Fascinated By The Flow

Late in the afternoon yesterday I ran along the mouth of the Alsea River, which pours into the Pacific Ocean through a sleepy Oregon town called Walport. The tide was going out and I was running along the powerful current that was rambunctiously interacting with the ocean in the form of waves in every direction and whirlpools. The energy of the flow was amazing.  I can still feel it as I write this almost four hours later.

Flow is a word I love because it feels so alive and in the moment. I was thinking about the kind of flows that happen in our life.

There is the timeline flow from birth until the big chill.

There is the flow that is us before this lifetime and will continue on for infinity.

There is the flow of our breath that when watched is called meditation.

There is the flow of the love in a variety of relationships we enter into and sometimes exit in a bumpy way.

There is the flow of blood in its dance with our heart.

There is the flow of energy on meridian pathways called chi.

There is the flow of inspiration that comes to us when we create.

There is the flow of prosperity when we tap into a greater source.

There is the flow of night to day and the cycles of the moon.

There is the flow of insights when we are open to growth.

And all the other wonderous flows we are blessed to partake in.

 It is a wonderful feeling to tap into the flow of the gifts of life with appreciation and gratitude?

Still feeling the high current of the ocean/river merging I feel myself wandering how we create a flow in our own life? The flows above are part of our lives but what if we want to make something happen? Can our intention create a flow? Can living our purpose be a powerful flow?

What flows do I want to create as something I leave with the planet when I come to the end of my time as a physical body. Several flow projects come to mind immediately:

One is an ever-expanding flow of compassion and loving-kindness. This flow is innate within us if we keep our hearts open. If we close down along the way and many of us do sometime or another, then how can we find the way to take down the walls and let the flow go? More loving-kindness and compassion would be a really good thing at this point in human history.

Another flow is toward higher consciousness, which is part of the plan of our soul. Abraham Maslow, who studied what was healthy about people, believed we have to continue to grow to feel okay about ourselves. That makes sense and awareness and insight into who we are expands our consciousness. The more conscious we become the more the collective consciousness expands. That would also be a good thing.

I seem to have arrived at the similar two important topics as I did in yesterday’s blog post. Maybe this is about how do I enter into a greater flow living vibrantly and purposefully with these two directions of compassion and loving-kindness, and expanding consciousness? I know they are both needed. I also know I have a passion for them and the skills to deliver.



Clarifying Intention Enhances Attention

When I look out at the ocean, I am impressed by its power and beauty and its rhythm. This rhythm of expansion and contraction, of wave in and wave out, of tides that give and take, of massive concussion to quiet ripple. There is no battle, just flow, no worry about the future or concern about the past. There is just the ocean being itself free of expectations.

(My view this morning as I went for a walk.)

My walks often turn in meditations along the shores of the Pacific. This landscape is about the now and is full of insights for the listening heart. I see myself more clearly in the simplicity of nature undisturbed by the chaos of much of life. There is a further shift, I sense, needs to happen. I listen even more deeply.

How do you bring about a deeper change when you know it needs to happen? Sometimes all that is needed is just a small shift and everything falls into place. Other times the work that is required involves a whole new outlook.  What kind of change do you need, small shift or major renovation?

It seems my outlook is good, my mind open, my heart is more than willing so making a small shift seems to be what is called for at this point in life. There was a big shift here to this new home. Now fine tuning is about being ready for success. I listen even more deeply for the knowing in me beyond the ordinary mind. My intention is to do what is needed and I await the guidance.

Intention and attention come to mind. My intention needs to be adjusted in a way that opens things up. Once my intention is clear then I can put the attention of my mind and heart on what I want to do. Spreading light and love has been my intention and I am sure that is what I want to be doing however I need to spell that out more clearly.  What I want to do is raise the collective consciousness and spread the importance of compassion and loving-kindness.  That feels right as I write it.

If my intention is to raise the collective consciousness I can do that in several ways at least. The first is to raise my own consciousness and meditation and mindfulness are wonderful practices for doing so. I will expand those practices in my life.

The second way is to invite others to raise their consciousness and I am doing that by writing, blogging, and social networking. I will expand that by creating opportunities to give talks, presentations and workshops. 

If my intention is to spread the importance of having compassion for self and others and to practice loving-kindness then I must do that first with myself and with those I interact. I can also write, blog, and social network about why compassion is needed and how loving kindness enriches us all. Out in the world I can create opportunities to share these ideas including talks and workshops.

The fine-tuning or smalls adjustment process is ongoing. The feedback is the results I create. So if things start happening then I am heading in the right direction. I am looking forward to things happening in a more vigorous way.

All Your Feelings Belong To Your Thoughts

All your feelings towards others happen inside your own mind.

No one ever makes you feel anything. 

What you feel about others is what you think about them.

I wanted to highlight this idea that you and I have feelings about people and circumstances because of what we think about those people and those circumstances. This flies in the face of the idea that “they make me feel this way.” That person would have to be amazingly powerful to enter into your mind and shape your thoughts. Another person cannot create the thoughts in your mind even though you may want to blame them for doing so. 

There are two reasons this is so important to understand.

The first reason is that if you take full responsibility for your feelings, you are in a much more powerful place than if you blame others. Blaming others puts you in the role of “victim” and “poor me.”

The stronger and more empowered viewpoint is to say, “All the feelings happening in me are caused by my thoughts.” If you are angry, hurt, mad, disappointed or whatever feelings come up in relationship to others and situations, then you know you have to look at what you are thinking. You can always change your thoughts about any person or situation.

An example might be that someone didn’t live up to your expectations and you feel disappointed or angry. Instead of blaming them, you can say, “I had unrealistic expectations so I can change my thoughts or I can instead have compassion for them and their struggles.” 

There is no personal power in blaming and putting yourself in the role of the victim of other people’s words and actions. You are the creator of your response to the world. You are much more powerful if you take full responsibility for how you feel.

The second reason is that if you take full responsibility for how you feel, then you change the dynamic of all your significant relationships. If you understand that your feelings belong to you than any issues with your partner, you parents, your children, and your co-workers are about how you think about them, not about how they make you feel. 

This taking responsibility for your reactions to another makes most of the relationship issues much easier to deal with. Your partner does not enter your mind by doing something that irritates you and causes you to have certain feelings. What happens is that you are thinking certain thoughts that cause you to feel certain feelings about what they are doing.

If you take this understanding and integrate it into all your relationships, you clear the communication channel. Then you can have an open heart to those you love and an open way of communicating with those you interact with.  Without reactivity things can work out much better in almost all circumstances.

The Time Is Now To Make A Difference

Today I had another blog post in mind until I watched the TED Talk highlighted by the Huffington Post this morning. Naomi Klein’s presentation is a must see it you care about the planet and humanity especially if you have children who are inheriting the Earth we leave behind.

Please watch the talk and then commit yourself to positive action. This is not about hoping someone else will look out for us because that is not happening. The time is now because we are going more and more off track and soon there will be nothing we can do about the damages we cause.  The myth of someone coming to the rescue before we go done the tube is false so it is up to you and I to decide to do something that will make a difference.

My commitment is to write everywhere I can about us all waking up to the truth that we must be engaged far beyond the ballot box because those leaders are not leading in the way we need them to. They have bought into the false belief that endless growth is the answer no matter what the cost. Our elected officials have their campaigns funded by those who want profit more than they care about humanity. The truth is we can’t count on them unless we lead them in the right direction.

When I saw the tars sands mess is in Alberta, Canada in this talk my body felt sick and I wanted to weep in sadness. What are we doing? This looks insane and it is killing the future for our children. What will it take for us to wake up and so something that matters?

Doing something is essential because it is about compassion for ourselves and for the generations to follow. I am older, I have no children but I care enough for my extended family and for all the children of the planet that I hear clearly in my heart that something has to be done now.  Please find a cause you can support or commit to actions that you can take today.  Tomorrow may be too late.

Five Steps To Eliminate Self-Doubt

What holds you back? Is it self-doubt? I ask this question because more and more I am convinced that you and I are the ones that hold us back more than anything else. In my close work with clients and students for over 30 years I have consistently seen the biggest barrier to a person’s success is within the mind.  I know that is true for myself also.

Self-doubt comes from very early in life when we don’t understand language and messages we receive.  Much of being a child in the first few years of life has to do with meeting our needs. The world however is not always as concerned about our needs so we end up getting mixed messages. These messages shape how we view the world. For example: if we didn’t get the touch and nurturing we needed we may have decided we were not okay in some way.

These past interpretations of the world unfortunately still shade our life experience even as a mature adult. There were many of these messages from our parents, peers, teachers, church etc. that made us doubt who we are.  In the course of a lifetime many people feed our self-doubt. Even our belief systems can fill us with self-doubt. There is no need to point fingers at those who filled us with doubt because it is more systemic and that is the challenge.

Breaking the cycle of self-doubt, which is pervasive in our culture takes awareness and inner focus.  From my own inner work and my work with clients I can recommend several ways that can be helpful to build a positive sense of self.

1. Become mindful, watch all your thoughts – The more you watch your thoughts the more you find out how you talk to yourself. Most people are unaware of the amount of negative and critical self-talk that goes on inside their own minds. The first task is to understand how you talk to yourself. This brings the insight and awareness necessary for change.

2. Do you best to not judge yourself as either good or bad – As you listen inward you will see how often you beat yourself up with your thoughts.  Remember this is past programming that you need to be aware of, but too judge yourself or be critical would be to beat yourself up even more.

3. Turn the volume down and eventually off on the inner critic - This is the voice that says, “that was stupid, what an idiot I am, etc.” The voice of the critic is the adult voice of the negative messages you received as a child.  This inner critic serves no positive purpose unless you enjoy put-downs.

4. Start rebuilding your sense of self - Once you see how much your thoughts shape your sense of who you are, you can reshape your self-worth by rewriting the program of your mind. Imagine all the negative and critical thoughts changing to positive and supportive thoughts. Imagine moving from I’m not okay to I accept myself.

5. Reprogram you mind – There are many books, cd’s and programs (many web based programs) about positive self-esteem. Set up a plan to fill your mind with positive thoughts, affirmations, inspiring ideas and more. Another approach is to learn to meditate and that alone will do many positive things for your sense of self. 

There are professionals like myself that can also help with self-doubt. 



Are You Really Seeing What Is?

Today I drove round trip to Portland to take my wife to the airport. It was a long day on the road about 7 hours. When I got back, I said hi to my dog and off we went to the beach. It was so renewing to walk along the ocean. It seem like the late afternoon was vibrant with energy.

Do you ever come back to things and see them totally differently? Have you ever changed a thought about something and then looked at it from the new perspective?  How come two people can look at the same thing and see something totally different?  Have you ever been blinded by your emotions?

Seeing is rarely as clear as you think it is. Someone else may miss the obvious to you. What others see about you, you may never see.  Beliefs can be blinding to the truth.

Seeing happens at a number of levels for me and I suspect for you also. Here are some ways I see the world:

I see the obvious but may miss the subtle

I see through my eyes what is familiar

I think I see but my experiences too often shades what I am looking at.

I see through my beliefs and that can put up barriers

I see through my intuition, which guides from a deeper knowing.

I see through my ability to step back or rise above the story or drama

I see with impartiality when I can drop the need to judge

I see with kindness when I can be accepting of myself and those I interact with

I see through the longing of my heart wanting to connect to others in meaningful ways.

I see what I go looking for but may miss what is in front of me

I look into the past and may miss the truth of the present

I look toward the future and don’t see the opportunities of the now

I see through the eyes of fear and am blinded by worry

I see only straight ahead when I get locked on a task

I look for approval when I feel self-doubt

I see what is wrong when my mind is negative

I see myself as powerless when I slip into blaming

I see with greater clarity when I am quiet within

I see only love when I am in love

I look outside myself to feel ok when I haven’t found my center

I see through the collective consciousness and have more understanding and deeper insights.

I see through my soul with its infinite perspective.

What do you see?



Together, Interdependent, Dreaming Big

Last night I was standing on the shore overlooking the moonlight shining on the ocean. The dazzling blue was so beautiful. As I turned to head home I saw the closest falling star I have ever seen. I looked up and thought wow what is that flying by so quickly and then I saw a trail of sparks and it disappeared.  I had a thought that things were going to work out just fine. Why I had that thought at that moment I don’t know but it was a good thought so I think I will keep it.

My thinking lately has also been about the interdependence of us all on this beautiful Earth. We live in an interdependent world now more than ever. I wonder if most people are even aware of how much we depend on each other.  This planet has gotten to be a smaller place where instant communications keeps us all connected. How we treat the planet affects everyone on it. How conscious we are affects the collective consciousness. How compassionate we are affects those around us and spreads out everywhere.

Let’s take a few minutes to look at what this interdependence means. Being so connected it seems important that we keep that in mind in all that we do. This connection means we are more one big family rather than people we need to compete with to survive.  Our survival is really the survival of all of us.  What is best for us is also about what is best for the rest. 

It seems the only thing that really divides us are our thoughts not any physical reality. Boundaries between countries don’t really even exist, except on a political realm where “us versus them” seems real even though it isn’t. Political and religious beliefs are just words that keep us separate but do they really need to cause us to not get along? What if these differences are only ideas that don’t really exist?  Can we change our ideas and beliefs if we want to?

If we really understood the nature of our connections to one another wouldn’t we have more compassion for each other? What if we got to the understanding that there are no enemies except in our thoughts? Wouldn’t the world be a better place for all of us?

What if we fully honored our shared humanity? What if we kept in mind our oneness, our connection to each other, our interdependence, our shared consciousness, and our infinite capacity to be compassionate and understanding? Together we could bring about all the necessary changes needed into today’s world so everyone can have all their basic needs meet. Then we all could be free to flourish.

“You may say I am a dreamer, but I am not the only one.” Please find the place within where we all connect and let’s move forward for a better world for everyone.



Creativity Offers Fresh Solutions

Where did this week go? It seems to have flown by and so did the month of November.  I guess I better get more focused so I don’t get left behind.

Creativity has been in my thoughts often lately.  The creative process fascinates me.  I am so interested in where the inspiration for creative expression comes from. I also believe that creativity has a very prominent role to play in the world as we witness the changes it will go through in the next few years. 

We live in times where creativity is where we must turn to find the solutions needed for the many social/political problems that face our nation. There are many parts of our system that are no longer working for the majority of people. The Occupy Movement is the squeaky wheel informing us that things are not working. 

So where do we turn? I suggest we turn to people outside of the broken systems to bring creativity and ingenuity to the search for ways to make things work better.  Those who are in the middle of the problem are unable to step back enough from it to offer innovative solutions.

Take the political process where all that happens is the same old ideas recycled every time there is another election. The solutions offered in this system are what created the problems. There must be a way to be creative in exploring new possibilities.  The political process is deeply mired in old stale thinking reinforced by those that don’t want things to change.

Tell me the last time you heard a politician present a creative solution that made sense?  Our economic system and educational system are not working any better.  We need creative ideas and the kind of open minds that can bring fresh light to the necessary conversations. Creativity will translate directly to better solutions, to new ideas, to more expansive education, and to more needed solutions.

Beyond the systemic issues there is a great personal benefit from creative expression. When was the last time you were involved in creative expression? If not recently and you are feeling stuck, stale or stagnant it is time to get out your creative implements and start writing, making songs, painting, doing collage, creating poetry, designing, taking pictures, and getting inspired. You will feel more alive and more hope when you are engaged in the creative process.



It’s Time To Let Yourself Be Inspired To Greatness

I love Ted Talks and the one I saw today surprised me because of what I learned.  What is it about extraordinary ideas and how they fire up your brain? Watching this talk about algorithms, who would have guessed such a topic would be of interest. More than interest it turned my mind into an idea machine.  This is the first of 18 Ted Talks in a series over at Huffington Post about ideas that will impact 2012.  Wow if they are all like this the next 18 day will send my mind into orbit. 

Speaking of minds in orbit, what has your mind buzzing lately? Can you feel change in the air and calling you to get involved in something that matters?  These times seem to call you (and many more) to find your genius your greatness because it is so needed.  What genius, what greatness is waiting or awakening in you?  What help do you need to more fully express who you feel called to be?

Inspirational ideas are so powerful, they seem to trigger my mind in ways I very much appreciate.  One moment I can be spinning in place filled with uncertainty and then I get inspired by some great ideas and I am off to inspiration land where I can hardly write fast enough to capture all the is flowing through me. This flow is not only ideas but the energy of aliveness. Inspiring ideas generate brain waves of activity and put the body on alert to move into bigger possibilities.  A rush of cascading ideas and body chemicals makes life seem glorious with potential.

You probably didn’t notice but between this line and previous one, my dog Pax and I went for a long walk on the beach. It was low tide, which means we can walk on more beach. I had the great joy of sitting on a log and meditating as the warm sun kept me very comfortable. I also came back home with a pocketful of agates.

Inspiring ideas are such a gift to all of us. People who can turn on your mind and heart are such a precious blessing to you and the world.  When was the last time you felt fully alive with ideas, felt the passion of your body activated for action?

The Internet has endless resources to lift you and I up and all it takes is a few minutes to explore sites like YouTube and Ted Talks.  With just a slight shift through the energy of inspiration you can feel ready to be the calling you feel inside. You are greatness waiting to be realized, you are genius waiting to be expressed. 

Three Ways To Be More Open Now

My post yesterday talked about the benefits of being open in your heart and mind and that is seems obvious the best idea to choose openness.  So how do you find your way to being more open than you already are?  I want to suggest three ways to be more open today. These idea are not new especially if you stop by and ready my blog regularly but they are important and can change you and the world.

1.          Love and Accept Yourself – this one is very challenging because most of us carry old messages around with us we picked up as children.  We also most likely have an inner critic this is highly self-critical of who we are.  Actually our past messages and our inner critic may be one in the same.  Those old messages have turned into critical voice in your own mind.  All the past ideas about self and the reoccurring judgments of who you are, need to be replaced with lots of positive support and encouragement.  One affirmation that is very powerful to start reprogramming your mind is: “I totally love and accept myself.”  Say this throughout your day until it becomes your reality.

2.          Be Guided By Your Wise Mind – There are much greater capacities within you than your ordinary mind. These capacities exist in what can be called your higher nature, your Spirit, your soul, wise mind, and by other names. This open and expansive way of being is made available to you through tuning into the peaceful silence beyond the constant chatter of the monkey mind. Wise Mind, your spirit, your higher nature communicates to you through your intuition, through your gut instincts, through the wisdom of your heart.  Silence is the golden doorway and meditation is the most powerful practice to open that doorway. Take a few minutes today to sit quietly, go for a relaxed walk or watch the cycle of your breath in a meeting, while waiting in line or in traffic.

3.         Live In This Moment – The now is where everything that matters is available.  The past is over; you never arrive in the future. This right now is what you have to work with.  If you take the time to be present, you are open to infinite possibilities.  All fear and other difficult emotions happen because you leave the now.  All love, joy and positive emotions an only happen in the now. Take a moment right now and take a long relaxed breath pushing out all the air and then letting the lungs breathe in deeply. Now right now anything is possible.  Mindfulness is a wonderfully powerful practice to assist you in living fully in the now. Today become your best friend and be mindful of when you are open and when you are closed. No judging but simply notice you and your response to the world around you. Sometimes insights are very enlightening.

There is great hope in the now and in yourself when you are open and present.



Novel: More Than One Life

I completed my first draft of my novel about a week ago for the November Novel Writing Month and it is called More Than One Life about a guy who dies in his 30's and is reborn into a new life and comes back again to be with his friends from the past.  They are  on a shared path to make the world a better place. This was really fun and I got to just write for the pure pleasure of it.  It seemed effortless to write over 50,000 words.  Thank you great Source for the inspiration.

Here is my award:  

Imagine A World Full Of Openness

You can be in the world with openness and take in so much of what it has to offer, or you can be closed down and live in a cave of fear.  There are degrees of being open and being closed. There are times where it makes sense to be protected and cautious.  However most of the time the best and most dynamic way to be is open in your mind and heart. 

What would life be like if you were able to be expansive in your mind and open in your heart?

Imagine taking in ideas with the kind of receptivity needed to understand. 

Imagine having the compassion to feel what is really needed

Imagine tuning in and hearing what the world needs now from you

Imagine having the courage to make a difference

Imagine living by your highest values

Imagine having a heart that can accept without judging

Imagine living a life in the dynamic of being fully present

Imagine listening and being guided by your spirit, soul, or Higher nature

Imagine powering up each day and going out into the world with passion

Imagine believing in yourself, your worthiness

Imagine being free of the need for approval

Imagine letting go fully of what limits you

Imagine expressing your genius, your greatness

Imagine living in the aliveness of your creative expression

Imagine living with purpose and meaning

Imagine loving without limits

Imagine experiencing the joy of a fully realized life

Imagine having the determination to bring about positive change

Imagine living expansively in all you do 

Imagine expressing more and more of your potential

Imagine being a bright light out in the world

Imagine tapping into endless inspiration

Imaging living in a body powered up for success

Imagine expanding to the highest states of consciousness Imagine tapping into the abundance of the Universe

Imagine experiencing the freedom, hope and peacefulness of the now

I suspect you are getting the point here.  Being open in your heart and expansive in your mind offers so many benefits. It seems an obvious choice, to be open even in a world where fear is present in so many.  



Conversations With Nature, Soul, Self And Others

The rain of yesterday turned to blue sky and the waves no longer toss but roll toward shore. While walking the now rocky beach this morning, I felt the vibrations of nature in conversation with my inner dialogue. Now I feel it is time that I leave the comfort of my solitary conversations. The past work with others no longer weighs so heavily. There is the world out there that calls me. Unsure what that may look like, nature advises me that the flow of things will guide me.  Inward I trust that wisdom, outward my ego-mind says but there is too much unknown.

The way of the world these days seems to be about trusting the deeper wisdom more than the fear urges. That can be difficult, the outer crust of things is filled with chaos and uncertainty. The inner stillness is too often disrupted by my mind that wants assurance or something more solid than hope for tomorrow.  I understand that today is the best of what life has to offer but there is a sneakiness of the mind. That mind can slide down into worry and wanting control way too fast. A grasping ego is not so fun to have wander the halls of my mind.  The soul knows of things much grander.

The next step involves trusting in all that is possible, trusting in a purpose that is greater than any individual. As I hear the waves they counsel me to relax into the collective knowing and bring my ways of lifting others out into the world. This spreading of light and love seems most important.

Questions pop up and I have to avoid the too deep pothole called, I am not enough.

• How can I be a brighter light?
• How can invite the light in others out?
• How can be more open in my heart?
• How can I help others open their hearts more fully?
• How can I live more in alignment with my higher purpose?
• How can I assist others to find more purpose and meaning?
• How can I open to the flow of the abundant Universe?
• How can I help others open to their flow of abundance?

There is an interesting conversation here.  That conversation is about my expression expanding while helping others expand their expression. It is about me being more than enough even when the sticky questions arise. It seems assured that in the process of my assisting others, they too will assist me.  We can all grow together which lifts the collective consciousness.  

Take Your Beliefs Lightly

When you live at the coast, weather is like the ocean it comes in waves.  Yesterday it was sunny, today it is raining but it can change very quickly.  To balance out the dreariness of the day, I have applesauce cooking on the stove and it smells really good in here.

Lately I have been wondering how do people become so sure of what they believe? (It seems the more I learn, the more I see how little I know for sure.) This sureness is to the point of being cemented and immoveable. This sureness of “I am right and you are wrong and I am not the least bit interested in your point of view,” is a very closed-minded way of being in the world. Even in the face of clear evidence to the contrary, people will hold on to their beliefs with no consideration of what else might be possible. 

This rigid way of being in the world is driven by the fear of the ego-mind that is trying to control all that seems out of control.  The ego-mind says, “I am right and I won’t even consider any other possibilities because I would have to let my guard down.” This protective mind is doing what it thinks it has to do to feel safe.  This is why questioning the mind is so important.  Everyone has beliefs that are simply not true so we all need to examine the thoughts that run non-stop through our mind.

Some people actually push other people away who think differently as if they might sabotage their control. This is also a false belief run by fear. If you watch the news opinion shows some even shout at others who think differently as if they are afraid of letting the other’s ideas in.  This display of anger is driven by their fear.  All rigidity and anger come from fear.

Yes we all have are own opinions about most things but hopefully we have an openness to seeing things differently when we gain new insights and awareness. Taking our beliefs lightly seems a more loving thing to do for ourselves.  Loving because we can be more open and receptive to the world around us.  Love and fear are considered by many to be the two basic emotions from which all other feelings come.  We are either dynamically engaged in the world with an open and loving heart and mind or we are protected and in heart and guarded in our thoughts.

In the now there is no mind created fear; there is instead hope, love, happiness and the freedom to be.  In the now if we take all of our beliefs lightly we are free to enjoy life and the many possibilities that are present.



Shopping For Hope

Thanksgiving night I was sitting at my brother’s house watching the news.  The headline for the news that night was about Black Friday shopping starting after midnight. The news program showed a full parking lot at this mall. Then they talked to people who had been in line for hours waiting to get in and it all seemed like some sad commentary on the human condition.

Sad because people were giving up hours of their lives and sleep to save a few dollars to buy stuff for what is now a very commercialized holiday.  Sad also because it seems that the people in line where looking for something outside of themselves to make them feel okay.    Can a person make their life ok by taking control of the outer circumstances, by buying the right gifts, or getting the right stuff for themselves?  Most likely not.

Under this shopping desire are possibly stronger desires like, the desire to live more from the heart, the desire to live with more purpose, the hope for more happiness, or other reasons.  All of the outer desires are perfectly okay but they may hide what is going on inside.  The giving and or receiving of the latest stuff will not make a person’s life all right if it isn’t all right.  The real genuine value of life is inside a person and inside the connections we have with each other.  The call of the heart is best understood when we turn inward, when we hear what is needed from the heart and from our soul. 

What desires in you have a deeper calling?  You can find the answer by simply tuning inward and asking: what is my greater need, what is my heart asking for, what is my spirit wanted to express?  Fulfilling the deeper needs will bring much greater joy and hope than fulfilling the outer needs. 

The inner journey of self-realization is the most satisfying one we can take in this lifetime.  The interesting benefits of this inner exploration include inner peace, happiness and we will become a much brighter lights out in the world. 



10 Guidelines To Put A Lively Finish On 2011

I don’t know about you, but for me I find my mind has a tendency to write off getting anything of significance done between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day. Why I do this is unclear because the “now” is always loaded with possibilities.  Maybe it is the habit of falling fully into the distractions of this time of year.  I am more a sunny weather kind of person and the short days and the gray skies make me put my head down and push towards Spring. 

Like most humans I love a good distraction and this time of year has lots of things going on that allow me to be focused outward instead of inward.  I think of holiday programs, sports, shopping, movies and other things that keep me busy in a wait till next year kind of way.

This holiday season I am going to live more fully in the now and mine the richness of each day.  I will give thanks not because it is a holiday but because in fact I have many things to appreciate.  I love the holiday times because that means sharing with family and friends.  This is all positive stuff.  At the same time I want to stretch towards a more open heart, deepen my connection to my spirit, live with strength and intention, and be bold in taking actions to move my life forward.

Setting a few guidelines to help me finish this year strongly makes a lot of sense to me.

Here are my guidelines, which you are welcome to borrow, adapt or ignore:

1. Set an intention each morning to be mindful of my: thoughts, intuition, heart, feelings and spirit
2. Spread love and light, compassion and consciousness every day
3. Make a plan to get our into the world, move that plan into action
4. Sing more, move and dance to the beat of my soul
5. Take time daily for meditation and other inner practices
6. Get outside even in the wind and rain and enjoy nature
7. Move into everything I do with passion, purpose and determination
8. Do yoga, run, build strength, be fit, care for well-being
9. Eat to energize, not anesthetize
10. Have fun, choose happiness, enjoy life, laugh often

The next few days I will be visiting family near Portland and may not put up a new post.  Have a Happy Thanksgiving and hope you now is rich with possibilities. 

Two Self-Reminders To Lift You Up

Yesterday was a beautiful sunny day here on the Oregon Coast.  Today it is raining and windy. I went for a walk with my dog and we both got wet but the ocean is always uplifting to me. On days like this you just go out without thinking about it or you might talk yourself into staying inside and missing out on nature in the wild. 

I wanted to share with you two guiding reminders that I find take me higher as I go about my day.  The first is asking, “What feeds my soul?” The second reminder is, “How do I bring love to this experience?

What feeds my soul is such an important question if I want to live with greater freedom, if I seek to be a more fully realized human being, and if I want to live as a spiritual person in this life.  Since freedom, self-realization and living fully from my spirit are deep desires of mine, feeding my soul feels like what my life is meant to do.  Through nurturing my soul I have the opportunity to become a person of higher consciousness filled with the light of inspiration.

Bringing more love into every situation is both what works best and represents the highest of human expressions.  When my heart is present, I am filled with compassion for whatever situation I find myself in.  With love I am kind, caring, understanding, and accepting.  I want my heart fully open so I can access love as a powerful force for healing, for encouraging change, for spreading compassion out into the world that at times seems heartless.  As I write this two phrases from songs pop into my head: “all we need is love” and “love is all there is.” If I have my songs right I thank the Beatles for their inspiration. 

So if you want to join me and be guided by what feeds your soul and by the mighty wisdom of bringing more love into the world, I would appreciate company. 

Looking around and see where light is needed and where love is the answer.  Let these two ways of higher living guide you and open you to a richer expression of who you are.

Being Mindful Allows Awareness

Last night on a drive back from the store I caught a suspiciously familiar thought rambling through my mind. This thought was one of taking it easy, slowing down, and living in a kind of “it doesn’t matter” way.  As I thought it and caught it, I then said to myself this is an inner message that is in some way about playing it safe. If I don’t get too invested in what I am doing it doesn’t matter much what happens.

As I write this my next thought was about how my life could go from a purpose driven passion for making a difference to a not caring so much if I do or don’t. The interesting thing is that both are true.  As I grow my conscious awareness I feel not as concerned about or attached to results because there is less and less ego involved.  Yet what is also true is that I feel this is an important time for making a difference.  I want to make a difference. I feel it needs to be done with passionate intention and actions that create positive results.

This passivity permeates my thoughts about a job.  I am not interested in a job where I work for anyone especially full-time.  The confines of those experiences make me feel trapped as if my freedom has been taken away. That means I have to make something happen so I have the financial flow I want. This brings up questions about if I have enough drive to do so.  There is no shortage of drive in me if I set the course and move into action.  The commitment is the question which I am sorting out as I explore these insights.

How do I go about creating myself out in the world and make a living doing it? What I also noticed as I explore the initial insight was that I have mixed feeling about traveling because sitting in front of my computer is easier. It is like I want to play it safe and do everything from the stress free environment of my home and computer.  It is time to get out into the world in more dynamic ways but it is easier to take it easy. 

My work is about spreading light and love, consciousness and compassion in whatever way I can.  It is also as a social change agent working for a better world.  I am passionate about peace, about helping those in need, about questioning limiting thoughts and beliefs, and about bringing more heart and awareness into the world.  How with my set of skills and experience do I best interact with the world?  How can I make the biggest difference? How do I live this purpose with boldness and not be too attached to results?  How do I bring more aliveness to what I do?  Lots of questions and that feels right because I too am in the process of change like the rest of the world.

Have a good weekend.



Looking For Real Conversation

Lately I have been working so much on my question book, my book on voices of soul and ego and my novel in November, that I feel like my blog is taking a back seat.  I don’t mean for that to happen.

Today the weather has been packed with variety with big waves of rain, then bright sunlight, then rain, the bright sunlight and now it looks ready to pounce with the wind stirring and rain coming down out over the ocean.  This is better than watching the Weather Channel anytime.

Last night we had a Thanksgiving Dinner with our neighbors who belong to a Presbyterian Church in Yachats. I love tasty food and there was plenty of that.  I looked around the 60 or so people and thought this community is made up of lots of older people.  I guess I fit right in if it wasn’t that it was a church and I wasn’t in denial of my aging status. 

Churches have an appeal because they provide instant community and both my wife and I feel the need for more community.  The problem is that churches have this God thing going on which seems not very interesting in the form it is presented. I believe in a greater power than myself but not one that the Bible people claim as theirs.

I am a seeker. I explore to find the truth not by having someone serve it to me with a collection basket.  Maybe it is the 12 years of Catholic schools that have sharpened my skepticism of religion.

What I crave most lately is deeper conversations than what I have these days. I can have a meaningful email exchange but that lacks some of the energy of face to face, heart to heart, exchanges of ideas.  My wife and I have good conversations but we both want more. 

Sometimes I feel that since I am exploring life more on its outer edges or inner depths that there are not as many people to relate to. This seems especially true for us since we live in a kind of isolated part of the Oregon Coast. The nearest town of Yachats has around 400 people who live there year around. 

This is another reason I think having a tribe (Awakening For The Collective Good) has benefit because then we can locate other like-minded people and get together for tea or a hike or dinner or something that is stimulating to mind and heart.

It seems real conversation about the world, about politics and religion are the conversations many want to avoid.  The reason for that, as far as I can tell, is that people get attached to their own thinking and get offended if questioned?   

If you are into real conversation about life, about your spirit or soul, about the journey of your heart, about how we can make the world a better place or about other things that matter, I am in.



Voices of Soul And Ego

How I see the world now in as simple a way as I can state it is that there are two inner voices that direct what is possible for our lives and for the lives of all humanity.  Those two voices are very different in outlook and the way they affect us all.  The noisiest of those two voices is the voice of the ego-mind and the quieter and wiser one is voice of the soul. 

The simple definition of those two voices is that the Voice Of the Ego (VOE) is the voice in our head that is about protecting us from all the fears we think we have.  This VOE is past and future focused so it obsesses about how it can repair what happened in the past and take control of what happens in the future.  This voice is not bad, it is driven by the survival urge in all of us.  Those that want to eliminate the ego are mistaken because it keeps us safe and intact. 

The Voice Of the Soul (VOS) is the voice of our higher knowing, it resides in the present and is calming, peaceful, loving and hopeful.  This voice can be understood as the voice of our higher nature, our spirit, our soul and our intuition.  This voice represents what is possible in us free of fear and open in mind and heart.  The goal is to be more tuned into the VOS because it has the greater capacity to help us create the life we desire.

The golden tree in the forest caught my attention on my run today and I wanted to share it with you because appreciating beauty is a positive things to do. 

Ego does not exist as far as a place in the body or mind but seems to inform each of us about certain aspects of how we humans function.  Don’t for a second underestimate this voice’s power within each of us.  The ego-mind is the source of all fear, all anger, all hate, all war, all need to dominate, all win/lose thinking, all the “I am right you are wrong” opinion, and the basis from which the political process is formulated and the religious hierarchy has been established.  Again this is not a “bad” force it is about survival driven by fear and the need to feel in control.

The Soul like the ego is not a physical reality but also represents a powerful force within each of us.  The soul is the voice calling us to learn and grow, to seek our higher expression, to love and open to compassion, to explore what is possible in us, to have purpose and to make a positive difference.   Our intuition is often the direct line to our soul.  This is the force for transformation, for higher consciousness and for the highest realization of human being.  The voice of the soul invites us into silence to hear and be guided to our highest expression.

Here are 10 key indicators that your ego has been placed in the back seat and the soul is running the show:

1. Your body feels energized and fully alive
2. Your mind has a focused clarity
3. Your intuition is loud and clear
4. Your eyes sparkle and your light draws people to you
5. You feel relaxed, balanced and harmonious
6. You feel present, awake, alert and aware
7. You are positive, inspired and hopeful
8. You sense the unity of all beings
9. You feel passionate with purpose
10. Your heart is full of compassion

Lately I have been working on a book to help explain this concept and to aid those interested in shrinking the power of the ego's voice and growing the power of the soul's voice.