The Ask

The difference between good and evil is that good asks and evil tells you.

PATTERN RECOGNITION TEST:

Goodness will ask only once.

Evil will search for every possible loophole to avoid doing what is right.

An example is don’t kill.

Evil will say, except for war…

Except for peace.

Except for race, for culture, for religion, for nationality, for crime, for birth, or just because the son of a bitch deserved it.

Goodness will ask us not to steal once.

Evil will say, except if you are an employee, an employer, an investment company, a charity, a religion, or a vulture capitalist.

A parent ignoring their child.

The ask comes at us every day.

Just like the old angel and devil on the shoulder routine in animated comedy shorts.

Goodness asks us to do the right thing.

Evil says it’s a waste of time, nobody cares, you deserve what you have, don’t share, what did they do, nothing, keep what you got, you’re a good person.

Don’t be a sucker.

Notice again the pattern.

Goodness asks once.

Assumes you are an adult and can remember to do the right thing.

Goodness assumes you don’t have to be constantly reminded to do good.

Evil is the adolescent mind looking for those loopholes so it doesn’t have to do any chores.

Yeah.

Yeah, doing right is a chore.

Doing right is not always convenient.

Evil knows this.

Evil leaders, whether in the world, in your circle of friends, in your family, evil knows you don’t want to get involved.

Take it easy, don’t worry; it will work itself out. Time will tell. You’re a great person; everyone knows it. You deserve what you have. What did anyone do for you? Blame those people!

Remember this…

The next time you are listening to someone come up with multiple reasons why they did something, why you should listen to them, they are most likely not acting in your best interest.

Only their own.

Freedom, liberty, and justice take vigilance.

It ain’t easy being free.

Someone will always have a shit load of reasons why you should take it easy.

Let your freedom go.

Blame.

Watch for the pattern.

Drop hate.

Be hope.

Peace

Daniel J Frey aka Toby

The Call

Love is calling you.

When that guy cut you off in traffic.

When the old woman drops her change.

When people march in the street for freedom.

Love is calling you.

Over there, the child in the classroom who never smiles.

Over there, the woman buying groceries doesn’t have enough money.

Over there, a people are fighting against a regime that seeks to own them.

Love is calling you.

Can you see the girl with tears in her eyes?

Can you see the boy with old shoes?

Can you see the immigrant fleeing their home for the unknown?

Love is calling you.

Every day, the only voice we hear is our own.

We cut out the noise.

We cut out the distractions.

We take, we consume the thing that will make us numb.

I got mine.

Go get yours.

Bluntly… even the king of beasts doesn’t think that way.

Even the lion shares its food.

But we humans don’t.

Our supposed higher ability to reason has cut out the middleman.

Love.

Love is not even on the table for more than half the human race.

Half of us only think of love on a birthday card.

The card we received.

When was the last time you actually sent a card and said I love you?

When was the last time you gave flowers for no reason other than love?

When was the last time you heard the voice of love?

I’m here to remind the human race that it has a significant problem with love.

Humanity loves to hate.

If humanity didn’t love hate, the world wouldn’t be in the dark hole it finds itself in.

Love will lift.

Love will lift not only others but you as well.

Humanity has never truly trusted love yet.

Humanity trusts its own monster, which it created, called selfishness.

In the dark corners, it finds comfort in what the monster of selfishness feeds.

Selfishness makes us blind, deaf, and mute in the face of need.

Yes, this is a needy world.

It’s a needy universe.

Better get used to it, human beings.

If we ever want to make the world better, the monster of selfishness has to be reckoned with.

Until then…

Until then, you will never hear the voice of love call you.

Can you hear it?

Peace

Daniel J Frey aka Toby

Strange Things

When you carry the light of truth…

The darkness will come to put it out.

The darkness is drawn to the light.

But doesn’t like it.

Doesn’t accept it.

When you carry the light of truth…

You are a target.

You are the focus of forces that will attack you.

Humanity fears truth.

When you carry the light of truth…

You are a reminder of responsibility.

Responsibility to the lost, the broken, the sick, the ignorant, to those in want.

You are responsible for what you do.

What you represent.

How you are remembered.

When you carry the light of truth…

The forces of hate will growl at you.

They’ll take a bite and see if you will run.

But like an eight-year-old running through a crowd, hate losses focus.

Hate hates everything, which is why it spins and bites even at its own tale.

And yes, I mean ‘tale’, hate will destroy its own story if it conflicts or interferes with getting what it wants.

Every day, no matter the weather, the temperature, what has happened in my life, or the world, I take a walk.

My adult son joins me, and we traverse this corner of Burbank and Toluca Lake in a mile and a half circle.

I’ve come up with a theory, which is as good as any, as to why strange things happen to me on these journeys.

You may or may not know that I died back in 1977.

I’m not supposed to be here; I’m supposed to be dead.

Ever since then, the world has prevented me from fulfilling my dreams.

From telling you what’s on my heart.

It’s thrown every conceivable roadblock at me.

It’s stopped me from working for Disney by eliminating 2D animation.

It stopped me from being a marine artist by destroying the fine art print world.

It stopped me from being a film and TV concept artist due to one industry strike after another.

It stopped me from being a TV executive producer due to intellectual property theft.

I could go on and on.

The dark forces of the world, power, greed, and indifference, have stopped me at every endeavor.

Yet I still hold my light up.

On my walks, strange things happen to me.

Strangers stop me and start talking to me.

They tell me their life stories.

The homeless stop me and compliment me, not knowing me, saying I’m doing good work.

Dogs run up to me like I’m their lost friend.

Cars constantly try to run me down, even on the sidewalks.

Branches fall out of trees, and I have to jump out of the way.

Solicitors,  no matter what they are hawking, approach me and beat me with false platitudes.

Can’t say this enough, cars keep coming at me even if I’m standing on the sidewalk.

Maybe it’s just an LA thing.

There are just too many things thrown at me to list.

However, I’ve come to believe that the few words of truth I have, drop hate be hope, attracts the stranger things of this world.

It’s like dark energy; everything in the universe has a trail, a length of chain it drags behind itself, composed of dark matter.

From galaxies to human beings, everyone drags a chain of dark energy

When you carry the light of truth, I imagine you snag the dark energy of the world and pull it along behind yourself.

These things and worse can happen to you, too.

When you carry the light of truth.

Join me.

Peace

Daniel J. Frey aka Toby

Power

Hate empowers only the one.

Love empowers everyone.

I’m here to tell you the fight is real.

It’s been going on for a long time and will continue on and on and on.

The fact is, we are born not caring about anyone else other than ourselves.

Kindness beyond ourselves has to be taught.

Compassion has to be practiced.

Some of us will pick up the skill and run with it.

Just like those who have natural inborn talents for running, math, art, and the gift of gab.

However, the vast majority will never know the joy of giving beyond self-gratification.

Very few have the natural talent to express love.

Face it, the human race likes sitting on the couch doing nothing.

Even if their house is on fire, they’ll let the neighbors call the fire department because…

Because they can’t be bothered with anything that interferes with their orgasm.

The majority of humanity is just that way.

Reality.

Self-centered, purposefully ignorant, non-helpful, non-volunteering, non-social beings.

The only thing that will motivate them to get ‘involved’ is what Carl Sagan said in his show Cosmos concerning ‘blockbusters’.

During WWII, the Germans dropped bombs on London, nicknamed by the English as ‘blockbusters’.

Bombs dropped from planes that would destroy a city block.

Once you had one of those bombs go off on your block, you quickly became aware of the consequences of war.

War from that moment forward would no longer be seen as a solution, but rather as a failure to communicate.

Carl Sagan pointed out that humans don’t react to a problem unless that problem directly interferes with their lives.

They actually have to have a blockbuster drop at their home to realize there is a problem.

The world, our humanity, has an issue with hate.

Hate is an affective blanket for the selfish person.

Hate gives comfort because it allows the person to believe someone else is responsible for the problems in the world, not me.

There are a lot of people around us all the time, not just on Pennsylvania Ave., who wrap themselves up in their blankets and point at other people for their failings.

They are with us all the time.

We all know that many people around us practice hate.

But what are we to do?

How do we empower the indifferent to stand for what is right?

I don’t have an answer.

I’m not the first one to not have an answer.

There are many before and many after who will recognize the problem, but have no solution as to why so many willingly refuse to hear people crying.

Those who refuse to see people starving.

Those who refuse to speak up when evil is done.

We who hear the voice of love and live what love asks us to do are like that proverbial ‘voice in the wilderness’.

We are like the dog that barks in the middle of the night, warning the sleeping people that danger approaches.

What we can do, what we have always done, is speak truth to power.

What we can do is live a life of happiness.

What we can do is have compassion for the lost.

What we can do is be the emissaries of love, greet everyone with a smile, and demonstrate that a life lived to care for everyone is far better than living for the one.

Peace

Daniel J Frey aka Toby

Movement

What moves you?

A song.

A word.

A touch.

A feeling.

Friendship.

Kinship.

Love.

Anger.

Hate.

What moves you?

Crisis.

Justice.

Freedom.

What moves you?

Can you be moved?

Can you hear?

Can you read?

Can you feel?

What moves you?

Love pushes, but we resist.

Love pulls us, but we run the other way.

Love talks to us, but we turn up the noise.

Love touches us, but we numb ourselves.

Humanity is a strange beast.

A collection of opposites is this beast.

No single description can fully capture the essence of humanity.

We are hot, cold, fast, slow, brilliant, dull, visionary, blind, musical, deaf, dead, and alive.

All these attributes on a body of indifference.

What moves you?

What moves you?

Peace

Daniel J Frey aka Toby

The Many

The enemy of peace is the middle.

Traditionally, we think the enemy of peace is the left or right.

But to think that way, you have to be either on the left or the right.

You’ve had to make a choice.

You’ve had to participate in life.

However, people who have decided to stand with the left or the right are substantially fewer in number compared to those who sit in the middle.

The tapestry, or better, the quilt blanket, which humanity turns out to be, is mainly constructed of threadbare fabric.

Fabric that just gets the job done and no more.

The bright, sparkly bits, the sequence, the gold and silver fringe, and the rainbow of colors are all at the edges.

Humanity is a majority dull wet blanket.

Humanity doesn’t want to participate in its future.

It doesn’t want to honor its past.

Humanity just wants to exist.

It wants to be left alone.

Period.

Humanity doesn’t want to make choices.

It doesn’t want to know what’s bad, what’s good, what’s new, what’s old.

Humanity doesn’t want to fight evil, hate, anger, prejudice, racism, or fascism.

Humanity, the many, couldn't care less about freedom, justice, and truth.

The many.

That is the many who do not care until it kicks them in their ass.

When they personally have lost their jobs, their orgasm, their favorite TV show, their freedom.

Then the many care.

That’s the reason why Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto lamented the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, when he said, “I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve.”

It has been understood for thousands of years, by some of us, that humanity, at its core, is a dumb, sleeping giant, content with knowing nothing and doing nothing.

But if made angry, the sleeping giant will awaken and smash everything, including both the good and the bad.

That’s what we are up against: those warriors of the light, wanting a better world for all.

The right, the fascists, the nihilists woke the sleeping giant, gave the giant a red hat, and promised it could go back to sleep once America was great again.

The giant with the red hat is now confused.

The giant with the red hat was made a promise that it could feed on the blood of Democrats.

But the boy who gave them their red hats has told them, “Never mind, it was all a dream.”

All a dream…

The giant with the red hat is still angry.

The giant with the red hat still wants the blood it was promised.

What will the giant with the red hat, the many, do now?

Go back to sleep?

Or smash?

Peace

Daniel J Frey aka Toby

Hell's Kitchen

Everyday.

Doom.

Everyday.

Doom.

Every day, the same thing.

These people hate those people.

The universe crushes or drowns the innocent.

Everyday.

Every day, the same thing.

Just like Hell's Kitchen.

We're fed the same meal day after day.

Relentless tragedy.

Relentless doom.

Relentless idiocy.

Relentless doom.

Relentless terror.

The heat somehow finds a way to keep increasing.

The heat is on.

If you keep sitting in that pot, soon you'll find the waters around you are boiling.

Soon, you'll find your soul is cooked.

Boiled.

Here's some free advice… get the hell out of the kitchen.

Everyday.

We turn on the news.

We doom scroll.

Doom scroll?

Like suicidal moths diving into a fire, we want to feel the burn.

We got to feel the burn.

If we burn, we are doing something.

Outrage.

It's an addiction.

Do you know what fire does?

It destroys.

This media fire burns down compassion.

It fries intellect.

It consumes our reason.

The fact is, you can't live in the fire.

Bad news will incinerate your conscience.

No matter how bad you are jonesing for that hit of news heroine, you need to put the needle down and walk away.

We all need to put down that drug called bad news and seek redemption for our compassion.

Renewal.

Find perspective.

Cool off.

Come to peace with yourself, and the world will find peace with you.

When you're hot, when you're on fire, you don't have perspective.

You run from one crisis to another in a panic.

The sky is falling.

The sky is falling.

You'll become a roasted Chicken Little.

That's what the media wants us to do.

No perspective.

Lurching from one disaster to the next.

Consume… consume… consume.

Till we don't know right from wrong.

We are so burnt out from the news of the day that we passively sit and watch the commercials for relief from the doom of the hour.

Too much of anything isn't good for you.

If you haven't heard that before, now you have.

If the heat of the kitchen is driving you nuts… get out of the kitchen.

It's only then you'll find peace.

Perspective.

Your compassion.

Peace

Daniel J Frey aka Toby

Time

Not enough.

Too much when you are young.

Too little when you have built regret.

What’s a good use of time?

Being busy.

Being busy with what?

That’s the question all of our lives ask.

What are we doing here?

It’s easier to see what others are doing with their time.

It’s easy to critique.

My time spent is better than your time spent.

Spending time is the illusion that time is a commodity.

A currency.

Something that can be earned.

Something borrowed.

Something spent.

I take time away from the unimportant to spend on what I want more of.

I want more time.

Time to relax.

To sleep.

To dream.

Time to run.

To sing.

To laugh.

Time to get what I don’t have.

Love.

Time.

Not enough.

Too much when you are young.

Too little when you’re trapped inside your regret.

Time to run.

Time to sing.

Time to laugh.

Not enough.

Peace.

Daniel J Frey aka Toby

Change Is Coming

The universe is all about change.

Change happens.

It can't be stopped.

Slowed but not stopped.

It is why it is simply irrational, plainer still, stupid to believe that anyone or anything will stop change.

Who, by their will or through violence, can stop the sunrise?

It's impossible.

Yet humans' fear of change is so deep that they will believe fairy tales told to them, which claim they can prevent change from happening.

Remarkable.

Humanity will always let you down.

Two steps forward, one, sometimes three steps back.

The fear and reluctance to accept change are why we don't all have a better world.

A world where fear is not the driving force behind all decisions.

But a world where love and compassion direct our interactions.

Where sharing, not hoarding, is the rule.

Wouldn't it be nice if our leaders would do the right thing for the right reason before a disaster happens?

Change is coming.

An axiom of this universe is as follows…

The more you attempt to prevent change from happening, the faster it will occur.

You can put a dam up and stop the water.

But that water will find a way to the sea.

It can't give up.

It is inevitable.

Freedom, like water, keeps flowing to the sea.

The sea, in this instance, is the people everywhere.

What one man enjoys, all humanity will enjoy.

Freedom has never been exclusive.

Freedom, justice, and love are universal truths.

Trying to prevent them from happening, or securing them just for a minority of self-proclaimed elites, only makes the pace of change quicken.

We need to encourage our brothers and sisters who fear change to let it go.

Their yelling about the changes they hate in our American society will ironically bring about the day when those changes are permanent.

The day of love for all humanity is upon us.

This is what it looks like and feels like when fear has its last night before dawn.

Change gonna come.

Daniel J Frey aka Toby

Out of Control

Why haven't you written as much lately?

My writing has slowed due to drawing a graphic novel entitled Highway.

Since there is only one of me, I've been concentrating on that to get it done as soon as possible.

One holiday after another, a birthday party, an urgent sizzle reel, and a broken-down car all hamper the graphic novels' advancement.

Just like you, we can't control everything in our lives.

Life gets in the way of our plans.

How far does your control extend?

What are the boundaries of what you believe you are in control of?

A person should know their limits.

Although some of us appear to ignore them.

Like, I can't control my family.

My 30-something children stopped listening to me when they realized I was human like them.

My wife doesn't listen to me.

But that's the secret to a good marriage.

Don't listen too closely if you want to stay married.

My friends sort of listen to me while I'm with them, but as soon as I leave, I know they are doing what they want to do.

As for strangers…

I'm asked at Disneyland a lot where the restrooms are…

That's because I wear all black and a sports jacket, which makes me look like security.

How far does your control extend?

I don't even listen to myself.

I tell myself I'm going to do this or that, and I generally do, but not on the schedule I thought I would.

Some of us just don't realize we control nothing.

We've built up elaborate stories telling ourselves we are in control and that everyone should think and behave just like us.

Why?

Because we're right and they're wrong.

Fascinating, isn't it?

They believe they are right and you are wrong.

Yet the history of truth is on our side.

When the false curtain of control is lifted, time reveals the truth.

Our beliefs form the foundation of a compassionate and loving human society.

Like when we believe that racism is wrong.

When we believe that fascism is wrong.

When we believe that power for the sake of power is wrong.

We believe in justice.

We believe in freedom.

We believe in the brotherhood of mankind.

These things, these truths, are in our control.

We can exercise these truths, take control, or we can let them go.

I hear my wife calling me…

Love and peace to you.

Daniel J Frey aka Toby

We Are Not Afraid

“We are not afraid” is the best lyrics to the song “We Shall Overcome.

Dr. Martin Luther King added those lyrics.

Living in fear is no way to live.

The only people who want you to live in fear are bullies.

That’s how they keep their psychological power over you.

What might be?

Always what might be and not what it is.

The opposition to fear and hate did not go away on November 5th.

You and I are here.

The truth…

The truth is on our side.

History is on our side.

Reality is on our side.

Fear has always concocted bizarre fantasies to keep people afraid.

“There be monsters here” was written on the edge of maps to keep people from wandering away from the control of kings.

Freedom from predetermination created by the will of a self-appointed monarchy…

That’s what America is.

Again, there have always been people who prefer to be taken care of. Only half of us prefer living free of fear.

That’s the two threads of the fabric of humanity.

It has always been up to the adults in the world to help those who can only see darkness.

How?

By holding up the truth of love.

It’s a difficult light for many of our brothers and sisters to see.

It hurts their eyes staring into the truth.

Love is not understood, or we wouldn’t have to keep fighting the good fight.

In a world of limited resources, the natural inclination is not to share.

But it ain’t the 8th Century anymore.

We live in a land of abundance.

But we still have that monster on the back of too many telling them not to share.

Not to trust.

Keep to yourself.

Mind your business.

Welfare.

Love tells us our business is the welfare of our fellow man.

It’s a heavy lift.

I know this.

You know this.

But we are not afraid.

The foundation of this nation is based upon the principle that all people are created equal.

Many Americans have struggled to believe in the concept of equality.

They are trapped in a vicious cycle of hate created by the bullies who have their ears and hearts.

We all just lived through a plague that took the lives of millions.

We all just lived through an economy that collapsed.

Somehow...

We all didn’t all realize that we had come through it, and the world got better.

Some see the world as half-empty.

Some see the world half full.

We who see the world full of light are now obliged to reach back and let that light shine into the dark places.

Let us reach out and touch the hearts and minds of our fellow Americans and let them see there is a better way to live than in fear.

Demonstrating we are not afraid, this light will kindle curiosity.

Curiosity has always broken the chains of fear.

What if.

What if my life could be better?

What if I could live free?

We are not afraid.

Peace

Daniel J. Frey aka Toby

Fear of Freedom

A great number of our decisions are not really our own. They are suggested to us from the outside; we have succeeded in persuading ourselves that it is we who have made the decision, whereas we have actually conformed with expectations of others, driven by the fear of isolation and by more direct threats to our life, freedom, and comfort.”

– Erich Fromm, Escape From Freedom

Freedom is a burden to some folks.

Freedom means participation.

Participation means doing the work of freedom.

Freedom is hard work.

Many want the reward but are too busy with themselves to cultivate freedom.

Those who fear freedom often go by another name.

The Silent Majority.

Have you wondered why there have been no voices condemning the hate that is propagated by Trump and his associates?

The conservative voices that used to tell the anarchists to stay at the back of the room and not talk.

That sound of silence is manifested by those who also erected a neon god.

That neon god tells them their fear is justified.

That neon god feeds their bias, which perpetuates the hate, that grows the paranoia that others are responsible for the poor life they have.

That neon god wants to be the next president.

Again.

He promises a narrow definition of freedom.

Only to those who worship at his feet, telling him he is a man of consequence.

There are many kinds of people of consequence.

It is an absurd ego that says there is only one path to greatness.

Freedom.

Freedom is a burden.

Freedom, it turns out, is not free.

You can’t expect strawberries if you never plant them.

You can’t expect freedom if you don’t speak up.

How can I speak up?

Vote.

Freedom’s ally is the act of voting.

Silence is not golden.

That’s a lie.

Silence is the cruel dictator who silences the voices of freedom.

Silences them one by one till there is none.

Freedom needs you.

Let freedom ring.

Daniel J Frey aka Toby

Compassion

The world has never valued kindness.

Kindness in this world has always been perceived as a sign of weakness.

To be kind is stupid.

Ignorant.

You care for your own first.

Blood is thicker than the welfare of the stranger.

If you don't know, I'm an empath.

I was diagnosed late in life after years of suffering at the hands and words of everyone around me.

Their anger, their hate, their ignorance, their prejudice, their racism, their bias wore me down to the breaking point.

It broke me.

What kept me from taking my life?

Love.

Compassion.

Caring.

A simple act that cost the person who saved my life absolutely nothing.

But what it did was allow me to be here today talking to you about it.

There is redemption.

There is hope.

There is reconciliation with those who deserve it.

I'm not here to say that those who commit egregious acts upon you are to be forgiven and forgotten.

No.

Never.

I'm here to say that you need to forgive yourself first and foremost so that you can heal.

You're not responsible for their evil.

That's why you forgive yourself first.

Not the criminal mind that acted against you.

Hurt you.

Never forget.

Never forget the cruelty.

The heartless acts of violence and selfishness meant to hurt, to punish, to destroy you.

Compassion is about a standard of morality.

Compassion does not need a religion.

Compassion does not need a doctrine.

Compassion is the act that love tells us to do.

Compassion is stronger than hate.

Stronger than anger.

Stronger than fear.

It can heal the deepest wound.

It can bridge the distance between minds.

It can accomplish the impossible, even in the hands of the smallest, most overlooked person.

Compassion.

Compassion resonates through the centuries.

The love that men and women once shared is why we are here today.

They fought the good fight.

They stood up to the intolerant.

They ignored the impossible and made it possible.

Compassion is defined as weakness by evil.

You will learn that those who fear a thing call it out as weakness.

Evil fears compassion.

Just as the child who is afraid of the dark calls out, telling the darkness they are not scared of it…

BOO!

They are.

I have learned that my empathy is a two-edged knife.

It cuts to the truth, but it also cuts me.

It's hard every day to feel the pain all around me.

It can bring me down.

Yet, it can spur me on, too.

To find a way to lift every voice.

The importance of just one life.

To push for that day when hate is seen for what it is.

Weak.

Peace

Daniel J Frey aka Toby

Stop Talking

Observation…

Why is it that our conservative brothers and sisters feel the need to tell us who they are constantly?

Telling us even if we already know…

Conservatives can't stop telling us...

They love America.

They are Christian.

They are heterosexual.

They are pro-second Amendment.

They are pro-life.

They are pro-billionaire.

They are pro-Putin.

They are pro-MAGA.

They are pro-Trump.

They are anti-immigrant.

They are anti-Islamic.

They are anti-brown people.

They are anti-gay.

They are anti-green.

They are anti-science

They are anti-free speech.

They are anti-Democrat.

Conservatives.

I grew up in and around a very conservative, far-right Christian family and friends, and I have first-hand experience being told over and over again, as if I'm an idiot, their ideology.

Their political beliefs.

As if I'm an idiot who can't remember you don't like to drive in bad neighborhoods, White racist code for the black neighborhoods.

You don't like to send your kids to schools that aren't White.

You don't like living next to people who don't attend your church.

Over and over and over again.

I'm tired of it.

This is a rant!

There are only so many times I can hear their bullshit in 63 years of living on this planet that Jesus loves me and died for my sins.

I get it!

I understand the story.

Please, please, please!

I don't need it repeated to me over and over as if I have no long-term memory.

I saw Old Yeller once.

Once!

I don't need to see it ever again.

Ever!

I get it.

I understand that you don't like the changes you see in the world.

I understand giving anyone the ability to make a decision for you who is not a White male land owner is an abomination sent from Satan.

I understand you don't like to share.

You don't see, you don't like to share.

But I see you don't like to share anything.

You want everyone to know how important you are.

How you are better than everyone else?

I know you think that it's true.

Believe me, I know you think you are granted a special dispensation to rule the world because you're White.

I can hear you.

I can hear you!

I can hear you!

Stop talking.

Listen…

Listen to what you sound like?

Listen to the venom.

Listen to the hate.

Listen to the driver in your life called anger.

Consider…

Instead of talking to me, start talking to yourself.

Start telling yourself you can be loved.

Start telling yourself you can be forgiven.

Start letting yourself just be.

Just be.

Let it go.

And then…

Come join us where the world is full of joy.

Peace

Daniel J Frey aka Toby

Changes

Since the beginning, humanity has used every ounce of strength in its imagination in wanting to believe that change doesn’t happen.

Cave paintings, scrolls, religion, books, plays, philosophy, photography, film, radio, TV, politics, and war all have espoused a belief that change shouldn’t and can’t happen.

Big problem, though…

The fundamental property of this universe we all live in is change.

Everything from galaxies to microbes all change.

Evolve.

Die.

Born.

So, anyone or anything trying to stop change from happening is on the losing side of the universe.

Not in touch with reality.

Trying to stop change from happening you just can’t win.

It’s called impossible.

Now, understandably, change is not always welcome.

None of us want to get old.

None of us want to lose the people, the things we love.

But their all going to change.

It’s human not to want things to change.

It’s fundamental to the origins of humanity to want things to be the same.

Repeatable.

Established.

Regular.

Predictable.

That way, we all can make plans and not have them ruined by a rainstorm stopping our picnic.

But… shit happens.

So, if you think about it, and it’s obvious not many people do, why do we invest our time, our money, our blood, sweat, and tears into ideas that try to prevent change?

Fear.

Fear is the spider at the center of the web.

Change represents unpredictable outcomes.

What if people are free?

What if people can marry who they want?

What if people can be who they are?

What if people want to be equal?

What if people want to be loved?

All these and more represent fear to a community and the individuals who do not want the rain to cancel their picnic.

Yeah, so it was okay to free black people from slavery as long as no one was inconvenienced.

It was all right to give women the right to vote because most women couldn’t be bothered.

It was fair to desegregate schools and communities because we weren’t going to fund those schools and communities after.

My point is that change, for better or worse, will continue to happen, but not as expected.

With change, there will always be outcomes that are not predictable.

That’s what change is.

That’s why I’m trying to get the attention of my conservative brothers and sisters and help them put into perspective their fear of change.

When gays got the right to marry, did frogs rain out of the sky?

When blacks got to vote, there were no more white elected officials, right?

When women entered the workforce, no man was ever hired again, correct?

No, none of those things happened.

Life went on.

When change happens, will things be different?

Yes, they will be different.

And that’s the beauty of change.

Where once there was a dead, dry seed, once planted, from that seed grows a tree under which the children and the children’s children of the planter will live, love, and know peace.

Life is a circle always turning.

Change is gonna come…

Peace

Daniel J. Frey aka Toby

Do You Hear What I Hear?

Wokeism.

Bad side of town.

Freaks of nature.

Infecting our Democracy.

New York values.

Our country.

Our God.

Coincidence.

Poisoning the blood of our country.

Make America great again.

Take our country back.

These and more are what is being said out loud in Conservative America.

Have you asked yourself, does it matter?

What does it mean?

What does it mean?

It means that the idea put forth by our founding fathers that America was created for White, male protestants who owned the land they took, and it was this Manifest Destiny that guaranteed that from sea to shining sea, the White man would always and forever be in control and dominate was established by their White Christian God… forever…

The concept of White Manifest Destiny remains prevalent today.

There is a group of our fellow Americans who both believe in the sanctity of their religion, having a metaphysical control on their lives, the lives of the non-believer, and the nation as a whole, as well as the real expression that Jesus Christ established this sanctity that White males are in charge no others need apply.

Any lapse of control is a sin.

These expressions are code to the true believer who is willing to fight for their Whiteness as ordained and established by their White Christian God.

It doesn’t matter if Donald Trump is scum.

They could care less.

He could be the worst human on the planet, but he has two things going for him you don’t see.

One, he’s a White land-owning male.

Two, he’s fighting for White America to re-establish a White-male patriarchy.

He can actually do anything, have sex with goats; none of it matters to these Maga supporters because he’s ordained by the White Christian God to save the White race.

Do you hear what I hear?

The media really ignores this point.

History.

I am constantly reminded of South Africa.

The White peoples of Europe, specifically England, discovered South Africa and declared it White.

Declared South Africa White?

Think about how screwed up inside and out you have to be to be in such a mindset whereby you deny reality that much.

The British were White and in control.

But, on the horizon, their hold on the country was going to slip out of their hands.

The White British population knew it was coming to the end of their lease.

However, that didn’t stop them from descending into a brutal police state.

White Apartheid.

It got far worse for non-whites as the day approached as the White demographic minority grabbed and killed to keep control.

The U.S.A. is slipping down the same slope.

That hardcore group of conservative Americans is not fighting for a political party.

Are you kidding me?

They are fighting for what they believe is their White race.

They will not go away without a fight.

Words are a gateway drug to actions.

When somebody tells you what they believe, you better damn well believe them.

So listen up!

Peace

Daniel J Frey aka Toby

To See Too Much

Imagine seeing germs.

Imagine being able to see the germs on the people around you.

Imagine those germs as the untruths, the myths, the self-deceptions, the stories, the lies — both big and small — that people tell each other and themselves every day.

That is what it's like to be an INFJ empath like me.

For the first 55 years of my life, I suffered under the delusion that everyone was like me.

I couldn't fathom why people were so...

So inhuman and inhumane to others and themselves.

The casual untruths, the blatant lies, why did it only seem to affect me and not everyone else?

I had no idea that my psyche was missing a fourth wall.

That fourth wall that the 97% of humanity has and I don't.

That fourth wall that keeps them disconnected from life.

From feeling.

This fourth wall allows them to act independently without regard to how their actions affect others.

This fourth wall, which I didn't have, brought me to the point of screaming, "Let me out!"

After 55 years of taking on the sins of the world, I had painted myself into an actual black pit of darkness.

I saw no relief for the world or myself.

I couldn't take it anymore.

The suffering, the pain, the hypocrisy, the betrayal, the lies, the anger, the hatred, the anger everywhere.

Like a dark black rain, it poured every day non-stop.

A ghost kept screaming in my ear I was useless.

Unloved.

I needed to end it.

As the day approached, a fairy light appeared in my dark oubliette and asked me to believe in love one last time…

If you know an INFJ empath, you know, even in the end, I couldn't refuse to listen.

I found out that empaths do exist.

It's not a fairytale.

I found out it wasn't science fiction as I had thought it was.

I discovered that all the lies I saw were real.

People, all people everywhere, casually lie to each other every moment of each day.

My depression was caused by real-life circumstances, like losing my job, dreams, family, and love.

Those were real; any normal person would become as depressed as I was.

However, being an empath made it incomparably worse than for a normal person.

Who doesn't feel.

I couldn't separate other's emotions from my own.

I fell into an empathic spiral of doom.

I also discovered that I needed to establish healthy boundaries in my psychology to regulate the flow of pain in this world.

I learned that everyone needs to have a mental health check-up at least once a year.

Even the ones who don't feel especially.

You probably don't realize how screwed up you are and how many people know you're screwed up but won't tell you because they think that's the way you are an asshole.

Now, I'm 63.

Now, I have built back love and restored hope.

I still see too much.

I feel too much.

Being an empath is not a blessing unless you feel seeing everyones darkness is a happy thing.

But I'm here to say to fellow empaths it can be managed.

I learned it late in life.

But I learned.

Peace

Daniel J. Frey aka Toby

Shoes

When you walk in another's shoes…

You will gain a deeper understanding of that person's life.

Been told that ever since I can remember.

But what happens when you try on another person's shoes and find out they fit?

What happens to that story you told yourself about your place in society?

What happens to that ego you have believing in your own entitlement?

What happens when the shoes fit?

Somehow, since before the American Revolution, the People convinced themselves that they were exceptional.

Disregarding the French, who had already overthrown their Aristocracy, Americans told themselves a story that they were first.

They were the first to stand for liberty, for freedom.

But they weren't the first, no far from it.

They weren't the first White people who carved out for themselves a special place in the hierarchy of the universe.

American Exceptionalism is a unique kind of myth.

There are many kinds of myths that we encounter every day.

A universal myth that cuts across all cultures, ethnicities, races, and religions is that my myth is the only true myth and all the rest drool.

American exceptionalism is everywhere.

You can't see the forest for the exceptional trees.

It's a human thing.

Humans convince themselves of a lot of nonsense.

It's what keeps us from all having nice things.

What happens when the shoes fit?

When we find out the person we thought was foreign to us is just like us.

What do we tell ourselves?

What excuses do we narrate to ourselves, still believing we are different?

Those people don't feel pain; that's why they don't need health care.

Those folks don't know how to cut their lawn, so take away their property.

They buy stupid things; don't give them a bank loan.

These people are animals; they don't deserve justice.

It's all bullshit.

People and I'm telling it to you straight because I've been raised with a lot of White racist people, they tell each other whoppers every time they are together how bad everyone else is.

They are never the problem.

White racist Americans see themselves as the solution.

White people in America have an exceptional problem imagining being in another person's shoes.

Why this self-imposed ignorance?

Why the hate?

It's fear.

Fear of losing exceptionalism.

It is, quite literally, the fear of standing in line with everyone else and not being able to cut to the front of the line.

A fear that someone will catch on to all the exceptionalism bullshit and force you to the back of the line.

First come, first served.

No cuts.

What happens when the shoes fit?

When that day comes, what rejoicing there shall be.

When young and old embrace the fact that none of us are getting off the earth alive.

When we understand, we realize that we all bleed.

We bleed for the sake of love.

To love and be loved.

We bleed for respect.

We bleed for freedom.

For justice.

Take a look at your shoes.

Peace

Daniel J. Frey aka Toby

The Rain Is Here

All around us, the rain is falling.

Since Dylan put it into lyrics, by the way, that was 1964, the American public has been at odds with learning how to swim versus sinking like a stone.

It appears most of us ignored that piece of wisdom.

What I'm talking about is leaving ignorance behind and learning we can do right.

The rain falls…

The rain falls, and what it's doing is revealing Truth.

In the 20th Century, the rain fell, revealing fascism.

The rain fell, and segregation was revealed.

The rain fell, and we discovered the poor were in need.

We discovered that women had rights.

The rainwater rose, and White nationalism was thrown into the spotlight.

If, by the 1980s, you didn't understand you needed to learn to swim, you were sinking.

Why?

The rain kept falling.

The rain washed away our delusion that authority figures and our leaders always told the Truth.

The rain fell.

The rain fell, revealing a rainbow of gentle souls wanting to live their lives without fear.

It revealed that religious leadership preyed upon its followers' hearts, minds, and bodies, taking their innocence.

The 21st Century has arrived, and the weather forecast suggests a storm is on the way.

The rain fell.

They're hiding in plain sight; our social servants charged with protecting us instead abused us.

The rain fell.

No justice, no peace.

No justice, no peace.

The rain fell, washing away the delusion that justice was applied fairly and evenly in America.

You are gunned down in the streets, the schools, the churches of the U.S.A., and a majority are not moved to do anything about it.

We rediscovered that some people believed themselves more equal than others.

The rain falls.

It will continue to fall.

At the same time...

Love rises.

Because love applied will never give in.

Love applied will open the eyes of the self-ignorant.

Love applied will openly ask, will you change and join us in a great community?

Or will you prefer to sink like a stone?

Wish you love.

Peace

Daniel J. Frey aka Toby

Last Thing

Feeding yourself.

Buying that new pair of shoes.

Ordering online.

We'll do that.

Flipping someone off.

Talking behind a friend's back.

Getting high.

We'll do that.

Not stopping hate.

Not comforting the lost.

Not smiling.

We'll do that.

We will do many things, too numerous to count, in our lives.

And we will do them gladly.

Not out of a sense of duty but of pride.

What is the last thing you would never do?

Is it love?

The last thing too many won't do is to love ourselves and the world.

Why?

It's too hard for too many of us.

We don't know where to begin, so we never start.

Too many of us lack the foundations of love.

We don't love ourselves.

If we don't love ourselves, then loving others, including strangers, represents a danger to our existence.

If we don't love ourselves, we are handicapped, unable, and unwilling to reach out and restore hope.

Not just to be sympathetic but to attain the highest human ability: Empathy.

If we don't love ourselves, we are doomed to be consumed by our own desires, focusing inward at the expense of all life around us.

What is the last thing you would do?

Love to be effective must be exercised.

Love is not something to keep locked away.

If love is locked away only for ourselves, then it is a wasted expression.

Love to become real, to grow, to mature must live in the light of life and grow.

What do you represent?

Selfish desire or giving love?

What is the last thing you would do?

Peace

Daniel J Frey aka Toby