The world I see...: November 2009

Monday, November 30, 2009

Tides...

Tides, cycles and seasons. Change is ever present our world. And change for humans, it seems, is one of our biggest challenges.

Have you noticed resistance to change? How come we resist?

I notice I resist change because I've gotten comfortable with the way it is. Even if the way it is "sucks". It is what I know. I may want change, I may talk about it a lot. But in the end, how accepting am I when change comes?

We all have a comfort zone. In it are all the things we know. Outside our comfort zone is the unknown, change. The bigger the change, often times, the bigger the resistance. Like the first day of school, it is uncomfortable and exciting all at the same time. Change is exciting. Doing something different can be exhilarating. And doing something different brings new possibilities. There's a saying that goes something like this: "If I do what I've always done, I'll get what I've always gotten."

What if life were more about embracing change, accepting the natural progression? How would this world be different? What would shift in your life? How effective is it to resist the tides?

Sunday, November 29, 2009

Hooks...

It seems like there are hooks all over in my life. Situations, people and circumstances are all possible places to get hooked.

By hooked, I mean the experience of feeling instantly upset. Everything is great one minute and then you get a call from your boss/ex/mom/dad and they say that thing that sends you spinning. Or you check your bank balance and it's negative and there are checks out. Or you loose grandma's antique such and such. Or you hear that your best friend is saying terrible things about you. For each person it's a little different.

So what to do about getting hooked? How to avoid the hooks? How to get unhooked?

When I notice I'm hooked, I stop. I stop resisting the situation. I mentally/energetically take a step back to see the situation in a wider view. I see where and what hooked me. I take a deep breath and ask myself "Is this the truth?". And then I let go. Just let it go.

If I'm not attached to a situation, person or circumstance then there is no place for the hook to hold. By letting go, I essentially free up the place where the hook got me. The hook has nothing to hold and falls free. Which doesn't mean I've stopped caring. It simply means I've stopped making these situations personal. There may be actions to take, and it doesn't mean anything about me personally.

What hooks you?

Saturday, November 28, 2009

Layers...

In my experience, life is continually happening on multiple layers. Take me for example, there is the layer of 'How other people see and relate to me', and the layer 'How I see and relate to the world', and the layer 'How I see and relate to me', and the layer 'Who I am', and the layer 'Existing'. All these layers are happening at the same time. And it's possible to transfer awareness to one and then another. It's also possible to be aware of them all at the same time.

There are diferent layers to this picture. The flowers, rocks, fence, tree, cliffs and lighthouse, two layers of mountains. It's possible to focus on just one, or to see them all at the same time.

What is the value of being aware of multiple layers? What would this picture be like if it only had one layer? Are any of these layers "the truth"?

To know that there are multiple layers and that any of them could be true, for me, gives life a richness, a depth. Everywhere I look in life I find layers. And when I think I've reach the last layer, a new layer presents itself. With more layers, there are more options, more range, more room to play. It lends powerful understanding to any situation. For me, it has life be more interesting. A life with only one layer is finite, there are limited options. A life with infinite layers is infinite, anything is possible.

Think about something in your life, something that involves curiosity and discovery. A project, your health, a relationship, your life as a whole. Start noticing the layers.

Friday, November 27, 2009

Quiet...

There is a lull after any event. A quiet time. It is natural. The day after Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, elections, sports events, weddings, birth, death of someone close, buying a home, car accident, our day to day lives...

What is the gift of quiet?

To me, the gift of quiet is the opportunity to reflect. To gather my energy and reconnect to my center. To ground and relax.

It seems like as we progress as a species, the more constant and intense the stimuli. TV, radio, iPods, news, computers, cars, cell phones, video games, airports, etc.

Do we constantly have to be engaged and entertained?

Taking the time to be quiet is a way to balance. To take a breather, so to speak. Get clarity, organize thoughts, be at peace, hit the reset button, get perspective. And then, plunge back in.

My mood as I step back into the barrage is strong and happy. I have the energy and presence to handle whatever comes next.

Breath...

Thursday, November 26, 2009

Grace...

What is grace?

According to Dictionary.com, grace is:

Elegance or beauty of form, manner, motion, or action. Favor or good will. The influence or spirit of God (please substitute whatever name you call this energy) operating in humans to regenerate or strengthen them.

So what brings grace into our lives? Can anyone be graceful or bring grace to any situation? How is grace of service in your life?

To me grace is an inner quality. A way of interacting with the world. Grace lends ease, peace, gentleness, courage, brightness, presence and beauty.

When I am feeling grace, or graceful, I move through life with a sense of flow. A sort of dance. I move out of the way of things without having to think about it. I arrive at the perfect time. I meet the very people that I was wanting to meet. I move into situations that I never would have thought possible. I'm simply being. Not trying.

In my experience, inner grace manifests through identifying grace where and when I see it. Studying the aspects of grace and trying them on. Look at a rose. The way the petals are arranged. See and feel the texture of the petals. How the stem and leaves are in proportion to the whole. Smell the aroma. Take it in. Notice where it resonates inside. As if the rose were a musical note and when you feel and hear that note, the same note chimes inside you.

All around us are gateways to grace. Notice, look, feel, smell and taste. Where does it resonate in you?

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Holidays...

I've noticed that this time of year gets intense. The general mood is a bit stressed. There is more hustling, bustling and tempers are shorter.

I know I feel a little bit crazy at times during the "Holidays". I am more moody and get annoyed more easily. My internal dialogue gets louder and more judgmental.

How to keep the internal peace is my every day, moment to moment inquiry. When I notice myself feeling annoyed, stressed, judgmental, negative and taking everything personal I recognize it, take a deep breath and ask myself "Is this really how it is?". There's a voice in my head that will often times wail, "Yeeeeeesssss! It's all wrong! Poor meeeee!". The part of me I'm asking is deeper than that voice. It's my inner knowing. My inner knowing is the part of me that holds internal peace. When I connect to it with the question, I am once again at peace.

What is your general mood this time of year? Would stopping, breathing and asking yourself a question to reconnect have value? Try it and see.

Your shift in mood has an impact on those around you. What would it be like to find your inner peace and also shift others to be in a peaceful place? What if it's like dominos? How would the Holidays be different?

It starts with one...

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Clear or a rainbow?

What seems like clear sunlight is actually all the colors. It takes another transparent tool to separate the colors. It seems like magic!

In my life, I often wonder, if I had the right tool what would I uncover? What would become visible that was seemingly invisible? What has been there all along without my knowing it?

I've realized that there are things I know, things I know I don't know and things I don't know that don't know. I'm getting more curious about the things I don't even know that I don't know.

I think having a clear tool to uncover these things is key. I take that to mean my clarity. Keeping myself clear. When I'm clear, I am able to filter life through my consciousness in a clean way. If I'm like a cloudy dirty prism then the light doesn't come through brightly. The light comes through hazy. I don't see clearly.

How do I keep my prism clear? What are the things in my life that cloud it? Where am I in a haze?

Letting go of fears, living in integrity (being my word), opening my heart, following my passions, being in the moment, generosity for no reward... These are some of the things that keep my prism clear.

How about you? Do you see rainbows?

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Pause...

It only takes a few moments to smell a rose as you pass by and sometimes the memory of it lingers all day. Or taking the time to talk to a person and the connection lasts a lifetime.

These seemingly small things at times have a profound impact on our lives. How come we don't do them more often? How come we choose to rush onward to the next thing and bulldoze the moments?

Are we rushing to something? Are we rushing away from something?

This moment is all there really is...

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Contrast...

What is life without contrast? Light and dark, high and low, hard and soft, big and small.

Neither is better than the other. They simply contrast each other. If there was only one all the time, we wouldn't be aware of it. It would disappear from our experience.

Imagine a world without joy because there is no sorrow to contrast it. No pleasure because there is no pain. Without one, the other disappears from our experience.

Life, it seems, would loose it's vibrance. There would be no dance...

At the low points in life, sometimes it's challenging to remember that this low is showing me the high. That this tragedy is proof of how wonderful life is. And to realize these things in the middle of trying times has the trying times not be so all encompassing. It's never one way all the time, and that is as, as it is...

To be at ease in sorrow and to be at ease in joy because, this too shall pass.

Friday, November 20, 2009

The Edge...

How does it feel to stand on the edge? To look over the side into a dark unknown? What is the unknown?

I've hear it said that the unknown is where all that can be starts out. If that's true then, to me, the unknown it just a bunch of possible outcomes. Simply a vastness of possibility, as infinite as space.

What generates one outcome over another? How does possibility become reality?

As I stand on the edge of the cliff, am I scared or exhilarated? My experience may determine whether I fall or fly. If all things are possible (definition of possibility: all that can be.), then all experiences are possible. If all experiences are possible, then how does one experience occur over another? Can I choose my experience in this moment, and the next? If so, then I may be generating my reality. I can choose exhilaration! I can choose to fly!

It's possible...

(By the way, this picture is of the inside of a fallen tree. Sometimes the unknown seems so big and it turns out to be very small.)

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Play!

Why are puppies so much fun? What are they a reminder of?

To play! To have fun! To be exuberant!

That innocent expressiveness that seems to, at times, slip away in our daily lives.

Puppies are an invitation to play. They bring fun wherever they go.

What if we brought play to every activity? How would our experience of that activity shift? Is there a way bring play to work, and still do the job well? Would it still be "work"?

Hey puppy! Lets play!

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Wishes...

What are wishes? Why do we "make" wish? What are we making? Who/what grants our wishes?

Sometimes I wish things were different than they are. Sometimes I wish I had more, sometimes less. Sometimes I wish for an event. Sometimes I make wishes for myself and sometimes I make wishes for others. Sometimes I make wishes for the world.

The feeling of wishing is interesting. For me, it's like a slight pause. A holding of breath. I feel my mind focus and the energy of my body comes together around my heart. And then after I make the wish, it all releases. Like the fluffy seeds of a dandelion after I blow them off the stem. The wish goes out into the world to take seed.

Wishing is much like setting an intention. Wishing lacks follow through. What if I followed some of those wish seeds and actually watered them? What if I put an action plan to my wish?

What do you wish? And are there action step to take in fulfilling that wish? Write out what you want, write out the action steps to getting there. Take an action a day. Feel as if your wish was already granted.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Larger than life...

Yesterday started out as the sort of day where all my "problems" seemed larger than life. They seemed like huge looming cliffs, closing in. I felt weighed down by the thoughts of them.

This cliff line seems very daunting. Especially if I thought I had to climb the highest, most sheer part. When I thought about my "problems" today, I saw all sorts of solutions. Many different paths to the top. I also realized that the climb is one step at a time. And as long as I keep looking ahead to my next step I'll be fine!

What are the looming cliffs in your life? How many solutions can you come up with?

Monday, November 16, 2009

Behind clouds...

When the sun goes behind the clouds, does it effect the sun?

To us on earth it may seem that the sun has gone away when there are clouds covering it. Above the clouds the sun is always shining, all day... everyday. The clouds come and go.

If the sun is love, what are the clouds? How do we think or feel sometimes that love has gone away. If we rose above the clouds in our lives, would we always feel love?

And when the clouds pass, the sun always seems brighter and more beautiful...

Saturday, November 14, 2009

Light...

Light uncovers all sorts of things. Light reflects, light shows, light opens.

Light is like our consciousness. Using consciousness to uncover what is in the shadows. To illuminate the path. To see clearly what is in our way and remove it or move around it.

The light is always there. It shines from within. Sometimes it's only a matter of opening to it. Like opening my eyes. Like waking up. Like taking off dark glasses.

When I'm full of light, I notice the people around me light up and reflect my light, as I reflect theirs. There's a noticing that seems to happen. A recognition, smiling, longer eye contact. As if we're friends, though we've never met.

In the light, the world is beautiful, loving and full of friends...

Lets see your light!

Friday, November 13, 2009

Zooming in, zooming out...

When life is seen on only one level, much is missed. Seeing only the details has limitations and seeing only the big picture has limitations. Zooming in and zooming out lends understanding and perspective.

If I only see this flower close up I am unaware of it's entire beauty, it's purpose and it's relationship within the whole. If I were to only see the flower as I walked by I would miss it's complexity and detailed beauty.

Awareness is always happening on multiple levels. It's just a mater of focus, of tuning in. Notice...

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Personal...

It seems like, as humans, we take so many things "personally". The way someone looks at us... being behind a slow driver... someone not returning a call... There are so many things to take personal. My whole experience changes when I'm taking something personal. My heart starts beating fast... I feel stressed... I'm looking for evidence that I've been wronged... I feel crazy. It's like I get possessed or taken over, like a "taking it personal" zombie.

I notice that when I take something "personal", I make it about me. They did this to me! If they hadn't done that my life would be great and I'd be happy! That's what the mind seems to say... And yet, why give that power to people and situations? In the end, there are a variety of ways to interpret any situation. So why choose one that causes unhappiness? What's the alternative to taking it all so personal?

For me, I just let it go... and keep letting it go. I notice I tend to 'pick it back up' again sometimes...

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

When's the last time you sat in a tree? Relaxing, being held by the tree? Looking down at the activity below?

Everything looks different from up a tree... The perspective shifts. I notice things I never noticed before. Things that seemed big seem much smaller. What is most important changes. Balance becomes very important. Being present becomes important. I feel at peace...

Is there a way to shift perspective and importance here on the ground, in the moment?

The world I see...