I will not fear.
Fear is the mind-killer.
Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Fear is an important and useful thing, but it’s a right crappy thing to let run your life.
Far too many people spend their entire lives avoiding the things they fear–and make no mistake, discomfort is often directly related to fear–and thereby missing out on a lot of great things. Letting fear rule you also prevents you from making positive changes in the world… and leaves you quite prone to experiencing (and doing) bad things. (Which are usually worse than that fear you’re trying to avoid.)
It’s never about not being afraid. Only an idiot is never afraid. It’s about recognizing your fear, owning it, embracing it, and, ultimately, mastering it by surviving that confrontation.
That’s not really something that can be done in isolation.
Don’t forget that you have some say over what goes on for the next 100 days… click the big green button below here to get to the page where you can submit topic suggestions and questions (so I know what kinds of things you want to see go on in these videos).
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I’m a bit of a fan of the Mad Max series. And the old video games Road Blasters and Spy Hunter. And all sorts of other things that involve cars with lots of weapons on them.
Back in the 80s, Steve Jackson Games decided to capitalize on that sort of fandom and put out a game called Car Wars. It’s been kind of popular ever since.
I picked up my first Car Wars game back in 1998, just as my time at college was closing out. Because of that, I’ve only been able to play a couple of times and those were just kind of ad hoc skirmishes. No real chance to ever do a regular campaign where I’d make use of the advancement rules.
That didn’t stop me from backing the new Car Wars Arena project when it came up on Kickstarter. It showed up in the mail today… and it rocks.
Here’s a vlog with all the physical stuff that came with that. Now I just need people to play with.
[youtube https://youtu.be/Jyb4i4RbyYE]
Don’t forget that you have some say over what goes on for the next 100 days… click the big green button below here to get to the page where you can submit topic suggestions and questions (so I know what kinds of things you want to see go on in these videos).
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Over the weekend I hit Artomatic, a semi-annual massive group art exhibit that goes on here in the DC area.
It was pretty awesome.
There was a ton of very impressive art (some of it by people I know). Over the course of the few hours I was there, I had the chance to talk a little with people about the different ways different types of art are consumed.
Just about all visual art can be consumed actively or passively. The written word, though, can only be actively consumed. You have to put in effort to get anything out of it, even light entertainment.
That struck me as interesting on a number of levels.
So it’s what I talk about a little in today’s vlog.
Don’t forget that you have some say over what goes on for the next 100 days… click the big green button below here to get to the page where you can submit topic suggestions and questions (so I know what kinds of things you want to see go on in these videos).
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All feelings we’re far too familiar with these days. We’re told again and again and again that we should be afraid of everything and everyone. Well, everyone who’s different, at least.
They’re out to get us, we’re told. We need to be vigilant and “if you see something, say something.” They’re monsters, seeking to destroy us, and the implied idea is that we should do it to them first.
Terrorist seek to disrupt and destroy the lives of those who disagree with them. They’re willing to die for their beliefs. There’s not much that can be done against someone willing to die for what they believe in. Once someone’s to that point, and ready to take action, there will be death and destruction.
How do you deal with that?
Some, especially right now, are calling for massive amounts of violence against thousands–if not millions–of people who are trying to get away from the same terrorists who have just struck again. Stop “them” by killing them before they decide to kill us. Or, at least, keep “them” all away from us, so it’s harder for us to be killed.
That’s… dehumanizing. That’s, at best, barely better than the view ISIL has of the people they’re killing on a daily basis.
It’s also the most surefire way to encourage more people to see you as inhuman and worth dying to eliminate.
Compassion. Respect for life. Freedom. Those are things that aren’t safe. They never have been. Each of those opens us up to being hurt and, yes, sometimes killed. But they’re also the things that can change the minds of people who’ve been told you are an inhuman monster that deserves to be eradicated.
They are humanizing things.
So, right now, as has been the case before, people are clamoring for immediate solutions that will make them “safe.” Most of those solutions, in the long term, do just the opposite. Harsh retaliation, which inevitably involved indiscriminate killing of many peaceful, innocent people, only gives our enemies more to use against us, more recruitment collateral, more reasons that others will buy into their hate.
Be angry. Be upset. Be afraid. But then get past those feelings.
Don’t let the disruption of your life persist. Don’t let fear or anger lead you to dehumanize large swaths of people who genuinely mean you no harm–people who are just as scared, angry, and sad as you about what’s going on.
When we stand together, we all stand together. There’s risk in that. But there’s also strength.
(And, no, I’m not advocating not going after the perpetrators of this nor am I a pacifist… it’s the dehumanization of “the enemy” that I have a big problem with, and being too broad about who “the enemy” is.)
There’s a vlog today. It’s somber… yet hopeful. I think.
Don’t forget that you have some say over what goes on for the next 100 days… click the big green button below here to get to the page where you can submit topic suggestions and questions (so I know what kinds of things you want to see go on in these videos).
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Trying to keep everything moving without anything hitting the floor and breaking. (Sometimes things bounce… that’s okay… as long as you knew it wasn’t something that would break.) Just got to keep it all flowing.
That’s the dance between consuming stuff and creating stuff. Zero sum game, so lots of dynamic equilibrium going on. Spend too much time reading articles (like I did last night), you don’t have as much time to crank out a video (and if that video needs to be done, well, then some other area of consumption or creation suffers… like, y’know, sleep).
That’s what I’m talking about in today’s vlog. So, take a few minutes and consume it. Then let me know what you’re creating and how much attention you pay to what you consume.
Don’t forget that you have some say over what goes on for the next 100 days… click the big green button below here to get to the page where you can submit topic suggestions and questions (so I know what kinds of things you want to see go on in these videos).
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