Wednesday, September 30, 2009
JUST FOR YOU!
Monday, September 28, 2009
Community
That time again kids- John's Thoughts!
Our society clings to a concept of the "self-sufficient individual" that is largely delusional. Every time I hear social-spending policy discussed by someone who wants to "keep more of MY money", I have to wonder where that money came from. Does this person have an employer? co-workers? customers or clients? or do they truly generate wealth without the co-operation of others? In fact, the concept of "money" is a massive exercise exercise in community value - try printing your own currency and getting someone else to exchange value for it. Remember the British term "Commonwealth of..." It recognized that some things of material value were best held in common.
We all live in interlocking sets of group efforts - and we are all more vulnerable to their potential failures than we care to be aware of.
Nonetheless, community, in its truest form for humans, is as much a spiritual state as it is anything else - it is grace held in common. In it, members are called to service. All the major religions place importance on the spiritual value of being of service to others. In the material world, our species depends utterly on six inches of topsoil and the proper amount of rain. In the spiritual sense, community is the six inches of topsoil, and grace the proper amount of rain. With these, we flourish. Without them, life gets bleak in a hurry.
There are tools for nurturing community and culture. Symbols, rituals, adornments and history are all means by which collective values can be expressed and shared - we are all constantly using them, often unknowingly, in our daily lives.
When people of good intention and loving hearts gather, that place, at that time can become sacred ground. We are charged with making it so. Namaste - John
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Facebook Winners
Life has been hectic, know y'all can relate. Not only does life not slow down but my computer did...to a complete stop! I think it was a little hint that I need to set limits and that working at home does not mean that you work the entire time you are at Home. Well computer is back up and running and so are I and even better Dylan Blue NEVER stopped. Have no fear , while I was away from y'all here, we have been working diligently and with a PURPOSE...the purpose of making people happy and Spreading our Jewelry Piece by Piece as far as we allow ourselves to imagine. That is a nice thought huh?
First updatee... we have made another sale...which we are incredibly proud of because, one, it has been a slow across the board pretty much and two, well it was our first INTERNATIONAL sale. The celtic blue piece is on it's way to the United Kingdom! Thanks to our VALUED Customer!
Also John has been working his tail off, we came up with a line of Local Football Pendants for my local area, Valdosta GA, TITLETOWN USA...ok a little bragging there. But it is Known fact we take football very serious here in South GA and they play to WIN and WIN they do. I will have a post showing you the finished set coming soon.... got more to share. John has also been doing some fine art work...amazing stuff that I am super proud of and will also share coming soon, I promise IT IS gonna BLOW YOU AWAY! And while I am talking about John and production, I have items sitting that are ready to be listed so he is crackin' them out, while along filling wholesale orders for places such as book stores and for retail shops and boutiques....while working his "real job" aka the one we want to get rid of!
And last but not least....WE have a winner to our contest we ran on our Facebook Fan Page. We are so thrilled at the turn out and gained 46 fans in the allotted contest period. I ran the contest through a site called RANDOM.ORG . Where I typed in the numbered ordered list of entries (each entry was the person and the fan they got to join) and ran it through. Below is shot of WINNERS.... who are DUM DUM DUM (that is a drum-roll).... Elizabeth M. Duquette and Mike Watson! Congrats guys, I will be in touch and I can wait to see what you pick... plus I have stuff to list like I mentioned...so we will definitely chat!. Wow that was fun (even if I was running behind). We plan to run other contest in the future..probably with a totally different idea. Have a good idea...leave us a comment.Go ahead and become a fan of our FACEBOOK page we refer to as Dylan Blue Community because we could not do this without y'all NOR would we want to. We are also constantly thinking of ways to use ourselves and things we learn to be of service to others.
SMILE
Thursday, September 3, 2009
1968
I turned 15 in 1968. It was a year of eruptive psychic growth for me. I read “The Grapes of Wrath” and “Crime and Punishment”. The Democratic convention in Chicago turned into a maelstrom of anger and brutality seething through the streets of the city, permanently shaping my perception os the mechanisms of power. I saw Hendrix live, went to my first anti-war demonstration, met some Black Panthers and read Eldridge Cleaver. And some friends of mine seemed to have had a terrific time at this place called Woodstock.
The ensuing years continued in the same vein – drugs, radical politics, concerts and books – always books and ideas. Psychology, politics, popular culture and the changing nature of the world were daily topics of conversation. Carlos Castenada, Dylan, Muhammad Ali, the Beatles, the Dead, the Stones, Simon & Garfunkel,and on and on – the mental backdrop of the times was a vista of endless possibilities for change.
Then the tide began to turn. Nixon, Watergate, the end of the war. People began to overdose, get strung out, die. The cult conversions. Charles Manson. People began to have kids, get real jobs, graduate college, get married. Disco, for Christ’s sake. I joined the military, and moved away with my pregnant wife. Career, responsibilities.
Still, the books and ideas were portable. A few friends and I stayed in touch. The Reagan years, and the Moral Majority. Rush Limbaugh. From time to time, the few friends and I would wonder what had happened; had the possibilities evaporated? had the world really not changed? Was it turning back into the 1950s?
But, we told our kids about how things had been; Vietnam, the United Farm Workers. The Dead played in the living room, along with Springsteen, Bob Marley and Willy Nelson. Clinton was OK, in a Playboy kind of way.
The new century started as badly as could have been imagined. The “N-word” began to sneak back into the popular lexicon. Terrorists. Tax breaks for rich folks, hugely corrupt politicians in very high places. Breathtakingly bold lies told by a President who claimed to hear directly from God. Another disastrous foreign war. Cultural regression propagated via the should-have-been-cool Web. Despair over the world my kids were growing up in, and my precious, malleable grandson. Horrible place, execrable people in power.
Then a little change began. Young people began to find their voices – world music started popping up everywhere. Celebrations of eccentricity – Steampunk and Cryptozoology.
Maybe…? 2006 and Nancy Pelosi. Maybe…? Neil Young resurrects his career. Maybe…? Can we? A young man saying “Look at all of you”.
Now we know. Yes, we can. The 40 years worth of books, ideas and believing were worth it. Compassion and Justice are back in the national conscience. My kids believe in their own ability to make change. We emancipated ourselves from mental slavery – thank you, Bob Marley.
The wild geese are flying again, and the ants have gone back underground.