Going to Climb that Pyramid!!!

Let's sit back, and see where this goes.... Ready? Wait! Hang on! I have to go grab that beer... BRB....

OOOOHHHHH --- DARK BIER... That's what it is called. Dark Bier. It's dark. It's beer. It is one of those styles that can't really catergorized, in the sense that, well, it is an ale. However, it can't be classified as as stout, nor a porter. It does have those qaulities. What is is, is simply wholesome beer goodness, and a unique genre unto itself. Anyway, I digress...

This morning I had an ephiphany. I call it an ephiphany simply because it was a random, wierd thought that I woke up with. In other words, it wasn't my usual "FUCK!" and a slamming of the snooze button. It was a thought that had meaning. It was a thought that wasn't part of my morning rituals (hitting the snooze several times with the thought of "FUCK!"). It was a thought that I took as a sign from above, simply because it came from out of nowhere...left field...random recesses of my very dark brain (like dark bier, a genre unto itself). I don't know how my brian works, but it has given me meaning... a purpose! I have a new mission!

Jesus Christ! Ghandi! Mother Therese! .... We've heard of these people, haven't we? They are the types of folk that have changed the world, mainly because they have achieved something that many people have never thought possible (I know a short bus driver that claims that she has achieved this and said so...More on that later). They have shaped, moved, and have done great things, simply because they have climbed the pyramid. "What?" you ask. "What the fuck are you talking about, Joe?"

Back in the days of my young scrapper ness, I was almost a product of public education. That was, until, I was a teenager, and my father decided that if I was to make anything of myself, I would complete my young years of education at a Catholic High School (There is a Springfield link! Did you know the monks that run SCI - Benedictine University are the same monks that run Benedictine University up in Lisle, IL... and the very same monks that ran my high school Benet Academy - accross the street? AND, the same monks that were started by a bunch of Czechs that my Mother's side got to know on a regular friendly terms simply because they were Czech? Yup! I have connections with the Benedictine monks! --- Just so you know, I call Benedictine University -- BU.. pronounced "Boo!"). During my sophomore year at Benet Academy, I had to take a year of religion class on morality. Yeah, it was fun.... real fun... sigh.... I WANT THAT TIME BACK!!!! Anyway, during a lesson I was introduced to a renowned psycholigist by the name of Abe Maslow who wrote about something very interesting to me, that, as it seems, is the only thing I managed to retain from Catholic Morality class. Wikipedia describes it as follows: "Maslow's hierarchy of needs is a theory in psychology that Abraham Maslow proposed in his 1943 paper A Theory of Human Motivation,^[1] which he subsequently extended to include his observations of humans' innate curiosity." Yes, Maslow's hierarchy of needs... which, forms a pyramid, mainly because fewer and fewer poeple make it to the top.

You can find a nice image of it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Maslow%27s_hierarchy_of_needs.svg

... So, one begins trying to achieve Physiological ---> Safety ---> Love Belonging ---> Esteem ---> SELF-ACTUALIZATION.

(WOO HOO!!! I AM GOING TO THE GREAT LAKES BEER FEST IN SEPTEMBER!!!! ... My ticket has been confirmed!!!)

What do Jesus, Ghandi, and Mother Therese have in common? They are self-actualized... or at least that's what that article we read in Religion class said... These people achieved the top of Maslow's pyramid and then did great things... super things... things like make water into wine, free a third world nation from British oppressors, and help out the sick while never getting sick herself!

Self-actualization, baby!

This morning, when I woke up, I didn't mutter "FUCK!"... I actually muttered...no, I said outloud in my head: "Maslow!"

And, then I said, "I am going to become self-actualized!"

I am going to find internal "belongingness!" I am going to become a great figure like Jesus and Ghandi and Mother Therese! I am going to become a fourth name on that fucking list in that fucking article read in that fucking Catholic Morality class to become the ultimate fucking human being! Now, is that a purpose or what? Today, I've decided to begin my quest, my purpose, and become self-actualized (and rid the world of cheese sauce).

Here's the rub... I don't think Jesus, Ghandi, nor Mother Therese KNEW they were self-actualized. They just became that way and stayed that way and never cared that some dude named Abe Maslow would classify them as such. Unlike a friend of my sister's who said that she was self-actualized. My sister said, "Jo says that she is self-actualized." (Odd that her name is the female version of mine... concidence?) I said, "You don't say?" "That's what she said," replied my sister. "What does she do or did?" I asked. "She used to drive a short bus." I paused thinking about this for a moment. "She used to drive a short bus and she says she's self-actualized. She's full of shit!" I also remember saying, "I don't think it is possible for a person, including short bus drivers, to know if they achieved self-actualization." I remembered that Cathlioc Morality class and discussing the work of Jesus, Ghandi, and Mother Therese... and none of them, if I recall, drove any short buses. They helped the masses. They led the people. They did great things! I don't think people who become self-actualized feel that life's grand ambition, life's great moments. life's great achievements are accomplished by driving the short bus. I may sound snobbish, but come on! This list makes absolutley no sense: Jesus, Ghandi, Mother Threse, and Jo the "short" bus driver. Besides, I don't think one ever knows they achive self-actualization. According to that article, most of the general population are lucky if they even enter the "realm" of stage of "Esteem." I remember that article saying that most people are in and stay in the third realm: "Love/Belonging." I am going to say it... Jo the short bus driver is full of shit.

I wake this morning and think to myself, "Maslow." I took that as a sign that came from my dark recesses of my mind that I am to begin my quest to become self-actualized. I wonder if my dream happened to be about short busses... hmmmm...

And, that is a great purpose... a possible never ending quest... an always endless search for meaning that I will never know if I achieve until that Catholic Morality Class artcle prints my name along with the greats. AND, even then, I probably won't know. Such is the beauty of this epiphany! It will be my continual mission! I am so excited!

I feel that song coming on again:

To dream ... the impossible dream ...
To fight ... the unbeatable foe ...
To bear ... with unbearable sorrow ...
To run ... where the brave dare not go ...
To right ... the unrightable wrong ...
To love ... pure and chaste from afar ...
To try ... when your arms are too weary ...
To reach ... the unreachable star ...

This is my quest, to follow that star ...
No matter how hopeless, no matter how far ...
To fight for the right, without question or pause ...
To be willing to march into Hell, for a Heavenly cause ...

I, Joseph N. Dulski, will quest for the top of that pyramid. I will quest for greater understanding. I will quest for self-actualization. I WILL BECOME SELF-ACTUALIZED AS GOD IS MY WITNESS!!!!

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................................................................ Shit... I don't know where to start.... FUCK!