We are facilitators of our own creative evolution
. – Bill Hicks
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Eternal Truth by Cradle Orchestra
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Evolution
written & edited by Kendall F. Person
How do we see ourselves at this very moment. Do we see the same person, that we saw yesterday? How do we see our communities? Are they the type of neighborhoods, that we are proud to be a part of? How do we choose our leaders? Do we utilize the status quo: by party or religion or race or by who we believe in? How do we view the world? Do we think the same way before technology gave way, allowing us to make friends and discoveries in every country on earth? How do we know happy? Do we measure it by our day to day or minute to minute existence, considering our faults and attributes as they happen or do we look at the bigger picture, of our entire existence and ponder our contribution? How do we measure progress, both within ourselves and that of society?
any process of formation or growth
In 490 B.C., legend has it that upon the fall of the Persian Army by the Athenian Army in the Battle of Marathon, a Greek messenger by the name of Pheidippides was sent ahead to deliver the message of “Victory!” by running the 26 miles from Marathon to Athens, then collapsed dead from exhaustion*. From the messenger, to the courier pigeon, to the Pony Express to Federal Express to the email, the evolution of communication sees no end, as technology has enabled us to deliver the same message in a fraction of the time, without breaking a sweat, let alone, dying in the process.
a process of gradual, peaceful, progressive change
On January 20, 2009, Barack Obama was sworn in as the 44th President of the United States – and as several media correspondents, and according to an article in The Washington Post, many politicians pointed out – in a peaceful, transition of power. And while the Post’s article ‘No, America’s peaceful transitions of power are not special‘ may be factually correct, it did not take into account the evolution of race relations through slavery and a deadly civil war, and through Jim Crow, and the Civil Rights Movement and the Voting Rights Act, that is only a year older than myself, and how the mindset of a people, evolved to envision and then elect the first African American President, and that the statement “peaceful transition of power” was not necessarily, in its entirety, a forgone conclusion, and was humbling, to say the least.
a motion incomplete in itself
We are the same being, the same heavenly creatures, with the same blood type and the same DNA, that we were yesterday, but we are not the same person. Even if static or changeless, since the world continues to evolve around us. But without our input, the motion itself is incomplete. So how do we see ourselves, individually? Are we happy with the way we look and feel, has our diet and activity evolved with age? How do we see ourselves spiritually, has our interpretations evolved, that allows us to search for inclusiveness and peace as opposed to division and warfare? How do we see our community, and are we making a contribution for it to be the type of neighborhood that we feel safe in, that we are proud to live, that we long to pass down through generations?
Measuring individual progress is a very personal inventory of self. And as emotional beings, finding happy can be a day to day endeavor.But if we learn to understand and respect the evolving nature of life, and seek to learn, to grow and to take part in changes, through our voices, our art, and our willingness to teach and to learn, and through our prayers – and to listen when they are answered – then we find happy as a whole, and perhaps, a reason to smile each day, by knowing we are evolving in a progressive, positive way. .
– Kendall F. Person
cover Waiting Monk by Hartwig HKD
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Pingback: Evolution — The Neighborhood – ronaldwederfoort
We are not the only one, but peaceful transition of power is a key to civilized nations. I hope we remember this in our more antagonistic we/ they rhetoric.
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Keith Always a pleasure to hear from you. It is important that everyone feels welcome to speak freely in the community forum, but every now and then I shine a spotlight on a neighbor’s comment or words. But for clarification, did you mean civil or was civilized the word you used by choice?
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I meant civilized, but civil works too, Relating to civil, when two experts were asked what are our greatest challenges, one said access to technology for all, while the other said the decline in our ability to be civil with each other. I found the second response compelling.
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Thank you for the clarification and mini-story. (big smile)
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Fantastic post
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Rajiv – Always good to hear from you. Evolution is one of my favorites, as it speaks to us individually. So good to know you enjoyed the show. And Rajiv, I appreciate longevity here. .
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Pingback: Evolution — The Neighborhood | loopyludo
Reblogged this on whoatetheheartofbirds.
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Pingback: Evolution | whoatetheheartofbirds
Pingback: Sunrise Inspirational Service | The Neighborhood
Through democracy
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Hello. It actually didn’t click for a couple of minutes. (big smile) Thank you for adding your thoughtful and wise voice and for stopping through The Neighborhood this morning.
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Thank you..
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Well written, sir!
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Rajiv – How have you been? So good to see you and thank you for the kind words. Hope the day is a good one, my friend.
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Thank you… I have not been reading blogs too much of late. Glad I managed to see your again after a long while
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Thanks for following 🙂
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You are welcome. And welcome to The Neighborhood.
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So very thought-provoking. Your passion is represented with eloquence and I enjoyed this for your style and the knowledge shared. I also want to thank you for following my blog.
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Thanks for following my blog! I enjoyed this post and your style!
SuperAmazingLife.WordPress.com
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So very glad to know you enjoyed the show. And welcome to The Neighborhood. So good to be a part of yours as well.
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Great post, really enjoyed the trail your words took me on. I could feel the heart in it. Thanks again for liking my blog, it appears that we have many similar ideas and thoughts. Looking forward to your next post.
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I greatly appreciate your brain
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{chuckling and blushing all at once} But seriously, I appreciate yours as well. So good to have you in The Neighborhood.
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Well done. I’ve nothing to add to this, or take away, and I am a different person, than I was yesterday. 😀
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I grew up in Rochester, N.Y.
When I was 5 yrs old, my mother took me to the public viewing of the body of (one of) the last Civil War veterans (he had been born in 1848 and served as a drummer boy). She did this to impress on me in my later years the fact that The Civil War–and the national scourge of slavery–had not been all that long ago. 13 years later, the ghettos of Rochester were set ablaze during the race riots and unrest of the Civil Rights movement. Only 10 years ago, in 2005, did The U.S. Senate finally find enough shame and the collective penance necessary to garner enough votes to officially apologize to victims of lynchings and their families,105 years after the first anti-lynching bill was proposed by a black congressman.]
‘Evolution’ is not a trajectory upwards, but rather–for us humans–usually achieved after we become so sick of our own violence that we finally do the right thing. Even then, what becomes hard-won usually ends up having to be fought for all over again with each new generation. The impunging and trashing of immigrants of Muslim belief in my country of Canada is reaching shameful and vexatious acceleration. This must be reversed. And it will take more than tolerance. It requires a new political will, judicial leadership, and education at the youngest levels. Judging people by their beliefs, clothing, culture and/or orientation should have little oxygen by this time in history–but the flames are being fed all over again.
And it is very very concerning.
Thank you for helping us participate in this useful dialogue, Mr. Kendall Person.
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I am still reading your blog, but I’d like to take my time to say thanks for visiting and following my blog first, Have a great day
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You can do a lot for your community by just being a good neighbor. Just because my location or community has gone down doesn’t mean that I’ll go down with it.
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You covered a lot here but you did it really well. Truly interesting!
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Hey Jay. So good to know you enjoyed the show and thank you for being a part of The Neighborhood
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Pingback: Evolution | LIFE—Taking It All In, One Day At A Time
Excellent post. Wonderful music as well, I might add.
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Really good music. Just discovered, literally write before writing. The tempo and the title worked great. So glad you thought the same. Welcome to The Neighborhood.
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Well stated! So much to ponder…
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So very much to ponder. Always good to hear from you Bill Ray
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I am glad I am not the only one who spends time thinking about things like this. It’s refreshing to hear another’s insight on the matter, no one that I have in life at the moment does and they definitely won’t hear it from me for some reason like it’s a waste of time to ponder.
I think I will be enjoying your post very much:)
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well hello little sara. So very nice to have you here in The Neighborhood where entertainment and thought goes hand in hand. Welcome.
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Very well said Kendall, Entertainment is Thought, as is Thought IS Entertainment.
Ever see someone just sitting there, calm and non-active to the goings on around them, but then all of a sudden they glow with an abounding smile? Their thought just entertained them and nobody else was involved.
Now as the spectator of this persons Self-Entertainment, we are now entertained and thinking, what was it this person just thought of that made them smile so.
I’m most have heard the phrase, “keep smiling, it makes people wonder what your up to”. Of course the wording is varied, but the point is still the same no matter how it is said.
Thank you Kendall, always wonderful to read your inspirations and thoughts.
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Pingback: Evolution | martinclegg
Great post. I often think of the connection between narrative and evolution. “Myth,” says Timothy Leary, “is a report from the cellular memory bank. Myths humanize the recurrent themes of evolution.” But the narratives we foster within – about race or anything else – also shape our evolution. So choose your narratives carefully. One day you will have to take responsibility for them.
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Very well stated. Thank you for adding your voice to the Evolution to discussion forum. You are appreciated very much.
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Mytwosentences – So good to know Evolution was received as intended. Thank you for adding your voice, and it so good to have you, my friend, here in The Neighborhood.
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Truly Elegant
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