Sunday, November 25, 2012

Ideas and The Creative

Life is so amazingly full and rich it is sometimes quite overwhelming. We went to the Enjoy Centre in St. Albert today for brunch and the Make It Show. It was absolutely jam packed with people, creativity, and amazing Christmas stuff. The meal at the Glasshouse Bistro was exceptional too by the way.

It was clear to me that there were a number of visions being expressed there today as there are everyday in our lives when we have the eyes to see. The creative force has never stopped creating. We are all part of it and are not only expressions of creativity ourselves but outlets for it as well as a means by which the wonder and delight of creativity itself is appreciated. Wow! What a vision the Creator is unfolding in this little Universe of ours. Makes me wonder about what else is being created in other universes and how infinite the wondrous possibilities really are.

I keep thinking of the first line in the Book of John which is "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." Pretty powerful stuff, especially when you take it out of the confines of the usual christian interpretation of the Word meaning Jesus. When I ponder that phrase what I see is that everything starts with an idea. This idea is in and of the creator of all that is and it is what is unfolding in the manifest world. It never actually left the creator, it is the creator. Ideas are the creator. Ideas are what is unfolding. Ideas are always playing out as whatever they are. Even our opinions of ideas are ideas that are creative in nature. We don't always like what is created as ideas play out for us but that doesn't make them any less powerful, it just makes our experience different than when we do like them.

Ideas, ideas, ideas; all having a life of their own it seems and yet they are not independent or separate, they can only appear to be so. Life (God) is the source and the force which is playing out in the Universe.

Let yourself be fully present to the wonder of what is going on here. Let it permeate every cell of the body (idea) through which Life is experiencing itself as you. Delicious!

Namaste

Saturday, November 17, 2012

Idealism, Not My Thing

I was in a situation the other day where idealism came up. The other thing that came up at the same event was what I can only call self-delusion. I have to admit I found myself reacting to both somewhat so I got curious about that.

I am aware that self-delusion is a huge part of the human experience. It has been my life journey to uncover my own self-delusion because I knew even before I started onto the 'consciousness' path there was something about it that was making me very unhappy. Generally speaking I don't get too caught up in other peoples delusions unless I'm in situations where there has been some kind of invitation to help people see where they may not be telling themselves the truth as in coaching sessions or workshops.

My reaction came when the person was clearly saying they felt they were being held back because of other people judging (critizing) them but they themselves did not judge (criticize). If one particular person however was not the way they were then all would be well. Ummm, excuse me but isn't that a judgment? If I need you to be different for me to be happy or successful or whatever I think I want in the moment then am I not somehow being critical of the way you are? The in congruence of what they were saying and how they saw themselves got the better of me I'm afraid and I felt compelled to point it out. That's what really caused me to wonder why I would be bothered by it. Who cares really, it's their life and they had not clearly asked me for my opinion. And wasn't I just doing the very same thing I was accusing them of?

Then another went into describing a very idealistic world and I didn't say anything but I did have a bit of a reaction to that too. Wow, I was really on the reaction roller coaster. I kind of have a thing around idealism where the speaker says this is how we're all 'supposed' to be. Really? We're all supposed to be peace and love and helping each other because we're all one? Wow, that sure isn't my take on oneness. The oneness of Life isn't about sameness to me, it's about realizing there is only one Life and it is expressing in an infinite number of ways. But again, why would I care what someone else thinks? They are just as entitled to their views as I am to mine.

So I took a bit of time to explore my reactions because I knew it was all related. I knew it wasn't about them but rather about how I was not being true to myself even being in that situation.

I do not tend to be attracted to situations where it's all about idealism or philosophies because they have no relevance to what my inner being is continually calling me to which is being present to what is real in the moment. I wander off into the nether regions of philosophies now and then and of course there is an element of it whenever we articulate ideas but I don't wish to reinforce them or argue about them. They only serve as context, not truth. I also love good fiction and movies which have nothing to do with reality either nor are they meant to. I don't delude myself with thinking that fiction is the truth. The same can be said about my life story. What I think about it is not the same as what really happened and I know it.

So in the end I figure my reactions the other day were really redirecting me to stay on course with what is mine to do and let the other stuff be. Idealism is fine for those who are called to it, I am not. Presence is constantly calling me Home to the moment, that's where I belong.

Namaste

Sunday, November 11, 2012

The Journey Home to Essence

A few days ago I posted a blog about deadlines and creativity. I said I would finish my book and get it to the epublishing site by next week. I'm a bit early. I uploaded it today and it is already available for purchase. It was an amazingly scary thing to press that upload button but it is done and it feels good. By the way it is available at smashwords.com.

I love the way the universe works to support clarity. I've been playing around with this book for months and it wasn't until I finally said enough! I'm going to get this done now that Life conspired to give me the time and space to do so. Now, some may say it wasn't the greatest way to have that happen since it was do to a fairly severe chest cold but hey, who am I to argue with what works?

My process has been to be present, to treat myself with compassion and kindness and to do what I could do which was edit and prepare the book for publishing. I still have the cough and some congestion but it feels like its on its way out. Perhaps its purpose has been achieved, and maybe not, who knows? All I can do is work with what I've got. In the end, that's all any of us can really do and you know what? It's enough and more than enough.

Namaste


Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Deadlines and Creativity

I just read a little book called The Spark about Cirque du Soleil and igniting the creative fire within. It was a very good read and I really appreciate the wonder and magic the people at Cirque du Soleil create.

One thing stood out for me that I want to share in this blog. I actually shared it in a celebration of life service I presided at yesterday for a young man who died in Thailand on his way home after being in Australia for a year. He was one of those guys who goes out and does it all. Really engaged in life. The reason The Spark idea came up as I was writing the service was that this young man had really made the most of his short life. The idea from the book was about deadlines and how important they are in the creative process.

There is often  a tendency to dislike deadlines and feel nothing but pressure and stress when trying meet them. The truth is however that without deadlines of some sort we often get very little done. I can use my efforts at writing a book as a prime example. I wanted a draft ready for when I did a workshop in Calgary a few months ago. It spurred me to sit down and do what I had to do to achieve that. Then the part about editing and more editing came up afterward and guess what? The book is still in editing! I do a little on it here and there but I haven't imposed another deadline on it so there it is languishing on the island in the kitchen waiting for my attention.

We actually all do have a 'deadline' (I've got a whole new appreciation for that word from the book and the service). We act as though we've got all the time in the world but do we? What if we actually really got that we don't have all that time, we only have now and what are we doing with that? Life is a process and the question is are we enjoying the process and doing what is important in the moment or are we waiting for something to happen in order to get moving?

As I play with the deadline and creativity idea I am much more energized even though I'm a bit under the weather these days. That being said, this is the perfect time for me to impose a new deadline on that little book of mine. So here it is. I will have the current edits done this week. It is an e-book that is being self-published so I'll have it off to the publishing site by the end of next week.

It is now written, it is so. I am back in the creative process and that's what counts.

Namaste

Thursday, November 1, 2012

After The Darkness, The Dawn

In my last post I talked about being in the darkness and moving with that. It has been a truly wonderful time of introspection and more quiet energy.

Over the past few days I've really come to realize that what happened was that I lost touch with my vision in a way. I was kind of wandering around without any real sense of direction. Interesting experience and what it brought me to was a time of clarifying for myself what that really is at this point in my life. It isn't about what I am doing so much as being about where I'm doing it from in consciousness. When I am grounded in my vision or definition of success if you will, everything flows, my life feels purposeful and I am at peace and joyful no matter what is going on in my world.

On reflection I realize this has a lot to do with the retreat I've got planned along with Cliff Turner. We decided it would be a good idea to go on retreat and have a workshop on what success actually means to you at this point in your life. Instead of being driven by the old societal concepts of success it has been important for me to have a true sense of how I experience success within. I did a lot of work on this over 20 years ago and I am now in a very different phase of life so it really is time to do it again.

The beauty of the way life works is that whatever we focus on, we experience. So the Universe has been getting me ready for the retreat by getting me to go into it in a big way for myself again. I love the way that always unfolds. I get an idea of something I want more of or want to know about and the Universe always provides what I need even though it is rarely what I would have thought it would look like.

That's why it's so important to let go of needing to know how; the focus really needs to be on one of two things. 1) What you want (not the lack of it) and/or 2) True appreciation of what is right now. Being fully present to what is going on in the moment will inevitably take us where we need to go, we don't have to worry about all the details (or anything else for that matter). Just be available for the wondrous unfolding of Life.

If you'd like more information on the retreat you can go to my website and join us for one of the free information sessions we have planned in the Edmonton area.

Namaste