From Alpha to Omega

Alpha and Beta are so Yesterday!

I was an Alpha male most of my life. I grew up in a typical dysfunctional and sometimes violent household. Mostly because of my two middle brothers, one in particular who became the alpha male after my father left. He was very talented, good looking and charismatic, but also a little cra-cra and caused suffering for the family on and off for years until he moved out on his own. One had to learn to physically fight if necessary to gain respect and have your space respected. Fortunately, I had a strong super Mom and two cool loving sisters who balanced out the toxic male aggression vibe and made me a better, more balanced person.

This aggressive alpha childhood experience actually came in handy when I moved from a small town in New England to the streets of LA for fours years and after when I settled for decades in the Alphabet City section/East Village of Manhattan, NYC - while pursuing my dreams. Yet I have only been in three physical fights with strangers in my life. I won one, lost one and one tied as we were pulled off of each other in a bar. And the vibe after you fight is a nasty adrenaline feeling - dark and primitive - no light. Testosterone is a bitch as any alpha male understands.

However, as a six foot one dude with dark features and an athletic build, combined with a deadly Sicilian (only 25% but powerful genes) stare - any other potential threats over the many years of living and hustling in the NYC streets - would back off. Sort of like a nature show when the two alpha animals just posture and bark at each other but don’t always come to blows. I survived day to day by also following the golden common sense rule of the streets - if you see trouble coming - move out of its way. One must learn to pick and choose their battles, which is a great metaphor for life.

Like other middle class or poor folks who come from tough backgrounds - one must also learn to turn off the Alpha vibe and become Beta to make a living and pay the bills. It also helps to be a student for life as my father taught me to be. I am an autodidact (went to college late in life) and have been a big reader since I was a child. One of my favorite places to go when I was a kid and even now is the local library. A safe, quiet space where I could chill out, read and imagine new worlds free of oppression, inequality and violence. The library was like a sanctuary away from the chaos at home. This life time study habit was what led me on the path toward becoming an Omega, a complete human being at peace with himself - most of the time - still a work in progress. And this positive mental attitude (PMA) developed from studying a lot of spiritual/religious writings and mostly Eastern philosophy can work for anyone, regardless of color, gender or socioeconomic background. One is ever becoming - meaning always a work in progress, yet an Omega person has arrived in the zone of cosmic awareness.

Omega people are humans striving to evolve to a higher consciousness level. Trying to get closer to God and living in harmony with nature and the universe. We humans must live up to the gift of intelligence and freewill the creator gave us and stop living primitive, selfish, material consumption lives. We are a unique species and have no more excuses to not be better, more highly evolved animals.

We need to be learning and striving to live in harmony with our self and others in our environments, while here on this miracle planet earth for just an eye blink in time. CS Lewis once intuitively said - Humans are souls with a body - not a body with a soul. And so Life here is part of the journey - not the final destination. We must do the good works and be part of the solution versus the pollution that is hindering humankind from evolving to the next level. Sounds lofty but really it’s quite simple - just be mindful and kind.

So let go of the Alpha and Beta personas/facades/egos of yesterday and become a new evolved Omega human striving to be the best version of themselves, helping humanity and the earth to heal and live in harmony with all living things. There is no inhabitable planet B nearby, so we humans must work together to make this one work. We all literally sink or swim together. United we stand - divided we will fall.

Omegas understand this and work toward a collective caring ethos and its implementation throughout the world. The world is growing smaller and time is running out to clean up the mess we humans have made. For Omegas this is our purpose.

We do our best and let God take care of the rest!

PS Buddha in the Cosmic Egg - Copper Plate Etching Print by Me