C.J. Birch

Since Sunday is supposed to be a day of rest, it is a good day to set aside for dreaming.  That is not to say that dreaming can only be done when you are resting, it just means that the quality of dreams nurtured at rest will be better than those managed whilst you are on the hop.  Every day I dream for a new tomorrow.  Every single day, without fail.  On shit days I spend my time dreaming about what I have that does not exist in this world.  That kind of dreaming takes a lot of focus and given that the dream itself is a beautiful construct, no matter how bleak the hours get it fills my heart and my head with hope.  And Love.  On good days, I dream into this world.  It just depends.  I can’t say whether I prefer dreaming out, or dreaming in.  Perhaps dreaming into this world is more satisfying because living day to day is an actual experience, happening, and it can be decisively influenced by our dreams.  Dreams become your actuality if you allow them to manifest themselves, real.  Dreams can only become reality, however, when you know who you are and you have the stamina and the passion to follow yourself into the future you have built.  Dreaming for the past is not only a pointless pastime, it is a waste of time.  The past is done with.  It is not on next year’s agenda, for instance, so do not entertain it when you decide to choose your dreams.  Dreams take your worlds forwards – remember that.  These days they are about the only things that do.  Also remember to dream a special dream for all those whom you love.  Dreaming for yourself, alone, is selfish and greedy – especially when you are good at dreaming.  In any case, what you wish for yourself you should wish for all of humankind.  The minute you decide you are deserving of greater dreams than your fellow men is the moment you alienate yourself entirely from humanity.

Love Letters To My Soul

13.

Love is a word that suggests unity. Definitely.

It also suggests an immaculate togetherness.

And … that makes me happy.

xxx

I used to believe that I had a few family values. Now I am sure. That comes as some relief to me, otherwise I might have had to declare myself inhuman. Family values, I have come to realise, are something you learn with time. A child is not born with family values. A child is shown what a value is, why it is held dear, and why it should be cherished. You cannot teach children values. They must see them in action, experience them firsthand. That is what parents are for – to show them.

If you choose family, be sure you understand the true meaning of the word. A family is not a fair-weather friend. That is the first thing a family is not. A family is not a score of judges ticking boxes with their children. A family wants the best for each of its members – no matter how many members it may have, and no matter what that best for each member is. Most importantly, if you choose family be sure you can trust them. That makes all the difference in the world.

Family is a social concept. It works. However – like many other words bandied about without full appreciation for their true meaning these days – a lot of people do not come from families and they do not know what the word actually means. It is sad for those people. It is not that they are mean-spirited or deliberately unkind – it just means they shouldn’t have children until they are certain they have learned the true value of family.

Transparent means see-through.  I do not say that because I am being facetious – or provocative, for that matter, I say that because it is increasingly clear to me that the word ‘transparency’ has been as misinterpreted, falsely bandied about and used frequently as a cheap smokescreen in the very same way that the word ‘truth’ has.  So it is time to set that misunderstanding – and I am being extremely polite – straight.  Transparent does not mean selective sharing.  It does not mean that only the most appropriate aspects – or answers – are offered up for assessment.  It means everything – absolutely everything- about whatever seems questionable is opened to public scrutiny and then it is analysed, processed and dispensed with.  Transparency is essential if one wishes to exhume the truth.

If you cannot be transparent at least once in your lifetime, you are going to have problems when you end your days.  That is a given.  Those who will hide from themselves and those that will keep vitally important secrets from those who need to know why things are like they are, are not only causing for themselves grave circumstance, they are in fact preventing this entire world from facing its past agonies in order that it can heal and move on.  Without knowing the truth of any pain source, healing cannot begin.  Anyone who will prevent another – or ALL others – from healing is a cruel and merciless person indeed.  Perhaps to them, their reasons are good enough.  For the majority, though, those who will attempt to thwart the success of our collective future by refusing to reveal the real reasons oppression – and every other social evil or human malady – exists are ultimately held accountable for everything.  An innocent will never be held accountable for atrocities committed in their names and then hidden.  Those who are complicit in the hiding, are as guilty as those who perpetuate the dishonesty.  They will suffer the same fate.

Transparency is one of the hardest skills to master in this bent world that is built on a bed of lies.  That is the first problem.  If I tell you how many other problems this world is currently facing, you might not get up tomorrow morning.  So I won’t.  I will tell you what you need to know, exactly when you need to know it – the very same way I tell myself.  There is not time to waste on knowing more than you need to when you don’t need to know it.  If you get my drift.  It is your choice.  You can listen, or you can choose to continue burying your heads in the sand.  Either way makes no difference to my personal outcome.  My outcome, is already out.  Instead of burying my head like the rest of the populace, I drew a line in the sand.  And then, I moved on.