by StooMathiesen on Flickr

I got a small taste, a glimpse of what it must be like for a gay man coming out of the closet. Don’t get me wrong, my experience lacks the sheer anguish those in the LGBT community face, but it did bring greater understanding for what many of them must go through. I’m coming out of a different closet. You see, for ten years of my life I was a devout Christian. I believed the Bible as the infallible word of God. I taught Sunday school, worked with church youth-groups, drove kids to church on Wednesday nights. I was all-in, believing with all my heart.

Then, over time, I stopped believing. For months, I attended church, striving to believe. I wanted to believe, but couldn’t. So, I sang the songs, prayed and read my Bible. At the time, Leo the Christian warred with the real me. I wanted to explore science and culture without a biblical filter biasing my view. I wanted to write without letting down those I loved. The real me wanted to watch Game of Thrones or Spartacus without feeling guilty. I’ve always been fascinated with Pagan culture. I don’t believe in pagan spiritualism, but love the concepts of respecting nature and exploring beauty. Sometimes, I just want to swear. These things make me who I am just as much as my love for my family, my geek side, and my political views.

On one hand, my inner nature prompted me to experience life, on the other, my religious beliefs fought against that nature. Challenging one’s world view is traumatic, and that was a difficult time for me. Before you start feeling bad for me, realize it was far more difficult for my wife.

As whole people, we are free to experience life and be true to our natures. Repressing ourselves causes stress and disharmony. For a long time after I stopped believing in Christianity, I still acted like I did. I went to church, and still do. I didn’t lie to people. In fact I spoke about it to my wife, my pastor and people I respected. I just didn’t announce it. Wanting to cause as little damage as possible to those I cared about, I just carried on as usual.

I worried about what my taste in movies and television would make my wife feel. I was afraid to listen to the music I wanted. I was afraid to go to the Renaissance festival because I knew that my wife learned of my unbelief the day we went to one. These things seem inconsequential, but prevented me from expressing my true nature, and caused stress. My shoulders were always tense. Sometimes, my wife would ask if something was wrong. I’d say no, because nothing was consciously wrong. Subconsciously, things were not alright. I was in a different kind of closet. Not one as dangerous as many face, but a closet nonetheless.

Well, I’m coming out of that closet. Not to prove a point, or to influence others. I’m coming out for my own health. I’ve learned that stress is the most damaging force this human race faces. As I learn about my own body and how it works, I know that to be healthy requires one to manage stress. I also know, that we do have an inner nature that must be satisfied. I know that i can live in harmony with that nature or at war with it. I’m choosing to be at peace with myself.

So yeah, I’m an atheist, or an agnostic if you prefer. As a curious soul, I’m open to any possibility, but very comfortable with my unbelief. I will continue exploring this amazing universe we live in, but I hope I never find the ultimate truth. How boring would that be? I will continue seeking beauty in all its forms, and appreciating people, pets, nature and even technology.

Today, I still go to church, because I promised my wife I would. Fortunately for me, we go to a great church full of loving people. It’s not difficult going to this church as a non-believer. Would I rather stay home? Of course, because I don’t get anything out of it outside of socialization, but going isn’t a difficult chore. I thank the wonderful people at my church for that.

So, where does that leave me? On a journey, I guess. Living life, and finding peace with my inner nature.

Let me introduce myself.

Hi, I’m Leo Godin. I love to explore and learn. I appreciate beauty. You’ll often find me challenging beliefs and searching for truth. If you see me at church, know that I love singing your songs, and though I don’t share your faith, I respect it and consider it beautiful. Likewise, if you run into me at a local drum circle or new-moon ritual, know that I respect your beliefs. We may not share the same understanding, but I will enjoy experiencing beauty with you.

This is me, and while I try to improve every day, I’m satisfied with who I am.

AKZOphoto on Flickr

I want to fix the economy. Me. Leo Godin, dude who’s never invested or run a business. And I want you to help. You see, fundamentally changing our global economy isn’t that complicated. Mass decentralization would spread wealth and pull reams of people into the middle class. In fact, if we bought everything that can reasonably be bought from small businesses from actual small businesses, the world would go through an economic revolution.

What’s the problem?

What’s the problem with the current global economy, at least from an American’s perspective? Most of the capital and power reside in the hands of relatively few people. I call this the corporatization of the world. Our daily lives depend more and more on impersonal corporations.

Now, don’t get me wrong. Corporations are not inherently evil. Much good comes from them. I work at Intel, which I believe to be a responsible corporation. We produce something no one else could. In fact, until the past few years, even we couldn’t produce enough chips to completely satisfy consumers.

So, the problem isn’t the existence of corporations. Rather, it is the dependence on corporations for all our necessities. Think about it. Who produces the bread you eat? Who owns the farms where our milk and beans come from? Who makes our clothing? Owns our gas stations? Controls our health care?

This isn’t a condemnation on anyone, but a reality we must face. It’s damn near impossible to buy clothing from small businesses, yet local manufacturers are in far better positions to make the shirts I need than Abercrombie & Fitch or Wrangler.

Think about it. For those of you who live in New England, who makes the best clothing for the climates you face? L.L. Bean, right? Why is that? Because company founder Leon Leonwood Bean was a hunter and fisherman living in Maine. He knew what you needed, because he had the same need.

Why can’t those of us in Phoenix have an L.L. Bean? Or better yet, an E. Bashas? Who knows better what Arizonan’s need than Arizonans? Same goes for those in Chicago or New York or Waxahachie TX.

What’s the solution?

Now imagine if every region had several small companies making clothing. How many permanent jobs would that create? Now, project that on other industries like farming or even car manufacturing. Don’t laugh until you check out Local Motors. They make an expensive car because they choose to. They could just as easily make more affordable vehicles.

Let’s imagine for a minute what would happen if we made a major move to localized economies. What would need to happen? First, we would need more small businesses to supply consumers. That would take a lot of support and investment; particularly if we intend to separate from the global finance cabal. Not only would locals need to start businesses, locals would need to partner with businesses. We have examples of this at Gangplank in Chandler, AZ. Similar companies are starting in other parts of the country.

While places like Gangplank are a good start, we need to go further. We need to invest our money and time into starting the right businesses. We need to invest in partnerships instead of the stock market. We need to give free or cheap labor to those who are hoping to grow the economy. In other words, we need to support small businesses in whatever way makes sense.

Here are a couple ways this could work.

How do we do it?

How business gets done - Just Jefa on Flickr

Small partnerships: Let’s say I know someone who wants to start selling amazing salsa. We’ll call this person Lucinda. Because let’s face it. Lucinda is a cool name. She’s makes the salsa that family and friends rave about. Lucinda may have great culinary skills, but needs funding and marketing help.

We could form a partnership where Lucinda concentrates on making large batches of salsa, and I pay money for equipment, licenses, web space, etc…. She could own direct sales, while I handle marketing. Am I an experienced marketer? Hell no, but I can learn. This is where the community comes in. I would work with my contacts who do understand marketing. Maybe Lucinda would seek help on how to transport large batches of salsa. It would be a community effort. And if we succeeded, we would then mentor others working on similar efforts.

My vision of this arrangement calls for Lucinda to make a salary. Maybe the first $300 in profits each week goes to her. We’d have a fund where the rest is deposited and split every quarter. Don’t worry about specific numbers, they’re not important, the concept is. The key provisions call for Lucinda to draw a paycheck, and for both of us to potentially see profits over time.

Local Crowdsourcing: The JOBS Act gives us a new way to invest. Previously, only accredited investors – rich people – were allowed to invest in private companies. Now, or rather when the bill takes effect, anyone can invest. Small businesses will be able to raise money from virtually anyone. Most coverage of the impact this could have focuses on the $100,000 to $1,000,000 range of startup funds, but I see something completely different. I see this as a tool communities can use to create bulletproof economies. Forget about the future IPOs, and instead look at the next Mom and Pop shop – the taco stand or urban gardening business.

For $10,000 someone might be able to start a company that makes awesome shirts or custom electronics for your car. If I’m allowed to invest $2000 into that, why wouldn’t I? If I know the person starting the business or if my local network trusts the person, all the better. Since I’d receive stock in the company, I could invest in a couple of these a year in the hopes that a few would pan out over a five year period.

Smallknot has a model implementing something similar today. They use a barter system kind of like Kickstarter that focuses on repayment and even profits through services. One restaurant they are funding, gives cooking lessons and special events for investors. This is a great way to get community involvement.

Let’s get started!

What I’m talking about here isn’t complex, but it is hard. It requires effort, risk-taking and trust. It demands community involvement in the local economy. It takes most of us out of our comfort zone. But, if we follow through, we might reap rewards beyond our wildest dreams. Who’s ready to start? I am.

Know anyone who makes good shirts?

Denizens of Twittopia, it’s been a while. Well, I’m on vacation and it’s #FollowFriday. What better reason to note a few of the coolest people on Twitter. Actually, that’s a pretty good theme. Think I’ll run with it. Today, I bring you Cool People on Twitter. You know, those who are interesting, supportive and somehow just make you enjoy using Twitter.

Perri Collins(@perricollins) – Perry is one of those cool people who makes everyone feel like her best friend, even though she doesn’t know you. We can use more people like that. But that’s not all, folks. Perri is also a designer and business consultant. I’m pretty sure she cures serial killers and eats cereal killers. The most interesting man in the world fauns over her. You get the picture.

Dwayne Bearup (@DwayneABearup) – Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, Dwayne uses his super powers against superfluous thats and ill-conceived prose everywhere. No -ly adjective is safe when Dwayne is on the job. He also remembers everything about everything, kind of like Rain Man but with a huge smile and winning personality. You want Dwayne to read your work. He will make it better. On a side note, if you need something knocked down or smashed, Dwayne is your man.

Meela Dark (@LOSTGURL2) – An as-of-yet uncured – she hasn’t worked with Perri – serial killer posing as a psych student, Meela is one of the coolest people on Twitter. She loves #horror and #metal, gives thoughtful replies and posts interesting stuff. One of the few people who you’d probably meet in real life and just start talking like old friends.

Pocahontas - tonythemisfit on Flickr

Ignorance truly is bliss, and intentionally leaving a state of bliss runs counter to our human nature. Could this be why, as people, we are so reluctant to accept uncomfortable truths? Remaining in comfortable oblivion is far easier than challenging our beliefs.

I follow the Native Appropriations blog where Cherokee and P.H.D-student Adrienne K writes about “the use of Indigenous cultures, traditions, languages, and images in popular culture, advertising, and everyday life” Native Appropriations offers many well-written, thoughtful articles showing examples of harmful stereotypes in American culture. Many are obvious once pointed out by the site’s owner. The problem comes when harmful stereotypes are not so obvious to most of us.

Recently, Adrienne wrote about an energy bar company using bastardized Native American imagery and traditions in its marketing. The author thought this company’s methods hurt indigenous people, but I didn’t get it. I didn’t see how the seemingly positive images in the ad campaign were hurtful or even disrespectful to native people.

Situations like this are typical. For instance, we all agree that slavery is wrong. We know that calling a black man the n-word is unacceptable. Anyone in disagreement is so far out of the norm, he isn’t taken seriously. It gets more difficult when discussing the Redskins or Florida State University’s tomahawk chop. Further difficulty arises in discussing affirmative action or reparations. These are difficult topics we’ve so far been unable to talk about. Or at least we’ve been unable to talk about them in any meaningful manner.

While myriad reasons prevent open dialog on these matters, it really comes down to two things. Dominant cultures are usually willing to remain ignorant, while minority cultures are often unwilling to accept any challenges to their victimhood.

This presents an interesting conundrum. While we in the dominant cultures often revel in ignorance like swine in slop, victimized cultures are often unwilling to go through the necessary dialog to enlighten their oppressors. And who can blame them. They’ve been oppressed, often physically or emotionally. They would have to trust their oppressors enough to participate in emotionally-draining dialog. In the end, we are all damaged creatures, emotionally unable to resolve our condition.

The dominant culture needs empathy to understand the plight of minority cultures, but enlightenment eludes us when we cannot challenge and question the perceived wrongs. Even if all of the perceived wrongs are in fact real, we will never see it that way without being able to challenge the facts. I’ll leave it to the psychologists and sociologists to understand why we, as humans, work this way.

Back to the problem at hand. While exploitation flows from dominant to minority cultures, the responsibility must lie in both cultures to address the problems. Human nature demands it. Yet at the same time, human nature prevents it.

So what’s the solution? Time…. We need to spend time together. Just like dinner is the cure for racism, spending time together learning about different cultures is our best hope for easing the impact of native appropriations.

Don’t think this simple solution is easy. It is not. Just like coping with grief, challenging our beliefs is difficult. The conversations I’m proposing are certain to be emotionally draining. I expect arguments, anger, hurt and resentment from all involved. But oh how freeing it would be to actually resolve these issues, even on a small scale.

We should not run from this challenge. Instead, we should face it with gusto. While ignorance is bliss, living in ignorance is a lie.

2011 was an interesting year. I’ll stay out of politics for now, and just give you my favorite two or three of everything. What are your favorites? What did I miss? What made you say, “You’re crazy?” Let me know in the comments.

Books: I read a lot of indie books this year. Some were great, some were horrible, most were fine.

1. Abandoned Places: Abandoned Memories (Desert Edition) by Sharon Day and Julie Ferguson: You could cry foul here since I know the author through my writers group. I tell everyone from the group I only write honest reviews, and this is a legitimate five-star book. If you don’t read it, you’re missing out on something truly unique and interesting.                                                       
2. Seed by Ania Ahlborn: It was difficult not to put this number one. Seed received the only other five-star review I gave all year. This is horror at its best as practiced by masters Poe, King, McCammon and now Ahlborn. Remember that name; you will hear more of it.                                                                                                             

Fiction Podcast Episodes: 2011 gave us too many great stories to list. I could probably make this list fifteen stories long.

1. Lonely At the Top – 19 Nocturne Boulevard: Two girls in very different times and places both make their way to the top – One finds exaltation, the other merely death. This story isn’t just great; it’s important.
2. Tupac Shakur and the End Of the World: Great writing voice mixed with amazing voice acting make this a one of the top stories of the year.
3. You Had Me At Rawwwr: There just aren’t enough zombie/human love stories out there.

Short Stories:

1. Movement – Nancy Fulda: I can’t imagine writing so beautifully as Nancy, but the excellent writing is only icing on the cake. Movement delves into the mind of a girl who views time and space differently than everyone else. It makes a fascinating and poignant read.
2. Playlist at the End – Weston Ochse: When do we love someone the most? When we have them or after we lose them? It’s a great question asked in a great story. The author has a reading on Youtube, or you can buy Shock Totem issue #4 for $0.99.

Movies:

1. Rise Of the Planet of The Apes: I didn’t expect much from this movie. I went into it thinking it might be interesting and have some cool special effects. Instead, the movie delivered a fantastic story with the most compelling non-human character I’ve ever seen.
2. Warrior: This movie came out of nowhere. An MMA movie about a broke teacher fighting to save his house may sound cheesy, but Warrior is a great example of character-driven storytelling.
3. Insidious: Great classic horror movie feel. Relied on a fantastic setting instead of special effects. Titles like this and the upcoming Woman in Black give me hope for the future of horror movies.

Short Horror Films:

1. The Harvester: I’m not a fan of serial killer stories, but this one is terrific. Great music and professional quality make this my favorite horror short of the year.

2. Red Baloon: This one just had a creepy feel throughout. Cool premise and good acting.

Albums:

1. La Dispute – Wildlife: This album blew me away, and literally made me cry. If you can listen to King Park or I See Everything with dry eyes, you have no soul.
2. Faun – Eden: Usually renaissance folk music comes off sounding gimmicky, but Eden is real music played with traditional instruments. A beautiful and unique album.
3. Flogging Molly – Speed Of Darkness: Celtic rock with an American attitude played with enthusiasm. Nothing pretty, just a lot of good music. Might be the best bar band out there.

Songs:

1. I See Everything – La Dispute: Great song. Made me think, made me cry. Simply amazing. I can’t get enough of this band.

2. Adam Lay Ybounden – Faun: I could just listen to this song over and over. It’s fun, interesting, has a good beat and beautiful singing. What more can you ask?

3. Fear The Beard – Heavy Lord: With a name like that, what’s not to love? Plenty, actually. There’s slow 70s heavy guitar, a groove and a great beat. Metal fans need to check out the burgeoning scene in Russia. They are putting out some awesome music lately.

   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSwvEoI-jjY

I met director Shariff Nasr on Youtube when I made a comment on his short film Oblivion. Shariff created this video to bring awareness to elder abuse in The Netherlands. After some research, I learned the same abuse occurs in the United States.

Shariff agreed to an email interview, and I posted it along with Oblivion here. Please post the video or my full interview on your blog to raise awareness of elder abuse. Please note, you do not need to link back to this blog or post a synopsis. Feel free to copy the interview in total for your blog.

If you do post the video, or this interview, please let me know through twitter (@Leo_Godin) or email (leogodin217@gmail.com)

Watch this video before reading the interview. Feel the pain, confusion and humiliation portrayed.

"These are not things you expect in our developed western society"

They say, “Integrity is what you do when no one is watching.” That is true for people as well as communities, states and countries. A society is not civil because of the way it converses in public. Instead, it is deemed civil or not by the way it treats the weak behind closed doors.

It is disheartening to learn about any abuse in the elder care industry, but the way we treat Alzheimer’s patients is particularly troubling. I interviewed director Shariff Nasr (@ShariffNasr) about elder abuse, and here are his thoughts on the topic.

What inspired you to make this video?

In some homes for the elderly and psychiatric hospitals, patients are still being fixated to their beds when they are “too much of a bother” for the nursing staff. This method is very counter-productive and only worsens the situation for the patient.
In the Netherlands the use of the Swedish strap is not allowed anymore in homes for the elderly since this year (after 7 patients had died because of it), but the so-called ‘Bratex strap’ is still used because of an expanding shortage in nursing staff. The government is tightening the budgets in this sector more and more, so I am afraid the problems will only get worse.

How do people react to this message of elder abuse? Do most people know it is happening? Do they seem to care?

Too many people still don’t know. Sometimes I get compliments for the metaphor I have used of a man that is physically stuck to his bed. When I tell them that it is not a metaphor, they are in shock. These are not things you expect in our developed western society.

Winning the people’s choice award at filminute gave this film a lot of attention in Holland, and I hope it will help a little bit to change things. Although I am afraid that people don’t care enough if it doesn’t involve themselves or their loved ones. But when it does, I am afraid it will be too late if we don’t change things quickly.

Is elder abuse a global problem, or is it specific to a few countries?

I am no expert but as far as I know it is a global problem that is being kept silent. The homes for the elderly where it happens don’t want this news to spread and I think a lot of people don’t really want to hear it. They don’t know people that need care and if so: what should they do? Take care of their loved ones themselves?

What can we do to prevent abuse in the elder-care industry?

I think it starts with awareness. When people want change, suddenly the government will think it is an important issue too, as if they never knew the problem existed before.

What are your views on artists using their mediums as agents for change?

I think it is a good thing. Television is bringing us more and more programs just for amusement. I am even noticing that the news is less objective, because most people want to know quickly: what happened and who is right and who is wrong? As if there are no two sides of a story. Even a lot of newspapers are trying to catch our attention with witty subjective headlines. I think it is good if artists try to make people think for themselves and not follow the mainstream.

Is there anything else you would like to say?

Don’t believe everything you read.

To learn more about elder abuse in the United States you can simply search Google for “elder abuse,” or visit helpguide.org. The California Attorney General also has some good resources. My research found we are raising awareness, but still have a long way to go.

View the full, un-edited interview transcript here.