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Saturday, February 08, 2014

Into the Airwaves




Doesn't seem like over a month has passed since my last post.  I've been intermittently camping and house-sitting the past month.  Here's some of what's been happening, inside and outside of me.

I'm DJ-ing my own radio show!  

It's every Sunday evening from 9:00 pm to 11:00 pm MST at Moab's own KZMU radio station, called "Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out."  I did my first show last Sunday, preparing to do the second one tomorrow.

It's basically my chance to ramble and rant about all things gift economy and a world beyond money, interspersed with an eclectic mix of music from here and from all over this world.

KZMU is right down my ally, mostly volunteer-run, solar-powered, and independent.

It is also live-streamed on the web, and shows to be recorded and archived for those who can't listen live:

Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out  
Sundays 9:00 pm to 11:00 pm MST
KZMU Moab Community Radio
90.1 and 106.7 FM
also live-streamed at 
http://www.kzmu.org/listen.cfm 
or
http://www.streamingthe.net/KZMU-90.1-106.7-FM-Moab-Utah/p/17864


Now I want to address a Facebook post from one of my good friends' dad:

Do all your followers a favor. Don't sugar coat any of it. Let them know of the struggles and sacrifice it takes every day to live a life that is opposite of the accepted norm. There is good and some days everything seems to come easy. Change, growth and truth only come through sacrifice and struggle. Too many people abandon their path once it becomes a struggle. Only those that persist reach that path. It is never easy.
My response:

Yeah, I realize people often get the wrong impression that this life path is a piece of cake. Yet, in some ways it is, if the mind is tuned in. It is no less a trial than any other lifestyle, but the point is to show that everything is good if the mind is tuned in. But it's hard to communicate that without sounding like I'm sugar-coating it. And at the times when I'm really down and everything sucks, and my mind isn't tuned in, I simply don't feel like writing. Maybe those are the times I should hunker down & write anyway, and brace myself for the inevitable droves of nasty anonymous comments. 
Friends living and dying

Several people significant to me have died within these past couple of weeks.  First, Pete Seeger died, which was expected.  Then a local celebrity, T.R. Richie, a folk musician and poet; then a local friend, David Morgan; then an old dear friend of my family's, Don Adams, died.

They all have something mystically in common to me.  All of them were lights of generosity and enlightenment.  I, of course, didn't know Pete Seeger, except through his music.  And I was only an acquaintance of T.R. Richie, yet moved by his music and poetry and beautiful spirit.  I knew David Morgan, who was a quiet, behind-the-scenes worker for cleaning up the environment, recycling, tirelessly assisting the homeless, and doing service to anybody who needed it.  And Don Adams was a dentist who attended my parents' church and devoted his life to doing free dental work for the homeless, for people in Peru and in Russia.  And he is the dentist who freely fixed my teeth.  All were compassionate souls, quiet shining lights.

I just returned from Fruita and Grand Junction, Colorado, where I attended Don Adams' memorial service and visited my parents.  And I saw my friends Cullen and Jeanine, among others, at the Deep Tea discussion at Cavalcade in Fruita.  Cullen proposed our topic of discussion:

"Is the Search for Equality a Noble Effort?"

It turned out incredibly profound and enlightening.  An amazing and thoughtful group of people.  Maybe I can discuss it here in the future.

I've also been working on a kind of essay, "Musings on Unmerited Suffering and Compassion" (tentative title), which I thought I'd add here.  But it is turning out deeper and longer than I imagined.  So it'll have to wait.  Maybe I can simplify it, shorten it, later.

Meanwhile, I just want to publish this before the radio show tomorrow.   More to come.