Responsibility, a working definition.

this is an exploration  into the ways I understand life and how I am going to make decisions. Mostly this is the work of unlearning, because when I was born I didn't come with all of the things (disruptions/distractions/...) that get in the way of the richness of this life. I hope you're with me, and let's talk!

So we're obviously talking with some general assumptions that we're here because we were born from a mother, who's mother's mother at some point was connected with all life that we know of. so we're a big family, and because we're here, and we know that people die, how do we best live in between these events?
So here we are, what is health?
Well I think that health is a beautiful word that can help us talk about real things in our lives and our hearts. I think health can be a useful tool. So let's explore what this can mean by thinking about medicine. If we can be healthy in body, mind, spirit, relationship, then there is medicine for all the ways to heal, and maintain health. This is the work of being healthy, of being responsible.
Through our lives we meet our needs in various ways, and in each way we become responsible to our relations. This begins with our human mother and then soon after to this earth mother. Using a plant's fruit, or a human's listening ear, requires utmost respect. Both of these create who we are (literally and spiritually).

These days making music is big medicine for me. Medicine that further engages us with this experience*, for me includes conversation, food, love, mediation, water, sunshine, knowing the plants I eat, hunting, telling stories, helping people, being helped (I could go on). For me effective medicine deescalates my dis-ease. So all of these things lead to what? What is the goal?

Well as far as I can tell, and putting together some of the useful pieces that I've been told along the way, is that this time is full of opportunity, and each decision we make in our lives we become responsible. Living a strong life, and to speak well*, is to live to these ends of genuine experience within the parameters that we accept when we do anything. The longer I live the more entwined I become, increasingly responsible for my actions. In order to do this work there are numerous rich traditions, which can* be helpful. Everything we do is a choice** What is significant then, is how we make choices. So there is rich discussion to be had about the practice(s) of
- maintaining and strengthening a clear mind and primary relationship with our self (our primary responsibility)
- maintaining and strengthening our responsibilities with those we share life with (people and otherwise)

*often this is deescalating the distortion with how we relate to 'everything else'
*not in oration, but for one's words to hold meaning
*Note this, believing or speaking and thoughts are only as meaningful as what they actually represent. So reading the bible is of little significance, or saying a beautiful prayer, if that is the end of it. What translates into the decisions that we make?
** For those of us who have the privilege to live a life free of domination