“Everyone wants to go to Heaven, but no one wants to die.” Our ego is our identity. It keeps us apart and separate from everything it perceives is not us. Our ego identity is very powerful. We are afraid of our vulnerability without it. However, when we bury our ego, encapsulate it, we realize we are truly one with everything as there is only one thing, everything. That is heaven on Earth. When we realize we can be in heaven with only the death of our ego, fear of dying is not an obstacle on the way to heaven....

Shitting with Victor Shit my pants yesterday. 43 seconds away from my bathroom. After a furious run home. A quixotic run interrupted by several emergency sphincter squeezes. Made it all the way from E79 and 1st to 64th and 1st. And up five flights of stairs. Made it through a door key twist. But...

Time is an imaginary measure of the space between events. It only exists because we are its parents. Time is a river from fountainhead to sea. It wouldn't exist if it wasn't for me. The river is the river, it is as it is. where I am in the river makes time whiz. I am who I am, unchanged from the fountainhead until the time I think I'm dead. The river is the river, even when its part of the sea But that is something I cannot see....

Time and Transition Time is invisible, like the wind. Only seen in its affects on everything On the back of the wind clouds take a ride Until over the horizon they hide. Soon they return from I don’t know where But I enjoy them now and do not care....

At whatever we look, we see ourselves; especially that with which we most closely identify. In that light, are you a knife, fork, or spoon? People who identify as knives tend to view the world as bigger than themselves; a world which needs to be cut to a smaller size to make it digestible.  They see only one way of doing things as knives can be safely held from only one side. Forks are people who look to identify simple opportunities to enrich themselves. Most businesspeople identify as forks. Spoons look like the human form. They are gentle, cupping their food. Moreover, they are relatively friendly as they can safely be held from either side. Alternatively, there are chopsticks. Chopsticks can be invariably held by one side or the other; that is, we treat others as we do ourselves. People who identify as chopsticks view life as not viable when lived independently (one chopstick), but easy when we work in tandem with others....

"The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance; it is the illusion of knowledge." When we think we know, our curiosity evaporates and we cease exploring to become truly knowledgeable....

"If you think about where you are, you’re probably somewhere else." There is only the here and now. Thinking about where we are, or comparing ourselves to others separates us from this here and now. Lost, yet not knowing it, our thoughts take us somewhere else, a somewhere that soon turns to nowhere....

Today, June 12th, is my birthday. It's not a significant day unless I'm stopped for a traffic violation and given a pass by a sympathetic police officer. Birthday parties celebrate the calendar date upon which we arrived on Earth for our short time here. Deathday ceremonies celebrate those who have transitioned to be one with everything forever. Birthday celebrations are ubiquitous while the deathday is rarely acknowledged in the Western world outside of Chinese, Japanese, Jewish, Korean and Vietnamese communities. Birthday parties are an incapsulated mix of food, chitchat, perhaps a couple of speeches and gifting. Deathday ceremonies can be more fun and impactful. On the deathday we can gather and each attendee can view their life and the lives of others from the perspective of the one who is one with everything. Then, those who have gathered can be born again as they perceive themselves in a new light and the presence of the one who transitioned is felt by all for a time long passed their deathday....

In recent years there's been a loud call for diversity at large companies. The practical ideology supporting diversity is that without discrimination an organization can access wisdom (see the wisdom of the crowd) which is essential to realizing its potential. However, diversity, as articulated by government, is superficial and not as effective as true diversification. As the government sees it, individuals are not unique but belong to one or several groups; religious, racial, sexual, ethnic, etc. The goal of diversity is to have employees in every large organization as members in different groups such that all groups are represented in an organization in some proportion that reflects society at-large.  This mechanical approach often misses its intended goal as the viewpoints of members from different groups are not necessarily meaningfully diverse. Organizations naturally discriminate in their hiring practices. For example, it "makes sense" for a company to require all hires to be hardworking people. However, a company that aims for a diverse workforce would hire a few lazy workers as well. While the lazy workers might put a drag on existing operations, they would likely find easier processes to get the job done which would lead to greater efficiencies. That's the benefit of having a diverse workforce. The government also has an idealistic ideology that promotes diversity. It is the absurd notion that relative equality among members in society makes for a happy society. As the human species benefits by having diverse talents and personalities, there will always be lazy and industrious people. However, few industrious people work industriously for similar financial outcomes as those who are lazy. Hence, the idealistic ideology promoting diversity leads to a lower standard of living on average for all. That's unlikely to make many societal members happy....