By Fredalupe!
The Novel Crack —Andy Warhol
Editor of The New Agora
And so here we all are. Here we all are together, greater than the sum of our parts, yet again insisting on that truth’s inherent strength, that strength’s implicit truth, truths really: that we are ‘in it’ together, that mass makes might, that together we make the world, if only we dared imagine more for ourselves, and, even, dare I say it: one another. It is through the cracks in our brains that ecstasy creeps in. — Logan Pearsall Smith
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EACHING FOR THAT magic number of change, beginning again, with this very first issue of our third Volume, in the futuristic year of 2020, we welcome you, dear reader, to the Show. New year, new logo, new volume, new day, new agora. Who doesn’t enjoy a new day? If there’s one thing we can surely all agree on together it’s that we all share the same love of a fresh start, new beginnings, the novel crack of an unfamiliar book opened, that perfume of promise, the crisp clean coolness of that wonderful shining newness, a metaphor for first times, for best times, for the adventure just begun, for youth at any age, present in every dawn for the young and old and the timeless truth of all beings. As our latest cover play happily communicates, to newcomers and those many, many loyal readers and long-time patrons who have been with us for the long haul, we are, once again, changing. To exist is to change, to change is to mature, to mature is to go on creating oneself endlessly. – Henri Bergson During our tenure curating Truth and Freedom in these crazy days where both have become terribly unfashionable and often times even criminal in the extreme, we have found it wise and strategic to remain fluid in the way we walk and work in this dimensional reality. Undesirous of fanning the flatulent flames of fear so purposely primed and ready to ignite and combust the very air we breathe, nor wishing to trample on anyone, misguided or otherwise, deserving or otherwise, it really has been quite the lesson in modern dance. Who knew Lorenzo and I were to become veritable paragons of peace, soft-shoeing our way through fields of frenzied foolishness? Heavens! Watch your step & don’t stop the
music! Incredible change happens in your life when you decide to take control of what you do have power over instead of craving control over what you don’t. — Steve Maraboli The egomaniacal madness presently possessing the masses and its institutions is no easy obstacle course in which to navigate throughout one’s life, and all to supposedly ‘make a decent living’. No doubt you’ve noticed this yourself as it’s a rather inescapable feature set up from the get-go of our experience here, for one and all, fun for the whole family. They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself.
Our change is a movement of energy at its core, more so a crystallization in the sense of concentrated powers and intent, one whose gravity has worked to attract a host of like-minded and self-directed participators keen on cooperatively co-creating the best possible version of who and what and where we are regardless of the dark shenanigans of these ‘interesting times’. “Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the
Art of Life From page 5 others that have muddied his beautiful music, and that if he has been weak enough to allow it, then he is surely unworthy of a fresh canvas anyways. The fact that he has created his own pain, his own setbacks, his own poverty, his own illness, is absolutely preposterous to him, for he has no conscious recollection of ever even scripting that into his play. He looks at the disheartened art around him and decides that he is normal; he is just the victim of an unfair life as much as anyone else. And so he continues to feel justified in his belief of himself as the victim of a degrading story, forever looping and materializing this reality into his existence. This is the experience of modern humanity’s belief systems in a nutshell.
Beliefs Create Form
“Your world is a living expression of how you are using and have used your mind.” -Earl Nightingale
In this world, our beliefs are our utensils and our lives are our canvas. In simple terms: there is no doubt, logically and intuitively, that we are master creators of our own experience. What we believe, we create. This crystal-clear truth is evident to those who have used it for their success. The more humanity sees this for themselves the more it will evolve to new heights. Changing our reality is only as difficult as we believe it to be. When we sincerely understand the thought-constructive nature of the universe and the massive role of the subconscious mind, we will stop looping into self-sabotage, realizing our ability to create fulfillment for ourselves. This is the way of the new paradigm of free humans. Already we see solutions arise as Page 5
crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.” ― Rob Siltanen As our substance has increased, our volume if you will, and as we turn the page on who we’ve been to allow room for all that we might yet become: We Invite You, Dear Reader, to join in on the fun, to come and find your place (no one else can: it’s yours), to craft it, to embody that which you truly are, to throw in more than just your two cents, to commit your whole being into this adventure we share called life. Free your inner pioneer, your Dreamer, your creative consciousness. Blooming is the point! In a sense this is our sacred duty, one that can only be fulfilled by each and every one of us on our own. If you find yourself following trends & fashions, or anything or anyone… ask yourself at what cost exactly do you do so? By all means triangulate and study the movements and thoughts of the day, but don’t lose yourself in them. Allow the world to teach you what it will: then go your own way. You’ll eventually find the best of us doing the same. T’was ever so. When people are ready to, they change. They never do it before then, and sometimes they die before they get around to it. You can’t make them change if they don’t want to, just like when they do want to, you can’t stop them. - Andy Warhol We are all changing. Whether we age like complex wine or spoil like evil cheese, it could be said that our choices determine our fates, and that the power of our decisions is all we really have. So have a care, as with every action we make of ourselves what we will. Change, when it comes, cracks everything open. — Dorothy Allison Cheers! innovative minds discover new possibilities. In the study of epigenetics, biologists show that it is not the genes that control our fate, but the environment of the genes that are the true builders of your cellular community (aka: your body). The environment of your genes (i.e. your thoughts, feelings, beliefs, etc.) are what give the information directly to the 50 trillion cells in your body that decide how to use these genes, not the genes themselves. Subconsciously or consciously, YOU are the operator of your DNA. As you change your thoughts, you change your life. In the cuttingedge work of Dr. Bruce Lipton, he makes it clear that we are not victims of our reality, but are creators of it. The enslavement on this planet has been less physical than it has been psychological; for the mind is the root, or perhaps the conductor, of all material manifestation. It is no mystery why humanity’s creative capacity has been literally harnessed by those who wish to dominate the world, and thereby have it used against them. After all, if your thoughts and feelings weren’t such powerful fuel for creation, why would everyone want to control them so badly? We cannot overlook the fact that many of our beliefs are not our own, and when it comes down to the official stories of the world we’ve been given, we know very little about who we really are. Our deep-rooted and usually subconscious ideas of ourselves and others control our destiny. Until we take the initiative to become aware of these deepseated (or should I say deep-seeded) dogmas and transform them, they will decide the way our art form takes place. As Carl Jung wisely said, “Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate.” Nonetheless, one need not feel guilty for contributing to the casualties of their
Please see ART OF LIFE, page 23