“If you must, do not judge me by who you think I am, judge me by who I say I am.”

∞∞∞

from Bridgette Cooper-Anderson
by Orpheus With His Flute

∞∞∞

SHADOWS OF OURSELVES
(\Dreams & Nightmares)
written & edited by Kendall F. Person

We have dreams, that never come to fruition and we have nightmares, in which we never escape. We have ambitions, that we do not pursue and there are traps that we willingly fall into. There is serenity, that we chase away and there is conflict, in which we seek out with rage. And there is love in abundance all around, and yet we only acknowledge the haters, even though we know, they exist only when we do.

There is a wide berth between dreams and nightmares, and yet, they are easily confused. Nightmares we awaken from, shaken and scared, but relieved, that whatever was chasing us, does not exist here. Dreams provide such comfort, that upon our awakening, we make desperate, futile attempts to fall back inside and dream the same dream again.

During the past 14 months, Colin Kaepernick has donated $800,000 to various charities

“I have to help these communities. It’s not right that they’re not put in the position to succeed or given those opportunities to success.” – Colin Kaepernick* 

We arise sad and angry, that we are not making a contribution, nor on a path to live our dreams out loud. So we guard our emotions, by changing the way we think. But rather than initiate the pursuit of happiness, to start believing in ourselves, to lend a hand in helping the world, we choose to become a victim and detonate blame, then decide upon a boogeyman.

“The blood of that girl [Heather Hyer] is not on my hands….” – Jason Kessler**

Jason Kessler, Organizer of the Unite the Right Rally in Charlottesville

The victim syndrome is a clever lot, and may take years for others to figure out – that all that time we spent complaining, it was wolf we were crying out. And it seems to make no difference, how the syndrome derives [a manipulating personality trait;  or the manifestation of an actual victimization, that we could not get past] once the syndrome is triggered, it appears to grow non stop.

Believing or pretending to believe, the world and everyone in it is out to get us, and not a single one of our failures had anything to do with the choices we made, is a cunning mental illness, often mistaken for leadership or brilliance, but

can lead to tragedy or our own undoing.

Blame is like a masquerade; shadows of ourselves. Such a high when we fool the people, but unaware, it is only temporary. So we wear the mask more and more, until one day we neglect to take it off and inevitably, we begin to fool ourselves and the fall… it never stops.

— The Neighborhood

*Colin Kaepernick donated $800,000 to empower oppressed communities, For The Win
**626: White Haze, This American Life
\Dreams & Nightmares, thepublicblogger

On Friday September 29, meet 15 Cities you will feel good about… and 5 you will not.

CITIES RD 2: Tell Me Something Good