A Short Thought…

It is demonstrably true that Americans do not appreciate what they have. This includes their freedoms, which have become taken-for-granted properties of their daily lives. Yesterday, Memorial Day, many Americans raved about the liberties afforded to them by being an American, and how fortunate Americans are to have them; apparently many of us are unable to recognize that we just endured an entire year of having our liberties suddenly and unjustly suspended, both directly and indirectly traumatizing millions.

It’s a dangerous precedent, and it will be exploited for a long time to come if people don’t wake up to it fast…

Facemasks: A Long Overdue Assessment

Human contact has in general been discouraged, and in some cases even penalized, by many of the world’s most highly esteemed health authorities, those enforcing their recommendations, and those citizens who hang on their every word. Probably the most conspicuous part of that program are the requirements to wear a facemask, which have been foisted upon every man, woman, and child, partly by government decree, and partly by individuals’ basic interest in maintaining a bearable level of rapport with other people in their community. Face coverings such as these not only make it impossible to learn what someone else looks like, to, in fullness, be availed to the constellation of facial features and expressions which lends them their crucial uniqueness as an individual, but also muffle the voice of the person wearing them, often sufficing in keeping people silent, even when in physical proximity to one another.

Facemasks give everyday people something to hide behind, something to conceal themselves (their facial  features along with their various facial expressions) from discerning eyes with. This is why many feel “safer” behind a facemask, even beyond the supposed benefit that it provides in protecting them against the virus. But, what facemasks give some people in concealment and a resultant sense of safety, they of course take away in intimacy, and warmth. Smiles, for example, have suddenly ceased being the commonplace smoking gun for contentment and joy that they were for hundreds of years in our civilization before all of this started. Smiles. Because smiles are now invisible, we now are all walking around with partial blindness to “where we stand” with those around us, left with the less clear elements of non-verbal communication to lead us socially.

Indeed, without the mouth-area of the face being visible to us, other people’s eyes are exclusively what remain for non-verbal, facial communication during any given interaction, when there is so much more there for that purpose. The eyes cannot communicate everything that the expressions conveyed by the lower half of the face, in response to various occurrences, can and does. In effect, this means that we cannot communicate in the manner that we need to in order to have a truly rich social experience, when we wear facemasks. So much has been taken away from the interaction. Do we deserve this diminishment to such a critical dimension of our human lives? Do we not possess the right to refuse it all? We are being dehumanized by these devices. And one can only wonder how it is affecting children, whose brains are so malleable to the conditions that they are growing up in.

All in all, perhaps the most consequential impact that mask mandates have is a reduction that they cause in the feeling of freedom, as I call it. A reduced sense of freedom, of personal liberty, is one of the sure results of mask mandates. And to me, that’s a state of affairs that shouldn’t be put up with any longer, and that should never have been acquiesced to in the first place. One that we should begin finding ways to rebel against now. What is “safety” worth if you can’t live your life the way you want to live it in the process, even when you aren’t violating anyone else’s rights? What is “safety” worth, if it makes you a prisoner?

The problem is, this tyranny is being applied not only by the state, but, perhaps even more so, it is being applied by the citizenry, those members of it anyway who have bought into the establishment narrative regarding the virus, and who enforce hostile conformity to mask-wearing, social distancing, and the like by their sheer size in numbers as a group. Ending all of this will thus come down largely to changing the minds of the citizenry, and to that end we have many means available to us, evidence-based data regarding the disastrous effects of lockdowns, for example, being one of them. But the opportunity doesn’t stick around forever. It must be used, before it dissolves.    

Where Is Alll of This Taking Us?

Amidst all that has transpired since the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, I can’t help but recall one of the amazing interviews that was conducted by London Real’s Brian Rose of the one and only David Icke, in which the guest pointed out that all of that which is coming to pass with regard to the developing coronavirus situation, that is to say, the world’s response to it, has been predicted and warned about by him for the last thirty years. And nobody seems to have noticed that.

Indeed, it feels all too coincidental that such a litany of control measures and so many sweeping societal changes are being deployed and instituted  in the name of combatting this virus, when you consider the  prescience of Icke and all of those who have offered similar sociological forecasts. The physical and geographical restriction, the violations of the people’s right to free speech, the penalization of free choice, have all, through the years, been poignantly foreseen by a great many thinkers, not just David Icke, through a variety of media, while what the stated justification for said policies would be has usually been speculated on without precision, apart from the almost universal contention amongst those involved in the discussion that it would all be touted as a necessary response to one exigency or another.

Whatever the case may be, the brave new world that is attempting to be molded amidst the supposed health crisis of COVID-19 has shown itself to be quite the unlikable place in many respects. Moreover, it is very concerning where things might be heading, as the world as a whole appears to be moving in a direction of ultra-authoritarianism, where individual liberty is an antiquated ideal. That is to say, YOUR liberty. All in the name of preserving health. If you ask me, it is within our rights at this point to begin to contest en masse these restrictive policies, before they take complete hold of us.

Changing Your Diet: A Useful Primer

It seems to be the case that going without the regular consumption of a particular food type for long enough can cause someone to eventually develop allergies for said food, even if that food is supposed to be good for them. What a dilemma! This is observed in the case of the wretched banana, for example, a fruit whose unsavory tendency to cause an itchy throat and/or a sore mouth I can personally attest to, but one which I now can’t live without.

 For me, sensitivity to highly nutritious foods diminished over time, as I persevered in my endeavor to incorporate increasingly more of them into my diet. That’s right, downright continual exposure was what proved effective for me. Of course, I’m not anywhere close to perfect as far as my eating habits go; I myself still have a long road to travel in that regard. But at least now I can enjoy a banana or an orange or a cup of pineapple thoroughly, that is, without any unpleasant reactions on my end. And let me be the one to inform you that, once the allergy is conquered, helping yourself to a serving of fresh fruit makes you feel a lot more alive than eating a bag of chips does, especially once you normalize it.

Undoubtedly, a new and improved diet is something very much worth pursuing. But there is something critical to going about obtaining it that must be born in mind. And that is, as I have hinted at, that dietary improvement is a process, not an event. It’s not something that one should or need attempt to make happen overnight. It’s all about assimilation over time, of which shedding your sensitivity to these foods is unquestionably a part. I will detail this point more in a near future post, but suffice it to say, for now, that improving your diet is a process.

In my experience, it is at the beginning of your dietary transformation journey that going easy on yourself is particularly important. No, paramount. Look at it this way. If you throw a very large weight on your shoulders too early, that is to say, in this case, make too great a change in your diet, you will invariably experience the undertaking as a sudden, unsustainable burden. From there, you will either fail with it repeatedly and, in turn, eventually come to view what you are doing as a futile effort altogether, something with which lasting progress can’t be made, or, you will incur stress sufficient to render the whole undertaking too unpleasant to be worthwhile, or even to create other health problems for you. This is true at any stage of the process, in fact. Not just at the beginning. But it’s best to begin the journey bearing this principle in mind, so that avoidable pain can be avoided as much as possible, and so that living in heed of this principle can be ingrained in you from the earliest possible point.  

Our imaginative ambition may impel us to attempt to accomplish something like this overnight. But my recommendation is, don’t give in to that urge! As attractive as that approach may appear, it usually isn’t very feasible or realistic. Luckily, you needn’t go about it that way. There is another option, probably the best option, and for many, perhaps the only option. And that, my friends, is the gradual way, the incremental way. So long as you are consistent and steady, you will accomplish an increasingly improved diet, and that change will stick. Your ambition will be better served if you aim at the goal this way. And slowly but surely, you will reach closer and closer unto your destination!

By Sha’kim Bush

Thanks for reading!

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Feel free to comment your thoughts.

Okay, bye now.

NEW Horror Mini-Anthology OUT NOW!! “Three Wedtels Deepth–A Trio of Horror Tales”: Copies Now FREE!!!

Undeniably, the horror genre of literature offers something uniquely valuable. None of its counterparts can approach its power to hold the imagination firmly in its grip, with matters macabre, terrifying, and enticingly mysterious. Never should we cease partaking of it, in all of its variety and brilliance.

I trust that you are in agreement with these things. And, if you are, then you are also very much in luck. Available now is a brief but potent, one-of-a-kind anthology of horror stories, entitled Three Wedtels Deepth, written by rising literary talent, Sha’Kim Bush.

pp. 1-4: Just In Time- A man embarks upon a long-awaited trip to the American Southwest with an appetite for adventure, but gets more than he bargained for:

“On my last night, I went to bed outside of my tent lying on my back, my hands piled under my head triumphantly, staring up at the vastness of space above. The last thing that I remember seeing that night was one of those huge rock formations, buttes they’re called, which stand mightily here and there in the desert. Its dark, distant shape poked just above the outline of my two adjoined feet. I remember that sight vividly.”

pp. 5-6: Bus Tan Guy- An untimely, up-close encounter leads a public transportation passenger to a frightful discovery:

“Several stops following my boarding, however, as I sat silently, an animated, mysterious something had begun emanating in my peripheral vision, and my peripheral sense. I realized that someone was staring at me.”

pp. 7-13: Verbatim- An enterprising videogame developer toils to uncover the key to the ultimate gaming experience:

“I was astounded when one subject, a middle-aged man, emerged from the experience provided to him by Verbatim with glowing eyes and a bright smile. His appearance of transformation was unmistakable, and I felt myself surge with anticipation at the possibility that he had indeed been profoundly changed by my creation, for such an effect, although quite unintended, would have been very much welcomed by me.”

As for the title of this anthology, it is a distorted version of the phrase “three levels deep”, which of course is in turn a provocative allusion to the number of stories inside. Although, the string of three words in the title of this anthology, two of which words being themselves made-up, is significant alone, quite in harmony with the strangeness of all the subject matter to be discovered on the ensuing pages.

And so, I hope that you will seize this opportunity to indulge that part of you that is waiting for a deep thrill like this. That part of you craves rightly a space for play. Abandon, if only briefly, the internet’s many tepid corridors and chambers, which provide you with little in the way of unadulterated fun, and let your imagination be reinvigorated. Get your copy of Three Wedtels Deepth today!

To get your hands on a copy, all you’ll need to do is email me (bushshakim@gmail.com) your name and the physical mailing address that you want your copy mailed to. Please put “Three Wedtels Deepth” in the email subject line lest I gloss over it like I might a less important email. I will reply to your request for a copy promptly, and will then proceed to send a copy of Three Wedtels Deepth to the physical address that you provided to me in the initial email.

COPIES OF THIS MINI-ANTHOLOGY ARE FREE OF CHARGE! I AM AN UP-AND-COMING ARTIST AND AM CONTENT FOR NOW WITH THE MERE OPPORTUNITY TO SHARE MY WORK.

Any questions that you have about this offer should likewise be emailed to me with “Three Wedtels Deepth” in the subject line.

If I don’t respond to your email within two days, please email me again. Moreover, if you completed the necessary steps for acquiring a copy, but did not receive a copy of Three Wedtels Deepth, email me saying so.

I am admittedly new at this myself so please bear with me if any infelicities do arise. You will get your copy!

At any rate, I appreciate your support wholeheartedly. I can assure you that this is just the beginning of a long and interesting journey, and I hope you’ll stick around for it.

Thank you, and take scare.

Email: bushshakim@gmail.com

The Perfect Storm…

You don’t eat right, you don’t exercise, and to add insult to injury, you’re addicted to scrolling down your various social media feeds, but by doing so, you, hopefully inadvertently, end up needlessly burdening yourself with uncomfortable feelings of forlornness and jealousy at the sight of your “friends’” just perfect lives. At least, that’s how they make their lives look on social media. Then, on exactly the same platforms, you are dowsed with brazenly inconsiderate and painfully opinionated posts, some of them on extremely complicated issues, whose amelioration is further complicated and indeed delayed by as much.

What a perfect storm! And I have yet to even mention, among many other things, the general weakening of the social fabric in our nation, and in our world for that matter, along with the roiling anxieties that consumption of pornographic media, for example, appears to have created for many people, a fact evidenced by the contents of such voluminous internet forums as YourBrainRebalanced and those to be found on YourBrainOnPorn. Although, these latter two problem sets, weakened social fabric and pornography’s effects, are, as far as I can tell, a bit more complicated than the others I’ve mentioned.

No doubt the lockdown this year has made many people’s battles with all of these things more difficult, perhaps unjustly.

Man, do we have our work cut out for us.

Let’s get cracking then, shall we?

 

By Sha’Kim Bush

Thanks for reading. Stay tuned for more on these topics.

Don’t hesitate to follow this blog!

Follow me on the gram at shakimbush624

And stay healthy.

Goodbye.

 

 

Sovereignty of Individuals During Crisis

Whether or not I will wear a mask is my right to decide. My face, and everything under that umbrella that wearing a mask directly affects, including the quality of my respiration, my overall comfort, my visibility, both physical and emotional, to the world around me, what I can/cannot smell, and the health of the skin on my face, belong to me, after all, and not to anyone else. Those things are aspects of my experience of life, and not of anyone else’s. I therefore ought to possess the final say regarding what will affect all of those things. People decry my sentiment on this score, contending that mask-wearing is a duty right now, an act that serves the greater good. Whether or not it does, however (and there is increasing reason to believe that it may not), cannot compete with the fact of my sovereignty. I, Sha’Kim Bush, am sovereign. I have ownership over myself. You don’t own me. And I don’t own you. If we, the people of the world, don’t become cognizant of this essential reality, we will one day find ourselves in a closed, lockdown society, where human rights are an antiquated ideal. More dangerous than any virus, the popular view of which can, in light of certain, unappreciated science, be properly questioned in the case of COVID-19, is our forgetting of what it means to be free. This threat, this virus if you will, looms greater now than it ever has.

Good ideas don’t require coercion to be implemented. The necessity of wearing a mask is a matter that must be left to individuals to decide. Or, perhaps our governments do not have that kind of faith in us. Do individuals lack the wisdom required to do what will most benefit them? Here’s something to ask yourself. If the people cannot be trusted to make the right decisions for their own health, why should they be allowed to decide anything for themselves? Remember that you are one of the people. Why should you have any liberty, in any sphere of life? Maybe it would be best to just let the “experts,” that is to say, in the case of COVID-19, those people who keep on changing their tune regarding the nature and behavior of this virus, dictate our every last move in this life.

Personally, I’d rather not live in that world. I’d rather call home a world in which people have the liberty to live as they see fit according to their own assessment of the available facts that are relevant to any given situation, so long as they are not harming others. That is what ought to determine whether or not someone puts a mask on. Their own justly arrived at understanding of the risks and rewards, of the likely costs and benefits, of doing so. Can people not be trusted to do that for themselves? Can you not be trusted?

As it turns out, in the case of wearing a mask to protect against contracting SARS-CoV-2, there is more than one conclusion that might be arrived at regarding those costs and benefits.

 

 

By Sha’Kim Bush

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Email me at bushshakim@gmail.com

Have a great day 🙂

 

A Criticism of Masks, For What It’s Worth

The new policy in Massachusetts requiring people to wear face coverings while they exercise in a hot gym environment is the height of absurdity, in my opinion. Indeed, that people can tolerate this affront to their personal liberty without objection is in and of itself quite discomforting. Intense exercise requires, in order to be performed properly, and benefited from maximally, unobstructed pathways for oxygen to enter, and for carbon dioxide to exit, the body, and face coverings are known to obstruct this vital process.

Furthermore, facemasks are a massive culprit for unsightly blemishes on the face. This is a problem that can only be exacerbated by the profuse sweat that our faces excrete during intense exercise. Such skin problems can even become painful.

In other words, facemasks harm your health!

Although, I think that I’d be just as ready as many others seem to be to demonstrate such self-sacrifice if I believed that “germs” expelled from the human nose and mouth were the problem, and that I was carrying those germs all the time. In my defense, it isn’t like there aren’t any opposing theories out there regarding the mechanism for transmission of disease in the case of SARS-CoV-2, better known as “coronavirus”. There are several, including what is known as “terrain theory,” which essentially points to the general level of toxicity in the environment (terrain) that cells inhabit as the primary determinant of a person’s susceptibility to illness. If someone lives in an environment (their body) that is very low in toxicity, then they are likely to be very healthy. But as the toxicity of the environment rises, so too does a person’s chances of falling sick. This toxicity can come from rotten food, stress, and even EMFs, among many other things of course. Thus, much less maleficence is ascribed to germs in terrain theory than in germ theory. Some, like Dr. Andrew Kaufman, will even go so far as to say that germ theory itself may be wrong, an argument that he  has unpacked in compelling detail in his many YouTube interviews as of lately.

Believe it or not, there are many health professionals who believe in the primacy of the terrain that our cells inhabit. If they’re correct, and there is evidence that they are, then what are people doing wearing masks? They should be cleaning up their bodies, and their lifestyles.

Ironically enough, frequent, quality exercise is a very important part of that cleanup process.

 

By Sha’Kim Bush

 

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Email me at bushshakim@gmail.com for questions or comments.

Have a good day!

Experiences With Abstaining From the Internet (and Especially YouTube). Part 2.3: Improvements – Increased Interest In Reading

One more time for the people in the back…

This subject is one that is best appreciated on an individual-to-individual basis. In other words, it is important to continually think critically about the ideas and anecdotes that I present here. Ultimately, these are just observations that I have made, and you should take your own experiences, circumstances, and needs into account when considering them and when attempting to replicate them.

Where it all began: Experiences With Abstaining From the Internet (and especially YouTube). Part 1: Introduction

Part 2.1: Experiences With Abstaining From the Internet (and Especially From YouTube). Part 2.1: Improvements—Productivity    

Part 2.2: Experiences With Abstaining From the Internet (and Especially Youtube). Part 2.2: Improvements– Increased Ardor for Music

Alrighty then, moving on…

In depriving myself of internet content (and chiefly frivolous/ineffectual YouTube videos), I became far more sensitive to the lure of books, from both the fiction as well as the nonfiction varieties. But before I delve into this, I should make it clear that, in my estimation, this elevated interest in the written word likely came about, at least in part, as a result of my making it come about, that is to say, through my choosing, for lack of a better word, to imagine that I might be taken on a journey as it were, or that I would learn something really neat or useful, upon scouring the pages of whatever literary works I could find. As such, my imagination acted as a sort of kindling for the effect. It wasn’t the act of abstaining alone that did it.

That doesn’t take away from the crucial role that the abstention itself played, however. The act of abstaining, of not going on distracting websites like YouTube, is what forced me, in a way, to participate in the generation of my own interest in things that weren’t web-based, to think about what could be derived from other forms of media, and thus ultimately to actually seek out those alternative sources of entertainment, pleasure, and education, believing that they would give me things that YouTube and the like simply could not replicate.

EDIT: Here I removed a paragraph in which I alluded to what some of my motivation has been in doing these streaks. In the interest of focus, I will exclude any such allusion from this particular post, and instead will save the subject of motivation for a future post, where it will be done its due justice. Thanks.

And, indeed, I often was taken on a journey, and would learn some really interesting and/or potentially useful things in the books that I would read during these brief streaks of non-usage. My mind needed content in some form, and two of the only things better in that regard than hours spent on YouTube, apart from television perhaps, were the depth of focused elaboration provided by nonfiction books, and the beautiful, provocative narratives woven by authors in their novels.

Most people these days, I would surmise, are functionally illiterate. I myself didn’t realize how bad at reading I was until I really started trying to get into it, trying to gain knowledge that I otherwise wouldn’t have been able to gain. The jargon liberally thrown about by historians and scientists in their books was something that I had to learn and get used to. The medium itself requires a different eye, so to speak, and different mental skills from those which we use while indulging in the more ordinary screen-facilitated entertainment, in order to be enjoyed and appreciated. And I suppose you have to actually engage in the activity of reading in order to develop these capacities.

Just as with any other skill or set of skills, reading skills can only be developed through practice. And you can rest assured that the endeavor to acquire those skills is a worthwhile one, for there is so much information that is exclusively found in text form as to render those who have not made a habit of reading pitifully unable to achieve certain valuable things on their own, like an improved diet for example, because a certain quantity of knowledge must be accrued before such a change in lifestyle can be made properly. Indeed, the amount of detail that, more so than of any other medium, is the mainstay of literature, is often what imparts the clarity that you need to have in order to navigate your way through this or that domain confidently and intelligently. So when you make books a more frequently used source for information in your life, it becomes more likely that you will get to where you want to go, on time and in one piece, wherever, in your personal, unique case, that happens to be.

 

By Sha’Kim Bush

Thanks for reading!

Send me an email at bushshakim@gmail.com for anything you’d like. I very much look forward to connecting with you.

My Instagram: shakimbush624

Take care 🙂

Experiences With Abstaining From the Internet (and Especially Youtube). Part 2.2: Improvements– Increased Ardor for Music

If you haven’t read Part 1 of this series, I recommend you check it out:

https://shakimsblogdotnet.wordpress.com/2019/02/01/experiences-with-abstaining-from-the-internet-and-especially-youtube-part-1-introduction/

Here’s Part 2.1:

https://shakimsblogdotnet.wordpress.com/2019/06/25/experiences-with-abstaining-from-the-internet-and-especially-from-youtube-part-2-1-improvements-productivity/

I must also explain here that this subject is one that is best appreciated on an individual-to-individual basis. In other words, it is important to continually think critically about the ideas and anecdotes that I present here. At the end of the day, these are just observations that I have made, and you should take your own experiences, circumstances, and needs into account when considering them and when attempting to replicate them.

Now then, what does music have to do with staying off of the internet?

Increased Ardor for Music  

This is something that I notice occur frequently when I take some time off of the internet. A song will suddenly begin to play in my head, and it will fill me with more joy and wonder than it ever had prior to the non-usage streak’s commencing. This effect usually occurs early in the non-usage streak, within the first day to two or three days of its commencement. It also seems to largely have been a morning phenomenon, something that occurs upon waking or, at least, before I get out of bed, so it is a companion of earliness or beginning on two accounts. It may be a result of getting a fresh start, or of resetting the mind. It isn’t rare for me to find songs playing in my head that match my intent or sentiment at the moment, streak or not, so I wouldn’t be surprised if this particular effect was just another example of that. However, I’m not sure that the variety of this non-usage streak music ends at that category of songs which reflect the feeling of having a fresh start. The songs have mostly, perhaps even exclusively, been those which I already love, just having a richer and more vibrant quality to them.

I personally suspect a tight affiliation between this effect and freedom from the artificial, pre-constructed world of the internet. Think about it. Suddenly, the being that you are has dislodged itself from that controlled and often vacuous space, and has returned to a realm which is far more replete with possibility as it pertains to how a day might be spent, as well to how one might improve one’s lot in life. Maybe the dramatic surge of musical sound in one’s mind is a celebratory response to that suddenly enhanced range of possibility. It may be a celebratory response to the initiation of such a great experiment in living, to the embarking upon an attempt at a lifestyle which gleams with promise and worthy challenge.

 

By Sha’Kim Bush

Thanks for reading!

Interested in getting in touch with me? Email me at bushshakim@gmail.com.

Check out my website here: https://shakimsblogdotnet.wordpress.com/

Otherwise, just keep doing you 🙂