In Uganda, people fear for their lives and safety because of the raids on their villages carried out by the LRA as well as their own military. In the US people put their lives in danger through the use of alcohol, drug abuse, the next adrenaline rush, and the pursuit of making a financial “cushion” for themselves. In both cases our youth begin to ask themselves the question… Do I want to even live on this earth? It is a sad world when those whose lives have just begun to blossom would rather bury themselves in the ground. On the other hand, in a world so full of pain and selfishness, I understand feeling this way.
What can we do? Well it is a beautiful thing to empower others to raise awareness to stop people like Joseph Kony in Uganda from abducting children, turning them into his personal army, and having them carry out terrible acts. But, we also have to understand that people are a manifestation of their environment. All over the world, our lives are in constant danger from outside forces as well as our own destructive behavior, and we continue keep asking ourselves if we even want to be alive. It may be part of the human condition, but is it not possible that the human condition is evolving? It seems to me that things will keep getting worse until we decide that being human is beautiful and that living as one is a gift that we must accept. Until we focus on creating an environment that breeds a will to be human nothing is going to change.
So what are we lacking for the world to be in this state of depression? Well we are not lacking anything. In fact what we truly have is an excess of what we do not need. As we continue to search for what we are missing, we fail to realize that having so much that we don’t need is what is keeping us from seeing what we have. The only thing we are missing is the point. At the same time, this thought that we are lacking something, combined with feelings of sadness and frustration, is what drives us towards self destruction and ultimately destruction of others. It sounds cliche, but if we could only understand that all we need is love. Only then will we begin to discover that we already have it…each and every one of us. Building an environment for love takes true kindness and connection to each other, which we all have the ability for. What we have built so far is an environment for greed, disconnection, and fear.
Actions like Kony 2012 serve to make us aware and unite us against something we can all agree is inhumane. My greatest hope  is that what many take away from this is the part where we unite. Unification is also the message behind OWS, the Free Speech Movement, the Civil Rights Movement, and many others. It is the message delivered to us by Ghandi, the Dalai Lama, Jesus, Buddha, Allah, and so on. This is the message we funnel into our creations. It is the beauty we express as musicians, painters, actors, writers, and teachers. This is what our lives should be about. It is what they really are about. So if you want to help those who are suffering, awareness is a great start. I do caution only searching for outward suffering. If you do not truly feel within yourself that being human is a beautiful gift, then part of you is suffering too. At some point we all need to begin deciding that we want to live as the beauty that we are.

LANE

We are all a human collective

Now how can we be more connected?

We share this earth with one another

Now how can we share safe space with each other?

To reach out of Love, not fear

Is something we all must discern and hold dear

Learning this takes courage and presence

We can no longer live life on the defense

Fear, doubt, judgment-We must eliminate

A path to this is to meditate

And what we take away is an ability to create

To create what you may say?

How about a better world, a better day?

Create a road to a better way

An open mind and an honest heart

Makes a world where all can take part

Closing your eyes becomes a journey into yourself

Experiencing this together magnifies our wealth

Not monetary, but wealth of Heart and of Spirit

Our mind knows this once we clear it

So come along on this journey with me

And you will begin to see life and your fellow humans, more clearly

LANE

We all have the blessing of choice. That’s right, we get to decide everything. We tend to forget this though, which is interesting because it is not a blessing so much in disguise, the most it wears is a cheap monopoly mustache. Now, once we embrace the gift of choice, we become free people. There are those out there who wish to limit our choices, and therefore limit our freedom. But as things go, we also have a choice in whether or not we let them do this. It is not always an easy choice.We allow others to limit our freedom when we focus on doing things to please others, or at least by having that goal at the forefront of our minds. We must learn to do things based on serving humankind, not mom, dad, bro or sis, spouse, boss, or those who are fearful. And If those people are pleased in the process, that’s awesome! Unfortunately, when breaking free from the leashes we have allowed others to put upon us, it does not seem to please them. Often they don’t connect with the choices we make. Just as if a puppy, lets call her Sheila, had five or so leashes on her at once pulling in all different directions, or maybe just one. Once let loose, she may wander about a bit, run away, or dig herself a hole, maybe a really big hole. Another unfortunate thing sheila may discover about being a free puppy is that she can not always count on a meal every day, a warm place to sleep, or someone to care. This has opened my eyes to the fact that we human beings are in more captivity than our pets. Even with the gift of choice, we have let money, fear, and those we aim to please take control of our lives. We seem to think that love = obedience, so love turns into something conditional which is no such thing as love at all. Allowing someone to control you is not love for them, yourself, or humanity. Love = freedom.  So why in this home of the brave do we cower in the presence of true love? Why in this land of the free have we enslaved ourselves to fear? Why in this melting pot have we separated ourselves by color of skin, flag, and collar? How can we be united, yet remain divided from the rest of the world? I believe it is time for all human beings to restore the balance between unification and differentiation with sweet cries of freedom! And I think it’s ok if we wander about a bit, celebrate, run away, and maybe even dig ourselves some holes, because Sheila the puppy doesn’t need to be the only thing cute enough to get away with being free. In understanding this we must become a support system for those who are emerging into freedom.

LANE

We wonder why relationships are hard, why divorce is so common, why we fight with our teenagers, why depression and suicide are so prevalent, why people are homeless, why we have addictions, and why things never seem to change. We are in a system built on fear and control, that is why. We control because we fear we will not receive the love we need. Albert Einstein’s definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. We keep trying to be more caring, more kind, more loving to one another. But love does not thrive within the boundaries of fear, love is what breaks through those boundaries. In order to be more kind to each other, we must free ourselves of the control based system we have allowed to run our world. We can not let this system ruin our world.We must stop the insanity. The Occupy Wall Street movement can be seen as a mobilization of love. It aims to tear down the walls we have built around our hearts, which leaves us vulnerable. We are afraid of this vulnerability, and that is why many afraid of the OWS. In understanding this, we must extend our compassion to those who are afraid. We must acknowledge that all feelings are valid, and we must realize that in a system created by the fear of not having enough, many have learned to live inside fear. Freeing yourself is not always easy, and sometimes just by acknowledging that, you can help someone gain the strength overcome fear. If you already fight for freedom, do not forget that your job is is to be an advocate for love. And that means loving those who are scared.

LANE

We have a lot of pride in America for being such an influential country in this world. Which makes me ask the question, why are we not taking responsibility for the fact that the world is not doing so well? Our earth is being destroyed, and our people are not free. I have heard people say that it is hypocritical for us to protest in the US when people are starving in other countries. But we are the roots of a tree long ago decayed by greed. We must attack the roots and the tree must fall, so that a new life may sprout in its place. I think it is hypocritical not to protest here because it is like denying the fact that what we do affects others. We are all connected. We cannot solve another’s problems, when we have not solved the same problem ourselves. We have let greed suck the very life out of us as ivy does to its host. And in doing that we have become the ivy that feeds on the rest of the world. Greed is a problem here just as it is across the planet , and in fact it is more prevalent. Most of us know greed is not a good thing, but we have allowed it to deaden us. The time has come for love to breathe us alive once again. And as people across the world come to realize this it would be a  damn shame for us Americans not to wake up with them.

LANE

The Occupy movement must be a site for reigniting support of our creativity rights

To be creative the mind must be open, we must learn to hear more than what is spoken

We must not give up because of false expectations, outgrown values, or fear of judgement an impatience

Fear of fear itself is just one of the problems, but as long as we stand strong we will continue to solve them

As long as creativity thrives humankind will continue to strive

Fear and control wont keep us alive, freedom is the only way for our spirits to survive

Through the courage of artistry we become a light, and through our open mindedness we shine out into the night

And we have to be courageous now because those who fear change will try and stomp us out

The balance between peace and strength must be found and restored, we must bind ourselves to life’s umbilical chord

We must channel life’s energy into every heart around, we must create away the enslavery of mind until it can no longer be found

We must cry for freedom until the starving soul begins to eat, we cannot be silenced, we will not be beat

We must stand up to those who deny why a caged bird sings, and we must fight without violence for the good of the dream

And not just the American one, we are all a human collective, in a world where by money all is infected

You can buy way too much but love can never be bought, as long as we try from the inside we will rot

An idea whose time has come has risen like the morning sun

So we Occupy until our world is affected, please never give in because we are all connected

We create what we have by giving to others, now is the time to unite, my sisters and brothers

We will make the world stop and stare because Zucotti Park is everywhere

LANE