How Long Will Flagstaff Sustain Itself?

Interesting question, yes? Anyone who has passed through recently will surely tell you that there is an essence and a quaintness to this mid-sized town of roughly 66,000 people that is both unique and significant. Cherished within the heritage here lies the Lowell Observatory, Northern Arizona University, Buffalo Park, and many other distinct entities that help us to understand our history, recognize our present, and dream of our future.

But not everybody might agree with the notion that magic lives within these city limits. After all, with human interest steadily increasing, some familiar families have moved in. I'm sure you've heard of the Wal-marts, the Safeways, the Chili's, and the Chipotles. The McDonalds, the Taco Bells...I think you get the picture. Some might argue that these families are grossly overshadowing other families that have been here before; the Babbitts, the Riordans, the Sechrists, and many more that will be examined as this blog thread continues. But what is there to say about how the culture here is evolving? Buildings used to be named after actual people who contributed to the health and development of this area. Now we see the skyline littered at night with bright signs from major corporations that compete for our attention against the nebula of the Milky Way Galaxy above.

I dare to ask, what must the locals think? The Native Americans, Mexicans, and European settlers have all laid some claim to calling this beautiful brush of land their home. With this sort of cultural cocktail one might wonder who takes the lead in determining what development is allowed to take place. I find it quite fascinating that not far from the Wal-mart on the east side of town lie ruins from the Anasazi and Sinagua Indian tribes dating back more than seven centuries ago. How has an area that has shown magnificent examples of prehistoric civilizations now become home to big-box retailers?

Despite the clear defacement of the natural world by our marketing and advertising, this quaint town still resembles a stoic and prideful visage. With a downtown scene that offers a unique feel (filled with artwalks, boutique shops, and historical preservations) to the calming sense of tranquility brought about from the backdrop of the San Francisco Peaks, Flagstaff still offers a majestic experience to anyone who comes.

But how long can this all last? Down this rabbit hole we'll go in finding what binds, and tears apart, this community of Flagstaff. What is the culture here? Will this community sustain over long periods of time or, like any great civilization, continue to rise until it collapses on itself. These questions and more as we proceed forward with uncovering the historical significance, modern experience, and future implications for Flagstaff, Arizona.

The Way...

If you have found a way to enlightenment, share it with others. The truth of our suffering is that we become blind by our desires. We are taught to be individuals but this is simply misguided and not true. We must eat from the same land, sea, and air as many before us have. Our world becomes crazier with each day we do not remind ourselves that each breath is an astonishing feat of the very life we have been given. Anger, depression, despair...all illusions that the external world has used to influence our internal state. Find the magic within yourself in the space that only you are allowed to inhabit. You are truly alone in this space and by design you alone must search and seek for some sort of light or energy that is embedded deep within your being. Each breath is an opportunity for that inner being to witness God, or Buddha, or Love, or whichever other nomenclature suits your liking. Silence the noise that the external world forces on us and begin to feel that inner space become larger and eventually push back out into the external world. This is what is meant when people speak of the shaping our world.

I am simply in a moment that we all know of...we call this moment, now..

Death is a Good Tool

This may just be my opinion but perhaps it's about time we all settled down just a little bit and got back to some basics, yes? It seems like our values need to be refreshed and acted upon. 

The major change that I see needing to happen right now is that we all learn what taking a deep breath is really all about.

Every single one of our lives is as fragile as a glass structure, and yet while we endure life's range of earthquakes, we keep taking those precious breaths. We are indeed resilient but often we are afraid to acknowledge and try to understand a very difficult concept that we all face; namely death. Death, rather obviously, is a scary thought for us to think about because of the fear and realization it brings. Be it the thought of our own or the thought of those we care about, we are deeply afflicted by this simple fact of life. But here is where things get a little interesting. Many of us would rather not focus on death as our attention is often directed toward life, right? Things like eating, dreaming, and exploring seem like something we would much rather do with our time! Life is definitely something I love to enjoy too!

However, our values have become so focused on living that we've lost our sense of death. Death is a great tool to use in the humbling of our attitudes and actions. Even thinking about it right now makes me focus on my breathing. Ever notice how the news usually covers events that are life threatening? Why do we rely on the commercialized news networks to remind us of how valuable our lives are? Now this may not apply to everyone but we all, at least in this country, are rather easily distracted from humbling ourselves to this sensitivity. 

Therein lies the secret to our connectedness. All of us sense, on one level or another, this change from life to death and death to life. Pretty amazing to think that the same carbon atoms that once sat at the bottom of the ocean now make up my arm! We share more with the environment than we are thinking about and herein lies the problem. The problem (or challenge as I like to think of it) is how do we reconnect ourselves to that level of humbleness that something like the concept of death gives us? Anyone who has ever had a close call with death or experienced someone close to them who has might just agree that your perception of life changes a little, lol. These close calls really give us a sense that at any moment the way we see things could greatly change.

Each of us have a sense of awareness that helps us to keep focused. That sense is something every animal comes to realize. A lion, for example, can incorporate an area consisting of hundreds of miles into its consciousness as it needs to to survive. How many of us have stopped to think of how far our consciousness reaches? Maybe the confines of our offices and living rooms? Perhaps entire regions such as Southern California or Northern Arizona?

Consciousness is a great teacher that educates us on what is essential for our survival. Turning a blind eye to learning and growing affects us all, not just one individual. 

Why Reflection is a Necessary Part of Life...

I've been stuck all day and finally came to a breaking point. What the hell do I want to do with my LIFE?? I've been pacing for hours talking to myself and trying to pinpoint why I'm feeling the way I do. Asking myself some hard questions and resting in the discoveries I've found.

Here's what I've come to:

1) Learn to manifest the Truth from within yourself.

2) Confront and define my fears.

3) Pursue what I've discovered.

4) Find someone to connect to.

5) List the reasons why I'm choosing not to grow from this realization.

6) Get over yourself.

These 6 points jumped out of me when I started wondering what I'm going to do this summer. Every summer that rolls around I feel like a void is in place. I'm used to grinding out the week and when there's a lull I feel like something is missing. Why can't I just be comfortable with "being". Here are some other points that came to mind..

What is fulfillment and how do I get me some of that?

Am I comfortable with the path I'm on?

Can I succeed in life or will I fail?

These are the type of tough questions I need to ask myself EVERY DAY! What I've realized at 35 years of age is that this isn't new to me. I've just become comfortable in 'thinking' that I know all of this stuff. What an idiot!! How could I lose sight of living in the now of every moment of every day of my life?! 

I've allowed uncertainty to crawl into my head and take over! Let me remind myself that the human brain is capable of an infinite amount thoughts and somehow I have let a fraction of 1 percent of those thoughts take control. For those that are reading this please share in saying this with me "NO MORE"!

No more feeling inferior because the world isn't ready for me. No more devaluing myself because others don't get it. I am here, I am loving, and I'll wait patiently to share in the giving of that love. I will grow and learn and be better by finding the peace within myself that as long as I come from that space of love I'll be okay. Thank you Jesus, thank you Ghandi, thank you Buddha, thank you mom, thank you friends and family.

DAMN THAT FELT GOOD!

Potatoes and a Bucket

As I actively look for ways to reduce my consumption, I'm always met with new opportunities! Today I decided to get a bucket in order to reuse shower water by plugging the drain and pouring the newly filled bathwater into my toilet. I also found a great deal on potatoes that I will now turn and donate to our local homeless shelter.

We often are not aware of the small things we can do that wind up having big effects. We all hear about things like water conservation, food health, and peak oil. How many of us can even begin to see how much we consume? How many of us care to? 

Does age and belief matter within our system of politics?

This summer I have taken it upon myself to engage in our democracy. Rather than bitch and complain of how bad things are, how disadvantaged I am compared to the 1%, I have decided to do something about it. My political association is less of an obligation to the left or right but to who I believe to be the best leader to make decisions that affect us all. The options that we have in our election process are not always ideal, sometimes they are. How can we expect our leaders to do a job that we would be satisfied with if we do not hold them accountable by making our voice heard? How many of us have ever been to a local council meeting which are open to the public? The public! The public is you and me and everyone else and local government is about as direct an input as any of us are going to have with regards to what affects us at home. 

Our system of survival in this country is not capitalism, it's democracy. The right to have an option when we disagree with how things are being run. The problem with this is that we've allowed ourselves to become corrupt. It's not always the bad guy who steals that is to blame. We, ourselves, are to blame. We who choose to ignore or be lazy in our understanding of the world. We can't always blame the thug or the politician. The mechanisms that have been designed since the settlers first arrived in this country do allow us freedom. Sometimes freedom is nothing more than having a choice. That choice is where we can either engage or not. But that is our choice!

So, what now? Our politicians are virtual strangers who portray themselves as something that is familiar to us so that we sympathize and cast our vote accordingly (for those of us who do). After all, how can someone looking to represent millions of people possibly meet each and every one of us! Campaign managers like Karl Rove (W. Bush) and David Plouffe (Obama, now Jim Messina) are quite good at recognizing how to manipulate (Definition of MANIPULATE: to treat or operate with or as if with the hands or by mechanical means especially in a skillful manner) messages to suit their desired crowds. The problem isn't so much with the brave souls who put themselves in the position to lead. It rests in the hands of those who choose to follow. By design if you're not working for yourself then you're working for someone else. So what and who are you working for?

Below are some interesting studies that I've come across in search of some kind of answer to the relation of federal politics and how that translates to those of us in our respective towns and cities. If I fundamentally believe religion to be both a path of salvation and a means to total destruction, what role do the decision-makers have with their belief systems? If we are a country designed to be inclusive of different cultures and beliefs then why is there such a concentrated number of representatives who adhere to a very select number of beliefs?

Below is a graph showing the average age in the house of representatives and senate (federal). It's interesting to correlate this with the percentage breakdown of religion held by those individuals. It doesn't appear to me that the baby boomers and generation X'ers who are currently in Congress represent a very diverse crowd and set of beliefs. How can this marginal incorporation of beliefs represent so many of us who are far more diversified in what we hold to be universal truths? It amazes me how far we've come yet how far we have to go before we actually mean what we say when we promote the American Dream. 

Time for a Different Kind of Check-in

What a whirlwind of a day today. Nothing less than feeling the ebb and flow of human interaction, atmospheric enjoyment, and a good egg and cheese croissant. I am at a division of my vision. Can't decide which path will lead to more prosperity and who exactly will benefit (or hopefully not, perish) from it. In the grander schematics of things (i.e., that which is beyond our comprehension...and yes, we ALL have some limitation damn it!), I find myself again in the present. merrrrrROWGH!!! :)