Last night I saw an incredible movie that I recommend without reservation. It is Invictus. It captures the essence of what makes Nelson Mandela so remarkable as a leader and offers insight into the key elements of transformation and reform.
You might wonder why I am writing about that on a blog for self-care. The answer can be summed up through another quote that I have always loved, "What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us." (I’ve seen it attributed to both Ralph Waldo Emerson and Oliver Wendell Holmes).
As individuals, our health and sense of well being are directly linked to our emotions and our emotions are linked to how loved and empowered we perceive ourselves to be. Mandela’s most powerful tool was forgiveness and rather than seeking to right a wrong through disenfranchising those who had oppressed him, he honored what they cherished most and used it as a focal point for creating unity. Mandela realized that for all the immense problems the country faced, none would be resolved successfully until the hearts of people were transformed and joined.
As you consider your own health and how to facilitate body-mind-spirit healing, consider what weighs heavy in your heart that pulls down your energy and contributes to imbalances. Ask yourself what you have identified as disempowering you, whether it is a person, a corporation, a political system, or something else. Then consider how to work with, rather than against those energies for a truly new reality.
I have inserted the poem Invictus below, which was a source of inspiration for Mandela during his 30 years of imprisonment. I am also following this with another blog that was something I had written previously that seemed related. It is called The Dream of Righteousness.
Invictus
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll.
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.
~ William Ernest Henley
Saturday, December 19, 2009
The Dream of Righteousness
I am drawn to people who are good-hearted, kind people who exemplify a wholesomeness that feels right at its core. I have been involved with many causes spearheaded by people who stand for righteousness and the greater good, but as I get older the lines blur and the veil of illusion around a particular filter being inviolate weakens. This small "I" has been humbled many times by the shattering of conviction to absolutes that cannot contain the wholeness of spirit, however it may choose to appear. The only thing I know to be true now is that things are not always what they appear to be and love calls me to be present to the moment and what it offers.
I also see that at the core of this draw to live a righteous life is the desire to be loved—if I am good enough then I will be admired, respected, loved. Fair enough, after all the desire to be kind and to do no harm makes for better human relations and benefits all of life. Nevertheless, if my ultimate goal is to awaken fully, then even this beautiful dream must be surrendered. I must be willing to go unrecognized as anyone special. Resisting being ordinary, and equally as human in all that is contained within me, has perhaps been my biggest stumbling block. It has caused me to judge and create separation.
The spiritual teacher Gangaji once spoke of her days as an activist before "awakening" and the realization that she came to that those fighting against the "wrong doers," whoever they were, didn’t really want those people to "get it" because then they would all be the same. The activists would no longer be seen as more virtuous and on some level that was disturbing, because this was the basis of their identity.
If it is all a dream, then the dream of righteousness has a lot of appeal. At the same time it is a hard one to want to wake up from, just like when I have dreams with a very high pleasure content that I want to linger in longer. What comes with awakening is unknown, and I do believe there is nothing that "I" can do to make myself more worthy. In the meantime, to be present to love, whatever that looks like, seems a worthwhile endeavor.
I also see that at the core of this draw to live a righteous life is the desire to be loved—if I am good enough then I will be admired, respected, loved. Fair enough, after all the desire to be kind and to do no harm makes for better human relations and benefits all of life. Nevertheless, if my ultimate goal is to awaken fully, then even this beautiful dream must be surrendered. I must be willing to go unrecognized as anyone special. Resisting being ordinary, and equally as human in all that is contained within me, has perhaps been my biggest stumbling block. It has caused me to judge and create separation.
The spiritual teacher Gangaji once spoke of her days as an activist before "awakening" and the realization that she came to that those fighting against the "wrong doers," whoever they were, didn’t really want those people to "get it" because then they would all be the same. The activists would no longer be seen as more virtuous and on some level that was disturbing, because this was the basis of their identity.
If it is all a dream, then the dream of righteousness has a lot of appeal. At the same time it is a hard one to want to wake up from, just like when I have dreams with a very high pleasure content that I want to linger in longer. What comes with awakening is unknown, and I do believe there is nothing that "I" can do to make myself more worthy. In the meantime, to be present to love, whatever that looks like, seems a worthwhile endeavor.
Friday, December 11, 2009
Acknowledging Home
No matter what kind of abode I create or what town I choose, it seems important to remember that home is really the Earth. At present I spend too much time in offices, both for an environmental organization and for my biofeedback practice. What my soul really wants is to connect with home--to plunge my hands into the soil and to stand barefoot on fertile land. This time of year can be a bit cold for being barefoot, but when it is possible there is great benefit because the more I can get "in touch" with the healing frequencies of the Earth, the more at ease I am in my own skin.
Since the inherent frequency of the earth, known as the Schumann Resonance, is 7.8Hz (7-13 Hz) a person's brain waves resonate with that frequency and it has been shown in scientific studies to be an essential requirement for physical and psychological health. Since there are so many extraneous ELF frequencies in the earth's atmosphere at this time, these frequencies can cause a drowning out of the natural Schumann Resonance. Being where this resonance is strongest helps to recover autonomic nerve balance, remove stress, and intensify concentration.
So, if we really want to heal ourselves and the Earth let's create gardens--reverently and with the same attention we would afford our most beloved. The Earth is our home, our mother, our bodies--literally. She feeds and clothes us and we are made up of the same proportion of salt water and minerals. We have paid too little attention to this type of bonded relationship and are feeling the pain of disconnection and isolation.
The separation has altered our thinking in ways that are confused. For example, breastfeeding went out of fashion in the 50s and was deemed to be beneath the modern woman. Not only did this undermine the immune systems of the infants deprived of this perfect food, but it also created a generation of people who have trouble bonding because they didn't get enough Oxytocin, the hormone and neurotransmitter known as the cuddle hormone, which is transfered through breastfeeding. Thank goodness there is a return trend to valuing the inherent benefit of using the gifts, such as this, that nature has given us.
Also, providing children with all of the "stuff" that seems essential these days, i.e., cell phones, iPods, X-boxes, cars, you name it, will never give them what they really need. In my opinion, that is a sense that they are an integral part of something profound and holy; and that their families and communities will be there when all the rest falls away.
I love the work of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. Following is a quote that speaks to the need to connect to what we know in our bones as an essential for evolution:
"In the world, nothing could ever burst forth as final across the different thresholds successively traversed by evolution which has not already existed in an obscure and primordial way."
Since the inherent frequency of the earth, known as the Schumann Resonance, is 7.8Hz (7-13 Hz) a person's brain waves resonate with that frequency and it has been shown in scientific studies to be an essential requirement for physical and psychological health. Since there are so many extraneous ELF frequencies in the earth's atmosphere at this time, these frequencies can cause a drowning out of the natural Schumann Resonance. Being where this resonance is strongest helps to recover autonomic nerve balance, remove stress, and intensify concentration.
So, if we really want to heal ourselves and the Earth let's create gardens--reverently and with the same attention we would afford our most beloved. The Earth is our home, our mother, our bodies--literally. She feeds and clothes us and we are made up of the same proportion of salt water and minerals. We have paid too little attention to this type of bonded relationship and are feeling the pain of disconnection and isolation.
The separation has altered our thinking in ways that are confused. For example, breastfeeding went out of fashion in the 50s and was deemed to be beneath the modern woman. Not only did this undermine the immune systems of the infants deprived of this perfect food, but it also created a generation of people who have trouble bonding because they didn't get enough Oxytocin, the hormone and neurotransmitter known as the cuddle hormone, which is transfered through breastfeeding. Thank goodness there is a return trend to valuing the inherent benefit of using the gifts, such as this, that nature has given us.
Also, providing children with all of the "stuff" that seems essential these days, i.e., cell phones, iPods, X-boxes, cars, you name it, will never give them what they really need. In my opinion, that is a sense that they are an integral part of something profound and holy; and that their families and communities will be there when all the rest falls away.
I love the work of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. Following is a quote that speaks to the need to connect to what we know in our bones as an essential for evolution:
"In the world, nothing could ever burst forth as final across the different thresholds successively traversed by evolution which has not already existed in an obscure and primordial way."
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Can an Internet Community Meet Deeper Needs?
A friend recently invited me to be a part of a social networking site he is redeveloping. There is a lot of interaction between people on the site to evolve it in very creative ways.
He posed the question: Do social websites feel cozy, safe, or sacred?, to which I responded:
While I appreciate the opportunity to network with awesome people I may not connect with otherwise, virtual connections are for me not "cozy or sacred" --they are second-best attempts at real human connection. Often times the most powerful way for me to be with someone else is in silence . . . sharing an experience. I love being with the Earth, hugs, gazing into someones eyes, feeling their energy. These things aren't possible on the web.
Everything has its perfect place. I appreciate the possibility to share ideas here, particularly with people in places around the world that I have no real perspective on.
What I find interesting about this site (http://dev.avanoo.com) is how I can wander around the "places" to go or "things" to do and have fun sharing random thoughts that are stimulated by the theme areas. And, hey, people respond. I will have to say that if anyone can make the internet feel "cozy," I think my friend can. I will be interested to see where he takes this.
He posed the question: Do social websites feel cozy, safe, or sacred?, to which I responded:
While I appreciate the opportunity to network with awesome people I may not connect with otherwise, virtual connections are for me not "cozy or sacred" --they are second-best attempts at real human connection. Often times the most powerful way for me to be with someone else is in silence . . . sharing an experience. I love being with the Earth, hugs, gazing into someones eyes, feeling their energy. These things aren't possible on the web.
Everything has its perfect place. I appreciate the possibility to share ideas here, particularly with people in places around the world that I have no real perspective on.
What I find interesting about this site (http://dev.avanoo.com) is how I can wander around the "places" to go or "things" to do and have fun sharing random thoughts that are stimulated by the theme areas. And, hey, people respond. I will have to say that if anyone can make the internet feel "cozy," I think my friend can. I will be interested to see where he takes this.
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Balance
Just as it has been said that you can’t bring an end to war through war, neither can you create balance through unbalanced approaches. Humans are as much “natural systems” as the Earth is as a whole. Having been involved in activism most of my adult life I know the tendency to sacrifice myself to a cause—to go beyond where I can maintain a healthy balance in order to avert an anticipated outcome. Granted sometimes it is essential to throw my weight to one side of the boat, so to speak, to prevent it from capsizing, but then the weight must be redistributed again. I also know from personal experiences that were potentially fatal that my survival ensued because I got still inside and was fully present to a greater awareness that guided me through the situation. The solution was often unexpected and not one I could pluck from the “rule book.”
At one point I had an intense sense of responsibility that unless I did everything I could to “save the planet” that we were doomed and that it would be my fault. (I’m grateful that the universe is not beholden to my perceptions.) The result was that I pushed myself so hard (mostly mentally) that I got burned out. Trying to guilt other people into helping me, no matter how subtly, never worked either. Fortunately the universe laid me off from that job and sent me for retraining with my dolphin family. Their approach to helping us shift the mess we are in is joy, play, community and love. It’s not about what you can’t have or shouldn’t want. It’s about creating such joy that there is no thought of need.
My sense is that the bulk of the planetary crisis we now find ourselves in has to do with disconnection from source, self and each other and lack of awareness in general. To reestablish all of this requires an internal slowing down and a return to the stillness from which balance moves back and forth and comes to rest. Anyone who has ever tried to get an object to rest on a balance point so that it doesn’t fall off knows that if you have to move it to redistribute the weight you do it gently and with a certain stillness and focus.
I’m including a link here to information on creating a “gifting” economy that really resonates with me. The presenter, Charles Eisenstein, talks about the universe operating on the principle of gifting—our lives are a gift, the air, the water, and all of the abundance of the Earth are gifts. We have established ideas around money that go against this gifting principle. Here is another wonderful opportunity for rebalancing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rB23ms4rqjY
I don't do great things. I do small things with great love.
~ Mother Teresa
When I am working on a problem I never think about beauty. I only think about how to solve the problem. But when I have finished, if the solution is not beautiful, I know it is wrong.
~Buckminster Fuller
At one point I had an intense sense of responsibility that unless I did everything I could to “save the planet” that we were doomed and that it would be my fault. (I’m grateful that the universe is not beholden to my perceptions.) The result was that I pushed myself so hard (mostly mentally) that I got burned out. Trying to guilt other people into helping me, no matter how subtly, never worked either. Fortunately the universe laid me off from that job and sent me for retraining with my dolphin family. Their approach to helping us shift the mess we are in is joy, play, community and love. It’s not about what you can’t have or shouldn’t want. It’s about creating such joy that there is no thought of need.
My sense is that the bulk of the planetary crisis we now find ourselves in has to do with disconnection from source, self and each other and lack of awareness in general. To reestablish all of this requires an internal slowing down and a return to the stillness from which balance moves back and forth and comes to rest. Anyone who has ever tried to get an object to rest on a balance point so that it doesn’t fall off knows that if you have to move it to redistribute the weight you do it gently and with a certain stillness and focus.
I’m including a link here to information on creating a “gifting” economy that really resonates with me. The presenter, Charles Eisenstein, talks about the universe operating on the principle of gifting—our lives are a gift, the air, the water, and all of the abundance of the Earth are gifts. We have established ideas around money that go against this gifting principle. Here is another wonderful opportunity for rebalancing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rB23ms4rqjY
I don't do great things. I do small things with great love.
~ Mother Teresa
When I am working on a problem I never think about beauty. I only think about how to solve the problem. But when I have finished, if the solution is not beautiful, I know it is wrong.
~Buckminster Fuller
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