Xenofact

Writing, Publishing, and What’s Next

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Bundling up my columns here as my Xenofact Xines (yes, I’m sticking with Xine not zine) was both an artistic endeavor and an experiment. It was an artistic endeavor as it seemed fun and creative, something to do as it was neat not out of some calculation and coordination. It was also an experiment to see how that helped me reach out to, connect with, and communicate with people. As a writer under several names, a good experiment keeps you from falling into a rut.

I was thrilled when one of the Xine readers said they had sat down and read the whole thing, taking notes. While talking on the phone they had so much to tell me, to ask, and to speculate on. However they had a question.

“What do I do now?”

Was the phone right? An email? Should they write in their own blog? Should they post things to my website? My answer was simple.

“I don’t know!”

This was an experiment! I wanted to mess around, reach out to people in a different way, and see what happened. Well, what happened was one of my friends felt inspired and wanted to communicate more. I figured we’d work out the fine details eventually, but at least something was happening.

Experiment successful – something happened.

Experiment ongoing – we’re still figuring out what to do.

So many times we get stuck in one creative way of communicating. We do art in one medium, publish our written works only as ebooks or only as blog posts, and so on. So many of us fall into habit, into expectation, and into doing thing “the right way.”

But communication is about connecting and reaching people. It must by it’s nature be experimental because everyone is different and every communication is new. To over-organize it is to make it less communicative and more rote – data without information.

So, my friends, I invite you to look at your creative communications – art, writing, blogging, podcasting, publishing, costume, whatever. I challenge you to try something different as an experiment (it may also be fun). See what happens when you use a different medium, publishing method, or, well, anything.

Let’s see what happens.

(Oh and you can get a PDF of my first Xine here and here, or a print copy here.)

– Xenofact

The Gurus That Hate You

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We’re up to our armpits in faux gurus, and a lot of them are selling bullshit.

There are spiritual gurus ready to resell you “religion”  from a culture they have no knowledge of combined with internet memes.  There are political gurus running for office so they can sell you anger in exchange for ruining your country.  Don’t worry if none of the big names are your thing, there’s many opportunists trying to make it big that will sell you what you think you need.

When I hear about the latest guru who turns out to be some twisted a-hole, I wonder what they feel for their followers.  They’re hurting them mentally, financially, and physically – what is going on in their heads?

Looking back on religious and political history, I’ve honestly come to the conclusion a lot of gurus hate their followers.

Examining any of these current or past twisted philosophers and leaders, they inflict a lot of pain on people they supposedly care about.  It doesn’t take much to discover hideous abuse, high-demand control, financial exploitation, and mental assault.  You can’t do this to people you really care about.

A lot of gurus are also transparent as hell.  As I follow news on various gurus, so I know who’s trying to destroy the planet this year, it’s obvious they’re bullshitting.  Watching them re-spin their cosmologies and politics, completely sure they’ll be listened to is telling.  They’re happy just making crap up, and you also don’t do that to people you care about – it shows you know they won’t call you on it.

So why do they hate their followers?  I think there are a few reasons for this.

First, some gurus are just hateful awful people in this for the power.  People shouldn’t be surprised if a bunch of scumbags get into the guru gig; it’s profitable and gives you control.  It attracts nasty people if you’re not very careful – and a lot of people in religion and politics aren’t careful.

Secondly, I think some gurus are very insecure.  I mean you’re busy pitching the same thing everyone else is, and at any moment your previous bullcrap is going to be discovered.  You get brittle, sensitive, insecure, and this can make you mean and angry.  I mean you’re in the spotlight, being watched all the time which probably means you’re going to be just a bit angry all the time.

Finally, I think a lot of gurus look down on their followers or end up looking down on them.  Some people develop contempt for people that obey or listen to them.  The more people obey them, the more they seem them as weak and contemptible, and the more they pile on.  There’s a bully mentality here that will keep pushing until it’s slapped down.

Don’t feel bad about judging the latest political figure who seems culty, or yet another person wit a lot of mystical diagrams explaining 5D Ascention Starseeds.  It’s a good defensive maneuver, because too many of these people seem to be evil or turn pretty evil.

Besides, the people you’ll find are truly trying to help you?  You probably won’t consider them gurus anyway . . .

. . . unless you’ve fallen into the clutches of some hateful person who has your number.

Something to consider. Just in case.