Today's MOZEN: Take A Stand! 11/29/2014

Words by F LoBuono

People ask me all of the time, why bother? You are always on that damned soap box. You'll never change any ones mind anyway. You're just wasting your time.  Perhaps, they are right. Even to me, at times, it seems futile. People are so entrenched in their thinking that there is not enough dynamite in the world that can shake their foundations. Yes, they certainly have a point. So, why, indeed, bother?
Well, here is your answer:

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.*

I will not stay silent in the face of oppression, poverty, ignorance, racism, hate, and cruelty. No, I will not stand idly by. When I see abuse, I will speak against it. When I encounter violence, I will work to stem it. When I experience prejudice, I will use all my power to eliminate it. It takes effort. It involves commitment. It is not easy. But, all things of value come to us only through challenge. It is the way of the world. However, shame falls on those who turn away from, rather than confront, evil.

The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by good people. *

And one needn't look far to find oppression and cruelty. Just open a newspaper or turn on the TV News. It is ubiquitous. Young black men are being murdered on the streets in startling numbers. Too many have been incarcerated. Religious fundamentalists wage brutal war on those who will not conform to their beliefs. Women are kidnapped and raped with impunity. Children and animals are slaughtered with cruel and callous indifference. As humans we may never eliminate these things entirely. They are as part of being human as is love and kindness. We, as a species, have a great capacity for both. Therefore, we must CHOOSE and then WORK towards the goal of increasing loving kindness and eliminating violence and cruelty across the board!

People have also expressed fear to me that this latest round of violence seems to be so extreme as to have them thinking this may be the so-called Apocalypse. Well, if we sit idly by on our hands, with our mouths shut, then it just may be. But, to quote Shakespeare, we must decide "whether it is nobler to take arms against a sea of trouble and by opposing, end them". Well, it IS nobler. It is honest, right, just, AND necessary to do so!! If you want the world to change, change for the better, well, then get involved. Speak up. Act up, if you must. But, do something. Do everything you can to eliminate cruelty. It is your sacred duty. The world will not change itself. The answer is right in front of us:

Be the change you want to see in the world. **

* Martin Luther King
** Mahatma Gandhi

Today's Photo Gallery: Flowers

All photos by F LoBuono/rights reserved

Today's MOZEN: Stella Logic. 11/25/2014

Words and photo by F LoBuono

As a kid, I was very athletic. Well, it might be more accurate to say that I was athletically minded. My head told me that I was a great athlete. My body had something else to say about it. I was quick and agile, but, also, extremely thin. In fact, I was more than thin. I was downright skinny. At least I saw myself as such. And, I hated it. Most of my early role models were men of action with bulging biceps and thick necks. The only think bulging on my body was my protruding ribs. The only thing thick was my stubborn insistence on changing my appearance.

My father, who encouraged my athletic endeavors, was aware of my displeasure with my physical appearance. He found it a bit silly (he knew that I would eventually grow into my body). But, rather than tease me, he introduced me to calisthenics and weight training. I must have been about twelve. He was training to take the Civil Service exam and I exercised, wide-eyed and eager, right next to him. Push-ups, sit-ups, and lunges were practiced with zeal. Eventually, in time, this led to intensive training with free weights. Either at my home-made gym, school, or YMCA, I attacked my workouts with dedication and zeal! I loved it and made weight training and exercise a part of my life.

Now, Stella, the eternal pragmatist, saw the need for healthy exercise. It was the way that people went about getting it that she found strange. This was her logic: if you can spend hours in a gym, moving your body in certain, strenuous ways  to increase muscle growth, can't the same thing be accomplished by completing ones chores around the house? Cannot raking, sweeping, carrying, and the like also be seen as "exercise"? You know, you do those pulling and pushing things. Well, isn't pushing and pulling still pushing and pulling no matter where you do them? So, why not look at doing chores as doing exercise?

Damn. I always hated that "Stella Logic"! It really DID make sense.

I was still too committed to formal training to completely give it up for the sake of "raking leaves". However, I did start to see performing certain chores as more than just that - "chores". I now saw them as an opportunity to create news ways of working out. So, when I did rake leaves, I made sure that the motion was such as to work certain muscle groups. I constantly switched hands with each chore to make sure that I had balance in my workouts. Every movement had a dual purpose: it provided me with good, healthy exercise, AND, I got shit done at the same time! It is something that I have carried with me my entire life.

As I age, I have neither the time nor the inclination to spend much time in a gym. My life has taken on new priorities. However, still, with that said, I do not ignore the benefits of exercise and a healthy lifestyle. In fact, I believe it essential. But, now, instead of spending virtually any time in a gym, I employ the Stella Method of exercise; I do chores on the nearly two acres of property I am responsible for. There are plenty to go around. And, I do most by hand - even those that might be better suited to complete with a power tool. For example, I harvest, cut, and split all of my firewood by hand. I also RAKE my entire property. Yes. That's right. With a rake. No noisy, stinky, annoying leaf blower for this guy!!

So, I'm damned proud of that blister. I earned it. It's my "red badge of courage". And you can earn one, too. You can apply that ethic to everything that you do. Next time, instead of taking the car to the store, if possible, walk. Instead of grabbing that leaf blower, go for the rake. Stuck shoveling snow? Make it a SENSIBLE exercise routine - use your back and legs. Switch hands. Rest frequently. You'll be tired and sore the next day. You may even raise a blister, too. And, you will feel so good for it. :)

 

Today's Photo Gallery: Simply Black and White

 

 

 

Today's MOZEN: The Fondest Fairwell. 11/20/2014

Words and photos by F LoBuono

Today's MOZEN: A Plea For Peace 11/16/2014

Words and photo by F LoBuono

Part of my duties when I edit for a major television news agency is to "sanitize" footage that comes in from all over the world. Often,  we receive what is known in the industry as "raw" material. This is meant in both the literal and figurative sense. It is literally raw because it contains all of the material that was photographed, including the mistakes, etc. And it is also figuratively so because it may contain footage of brutal violence that is deemed unacceptable to the general public. It can be shocking to say the least.

Such was the case tonight. Apparently, hostage Peter Kassig, who was being held by ISIS fighters after his kidnapping, was beheaded in the same brutal fashion of those captives who preceded him. I will spare you the gory details. Let it suffice to say that it made me sick to my stomach. It wasn't the act itself that made me ill - I've done this before and I'm not particularly squeamish. Rather, it was the mindset behind the act that truly made me sick. I just can't rap my mind around the thought that one human being could be so cavalier about causing the brutal, violent, degrading death of another.

At first, I'm sure that my reaction to this latest act of violence on the part of ISIS was typical; I was mad as hell and I wanted revenge. I wanted that black-clad, face-covered monster to suffer the same fate as his victim. I wanted someone standing over him, threatening him with a razor sharp knife until he was thrown on the ground and had his head sawed off as he has done to so many others. But, then something strange happened. I started to cry. I wept - only for a few seconds, but deeply.

Why? Why should I cry? I did not know this young man or his family. I have no connection to him. Yet, I felt deeply troubled by his passing. I thought of his parents and the incredible grief they must be experiencing. Not only did they lose him, but the world saw him executed in the most brutal fashion. Horrible. However, I wept not only for him, but for the whole world!! Although committed against an individual, this is an act that diminishes the whole world because it is a product of our continued violence against ONE ANOTHER.

The execution of Mr. Kassig was part of a larger "recruitment" video produced by ISIS. The video contained lots of marching, singing chanting, and flag waiving. There were lots of big, splashy explosions, too. Of course, ISIS is trying this "flash and dash" approach to lure young men to their cause by making the violence look "romantic" - sort of a real-life video game. But, it also contained disturbing images of people, many of them children, who were torn apart by US airstrikes. The images were every bit as graphic and violent of those people being executed by ISIS. Blood and bodies were everywhere. It was designed to make you angry - and I'm sure that it was effective.

So, I wept. Don't you see? We are mired in an endless cycle of violence! We disagree with their policies and they with ours. So, to enforce our claims, we bomb them without mercy. We kill their women and children. Perhaps, we do so inadvertently but we do so just the same. I have seen THEIR bodies, too. They (ISIS), in turn, inflict as much pain on us the only way they know how - with terror. It's a classic case of an eye for an eye making the whole world blind.

I am not Gandhi. I am not Martin Luther King. I wish that I had their power to convince people that violence, in the end, ONLY creates more pain, more death, and more hatred. But, in a tragic case of irony, even their strength and conviction could not save them - both died violently. However, I HEAR them. I BELIEVE them. The MESSAGE that they conveyed has lived long after their physical demise. We must not be afraid to love - even in the face of brutality. We need to change. The way we are going about things now is certainly not working. So, why not? The world seems to get more hostile with every passing day. And it will continue to spiral downwards until we lose our fear - our fear to love. It's our only hope. We can change the world. We only lack the will and courage to do so. . .

Today's MOZEN: Random Acts of Kindness 11/11/2014

*Words and photo by F LoBuono

It started a few months ago. Or, more accurately, I started noticing it around that time.

There's a bus stop located on the edge of town. I pass it regularly on the frequent sojourns I take from my apartment into the heart of the village and back again. One day, on a low stone wall that comprises the outer edge of the stop, there were a few cans of inexpensive vegetables like string beans and corn. There must have been four or five of them stacked in neat rows. I started to observe that, although not there every night, the cans where there on a fairly regular basis.

There is no note. No bag. No indication of who may have left them there or why. There are only the cans of food. Often, there are but a few. But, sometimes, like this afternoon, there is a plethora of canned goods - a virtual feast for some lucky (and, perhaps, hungry) soul.

Random acts of kindness practiced on a regular basis make the world go 'round.


*This is a follow-up from a previously published story.

 

Today's MOZEN: Crime and Punishment 11/8/2014

Words and photo by F LoBuono

First, let me make one thing perfectly clear: I have a temper - and a fierce one at that. For all the writing that I do encouraging us to love one another, there are times when I could just explode! Yes, overall, I am good natured and fun loving. But, cross me and there could be consequences, serious consequences, to pay. My temper can be volcanic. And, it's wrong - just plain bad.

It's one of the things that I work hard to control. The path to a righteous life is not an easy one. In fact, generally, it seems much easier to yield to the baser human emotions like anger, greed, judgement, and jealousy. Since they are part of the human experience, and I an a human being, I am as guilty as anyone in exhibiting these emotions. I also feel that, before I can work on improving them (and I do), I must acknowledge their existence in me. I am also capable (as we all are) of kindness, compassion, and tolerance. The is the yin-yang of the human experience - we are ALL of those things. We must learn to condition ourselves to reduce the baser, so-called "ugly" emotions like hatred and rage and increase the sublime ones like kindness and compassion. Sounds easy, right? It is not.

If you are a Facebook follower, as I am, then you are bound to see the plethora of horrible stories of murder, mayhem and abuse that inundate the news feed. Many of the most shocking of them involve crimes committed against children. Damn, it's easy to get angry at those who perpetrate crimes against those of us who are the most vulnerable. We want to see those people punished in the most heinous ways. I've read some of the most insidious (and creative) ways people would punish those who harm children (or animals). But, that would be wrong. Wait! What? Wrong? Wrong for making someone so despicable that they would harm a child suffer? How can that be? Well, it must be.

I am not suggesting that pedophiles go unpunished. That's ridiculous. Those who break the law must be punished to the fullest extent of the law. It's the mindset behind the punishment that concerns me. When we hate those whose cause harm, justice is not served. Instead, our baser instinct of revenge becomes the motivating factor. This does a disservice not only to the original victim, but to society at large, as well. This strikes at the spirit of the concept of justice, crime, and punishment. If we hate and abuse even those who hate and abuse are we TRULY any different? Is the cycle of violence being broken? Or, are we just perpetuating more hatred, more abuse, and more violence? Remember, there is an overwhelming body of evidence that suggests people who abuse children were taught this behavior by being abused as children in the first place. Therefore, it is all connected. The abusers are abused so they abuse and then we abuse them. There MUST be transcendence or it will never end.

Of course, this is a difficult concept to even grasp much less execute. When we read or hear of a child being hurt we want the culprit to pay, and pay dearly. We hope that the more severe the punishment, the more justice will be served. Perhaps, it may even prevent others from committing such abhorrent crimes. But does it really? We've been doing that for years and has it prevented child abuse? No, it has not. Now, it is difficult to say that we should "love" these people. That may be too much to ask of another human being, especially one who may have hurt you or a member of your family. But, this is what we must ASPIRE to. This is the transcendence that will set us free. And is difficult. In fact, it is more than difficult - it is divine.

Authors Note: Please keep in my that my heritage is Sicilian - the word "VENDETTA", i.e. the practice of seeking revenge against someone who has wronged you or your family, is a UNIQUELY Sicilian one.

Today's PHOTO GALLERY: Night Moves 11/8/2014

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