Saturday, November 21, 2009
pollution
It's a tightrope walk down the day sometimes; avoiding the vampires. These are the ads, people, and misplaced desires that seem to suck out our life-force and leave a dull ache where the blood used to be. Conversations that are really two single lane roads, on a roughly parallel path, for limited time. Rationales for spending money that wasn't really there to spend, but to return the item takes far too much further energy. People who stare at you for those extra seconds, before they realise that the topic has ended. Pet peeves that occur with such frequency that your response just sucks out your equilibrium and leaves it on the roadside, along with those damned still smoking cigarette ends. Wanting to rest but acquiescing, even colluding to that social expectation that one must be busy; so busy that sleep comes without reflection, just a sharp drop into the depths of the pillow. This is pollution. It is easy to be wise on the top of a mountain, but to really make the difference, keep the balance while sucking in the smog. Set your social spam filter high and be willing to be mystical. Darn your socks, take out the compost and stop feathering your nest - its big enough. Read a book, talk with a child about an emotion; be present for the next person who asks you a question. Pollution is distraction; distraction is distressing; distress is exhausting. We are human beings, not human doings - rise above the pollution, close your eyes and look back towards the sun.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
people are scared
We seem to have forgotten, as a species, where we are from; a grand consciousness for which this material existence is an experiment. We have myths, analogies, metaphors, similes and a plethora of tools for persuading ourselves that our anxieties and lonelinesses (?) are really just expressions of matter creating tricks of the mind. We neglect the possibility that mind came first, and matter has evolved to what we have today.
We study and discuss other cultures, going so far as to accept as sane the perspective that other cultures have alternative values, and that while toleration is a minimal (and largely insufficient) standard, acceptance and celebration is sometimes a too tall order. The slippery slope of relativism (would you bind your daughter's feet to adhere to the culturally appropriate norm?) is the bugbear to ward off anyone going a bit too deep into acceptance of the truly different. We forget that the bugbear is a straw man (if he only had a brain), and one that is a symbol in himself of trying to become something more than he is (hoping to move from the vegetative to the animal). The bugbear-straw man is more than either a distraction or the symbol of progression of early humanity (vegetative - animal - human); the bugbear-straw man warning that is relativism distracts us from seeing/hearing/feeling/sensing that the differences between us are nowt; the colour of my skin, my sexual identity, my age and my age-inspired disabilities, among other distinctions, are mere tertiary distractions from the consciousness that I share with EVERY SINGLE PERSON, ANYWHERE.
Materialism as the great experiment has been the agenda for millenia now, and as we learn more and more about individualism and what it means to leave the collective experience behind us, materialism presents us with more and more possibilities to celebrate our SELFs. The thing is, we have forgotten that there is more to being alive than experiencing material/individualistic, bacchanalian and fleeting pleasures. The age of the celebrity has arrived and for the new souls, never before has there been such opportunity to revel in the celebratory limelight, where everything feeds the infantilised ego. Never never land is here and there is no need to grow up, no need to take responsibility for one's actions. It's a never ending intoxication.
Only, most souls realise, its not. There is something missing, and its so deeply buried, so deeply missed and so devastatingly disturbing, that when soulmates meet or when a glimpse into the midnight pit of despair is briefly illumed, it's such a foreign experience to share that even those who might recognise shared depths of experience - well - even they can't quite believe it is safe to acknowledge it to each other. The conversation does not start back up, excuses are given, anxieties about sanity flare up, and Saturn, that great dark (necessary) force has once again blocked out the Sun. Pray for the Moon to come to the rescue, with just a bit of guiding light, to give all our poor scared, isolated, souls the opportunity to reconnect. Pray for the light of a kindred soul to whisper in our ear that being scared is ok, but that its better to take that step forward and reach out our hand to grasp a little bit of shared consciousness. We know, all of us, in our depths, why dogs howl at the moon. With a few steps towards each other when we actually meet, and a bit of faith, perhaps our grand experiment might continue a bit less painfully, while remembering it was we who asked for it.
We study and discuss other cultures, going so far as to accept as sane the perspective that other cultures have alternative values, and that while toleration is a minimal (and largely insufficient) standard, acceptance and celebration is sometimes a too tall order. The slippery slope of relativism (would you bind your daughter's feet to adhere to the culturally appropriate norm?) is the bugbear to ward off anyone going a bit too deep into acceptance of the truly different. We forget that the bugbear is a straw man (if he only had a brain), and one that is a symbol in himself of trying to become something more than he is (hoping to move from the vegetative to the animal). The bugbear-straw man is more than either a distraction or the symbol of progression of early humanity (vegetative - animal - human); the bugbear-straw man warning that is relativism distracts us from seeing/hearing/feeling/sensing that the differences between us are nowt; the colour of my skin, my sexual identity, my age and my age-inspired disabilities, among other distinctions, are mere tertiary distractions from the consciousness that I share with EVERY SINGLE PERSON, ANYWHERE.
Materialism as the great experiment has been the agenda for millenia now, and as we learn more and more about individualism and what it means to leave the collective experience behind us, materialism presents us with more and more possibilities to celebrate our SELFs. The thing is, we have forgotten that there is more to being alive than experiencing material/individualistic, bacchanalian and fleeting pleasures. The age of the celebrity has arrived and for the new souls, never before has there been such opportunity to revel in the celebratory limelight, where everything feeds the infantilised ego. Never never land is here and there is no need to grow up, no need to take responsibility for one's actions. It's a never ending intoxication.
Only, most souls realise, its not. There is something missing, and its so deeply buried, so deeply missed and so devastatingly disturbing, that when soulmates meet or when a glimpse into the midnight pit of despair is briefly illumed, it's such a foreign experience to share that even those who might recognise shared depths of experience - well - even they can't quite believe it is safe to acknowledge it to each other. The conversation does not start back up, excuses are given, anxieties about sanity flare up, and Saturn, that great dark (necessary) force has once again blocked out the Sun. Pray for the Moon to come to the rescue, with just a bit of guiding light, to give all our poor scared, isolated, souls the opportunity to reconnect. Pray for the light of a kindred soul to whisper in our ear that being scared is ok, but that its better to take that step forward and reach out our hand to grasp a little bit of shared consciousness. We know, all of us, in our depths, why dogs howl at the moon. With a few steps towards each other when we actually meet, and a bit of faith, perhaps our grand experiment might continue a bit less painfully, while remembering it was we who asked for it.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
what does it mean?
Those information videos that review the world and our seeming exponential change are proliferating. Find your favourite provider, sit back and prepare to be amazed at all the information blowing past you, like Laurie Anderson's storm (..."blowing the angel, backwards, into the future...). But here's one to consider. www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQFTUJK9TkI
What does it mean? How much is real, what do we do with it, and does it really matter? No. It's brain candy for the clever. It's brain candy for those who like to think they are more cutting edge than a tabloid reader. But it is still like refined suger, designed to give you a buzz. It lasts just long enough to trigger the "more" neuron, and before you know it, 35 minutes have passed and all you can remember is that you have a vague uneasiness about China and India. Welcome to the world of "gotcha". It's not so bad really - its better than saccharin, MSG and aspartame - not much accusation of cancer or tumours levied at "simple" refined suger. Likewise the claws of the Murdochs are hardly being flexed in this arena, as yet, so the dangers of being influenced to suddenly switch to the artificial sweetness of Fox News ("Obama is an enemy of humanity") or of finding Rush Limbaugh on world radio, and enjoying his other perspective ("Obama is just an angry black man") - is not high. No, these whirling dervish vids are still Pleasantville, but with that slighly uneasy socially acceptable prejudice you might find at a conservative fundraising dinner. The danger in enjoying this kind of reality as truth, is that we lose track of inner knowledge; that part of us that isn't technical expertise or organisational confidence; that part of us that can change jobs, locations or even sets of friends in a Big Move, and still wake up in the morning knowing what we are about. These vids are distractions, just as much as tabloids, and they are designed to destabilise. Inner knowledge is from quiet, silence, reflection and observation. With that we get a sence of where our talents and beingness fits into the world around us.
In the words of Chapin, waiting for his Corey: reality is only just word. But its our word and our reality - when we let others possess us at hyper speed, we give them control, and the inner core, who we are; gets smaller and smaller until we might as well keep working past retirement because we don't know what else to do. Does Lucifer control the high speed vids? Probably not. That would seem a bit pedestrian really. I'm sure there are bigger things to do. But it's not the angels either.
What does it mean? How much is real, what do we do with it, and does it really matter? No. It's brain candy for the clever. It's brain candy for those who like to think they are more cutting edge than a tabloid reader. But it is still like refined suger, designed to give you a buzz. It lasts just long enough to trigger the "more" neuron, and before you know it, 35 minutes have passed and all you can remember is that you have a vague uneasiness about China and India. Welcome to the world of "gotcha". It's not so bad really - its better than saccharin, MSG and aspartame - not much accusation of cancer or tumours levied at "simple" refined suger. Likewise the claws of the Murdochs are hardly being flexed in this arena, as yet, so the dangers of being influenced to suddenly switch to the artificial sweetness of Fox News ("Obama is an enemy of humanity") or of finding Rush Limbaugh on world radio, and enjoying his other perspective ("Obama is just an angry black man") - is not high. No, these whirling dervish vids are still Pleasantville, but with that slighly uneasy socially acceptable prejudice you might find at a conservative fundraising dinner. The danger in enjoying this kind of reality as truth, is that we lose track of inner knowledge; that part of us that isn't technical expertise or organisational confidence; that part of us that can change jobs, locations or even sets of friends in a Big Move, and still wake up in the morning knowing what we are about. These vids are distractions, just as much as tabloids, and they are designed to destabilise. Inner knowledge is from quiet, silence, reflection and observation. With that we get a sence of where our talents and beingness fits into the world around us.
In the words of Chapin, waiting for his Corey: reality is only just word. But its our word and our reality - when we let others possess us at hyper speed, we give them control, and the inner core, who we are; gets smaller and smaller until we might as well keep working past retirement because we don't know what else to do. Does Lucifer control the high speed vids? Probably not. That would seem a bit pedestrian really. I'm sure there are bigger things to do. But it's not the angels either.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
in my hair
What is it about mystical matters that is unacceptable? People glaze over, roll their eyes, give knowing looks, beat a hasty retreat, even make snide remarks. And yet...is it the last bastion of polite discrimination? Is it just the preserve of the loony, the wacky, the imbalanced, the weak of mind? Some milennia of mystery schools, secret societies, esoteric knowledge, and seriously famous (often infamous) adherents would attest to there being more to it than the lore of the intellectually lost.
At lunch today, in the midst of a police canteen, we had a discussion about past-life regression, reincarnation and angels. True there was much pausing, looks over the shoulder and going quiet as people entered and left the sacred space, but the discussion did evolve between us three, and a fourth joined in, at least open to possibilities. There was disconcerted, repeated need for affirmation from the one who had gone furthest down the path; but our audience was enthusiastic and encouraging. Commenting about the age of souls, led to the query: who are the new souls? I have never given this much thought, but assumed it was simply those who are most enraptured with materialism. I was not far off - the newest souls are the celebrities: image and public atention being an all-consuming vocation. Upon reflection, it makes sense to me, and explains why when some folks speak of shopping expeditions, brand names, and plan for beach wear back in February - I feel so distant in time and space that I am left speechless. Not that I am enlightened; just not mindful of bling, rings or things.
Could it be, that those who do have interests in the unseeable, the ancient mysteries, the metaphorical and the guiding hand of angels and spirits ought to be a bit bolder about these beliefs. Ought we not to recognise that it is those with longer vision who ought to be leading society, instead of trying to join newbies in prioritising the search for the x-factor. Ought we be able to start to turn this gross material paradigm on its head, and proclaim that we do have answers, and they are wondrous.
I finished the day by visiting some healers who contribute their channelled energy almost for free. As my favorite such spirit sent electricity through my hair, I thought, "watch out for the angels, that's where they sit when they whisper to me...."
At lunch today, in the midst of a police canteen, we had a discussion about past-life regression, reincarnation and angels. True there was much pausing, looks over the shoulder and going quiet as people entered and left the sacred space, but the discussion did evolve between us three, and a fourth joined in, at least open to possibilities. There was disconcerted, repeated need for affirmation from the one who had gone furthest down the path; but our audience was enthusiastic and encouraging. Commenting about the age of souls, led to the query: who are the new souls? I have never given this much thought, but assumed it was simply those who are most enraptured with materialism. I was not far off - the newest souls are the celebrities: image and public atention being an all-consuming vocation. Upon reflection, it makes sense to me, and explains why when some folks speak of shopping expeditions, brand names, and plan for beach wear back in February - I feel so distant in time and space that I am left speechless. Not that I am enlightened; just not mindful of bling, rings or things.
Could it be, that those who do have interests in the unseeable, the ancient mysteries, the metaphorical and the guiding hand of angels and spirits ought to be a bit bolder about these beliefs. Ought we not to recognise that it is those with longer vision who ought to be leading society, instead of trying to join newbies in prioritising the search for the x-factor. Ought we be able to start to turn this gross material paradigm on its head, and proclaim that we do have answers, and they are wondrous.
I finished the day by visiting some healers who contribute their channelled energy almost for free. As my favorite such spirit sent electricity through my hair, I thought, "watch out for the angels, that's where they sit when they whisper to me...."
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Re-invention
Innovation and creativity are decent buzz words. There is an impressive industry that capitalizes on them, and enables growth accordingly. But in 1899, Charles H. Duell, the Director of the US patent office, said "Everything that can been invented, has been invented." Was he making one of the greatest foolish utterances of modern history, or was he alluding to deeper channels? Whatever he was seeing when he made that statement, there is a deeper truth to be considered. "The more things change, the more they stay the same" ("plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose"): Whatever we think we need in life and however we think we need to get it, the basics remain the same across cultures and through time. However much we innovate, however creative we are, we are a product of our time, and the models we use are time bound. Thus, this is an adaptive era as opposed to a mechanistic era, and we often specialise in finding ways to help people to adapt more quickly. That is great - but it is not all there is.
To do more, we must consider the structure: the way we know what we know, the way we learn what we learn. We also need to consider the implications for the way we know what we know and the ways we learn what we learn. For that we must be willing to re-invent: to re-invent ourselves, re-invent our professional lives, re-invent the way we perceive the world, and to encourage our customers to re-invent themselves as needed. At only that point do we see with new eyes, feel afresh and gain actual new perceptions - not just recycled or repackaged old ones. Innovation and creativity are great, but they can mask small changes (re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic).
Are you a reformer or a revolutionary? If you want your ship to enjoy new ports, you may need to be sure your innovation, creativity and indeed re-invention are addressing big enough issues.
To do more, we must consider the structure: the way we know what we know, the way we learn what we learn. We also need to consider the implications for the way we know what we know and the ways we learn what we learn. For that we must be willing to re-invent: to re-invent ourselves, re-invent our professional lives, re-invent the way we perceive the world, and to encourage our customers to re-invent themselves as needed. At only that point do we see with new eyes, feel afresh and gain actual new perceptions - not just recycled or repackaged old ones. Innovation and creativity are great, but they can mask small changes (re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic).
Are you a reformer or a revolutionary? If you want your ship to enjoy new ports, you may need to be sure your innovation, creativity and indeed re-invention are addressing big enough issues.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
adaptive people
I like this:
"The focus of the world of work will move from lifetime employment to lifetime fulfillment" - Kustantinos Apostolatos; Management Centre Europe
Looking down the road a bit, and considering some current trends, it is easy to agree with the following:
1. The concept of the employee will be outdated as people work within an enterprise's ecosystem rather than in structural units.
2. People work on three things: entrepreneurship, autonomy and accountabilities
3. People seek challenges based on: capabilities and intelligence; fun and fulfillment; work and life balance
4. Lifetime generative learning will mean a portfolio of re-inventible competencies, regularly reconfigured to adapt to changing enterprise ecosystems
Is it so simple? Of course not. As William Gibson is widely quoted: "The future has already arrived. It's just not evenly distributed yet." Meaning, to me: while the Apostolatos quote has tremendous resonance, some of the wildly enthusiatic harbingers of the future ("80% of a workforce will be outsourced. 20% will be core employees; those who will carry on corporate memory and be counted on to resist change".... and so on) seem to forget that we social creatures can only change so much during one lifetime. The vast majority (the great unwashed) "plateau" at a certain point of change and struggle with the next incline. My grandmother plateaued with audio cassettes, my parents have got as far as Facebook. I am committed to a range of 2.0, and eagerly anticipate 3.0, but will certainly plateau before my children do. The great tipping point of personal fulfillment is unlikely to emerge in a cataclysmic burst of energy, but over a longer term. Not that Apostolatos is wrong, but his vision will not be evenly distributed. And then there is hoping of course that, in the meantime, the melting of the glaciars and the eruption of sunspots does not manifest the end of the world as told by the fabled Mayan calendar ;-)
"The focus of the world of work will move from lifetime employment to lifetime fulfillment" - Kustantinos Apostolatos; Management Centre Europe
Looking down the road a bit, and considering some current trends, it is easy to agree with the following:
1. The concept of the employee will be outdated as people work within an enterprise's ecosystem rather than in structural units.
2. People work on three things: entrepreneurship, autonomy and accountabilities
3. People seek challenges based on: capabilities and intelligence; fun and fulfillment; work and life balance
4. Lifetime generative learning will mean a portfolio of re-inventible competencies, regularly reconfigured to adapt to changing enterprise ecosystems
Is it so simple? Of course not. As William Gibson is widely quoted: "The future has already arrived. It's just not evenly distributed yet." Meaning, to me: while the Apostolatos quote has tremendous resonance, some of the wildly enthusiatic harbingers of the future ("80% of a workforce will be outsourced. 20% will be core employees; those who will carry on corporate memory and be counted on to resist change".... and so on) seem to forget that we social creatures can only change so much during one lifetime. The vast majority (the great unwashed) "plateau" at a certain point of change and struggle with the next incline. My grandmother plateaued with audio cassettes, my parents have got as far as Facebook. I am committed to a range of 2.0, and eagerly anticipate 3.0, but will certainly plateau before my children do. The great tipping point of personal fulfillment is unlikely to emerge in a cataclysmic burst of energy, but over a longer term. Not that Apostolatos is wrong, but his vision will not be evenly distributed. And then there is hoping of course that, in the meantime, the melting of the glaciars and the eruption of sunspots does not manifest the end of the world as told by the fabled Mayan calendar ;-)
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
anger
Came across Eliot Cutler, a fellow who is running as an independent for the governorship of the US state of Maine. He seems to have practical ideas, and moreover is not hitting the platitudes of the usual aspiring politician. But - you look at some comments on his website, and its not ideas that are being addressed, its judgement on his "Maine credentials" and how much of an outsider or insider he is; all expressed with snideness, disparagement and anger.
Now Maine has an enviable history of independent governors. It also has an enviable history of being practical and letting people govern their own lives. It even has congressional representation that sometimes crosses party lines. There's a lot of solid foundation there, so how is it these folks feel empowered to launch emotional outbursts that destabilise intelligent conversation? Mr. Cutler is putting his money where his mouth is, and if he is rejecting standard party politics as the best course of action, its worth engaging with him to find out more.
Now Maine has an enviable history of independent governors. It also has an enviable history of being practical and letting people govern their own lives. It even has congressional representation that sometimes crosses party lines. There's a lot of solid foundation there, so how is it these folks feel empowered to launch emotional outbursts that destabilise intelligent conversation? Mr. Cutler is putting his money where his mouth is, and if he is rejecting standard party politics as the best course of action, its worth engaging with him to find out more.
Why "where's the box?"
"Thinking outside the box" has become trite, but its still found commonly enough in certain places. I have never been quite sure which box is being referred to, nor do my contributions fit "that box" anyway. I divide the world into two types of people - those who get quite distressed at my questions, commments and ideas, and those who see where they fit (usually beyond the theme). There is no box. or....if thinking outside the box is so important, maye there is something wrong with the box...
For the former - this is not a blog about shopping, fashion, budgeting, club cards or whether Uncle Vernon's hernia recovery makes him a hard man or a wimp. Please go away now.
For the latter: this world is filled with Freemasons, Angels, multicultural happenings, blue skies, dead leaves and grand vibrations, and I intend to comment on such things. Stick around.
For the former - this is not a blog about shopping, fashion, budgeting, club cards or whether Uncle Vernon's hernia recovery makes him a hard man or a wimp. Please go away now.
For the latter: this world is filled with Freemasons, Angels, multicultural happenings, blue skies, dead leaves and grand vibrations, and I intend to comment on such things. Stick around.