Promotions...

I must confess I am encouraged to see people beginning to acknowledge the extent of global crisis we face as a society of human beings at this pivotal point in history.  It will inarguably take mass quantities of people deciding to choose differently, before real change can find its way into our daily lives. However, I am a bit concerned with the negative connotations attached to the very concept of protest. What is the opposite of protest? Support? Encourage? Attest? Promote?

People should be staging  PROMOTIONS (or ATTESTS?):  Gatherings of like -minded individuals who share a desire to improve the state of BE-ing upon this planet. Assemblies of people expressing our heartfelt support for and belief in love, peace, kindness, unity, equality, sustainability, tolerance, compassionate living, human potential, the connectivity of all things, respect for nature, and reverence for life in all of its awe-inspiring diversity and endless splendor.

Harboring or worse yet, encouraging an “us against them” mentality is detrimental to progress. Human beings can institute real change by supporting the basic ideals for a new way of living, rather than attacking the current system. Resisting will inevitably create more resistance, friction and conflict. Persisting on the other hand, through creative expressions of cooperation could help us move smoothly from one place to the next in this seemingly unavoidable evolutionary journey. How do we wish to proceed? How do we intend to give birth to this new era? Will it be through struggle, pain and fear? Or, will we cultivate our best qualities to face the uncharted days to come with resolve, compassion, faith, and courageous examples of human strength, perseverance and integrity? We all have a stake in this, and we all have decisions to make regarding the means by which we progress from here.

-Love

Mirrors...

There is a conceptual belief that the universe, everything, and everyone we meet are but a mirror to our own inner state of being. This is something that both intrigues and excites me with the scope of its implications…

Have you ever had one of “those” days? Everywhere you went people were rude or aggressive?  Are your public encounters often riddled with grumpy, disgruntled people who seem to hate their jobs or life in general? If the answer is yes, and we give weight to the idea of “mirroring”, we need to take inventory of our own inner conditions. Are we feeling aggressive, insecure, discouraged, disparaging, or annoyed? Try this experiment... The next time you encounter someone being difficult or sullen; send them your most earnest goodwill. Smile at them from that place in your heart where you understand that everyone has bad days. Show compassionate understanding for the fact that they are suffering from an all too familiar sense of discontentment. All the while consciously maintain a degree of cheer. If you keep your energy light, thoughtful, and positive, more often than not you will have rewarding public relations. And perhaps even bring a bit of joy to another's otherwise unremarkable day.

Each and every one of us wants to feel connected, loved, and acknowledged. Recognizing that the checkout lady or the person on the other end of the phone is just doing their job and may have a mountain of other stuff going on in their own hearts and minds, is instrumental in cultivating our own sense of kindness and consideration. It relates directly to the “do unto others” Golden Rule we all learned in Kindergarten. In fact, all human interaction can be broken down to this simplistic rudimentary understanding. Basically, you get what you give. The energy that we expel comes back to us in the form of people and circumstances that seem to be beyond our control. I am suggesting that a simple tweak in perception could alter our experiences to bring us more rewarding, fulfilling relations and circumstances.

Whether you have a vague awareness or a profound understanding of the connectedness of the universe, the fact is that we are all interconnected, part and parcel of the whole. Your thoughts and feelings do have an effect on your experiences. The more often you help another shift their feelings from low feelings of struggle into high feelings of kindness and appreciation, the more kindness and appreciation will inevitably come to you as well. I’m not talking about faking a smile and putting out a condescending air of superior jolliness. Or feigning contentment and joy while making others feel inadequate for having a crummy attitude. I’m talking about offering a truly genuine form of compassionate kindness that will resonate and be recognized by not only the person to whom it is offered, but by the energy of the universe as well. And, in theory will then be “mirrored” back at you. This is a practice in compassion.  Let’s see what happens when we stop treating the outside world as if it is somehow separate from ourselves, and begin to create and affect our own ultimate realities.

-Love.