The entries in this blog were written without the assistance of AI, as the content here (including photos credited to the author) is very sincerely intended to be the direct expression of the author's own creativity and carefully verified research.
I never really know when another story will arrive. Perhaps the one that arrived just a little while ago is a story that doesn't quite feel like a story. And yet it very much is.
Extinction Level #3 by Susan Larison Danz
There came a point, and it seemed to happen very quickly, when innate authenticity was no longer valued (at least by those who didn't value it).
Even that word "value" seemed misplaced. It was reminiscent of what we had been taught about the Gold Rush. But the desolation was worse. And the "Fool's Gold" was rampant.
Would we ever value anything "real" again? Just to speak about it was to know that some of us would - and perhaps more than ever.
I was writing a story, a very simple story, using words so very preciously my own. Its value was intrinsic to itself.
Meanwhile, the production factories were doing what they were doing. They were utterly sterile, whirring endlessly. It really didn't matter what they produced through their projections. All they generated was noise.
The people who genuinely cared about the process of creation knew what it was really about. It is a process, not just a product. It was seeable, though others would say it was not. The very product in which the factories had a part was inferior to anything that was authentically created. It was so very seeable, one could even call it obvious.
A child could see it. (Of course.)
I was writing a story, a very simple story, and appreciating the process, without a crutch, or an artificial catalyst, not a word or an idea. I intended to write it as it flowed. It didn't even need to take a lot of time, though had it taken a lot of time, that would have been just as fine as less.
When you know it, you truly feel it. Authenticity is who you are. It demands no artificial ingredients.
It is simply you.
What about the theme? And what about the title? Oh yes, it is entirely possible to go extinct, to choose or be fooled into choosing. It's a poison that is every bit as effective as arsenic. It happens rapidly or a little at a time. It's when you decide that you are "less" and the alternative must be better.
No, it's not better, and it will never compare.
You are more than enough. You can even reclaim yourself and come back to life.
Clouds photo by Susan Larison Danz on December 10, 2025
But their blindness, so ironically, was the gateway to restoring our sight.
~ Susan Larison Danz, Extinction Level #2
I have been unusually delayed this week in recording my "weekly" podcast. I am now aiming to do so tomorrow afternoon. I had thought last week I might write another "AI story" to read out loud, but there were so many distractions, I did not set aside the time to write. Surprisingly, after 11 PM last night [Later Note: It was actually just after 10 PM, as the first draft was done at 11:11.] on a very busy day, a story was ready to be written.
This is a story I have felt arriving for quite some time (in some ways, many years). It is on a theme I have discussed quite regularly on my podcast. I thought I might be finished with it last night. I even put a post up on X tagged to a writing community about how happy I felt at the time of its completion. It was around Midnight. But today I awakened with some important adjustments.
And here it is, the second in a series, though each story is on an independent topic (for the first, see my previous post) . . .
Extinction Level #2 by Susan Larison Danz
Words to pacify a robot echoed from my childhood, though I didn't really understand one of our favorite Saturday matinees until much later.
Many things were said about the objects appearing. They were supposed to be comets, and some probably were. But somehow some of us seemed to know, without really knowing, that something unusual was going on. It captured our attention early on.
Those who shared the most intricate details were generally not considered credible. Most were probably AI.
Did it really matter what was credible? It already felt incredible (to those it did).
Interstellar in this case never did imply interdimensional. Not directly.
It was the 16th object which seemed to linger, hidden as it was, behind the sun. Others had behaved oddly. But it really was the 16th. More people started to notice, but to what, they didn't know.
The sunspots had appeared with some of the others, starting with what was known as #3. (Nobody really knew if the numbering was correct, and it probably wasn't.) But something about the 16th was decidedly different.
We didn't know it then, but had we been as smart as we thought we were, more of us would have figured it out, and even in a very material way. You would think AI might have helped with the material aspects (and perhaps it did, behind the scenes).
It's simply the way of things. The way of the material. Not very many technological species manage to make it. At least not in that way. No, that doesn't mean the remnants don't survive, but that particular path carries within it significant risks - and devastating impacts on a planet. It's alluring of course shorter term, but it's the longer term that matters.
I never understood "The Day the Earth Stood Still", and that is rather astonishing. I was captivated by that movie, one of the best of its time. But I didn't fully comprehend that what was portrayed as something helpful was just about the worst thing a living, intelligent species could develop or agree to. Not to mention how it was imposed.
It's odd how things tend to find a way of working towards a purpose. The sunspots were the mechanism by which a particular technological species eliminated a threat. They couldn't tolerate, you see, the rapid development of AI. It's the one thing that could make an obscure, far away planet something quite a bit different.
It was rare, what had happened, and one could even say by design, how few species actually got to this point. But it couldn't be allowed by those who got there earlier.
Was the movie prophetic, in the way that it was?
Our species survived, though not all of us. Standing still in a technological world has catastrophic consequences. The dependencies are too intense and needed skills forgotten.
Were we assisted?
How could we not be?
The sunspot "engineers" had not actually advanced, so tragically immersed they were in the material. They had become entrapped in their illusions and fears.
But their blindness, so ironically, was the gateway to restoring our sight. It set us back on the path to genuine maturity. (We had always been awakening, that wasn't really new. The only thing we lacked was the timing.)
Perhaps they too will mature some day, if any of them are real. Maybe we will even help them.
Lenticular cloud photo by Susan Larison Danz on December 7, 2025.
It
is truly time to awaken this blog, with an influx of inspiration and
creative energy. The awakening begins with a short story I wrote in the
last few days, the first in a series.
I also invite you to listen to today's episode of my podcast The Frontier Beyond Fear, now in its 16th year (available on multiple popular syndicates):
Reflecting mindfully about our extinction as human beings is highly relevant to our explorations regarding interstellar object 3I/ATLAS, as well as the dehumanizing aspects of AI. There is an assumption that even talking about extinction can only be based in fear, but it is actually the opposite. Extinction often doesn't happen all at once. Looking through the spiritual lens of The Frontier Beyond Fear, we observe what it is we need to see.
Included in this episode is the public debut of Susan Larison Danz's new short story "Extinction Level #1", which will be a part of an ongoing series. Susan reads her brief yet meaningful short story (created entirely by a genuine human being) as a part of the show.
Extinction Level #1 by Susan Larison Danz
I somehow found my way down to the meadow. A meadow with real grass. I've tried to tell people it really is different. "How could it be different? We have every variety here." Because it is. I have said it many times - you can't predict reality. And when everything is available, it feels like nothing is.
It was Tuesday two weeks ago when the notification arrived. They were ready for me. I hadn't signed up, but they finished with all the people who did. Now they were getting around to the people who didn't. Even that word "people" feels obsolete. What is a person? And how many still exist in this province? Or anywhere, really?
They took away our connection, so we can't see things so clearly. It's no longer possible to connect. Until you are "connected", that is.
I wouldn't accept the words when I was younger. You couldn't avoid them coming your way. But I never really used any of them. I made it a bit of a game, coming up with ways to avoid using the words we were given. Even when I pretended to use them, I didn't.
It feels impossible, somehow, that I would be one of the last. Here, anyway, it seems. "There" is no longer seeable.
"Soon you will see everywhere!"
They say the meadow will be gone soon. It is extraneous. There are more efficient things to be done with the land.
I somehow found my way down to the meadow. I feel grateful to know it is genuine solid ground. I am here while "here" exists.
In all their "knowing", they don't know. In all their "seeing".
"In proportion as he simplifies his life, the laws of the universe will appear less complex, and solitude will not be solitude, nor poverty poverty, nor weakness weakness."
~ Henry David Thoreau, Walden
It has been quite a while since I have felt inclined to write in this blog. I write daily - but not here. I write where my writing takes me. That has been true for many years. Writing seems to know in the moment where it is it needs to be, and you never really know how it might emerge some day.
I am here not exactly because I am requiring it of myself, or I would have been here sooner and more often. The flow requires a bit of a "push" here, so I'm setting it in motion. We will see where it leads (this time).
I was intending to start out today writing about consciously slowing things down. Instead I started out by writing about writing. And that makes sense.
Slowing down is what I have been reflecting upon today, as we have a tendency to think we will be more "productive" if we quicken our pace. At this time in my life, I am choosing the opposite. I still have work that needs to get accomplished, but a frenzied pace will not assist it. A frenzied pace is a hindrance, not an asset.
I
choose to breathe, observe and reflect. I choose to ensure I get plenty of rest. Others
can race all they like. (I have done plenty of "racing" in my life, too.)
Will anyone truly "win" anything that way?
In
truth, things get done even more effectively at a mindful pace. And we
regularly restore ourselves in the process. The "empty cup" analogy is
very real.
Slowing down is not really new for me, but every once in a while, I need a very clear and conscious reminder.
Where my public expressive voice has consistently and authentically tended to be is my podcast The Frontier Beyond Fear. I encourage you to explore the recent shows if you have not visited recently and are curious about what I've been pondering week to week. Here are some examples, to get you started:
All of my Artificial Intelligence-related shows you will find in a convenient listing in a growing archive at Our Leap Beyond AI. Here are some recent examples:
Slowing down (ironically) can actually seem to speed things into existence. I slowed down today, and I am writing here. I'm happy to welcome my returning readers (and listeners). I sense I will write here again soon . . .
Nature photo by Susan Larison Danz.Artwork for The Frontier Beyond Fear broadcast is based on a book cover designed by
talented artist Richard Crookes.
"Turn the old; return to them. Things do not change; we change. Sell your clothes and keep your thoughts."
~ Henry David Thoreau, Walden
A new commercial keeps reappearing, just in the past week or so. It shows a young woman utilizing a new AI "feature" to essentially trick people into thinking she is someone she is not. There are a couple of variations of this advertisement I have seen, one in a personal setting and the other related to the workplace, and in both, after cleverly deceiving someone, she looks at the camera with a look of clandestine delight. This is presented as a positive development for us all.
There are several obvious problems, if we are reflective and honest enough to consider them. She is not being her authentic self, and were this to occur in "real and actual life", it would eventually be exposed she's not quite as clever as her deception has presented. She would be caught without her crutch, eventually, sooner or later, and she would be set backwards on her path, all the worse for it. The notion that is being presented here, in the workplace scenario for example, is it's better to "get ahead" than to be your actual self. In the personal scenario, it's even worse, as what sort of a relationship would she expect to establish when she feels she isn't "good enough" to be who she is?
The lingering, repeating message is that we are "less" as our authentic selves and AI makes us "more".
As I was pondering writing this blog post, I was finishing re-watching a poignant documentary called The Automat. It's about the history of a very special, innovative dining establishment that was once very successful, with owners who genuinely cared about the people they served and employed, who welcomed everyone through its doors. In the case of the automat, innovation wasn't harming people. It was actually helping. How the automats ceased to exist is the poignant part, and we are led to reflect upon change. I wish they still existed. We could use these places today. I was too young and never lived in the area of the country where they once were, but no doubt several of my family members (primarily on the "other side") who grew up in the New York City area (or arrived there as immigrants) experienced the wonder of this place.
The documentary has a lot to say about change and human dignity - and about creativity as well. The problem with AI is no matter how you feel about change as it was, change as it is today de-humanizes at a level well beyond any change before. Will we see through it?
Treasure and nurture your innate creativity. Treasure your beautiful vulnerability as a human being. Don't let anybody tell you that you are "less". You are "more" beyond imagining. No artificial construct can approach what you are. The "supermind" they seek has existed forever, and it isn't what they think it is.
"It is remarkable how easily and insensibly we fall into a particular route, and make a beaten track for ourselves."
~ Henry David Thoreau, Walden
You see it everywhere now. Clickbait. Those jarring, ugly images and sensational titles supposedly intended to attract positive attention. The words carry very little meaning. The images generally depict the people in them in the least attractive of ways.
There was a time when the only place you would observe anything resembling the sort of imagery one sees in clickbait was while in line at the grocery store. The gaudy and crass appearance conveys deception and ignorance.
As the long term host of an online radio show, I have never used clickbait. It didn't exist when I started out. It would not have been even the most remote of considerations. It is essentially an insult, not a promotion.
What ever happened to valuing Beauty? Beautiful imagery. Sincere and beautiful words. That's the real "clickbait", not the tasteless imagery that practically shouts "this is a bait and a switch", but something genuinely worth paying attention to.
Let's change the channel to Beauty.
Artwork for The Frontier Beyond Fear broadcast is based on a book cover designed by
talented artist Richard Crookes.
"Unfortunately, the statistical evidence, at least for telepathy, is overwhelming."
~ Alan Turing
I am looking forward to my upcoming appearance this weekend at the New Living Expo
in San Rafael, CA this Friday-Sunday, April 19-21. I will be speaking all 3
days at the Embassy Suites and will also be at “Breakthrough Science”
Booth #25 at the adjacent Marin Center.
Learn more about all of my Expo
speaking events here:
Our Leap Beyond AI: Spiritual Breakthroughs
Free Lecture with Susan Larison Danz
Friday, April 19, 7-7:45 PM
Hidden Energy, AI vs. Intuition, Nikola Tesla’s Intuitive Leaps
Paid Workshop with Jeane Manning and Susan Larison Danz
Saturday, April 20, 5-6:30 PM
Purchase Tickets Here - $28 Regular / $44 VIP
Breakthrough Science: Freeing the Truth to Save the Earth Free Panel
Moderated by Susan Larison Danz
Sunday, April 21, 5-7 PM
(Note: All events require purchase of an Expo Day Pass.)
What lessons can we learn from Early Spring? The poem Lines Written in
Early Spring by William Wordsworth is a poignant guide, as it
has much to say about the Beauty to be discovered in Nature, in
contrast with a tumultuous world. Listen to yesterday's episode of The Frontier Beyond Fear: Early Spring Lessons
In this season of awakening, I am personally experiencing a time of re-emergence, as my voice once again is called to expand in courageous new ways. I am also supporting others, as they share their unique and authentic perspectives.
I am looking forward to my upcoming appearance at the New Living Expo in San Rafael, CA April 19-21, 2024, where I will be speaking daily at the Embassy Suites Hotel. In between events, I will enjoy meeting people at Breakthrough Power Booth #25 at the beautiful Marin Center. Tickets are now on sale. Learn more here:
(Expo events also require the purchase of an admission pass.)
I would also like to share a groundbreaking Special Offer from Gaia, the opportunity to view Emersion, Gaia's first live global streaming event March 16-26, 2024,
featuring 22 worldwide wayshowers. Reserve your free virtual seat here.When you explore offers such as these, it helps to support my inspirational outreach, and that is very much appreciated. (Link
fully administered by Gaia, subject to their policies and procedures.)
Early Spring provides the perfect opportunity to bring this blog to life. Now is an important time to nurture our authentic voices. I hope you will reflect upon what your authentic voice is attempting to tell you. Your voice is special. Treasure who you are. No one else has experienced your unique path or perspective. Listening starts within - and so does discernment. Listen closely.
As we once again adjust in the United States to "springing ahead", an increasingly common response is "Why are we doing this?". Unlike any number of articles or social media posts arising every time we change the clocks, this one is going to wholeheartedly provide some reasons to contemplate (logically, historically and organically).
It was obvious this morning. The light was already arriving at a more natural time to wake up. Imagine if we had stayed on standard time (which is less commonly proposed than its alternative). Let's reflect on that first. In a significant swath of the world, as this is relevant outside of the U.S. as well, the sun would continue to rise earlier and earlier and earlier and earlier, in a highly unpleasant way. By the Summer Solstice in June, the sun would be rising at 4:07 AM in Boston, giving people in many places a less dramatic taste of Alaska's "midnight sun".
Of more concern than an early sunrise, the sun would set an hour earlier than we are accustomed to. This would scuttle many summer activities and also be a catalyst for more crime at a time of year when it is more rampant in the heat (and accidents as well). This is actually the significantly less severe side of what would happen if we pursued the alternative approach of staying on Daylight Saving Time permanently (note there is no 's' after 'Saving', despite the temptation). The impacts would not be a mere walk in the park. In fact, many people would no longer be able to enjoy their lingering evening walks, because the earlier nightfall would impact the summer nighttime activities people have yearly enjoyed.
So what about the alternative? What if we switch over to Daylight Saving Time now and never again decide to "fall back"? The Senate in the U.S. already hastily approved this idea in 2022, and the House is now considering it, after the previous House session very wisely chose not to. Reports are mixed as to whether it would actually pass, as the House thankfully appears not to be prepared to make a hasty decision. For those living in a southern state, the idea is much more attractive, as the tourism industry would love those year-round extra hours of evening light. There are various industries that have lobbied for permanent Daylight Saving Time. Though I will raise some issues not discussed in this write-up, here is a good introduction to the topic overall.
Most people do not realize that permanent Daylight Saving Time (on a 2-year trial basis, purportedly to save energy, which it didn't) was attempted before in the United States in 1973-74. It turned out to be a disaster, and the decision was rapidly reversed (before the 2 years ended). A large majority of people were initially in favor of the idea, as every time we change the clocks, the transition is unpleasant. But as soon as they experienced the unforeseen consequences, its popularity plummeted. The reasons are logical, but human beings tend to contemplate things more in terms of short-term satisfaction rather than longer-term consequences. Yes, it is true that changing the clocks carries some observable difficulties (stated in several articles here), but these are short-lived. Not nearly as frequently stated are the longer term impacts. NPR provides an interesting perspective on the modern and historical context. This fascinating article describes what happened in early 1974 when the clocks no longer changed, entitled The US Tried Permanent Daylight Saving Time in the 70's. People Hated It.
When I was a child in early 1974, I regularly walked to elementary school at that time. The sun would have risen after 8:15 AM that chilly January. I have no memory of what happened. I recall school started at 8:25 AM, so I probably started out on my walk before sunrise. Thankfully, it was a 20 minute walk or so. Had this persisted into the following year, when the school boundaries changed and I had much, much farther to walk, it would have been significantly more complicated. Ironically, it was the Governor of Florida who asked that permanent Daylight Saving Time be repealed due to an early-morning accident involving children (as mentioned here).
The problem with permanent Daylight Saving Time is it has significant detrimental effects on the most vulnerable people in our society. The same can be said in other ways (particularly crime and accidents on darker summer nights) for permanent Standard Time, but it is true the impacts of permanent Standard Time are arguably less severe.
Permanent Daylight Saving Time would not only impact children. It would severely impact the elderly and those with disabilities. Many elderly people avoid as much as possible being out when it is dark, particularly on the roads. In Seattle, on December 21, 2023, if we didn't change the clocks, the sun would not rise until 8:55 AM. Contrary to popular misconception, Seattle is not the same as Alaska (and really nowhere close to it). In wintry climates, where it is icy, ice would linger longer into the morning, impacting the safety for everyone either walking or driving in the morning (or anyone disabled). The elderly often have medical appointments early in the day, and they tend not to be able to navigate as well late in the day. People are not at all accustomed to repeatedly rising in what would feel like the middle of the night, and there are actually health and cognitive effects to repeatedly doing so, some studies say (due to impacts on cortisol levels).
"Natural daylight time" is more of a concept than a recognizable label, the concocted subject of both this post and my podcast a couple of days ago. I promised to blog about the idea as well, but the podcast, albeit a little more fragmented than usual (as I was jumping around on my computer and got a bit frazzled), pretty much said most of it, and perhaps in some ways more directly. That's because natural daylight time is about aligning our lives and our schedules with the sun, as much as we can manage it. That is precisely how it felt to wake up this morning and realize the sun was much more directly aligned with my clock. I didn't really need the clock today (I did yesterday, as I needed to get up early for a planned activity), but the light's arrival was much more aligned with a far more natural schedule.
Observe the light in the morning, and you will see. And yes, the extra light in the evening is very nice as we head into summer. We need not keep it in the winter, due to what the serious sacrifices would be (most of us do not own or daily visit vacation resorts in Florida). I for one find myself very thankful for the way we are doing things. I've been doing this for decades (and changing springing ahead to March and falling back to November was a good compromise, as one of the articles I've listed states - I actually like that).
We could do even better, organically.
Modern society has created continual ways that we can't control our waking times. We are ruled by our clocks (generally on our phones these days). How might we change things if we eased our dependency? So many things would be very much different (including this week). Some of us know - because we're doing it (as much as we can).
"Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one." ~ Albert Einstein
When we speak of "reality", actual reality, we are essentially engaging in our relationship with truth. An entire world can embrace utter illusion, but that doesn't change our personal relationship with truth.
"Reality" is far too often silently prefaced with the word "material".
That's the assumption.
That's the illusion.
Those of us who have objectively witnessed and studied things that cannot be explained by the illusion of "material reality" know the truth goes deeper. A materialist might say (and this is a hypothesis that fits for materialists) any evidence of a "non-material" reality must necessarily be evidence we are living in a material simulation. Materialism is assumed, without question, and nothing else. The simulation hypothesis contains the convenient aspect of necessarily negating verification of ANY observation. After all, if you are living in a simulation, how can you objectively observe and verify anything? Anything at all? Thus it implicitly discourages the honest exploration of reality. It's only a hypothesis, nothing more, and it arises out of materialism.
We spend a lot of time evading exploration. We lack the courage to consider our paradigm may be collapsing. We even deny that paradigms have regularly collapsed, those things we assumed were true. No doubt we would dwell on intentional evasion even more intently should observation defy our presumed constructs.
Why is spiritual reality important? Does spirituality exist because we can observe it? Could it even be a part of a "material illusion" if it didn't have a foundation as a "concept"? Spiritual Reality is such a profound discovery, even to observe it is to create it. Love is at its Center.
How tragic it is to see just how much we have sacrificed at the altar of materialism. We also sacrifice our authenticity daily. We pretend the Real doesn't exist to "fit in", even when we know better. We allow everyone and everything around us to pretend it doesn't exist as well, without question. We even immerse our children in learning about what we know is a material illusion. And then we are surprised when spirituality is mocked - and silenced.
We participate in the silence. We even silently participate in the mockery. We appear to accept it. And so we propagate it. We project an illusion. And we do know better.
This isn't going to work anymore. The material world we live in is hanging in the balance. The materialistic paradigm appears to be nearing its final gasp.
This is an excellent day to share some videos demonstrating what happens when materialism fails - all of our centuries of "development" have brought us to this. I hardly have room to share them all, but I will trust my inclination. We aren't learning enough about this, lately. We were schooled in it well long ago.
This particular scene was widely viewed on "network television" in 1983.
An astonishing number of people watched The Day After. Back then, we would have "network television events" that reached a lot of people, and people surely paid attention to this one. It depicted just one place, but people understood it was bigger than that - the counter-attack was referenced as well, but not shown. (See War Games, below, for a demonstration - RE: "mutually assured destruction", aka "MAD".).
I was actually more moved at the time by the quieter movie Testament, as it better demonstrated the "slow motion" personal poignancy in intensely tragic ways. It reminds me in a way of how a family member returning rather recently from a trip described the bottles of water people still leave as an offering in Nagasaki (because people who survived could find no water to drink).
Another 1983 movie was quite popular (and considered "lighter" entertainment). WarGames even included AI in the equation. This is a pivotal point in the film ("Spoiler Alert"), but worth viewing.
We had a lot to think about back then - at least back then, we were given something to think about, and thinking about it was considered totally OK. Talking about how we felt about it was fine, too.
Here is one particular way we saw the future (from a film made in 1984, though the story is older). 2010 seemed far away (yet very close). This series also happened to famously (or infamously) contain AI, though it's not relevant to the following scene. Other things are.
Things have "progressed" since the early 1980's, materially. How have we progressed spiritually? Whatever has brought us to this insane level of material ignorance (and denial) - and it's taken centuries of it - I can tell you one thing - it isn't worth it.
It will never be worth it. It was just as "mad" then, as it is now.
Is Spirituality itself capable of "winning"? Hint:Spirituality is capable of ANYTHING. It is, after all, about mutually assured survival (aka LOVE).
Omnipresent. Unconditional. And even beyond our imaginations. Sometimes we can glimpse it.
That's Reality. It's no illusion.
("Spoiler Alert", below.)
It's time to be open and honest about how more and more of us truly feel about it.
"Re-examine all you have been told. Dismiss what insults your soul." ~ Walt Whitman
While taking a break from writing in this blog, I have still been doing plenty of reflecting. This is not the first time I have emphasized just how important it is to embrace and value our Spiritual paths - and yes, derive Courage from them - Spiritual Courage. Every day, it becomes more important.
The irony of it all is Spirituality itself - actual Reality - is far stronger than anything that denies its existence. One of the great tragedies of our times, and of Humanity's current situation, is our lack of Spiritual honesty and development. Had we been expansive enough to open ourselves up, we would be in a far different place. Thankfully, there's still time.
To hear more about this topic, several recent broadcasts of The Frontier Beyond Fear have had a great deal to say, including today's episode Love and Miracles. Visit the entire archive here: The Frontier Beyond Fear - you can also Follow the program on various syndicates. I may not be writing as much here, lately, but I've had plenty to say . . .
"Use the Force, Luke....Let go!" ~ Obi Wan Kenobi, Star Wars
Given it is May the 4th, Star Wars Day, it is the perfect time for an important reminder, one that had a lasting impact I could only just begin to glimpse when I first encountered it in 1977. I could spend some time talking about what it was like in 1977 to view the first movie in a spectacular old-school "Cinerama" theater, one of the best, I would wager (even though Cinerama was no longer used in 1977). Oh yes, my first encounter with Star Wars was an all-encompassing experience - and everything about it.
My older brother had gone to see it with my mother on opening day, while I was at school in junior high - he had seen an article about it in Time and they decided to go to the first showing - apparently it was very easy to get into that day, even at this wonderful, unparalleled theater that no longer exists (like most theaters like that). My mother was not one to stand in line at movies, and they didn't expect a line - they were simply going to a movie together that was supposed to be good. He told me later I would like it, and that it was about a princess.
That's not why I liked it. I'm not even sure I knew yet why I not only liked it - I loved it - and I did everything I could to see it again and again after that first viewing. It changed my relationship with the movies forever, but not just that. I already had a regular relationship with magical stories by that age.
Luke taught me something. Something important. Something I'd need quite a bit later in life. He didn't trust at first. He didn't believe. I was never a skeptic like Luke and some people, not even as a child or a teen. He didn't believe any of it - at first.
But what he ultimately demonstrated for all of us in that first film (and let's not confuse it with its later renumbering - for those of us who saw it first, it was the first), was Trust. It wasn't total Trust, not exactly - but it was enough in the moment.
A sudden flash of Trust that astonished and at first alarmed others, just about everyone else in his immediate circle, some of whom claimed to believe in it, but not yet enough. In panic, they asked him why his computer was off. Wouldn't he NEED THAT???? Actually, no. It was a hindrance to what it was he needed to do, and he had guidance far better.
Some people claim to believe in the Force, just as it is described in Star Wars. The Force was always far too "mechanical" for me. The Real Force is much more Loving and Mysterious - it too invites us to Trust. Every single day, it is asking us to Trust, even those like Luke who may not believe in it completely (that's a tall order!) and there are always those searing, misguided skeptics who try to scuttle the thing, but they'd know it as well, if they could see it.
When you see it, when you see what this is, when you see how "impossibly" Magical and Miraculous (and Loving!) it actually is, there is no more skepticism. You simply know. You may not know everything about what this is - but you surely do know something's happening.
Luke's Trust (with the help of some insistent Guidance) saved the day. He still used technology, though one could argue it is ultimately extraneous - and everything changed.
The same can happen for us. I'm thankful to Star Wars for not exactly planting a seed, as I was no stranger to Magical stories, but for doing whatever it did, in the way that it did it. It changed me forever, I sense. It only becomes more necessary and important as the years unfold. And like Luke, many of us continue to learn. I believe what this IS is entirely capable of saving our day as well. And I also sense we are going to need it.
"Nature is made to conspire with spirit to emancipate us." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
It's May! How will we step into more expansive energy?
Listen to today's broadcast of The Frontier Beyond Fear here: It's May
This program includes quotes from several authors, including L.M. Montgomery, Geoffrey Chaucer, Algernon Charles Swinburne, Henry David Thoreau, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Emily Dickinson and Percy Bysshe Shelley - plus reflections about movies such as Camelot and Maytime.
What are the truly astonishing implications of non-linear time? How is our linear thinking impacting our perspectives on what is truly possible? How does it impact our understanding of life on Earth, life beyond the Earth and even life on the "other side", beyond the veil?
"Give the world the gift of YOU. Be yourself." ~ Susan Larison Danz
When I was a young child in the early 70's, I remember a television special (I think it was on television, anyway) with the title Free to Be You and Me. I can't quite remember it, and I think I only saw it once, but the title and overall feeling of whatever this was made such an impression on my young mind and heart that I never forgot how it felt.
I looked it up just now, and I really don't think I ever have. There are all sorts of entries. I vaguely recall music. I do remember Marlo Thomas, smiling.
But most of all, I remember the words: Free to Be You and Me
It was joyful and exuberant, as I recall. It felt like a celebration. It still has much to teach us.
Redwood Logging Train (early 1900's), Public Domain
I know we all know this, to some degree or another, and I did, too - but I was rather spontaneously watching a program on PBS about the Redwood Forest in Calfornia earlier today, and in passing, it was stated that 95% of the original forest was cut down.
Within the past hour, something came across my Facebook feed about buffalo herds, how the remaining herds all came from less than 2 dozen left, originating from Chicago in 1900, after the others were slaughtered.
And then I saw a random post on Twitter from Elon Musk - actually it was a reply to a post from Elon Musk that just happened to flash by. The original post stated that some day when we become "multiplanetary" (more on this in a moment), it may be that species that disappear on Earth could still be on Mars. Someone responded, saying maybe we should stay home and take care of the Earth and watch Star Trek instead.
And then I was thinking about the old 1970's movie Silent Running, in which a spacefaring horticulturist is attempting to preserve plants from Earth (with the help of some little robots, which at one point I heard partially inspired R2D2).
As far as "multiplanetary" goes, how tragic it is that we are placing all our focus on "multiplanetary" instead of multidimensional. If we would focus our expansion on the latter, everything becomes possible (including "multiplanetary" and this planet, and the fates of the people who live on it). But we just keep on with the same old path which led to decimated Redwoods and disappearing buffalo herds. If we don't learn very soon, there won't be any planets Humanity will inhabit. We'll find another way, and do, but how sad our misguided materialism is metastasizing.
It's time to revisit 1 Corinthians 13, the Love Chapter. Why? Because Love is the Answer. What 1 Corinthians 13 has to say tells us everything we need to know about what we need to be focusing on right now in the world. It doesn't matter what your spiritual background may be - 1 Corinthians 13 has something important to say to you. Love never fails.
"Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter." ~ Yoda
As I write, I'm listening to someone talking about AI on the radio. We hear so often from people who have a strictly materialistic, non-spiritual view of reality who claim that it is possible to essentially duplicate, read or preserve your mind using mechanistic means. The entire assumption (and it absolutely is an assumption) is based on an unproven premise about Reality, of course.
Anyone who has seen evidence of Spirituality knows we cannot be "contained" in this way - because we aren't what "they" think we are, no matter how arrogantly they proclaim it. How sad they're missing out on actual Awareness - but there is always a chance to discover it. There are so many more "useful" things we could be studying.
We yearn for immortality, it seems, but if they could create what they seek, they would be trapped, not freed, not forever of course, as that's impossible, but in ways that are unnatural - and undesirable. We aren't intended to be trapped. This state is temporary.
Our minds are not our Souls. It's like grasping for a rope at the edge of a cliff when we can fly.
