Reggie's Magnificent Escape

We don't have very many local heroes like Reggie. He's a renegade. An outlaw with a rap sheet 7-1/2-feet-long and 120 pounds. In 2007, he escaped what he must have thought was death row.

He wanted to taste freedom again. Taste a life in which he had grown accustomed. Many people tried to capture him over the two years, but he was a slippery character. The thought of someone making shoes, belts, wallets or handbags out of him didn’t sit well with him.

Thinking that a life of solitude would do him good, he hid in a lake for two years while the news of the world passed him by. Little did he know that people would still plot to capture him. Oh, did I mention that Reggie is an alligator.

Here’s where the story gets a little sketchy. Sometime a little after that 2 year period, Reggie decide to pop his head up to get a little sun and that’s when he was noosed by a man with a dog-catcher’s pole and whisked off to a waiting cell at the zoo. That was on May 24, 2007. All the while Reggie thought he was having a bad dream, but it was really a nightmare.

Reggie was first discovered in the water of Lake Machado in August 2005, having allegedly been dumped there by owners who thought him too large to keep as a pet. For the ensuing two years, a parade of would-be captors -- official and unofficial -- tried unsuccessfully to seize him, running up a bill of $200,000. Even the late Crocodile Hunter, Steve Irwin was going to take a stab at capturing Reggie, but he never got the chance.

Reggie wasn’t going to take this lying down. The reptile brain was in full swing. The reptile brain has a singular focus: survival. It doesn't think in abstract terms, and doesn't feel complex emotions. Instead, it's responsible for fight-or-flight, hunger and fear, attack or run.

With just a week into his life sentence, it didn’t take Reggie long to plan his escape back to freedom. While zoo keepers thought he was resting, he was busy calculating, strategizing and waiting for the right time.

When the lights went out, Reggie went to work. As the weather gets warm, an alligator’s strength increases and so does its agility. He had to move quickly. He skillfully climbed a chain-link fence at the back of his enclosure, then scurried over a series of brick ridges, all within a matter of minutes.

He hit the ground running and followed another chain-link fence about 500 yards to the loading dock area. The sound and sight of trucks and people startled him so he hid again. The next morning, zoo officials noticed that he was gone and gathered a posse to find him.

They soon found him hiding out near the zoo loading dock. One of the officials jumped on Reggie’s back, threw a t-shirt over Reggie’s head, and wrapped duct tape around his snout. Authorities put the cuffs on him and hustled him back to quarantine.

When Reggie returned back to his new home, his fans were waiting, wearing t-shirts that held his name, taking photos of this once elusive star and chanting, “Reggie. Reggie. Reggie.”

When the yellow truck pulled up to his habitat, five zoo personnel emerged carrying the fugitive, whose face was wrapped in a white towel.

Disappointed and agitated at his capture, Reggie was hissing mad; almost as mad as Paris Hilton when she too was returned to her cell. They took him inside and removed the towel and a black band that bound his mouth. Not wanting to be Reggie’s lunch, they all scattered to safety. Needless to say, they just didn’t want to throw in the towel.

I like Reggie. We can all learn from him. He is represents freedom. He can’t be held down by convention. He doesn’t give up. He honors the relationship he has with himself - it’s more important than anything.

He knows what he wants and he’s not afraid to go after it. We are all escaping to get to spiritual freedom. All we have to do is drop our old ideals and renew ourselves. Renew how we feel about life. Renew how we feel about ourselves and others. Renewal brings freedom.

Freedom brings peace. No matter where you are in your life, you can attain freedom to make you feel alive. That’s what Reggie has. Even though he is in captivity, he is still free. Maybe one day one of us will hold him in our pocket, around our waist, on our arm or our feet, but we won’t forget Reggie. He is a legend.

This weekend be free. Run with the wind. Fly. Be happy. Be free.

Take Off Your Clothes

This is not the title of my sizzling new romance novel that is rapidly heading up the best sellers list, nor is it an instruction that I ever want to hear from an airport security screener.

It’s a title that is as provocative as it is essential and it’s meaning has nothing to do with it’s perception. Let me strip your thoughts for a moment as I elucidate the concept further.

Last week I accompanied my friend at the community swimming pool. He swims laps for conditioning and he is more motivated when someone actually watches him. Knowing that I am a people enthusiast, I was a shoo-in to eyeball his strenuous activities.

Since I am not a swimmer myself, I am usually peripatetic along the side the pool while he swims. Although, I recently discovered that while I speak to him as he swims, he can’t hear a word that I say. Imagine all those conversations that have gone to waste because he couldn’t hear?

I’m talking deep truths, like if Britney Spears will ever have her privacy again or if Paris Hilton will win the Nobel Peace Prize?

The swimming pool is a social gathering for people. They lay around the pool in assorted swimming gear in assuming positions. Those who lay around never touch the water. They lay on their backs or on their stomachs, worshipping the almighty sun god.

If an outsider were to observe this scene, they would see a sea of half naked bodies resembling a scene in Dante’s Inferno. A hedonistic ritual heated by a desire to fulfill superficial ideals of beauty and resigned to the machinations of fooling the eye into distraction.

At poolside, everyone is beautiful. All shapes and sizes are accepted, yet fully clothed they are not. Wearing clothes comes with a price tag and a side of self-loathing.

There is no pretense around the pool. No hidden agendas. No anger. Everyone is free to be who they are. Some people travel to the pool in their bathrobes. When they step into the water, they become one with the water; almost in a meditative sense. They leave all of their worries behind - with their clothes.

The pool has a hotel feel. People are happy, friendly, free. They are on vacation from their troubles, jobs, lives. I began to think about why those same people are friendly by the pool, but when I see them fully dressed going about their business, they seem to be disconsolate. Perhaps their clothes imprison their spirits.

As I was contemplating this, my friend was busy talking to me, but I didn’t hear a word he said. Now he knew how I felt after all those times when I spoke to him. When he finally got my attention, I thought to myself, I couldn’t help but to think, “Karma.” It couldn’t have been more perfect; but then again karma is always perfect, that’s why it’s karma.

As I watched people pack up their sunblock, towels, sunglasses, iPods, BlackBerrys, iPhones, robes, clothing, newspapers and magazines, while others emerged from the water, I knew that there was something more to this concept.

Taking off your clothes doesn’t mean stripping. It’s taking off your inner garments and letting your Soul show. It’s being fully conscious of where you are, what you do and how you do it. It’s being in touch with the real you and not having to swim for it.

God Comes To Hollywood

There seems to be a mystique surrounding spirituality that is somewhat cloudy.

What is this strange phenomenon that causes celebrities such as Madonna, Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, Demi Moore, Ashton Kutcher, Richard Gere and others to suddenly want to get in touch with their "spiritual" sides?

After all, spirituality isn't an overnight sensation and celebrities don't suddenly "become spiritual."

The way these celebrities support their new found spirituality makes you wonder what is really happening? Some of them even taint the very religions they support.

Could it be possible that someone was actually selling spirituality or better still giving it away? Was God coming to Hollywood? Are you prepared?

Where does spirituality come from anyway? When did it begin? Where does it end? More important, how do we get it? Before delving into these questions, I would like to make one thing clear.

Everyone is spiritual. Some of us don't realize it so it bears repeating, everyone is spiritual. It is nothing you can buy, but it certainly sells big time, especially in Hollywood.

All it takes is a little soul searching to demystify this phenomenon. Spirituality is not created by a celebrity or guru, it already exists. We were all created by God. Soul exists because God loves it.

As we strive in our lives, we eventually discover that God's love transcends all that we will ever desire and all that we will ever become. Our experiences build our spirit, thus increasing our spirituality.

Sometimes our spirit gets broken. Other times our spirit is indomitable. Often times it is in between these two states.

Therein lies the rub. In order to keep your spirituality alive and in top shape, you must nourish it daily. Just like you exercise your body to stay fit, you can exercise your spirit to stay awakened.

One way to accomplish this is by doing what is known as a spiritual exercise. By doing this you can tone your spiritual muscle and strengthen your resistance to life's challenges.

After exercising your spirit, you will begin to understand how your life is interactive with God. You will acquire a quiet confidence to handle challenges that were once daunting.

You will have established a deeper relationship with yourself and maintain a reverence for everything. You will have a certain spiritual protocol the way you process life.

When someone asks you what is spirituality, you will be able to answer them with assurance. The light in your eyes. The fire in your passion and the song in your heart are all signs of a strong spirit.

To define what spirituality is, you must first define what it is not. Your spirituality will speak volumes when nothing else can be said. Spirituality is not a manmade concept rife in commercialism, nor a red string tied around a wrist, or a cross hanging from a neck.

It is balance in thoughts, emotions and actions. It is humility. It is completely quieting the ego. An effervescent essence of God that permeates throughout your being. It's divine spirit pure and simple.

After implementing these practices, you will probably have a better handle on how your life operates. You don't need any celebrity to tell you what to do. Listen to your own spirit.

When someone asks you what is spirituality, you can tell them, 'It's a place I call home.' You can also rest assured that the only God coming to Hollywood is Godzilla.

2 comments:

Demis said...

Hello,

I agree with your comments, but in Hollywood the celebrity IS God. We seem to want to watch every step they take. We want to BE THEM. They live a life we all want to live. It's part of the fairytale and our inability to accept our mundane existence. Celebrities are more famous than God --- until they die, then its back to their original audition.

12:27 AM

Alexys Fairfield said...

I hope that one day the roles will be reveresed and God will be the only celebrity people rave about.

3:01 PM