Join our mailing list to receive the latest news and updates from our team.
You have Successfully Subscribed!
It is time to take back what is ours. Our spiritual birthright demands it. Our fellow citizens of the earth deserve it.
Editor’s Note:
It has been quite some time since I put up an OBS Post. I admit to a dereliction of duty. I know it is inexcusable but lordy knows I have excuses—bunches of them. But since I don’t like to air out dirty laundry, I will simply say I ran out of gas and nursery rhymes. I ran out of excuses and kind things to say. I ran out of kindness and compassion. I just ran out. I took long walks in the sunshine—two to three miles a day to combat this mental fatigue and emotional burn out.
One Voice in Billions
I realized I may be one voice in billions and there are so many other voices. But I always expect something from my voice. I don’t wish to just write the truth. I want to predict and create a truth we can all live with and flourish and prosper in. It is not good enough to feel compassion for the billions of souls on this planet. It is imperative to work hard at creating a compassionate planet.
When you’re walking to shake off the blues, all kinds of memories haphazardly appear; good ones, bad ones and those that matter none. When I was little, I wondered what life would be like if it was a musical and people had to sing to each other instead of talking. I wondered just how grand life would be if it was a musical, not that I liked musicals. I just liked the idea of people singing to each other.
I wanted to put a good spin on life and be a positive impact. But I was the shortest kid in school and very self-conscious and if you will quite introverted. I remember walking the staircase in high school and everyone was so much taller than me, it was a wonder I could see where I was going. I graduated high school at the ripe age of seventeen and I was five foot three and a hundred pounds soaking wet. I spent the first two decades of my life being the littlest guy and I lacked a sense of humor. But I was kinda cute.
But suddenly I hit a growth spurt and grow I did. I went from shortest to tallest at six foot two! Don’t ask me how it happened, it just did, and I even discovered a sense of humor. Full disclosure I never wanted to be a comedian stand up or sit down. I wanted to be a hobo poet traveling around and spouting my words to anyone and everyone.
This is the do-gooder poet in me. I want to blast the trenches of tyranny and intolerance. I am so tired of the game of war but when the enemy only wants to fight what do you do? How many wars, how many lifetimes subjugated by this insanity of trying to prove my dog is bigger than your dog. Truly who the fuck cares?
Planet of Hate or Love
We live on a planet so filled with hate; I want to hate back but then who wins? When did all this change? I grew up in the sixties, I lived through the summer of love. What the hell happened? I gotta tell ya, this hate stuff sucks! Plain and simple haters suck and as we stand here in this collective misery hating being hated, do you turn the other cheek? Do you hate back? Do you try and find some common ground?
I feel like we are playing the game of ostriches and ducking our proverbial heads in the sand and not confronting that we are our own last chance. We are our own messiah. No one is going to come rushing down to the rescue. There is no Wyatt Earp or Wild Bill Hickock bailing us out like the old west. We live in the OK Corral, and it is time to wake up and smell the gun powder or the pollution that is rotting our oceans. On top of the world’s problems, we have become so overly sensitive that it becomes impossible to see another’s point of view without rancor or prejudice.
It is time to take back what is ours. Our spiritual birthright demands it. Our fellow citizens of the earth deserve it. We have lived more lives than I could possibly remember, and I am so sick of this merry-go-round that I want to scream to anyone who will listen, but no one is listening, and I guess I will scream anyway. But per chance if you are listening, raise your hand and I will see it from afar. It is time for a planet of love. There I said it!
That is my rant for the day, the week, the months. I am carving some space out of my fuzzy brain thinking and narrowing in on the greater truths. I know this has been quite a ramble, but it has been bottled up for too long.
Coffee & Poetry at Jack’s House
On a positive note, the poetry reading I host at the Jack Kerouac House in St. Petersburg is off to a great start with two sellouts! We have some fabulous poets reading and I am oh so pleased and yes, a little proud that we could create this and am thankful to the board of directors of the house for allowing me to create this. It’s called Coffee & Poetry at Jack’s House!
My video this week is none other than Give Peace a Chance with John Lennon’s famous words and the Plastic Onon Band:
I write this for my birthday, March 31st with oh so many evolutions around the sun!
Shalom Shalom
Lawrence George Jaffe
Lawrence George Jaffe is an internationally known and an award-winning writer, author, and poet. For his entire professional career, Jaffe has been using his art to promote human rights. He was the poet-in-residence at the Autry Museum of Western Heritage, a featured poet in Chrysler’s Spirit in the Words poetry program, co-founder of Poets for Peace (now Poets without Borders) and helped spearhead the United Nations Dialogue among Civilizations through Poetry project which incorporated hundreds of readings in hundreds of cities globally using the aesthetic power of poetry to bring understanding to the world.
{"id":null,"mode":"form","open_style":"in_place","currency_code":"USD","currency_symbol":"$","currency_type":"decimal","blank_flag_url":"https:\/\/factkeepers.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/tip-jar-wp\/\/assets\/images\/flags\/blank.gif","flag_sprite_url":"https:\/\/factkeepers.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/tip-jar-wp\/\/assets\/images\/flags\/flags.png","default_amount":500,"top_media_type":"none","featured_image_url":false,"featured_embed":"","header_media":null,"file_download_attachment_data":null,"recurring_options_enabled":true,"recurring_options":{"never":{"selected":true,"after_output":"One time only"},"weekly":{"selected":false,"after_output":"Every week"},"monthly":{"selected":false,"after_output":"Every month"},"yearly":{"selected":false,"after_output":"Every year"}},"strings":{"current_user_email":"","current_user_name":"","link_text":"Leave a tip","complete_payment_button_error_text":"Check info and try again","payment_verb":"Pay","payment_request_label":"Factkeepers.com","form_has_an_error":"Please check and fix the errors above","general_server_error":"Something isn't working right at the moment. Please try again.","form_title":"Help Support Factkeepers","form_subtitle":null,"currency_search_text":"Country or Currency here","other_payment_option":"Other payment option","manage_payments_button_text":"Manage your payments","thank_you_message":"Thank you for being a supporter!","payment_confirmation_title":"Factkeepers.com","receipt_title":"Your Receipt","print_receipt":"Print Receipt","email_receipt":"Email Receipt","email_receipt_sending":"Sending receipt...","email_receipt_success":"Email receipt successfully sent","email_receipt_failed":"Email receipt failed to send. Please try again.","receipt_payee":"Paid to","receipt_statement_descriptor":"This will show up on your statement as","receipt_date":"Date","receipt_transaction_id":"Transaction ID","receipt_transaction_amount":"Amount","refund_payer":"Refund from","login":"Log in to manage your payments","manage_payments":"Manage Payments","transactions_title":"Your Transactions","transaction_title":"Transaction Receipt","transaction_period":"Plan Period","arrangements_title":"Your Plans","arrangement_title":"Manage Plan","arrangement_details":"Plan Details","arrangement_id_title":"Plan ID","arrangement_payment_method_title":"Payment Method","arrangement_amount_title":"Plan Amount","arrangement_renewal_title":"Next renewal date","arrangement_action_cancel":"Cancel Plan","arrangement_action_cant_cancel":"Cancelling is currently not available.","arrangement_action_cancel_double":"Are you sure you'd like to cancel?","arrangement_cancelling":"Cancelling Plan...","arrangement_cancelled":"Plan Cancelled","arrangement_failed_to_cancel":"Failed to cancel plan","back_to_plans":"\u2190 Back to Plans","update_payment_method_verb":"Update","sca_auth_description":"Your have a pending renewal payment which requires authorization.","sca_auth_verb":"Authorize renewal payment","sca_authing_verb":"Authorizing payment","sca_authed_verb":"Payment successfully authorized!","sca_auth_failed":"Unable to authorize! Please try again.","login_button_text":"Log in","login_form_has_an_error":"Please check and fix the errors above","uppercase_search":"Search","lowercase_search":"search","uppercase_page":"Page","lowercase_page":"page","uppercase_items":"Items","lowercase_items":"items","uppercase_per":"Per","lowercase_per":"per","uppercase_of":"Of","lowercase_of":"of","back":"Back to plans","zip_code_placeholder":"Zip\/Postal Code","download_file_button_text":"Download File","input_field_instructions":{"tip_amount":{"placeholder_text":"How much would you like to donate? You can change this amount to anything you would like.","initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"How much would you like to donate? You can change this amount to anything you would like."},"empty":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"How much would you like to donate? You can change this amount to anything you would like."},"invalid_curency":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"How much would you like to donate? You can change this amount to anything you would like."}},"recurring":{"placeholder_text":"Recurring","initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"How often would you like to donate this?"},"success":{"instruction_type":"success","instruction_message":"How often would you like to donate this?"},"empty":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"How often would you like to donate this?"}},"name":{"placeholder_text":"Name on Credit Card","initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Enter the name on your card."},"success":{"instruction_type":"success","instruction_message":"Enter the name on your card."},"empty":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Please enter the name on your card."}},"privacy_policy":{"terms_title":"Terms and conditions","terms_body":null,"terms_show_text":"View Terms","terms_hide_text":"Hide Terms","initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"I agree to the terms."},"unchecked":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Please agree to the terms."},"checked":{"instruction_type":"success","instruction_message":"I agree to the terms."}},"email":{"placeholder_text":"Your email address","initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Enter your email address"},"success":{"instruction_type":"success","instruction_message":"Enter your email address"},"blank":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Enter your email address"},"not_an_email_address":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Make sure you have entered a valid email address"}},"note_with_tip":{"placeholder_text":"Your note here...","initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Attach a note to your tip (optional)"},"empty":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Attach a note to your tip (optional)"},"not_empty_initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Attach a note to your tip (optional)"},"saving":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Saving note..."},"success":{"instruction_type":"success","instruction_message":"Note successfully saved!"},"error":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Unable to save note note at this time. Please try again."}},"email_for_login_code":{"placeholder_text":"Your email address","initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Enter your email to log in."},"success":{"instruction_type":"success","instruction_message":"Enter your email to log in."},"blank":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Enter your email to log in."},"empty":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Enter your email to log in."}},"login_code":{"initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Check your email and enter the login code."},"success":{"instruction_type":"success","instruction_message":"Check your email and enter the login code."},"blank":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Check your email and enter the login code."},"empty":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Check your email and enter the login code."}},"stripe_all_in_one":{"initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Enter your credit card details here."},"empty":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Enter your credit card details here."},"success":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Enter your credit card details here."},"invalid_number":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card number is not a valid credit card number."},"invalid_expiry_month":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card's expiration month is invalid."},"invalid_expiry_year":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card's expiration year is invalid."},"invalid_cvc":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card's security code is invalid."},"incorrect_number":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card number is incorrect."},"incomplete_number":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card number is incomplete."},"incomplete_cvc":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card's security code is incomplete."},"incomplete_expiry":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card's expiration date is incomplete."},"incomplete_zip":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card's zip code is incomplete."},"expired_card":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card has expired."},"incorrect_cvc":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card's security code is incorrect."},"incorrect_zip":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card's zip code failed validation."},"invalid_expiry_year_past":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card's expiration year is in the past"},"card_declined":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card was declined."},"missing":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"There is no card on a customer that is being charged."},"processing_error":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"An error occurred while processing the card."},"invalid_request_error":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Unable to process this payment, please try again or use alternative method."},"invalid_sofort_country":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The billing country is not accepted by SOFORT. Please try another country."}}}},"fetched_oembed_html":false}
