Honey, Wonder, and Collecting
Beware of the bird who ignores the rising sun and sings instead for the growing length of its shadow.
The bee pollinates the flower, and the flower feeds the bee. We get honey and wonder. Certainly the bees are seen as busier than the flower, but one cannot exist without the other. They exist symbiotically, and we ALL get to enjoy the beauty and quite literally the fruits of their labour. I doubt either being if it were possible would ask for thanks or even care to know how much we admire them for doing simply what comes naturally. When nature is allowed to do what comes naturally, without thought for hoarding, we obtain balance, nurture and beauty. Alas some humans, as more socially competitive animals, crave both the honey and admiration.
Unless you avoid ALL corporate media, and I wouldn't blame you if you did, you know of Jeffrey Epstein and his victimization of young girls, and you also know that he was on friendly terms with Bill Gates. The question many of us have is why.
Did Gates join Epstein in illegal predilections or was something else up. Gates claims he interacted with Epstein for philanthropic reasons, unlikely, given Epstein was already a convicted sex offender at this point.
Russell Brand explores if it might not have been an attempt on Gates' part to influence the folks in Norway and to nab himself a Nobel Peace Prize.
If you require recognition for your altruism, you did no altruism.
If you find yourself with that much power and wealth, you GET TO help the world and ease suffering, that's the prize. By doing so, you will be rewarded beyond the measure of a plaque or re-known. You get to enjoy that world.
We live in a world where so many of us crave a steady stream of recognition, not just for good deeds, but also for, at times, the very food we eat. I mean who hasn't instagrammed lunch. It's not a bad thing to chronicle our lives and show off our passions and whimzy. And it is certainly not a bad thing to partake in good works. Sometimes getting attention for those good works requires some publicizing.
Unfortunately some undertake good works not for the sake of alleviating suffering and, yes, that secret little rush one gets from being helpful. Some do it almost solely for personal gain, gain of reputation and influence pedalling.
All those foundations: tax havens and influence garners.
And I guess one doesn't become much more influential outside of super stardom or political office than with a Nobel Peace Prize on their mantle, and following their moniker in every article that will henceforth be written about you.
The Collector
The obsession began outside a trellised cafe for a cherubic but neglected child, his parents, too engrossed with each other to notice his obvious lack. His mother’s swollen mid-section foreshadowed he’d soon grow a little lonelier.
A waiter noticed his expanding isolation. Boredom to disconnect was often tragic. What could he give to salve the situation? A string, strung with discarded bottle caps. In the child’s hands, trash transformed to treasure. The cherubic but neglected child gained his first collection.
He moved on from there to seashells and then tinker cars. When he entered school, it was a natural evolution to collect some of the other children. Friends a misnomer, he lined them up and played them off. Those that refused to be selected found themselves shunned to social Siberia.
Angelic cheeks hardened to chiseled features. The child grew to see himself a leader of men, a lover of women. As long as he had his collections, he had proof he belonged; he had proof he existed.
35
The gentlest wind
Blows the smallest seed
Carries the lightest cloud
The soil catches and cradles
Nurtures the seedling
Rain falls
The tallest tree grows
We marvel at the tree
We give no note to the soil
We give no note to the cloud
The wind’s bluster carries no boast
Of look what I have done
Look for no note
Offer no boast
Transform as the Tao would have you
The wonder is in the Tao
Her every-changing nature
The Tao cannot be matched
She is in every action
She is in every outcome
In every transformation
***
Words and Images are my own.
The Collector is published in Monsters, Avatars, and Angels and available in paperback or digital through amazon and your local libraries and bookstores.
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