Raise the Hammer

A poster on my latest piece talked about people like Mahesh Butani and Mystoneycreek, being elitists. I was more or less tuned out from the world last week taking some long overdue R&R time, but I did sneak a read at the comments on my piece from time to time. A few have left my mind spinning, included this 'dig' at two people I greatly respect in this community.

Although I have openly admitted to Mystoneycreek in private messages that some of his and Mahesh's writing does go over my head periodically, I also stated that alternatively, I find their words to be almost poetic in nature. Their messages are very deep. Their words and reasonings are beyond works that I have read or worlds that I have travelled having only been around North America myself, but I do get the gist of what they are driving at.

I have on a few occassions, expressed an interest to get together with the two people who I chatted most with and who inspired and encouraged me most during the stadium debate (not neccessarily by taking a side, but by feeding me some very valuable material and words of their broader wisdoms). Mahesh I did meet both at my IWS rally, and at the Welcome Inn Community Centre where Mahesh served dinner, and our band played upstairs. I had the chance to talk with Mahesh for a good length of time that night, and I am here to say that if his words don't hit you deep on paper, spoken in his humble demeanor, they certainly will.

I know we will all get together at some point - or for the first time when time allows for it and so that we can discuss these views in broader, face to face terms. In the meantime, I will still take in their teachings with the utmost of respect and curiosity for the knowledge their curiosities have taught them, and for how valuable I feel their opinions are on the path to moving this city towards becoming the thriving community it has every potential of being.

That elitist comment made me realize - and this story furthered the statement I had been pondering last week, that we need many varying voices to get the important points across. As another commentor on my piece also stated, we need the voices and opinions of many - not singular. Undstrial had some great points to add to the discussion as well. Mystoneycreek asked us a question. It's a good one to ponder. Even if nothing else, your answers only exist within your own thoughts.

You need the people who can put facts and principles and visions into every man terms. You need the techi who although to many his voice may sound almost computer-like in itself (WRCU2), there is something intriquing about his cryptic nature that I am sure other techni's get. Either way, I still value his input even though I am not always sure where he (or she?), is going with a particular statement. As long as someone is getting it, who cares what you or I think really and that could be said about all articles, blog posts, and comments on this or any other site or news media outlet out there.

Of course there is Mahesh and Mystoneycreek (and so many other current users I am over-looking but by no means am I intentially doing), are concerned and there were once many others like them when I first stopped by Raise the Hammer that left me timidly wondering where my voice might fit in. I eventually found my place (or better yet I am still finding it), but somewhere along the line the fact is that we seem to have lost many of the highly educated, somewhat hard for everyone to understand, voices and we need them back. Maybe not for me (although I want them back too because the more I stumble through their words, the more they make sense and the more it makes me want to venture into the teachings that have brought their wisdoms to where they are today), but for those that understand the world on those terms, their voice is important and very valuable to these discussions.

Then you have Kevin here and if memory serves me right, many of his posts are similar to this one in the way they are structure at least. You could almost put this story in a poetry book and it would not seem out of place. He has brought important issues to the surface in a totally different voice and one that I believe is also needed. He has taken these issues and put a bit of a humorous, ironical, cynical, yet poetic in fashion spin on it that almost has his readers dancing through each line.

Some people might not get or like this piece or won't find any value in it - some seem to thrive on negativity and I wish I knew why, or in my piece, or Mahesh's or Mystoneycreeks blog or even Ryan and countless others for that matter. But that's okay because there is something in all of the above that suits how we as individuals, like or need or want to recieve the information we are looking for.

All of life should be treated this way. Something for everyone. From the way we teach our children, coach our athletes from childhood to retirement, and the way we lead our employees - or train our animals for that matter. We all learn and are encouraged differently. If we dont' recognize this early on, we will miss some valuable input from these people/creatures - leaving us with more and more souls who know somewhere inside that they have so much more to offer us, but are unsure of what exactly that is.

We all have taken unique paths no matter how similar some may seem on the surface. Of course, even our religious and social beliefs, our heritage, and our politcal stances all vary, but we all - each and every one of us, have many of the same basic needs and if we can use all of these collective voices to get these very important points across, we can ensure that every single human (including animals and the whole of nature), needs are met first and foremost.

Until every single being on this earth is given all the nurturing their souls require from food to loving arms, clothing and a safe roof over their heads, nothing else will matter. This starts locally and the leadership in which we chose to embrace, is what will inspire that change to reach into broader regions across the earth's surface.

Every community needs to learn how to become more self-sustaining so we need to focus as a community, on the things that can fix our city and not getting things to and from other citites or our relationship with other towns. We need to fix our homes first. What can we do within the four corners of our municipal boundaries, to make this a community where no living being needlessly suffers?

Everyone says that we must first fix ourselves, before we try to fix others. That when we fix the things that are broken internally first, that we will be better equipped to help others.

The same could be attributed to the question I recently asked 'What Does Hamilton Want to be When it Grows Up'. Perhaps when we have asked and addressed this question within ourselves - figured out what we as individuals want to be when we grow up (in 1 year, 5 years, 10 years), we will be better equipped to address what we want as a city collective.

But the bottom line is many voices. That is what we need to answer that all encompassing question - What Does Hamilton Want to be When it Grows Up? Better yet, it's what we need to address all issues, with everyone in mind - including what the little seemingly insignificant voice of an amphibian might add to a particular discussion on how any given decision might affect them.

But all the above is my one, singular voice.

Comment edited by lawrence on 2011-08-02 13:58:29