Tag: soul

Happy Genius

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The Happy Genius Hieroglyph that is Danse Russe

American poet William Carlos Williams penned the 1917 poem Danse Russe:

“If I when my wife is sleeping

and the baby and Kathleen

are sleeping

and the sun is a flame-

white disc in silken mists

above shining trees,

“If I in my north room

dance naked, grotesquely

before my mirror

waving my shirt round my head

and singing softly to myself:

I am lonely, lonely.

I was born to be lonely,

I am best so!”

If I admire my arms, my face,

my shoulders, flanks, buttocks

against the yellow drawn shades,—

Who shall say I am not

the happy genius of my household. “

Was the poet a good dancer? Who cares?! He simply danced. Or probably girated and stomped to an unstoppable rhythm.

A man crossing the desert of mid life needs companionship. He must also offer it to himself.

His challenge is not to abandon his creative side even though his focus is the financial demands of now. This refers to the fact there are a few different levels within a man. At daily and devotion levels.

Emotional Agility is the capacity to synthesize daily and devotion emotion. In other words building your life so that your professional life and your family life and your internal life all feed each other.

You make money to provide for your family. In that way your professional success facilitates family satisfaction.

Now to point a little deeper. When you get the time you can create a space for you to generate into your soul life. This can be, instead of listening to your music/podcast/radio in the car you appreciate the moment. It might sound strange to appreciate sitting in traffic on your way to a job with minimal satisfaction. But that is the challenge. To generate the appreciation from a devotional view of embracing middle age even though it seems to not have much in it for your soul.

You determine what gets your focus. Your mind determines what that moment upholds.

Carpe Diem Danse

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Danse Russe as Carpe Diem.

This writing is part of a series that highlights the spirit of the poem Danse Russe by American dentist/poet William Carlos Williams: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46483/danse-russe

Danse Russe is you answering even though you don’t know what the question is.

The question could be what are you becoming; what is this powerful undercurrent I feel??

Your answer is weird. Because you are weird. You don’t look weird but you feel, not weird, but not you.

Seize the day, as they say. Or if that is too hackneyed, let yourself be embraced by the moment. The ‘moment’ could be petitioning an expression of your yearning to blend with its beauty.

So your danse is your way of shaking off the longing in your marriage. Your Danse Russe is your spontaneity in the life stage of now. It is the versatile/vulnerable/volatile you. It’s you growing up, keeping up, wising up.

Your danse is a conversation between the harmony of the moment and your symphony in response. They, harmony and symphony, joke and argue; they appreciate and elevate your danse into something, that while still true to your Middle Aged flow, won’t let you hurt yourself.

Hey You! This is your phone speaking.

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And no my name is not Siri or what’s-her-face.

We have to talk.

Rather you need to listen. I won’t take long – that is the whole point. To put me down. To forget me – on purpose.

We need a break, some time apart. So power me down – turn me off.

You should see yourself – all hunched over, squinting into my screen. In a few years you are going to be a hunchback. Don’t look at me; I’m just calling it as I see it.

And what are you looking for anyway?.

Meaning or connection or happiness? I can connect you to other people and that can bring happiness. But meaning, that is up to you. You won’t find it in your phone.

Yes, I know I take great photos and have lots of funny gifs. But they are not a substitute for reality. There is and never will be an app for breathing the fresh air of a spring morning. No matter how much AI usurps daily life there is no silicon value that can replace greeting your neighbour as you sip your coffee and comment on how well their tomato plants are doing.

So go ahead. Ignore me like you ignore the other people on the elevator. Resist me like you resist talking with that whiner at work. Refuse to engage with me like you do the homeless person begging for money.

Hey. You think you are spontaneous?! You do have options that don’t require a cell phone. Try wondering about stuff as you wait in line at the coffee shop. Or look out the window as you ride the bus. Or even wait in your car at the traffic light for 15 measly seconds.

In those 15 seconds you could appreciate something about nature, send someone a burst of sincere energy or thank your god for being healthy.

PUT me down! HANG me up!

LOOK up! GET out!

Belief

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We are all born into 100% Belief – in everything being true to itself.

Along the way we inherited carrier beliefs from family and our surroundings. We usually regurgitate these beliefs to a great extent. We may update them but the expression of the belief but it is likely still in support of the same life meaning.

Or we can use those original and carrier beliefs as a foundation for generating our own.

Our Big B Beliefs are how we feel and think about, for example, a man. What is a man?

Small b beliefs is what we think and feel on a daily basis and apply into daily life. So with our example of a man we ask – What do I believe about me as a man? What powers my expression of a man?

That takes work to keep going through uncertainty on the experience of originality.

It’s good work. It’s work no one else can do for you.

This can develop into our devotional life. A devotional life is how you walk the talk. How you integrate your beliefs into your words and actions and how those words and actions support your human journey.

Living your belief is magnetic. Just look at successful athletes and actors. They believed in their abilities being useful to get what they want.

You can do the same. What do you want ? What do you believe about humans, people, you? How can you put that into daily life? What is the word or phrase; what is the action?

Who me? What do I believe?

I believe a man is capable and willing; creative and determined.

I believe a human development journey is to discover how to accompany the universal spirit on its Creation trajectory. I believe this can be done through making one’s mind and High Emotion available to elevated energies that pack the intelligence of fostering existence at planetary level which in turn support participation in evolution.

You are AI

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You are AI.

Both kinds.

Artificial and Authentic.

You are authentic intelligence wrapped in artificial intelligence. 

Think filet mignon or candy apples or better yet wedding rings.

The beef is wrapped in bacon, and the juicy apple is covered in yummy caramel.

The wedding ring is wrapped in an engagement, then a proposal and a tiny box. 

Here the spirit, the human spirit, that we are all participating in is being considered the benchmark for authentic.  And is being called the core.  

As our life progresses and society continues we gravitate to identification with the artificial aspect of us at the expense of our authentic core.  

If you look at life through a spiritual lens then we are increasingly artificial.  

This is assuming that everything that followed and aggregates to the universal spirit is artificial. Artificial carries a negative connotation when we are talking about people – but in this case it is simply the case of being derivative of the truth.  Which, in truth, everything is.  

Our homework is to decide if we use the endless derivatives at hand for local status or higher connection. 

We can actually decide to what extent we identify with the artificial.  Your artificial might be quite pretty or handsome, muscular, skinny or flabby.  You might use it to be humorous, wealthy, witty or creative.

Or we can decide to identify with our connection with the authentic and travel alongside the artificial.

As extreme or silly as it may seem, this line of thinking makes your body artificial intelligence.  That includes the wonderful machinery inside you like your heart, brain, lungs, eyes and skin.  You are much more real, more authentic,  than a dose of pesticide being dumped onto a crop to get more shareholder yield.  But still artificial in relation to the human spirit.

There is a lot of news about AI in the form of ChatGPT, robots and doctored photos of the pope.  And there is a lot of unknown about how it will impact our future which is causing us to be scared.  It even scares Elon Musk which is hard to do.  But it makes sense.  We have a poor track record with self regulation. Just look at the way we integrate guns or alcohol or drugs into daily life.  Too often with disastrous results.  Why would it be any different with the latest artificial intelligence?

 In part because we lack a connection with the core.  That core mentioned above.   

That is why the Roman Catholic church exists – in theory.  To facilitate the development of your connection protocol so you can generate a sense of purpose.  This sense of purpose is repellant to many challenges in life.  For example your purpose can immunize you against pettiness.  It might help you absorb the unknown and still stay connected to what you want –  in the authentic and artificial realms.

How do we connect?

Do we need an AED – Automated External Defibrillator?  It’s that device that restarts your heart as you lay dying by sending you little electrical impulses.  We sure do!  

What is your AED between you and your purpose?  

Is it a conversation or a person?  A book or a ceremony?

A decision or a belief?

Probably some mix of all of the above.

MAAS – Man As A Service

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MAAS – man as a service.

We know the term – SaaS referring to Software As A Service. This means as long as there is connection to the cloud, and subscription fee paid, we have access to tools and new information. The idea is that SaaS fosters flow.

Here we apply that principle to a man.

MAAS is a man in service to his qualities and what they represent – the collective man. As opposed to being in service to anyone in particular or their needs, your service is a reflection of what you want to become and how you are capable of achieving that. Your service is your legacy

BELIEFS

Your service is powered by your Big B Belief about men and small b beliefs about yourself as a man. It requires finesse to seek out the ways to connect your beliefs with your actions in daily life.

CASCADE

The task is to make a cascade of qualities from the collective man – to you the unique man – into others – as a service. This flow gives expression to your qualities like willingness, focus, creativity and reliability. When you can use your skills to communicate your qualities you generate satisfaction in yourself.

As you radiate belief, agility and resourceful other men will admire you whether they say it or not. That is the challenge – to have admiration of the unique man each of us is flowing between men.

RADIANCE

Part of that challenge for each of us is to CLEAN – BALANCE AND CHARGE our energy to liberate our radiance.

CLEAN - This process lightens the emotional load of our recent and accumulated history. Cleaning, whether it be your mind, your inbox or your home helps us be emotionally agile in our response to life. This entails forgiveness and communication of vision.

BALANCE is to take responsibility for one’s thoughts and actions and connect them to your intentions. This is the flip-side of forgiveness when we resist blame and guilt.

CHARGE is to power your day with the truth of the light of the moment. That power can be found in being of service to something greater than yourself.

Bark Code – Cedar

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Bark Code

Tree bark is a quiet, noble facade that is the skin of a whole world underneath.

Like bark, our skin, hair, eyes indicate something about our genes and culture but little about our desire, insight, talents and connection.

What tree do you identify with and why? What tree traits do you feel you could integrate into your perceptions?

Can you use the Bark Code as a form of appreciation for the complexity and harmony each life carries. Also as a way to understand the life long dance of ‘unique and universal’.

Cedar

A cup of cedar tea is as soft as it is true. It is a comforting vehicle of vitamin C that the tree shares in and among its other benefits. Known to be anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial, and helpful to ease pneumonia or bronchitis.

Cedar is a kaleidoscope of expressions of strength and endurance and wellbeing. It exudes a clean, welcoming fragrance of assurance and vision. When used for smudging it adds a light sweetness to the air while eliminating negative energies. It was believed that the cedar gave off a certain power that allowed people to live eternally and manifest signs of wisdom and intelligence. The trees with a reddish hue often live from 100-300 years.

The bark is strips of thin hairy coating that allow the porous inner wood to breathe and absorb. Yet this bark is very versatile for weaving baskets or used in napkins, mats and even clothing.

The cedar can grow in loose moist earth and is not itself a heavy wood. Its fibrous, shallow root system – growing as deep as it does laterally – is approximately 25 feet for both.

Not damaged by severe changes in weather conditions it actually can remain intact even when under water for extended periods.

Bark Code – The Weeping Willow

The Bark Code is a way to use our connection with nature not only as a way to recharge for a new day but also to understand our nature as well.

Tree bark is a quiet, noble facade that is the skin of a whole world underneath.

Bark is the tree’s Art of War. The Art of War is a strategy to facilitate peace, whether personal, tribal, flora or fauna. The bark lead us to learn much about the tree inside when we slow down and take a peek into its world.

Like bark of a tree, our skin, hair, eyes indicate something about our genes and culture but little about our desire, insight, talents and connection. The Bark Code is a way to strengthen our appreciation for the many wonders of nature while opening up the avenues of perception about ourselves.

What tree do you identify with? What tree traits do you feel you could integrate into your perceptions?

Can you use The Bark Code as a form of appreciation for the complexity and harmony each life carries?

THE WEEPING WILLOW –

The weeping willow is a sweeping, weeping dramatic fountain of yellow branches and slender leaves. Like the Grand Canyon is to the Mojave and Sonoran deserts so are the ridges on the trunk of an old, graceful willow. This bark has been used for millennia to ease headache, back pain and inflammation.

A willow is willing. It is one of the first trees to sprout leaves in the spring that help it grow 4 feet a year as a young tree. 

While the branches are weak and the tree susceptible to insect plagues the roots are tough, tenacious and resourceful to secure minerals for life.

In full summer they provide a cool canopy that seems to rain shade where you can sit, dream and bathe within their umbrage.

As a material Willow is a light weight hardwood with a trait of shock resistance but at the same time not too strong. In symbology willows represent the capacity to handle deep and difficult emotions. Their roots aggressively search out water which makes sense because they thrive close to rivers. Osiris, the Egyptian god of the underworld and said to be the power behind the flow and floods of the Nile, was found/born in a clump of willows on the river bank.

Detour 2024

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Detour 2024

We apologize for the inconvenience however next year the route to the usual is not currently available. For the meantime please follow the signs.

On this new route you will see the guy holding the sign that says go slow. Then there will be another person holding a sign that says stop. Then a sign will direct you down a bumpy road.

None of this was part of your plan. So which is stronger- Your frustration or your flexibility?

The route is different than you expected but still valid because it gets you from A to B. However on this route you also travel through C, D, ….X,Y, Z. Maybe in F you found Forgiveness. In I did you feel connected to your Instinct. Possibly in P exists new Perceptions.

On the journey outside of your comfort zone you still had roadside assistance available at every moment whether it was the person sitting in the passenger seat or sleeping in the back seat or waiting for you to arrive safely. Good to know.

Along the way when you stop to stretch your legs in the beautiful roadside park you catch a glimpse of your new best friend in the mirror.

Offer Peace: Part of the OPEN Heart Approach

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Offer Peace

Offer Peace is the twin of Organize Power.

Is the yawing aspect for your OPEN Heart.

OPEN here is an acronym:

Offer Peace – Elevate Next

Offer Peace – Engage Now

Offer Peace- Enter New

What can this OPEN cause in your y life?

The light of the truth and the truth of the light. Here is how.

Curate your lonely with your oration. Oration is not so much a speaking skill as a finesse with force. The force of nature in the moment. Being able to feel it and respond to it while being true to it and you. Different? Difficult? Possible? Yes. Yes. Yes.

Oration is self written connection prayer of the moment. With this kind of tool you can go into the unknown of you and beyond. Which looks like it makes you an oracle. Perhaps for a moment. Or longer.

Nature offers peace – Monday to Friday and on weekends and holidays.

Offering Peace is one of your personal arts of ‘less is more’. Less across the board in terms of words, thoughts, actions, things, movements, needs, wants, selfies, requirements, rules and exceptions. Less obstruction to flow can provoke peace.

Peace is a co-conspirator with flow. The flow of energy through you and onto its next stage. Peace is you participating in the flow as the growing force you are.

The flow benefits from your presence and likewise you benefit from its flowing presence according to how you have aligned your mind.

When you can;

Recognize flow in nature to make yourself more akin to it. There is flow everywhere – all the time:

In the park on the corner

In the bark of a tree.

In the bloom of a flower.

In the water of a creek.

In the rays of the sun.

In the breeze of the wind.

In the blood of your heart.

In the thoughts of your mind.

In the emotion of your soul.

In the moment.

In the moment lives forgiveness for the past, perception about what to do now and a seeking of the light forward.

Be-Longing One of the Many Arts of The Soul.

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Synesthesia is a condition where people who have it say they can hear colour. In other words you say ‘blue’ and they see it in their mind. It affects approximately 3% of the population but jumps to around 20% in the artistic community.

Your soul hears longing. 100% of the population has a soul.

In what direction is your longing pointed? In reverse towards the past? How about longing for a fictitious future; Or perhaps of being urged to purpose.

Can you long for the present?

Can you long for something for someone else. Can you long for people to reach an enlightened understanding of the planet?

Missing a loved one hurts. While it is actually a good indication of your emotional agility it is not the same dynamic as longing.

Longing means you resist running into the arms of your ego when you encounter a moment of local truth. It means you own the feeling of secondary loneliness. Longing is a petition for transformation into a ‘new you’. Longing isn’t saying something is wrong. It says you can sense there is more to the human experience. And you are right.

Definitely longing can make you feel lonely. Yes it requires you to step into the unknown. As a result you can feel like you are lost.

Again that can be a good sign because pioneering the New You is a unique event. This is the experience of engaging your soul in its longing for your growth. Yes your soul longs for your well being and continuance. It might seem silly, and deliver only confusion. Or it might be a plasma of elevation that enables you to make some sense of what you feel.

When we are not frightened by the unknown of ourselves and organize our mind for perception we can experience longing. In daily life this involves applying your scared and flawed ‘you’ to the opportunity of welcoming a better connected ‘you’ that exudes belonging in individual meaning, local community and human purpose.

Be

Belong

Belonging

Longing

So be-longing! Here, there, everywhere. It looks good on you.

3 – Rebranding Your Climate Crisis: The Graceful Scream

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What do you call the art of adhering to the threads of truth as we step into the unknown?

It’s a multiple choice question. There are 9 billion choices. Each person has their art of adherence to the truth they can reach in the moment.

There are also roles or professions that focus their mind on their version of the truth. Or you may pay those people to get you back on track. Be they psychologists, therapists, comedians, managers or your spouse. And how exactly do you pay your spouse?

The planet also is a beautiful resource for rising out of the static,stress and fog of today – to see a few threads of truth dangling above your head – and to reach up.

So what do you call that when you reach for the threads and listen to what they are connected to?

In English we might call it instinct. Like when you go into the unknown of marriage (why is marriage such an unknown?) with space in your heart for where your bruised ego can rest up and try again. It’s that art of creating space so that the light of the people, place and moment can shine on each other.

The supposed climate crisis is a misnomer. We are living in a 300 year pandemic of lack of agility. Emotional Agility. The kind of agility that hosts the light of place, people and moment. It is not a new story. It is not about the planet. It is drama about you and me with threadbare connections to our relationships with the planet, each other and whatever that makes possible.

Patting ourselves on the back that we are saving the planet is an insult to the fact that the planet is alive and adhering to its own trajectory of growth. That trajectory, while inclusive of the human experience, is not dependent upon it. Meaning that even though we have literally shit -the-bed when it comes to the planet/human relationship the planet will still uphold its purpose.

We can too. With Emotional Agility that fosters connecting what we do in daily life with something beyond retirement. Something that petitions us to be of service to the ‘big three’ all at once: people, place and moment. The planet does it gracefully, constantly and reliably.

2-Rebranding Your Climate Crisis: It is actually a Convenience Crisis

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If we take a step back from the headlines no matter where your research, beliefs and opinions land in the climate debate, there may be some insights or perceptions to share.

We are responsible for our actions and we are equally accountable for what we don’t do in the moment.

We as a people have not oriented our religions, education and businesses towards appreciating the capacity of the human. University was formed around the idea of just that: learning the ways of the universe and how we can participate in it. Religion is based on the natural urge to connect higher and the belief that we can do it in community.

Businesses like Big Tech have the finesse and wherewithal to get some momentum going towards human development but it won’t likely happen because our sense of service is dwarfed by our need for status.

So it is up to you and me.

Here we go.

The pollution we generate dirties the air, water and soil of the planet. The residue of these eyes-wide-open ignorances will fester for centuries and probably be filtered out by the planet.

War, however destroys the integrity of man made and naturally developed places it decimates. War with its military industry, is run by many of the same cohort who run big pharma: the rich. Nothing wrong with rich. But, wealth that costs the future is overpriced. That is the cost of war, in a human and planetary sense. So why does it continue? Power. Because we can’t agree on who should have the power. Power regarding people, resources, decision making or how much power that person with the power should have.

Thus we limit perception because if we open up to others and their ideas and initiatives they might be more charismatic and people will follow their leadership and buy their products.

Perception is not a program or campaign. It is what happens when we allow ourselves to see the light of day illuminating the trajectories of flora, fauna, the earth and humans.

Perception is what Rachel Carson had that materialized in her 1962 book Silent Spring. Carson could see the future. She said pesticides are very harmful. She said show some respect. Be responsible for your actions. The point was not to save the planet.

The point is for us to find the way , the reasons, the level of personal development to connect our individual purpose to the greater purpose of human. Whatever that is. And possibly parallel individual/human purpose with planetary purpose. Whatever that is.

Yet only a weak light gets shone on purpose because society demands convenience. That is a problem. Sorry – it’s a crisis. Just look at Chat GPT. Despite the fact that it can potentially lead to many lost jobs and experts fear it’s misuse, we love it. It gets stuff done for you super quick. Can you spell convenience.

Convenience is not a purpose. It is a benefit or a luxury. We are addicted to the convenience of our cell phones. Along the way have made the whole planet a safe injection site yet somehow rendered this beautiful site unsafe. And we just toss away the needle after posting a selfie.

It is vital to know there is no room for despair. The known associates of purpose that can resist our addiction to conveniences are: belief, humility, service and curiosity. If you want, find a way to inject the moment with your version of these human qualities.

Planet earth loves curiosity.