Asa Rodriguez's Blog, page 2

Without chains…

What it creates…

So many man-made divisions in the world today. So many illusions of the mind that bring prejudice, jealousy, hatred. So many beliefs and philosophies that put people in boxes with labels. And all, whether you know it or not, separate and estrange people. Democrats. Republicans. Independents. Christian. Muslim. Black. White. Wealthy. Poor. Woke. Non-woke.

The truth is not found in a group like a political party, or in a specific religion, or in the color of someone’s skin, or in the geographical origin of someone. The truth is universal. But a philosophy, or a belief, or the idea that skin color is better or worse–this is all happening in someone’s mind, which is born from the ego of someone and not a reality. Society takes these ideas and creates propaganda, systems that due to repetition stay in your subconscious.

How it works…

And how the subconscious works is subtle: Information enters it without your conscious knowledge–could be a commercial, could be a political speech, could be from a book you have read, could be from something that was said to you in childhood. It stays there, all your life. You live your life without knowing it, but it is there. And then, one day, you start believing that information that has now transferred from your subconscious to your conscious.

And your attitudes start changing. Your thoughts and your actions become corrupted, bias, and even irrational. Because what triggers the way you behave today, your habits, your addictions, your attachments, and the way you see yourself and the world around you is the information that is in your conscious mind right now. This is the information that was once in your subconscious. This is how your mind works, how my mind works, and how their minds work. No exceptions, not one.

What it means…

So, to know yourself is knowing your subconscious mind and how it operates. To know yourself is to understand all the bias and wrong information that once entered your subconscious and stayed there, and that now has transferred to your conscious and rules the way you think and behave. Not knowing yourself brings division, suffering, jealousy, hatred, and all negative outcomes to your life. Knowing yourself gives you freedom from all these.

This true freedom is happiness. Because happiness is freedom to think for yourself, without bias, without beliefs, without religions, without politics, without philosophies, and without anything that chains you to a narrow way of thinking and feeling. This makes you unique. Uniqueness does not exist in a group, in a religion, in a political party, in a skin color, or in anything else society sells you in their propaganda. Uniqueness means to live in this world without allowing yourself to be enslaved by it.

The secret

Be honest with yourself: Do you have it??

-Love is what we all seek. But don’t give it a form. True love does not have a form. True love is that one feeling that gives you strength, purpose, self-confidence, and joy daily. It does not matter if you are poor or rich, if you are in a relationship or not, if you have education or not, if you are accepted or mistreated by others.

-Do you have this?? It does not make you clingy to anything or to anyone. It does not make you anxious at all. It just is. And it feels like absolute freedom, it doesn’t matter the troubles or burdens you carry. So, ask yourself with honesty if you have true love in your life.

It is about you, no one and nothing else.

-If you do, cherish it. And you do so, by not becoming attached to anything. Once you allow your mind to become attached to anything at all, you lose that feeling of freedom and you become a slave to the form, to the philosophy, to the object, to the person, to the situation, to the world. So, have you asked yourself yet??

-If you do not have in your life, it might be time to work on yourself. Age is never an excuse. Responsibilities are not an excuse. Let me tell you: I am big on self-development. I have had challenges and tests in my life, and I hated them. But long after that I had a realization. Nothing changes unless you change yourself. Love and happiness is really an inner work.

-Family, money, status, education, and all the rest won’t give you that inner freedom to live a better life and remain always positive, calm, and strong enough to empowered yourself. The more you understand yourself, why you think the way you think, why you cling to ideas, why you suffer the way you suffer, and why you seek what you seek in life, the more open-minded you will be and the more power you will add to yourself.

How unique are you…??

Open your eye

-How unique are you…?? And what if our love wasn’t just a passing fad?? What if our devotion could be timeless, not held prisoner by mood swings, not held prisoner by overwhelming passions, not best suited for moments of joy and prosperity alone??

-Open your unique eye. Our past, present, and future are all the same, just as long as our hearts are one and our minds are freed from thoughts of misfortune and self-victimization. Can you love yourself even if the skies come down on you??

See the truth

-Allow the world to turn, people to be what they want, events to sway and collapse with the passing of time. Let your thoughts and feelings pass like the weather, which is unexpected and dramatic too often. You hold on to yourself beyond all that drama, and all over again know the deep, timeless love that is true.

-Can you let go of the illusion ?? People grow old and die. Flowers wither away. Prophets and news speak of the end of times in some aspect. And yet, everything is as it is meant to be. Nothing is fatal. Nothing is real.

-So, keep a mind alert and see the truth of our love, which does not grow old and die, which does not wither away, which does not end with the times. But, this ancient knowledge, this great understanding, this cosmic way of life, requires your courage to let the world go. How unique are you…??

Mirroring

Choice

-There exists two worlds, two dimensions, two perceptions that rule everything we think and feel. Our wellbeing is based on this. Our personal level of awareness dictates which perception we choose. Night or day. Light or darkness. Self-love or self-hate.

-Love or attachment. Happiness or unhappiness. Whatever we choose, or subconsciously choose, is to be the cause for the quality of our lives, for our thoughts, for our feelings. Life is not what causes it, because life is no more than the reflection of your unique choice.

At All Levels

-Pain, suffering, evil, bad events exist; but not as reality, for the only reality is choice. And choice is originated by the level of awareness of the being. Imagine life without awareness, without choice. It doesn’t exist, because choice doesn’t exist.

-Choice from any being is what creates events whether good or bad. Disasters in nature seem to be caused by nature itself, but they are not. Whether at micro level or at macro level, it is always choice. Disasters in nature are caused by the choices of beings, whether from current times or a long time ago, whether cells, humans, animals.

What it is

-Nothing is created without choice. If there is any magic in existence is created by choice. Consciousness is nothing without choice, because to be conscious itself is a choice. So, just understand that the way you feel about your life, about yourself, about someone else, about love, about anything, is your unique choice.

-Are you attached to your suffering?? That creates a choice. Are you thinking without bias and influence?? That creates a choice as well. You create your life with your choice–second after second, knowing or without knowing. See it for what it is.

Self-Analysis

A Little Tough Love

I guess it is easier and more convenient for many of us to complain, to victimize ourselves, to blame society for our troubles. But, to be straightforward, it is not the smart thing to do. You know me, guys. I don’t like to sugarcoat anything. I have suffered a lot in life, so I have learned much discipline for myself as a very happy consequence.

I am tough with myself, so I am the same way with my writing here. And this mental toughness led me to write uniquely my fantasy stories. (By the way, feel free to check out my books in this site, so you know what I’m talking about). And so, let’s see, we all have desires, passions, goals. Maybe we are decided. Maybe not so much. But the smart way is to start and never complain. To keep going.

There is no failure

How to keep going?? By getting out of your own head, by shaking yourself and changing your mental habits, and by blaming only yourself for your path in life. It might sound harsh, but it is required to be tough with ourselves to stop focusing on others and shift that focus onto ourselves. Anyone can do anything, with patience, with commitment, with love for what you want. This is an unwavering love that makes no excuses and that believes not in failure. Ever not in failure.

We don’t really fail, we learn and move on. So, remember that. It is all perspective. Loser believe in failure. Winners believe in lessons learned. We, winners, move on and keep creating, keep working, keep taking small steps towards our goals. It is about you, about commitment to yourself, about feeling good about you and your character. Self-victimization takes us nowhere. You want power?? Then keep going without complaining. It is what I do, so it is what I know works.

How You Become Stronger

If you are going to do it, do it with passion and perseverance. Make sure that is what you truly want. Envision obstacles and challenges first. Imagine yourself going through heartache and disappointment. Ready yourself for whatever the future may hold. For this, use your imagination and intuition.

In this way, you will become stronger and you will not give up easily. And so, you will go on because of you, because you are stronger of mind now; and you will also understand that the government, and all the people, and all the events around you do not matter in your unique story. Because only you matter.

Self-care 101

Take Responsibility

A little tough love, because the truth might hurt your ego now; but only this brings true freedom, which is increased capacity for love and happiness. The world around you does not understand what love and happiness is. They do not understand where it originates either. But why should you remain one more amongst the sheep and ignorant??

So, the way we show ourselves care, love, empathy, and commitment to our own well-being is not just by desiring it. It’s by taking action and getting out of our comfort zones. You research for food that is healthy for you. You avoid buying foods that are unhealthy for you. You commit to exercise and you make it your priority.

Stop with The Excuses

You must put yourself first and dedicate time for these activities. Ignore commercials trying to sell you what is not healthy. Ignore what your family and friends eat. Ignore what the world shoves in front of you as bad influence, because your health and happiness is only something you create by personal/individual action.

You cannot blame, or put the responsibility on others when it comes to this. This might sound harsh to you, but as long as you keep seeking excuses, or even postponing it, you will not become truly self-aware. Self-awareness begins inside you and it is about getting rid of your stubbornness, comfort, and ignorance. Accept and live the truth.

Get rid of all your bad habits. All of them. Study your actions and see what you have to change. Do not dwell on it. Do not overthink it. Because, if you do, then excuses will take over and kill the light of intelligence dawning in your mind. And, think about it, it is not just about you; but it is about giving the best example to the ones you love. Are you still making excuses??

My eBay store

I apologize. I usually schedule my blogs earlier on Fridays, but I was running late today. Ugh, so many things going on during the week. I like to keep busy. Still, I wanted to share with you a project close to my heart and that I’ve been working on for about a year now. I just added a special page on my website where I showcase my Dark Fantasy books, and now where I also display my eBay store.

And I hope your week went well. Things take time to work out. Sometimes specific things are harder than others. But in my experience, if you truly find value in what you do, whatever that is, then you must make the decision ever single day to continue pushing and not give up. You owe it to yourself. Commit and work hard. I live by that.

So, a little bit about my new project then: Asa’s Selections is my new store. More in my page (in this site). But it is simply a store dedicated to good clothing items at a discount or low prices. I buy from liquidators and big markets like Walmart and Target. I have some non-clothing items. But it is mostly about clothing. Check it out if are interested.

Just so you know, right now, and for a few more days, I’m running 10% discount on all items with code ASA2024SALE at checkout.

Check out ‘Asa’s selections’

My AI Book Covers

-So, I want to get you up to speed on what I’ve been doing regarding my books. Just in case you don’t know: I’m a self-published author. I do other things, but I am a creator at heart. So whether is painting, drawing, graphic design, storytelling, editing, and now AI-generated work, I am all over it. It’s my passion. To be honest, I think my life would be terrible without creativity.

-But specially storytelling and creating fantastical characters and places. You know, something that can make you dream and think about the unusual, weird, and awesome. Okay, so let me tell you then. (And by the way, thanks for reading this; it means a lot to me that you are taking time just to read it. So, much appreciation, my friend.). About AI (Artificial Intelligence) then. I have to admit, I am sort of obsessed with it.

I like to try new things and find out those things I really want on my own. My biggest thing is Curiosity. After creativity, of course. Okay, so I have been learning how to create my book covers with AI. And I have found it a little challenging at first, but I really got the hang of it now. So, I want to show you the images and book covers I made for my BENJAMIN JONES series. I’m pretty excited and proud of my work. I hope you like them as well. The first images are for book #1- “The Call of The Shaman”:

These next ones are for “The Return of The Gods”:

And “The Book of 1st Witchcraft”:

And we get to the last ones. This is “Shadow Ghouls of Nergus”:

And so, I am currently working on #5, titled “Son of Darkness.” I am also working on other projects currently, but I am still eager and passionate to continue the dark fantasy BENJAMIN JONES series. This interesting fantasy story of chosen ones, gods, demons, aliens and other dimensions has yet a lot to explore. So, it’s going slowly but surely. Thanks again for your time.

The Doom & Gloom

Attached & Influenced

But are you willing to let it go and free yourself, even if it means cutting the chains to the system and to the society you made an important part of your life already?? Everybody, all the time, in all times cry doomsday. Religions with their prophets, heaven, hell.

Politics, what’s better or worse for the country. Economy, difficult times, better times, what to do in your life, what not to do in your life. Everything and everyone is attached and influenced by this.

Ideas & Illusions

Why?? Because it works. Because it has been established in this way a long, long time ago. It all began when man started to grow intellectual capacities and find out he could influence the mentality of others around him.

So, by doing this he created systems in his society. And then, he became attached to his own ideas. Throughout the years, he made himself and others believe these ideas as realities.

Ignorant & Scared

Realities that bring insecurity, and anxiety, and jealousy, and self-pity, and all kinds of fear. But every day is a miracle, if you can see society and its systems as just ideas. Nothing is truly doomed, not as long as you don’t believe in it.

Your belief makes it real to you. Your belief takes you to overwhelm yourself with fear, and then it takes you to create a different world inside your mind, and then this world makes you ignorant and scared of whatever could be coming next.

In love with Life and with Yourself

And what’s coming next is unknown–in relationships, in the economy, in politics, in your life. So, detach yourself from the doom and gloom, from what others say, and especially from your own anxiety and fears.

To fully detach yourself from all of it allows your mind to be free and uncluttered, and this leads you to be brave, confident, yourself entirely. Then, and only then, you become 100% in love with your life and with yourself; and, as a result, no one and nothing can shake your determination and bring you down.

To feel lonely…

The Pursuit of Happiness

Self-reflection: The natural ability to be patient and inquire into yourself. You might be aware of its process. You might not be aware of its process. Most people are not aware of it. So, in the same context, what really leads you to feel lonely?? Attaching yourself to whatever is outside you does.

Relying on people to feel happy, loved, satisfied and fulfilled in your life. Relying on the exterior, whatever or whomever it is, is the roller coaster, what society ignorantly calls The Pursuit of Happiness.

The Rat Race

They make it a chase, a hunt, something you have to daily struggle and fight to achieve. You might have to struggle to achieve a relationship, or money, or a position you want, or to be accepted by others; but you never should have to struggle or fight for love or happiness.

So, if you do struggle for it daily, then it means you really don’t know what it is, which means you do not know or even understand yourself beyond the petty desires of your own mind. But you are not alone. 98% of the world is in the rat race with you as well.

What Festers inside

Achieving your desires might be important. We all want to be successful at what we want. But living entirely for achievements makes you feel anxious, frustrated, insecure, lonely. So, learn how to separate the desires of your mind from the depth of your heart.

Most of the time, people confuses these two with one: This is what creates frustration and loneliness, which is the ignorance of not really knowing the two apart. You may think you love something, or someone; but it turns out, much later, that you made a mistake because you followed anxiety and loneliness.

And then you blame your exterior, others, the world, when things hurt you or do not go as you expected. This festers jealousy, hate, feelings of desperation, lack of self-worth in you. And it is all because you followed impulses, passions, and you never self-reflected.