The Bombing Culture - Of Ego and Purpose

'Godself' by Alex Grey


All humans have the divine ability to create.
As a creative force, it is thus my purpose to bring forth the very best of what I can produce with this power I hold. Creativity has defined itself through me as music and words, and my ego-self through my creative purpose has deemed herself as Alex Robshaw.

The ego. We all have one. The ego wants, the ego needs, the ego dreams, the ego destroys, the ego revels and delights and goes mad; the ego lusts and the ego despairs. The ego fears and the ego dares.

All living creatures have an ego, even animals, one could argue. Through one's life experience, it is certainly a good exercise to develop an ego-less perspective, and find its balance with a perspective of self-love and self-respect.
To be humble yet proud.
To love yourself without being narcissistic.
It is the exercise of a lifetime.

And so, when observing the nature of purpose, facing the inevitable presence of the ego, I cannot help but wonder how one can equate the purpose-feeling of having to share a religion, dogma, or lifestyle, with dropping a bomb on those who've chosen to believe in something else.

As it is, most monotheist religions are driven by fear. Behave a certain way or fear the One God's wrath. And you are force-fed this theory as a child, in your sponge-brain years, or at a moment in your life where you're so vulnerable that you'll be ready and willing to put your entire faith in whatever is reaching you in, to feel like you're part of something greater than yourself.

You thus come to feel it as your purpose to share your religious beliefs (otherwise known as preaching) and your ego will feel attacked when confronted with counter-beliefs. To disagree and argue is one thing, but to drop bombs on those who disagree with you?
That, to me, is a helluva lot of ego, and not a lotta purpose.

So what of bombs?
Explosives in themselves can be useful when used to destroy buildings that are already crumbling, so as to build a new one, or to make way underground for public transportation services or living accommodations. But to use bombs to destroy people -especially in the name of an idea or a perspective (for that is what religions are, really), well, that is, to me, simply a matter of too many egos in fear, together in one room feeding off each other's weaknesses, agreeing that the only way out of their self-inflicted misery is to kill anyone who doesn't think like them.

I hate politics, or rather, I hate being political. I'm lyrical, and musical.
But when I look at children, and at the happy round belies of pregnant women, and I hear or read of news of yet another bomb dropped in a god's name, and realize how frequent these are becoming, I find the world so hopeless, and wonder what can be done in 2016 to save it.

Never underestimate the power of egos in fear, especially if they have an easy access to explosives.

Since the dawn of time, human how have feared being the smaller nation decided to conquer more lands by force, war and blood. To kill each other out of fear of not being the greater force or nation is something that's seemingly engraved in the ways of human behaviour. You're scared of them because they're different from you? Kill them, show them you're better than them by gutting them and destroying everything they are and everything they have.

It's so much easier than to choose to love and trust, to open your mind and your heart and accept that what makes this world so amazing is it diversity.

There are so many cultures, and cultures within cultures in this world, and the beauty of evolution lies in discovering yourself through them, and your own, the culture you were brought in, so as to define your own personal culture.
For I could enjoy moroccan mint tea with two Muslim women, and get a very different version of the Q'ran from each of them.  Reality is, after all, a multi-faceted jewel which reflects the light of its beholder perfectly.

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At the core of the problem of people bombing other people to get a point across lies the problem of the children of the world, for generations upon generations upon generations, being raised in fear, not love. It's learned behaviour, and the best we can do is to understand how to unlearn, and relearn, how to respect each other and our own selves, and find that perfect balance between purpose and ego.
To love yourself without being narcissistic, and to accept things just as they are, and to find ways to solve issues through living kindness and openness.

And as for us artists -me -the ego, well, I'll just keep on making music.

Posted in: alex robshaw,Column