I was supposed to volunteer tonight, but I started to feel sick as the time approached. I made it there a half hour early, but the blazing sun pushed me over my limit. I'm sweating so much now and I've been indoors for more than a a few minutes. I sure hope I'm not coming down with something.

Germs used to terrify me, having grown up with my mom having AIDS and all. Homelessness really shifted a few units inside of me and now I don't worry about getting a little dirty anymore. Fuck, if you told me there ever would have been a period in my life where I went more than a month without a shower, I would have laughed in your face. But here we are, after having lived like that as the norm.

That said, I am showering regularly, being in this shelter and all. Don't wanna be the stinky kid. Still, I don't feel the impetus to bathe everyday. That's not natural; your body and hair need the oils they secrete. Since marketing rules the world, people have been brainwashed into adhering to these lifestyle obsessions. I think now of the mountains of beauty products some people have in their bathroom. Just an addiction, like any other.

This brings us to the bigger picture: why do we do what we do? For the person living an unexamined life, their culture tells them how to behave. In that sense, culture truly is our operating system. But, we do not have to be beholden to it. No, once you begin to become aware of your own programming, you can begin to change it.

A shaman is someone who has shed their cultural operating system and operates entirely within a new set of boundaries and parameters. Thus, the shaman may appear or act odd to the common person, but this in itself is good, because the more stark the contrast is between what people are accustomed to and what they are perceiving, the greater their own software is modified.

In short, the more shamans, the more culture changes. So get the fuck out there and be the weirdest gaggle of philosophers, artists, writers, poets, musicians, performers, or whatever your brand of creativity might be, because we all need you and your art to save the world. This has been a message from the CIA, saving the world one shitpost at a time.