Thank you for listening to the first official episode of The BGR Podcast. December is Universal Human Rights Month, so this episode was inspired by that. It is truly awful how these rights are being infringed upon across the globe and our country is hellbent to continue funding and abetting these human rights violations an atrocities.

We can (at the very least) use our voice and take actions to hold our government accountable and push for change. These words are generic and everyone says this, but the solution is truly this simple.

Unify, Demand, Act.

Friends, Family, and Comrades,

I thank all of you for the support on those last two episodes. I hope you will all remain here for the rest of this journey. I don’t have much to say right now, but I will soon. Expect the first episode of the new podcast next week, and an opinion piece before that.

Peace.

This episode focuses on deconstructing the myths of Thanksgiving, and gives suggestions on ways we can reinvent it. Turning it from a colonial propaganda holiday, to a celebration of community and indigenous solidarity.

There is something else I wanted to discuss that I didn’t get to touch upon during this episode as I didn’t want to take away from the indigenous message. It starts with one simple question:

What are you bringing to the table?

I don’t mean like turkey, greens, or yams, but rather what do you bring to the metaphorical communal table? What exactly can you bring? You see, in a conversation I was having with one of my friends, we were discussing how in every group, community, organization, and revolution, everyone has something they can provide.

If everyone in a social movement is Malcolm X, it won’t make it that far. Movements need Malcolm X’s, Fred Hamptons, background organizers, allies and participants out of the spotlight who help to keep the ship afloat.

So today, think about what you can bring to the community table. Are you good at teaching people? Are you an emotional support friend? Do you let people use rooms in your home? There's a role for you everywhere. If you ever think otherwise, make one. Imagine how the first person to bring sweet potatoes with those toasted marshmallows to the Thanksgiving table. They could have attempted to make something they were bad at, but instead created an entirely new dish, and it’s damn good too. Everyone can have a purpose.

So if the idea of community is so great, how come many haven’t advocated for it before? There’s one value so deeply ingrained in our culture as Americans that, while it’s not inherently bad, does often weaken community. Our value of individualism. This country was founded on individual freedoms which on the surface, sounds wonderful. Until you witness the results of individualism heading towards the path of ego and selfishness.

Individualism

Individualism can be balanced by always prioritizing the greater good of the community over the wants of specific individuals. Why should one person be allowed to enjoy the billions of dollars that they’re employees earned for them, when many of those employees and millions of other people are going hungry on a day of feasting?

What will it take to peel back the layers of our highly regarded value of individualism? How can we change? Let’s start with one step at a time. Be good to those around you, and give whatever you can afford to give today. A tall task, but a powerful first step

I hope you all enjoy you Thanksgiving. Will be back next Thursday!

Welcome to the first installment of ClarityChaos, a blog/podcast about self-improvement, community, and how all liberation starts with self-liberation. This project underwent many changes and concepts until I finally settled on this one right here. I address all of these topics in greater detail in this episode. However, I wanted to touch upon a moment that pushed me.

I have struggled with my own mental health for many years. There wasn’t a direct cause, but many smaller causes snowballed into a major issue. I became more aware of the person I was and I hated him.

Even though I (or at least I believe) always took suicide seriously, I always made jokes about it. Casually saying I would do it over minor inconveniences, and other dumb edgy jokes. One day I was walking and I came across a bridge. Per usual, I made a joke to myself that I was going to jump. But then I found myself standing there, thinking about how badly I wanted to jump. The release from all the pain I carried with me, the conclusive end to the daily mental battles I refused to talk about, the freedom from the person I hated the most. Myself. This one act would cause me eternal peace.

I don’t remember if it was a phone notification, a car honking its horn, or just the realization of what I was thinking. I eventually snapped out of it and started crying once the weight of what I was about to do finally hit me. People who have never experienced it ask how they can go through it. How they don’t think about their family and friends.

Imagine the most painful headache ever. The first thing on your mind usually won’t be your family, friends, job, or things you love. With such pain, the first (possibly only) thing you can think about is the pain itself. Then on how to end the suffering as quickly as possible. There are quick ways to get rid of the pain. Medicine, hydration, sleep, resting in a dark quiet room, you have good options.

Now let us look at depression and suicidal ideation. Try to think of the pain as equally severe as the headache, but you don’t feel it physically. You stop finding joy in the things you love, and you find yourself becoming distant from those who love you. You stop taking care of yourself. You begin to believe your life has no value and purpose. There is NO safe quick release from this pain. Numbing the pain with addiction, hurting yourself, and the fastest option of them all, suicide are the quick releases.

The experience made me understand and take steps to prioritize my mental health in a way “liberating” myself from that detrimental mentality. This is one of the many experiences that pushed me to do this and other actions today. Everyone has value in this chaotic little life of ours. My community of family and friends healed me, and my great hope with this project is to form an overarching community that can do the same for others.

If (hopefully when) this grows, the para-social relationship between us will feel more distant. So let me say this now. While I appreciate and value you as a member of the ClarityChaos community, go outside and form a community with those physically around you. In the future, we will discuss what that entails (at least in my eyes).