Recent Thoughts
Our Culture Is Toxic
cancer
school shootings
our culture is toxic
look what
we've done with
our rational logic
monsters
created
by systems psychotic
where
do we turn to
in times so atomic?
-- Kirk Merlin
Learning to Love
It was my Mother
who taught me to ski.
Where I grew up,
learning to ski
was part of the cultural programming --
more fun than ice skating,
more folly than ice fishing.
I also learned to obey authority
and that hugs are only for
special occasions.
And why the hell did I learn
to feel unworthy of amazing women?
For what would that be perfect?
Culture codes us with big pixels,
makes for rough edges.
But that was then.
Initialization.
Love acts weird
when bugged with fear.
So how do we learn to love?
Is it innate? Beaten out of us?
Is it promoted? Like profit?
More like buried,
like treasure.
Today I am homeward,
riding a gondola
down a mountain
full of secrets.
On the
banquet beer shoulders
of a nearby peak
the sunset shines a
rosy glee.
Castoff feathers of spindrift fly,
like angelic epaulets
fourteen thousand feet
high.
Who's there?
Is that you?
A greeting from up above?
Downward I glide,
grinning,
digging,
learning to love.
-- Kirk Merlin
About Kirk
I am Kirk Merlin Ahlberg, son of Richard Paul and Marilyn Husby Ahlberg. Grandson of Pearl and Oscar Husby, Eunice and Merlin Ahlberg. Great-grandson of Alfred & Mary Ahlberg, Iver & Ella Iverson, Ole & Mary Husaby, Alfred & Clara Loken. My ancestors came to the USA from Norway and Sweden around the year 1900 AD.
I was born into the suburbs of Minneapolis, MN where I was circumcised and programmed by corporate radio & television, sugared cereal, one-size-fits-all government controlled education, and the polarizing us vs. them tribal worship of regional sports teams.
Since 2015 I have been consciously debugging my own cultural and familial programming, trying to find the real Me that got burdened from birth by conformity and fear.
These are some of my thoughts.
Recommended Teachers
THC is Greg Carlwood’s interview-based podcast exploring unconventional, suppressed, & esoteric topics with the brightest minds for our troubled times.
Danica Patrick likes going deep on important human topics with a variety of wise beautiful guests.
Ever felt the truth is stranger than fiction? Or that the coincidences stack far too high to be measured up to chance? Sam Tripoli does. Enter the forbidden realm full of intrigue, mystery, and unexplained events. in conversation with the world’s most controversial researchers, conspiracy theorists and innovative minds.
Joe Rogan uses tremendous compassion, intelligence & humor to examine the most important issues of our day.
Duncan Trussell is a stand-up comedian and also a visionary explorer of humanity, love and the divine. He'll expand your ideas of the potential of everything with his deep understanding and comic questioning.
Sean & Cass at Church of Chill are a beautiful partnership who are lovingly exploring their inner and outer worlds. I'm regularly blown away by the wise and thoughtful insights shared by them and their guests in intimate conversation on their podcast. Check out their films too.
On Rick Archer's podcast, Buddha at the Gas Pump, he has interviewed hundreds of normal people who have experienced a profound spiritual awakening, shifting to a greater state of consciousness. They may be the person next to you at the gas pump with a smile on their face.
Chris Ryan is a wise world-traveler and author of the book Sex at Dawn. His podcast interviews are fascinating and get a little tangential, but always in an enlightening way. Filled with fantastic stories and thoughtful advice.
Douglas Rushkoff shares a wise, community-based and humanistic outlook on where we should go from here.
Ram Dass is the legendary former Harvard professor Richard Alpert who was among the first westerners to use psychedelics and travel to India to learn from a true guru. This podcast is a collection of many of the hundreds of dharma talks he's given since 1969 when he returned from his first trip to India.
Blueprints for Self-Actualization
This book found me at the Denver airport after I missed a flight that I literally tried to catch by running. Jamie Sans shares a beautiful road map to living from a Native American tradition.
Stumbled upon this one at the library. Nanice shares a beautiful step-by-step guide to how humans operate best when coming into alignment with their loving souls. Become aware of your cultural programming and rise above it.
To me, this is a classic on finding personal freedome. I heard about it in the early days of podcasting when I was tuning into the digital nomad lifestyle. Harry Browne was a Libertarian presidential candidate and provides a beautiful blueprint of how to take responsibility for and love ourselves.
"We must be the change we wish to see in the world."
- Mahatma Gandhi
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