Gagafesto "Happy 420, Born to be Brave!", gagablog 18

Happy 420 ya'll! I hope you are having a wonderful holiday and are able to celebrate well. I am behind on my gagablog, I have not even heard Judas yet, which came out yesterday, and I want to say one more thing about Born this Way, though I will be returning to it and songs from the Fame Monster, too.
Bravery is an essential aspect of freedom, and I am reminded of the bravery of people coming together to smoke pot even though it is against the law on this holiday of weed festivals around the country. I admire Gaga's boldness and bravery, including talking openly about her past experiences with drugs and about currently smoking weed when she writes (and maybe regretting not being able to when she performs because it is bad for her voice, I think she said.) I am an advocate of herbs for many reasons and one of the main ones is the creativity and inspiration associated with it. And I think it is indicative of the ills of our society that such a benign plant is illegal, and that people have to take bold action for freedom and justice, and for their health and recreation.
This is one reason I want to highlight bravery today, to honor the bravery of the simple act of smoking a bowl in public, and to give credit ti Gaga for being a positive role model in so many ways, including the responsible use of herbs and responsible use or abstinence from other drugs. But I also want to finish a point I brought up in gagablog 17 and end the discussion (and practice) of evil, even "justified" evil.
I mentioned the buddha giving his life to the hungry tiger mother so that she and her cubs could live. This reminds me of such great Love, but at the same time an amazing kind of bravery. Love and Bravery are the same in this story, in a powerful way that I think shows that Loving is the bravest thing we can do. When Gaga says "I was born to be brave" in Born this Way, I think of something within us all that calls us to bravery, to freedom, something that makes us truly ourselves. I have been talking about evil in regards to trying to protect the people of Lybia from evil and using a justified evil of violence to do this, but I resent myself for not finishing that line of thought, ending it, and I resent that there is fighting going on still today in Lybia and other places. There certainly is bravery in the actions of people who are literally fighting for freedom, but there are two tragedies as well: one, that the situation is such that such bravery is required in the first place and change our role so that we take responsibility for the negative effects of persuing "our" self-interest in the region and truly act for principles, towards helping the people have what is best for them. The other tragedy is that bravery to fight is held in such high regard, while the bravery of self sacrifice, of putting oneself aside for another's well-being, is not thought of as often as bravery. But I believe it is the greatest bravery, the boldness to love in a way that puts others first, and I think it is the true solution to problems.
There is a bold path to freedom that requires fierce love. Gaga is a great example of this to me, and I can hear scoffs and groans of "hypothetical" naysayers who think "she made so much money and has so many fans, what did she 'sacfrifice'?" and I hear this sometimes and it always makes me think of how jealous people are and how little love we feel like we have in the world that when someone is offering great love people are so often afraid of it. Gaga has truly sacrificed a lot in the sense of putting a lot of time and effort into becoming who she is, and maybe her path came with hurt and suffering for her art along the way, but that was a labor of love for art and music, I am sure. The sacrifice of privacy that some celebrities complain of does not seem to bother Gaga, but Im sure has its drawbacks. I think she wanted and embraces the positive influence she has on people, but one thing I consider a true sacrifice is bearing the negativity of "haters". And I only see two reasons for hating Gaga, jealousy and fear. People are jealous of her fame and success, but even deeper than that I think people are afraid of love and she represents love that is powerful, free, creative and passionate and it simply scares people, or reminds them of something they don't want to deal with.
This is where bravery is required, for all of us to love as much and as well as we are able, as we were born to do. But it does require getting "on the right track" and rediscovering our true natures and having the bravery to live up to them.
I'm really trying to make these shorter, and have so much to say about herbs that I will have plenty to say as time and the gagablog go on, but I do feel like I'm not quite doing it justice here - I just don't have time. But I will mention the quality of the herb that induces peace and understanding and how unfortunate it is that our society has repressed this plant and how much violence we perpetuate and how much could be reduced if we weren't opposed to this natural peacemaker. I formed a Peacepipe Party in response to the Tea Party, to bring people together for common interest, honoring nature and seeking peace. I think herb can be wonderful in these persuits and gaining understanding between each other and with nature. Again, I am only touching on something that needs much more discussion, but I want to for the auspicious day and for good luck for the people gathered and since I am writing this and getting other things done instead of joining them and I want to show my support. I feel it has certainly helped me get and stay "on the right track." And the good thing, silver lining wise, of it being illegal is that is taught people the importance of being brave and gave a measure of understanding and solidarity with people who had to seek freedom for other reasons.
One nice effect of smoking weed is that it allows us to relax and not think of ourselves so much, to think of other things, which can result in greater consideration for others. Tolkein wrote a fragment in which Gandalf tells Saruman that the Hobbit's leave allows one to listen to rash counsel with patience, soomething like that. He is not saying it confuses you, as Sauruman was suggesting, because he still knows that the words he is hearing are rash - maybe he can even recognize that better when he is stoned. But he is saying he can listen to them with patience, so the anger and fear of the speaker, Saruman, does not effect him. This is what is required in these delicate negotiations that can deteriorate into violence. The people debating don't have to smoke herbs, but it would help if they could put themselves aside enough to see the other's view, and to have that perspective that allows them to stay calm in the face of anger and fear, of rash counsel.
I love herbs both for increasing calm and reducing anxiety, fear, and anger, but also for actively promoting love in many ways. No, it does not always inspire the boldest physical activity, though it can at times (look at basketball players, snowboarders, and other atheletes, plus many other examples) but it does often inspire bold thought. And this is what we truly need. We have not honored the qualities of understanding and love as we should have, we have given in too much to self interest and even believe that love and other resources are limited or even scarce. In fact, I think that is is our fear and displacement of love that makes some people hoard resources and acually make them scarce where they don't have to be. But we somehow have been duped into thinking love is rare, when it is the most abundant thing there is. Sunlight and water are also very abundant and we are not utilizing them or spoiling them, in ways analogous to diregarding or ruining love.
But the nature of love requires being able to think differently to make the most of it, which is why I feel herbs help me in more mystical and deeper understanding of love. And it takes boldness and bravery to go for it, both to seek romantic love or persue lust, or to resolve a conflict between people or nations. It takes being ready and willing, brave and strong enough, to put yourself aside and see another view and honor it, respect it, and seek the best outcome for the other person or nation, not yourself or your country over theirs, and know that this is love and that love can make anything possible. But we have to first be open and creative enough, free from fear, to imagine the best outcome, then we must be brave to resist self-interest and see others well-being first and persue that goal and reach it.
I am proud of myself for always advocating herbs and having faith that one day it would be less oppressive in society to smoke them. And I am proud of Colorado, where I live now for making it so that "some people" can smoke with less fear. But I want to give as much credit to Obama and liberals in general because it was his election that really made things take off here. I think he could do so much good on so many fronts by changing our national policy on herbs. I also think the perspective it brings could lead to solutions to dire and violent conflicts - because whatever I said before about a measure of evil being necessary at times to prevent a greater evil, there is a better, non-violent way. And it requires transformation, but transformation is possible.
Because we were Born this Way, born to be brave and we are made ot love and strong enough to do it. Love is what overcomes fear, and the things we are afraid of are reminders how much we need it. We all have the capacity for love, and most of us seem to be hurt by losses of it, but there is a "right track" we can get back on where we are in love, and not just as a destination but as a journey. We have to be brave and powerful to undertake it, and we are, we just need reminders. Some of the terrible things in the world are reminders how badly we need to persue love, personally and at large. For me, Gaga and herbs are reminders of how this is possible, how we really can do it, and how we are meant to, naturally.