Hello, bloggers!

Joseph Campbell was one of the true intellects of the world, sent here to challenge us, expand our minds, teach us to be ourselves, and give us the keys to enter into the unknown.

Whenever I watch or listen to him or read anything he wrote, I can feel my mind being stretched in all different directions.  Some of those directions make me comfortable, some make me uncomfortable.  Some challenge me, some make me feel content, some make me feel so educated, some make me feel like a complete dummy.

This was the genius of Joseph Campbell.

We each see statements and ideas through our own prism, so one man’s oyster is another man’s pearl is another man’s ball of shit, is another man’s piece of gold...

I believe that’s how the human spirit and species has generated over a period of years, and that’s why I think art is such a metaphor for the human race:  We all look at the same painting, but we all see something different.

I always go back to the mantra of Alcoholics Anonymous:  Change the things we can, accept the things we can’t, and know the difference.  That, to me, is the big challenge.

I am idiotic enough to believe it’s possible to change the world.  Most people tell you it’s impossible.  I don’t know the difference there.

If someone wants me to move the Empire State Building down the block, I will probably say I can’t do it, but that would probably be easier than changing the whole structure that we call “society.”

Maybe we pick and choose our battles.  Maybe, to survive, we consciously or subconsciously look the other way and let somebody else do what we should actually do ourselves.

As many projects as I do around the world, I have to say no to many other projects because I don’t have the time, the knowledge, the wisdom, or the strength to do them.

After long meetings when they say to me, “This is what you should do,” I usually say:

“You really and truly have identified a crisis from all standpoints, but this isn’t what I should do; I’m doing what I think I should do right now; this is what you should do; this is your passion, this is your windmill.  So be at it!  I’m not going to bullshit you and tell you I’m going to do it all for you!”

Maybe it pisses them off somewhat, but they get over it and they find people to get in their line and help them with their march.

We now have millions of people who have participated in our “Lamb Umbrellas for Peace.”  Those millions began with a dummy undertaker who thought he was an artist.

So onward and upward, and keep on along your own path, joyfully singing down the road.

Matt