Steven Barnes's Blog, page 63

Afrofuturism: Dreams to Banish Nightmares

Let’s see: our guest list for AFROFUTURISM: DREAMS TO BANISH NIGHTMARES might be the best ever collected for such a venture: Cheo Hodari Coker Coker (Luke Cage), Nnedi Okorafor  (Who Fears Death), Reggie Hudlin(Black Panther), Samuel Delany (Dahlgren), Rodney Barnes (Boondocks), Nalo Hopkinson (Brown Girl In The Ring), Mike Carey (“The Girl With All The Gifts”), Bree Newsome (artist and real-life superhero), and Jamie Broadnax (Black Girl Nerds), as well as Tananarive Due (“The Living Blood”)...

Again, the Ancient Child

Something is in the air. Perhaps spring, and a time of renewal.  But four different times at least I saw posts from people damaged in childhood by parents and teachers, people who have lost touch with their “inner poetry”, who have a hard time motivating themselves to take action.

 

Remember the process of achievement?

Decide what you want Remember and FEEL WHY you want it Only then devise your “to do” list.

 

Most people will neglect step #2, so that they have no “juice”, no “passion”, are...

Spirituality and Religion

Spirituality is the direct experience of the divine. We all glimpse it. The great teachers lived in that Light, but returned to communicate to us.  Think of them as trees with deep roots. We can pluck the fruit, sit in their shade and be nourished even if we could not root so deeply, climb so high. A great teacher lifts you up.

 

That is spirituality, and the experience of being in the presence of a great teacher.  After they die, those who sat in their shade write down what they said and rep...

Horror speaks the unspeakable

 

There was a discussion on horror movie imagery, in which readers were asked what films they found the most frightening.   THE EXORCIST was mentioned, and I agreed, having seen it when it first came out, and remembering the effect it had on the audience.  But I also said that it can’t be evaluated accurately today because the culture has changed, at least partially BECAUSE of the film.   The same is true of the films that hit me hardest: THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE, NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD,...

Should you allow crazies into your life?

I had a couple of people question my blocking of rude or disturbed individuals.  Perfectly reasonable: were there not things I could learn from these people?  Probably.  Was it worth what it would cost?  I suggest not.

 

Rudeness, emotional disturbance and intelligence are on different graph lines.  There is no direct connection.  If there were, it might be worth the trouble.   But…they aren’t. Therefore, there is nothing a rude person is likely to have to say to me that an intelligent but po...

Question for meditators

For most people, the first 10-15 minutes of meditation are a cavalcade of negative internal monologues, twitches, and itching. Only after this does the mind begin to settle down, the waters calm, and a sense of peace emerge.

Those of you who have attempted meditation AND found your way through the noise to a peaceful place:

1) what noise did your head throw at you?

2) how did you work your way through it?

Filed under: Autobiography, Coaching, Healing, Steven Barnes

Childhood and Adulthood

I like minimum investments, the smallest amount of work that will maintain forward momentum. Get them down small enough and you have an amount so tiny that there is no LOGICAL reason not to do them.  The real reasons are revealed as emotional.

 

Here are some examples:

 

The “Smartphone” diet.  Simply take a digital picture of everything you eat before you eat it.  Don’t have to modify your eating at all–just be sure you are 100% conscious of every bite.  Amazing how hard this is. And how ef...

Logan (2017)

Went to the Inosanto Academy in Marina del Ray this morning, to work out.  It felt like going home.  I plan to do this once a month.

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Saw “Logan” last night, and it is an exceptional superhero movie, with more genuine emotional resonance than any other I can remember, as well as excellent acting, and action. Basically, Wolverine is long past his prime, his healing powers diminished, wracked with pain and addicted to pain-killers.  Professor Xavier is semi-senile, his occasional fits creatin...

Don’t settle for less than the best you can do

David Roel is kind enough to dig through my archives to find thoughts he thinks will be of interest to his Buddhism mailing list. It is gratifying to see things that stumbled their way out of my thoughts a decade ago helping people today. Here’s a note:

“Thank you. As usual, exactly what was required this morning. I think we all play with the “Soul Mate Process”, but it withers away as soon as we find someone remotely close to the goal. The fear of being alone is louder than the fear of work...

“The Girl With All The Gifts” (2016)

Director Colm McCarthy and writer Mike Carey’s (book and screenplay) “The Girl With All The Gifts”  is described on IMDB as:  “A scientist and a teacher living in a dystopian future embark on a journey of survival with a special young girl named Melanie.”  Yeah. And “Casablanca” is about a pick-up in a third-world bar.

 

This is the real thing, a horror movie with something on its mind, with terrific performances, genuine chills, a real beating heart, and a last ten minutes that will make you...