Help Me, You’re My Only Hope

Confession:

I still love Star Wars.

But even if you’re not a Star Wars fan, I PROMISE you’re going to appreciate my new favorite scene out of the entire saga.

Thirty minutes into The Force Awakens (VII), Finn and Rey, who just met, are slammed to the ground by an overhead laser blast and barely escape death.

Finn however, has been knocked unconscious due to the proximity of the explosion.

When his eyes open a moment later, he sees Rey and his very first thought is about HER safety. Not his own.

With dire concern in his voice he asks, “Are you okay??”

Not only is she okay, she’s taken aback by his reflexive selflessness.

Because HE was the one hurt!

Heroic love.

What’s more noble? More beautiful?

Nothing.

And with that my friends, thank you for taking the time to read this and may the force be with you.

– gb

LiveLikeAFruitFly.com

SPF 9 Million

I just walked into Starbucks and the girl working there was so kind to me.

So I told her how much I appreciated her kindness.

She said, “Well, I appreciate you. You’re one of the few people who come in here regularly with a smile.”

I said, while smiling because I never think I smile enough, “Well, I don’t know how often I smile, but I always have love for you guys.”

And then she said, while smiling, “We feel your warmth.”

With that, let me tell whoever happens to be reading this, in a world constantly trying to hypnotize you into feeling that you’re not enough, please allow me to rip you from that sleep and say: if you have kindness in your heart and spread that shit liberally like suntan lotion to everyone without exception, you’re enough.

The end.

Thank you 🙂

gb

Livelikeafruitfly.com

Life After Kobe Bryant

Do you know what happened to me right after I found out about Kobe yesterday?

Nothing.

Just like you, my life clicked right back to normal within five minutes.

I’m a lifelong Laker fan, and this is absolutely awful about him and his daughter (and surviving family), but the status-quo re-reigned over my mind in mere minutes. Worrying about whatever I was worrying about etc etc.

But imagine if we remained aware, more often than not, that our lives and the lives of our loved ones can be stomped out of existence before the next goddamn sunset?

Because the hard truth is, we’re always just right around the corner from losing everything. Everything that’s truly important. Everything that actually counts.

Do you think we’d be more forgiving? More automatically and unconditionally loving? Do you think we’d ignore the nonsense of the world in order to turn our attention to what’s beautiful and add to that beauty when we can?

Of course we would.

In my own defense however, I’m already pretty good with this.

But I’m going to start being better.

Right here.

Right now.

Who’s with me?

Live Like A Fruit Fly,

– gabe

Where Do I End And You Begin?

Look how beautifully this plant in front of where I live expresses itself.

It’s completely green except for one oasis of orange.

It has caused me to realize that the entire plant kingdom expresses itself beautifully, one hundred percent of the time.

I hope one day we can evolve to this level of mastery.

All it would take is no longer distinguishing ourselves from others.

Thank you for spending these few moments with me – gb

The Untold Truth About You

Hey you… yes, you. The person looking down at their phone right now.   

Let me just take this moment to tell you that you’re already enough.  

Society has been telling you otherwise since you were old enough to have language in your mind.  And then your mind repeats it to itself in an endless loop.  And that loop is constantly reinforced by the media, by your family and by your relationships.  

But let me tell you the truth. Right here. Right now. 

If kindness is your set point, you are enough.  As is. Right here. Right now.  

This is a new day and you can begin being more kind in this instant.  Start with yourself.  Your perfect little cells are listening. 

And then be more kind to others.  And then to all of life.  Without exception or expectation.  

As far as being more kind to yourself goes, let all of the “should” and “shouldnts” arise as they do and then let them dissolve.  Try not to build bridges to them in your mind.  In other words, don’t attach yourself to them. 

And they’ll fade away. 

You. Are.  Enough.  As. Is.  

Smile at all who say otherwise. They’re caterpillars.  And you’re already a butterfly.  I promise.  

Thank you for taking the time to read this.  Really, I’m grateful you did.  And I’m sure your insides are now grateful too. 

– gb

(this could be my last post ever – but I doubt it will be)

December 11th, 2012

I’m not saying what I’m about to say because I’m looking for sympathy. I promise.   

I’m only here, asking for a bit of your time, to express something which deserves to be expressed. 

With that, my dad died seven years ago today. Right in front of me.  Eleven months after being diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor. Eleven months after unfathomable suffering.  

And the thing is, we’re all going to experience loss. Maybe not as brutally, but nevertheless, to some degree, loss is certainly our fate.  

So how have we handled this? 

Have we rearranged our priorities? Have we made kindness and mercy and compassion more important than the idolatry of monetary success? 

No. 

We have not.  

Instead, we continue to live as if our loved ones will live forever and continue to live as if no one but our loved ones even add up to a hill of beans.  

And then when someone gets sick and/or dies, we say, “Oh my god, you’re not going to believe what happened?” 
Why are we shocked when David Bowie dies?  Or when it happens to your dog or to your aunt Shirly for that matter? 

The writing is on the wall folks.  

There might not be a point to life but the point we can give it, which will siumulteaously bring an end to the collective madness, is to love without conditions.  

With no exception.  

With no expectation.  

And with that, if there is another side, I think my dad would agree with what I said here today and be proud of me saying it. 

Thank you for your time and please know, if unconditional love is already your set point or if you’re working on getting there, you’re already enough. You’re enough. As is.  You don’t need to strive to be better or be more complete.  Fuck all who say otherwise. 

– gb

Red or White?

We all woke up today, worrying if we’re thin enough, or successful enough, or if those around us are successful enough, or thinking about what we’ll do this weekend and what kind of wine we may have, BUT two sets of families woke up to the brutal reality of their children being killed in a school shooting yesterday. They’re dead and gone forever.

Let’s remember this. And align our priorities with kindness, empathy, generosity, mercy and unconditional love.

Thank you.

– gb

Kim Is Leaving Kanye Because of Trump

Kim Kardashian is filing for divorce from Kanye West because of his devotion to Donald J. Trump. 

 

How do I feel about this?

 

I really don’t care.  

 

I really don’t care because I would never care about them (aside from them also being human), and also because it isn’t true.  I just made it up.  

 

It’s remarkable how many more people will click on a link like this than something I’d write which may provide a life affirming message or something that’s politically urgent. 

 

But now that you’re here, I really just wanted to say that not one person checked on me during the eight days of being in Hurricane Dorian’s crosshairs.   

 

Aside from the same four or five people I talk to everyday, not one person.  No family, no friends, no fraternity brothers.  

 

Everyone knows I live one mile from the ocean in South Florida.  Everyone knew this hurricane, which was just about the strongest in recorded history, loomed in spitting distance of me before it finally turned north.  

 

And not a goddamn phone call, text, or Facebook message. 

How do I feel about this?

 

Just like with Kim and Kanye, I really don’t care.  

 

I’m just here to make a point.  But now that I’m writing this, I don’t even know what my point is.  

 

I think I’m just so perplexed.  

 

All I know is that if had the news on and saw tornado warnings in let’s say Indiana, my brain would reflexively run through it’s Rolodex for people I may know there so I could get in touch with them to make sure they’re okay.  

 

What the fuck was everyone thinking who knows when they were watching TV? “Hey honey, do you see this storm on South Florida’s doorstep? And, do you think we have enough hotdogs for the barbecue tomorrow?”

 

So, I guess my point is, I hope we collectively evolve before it’s too late.  

 

Survey says, I doubt it.  

 

With that, thank god I’m me.  And not them.  

 

And if this offends anyone or makes anyone think differently of me, good.  

 

 

love to all of you anyway, 

gb

 

 

Does Anyone Care?

Fishing for fun is terrorism.    

It’s not the same as detonating a suicide vest in the middle of Tel Aviv, but it isn’t too far away either.

People can roll their eyes at this all goddamn day long but there’s no denying that a disregard for the suffering of anyone or anything that isn’t you is terrorism. 

A difference of a degree of course, but where do we draw the line? Just turn on the news and see how we treat each other. With a little self reflection, it’s an undeniable slippery slope for sure.

This comes up today because there’s a fishing camp for kids at the lake I walk around in the morning. Everyone seems happy and the adult supervision is on point but what is this teaching the future adults of the world? That it’s okay to hurt animals for pleasure. That it’s okay to add suffering to the world. That it’s okay to treat others in a way they wouldn’t want to be treated. 

Hence, turn on the news and see the state of the world.

Twenty points for a big fish? Ten for a turtle? Really? Listen up people, the whole world isn’t your fucking video game.

Love.

Thy.

Neighbor.

Or we’ll find our way onto the extinction list. 

 If you liked this post, please pass it on. If it bothered you, good. Do something about it. Please.

 love/thanks,
gb

Buy the best book for trump supporters HERE

Why I’m Here

I didn’t become an artist to become successful.

I became an artist to add beauty to the world.

– gb

Love Looks Like This