Art

WHAT A YEAR!!

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Okay, perhaps I am remiss here, and jumping the gun in some way- because in my world the year starts in September. It’s the month I was born and things seem to get shifty around that time. That being said- it is only the second day of May.

It is nine months and one day since my Gma passed. I think these things get me in some nine month cycle- it is ingrained in my biology as a woman.

I remember going to massage therapy school and having to start the nine month program over a second time because of life issues. It was brutal joining a new class. I didn’t finish the program.

The funny thing was, I was able to see things I didn’t perceive the first time around. I noticed the disorganization of the administration running the institute. I got caught in the cross hairs of this misadministration. I gave up because I realized I was dealing wholly with massive parasitic energy from the top of the structure, down to the apprentice clinic.

Not much has changed with that battle- the thing I would like to draw attention to, is how this would solidify something with nine month cycles and the way I would look at my past failure.

To finish a nine month program- successfully. Through the lens of failure I would look back and say to my self “you could have finished that program four times by now.”

You could be certified.

You could have a career, a job, a productive part in society.

I kept thinking that way until a condom broke in 2007. By then I could have completed 9.333333333333, nine month massage therapy courses.

I didn’t want to get pregnant. It was a foolish one night stand sort of thing. Then nine months became pivotal in another way. I was rushing to escape the deadline again. Not mature enough to find a finish line without compromise.

When I made that termination, something reset at the back of my mind, and that is the twelve month time line.

This year I would have a fourteen year old. I would probably have a bunch of other perceived failures, but every year would bring something new- maybe to look forward to, in hopes of not regressing into that mindset that nothing changes. Or that I myself am a failure.

I chose to walk another path. I don’t see it as good or bad, in my desire to be neutral.

In retrospect I keep making it another nine months. And if I look back far enough I can see those cycles from beginning to end like the ouroboros. My life is different but very much the same these days. I wonder if the conscious movement to not procreate children is a way that the snake can eat itself. To not bring more into the world than it can digest.

But then on the other hand there has been no time like the present of the Andy Warhol catch phrase “Everyone will have their fifteen minutes of fame.” All eyes/I’s are on US- the United System. So many stories to tell, so many faces to see.

So I basically joined Tiktok, then deleted it. Started a “business” with a friend and joined back up.

I disavowed Facebook and all social media with the exception of Twitter where I do not engage with people in my town.

I know this sounds like- “Where are you going with this?”

I think there is a community of emotionally starved people- and it represents something bigger. I do some dumb content on Tiktok because I get just enough positivity from it to keep going back.

I save my deeper thoughts that I feel like sharing for this blog.

I keep the deepest stuff in my physical journals that I populate with ink.

People are embracing their weirdness and I am very supportive of that- but I feel the same way that I did when I was 20 years old living in the Bay Area- “I am just not weird enough.” Which would be summed down to “I’m just not good enough.”

We all have an audience- I know that to be true, but it doesn’t stop my internal conflict of how much is too much to share of myself. It doesn’t stop the comparison or the desire to just give up because it’s easy to get lost in adoration.

Adoration can be a motivator and a motivation killer. When I see something that I resonate with I am caught in a battle of self that says “you can do that” but will it be better or worse? I often times capitalize on my worst physical attributes and yet in writing, face unseen- I go a different direction of honesty.

If you follow my blog and you want some of the weird visual stuff you should find me on TikTok- https://www.tiktok.com/@madgemidgely?

I am reading some of my dog stories on there- talking about other things, dressing up and wearing wigs. It should be a good time and I would like to see you there.

@madgemidgely

#overshareinyourunderwar #madgebaresall I’ve dreamed of this day for over a decade- a flesh suit, wig and extras. I want to bare my ♥️ and finally-

♬ original sound – Madge Midgely

Art

Thank You & I Love You

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I don’t think he knew the totality of the work we were doing by just existing in proximity to one another. I don’t know if he knew that by being close to one another that we were not only telepathically bouncing back and forth- but that the unspoken parts of our connection were creating an amplified resonance. I could tell by the look on his face that he wanted to believe it but he didn’t want to acknowledge it outright as truth.

Have you ever sat in the presence of someone you would never want to upset? Not because you have seen them at their worst but because something about them provokes you to be at your best because the best is what you want to cultivate in them. You want to be a mirror in the best way.

That was this.

Upon parting salutations he said “Thank you” and I said “No, thank YOU.” and he says “I didn’t do anything. You helped me.”

My reply was one so core felt that it was something I would avoid saying except I felt it so deeply that it had to be recognized.

“I say ‘thank you’ because you truly bring out the better parts of my personality, and I miss those parts of myself. “

I expand beyond all my fears of rejection and just say what is true, what is real in these moments. He appears to comprehend while being caught off guard.

I’m sick of hiding my love for people, things and the world in general. Sick of tucking it into notebooks hidden beneath dust.

I’m sick of people looking for a fight and bringing out the part of me that is willing to fight back over nothing- nonsense.

To feel in the comfort of oneself while in the company of another warrior who has no reason to war with their company.

I am a warrior, I am also a willing servant. I am hardened and yet still somewhat soft. I’m beyond first impressions and superficial adaptions in order to please those with no clue or reason.

One must thank those who bring comforting company. One must appreciate that they found a momentary respite.

When I said “Thank you,” it was from the bottom of my heart, from the stretch in my sinew, and from the fibers of my nerves. It was gentle yet heavy- The words were simple and what I could manage but the feeling was vast and if led by my fluency would have taken too much time to express.

    Art, insight, life, Writing

    Whats Love Got to Do With It?

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    I think we need to have a talk about Love.

    I think we are mature enough to look at it from various perspectives and start to really feel and observe what this concept is beyond the word, itself.

    Love, isn’t one thing or one feeling.  It isn’t one singular expression that is universal in output.  In fact it is as ever changing and unique as each human is- and each human changes and develops over time.

    But Love is also consistent and steady and holds itself with such secure solidification that one may ask how both could be the same and cohesive at the same time.

    Love is more than a word that is used too much and not enough.

    Love is a feeling that is intangible but has, at times tangible reward.

    Love in it’s most true form can not be corrupt- for its expanse leaves no room for corruption.  It is only those on the surface who use the term with superficial meaning that bastardize the depth of the concept.

    No worries though- there is always some hope that True Love can be found or will find you.

    The first Love we know is from our parents or primary care givers in our early development.   They set us up with expectations that love may equate ultimate forgiveness and freedom, or that love equates some sort of punishment; then again it may present as non existent as a word- that there is some void of connection to the word that is often connected to a feeling.

    Then there are the loves we find beyond those beacons that bring us into the world- those gods that brought us life.  Those on the outskirts that are different but familiar- grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins. We love them too.  But each is expressing it in a certain and unique way that may or may not be healthy.

    And we learn- we are mushy little beings in the beginning- we are absorbing like a sponge.  And Love is a word with a unique feeling that shifts and changes with these beginning relationships.

    We get older- hormones come to play.  We see our peers now in a new way as physical and mental development weave with the comprehension of our soul.  Attraction becomes something that steals our attention.  The biology we cannot control brings new focus.  If religion is involved things get even more complicated because something in it fights the reptilian brain.

    I could ask anyone and everyone would define “Love” differently- that should give you pause because the word is thrown around like confetti- it is strewn about as decoration. I don’t like that.  I take the word very personally knowing everyone defines it in their own way.

    It’s an awkward way to live.

    I’ve never been about the superficial meaning.  I’ve never been about throwing the word around like it is candy or a treat to waste away the senses.  I use it, when I mean it, the way I comprehend it.  It is not a designer label, it is not a place holder.

    It is a brief moment when I am saying “all is forgiven”- I feel for the best of you in the depth of my core and therefore you have my care.

    You won’t find that in the dictionary.  Most people won’t define “Love” in anyway close to that.

    There is “conditional love” and “unconditional love.”

    I don’t want anything to do with conditional love.  I want to specialize in “Unconditional Love.”

    I am familiar with rejection and I don’t want to feel it again, nor do I want anyone else to feel that feeling.  The word “Love” is not the answer or solution because it is so unique.

    In the Love Languages I am a service oriented do-er type.  I show love by action.

    When I feel love it is hard to deal with the energy that comes with it because I do not use the spell of the word to convey the feeling.  I take the feeling and I do something that shows the care that I have for the one who is getting affection.

    I would bleed myself dry for love.  I would work to the bone for love.   I would sacrifice my time for love- but I will only use the word every so often to make a point- and if the focus of my attention was paying attention they could see that.

    We don’t live in the ideal world…yet.  It hasn’t worked out so well for me in the way I perceive.  It is easy to feel like it is all daunting- but it isn’t because everything is temporary.  My Love is so big- the word “love” is just not good enough.  It has been co-opted and bastardized by inappropriate boxes and labels.

    The movies try and drag you into “romantic” and “unrequited love”, the psychologists try and tell you that even though your parents abused you, they also loved you, and that even though you may hate them, you still love them.

    Abusers love to use the word love as a psychological manipulation tool.

    People read scripture and bastardize that too and make the examples of unconditional love fit a prerogative.

    I don’t like it- I don’t want to do it and when the word comes out of my mouth you better know I mean it wholeheartedly but in a very, very big way.  Nothing about it is superficial.

    I know we all deserve love in that way- that we deserve to know what it is and what it feels like, but people are too scattered in their mind mayhem and survival to break it down.

    Tonight I break the construct of superficial love and help reintroduce the TRUE REAL EVERLASTING AND UNCONDITIONAL LOVE that is the core of our being- our heartbeat, our bread and water and breath.

    No more will these chains of superficial nature keep us bound in ideas of condition love.  No more will the phraseology be used as a psycho/emotional tool.  NO MORE.

    Everyday I work for all of us, because I believe and LOVE all of us.  It isn’t work like a normal job- it actually looks like nothing to me if I were to look in on it- it isn’t a perceivable work.  That doesn’t make it un-important- sometimes it confuses me too.  I am human and fallible-  but that it allows me to not care what you think you do or do not see.  It is happening beyond your view.

    I DO Love you all.   I DO want the best for you.  I WILL Work for the best case scenario for us all. I DO NOT need the word “Love” to prove my work.  That word never did prove the work.

    If you feel profound Love for someone- do the work- see what they need and help them meet their needs.  Show up.  Be there.  Say the word if it gives them comfort, but refrain if you don’t feel the feeling in your core.  Know that not everyone enjoys the word, read the room and figure if it’s been over used and has lost it’s meaning like saying the word “Fork” one hundred times.

    We are all at different places on the playground.  Honor that most- it takes no words.

    Art, imagination, insight, life, Writing

    This Transparency

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    I knew at a very young age that marriage and children were not in my cards.  I didn’t spend time dreaming up the dress unless it was to try and meld with my peers.  I came up with the weirdest name for the imaginary daughter I would never have.  It was really mythical in my opinion; Azora Wynter.  I guess “azora” means sky blue.  The name is beautiful and somewhat depressing unless you are a skier who appreciates a good fresh powder blue bird day.

    I came up with that name when I was in junior high school, in the beginning of my depression as I tried to blend in with peers while still holding on to the self that existed beneath the required social structures.   And if time doesn’t exist- it was perhaps in that moment, coming up with that name that I deeply knew some day, I would make a decision so that spirit of something would not have time on this earthly realm.

    We actually know a lot about ourselves at a young age and the world will either capitalize on it or try and wipe you clean of what you remember.

    When my parents would say “Just wait until you have your own kids.”  I would vehemently tell them I wouldn’t be having any.  So far I have stuck to it.

    When I was little, before anyone said anything about it- I believed in Mind Over Matter.  Weird that it comes as an acronym for MOM- because losing my mom at a young age is where many of these belief systems originated.

    A mom is an amalgamated foundation for survival and life experience- when there is no mom a child grows up quickly out of need and survival.  It’s also very traumatizing but not something that can be openly discussed because the adults have a hard time quantifying painful situations- or at least historically it appears that way.

    I thought and observed a lot of interesting things when I was young yet there was no real outlet for rumination of that sort.  Parents want you to be good and listen and follow directions.  Peers are trying to out do themselves with being “cool.”  I was in a constant spiritual battle and very aware of it on the physical realm.   Religion only made the struggle even more brutal.

    I’ve fought myself to be where I am right now and if you were on the outside looking in you might find it a sad plight.  Over times I have been nearly dredged of whatever external drive I may have been given in this dream world.  I don’t want fame, I don’t want fortune.  I want to be in peace with the land and myself and anyone of that ilk is invited to join me in camaraderie and contemplation.

    This isn’t my world.  I know it is a strange thing to say because here I am living up in it-  yet I am in the world, and not of it.  More and more I disassociate from it- not because I am frightened, but because it is so dissonant except for where it resonates.   These spots of resonance are so physically far removed from one another, that I am certain if they were in proximity something just may change with such a rush it would catch many off guard.

    Meanwhile, here we are broadcasting these resonator waves  trying to create bubbles of heaven to inhabit.

    This all sounds so crazy, but we need to be transparent about what is actually happening here.  I don’t spend all day and night focused in this way for nothing.  As time speeds up and this focus has apparent results for those beyond myself, this work just feels like it has to be done and I have been set up to participate in a greater effort for the whole.

    This feeling that we came from somewhere else is pervasive in my common community.

    For a long time I have felt that we will not recognize Jesus or the Christ because he is here in the faces of those fighting this spiritual battle that they were born for- incarnated to face.  The Christ spirit has been here for a long time- it is already embedded in those who are willingly here but have always wanted to go Home.

    It is time to realize your roles in this play.  It is time to be transparent about what you are here to do and do it. It is okay to be in the middle, but realize there are two sides to the fence and walking the fine line takes practice and strategy.   You could fall at any time to either side.  Also remember that there is more than one way to get where you are going and you are a unique creation with permission to make your own way which make be more akin to a dance or carving your own path.

    In this journey- some things stick and others fall away.  Pick your little battles wisely because the war isn’t yet over.

    Art, imagination, insight, life, podcast, Sound Exploration

    Post-Apocolyptic Laundry

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    Imagine if you will- a tech-dominated world where people are slowly trickling in.  Their one domestic responsibility is to have responsibility for their own laundry.  In divided groups at certain times, they trek down to the last slow-running river in order to beat the shit out of their clothes.  This is their way of staying connected to nature and need. However, the scene is always distorted somehow by the leftover frequencies that pollute the air.

    This piece is about a  woman trying to remember the “other world” she uses to live in, and she feels a very strong desire to share these memories with anyone who will listen.  In this world, it is rarely silent, but there are only certain times when it is permissible to speak.  The tones of the reception are measuring the frequency of the output from the people, and if the speaker derails into topics not meant for discussion- the frequency reflects that.

    This is a personal compilation of solo creations I have made in the last month.  I would like to add more stories to this because I want to introduce you to Maggie- and her story is incredible.  We wouldn’t know about the Laundry Lady if we didn’t recognize Maggie and her participation in bringing her to view.

    Please enjoy- Post-Apocalyptic Laundry-

     

     

    Art

    Perfections

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    My wonderful collaborator, Alessandro, has veered off into some Indian Raga path- and the smooth transition he takes into that expanded soundscape is gently adding new dimensions to the overall tonal frequency that has been our adaptations.

    I am still sloppily grasping at chords and hitting wrong notes with confidence.

    And by accident- we create perfection.

    This new piece Most Angry Bungalow is my new favorite anthem.

    To me, it speaks to memories brought up in a current moment.   The echo of the past interwoven with the present.  Like two long lost lovers, who fell out of fortune- finding themselves together again in the four walls they use to call home.   Talking in new tones as they recall a leftover yesterday that still chimes heartstrings.

    This beautiful accident was simply two artists in two places who speak the same language and read the same music- but it is completely etheric- there is no proof, no conversation claiming any specific musical direction- our individual hands led by some unseen force that felt the need for this song to be reborn.  Because it is and it isn’t ours alone- Ale and me- acting simply as conduits of this reminder.

    Enjoy-

    Politics

    If Your Local Government Wants To Thrive On Tourism, They Are Mismanaging Your Town

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    Name me places that thrive on tourism…

    Resorts; ski, sea, tropical, Disney.

    Cruises?

    Destinations?  State parks, hot springs, trailheads?

    Road Side Attractions… Wall Drug; Chugwater, Wamsutter, Buford population of 1.

    Let’s face it- tourism as infrastructure isn’t a sustainable solution in our changing society… people save money to escape their real-life for a short-lived fantasy of something else, and there are plenty of communities that cater to that idea; locals saving their own money for a potential week of escape from a place people flock to for another place that people flock to.

    Meanwhile, the hard-working locals are ignoring their own back yard because everyone enjoys a change of pace and scenery and there is no adventure left when you realize your own home town is concerned with the acquisition of money from temporary visitors.  You begin to notice businesses and services are focused on catering to seasonal visitors, which portrays an attitude that commerce and governmental spending is not concerned about local needs or desires.

    It seems as though these days, every little town with no vision would like to live off of tourism- and it’s gross in a multitude of ways.

    1. It doesn’t honor its residence- it makes them buy into unsustainable ideas based on a “legend” or “myth”- it supports a fable that is long due for transparency.
    2. It capitalizes off its own citizens on a multitude of energetic levels- a buy-in of sorts- via commerce.
    3. Citizens rarely see viable returns in the long term benefit.  Revenue isn’t allocated the way citizens would agree to en mass.  Options are limited to the public.  Money speaks and we have a city that knows a cash cow when they see it and have historically used the funds from it with no regard to the everyday man that volunteers to make this kind trap possible.

     

     

    When I was in my early twenties, I moved to Keystone Colorado with about five hundred dollars to my name.  It was the summer season and there weren’t many people around.  I got a job and a room in employee housing.  I would be working at the Sport Shack and renting out bikes and paddle boats and alpaca tours in the summer.  The pay was about $8.00 an hour.  It wasn’t much- but it was enough, and I would have a free ski pass come winter- that was the benefit and reason I moved to the mountain resort town.

    Here are some things you may not know about living at a ski resort- everything, and I really mean EVERYTHING is inflated when it comes to cost.  Keystone Resort is in the same big company as Vail and Breckenridge and other well known high-end ski destinations.  However, Keystone was considered “the family resort”- as it wasn’t “as high end” as a place like Vail. That didn’t matter, everything was inflated.

    All of these resort “towns” are filled with overpriced condos, restaurants and bougie boutique type stores.   Nothing a normal everyday person who works for the resort can afford or even wants.  There are maybe two reasonably priced eateries that are not fast food, and a couple of gritty pubs where the locals hang out and spend what they make.

    For a young person, a resort town is just code word for “Work hard, play harder.”  But is it sustainable?

    In my opinion- no.  I knew people well into their 50’s and 60’s who couldn’t hold a relationship and were forced to have roommates half their age in order to pay rent for houses they could never afford to buy on the wages they made.  If you weren’t in a management position with the potential of raises and moving up the corporate ladder, you couldn’t expect to see much inflation in your paycheck.  Most people worked more than one job, working at the mountain even part-time at least got you a ski pass which was at least a five-hundred-dollar value.

    When you live in a resort town, you realize you must be reliant on your pass/id card.  If you don’t have it, you don’t receive the employee discount.  If you were like me and had to ride two gondolas to get to work, and you forgot to bring lunch and your passcard, you would pay $10.25 for a hamburger that cost $1.25 to make.  Employee discount brought the burger down to about $8.00, one hour of work on the low end.  I know this because I was dating a person who was a food purchaser for the resort.

    When he told me this, I got very angry- not just for the employees, but for hard-working families that save all year for one weekend, or week away to do something fun.

    Resorts have their own taxes.  I think at the time I was working it was around 9% on all purchases within the resort.  To add insult to injury, the place didn’t even have two-ply toilet tissue in the restrooms.  So, you could eat an overpriced burger that wasn’t that good and would probably give you the runs, only to have to wipe with weak tissue paper.   This was even the case at Beaver Creek, one of the more posh resorts in the Vail Kingdom.

    I give this anecdote because it exemplifies the unsustainable nature these locations set as “normal” for the individuals who do not make top dollar for what they do, but they still pay top dollar while they drain their life energy into making more money for people with empires and networks.

    Every year the resort appeared to make more, but as they restructured corporate, benefits for the little guy continued to shrink.  “Sure we offer insurance but we are dropping visual benefits next quarter, and you will be paying more for the standard health stuff because we are switching service providers, no out of network plans.”   It looks like corporate criminal money laundering in collusion with the local government within these obviously controlled environments where large sums of money are changing hands.

    There aren’t a lot of positions to grow into when you live in a place like that unless you can make something for yourself- maybe start a tree cutting business, or become a builder, be prepared to pay for a license and liability insurance that won’t be cheap.

    On the flip side, the corporation in cooperation with local government has the benefit that every year there are hundreds of new, young, liberated people who want a good time in nature- the types who aren’t really keen on planning for the future.   The type to move on to some other adventure and never even THINK about local politics and the amounts of currency being passed around them. They are the perfect little worker drones.  They will be worked until they come to their senses and move away or keep at it until they die.  You would be surprised how many young people die in these places.  Drugs and alcohol are always easy to find, and you can tell that there is a deep depression being covered by an illusion of “fun.”

    Honestly, I did have a great time when I was there but I just love being in the mountains and this was an easy way to make it happen, however, the people that I knew during that time in my life were trainwrecks waiting to happen and I wasn’t totally shocked about the deaths that occurred after I left.

    I don’t miss paying rent in an overpriced run-down condo,  whose owner was probably making bank off of a property they would never live in, nor appeared to have pride in due to only being interested in owning investment properties while living in some other state.

    I realized I didn’t want to live in a tourist trap.

    I want to live in a place that genuinely cares for its citizens. A town that realizes that it wouldn’t even exist without all those individuals who may not make much money that are the gears and wheels of industry and commerce.  A real place, with real people that eschews big chain retailers in trade for small locally owned business’ with a vision of spreading wealth and opportunity.

    It seems like a big dream because the government and large corporations make small business ownership difficult and expensive.  The system really has its bias on bigger is better, but is it?

    My hometown spends all year petitioning small business’ for handouts for one very large weeklong event that happens in July.  An event DRIVEN by volunteers that bring in MILLIONS of dollars in revenue.  Only a few hands ever touch that revenue.

    To the average person, who doesn’t volunteer or participate in some way, the whole thing is a headache.  Our population doubles in size, and you know there are areas to avoid because of congestion and bad/drunk drivers.  Forget about going to your favorite eatery, you will be driving around looking for parking for an hour only to end up on a waitlist for what seems like forever.  If you are lucky, maybe you can go on your own vacation for a week just to avoid the mess of it.

    Passing through town on your way to somewhere else and need a place to sleep?  Good luck finding a hotel room.  And if you do find one expect to pay triple what the pricing will be a week later.

    It’s virtual insanity and our local government is one of the biggest supporters.

    What about the everyday people who petition the local government with good ideas focused on the local year-round population that is not about making the city money? Forget it.  They don’t want to hear your ideas, they just want to push paper and encourage you to sign up to volunteer your time in one of the various ways the town attempts to appear to be something that it isn’t.

    We have to see the local government for what they are actually about- money and control of resources.  It’s only about the citizens insofar that the citizens help them get the money and control of the resources.  But the money rarely recirculates down to the little guy, and we don’t see much happening that is beneficial for the citizenry that are the moving pieces of progress.  This needs to change with speed and force.  As citizens, we need to re-evaluate those who hold power on a local level and examine their connections and agenda.

    We need representation by people who are for the people, not the representation of money grabbers who back door deal within their shady networks that leverage the citizens in their desire to monopolize a location.

    It’s time for those types to go!

    Let’s make towns worth living in, and if we get some visitors, “Cool, I hope you had an enjoyable experience.  Oh, you want to move here? Lovely, it’s a really pleasant place to live.  Yeah, what you see is what you get.  Not some myth, legend or tourist trap.”

     

     

     

    A portal of inner exploration

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