Negate the Gods, Raise the Rocks

Negate the Gods, Raise the Rocks

June: On Conflict and Courage GoFundMe for my wife's cancer fund: https://gofund.me/3682c6720 [https://gofund.me/3682c6720] June 15 How could this happen again? After all that hard work? How many more times—? Before your thoughts can even finish running their course, you feel your weight shift, your legs and feet moving of their own accord—and back down you go after your rock.  A sly, almost crazed smile creeps across your face. You’re actually eager to get back down to it. To step behind it and place your hands upon that rough surface, dig your heels into the dirt and push, push, push it back up that mountain. At this point, you’re not sure it will ever end, but you smile anyway. You don’t care, because you realize—this is your job. This is what you were put here to do. Others might look at you like you’re crazy—but do they get the chance to struggle and push themselves to their limits again and again—to push past those limits when it seems they can go no further? It’s the struggle that fills your heart, you realize. It’s the struggle that makes the view at the top that much better. Up and down, up and down, up and down. However many times. It doesn’t matter. This is your life. And you’re happy for it. * Reflection title: Negate the Gods, Raise the Rocks * Creative inspiration: Albert Camus, The Myth of Sisyphus * Reflection Question: What is my rock, and how do I see it? As an external burden I’m looking to shed? Or as a part of me and my life—my story?

Expect a Quest

June: On Conflict and Courage GoFundMe for my wife's cancer fund: https://gofund.me/3682c6720 [https://gofund.me/3682c6720] June 14 When danger comes your way, you won’t turn a blind eye and ignore it, you won’t wildly throw yourself at it with no plan—you’ll be prepared, you’ll see it for what it is, and you’ll face it. But you never have to go it alone. Link may have only had a sword to help him back in the 80s, but maybe the fact that it was gifted by a caring old man who worried over Link and his journey was enough to serve the purpose. Even if no one is with you physically, remember that people are rooting for you and guiding you. Carry them with you in your heart and mind. So take the sword willingly, but don’t look at it as a symbol of violence or aggression, rather as proof of your determination and defiance in the face of adversity. At some point on your journey, conflict lies ahead.  Be sure of it.  Expect it. Prepare for it. * Reflection title: Expect a Quest * Creative inspiration: The Old Man in a Cave, The Legend of Zelda (1986) * Reflection Question: It’s dangerous to go alone! What sword are you taking with you? What danger did you face in the past that you wish you had been better prepared for?

What Courage Is Not

June: On Conflict and Courage GoFundMe for my wife's cancer fund: https://gofund.me/3682c6720 [https://gofund.me/3682c6720] June 13 Courage is not a man with a gun in his hand. Courage is not aggression masquerading as bravery.  Courage is not punching down. Courage is not using force or intimidation to silence others. Courage is not shouting over others. Courage is not gaslighting others or lying to them. Courage is not keeping quiet when you know it’s right to speak up. Courage is not avoiding difficult conversations out of fear. Courage is not denial of facts or reason. Courage is not ignoring evidence that challenges your beliefs or worldview. * Reflection title: What Courage Is Not * Creative inspiration: Harper Lee, Atticus Finch, To Kill a Mockingbird * Reflection Question: Real courage is . . .

Has To Be You

June: On Conflict and Courage GoFundMe for my wife's cancer fund: https://gofund.me/3682c6720 [https://gofund.me/3682c6720] June 12 While the failures of the powerful are glaring, they mirror something deeper and closer to home. This applies to those with influence or control—those who’ve publicly abdicated their personal responsibility and accountability, yes—but it also applies to all humans, all over the world. In a time when we all face global challenges like war, climate change, injustice, or poverty (the list goes on), we as individuals must stop and examine what role we’ve played in any or all of it. We have to recognize our mistakes, admit them freely and openly, and then work to fix them. We have to show the future generation a better way and that there is still moral courage left in this world. We all have the power to act as Mordin did when he made the decision to release the cure and fix the problem he created, even if it meant losing it all. We all have the obligation to act with integrity. Especially when it’s hard. Especially when it’s personal. That’s where it begins. It has to be you. Someone else might get it wrong. * Reflection title: Has To Be You * Creative inspiration: Mass Effect 3 * Reflection Question: Am I owning up to my mistakes? Do I embrace my personal responsibility to fix the problems I’ve created? If not, where will I start?

Don’t Turn Around

June: On Conflict and Courage GoFundMe for my wife's cancer fund: https://gofund.me/3682c6720 [https://gofund.me/3682c6720] June 11 It’s the child who hears the banging outside their window at night, burying themselves beneath the covers, hiding from the monster trying to get in, but if they’d just look, they’d see it’s nothing more than a loose shutter in the wind.  If you stand your ground and face your fear—all of those other possibilities fall away. You’ll never even be able to remember them all. You will see what you’re up against, and you will be empowered to think and choose your best course of action. Simply, facing your fears with courage puts you in control of how you handle the situation, and even better, it puts you in control of your own mind and reasoning. So, take a page from the young fictional soldier Henry Fleming’s book and know that it is better to view the appalling than to be merely within hearing. * Reflection title: Don’t Turn Around * Creative inspiration: Stephen Crane, The Red Badge of Courage * Reflection Question: What appalling thing in my life am I turning my back on? What small things can I face head on with courage now, leading up to larger challenges?