Sign Of The Times: Work For Free.

British Airways is asking thousands of its staff to take unpaid time off for up to month. However, they have the option of working during that time for no pay.

Wow! Sign me up!

N O T.

Just as I decided my days of playing the piano and writing for free were over many moons ago (and a SHAME ON YOU to the publisher of the alchemist, a local paper, who won't cough up a dime for the very writer's and contributors who are keeping his paper going), there is absolutely no way I would ever work for free for any corporation, big or small. Can't afford to pay me for my time? Then let me know when you can and I'll return at that time.

Think British Airway's elitist executives are working for free or god forbid taking a massive cut in their hefty salaries?

This is simply a reflection of the fucked up way we've created the monetary system. If we are going to insist on such a system, then for christ sake, let's bring some BALANCE into it, shall we?

*Close the gap on the wages of executives versus the workers. For afterall, without the workers, there would be NO DAMN BUSINESS GOING ON.

*Sliding scale fees on ALL goods and services. I'm fed up with paying the same damn price for my food, shelter, clothing and other goods and services as my elitist and wealthier fellow humans. Hell, even the middle and upper middle class can get tossed into that equation.

An enlightened populace looks at this in much the same light. A brainwashed, greedy populace thinks worth/ones deserving of __ is based on money/ones ability to pay.

This infuriates me. I'm upset with myself for choosing (some days I believe I was manipulated) to come to this planet for I know there are other civilizations of humans in this galaxy and beyond who are much more enlightened, compassionate, fair, balanced and peaceful and if I had the chance to hitch a ride to such a place I'd take the offer. Changing the system is hard work and most days, I feel too tired to take up the fight in real tangible ways, especially being my ideas are so foreign and freakish. Upset at how utterly dark and unjust the system is. Upset at fellow human beings who continue to vocally support the system by voting in puppet after puppet even after being shown solid evidence that it is those BEHIND the members of government who drive the wheel. Upset that this damn little city I live in has high unemployment, few jobs and very crappy paying at that, and yet a ridiculously expensive housing market that simply refuses to change with the current financial situation.

But whatever, I'm here and I know I need to make the best of it. And yet, god damnit, I don't want to try and make the "best" of it. Been there, done that. Want something NEW that gels with WHO I AM. I'm tired of feeling like an outcast, tired of feeling like a victim of a system I deplore, trying to find my way in my OWN way. I discipline myself to look at what I think and to condition myself to think new thoughts for, while I don't know how effective this is in creating the life I want for myself in its entirety considering what I want is not going to exist in full unless and until some serious positive, peaceful changes take place, at least some empowerment comes out of knowing that what I think are MY thoughts and not someone elses thoughts. Did that make sense?

It's been tough facing the inner crap, but it leads to our own personal truths. My life has not been easy. I can say I've chosen to take this path, but some days I think "if only I knew..." I've been targeted since birth, so it seems. There's been a pattern of encountering people and forces who seem to wish to silence or dismiss/discount my truth. And god damn, it's lonely as hell at times when you feel cut off from the majority. Oh sure, there are progressive people all around me, but they are still fine with the system at large, in so long as one of their "progressive" candidates is in charge. And talking with them about other dimensions, aliens and "secret" societies (put in quotes because they really aren't secret anymore), well, that pretty much puts an end to the conversation.

Last week, I stood outside at night, looking up at the stars, weeping, longing to find "my people" as I call them and have been calling them for years. I've searched high and low on this planet and aside from my spouse and a couple of other friends, I've yet to find this group of people I keep searching for. What's the term, close but no cigar...? So I've been wondering if, perhaps, they're "out there" on another planet. I began wondering that recently after encountering that object/craft in the sky several weeks ago - the one encounter whereby I felt a heartfelt connection. The one encounter where I intuitively knew it would be there for me to see. The one encounter of a craft whereby I wept as it winked out.

Like that U2 song, "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For". I admire those who claim to be settled and comfortable. I don't know. Maybe we all are searching in our own way, some are more aware of the search (need for) than others. Some more likely to admit to such a vulnerability. Sometimes I think what I'm looking for is to be found within, sometimes, on the outside. Since I continue to hear the word "balance" run through my mind when I'm trying to figure something out, perhaps it is a balance of with-in and with-out. Perhaps at the heart of it all, I'm looking to connect with my inner self in a way that my mind and soul are of like, and perhaps I am also searching for this group of people who are also of like. I just know when it happens, I'll simply know.