A mother is dragging her toddler
through a supermarket aisle
on a shopping trip
and toddler says “Mom, I’m tired”
and mother says
“Be quiet, you’re being abnormal!”

A worker says to his boss
“I’ve discovered a bright idea
for how to improve our workplace”
and the boss says “I’m the boss,
be quiet, you’re being abnormal!”

A politician says
to protesters against his policies
“Stop protesting, be quiet, you’re being abnormal!”

A hurting patient says to his doctor
“Doctor, I don’t like the treatment
you have chosen for me.”
And the doctor says
“This is the normal treatment for your condition,
be quiet, you are being abnormal!”

When authority makes the norms,
should we allow
freedom of abnormal speech?
To achieve
for subjects of authority
a society which listens,
a society which cares for needs,
a society which is kind,
a society which is progressive,
a society which is happier?

Save your self
from your suffering
by seeking liberation and relief
through philosophy.

I play jackstones
to relax and rejuvenate:
I hold one stone in one hand
with 4 stones on the floor,
then I throw the one stone in the air
and before I catch it
I grab off the floor as many of the 4 stones
as I am able to
then catch the one stone too.

Playing jackstones
is the simple joy
of enjoying the agile exercise of my hands
and enjoying focusing attention like meditation
on my hands and stones
instead of focusing on my struggles and sufferings.

While playing jackstones
I am simply enjoying
being alive, and
I am happy.

Gilberto Luna
was a Mexican pioneer farmer
who lived in an area of Texas
which is now Big Bend National Park
and Luna’s 130 year old Jacal (hut)
remains to be seen today.

Luna’s Jacal
is built with
walls of sandstones and limestones,
wooden poles as pillars supporting a roof
made from tree branches
weighed down with earth and stones.

Luna’s Jacal
like many other
pioneer huts
was built from materials
found in his environment:
We strive to build our happiness
from opportunities found
in our environment.

Today in Texas
people live in skyscrapers
built with concrete, steel, glass,
materials produced by years of
discovery, innovation, adaptation
of new ways of using materials
from our natural-environment
to improve our built-environment:
We strive to
discover new ways
to improve our environment
to improve our happiness.

I just watched a news report:
Global numbers of insects are halving every 25 years
Bees Butterflies Moths and other species disappearing
which is a problem because
it kills Birds Reptiles Fish which live off the insects,
and insects pollinate 75% of crops which humans grow,
and 87% of all plant species on the planet need pollinating;
if insects die then flowering plants will die,
most plants will die.
Why are insects dying?
Farmers are blamed for using pesticides
but there may be other causes too.

I was left wondering:
Is there something we can do
to save insects and plants?

I just watched a news report:
A father and 3 year old daughter
lay dead
half-submerged in the Rio-Grande river
over which they tried to cross
from Mexico into USA,
fleeing from poverty
and violence
in their central American country of origin.

I was left wondering:
Is there something we can do
to relieve poverty
and achieve prosperity,
and stop violence
and achieve peace
in central American countries?

I just watched a news report:
In southern Pakistan
a mother cries sitting on a hospital bed
watching over her malnourished daughter
who is laying in bed dying.
The mother sobs uncontrollably
as her 3 year old daughter
slumps after her last breath.
The child’s father
wraps his daughter’s limp body
in a blanket
and carries her out of the hospital room
in which scores of other malnourished children
lay dying.

I am left wondering:
Is there something we can do
to feed the malnourished children
in Pakistan
and around the world?