We are the ones we've been waiting for

www.skynelson.com
I realized, watching him speak at the Democratic National Convention last month, that Al Gore is one of my heroes. He made the profound connection recently that three important problems we face (global warming, international conflict, and economic hard times) can all be resolved with a single important solution: the investment in alternative energy sources. Over the past few years, I have experimented with another concept, one that puts individual personal or spiritual growth at the core of the transformation of the diverse problems we face in our civilization.

My experiment is this: Think for yourself, do what you love, and the world will change.

For me, this is a very practical affair, and I aim in these pages to show, in words, actions, and music, how I work to be at peace with myself. Now that is not some silly, feel-good concept for me. Being at peace means being content with every relationship in my life, like one of us could die tomorrow, knowing we were on the best terms we could be on. Being at peace means knowing I have given myself as fully as I can to what I love, rather than compromising my vision of what my life can be. It means learning how to take risks everyday in reaching for what I want to achieve. Being at peace with myself is how I was able to travel 300 miles to another state last weekend, shake hands with Barack Obama, and hand him my music video celebrating his volunteers (see my blog for the video of it!).

I believe that all of us have to take responsibility for the crises we face in our society: global warming, economic collapse, social problems and all. The American government is "of the people, by the people, and for the people", so who is responsible but the people?

It is a spiritual problem, really. I understand that people feel helpless, powerless, hopeless and frustrated by the circumstances in our day-to-day lives, because I feel these things all the time, and other people seem to be going through the same exact stuff.

This is where my work as a musician, as a physicist, and as an activist, all come together. The physics theory I have written starts by providing a physical and mathematical framework for what might be referred to as the 'undefinable', or spirit, or whatever you want to call it. It then goes on to show how the principles of quantum mechanics can provide a framework by which we can understand the experiences in our lives better, specifically, the random chances and twists and turns we face in life, and how to approach risk taking. The music I write is essentially the same information put into a more poetic and emotional form, from my own specific perspective. And the activism, fighting for truth and working to elect Obama, are a necessary consequence of those same principles.

My experience shows that by personally divesting myself from a life I don't want and fighting for the things I love (a career as a musician, a functional politics, a deeper understanding of physical reality, etc) I begin to see ways in which the problems of the world seem more capable of being solved. Most importantly, my own happiness and satisfaction become apparent and spread outward. I see fewer problems and more solutions. I become someone who is actually capable of helping others. Like a butterfly flapping its wings, my joy and determination can, and do, spread.

I show in these pages how, for me, the difficult path of changing myself rather than trying to change others has unfolded. May it have some impact on you as well.

skynelson's Pages

• Expecting Synchronicity

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