Tag: writing

The Gift of Sleep

Sleep

A day with the Earth.  No other voice. 

And now, in the last hour, her presence grows stronger.  Instead of fading into darkness, the Earth makes herself felt deep within me.  In what meditation calls ‘the still centre’, the hollow just below the navel, I feel filled and fulfilled.

Earth’s stillness becomes my stillness.  Her silence, my calm thought. 

Natural as a mother’s young who nudge toward the safe place she creates, sleep will follow.

 

The above words write themselves, after I spend a day alone and never switch on the news in any sound form.

In the current pandemic, many of us have trouble finding sleep.   Fear escalates and speeds away rest, bringing nightmares instead.  It seems as though we can’t help it.   Yet, after working in communications for many years, what I’ve found is that we can choose not to hear many of the voices who cause fear.

‘News’ is not the equivalent of truth, but something manufactured, designed to keep us as listeners, helpless in the face of what is presented as insurmountable.   Radio and TV announcers are trained to put the kind of urgency and emphasis into their delivery which heightens our fear and dependence on them.

When I quit the communications business after fifteen years, the first thing I did was to cut myself off from TV and radio.  What we hear has a direct line to the brain, one that I don’t want to offer to sources I have learned not to trust.  The Internet has now shown that the advent of fake news even taints the word as text, with many news and social media feeds being heavily biased.  More and more, silence becomes the cleanest option for sleep hygiene.   If we need updates, local health announcements on email are more specific to our individual health and lack artificial drama.  Even these, I allow to access my thoughts in a sparing and controlled way.  For example, I avoid news reports at times when my sub-conscience is most vulnerable, such as when I first wake up, or in the hours leading to bedtime.

I’m not suggesting that we all bury our heads in the sand.   But in our news-saturated time, most of us do the opposite: we let ourselves become defenseless in the presence of those who seek to profit by launching more and more fears into our psyche.

If there is only one message I can give to those who share this pandemic situation with me, it is: let’s be more selective about what allow into our minds.  No one should rob us of the rest that renews.

We sit patiently and allow muddy thoughts to clear.                                                                        Life then lives itself in us.                                                                                                                                                              –quote adapted by William Martin from the Tao te Ching                                                                                                                                                                                   

After Christmas:  Let Boxing Day be different

 

My mind is not noisy with desires…

And my heart has satisfied its longing.                                Psalm 131

 

As I write this, deep snow has settled on the evening of December 25th.  The Christmas shopping ritual has just ended.  On my car radio, among the tinny carols, I hear Van Morrison repeat a phrase from Poetic Champions Compose: non-attachment, non-attachment.

For those of us like me, who overspent again this year, and felt retail’s hollow afterthought where our spirit should have been, the song rings like an anthem for 2017.  Non-attachment is currently best known as a Zen way of thinking about the world without clinging to it, nor to our position in it.  Yet the above Psalm, quoted by Muslim, Jewish and Christian holy men, reveals that the idea of non-attachment continues in many other spiritual traditions.

As I quietly step in, brush off the snow and hang up my coat, I find solace in the silence.  Perhaps it’s not too late to find a new path for the holidays.  I live five minutes from a supermall, and the thought of returning there for Boxing Day shopping tomorrow sickens me.  So does the thought of plowing through all the excess food and gifted goodies in my kitchen.

Boxing Day is so named because, for hundreds of years, those who had plenty would distribute their extra food and clothes to the poor.  The idea of using this day for the prosperous to accumulate yet more, is relatively recent, a nightmare invented by retailers.

As I turn off the tree lights for the night, a thought comes to me.  My local YMCA is collecting food for local shelters and the town food bank. I remember that late on Christmas Eve, I noticed that, though we are one of the wealthiest communities in the country, the box was only half-full. Tomorrow afternoon, Dec. 26, is the time scheduled for the box to be sent out.  I can still make a difference!

I shrug off the fatigue I’ve been feeling from a day of too much food, too many gifts, and swing into action.  I find a large box of my own, and fill it with tinned soups, stews and all my extra boxed cookies and chocolate.  A clear recycling bag enables me to add the clothing I’ve received but don’t need.

I have a new plan for tomorrow now.  I’m going to bypass the mall, drop off my donation, and offer to help distribute to the needy.  As William Blake, the poetic conscience of the early Industrial Age, wrote:

“ You never know what is enough until you know what is more than enough.”

 

Find Life Beyond Work in the New Year

Those who create are like you [God].

They long for the Eternal.                                                             -Rilke

 

Thinking of some New Year’s Resolutions this year? Consider not making any, except for one:

Live forever.

Stated simply, that’s the goal of every creative person — to make something that will outlast the moment, and transcend the repetition of ordinary, work-a-day life. It’s no accident that many of the world’s great artists and musicians have led exceptionally long lives. Beyond this, their creations have transcended time to enchant and inspire generations after them.

To live creatively in the coming year, I think it’s important to see the differences between a resolution and a goal.

Resolution Goal
-an intention – an action
– untimed – linked to a schedule
– without a plan for measurement – with feedback built in
– stated in vague, general terms – written and noted in clear, specific language
– is my responsibility to meet alone – draws on support from many different teachers, mentors and heroes

So how does “Live forever” become specific? It’s the difference between “doing something after work” and “practicing the saxophone for at least an hour every day (3 on weekends) so that I’ll be good enough to join a jazz band next September”.

I was once present at an interview with the hugely successful writer Nora Roberts. She described starting out as a busy mom, with only the kitchen table as her workspace. To beat the endless chores and distractions, she set a deadline every night. She strictly forbade herself to go to bed until she had met a certain number of words. And her page quotient went up every week!

Every night, Nora turned her table into a kind of altar to the writers she admired. She stacked her favourite books around her. She recorded and replayed radio and TV appearances by her favourite authors. When her kids were old enough to go to school, she took classes at a nearby college.  There she learned about writers’ conferences, a way to get closer to her role models and to meet those who would one day publish her writing.  When it came time to submit herself to the ordeal of rejection letters, she drew on her personal background of spirituality to keep faith in herself and keep creative.

“But I’m not good enough,” you may be thinking, or “I’m too old to start now.”  The idea of rejection brings us to the red flag thought that stops so many of us from being creative: “What if I fail?”

In the Western world, many of us have been raised to think of success as a kind of reward program, usually measured by material gain. Yet there are many instances of people such as J. Randolph Hearst and Howard Hughes, who found that, the more they could accumulate in cash and objects, the less happiness and quality of life they could find.

To balance the material weight that seems to tip our life balance, many Westerners have come to consider the East.  The Buddhist concept of “non-attachment” to an outcome allows believers to set goals, but to be flexible about how to achieve them.  This simple shift widens the lens that can make a set-in-stone goal seem daunting. It puts the emphasis on life as process, the unique unfolding of an individual. For example, it can make a player like Sonny Rollins stop clearing the classical hurdles, and find a music of his own.

Hearing that jazz giant still play, well into his eighties, reminded me that living creatively means living longer. I also recently spent time seeing the works of Georgia O’Keefe, who only began painting very late in life. Upcoming in this space, we’ll be exploring the reasons why creativity is good for your health, including the concepts of stimulus, a proven way to prevent depression and flow, a mental state which enables time to be used for nourishment rather than fatigue.

Do you have a creative hobby that has made a difference in your life? Do you know a long-lived creative person whose story you’d like to share?  This blog is open to comments and welcomes positive input. Can’t wait to hear from you!

How to Love Your Coworkers

Love is something we give to those in our family, but seldom bring with us to work. Today I’m thinking how it would empower each of us if we were to see ourselves as bringers of love and reassurance to those we work with.

This is a positive shift, simply because it takes us out of a passive role (their victim) and into an active one (their helper). Secondly, our energy is freed to reach its full potential because we are concentrating on giving rather than withholding.

Acceptance is a healthy choice because it allows us to move forward, instead of waiting for others to change. If we choose to accept people as they are, and take that as our starting point, then we need not spend another day paralyzed by anger or fear. It doesn’t mean we stop wanting to move toward something new. It means instead that we stop struggling.

It is the belief that we must struggle that is the trap, not the situation itself.

Struggling is a reactive mode, one that assumes that we are governed by the power (or lack of power) of others. Sometimes a coworker, or someone instrumental to our life, holds us back simply because they aren’t a match for us in terms of ability. Because we don’t want to hurt their feelings, this can cause us to fall into the trap of “trying” to do what we want, instead of going ahead and doing it. In reality, we aren’t doing the mismatched person any favours. By holding ourselves back for them, we’re keeping everyone stuck.

Others only have power over us if we seek their approval. If we let ourselves act independently of our weak egos, we free up our energy further. We no longer have to spend hours of each day worrying about what others might think. We can concentrate on allowing our own talents to benefit the world.

I believe fully that each of us has unique talents and should let what Nature gave us shine out! Those who feel threatened by us, or who simply can’t keep up, feel so because their talents and background lie elsewhere. They belong where they are better matched.

The world will thrive far more if we each simply release our talents to express themselves. This way we attract others with similar strengths and enjoyments, and no one need feel that anyone else is their burden or the one who must continue to carry them.

HOW TO CREATE A NEW HEALTH IDENTITY: Taking Charge

“Nothing has more power to transform than awareness.” Deepak Chopra, 2012

Nature and Identity

Can Nature help form a new identity, free of the fears and sufferings of our family’s past?  Many so-called “inherited” ailments are no longer necessary, made out-of-date by new findings in science.  Yet, because we are descendants, the psychological hold on us may still be strong.  Before we look at how a Nature connection can assist health, let me tell you about an unexpected encounter I had with a University of Toronto medical professor, who, over forty years had seen health trends in countless families.

Taking charge of my own health

I consulted Dr. Rodger Hines while I was a mature student at the university.  After too many late nights studying with coffee, I was convinced I had a stomach ulcer.  By way of introducing myself, I mentioned that I had many relatives with similar problems.  To my astonishment, he replied:  “So I expect you’ll have “indigestion” printed in gilt letters on your family crest.”

My first reaction was embarrassment, then a touch of resentment that he might be poking fun at us.  I had expected him to order tests, repeat visits, a life-long prescription.  Instead, he made me take charge of my own health.

To sum up:

– Doctor Hines suggested that I explore my family’s attitudes to illness, especially to symptoms I might currently be experiencing.  He urged me to act as an impartial observer, a “reporter” whose health profile might be quite different from the vision I had formed from my family’s past.  At first, I didn’t like the idea of separating my identity from my family.

– Then he explained that I was looking for clues to what I now think of a ‘self-created health identity’(quite possibly mistaken or outdated).  As a way of connecting with my family, I might have subconsciously adopted suffering from the past.

– I soon found links between stories I had heard in childhood and symptoms I had considered chronic and “a part of who I am” for most of my adult life.

– The doctor put the ball back in my court by telling me to find a new way of feeling close to my family, one that did not involve my reliving events from their medical past.  I found the courage to follow this approach when I realized that if my symptoms were unnecessary, I might find a way to avoid passing them on to my own children.

I’m happy to tell you that haven’t had chronic indigestion since that med-free consult with the exceptional Dr. Hines (sadly now deceased), and it’s been over twenty years.

FOLLOW-UP:  If you would like to expIore your own health identity in this way, I’ve prepared a toolkit, which I can gladly provide for you to fill out privately.  I use myself as a “how-to”example of how to question assumptions about one’s own health, but I’ve met many others who’ve shared this experience.  Rob Hawke, author of Kicking Cancer’s Ass, tells how he overcame his inherited family belief that the diagnosis of cancer he received could only be fatal. He has moved way past the “terminal” deadline, and now spends his time helping others with similar diagnoses.

Since Rodger Hines handed me back responsibility for my own health, I’ve spent very little time in doctor’s offices.  I have, however, spent a lot of time with Nature. This leads to the next section of this topic, Nature and Identity.  If we find, by exploring and research, that the health identity we’ve created for ourselves is outdated or even mistaken, we need to shed that false identity and find a different one.  The first key way Nature can find new aspects of our identity is first to help us lose it.  In our next session, we’ll look at some techniques and strategies for doing this, and for finding a new sense of self in Nature.

For now, I’d like to share with you a piece I wrote in response to someone who suddenly did lose their identity as the result of an accident.  His story helped me to visualize the inherent strength and health we each hold within us, independent of any name we might be given.  (Continued… )

To discuss this topic further, contact us on Facebook

WHY WE NEED NATURE: 5 Fundamental Concepts

The Nature of Your Body

The body itself is a screen to shield and partially reveal

the light that is blazing inside your presence.

 

Each of us is born into Beauty,

But we need to be walking in a garden to see it.

-Rumi  (OHBW, p.27)
Imagine your body as an eco-system.  You marvel at its streams and waterfalls, would never dream of pouring poison into the play of its waters.  The longer you spend inside this place, the more you become aware of a delicate balance between parts, of how easily you might tear the carefully strung web.  Where you seek to nourish, you might weigh down and destroy.  You learn to touch carefully here, to tune your senses to a rhythm you could once barely perceive.

Or perhaps you prefer the image of your body as a treasured pet.  A pony, for instance, that you longed for as a child.  You clean and polish the bright skin so it will gleam like your dreams. You set free the strong spine and limbs to massage themselves often with joyful movement, never allowing sad stasis to take hold.  Together you and this loved creature dance as one being, as the interplay of two kinds of life.  You begin to feel that within his strength, there is a vision as creative as your mind’s, that his beating heart will carry you much further than you could go alone.

The lovely quotes at the start of this chapter are from the 14th century Sufi poet Rumi, whose words effortlessly lift the human body into unity with Nature and the spiritual power within. For thousands of years, aboriginal tribes and religious groups have sent members into the wild in the belief that this would be a growth experience for them.

Jesus, Mohammed, Buddha and many other prophets have gone into outdoor isolation for a time.  They found a truth that was solitary, but would later benefit the world.  The coming-of-age Nature ritual has also been an important part of an adolescent’s life in many cultures, often with the young person’s name changing afterwards to reflect a truer understanding of the self.  Yet, as the Australian aboriginal “walkabout” proves, the transformational power of Nature can take place at any age.

From these examples, we learn that from many different world cultures, some have gone into Nature to contemplate spiritual unity.   In each case, Nature has the effect of therapy, and these people emerge not always as visionaries,  but often as empowered individuals with ideas that nourish their lives and those of their people for generations.

WHY WE NEED NATURE: 5 Fundamental Concepts 

These are the core ideas which have supported me in making my own Nature connection.

  1. We need to pay attention to our physical selves and the world around us to survive.

Despite technological changes in our outward manner of living, ours is not an Artificial Intelligence.  We have not evolved beyond our fundamental physical state.  We are creatures whose growth and wellness needs Nature as a reference point.

2. Psychologically, If we ignore our need for Nature,we develop a deep-seated unease.

If we remain unable to make meaningful contact with our natural needs and environment,  it will impact wellness and eventually health.

From instinct, we still reach toward our natural environment according to the drives we are born with.

As Michael Hyatt recently put it: “We are hard-wired for contact with Nature.”

3. Opening one’s life to include a relationship with Nature can assist healing and the achievement of lasting wellness.

This needs to be done gradually and according to one’s own pace.   It does not require rejecting your doctor, religious faith or medication.

4. At times of crisis, rather than becoming self-destructive, we can turn to unity with Nature to fortify our self-care.

As we move closer to understanding Nature, we learn to better appreciate and care for our own bodies, thereby becoming proactive about our health and wellness.

5. We can learn from people who have a powerful personal connection with Nature, such as aboriginals, prophets and nature writers.  We can then adapt what we learn to form our own unique, personal relationship with the Earth.