Address to Men Detained at California Men’s Colony (CMC)
San Luis Obispo, California

Imagine all the Bumble Bees
By Coach Taylor
May 4, 2008

I Wonder

“My name is Coach Taylor. I work with a non profit organization called Getting Out by Going In. We are a team of about 30 volunteer who have dedicated our lives to the education and empowerment of incarcerated men, women and children.

In my work with the more than 2.3 million individuals behind bars in the United States of America I am privileged to witness the transformation of the human soul each time I enter a prison, a jail or any setting of incarceration. I see the light bulb of perceptual shift occur and an understanding give birth to new possibility. I am blessed to witness the tipping point where the old way of life is simply not working and a new life takes flight.

In my work I find that I wonder; Why does one man make the change and the other denies himself inner freedom? Why does one woman walk beyond her meth addiction and the next one slips right back into her old life? I wonder why one incarcerated young man instantly changes his life and begins to consider college while another learns new ways of guaranteeing he will spend his life behind bars. I wonder about a lot of things in my dedication to finding lasting tools for individuals to find internal freedom.

Yesterday I was privileged enough to participate in the graduation ceremony for the first CGA Reunification Workshop held at California Men’s Colony (CMC). This inmate-led program focused on six weeks of continual exploration into winning strategies. They incorporated tools from the GOGI book, PRISON: GETTING OUT BY GOING IN. I was invited to participate in the graduation of the participants. As I sat in this moving ceremony I wondered how long it would be before every man at CMC participated in this powerful program for positive change.

What I witnessed during the ceremony was the possibility of lasting change in the hearts and minds of the participants. I witnessed the evidence of increasing internal freedom for these men. How can it be that one third of all inmates released from prison never return? Who are these individuals that walk beyond the wall long before they are physically released from captivity? For the 1/3 of individuals who never return to prison, what do these individuals have that others are missing? Are there predictors of reentry success?

Scientific Evidence

Scientific evidence is a powerful tool to identify trends and likelihood of predictable outcomes. Scientific evidence helps our society form general predictable outcomes. Scientific evidence is responsible for our advances in medicine, sending airplanes into the air, and creating cell phones. The problem is that scientific evidence is not always accurate.

Take for example the bumble bee. The bumble bee has been studied and studied and studied again by scientists. Well known scientific rules have been applied to the study of these pot-bellied flying insects.

There are scientifically proven aeronautical realities; The amount of weight you wish to get into the air requires a specific equation of wing span and force or the weight will not be lifted. An airplane, a bird and even a bumble bee requires a particular wing span and force if flight is to occur. Scientists all agree the heavier the body, the longer the wing spans and the greater the force needed for the weight to be lifted.

Science does not make a claim unless research, confirmed research and testing indicate truth to their finding. In scientific research ample investigation must be made into the hypothesis and the outcome must have considered each and every variable to the equation determined to be truth. When science claims that something is impossible believe me, they have done their research.

Scientists have discovered… the Bumble bee can not fly. The bumble bee can not fly because its body is too heavy for its short wing span.

Just DON’T TELL THE BUMBLE BEE.

The Bumble bee is too heavy to fly like a bird or a airplane. In order to fly, the bumble bee needed to adapt to his weight and short wing span. He wanted to fly so badly that he developed the ability to fly like a helicopter. Not only that, his little wings beat more than 200 beats per second. He does what needs to be done to fly.

‘Once an Inmate, Always an Inmate’

Scientific evidence also suggests that a majority of individuals who have been incarcerated find themselves behind bars within a year or two of gaining their freedom. There is scientific evidence to suggest that if you have been to prison once you will be in prison twice. Scientific evidence states that you are going back.

Society listens to scientists. We count on them. And we believe them to tell us the truth. It could even be that as a society we believe in our scientists so much so that we actually help validate their truth. We buy in to their truth, live their truth and therefore become their statistic.

Evidence-based prison programs are mandated by every single setting of incarceration. If you can not prove in statistical evidence then your findings have no value. Well, I have news for everyone who relies on evidence-based programs. Bumble bees fly. Bumble bees fly now, they flew then and they will continue to fly.

No matter how many scientists research and study the Bumble bee the evidence remains ignored by the bumble bee. Bumble bees lift their disproportional massive weight and fly anywhere they care to fly. They are not labored down with scientific evidence to the contrary. They fly in the face of scientists and scientific evidence.

Why do bumble bees fly? Because the bumble bees do not listen to scientists. The Bumble bee does not focus on the negative. The bumble bee does not rely on other to tell him what he can or can not do. The Bumble bee just does what it needs to do to fly. Simple as that.

The bumble bee has it truth. It lives by its truth. It flies by its own truth. The bumble bee does what it needs to do for his belief to become reality. The bumble bees know that to fly they must take his too-short wings and pump a little harder, flap a little firmer, and focus a little longer on the task of lifting his weight.

Do not tell a bumble bee he can not fly. He does not have the ears for it. He will not hear you. And even if he did hear you, he wouldn’t listen. Every bumble bee has taken flight simply because he knows nothing else.

I See Bumble Bees

What I see in this room are bumble bees who are, unfortunately, listening to evidence contrary to their Divine nature. I see bumble bees with wings underdeveloped because they listen to evidence which declares they can not fly. I see bumble bees in this audience who are grounded and trapped because they are making choices to remain grounded and trapped. I also see bumble bees here in this audience who are flying.

Coach DJ

For those of you who have read the book PRISON: GETTING OUT BY GOING IN you know Coach DJ. Coach DJ was released from FCI Terminal Island exactly two years ago this month. He spent 16 years, three months and two days as the property of the Federal Government. He now has a humble job making $10 an hour and he attends community college at night so he can earn his drug treatment counselor certification in two years. He donates his time to GOGI speaking to others about the GOGI tools described in the book, PRISON: GETTING OUT BY GOING IN. His goal is to own a sober living home and continue to teach others how to remain out of the system.

I want to share with you one of the stories he tells individuals when they come into his classes.

Dollar Value

Let’s pretend I am holding up a one hundred dollar bill. Raise your hand if you would want the one hundred dollar bill.

What if the one hundred dollar bill had an ink stain on it? Raise your hand if you would still want the one hundred dollar bill if it had an ink stain on it. Why would you want the one hundred dollar bill if it had an ink stain on it?

What if the one hundred dollar bill was crumbled up and bent and worn. Raise your hand if you would still want the one hundred dollar bill if it was crumpled, bent and worn. Why would you want the one hundred dollar bill if it was crumpled, bent and worn?

What if the one hundred dollar bill was torn in half? Raise your hand if you would still want the one hundred dollar bill if it was torn in half? Why would you want the one hundred dollar bill if it was torn in half?

The one hundred dollar bill holds its value. A worn, ink stained, ripped in half one hundred dollar bill buys just as much as a crispy new one. Each and every one of you hold your value. Even stained, crumpled, worn and ripped in half, you hold your value.

You Can Fly

Not only do you hold your value regardless of where you wake up each morning, you are a bumble bee just sitting around waiting for scientific evidence to prove you can fly. Don’t wait. Science is not always correct. You must know that regardless of a tiny wing span, regardless of how heavy your load, regardless of all the mistakes of your past, you are a magnificent flying machine, a scientific wonder just waiting to happen.

Here’s How to Fly

Don’t Listen – Don’t listen to anyone unless they are flying. People will talk a good story about how things are done but unless they are currently in the air and flying with complete freedom, you do not need their information. Turn off your ears to anyone who tells you it can’t be done, that you need something you don’t have, or it will never happen. Turn off your ears and shut out the statistical evidence. Keep your eyes focused on one thing and one thing only, making radical changes in your life which will permit you to fly.

Focus on Flying – When your focus is solid and unwavering on your success you will find that busting beyond the statistics is possible. It is not easy, but it is possible. And the more solid your focus is on your positive outcome the more your perception will interpret the task as easy. When nothing else matters then flying is perceived as almost effortless. Hardships only enter when your focus is taken off the desired result. If you want to fly you must focus on flying and nothing else. No Thing can be as important as getting wind beneath your wings and taking flight far from your unproductive past.
Don’t Care – Don’t care what others think. Be willing to look strange. Instead of hitting the weight pile for hours on end each day, try picking up a good book and teaching someone to read. Ignore what your “friends” say. They are not flying. They do not believe in flying. They do not want you to fly because they like you with them. Be willing to develop a new way of thinking, talking, walking, and seeing the world. You truly can fly in the face of scientific evidence and the mundane life experience of others.
Accept nothing less – When you accept nothing less but total flight you will find it is your nature to fly. You accept nothing less than total ability to create whatever life you wish to create. If you want to feel peaceful inside you focus on peaceful and you read about peaceful, talk peaceful, think peaceful. If you want to be calm you focus on calm and you read about calm, talk calm and think calm. If you want to be internally free you focus on internal freedom and you read about internal freedom, talk internal freedom, think internal freedom. You accept nothing less. You do not wait for others to deliver up a tray declaring your limitations. You seek out the cases where bumble bees fly and you focus on joining them.
Live the Result –If you want to fly you must act like those who fly. You can not be stuck on the ground and take flight. You must act like you fly, walk like you fly, talk like you fly. Many individuals will say, “I will act like I fly when I fly.” Well, they won’t fly simply because the order of things requires that you become and then you receive. You can not fly until you act like flyers. A bumble bee does not wait till he is in flight before he acts like he can fly. Similarly, you must act how you wish to become, first.
Don’t stop – Whatever you do don’t stop before you are in the air. What if a bumble bee gave up before he took flight? He would crash and burn and broadcast to every other bumble bee how dangerous it is to try to fly. Whatever you do, don’t give up. Even if it takes a lifetime to fly, don’t give up. It is worth every bit of the journey. The view and the freedom are well worth the effort.
Enjoy the journey – While being different from the statistics is challenging, learn to enjoy the journey. Slow down and watch clouds pass overhead. Slow down and let someone else talk. Slow down and let your body breathe. This journey called life was designed to be a positive and enjoyable experience. There is no need to suffer. Once you have decided you really want to fly, enjoy the journey getting there.

Bumble Bees do, Indeed, Fly.

The only way a bumble bee could fly is if it did not listen to the evidence to the contrary. Had the bumble bee listened to the opinions and statistics of others there is no way the bumble bee could fly.

If I could, I would erase everything you think about yourself which may in any way limit or restrict you from walking away from old and unproductive thought patterns. I would replace those thoughts with your true nature, that of a magnificent and magical soul which inhabits a human body for a very short period of time. I would erase all the scientific evidence and societal programming to the contrary and I would somehow let you see just how much control you have over your thoughts, your words and your actions.

If the little bumble bee can make the adaptations to reach its goals, what is keeping you from taking flight?

You CAN ‘fly’. You can fly far from the imprisonment of destructive habits and behaviors. You can walk beyond the wall of internal imprisonment the minute you decide that there is no other option but to fly.

Imagine making the current correctional institutions obsolete because 2.3 million incarcerated individuals begin to take flight and change their lives for the positive. Imagine 2.3 million individuals simply doing what it takes to change their lives forever. Imagine turning every prison into universities where classes are held in creating magnificent lives of integrity and honesty, lives of internal freedom.

Imagine all the Bumble Bees.”

GOGI Campus class Vice President, Felicia “Mimi” J., will be taking GOGI with her as she leaves the GOGI Campus at Lynwood and completes her time at a California State Facility for women. While detained at the GOGI Campus in Lynwood, Felicia assisted with most of the leadership initiatives including outreach to women detained in other modules and design of the GOGI Campus Prayer. Mimi will be missed at GOGI Campus and her classmates look forward to her reports of her first Peer Coach GOGI Group to be formed when she is assigned to a permanent facility. Mimi has committed her life to the
rehabilitation of incarcerated women and will be attending school upon her release for the appropriate certification and licensing.

Photographer and GOGI Campudent Stacy P. will return home soon.
She is committed to volunteer work at local halfway houses.
To express what GOGI means to her, Stacy wrote the following poem:
CONFUSING
My life has been confusing
Because it seems I am always abusing
The things we take for granted
My friends and family try diffusing
The things I find amusing
They say my view is slanted
Since I brought GOGI into my life
I feel no more strife
And nothing now has to be recanted

    When we look at the 1/3 of released individuals who remain free once they are released from prison we can identify similarities in their beliefs and behaviors. Winners think like other winners. “Losers” tend to share a similar mindset as well. Here are a few things you can focus on so that you can help increase the likelihood of your success and propel you far beyond your self-imposed limitations.

GOGI’s Seven Success Strategies

1) Sober Only - Sober individuals are less likely to commit crimes. Sober individuals make smarter decisions. Sober individuals keep jobs, have better relationships, and are more likely to earn the respect of others. If you choose to remain sober starting today and forever more, it is highly likely you will never return to prison. Some of you might think to yourself, “Coach, you have no idea what it is like in prison. I have to drink or I will go insane.” I am telling you right now that if you are not sober now it is not likely you will be sober when you return home. You need a sober foundation. It is nothing to put off until you get home. It won’t happen then. The pressure it too great. “Sober Only” means you think sober, talk sober, walk sober and only communicate and associate with sober individuals starting today. Remember, sober people commit fewer crimes and are generally more successful than their drug and drinking counterparts.

2) Volunteer to Help – Individuals who volunteer their time to help others are less likely to use, commit crimes or involve themselves in destructive relationships or activities. Volunteering may be as broad as dedicating your entire life to the betterment of others or it may be as simple as saying, “Hey, can I give you a hand,” when someone is putting away chairs. Volunteering may be as simple as picking up a piece of paper that missed the trash can, or seeing if there is anyone who is interested in learning to read. Volunteering is getting out of your own needs and looking to assist others in meeting theirs. Some of you will be saying to yourself, “Coach, you have no idea what it is like in prison. I can’t help anyone when I need help myself.” I am telling you right now that if you continue to live a life where you are your primary concern, it is more likely you will return to prison. Volunteer to Help means right now you extend your reach beyond your self and look to see if you can do anything for anyone which might make their load lighter. Volunteer to set up chairs, take out trash, collect books, find information, read to someone who can’t. Do SOMETHING FOR SOMEONE ELSE.

3) Learn to Learn – Individuals who learn how to learn are less likely to commit crimes and return to prison. By learning to learn I do not mean learning to sit in a classroom and read a boring text book. By learning I mean that you become willing to learn new things from the others around you. Learn a new language, how to play an instrument, how to write resumes for others, how to understand the law, how to meditate, pray, use yoga to promote physical and mental health. Learning to learn means that you are willing to consider the undeniable truth that all you know is not all there is to know. Learning to learn means that you become a sponge for any new information which promotes positive behavior and positive thought. Some of you might say, “Coach, there is nothing here that can help me with anything. Budgets are cut, classes are nearly non existent, there is nothing for me here.” To you I say there is a wealth of information just seated in this room. Do you know everything that is held in the hearts and minds of every individual in this room? Of course not. You do not know everything and therefore there is a wealth of information right here, right now. Learn to learn and it is less likely you will ever find yourself with a set of cuffs around your wrists.

4) Hang with Success – there is a saying, “How do you expect to soar with the eagles if you hang with the turkeys.” Hanging with success means that you associate with individuals just as dedicated to success as you wish to remain. You do become like the individuals with whom you associate. If you hang with people who drink it is increasingly likely you will drink. If you hang with individuals with a criminal mentality it is more likely you will have a criminal mentality. If you hang with individuals who are marching toward internal freedom and profound success, however, it is more likely your journey will be supported and aided by the company you keep. There are some of you who may say, “Coach, we are in prison. You have no idea the mask you need to wear just to survive in here. You can’t be soft in here or you get buster status and your life is miserable.” All I have to say is that I have seen very successful, free individuals inside low, medium and maximum security facilities. I have seen internal freedom emerge from the most oppressive environments. Choose your associates wisely. If they are talking about learning, service of others and remaining sober, it is more likely you will guarantee your success.

5) Slow Down – If you are willing to slow down, breathe, mediate and generally accept the current situation as an opportunity then you are less likely to commit any crime or return to sleeping on a bunk bed. Slowing down means developing patience, turning the focus of your growth to your inward freedom rather than an optimal environment for easy change. Slowing down means that you use this moment, this day, this year as an opportunity for you to refine your best qualities and address those personality traits which need to be modified or changed. Some of you are thinking, “Coach, if I were only out of this place I could do something, be something. I could be successful if I were not locked up.” To those of you I say that you must become successful because you are locked up. You can take this time to slow down and really experiment with creating the opportunity for success with each day. In truth, it is through our small steps that great distance is covered. Minute by minute you determine your level of success. It is essential to have goals, but your duty in reaching those goals is to exhibit the character and qualities of success right now, in the face of oppression. Slow down and be success, in spite of your situation. When you slow down you are more likely to guarantee your success.

6) Success Team – Individuals who have a Success Team are less likely to commit crimes. These are the individuals who are legit, sober and successfully employed. The members on your success team should be 3-4 people who you know would not make a stupid decision regarding your success. Remember, they need to be legit, sober and successfully employed. Pretend, each and every day, that these individuals are walking alongside you. If you are tempted to be negative they are there to remind you to head toward success. If you are tempted to grab that glass of wine they will remind you that sober people commit less crimes. If you are tempted to fall back into old patterns your success team will keep you on track. Walk with them in your mind, every minute of the day.

7) Meetings – I do not know too many people who committed crimes on a day they attended church, choir practice, meditation classes, basketball practice, AA, NA, a bowling league, night classes at the local community college, or any other regular activity which promotes positive mental thoughts. Your crimes were likely to have been committed when you were outside of a positive group, when you were with others who were not positive. Get into classes or groups, even if you are not the classes and groups type of person. Go anyway. Sit in the back and just be there. If you begin to align yourself with individuals who regularly attend just about any positive meeting you will find yourself too busy and too alive to commit crimes. AA is an amazing support group for positive decision making, even if you are not an alcoholic. Church meetings during the week are brilliant sources for positive friendships, even if it is not your religion or choice. Community colleges across America offer everything from Real Estate, Computer classes, to certification for work as a Drug and Alcohol Treatment Counselor. Go to meetings, meetings meetings. Keep yourself too busy to answer the homeboy’s telephone calls. Busy individuals are not prone to let stupid thinking get the better of them.

Your right and your privilege is to create the kind of life you wish to experience. You get that opportunity every minute of the day with the choice of words you use, with the company you keep, and substances you permit into your body. If your life is not the way you want it right now then you have the opportunity to change, right now, many of the factors which got you in this predicament.

Stop running on old habits and be willing to push past the discomfort of new ways of being. If you keep trying what you did you will always get what you always got. Be brave. Use the GOGI Seven Success Strategies to help free yourself from your small world of prison and constant monitoring by others. Change your life. You CAN do it.

Written by Coach Taylor

In an ongoing effort to create a collaborative environment for prisoner reentry organizations, GOGI is promoting Profound Prisoners as a writing outlet for women participating in the GOGI Campus - Lynwood project. Profound Prisoners provides a platform for inmates who have profound views on politics, prison, religion, education as well as many others. Profound Prisoners was introduced to GOGI by K. Waters, currently an inmate at California Men’s Colony. ProfoundPrisoners.com hopes that by “being open to the views, business plans and solutions that come from these prisoners, society can allow these reformed minds to help solve some of the problems that they have invented or help to perpetuate.” It is their mission to change how society views the prison population by displaying the talent and intellect that resides in the minds and hearts of the prison populace. The “platform for forward thinking” addresses issues of controversy and depth while allowing prisoners to speak their minds.  The GOGI Campus students have been invited to contribute to Profound Prisoners and share their views and opinions.