Post Surgery Playlists Instead Of Painkillers

My troublesome and unnecessary uterus is finally gone! The surgeon also took the fallopian tubes as that's where ovarian cancer starts, so it's always good to remove them if the opportunity is there. My ovaries are still there and I look forward to my usual hormonal balance returning after three months of chemically induced menopause.

Part of being emotionally prepared for this hysterectomy was being grateful for it and looking forward to life after it. Hurray! No more crippling anemia, so bad that not even returning to a meat diet helped. No more violent expulsions of blood and golf ball-sized clots that thankfully, occurred mostly at home, except for those two embarrassing times in my boss' office. No more pain! Pain so intense you wanted to vomit. Every month, those two days, having to call in sick. Done! Finito! Since I never wanted kids, nor is motherhood right for me, I had no need to put up with a malfunctioning womb any longer.  The only two things that scared me the most was my post-surgery body and rumors of a hysterectomy belly bulge, a fear which some research and finding recommended exercises alleviated. The second fear was how to get through two months of sick leave. I'm a restless, person who does not do well having to sit or lay still or be bored.

Sick leave is only fun when you are just healthy enough to move around and do fun stuff. Which is why, like any Virgo control-freak, I drew up a post-surgery survival strategy for being genuinely hold up in bed, recovering from two back to back surgeries and not going insane. It was a strategy that involved among other things, an elaborate set of playlists of carefully selected music and movies designed to be my Healing Soundtrack. It’s a good thing I did as I underestimated just how debilitating it would be. Diversion from the pain and the general lameness of the situation was crucial as dwelling on it really takes you into a depression. Actually, my strategy to stay in as good a mood as much as possible was so successful that I did not have to utilize nearly as much of the opioid and anti-inflammatory painkillers prescribed to me. I have an entire box of it unopened. Now I'm wondering why did the doctor prescribe so much! There are constant reports on the opioid crisis in the USA being caused by doctors being far too cavalier about prescribing highly addictive painkillers. I wonder if these addictions start because of not being prepared for the emotional pain and effort involved in healing and self-medicating for it. Anyway, my paranoia about taking the full course of opioids was also another reason for my Healing Soundtrack.

Leaving in good spirits!

It started right after surgery, in the hospital, in fact. I began hearing the Flaming Lips “Do You Realize” while still in my anesthesia haze (my partner Nick was playing it for me, much to the confusion and bemusement of our doctor and the nurses as she later related it to me). I remember fully awakening from the first surgery to the sounds of “Empire Ants” by the Gorillaz featuring Little Dragon playing from the headphones in my ears. After I was released from the hospital, awaiting me at home, were all my pre-selected feel-good music and favorite films that I have not seen in years. I'm going to share my Healing Soundtrack with you. This is not so you copy it exactly as making your own will be a personal exercise. But who knows, you may find some new stuff in mine or remember some songs you have not heard in a while. This is also not an exhaustive list of everything I listened to or watched but just the stuff I really enjoyed or was really beneficial.

Some Of My Favorite Music Herb Alpert- Rise Spyro Gyra- Morning Dance Massive Attack- Mezzanine, Protection Thievery Corporation- Richest Man In Babylon, Saudade, Temple of I & I Radiohead- (Live From The Basement) In Rainbows, Hail To The Thief Gorillaz- Gorillaz, Demon Days, Humanz I was fortunate to find a Youtube upload as well of their live concert in Cologne which was just boss!

Angelique Kidjo- Greatest Hits Ravi Shankar- Greatest Hits Mungal Patassar- Assorted Hits. David Rudder- Greatest Hits

Kes (KTB)- Fallin, People, Incredible, Lion, Voice- Far From Finished Machel Montano- Assorted Songs but Leave Me Alone with Calypso Rose especially DJ Private Ryan Soca Mixes Fleetwood Mac- The Chain Red Hot Chili Peppers- Californication, By The Way, Stadium Arcadium and The Getaway Some Of My Favorite Video Channels It's Okay To Be Smart Kurzgesagt Trini Trent Wisecrack

Jubilee I've not even gotten to the writings, films, documentaries, and cartoons I gobbled up. I don't think I can, although I am doing a write up on one of them, which sparked some creative revelations for me. It was quite something just allowing so much positive media into my space. Wow. I really do recommend it. You don't have to buy into every aspect of holistic healing to know it is rational to believe that your mood plays a role in recovery. So, if you are going under the knife or are ailing, I say, surround yourself with glorious, energetic, joyful, pleasurable experiences as best you can. Unlike painkillers, it is a habit you can continue after you've healed.

Are You Anti-Gay?

“I’m not anti-LGBT! I just don’t think they should get married!”

“I’m not anti-LGBT, I just believe that is not God’s way and if they don’t turn from their wickedness they will go to hell.”

“I’m not anti-LGBT, I just don’t want to SEE it in my face!”

Of late, the trend has been, “PLEASE ALLOW ME TO DO AND SAY HATEFUL THINGS TOWARDS A GROUP OF PEOPLE, BUT DO NOT ASSOCIATE ME WITH ANY LABEL THAT CASTS ME AS A BIGOT.” In other words, people want to be racist, sexist, homophobic and bigoted (which is totally their right by the way) but they want to be free of any negative commentary by others (totally not their right) about it. They want to say ignorant, irrational things and promote injustice and people should just smile and never be called out on it.

Well, I’m sorry that words do have meaning. Being against something is being “anti” something.  So if you are against LGBT people being LGBT; against LGBT people openly and honestly living their lives free of fear of stigma, violence and discrimination; against LGBT people being accepted or and their talents admired; against LGBT enjoying the same citizen’s and tax payer rights you enjoy then I’m sorry to say it but you are indeed anti-LGBT.  

You are also anti-LGBT if you:

• Reject what medical science has to say about the natural complexity and diversity of gender and sexual orientation.  You believe that it was God’s/Nature’s intent that every single human on the planet be cis-gender/heterosexual, reproduction must be the be all and end all of love, relationships and sexual intimacy and must abide by strict gender roles according to some gender hierarchy system within your culture/religion.

• Believe that any orientation outside of cis-gender/heterosexuality and/or any attempt to fulfill the human need for self-actualization, love, relationships, family life outside of cis-gender/heterosexuality, is unnatural, “fallen” and/or a deliberate sinful choice, right up there with murder, rape, lying, stealing and oath-breaking (e.g. adultery)

• You consider those who are not cis-gendered/heterosexuals to be abhorrent human beings and believe the public laws should reflect that and be enforced even on those who do not share your religious beliefs on the matter.

• Belong to and support anti-LGBT organizations and believe that if any LGBT person wants to join your organization they must be celibate for life or preferably (because celibate LGBT people are still treated as suspect) try to become cis-gender/heterosexual or act like it. 

• If a LGBT person goes through the debunked, psychologically damaging and medically denounced rigors of ex-gay therapy and fails (as most do) to live as a cis-gendered/heterosexual, even if they kill themselves trying, you believe it was the fault of the LGBT person for not trying hard enough.

• You completely deny that attitudes such as your own have been hurting and continue to hurt LGBT people. You completely deny the role of beliefs such as yours in promoting and excusing violence and inhumanity against LGBT people.

Step up and claim what you truly stand for and what you truly believe. You might as well just be honest about it.  There is no need to try to present yourself as a loving, humane and tolerant person towards LGBT people, when you are not. Even worse, stop with the “token LGBT friend” thing. Nobody is truly a friend of someone who feels that way about them.

"Don't Flaunt It In My Face!" The REAL Reason Behind Opposing Gay Marriage

If gay marriage threatens your marriage, it's probably because one of you is gay and your gay spouse is thinking, "What the hell am I doing hiding in a sham straight marriage when gay people are finding lasting love and legal recognition? Let me go find my true happiness and soul mate before I croak!"

If both of you are straight, it probably won't do a damn thing. Except increase the likelihood you will run into an gay person or couple at your PTA meeting or company barbecue. Which you always used to do by the way. You just didn't realize they were gay because they were hiding in a sham straight marriage or were the perpetual bachelor whose love life was a mystery in large part because they took care not to get too attached to anyone for too long, going instead for multiple partners. Something happens when you fall in love, stick to someone and place them above all others, in your life. That's when it gets really hard to be closeted. Living together, being seen together all the time and getting into situations where you have to speak for the other are going to raise certain questions. You will be outed! Ask a heterosexual, married couple to try and hide their relationship and spouse from the world, if they think it is so easy to do. Why do gay marriage opponents want LGBT people to hide from the world? Why their constant refrain of, "Just don't flaunt it in our faces."

Because VISIBILITY makes something become common-place and accepted over time. You know, like how you don't bat an eyelash anymore at an interracial couple. We forget it wasn't even that long ago when an interracial kiss between Captain Kirk and Uhura on prime time television caused a rain of hate mail to the studio from these "Godly" folk, claiming to be the protectors of tradition.

"The CHILDREN! Think of the CHILDREN, they were watching for goodness sake! How dare you show this filth on television!"

Viability of something that contradicts a tradition also challenges that tradition. It makes people start examining more closely what exactly are the sources of certain traditions and are they actually GOOD? The late 19th and 20th Centuries saw people starting to test and challenge the assertions of the "white", the "male", the "Judeo-Christian" powers that be. Then in the 21st Century it picked up momentum and another set of assertions by the "Arab", "male", "Islamic" powers that be, started to be challenged more rigorously as well. I know they prefer times when they were taken at their WORD about what they said is right and wrong. If they said miscegenation was wrong and the black race was inferior and backed it up with scripture they expected to be BELIEVED and their directives on that matter FOLLOWED. If they said the woman was created for the use of the man and is subservient to him and used scripture to back it up, they expected to be BELIEVED and their directives FOLLOWED. They long for their respective golden ages of supremacy, forgetting that it was not a golden age for any other demographic. They prefer times when the people they relegated to second class citizens STAYED IN THEIR PLACE! They prefer those days when the victim-less crimes they concocted to oppress people made law-breakers hide and sneak around in shame and fear of bigotry and violence.

Giving visibility to people who are rebelling against them and challenging their so-called "authority" and flouting how flimsy and false their legalities and assertions are, is like a slap in the face! It is like a salesman telling you there is no other model like his on the market and you see one drive past, proving him a liar. It is causing people to want to broaden their understanding, ask a lot of tough questions, expose contradictions and poke large holes in previously held beliefs! The powers that be have no way of dealing with their loss of dominion if this process of enlightenment were to happen. So, they are resorting to the time old method of tyranny and censorship. If something challenges their supremacy, they call it obscene and offensive or dangerous! It was exactly this kind of tyranny and censorship that gave them their power and authority. Their claim to power cannot survive an age of critical thought, widely available information and free expression. It cannot survive if gay people are living happy, healthy, honest lives, fully-integrated into society and actively making a public contribution or what they call, "Flaunting It!"

Religion vs. Spiritual Enlightenment

The spiritual journey must begin with a quest for truth. But you first need to understand, “What is truth?” before you go looking for it.

The problem for most people is that their spiritual journey does not begin from this motivation or at all. Many people’s spiritual journey through life is happening to them like an affair behind their back. They have not the wit or will to see it. That’s because for most people, the only spirituality they know, comes to them as a pre-packaged and moderately priced religious/cultural window.

How this window, through which they will gaze out at the world, comes to them depends all on the lottery of chance which will put them in a certain geographical region and race/culture.  Keep in mind the “window” is the “religion” and the humans’ “gaze” and “ability to process what we see” out of that window is the REAL MEAT, the “spiritual” part of the experience.

No matter what part of the world you are born into and which window you gaze out of, you will be most likely taught two things:

One- The window provided to you by the lottery of your birth is unquestionably the best window to gaze out of the world and all other windows are inferior! You are, merely by the accident of your birth, superior to someone else and you should feel tremendous reassurance and self-worth about that. In some cases, so much self-worth you have Manifest Destiny and Divine Authority to do as you please to whom you please.

Two- The rest of your self-worth and your entire sense of purpose will derive from the following categories of “hierarchies of superiority”- financial class, gender, race, physical/mental ability. What about emotional ability? Ah, that does not even warrant consideration. It’s sentimentality, self-indulgence and weakness!

Note that our current order of human value puts physical and mental ability at the very bottom of that priority list. It does not even consider the value of our capacity to empathize, extend love, affection and a sense of self-worth and belonging. We rather judge other people on characteristics determined largely by the lottery of chance while calling ourselves “meritocracies”.

When you hear Dr. Martin Luther King’s words about being judged by the “content of one’s character” above all else, he’s literally handing humankind the key to their liberation from false hierarchies of race, class and gender.  It has imprisoned us for thousands of years. Now it’s time for a new age where we focus on the only things that matter in human beings- physical, emotional and mental ability.

Yes, we need all three! This is the trinity of what constitutes our character. When people start focusing on this…when it because it becomes THE STANDARD by which we determine roles, responsibilities and rewards, it will become easier to identify defective characters and intervene the same way we do regarding things like Climate Change and Poverty.

This area of our humanity has been neglected for thousands of years.  There’s a lot of unhealed emotional/psychological trauma. Many humans are predisposed to violence (inwardly or outwardly expressed) or lack empathy. Not all of them are guided by superior intellect and a strict internal moral code like BBC’s high functioning sociopath, Sherlock. They are the bullies and murderers clogging our prisons. Or worse, for in our world of badly prioritized value systems we have allowed many of these defective humans to ascend to echelons of power provided they have an IQ and appetite big enough. Psychopaths, sociopaths and narcissists have made the world in their image.  

However, more of us are realizing that blind, predatory ambition to consume and expand with no check and balance of the physical ramifications (environmental destruction/disease); the emotional ramifications (low self-esteem, desperation, apathy) and the mental implications (de-evolution to a primitive mental state) is not mammalian or even human, it is viral, like Agent Smith pointed out to Neo in the movie The Matrix.

Some of us can see this so clearly yet others, cannot. The reason? They are staring out of the world through the blurry “window” of some religion. That’s why religion (and all other forms of false hierarchy) needs to be deprioritized. They protect the very systems holding back mankind from pure enlightenment, forever delaying the brotherhood of man in our shared imagination.

In places plagued by warring religious supremacist ideologies, gender oppression, class division and injustice, the people suffering need to perfect their “gaze” and “ability to process what they see”. They need to be taught critical thinking along with mathematics, science and grammar. They need to be taught how to empathize and take ethical action from that place of empathy. Clearly, their religion is not going to teach them this, not necessarily. Only scientific evidence and spiritual truth working their respective roles can do that.