MY PHILOSOPHY (For What It’s Worth)

Hangin’ out on the mean streets of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo.

I’m a true believer on puttin’ it all on the line, goin’ balls to the walls, letting the chips fall where they may, and all of those other clichés.  But for me, it’s not.

Cliché that is.  It’s about living life without restriction, without fear.

Once I’ve achieved that, completely –and I’m well on my way—I’ll truly be free,  Many I admire, real and fictional, have said it well.

 

 

When you ain’t got nothing,’ you got nothin’ to lose.” – Bob Dylan, “Like A Rolling Stone”

  • “It is better to die on your feet than to live on your knees” -Emiliano Zapata
  • What’s the matter with you guys? This was never about the money, this was about us against the system. That system that kills the human spirit. We stand for something. We are here to show those guys that are inching their way on the freeways in their metal coffins that the human spirit is still alive. – Patrick Swayze, as Bodhi, Point Break
  • Think of the freedom in the recognition that you are not bound by all the strange and twisted laws you have set up to save you.  You really think that you would starve unless you have stacks of green paper strips and piles of metal discs?  You really think a small round pellet or some fluid pushed into your veins through a sharpened needle will ward off disease and death  You really think you are alone unless another body is with you? – A Course in Miracles, Lesson 76, part 3.
  • Fear not much, fear not why, fear not much while we’re alive. Life is for living, not living uptight.  See ya somewhere up in the sky –the genius of Jay-Z; Young Forever
  • You have to be willing to die to who you used to be in order to be born to who you can be – Marianne Williamson
  • I can’t stand to fly, I’m not that naïve, I’m just out to find, a better part of me.  It may sound absurd…but don’t be naïve, even heroes have the right to bleed. I may be disturbed…but won’t you concede. Even heroes have the right to dream. And it’s not easy to be me – “Superman,” Five For Fighting
  • ….Strip away the layers and reveal your soul Got to give yourself up and then you become whole You’re a slave to yourself and you don’t even know You want to live the fast life but your brain moves slow If you’re trying to stay high then you’re bound to stay low You want God but you can’t deflate your ego If you’re already there then there’s nowhere to go If your cup’s already full then it’s bound to overflow…….. ………out of night comes day and out of day comes light… …I believe, yes, I believe. I said I believe I’ll stand on my own two feet Won’t be brought down on one knee…         -Matisyahu, “King Without A Crown
  • Get busy livin’, or get busy dyin’, Morgan Freeman as Red, in “Shawshank Redemption.”
  • It’s about making a little music every day until you die.  It’s a beautiful ride. =The genius of “Dewey Cox.”

That first quote above –“When you ain’s got nothin’, you got nothin’ to lose”—that was me, not long ago.  Now, with a clear “career” path, a beautiful home, two even more beautiful pups and a semblance of sanity,” much has changed for me.  Well, circumstantially at least.  But my mentality  –the devil-may-care-attitude that is represented in the quotes above and which I so admire…well, I like to think that remains the same.  Via a “Diary” entry in my soon-to-be-released book,” Been There, Done That,” here’s how that felt just 2 (loooong) years ago: