I always wondered if I’d live to be 32. Turns out all those ancient civilizations were wrong, and I will indeed enjoy my 32nd year. After all, the Mayans never said the world would end; their calendar ended. It was one of many calendars they used.
I’ve made a habit of writing a birthday letter to the world, and here’s another one.
I’d like to set the stage with a balance. A balance of thank you, and go away. I’ll start with the go away.
Go away religious extremists; all you’ve done is cause us harm. Perhaps ‘your people’ have benefited from whatever teachings you’re promulgating, but many others have suffered, died and been silenced because of it. I’m happy that you’ve found your god, now let me find mine.
Go away political extremists. It’s likely that, if you identify with one political party or another, you are one of these. You are unwilling to listen. You vote based on a nonexistent party-line. You are concerned with being right more than you are with figuring out the problem. You, because you are devoted to partisanship, miss the point: humanity has nothing to do with partisanship. Our species is inclined to thrive, not to fight. Once you understand that our differences should bring us together, and not tear us apart, we will all be better off.
Go away corporate music labels. You are ruining our culture. You have already ruined our culture. You are more concerned with money than building a compassionate species.
Go away faux artists. You are not a photographer because you have a digital camera and post to facebook. You are not a poet because you ‘construct’ a poem every now and then. You are not a dancer because you dance in nightclub. You are not a musician because you can strum a chord. There was a day, not long ago, when, to be an artist meant you must endure an apprenticeship. You must study the history of your craft – the ancient conversation between the artists that leads to the present. Artists were required to understand their craft. They were required to be steeped in its history. I’m not talking about MFAs here. I’m talking simply about a lifetime of commitment to a craft. School isn’t required for this. No, everything is not art.
Go away Bilderberg Group, Royal Institute of International Affairs, Council on Foreign Relations, Trilateral Commission and Club of Rome. In many cases, you are violating laws, and, we already have governments. Stop meddling in the affairs of the human race. It will come back to bite you.
Go away mainstream media. CNN, NBC, CBS, AP, Reuters, etc. You will suffer at the results of your own devotion to ignorance, soon enough.
Go away Age of Pisces. Aquarius has got to be better than that.
Thank you, Age of Pisces. Humanity can’t know good if it doesn’t sit in a pile of shit, first.
Thank you, Mayans, Hopi, et al for making some of us feel afraid that the world was going to end. Sometimes, you don’t know what you got until you think it’s almost gone. It’s December 22nd.
Thank you mother, for bringing me into this world, for better or worse. To this day, I can still say that each time I talk to you, I feel better about the world. I have you to thank for my patience, my compassion, and most of all, my love for family. I see now that we were supposed to treat everyone this way, even people we’re not related to.
Thank you Congressman Ron Paul, for your steadfast adherence to the Constitution, and your commitment to the individual freedom of Americans. While we didn’t always agree, I knew that you would never vote for a law that forced me to. Enjoy your retirement.
Thank you baby niece, for being born. Thank you brother and sister-in-law for bringing her to the world. She has half my DNA. Even though we never see each other, I know she is out there, being a part of my family. Some days, that is enough to make me forget about everything else.
Thank you Detroit for reminding me of home, and also becoming it. It’s hard to imagine looking out my window and not seeing the ‘golden tower of the Fisher Building.’
For your art, thank you James Horner, Howard Shore, Peter Jackson, Alan Hovhaness, Michael Garguilo, for filling my year with fine art.
Thank you Detroit Institute of Arts. I have a second home. A place where I can meditate. It was surprising. It always is.
Thank you, girlfriend, for being tirelessly devoted to me. I am a terrible and difficult human being. I can’t imagine. You will forever have all of my love.
I could keep going, but by this point, it’s not important. You get the point. I wouldn’t be here without all of you.