October 8th, 2007

Listening

Ignorance is bliss. The more I know, the still more I want to know. But when I don’t know, I’m happy, because I can pretend.

So – if we know when we’re listening (or seeing) what should we listen to? When does pretending pay off?

Is it useful to be happy and ignorant when the circumstances seem to call for otherwise? I say this now, despite great evidence for concern for my planet and its species, including us; despite great evidence for my country’s economic, social and democratic peril.

But I am studying the Law of Attraction. It seems to work on an individual and also larger level. I enjoyed the NY Mets and the San Diego Padres through the season and I wonder if the LOA somehow applied on that level – it seemed to.

But as an individual, I contribute. It does not pay to add substance to a negative situation. When I lead the Awakening the Dreamer, Changing the Dream Symposium, I’m clear that the future depends on my emotions, my passion, my commitment Now. I understand there is depressing evidence. Should I let that interfere with my love, my gratitude, my embracing of every win?

Don’t do that. Observe the rain; praise the sunshine.

Useful Quotations

" Every object, every being,
is a jar full of delight.
Be a connoisseur."
Rumi

 "When you eventually see
through the veils to how things really are,
you will keep saying again and again,
This is certainly not like we though it was!"
Rumi

 Ask the questions that have no answers.
Invest in the millennium. Plant sequoias.
Say that your main crop is the forest
that you did not plant,
that you will not live to harvest.
Say that the leaves are harvested
when they have rotted into the mold.
Call that profit. Prophesy such returns
Wendell Berry

 Find the good. It's all around you. Find it, showcase it and you'll start believing in it
Jesse Owens

Creative Corner

Some Assembly Required

My brother wrote to me that
snowmen fall from heaven,
Unassembled

And I thought so do we

We arrive whole,
but disconnected

And we think the connections made are real
This we call learning
So real that when we discover they are fictions
we cannot disassemble
Because walking is real we think the same of how we eat
Because we learn to talk, we think we understand
Because we learn to read, we think we know

Birds learn from birds
And dogs from dogs
We learn from the world around
And think it’s real
Maybe this bird is not the same as that bird
And this dog is not the same as that
But birds are birds and dogs are dogs.

My world is not the same as yours
nor his from hers
Nor ours from theirs
But yours connect you and mine connect me
and so we think we know the world

 I have four blogs:

Creating Today - A daily journal on creativity
Contributing Coaching - Creating New Futures
Blogging for the Reading - Making a Difference in how we Create
Michael's Articles - articles that don't fit anywhere else.

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