi ArtUFO 0361, 2019, mixed media on canvas, 40x50cm Painting by Marc Jung | Saatchi Art; GoodreadsOwlseyes (O’Porto, Portugal)’s review of Flying Saucers: A Modern Myth of Things Seen in the Skies; Princeton University PressFlying Saucers | Princeton University Press

UFOs No… But Unexplained Inner Phenomena, Yes: Reality Is Strange | We Need Inner Astronauts Now More Than Ever

Perhaps we need more inner astronauts willing and able to go where no man has gone before, equipped with abilities to chart our inner space, just as we do our outer space. Indeed, inner space may be far vaster than the universe, which may be a little phenomena of this vast inner space that we do not understand very much at all.

In a time of so much crisis, we need to learn how to better articulate inner weather and dangerous patterns just as we have learned to watch and predict weather patterns and identify dangerous patterns such as Hurricane Ian.

There have been many dangerous and horrible natural disasters this year, including devastating floods in Pakistan, acute heat waves and historically lower water levels in rivers throughout Europe, and increasingly bigger and deadlier fires worldwide (see 2022 International Wildfires: As of Sept. 8, the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS) estimates that within European Union countries, between 2 million acres and 2.1 million acres have burned).

There is also dangerous and deadly inner weather that is sweeping the world. It travels on currents of propaganda, misinformation, lies, and conspiracy myths. Hurricane Putin is meaning the entire world with his threats of nukes, sabotaging his own pipeline (a play he used to get into power when he had apartment buildings blown up and blamed it on Chechen separatists), and the death, destruction, and torture of Ukrainians. His maniacal invasion of Ukraine rides on his strangle hold on power in Russia allowing him to infect and propagate a collective homicidal psychosis among his people. His and other strong arm actors in our world are distracting us and contributing to our collective failure to mitigate climate change while we still can.

Can you tell which pictures that are Putin’s hurricane of devastation and death and which are Ian?

Images above from: Sky NewsUkraine war: Images taken by Sky News team reveal devastating aftermath of war | World News | Sky News; Tampa Bay TimesAbsolute devastation’: Hurricane Ian decimates Fort Myers Beach; ABC NewsWhat’s the cost of damage to Ukraine’s infrastructure amid Russia’s invasion? – ABC News Visit; The Sun DailyRescue efforts continue as Florida takes stock of Hurricane Ian devastation; BBCUkraine war: Images reveal scale of destruction in Mariupol – BBC News; The News-PressAerial video shows devastation on Fort Myers Beach after Hurricane IanWatch… on Friday, Sept. 30, 2022; USNews.comRussian Carnage, Destruction Revealed in Newly Liberated Ukrainian Territory; southernminn.comIan lashes South Carolina as Florida surveys devastation | State | southernminn.com; University of Nevada, RenoUkraine, horror of the past, terror to the future | University of Nevada, Ren; Charisma NewsSharks in the Streets, Houses Floating Away as Ian Leaves Mass Devastation — Charisma NewsVisit; Common DreamsCivilians ‘Paying the Highest Price’ for ‘Utter Devastation’ of Ukraine: UN Official; Independent.ieIn pictures: Hurricane Ian causes devastation as it swamps parts of Florida – Independent.ie

UFOs No… But Unexplained Inner Phenomena, Yes: Charting A New Future

I think Future Islands nailed the idea of unidentified phenomena, either being external or internal, in their beautiful song Like the Moon:

UFOs No… But Unexplained Inner Phenomena, Yes:
Future Islands – Like the Moon
6,667,533 views

Without better abilities to navigate our inner spaces, we will probably destroy our planet and ourselves right along with it.

UFOs No… But Unexplained Inner Phenomena, Yes: First Archetypal Image

Child Road Spaceship Photomontage Ufo Kid Girl | warppppp5 | Waschi Washborne • Age 60 • Essen/Germany • Member since Dec. 15, 2020

Second Archetypal Image

Ufo Abduction Fantasy Bicycle Child Baby Alien | 0fjd125gk87 | Deutschland • Member since Sept. 3, 2013

Third Archetypal Image

Fantasy Landscape Spaceship Ufo Hover | KELLEPICS | Stefan Keller • Deutschland / Germany • Member since March 22, 2017 • #274

Fourth Archetypal Image

Wald Nature Frau Flower Photomontage | warppppp5 | Waschi Washborne • Age 60 • Essen/Germany • Member since Dec. 15, 2020

Fifth Archetypal Image

Water Drops Waterdrop Liquid Jumping Up Drop | Inactive account – ID 4924546

Sixth Archetypal Image

Ballet Water Drop Frau Ballerina Liquid | warppppp5 | Waschi Washborne • Age 60 • Essen/Germany • Member since Dec. 15, 2020

Seventh Archetypal Image

Earth Ufo World Globe Landscape Country Template | pixel2013 | S. Hermann / F. Richter • Germany • Member since April 9, 2016

Music for Archetypal Animation:

Heaven & Earth Are Impartial: Now Is the Tao

Tao Te Ching, Koans, Haikus, Enlightenment, Peace, Being

Chapter 5: Tao Te Ching

Heaven and Earth are impartial;
they treat all of creation as straw dogs.
The Master doesn’t take sides;
she treats everyone like a straw dog.

The space between Heaven and Earth is like a bellows;
it is empty, yet has not lost its power.
The more it is used, the more it produces;
the more you talk of it, the less you comprehend.

It is better not to speak of things you do not understand.

Heaven & Earth Are Impartial: Text From:

Microsoft Word – Tao Te Ching – trans. by J.H.. McDonald

Ancient Wisdom | Modern Images & Music

Heaven & Earth Are Impartial: Feature Animation Images From:

First Archetypal Image:

Dog Husky Mascot Mammal Animal Straw Field | MilanoNegro | María • Soria/España • Member since March 30, 2016

Sixth Archetypal Image:

Sheep Bleat Communication Communicate To Speak | suju-foto | Susanne Jutzeler, Schweiz, • Deutsch • Member since Feb. 19, 2014 • #586

Seventh Archetypal Image:

Man Smoking Smoke Cigarette Face Person Tobacco | Sammy-Sander | Sam Williams • Italy • Member since Nov. 8, 2018

Eight Archetypal Image:

Squirrel Rodent Newspaper Reading Photomontage | Sammy-Sander | Sam Williams • Italy • Member since Nov. 8, 2018

Music From:

Music: Earth Shine: Music from the Heavens for Sleep and Rest | Cosmic Space Traveler
[19] Orbital Sunrise 2:13

July 2, 2022April 30, 2026

Unites All of Creation with Dust: Now Is the Tao

Lesson from the Tao Te Ching

Microsoft Word – Tao Te Ching – trans. by J.H.. McDonald

Ancient Wisdom | Modern Images & Music

Unites All of Creation with Dust: Chapter 4 | Tao Te Ching

The Tao is like an empty container:
it can never be emptied and can never be filled.
Infinitely deep, it is the source of all things.
It dulls the sharp, unties the knotted,
shades the lighted, and unites all of creation with dust.

It is hidden but always present.
I don’t know who gave birth to it .
It is older than the concept of God.

Unites All of Creation with Dust: Previous Chapters | Tao Te Ching

https://www.sapience2112.com/emptying-minds-filling-bellies

The blog is about Chapter 3 of the Tao Te Ching | Emptying Minds…Filling Bellies

Acting Without Doing Anything

Unites All of Creation with Dust: The blog is about Chapter 2 of the Tao Te Ching | Acting Without Doing Anything

https://www.sapience2112.com/what-is-your-source-of-energy

The blog is about Chapter 1 of the Tao Te Ching | What Is Your Source of Engery?

https://www.sapience2112.com/hate-arises-rainbows-become

This blog is about Pratītyasamutpāda, which states that all dharmas (phenomena) arise in dependence upon other dharmas: “if this exists, that exists; if this ceases to exist, that also ceases to exist” …

Unites All of Creation with Dust: Relevant Topics & Events to the Tao\Now

Reproductive Coercion is an American Cornerstone

***Unites All of Creation with Dust:***
Slaves, J. J. Smith’s Plantation, South Carolina, 1862
( The J. Paul Getty Museum / Wikimedia Commons )

Conservatives have long invoked the specter of the 1857 Supreme Court decision in Dred Scott vs. Sandford in their fight against abortion rights, likening embryos and fetuses to slaves with no due process. Progressives now, too, are drawing parallels between the stripping of rights from people who may get pregnant and the infamous majority opinion penned by then-Chief Justice Roger Taney, who wrote, "a Black man has no rights which the white man was bound to respect."

Missing from this historic analogy, however, are the experiences of Black women, whose enslavement and forced reproduction was fundamental to America's rise. We speak with Dr. Deborah Gray White, Distinguished Professor of History and Women’s and Gender Studies at Rutgers University, about this not-so-distant history and the possibilities it holds for all American women.

My take away: In the wake of Roe vs Wade being overturned by the Supreme Court, Deborah Gray White was watching the dystopian story the Handmaid’s Tale with her daughter who said, “Oh my God, we’re becoming this!” Deborah replied, “We already are this. America has used black and brown women as reproductive commodities since its founding. What’s changing is now white women are getting closer to becoming commodities again.”

Alok Vaid-Menon Defies Definition

***Unites All of Creation with Dust:***
Portrait of Alok Vaid-Menon
( Celeste Sloman ) | From The Take Away

Alok Vaid-Menon is a gender non-conforming writer and performer who grew up in Texas to Indian immigrant parents. They use their creativity and platform to explore themes of gender, race, trauma and belonging, advocating and bringing visibility to the trans community. We speak with Alok about their work and advocacy, and what they learned from their aunt, Urvashi Vaid, the beloved LGBTQ rights activist who spent more than a decade working for equality at the National LGBTQ Task Force.

My take away from this amazing interview: The gender non-conforming community is showing the world how to love during a time of great division, growing hate, tremendous suffering, and huge oceans of human anxiety.

The definition of a constitutional right

***Unites All of Creation with Dust:*** SAMUEL CORUM/AFP via Getty Images | From 1A

The Supreme Court has overturned Roe v. Wade, the landmark case that established a constitutional right to abortion. The decision could lead to abortion bans in half of U.S. states.

In response, states like California are moving to amend their constitutions to include abortion rights. Now, citizens and lawmakers are thinking about what defines a constitutional right and how different interpretations of the constitutions affect those rights.

We talk about changing the Constitution and what comes next after the reversal of Roe.

This conversation is part of our Remaking America collaboration with six public radio stations around the country. Remaking America is funded in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

My take away: I loved listening to Olatunde Johnson, professor at Columbia University School of Law | The United States Constitution was made by a bunch of slave owning, patriarchal, misogynistic pale males. It is ludicrous to think we cannot update or change it as our society changes and grows. This is what overturning Roe vs Wade is about. This is what Jan. 6, 2021 is about. It is about a bunch of people who want to live 18th Century lives in the 21st Century.

Unites All of Creation with Dust: Sources of Feature Image

Glass Containers Glass Empty Clean Transparent | ha11ok | Hungary • Member since Dec. 17, 2015

Rock Tower Top Tufa Rock Formations Erosion | Hans | Hans Braxmeier • Neu-Ulm/Deutschland • Member since Nov. 24, 20

Vine Tendril Embrace Green Noose Grapevine Knot | stevepb | Steve Buissinne • Age 73 • Sedgefield/South Africa • Member since June 4, 2014

Light Architecture Shades Church Pillars Baroque | davidosta | David Osta • Age 44 • Ansoain/España • Member since April 19, 2020

Ngc 2818 Planetary Nebula Constellation Pyxis | WikiImages | Deutsch • Member since Dec. 13, 2011

Shiva The Hindu God Shiva India Rishikesh | InspiredImages | UK • Member since Sept. 27, 2013

Music: Remixes, Vol. 2 | Various Artists [1] Wenkweur – Advanced Suite Remix 5:04 [2] Multidimensional Bong – Advanced Suite Remix 7:45

June 22, 2022April 30, 2026

Hate Arises… Rainbows Become… Wholeness of the Tao & Now

Hate Arises, Rainbows Become: Pride Parade in DC

On June 11, 2022, the Washington, DC 2022 Capital Pride Parade began with full regalia and ceremony followed by rowdydow fun and celebration. This is the first of four videos from this day.

Hate Arises, Rainbows Become: Into A Rainbow | Washington, DC Pride Parade 2022
10 views, Premiered Jun 13, 2022

For the video, I wrote this:

Today was like walking into a rainbow. After more than 2 years due to COVID, the WDC Pride Parade of 2022 took place in an embrace of joy and celebration. It was one big mass of human exuberant celebration. Such a different energy than the Trump rallies that twisted and deformed into the raging, dangerous mob of Jan. 6, 2021.

I filmed one of the earlier Trump rallies, and I filmed one of the Black Lives Matter marches after the murder of George Floyd. The paranoia and double-standard of the Trump years faded to a distant unpleasant memory in the embrace of so many people celebrating differences, diversity, and inclusiveness.

What kind of world do we want?

Do we want one that is angry, overly righteous, mostly white men who want to control women's bodies and turn America into a desolate land of mediocrity and conformity?

Or do we want one that celebrates diversity, lifts up inclusivity, and makes space for everyone to shine their truth and colors as they feel them?

I choose the rainbow hands down over The Divine Republic of Gilead as depicted in Canadian author Margaret Atwood futuristic dystopian novel The Handmaid's Tale that feels more and more possible each passing day, especially since the Trump years that made hate great again in America.

Hate is not what makes us a great nation: Love is what makes us great and moments like this Parade are more important than ever, especially with the plotters of Jan. 6 still scheming how to turn America into a totalitarian state like Russia...

I suppose so we could exterminate the world in a mutual annihilation of scapegoats because that is what cheap, cowardly, hate filled people do...blame everyone else for their problems and who they really are inside.

This is the inspiration for this blog: the idea of diversity and the mutual arising of opposite things in the world because on this same day, 31 members from the group Patriot Front were arrested in Idaho.

Hate Arises, Rainbows Become: Pride Parade in Idaho

Thirty-one men, faces covered with masks and carrying baseball bats stood packed in the back of a U-Haul like illegal immigrants sneaking into the state. The truck was heading to the Pride Parade in the city of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. Their purpose was to start a riot.

Police said the men came from at least 10 states. They are members of the white supremacist group Patriot Front, previously known as the white nationalist hate group Vanguard America. It rebranded itself after a neo-fascist was photographed holding their shield just before he ran his car into a crowd of people, killing Heather Heyer in Charlottesville, VA.

Interview with Mother of One of the Men Arrested

Earlier this week, a mother of one of the men arrested gave an interview with Sara Sidner.

Hate Arises… Rainbows Become… Wholeness of the Tao & Now

Hate Arises, Rainbows Become: She says her son’s hateful ideology sickens her after he was arrested with alleged Patriot Front group. She tells Sara that: “He’s trading Compromise for Hate, and this is not how I raised my son.” (Click underline text to see interview with Sara Sidner).

Report About Who Patriot Front Is

Hate Arises, Rainbows Become:
What we know about Patriot Front and its origins
132,051 views, Jun 14, 2022

Hate Arises, Rainbows Become: Reflections from the future (2026):

What we know now is 2026 is that the Patriot Front (and other hate groups) make up a substantial part of MAGA’s base (that stubborn 30% who refuse to denounce Trump for hate because they are supporting him so they can get paid to hate). Trump’s ICE is America’s version of Hitler’s Gestapo (short for Geheime Staatspolizei, or Secret State Police). In a very sad way, America has followed this Taoist rule: America stood for freedom and liberty for all and became a bigoted, hateful, rageful nation. This is the essence of the Taoism lesson: if the two polar opposites remain unconscious of each other they will live out the consequences of their lopsidedness as fate.

Hate Arises, Rainbows Become: Back to 2022:

From the video above: When "a little army" of men with shields and other riot gear was spotted near a Pride parade in Idaho on Saturday, authorities soon linked the men to a relatively new White nationalist group and charged them with conspiracy to riot. Most of the men arrested had logos on their hats "consistent with the Patriot Front group," and some had other clothing associated with the White supremacist group, Coeur d'Alene Police Chief Lee White said. CNN’s Sara Sidner reports

Hate Arises, Rainbows Become: This Same Hate Perpetuates Racism & Wars

This is the same hate that fuels racism and perpetuates continuing inequalities and brutality against black and brown people in the United States. Slavery is barbaric, and so too is racism. Americans went to war and died over ending slavery in America. This war began on April 12, 1861 and lasted until April 9, 1865. In the end, more than 620,000 men were dead, roughly 2% of the U.S .population.

However, this is far less dead than the number of men, women, and children who died being transported from Africa to America, who died as slaves from violence and mistreatment, and who have died since emancipation due to the continuing violent beliefs and hate embraced by white supremacy.

Black Live Matter March

Hate Arises, Rainbows Become:
Black Lives Matter
111 views, Jun 8, 2020

Photos From Gettysburg National Military Park

Photos from Gettysburg, PA — “Often referred to as the “High Water Mark of the Rebellion”, Gettysburg was the Civil War’s bloodiest battle and was also the inspiration for President Abraham Lincoln’s immortal “Gettysburg Address”. — National Park Service

Hate Arises, Rainbows Become: Emancipation Proclamation & Juneteeth

Gettysburg was the bloodiest battle of the Civil War. It was the most ambitious push of General Robert E. Lee into the North. Each side fought fiercely. This battle turned out to be the turning point of the war. It is also the inspiration for President Abraham Lincoln’s immortal Gettysburg Address.

Word of the emancipation of enslaved African Americans finally reached Texas on June 19, 1865 where people were still being held as slaves. More than 150 years later, Juneteenth has finally been made a federal holiday commemorating and remembering the legacy of slavery and the emancipation of slaves in America.

Yet, this horrible battle still rages in the hearts and minds of far too many white Americans still to this very day. Hate still has a home in America.

Hate Arises, Rainbows Become: Photos From Gettysburg National Military Park

***Hate Arises, Rainbows Become:*** Photos from Gettysburg, PA — “Often referred to as the “High Water Mark of the Rebellion”, Gettysburg was the Civil War’s bloodiest battle and was also the inspiration for President Abraham Lincoln’s immortal “Gettysburg Address”. — National Park Service

Hate Arises, Rainbows Become: One of Trump’s Rallies After Losing the 2020 Election (Denial of Reality is Hate)

Hate Arises, Rainbows Become:
Cacophony — The Beautiful Humans of Earth
127 views, Premiered Nov 14, 2020

A Call To All Humans Who Value Freedom and Democracy

Hate Arises, Rainbows Become:
Help Ukraine | Calling All People Who Value Freedom in the World
44 views, Premiered Feb 27, 2022

Hate Arises, Rainbows Become:: This Arises… That Becomes

I finally came to understand the idea of This Arises… That Becomes… from a lecture Alan Watts gave.

Hate Arises, Rainbows Become:
Alan Watts – Interdependent origination
3,739 views, May 1, 2015

Hate Arises, Rainbows Become: Pratītyasamutpāda

It is the basic principle of dependent origination as described by Buddha. In Buddhist doctrines, it is called Pratītyasamutpāda.

Pratītyasamutpāda consists of two terms:

Pratītya: "having depended."^[26] The term appears in the Vedas and Upanishads^{[note 2]} in the sense of "confirmation, dependence, acknowledge origin".^[27][28] The Sanskrit root of the word is prati* whose forms appear more extensively in the Vedic literature, and it means "to go towards, go back, come back, to approach" with the connotation of "observe, learn, convince oneself of the truth of anything, be certain of, believe, give credence, recognize". In other contexts, a related term pratiti* means "going towards, approaching, insight into anything".^[28]

Samutpāda: "arising",^[26] "rise, production, origin"^[29] In Vedic literature, it means "spring up together, arise, come to pass, occur, effect, form, produce, originate".^[30]

Pratītyasamutpāda has been translated into English as dependent origination, dependent arising, interdependent co-arising, conditioned arising, and conditioned genesis.^{[31][16][note 3]}

Jeffrey Hopkins notes that terms synonymous to pratītyasamutpāda are apekṣhasamutpāda and prāpyasamutpāda.^[37]
 -- Wiki

***Hate Arises, Rainbows Become:*** Photos from DC Pride Parade — June 11, 2022

The term may also refer to the twelve nidānas, Pali: dvādasanidānāni, Sanskrit: dvādaśanidānāni, from dvāvaśa ("twelve") + nidānāni (plural of "nidāna", "cause, motivation, link").^{[quote 2]}Generally speaking, in the Mahayana tradition, pratityasamutpada (Sanskrit) is used to refer to the general principle of interdependent causation, whereas in the Theravada tradition, paticcasamuppāda (Pali) is used to refer to the twelve nidānas.
 -- Wiki

Dependent origination is a philosophically complex concept, subject to a large variety of explanations and interpretations. As the interpretations often involve specific aspects of dependent origination, they are not necessarily mutually exclusive to each other.
 -- Wiki

One interpretation (which I feel is closest to what Alan Watts refers to in his talk) regards this doctrine…

...as describing the arising of mental processes and the resultant notion of "I" and "mine" that leads to grasping and suffering.^[8][9] Several modern western scholars argue that there are inconsistencies in the list of twelve links, and regard it to be a later synthesis of several older lists and elements, some of which can be traced to the Vedas.^{[9][10][11][12][13][5]}
 -- Wiki

Rocks of Ignorance & Rainbow Flags

In other words, we only know inclusivity and love in comparison to callousness and hate. Like a river diverted by a rock–some water flows to the right, some flows to the left. The rock in the river is an idea, a symbol of reality, but it is not reality. Indeed, all words, all thoughts, all ideas are poor substitutes to what is really going on in life.

What should be noted is that both streams flowing around the rock are of the same river of being. They are only being briefly divided and diverted by a rock of thought that got lodged in the river of being.

Hate Arises, Rainbows Become: Maybe, One Day

Another way of looking at this idea is that inclusivity and love are the polar opposites of callousness and hate. Although opposites, both qualities and ways of being in the world go together just as a magnet has a North and South pole. If you chop a magnet in half, there is still a North Pole and a South Pole because a magnet is one cohesive whole thing.

Since I choose to support rainbows and Pride Parades, I stand on this side of our polarized America. It is a conscious choice to flow in the stream of being that includes rainbows and diversity. And it means I am making a conscious choice to embrace all sorts of people and their differences as well as recognize how similar we are because deep, deep down I believe what Alan Watts says that we are the fabric of existence itself.

Maybe one day, we can let go of our rocks of ignorance that we cling to for security and comfort. By letting go, we can grow as a species. And if we grow, we might be able to really feel one day our oneness with each other and all life on this planet. When rocks of thought due appear in our river of being, we can better navigate the currents of division driving us apart and pushing the entire world to a tipping point that we may not recover from due to a mutual massacre of scape goats.

Maybe one day we will know we are all part of the stream of humanity no matter our skin color, sexual preference, our religious beliefs. It has always been this way. It is only when we cling to our rocks of thoughts and rocks of ignorance, which if we are constantly anxious, nervous, angry, and afraid–we are clinging to an idea, which is one of these rocks dividing us and causing so much suffering and pain in the world.

Let go and flow!

One Day | Yellowstone

Hate Arises, Rainbows Become:
One Day — Yellowstone
77 views, Jul 26, 2020

One Day Lyrics

Sometimes I lay under the moon
And thank God I’m breathin’
Then I pray, “Don’t take me soon
‘Cause I am here for a reason.”Sometimes in my tears I drown
But I never let it get me down
So when negativity surrounds
I know some day it’ll all turn around becauseAll my life I’ve been waitin’ for
I’ve been prayin’ for
For the people to say
That we don’t wanna fight no more
There’ll be no more war
And our children will playOne day, one day, one day, oh
One day, one day, one day, ohIt’s not about win or lose, ’cause we all lose
When they feed on the souls of the innocent
Blood-drenched pavement
Keep on movin’ though the waters stay ragin’In this maze
You can lose your way, your way
It might drive you crazy but
Don’t let it faze you, no way, no way!Sometimes in my tears I drown
But I never let it get me down
So when negativity surrounds
I know some day it’ll all turn around becauseAll my life I’ve been waitin’ for
I’ve been prayin’ for
For the people to say
That we don’t wanna fight no more
There’ll be no more war
And our children will playOne day, one day, one day, oh
One day, one day, one day, ohOne day this all will change, treat people the same
Stop with the violence, down with the hate
One day we’ll all be free, and proud to be
Under the same sun, singin’ songs of freedom likeWhy-ohh! (One day, one day) why-oh, oh, oh!
Why-ohh! (One day, one day) why-oh, oh, oh!All my life I’ve been waitin’ for
I’ve been prayin’ for
For the people to say
That we don’t wanna fight no more
There’ll be no more war
And our children will playOne day, one day, one day, oh
One day, one day, one day, oh
— Lyrics from One Day by Matisyahu

Sources for Feature Image for Hate Arises, Rainbows Become

War Destruc tion Despair Fear Helplessness Sorrow | Alexas_Fotos | Alexa • Steh über den Dingen/und finde DEINEN Weg • Member since Jan. 6, 2015 • #25

Plant Sprout Dicotyledon Life Growing Seedling | lanailic | English • Member since Feb. 6, 2014

Rainbow Beautiful Devon Nature Sun Sunset Sky | PublicDomainPictures | English • Member since Dec. 11, 2010

Family Love Rainbow Boy Child Chromatic Colorful | GDJ | Gordon Johnson • USA • Member since June 3, 2015 • #2

Music: Celebrate Diversity, PFS

A Few Other Things

Deeper Into A Rainbow | Second Video of DC Pride Parade

Deeper Into A Rainbow | June 11, 2022
4 views, Premiered 29 minutes ago

Music: Hot Foot (Groovy, Groovy) — Chico Mann [as featured on iPhone!] and Roof Down — Daniel Health [as featured on iPhone, music for the soul!]

Series: Have You Been Outside Today?

Photos/Videos/Editing: Me

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The intersection of gay rights, racism, and white supremacy continue intersecting through time. Will we ever grow up as a species to embrace and hold all of who we are as human beings? Or will we simply continue to label, divide, and conquer each other with hate and despair? See Hate Arises… Rainbows Become… to explore more on these ideas.

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For other blogs on being human, see:

https://www.sapience2112.com/what-is-your-source-of-energy

What is Your Source of Energy – 5/2/22

https://www.sapience2112.com/stop-ignorant-men-from-starting-wars

Kindly Let Me Help You or You’ll Drown

https://www.sapience2112.com/ukraine-letters-to-the-world-of-free-men-and-women/

Ukraine Letters | Four Letters to the World of Free Men and Women: Letter to the Ukrainian People; Letter to the Free World; Letter to Russian people; Letter to Americans

Walk Through Time | Gettysburg National Military Park

Walk Through Time | Gettysburg National Military Park | May 23, 2022

Music: Airtime — Justin Hori [as featured on iPhone, music that gets you moving!]

Series: Have You Been Outside Today?

Photos/videos/editing: Me

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We stopped at Gettysburg National Military Park, Pennsylvania on our way up for our daughter’s graduation from Middlebury College in Vermont. It was late in the day, cloudy with a little drizzle–perfect weather to walk the roughly 6000 acres of historical pasture and woodlands where Union and Confederate soldiers met in General Robert E. Lee’s second and most ambitious invasion of the North.

It was the “High Water Mark of the Rebellion”, the bloodiest battle of the Civil War, and the inspiration for President Abraham Lincoln’s immortal “Gettysburg Address”.

My husband found a monument dedicated to the 13th and 16th Vermont regiments. From their forward position, the nearly 1,500 men of these regiments poured devastating point-blank fire into the enemy ranks. They inflicted terrible casualties and ravaged the Confederate flank. The battle that was going in favor of the Confederate side began to slip. The Vermonters helped turn the tide of the battle and because of this win, turn the tide of the war itself. It would turn out that we were staying in a valley from where one of these regiments came from in Vermont.

Today, in 2022, it seems like the battle that took place on July 1, 1863, occurred so long ago and that the wounds inflicted from a country being torn apart by different ideas and ideals of how to live a good and just life would be long healed. The pictures of the wildflowers and wildlife are a testament to time and nature’s ability to regenerate.

However, the human heart and soul seems to still be torn and hurt. There are people alive today ready to do damage and tear apart America’s delicate democracy. There are people willing to lie, cheat, and steal to get more than they deserve or inflict their own will on the will of the people. Democracy isn’t easy. It requires compromise, and word that seems to have disappeared from American political and culture vocabulary. It does not require every share the exact same beliefs or values, but it does require tolerance and willingness to learn about the beliefs and values of people who are different from oneself. It requires curiosity and a basic agreement of facts and shared reality.

Will America be able to keep this fragile flower of self-governance in the face of a Republican Party that prefers to stick to loyal tests rather than truth, in the aftermath of Jan. 6, in the ongoing disenfranchisement and brutality to African Americans and any people with a darker skin tone, in the double standard that it is OK to regulate a woman’s body, but it is not alright to regulate guns?

“Every day, on average, 316 people in America are shot in murders, assaults, suicides and suicide attempts, unintentional shootings, and police intervention.” — Team ENOUGH

“The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently released updated official mortality data that showed 45,222 firearm-related deaths in the United States in 2020 — a new peak.” — Current Causes of Death in Children and Adolescents in the United States; May 19, 2022, N Engl J Med 2022; 386:1955-1956; DOI: 10.1056/NEJMc2201761

“Guns have become the leading cause of death for American kids. early two-thirds of the 4,368 U.S. children up to age 19 who were killed by guns in 2020 were homicide victims, per the CDC. Motor vehicle crashes, formerly the leading cause of death for kids one and older, killed nearly 4,000 children.” — Axios

If you are upset by these statistics, by politics, by anything that gets you shouting at your TV or computer screen. It is time to get outside. If you find yourself getting enraged by a rainbow flag celebrating Pride Month or want to join the next raiding party of the Capitol, why not try going to a place like Gettysburg? Walk the park rather than drive. Let yourself sink into the blood-soaked earth where flowers now grow and birds once again sing. Talk to the park rangers, read about what happened, feel yourself being transported back to that time when the sound of gun fire and exploding canon balls rang continuously like a speeding train.

War is bloody. Conflict kills. There are other ways to solve conflict arising from diversity. We have one of those ways. It is called Democracy.

The people of Ukraine are fighting fiercely for this way of organizing society. They are showing us what it means and takes to defend freedom, liberty, and justice for all against a brutal, totalitarian regime; a regime that lies to its people, that exterminates anyone who becomes a threat to it, that concentrates wealth and power among a very few.

In America today, it seems we are choosing whether to stay a democracy, which means making room for tolerance and compromise again. Or will we choose to become a dictatorial regime (like Russia) where lies and distortions are used to whip up dissent and division so that truth, justice, and liberty for all becomes a distant dream.

Stay Human! Go outside today and hug another living being!

May 22, 2022April 30, 2026

Acting Without Doing Anything: Now Is the Tao

Lesson from the Tao Te Ching

Microsoft Word – Tao Te Ching – trans. by J.H.. McDonald

Ancient wisdom blended with modern images and music.

Acting Without Doing Anything: Chapter 2

When people see things as beautiful, ugliness is created.
When people see things as good, evil is created.

Acting Without Doing Anything: First Stanza & Archetypal Animation

***When people see things as beautiful, ugliness is created…*** | **Music**: ***The Beauty in Ugly*** – Ugly Betty Version | Jason Mraz

Being and non-being produce each other. Difficult and easy complement each other. Long and short define each other. High and low oppose each other. Fore and aft follow each other.

Acting Without Doing Anything: Second Stanza & Archetypal Animation

***Being and non-being produce each other. Difficult and easy complement each other… |*** **Music**: High And Low by Andreas S. Möhle

Therefore the Master
can act without doing anything
and teach without saying a word.
Things come her way and she does not stop them; things leave and she lets them go.
She has without possessing,
and acts without any expectations.
When her work is done, she takes no credit.
That is why it will last forever.

Acting Without Doing Anything: Third Stanza & Archetypal Animation

Therefore the Master
can act without doing anything
and teach without saying a word… | **Music**: The Giver | Livingston

For Chapter 1, see What Is Your Source of Energy?

https://www.sapience2112.com/what-is-your-source-of-energy

Acting Without Doing Anything: Feature Archetypal Animation

Wall House Art Graffiti Elephant Decoration Home | RichardMc | Richard Mcall • Ireland/UK/Thailand • Member since Jan. 1, 2016

Rajasthan Camel Safari Trekking Evening Dusk | RichardMc | Richard Mcall • Ireland/UK/Thailand • Member since Jan. 1, 2016

Cobra Snake Reptile Basket Danger Serpent | RichardMc | Richard Mcall • Ireland/UK/Thailand • Member since Jan. 1, 2016

Art Painting Lady Woman Girl Head Shoulders | RichardMc | Richard Mcall • Ireland/UK/Thailand • Member since Jan. 1, 2016

Large Bronze Head Pietrasanta Plaza Italy | RichardMc | Richard Mcall • Ireland/UK/Thailand • Member since Jan. 1, 2016

Body Painting Makeup Cosplay Portrait Dark | Vic_B | press 👍 and ⭐ • Moscow/Россия • Member since Aug. 30, 2017 • #12

Bulb Idea Fantasy Lighthouse Art Birds Beach | Vic_B | press 👍 and ⭐ • Moscow/Россия • Member since Aug. 30, 2017 • #12

Fantasy Space Stars Universe Starry Sky Galaxy | Willgard | Willgard Krause • Age 59 • Lutherstadt Wittenberg/Deutschland • Member since Feb. 25, 2017 • #449

Music: Time | Mr.Kitty | [15] Child of the Earth

First Archetypal Animation

Dandelion Seeds Dew Dewdrops Droplets Weed Plant | InspiredImages | UK • Member since Sept. 27, 2013

Art Portrait People Old Antique Retro Mirrors | SarahRichterArt | Sarah Richter • Deutsch • Member since Oct. 21, 2015

The Ugly Duchess Painting Portrait Quentin Metsys | Zephirx | Pascal • Age 23 • Germany • Member since Dec. 17, 2020

Girl With A Pearl Earring Painting Portrait | Zephirx | Pascal • Age 23 • Germany • Member since Dec. 17, 2020

Environmental Protection Environment The Atmosphere | Inactive account – ID 81349

Clown All-In-One Character Fun Evil Bad | isabellaquintana | Isabella Quintana • Cali/Colombia • Member since Sept. 22, 2014

Music: The Beauty in Ugly – Ugly Betty Version | Jason Mraz

Second Archetypal Animation

Woman Yoga Pose Wellness Well-Being Meditate | Pexels | English • Member since March 26, 2016

Star Child Star Children Angels Meditation Unity | PapaOsmosis | Anthony • United States • Member since Oct. 4, 2016

Maze Labyrinth Solution Lost Problem Challenge | qimono |Arek Socha • Stockholm/Sweden • Member since Jan. 27, 2016

Giraffe Animal Mammal Tree Long-Legged Long-Necked | HowardWilks | English • Member since March 31, 2017

Danbo Nyangbo Figure Doll Gray-Scale Loneliness | IraEm | M K • Ch/Korea • Member since Feb. 3, 2014

Storm Sea Lightning Ship Adventure Ominous | ChadoNihi | Alexandr • Age 29 • Cambridge/UK • Member since Dec. 8, 2014

New York Sea City Skyline Buildings Cityscape | Pexels | English • Member since March 26, 2016

Music: High And Low by Andreas S. Möhle

Third Archetypal Animation

Hip Hop Dance Girl Woman Young Lifestyle Artistic | ArtTower | Brigitte Werner • Age 68 • Canim Lake/Canada • Member since June 15, 2012 • #72

Waters Move Flow Action People Rope Waterfall | Dieterich01 | Lothar Dieterich • Age 62 • Germering/Deutschland • Member since June 26, 2016

Colorful Five Fingers Kid Fingers Playful Rating | yohoprashant | Prashant Sharma • Age 37 • Bhaktapur/Nepal • Member since Feb. 22, 2018

Girl Cat Moon Wall Melancholy Sad Alone Romantic | Tumisu | Tumisu, please consider ☕ Thank you! 🤗 • English • Member since Feb. 3, 2014

Child Girl Winter Snow Face Fairy Tale | Pezibear | Petra • Österreich • Member since Oct. 22, 2014 • #82

Hand Gift Bouquet Love Congratulate Give Flowers | klimkin | svklimkin • Age 45 • Moscow/Russia • Member since Aug. 13, 2015

Fantasy Galaxy Universe Stars Cosmos Night | JuliusH | Julius H. • Age 69 • Niedersachsen/Deutschland 🇪🇺 • Member since Dec. 4, 2016 • #165

Music: The Giver | Livingston

April 22, 2022April 30, 2026

If It Was My Last Day on Earth: Now Is the Time for Poetry

What would you do if this was your last day on Earth today?

Perhaps write a poem?

It is our perception of reality that determines so much of what we allow ourselves to accept or not accept, what we allow ourselves to believe or not believe, how much we allow ourselves to love or not to love.

Poems are wonderful transformers of perception.

Here are some poems about nature, Earth, and life that have been written at very different periods in time, and yet, there is something universal, something incredibly current, something worth paying attention to in each and every one of them, especially today.

A Minor Bird by Robert Frost (1874-1963)

I have wished a bird would fly away,

And not sing by my house all day;

Have clapped my hands at him from the door

When it seemed as if I could bear no more..

The fault must partly have been in me.

The bird was not to blame for his key.

And of course there must be something wrong

In wanting to silence any song.

From 7 Poems To Read In Honor Of Earth Day, Bustle, By E. Ce Miller, April 14, 2016

If It Was My Last Day on Earth: Now Is the Time ***“I have wished a bird would fly away… and not sing all day…”*** | **Music**: A Minor Bird by Victoria Darian

Ryokan (1758-1831)

When all thoughts
Are exhausted
I slip into the woods
And gather
A pile of shepherd’s purse.

From Dewdrops on a Lotus Leaf: Zen Poems of Ryokan, translated by John Stevens. Published by Shambala in Boston, 1996.

Basho (1644-1694)

Nothing in the cry
of cicadas suggests they
are about to die.

The bee emerging
from deep within the peony
departs reluctantly.

Summer grasses:
all that remains of great soldiers’
imperial dreams.

From The Essential Basho, Translated by Sam Hamill. Published by Shambala in Boston, 1999.

If It Was My Last Day on Earth: Now Is the Time
“Nothing in the cry
of cicadas suggests they
are about to die…”
**Music:** *When Dragons Cry* by Bo Johnson

Ikkyu (1394-1481)

My Hovel

The world before my eyes is wan and wasted, just like me.
The earth is decrepit, the sky stormy, all the grass withered.
No spring breeze even at this late date,
Just winter clouds swallowing up my tiny reed hut.

From Wild Ways: Zen Poems of Ikkyu, translated by John Stevens. Published by Shambala in Boston, 1995.

If It Was My Last Day on Earth: Now Is the Time **The world before my eyes is wan and wasted, just like me…** | **Music**: Time Travelers Coyote Oldman [4] *The Fourth Dream* 5:26

These Zen poems come from A Sampler of Zen Poetry. The author of this sampler says, “These are a few of my favorite poems by three of Japan’s greatest Zen monk-poets, Ikkyu (1394-1481), Basho (1644-1694), and Ryokan (1758-1831).”

They are indeed very beautiful and holy.

Today is Earth Day!

Go ahead, write a poem! Transcend space and time and perceptions of reality using nothing but your mind.

We never know when our last day on Earth will be.

Seize the moment, see more, feel your rightness in this moment, know you belong and you matter, right here, right now. You are it!

Feature Archetypal Animation

Fantasy Girl Rock Space Earth Moon Composing | Willgard | Willgard Krause • Age 58 • Lutherstadt Wittenberg/Deutschland • Member since Feb. 25, 2017 • #316

Space Galaxy Universe Sky Night Cosmos Star | gene1970 | English • Member since Dec. 10, 2017 • #385

Eagle Girl Moon Mountains Fantasy Dream | gene1970 | English • Member since Dec. 10, 2017 • #385

Astronaut Space Planets Astronomy Galaxy | gene1970 | English • Member since Dec. 10, 2017 • #385

Earth Blue Planet Globe Gaia Planet People | spirit111 | beate bachmann • Age 59 • berlin/germany • Member since April 6, 2017

Earth Universe Flammarion Science Spiritual | ChristianBodhi | Christian Bodhi • Santa Cruz De Tenerife, London/Spain and United Kingdom • Member since Aug. 19, 2018

Music: My Last Days on Earth | BL4CK7ACK

First Archetypal Animation

Kerala India Manipulated Bird Nature | ambadysasi | Ambady Sasi • Age 28 • Thodupuzha/India • Member since Nov. 15, 2017

Bird Singer Singing Chirp Tweet Chirrup Robin | Pfüderi | Age 30 • Schweiz • Member since March 24, 2014 • #810

Bird Songbird To Sing Spring Nature Park | jggrz | Jürgen • Age 66 • Thüringen/Deutschland • Member since Feb. 10, 2018 • #57

Bird Starling Crested Song Feathers Plumage | YK333 | Yadvendra Kumar • Age 62 • Delhi/India • Member since July 11, 2021

King Medieval Celebration Man Handsome | Wadams | William Adams • Age 69 • Manhattan/US • Member since April 20, 2015

Belgium Statue Knokke Beach Man On The Beach | pixel2013 | S. Hermann & F. Richter • Germany • Member since April 9, 2016

Music:

Music: A Minor Bird by Victoria Darian [1] A Minor Bird 5:08

Second Archetypal Animation

Canthigaster Cicada Fulgoromorpha Insect Trunk Long | Josch13 | Deutsch • Member since Aug. 17, 2013

Dragon Golden Dragon Statue Sculpture Art Artwork | Josch13 | Deutsch • Member since Aug. 17, 2013

Wild Bee Blossom Bloom Peony Close Up Yellow | jggrz | Jürgen • Age 66 • Thüringen/Deutschland • Member since Feb. 10, 2018 • #59

Mountain Field Sky Agriculture Nature Countryside | SwidaAlba | Leng Kangrui • Age 23 • Beijing/China • Member since Feb. 13, 2018

Poppy Flower Nature Wild Flower Wild Flowers Field | Candiix | CANDICE CANDICE • Français • Member since Nov. 19, 2017

Warrior Fallen Combat Dead Injured Viking | Garyuk31 | Gary Chambers • Age 52 • English • Member since Oct. 25, 2015

Carving Stone Rock Stone Carving Dragon China | PublicDomainPictures | English • Member since Dec. 11, 2010

Music: When Dragons Cry by Bo Johnson [1] When Dragons Cry 4:32

Third Archetypal Animation

Apocalypse Clouds End Time Atmospheric Mystical | Mysticsartdesign | Mystic Art Design • Deutsch • Member since July 3, 2014

Skin Eye Iris Blue Older Folds Wrinkled Skin Man | analogicus | Tom • Andernach/Deutschland • Member since Feb. 25, 2018 • #144

Wood Statue Sculpture Statue Wooden | terimakasih0 | Dean Moriarty • Age 67 • cardiff/United Kingdom • Member since Dec. 3, 2014

Thunderstorm Weather Storm Thunder Lighting Bolts | Inactive account – ID 12019

Nature Straw Hay Grass Field Wet How Come Swamp | EM80 | Deutsch • Member since March 13, 2015

Lakeside Reed Hut Timber Construction Piles | webentwicklerin | Gabriele Lässer • Österreich • Member since June 18, 2012

Mushrooms Moss Fungi Lichen Forest Nature | adege | Andreas • Age 65 • Gelterkinden/Schweiz • Member since April 3, 2017 • #128

Music: Time Travelers Coyote Oldman [1] Time Travelers 8:04[2] Dark Beauty 5:07[3] Peaceful Blue 4:09 [4] The Fourth Dream 5:26

April 2, 2022April 30, 2026

The Peace of Wild Things: Poetry From Now to Eternity

Please note Chrome works best for the Archetypal Animations in this post.

— By Wendell Berry

First Archetypal Animation & Stanza

When despair for the world grows in me, and I wake in the night at the least sound in fear of what my life and my children’s live may be,

The Peace of Wild Things: “***When despair for the world grows…”*** | **Music:** Goodbye Then | Crippled Black Phoenix

Second Archetypal Animation & Stanza

I go and lie down where the wood drake rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.

The Peace of Wild Things: “***I go and lie down…***” | **Music:** Wild Imagination | Kurt Vile

Third Archetypal Animation & Stanza

I come into the peace of wild things who do not tax their lives with forethought of grief.

The Peace of Wild Things: ***“I come into the peace of wild things…”*** | **Music**: The Peace Of Wild Things | Keith Kauspedas [1] Deep Echoing (Fox In The Snow)

Fourth Archetypal Animation & Stanza

I come into the presence of still water.

Fifth Archetypal Animation & Stanza

And I feel above me the day-blind stars waiting with their light.

The Peace of Wild Things: ***“I feel above me the day-blind stars…”*** | **Music**: Stars Night Mantra

Sixth Archetypal Animation & Stanza

For a time I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

The Peace of Wild Things: ***“For a time I rest in the grace of the world,…”*** | **Music**: Peaceful Piano Musicals Cover Kid | ***La la Lu*** (From “Lady and the Tramp”)

Reflections On Wendell Berry’s Poem to This Moment in Time

When the forces of man’s collective psyche gather into a maelstrom sending destructive vortexes this way and that into the world, it is hard not to feel as Wendell Berry begins his timeless poem:

...despair for the world grows in me, and I wake in the night at the least sound in fear of what my life and my children's live may be...

Putin blows his devil’s breath from high within his isolated, depressing Moscow tower. A devil’s wind that makes his warrior vortexes go this way and that. Everywhere they go, the leave behind trails of blood, of dead bodies and blown up buildings, trees, and earth. Up there in his tower of desolation, he bloats in his madness as he congratulates himself over and over again about how he is getting away with unleashing his Hell-scape fantasies, deathly desires, and foolish folly into the world.

If you are a person with normal capacity for human empathy and compassion, then it is impossible to turn away and ignore what is going on in Ukraine. And you must not turn away.

We all must witness this wicked madness straight on, just as the Ukrainians are meeting Putin’s little devils straight on. If we don’t want to become like Putin, we must feel this destruction deeply and furiously. And we must feel down deep into our bones all the other tragedies unfolding in Afghanistan, the Middle East, Africa, Central America, South America, in the heart of all major cities and super rick countries in this world.

If you do, this means you are still human.

Wendell Berry describes the monsters inside us all. And he also tells us how to quell them and to sink into the peace that passes all understanding.

I wonder when was the last time Putin went down to where the wood drakes gather? When did he last lay down on his back, belly exposed to the light, the air, the sun, the stars and breathe in the beauty of this world? When did he last see a heron eat a snake or ponder the peace of still water? When did he last look up into the night sky and wonder about how implausible any of us are here at all?

When did Putin cut himself off from his curiosity, his wonder, his inner grace and awareness that he is alive in a magnificent world with enough bounty for all, if only we would tap into our inner wild nature where the wild wisdom of life runs free with the knowledge there is bounty all, if only we take our fair share? When did Putin become a narcissist blob cut off from his body, his heart, and his humanity? When did he become a monster?

Seventh Archetypal Animation | When Grace Is Lost

The Peace of Wild Things: ***“And then the sun went out bright…”*** | **Music**: Dark Bloom | Darkness | ***The Sun Went Out Bright***

Putin lost his inner grace long ago, and now, alone and cold in a forbidding world, he opens a gate for devils to tumble and fumble their way out into this beautiful world. They rape women, shoot children, bomb maternity hospitals, children’s hospitals, and recreation centers where 1,000 women and children huddle in the dark and cold hoping they might just stop their bombing. Instead, they are crushed under the rubble of another bomb.

I hate Putin. I hate Putin’s army of dead and dying souls. I wish the Free World would grow a stronger backbone and kill this man who has become a Dracula overseeing an army of Zombies. But, we are playing on the “civilized” game board, while Putin plays on the barbarian game board.

However, he won’t win. He might kill a Hell of a lot of people. He might even launch a nuclear bomb, but like so many Ruthless Rulers before him, he will crumble into the dust bin of life. Ruthless Rulers always do.

Oh yes, they might win for a time. And, they might press their smelly likeness onto other human beings, adding to the blob, but he will never win. His zombies will never rule over the multitude as he has promised.

Evil never wins! At least not for long…not as long as there is life to live. Not as long as wood drakes sail on lakes or great herons hunt and devour snakes. Not as long as a single human being wanders down to the waters edges and wonders why this whole thing exists at all. Ponders why we are here amongst the divine majesty of the trillion billion stars above.

The Peace of Wild Things: Being Human by Being Connected to Each Other & the World

My friend Karen shared this poem with me. We both feel deep pain for suffering the of the people of Ukraine. We both feel helpless in the face of such evil, and yet, we live…and…in the face of such horror, in retaliation to the demonic evil unleashing death, destruction and horror on Earth, Ukrainians fight! They live!

And yes, they are dying by the hundreds of thousands because Putin is a coward and his army is ill-equipped and ill-prepared, indeed, they are unwilling to wage this war, expect for the beasts he’s imported in and the degenerate ones who glory in the gross and disgusting side of life…the ones who are too afraid to love or to know who and what they really are.

Ukrainians know the price of this evil, and they stand against it, and they are winning! They are winning because they remained connected to their humanity and grounded to this Earth–our home, our mother, our true nature. They show us, the Free World, each and every day how to fight for what is right and how to be better human beings!

Fight for the people of Ukraine! Glory to Ukraine!

Feature Archetypal Animation

Covid 19 Coronavirus Dystopia Dystopian | toyquests | Elliot Alderson • Age 35 • Los Angeles/United States • Member since March 31, 2020

Male Wood Duck Duck Animal Wildlife Drake Pond | muskrat55 | Robin Arnold • Age 66 • Port Clinton/United States • Member since June 9, 2017

Iceland Arctic Fox Fox White White Fox Canine | Inactive account – ID 12019

Rest Relax Lie Comfortable Sleep Man Person | Hans | Hans Braxmeier • Neu-Ulm/Deutschland • Member since Nov. 24, 2010

Composing Woman Fantasy Face Beauty Mystical Root | KELLEPICS | Stefan Keller • Deutschland / Germany • Member since March 22, 2017 • #391

Sunset Tree Water Si lhouette Tree Silhouette Dusk | Cleverpix | Cindy Lever • Age 57 • Melbourne/Australia • Member since May 4, 2016

Meadow Green Meadow Flower Meadow Grass Nature | spirit111 | beate bachmann • Age 59 • berlin/germany • Member since April 6, 2017

Seljalandsfoss Waterfalls Iceland Falls Cliffs | Inactive account – ID 12019

Music: The Peace of Wild Things | Wendell Berry

The Peace of Wild ThingsWendell Berry

First Archetypal Animation

Man Portrait Homeless Poverty Male Poor | Leroy_Skalstad | Leroy Skalstad • Age 74 • Milwaukee/uSA • Member since July 14, 2015

Mental Health Brain Thinking Tree Branches Disorder | Tumisu | Tumisu, please consider ☕ Thank you! 🤗 • English • Member since Feb. 3, 2014

Lights Candle Man Old Fire Flame Candlelight | Skitterphoto | Rudy and Peter Skitterians • Groningen/The Netherlands • Member since July 5, 2014

Covid 19 Coronavirus Dystopia Dystopian | toyquests | Elliot Alderson • Age 35 • Los Angeles/United States • Member since March 31, 2020

Music: Goodbye Then | Crippled Black Phoenix

Second Archetypal Animation

Rest Relax Lie Comfortable Sleep Man Person | Hans | Hans Braxmeier • Neu-Ulm/Deutschland • Member since Nov. 24, 2010

Male Wood Duck Waterfowl Bird Swimming Wildlife | JamesDeMers | Charlottesville/USA • Member since March 6, 2012

Male Wood Duck Duck Animal Wildlife Drake Pond | muskrat55 | Robin Arnold • Age 66 • Port Clinton/United States • Member since June 9, 2017

Heron Snake Wader Bird Kill Ardeidae Prey | mkzsfoto | steven arnold • reunion • Member since Sept. 11, 2018

Music: Wild Imagination | Kurt Vile

Third Archetypal Animation

Fantasy Butterflies Mushrooms Forest Insects | Stergo | Игорь Левченко • Age 32 • Владикавказ/Россия • Member since Jan. 2, 2017

Composing Woman Fantasy Face Beauty Mystical Root | KELLEPICS | Stefan Keller • Deutschland / Germany • Member since March 22, 2017 • #391

Tree Lake Water Nature Landscape Forest | Leslin_Liu | Shanghai/China • Member since June 16, 2017

Fantasy Eyes Forest Branches Face Portrait | KELLEPICS | Stefan Keller • Deutschland / Germany • Member since March 22, 2017 • #391

Fantasy Deer Mammal Forest Nature Outdoors Light | peter_pyw | Peter • KUALA LUMPUR/Malaysia • Member since July 19, 2016

Fantasy Forest Dog Monster Girl Snow Winter | KELLEPICS | Stefan Keller • Deutschland / Germany • Member since March 22, 2017 • #391

Nature Outdoors Ants Forest Light Bulb Light | peter_pyw | Peter • KUALA LUMPUR/Malaysia • Member since July 19, 2016

Music: The Peace Of Wild Things | Keith Kauspedas [1] Deep Echoing (Fox In The Snow) 6:06

Fourth Archetypal Animation

Still Calm Tranquil Moon Sunset Sky Ocean Lake | WelshPixie | Delyth Williams • Age 41 • Western Cape/South Africa • Member since Sept. 14, 2018

Cutter North Sea Port Shrimp Fishing Vessel | ArtTower | Brigitte Werner • Age 68 • Canim Lake/Canada • Member since June 15, 2012 • #89

Sunset Still Water Splash Water Reflection Liquid | truthseeker08 | 🆓 Use at your Ease 👌🏼 • English • Member since April 18, 2016

Still Calm Tranquil Sunset Sky Ocean Lake Water | WelshPixie | Delyth Williams • Age 41 • Western Cape/South Africa • Member since Sept. 14, 2018

Nature Waters Lake Island Landscape Thunderstorm | jplenio | Joe • Munich/Deutschland • Member since Jan. 9, 2018 • #295

Sunset Tree Water Si lhouette Tree Silhouette Dusk | Cleverpix | Cindy Lever • Age 57 • Melbourne/Australia • Member since May 4, 2016

Music: Watermark Enya | [9] River 3:12

Fifth Archetypal Animation

Wall Blind Alley Dead End Impasse Lockup Deadlock | ChadoNihi | Alexandr • Age 29 • Cambridge/UK • Member since Dec. 8, 2014

Red Planet Moon Alien Arid Abiocoen Ancient | ChadoNihi | Alexandr • Age 29 • Cambridge/UK • Member since Dec. 8, 2014

Stargate Heaven Gate Science Fiction Futuristic | spirit111 | beate bachmann • Age 59 • berlin/germany • Member since April 6, 2017

Meadow Green Meadow Flower Meadow Grass Nature | spirit111 | beate bachmann • Age 59 • berlin/germany • Member since April 6, 2017

Wormhole Time Travel Portal Vortex Space Warp | Genty | English • Member since May 20, 2016

Galaxy Fog Kosmus Universe Milky Way Night Sky | spirit111 | beate bachmann • Age 59 • berlin/germany • Member since April 6, 2017

Music: Stars Night Mantra

Sixth Archetypal Animation

Mountains Smoke Portrait Girl Field Romantic | manhhongdldhv | Hong Manh • Age 32 • Vinh/Việt Nam • Member since July 4, 2020

Sunset Mountains Trees Silhouettes Conifers | Inactive account – ID 12019

Mountains Hills Sky Clouds Sunset Dusk Twilight | Inactive account – ID 12019

Iceland Aurora Borealis Northern Lights Beautiful | Inactive account – ID 12019

Kingfisher Bird Close Up Perched Perched Bird | Inactive account – ID 12019

Iceland Arctic Fox Fox White White Fox Canine | Inactive account – ID 12019

Seljalandsfoss Waterfalls Iceland Falls Cliffs | Inactive account – ID 12019

Music: Peaceful Piano Musicals Cover Kid | La la Lu (From “Lady and the Tramp”)

Seventh Archetypal Animation

Black Hole Art-Optical Black White Contrast | dric | Français • Member since Nov. 30, 2016

Colour Farbklex Embroidery Blob Drops | Bru-nO | Bruno /Germany • Age 47 • Thank you for your Donation!/Please like your download! • Member since June 29, 2015 • #255

Abstract Astral Astrology Astronomy Background | Buddy_Nath | A Owen • Age 39 • United Kingdom • Member since Feb. 4, 2016

Music: Dark Bloom | Darkness | The Sun Went Out Bright

Preface from 2026 for Being in a World Where Ukraine Is Free

Introduction to Being In A World Where Ukraine Is Free | 2023

I. Bake for Ukraine

A. Bake for Ukraine — Acts of Creativity Are Acts of Resistance

B. Bake, Bake, Bake for Ukraine and to Free Oppressed People Everywhere

C. World Central Kitchen

II. Banksy & Other Street Artists for Ukraine

A. Who Is Banksy?

B. Banksy in Ukraine

C. Other Artists Supporting Ukraine Through Creative Acts of Resistance

III. Ballet for Ukraine

A. Ballet dancers from across Ukraine bring ‘Giselle’ to the Kennedy Center

B. Ballet for Refugee Kids in the Czech Republic

C. BALLET BENEFIT RAISES FUNDS TO HELP UKRAINE’S CHILDREN

IV. Blook & Blog for Ukraine

A. Blooking

B. Blogging

V. Believe in Ukraine

A. Love & War

B. The Will to Win

Archetypal Animations

Both Archetypal Animations Draw from These Creative Sources

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Perspective from 2026 to American War

Introduction to American War | 2023

American War: Ignorance

American War: Disturbingly Plausible

American War: Euphemistic Fraudulence

American War: The World is Either Good or Evil

American War: Empathetic Liars

American War: Reality? What Reality!

American War: Feature Archetypal Animation

American War: First Archetypal Animation

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Free to Choose: Mirror of Deeds: In A World…

Free to Choose: Mirror of Deeds: Maps of Hate

Dictators of the World

Free to Choose: Mirror of Deeds: Terror Groups

Free to Choose: Mirror of Deeds: Hate Groups

Free to Choose: Mirror of Deeds: The Playbook

Free to Choose: Mirror of Deeds: Yetzer Harah

Free to Choose: Mirror of Deeds: Images For Archetypal Animations

Feature Archetypal Animation

Second Archetypal Animation

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UFOs No… But Unexplained Inner Phenomena, Yes: But Are They Real?

UFOs No… But Unexplained Inner Phenomena, Yes: That Doesn’t Mean They’re Not Real

UFOs No… But Unexplained Inner Phenomena, Yes: Reality Is Strange | We Need Inner Astronauts Now More Than Ever

UFOs No… But Unexplained Inner Phenomena, Yes: Charting A New Future

UFOs No… But Unexplained Inner Phenomena, Yes: First Archetypal Image

Second Archetypal Image

Third Archetypal Image

Fourth Archetypal Image

Fifth Archetypal Image

Sixth Archetypal Image

Seventh Archetypal Image

Music for Archetypal Animation:

Related Videos

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Heaven & Earth Are Impartial: Text From:

Heaven & Earth Are Impartial: Feature Animation Images From:

First Archetypal Image:

Second Archetypal Image:

Third Archetypal Image:

Fourth Archetypal Image:

Fifth Archetypal Image:

Sixth Archetypal Image:

Seventh Archetypal Image:

Eight Archetypal Image:

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Unites All of Creation with Dust: Chapter 4 | Tao Te Ching

Unites All of Creation with Dust: Previous Chapters | Tao Te Ching

Unites All of Creation with Dust: Relevant Topics & Events to the Tao\Now

Unites All of Creation with Dust: Sources of Feature Image