There’s a time for being born, a time for learning, and a time for falling in love.
Then, according to the Elders,
Comes the time for marriage, for having kids, for raising them, and finally, just enjoying their company.
After that, they say,
It’s time to live life to the fullest, then the aging years, when other people start looking out for you, and when we get to play with our grandkids—basically, once we've already given everything we have back to Life itself.
And then, the Elders tell us, comes the time of death.
Those are the four stages of Life: every single one of us is going through them.
And I see people living in "smoke-houses" that are a hundred times larger than ours. But look, people in one house don't give a damn about the people in the next; they don't even know them.
It’s also hard for me to wrap my head around the deep-seated hatred that exists between people. It's hard to understand a culture that thinks killing millions in the last war was justified, and is currently prepping bombs to kill even more people right now.
It's hard to grasp a culture that pours more money into wars and weapons than into education and development—things that could actually help other people.
It’s hard to understand a culture that doesn't just hate and fight its own brothers and sisters, but actively destroys and exploits nature itself. I see how my white brothers treat it in their cities.
I see them ripping things out of the arms of the motherland, acting like she's some kind of monster that's being stingy with her riches. I see poison being dumped into the water with total indifference toward the life it kills—and I see the air filling up with deadly smoke.
My white brother is good in many ways, sometimes even better than us, but I wonder... does he even know how to love properly? I ask myself, has he ever truly learned how to love? Maybe he only loves the things he owns, but he’s never learned to love anything outside of his own possessions or himself. And that, obviously, isn't love—because a human has to love all creation, otherwise, they don't love anything at all. Human love has to be all-encompassing, or else man becomes the lowest of all animals. That’s the power of love—it’s what makes him the greatest of all. Only humans are capable of true love.
In my culture, private property is a foreign concept. In fact, it's seen as incredibly harmful within a people. Native Americans believe that things in nature belong to everyone and should be shared with everyone, and you only take what is absolutely necessary.
Every person gives as gladly as they receive. Nobody wants to be a taker all the time. We have received a lot from your culture. I wish you had taken something from ours too—because there are plenty of good, beautiful things in it.
Soon, it will be too late to learn about my culture because integration is getting so strong that very soon, your values will drown ours out. Even now, so many young people have forgotten the old customs and ways of life. Many are ashamed of their roots because they get mocked by others.
My culture is like a wounded deer that has crawled into the thicket alone to bleed out in peace.
The only thing that can truly help us is real love.
Throughout my life, I've lived within two completely different worlds. I was born into a culture built on communal living. My grandfather’s place was huge—about 80 feet long. We used to call it the "smoke house" and it sat right on the banks of a little creek.
All of my grandfather’s sons lived there with their families, all under one roof. Their beds were separated by simple reed partitions, but that central open fire? That was for everyone. It was how we all ate.
In houses like that, you learn how to actually live together. You learn tribal coexistence, helping your neighbor, and respecting what belongs to someone else. Kids grew up right in the middle of the adult discussions, surrounded by aunts, uncles, and cousins who loved them. No one ever had to look over their shoulder.
My father grew up in one of those homes, too. From the time he was a kid, he learned how to love people and how to feel truly at home in anyone's company.
And it’s through that acceptance of living with others that you develop this intense awareness of everything in nature surrounding us.
My father truly loved the land and every living thing on it. To him, the land was Mother, and everything upon it was a gift from the Great Spirit.
I can still remember being a young boy, going fishing with him. I can see him so clearly in my mind on those early mornings when the sun would hit the peaks of the nearby mountains. I see him standing there by the edge of the creek, hands raised high above his head, whispering softly: "Thank you, thank you."
That moment stayed with me. It left a mark. And I’ll never forget the look of pure disappointment on his face when he caught me once just sitting there with a fishing pole, catching fish "just for fun."
"Son," he told me, "the Great Spirit gave these fish to you as brothers, to serve as food when you are hungry. You have to care for them. You should never just kill them 'for fun'."
That was the culture I was raised in. For years, it was the only way of life I understood. And that's exactly why it's been so damn hard for me to accept the things I see around me now.
I just got totally played by some cold, hard truth...
Honestly, Larry Hayes5... what am I even supposed to say to you anymore? How many times do I have to call out those "now you see me, now you don't" magician tricks you keep pulling? 😁
Constant soul-searching anxiety? Just irrational fear for the sake of it?
"Melancholy...is the character of mortality" — says Robert Burton.
Deep within the soul, there lies this hidden mortality of the soul—melancholy is the sickness that hits everyone the moment they realize they aren't immortal.
Melancholy is the state every life falls into once consciousness kicks in—the realization that you aren't eternal, but that you will eventually vanish and decay. It's that AWARENESS OF DECAY, lurking right where you least expect it—IN THE VERY SOUL THAT IS SUPPOSED TO BE IMMORTAL.
Step two: Burton never actually came out and said whether the soul is mortal or immortal. He didn't say yes or no. Melancholy is just this dual state, an unsolvable paradox of "maybe."
Didn't even Oliver see it coming: "Melancholy, in the soul, in the soul, in my soul sleeps..."
Has anyone ever been "there" and actually come back alive?😉
Joshua Foster5 said:Science is our biggest win, sure, but we paid for it by cutting ourselves off from Gaia. The beauty of right now is that we might actually be able to bridge that gap. Maybe we’re running out of time, which—if you want to be a pessimist—actually makes this the perfect era to be alive. 😬 That’s why you’ve gotta try
😬 Are you actually kidding me?😲 That exact brand of "science" is what landed you right where you are—totally disconnected from Gaia. 😁
hollowviper72 said:Who cares if they try to feed us some narrative? We aren't sheep meant to just swallow whatever gets shoved into our pen. 😉
I’m afraid we actually are. Even when we convince ourselves we aren't.
hollowviper72 said:What I see becoming popular lately is this "fatalistic" mindset. The idea that the world is going to hell, everything is falling apart, and so on. When I think about it—why would I even bother thinking like that? Who am I helping with an attitude like that? Not myself, and I doubt I'm helping anyone else either. You get what I'm saying? 🙂
So, define "fatalistic." Closing your eyes to certain facts doesn't make them stop existing.
You've built this entire little mental bubble that you sail around in like a toy sailboat. You poke at it, picking out anything that doesn't fit or might create an unpleasant smell. You think you're some kind of pacifist? What happens when I show up and put a knife to your throat?😁
I really wonder what's going to happen when a real storm blows in and snaps your wings off.😉
It’s not even about studying history. The real issue is learning how to look past everything they try to shove down our throats as "common sense" in today's world.
Look, this thread was meant for something else entirely. But clearly, you guys and I aren't even living on the same planet.😁 There hasn't been this much depression, this level of aimlessness, or this total lack of basic common sense—this "collective delusion"—since the Dark Ages.
The mainstream media is feeding everyone a completely different story.
Are you seriously trying to measure human progress just by looking at "advancements" in science and technology? Is that really your metric?
velvetpilot212 said:Seriously, Paul Campbell3, do you honestly think we’d even be standing where we are today if every single person had to learn everything through trial and error? I mean, I like to think our experiences are hardwired into our DNA like some kind of dark matter, but that’s a whole different rabbit hole.
And what "level of development" are we actually talking about here?🙄 😁
If we're talking about actual wisdom, humanity has never been more clueless or numb than it is right now.😁
velvetpilot212 said:It’s not about listening—it’s about watching what everyone else is actually doing and trying to wrap your head around the cause and effect behind their actions.
But that assumes we actually have control over our own moves and can somehow predict the fallout ahead of time. I don't buy it. We aren't even the ones pulling the strings here. And honestly? Watching other people and overanalyzing their mess isn't going to get us anywhere. Because our own actions aren't ever going to produce the same results twice. The only thing worth observing or dissecting is what we're doing right this second. Maybe true wisdom is just realizing that whatever happens, it was bound to happen.😁
hollowviper72 said:Sure, learning from other people's screw-ups is smart, but you can't be afraid of making your own. At the end of the day, we can't stop ourselves from tripping up—mostly because you don't even realize you messed up until the damage is already done.
Personally, I don't think there’s such a thing as a mistake. Just necessary lessons.😁
It's wise to listen to what others have been through, but can you actually gain wisdom just by listening to their stories? To me, that sounds like more empty "wisdom" fluff. Look, if wisdom comes from experience, then our own experiences are the only things that actually count. Everything else is just talk. Other people made their own "mistakes" by repeating exactly what happened to them. I highly doubt anyone gets truly wise just by eavesdropping on someone else's failures. 😁
Half the time, what we crave isn't actually what we need—and what we need definitely isn't always what we want.😁
But how the hell are you supposed to figure that out without pushing things to the absolute extreme?
Real wisdom comes from living through that mess and learning the hard way.
So, maybe wisdom isn't about playing it safe or being moderate; it’s about having the guts to tell the difference between a whim and a necessity for yourself.
Because what I absolutely need might look like total overkill to someone else, and vice versa.
hollowviper72 said:It’s easy to talk big when you don't have kids depending on you for food... obviously. But I think people should actually know what they're doing with their money. That shows maturity, right? It shows you can actually handle life. Because, for example, you never know when an emergency is going to hit and leave you broke and stranded.
Don't take this as a dig at your style, it's just a difference in how we see things. I'm not some extreme spender... I rarely blow everything I have, but I also don't hoard more than I need. I spend just enough to get what I want while keeping enough tucked away for whatever might pop up later. 😉
Who says I didn't know what I was doing?😁 I knew perfectly well that after my vacation, I'd be scraping by on nothing for a month.😉
I don't "spend just enough." I spend based on what's happening in my life right now. And I'm not just selfishly blowing cash. I pay my credit card bills—just saying that so you don't think I'm some spoiled brat who only cares about herself.
And if some unexpected expense pops up during a dry spell? Well, good grief! So what? I'll figure it out.
And yeah, that's my point of view—because there was a time when I hit rock bottom and lost almost everything. Since then, I don't obsess over every cent. I don't sit there calculating every move or depriving myself of the things that actually make life worth living. Did experience make me wise?😁
Look, just like an unexpected bill can pop up during a slow month, someone could also rear-end me on the highway. In that case, there's no "expense" to plan for, and there wasn't even a vacation to begin with.😁
