Life Musings — Page 19

Surrounded by time, what effect does it have?

March 11, 2013 by Barbara

Growing up, we had one clock in the kitchen. Adults had wrist watches.

This past Sunday, it was Spring Forward, or daylight savings time here in Ohio. I checked our radio controlled clocks. Then, as I manually started to change the others, it hit me: I’m surrounded by clocks. A wall clock in the kitchen, a clock in the living room, a clock in each of our offices, two alarm clocks (his and hers) in our bedroom, clocks in each bathroom, then of course the ones built-in to the microwave, stove, computer, iPhone, car dashboard…

What does being surrounded by reminders of time do to us?…time passing; time lost (hurry! going to be late); time to be utilized (guess I can squeeze in one more thing before the next appointment).

Does the constant reminder create a subtle urgency; a need to “get on with it already!” What ever it is?

There’s evidence that losing the hour with daylight savings time negatively affects our health, disrupts our sleep and results in more accidents. But I’m beginning to feel that the whole emphasis on time is even more insidious. It pulls us away from our direct, sensuous, enjoyment and experience of life. Our attention instead is constantly pulled outward to the next thing to be done.

So I ask myself, “What clocks could I live without?” Maybe I’ll start small. Today, the bathroom clock is going to the basement.

Filed Under: Choice, Misc. Tagged With: daylight savings time, Spring forward, time

If you are the environment you live in…

February 15, 2013 by Barbara

I like Peter Diamandis’s comment “you are the environment in which you live. ” Creating works best when we focus on what we want. Negative programing shifts our focus to what we don’t want, fostering fear, worry, and negative thinking. I thought Peter’s study of Times Magazine covers was telling as well.

Filed Under: Heart's wisdom, Perception Tagged With: negative news, negative thinking, Peter Diamandis, Times Magazine

Fixing isn’t always what I want

February 6, 2013 by Barbara

Two years ago a candle melted on our fireplace stone mantle. I tried everything anyone suggested to get it up. I scraped, ironed over a brown paper bag to soak up excess wax, used degreasers, and finally carburetor cleaner to get the oily stain out. All suggestions were unsuccessful, many gave me a headache.

I explored going to a local stone place to replace the worse section but I’m not doing it. Seeing the stain still bothers me! WHY am I not taking action?

As I was berating myself for not getting it off my “to do” list the other day, it dawned on me: I was solving a problem, not creating something I wanted. Yes, the stain bothered me, but I don’t particularly like the mantle. There is no energy around fixing it. I’d fallen into the trap of fixing a problem (I really should…) vs. creating what I want.

So now I’m exploring what a different mantle might look like. I’ll create it or decide to live with what I have. Either way it’ll be a clean choice and will free energy that’s been trapped in the “I’ve got to get this fixed” mode for the past two years.
Creating works! Shoulds?…Well, not so much.

Filed Under: Choice, Fear or Courage, We are creators Tagged With: candles melting, choice

Luck? Perserverance? Timing?

October 29, 2012 by Barbara

Cathy Thomas has written about her own creating process in getting her book published.

“For several years I have had the intention of writing a book. …..I can tell you that at the start, the idea of me actually writing a book seemed really crazy. …So what I did was just start… And then…my dream got stuck. I just could not get it to move forward.”

The creating process can be messy, with many opportunities to just give up. In Cathy’s case, there were no heroic bells and whistles…just a thread of desire for it to happen that kept it all moving. She listened to her own sense of when to move and when to let it rest. She was open to it not happening at the same time she still wanted it. Creating often requires holding polarities: seeing the end result complete but being OK with not having it; being willing to put a hold on something but still be alert to possibilities…..

Read the rest of Cathy’s post here: Making your Dream Become a Reality.

Filed Under: Creating with others, Heart's wisdom, The Creating Process, We are creators Tagged With: book, Cathy Thomas, published

Changing one word…

October 15, 2012 by Barbara

What if you could change one word and shift what happens next? One word that creates new possibilities as you expand vs. contract your thinking?

Dick Costolo, CEO of Twitter, had been a professional stand up comedian who did improvisation. Improvisation requires you find ways to use whatever the audience throws at you. You need to be able build on what has been introduced.

Mr. Costolo carried what he learned doing improvisation into his job at Twitter, “running a company of 1,300 employees.” He uses a basic improv principle, one essential for keeping the improv going.

While seemingly simple, it is actually quite profound.

“He rarely uses the word ‘but.’ Instead, he says ‘Yes and…’ –an improv principle that allows people to discuss something without disagreeing.”

It allows the actors to think about and use what was just said; building on it or not, but not discarding it.

In improv, this can lead to some pretty funny scenarios. In life it just might get us to expand our thinking instead of contracting around our point of view.

Yes and…?

Filed Under: Creating with others, Perception Tagged With: connectivity, Dick Costolo, improv, Twitter, yes but

Our heart is also our personal GPS

September 22, 2012 by Barbara

We know the heart is a muscle that pumps blood through our bodies. But it turns out, in addition to being a physical pump, the heart generates an electromagnetic field that extends out from the heart itself. The more coherent the field’s sine-wave, the greater our intuitive ability, our creative responses in situations and our sense of well-being. Learning to generate a more coherent field is an important skill for those interested in being effective creators. At the heart of creating is the ability to chose our responses and what we want in life vs. reacting to situations and the opinions of others.

How does heart coherence work? “Now researchers theorize that the energetic heart functions as a “receiving station” through which nonlinear information couples to the physical heart (The Energetic Heart). By intentionally engaging sincere heart feelings like love, care, appreciation and compassion, participants in studies have been able to generate a coherent or sine-wave like heart-rhythm pattern. HeartMath theorizes that the more coherent people are, the more receptive they become to this field of intuitive heart intelligence.” from HeartMath.org.

The energetic heart is our personal GPS system for choosing wisely, reducing stress and achieving results we care about.

There are simple tools you can use to tap the power of your own energetic heart. But like all things of value, you have to practice them and, remember to use them. Simple doesn’t mean no effort. But with practice you can live with less stress, be more effective in your choices and positively affect those around you. Not bad!

Filed Under: We are creators

In the shelter of a tree…

September 3, 2012 by Barbara

We take for granted the benefit nature bestows on us. Six months after a tornado hit Moscow, Ohio, one woman remembers:

She “used to be able to walk from her home for five blocks down toward the river and be under trees nearly the whole time. Not anymore… now she knows why she has always loved Moscow’s trees … There is the shade, of course. But now she says the wind feels different. It is harder when it sweeps up from the river. And she can hear the barges that carry coal to the William H. Zimmer Power Station on the north edge of town.”*

So here’s to greater appreciation of those everyday things, like the trees we take for granted or get annoyed at when they shed leaves or nuts: the “things” we will truly miss when they are gone.

*The Enquirer, Sunday, Sept. 2, 2012 p. B6.

Filed Under: Perception, We are creators Tagged With: Moscow OH, systems, tornadoes, trees

Lessons of a Creator: #5

August 25, 2012 by Barbara

I found a way to shift my attention away from my thinking mind, to ask questions and to listen for the answers: FOCUSING IN MY BODY. I shift my attention into my body (I focus on my heart), center with my breath and feel a moment of genuine care. As my thinking mind quiets, I can get a felt sense of what is going on. I can tune into an inner guidance that goes beyond my fears, worries and limitations.

My heart-focus filters out the noise my head is broadcasting.

(Some of the science behind this can be found at: www.heartmath.org)

Filed Under: Heart's wisdom, The Creating Process, We are creators Tagged With: genuine care, Heart, Intuitive listening

Lessons of a Creator: #4

August 22, 2012 by Barbara

Our thinking minds are heavily influenced by what we’ve been taught, our beliefs about how things work, and our assumptions about people. These, too often, lead to worry, judgment, and fears that distort what we think is happening, and limit what we think is possible.

As a creator, I learned I had to go beyond what my “head” can do for me. That led me to lesson #5…

Filed Under: Fear or Courage, Perception, We are creators Tagged With: assumptions, beliefs, logic, minds

Lessons of a Creator: #3

August 18, 2012 by Barbara

Most of us really don’t really believe what we want matters. But it’s the first step in learning we are creators. We start by wanting something, which leads us to learn about the creating process itself. We begin to trust that we can have what we want. And, it’s only then, that we can hear the invitation to go deeper: to listen to the silence, to step off the edge of what we thought was possible. In Alice of Wonderland’s terms, we fall down the rabbit hole– running into paradoxes, living bigger questions, losing the world we thought we knew so well.

Filed Under: Fear or Courage, Heart's wisdom, The Creating Process, We are creators Tagged With: creators, learning, what we want