Make The World Better
Make The World Better
Do you make the world better for others by living in it?
It’s Tuesday! I had a crazy busy work weekend and I feel very productive. As always, my Tuesday post is the stream-of-consciousness list of my hit-and-run thoughts, links, In Case You Missed It and anything else I just think is worth your attention or required my response. Enjoy!
Be what you want to see in the world
I wrote this on Facebook this morning, felt like sharing it here, and it inspired the title of this post.
I know some truly wonderful, incredible Christians out there who genuinely live their lives to reflect their love of Christ (and their belief in Christ’s love).
It's not MY thing (the God part, I’m an atheist), but they make the world beautiful and vibrant with their joy in their understanding of their deity, and the way they express it to others, and I respect them tremendously for living the warmth, joy and love THEY feel about it and sharing it with others through their actions, not their words (ok sometimes their words).
There are other Christians who do such a disservice to the faith with their understanding of it and their expression of it.
It is completely strange to consider that they purport to be of the same religion and have the same special book. They are so different.
I do genuinely believe they're BOTH wrong about the existence of their God (sorry guys), BUT at least one of them makes me go "well, if you do happen to be right, what a beautiful idea that is." vs the other that makes me go "oh my goodness, if you're right, a fallen angel rebelling against the tyranny of God had the right idea."
You can be whatever kind of Christian you want to be (if Christianity or any other faith is your thing) but I hope you get what you put into this world.
I have no qualms about my life and the choices I've made. At the end, I'll answer to an eternity of nothingness only to be remembered by those I left behind (and I'm comfortable with that), or if I'm wrong, possibly an absent remote god, or an involved god who loves me anyway, or an involved god who is such an asshole I'm glad I didn't waste my life trying to conform to his standards and wish I'd done more to oppose it.
I'm really quite alright.
Be what you want to see in the world - what matters is the lives you've touched, and how you've touched them.
Did you make the world better for others for having lived in it?
LNC/LPNH
Yes, I am quite aware there’s a dumpster fire currently occurring with regards to the Libertarian Party of New Hampshire, and the chaos of the Libertarian National Committee in response (it’s a clusterfuck and there’s a lot of procedural/bylaws concerns regardless on where you fall on the actual reasons).
I am a former Vice Chair of the LPNH (2006-2008). All I can do is sigh and tell you I wish everybody would take a step back before acting or even speaking. I expect I’ll soon write a letter to the LNC, but I don’t want to, because I already feel like there’s too many people talking and not enough people listening.
I love my party and the whole situation hurts my heart and my head.
Philena
Speaking of people who make the world better by living in it…
This is Philena Carter . She's amazing. She's a good friend of mine, a talented musician, she flirts with my birds, she's a lover of orange juice, she is part of my community in Vegas. She's like family to me. I love her lots.
She was hit by a truck last Sunday night (the 6th). Literally. She was riding a Segway, she was on the side of the road, the driver wasn't paying attention, they hit her and ran, leaving her horribly injured on the street.
She was taken to the hospital, where she had to have emergency cranial surgery to remove blood and relieve the pressure from her head injury (the picture of her half shaved head and staples in it is pretty wild!). She was in the ICU until Wednesday, she has now been moved to a regular room.
She's still in a lot of pain, and is suffering a lot of related complications in her head and body as a result of her injuries. She *should* make a full recovery, but it's going to take time and more medical care and it's going to be a tough journey.
It's been a very rough year for her. Seriously a crappy year. Especially as a performing musician whose band was getting full time work before the pandemic hit, losing that, and as they just hit their stride returning to live shows and events and a residency these past couple months, this happens. It majorly sucks.
She is recovering. And she is struggling.
If you want to help financially, her cash app is $philenacarter. But she doesn't expect that, especially from strangers. What she'd love is some good vibes, thoughts, prayers, whatever your mojo is - she's a light in our lives, and it's a dark fucking night in her life right now.
You can check out some of her music at Stanley Ave and on Tiktok or Instagram (philenacarter on all platforms) or Facebook. She's a great musician and I'm sure positive comments on her videos and songs would feel good right now. That seriously would lift her spirits and is something that costs nothing but a few minutes of your time to do.
Also if anyone wants to hire Liam Neeson from Taken to utilize his particular set of skills to hunt down the asshole who hit her and left her for dead, I'll help with that cost.
Freedom Fest 2021!
I’m confirmed as a speaker at Freedom Fest 2021! I’ve been attending Freedom Fest since 2012 (it’s actually where I first met Judd in person - he was speaking and I was an attendee). It’s usually in Las Vegas, but this year they moved it to Mount Rushmore, South Dakota (not my ideal situation but I’m open to new experiences). I’m speaking, taking photos, am on a few panels AND I’m hosting Friday night karaoke. We’ve got a great Feminists for Liberty panel as well! It’s all happening on July 21-24th in Rapid City. Tickets are available here and for $50 off, use the code Avens50. :)
In Case You Missed It
Each week I get a handful of new signups for this newsletter, and I’m tremendously grateful for them (you!). I often do not know if they went through the archives to check out my previous essays, and I’d rather not bother them (and some of you since the beginning might miss an essay here or there!), so this subsection each week will be at the end of my Tuesday post, so you can skip it if you’ve already seen it or read them all, but will present the long-form essays with a single sentence description in case you missed something and wanted to check it out.
Lead With Gratitude- I explain the game plan with this blog, and thank you for your support.
Choose The Better Story - My life philosophy about building your personal story and making choices.
Judge & Prepare To Be Judged - How “Judgement” does not equal condemnation, and being a discerning person isn’t actually a bad thing, but you should also know who you’re judging for.
Look Beyond Representation - Talking about “representation” as a woman - how its purpose is to eventually render itself irrelevant - let there be so much representation that nobody represents us, because we’re individuals.
Count It All Joy - Remembering a long lost friend, and how she taught me to love by letting go.
Appreciate the Mothers In Your Life - A collection of stories of my own mother.
Ask Yourself What You’d Kill For - Expanding on two concepts that explain my perspective on government & politics.
Lemon Tek Your Mushrooms - An essay about mushroom trips, and how to make them the very best.
Be Kind - An essay about how 30 minutes of my day saved someone’s life, and how I learned about it 2 years later.
Follow Your Heart - The story of me & the boy who convinced me to move to Los Angeles, and how he changed my life forever.
I’m diligently trying to finish the Libertarian Party of California’s convention album as soon as I can, and while I do that I’ve got The West Wing playing in the background. I’ll admit that as a political nerd I enjoy it, even though it’s not personally my political ideology - I enjoy Aaron Sorkin’s writing and I find much of the show funny, thoughtful, and dramatic. If you haven’t seen it, it’s currently streaming on HBO Max, it’s 7 seasons, and I rewatch it far more often than seems reasonable.
Looking for a good album to explore your mind with? Or trip during? I’m listening to Solar Fields’ Random Friday album.
See you Thursday! With an essay that will likely be about career arcs and opportunities.
