Operation-365
Sidewalk Ghosts / Interview 381: “Stop Fronting and Be Yourself”
“I’m 22 and I quit my job recently, and its been terrifying entering the business world as someone like me who has been, like, a sensitive musician my whole life and I’m starting to confront the things that most of us deal with on a daily basis, and that’s everybody’s obsession with status, success and power; and I feel like pursuing self-employment has become this ideal… but there is a really dark side that a lot of people really don’t talk about…” —Christopher
SideWalk Ghosts / Interview 379: "You're Already Off To A Better Start"
“Be the change you would like to see in the world.” Quotes Josh, today’s stranger now friend. He continues with his own words… “I’ve noticed that life doesn’t exactly get any easier; you just get more accustomed to going about your daily life. So even though things can get you down and make things worse for you. It does get better…”
SideWalk Ghosts / Interview 378: It's OK To Talk To Strangers
Jury duty today… one of the civic obligations many of us have enjoyed on a yearly basis. A room full of sequestered people, some wanting to do their duty while others hopelessly scheme for the perfect excuse to get out of service. But as quoted, via the strangely welcoming and compassionate smile of lady behind window 3, “I’ve heard them all.”
So the room sits, all looking at the floor, dozing off or reading as they wait to be called to bear the barrage of lawyers questions regarding their character. We are a diverse and intriguing group of strangers. I’m sure with many experiences, loves, hopes and fears. So in tribute to Operation-365, I raise my chin up to look around the room. I guess I’m looking for connections. But sadly, far too many are a guarded and shrouded behind self-created walls of invisibility. So amidst the occasional acknowledgement from curious fellow human, most just simply dismiss me as they drop their chins in looking away.
An announcement perks through the silent separation and brings many together as they look up to the ceiling. It’s as if the PA system is more human than the microphone voice of our courthouse friend (as she is in plain sight, standing only feet from us at room’s center). “If any of you cannot commit for 7 day’s, you can ask for a reschedule,” she explains.
Oh, that’s just perfect! Can’t wait to do this again in 3 months. Of course, I can’t stay for 7 more days. Already have lost 4; and if chosen to stay another week, who knows, maybe longer, the pay of $15.76 falls a little short of making my overhead. I was hoping for a 1-day trial. You know, he stole the socks from my bedroom dresser and I have the photos to prove it. Cut and dry. In and out. Must not be my week.
To window 3, as instructed I go. Yet again getting to receive the same paperwork that brought me here it the first place. Not that I like to gripe, but hats off to the systems we have in place. Could there possibly be a better way to schedule us… I don’t know. But a man has to gripe sometime. After all, I’m just as human as you. That said, looks like I’m back in May. Oh summer, how I love thee.
So now I’m standing in line for the said assistance of window 3, overhearing, and yes, buying into the banter of all who are expressing the reasoning behind why we can’t stay. Funny how easy it is to share negative comments with the world around us. So I try an experiment, I turn my thoughts to what the staff must be feeling as, I’m sure, they are overhearing our loudening words of wisdom. I recriminate myself a little regarding my less that positive gut reaction, realizing that we are all equally human, especially the workers servicing this full line of annoyed people. So I back step my thinking, choose not to look for faults, but to merely listen and observe. As I do, a calm face to the left of me comes into bright focus.
Christine is her name and it is with warm spirit that she chats with us regarding her views on compassion, trust and love.
O-365 daily blogumentary has begun, and Christine, thank you for putting us on a fantastic path. You are living proof that it is OK to talk to strangers.
See you tomorrow my friends,
Richard
SideWalk Ghosts / Interview 377: An Oasis We Call Quartzsite
Last week a good friend (photographer and creative director BJ) and I visited Quartzsite, Arizona; home of the largest open-air collectible gem and RV show in the nation. Every January over one million people, from all parts of the country, fall upon this sleepy little desert town, magically transforming it into a bustling oasis of migratory residents and daily visitors.
Retired snowbirds harbor in state of the art motorhomes, off the grid families relax as they set-up shops of every kind; while top-notch gem traders gather to exchange product and experience. To call the gathering eclectic is a bold understatement, and for certain, Quartzsite is not merely a swap meet. It is an abstract and morphing city. An ever-changing cultural destination, one that now having met many of its citizens, has left an indelible impression on both my mind and heart.
For within its carnival like atmosphere can be proven that diversity is the greatest key to a uniting power that lies within all of us. A power that if harnessed allows us to work together in finding common ground within our own communities.
The interviews of Project-365 awakened us to see, and hear, many insights that were undeniable in their uniting influence. The hundreds we met clearly communicated the positive effect of one individual gesture, one expressed moment or even the simplest sincere act of appreciation can carry.
There has never been a time in history where we are individually empowered the way we are now. Technology has opened the floodgates of information and connectivity, and as long as we have the right to use it without restriction, we have great ability to facilitate positive actions.
This global collaboration of the diverse is here because of WordPress, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and whatever other social and media sources we can use. I am personally grateful for their creation, for without them, Operation-365 and its mission would not exist. But please, consider them the messenger and not the destination as we debark on the O-365 blogumentary (beginning full swing in the next few days).
As the daily interviews and episodes are published I ask that we take the time to look past the delivery method in activating ourselves as Ambassadors within our spheres. In doing so, please take the time to look upon the world around you. Get to know your neighbors and take pause to consider the deeper motivations as to why others act as they do.
This is the beauty of meeting the strangers we now call friends. It is through listening to their words that we may come to know them, the world around us and maybe even ourselves a little better.
With this, a challenge is placed. One that is both entertaining and enlightening. That as we examine the ways we interact with one another, that we might find ways to contribute to our communities. Together, who knows what bridges we can build?
The vast diversity of Quartzsite has proven this thesis plausible. For if over one million strangers crammed into a little town of tents and motorhomes can look upon each other with compassion and respect. Isolated in the middle of the desert as they reach out to each other. Then perhaps whatever they are doing is something worthy of modeling in our own lives.
New friends of Quartzsite… thanks for allowing me to share your words with the world. Your council is lucid and your community is vibrant. Your diverse and loving acceptance has uplifted us all and the dignity you show for one another is an example to be followed.
Welcome to O-365 blogumentary my friends,
Richard
SideWalk Ghosts / Interview 376: Down to the Wire
First, to Damian (today’s stranger now friend) as well as to all of my 365 friends, please forgive me for not posting for several months. To be fully honest about it, the holidays, a rush of year-end business and some much needed time with my family. But with that caught up, I am jumping back into doing my part in our mission to build our community. Even readying for another one-year daily project, “O-365,” a 365 consecutive day stranger meeting blogumentary (here is a link the projects Indiegogo). Stay tuned.
I’ll never forget the time spent with new friend Damian, for over an hour he and I conversed regarding the widest range of topics: Culture, Politics, Religion and Race; all subjects that we are socially biased to not discuss. Not even with friends and family we are advised; and, whatever we do, never bring them up in business or casual dialogue. Sadly, and to a point, I agree. But with the acknowledgement of this, I do challenge us to not consider our outlooks towards our support groups, but to rather govern our reactions towards those who are living lives with altering ideologies.
Damian puts it rather bluntly, “Don’t throw a bunch of flowers in my face and call it a bouquet.”
Instead he suggests, “Ask families what they really feel about what is going on. Ask the minorities… what they really feel. If you do, you’ll get some real answers.”
In a way we are all minorities, trapped within the confines of our own minds, beliefs, and traditions. That’s OK. It’s what provides the blessing of wholly living this life experience. But unmanaged these brainwaves can also become a Pandora’s box of head discussions. Thoughts turned to actions as we project ourselves, and our agendas, onto others. You know, those nagging, this is my opinion, and that is theirs… with is conflicting resolutions. Resolves that at many times are troubling to our core selves. No I’m not advocating selfishness or harming others via self-justified atrocities. That would be a blind misrepresentation of the message Damian and I are proposing.
In Damian’s words, “If we infuse people with knowledge. Educate ourselves on what is really going on in society and not what is glorified. Focusing on the glorified is a waste of our time… useless information. If it does not effect or change your life beneficially, and you cannot use it… then what is the point?”
Education, a very soft topic for many, leads to a very sobering question: What is in store for our children and will they be prepared?
Damian is wise, “We have to stop the silly little facades that we put on our children… and our adults… and our families… facades that have never worked. Take the gatekeepers out of the game. Take the guys that stop progress out-of-the-way – The gatekeepers who always want to stop people before they themselves know the answers.
They need to stop trying to take religion out of school. I believe in diverse religion in school. Being able to praise God and being able to say I love you Lord. Waking up every day with a smile on your face.”
Over the course of Operation-365 we have met people of many faiths – from Christian to Jew, Muslim to Sikh, Atheist to Self-Appointed. In this, the majority has come forth with an astounding voice. Proclaiming a message to us all. That it is possible for a community of many faiths and points-of-view to exist in sharing a common set of principles. Being a universal appeal for a safe and good life for our children and the society ahead.
So I’ll admit, I’m bewildered at why far too many get terminally caught up in the fight for righteous correctness? Choosing, by arrogant and often uninformed decision, to completely miss the boat of compassion? An observation that has endlessly troubled me deeply; but what the heck, I’ll take a stab at finding a new perspective…
…Could it be found in the eyes of the children? The very ones that we… the learned adults… do all that we can to condition for what we predict is to come. Perhaps we are correct… perhaps we are way off base…
…But what if we turned the eyeglass for a brief reversal of role? What if we allowed the child consideration in teaching us, and if we did, could we model the way they behave (especially the very young?) towards one another. Might it be plausible that they have something to teach us… we… the adults… the wise ones?
My hope is that the answer is a resounding YES. That through their example may be discovered a set of keys to open our eyes in exactly how to look beyond our differences.
Damian challenges us, “We have to look and scrutinize each other and love one another as a whole… you know what I mean? This doesn’t work if we are constantly at each other throats about color, about income, about who has what… and who doesn’t have what. The thing is, in this society… the only thing that works is if we help each other. If we see each other as black and as white this whole mess is going to continue to be what it is. It’s never going to get any better. What matters is… what is important for our children and for the society we live in.
What I know is this,” he continues, “if we take the time to educate ourselves… Take the time to look in each others background, we’ll find the answer we are looking for.”
“So how do we accomplish this?” I ask
“Take personal responsibility… for yourself… for your kids… and for the environment that you live around,” Damian begins. It is impossible for me to ignore the love and passion for good that I see in his eyes… I listen.
“Always think before you talk… of what you do… because you affect other people. If you do what you say… the life you live… what you’ve chosen to take on as a human being… know that it really does affect other people. The things that you say have the power to destroy someone… or to build them up greatly. Your voice… your words… your tongue can take away someone’s life, or enhance it greatly. Don’t play with God, God is a real individual… and things really happen on this planet.
To the world I would really like to say this. Overcome your shortcomings… throw away personal vendettas… throw away greed, guile, mistrust. Learn to truly like a person for who they are, and not for the color of their skin; because in the end, you lose out, not the other way around.”
He quotes Albert Einstein: “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results,” a quote that (for good reason) has often been shared by many of our 365 friends.
With the blunt passion that one would expect from Damian, he gives us his concluding words of activation. “We know how far we will go… and we know how far we will not. History has shown us a reflection of ourselves, and what we will do when everything get’s down to the wire.
Don’t be that guy with butter on his head. The one that doesn’t know what’s going on… Be a contributor.”
So I ask myself, as Damian has challenged, what will I do when it get’s down to the wire?
A thought for us all, I guess?
SideWalk Ghosts / Interview 375: "The Poetic Magic of Billimarie"
I just stand listening and observing for a while. Watching person after person queue in line for their audience with street poet. A father and son stand quietly as she greets at them. Then putting her head down she, with occasional glances up, begins punching at the keyboard of her eclectically pink Royal typewriter. Both are stoically still, as if testing to see if this stranger can figure them out. A few minutes pass and with a gleaming smile she pulls a little slice of inspiration from the rollers, and handing it the young boy says, “Thanks.”
Thanks… no request for payment… no explanation of her work… just a simple thanks as she shifts her eyes to poem two… Dad.
They look at each other in reviewing the poetry just given them. Dad’s eyes light with amazement as if they have just made a new friend. “I’m ready,” the father stands silent.
I watch for a while. A documentary crew from Mexico curiously surrounds her, a tattooed gansta, who returns moments after getting his poem asking, “What does this say?”
“Those are X’s. I crossed something out,” she kindly responds. He pauses, looking both confused and let down, “I thought it said, sex” he reacts, obviously hoping for an affirmation of his insightful one liner. Smiling and accepting she explains, “those are corrections… that’s all.” Never does she show any sign of contempt. Any reactionary emotion, or any back talk as the now chin dropped dude walks away; surely he must at least feel uplifted by the spirit of acceptance that seems to radiate from her very presence. She returns to smile at the next in line, “Hello.”
In a time where most things have a price tag or some other attached agenda, a decade where far too many are heavily guarded and skeptical, can it be that I have strolled across the real deal– a giver with no intentions other than to share her gifts with the world?
A humble cardboard sign reads, “Free Poetry.” Even though there is no price tag, and with no cash in my pocket (seems that plastic has taken over my life), I am a little ashamed to approach her for a poem. But the draw to speak with her is impossible to walk away from. I find myself trapped in indecision, but as the crowd momentarily thins an opportunity opens. I am pulled in.
“Hi, my name is Richard” I begin explaining the history of 365. But before I have the opportunity to fully introduce myself, I am completely stopped by a hypnotic grin. My words are halted. It’s like a forced flashback to kid self, you know, that tongue-tied moment where your speechless. A feeling that I rarely have these days, but one that has me stopped in my tracks this evening. “I know…” she reaches to me; “…I’ve seen you meeting people before.” Seems we have walked in the same circles and I was totally unaware. Humbled, I find myself on the other side of my own soapbox.
Her name is Billimarie, and yes, she is the real deal. “I never started doing this for any money…” she explains, “…I’m just doing it to get to know people and to share my poetry.”
A smiling face walks up as we are chatting, with poem in hand; a bill is dropped in Billimarie’s typewriter case. She looks up, and with signature style, expresses a heartfelt “Thanks.” Then back at me, “but one day someone told me that they would not feel good about themselves if they did not give me something in return. So I learned to accept payment, but I’m still OK to not be paid.”
“Can I write you a poem,” Billimarie asks. With empty pockets I swallow hard. “I’ve got no cash on me and am embarrassed to have you write one.” She smiles and looks me in the eyes (Crud, I’m twelve again).
“OK, I’ll do it.” I begin to revert to my shy younger years, but drawing to my present self, I dig deep and shake it off. “I would love that… but first can I ask you a few questions?” With thoughtful reflection Billimarie agrees.
Question One
If you had the stage… the undivided attention of the world… and all were listening… What words of wisdom, council or advice would you share?
“’Hello how are you!
There is too much talk in the world, and not enough listening. That’s where we get lost and feel alienated around each other. We have to acknowledge, ‘my feeling are just as valid as your feelings… my experiences… my knowledge… my thoughts… my goals… my ambitions are just as valid as anybody else’s.’” Big pause… “That’s what I would say.
I would ask people how they are… and hope for an honest response. And if not an honest response… then at least a response… and see what happens.”
Question Two
Looking toward the future… as far, or as close as you want to imagine (one year or hundreds of years)– Where do you see the people or the planet … or, what do you think we should be doing now to prepare for the future?
“I used to think in bigger terms. I was in love with this concept of saving the world, what I think is the way most passionate people are. Wanting to help… wanting to make things better… wanting to offer something. And that is beautiful on it’s own terms. It’s just now I’m seeing the world a little bit differently as I mature and continue to do things.
Quite honestly something that we need to do… something that we should teach ourselves to do… is to denounce the idea of a future… to denounce the idea of security… and to take pride in the moment– as cliché as that is. Because there is no future without being here… So we have to ask ourselves… what are you going to do right now, regardless of fear, regardless of the past? I think this is one of the best things we can do to build a better future. Which is slightly paradoxical, I’m aware. But a lot of the amazing things in life are.”
Billimarie, thanks go to you… for your wisdom… for your gifts… and for the healer that you are. You are truly magical.
Talk soon my friends,
Richard
SideWalk Ghosts / / Interview 369: “Love, Dream, Conquer”
Miriam begins “at my tender age of 24, what words of wisdom do I have?” I’ve put her on the spot with my question. But after just a second of thought, her response is clear. “Be true to yourself. Don’t live your life based on what you think you should be.” And with a smiling laugh, her personality glows in summing up her council… “Love, dream, conquer.”
I run into Miriam and Kim this afternoon on the eve of the 4th of July, a day that America celebrates the beginning of its independence from past days of unfair taxation (among other things); a day that millions pay homage to lives lost in the fight for a better future, and a prompt for them to pause in evaluating the reasoning behind whatever patriotic perspectives they may have.
For over 200 years this day has come and gone. It has been celebrated to the fullest degree by many, as well as mocked or scorned by others. But one thing is certain about this day. It is a tribute to the bravery of “we the people.”
We the people– three powerful words that literally ground the beginning of Constitution Of The United States of America, as written, “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”
I make no claim in being an expert in regards to the full content of the Constitution. And in my quick research of it, do see that it has undergone a series of amendments. But never the less, this grounding opening has never been modified. Although, I’m sure that there a many power parties who would welcome superseding it with a modified version; perhaps “we the loudest,” or maybe “we the hidden agenda” or something of that sort. But that is a whole other story; one that is barbed with sharp spears of wavering opposition– An argument that takes on the form of a morphing fire-breathing dragon. One that would devour all the uniting work we are striving for in the building of our 365 community. I’ll pass on saying any more and leave it in the hands of your good conscience.
Back to We the people! Diverse, opinionated, individual and passionately believing in the paths that we as human beings have right to follow. In meeting Miriam and her partner Kim, I am charged to make a claim. One that directs us to not open our minds and hearts in accepting the fundamental truths that are part of our personal spiritual and psychological make up. But, more profoundly to give the same respect towards those who choose to live their lives according to a set of outlooks contrary to ours.
Now I’m not supporting the evils and atrocities that are epidemic in the world. I assure you that I am not burying my head in the sand in not address the multitude of horrors that so terribly occur on a daily basis all over the globe. The senseless murdering of the innocent, the raping of body and soul, the greed of the unquenchable and the suppression of human dignity that spawns from the lesser majority.
But in this darkness, can be found a greater light. Something that in speaking with the thousands we have met over the last several years, has allowed us glimpse to the good that abides in the hearts of the many. Through this, one fact is rising to the surface like the finest of cream. We are the greater majority. You and I, everyday people, living every day lives. The quite ones, us, working in the background of societies loudest, are actually the ones holding the keys capable of enacting real change. It is in our personal circles of influence, and through our example, where long holding effects can take root. Not like the bolstering thunder of temporary reform or of won high-profile battles; but victories that will carry forth long-lasting and plentiful fruits to future generations. That is… if we have the courage to preserver the screaming tongues of the divided.
We will all never agree on any one issue. That is what makes us magnificent and progressive as a society. As I see it, the most catastrophic thing that could happen to us would be to become homogenized society. There will always be conflict, and we have to go through it to master our own selves. Without it we become numbed and sheepish. Open to giving in to the hand of the strongest oppressor or those smiling over their own hidden agendas of conquest.
“So how is it that Miriam can use the word conquer in her opening remarks? Richard! Are you calling her an oppressor!!!
I promise that is the farthest from my mind. You see… Miriam uses the word along side of two even more powerful words. Those being “love” and “dream.”
Miriam is the real deal. Her very value system is under attack. You can see the hurt in her eyes as she and Kim continue to open up in our conversation; a conversation in which neither of them take side in condemning either their opposition or their comrades.
Without guile Miriam shares her heart, “Why do people try to make others feel badly for who they are? There is no reason for that. You don’t have to agree how I live my life. I’m a good person. You don’t have to hate me for being gay.”
Now I’m a heterosexual… always have been… always will be. And in being so, I have also received similar hate words for my lifestyle. But key to our discussion is this. We both agree that love is the greatest resolver, and as we do, we share a dream for the world ahead; a dream that is not caught up in the thunderous wars of the stirred up majority; a dream that more people will do their best on an individual level to simple love one another, regardless of any single victory, or loss, of worldly battles. And my guess, if more of us would do that… We’d see a lot less hate and a ton more lasting resolves.
I love these ladies for their courage and willingness to not pick up arms in joining, nor in falling, to any of the hate tribes.
Kim chimes in, “Follow your heart. I believe there is a positive already laid out for all of us, and whatever path you land on is the path you are supposed to be on. Stop trying to force certain things to happen in your life that aren’t meant to happen right now, or ever. To just accept things that are coming into your life. Every person comes into your life for a reason. To make you better or the make you learn a lesson. Know that there is a path for you to land on. And take that path… Be happy.”
I ask about the future and what we can do now for a better tomorrow?
“That’s a tough question…” Miriam pauses, “… loving one another and accepting people… that’s it. That’s what it comes down to. There is so much hatred and anger in the world. People just forget to stop and to understand that other people are facing struggles and daily battles too. We are not stopping to try to understand others. We are automatically assuming that they are the bad guys, or that they are not going to understand what I am going through or what not. We are just not loving each another for our differences. Instead, we are hating people for our differences.”
Kim gives us a path to follow. “We need to teach our little ones that we are not on the world for ever. And, they can make an impact on others. We need to start teaching them now. To look at people and love one another for what we have to offer. That’s where it has to start. The world is becoming smaller. We can interact over the Internet. We can communicate with people across nations, in schools, just exposing people to others differences.”
Miriam smiles, and with a nod, confirms Kim’s assertion, “I agree,” she simple states.
The world is becoming a much smaller planet and there is much work we can do vicariously over the electronic wavelengths. Yet there is one thing that lays uneasy with me in welcoming the use of new media; a tool that I am personally grateful for, and am obviously using to share the ideas we discuss. However, there is a Pandora’s box we must be aware of. No matter how spontaneous our digital society becomes, it will never fully replace the resolving power of true face-to-face interaction.
We are people… remarkable, unique– able to love unceasingly, and sadly, also to hate with utter lack of compassion or remorse.
My wish for this celebrated day of independence…? That we all, at least for a day, take a moment to look our fears directly in the eye; to examine the depths of the motivation behind what angers us, and in doing so, step for a moment into the shoes of those who differ us– Perhaps, it not about the issues at hand. We all know there are battles that each of us will win and there are battles that we will lose. But at the end of the day, when we put our heads on our pillows… readying to close our eyes in rest… or even death… can we look at ourselves in the mirror and make this claim? “Although at times my heart ached, my mind was troubled, my lifestyle, or even my faith was questioned… I did not hate… nor did I persecute my fellow human.”
Miriam, Kim, thank you for allowing me into your lives. May all your dreams come true my new friends.
"If We Could Stand In Someone Else’s Shoes…"
“Could a greater miracle take place than for us to look through each other’s eyes for an instant?” – Henry David Thoreau
My wife brought this video to my attention the other day. “I know you don’t want Operation-365 to become commercial…” she said, “but you have to post this.”
I agree, even though it is a commercial for a hospital, it hits the spirit of what we are doing. Hope you feel the same.
Looking forward to your thoughts.
Talk soon my friends,
Richard