I’m doing some research on the Joseph Campbell Foundation and grants offered by the Opus Archives and Research Center.  I’m reading Cambell’s bio and notice that in 1953 he was “appointed President of the Creative Film Foundation.”  I do a google search on “Creative Film Foundation” and haven’t found it yet, but came across the American Film Foundation where I quickly see that they produced Maya Lin – A Strong Clear Vision, a film I completely stumbled upon at the library last week and which is sitting in Hayley’s livingroom waiting to be watched.  They also produced Bird by Bird with Annie, a film about the writer/teacher Anne Lamott who’s book of the same name is on my Amazon wish list.  This is part of the synopsis:

Annie likes to pass on the “secret of life” that she found written on a computer terminal bearing a picture of Koko the gorilla: “The law of the American jungle: Remain calm and share your bananas.”

I see a lot of wisdom in that and add it to a collection of inspirational/wise quotes I keep.  The next quote down happens to be from one of my favorite philosophers/writers, Alan Watts*:

From the moment of your birth, you’re in freefall.

Beyond my appreciation for the quote and it’s reminder that this craziness is what it’s all about (so I should stop freaking out when falling), this makes me smile because I had also just read in Joseph Campbell’s bio that he was “named the general editor of the series Myth and Man, which includes Alan Watt’s Myth and Ritual in Christianity.”  That reminded me about how much I’ve learned from Alan Watts and that I need to seek out more of his wisdom.  So I had a google search up for “Alan Watts” when I read that quote.  Funny!  These multiple synchronicities are like trail markers helping me find my way through new terrain.  And, I’m only receiving the benefits because I bothered to move my gaze from the ground (where I’ve been fixating out of fear of stumbling) to what lies ahead. At moments like these, the steep climb feels like a walk in the park.

*The wikipedia entry says Watts wrote about “subjects such as personal identity, the true nature of reality, higher consciousness, meaning of life, concepts and images of God and the non-material pursuit of happiness” – I guess one of the reasons I like him so much is because those are the subjects I keep coming back to as most meaningful/worthy in my life.

As usual, brisk walking, fresh air, sunshine, and someone cool and smart, like Jeph, to bounce ideas off of, is my best method for improving mood, increasing energy, and figuring life out.  Sometimes the reasons for negativity are obvious and tangible, stuff like: health/hormones, an interview or speech, workload, communicating,  finances, etc…I’ve been actively learning how to identify such stressors and developing techniques to redirect that energy.  And that’s going pretty good!  But this scenario was slightly different because the reasons were not obvious.  The process I’ve been developing is: 1) recognize when I’m not feeling great/not enjoying life, 2) determine the sources of the negativity, and 3) take action to redirect.  So the question became, “If I realize I’m not feeling great, but I’m not sure why, how can I move on?”

When life is subtle, our method of  must be subtle, too.  I should be pretty good at that by now because there has been way more nuance than concreteness in my life lately.  Subtlety is about putting one foot in front of the other, at a steady pace, which in this case meant listing the possible reasons form my less than stellar mood.  Having Jeph listen and add to the list was most helpful, but this could also be done with a good old-fashioned pen and paper.  The point is to let your mind loose and see what bubbles to the surface, like forming multiple hypotheses for the science experiment of your life.  It was a fruitful activity for me and generated several possible reasons: 1) I am impatient to be out of the temporary apartment/Boston but anxious about the still unknowns, 2) I am concerned about the energy needed to pack and load our stuff again, and 3) visiting my mom brings up old patterns of negativity including anger that I didn’t/don’t have strong parental life guidance, and fear that I could become pessimistic and unengaged in life like her.  So, with three possibilities in hand, the next question was, “Should I treat the hypothetical as actual and act accordingly?”

J and I tossed that around for a bit.  My gut guidance was that when you probe for reasons, the issues which come into consciousness are having an impact.  Even though the connection between these patterns of negativity and my current state were not obvious, they were still real.  Connecting the dots in this way requires trust in your internal compass – it’s like feeling your way through a dark tunnel and as you make the decision to make the connections, some light starts filtering in from up ahead.  Because, once you know the sources pulling your energy down, you can face them, head on.  You’re at step 3: redirect. So how do you redirect the negatives?

The method is the same as when you are activating the positive or sustaining its momentum:

1. identify what you have control over (this is your game plan, your action items, and how you react to what comes your way)
2. identify what is beyond your control (this is the thoughts and actions of other people, as well as all that comes your way each day)
3. accept and make peace with what is beyond your control and trust  in the universe and its rhythms; then shift the focus to cultivating gratitude for all the good stuff (make a list)
4. start playing the game, following your plan, moving through your action list (crossing off, adding to, adjusting as you go), and reacting to the unplanned (spontaneity is inevitable, and good!), all with confidence in yourself

I intend to practice this method with consistency, so that it becomes instinctual and creates an environment (internal) that isn’t conducive to stress.

*Developing this method of living consciously then reading the excerpt from Voluntary Simplicity later that night was definitely synchronicity at work.   A passage:

The crucial importance of penetrating behind our continuous stream of thought (as largely unconscious and lightning-fast flows of inner fantasy-dialogue) is stressed by every major consciousness tradition in the world: Buddhist, Taoist, Hindu, Sufi, Zen, and so on.  Western cultures, however, have fostered the understanding that a state of continual mental distraction is in the natural order of things.  Consequently, by virtue of a largely unconscious social agreement about the nature of our inner thought processes, we live individually and collectively almost totally embedded within our mentally constructed reality.  We are so busy creating ever more appealing images or social facades for others to see, and so distracted from the simplicity of our spontaneously arising self, that we do not truly encounter either ourselves or one another.  In the process we lose a large measure of our innate capacity for voluntary, deliberate, intentional action.

Yes, money equals power, unfortunately, at this current blip on the path of human consciousness and it takes mind boggling amounts to get elected.  But, what really mattered in this election was our personal experiences.  Concerns about survival (good work, food, shelter, safety, and hope for the future) are affecting a majority of people on this planet, not just the poor and marginalized.  The fundamentals of human, and therefore planetary, life are in need of fresh approaches.

Jeph and I watched a recorded teaching by the Dalai Lama last night.  Much of the session focused on the history of Buddhism (names of places it was taught, teachers, and documents/sections of documents) and I didn’t absorb a lot of that.  What I took away is fairly basic: discourage anger and ignorance (not just the absence of knowledge but also the belief that your knowledge is right) and encourage emptiness (an awareness of the finiteness of material reality and the infinity of the soul.)

As I harness my new found hope for the future (yay!) and do my part to lead us in a positive direction, I will follow that guidance.

This is my reaction to the election results, which I shared with family and friends who I thought would relate.  There are other family and friends who I think would have preferred a different outcome and I hope we can work towards increased understanding and collaboration on all the goals and dreams we do share.

What a great gift we have been given, and it came when we Really Really need it!

Let’s all pick ourselves up off the floor where we’ve been crouching, dust off the fallout of 8 loooooooooooooong years, envision a country we can be proud of (and the world can respect) again, and DO SOME GOOD for each other, our communities, and the people and creatures across the globe who need and deserve to be raised up.

No politician/no human is perfect, and Obama is not a god, but he offers commitment to positive change and hope for a brighter future.  A class act, and what a classy first family!  How wonderful to be inspired by words that are spoken with eloquence and true passion.  I look forward to not turning off the tv or radio every time our administration speaks, but rather listening with interest.

“Two wars, a planet in peril, and the worst financial crisis in a century.”  Things are a mess all over.  It will probably get worse before it gets better.  The good stuff in life is rarely easy, though, and inspiring leadership along with actively engaged citizens will go along way towards guiding us on the journey.

I just jumped up and down and did some jumping jacks and it felt great.

Let’s cultivate kindness.  Let’s question reality.  Let’s write a good chapter.

I’m happy to be alive at this moment,

Dorothy

I believe, without having concrete evidence, that the Universe creates a basic framework for us to exist within.  My human brain can only philosophize about what determines that unique framework each of us is given, each moment of each day on this planet.  I do believe karma (past Choices and actions) is a large component of it.  There’s a lot happening that goes beyond the thought patterns and conscious experiences of the majority of humans.  These deep, deep, layers of matter and energy are theorized, deconstructed, and disagreed upon within the fields of physics and philosophy.  Where they intersect (metaphysics and quantum mechanics for example) is where reality is found.  At least that’s my take on it, right now…

So, that’s one  layer of choice we humans have: how to frame/approach the reality we are handed.  What I planned to talk about today was Intention (I like to capitalize it because it is So important) which is another layer of choice available to us.  Intention actually encompasses several choices, and they are: the path we walk on; the steps we take along the path; and the life we envision ourselves living.  That will have to wait for Part 2 of this series!