Wednesday Wisdom

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Dear Financial Robber-Baron

Dear Mr.-Big-Wall-Street-Eff-You-Mainstreeter Bank,


I am closing my account and taking my business to a locally owned and operated bank.

This is on the heels of many, many things that have pissed me right the hell off in the last few years about your bank (one that got its ass covered by my tax dollars). The last straw: my *two* direct deposits for May (slow month pay-wise in higher ed if you are an adjunct) didn't meet your rules for ONE minimum deposit, EVEN THOUGH BOTH TOGETHER BLEW THE MINIMUM OUT OF THE WATER! You swiftly debited my account $12 in order to show me the error of my ways. When I called about it I was told (by a disinterested and crappy telephone "banker") to: check my account daily (do) and... wait for it..... wait for it.... to ask my boss to "adjust" my pay so that it would meet the YOUR BANK'S needs.

Yes. You read that right. A telephone customer "service" rep told me to go to my BOSS and tell him/her that he/she needs to give me a raise--- to satisfy your arbitrary and uncommunicated demands. Seriously. I never was informed about this direct deposit minimum eight years and a couple hundred grand in transactions ago....

My mainstreet moolah isn't good enough for you? Fine. I just got paid $100 to open a checking account at another bank without giving them a *SINGLE* penny. That's right. I have not given them one, red cent and am a proud new customer. They don't have any fine print, either. No fees for anything.

This gal is taking everything out of your institution, will never do business with you again, and will actively tell the roughly 400 students I teach annually not to do business with you, either. And tell them to tell all of their little Facebook, twitter and other social networking friends that, too.

Sincerely,

An American Who is Sick and Tired of Getting Screwed Coming and Going by You as You Put Dancefloors in Your Third Mansion (the One with a New Helipad) and Diddle The "Help"

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The Weft *and* the Warp

Not too long ago an aged Christian predicted the end of the world... you are thinking to yourself, which one?

Seems like some folks are rapt with the notion that the end looms near. One thing being a cancer survivor teachers you: the end is always near and not just by means of illness. I could get hit by a bus, a falling chunk of twister-hail, a random act of violence.

What fascinates me these days are my inner thoughts (and now outer musings) about the juxtaposition between organized religion and non-organized spirituality. Too, I am inclined to draw attention to the fact that one distinctly relies on fear as a shuttle of control. (Guess which one?) I suppose I'd rather be on the inside looking out instead of the other way around... I'd rather be the seer than the seen.

In general, I tend to think of "belief" as a rather personal thing--- in every way imaginable. I'll try to explain.

I think that organized religion (regardless of type or leaning) tends to place responsibility for one's life *outside* of one's self. Those of the religious persuasion rely on an external source for all of their power, guidance, and choices. By proxy, it means that no one else has power either or if they do it is granted to them by this same outer-existing thing. This external source tends to be rather parental, judgmental, and jealous ---not unlike the human societies that conjure such a "being."

On the other hand, I think of reincarnation as the ultimate paradigm for personal responsibility. If one considers reincarnation then we are truly at the center of our lives and the choices that we make to create the life we have (or don't). Not only do we choose our lives, but those with whom we travel in this life.

I'd much rather think that my existence is a series of choices made on a meta-conscious level rather than a slowly unraveling destiny shaped by a grand-rug weaver (or clock-maker if you prefer a mechanistic approach). I also like the idea of approaching all those with whom my life comes into contact as teachers instead of combatants. That somehow we have all mutually agreed to join the classroom of life to learn how to play well with others instead of just running with scissors. That we dance with all partners, we learn how to say goodbye gracefully, and that we practice peace instead of just making it.

Perhaps it helps me to rest better at night thinking and trusting that I am where I have chosen to be and that thought is as empowering as it is terrifying on some levels. It's been a long, dry patch where I have neglected the tapestry of my life... slowly, deliberately, I am returning to the loom and seeing it again as a means to connect the frayed ends into a greater whole. Instead of focusing on what crosses me, I have been trying to see what tracks I am laying down. These days it seems more important to be aware of what we put into life instead of what (or how) we get out of it.

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