Social media the enemy of creativity?
John Mayer cautioned against seeking out “joy in little, tiny statements – little, tiny applause hits.” -- “I remember playing the guitar through the amplifier facing out the window of my house onto the street in the summer time – that was social media in 1992.”

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Good to see someone's actually making this work as opposed to just talking about it.

I imagine this is a really good platform to share someone's artful creations because each post has its own URL -- a unique and permanent place on the web instead of been locked inside Facebook (or the likes) wall garden -- and so will presumably rise up the search rankings if the 'post' becomes popular.

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Google+ has much more engagement! New interview on ReadWriteWeb with the clever +Richard MacManus .

".... and please write back saying how much money you would like"
How refreshing to do business without lawyers getting involved. Can't imagine it would happen now.

A heart-warming story of possibility for a world of work (or, perhaps a better word, 'play') based on sharing and trust, from +Venessa Miemis

..I’m reclined in an all expenses paid seat in business class on a flight to Berlin. I’m going there for two weeks to collaborate on a video project with a couple of artists I met online, then flying to Amsterdam to present the video to a room full of bankers at the largest financial services conference on the planet. I’m not a media producer, nor do I work in the financial industry. All I can think to myself is “How the hell did I get here?”

Harks to the 'studio production' model of work where, as in the making of a film, we come together to work on a specific project and then disband. Read on...

I love this interview by Gisele Scanlon with local fashion designer Paul Smith. Sir Paul is a top bloke -- open, happy and, in his own words, 'not full of shit!'

... and effect' relationship somewhere here. ;)

I wonder if there's a 'cause...

My kinda revolution.....

(painted on a wall somewhere on the outskirts of Benghazi... via http://twitter.com/#!/ChangeInLibya )

First in a series of posts that will form the basis of material for a course on breaking out of the mental bonds that so many struggle with.

Doubt

The best thing that can happen to you is doubt
Doubt takes you beyond knowing

Doubt takes you beyond the absolute
Doubt takes you into disidentification

Doubt takes you into: “I don’t know”
Doubt takes you into Space
Doubt takes you into Love
Doubt takes you into You …

Where doubt arises,
Love can grow

Where there is doubt,
You are …

Credit: http://wonderwalk.wordpress.com/2011/08/03/doubt/

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Doubt

The best thing that can happen to you is doubt
Doubt takes you beyond knowing

Doubt takes you beyond the absolute
Doubt takes you into disidentification

Doubt takes you into: “I don’t know”
Doubt takes you into Space
Doubt takes you into Love
Doubt takes you into You …

Where doubt arises,
Love can grow

Where there is doubt,
You are …

Credit: http://wonderwalk.wordpress.com/2011/08/03/doubt/

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+Evelyn Rodriguez 's highlighting of this +Tom Anderson post.....

"You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep yourself open and aware to the urges that motivate you. . . "

... speaks of truth to me. There's an inner knowing that speaks in whispers, and that knows exactly what we want and how to get there. Trouble is, those whispers are drowned out by the loud voice of our thoughts, particularly those that reflect our 'own' agenda.

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I'm in Vegas and going to see Cirque du Soleil's O tonight. It made me think of two things I want to share:

First, the story of Gillian Lynne, as told by Ted Robinson at his now famous Ted Talk. (watch the attached video). Truly amazing how this woman's life could have been different.

Second, a quote from a letter written by dancer Martha Graham: "There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is nor how valuable nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep yourself open and aware to the urges that motivate you. . . " If you read this slowly, and think about it a bit, it's really a remarkable statement.

There's so many different people here on G+, so many points of view. I just wanted to encourage everyone to value their own and other's uniqueness. Enjoy :-)

To see the entire video of the Ted Talk, click here: http://bit.ly/r4DjGo

I wish this post would get shared as much as some of my other posts, but I don't have a .GIF or a funny, pithy statement to express the real value in these two related things. Maybe one of the talented artists out there can convey these ideas in graphic form?

Getting better...
In the context of recent troubles here in England I find the words of this song rather appropriate. (thanks +Ash Smith )

But how do we help our kids 'get better'?
Rather than blame or tinker with 'the system', or demonise the disenfranchised, perhaps we need to find teachers/leaders /mentors/whoever who can shine a light on, and affirm, other's worth and potential -- help them find their own voice, so to speak. Just a thought. :)

"All happy families resemble each other, but each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." – Tolstoy

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"...there are times when I catch myself believing there is something that is separate from something else"

Isn't this the single idea that gives rise to the perception that we are separate, small and powerless -- victims of an estranged and precarious Universe seen as existing 'out there', 'outside' of us?

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"The major problems in the world are the result of the difference between how nature works and the way people think." -Gregory Bateson

An Ecology of Mind is a film portrait of Gregory Bateson, celebrated anthropologist, philosopher, author, naturalist, systems theorist, and filmmaker; produced and directed by his daughter, Nora Bateson

13 year old Aidan Dwyer makes solar power breakthrough using the Fibonacci sequence. Bravo!

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Don't the RSA just do a wonderful job of bring good talks to life.

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This is a must see animation adapted from a talk by Ken Robinson. Redefining the Educational Paradigm: http://michelledavella.com/2011/08/redefining-the-educational-paradigm/

the refreshingly outrageous Russell Brand on flirting and creativity...

Clue: To him there's little difference. For me too ;)
Taster: "it's mostly about engagement...about wanting to make a connection that is real" and "... revolution is not about doing something it's about stopping, about allowing it to flood in because it's ever present.."

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Wonderful animation, although must say that I see the 'flow of ideas' thing as much simpler than this.

If we get it that mind is not a 'thing', and therefore cannot be contained within any 'thing', then the idea we are a mind that is corralled within a body starts to lose credibility... and then the idea of separateness (the basis of our 'me mind' identification) can be seen as just a mistake.

If that is the case, we are part of One Mind and all ideas -- past, present and to come -- are available to all of us in every moment... and it is only our identification with the 'me mind' that creates the experience that it is not so.

And so what happens when we get together in a friendly, convivial atmosphere is that we relax -- 'me mind' lets go a little of its incessant need to keep control, and in doing so we actually feel the connection that already exists between us -- the reality of our Oneness... and tap into the infinite ocean of ideas that are available to us all.

So, in feeling our connection, the belief in separateness has a little less power to obfuscate the experience of who/what we really are, and we get just a little taste of the flow of feeling, energy, insight and love that is our Oneness and lies just on the other side of its denial.

Hat tip +Flemming Funch

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Please share your half-baked ideas...

Where do your ideas come from? The slow hunch? Or the sudden inspiration? Steven Johnson says that the most big ideas develop from the "slow hunch" -- a half an idea, that collides with someone else's thinking, and then turns into something bigger. So the key to innovation is the sharing and recombination of half-ideas, dream fragments and incomplete visions -- a place where hunches collide.

It's messy little kitchen, but maybe we'll create something delicious...

The same old patterns of human nature

“The budget should be balanced, the Treasury should be refilled, public debt should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled, and the assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed lest Rome become bankrupt. People must again learn to work, instead of living on public assistance.”

– Cicero, 55 BC

Hat tip +Caterina Fake

"I do not sell me Soul to Apple......"
Sean Connery's letter to Steve Jobs

Once in a while, in the midst of our busy lives, someone stumbles upon something that is truer than anything they've ever seen before. Most who do quickly pick themselves up and walk away, pretending that nothing important really happened. This song reminds me of the few brave ones who refuse to do that.

Tiny Interventions

This little experiment by Improv Everywhere where they place a wooden lectern with the sign ‘say something nice’ in public spaces around New York, reminds me how small interventions can have such profound effects.

I get the feeling that when our 'greatest minds' finally unravel the mysteries of life -- the strangeness of the observer effect in quantum mechanics and all that -- we'll be faced with the shocking truth that we stand at cause in our life, with the Universe as effect; that perception is projection, not fact; that who really are is this changeless presence of awareness in which all that can be observed, and that is subject to change, appears; that who-we-are is the answer we have been looking for.

Maybe it’s only then that it will dawn on our waking minds that we are the Artist – the script writer -- in the story of our life, and the Universe not a mystery to be solved or problem to be fixed, but the pristine canvas on which we are free to express whatever we choose – that this is simply our playground and our classroom.

The thing is, we don't have to wait for that day to learn just how influential we are. We can choose now to witness how seemingly tiny loving interventions fan out like ripples on a lake, bringing untold release in places we would never have imagined. As Gandhi said, "The pure love of one soul can offset the hatred of millions."

Miracles are expressions of love, but they may not always have observable effects. A miracle is never lost. It may touch many people you have not even met, and produce undreamed of changes in situations of which you are not even aware…. A Course In Miracles

But first, we must learn not be dismayed by appearances. We have to recognise that fear, in whatever form it appears or however it is expressed, is nothing more that the perception of absence of Love. Recognising this allows us to hold a place of peace so we hear the reality of the call being made, and respond naturally in kind.

Miracles honour you because you are lovable. They dispel illusions about yourself and perceive the light in you. They thus atone for your errors by freeing you from your nightmares. By releasing your mind from the imprisonment of your illusions, they restore your sanity…. ACIM

Right where we stand we have the opportunity to heal the world. It is only the ego’s voice that protests we are not ready.

The Art of Living
Hat tip: +Lilly Calandrello

Notice how nothing really goes away until we allow it to teach us what it is we need to know?

The Great Awakening

+Umair Haque writes insightfully ( goo.gl/qSulo ) about the 'global metamovement' behind the Arab Spring and recent national revolts. Bug's Life nails beautifully the mind set of those still clinging to the illusion of control.

To me this is symptomatic of a more fundamental universal movement: an awakening conciousness. It is an outer picturing of an inner dynamic: a dis-illusionment of ego mind in the awakening of Self -- the movement from conditioned thinking (over millenia) to Free Will.

If this is true, then the fundamental choice that each of must make is how we choose to see this -- a problem(s) to be solved or a movement to embrace? Which is to say, do we listen to our fearful perceptions or look past those -- to fear's opposite, that lies just beyond.

What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the Is calls a butterfly ... Richard Bach

Hat tip: +Dave Pollard , +Bruce Campbell and +Rod Borghese

'Go with the flow' -- my music-while-I-work this morning.
Have a lovely day people :)

As Will Shakespeare put it, "..nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so"

The way I'll remember Steve Jobs

True stoics are a rare breed. The simplicity and clarity of the principles they live by gives them a power that shines through most everything they do... and that light can act as a beacon for all of us.

Steve commenting on the photograph below:
“This was a very typical time. I was single. All you needed was a cup of tea, a light, and your stereo, you know, and that’s what I had.”

Stay hungry, stay foolish Steve. God bless ya.

iThankyou

If you have an apple and I have an apple and we exchange these apples then you and I will still each have one apple. But if you have an idea and I have an idea and we exchange these ideas, then each of us will have two ideas. .... George Bernard Shaw

I just love Banksy's irreverent style of risqué street art.
It's funny, relevant and ironic all at the same time.... Just makes me grin from ear to ear :)

Google+ and Serendipity
Ever get the feeling that there's a warm wind of Serendipity gently blowing through this place?

With Steve Jobs' passing in mind, I thought I'd put something together -- for my own blog -- about health and healing, and how that relates to resistance in our daily life, and how ultimately all resistance is a resistance to following the path that our inner Being leads us down (as opposed to following whatever idea we hold about 'my path' -- a particularly pernicious form of resistance).

Within 10 minutes of checking G+ I found +Evelyn Rodriguez 's related post about Ho'oponopono (http://goo.gl/KgahV - access by request), a video posted by +Tim Rowe on placebo effects which I could use ( http://goo.gl/PLwfi ), and then a sweet little exchange with +Juliet Bonnay in comments ( http://goo.gl/2lqjS ), all of which helped me crystallise what I needed to say. Wow!

This sort of thing just seems to happen so naturally and easily here. Anyone else notice this, or is it just me?

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"You have to be serious about your happiness. You have to be ruthless about it...."
Absolutely, Lilly. It takes great self-honesty and courage to first discern and then follow the tug-of-love within us, instead of those ancient fears rattling around in our heads.
Have a wonderful weekend!

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Today the sun is shining and the wind has finally died down. Today will be filled with writing the last of one hundred pages of a mid-term paper, Aikido class, fall gardening and some needle-work that needs finishing. I’m treating everything in my life with respect and gratitude and consideration and, for the most part, everything in my life is treating me with the same. This, I feel, is mainly because I’m willing to let go of anything that doesn’t, rather than trying to hold onto knives that have no handles.You have to be serious about your happiness. You have to be ruthless about it. I hope you’re having an equally wonderful start (or finish) to your day!

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"We don't allow faster than light neutrinos in here," said the Aged Dogmatist.
A neutrino walks into a bar.

One Song
To have an intimate connection with the world is to know that whatever can appear in awareness also passes.... and so no longer be fooled into calling appearances 'real', or confuse the Seer with the seen.

"I was so much older then. I'm younger than that now."
This is the video that Apple staffers made as a surprise present for Steve Jobs 30th birthday. The Bob Dylan lyrics seem so appropriate... and (to me) hints at a way to live a fulfilling life -- one that moves others to do the same too -- allow yourself to grow more alive as you grow older.

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I couldn't agree more!
Say thank you when life tastes sweet, and celebrate;
Say thank you when life tastes sour, and grow.

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I saw this great Tweet from Chris Brogan this morning.

It is so true. When someone is giving you great - and especially tough - feedback, the best thing to say, if you can really muster it, is "Thank You!"

If you can take all the energy you are putting into being defensive and direct that toward truly listening, it's magical - sometimes nearly impossible - but magical.

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On delivering real value..
"... the fundamental insight Steve Jobs had was that he focused on the “job.” “Jobs are very stable in a sense and don’t change very much,” he said. For example, Julius Caesar used a chariot to get messages across from one city to another. Fed-Ex uses planes and trucks, he said. The job of delivering the packages hasn’t changed; just how it is done has changed.
...when companies make products that help make everyday stuff easier and get the job of life (or work) done, in the end customers don’t need any persuasion."

If, to you, marketing is about values.. and what you value most is offering what people really need, then the principle here is spot on!

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If you guys get a minute to read this.

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On moving on..
How refreshing to see unbiased, intelligent reporting on the metamovement (http://goo.gl/UJ6ld) as in this video, don't you think?

I believe that when old ways no longer serve us, the wise move is usually to accept that and move on.... walk away from the mess rather than waste more energy trying resolve conflicts that are basically unresolvable. As Carl Jung put it, "The greatest and most important problems of life are all fundamentally insoluble. They can never be solved but only outgrown."

But how to move on? I have no idea, and maybe no-one does... and maybe no-one needs to. Don't you find that when we move forwards with fundamental truths and principles in mind, the next step tends to become clear when we get there, and rarely known in advance. And isn't the next step all we ever need to know?

One thing I feel sure of is that at some point -- if the movement really takes off -- we'll have to let go of the 99%/1%, us/them perspective. That is what got us into this mess, not what will build what is to come. Better, I feel, to let all divisions go and hold out a welcome hand to anyone who is willing to jump.

It’s up to the people. You can’t blame it on the government and say, ‘Oh, they’re doing this, they’re doing that, oh, they’re gonna put us into war.’ We put ‘em there. We allow it. And we can change it. If we really wanna change it, we can change it.
~ John Lennon

Hat tip to +Robert Paterson , +John Nash and +John Kellden for the links.

I will be a hummingbird. I will do the best I can.

Beware of false prophets
"Most people stumble across the truth at some time in their lives. Most jump up, brush themselves off and hurry about their business as if nothing had happened." -- Sir Winston Churchill

…and most of us that do not hurry-away look for someone to help us stabalise that experience. It’s as though we can’t quite accept that the source of the insight and inspiration we experienced came from within us… which of course, would mean that what we have been looking for is US, perfect already. And we couldn’t possibly have that now, could we?

So in that disbelief we go looking for a ‘teacher’ -- other than the one we just discovered – to help us recapture the experience that for one minute seemed so real but now increasingly remote.

We buy his books and CD’s and watch his videos… all the while refusing to look at the truth of who it is that is doing the seeking – the reality hidden behind our self-belief. And when this teacher doesn’t deliver, we go find another. In this way we continue to hide from our Self by acting-out being lost.

Ultimately, it’s insight that unravels complexity and brings doubt to clarity. And -- although life speaks to us in many different ways -- the insight that reveals what is, arises from within. Accepting that the means and the end are One, we can dispense with false prophets. We don’t have to go looking for Love when that is the place we are coming from.

Cartoon credit: http://www.holymolecartoon.com/store.html
Hat tip: +Richard Shelmerdine for the link

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"A book must be like an ice-axe to break the sea frozen within us."

That's the kind of book I aspire to write.
Thank you for reminding me +Juliet Bonnay

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Why Do We Tell Stories
When I began writing in 1987 a friend sent me a quote from Franz Kafka:
"If the book we are reading does not wake us, as if with a fist hammering on our skull, why then do we read it? Good God,we would also be happy if we had no books and such books as made us happy we could, if need be, write ourselves. But what we must have are those books that come upon us like ill-fortune, and distress us deeply, like the death of one we love better than ourselves, like suicide. A book must be like an ice-axe to break the sea frozen within us."
So I write stories to break the sea frozen within me.

No-bull business.
How refreshing this is! I can't imagine this happening today without 'the suits' walking all over it. Roll on the day when trust, not money, oils the wheels of our world. Hopefully, not too far away. :)

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Being stopped.
I don't know whether it's the powerful imagery, the haunting voices that tell of the dark story, or the sublime music here -- maybe all three -- but this simple post by +Doaa Akram stopped me in my tracks this morning. It has irrevocably changed my day... in a good way.

Some things do that, and they are not always pleasant. I say we should be thankful anyway.

BTW, I'm turning the comments off on this re-share to allow the conversation to stay with Doaa.

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A video on verbal abuse of girls. But it applies to anyone. Verbal abuse taints the spirit, and ultimately breaks the soul. The video is made as part of a training program delivered by AnaDigital Jordan.

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Guy Kawasaki's exit letter from Apple is pure genius...very Steve-Jobs-esque! It says a lot about a man who applies the same love and attention to his exits as he does his entrances, don't you think.

Hat tip to +Tom Catalini for the share.

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(Mon04) Cleaning up my office, I found this memento. It's my resignation letter from Apple in April, 1987. Here's the inside scoop. Six months earlier I was up for a performance review. I was a "manager" and up for a promotion to "director." The big deal about a director-level title was that Apple would buy you a car.

So I have my review and was not promoted to director. The person I worked for told me that while small developers loved me, the big three (Microsoft, Lotus, and Ashton-Tate) hated me. Silly me, I thought that was a positive, but that's for another time.

Anyway, I tell Jean-Louis Gassée that I'm going to quit because of this. He tells me not to quit yet because it would be much better to quit with "director" on my resumé than "manager." He said that he was going to be my new manager, and he would promote me to director in the next review cycle in six months.

So I didn't resign, and six months later Jean-Louis promoted me just like he said he would. And two days later, I resigned to start ACIUS, the US-publisher of a Macintosh relational database called 4th Dimension. I figured I should use the ability of Macintosh to integrate text and graphics, so I wrote my resignation letter on MacDraw.

Crazy physics!... Can't begin to imagine how many ways this could be useful, once they sort the everyday practicalities.

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This T. S. Elliot quote reminds me to remind myself not to forget (hope you got that!) that the word 'enjoy' is a verb... and it isn't passive, but something we choose to do. And isn't it also the mark of our gift to the world?

If we look at the root of 'enjoy' ('enjoyen', 'enjoier') it's original meaning -- one that now seems lost to us -- is 'to make joyful' or ' to give joy to'.

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“Time you enjoyed wasting is not wasted time.”

-T. S. Elliot

I swear, one day I'm going to hear this: "Grandpa, were you alive when they had books?"

Hat tip +Vicky Hennegan for the link

Fancy a trip down memory lane?
Just enter the address of the place you grew up and let the memories come flooding back. Then maybe follow the prompt to write a letter (or sketch a picture) to the younger you that lived there then, saying what you really want them to now know. :)

Tip: If your computer is on the sluggish side, close your other browser tabs and applications first. Minimising your main browser window works best for me (after you've entered your address and pressed the 'play film' button).
BTW, Arcade Fire are a wonderful band to see live if the opportunity arises.

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"There is no such thing as a problem without a gift for you in it's hands..."

Do yourself a favour this morning and go pour yourself a fresh tea or coffee, then take a few minutes out to read +Juliet Bonnay 's beautiful cathartic story (below). The message here is true for all of us, but we only get to see it in a moment of presence looking back. The trick is to live knowing that this it is true for you right now. Enjoy this, then go enJoy the rest of your weekend with this in mind. Thank you Julia. :)

BTW, I've disabled comments on this share, so you can click over to Juliet's page to join the conversation there.

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"There is no such thing as a problem without a gift for you on its hands. You seek problems because you need their gifts." Richard Bach.

This is what I learned when my yacht foundered on a sandbar. After Zeehaen was refloated and towed to a slipway, the original owner appeared on aboard as I was dismantling the whole interior and throwing stuff over the side. His shocked utterance, "What a disaster! How can I help," was met with an outburst of laughter and and the bold statement, "This is the best thing that ever happened in my life!" He thought I was nuts. But it was true. It changed the direction of my life - and me - for the better: a gift for which I will always be grateful. Read how on my blog post below...

I'm just about to take myself off for a few days to Grasmere (Wordsworth's village), where I'll most likely be 'unplugged'. Any writing I do will be with an old-fashioned pen on old-fashioned paper.

'Just taking off' is one of my most favourite things -- going 'off the map', as they say -- on a whim, without need for justification. Some would call it irresponsible, but I call it good for the soul. I highly recommend it.

"Joel, you wanna know something? Every now and then say, 'What the fuck.' 'What the fuck' gives you freedom. Freedom brings opportunity. Opportunity makes your future." ....Miles in the film 'Risky Business'.

Have a wonderful week you lovely sapiosexual Plussers. :) x

http://www.forestsidehotel.com/visit-the-lakes.htm

WD-Poetry
I used to think of poetry as one of the little pleasantries of life that -- like Parmesan sprinkled on Spaghetti Bolognese -- is a nice little distraction but does nothing to help you tackle the complex tangle of life that still lies on your plate. Not any more. I know now that a good poem can penetrate the crevices of our carefully constructed belief system, pointing us towards our own blindness, in a way that normal prose cannot. It is WD-40 for the mind, reaching parts that other words can't reach.

Tucked away in a back room of the place I stayed this week (http://goo.gl/W8Bts) I found a fine example of this: an old battered print of a Wordsworth's poem, 'The Tables Turned'. It speaks to me in so many ways I could almost write a book about it, but I'll try to keep this brief... ish! But first, the poem:

Up! up! my Friend, and quit your books;
Or surely you'll grow double:
Up! up! my Friend, and clear your looks;
Why all this toil and trouble?

The sun above the mountain's head,
A freshening lustre mellow
Through all the long green fields has spread,
His first sweet evening yellow.

Books! 'tis a dull and endless strife:
Come, hear the woodland linnet,
How sweet his music! on my life,
There's more of wisdom in it.

And hark! how blithe the throstle sings!
He, too, is no mean preacher:
Come forth into the light of things,
Let Nature be your teacher.

She has a world of ready wealth,
Our minds and hearts to bless—
Spontaneous wisdom breathed by health,
Truth breathed by cheerfulness.

One impulse from a vernal wood
May teach you more of man,
Of moral evil and of good,
Than all the sages can.

Sweet is the lore which Nature brings;
Our meddling intellect
Mis-shapes the beauteous forms of things:
We murder to dissect.

Enough of Science and of Art;
Close up those barren leaves;
Come forth, and bring with you a heart
That watches and receives.

Written over 200 years ago, I bet the wisdom here is more appropriate now than ever before. As always, these things speak to us in our own way but, in no particular order, this is what came to me:

"Quit the books.." .... urges us to embrace the visceral experience of our own life because it's here that we grow. It's in the place where the rubber meets the road of our own experiences (whether they be 'sweet' or 'sour') that we learn -- through contrast -- what gives us joy and what distress, what flows with ease and what is a struggle, what is clearly true and what pretence. How can life reveal itself to us unless we are willing to be in an intimate relationship with it? And can we do that when we live so defensively - distracting ourselves with entertainment or planning for an easier tomorrow!

"Sweet is the lore which Nature brings; our meddling intellect mis-shapes the beauteous forms of things: We murder to dissect." .... speaks of the folly of the scientific approach and analytical thinking (which we so highly regard) that focuses on the objects of perception and tries to understand the whole from parts... or labels the whole thing 'complex' and looks no further. A mind focused like this is no longer open to recognise the canvas on which all objects appear, or the means by which they appear. It has already made the assumption that we stand at 'effect', and not 'cause', in our experience.

"She has a world of ready wealth, our minds and hearts to bless ... As Marianne Williamson puts it, "It is our light more than our darkness which scares us". And so we never really look deep within, we never really allow ourselves to fully present or meet each other without our masks. We are shit scared of reality! But reality is nothing like what we imagine it to be - perception is projection, not fact. As William Wordsworth tells here, when we open our minds to experience it exactly as it is, there is nothing about reality that does not shine in loveliness... and we are inseparable from that.

"Spontaneous wisdom breathed by health,Truth breathed by cheerfulness" ... calls me to get clear about the distinction between intellect and inspiration ("Spontaneous wisdom", "Truth") and between their offspring - intuition and insight.

Intuition brings us what we think we want, insight reveals what is. Intuition comes from the mind that tries to figure things out, insight from the place that already knows. The intellect tries to make sense of the changing objects of perception, insight points us to the broken lens through which separate things appear, and then the unchanging nature of This that sees this. Intuition tries to give us answers to the questions we pose, while insight sits quietly in the background waiting an opportunity to reveal what we refuse to question but really need to know.

"...Come forth, and bring with you a heart that watches and receives." ... this tells me that freedom is a simple choice to come from a different place -- outside the thinking mind -- from our own Being, the place that needs no fixing up because it is already perfect and free. Change the inner script and the outer play must follow. Listen to life's agenda instead of our own, and we are already Home.

Ever noticed that when you determine to follow some '10 tips to boost your creativity', '5 ways to overcome procrastination' or perhaps 'how to find peace through meditation' there's this little tug-of-love inside that whispers that you don't really need to do that? Love flows through us as we listen to this Source, but we ride roughshod over that whisper because we don't believe it could ever be so simple.

And this, to me, is where the full force of Wordsworth's slams head-on with present day understanding.

If Wordsworth words are true and we can, in any moment or situation, simply choose to let our true Genius shine -- "Come forth into the light of things, let Nature be your teacher" and experience "Spontaneous wisdom breathed by health, Truth breathed by cheerfulness" -- then we don't need 10,000 hours of practice for that to happen. And any other form of program, practice or journey that attracts us must be, by definition, a distraction that obfuscates the simplicity of this choice. 'Do battle resistance' and 'tame the lizard mind" is itself resistance, not Flow. It is the language of fear, not Love. The only 'dip' we need cross is the belief that there is something fundamentally wrong with us, because it is only this belief that keeps us 'seeking' and recreating the impression we are held fast within an experience marked by limitation and suffering.

"... a heart that watches and receives." ... This is the kicker for me: Truth knows its own way into our concious awareness. Allow me to be a pain in the ass and repeat that for my own benefit: The truth of who you really Are is already free and knows its own way into our concious awareness. We need do nothing but choose to let it come. As Will Wordsworth points out, it's a choice to listen and receive instead of plan; the choice to relax and allow the feeling of this that we are all apart of to expressed through you in everything you do.

NOTE: This has ended up a lot longer and more 'preachy' than I care for, but I have no mind to edit this right now.

Self healing communities
In spite of its troubles, Britain has a couple of endearing qualities that seem to get it through most things. The first is that we not only tolerate eccentricity, but we actively welcome it. Silliness and absurdity are good here, and we have plenty of it (witness the drop-down box for 'Title' on the Royal Opera House registration here -> http://goo.gl/cWdlr ... How posh are we!). We even have a political party founded upon it (http://goo.gl/WfnMq).

But to understand why it so revered, you need to understand the second quality -- a rather peculiar form of humour that uses silliness, pompousness and any other form of posturing as raw material for good natured exposure. You find this in healthy families and workplaces, but it's in traditional English pubs that it's most visible. There you see little groups engaging in a form of mockery and character assassination that anywhere else in the world would be classed as mental abuse.

A lot of this is quite subtle, and difficult to at first detect. A pompous, self-righteous or boastful person will often be encouraged ("Oh, did you really?" "Do tell us about it!") purely to harvest material that can then be carefully laid out, in all its mis-glory, for everyone to laugh at. If you have a tendency to take yourself a little too seriously or enjoy the sound of your own voice - beware! Any attempt to impress will have the exact opposite effect. And nothing is sacred. Don't be surprised if you walk into your 'local' with a new girlfriend and -- after the initial pleasantries -- your sexual prowess is immediately brought into question!

Most foreigners just don't know what to make of this, and tend to give these groups a wide birth in case they their own persona becomes fodder for their teasing too.

But look close and you'll see there's nothing at all sinister here. Even though insulting or even heated words may be used, the relaxed postures and quick smiles reveal something else is going on. Teasing is a sign that you are liked, in spite of the mask you wear -- your faults and follies are amusing, not distressing. Watch carefully and you'll see there are as many perpetrators as 'victims' - everyone and everything is fair game... and even though nothing is off limits, everyone ends up laughing.

It's laughter therapy of the most brutal kind, but by God it works. No matter what kind of day you're having, you cannot leave without feeling humbled, yet closer and better. (BTW, my kids are all experts at this. They know just how to keep each other -- and me -- real. They are masters of irony, and can keep such a straight face that it's often hard to tell whether they are joking and teasing, or not).

Look closer still, and you can actually see a well-defined structure to all this:
The unwritten 'constitution’ prescribes reciprocity, equality, the pursuit of intimacy and a tacit non-aggression pact. There's also two unspoken commandments enshrined in this ritual, knowledge of which is mandatory for effective participation. The first is: 'Thou shalt not take anything, especially yourself, too seriously.' And the second: 'Be prepared to laugh at yourself, because you most surely will be teased." These unwritten rules are not at all restrictive or inhibiting -- quite the opposite -- they are designed to crack the toughest shells, opening to more communication and to places we would normally never dare to go. And finally, the golden-rule that ties this all together is, 'don't forget to laugh!'

But here's the beautiful paradox of this ritual: It is both social-bonding on steroids AND it gives you permission to go and express your Self without holding back (regardless of the outcome of that Self expression and no matter what fears or foibles come to the surface in the process). You are free to be as eccentric as you like when 'eccentricity' is cherished... and fear of failure or ridicule disappears completely when the idea of 'everyone laughing' includes you! It's the perfect environment to learn and grow.

It also allows for arguments that are incredibly joyful affairs, where real meaning is created.

Steve Jobs was aware of the effect of this (although I'm not so sure he fully understood the 'why' and the 'how' of it). He told Tim Cook, "My model for business is The Beatles. They were four guys who kept each other’s kind of negative tendencies in check. They balanced each other and the total was greater than the sum of the parts." What actually happened was throughout the massive changes and pressures from suddenly being shot to stardom, they engaged in this same good natured barracking that kept them grounded, kept them cheerful and kept them creative. You saw this every time they were together, in interviews and in private, 'on screen' and off.

This is a great model for business, but it also a great model for any community.

There are many 'serious professional types' who would scoff at the frivolity of this simple approach and question its relevance to the big issues we face today, but I would disagree. Restoring and maintaining the happiness and wellbeing of your people as 'job 1', is to put the horse back in front of the cart... and it's only from this place that we are truly creative. And that's all we need do. The resulting inspiration and new found creativity takes care of the rest. When you have the ability to create what we really want, you no longer have to worry about what you don't.

So... don't forget to laugh! :)

DEDICATION: I dedicate this post to my four children -- Jedi Masters in the art of persona dissection and playful teasing, and to my partner and step daughter who had such a shock walking into this... but are now appear more real, more radiant and more lovely because of it.
PHOTO CREDIT: +Chung Huynh #Glia

RESHARE:
Unaccustomed as I am to keeping schtum, I shall resist commenting on this share... because to do so could only detract from the message. Thank you +Mylinda Montroy

Reshared text:
Lennon always had a way about him...

Here it is....

"If the path before you is clear, you are probably on someone else's.".... Joseph Campbell.

Many who attempt to follow Joseph Campbell's advice of "follow your bliss" get frustrated when they get no clear sense of direction, and it doesn't help when everywhere we turn there's another book or 'guru' espousing 'find and follow your passion'.

The thing is, the quiet 'voice for bliss' is more likely to encourage us to get rid of the clutter in our lives than tell us where to go or what to do, urging us to to get rid of the unnecessary -- stuff, commitments, grievances, self-centered concerns -- in order to truly appreciate what remains. It knows that it is only as we get in touch with ourselves that we touch the lives of others.

The problem is we don't want to pointed back to where we are now, or told that the path we are looking for is the one we are on. Hell, that is what we are trying escape from isn't it! So we ignore it because it's not the answer we want.

The idea that we must go on some kind of journey to experience the fullness of well-being has ancient roots, planted in a mistaken belief in our unworthiness. And so our mind will do anything except allow our attention to settle into this present moment and discover what is true and present now.

But still... behind every feeling of hurt, distress, anger or guilt there is this unwavering little voice that whispers, 'Let this go, because behind this here it is.....

Word of the day: Convocation

1.. (Latin: 'calling together') A group of people formally assembled for a special purpose... Wikipedia. 
2.. A gathering of Eagles

Love how both its meanings capture the idea of our 'circles' here, don't you think?

P.S... Still on self-imposed sabbatical here, hopefully back soon. Have a great week! :)

RESHARE:
For all you fellow stepfathers out there, I highly recommend reading this article.

For a long time I felt caught between a rock and a hard place in my relationship with my own stepdaughter. On the one hand I wanted to respect her parents wishes to protect their daughter themselves from her knowing the gory details of their split. On the other, I was aware of her feelings that it must be I who was the spoiler in her happy little world. :(
As I mentioned in the piece ‘Self healing communities’ (http://goo.gl/xMgMg), it was a special sense of humour that allowed us to take ourselves lightly, which eventually washed the perceived differences away and brought us together. :)

Thank you so much +Giselle Minoli.

Reshared text:
My dear International Google+ Friends...some of whom I just know are Step Parents:

I write a column on stepparenting and this week, in honor of the men in our lives, I wrapped up a series of articles about this topic from a man's POV, the particular man I chose to interview being Chuck Semich, a family therapist who also writes an advice column for remarriageworks.com, a site dedicated to helping those in blended/step family life.

The multiple male family "roles" that Semich plays in his own life - son/stepson, father/stepfather, husband/mentor/therapist/friend...and now widower - give him a unique perspective on many of the complex issues men face in the cycle of marriage, divorce, remarriage, fathering and stepfathering...and parenting in general.

It was a privilege interviewing this kind, thoughtful, and wise man about how to sustain love, build trust and enhance personal relationships. The attached link is to the first article in the four-part series, with links to the other three within.

Thank you so much for reading (and sharing with other stepparents) if you have the time and inclination.

Yours, Giselle

A little treat for my lovely G+ friends this afternoon. Enjoy :)

RESHARE:
I came across this quotation just now and had to take a moment of pause. These words speak so powerfully to me.
(never been into the star-sign 'thang', but I'm a Libran too!).
Thank you +Yvette Bonilla-Leach

Reshared text:
I'm proud to be a Libra with Gandhi and John Lennon. :)

"Two men look through prison bars, one sees the mud the other the stars"

There are two entirely different ways for us to think and see. Both are motivated by what we expect to find… and want to be true. One looks for what is wrong and finds a world made to meet its expectations. The other looks for a light it vaguely remembers, but cannot find with eyes that see the world through the darkness ‘our world’ is meant to hide. But it persists, because the light in us isn’t satisfied with anything less than what is true. It looks for the goodness and love within itself that embraces all it sees, recognising everything like itself and part of what it is.

Wishing everyone a truly grateful 11.11.11 and a peaceful, magical weekend! :)

Hat tip +Lilly Calandrello (inspiration for this post), and +Hugh MacLeod (http://gapingvoid.com) for the cartoon

Banksy

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I know there are many who would call Banksy's work vandalism, not art... but I think that we (I mean my fellow Englishmen) ought to make him a national treasure... just for the joy of being able to laugh at our own insanity as we drive to work in the morning. In fact, while we're at it let's give him the freedom of the streets... and kudos to him for not getting caught for so long. Thank you Banksy.

Banksy

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Transformation

I saw the bars behind his eyes
and immediately reached for my pliers
but he threw his hands before his face.
Those bars are permanently in place,
he cried, to keep out thieves and liars... John Wareham

We're very pretty well versed now in the mechanics of change (evolutionary processes, Maslow's hierarchy of need, complex systems and emergence etc etc) but the awareness of an alternative dynamic -- transformation, usually only appears on our horizon after an epochal event in our lives.

Now and again something happens -- often unannounced in the midst of going about our everyday living -- which totally confounds everything we, and virtually everyone else, believes to be true. These experiences make no sense whatsoever... and, try as we might, there is no way and nowhere for us to attach it to our existing model of reality and the web of beliefs that we have spent a lifetime carefully nurturing and protecting.

This is the quintessential 'red-pill / blue-pill' moment... because deep inside we know, beyond any shadow of doubt, that if we allow this experience to remain centre stage in our life, it will systematically dismantle everything that we have held as true, and shake to its foundations everything that we cling to that is subject to change... in order for THIS that we have glimpsed to stand unchangeably, incorruptibly, all powerfully, brilliantly and radiantly true in our lives.

These 'burning bush' experiences, though they carry the potential for transformation, are not the important thing (in fact they are probably only necessary for people who, like me, are so hell bent on another path that we unable to see an alternative). They are merely illustrative of what could be. It's what we do with them afterwards that make all the difference.

We allow them to drift away into memory because there is no middle ground. If one perspective is true then the other is completely false and visa versa. Each one is the denial of the other... and that is way way too much for us to handle (yet!). As Churchill put it, "Most people stumble across the truth at some time in their lives. Most jump up, brush themselves off and hurry about their business as if nothing had happened."

Let me tell you about one such experience from a while back:

I started my first business in my late teens after leaving home at 15 with just a basic schooling. I was determined to make my own way in the world but in my early twenties, with the business growing a lot faster than my capabilities, I thought it best I got myself a modicum of business education. And so one day I found myself sat at the back of a room full of corporate types listening to a lecture by John Wareham on the 'Secrets of a Corporate Head Hunter'.

I listened intently not because the material was so interesting (it was), but because I had to. You see, the lecturer was afflicted by the worst stutter I had ever heard. As I listened, I was willing that his words come out more easily for him, and as I did I began to really admire this man who had the balls to talk at a lectern for 3 hours -- in front of mostly seasoned leaders and industry captains -- with such an impediment. Anyway, on some level he must have sensed my empathy and in the break he came over to chat.

He had seemed to be far older and wiser than his years (he later told me he deliberately groomed himself to appear this way), but close up I realised he couldn't have been that much older than I was. As we chatted and made friends I think we both sensed that, although we were from totally different backgrounds, we connected as two young men striding out into the world of business on nothing more than a wing, a prayer and a few good ideas. 'Bottle' and 'bare-faced cheek' were our weapons of choice.

Later that year, just after Christmas, John sent me a piece he'd written telling me about something that had just happened to him. This is what it said:

It was five o'clock on the Friday before Christmas and he was standing in the Grand Central Station at the bottom of the escalators that cascaded a slow motion cargo of jaded executives down and out of the Pan Am building. He'd been there all week and I'd seen him every night. He faced the descending throng and, catching any eye that would look, he would softly intone "Merry Christmas" or "Hello". Only that. He wasn't soliciting or proselytising or selling records. Just saying "Hello" or "Merry Christmas".

"He's crazy", explained a woman behind me to a friend.

"Crazy", I said, turning. "Is it crazy to say 'Hello'?"

"It is in New York", she answered.

He was in his early 30's, had shoulder length blond hair and a modest beard. He stood about five-ten, was neatly dressed, in corduroy trousers, a shirt and a jacket. He might have had some beads around his neck but I didn't think he was from California. It was his voice, however, that caught my attention. It made a beautiful, soft, mellifluous sound as he said "Hello" and "Merry Christmas". Sometimes both.

I was leaving work and my wife had met me. "He's there again", I said.

"Who?"

"Just a fellow saying 'Hello'"

Riding the escalators down on that Friday before Christmas, I was both fascinated and sad on his behalf. Almost everybody avoided his eye and darted off. One or two people looked at him warily. Nobody said 'hello ' or 'Merry Christmas'.

I decided to say "Hello" but was past him with the Christmas crowd before I could stop. "I'll just go back and say hello to him", I said to my wife.

"Don't look into his eyes", she cautioned. "These cult people can get you if you don't watch out." I laughed at her naivete.

I walked to him from behind. "You're not Father Christmas?", I said.

He turned, caught by surprise. "I beg your pardon?"

"You're not Father Christmas?", I said again. The joke falling a little flat and me with it.

"No no", he said.

"And you're not a Moonie, or a Hare Krishna, or anything like that?"

"No", he said. "I'm the son of God".

It was a matter-of-fact statement; not pompous; not strange; not, the way he said it, odd at all. But still I was vaguely disappointed at the prospect of a conversation with just another Grand Central cultist.

"Not really", he said; as if seeing my thoughts, "no more than you are; we're all the son of God, aren't we?"

"Ah yes", I replied, slightly relieved by his non jealous tone. "That we are"_

Then I looked into his eyes, and from that moment I just haven't been able to get him out of my head.

It was as if time ceased in those eyes. They were like two deep black pools. Deep black pools that I was swimming into. "Can this be real?" I thought, as I stood there transfixed by two infinitely deep dark shimmering lakes.

It was like looking into my own unconscious, or catching sight of a million darkening reflections in two barbershop mirrors. I was suddenly quite lost as his soft mellifluous voice masked all the sounds of Grand Central Station. At that moment there seemed to be only the two of us standing in the middle of nowhere. Everything, everyone had disappeared. I heard his voice but didn't see him.

"All religions have there truth", said the soft mellifluous voice; then he grasped my hand with both of his and held it a moment. "Merry Christmas, my friend, Merry Christmas"

Gradually I became aware of the people about me again. Receding from the darkness of his eyes I held his gaze for a long moment, now able to focus on his whole face. It was gentle, friendly, alive, sympathetic.

In that instance I sensed his own awareness and delight of having made contact with a face from the descending throng. More than that, he saw that I recognised his gratification. It was one of those rare, fleeting, curiously magical moments: a fluttering candle in the dark caverns of Grand Central Station, that daily crossroads of a million lives where no one ever meets.

"And to you", I said, now drawing away, trapped once more within the catatonic tempo of the city that never wakes; conscious that I must hurry to my wife, dinner and a Broadway show.

"That fellow had the strangest eyes", I said to her.

"Told you not to look", she laughed. We both laughed.

But that night, in the theater, I just couldn't get him out of my head.

Immediately after the holiday break, I took the escalator down from the Pan Am building to Grand Central, as indeed I do every night.

He wasn't there and he hasn't been back since.

But I just haven't been able to get him out of my head.

John went on to build an international executive search and management consultancy and later still, to set up the Eagles Foundation of America that's having amazing results in helping some of America's most hardened and institutionalised prisoners overcome the legacy of their past and go on to live powerful and productive lives on the 'outside'. As for me, I had my own epiphany a little later -- a meeting of minds that I guess led me to be sat here now writing this. But that's a story for another day.

The point I'm trying to make in recounting this, is that connecting with each other changes us profoundly, whether with strangers or those we regard as close to us. We cannot truly connect with each other without being more aware of who really Are, without our egos cracking just a little, and without feeling the warmth of our true nature. And it's this warmth that melts our mask to reveal an ease and clarity of mind where our truly creative Self is able to shine clear and free.

So maybe we don't have to sit crossed legged in an Ashram or on a mountain for years of quiet contemplation to curb our wayward thoughts and overactive monkey-minds; don't need to become an ego archaeologist, go through therapy or re-examine the crime scenes of our life to find our peace and power. I know for sure we don't need to look for someone claiming to be the son of God, pour over some sacred texts or spend our days looking for a 'soul mate' to have a truly happy and creative life.

That old saw 'the treasure we seek is within us' is true enough, but isn't its meaning lost to us when we try to find it on our own? If our real nature really is Love then how can that be known unless we find it in our connection -- as we allow it be expressed! And do we need anyone's permission, or any preparation, in order to let that happen?

I believe all it takes is the willingness to be defenseless, to let our masks slip just a little so we can recognise each other as we really are. To me, this is the short cut -- the simple, easy stepping out of Plato's cave into the sunlight of our own genius to where the real fun begins.

I also believe this is the potential of what is happening for many of us here on Google+ -- a place not constrained by time or space that we can use for the meeting and opening of our minds. These connections we are making, when we appreciate them, can be miracles... don't you think?

Beauty and Truth
It's almost this boy's bedtime... but before I turn in I thought I'd share these photos. As you look through them how about holding in your mind this one thought: The beauty I see resides in the mind that beholds it.
Sweet dreams everyone.

(hat tip +Derek Sivers +Jonathan Fields for the link)

Bedtime reading: Wild Geese by Mary Oliver

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting--
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.

Good night everyOne. ♥

Truthiness

I love it when people have the balls to just stand up say how they really feel. Not only do they make themselves real but it cuts through everyone's bullshit, wakes everyone up, helps us all come alive.

Many of us have difficulty being on the recieving end of truthiness and don't like it when someone points out that we (the Emporer) are naked. But waking up to our own blindness often is painful. I'd take this any day -- it's such a small price to pay. And many object when the language or delivery is a bit extreme... but sometimes we have to call a spade a f**king shovel to show what a spade really is. As always, it's the place we are coming from not the words we use that makes the difference.

A fine example here from my fellow countryman Nigel Farage... courtesy +Stacie Florer ( who I'm hoping will forgive me for not posting this as a 'reshare' of her original: http://goo.gl/6duAC )

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P.S. Just for the record, I hold no particular political affiliations or points of view. I'm not really concerned about the the whys and wherefores of what has gone before — I just know that the old systems are broken and we now need something completely different. So I’ve kinda adopted the Bucky Fuller philosophy, “You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.”

What I’m gradually learning is that creating organisations where serendipitous 'flow', open communication and mutual support are the norm is far easier than I (for one) ever imagined it could be... I suspect because these traits align with our true nature.

A question for the 100%: What kind of governance do we need now to enable the future that we really want?

In the previous post (http://goo.gl/drJLi) I mentioned that I believed that our existing political and organisational systems are broken, that we could with something completely different going forward, and that I agree with the Bucky Fuller philosophy, “You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.”

+ed connell then replied: “ I've been pretty much saying the same thing myself for the past few months. So far I've been drawing a blank on what the new model might be, however. Any ideas?”

I posted a comment in reply, but then realised just what an excellent question Ed asks. So I’ve cut and pasted my comment below (unedited because I’m going to bed now) and invite the thoughts and ideas of my G+ friends. I’ll catch up in the morning. Sleep well everyone. :)

Here's my pasted comment:

+ed connell "Any ideas?".... Yes I have, but hardly enough space to respond adequately within a comment Ed (but I will post on this topic). I think the first hurdle we need to get over is the idea that democracy is the be-all and end-all off enlightened governance. Here’s an alternative idea:

Perhaps an ‘open-sourced meritocracy’ would serve us far better. ‘Open sourced’ in that the structure of governance itself be an ever evolving process in which anyone who cared could contribute (thinking on-line public forum here). ‘Meritocracy’ being a meritocracy of ideas, as opposed to people. Nothing is set in stone, everything a work in progress.

[Edit: The responsibility for 'great ideas' would no longer rest with an elected few but would come from anyone, anywhere, at any time. By organising around ideas instead of people we get the additional benefit of removing the personal politics and power plays that have tended to eventually infest most organisational systems, and you remove the need for separate competing parties.]

Leadership could be fluid and flow to whoever would benefit the most in each particular time and situation (as happens in a healthy family with children) i.e. to those who are most ‘ready’ and willing (who coincidentally would probably be the most effective). Such a system would favour consent over consensus, allowing those who have been granted consent to have the responsibility to make their own decisions, to act free of the bureaucracy that comes with centralised control (I believe the need for consensus is a relic of our fear based past -- needing a majority to agree on everything reflects a lack of trust. Consensus on the other is granted based on trust, and comes from fear’s opposite!)

Instead of a system of checks and control, decisions would be subject to ‘show and tell’ (again, the on-line public forum) where people can see what is happening and why, and can offer feedback.

‘Government’ itself in such a system could be minimal -- probably a council of elected 'wise elders' (probably unpaid, working for the love of it) to safe guard the ‘sacred scrolls’ (as mentioned above ‘open sourced’, debated and co-created publicly) but who had the power of veto to check any self-destructive tendencies of the young bloods who are actually running the show.

Just an idea!

On the turning away

Good morning my lovely G+ friends.
I'm browsing the posts and comments here and beginning to appreciate just what a wonderful place we are creating. Already we have dinner table conversations, photo studios, kitchen gardens, jewellery workshops, boudoirs, classrooms, rowdy cafés and kids hanging on street corner. Fantastic!

We have people sharing amazing insights and others just creeping up on speaking up... some who delight in sharing their joy, others gaining courage to express how they really feel... and what it is that holds them back. This feels so right, so like Home to me.

As the daytime is stirring
Where the speechless unite
In a silent accord
Using words you will find are strange
And mesmerised as they light the flame
Feel the new wind of change
On the wings of the night
No more turning away
From the weak and the weary
No more turning away
From the coldness inside

I love you people. Just saying.
.

Rules for Radicals

”Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage”… Anais Nin

It takes courage to trust... but for budding artists, entrepreneurs and seekers of truth alike, these same rules apply:

• 100% commitment is effortless, 99% can be as hard as hell… because wherever there is less than total commitment there is conflict, and wherever conflict, a battle to be fought and won.

• The less the courage, the greater the conflict, the greater the battle. In any battle all cover is temporary... so you can never truly relax, you constantly have to keep moving.

• Trust trumps good intention and willfulness every time, because trust negates fear... which unwinds conflict, which strengthens commitment.

Something in you knows that without Self trust (capital 'S'), the fullness of life that is waiting for you will remain a mystery, and you will never know that it is you who moves the clouds and makes the phone ring and reveals how ridiculous it is to mistrust that which can never fail you even as it snatches your crutches from under you to show that you always could walk free.

Time for this bear-of-little-brain to hit the hay, I think. It will be quiet here over the next few days, as I have a piece of work that I'd like to get up close and personal with until it is done.

I'll leave you with these mellifluous words from our great Bard, which I dedicate to you thee. Enjoy the rest of your week. :)

When the pot breaks

When you can no longer hold it all together, and your pot breaks into scattered pieces,
Who is this whose voice declares: “I am broken”?

Dare you leave the pieces where they lie,
and trust in This that looks upon the devastation and sees it is not that?
.

When failure works.

This is the follow-up to the last post -- 'When the pot breaks' (http://goo.gl/fcVmu) -- but this part is for me alone. A bit narcissistic I know, but it is a reminder for me to “be my message” and not just talk it, about actually living the only life I really want to live.

When I try to push forward with what I want to learn I struggle (and pushing has become a way of life for me). When I try to explain things I don't yet understand I struggle. When I try to organise all this, I struggle. When I try to keep all the pieces together I struggle. Trying no longer works for me, in any shape or form.

Always with this struggle there is low-level background un-ease which, if I am willing to tolerate it, morphs into feeling unwell. 'Unwell' is my wake up call -- a the tap on the shoulder that tells me to let go of the pieces and surrender in defencelessness to All That Is (all thoughts, all feelings, all circumstances -- exactly as they are). It's a reminder to say ‘fuck that, get real’ -- drop that mask no matter how messy, mundane or unenlightened that may look to the world.

When I do this stuff shifts, life flows, things get creative again... and ohhh, that sweet surrender and Home! So for me, failure works. It seems it's only when I fail that I actually get somewhere.

Why on earth do I choose to learn through pain instead of joy? God only knows! (although writing this now, maybe because I need the contrast). All I know is that I must be the most unwilling student that has ever walked this way.

The line "It was already late enough..." from Mary Oliver's poem 'The Journey' hits home with me now:

One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began,
though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice-
though the whole house
began to tremble
and you felt the old tug
at your ankles.
“Mend my life!”
each voice cried.
But you didn’t stop.
You knew what you had to do,
though the wind pried
with its stiff fingers
at the very foundations,
though their melancholy
was terrible.
It was already late
enough, and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen
branches and stones.
But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do–
determined to save
the only life you could save.

A strong message and good history lesson here from Douglas Rushkoff

It seems real progress is rarely made by those who choose to fight the status quo. It's those who live at the edges, focused on getting clear about what it is we really want to create, who tend to do that. And it's good when someone helps clarify that.

Hat tip +Flemming Funch for the link (http://goo.gl/x2xZY). Written for the human microphone at Zuccotti Park:

I am humbled and honored to be amplified by your voices.

You are not fighting against people, but against a machine.
It was put in place over 500 years ago.
By a wealthy elite – trying to repress a booming peer to peer economy.
Those people are all dead, but their program lives on.

They invented an operating system called central currency.
People who used to trade directly,
were now forced to borrow money from the king’s bank at interest.

The elite also invented software for that operating system.
It was called the chartered monopoly. Today we call it the corporation.

It is a program designed to extract value.
It has legal monopoly over its industries.
We are legally prohibited from creating and exchanging value
unless we do it through the corporation.
We cannot work unless we have a “job.”

We outsource our work, we outsource our savings, we outsource our borrowing,
we outsource our investing – all instead of sourcing one another.

This 13th Century, printing-press era operating system
is incompatible with a 21st Century economy.
It is broken and dying. But it is still occupying our reality.

Too many are mistaking this operating system – for the way things are.
They see the Occupy Movement as the impediment.
No. We are not asking for wealth to be redistributed.
We are asking for the redistribution to STOP.

The Long Extraction is Over.

The peer to peer society is back.
We are ready to create and exchange value as people.

They say that the Occupy Movement has no leadership.
They are wrong.
You are the leaders

The rest of us are your followers.
What you do here – shows what we can do out there.

You are the classroom – we are the students

You are the experiment – we are the results.

You are the proposition – we are the resolution.

If you can sleep under tarps
the rest of us can tell your story to our children at bedtime

If you can resist the cops.
The rest of us can resist the market and the mall

If you can live on shared food
The rest of us can buy and grow local crops

If you can live with no money
The rest of us can start using alternative currencies

If you can stand firm in the streets
The rest of us can stand firm in our foreclosed homes
and stand with our neighbors in theirs.

If you can occupy Zucotti Park
The rest of us can occupy reality.

And by that same logic:
As the nights get colder,
as the Mayor grows less tolerant,
or as the police get more violent,

Remember that you have already won.

Whatever happens in this square,
the day you leave is not the day you have lost
it is not the day you have surrendered.

It is the day you have spread out.
It is the day you have declared a bigger battlefield.
It is the day you teachers and we students become the same.

It is the day we Occupy the World.