he said to me, "i feel like it's strange that we forgot the beauty of life.  somehow along the way, the almighty dollar rose to the top of our list of priorities.  i wonder why, but then i realize, oh, well, the food was unobtainable unless one had money.  and food is actually the most important element to sustaining life, after oxygen and water.  so obviously, if you couldn't get what you needed simply because you had no loot, loot became the most important thing in life, only as a means to get what you need to stay alive.  now, what still leaves me stumped is the reason this system was set into motion.  why is money important?  because we accept the system of withholding basic needs.  why do we accept the system?  well, if you don't play along by getting Bs in school, working for the boss man and toiling away month after month, you get locked out of the food supply.  of course, we could all decide to ignore the system and be homeless.  reject the system.  yet while this life of money offers absolutely no reward or relief, neither does the homeless life.  the actual problem is not a problem of creating different social programs.  the problem is a problem with our vision.  we cannot envision a different world where we share and work to help one another, because we are forced to work so hard just to get our hands on the bare necessities.  if you decide to reject the system and show your disapproval by protest, you will be locked out of the grocery store.  you cannot feed yourself long enough to sustain the energy it takes to change people's heart and minds.  how can you envision a new world, and show it to people if the minute you step out of the assembly line, you are cut off from your food." 

"you could always dumpster dive," i said.  he smiled and said, "true, this is true.  and yet the world is in need.  the earth is calling to us.  it is showing it's signs of weakness, saying, please, i need your help, we need to work together, i will provide what you need if you remember how in love we used to be."  he looked off toward the almond trees blossoming white fireworks.  "i love this world."  he said, "i want to reach out and hold it with my loving arms.  here in my arms we can find ourselves again.  we are nature and nature is us and we will see the way.  we will envision a new world.  we will find each other dancing in the cool blue-green moon shadow world.  we will embrace.  the only problem is first to see what the world is.  see the system.  see your approval.  see the inability to get around it.  and a new life will bloom out of the muck.  this is the way of nature.  things are born.  they bloom.  the whither.  decay.  death.  mounds of rotten earth.  out of the mud will rise new life.  new colors.  strange dreams alive in our eyes.  we are the world and the world will find itself through our hearts.  we must see.  we must begin.  let us turn towards the sun and stand singing heart songs sideways tongues flailing.  love, charles. love"  he said this and then they wheeled him away in his white overalls.  as they rounded the corner, i saw him smiling looking at something stuck to the wall of the asylum.

i open my eyes and see such beauty beyond words, feel strange and inept when i try to utter my heart song.  can't come close.  let us remember this beauty.  how dark and cold the world can be when we are caught up in the games of winning approval and acclaim.  accomplishments come and go.  flesh returns to earth.  dust is pulled up again into form and covers the earth as fertile fields for new life.  all around us.  within you.  without you.  it is here and nothing can be done to return for we have never been apart.  all there is to do is to remember.  life is whole.  is there a division between the sprawling world of nature and the concrete world of man?  is life cut up into little pieces?  ah, no, we know better.  we know this is merely an illusion.  part of the design which provides means of forgetting which creates the need to remember.  remember what?  remember life is sacred and whole.  nothing outside of life.  life is all.  no-life, or "death" is part of this magical creation.  or should i say, magical existence.  creation calls to mind the beginning of something, when in truth there is no beginning and there is no end.  there is the cycle.  endless cycle of the rise and fall of form.  form meaning these things of the universe which come to pass, such as stars and planets, life forms and inanimate objects.  there is an animating force beyond form which we call energy.  we could call it purple jello or starberry balloons for it is truly beyond understanding.  in fact, life in all its million manifestations is truly beyond comprehension.  to remind ourselves daily of this mystery and gift and magic is necessary in this world of forgetting.  we have forgotten we are part of this Sacred Movement of Life.  can you see when you open your eyes?  can you see it?  can you feel it within you?  do you know what it is?  can you hear me in your heart as i communicate this to you.  i am speaking to the world within you that has been ignored in modern times.  this life is magic.  why is it here?  how is it here?  can you remember every day that you are part of this sacred movement of life?  there is no one to blame for this great forgetting.  forgetting our nature as holy members of sacred life is part of the cosmic dance.  no one is to blame.  it is part of the design.  to suddenly remember this Gift of Life is Precious is the beauty of life itself.  let us not blame ourselves or others, generations past and present.  let us remind ourselves daily of our gift.  let us not toil amongst ourselves, fighting, lashing out, bitter blood boiling to burst.  it is ok.  it is alright.  we are moving forwards, not backwards.  we are remembering.  we will become whole again and we will make such a beautiful world for ourselves because we will also remember our great suffering which arose from our great forgetting and we shall know to avoid forgetting by consciously reminding ourselves daily of the sacred nature of Life.  forgetting this Sacred Holy Life is suffering.  yet, holy life is all there is.  no one and no thing are outside of this Sacred Life.  can you see?  can you feel the truth being written here?  how does this resonate with you?  can you feel your powerful true nature beginning to awaken?  can you sense the magic within you without you?  We Are Alive.  Rejoice.  Remember.  Return.