Featured

DAY 27 (1000 WORDS, 3rd attempt)

Not sure what to write about tonight, really. I guess I’ll just write about everything going on right now. I’m uploading daily beats, I’m writing my daily words, I’m trying to exercise every second day, whether jogging or doing yoga. It feels weird doing everything sober though, since I’m so used to being stoned all the time. I’ve been feeling weird sensations in my chest when I move, as well as a general shortness of breath, nothing extreme but just annoying. At first it was making me go crazy with anxiety, but after researching for a bit I’ve become convinced that it has to do with me cutting down on weed since I see a lot of posts from ex-smokers of many years who share similar stories. It makes sense also because the discomfort started pretty much a few weeks after I first started my goal of cutting down on bud. I’ve been smoking weed since I was basically twelve, and I’m 27 now, so I have a lot of readjusting to do. I’ve learned some new things from my research, such as the fact that THC is a bronchodilator, meaning that it expands the airways in the lungs or something like that (I’m not the best at explaining medical terms) so quitting quickly can have the opposite effect on the lungs and cause bronchospasms. I haven’t smoked weed in about a month now, but my idea wasn’t to completely quit, just to switch to edibles and to cut down on my consumption in general. I guess what I’m experiencing is a combination of my lungs starting to heal from all the constant smoking over the years, as well as me feeling the effect of no longer having the bronchodilator effect of THC so often. It should pass with time from what I’ve read, but I’m definitely never going back to smoking the same way as I did before. In fact, I’ll only smoke once a month or something, if even that, and just eat way smaller doses of edibles, maybe just 2 days a week. It’s crazy, I never even knew this kind of thing could happen from quitting weed, and although I’m not blaming weed in any way, it just goes to show how nothing is meant to be abused, and everything has to be done or used in moderation. I was definitely abusing weed for so many years, it was good for everything and wasn’t harmful like other drugs. It made everything way more interesting and chill, so I just rolled with it. Ever since I’ve gotten really into spirituality, years ago, I’ve been planning on cutting down just because I realize that we have all we need within us, and that attachments are what cause suffering in life. A classic example is how a drug addict feels shitty I’d they can’t have their drug of choice, which in my case is weed. I now have to readjust to real life, and get back out into the world, leaving my peaceful inner world on the side for some time. This is actually why I finally made the decision to cut down, because I was planning to go hard with my music and to finally get serious about it make the dream happen. I for sure didn’t expect to have this kind of reaction though. Anyway, I’m not trying to complain, I just think that too many people, assuming that weed is all good and can cause no issues because it’s natural and relatively safe for recreational use, don’t bother to do any research, and end up abusing it in order to mask their real feelings and escape from uncomfortable realities that may cause anxiety of depression. As I’ve been learning from Carl Jung, anxiety is with us for a reason, so that we may analyze the way we are living and make a change, but if we just mask our anxiety and never face it, then what will happen when we finally decided to put that mask away? Will we be able to deal with all the unacknowledged anxiety that has been building within us? Well, it’s tough but I know I can do it, I know I got this. I just have to keep focusing on what I’m doing, creating dope music and expressing my deepest ideas and feelings through my lyrics, which is what I’ve always been inspired to do with my raps. I have a beautiful loving wife who supports me through all of life’s ups and downs, and I have a good family I can count on as well. I’m still healthy, thank God, apart from the aforementioned issues, so I gotta focus on exercising as often as I can and eating healthier as well. I know that everything will be okay in the end. Other than that, I’m just really excited about life and where this music thing will take me. I’m almost done my next album, Rebel Spirit, which will be released on all streaming platforms, and I’m really feeling how all the tracks are sounding so far. Oh, something else I’ve noticed during my sober days is that I’m getting really tired and sleepy at times. When I used to get high all the time I would sometimes stay up until 3 or 4am, just fascinated by whatever ideas I was learning or whatever music I was creating. Now I actually feel tired, as I do right now while I yawn, and I know that means it’s time to go to sleep. I guess it’s because things don’t seem so interesting anymore, even things I love with a passion, like philosophy and music, but I know this will pass with time, it’s just part of withdrawal from being used to constant weed stimulation. I’m not sure what else to write for now, but I suspect I’m close to finishing today’s thousand words, so I’ll just end this on a positive note. I wish everyone out there the best in life, stay balanced and healthy, and I pray you have the power to break any chains and attachments you feel you need to grow from. It’s not easy, but moving on to a new stage of life often requires painful sacrifices, leaving behind some of the things that we strongly identified with in the past. It’s time to grow, to become new, stronger, wiser people.

much love

~ rebel eye

DAY 21 (1000 WORDS, 3rd attempt)

Featured

It’s a shame to see people dumbing themselves down because they are not confident in themselves. Whenever we allow insecurities to stop us from moving forward with life we are robbing ourselves of the precious gift which was granted to us since birth, to feel the magic of being unique, of being an essential and integral part of the whole of life. No one is bigger or smaller in the plan of life, since we are all emanated Light from the oneness of the universe, we are all direct descendants of God, created in the Divine image. Whenever we give up on our dearest dreams due to doubt and fear, whenever we compromise our values in order to please ungrateful people, whenever we choose to do nothing and waste our potential rather than to face some adversity, some ridicule and jealousy, what we are doing is refusing the wonderful blessings which are inherently ours. We must all be grateful for advice from our elders, from parents and wise teachers, from gurus or well-meaning friends and relatives, but we must also use discrimination in every situation in order to discern what, out of the message which has been imparted to us by whoever it may be, actually serves us and what will hinder us if we apply it into our lives. That is what we must preserve, and the rest we can dispose of for the moment after minor analyzation. See, we all think we know what is best for each other. What we often don’t see is that there may be many factors which influence our opinion on what is best for everyone. What one individual believes he has realized without a doubt from direct experience of his own life, by dissecting the events of his life and interpreting the minutest detail, can be the complete opposite idea of another individual’s entire philosophy of life. Both believe that their belief is justified because of what they have been through, both are convinced beyond a shadow of doubt that they are correct in their analysis of life. But both are taking into account only limited data. A person who is much older may have more experience living life than someone who is younger, but do they have more experience being young in the present era? Being young now is not the same as being young was one hundred years ago, or even fifty or twenty years ago. Parents believe they always know what is best for their children, and most times they do (when it comes to certain things), but it is not always the case. Even if a parent is conscious of the fact that life consists of both pain and pleasure, and that their child might become a better person if they suffered through some pain of their own, they will still do anything in their power not to allow their child to experience pain. Such parents believe they are doing the right thing by not allowing their children to live through the conditions they lived through. However, balance is the key to everything in life. A child who grows up completely sheltered from society, locked in his home, and brought up by parents who directly or indirectly instill in him the notion that everyone is untrustworthy is bound to grow up to believe that everyone is a threat that should be treated with suspicion, that everyone is untrustworthy and that the world is a hostile place that is best avoided. Even if this hateful concept of trusting no one is not embedded in the child, he may still be forever shy and terrified of expressing his opinions in a social setting even if he wishes to do so. A sheltered lifestyle has rendered the child socially awkward, a problem that could be solved but is instead worsened since his anxiety levels just keep on rising with every interaction. Insecurities are prison bars to keep us locked in our minds. They are often deliberately placed in our minds by abusive people and by media programming. Girls who are of perfectly good size are made to feel like twigs when they look at magazine models, normal adolescents are made to feel powerless and petty when they watch rap music videos glamorizing promiscuous sex, dangerous drugs and flaunting material possessions like cars, liquor bottles and dollar bills. It is a socially acceptable stereotype that women need to spend hours on makeup every morning before they are free to go anywhere. Is anyone locking them inside so that they can’t go out and interact in the world? Yes, of course, they are prevented from escaping by the prison bars of insecurity in their mind. Some hate themselves and are unable to forgive or let go of a distant past, and so they drown their insecurities in alcohol or heavy doses of hard drugs. A beginning alcoholic has just figured out that he needs to get wasted at every party in order to even talk to people. Having no greater goal in life, he feels satisfied and thus, a life of addiction begins. If he ever puts the bottle down many years later he will come to realize that he has wasted many years of his life, as well as much of his health and money, on petty pleasures with people who don’t actually give a damn. He might notice that some are now dead from an overdose or collision, some are in jail, and some are still living the party lifestyle as if everything was fine, aging, refusing commitment to anything worthwhile, wasting away their potential to thrive, to do something more than just surviving and wasting space. Insecurity is the root of all this. We waste our lives away because of insecurity. We would rather live mediocre lives of transient thrills, than to face the hard knocks of life, to face rejection and ridicule, with the faith that one day we will finally taste sweet victory. Don’t let the world bring you down, learn from your life and those of others, but don’t let all of the information that’s out there overwhelm you and prevent you from trusting yourself and offering the world whatever you have been blessed with.

much love

~ rebel eye

Featured

DAY 13 (1000 WORDS, 3rd attempt)

Day 13 of a thousand words. I figured I would write about one of my favorite songs of mine, It Is What It Is. This is a song I wrote and recorded way back in 2012. It was released on my February 2012 mixtape Running Rebel. To this day, I consider this mixtape to be my masterpiece. I was trying to make a project with a unique sound, but more specifically, with the jazzy, old-school type of sound that I love so much, the sound that inspired me to get into hip-hop in the first place. This track was the most popular off the tape. In my lyrics I reminisce on old times, which even though were filled with problems, still represent the good old days for me. In 2012 I was only 18 years old, but I really felt like I had grown up and matured. I know what you might think, that at that age there’s not much that I could possibly be looking back at. That’s not the case for me though, since the craziest times of my life actually started when I was about twelve or thirteen, and although I had a lot of fun, I also got into a lot of problems. Thankfully, these problems didn’t escalate as much as they could have. I feel like I’ve always been blessed with good common sense, even when I was acting up I was never completely like a lot of my friends. I always knew there was something deeper to life, and I guess I was trying to find exactly that in the countless experiences I was having, but never finding anything. By the age of 18 I had realized that this life was not what I wanted any longer, so I wrote this song, It Is What It Is. The last part of the hook says “But we all gotta grow, yo, it is what it is,” and I feel like that sums up my mindset at the time, I was done with my old type of life and was sad to let it go, as I did have a lot of fun, but I realized that it was time to move on, to grow into a new phase in my life. There’s a lot of details in the song, about old times, old moments I lived through with close friends, some of which are no longer here with us. Overall, it’s just such a nostalgic song for me, and the amazing chill beat by Dela definitely went along with my lyrics to emphasize the nostalgic aspect of the track. I also like how he incorporated a sample into the beginning of the beat, from one of my favorite rap songs “Moment of Truth” by Gang Starr, where Guru raps “Sometimes you gotta dig deep, when problems come near, don’t fear, things get severe for everybody everywhere.” At the time I felt like I was really thinking deeply, I was finally making a decision about my life and the direction I wanted to take it. Unfortunately, it did take me a few more years to completely let go of my troubled past, so throughout 2013 to 2014 I was back into making gangsta rap songs with RRG. It took me a few years to completely free myself of who I used to be and the toxic lifestyle I was living for so long, and over that time I also quit smoking cigarettes completely, quit drinking for the most part, and quit doing all the drugs I was doing. By 2017 I released my Musical Alchemy mixtape, where I incorporated a lot of what I had learned into my lyrics, from the 7 Hermetic Principles to the Four Noble Truths, from Bible verses to quotes by great philosophers. I wanted to creative something philosophically inspiring, but I feel like I ended up being a bit all over the place on that album. I hope to be able to make an album as good as my 2012 Running Rebel album some day, but I just don’t know if I’m even the same person these days. Even if I never do though, I’m glad to have created a classic, and even though my album barely got more than a thousand downloads, since I’m still basically unknown, I’m glad to have made something I can enjoy, and which documents my growth in life. Unfortunately, now that I’ve started posting my music on streaming services, I haven’t been able to post any of the songs from my Running Rebel mixtape, since the beats I used were just picked from different websites and YouTube videos, in order to match the sound I was trying to achieve. To anyone who might be reading this blog and who is already familiar with my music, I truly appreciate you! And if you’re reading my blog and are not familiar with my music then give this track a listen, I know you will enjoy it. To be honest, I think a lot of what has prevented me from “making it” as a musician has been my own fault, I’ve never been great at promoting myself, it’s never been something I enjoy doing. It feels like I’m trying to show off or something, so I’ve always preferred to have people find my music organically rather than sharing it to everyone. However, I’m now at the point where I realize that this just doesn’t work like that. As a creative person it’s imperative to be able to market oneself. You might be super dope at what you do, but if no one knows it then it isn’t gonna do much for you, so let the world know! There’s way too much wack music about nothing out there these days, so I shouldn’t feel any shame for promoting my own music when I know that it’s dope, and that people would appreciate it if only more people got to hear it. I appreciate everyone reading, as always, and I’ll leave a link to my song, It Is What It Is, in case you’re interested in listening.

much love

~ rebel eye

1,000 WORDS (2nd attempt): DAY 44: Mentality Matures as we Grow and Learn.

Throughout my lifetime I’ve held many very different ideas at many different times. At a certain point I was determined to make it big as a rapper, to tour the world as a superstar and make incredibly popular music. I had a belief that nobody could stop me if I really set my mind to it. I still believe this, yet in my younger days, way, way back in the day, there simply was no doubt in my mind about whether I was going to make it or not. I was going to make it, without a doubt, because I had to. I grew up in a very ethical household, my parents really taught me most of the positive values and habits that make me who I am today. I strayed from their teachings from years, and I still do in some ways, but nowhere nearly as much as I did before. In my adolescent mind, their entire worldview was simply wrong. I didn’t give it much though though, I just didn’t follow it. I followed my own rules, which often meant breaking many rules, both imposed by my parents and by the law. I had no idea about people who try to live a life of righteousness to the best of their ability, I gave no thought to the deeper side of life, to all suffering that surrounds us, to how we must all do our best to uplift each other and to ease each other’s suffering. I did acknowledge all the suffering and evil in the world, but I only used my music to lash out at society, to blame the government or whoever is really running things, or to promote myself and my own ideas about not trusting anyone, about keeping your circle small and keeping it real and not fucking around with me. I was busy causing suffering myself, by stealing, whether sweaters at the mall or candy at the dollar store, or by fighting in the street or at school, or arguing at home, or disobeying and disregarding my parents and the way they felt about things. I was so inconsiderate, and I see that it was due to my mindset which had become completely corrupt. I was attempting to recreate a mental image that I had of myself, or rather who I thought I was, and I was acting out in unnecessary ways, always wanting to be the craziest one, the one who does the craziest shit or gets the most fucked up. I tried so many different drugs back in those days. I can’t say I’m done with all of them, but at least I don’t do them indiscriminately anymore, in big quantities and doses, mixing different kinds of substances. I’ve always done my research on these things, and by learning and experience I’ve come to learn what the differences are between many different kinds of psychoactive effects, which substances can be positive and not harm one’s body or mind, and which are simply poison, including crack/cocaine as well as most pharmaceuticals. I can’t say I regret my past, as I have learned a lot, and I’ve had a lot of good times. Pain and suffering, even ignorance, are all part of one’s life, at some times more than others. We usually mature as we age, as we learn, as we live and grow. This has been true for me. Perhaps I still got a long way to go in the process, but at least I’ve come this far. I no longer make music without attempting to provide a solution to the problems I address, I know longer party or try to hook up with random girls, since I’m not married and also don’t drink, probably for about a hundred days now. I can save more money, I don’t have to act a fool on a regular basis, and I don’t have to have my sadhana constantly interrupted by periods of guilt, shame, disgust, plus a terrible hangover and all it includes. I feel that I’ve done quite enough drinking in my life, and at this point I only smoke chronic, plus indulge in a productive psychedelic trip once in a while, in the comfortable set and setting of my own home, with my wife accompanying me, or sometimes as she sleeps. One must respect these substances and understand that partaking in drugs, even psychedelics, is no game. Psychedelics are more unpredictable than other kinds of drugs, and the trip they take a person on highly depends on one’s mindset, and set and their setting, as well as one’s expectations and underlying beliefs about the nature of the psychedelic experience. One must be fully aware in order to become totally immersed in a mystical psychedelic experience and reap the benefits of it afterward, if determination is applied to the trip’s revelations. I guess I can say I’ve changed a lot, for the better, over the years, partly by naturally maturing, and by reconsidering some of my parent’s advice, partly understanding that we all are on a search for God, for transcendence, and some of these realizations have become deeply ingrained in my consciousness because of my psychedelic trips throughout the years. I now read more, I research, I try not to talk about much nonsense, or indulge in petty or destructive conversation. I try to be constructive with all I do, and sometimes I fail at it, as old habits prevent me from behaving in the best way I know. Self-mastery is a slow process, and it is no easy task, but it is worth it. When I realized, a few years back, the extent to which I had gone in causing my parents grief, and setting a bad example for my brothers, I felt deeply ashamed of myself for it. For a few years I was consumed by the idea of paying them back for all that had done for me, to make up for what I had not done for them, such as being a good son. In some ways I was though, and in some I wasn’t. I’m glad to say I don’t feel so guilty now, as I’ve grown and I’ve learned, my relationship with my parents has only continued to get better. I can’t wait to see them again when Maria and I fly back to Canada.

To be continued tomorrow, on Day 45.

~ Rebel Spirit

1,000 WORDS (2nd attempt): DAY 8: Your Mind is Programmable.

Your mind is programmable, and if you are not the one programming it then best believe someone else will do it for you. As I was growing up I felt so free while I chased a reckless sense of pleasure which I hoped would never end. I chased one thrill after another until I grew weary of thrill-seeking. Even though I often felt much freedom, I realize now that I was deluding myself. I was being programmed by the thoughts and ideas of those I looked up to, and I didn’t even know why I looked up to them. I wanted to fit in, to belong. I thought I didn’t but I see that I did. I didn’t choose not to fit in, at least in my younger days. I just didn’t fit in. I felt that I was cursed, like I could never truly connect with anyone on an intimate level. I felt like there was something wrong with me, like I was just inherently worse than everyone else, different, an alien creature to be tolerated. I don’t remember when I first had this idea, but it has always been with me to some degree. I watched rappers in music videos playing around with huge stacks of money, surrounded by supermodels and shiny new sports cars, not to mention all the jewelry and expensive attire. I believed that the system was holding me back from reaching that goal which I desired so much, to be a famous writer and rapper, and to travel the world basking in the glory of my international fame. Foolish dreams, I see now. Fame is a monster which can consume one and trouble one to the core. I think I can do without fame. As for money? It is natural to live and breathe for money, to chase and to cherish it when one has no interests beyond the worldly, beyond the temporary, beyond the transient. As I’ve gradually awoken from the illusion, I find myself losing interest in money. I no longer care about it, and the thought of it incites boredom and monotony. There is no substance, no meaning, to money, yet we are constantly programmed to chase it and value it above all. The media fills us with images of what we supposedly need to look like if we are to be popular, of the things we need to have if we are to call ourselves ‘successful’. These are all lies, and no matter how well we may understand this, our mind picks up these lies and stores them in our subconscious. If a lie is listened to enough times it begins to be believed by the listener. The masters of mass advertising study the many subtle methods which can be used in order to manipulate the minds of the masses, to subconsciously suggest a product or an idea, to create the feeling for a need which was never even considered before. The media plays on our insecurities, it tells us that we need this to be cool, that we need this to be healthier, that we need this to be skinnier, that we need such a thing to be more muscular. There are masters in the field of advertising nowadays who are professionals at exploiting our desires, even the pettiest ones, and creating a market from this newly created need. What to many of us is life, what we obsess over and cry and struggle for, what we work and save up for, all that we spend the majority of our lives chasing. All of these things are just numbers, are just dollars, are simple figures to those who manufacture them. There is no difference in the way they see those who create the products, the workers, and those who consume and use the products, the general population. The corrupt system which we live in has reduced us all to figures, to numbers, to indispensable zombies to conduct their experiments on. Because we are comfortable, and because we do not want to have a nervous breakdown, we ignore this wicked state of things. We are okay with it because we do not know exactly what we are missing out on. We don’t see that the system uses its many tools to keep us confused and complacent, to keep us taking one step forward and two steps back. It does this through mental manipulation, through advertising, through product placing in TV and movies, through music and music videos, through social norms, and even through foods and products which cause lethargy and even serious health conditions. We all claim to distrust each other, and we see the rest of humanity as competitors in the game of life, we believe that we need to outsmart them in order to move forward, in order to see any progress in our lives. We are so blind that we can’t see that this is exactly the aim of those in control, of those who we really should distrust yet we blindly trust. We trust what the government approves, we trust what the doctor tell us, we trust what we see on the news, but why? Why, if we are so quick to distrust those we encounter throughout our days, are we so quick to trust those who we do not know? Why don’t we begin paying closer attention to what we are watching, to what we are listening to, to what we allow to be on around us? We must do this if we wish to be free, since no matter how sincere our intentions may be, we can never change if we continue filling our minds with garbage. The spirit is superior to the mind, but once it has a good understanding of what is beneficial and what is detrimental for the mind, it must begin the process of holding the mind subject to the necessary changes. The mind will struggle to change, and it will follow its oldest and most undesirable habits, especially if they help us cope with pain and stress. Often these habits are the very ones we wish to change in ourselves, yet the need to change stresses us our to the point that we can not control ourselves from following these destructive habits. We need to be painfully aware of the divine Spirit which we are, and the more we practice doing this the more we will be able to program our minds with positive ideas, even when surrounded by people who speak pure stupidity and ignorance. We must make our highest ideals habits within our minds, we must create healthy habits that will allow us a better quality of life in the future. When one is not sure what one stands for, one is easy to manipulate. It is then extremely easy to fall prey to whatever propaganda is stuffed into our brain, since we do not know who we are or what we are here for. The end result is that we do whatever it takes to maximize pleasure and to minimize pain, and this becomes the most dangerous habit of all.

To be continued tomorrow, on Day 9.

~ Rebel Spirit

On the meaning of Rebellion.

To be a Rebel is not the equivalent of being a criminal or a gangster, or to take part in some form of armed rebellion or protest. By that statement, I in no way mean to infer that protesting against injustice is negative at all, but my aim here is to rid the word “Rebel” from any negative, violent or aggressive connotation, or any mental image of political conflict that might be associated with it. A Rebel is, in fact, an intellectual; a person who, seeing the vast majority of his or her peers crawl down an endless road of perdition and struggle, wrestling against the demons of temptation, lethargy and depression which so often take hold of us when we live a life which is completely immersed in material existence, decides to take control and make something of himself, his real Self. A rebel, rather than aspiring to be a wealthy and famous celebrity or businessman who can do as he pleases at any moment in order to feed his weak ego which is held together only by the very insignificant fact that he has millions safely stored away in a bank account, aspires first to be a righteous individual, knowing that no person can fail in any respect who walks in righteousness.

A Rebel is righteous in the sense that a rebel empties his mind of harmful, negative ideas and thoughts, realizing that the mind is a very powerful tool which we ought to be deeply thankful for. A Rebel realizes that by constantly feeding his mind with trash as most of society does, he is bound to achieve none but the same results as if he were to constantly fill his body with junk food, namely that the mind will become ill and unstable. Upon facing such a realization, a rebel cannot refuse to take action and ignore the truth. A rebel is a follower of truth under any circumstances, who refuses to behave as the masses do simply because we have been sold the idea that we must do so in order to survive, and who refuses to behave as his carnal desires entice him to, not allowing himself to be blinded and tempted by the idea of the cheap thrill derived from false, worldly pleasures. Indeed, it is true that no great achievement in the history of our planet has ever come from conformists, and as George Bernard Shaw put it, “all great truths begin as blasphemies.” Therefore, rebellion has nothing to do with physical or verbal violence or abuse. On the contrary, a Rebel, realizing the amazing healing power which words contain, uses his speech to heal, be it through blessings, greetings, prayer, conversation, lectures, or music, which is an obvious favorite of mine.

There is no doubt that society has indeed been heavily influenced and shaped by notorious Rebels. One who has inspired millions, if not billions of people, is John Lennon, who definitely agreed with me in the opinion that violence is not an effective way of dealing with the corrupt system in which we live in. Lennon once stated that “when it gets down to having to use violence, then you are playing the system’s game”, further adding that “once they’ve got you violent, they know how to handle you. The only thing they don’t know how to handle is non-violence and humor.” So now, I believe we have established without a doubt that Rebellion, or the simple act of being a Rebel, has nothing to do with weapons or violence, but everything to do with true peace, which we call inner peace. I consider inner peace to be the ability to remain calm in all situations, through all the happenings of life, through the highs and the lows; and not only that, but to find beauty in impermanence of it all. This does not mean to be emotionless through a desperate situation, but rather not to make a non-desperate situation desperate with our irrational emotions. Such a thing happens when we let our emotions take hold of us, and we navigate life being easily influenced by them. If we continue on in such a manner, we are sure to be easy prey for those who want to, consciously or unconsciously, alter our thought patterns and behaviors, whether for better or for worse. Most of the time however, mental manipulation does not happen for the benefit of the manipulated person, but for the benefit of the manipulator. Therefore, a true rebel can renounce violence and retribution in the face of adversity, refusing to bring himself down to the level of those who are not yet on his level of consciousness and appreciation for peace.

A Rebel dares to voice an unpopular opinion, to shine bright and proud among a mass of dull and unoriginal zombies, copying and repeating, internalizing and spewing back out, everything they consume through the physical senses. A Rebel boldly exploits his creative talents and interests, as well as the full power of his mind and body, in order to optimize his life experience, by constantly learning, and applying what is being learned, in order to remain in a state of constant improvement and progress, which ultimately leads to inner and outer prosperity alike. A Rebel never ceases to observe and analyze each moment of life, knowing that each movement, from the smallest to the largest, is but a manifestation of the energy which is all around us as well as inside us, the energy which guides us as long as we listen, and which is a direct emanation of God’s Divine light. The same inner light is what guides us on the path of Rebellion, as we educate ourselves and stop falling as victims to a sheep mentality. I conclude this statement by pointing out that being a Rebel is not an option in our world; it is actually essential to any person who wishes to become free, and to open up to the full potential which is hidden dormant within himself. As Albert Camus so perfectly put it in one of my long-time favorite quotes, “The only way to deal with an unfree world, is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion.”