Happy New Year!                                      From Marauder # 4 - January 2012

 A New Year marks yet another revolution of the Earth around our sun! It is a universal time of celebration bringing a sense of change, hope and optimism.
For some it is a time to change bad habits, start new habits, and reset goals that were not accomplished in the last year. Sometimes it is just another day in life for those content with who they are, where they are and what they have. In any case, I feel that this year needs to be a celebration of the people that surround us and are part of our daily lives. Personally, professionally and in all aspects of life. Appreciating the existence of everyone and everything with every new breath that is a gift given to us by a much larger force that unifies the universe. It is a time to let friends and family know that they are treasured because of their presence in our lives. Sometimes they do not follow the right direction or do not seem  supportive but they are part of what shapes ours lives, characters and personalities.
Personally, and I think I can speak for the whole of Clepto, cannot even express the undeniable gratitude we have towards the many friends and family that have helped us out throughout our travels. They are the reason for our ultimate survival and success. We can list the things we do to make our music our life but without people who listen to it, people who love it, and people who support it we are nothing.
 Much love and respect to whoever is doing what they love, living the life they want to lead and appreciate the small and larger things in life. To the friends who have passed, to the new friends that we encounter I thank you for being. For shaping our world with laughter and happiness as this is what we want to send out to the world to hear.
I’d like to also mention the people who change on a daily basis. Not only themselves but the ones that sacrifice their egos to change the world so it is a better place. Protesters, environmentalists, social workers, artists, poets, musicians, photographers, firemen, small business owners the whole heap! It’s about taking charge of your own life, empowering yourself from the inside out and taking action!
 Do not be afraid! If it is not leading to your death then I would say you are fine! It’s been our motto from day one! As long as we are not dieing on a sidewalk in a foreign street and we are playing our music then things are good! Something like being content from the ground up. We do not need many things in order to be happy. Which is how everyone needs to be! Strong roots, the right intentions and the self-power to drive our lives the direction WE want it to go!
 Thank you friends for being you! Wishing yet another successful revolution and the best of luck and courage in any undertaking, as none is too large!

- Philip Al-Hajj

Contemplations, Considerations                                From Marauder #3: Dec 2011

This month I've decided to focus on the self. The 'in the moment' short term memory machine self that wakes up in the morning brushes your teeth and immediately begins making instantaneous decisions that you aren't even conscious of, that make up your waking unique self. It's like a factory that needs to deal with all senses and emotions. It remembers what we prefer, what we don't prefer, it remembers what you have to do next and how to react at any moment to any possible situation. It is something that we often cannot but take for granted. This translates to stress or feeling 'tired' or not being able to sleep. It makes you unmotivated and sometimes just makes you lose the sense of balance that we all need to simply be happy. Even if things in the larger picture seem to be going well! This is why this is a part of ourselves that we need to, while awake, acknowledge, give creative freedom to, and more importantly rest from the external forces of
the rest of the world, planet, and inevitably universe.

"White Noise or Any Noise"

I say take a moment every day, at some point of the day to quieten the voices and noises in your mind, in order to hear your voice. To re-group from either the stimulation it has just gone through or prepare for the next set of stimuli. I'm not talking about sitting cross legged and trying to find the truth and reach enlightenment (although a recommended practice). I'm talking about while you are in a transition stage of the day or a moment, moving from one task to the other, make sure you are still aware of your surroundings and your current state of mind and body. We need to be self aware as much as possible and understand what we are being told by our own bodies and our own energy. Only then will our self be able to completely understand what the universe is truly telling us. There are so many messages that are flowing through that we don't even know where to look. But to be able to see, we need to find our eye that connects to our core. It's a little hard to read these words and not be turned off, who has the time? The problem with that method of thinking is that it fails to
acknowledge the fact that time is always running - we are in time and need to be part of it.

"Stereotypes & Consumer Time"

In any given minute of the day we are capable of so many tasks and decisions, constantly stimulated from all directions, why not take a moment to breathe? Don't say 'I always wanted to' say I want to! It is never too late for anything; It's our willingness to change for it that's different. We've accepted, from what people tell us and what people have decided is the 'norm', that once time has passed it's exponentially more difficult to do something 'new' - learn an instrument, start painting, learn a new language. But what is really the difference? Have we not learned more during our lives that will enable us to learn quicker? To understand more clearly? We turn thick headed, with too many obstacles that others have put in front of us and tell us 'you can't go around, just over'.

"There is always a way"

There's a way to change every moment of your day if you choose to do so, if you need to do so, to be Happy. Out of the non-stop Economically, Politically, Religiously unstable world we have created. The holidays don't have to be but are a good marking point to do what you never got the chance to do or more never had the guts to do. Step up to the edge, look down, JUMP! (figuratively or with a parachute only please!) Connect with yourself, make yourself happy and in turn naturally you will make people and your environment positive and flowing with the cycles that are happening in and around us. Tie up loose ends, end feuds, loose an enemy, give to someone who needs it and truly make the world a better place. Change but don't be changed. It's up to you; it's up to all of us.
Nothing is Impossible, Everything is Possible.
'LISTEN to the Music!'

- Written by Philip Al-Hajj