HAPPY NEW YEAR!
The world is not ending; it is just beginning.
We are lurching awkwardly out of our growing pains toward "enlightenment" an annoying term.
2013 is going to be a great year. I used to say that we were snowballing toward excess and chaos — but it had to happen this way.. that the insane greed, porn and violence in this country have gone so far over the top that there is only one way to go: UP. We have made the taboo all too thrilling (and profitable) because of our Puritan ethic. We are a nation of masochists: criticizing each other, shaming each other, chastising each other for our "sins" and lusts — which helps sales of porn and guns and the "forbidden." Death has become sexier than sex, as I wrote in my article about 'extermination speaker' Ann Coulter, aka "Dragon lady of Hate Speech."
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| At home December 29, 2012
And we impose so many harsh punishments for innocent mistakes. I just ran out to my car to put another quarter in the meter, in the rain and saw a $53 parking ticket on my car for being THREE MINUTES late. Are we a fascist state? If this is the kind of government people are against, I'm against it too. But these exhorbitant crimes started with Congress witholding a living wage and proper taxes for the common good. Cities are hungry and desperately imposing higher fines because of the corruption and greed. It all started with a certain trickle down mindset.
Like debauched piggy teenagers speeding toward our own demise, we've seen too much, done too much, been too naked. We've raped, pillaged, invaded, coveted, envied, forced ourselves on nations, started false wars and generally lusted after excess. We praised "selfishness" as a vitue, We made preteens sexy as a form of advertising pedophilia and pretended it was freedom of speech. And everyone blamed the artists for the loose morals of Hollywood, when in fact, it was the opposite: it the people making huge advertising profits by over-sexualizing teens and objectifying the young. It was all about ratings. It has always been about the dollar, the bottom line.
The filmmakers and artists I know loathe homogenized pop culture and are almost allergic to high ratings for ratings sake. NOt fans of the middle, the lowest common denominator or the bell curve, most artists are too sensitive to withstand The Jerry Springer Show. Someone is buying it: lovers of red meat in the modern gladiator forum. The best "liberal" filmmakers like Spielberg, Payne, Stone, Soderbergh, Affleck, Damon love films and TV shows with heart, depth and social justice. But it had to happen this way. We had to reach a chaotic, criminally insane breaking point. And it might get worse before it gets better. We are so immature; we thrive on style over substance. And though we've had too much too soon, reason and sanity are returning, despite appearances. The physical picture, the so-called "reality" we see with our senses has very little to do with reality. Like the software inside a computer, it's what's invisible that counts: the underlying harmony, love and hope we all hold in our hearts. Our desire for justice, equality, peace and the common good. These are the principles that hold mankind together. These are spiritual qualities. It's a "thought universe" and thoughts make the world, as Ralph Waldo Emerson put it.
After we've had all the perversions, all the sex, drugs and rock and roll.. the excess crap and materialism -- where else can we go but to the real, the love that runs all things, feeds all things, forgives all things?
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| Christmas with Chazzy, Mom and Jack |
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| LydiaCornell ~ Los Angeles, December 29, 2012 |
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| Lydia Cornell ~ Los Angeles, Dec. 29, 2012 |
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| Lydia Cornell, Stacy Patrick, Elisa |
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| Kathryn, Lydia at home |
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| Ldyia Cornell with Poppy and Paul at the Hollywood Christmas Parade in the 80s |
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Christmas 2012: Chazzy, Jack and Grandma (my mom)THE GOOD We have had countless miracles. Every day, focus on the good around you and if you are suffering expect a miracle. Miracles are actually natural laws. God is LOVE, not an anthropomorphic (man-like being) sitting in the sky. Prayer is the invisbile transfer of love to another. This has nothing to do with religion. Religion can be soothing and kind and wonderful, but it's still a man-made institution that is flawed and corruptible. But GOD is in every heart. The Kingdom is within you. Love one another. There is no power greater than LOVE. |
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| At Jeff Franklin's Party with the Beach Boys, October 2012 |
