this is not the way.
i don’t know
how else to say
that
t h i s
is not
the way.

suddenly
i completely
understand
tiktok
it is a direct
result
of the time
and is responding
to a clear
demand

i have
always
thought
of you
as
a
l i g h t
shining
upon
me

it’s almost as if
there is mass hysteria
and whole generations
   completely let fly
  the idea
      of objective morality
         and it is quite a sad
               thing to witness.

i am an educator.
more importantly,
i am a student.

and i am telling you,
learning doesn't end
because you "graduate high school".
or get 3 phd's. or a 2 year degree.
sure, you can become an expert, but
there is no end.

there is no finish line.

those are made-up things.
there is not a measurable amount to learn
that we, as a society,
have measured out into 10 months
per year 5 days/week
        8 hours per day
and is complete at the age
of 17 or 18.
you are closer then to the
beginning,
   than to the end.

question your teacher.
question the system.
question authority.
question your parents.
question the author.
question your religion.
question yourself.

because there is nothing
worse than a society
full of drones.

back up and try to see
from another perspective,
because not one of us
is the center.

history, my friends,
is in the eye of the beholder.

there is no one history,
and learning a new
aspect of history
is not a threat
to YOU.

it is an opportunity
to examine the world
closer. to see the complexity.
to allow for error.
maybe gain some humility.
it might be upsetting.
unravel your beliefs.
you might get angry.
maybe it won't change anything at all.

but, if you find yourself constantly upset about
the "names of things" suddenly being changed
i.e. teams, products, roads, statues, schools, monuments
i challenge you to ask, what is the common denominator
     of all the those things?

are you upset because you might be wrong?
   could you be hurting people without realizing it?
        you've already taken a stance, maybe you will seem weak if you change your mind.
or maybe someone taught you wrong?
    maybe you were even manipulated into a
   belief system
          so thoroughly ingrained
        that you actually believe
those beliefs are YOU.
maybe you really believe
that your way is
   the only way.

you can test yourself against
your own ideas.
if you insist to yourself that
keeping monuments and names
to slave owners is "just history"
ask yourself how you would
feel about the following:

Pol *** Park and Nature Reserve
The Charles Manson Memorial Highway
Mussolini Children's Hospital
The Timothy McVeigh School for Performing Arts
Monument to the Roman who Crucified Jesus

if all this sounds reasonable to you,
then at least you are being consistent.

if it doesn't,
you need to ask yourself why.

loosen your grip
on what you think you know.

maybe don't spread information
    you don't actually know to be true?
maybe spend 10 minutes
reading about
that person or that statue
or that name
or that law.

names matter.

challenge yourself
to temper that initial
defensive reaction
you may even be feeling
right this very moment.

because you are not
under attack.

you either make a decision
     to believe you already know everything
or you decide differently.

decide to be open.
decide to be thorough.
decide to be curious.
decide to be fair.
decide to learn.
decide to grow.

if you won't do it yourself,
how can you expect
anyone else to?

is to be
the experience
of |something| else
humanity is an e x p e r i e n c e
    not an thing.

an artist
structures
their lives in
a certain way.
you construct a life
the best and most efficient
    ways of gathering information
processing thoughts
    thinking about thinking
looking for inspiration
connecting the beautiful
downloading
uploading
and deleting
and copying
basing
something
upon
something.

i think i see now that we are more different
than i thought
and it is not a pro or a con
we just have different information
to contribute that you
might have to stretch
your thinking
to understand.

and if you can't imagine
stretching your mind, you
definitely have never
stretched your mind.
it hurts.
it might make you cry.
it might make you confused.
it might make you angry.
you may shed old beliefs
and take on new perspectives
it is not something
one would forget,
and for me took years and years and years
  just to be able to begin to understand.

it's just something i have to offer.
i don't know how else to describe it.
a way that
can be
sustained  
a way to
      notice and to listen.
to recognize,
connect,
and destroy.
rebuild,
and
destroy once more.

you can never be born or die too many times in art.
each death allows you to see.
and each birth allows you to see.

if you want a challenge
  you must challenge yourself
in your own mind
in your own time.

all learning is based on
growth
and growth is based
on exposure and practice
there is no way around it

to believe to know
   is to be the worst thing.
unless, of course,
you are correct,
then it is ok.

teach and connect and learn
come together and create
    something bigger and better than both
if you can teach,
   then you know.
if you understand me,
   we may know the same something about something
or the same nothing about nothing.