By surrendering to the corporate and political empire, we are doing what psychiatrist Eric Fromm so aptly identified in his book, Escape from Freedom. Timothy and Sally, while telling us that letting go of the shore (i.e., the corporate state, the government, and our indoctrination) and sailing into deeper waters is scarey, are also saying it is the only way that we can reclaim freedom within the body of Nature.
Yes, the opportunity is dangerous. Life includes death. We need, however, to recognize that submission to the powers-that-be leads to inevitable destruction. Freedom is opening to infinite potential. Dare we set sail on that Ocean so vast that we would rival Columbus in courage and vision?
How do we do this according to Bennett and Erickson? We need to withdraw from a set of values and assumptions. We need to question and step back from consumerism which values only how much we own and accumulate. Instead, our focus needs to be on our creativity in taking care of self, family and community (natural and human).
They call us to question what we perceive as reality. Reality is as we see it. Even the band of light that you see is defined by what your eyes are able to process. This screen is defined by the construction of your brain and is NOT an objective "fact" existing "out there." Rather, it is an interaction between Light, which consists of vibratory waves sailing upon the depths of space, and your Mind. Your Mind only is able to process a small band of what is "out there." Thus, it is limited. It can, however, be broadened significantly if, instead of believing A, B, or C, we begin to consider "All the Above."
This refreshing
(and subversive) option includes both the large missions we undertake
globally and the small things we do locally. While Tim is allowing
his imagination to create heroes to save the world, Sally is
marketing cloth greenhouse bags that keep veggies fresh for a week or
more and cut down on our reliance on plastic. According to this
film-maker, farmer, turned entrepreneur, cottage industries like hers
place power back into the hands of the community. These localized
industries then lead to sustainable local employment, not as
vulnerable to large-scale economic collapse. Furthermore, by
supporting both the organic farmers that produce the cotton from
which the bags are made and the local farmers whose produce they will
preserve, we will support the soils which then could increase the
livelihood of the ecosystem which then increases the health of the
planet.
Sally Erickson by Sally Erickson
What's good for the Earth is good for us!
Want to change the world? Begin with yourself and how you relate to your backyard! As permaculture gardeners realize, you and your home are ground "0". Change begins there. The number "0" is egg shaped simply because it is the universe in potential.
It's all in you in relation to all of Nature.
What about health?
Interestingly, Tim and Sally do not have health insurance, but use
food and physical work to increase health. I personally can't confirm
this with my variety of health issues. However, I do think the
dis-eases that I am currently manifesting are caused by years of
terrible, commercially driven food choices and would have been worse
had I not changed lifestyle four years ago.
We will need to move beyond the belief that we are the masters of the universe. We in the labor class need to write up a divorce decree and give it to Adam, manifesting as the Corporation, Government, Institutionalized Church and other Ruling Heads. Our consciousness furthermore needs to be more open and receptive vs reactive and closed.
Inwardly, we have infinite creative ability. We need to pay attention to our impulse and instinct...our inner calling. This requires that we follow that still small voice that whispers to us just below the threshold of our ego's consciousness which is manufactured and manipulated by the corporate media.
Gaze into the nighttime sky, and see the relationship of your atoms to empty space in the stars above! Breathe deep the scents of the Sea and know the scents of the womb in which we enter as lovers and leave as babes. Gaze into the starry eyes enlightened by the inner fires of knowing. Can you see those sparkles in the stars above you?
Timothy Scott Bennett provides us the "scope" with which to see anew through the lens of science fiction based on the interaction of hard, cold fact and imagination. He reveals, in gory but also glorious detail, that the alien is us. We are the ones that have alienated ourselves from the universe.
The heroes of All the Above are Linda Travis, a future President of the United States, and the love of her heart, Cole. Both are confronted with information that makes them question everything they believe. From my reading, this confrontation comes from two levels, that of alien beings and that of the real "rulers" of the human race. In terms of the former, as Bennett says, the aliens speak for various aspects of reality that we are not conscious of, such as other dimensions of reality. Like any good work of fiction, the story interacts with the reader. As such, when I heard the term "alien" I thought of our deeper spiritual self, a self existing beyond the rational, ego mind which we mistakenly believe ourselves to be.
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