I love keeping an eye on our Nobel Laureates. What are we doing for the betterment of Mankind. What genius is being discovered? What inspiration has taken hold? I don't speak the deep languages of the scientists, but I see an essence in their work that is mirrored in every day experiences because be it a molecule or deep space, we are talking about measuring distances, looking at light, discovering patterns. Their genius has to be brought down to a level a human can grasp, and so they use human tools, a microscope, a telescope, and for the poet the heart and a sense of sight unparalleled. Not that I am biased or anything.
Let's celebrate these few, for the qualities we all have access to.
Tomas Tranströmer is a poet. His day job was psychology. (I am instantly brought to tears upon hearing this.) Seamus Heaney said, "Maybe it is becasue he's a poet that he makes a good psychologist. Both deal with the fleeting moment." I believe psychology and poetry are two windows looking out on the same park, but from a different floor. Psychology can speak to the wet gravel from the rain the night before. And from above the mountain sloping, ocean, and fog are blended into a single horizon, and you can see the oneness of all that is so seemingly unique. Both speak to and about the human experience for the purpose of soothing the soul, resonating with the heart, and sparking a passion.
Seamus also talked about visiting Tomas after the his stroke. Tomas couldn't speak, but he played the piano, and through this the same transcendant quality in his poetry came through. He was in a trance with the music. There were notes, silences, and Tomas and in the room something was transmitted. (Beautiful Presence.)
As for Dan Shechtman the chemist who discovered (at the age of 42) five sided molecules in crystals, my favorite quote (on the KCSM program) was when he said with excitement and daring,"I found a material that had a forbidden symmetry."
Living in Isreal, they quickly panned the Islamic tile work that uses 5 sided patterns profusely. Sometimes, I think life imitates art, and those living closest to the art are quickest to see it made manifest in life. (Did you hear about the South American family that believed in a magic lake with mermaids, and then the woman who have birth to a daughter with fused legs that looked like a mermaid tail? Or the Indian family who birthed a child with two arms on each side of her body, like so many of their goddesses?)
"Discovery consists or seeing what everybody has seen and thinking what nobody has thought." -Albert Szent-Gyorgyi Nobel Laureate in Medicine 1937.
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Sunday, March 18, 2012
My Creative Process
So, this might be my most revealing, personal post yet. I have so far found beauty and truth and reflected with you on what matters most. But this post, is a glimpse into the contents of my soul.
After hearing Elizabeth Gilbert speak on creativity on Ted talks. (http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=fKyljukBE70) She spoke of Ruth Stone's creative process, and so for the first time, did I put words to my own experience of receiving an idea or creative flow.
I've never put words or throught to this, but my gathering of creative insight feels like a rain barrell. Drip. Drip. I find I am collecting thoughts. If the thought is too perfect and the words are "just so", I need a pen and paper immediately. If an apporximation is good enough, I can wait until my destination to write it down. (I often get insight while driving.) There is also a feeling of filling. If the barrell is getting too full and the drops are blending into one, I need to write more quickly to capture the individuality before it's lost into the coiffers of creative juice. Fuel none the less, but not refined, exquisit, glimpsed and felt while watching the drop fall. When I have more time I can expand on this, but I must capture it, so it is not lost. There is also a sense of a possibility of loss. And lost it may be-come. back to the oneness from which it game glittering and unique through these words for me to see, from source back to all that is one and no longer distinguishable. It is a timing thing, and some are lost. I always carry a pen and paper, not sure when it will come or when I want to meander with an idea. But I usually know when it is done, when the thought has passed.
Ruth Stone, can sometimes catch a poem by the last word, and pull it back, perfect and from back to front. This is how I record dreams.
After hearing Elizabeth Gilbert speak on creativity on Ted talks. (http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=fKyljukBE70) She spoke of Ruth Stone's creative process, and so for the first time, did I put words to my own experience of receiving an idea or creative flow.
I've never put words or throught to this, but my gathering of creative insight feels like a rain barrell. Drip. Drip. I find I am collecting thoughts. If the thought is too perfect and the words are "just so", I need a pen and paper immediately. If an apporximation is good enough, I can wait until my destination to write it down. (I often get insight while driving.) There is also a feeling of filling. If the barrell is getting too full and the drops are blending into one, I need to write more quickly to capture the individuality before it's lost into the coiffers of creative juice. Fuel none the less, but not refined, exquisit, glimpsed and felt while watching the drop fall. When I have more time I can expand on this, but I must capture it, so it is not lost. There is also a sense of a possibility of loss. And lost it may be-come. back to the oneness from which it game glittering and unique through these words for me to see, from source back to all that is one and no longer distinguishable. It is a timing thing, and some are lost. I always carry a pen and paper, not sure when it will come or when I want to meander with an idea. But I usually know when it is done, when the thought has passed.
Ruth Stone, can sometimes catch a poem by the last word, and pull it back, perfect and from back to front. This is how I record dreams.
Friday, March 16, 2012
Siddartha's Lessons
I was listening to the book by Herman Hesse called "Siddartha". It is the story of the life of Buddha. Here are some of the resonating parts.
As a monk he learned patience, fasting, thinking. The benefit of fasting is you don't have to accept any work, just to get money so you can eat. You can be at peace with not eating and so choose the work you want. Patience encourages you not to drive, steer, take control, but rather to allow. "He sat and waited for the voice of his own heart."
"Where are you going?" It struck me that answering this question could be more telling than "How are you? How have you been?" Even between good friends that haven't seen eachother for a long time this is a better question. Instead of fine, you hear that a person is on a pilgrimage, picking up their grandchild, on their way to the doctor. The details in the answer reveal histories of marriages, children had, a health isuue, or taking a spiritual direction. {Similarly you can't ask a 2 year old, "How are you?" It's too abstract. So I ask, "What are you doing? What did you have for dinner?" Similar tactic of staying present to reveal an aspect of a person's life.}
"We are ephemeral formations. Now he stands beneath, changed." Everything changes.
"He might have been the best business man, but he wouldn't be Siddartha." The importance of follwoing your calling, being authentic. "You are unique in all the world" The Little Prince reminds us. Just be that!
He talked about a "senseless" life. He uses this to describe his time being fully engaged in his senses, consuming the consumable world. He was rich, he wore perfume, lived richly, had servants, did business. I thought it was an interesting play on words. He was innundating his senses, his spirit dragged along by the need to fulfill these senses. And yet, he considered the time "senseless". Then.... he came to his "senses" and found a more authentic path. Ahhh....
"A true seeker could accept no teaching if he truly wished to find. But a man who had found, could approve every teaching, everywhere, every goal. Nothing separated hiim from those who lived in the eternal."
He talks about the quality of deep listening between two friends. "He felt his own pain, anxiety, secret hope, revealing the wound was like bathing the wound in a river until cool. This motionless listener was god, eternity, the river absorbing his confession like a tree absorbs water and while he stopped identifying with the wound he saw his friend has always been that way. Everything could be said, shared, revealed. As he spoke on and on, his friend (Vasadave) listened with a silent face. As he spoke, Siddartha felt Vasadave's listening, he felt his own pains flowing across to him and it came back, each time cooled by the presence of his friend. The more he felt Vasadave's presence, it felt right just as it was. Everything in its place, Vasadave radiated love, serentity towards him. Vasadave lead Siddartha back to the river. "Listen again, hear more. Do you hear? Hear better."
Siddartha met Camala, a courtisan, to learn about love. He learned much about pleasure, but he learned about love, doing anything for another person including looking silly, from his relationship with his son. He never lost his heart so completely as when he lost his son.
The hard thing about being a parent is you can't know how to guide your child. You don't know to what they are called. You can't save them the suffering though you would do anything to. You wish you could pass on your learning. Save them the suffering. But this is not why you suffered, to save them. This is an experiential journey, and it is theirs to experience, as hard is that can be to witness. You cannot save another. No one is spared the path of figuring it out on his own. A man cannot take away the pain, cannot shield him from his destiny.
"Farewell" is "Fair thee well".
"Will you say a word to me, venerable one?" Seeking Govinda bids of wise Siddartha.
I think the one word should be "Govinda". Because we hold the key to our own riddle. We each must be authentic, and only YOU my love can know what that means to You. So.... venerable friend, I offer you, You. You are the key. You are the one who can answer your own question. The tool I offer is listening. Hear what your heart has to say. Act on it to the best of your ability in your imperfect human way, and this is all. So, I give you You.
As a monk he learned patience, fasting, thinking. The benefit of fasting is you don't have to accept any work, just to get money so you can eat. You can be at peace with not eating and so choose the work you want. Patience encourages you not to drive, steer, take control, but rather to allow. "He sat and waited for the voice of his own heart."
"Where are you going?" It struck me that answering this question could be more telling than "How are you? How have you been?" Even between good friends that haven't seen eachother for a long time this is a better question. Instead of fine, you hear that a person is on a pilgrimage, picking up their grandchild, on their way to the doctor. The details in the answer reveal histories of marriages, children had, a health isuue, or taking a spiritual direction. {Similarly you can't ask a 2 year old, "How are you?" It's too abstract. So I ask, "What are you doing? What did you have for dinner?" Similar tactic of staying present to reveal an aspect of a person's life.}
"We are ephemeral formations. Now he stands beneath, changed." Everything changes.
"He might have been the best business man, but he wouldn't be Siddartha." The importance of follwoing your calling, being authentic. "You are unique in all the world" The Little Prince reminds us. Just be that!
He talked about a "senseless" life. He uses this to describe his time being fully engaged in his senses, consuming the consumable world. He was rich, he wore perfume, lived richly, had servants, did business. I thought it was an interesting play on words. He was innundating his senses, his spirit dragged along by the need to fulfill these senses. And yet, he considered the time "senseless". Then.... he came to his "senses" and found a more authentic path. Ahhh....
"A true seeker could accept no teaching if he truly wished to find. But a man who had found, could approve every teaching, everywhere, every goal. Nothing separated hiim from those who lived in the eternal."
He talks about the quality of deep listening between two friends. "He felt his own pain, anxiety, secret hope, revealing the wound was like bathing the wound in a river until cool. This motionless listener was god, eternity, the river absorbing his confession like a tree absorbs water and while he stopped identifying with the wound he saw his friend has always been that way. Everything could be said, shared, revealed. As he spoke on and on, his friend (Vasadave) listened with a silent face. As he spoke, Siddartha felt Vasadave's listening, he felt his own pains flowing across to him and it came back, each time cooled by the presence of his friend. The more he felt Vasadave's presence, it felt right just as it was. Everything in its place, Vasadave radiated love, serentity towards him. Vasadave lead Siddartha back to the river. "Listen again, hear more. Do you hear? Hear better."
Siddartha met Camala, a courtisan, to learn about love. He learned much about pleasure, but he learned about love, doing anything for another person including looking silly, from his relationship with his son. He never lost his heart so completely as when he lost his son.
The hard thing about being a parent is you can't know how to guide your child. You don't know to what they are called. You can't save them the suffering though you would do anything to. You wish you could pass on your learning. Save them the suffering. But this is not why you suffered, to save them. This is an experiential journey, and it is theirs to experience, as hard is that can be to witness. You cannot save another. No one is spared the path of figuring it out on his own. A man cannot take away the pain, cannot shield him from his destiny.
"Farewell" is "Fair thee well".
"Will you say a word to me, venerable one?" Seeking Govinda bids of wise Siddartha.
I think the one word should be "Govinda". Because we hold the key to our own riddle. We each must be authentic, and only YOU my love can know what that means to You. So.... venerable friend, I offer you, You. You are the key. You are the one who can answer your own question. The tool I offer is listening. Hear what your heart has to say. Act on it to the best of your ability in your imperfect human way, and this is all. So, I give you You.
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Sunday Blessing
I hope this weather, lapped at the soul through your feet.
I hope your sweet dog curled up between your heart strings,
and from the inside out you feel strong and relaxed,
joyful and capable to handle whatever comes up.
Flexible as a yoga stretch,
as reassuring as a hug,
as loved as a butterfly,
as free as you (insert name here.)
I hope your sweet dog curled up between your heart strings,
and from the inside out you feel strong and relaxed,
joyful and capable to handle whatever comes up.
Flexible as a yoga stretch,
as reassuring as a hug,
as loved as a butterfly,
as free as you (insert name here.)
Sunday, February 26, 2012
strength in vulnerability
Do you want to think differently about the strength of vulnerability?Brene Brown is the most interesting, straight forward, great, humourous woman to do the job.
http://www.ted.com/talks/brene_brown_on_vulnerability.html
“Those who are willing to be vulnerable move among mysteries.”- Theodore Roethke
http://www.ted.com/talks/brene_brown_on_vulnerability.html
“Those who are willing to be vulnerable move among mysteries.”- Theodore Roethke
Saturday, February 25, 2012
A study of light and shadow
What is luminous and shadowy? A new moon.
This was pointed out to me by Anne Lamott while I drove looking at the new moon. I was in Santa Cruz at the time and there was some midnight haze fog making the edges of the moon softer less definite. You could see the dark side of the moon, the rest of the circumference not highlighted by the sun, and then there was the luminous side hanging like a smile in the sky.
Master of stage design, Joseph Svoboda's genius was in his innovation, artistry and use of light. He said, "Darkness is my raw material. Just as the sculptor needs his clay, the carver needs his wood; I carve my theatre out of darkness."
Reminds me of life living forward, always into the darkness, into the unknown, our flashlight created from the beam of our attention.
Also, noteworthy... you can only see shadow if there is sun. And it is not the other way around, you do not see dark because there is light. Think about it, if there is no light, there is no shadow; even though, shadow is the absence of light, without the light there is no shadow. Huh? What else functions in this way? To know hunger you must too know the feeling of being full. But how many paradoxes exist together at the same moment, and because of their presence make the other paradox exist? (Excited and scared, happy and sad, not paradoxes, but opposites existing in tandom. It is the event that can bring on two emotions at once. But this is not about emotions. This is two circumstances... Because there is light through film a projection is made. Is it a simple cause and effect? But the effect is the absence of the cause....That seems unique. Hydochloric acid and a change agent, alters both substances into something different. Maybe this is closer to the magic of alchemy. You need some light to see the shadow. In the dead of night there is no shadow because everything is black.
John O'Donohue says, "Even light which enables us to see everything , cannot see itself. Light is blind." (p.119) This feels like the other half of the jigsaw. Shadow can see itself because it can see the light, and its presence in the light. The dark of night has the stars to shine bright so the dark can see where it ends and where it begins. But the sun, the stars, get in their own way not able to see the dark, not able to see what they can't see. And in turn not able to distinguish who they are, for everywhere they go, there they are, lighting the way, and so changing the landscape, they don't know what it looks like without them.
And what did John O'Donohue say? That the living by the direction of the soul is like living by candle light instead of the false light of certainty.
This was pointed out to me by Anne Lamott while I drove looking at the new moon. I was in Santa Cruz at the time and there was some midnight haze fog making the edges of the moon softer less definite. You could see the dark side of the moon, the rest of the circumference not highlighted by the sun, and then there was the luminous side hanging like a smile in the sky.
Master of stage design, Joseph Svoboda's genius was in his innovation, artistry and use of light. He said, "Darkness is my raw material. Just as the sculptor needs his clay, the carver needs his wood; I carve my theatre out of darkness."
Reminds me of life living forward, always into the darkness, into the unknown, our flashlight created from the beam of our attention.
Also, noteworthy... you can only see shadow if there is sun. And it is not the other way around, you do not see dark because there is light. Think about it, if there is no light, there is no shadow; even though, shadow is the absence of light, without the light there is no shadow. Huh? What else functions in this way? To know hunger you must too know the feeling of being full. But how many paradoxes exist together at the same moment, and because of their presence make the other paradox exist? (Excited and scared, happy and sad, not paradoxes, but opposites existing in tandom. It is the event that can bring on two emotions at once. But this is not about emotions. This is two circumstances... Because there is light through film a projection is made. Is it a simple cause and effect? But the effect is the absence of the cause....That seems unique. Hydochloric acid and a change agent, alters both substances into something different. Maybe this is closer to the magic of alchemy. You need some light to see the shadow. In the dead of night there is no shadow because everything is black.
John O'Donohue says, "Even light which enables us to see everything , cannot see itself. Light is blind." (p.119) This feels like the other half of the jigsaw. Shadow can see itself because it can see the light, and its presence in the light. The dark of night has the stars to shine bright so the dark can see where it ends and where it begins. But the sun, the stars, get in their own way not able to see the dark, not able to see what they can't see. And in turn not able to distinguish who they are, for everywhere they go, there they are, lighting the way, and so changing the landscape, they don't know what it looks like without them.
And what did John O'Donohue say? That the living by the direction of the soul is like living by candle light instead of the false light of certainty.
Friday, February 24, 2012
Voice of John O'Donohue
Who needs new thought when you can refer to John O'Donohue? ( In love and twirling under the starlight of his insight.)
"In a culture preoccupied with fixities and definites and correspondingly impatient of mystery, it is difficult to step out from the transparency of false light into the more candlelit world of the soul." - Anam Cara p.24
"A noble friend, complements your vision in a kind and critical way. Such friendship is creative and critical; it is willing to negotiate awkward and uneven territories of contradiction and woundedness." -Anam Cara p.24
"The soul did not invent itself. It is a presence from the divine world where intimacy has no limit or barrier."
"In a culture preoccupied with fixities and definites and correspondingly impatient of mystery, it is difficult to step out from the transparency of false light into the more candlelit world of the soul." - Anam Cara p.24
"A noble friend, complements your vision in a kind and critical way. Such friendship is creative and critical; it is willing to negotiate awkward and uneven territories of contradiction and woundedness." -Anam Cara p.24
"The soul did not invent itself. It is a presence from the divine world where intimacy has no limit or barrier."
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Rhythm and Pace
I've done an informal study on rhythm and timing, here's what I've found. As far as timing is concerned it is important to live at the speed of intuition. What I mean is, you shouldn't live at a pace faster than you can intuit what the next right action is.
Rhythm: for me I've decided it is important to live in accord with my internal rhythms. This means I like to wake up slowly over a two hour period before I'm forced out of myself and into the tasks of the day. These hours are spent drinking tea, feeling the warm mug against me, sitting by the fire, and just generally coming into my body. Best case scenario, wake, take 30 min. to write down my dreams. Put the tea kettle on, sit by the fire while it gets going. Steep the tea, sit while the tea cools, drink the tea. Now an hour is passed. Whatever happens next can differ, but I usually choose semi-conscious activities that take very little effort from me. My priority is to live to this inner rhythm.
I just discovered John O'Donaohue's perspective on Rhythm in his book Anam Cara, page 150 and it was new to me and interesting. "Rapidity is another force causing massive stress in the work place.... A native of Africa rushed because the Western Explorer told him to rush there was a date they needed to hit. After three days of rushing the man sat down and would not move. He said, "We have moved too quickly to reach here; now we need to wait to give our spirits a chance to catch up with us." John encourages, "Let the neglected presence of your soul come to meet and engage you again. It can be a lovely reacquaintance with your forgotten mystery."
Ann Lamott in the book Plan B, quoted another saying, if the devil can't make you sin he'll keep you busy. Why? Because breath connects us with all of life, including God, so if the devil can keep you from breathing he doesn't need to force you to sin, his goal is complete, you are separated from God.
John also illuminated this point, "The quality of our experience always determines the actual rhythm of time. When you are in pain, every moment slows down until it resembles a week. When you are happy and really enjoying your life time flies." (p.178) The Celtic stories suggest that time as the rhythm of soul has an eternal dimension where everything is gathered and minded. Here nothing is lost. This is the great consolation....everything is stored in your soul in the temple of memory."
Rhythm: for me I've decided it is important to live in accord with my internal rhythms. This means I like to wake up slowly over a two hour period before I'm forced out of myself and into the tasks of the day. These hours are spent drinking tea, feeling the warm mug against me, sitting by the fire, and just generally coming into my body. Best case scenario, wake, take 30 min. to write down my dreams. Put the tea kettle on, sit by the fire while it gets going. Steep the tea, sit while the tea cools, drink the tea. Now an hour is passed. Whatever happens next can differ, but I usually choose semi-conscious activities that take very little effort from me. My priority is to live to this inner rhythm.
I just discovered John O'Donaohue's perspective on Rhythm in his book Anam Cara, page 150 and it was new to me and interesting. "Rapidity is another force causing massive stress in the work place.... A native of Africa rushed because the Western Explorer told him to rush there was a date they needed to hit. After three days of rushing the man sat down and would not move. He said, "We have moved too quickly to reach here; now we need to wait to give our spirits a chance to catch up with us." John encourages, "Let the neglected presence of your soul come to meet and engage you again. It can be a lovely reacquaintance with your forgotten mystery."
Ann Lamott in the book Plan B, quoted another saying, if the devil can't make you sin he'll keep you busy. Why? Because breath connects us with all of life, including God, so if the devil can keep you from breathing he doesn't need to force you to sin, his goal is complete, you are separated from God.
John also illuminated this point, "The quality of our experience always determines the actual rhythm of time. When you are in pain, every moment slows down until it resembles a week. When you are happy and really enjoying your life time flies." (p.178) The Celtic stories suggest that time as the rhythm of soul has an eternal dimension where everything is gathered and minded. Here nothing is lost. This is the great consolation....everything is stored in your soul in the temple of memory."
Sunday, February 12, 2012
The Biology of Being Human
Pssst.......I am going to tell you a secret, something no one is talking about. We are Biological Beings. What this means is we are complex organisms with millions of potentials in every cell that can be expressed in millions of ways. These differences will make us unique and confirm the miracle of being alive and being human at all. Have we forgotten the miracle of life that somehow infuses us? We are distracted with thighs that are too big, skin that is too dark, moods that swing too much. It's as if we've decided it's better to be neutral in every category, and or to regain our youth in every category than to accept getting older, and our unique biological possibilities. I just want to state it here as one small reminder. Health isn't an absence of any condition we deem not good enough. We know too much, and we've forgotten how to talk to our bodies. Why do I hurt here? Why am I forced to slow down? What is my body trying to communicate to me?
There is a tinge of anger in my energy. I am angry because health insurance can be denied to healthy people because they aren't perfect people. I just want to remind us we are biological people, perfect was never the plan. So put down your stethascopes, your meds, your paperwork, and spend a moment taking in the awe. Even our science doesn't understand how it all works. We can not recreate such an intelligent design aritificially. It's magic! Appreciate the miracle, step away from the nagging concerns of media and society, and embrace Briliant Biological You!
There is a tinge of anger in my energy. I am angry because health insurance can be denied to healthy people because they aren't perfect people. I just want to remind us we are biological people, perfect was never the plan. So put down your stethascopes, your meds, your paperwork, and spend a moment taking in the awe. Even our science doesn't understand how it all works. We can not recreate such an intelligent design aritificially. It's magic! Appreciate the miracle, step away from the nagging concerns of media and society, and embrace Briliant Biological You!
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Ask the Universe (e.v.)
Ask the Universe a question and you will get an answer. I started by asking for the time a few years back because I refused to wear a watch. I'd ask, be open, receptive, look, and within a few moments I'd pass a bank, or over hear it in a conversation, or see it on a walgreens sign, or glimpse a clock above a bar in a restaurant. It's not magic, but it works. If you are asking a complex question like should I get a divorce? You will likely not get a yes or no answer, but if you put it to the universe in the morning and listen you will gather more data about your situation. An amazing example of this happened to me just now. Yesterday, I was watching, "Brian Cox on a tv show called "The Wonders of the Universe". He was talking about the eventual death of our star some billions of years from now. We know there is a gap in time from when we see a shooting star and when it actually shot because the speed of light is only so fast. I wondered, "How long will it take us to know our sun has died?" One day later, I went to see the film "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close". In the openning scene the boy Oscar says, "It will take us 8 minutes to know our sun has died." That's the magic I'm talking about. Ask a question, get an answer. Start asking the universe for the time. Then be open, receptive, and it will come within a few moments. For big questions, I like to give it 24 hours. It's fun to start with a theme or a question in the morning, and see what you learn about it over the course of a day, or a week. See what themes the Universe is suggesting you notice when you see a concept given to you three times in one day in various examples.
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Time passes: what will you choose to make constant? (ev)extended version
We live in an era of stars. It's the Stelliferous [ste-lif-er-uh
s] era. This too will change.
There is a direction to the passing of time. Things tend to go from order to disorder (ex. past to future; decay). When we bring order to the situation (building a sand castle from sand potential) it is not natural to stay in this state of order. The sand will scatter in time. What fundamental values are the grains of sand with which you order your life? In time the order will shift, change, reshape, but a grain of sand is always a grain of sand. What is it you are using for the foundation of your life? When the wind comes will you be able to say, "Be what it may, there was love, integrity, honesty, authenticity?" What elements are most important to you?
How can we live in alignment with and support those most important elements?
s] era. This too will change.There is a direction to the passing of time. Things tend to go from order to disorder (ex. past to future; decay). When we bring order to the situation (building a sand castle from sand potential) it is not natural to stay in this state of order. The sand will scatter in time. What fundamental values are the grains of sand with which you order your life? In time the order will shift, change, reshape, but a grain of sand is always a grain of sand. What is it you are using for the foundation of your life? When the wind comes will you be able to say, "Be what it may, there was love, integrity, honesty, authenticity?" What elements are most important to you?
How can we live in alignment with and support those most important elements?
Monday, January 30, 2012
Anticipate Less
I get to practice this on the dance floor. The secret to ballroom dancing, for me, is not knowing the rules, the counts, the steps. It requires infinitely precise sensing and following. I don't have time to wonder what the lead is doing. I only have to be on high alert, present, in my body, and feel the direction of things. Of course, I get off on the footwork, but I'm not here to do it "right". I need practice not being in control, going with the flow, and following intuition and subtle clues. My goal is to know what he's thinking AS we take the step. How refreshing! No project manager here. No imagined scenarios and all their kinks and solutions for every branch on this imagined tree. Just this, now, to this beat, with this person. This is a chance to hear the music, feel the lead, and be present right now. I often find myself asking, "How does he hear the music?" This will clue me into his sense of things, but other than that you can't think yourself around the dance floor you've got to DANCE. What brings you into the now? What brings you into your body? What forces you into movement?
The constant beyond transformation: Don't tell the butterfly
We like the image of the butterfly because that's how life feels, harrowing, dark (in the cocoon) the unknown takes over and leaves us utterly changed. But I challenge you to acknowledge the parts that didn't change. For these might be the truest part of you, and far less changeable.
I moved home at age 35 and was looking through boxes of stuff from college, shelved and boxed 15 years earlier. Fresh from packing up my most recent chapter following 6 years in a distant city,I was Well Aware, of what I had chosen to pack, what I paid to store, and what was tossed. What I was Surprised to see (with a sly smile at myself) was that in the boxes packed 15 years before, I had saved the EXACT same stuff. I had birthday cards I'd received, collages I had made, pictures, ceramic mugs I loved, tea. Huh? I travel the world; I mature; I grow up; I make my way in the world, and I find I'm collecting the same exact stuff as when I was 18?! Maybe, I don't change as much as I think I do. Maybe no matter where you drop me, I will recreate the same life, with the same surroundings. Hmmmmm..... it's a comfort I guess to know in a world of constant change that there is a constant in me that doesn't change, but continues to express itself in the same way. Maybe the butterfly houses the same soul as the caterpillar, and this is what I am finding. Eventhough the circumstances have changed radically maybe in the important ways I have not changed at all.
Cheers, to the loving ways we stay the same. Cheers, to a slow realization that "all is not different", Everything does not change as the maxim professes in "change is constant". But rather there is a consistency that outlives change, somewhere deep in the center of us, that keeps creating what we love. I love you!!!!!!!!!! You consistently human, being!
I moved home at age 35 and was looking through boxes of stuff from college, shelved and boxed 15 years earlier. Fresh from packing up my most recent chapter following 6 years in a distant city,I was Well Aware, of what I had chosen to pack, what I paid to store, and what was tossed. What I was Surprised to see (with a sly smile at myself) was that in the boxes packed 15 years before, I had saved the EXACT same stuff. I had birthday cards I'd received, collages I had made, pictures, ceramic mugs I loved, tea. Huh? I travel the world; I mature; I grow up; I make my way in the world, and I find I'm collecting the same exact stuff as when I was 18?! Maybe, I don't change as much as I think I do. Maybe no matter where you drop me, I will recreate the same life, with the same surroundings. Hmmmmm..... it's a comfort I guess to know in a world of constant change that there is a constant in me that doesn't change, but continues to express itself in the same way. Maybe the butterfly houses the same soul as the caterpillar, and this is what I am finding. Eventhough the circumstances have changed radically maybe in the important ways I have not changed at all.
Cheers, to the loving ways we stay the same. Cheers, to a slow realization that "all is not different", Everything does not change as the maxim professes in "change is constant". But rather there is a consistency that outlives change, somewhere deep in the center of us, that keeps creating what we love. I love you!!!!!!!!!! You consistently human, being!
Uncertainty is Circumstancial
What I mean is when you feel uncertain it is always based on a particular set of circumstances. You may feel uncertain in love, and feel very certain about your role as a wife, or on the job. There is one truth that "Life is uncertain". It is in a sense that it is always changing. However, it is also true that there is a still part of you in the core of you that is not blown by the wind of circumstance. In meditation they may call it "the observer" the one witnessing, but not swept up in the thoughts you are having. I think the importance is in remembering there is a still part of you not blown by the wind of circumstance. You could think of it as the god within your heart. You could think of it as how small you feel in a blowing rainstorm. There is a tiny part that knows how little difference we make, and yet we go on. We exist beyond the circumstance. You can take yourself out of the rain. Some part of you is experiencing both the rain and the warmth, and is OK in either situation. So, my love I remind you, you are beyond circumstance. And you can rest in the stillness of your heart when you need a break from the wind and the rain. This too will pass, as all circumstances do.
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