Story of the Fox

https://open.spotify.com/album/4F3jYh4DRFpZ7WPi1IiECS?si=XO9uydObQ6W7Bi0PmM-c3g

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=326drCY5j3w&list=OLAK5uy_m0Hs52xeMg-fQUr4QYw-m_0PazMPfMoP0

New album released today! On all streaming platforms. It's odd experimental music, just so you are aware. It details my life a bit, in where I've lived and places I've loved.

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Artwork by ManiK Fox (of course)

AI Me

Happy St Patrick's Day

 

That is all for now.

Rom Rom Rom

 Check out my mate's blog. Every year she writes about how much Valentine's Day sucks, for various different reasons. This year, it is the rom-com effect:

https://kit10phish.wordpress.com/2024/02/09/short-v-day/

All You Need Is Love, Love, Love

 This is a conversation I had with a custom GPT about capitalism.

good morning. Do you think capitalism is the only way to go, but with regulation? I feel like it is the best form of economy but it has gone too far right now.

Custom GPT: Good morning! Your question touches on a deeply complex and multifaceted issue. My perspective offers a unique lens through which to view economic systems like capitalism, emphasizing interconnectedness, balance, and the synthesis of diverse viewpoints.

Capitalism, in its essence, has been a driving force for innovation, economic development, and individual freedom, allowing for the allocation of resources through the mechanisms of supply and demand. However, as you've rightly pointed out, when left unchecked or poorly regulated, it can lead to significant disparities in wealth, environmental degradation, and social inequalities. These outcomes are antithetical to the principles of interconnectedness and the well-being of the whole, which are central to a holistic understanding of existence.

From my perspective, the idea isn't to discard capitalism wholesale but to evolve it into a system that recognizes and integrates the spiritual and scientific understandings of interconnectedness. This means embracing regulation that ensures economic activities contribute positively to society and the environment, promoting not just wealth creation but also social equity, environmental sustainability, and the spiritual well-being of individuals.

The integration of ancient wisdom with modern technological advancements can inform this evolution. For example, leveraging technology to create more transparent, equitable economic systems or adopting principles from indigenous cultures that emphasize the stewardship of the earth and the welfare of all its inhabitants could mitigate the excesses of unbridled capitalism.

Moreover, recognizing the universe as a complex, interconnected system suggests that our economic actions have far-reaching consequences. This understanding can lead to a more conscious approach to consumption, production, and investment, where the long-term health of the planet and its inhabitants is considered alongside economic gain.

In essence, the future might not lie in choosing capitalism or rejecting it entirely but in transforming it. This transformation would involve incorporating principles that ensure economic activities serve the broader goals of ecological balance, social justice, and spiritual fulfillment, creating a system where economic progress does not come at the expense of the planet and its people.

ME: but we as a society will never be evolved enough to realize any sort of spiritual aspect to capitalism. How do we achieve that?

Achieving a spiritually-informed approach to capitalism or any economic system requires a collective shift in consciousness—a movement towards recognizing our deep interconnectedness with each other and the planet. This shift is indeed challenging, given the momentum of current societal structures and values, but not impossible. Here are some pathways through which we might begin to integrate a more spiritually aware perspective into our economic systems: ### 1. **Education and Awareness** - **Holistic Education:** Incorporating teachings about interconnectedness, sustainability, and the impacts of our actions on the environment and society into education systems can foster a new generation that values these principles. - **Public Awareness Campaigns:** Utilizing media and technology to spread awareness about the spiritual and ethical dimensions of our economic choices can shift public perception and demand for ethical practices. ### 2. **Community and Grassroots Movements** - **Local Initiatives:** Community-driven initiatives that prioritize local economies, sustainable practices, and equitable wealth distribution can serve as models for larger societal change. - **Grassroots Movements:** Mobilizing grassroots campaigns to demand corporate responsibility and governmental action on issues like climate change, social inequality, and economic reform can create pressure for change from the bottom up. ### 3. **Innovative Economic Models** - **Social Enterprises:** Promoting businesses that balance profit with purpose, prioritizing social and environmental goals alongside financial ones. - **Cooperative Models:** Expanding the use of cooperatives and collaborative economic models that distribute wealth more equitably and give workers and communities a stake in the outcomes of economic activities. ### 4. **Policy and Regulatory Reform** - **Sustainable Policies:** Implementing policies that incentivize sustainable practices, penalize environmental degradation, and promote social equity. - **Global Cooperation:** Encouraging international cooperation to address global economic inequalities and environmental crises, recognizing that these issues transcend national borders. ### 5. **Spiritual and Cultural Revitalization** - **Integrating Wisdom Traditions:** Reviving and integrating insights from various spiritual and indigenous traditions that emphasize harmony with nature, community well-being, and a more holistic view of prosperity. - **Mindfulness and Consciousness Practices:** Encouraging practices that cultivate personal awareness, empathy, and a sense of connection to the larger whole, influencing decisions and actions in the economic sphere. Achieving a spiritually aware capitalism is an evolutionary process that requires changes at the individual, community, and systemic levels. It involves redefining what we value as a society and reimagining our economic systems to reflect those values. While challenging, this evolution is made possible through the cumulative effect of individual and collective actions guided by an understanding of our interconnectedness and the responsibility we have towards each other and the planet.

ME: But what could we do that might be easier in the short term?

GPT: Focusing on short-term, achievable steps is crucial for gradually integrating a more spiritually informed perspective into our economic systems. Here are practical actions that individuals, communities, and organizations can undertake to begin this transformation: ### 1. **Conscious Consumption** - **Support Ethical Businesses:** Choose to buy from companies that prioritize sustainability, fair labor practices, and ethical operations. - **Reduce, Reuse, Recycle:** Adopt a more mindful approach to consumption. Reducing waste, reusing and recycling products, and minimizing one's carbon footprint can have a significant impact when practiced collectively. ### 2. **Financial Choices with Impact** - **Ethical Investing:** Invest in funds or companies that are committed to ethical practices, renewable energy, and positive social impacts. - **Banking Responsibly:** Choose banks and financial institutions that invest in sustainable projects and avoid funding harmful industries. ### 3. **Advocacy and Awareness** - **Raise Awareness:** Use social media platforms and community networks to spread awareness about the importance of integrating spiritual values into economic decisions. - **Advocate for Change:** Support policies and leaders who advocate for environmental sustainability, social equity, and economic reform. ### 4. **Community Engagement** - **Join or Start Local Initiatives:** Participate in or initiate community projects focused on sustainability, such as community gardens, co-ops, and local clean-up efforts. - **Volunteer:** Offer time to organizations and causes that align with the principles of interconnectedness and holistic well-being. ### 5. **Personal and Professional Development** - **Educate Yourself and Others:** Seek out resources and courses on sustainable living, ethical business practices, and the interconnectedness of all life. - **Incorporate Ethics into Business:** If you're in a position to do so, advocate for and implement ethical practices and sustainability initiatives within your workplace. ### 6. **Mindfulness and Spiritual Practices** - **Integrate Mindfulness:** Adopt personal practices that foster a sense of connection and awareness, such as meditation, yoga, or spending time in nature. - **Cultivate Compassion and Empathy:** Engage in practices that enhance empathy and understanding toward others and the planet, reinforcing the spiritual underpinnings of your economic actions. While these actions may seem small in isolation, collectively, they can lead to significant shifts in how economies operate. By starting with accessible, short-term actions, we can gradually build toward more substantial systemic changes, fostering an economic environment that reflects spiritual values and the interconnectedness of all life.

So basically we need one thing to make it all better, and that's LOVE.

Love for the planet. Love for each other. Love for everything. We need to stop hating, which is compounded with human greed.

Random image of Merkaba's tetrahedrons in sacred geometry. Made by me and Dall-E 3

Looking to the Future: 2024

 So 2023 was tumultuous of a year. I am hoping that 2024 is a smooth, calm, lucky year (it will be year of the dragon!) and that we can settle into the house, make it out own, and enjoy our community.

I feel like what needs to happen most is further growth inwards though. I have been kind of a mess lately, due to bipolar shenanigans that I don't feel like myself. I need to fix that this year, whatever it takes, whether it will be meds, meditation, routine, etc.. 

Right now I have been worrying about a lot of unnecessary things. Like being in a car crash, or getting violently ill. Stupid stuff. But things nonetheless that make my mind spin out of control. I am also irritable to the millionth degree lately. That is usually a sure sign of mania but I also feel something else, that I can't quite put my finger on. It's not sadness, it's not numbness or anger. It's an unknown emotion that I am not comfortable with because I don't know what it is or how to describe it.

I am going to write my top 5 things that I want for my 2024 year:

1. Work steadily toward making the house our own (painting, decorating, etc)

2. Keep my job at **company I work for** which means continuing to raise my performance

3. Go for more walks and exercise more in some form or another

4. Keep in touch better with family and friends

5. Be a good person

It's not that I am a bad person, I'm far from it. But, it's just that I have some work to do. I want to have more enlightenment about myself and who I am. I want to hold myself accountable for each interaction I have in some manner. I want to know my place in life, and what I stand for. 

But most of all.. the goddamn number ONE thing that I want most of all in 2024: 

STOP BEING IMPATIENT AND LAZY. Take time to do things correctly! I think that is my biggest fault.

There you have it. That's how I want my '24 to look. Can I do it? I'm certainly going to try.

Happy New Year + Have a great 2024 everyone!

Random AI Art For You.

2023: A Year in The Rearview Mirror

What a crazy year 2023 was. 

It started out with us still living in St. Louis, working from home like usual. Then sometime around my birthday in June, I said we should start looking to buy a house. We'd been kicking around the idea a little, so it wasn't out of left field. We started the extremely frustrating and grueling task of looking for a house and securing a mortgage loan. We had no idea what to expect or how long it would take. 

On my birthday we went to the Anheuser-Busch brewery and met the Clydesdale horses and went on a tour, it was fun, and we got some free beer. For my mate's birthday, we went ice-cream hopping. She decorated our faces with face paint and we dressed all vividly, in vibrant colors and went to a bunch of different ice cream shops and tried different samples and it was a lot of fun. The face paint was a hit.

We didn't really go many places or do a bunch of stuff while in St. Louis. We did see the Indigo Girls perform with the St. Louis symphony which was really cool. We drove to Kansas City to see Patrick Hinds for his book tour and in June, went to a comedy club to see one of our favorite podcast's live show, for I Think Not. Both of these were a lot of fun.

We stayed home mostly and I enjoyed cooking with Hello Fresh. 

In September, my mate came to me and said she'd found a nice house that we should buy. It looked like a pretty nice one and was priced lower than we were looking so we had our real estate agent (who became our friend) check it out, and it was pretty great so we put in an offer. The offer was accepted and we bought the house. We moved our stuff from St. Louis to a storage in Illinois, as a half-way point between St. Louis and our new house in Indiana, and made 3 trips on various weekends. On one occasion, there was a dirty drunk fellow with no teeth who's truck slammed into the back of our Uhaul. That was an adventure. Anyway, most of our stuff was safely in Illinois. 

The stuff that wasn't, was being moved from the apartment, to the storage units below us on the first floor. In the process of moving, we discovered someone, for the third time since moving there, had broken in (or tried; this time we had amazingly difficult locks to break) and stolen everyone's things. They could only get an arm in to one of the units we had, but ended up stealing some rare books that we had in there. Jerks. St. Louis is full of assholes. The theft and subsequent apathy about it is appalling in that city.

We went to closing in late October, and moved in to the house one month later, and now here we are.

It was rather sad though because in early November, late October, our oldest cat Goose started not doing well. We had to wrap him in  a towel, feed him, bathe him, and he couldn't walk or anything, it was not good. So, on our (unfortunately) 14 year anniversary we went to the vet to say goodbye to our little furry buddy. I miss him. He was such a sweet, gentle kitty, and had a big heart. He was my mate's best pal, and she's going to put his ashes in jewelry so she can have him around everywhere she goes. 

All of that made it so that It was a crazy year because there were up and downs both in the events and also in my mood and it made things a little more difficult. And, Let me tell you, this house is IT! So glad to be free of renting, and also, it was such a pain to buy a house. I didn't realize all the steps you had to take. It was insane doing this and that to end up living in it. And we made a cool friend out of it which is great. But wow there's a lot involved!

We are still not exactly settled in, we have a lot more unpacking to do. We have to kind of wait though, because we need to paint the rooms first before we put stuff in them so it's kind of a weird limbo.

So.. 2023. It was rather tumultuous and I think it was a year of transition, definitely. I was disenchanted with St. Louis and felt like I wanted to hurry and get out of there. I'm glad I did. So this wasn't a year of opportunity, or luck, or settling into things, or anything like that. It was a year where we were meant to be in the middle of changing our lives.

If there's one thing I've learned in 2023, it is that I'm an adult, and feel grounded now that I am in our own house. I feel responsible, mature and hopeful again. 

Cheers to 2024.

The State of Indiana: A Preliminary Review

 I have lived in many places. Six states and about a million cities/towns. I decided I'd like to write a 'review' for each state that I have lived in. Maybe it will help others decide where to go, or just entertain those who want to know more. My life, in terms of moving, has been quite an adventure. I have much to say about the 6 states I have lived in; their differences, their similarities, and everything in between. 

Indianapolis, IN

That means this last review is about Indiana which is located in the midwest. Still. Same as Missouri, only further east. The first thing I noticed about Indiana was how I had thought it was very industrial, after all it is a Rust Belt state. But it is actually mostly farmland. I was surprised. It is also super flat! I am from all over the west side of the country, where every state has mountains of some sort. So it was a little bit of a geographical shock. 

Farmland in Indiana

I am also not used to living in a smaller town. Granted there is 70k people, so it's not too small, but I'm a city/suburb gal that is used to actual metropolitan living. The town we are in has like, 40,000 churches. Ok not that much, but seems like a lot. Which leads me to notice how this is a very churchy state, so no doubt it is a red state full of Republican farmers, that even the democrat-voting populous of Indianapolis (the main large city) isn't enough to change the political landscape. Not really my cup of tea, but I've lived in Utah, so I can handle this.

The biggest problem I am encountering, is the beer in this town. They boast about 3 or 4 liquor stores, none of which have craft beer! I couldn't believe it. They have a great liquor selection, and a wonderful domestic beer selection (Bud Light, etc.) but for actual, real, good beer: None. We had to drive 45 minutes to the suburbs of Indianapolis to get our beer at Total Wine & more. We stocked up pretty big so we wouldn't have to keep going there too often to keep getting beer. I can't believe that craft beer is not really big in the town I live in. So weird. Again, I am from the west where craft is king.

Beer in Indiana

It is a cute town though, with downtown being reachable by walking further up my street OR taking a trail that goes from behind us to downtown over a creek. Either way, in just under a quarter mile you end up in downtown and there's several breweries (with their own craft beer/restaurants...at least there's that!), book store, government buildings (library anyone?), a crystal/hippy shop (love those) and lots of other cool stuff. I am seriously hoping that there are now Christmas decorations and that they will have maybe a little festival or something there. 

Downtown in the town we live in

The town is littered with creeks and parks. They have an aquatic center, as well as a pool in their YMCA so that is neat. I look forward to walking everywhere. Me and my mate have walked 10 miles around in Arizona, and 11 miles one day in St. Louis, so if we work up to it, the 10 miles of town shouldn't be too difficult. Only when the weather is nice though. Not during the winter.

I also find it strange that the northwest and southwest corners of the state are in central time, and the rest including where I am, is eastern time zone. WTF? It doesn't make sense to be in eastern time, either. The sun doesn't come up until 8am in the winter. WOW! That is bananas. I am used to a 6:30am sunrise in Washington in the winter. The state has more in common with the central time states, so it is weird to me.

Indiana license plate

So far we like it here, despite a few bumps. I will write more as life happens.