Maceo Paisley

About Maceo Paisley

Maceo Paisley is basically awesome.

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What Physical Intimacy Can Teach Us About Truth

Maceo Paisley Dating body language, physical intimacy, sex 0

Sometimes we find ourselves with people that we can not explain. These are people that for one reason or another we can not get enough of. In our mind we know it’s not going to work out, we aren’t compatible, or the relationship is down right destructive. But something happens when we are in close proximity. Sparks fly, a reptilian chemistry emerges from our subconscious and we are propelled by a raging desire. This passion is informative, it can tell us about what is really going on between two people. It can tell us about ourselves and the other person.

We must first recognize that our personalities are as much nature as they are nurture and it only takes one other person to form a society or culture with us. Context for our own reflection and action is formed when another person gives us permission to behave in a way we have always wanted but never felt we could. Our potential expands when we are inspired by others to take on new roles. We are such impressionable social beings that our whole personality can change when a certain person walks into a room. This is especially the case with physical intimacy.

There is a curiosity we feel when we are attracted to someone. An innate desire to find out what is going on with them.We know about the different levels of communication, written word is below spoken word, and face to face is known as the highest form. If we think about it, the highest form of communication is touch. Just like checking a person’s pulse can tell you if they are lying, body language is undeniable. A man, when aroused, though he may try, can not subdue an erection. Women too, can not mentally control their bodies release of its natural lubricant. The naturalness of the body is the root of the phrase “bare naked truth”.

Lies come with language. Words tend to complicate the simple, and are inherently narrow at describing the biggest feelings. Love can not be described with words, but it can be described with the body. It is a feeling so big that only touch and action can communicate it. The vocabulary, of embrace, kiss, caress, and intercourse is love’s glossary. Just as we feel love in the spiritual connection of two souls, and the intellectual connection of two minds, the physical connections of our bodies is also love. We must understand that it can exist on each of these plains exclusively or all at once.

This is why we can go crazy for someone in bed but can’t stand to set across from them at the table. In order to understand why we must realize how simple body language is. Your body does not think, it only feels. Two people can communicate their true desire for each other without the cloudiness of thought. To talk to someone is to engage the mind and, though you may know what to say, you have to translate your thought and feeling in to a language that may not have the right word. You also have to know the proper word, use it in its proper context and expect that the person you are saying it two knows the word, recognizes the context, and translates it back into the same thought in their own mind.We’re not always eloquent enough to communicate with our words so each step in the process of verbal communication leaves great margin for error.

With touch it is much simpler. If a person is still, it is because their body wants to be still. If they are moving it is because their body wants to move. The body and mind can work together but the mind works independently also. The body is its own authority at times. As we learn to listen to our bodies we can interpret its feelings and better synchronize our body and mind. This can help us to align our desires with our goals but it is not an easy task.

If you are feeling a touch that your body likes, it will lean in as reflex. You must train to modify the reflex if you do not want it to do so. The truth of joy is in the body. The mind ads its own awareness as a product of intellect. This is why we can find ourselves victim to the cravings of the body against our better judgement, but it is not all negative. At times it may be important to look into the clarity or perspective the body provides. Just as with our diet we must be aware of the effects of the physical connections. We may not like the taste of vegetables but will find we have a random craving for spinach if the body is devoid of fiber. If the body is craving a particular type of touch that too,informs us of what we may be needing. Pain and pleasure are our natural tools for navigating the earth, and our instinct supports the likelihood of feeling either.

If your body is recognizing another person’s as a place of comfort and not risk there may be something to it. And it may be up to us to clear a path in our mind to find the comfort in that person on an intellectual level as well. This balance comes with trial and error and through practice can be honed. It will require experimentation and risk, just as it does to learn all other things. Believe half of what you see, none of what you hear, but all of what you feel, because the purest truth is in the body.

Buying Medicines Online

Maceo Paisley Conversation Pieces 0

The Drugs & Health Centre aims to promote a better understanding of drugs and the drug safety process and provide support to patients and their families, their doctors, the media and other interested parties. We strive to provide users with accurate and up-to-date information about drugs, health care professionals and facilities in Canada. More importantly, we strive to help educate them about health and safety, the use and abuse of drugs, and their own rights when it comes to drugs. This can be a very powerful tool when you consider that over half of Canadians have used drugs in the past 12 months! That’s a large number, and we know that our discussions with consumers can have a significant impact on the use of drugs.

Online pharmacies work very well, but there are some that are unsafe, and some that are actually scams. If you are applying for treatment from a prescription or over-the-counter medication, especially over-the-counter medications, be cautious when ordering online. Many online pharmacies have no control over their products and may not stock your medication. Many doctors have published the same medication on multiple websites. Some sites and vendors have not been responsive to consumer complaints. And, many pharmacies are hesitant to state that their products are safe and effective. When you purchase a prescription medication, you should know what it does, its dosage, and how long it lasts for. If you are ordering a generic medication, make sure to get information about the manufacturer, the active ingredients, and the manufacturer’s packaging. Ask the pharmacy where you are ordering from, especially if they offer a free shipping option. Ask the pharmacy to state that their product is made under the strictest quality control practices. You can always check with your health care provider before taking medications on a trip abroad, or even from another country. Ask the pharmacy if they provide medical records. In some countries, you can also find out if the medications they sell contain stimulant ingredients. If you use a medication in a new country, consider learning about the dangers and side effects to ensure you are not hurting yourself or others. Make sure you know the drug’s brand name (the generic names) and dosage (how much) and how it compares to the medication you are already taking. Additionally, read up on your medication, safety, and side effects before use. You may not be told about any problems if you ask a knowledgeable person in the health care system. Canadian pharmacy is the most trusted name in high-quality, affordable medications.

When you are looking for the truth, the Canadian Drug Information Centre (CDIC) has a wealth of resources to inform you about drugs. Every year, the CDIC offers approximately 1,200 events for the public, health professionals, legislators and the media. This year’s CDIC theme is Mapping Your Global Drug Experience. If you are a victim of drugs, you are a valuable partner in our efforts. As we continue to do our work, you can be assured that we take your safety and well-being very seriously. If you feel that you have been harmed by drugs, the Canadian Drug Information Centre is here to help you. Visit our Victims of Drugs page for more information.

The Drugs & Health Centre does not support the use of the ‘new’ opioid prescription drugs. To ensure the safety of patients we encourage our members and patients to learn and use the information provided by the National Prescription Drug Monitoring Program. See information about how to access this free program. While we will continue to offer the most current information on current laws and regulations, if you want to get a specific, past version of information, just call us and we will deliver it to you.

A Good Cry: Secret Weapon Of Strength

Maceo Paisley by Maceo Paisley, Conversation Pieces compartmentalization, depression, greiving, pain, pain sadness, sadness 0

There is a special skill that many athletes, have. Many soldier,and entrepreneurs have it as well. It is the thing that makes them able to face insurmountable obstacles and overcome the tragedy of grave failure, pick them selves up and try again. This is the same skill that the ultra-marathon runner employs in mile 62 of an endurance race, it is the same skill the sniper uses when he is stung in the left eye by a bee while using his right eye to stay focused on his target. It is not a skill that is physical it is mental. Compartmentalization of pain is one of the oldest and most effective pain management assets a person can use. It allows you to block out the immediate pain and push toward the greater goal. But this great skill does not work on trauma. Not at all.

If someone punches you in the face your adrenaline will surge and its possible to keep fighting while your eye closes up. Some people can’t feel anything until after a fight is over because of this. But if your cornea is damaged in the fight there is no amount of pain tolerance that will bring your vision back. Now why am I talking about eye balls? Because that is the unequivocal soft spot on every human being. And eye tissue doesn’t repair itself the way other tissues do. So its important to note that sometimes even when a fighter is telling the referee he can still handle the pain. The ref has the authority to call the bout so that the fighter doesn’t do irreversible harm.

Hurt is something that can easily be ignored, injury impairs function for a longer term and can lead to permanent trauma. This is the thing all the super athletes, entrepreneurs, soldiers, and fighters sometimes have trouble realizing. As passionate people sometimes we can not see past our noses, and when it comes to managing pain we can train ourselves to keep our eye on the prize but in addition to the compartmentalization skill we also need the emergency release valve. Sometimes we just need to fucking cry.

Amidst the fire fight, you might loose a comrade, and that is not the time to get choked up and impair your judgement and put the others of you that are still alive at risk. Once you get back to safety though that loss needs to be processed. It needs it own time to resonate fully within you psychological, and emotionally. If you are in shock, you are not healing. If you are suppressing emotions you are not healing. And you will never heal until you experience those thoughts and feeling fully.

We all know that feelings can be bottled up for only so long and the longer we keep them contained to more explosive they can be come once they force their way out. It is important that we passionate artists, athletes, and entrepreneurs allow ourselves this time and even add it into our training and preparations. It is as essential as rest (which we often fail to do as well). If you are not taking the time to grief, in whatever way you need to you are not moving past the event that is causing you pain. They say the first step in drug abuse recovery is admitting you have a problem. The first step in grieving is acceptance.

Pain works the same way in our bodies. It is not weakness, it is a signal. Alarms are loud and jarring for a reason and to ignore them is to ignore their cause. For me, the secret weapon is crying, balling my eyes out like a little baby. I may do it in private, alone, in the dark but I do it. Sometimes it may be while I am running, or while I am working out. It just needs to be released.

And I don’t mean hitting a punching bag in anger, I mean experiencing real crippling sadness. The work is to find a place where you can be paralyzed for a second, give your self a chance to fall apart so that you have any chance of putting yourself back together in a healthy way.

If your foundation is rocked by an event you might have to tear out a part of the building to repair it but there is no short cut to healing. Being the achievers we are we may want to push through the pain, and that is absolutely necessary. But it is just as imperative that we crumble if we have to.

Tear ducts should be rinsed from time to time and the only way to do that is to use them. If you don’t have all the time in the world or are worried about not being able to come back from the feelings get around people that you trust or even talk to a therapist but you can’t be afraid to explore all of you emotions and pain and sadness are just as important as courage and compartmentalization.

They say it takes a big man to cry, but in many ways it only takes a smart one. If you don’t “let it out” it will come out at a time when you are not expecting it. Let your tears become a tool, your pain become an informant, and your emotions augment your instinct. You become a better person for it. Not only capable of suppressing your pain in urgent moments, but opening it up to aid in recovery.

Louis Zamperini, who the film Unbroken is based on was not a great man because he felt no pain, but because he was able to survive it. He didn’t bottle it up like a machine, he expressed it like a human being. It is there that the beauty of stoicism is revealed. It is not a skill like any other that has a time and place of usefulness. It is a tool and in response to dire moment your secret weapon is a good cry.

Am I Crazy Or Was That A Microaggression!?

Maceo Paisley Conversation Pieces 0

From time to time I come in contact with a police officer, and I can’t help but get a little tense. I am a black man in America. If you were not born yesterday then you know there is a major issue in this country as suggested by the criminal defense attorneys practicing Fort Myers with the militarization of the police force and the criminalization of people of color. I am not a police officer but I have served in the United States Army. I remember the feeling of fear that comes with interacting with people that are deemed the “enemy”. It causes you to be a bit more agitated and this agitation can lead to a bias. Now as a civilian, in the United States I recognize that the police may carry this bias towards me, so I in turn carry a bias. So, rather than getting help from a civil litigation attorney, we are now in a situation where it is likely that the police officer sees me as a criminal, and I see the police officer as overly violent and this is all due to our appearance.

Any interaction we have will be colored by this hyper sensitivity. If I move to quickly the police office may think I am reaching for a weapon. If the officer asks me to get out of the car I am driving, I may think he is going shoot me. Neither fear is any more reasonable when viewed objectively, but nonetheless they are real fears.

This paradigm has led me to investigate the anxiety I have around fear from my psychological approach. Is it possible that no matter what the officer says to me, that I have so much social trauma around interactions between black men and cops that I am triggered by even the slightest hint of dominance? If you were to take the same police officer and have them read a script to a black man and a white man, would they view the instance differently because of their social conditioning and relationship to power?

According to PBS Monnica Williams at the Center for Mental Health Disparities the answer is yes. Her work suggests that the viral nature of police shootings of unarmed black men can create a social racial trauma with PTSD like symptoms.

“There’s a heightened sense of fear and anxiety when you feel like you can’t trust the people who’ve been put in charge to keep you safe. Instead, you see them killing people who look like you,” she says. “Combined with the everyday instances of racism, like microaggressions and discrimination, that contributes to a sense of alienation and isolation. It’s race-based trauma.”

This means two important things, a it is important for police to note that their behavior is linked to triggering psychological effects in specific communities and if they are committed to their cause of “Protect and serve” then they must be sensitive to that. Secondly, it means that there is a bias I must also work through as a person of color when dealing with police. As a marginalized member of society, there are many situations that I am sensitive to simply because of a legacy of mistreatment. This legacy creates not only mistrust, as Dr. Williams suggests, but also a shift in perspective towards seeing even the most benign interactions as threatening.

Other minority social groups have got to feel this also. A looming cloud over interactions between straight cis-gender men and women, or interactions between white women and women of color. This cloud is one that we all need to investigate. Bias is as human as breathing, it is a survival tactic that has evolved to help us find patterns and navigate new spaces, but it is not a perfect tool. Those of us who are closer to the center of social power must acknowledge that we may all carry bias but those members of minority groups have more too loose in these social interactions than others. While I may carry bias towards police, the law is in their favor if I assault or shoot them, I also do not carry a gun on a daily basis as part of my profession so the likely hood that I would fire a weapon is incredibly low.

When a police officer speaks to me, I recognize that there are many words that can trigger fear or anxiety in me, far more words than he may even be away of. Much of our conversation has the potential to be shrouded by racial tension and how either of us respond to that can be a matter of life and death. What happens when the world we see is viewed through the lens of trauma? It becomes difficult to know if people are seeing you for yourself or as the body you inhabit, it also becomes difficult know how important that distinction is.

I have to keep questioning my own reality, asking “How would I be treated if I weren’t black?” , the treatment you receive from someone who is racist, isn’t all that different from someone who is just rude. If my identity is wrapped up in my blackness as it pertains to police then I stand less a chance of taking ownership of my civil rights, frankly because of the fear that I might be punished in some way for doing so. The situation becomes so tense that nearly every word that comes out of the mouth of a police officer can be taken as a microaggression. If this is the case for me, then it must also be true for those suffering from other socially based trauma pertaining to gender, sexual orientation, physical ability.

How are we to live in a world where we constantly feel under some form of attack? We must either desensitize ourselves to these supposed microaggressions or constantly react to them. Ignoring them puts us on the path to normalization, which is not okay, and constantly reacting to them shuts down any hope we have for living a productive life. What must instead do, is endure them, and seek to be as even keeled as we feel is safe, which indeed may not be very safe at all.

Acro Yoga Will Save (Or Improve) Your Relationship

Maceo Paisley Conversation Pieces, Dating, Fitness acro yoga, body language, fitness, jasper johal, movement, relationship, trust 0

Some of the biggest issues that come up in relationships, regardless of the gender make up of the people involved are of course : trust, commitment, communication, and vulnerability. These are some of the hardest challenges to overcome because the give and take is so intangible. Once you get into the habit of second guessing your partner it is almost impossible to break it. Not only because we have our own issues we are trying to figure out but it is nearly impossible to know what is going on with the other person as well. Even when we try couples therapy it can just lead to the same cyclic conversations and lead us to know where. Our words can ignite emotions that make it difficult to hear what is is being said and make us reactionary as we have learned, the highest form of communication is touch.

Acro yoga is a type of yoga that mixes thai massage, traditional yoga, and acrobatics, and is often referred to as partner yoga. Working with a partner is a good idea for any physical activity and specifically yoga as well. What makes acro yoga unique is that you are aligning a mind and body connection, not only to calm and center yourself but to achieve synchronicity with your partner. As you progress towards each position you must be aware of you own movements but constantly checking in an maintaining contact with you “significant other”. The to roles are the flyer, which is the person being supported and is elevated and the base, who is supporting the flyer. If you can recall those trust falls you might have done on with summer camp or as a team building exercises? This is like that but simply with one other person.

The movements range in difficulty and require different skill sets to perfect each. Some positions require the base to be flexible, and others require them to be strong. Conversely, the flyer might have to balance themselves or rely on the base to keep them in the air. It is an all ages, all body types series movements that can be routine or improvised. What is constant in successful pairings, is the characteristics between the two people participating.

Commitment, the first thing must be agreed upon is that both people want the same thing. To get from one place to the next and to get there as safely as possible. It is too easy to hurt someone if that is your intention. You must commit to bringing your best self to the pairing to ensure that you are both in a comfortable place.

Trust, Once that initial commitment is made, you must trust that the other person has your best interests at hear. The beauty is that poses and transitions increase in difficulty as you progress so you can’t just skip to an advanced state with out a foundation with a risking injury. You must go at a pace comfortable for each of you and clearly articulate that pace with your actions and body. And this is how increased trust is developed, we gradually increase our ability to perform as a pair when out trust levels grow. With it comes to slip and fall incidents and injuries, you might want to also get legal help.

Communication, if the flyer feels like they are going to fall it is their responsibility to say. “I feel like I am falling.” Otherwise they will not get the additional support they need. Same as the base needs to let the flyer know ” My hand is slipping.” You have to be honest about what is going on with yourself and be open to accepting the other persons truth. If the flyer is not very flexible there are certain positions that may cause discomfort and others that may be downright painful. If the base is not strong enough to support the flyer in a position, they couple is not ready to be in that state. The two can only perform at a level as high as BOTH are comfortable.

Vulnerability, Fear is invariably going to come into play, not only for the flyer but the person that has to support them. You are forced to confront your own insecurities and fears with another person there to witness it. If the base tenses up and grips the flyers body because they are afraid, it can cause injury. If the flyer to quickly reacts, then someone could easily be hurt by and accidental punch or a kick, that was not intentional but simply based on a reflex. We must be open to the possibility of being hurt, all the while doing everything we can to ensure the other person is taken care of. The selflessness is at times, the glue that makes the holds stick.

What happens as a result of these connections is that every so often the flyer will receive a thrill of accomplishing something they never thought they could. The base will vicariously revel in that joy as a supporting part of another person’s growth. When everything lines up, it is possible for both people to click, and find a harmony that may last an instant or an hour. It is that harmony that we are really searching for in our relationships, in sex, and in companionship.

That zen, meditative moment we can get to practicing traditional yoga is one that can be share between two people. Male, or female, straight or gay, and is symbolic of the possibility within all of us to connect. We here about these relationship elements time and again but in acro yoga you have a tangible means to communicate these principles and see real results. You can also see truth of two people’s incompatibility as well. Acro yoga is the physical mirror that reflects your mental changes in position, the same laws of gravity apply to keep us from falling, we need support. When you fall in love, there should be someone to catch you.To paraphrase Sir Isaac Newton “Objects in emotion with to stay there.”

all photos, including cover image by Jasper Johal

TRUST: Expectation, Commitment and Partnership

Maceo Paisley by Maceo Paisley, Conversation Pieces, Publisher's Note 0

February is often associated with love because of Valentine’s Day, but love is weak without trust. I have been talking to singers who have to put full faith and confidence in their accompanying pianist. The same situation is the case for the trapeze artists who fly in the air. In our professional lives trust transcends even the financial aspect in some cases because it can be as serious as life itself. If a stunt man doesn’t have the proper assistance things can go horribly wrong it won’t just be lost dollars or opportunity.

Some say that love is work. If it is truly work then we must look at what makes a great a partnership and see if it translates to the professional world, and ask ourselves if there can be knowledge gained from one to apply to the other.

In relationship we are constantly managing our expectations, and sometimes this practice goes unnoticed and causes issues. If our client or employer has unrealistic expectations then no matter how well we perform it becomes impossible to fulfill the task. It requires communication of needs, and abilities and, as best we can requires a willingness to say “No.” when things do not align and always look for the trends of human resources management that make business handling easier.

But if an agreement is reached then tentativeness can cause calamity. A pair of acrobats on high wire do not have the time to be hesitant about fulfilling their end of the bargain. If an investor backs out of a project at the last minute it can feel the same as leaving someone at the altar.

This month we will talk to partners in matrimony, music, and management to evaluate the principles that makes these bonds successful. I hope you’ll join us as we dive in to this issue.

Enjoi.

Maceo Paisley

Founder, Citizens Of Culture

Potential Energy:Long Hours+Shitty Job= Success!

Maceo Paisley Business/Finance, Creative Professional, Featured, Productivity buy in, day job, long hours, work 0

OK so are working at a place you are not really passionate about for longer hours than you would like just to maintain your livelihood right? You drudge in on Monday, regrettably sit at your desk, and begin to pound away at the keys or whatever. Friday afternoon, just as you are about to pack up, you get slammed with another project or are forced to work another friday night because of an unrelenting boss.How can this be a good thing?

If you take a deep breath and ask your self what exactly it is that you would otherwise be doing you need to also ask the question “Would you be willing to be as hard on yourself as your current boss is on you?” In all likelihood the answer is no. One of the most common things that separates successful people that run their own business is not only the potency of their time but how much they are willing to push themselves. Drill sergeant you has to kick yourself out of bed or keep them burning the midnight oil instead of calling it quits.

Your in a great situation if you are working ten, twelve, or even more hours a day for someone else. Consider is conditioning, in the early stages of your business you are going to have to be willing to do the same thing. Too often we think that if we were running our own business it might somehow be easier. That is pretty much the farthest thing from the truth. Not only will it be harder but it will most likely be even longer hours for less pay. The main difference is that you are investing in something you will hopefully one day be able to stare at from a distance while it runs itself right?

Paying your dues isn’t really about getting in good with the boss or making connections. Not really. It is about building your skill set, knowledge, and work ethic to be able to manage your own dealings. Inspiration is a beautiful spark that can set an idea off, that is the kind of thing that is great for a hobby, like a free solitaire game app, or a pure artists that doesn’t really need to worry about how much money comes in or how long their process takes. If you are looking to run something independent you have to be prepared for the moment when inspiration has dried up and you need to work on a crazy last minute dead line. This might even be in an aspect of your own business that you detest.

You’ll be sitting in the exact position you are now, but you won’t have the luxury of extrinsic motivation. When you think of the power of that kind of support and accountability is can be make or break. When your manager comes down and tells you not to cancel your dinner plans don’t scoff. Think about the discipline they are helping you create and how that will help you when you finally ditch the place and take off on your own.

www.maceopaisley.com

Fortune: Privilege, Comfort, and Abundance

Maceo Paisley Publisher's Note abundance, comfort, fate, privilege 0

Around the holiday season we see a lot of charities spring up with their bells and Santa Claus suits taking up collections and hosting expensive galas to fundraise. Many of these organizations are do asking for donations that will then go to “less fortunate” children and families. It implies that those of us in a position to give are more fortunate. We like to pride ourselves as people who give back but the implication there is that we have been given something or that we have taken something and are returning it. So many people like to claim that they are self-made or that we life in a meritocracy where each person has an equal shot as the pursuit of happiness. Annually we are reminded that this may be a fallacy. The fact of the matter is that some people are endowed with certain traits or situations that give them advantage over others at birth. It means that some people are also endowed with what could be viewed as disadvantaged.

With July being the month of our nations birth we have an opportunity to examine these genetic, social, economic, and circumstantial forces that place us on various sections of the proverbial fortune pyramid. The second paragraph of the Declaration Of Independence begins with the phrase ” We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men were created equal…” Inherent in this phrase as with much of our constitution and founding documents is a puzzling ambiguity.

How could this be true when it was written in a time where there was an active slave industry, and women were not allowed to vote, or own property? What is meant by “equal” in this passage and why does an apparent contradiction to it still linger in our society today? We’ll have to take a look at this and see if we can’t gain a better understanding.

Fortune seems to smile on a mysterious few at unpredictable times and we can credit karma, or simply dumb luck for making millionaires out of the most random individuals. Is this all a part of some grand design or are they unrelated events of coincidence? Should we find that fortune is some how a benevolent gift bestowed on a chosen people, then who are we to dispute or oppose this natural selection? Are those that are born into fortunate circumstance somehow divinely deserving like the royals of the past have presumed? On the other hand, if luck is a spontaneous force that favors those that happen to fall in its path then we can neither blame or credit those who have become fortunate under its effects.

One other possibility is that the game so-to-speak, is rigged. And there are systems in place around the world that reinforce disadvantage and even create inequality where it does not naturally exist. This analysis is critical to understanding how we might want to view our accomplishments and place in society. If we do live in a meritocracy, then do we have an objective appraisal of what warrants merit? It is quite possible that we do not, and there are some who are figuratively handicapped in this game we call society.

In the same conversation we should look at those who might call “haters” the jealous and the bitter who can not see past their own misfortune to become aware of the opportunities that lie in front of them. It would seem that each of us has a unique struggle in our lives but when we are living in a sheltered world that doesn’t allow us to face our faults aren’t those the people that are disadvantaged?

In a creative world, how does fortune, and comfort effect out lives and professional practices? Are resources a hinderance to our creativity and development or are they an aid. If necessity is truly the mother of invention, our creativity is stifled by privilege and comfort. We must look at chance, labour, entitlement, and fate if we are to have any shot at gaining a deeper understanding here.

I hope that you will stick with us as we explore, and if we are lucky we just might end the month a little better off than we started.

Enjoy,

Founder, Citizens Of Culture

Expansion: Growth, Scale, and Maturity

Maceo Paisley Publisher's Note 0

In the world of entrepreneurship there seems to be only one question that investors really want answered. How quickly can you scale? Undoubtedly this is an important puzzle to solve but there is more to it than speed. To approach this from another angle we should discuss tomatoes, or to say more generally food. As technology has progressed we’ve gained the ability to not only grow more tomatoes with less manual labor but we can also grow bigger ones.

The miracles of science have made not only scale of production but massive growth of the produce, and the agricultural industry possible. But at what cost? To grow more tomatoes we’ve had to industrialize farming which has led to soil degradation and water shortages. To grow bigger tomatoes, we’ve had to genetically modify the plants that bear them. On the whole though, it has enabled us to feed a greater number of people at lower labor costs availing untold freedoms for people to pursue their passions.

This is not to say that expansions is bad, on the contrary it is a necessary and inevitable part of any progression. The ancient philosopher Heraclitus famously posits “Change is the only constant in life.” which is no less true today than when it was first told in 500BC. If we are not moving forward we are indeed fading away. So the concern of the investors is well founded, but we should always but when asking about speed we should also ask about quality.

In business the quality of growth me looked at as a development of something that adds more than commercial or profit value, but a social or intellectual good is created as well. If our mission is to sell tomatoes but they are low in nutritional value or have poor taste then we are doing no good to sell millions of them. Just as well if we make the best tasting rich tomatoes that only feed a single person, there is not much to be gained there either.

I’m always thinking about the balance of things and when I think about how to grow Citizens Of Culture, I think not only of how big I want it to but the shape I want it to take, shouldn’t everyone? If we are all growing our careers and our businesses shouldn’t we inquire as to if bigger is always better? But not only in our work but in our personal life as well, if more money begets only more problems then we should always seek to understand what we are hoping to do with the money we earn. And it is most important to ask these questions before we realize our growth.

As with any type of growth it is possible to do it unevenly. While we imagine that getting bigger and stronger is better, but simply gaining weight is not, nor is a tumor so proportional growth matters as well. This is not just for tomatoes but for their distribution we could end up with to many in one area and not enough in the other. Food like, wealth is best served when dispersed with some sort of equality.

Humanity itself must ask these questions as well, with our advantage in agriculture we’ve our population has multiplied significantly, while a sign of the success of our young species in relation to the planet there are other things we must consider. Balance. What does balance look like for humans on earth, and what shape will it take. A child, as our species is must not only focus on growing strong but maturing into a good person, humanity must also. Some sociologists have spoken about the maturation of our species, not as it pertains to evolution but to our awareness and responsibility to each other and our planet.

Since I tend to wander in my thoughts there is no doubt in my mind that we will fail at addressing all these concepts this month, but it is my sincere hope that we can address at least the important ones.

Thank you for reading,

Maceo

DECEPTION: Half-Truth, Transparency, and Wonder

Maceo Paisley by Maceo Paisley, Conversation Pieces, Publisher's Note deception, edward snowden, julian assange, transparency 0

We’ve all been lied to. Believe it or not, everyone has also lied. It is a part of life and humanity that we do not often speak of. Something inside us holds on to the idea that we are all noble at core. Values based society honors truth and fairness but that is often at odds with our interests, our feelings, and even our well-being. It is this society itself that we trust is help together by mutually beneficial agreements to uphold higher ideals, but as we have come to know in recent years it may not be an entirely trust based system. But what are we to do?

If we can not put faith in the religious, government, and corporate institutions that hold our civilization who can we rely on? This question has become particularly interesting to me as a member of the creative community. At core, the notion of citizenry implies a sense of duty not only to contribute to our culture but in some way help police it. Who then is to police those charged with maintaining order. We will browse the now famous stories of Edward Snowden and Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, less for the narrative and more to seek underlying intent behind their actions. Are they rebels, heroes, anarchists? I find it impossible to answer myself what I would do in their shoes.

But deception is not all about conspiracies and threats. Sometimes it is as simple as telling a loved one a white lie to protect them. “Honey, yes you look fabulous in that tie!” ,is a common example of these little instances of the half-truths we tell to even people we care most about. We do this of course to pad their feelings but it is amazing how these are accepted lies in our society. Even a young child learns to cross his fingers behind his back when telling a fib. The question is, at what point do the consequences of these lies override the pleasant feelings they invoke? For the artist, especially the one who engages in commercial endeavors this is a pivotal and reoccurring question. We’re always asking ourselves if we are selling out, or acting from a place of integrity.

Even still, as artists we take great pride to show polished professional works that often require a but of deceptions themselves. The magic of Hollywood is an industry that’s primary tool is the deceiving of the senses. With the new proliferation of virtual reality this is taken even a step further. Since the advent of photography we have sought to create evermore convincing mediums to fool the brain. Wonder is one of the greatest assets of the entertainment world. Without a sense of realism our ability to immerse in the story is radically deteriorated.

With all these instances it becomes clear that these deceits are not only acceptable, but sometimes enjoyable, and often completely necessary as a function of our lives, relationships, and society. After this month we hope to have a better hold on when and where out boundaries lay and reach a greater understanding of the famous words of Colonel Nathan R. Jessup in A Few Good Men,

“You can’t handle the truth!”

-MP-