Chu The Cud

Favorite between who?

Who is your favorite historical figure?

Why can’t we ask the question, which historical figures do you admire. Why does it have to be, “your favorite?” Questions as this tend to get a simple answer without the in-depth reasoning behind the answer.

There are many historical figures that have accomplished incredible things, been influential in various aspects of human history and have left a lasting impact on us while others have opened our eyes to profound and transformative experiences and some have educated, inspired and entertained us when it was necessary. Each may have a place in our hearts.

With so many historical figures to choose, from the earliest, Chinese philosopher Confucius (551-479 BCE), to Emperor Julius Caesar, playwright William Shakespeare, Polymath, writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, Freemason, inventor, publisher, Founding Father of the United States of America, drafter and signer of the Declaration of Independence and first Post Master General Benjamin Franklin, Inventor Thomas Edison, Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud, Silent Film Star Harold Lloyd, Crooner Frank Sinatra, Winston Churchill, Method Actor Marlon Brando, Actor and 40th President of the United States of America Ronald Reagan and all others in between.

Favorite is skewed to become what was or is popular. What was written about this person during the era of the Historical Figure’s spotlight versus what has been discovered about them in current times which can change a status from favorable to unfavorable.

Favorite also tends to leads to one word answers and maybe a short sentence. Favorite becomes a contest of who is captivating or compelling, the best and admiration allows one to go deeper, carrying a high regard and recognition making it personal.

Popularity is often influenced by a combination of various elements and factors such as marketing and promotion, social trends, cultural influences, accessibility, quality, timing and propaganda. A favorite today could not be a week or year from now.

In conclusion, “favorite” relates to personal preference or enjoyment, while “admire” involves a deeper level of respect and appreciation for someone or something based on their qualities or achievements. You can only have one favorite but admire many.

c 2023 Chu The Cud

Breath with eyes wide open.

You are given this moment. what do you do with it, is up to you.

Don’t miss the opportunity to live in that moment. The next moment is so far away from now, so enjoy where you are.

Why be overly fixated on the carrot and neglecting everything else. Your hunger will subside and the carrot will lose its significance. Allowing yourself only to be preoccupied with the carrot and you might miss the fruit trees next to the lake. Embracing one goal is a lost fulfillment. Breath in this moment and see all that is around you.

Apart from that, stop putting so much emphasis on life after our earthly existence. Breathe in the moment of life you’re encountering and fully embrace the experience. Discover joy, beauty and fruition in everyday experiences.

Life is beautiful.

c 2023 Chu The Cud

Optimism.

What’s your favorite thing about yourself?

I try and keep an optimistic state of mind. I see challenges and setbacks as temporary and surmountable, rather than insurmountable obstacles.

Since 2020, I’ve been dealt some sucker punches, but kept a positive outlook. It didn’t matter how difficult and desolate life seemed to be, I kept sanguine things would turn around. Doors will open when they need to.

Until then I’m happy to have a roof over my head, food in the refrigerator, be healthy, happy to be working to pay the bills and still be able to enjoy all my senses. Everything else is gravy.

A smile creates smiles.

c 2023 Chu The Cud

We are all interconnected.

Emotions are like the waves that pulsate the ocean. They form in different intensities due to eternal conditions caused by external conditions.

Emotions such as hate, have only a destructive nature and will eventually create injustices and destruction against its own interests.

We are all creations of earth and the cosmos and are interconnected. When we disrespect our environment and each other we are ultimately undermining our own well-being and actually destroying ourselves.

Imagine you are a glass of water and an ice cube is introduced into your environment. At first, there may appear to be a stark contrast between the two. It can be traumatizing and shocking. However, as time goes on the two will merge to become one because of their inherent unity, even though deriving from different environments.

Apprehending this and opening one’s eyes to the awareness of being interconnected and what truly is significant is a transformative and enlightening experience.

To live in harmony with the universe and all it encompasses should be our daily goal. Embrace the principles of balance and avoid excessiveness. Then one can begin to lead by example and genuinely inspire others to follow.

c 2023 Chu The Cud

Many things have come and gone, but a ring is a daily thing.

What’s the oldest thing you own that you still use daily?

Assuming that it’s something that is not attached to my body or inside my body, I will say, my Master Mason ring.

When I became a Master Mason, July 2008, I couldn’t wait to get a Square and Compass ring. I purchased it from a Lodge Brother who was a Past Master from my lodge.

I have worn it almost daily since then.

Happy Father’s Day!

c 2023 Chu The Cud

The life of a potato.

A seed is planted into the soil. The minerals and nutrients that saturated the earth produce the elements needed for the seed to grow. The sun’s heat and energy, warms the ground from the rain’s moisture to aid in the plants growth.

A potato is plucked from the soil, cleaned and placed on top of other potatoes. It eventually gets pushed over by the other potatoes being dropped onto the pile and rolls into a dark corner, all alone. Without the soil it grew in. The soil that nourished it and protected it. And in the absence of the sunshine that help sustained it.

Days later the potato begins to get soft and shriveled due to dehydration. It doesn’t look good for the potato, however it begins to sprout. The sprouts start pushing through the potatoes thick skin, becoming a life force in its own existence, growing everyday. The potato has now become the nourishment and protector of the sprouts and the potato’s existence continues through the flourishing sprouts.

Even though this potato was not shipped away with the others to be consumed and become fuel for human cells to grow and reproduce, it’s still found a way to continue to live and give back to life.

Is the potato more in-tune with being and philanthropy than humans?

What can we learn about the circle of life through a potato?

Life is Impermanent and we must be resilient and able to adapt to our ever changing environment, situations and world in order to continue to grow and cherish the preciousness and fragility of life. We must give back like the potato or perish as a society. Even in it’s hardship the potato was able to nourish the sprouts as it became that for which it once was.

c 2023 Chu The Cud

I have affection for all the seasons. The pulchritude of life.

What is your favorite season of year? Why?

I don’t have a favorite season because each one is special and great in its own right. Each one has its own ambience, smell, feel and memorable moments.

The quiet of a snow fall, the perfect combination of a sun’s warmth and the light breeze on a spring day, the sound of the waves smashing into each other in the summer and the fragrance of the falling autumn leaves are just a few of the highlights of the four seasons.

Each season can call up memories of being one in sync with each season’s complexity of life.

The recollection of walking through the moist slushy snow, the icy chill numbing your face as the warm vapor expels from your breath. The holiday lights and songs that encompass the yuletide season. Instantly feeling the cold when walking out from a warm place and the warmth on your face when going inside on a cold day.

Sitting on the ground in a park or yard and watching the bees jump from flower to flower while smelling all the plants and flowers coming to life. All the new bouquets of colors blooming after a few months of mostly, black, grey and white.

During the long days of summer, drinking from a garden hose on a hot day and tasting the warm temperature of the water changing smoothly to a cooler taste. The smell of freshly cut grass and the aroma of charcoal being lit and prepared for the summer cookouts. Yellows, greens and blues creating the scope of a summer day.

The swiftly changing tones of the shedding leaves from greens to beautiful hues of red, orange, and yellow and they cascaded down and blanket the ground. Picking a special pumpkin and carving it to put in a window for Halloween and later baking the seeds in the oven for a delicious treat. The smell of nutmeg and cinnamon cooking in the pies they encompass, baking in an oven for Thanksgiving Day.

Why must we categorize things in what is your favorite? Each has a place in the time of a memory along with a space in a heart. Each month of the season is unique in itself during a seasonal life. These four tapestries represent diversity and the cycle of life and are beautiful in their own distinctive moment in time.

I’ll sum it all up by committing to this, they’re all my favorite.

c 2023 Chu The Cud

Is Luxury accurately just an overindulgence?

What’s the one luxury you can’t live without?

Luxury as defined by the dictionary is the state of great comfort and extravagant living. Expensive, elegant, beautiful. I believe this is the first thing that comes to many people’s minds when they hear the word, luxury. But is it really just that?

A luxury for many of us could be sleep. Working two jobs just to pay the most basic bills, putting a roof over one’s head and to have food in the refrigerator. The stress endured can affect one’s sleeping. A good nights sleep is a luxury to many.

Cellphones use to be a luxury decades ago but now have become a necessity and a nuisance. Many people can’t function without them. Even the homeless have them now.

Another luxury for some is transportation. However, it can be expensive to upkeep and purchase gasoline in order to get from point A to point B. Even though it’s much cheaper to use public transportation, most prefer to use their own.

Many others may say, high speed internet, cable tv, video games, cigars, Starbucks coffee, music, a fast sports car, motorcycle, travel, alcohol, weed, eating meals out, and so on.

I couldn’t nail it down to one because for me there are seven. Seven that I have become accustomed to and are taken for granted every day. They are a gift to most. The five senses plus two.

Seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, touching and being able to move and communicate. These are the purest forms of luxury.

Without these seven, could you even truly enjoy any of the other luxuries in your life?

c 2023 Chu The Cud.

Prayer vs Drag

In the United States, we live in a secular republic where prayer was removed from public schools to accommodate non-believers.

This decision aligns with the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which establishes the separation of church and state, stating that no law shall respect the establishment of religion or prohibit its free exercise. Interpretations of this amendment vary based on individual perspectives.

In the 1960s, the U.S. Supreme Court banned school-sponsored prayer in public schools in Engel v. Vitale, citing that it would violate the First Amendment.

Students are allowed to meet and pray on school grounds, provided they do so privately and do not pressure others to participate. However, teachers promoting religion and prayer during class can face disciplinary action.

In recent times, there has been a growing acceptance of educators promoting various sexual ideologies and identities in classrooms, even when parents express objections and concerns about exposing their children to such topics.

This raises questions about consistency in applying the same legal standards.

Government officials, politicians, and mainstream media outlets often criticize parents and children who believe schools should not promote sexual promiscuity, while prayer remains prohibited.

This perceived hypocrisy suggests that personal beliefs and opinions are being advanced in schools without the same scrutiny faced by religious practices.

Parents have the right to raise their children according to their values and provide them with the tools they need to succeed in society.

They also have the right to advocate against what they consider inappropriate for their young children.

Shouldn’t the same standards apply equally to both religious and sexual education in schools?

c 2023 Chu The Cud

Anxiety of the after life.

If we didn’t think about life after death, it could have a profound impact on our consciousness and the way we experience life.

Anxiety comes into consciousness when very young children are introduced to the folklore of Santa Clause. Santa is a legendary figure who brings gifts to well-behaved children and coal to naughty children during the Christmas season. It is the first time we start to feel anxiety about a fictitious situation and to self monitor our behavior for presents.

The next contrivance to bring anxiety to our consciousness as young children is religion and the afterlife.

The afterlife is introduced to us from our earliest days. It becomes the first idea implemented into our brain to condition us to feel anxiety and modify our behavior.

Even though these fables appear irrational and without facts, we have been conditioned from our earliest recollection to trust that it happened and is true.

We don’t know what happens after death for the reason that there isn’t any case of anyone coming back after death to explain it.

However, there are millions of people following faith without facts. Just superstition with a hint of imagination.

At one time, the mythology of the Greek Gods ruled the faith of the people. Great stories but as fact, they were and still are improbable.

Rather than worrying about the after life, just live and enjoy your life. When the electricity ceases in your body, you’ll discover what’s next or maybe not.

c 2023 Chu The Cud