Dream, by Henri Rousseau

Here’s a fun way to take a peek at your inner self, a way to practice focusing for your own entertainment.  It’s especially helpful if you suffer from insomnia.

When you lie down at night, go to the “moon pictures!”  That is, close your eyes and relax your body and quietly watch the pictures you see on the inside of your eyelids.

At first, your mind is buzzing, and you are trying hard to see the pictures but all you get is abstract shapes or colors, at best.  It’s like those patterned 3-d images (what are they called?) that look like nothing until your eyes properly adjust and reveal the scene hidden in the swirling morass.  It doesn’t help to try hard; you just have to stay with it, and relax.

Don’t think about the moon pictures, or label them, or even try to recognize them.  Just let them float by in all their wierdness.  After you’ve calmed your thoughts, the shapes begin to naturalize and you find yourself observing a strange, disjointed movie - as if you are watching your dreams from a waking state.  Which is actually what you’re doing, of course, and the process soon leads to snores.

Try it this weekend!

Yesterday’s focus on focus raised a big topic, which I’ll continue just for today.  We human beings struggle mightily with the question of focus.  Inasmuch as we have private rights to our own thoughts, we like to think we each individually decide where to place our focus.  To some extent this is true, and by applying stern discipline, we can select and cultivate focus that brings rewards we seek.  We can focus on work, and see some profit increase.  We can focus on losing weight, or building muscle, or learning a new skill, and earn rewards for our efforts.

Indeed, we have tremendous power to achieve through intense focus.  The difficulty surfaces when we see, however, the limitations of focus.  The tool is only as useful as the choices we make.  We may chose, for example, to focus on increasing business profits through hard work.  And while we may achieve our goal to some extent, we suddenly realize that by focusing intently on working harder, we have been blind to new methods that provide shortcuts to the same success.  Focus, in other words, can obstruct clear view of opportunity.

Maybe you focus hard on losing weight, and indeed the pounds drop away.  But in the process, you turn a deaf ear to your soul’s lonely outcry and ignore the oppression you feel from dieting.  You end up thinner, but now there’s a new problem: chronic depression.

So focus is a handy tool, but it can be deceptive.  It can trick you into thinking you’re in charge and invincible.  Which is a great feeling for the short term, but simply untrue in reality. 

Focus is like the drugstore magnifiers we aging boomers all use to boost our fading eyesight.  It’s a wonderful tool that lets us pretend we can see with accustomed clarity.  We do well not to forget, however, that the larger truth is that we’re slowly going blind, no matter how powerful the tool makes us right this instant.

In the end, practising focus and learning to use it intensely and well is a seriously helpful way to achieve your goals.  And then, letting your focus go, dropping it completely in order to open to new information supercedes your focus.  Focus, like the rules of a game, is best practised and then forgotten.

“I’m convinced that this is how the “Law of Attraction” really works. Great stuff doesn’t show up because you focus on it. You’re just able to suddenly perceive all the great stuff that’s always been right in front of you, because you focus on it.”

Sonia Simone  penned these words a few days ago.  It’s an excellent interpretation if you ask me.  The wildly popular Law of Attraction teaching is far more subtle than its preachers would lead you to believe.  The idea is often presented as a souped-up wish upon a star when it’s in actuality an intense discipline for mature adults only.

Focus is what it’s all about, and we’ve been working at developing our individual focus since we started kindergarten.  Surely a great many of us die without ever attaining powerful focus, having been distracted by ten thousand things.  We focus variously on making the grades, finding a lover, securing a job, making more money, and all those expected life achievements.  We focus when we need to and otherwise dabble.  When immediate needs are taken care of, focus glazes over.

Focusing on opening, on getting past your assumptions, prejudices, and fears, on constantly widening your perspective to include much more in your awareness than is habitual — this is the kind of focus Simone refers to.  It’s the same practice yogis and contemplatives have espoused for ages.  It’s about getting out of your own way so that you have access to all the wonders around you.

You may use the Law of Attraction to organize your thinking so that your business is more successful.  Understand, though, that this discipline of thought organization - i.e., focus - leads far beyond mundane materialism.  Opening to the gifts that are everywhere available if you can perceive them is doing business with eternal life.

I had the technical nightmare from hell ALL LAST WEEK.  Not a few hours, not a couple days, the entire week.  Apparently my satellite company doesn’t believe in overnight delivery.  And about four days into the computer outrage, our phones gave out as well.  Now, I live in a rural area, and when there’s neither phone nor internet, helplessness is magnified.  My reaction is rage, since vulnerability isn’t in my vocabulary, but I actually did a decent job of it keeping cool if I do say so myself. 

Mostly, I wanted to know why me?  Why now?  What’s this about?  Understand, I make my living by being available digitally, and when my machine closes down, so must my work to all intents and purposes.  I was particularly geared up to get a heap o’ jobs accomplished, especially after the lazy 4^th of July daze, and here my partner, my buddy, my mainstay, my web connection decided to take a holiday.  It was inscrutable to me, and the stars said nothing.  I contemplated, and drew cards.  I stared at the wall, and thought of the practical list someone gave me, with tasks to accomplish when business is slow.  Perhaps one of these would be productive use of this oh-so-excruciatingly-unproductive time.  I considered working in the garden, writing articles, practicing Adobe or php. 

What I ended up doing was far removed.  A few days ago, four boxes arrived for me.  They contained the daily journals of my grandfather, which he kept for many years during the first half of the 1900s.  I have only read one random notebook so far, but I know this reading is as complete a reason as I could ask for my technological breakdown.  If not forced, I’d never have opened those boxes anytime soon.  It had been my intention to read them when less pre-occupied with making a living, some years hence.

But the experience of living vicariously with this man – of whom I have no memories, though in fact I was about four years old when my grandfather died – through his diary, has already opened up huge doorways of possibility in my little old mind.  It is moving, and awesome, and just plain significant that he lived those eighty years ago in such a different way from anything we know now; that I am descended from such a man as he.  If this sounds egotistical, I assure you I mean this in a universal sense.  Others my age who are informed about the intimate lives of their grandparents surely know this realization: how fragile our dreams, how limiting our perceptions.

For now, let me mention just one aspect of his life.  The man worked like the devil.  He farmed and shepherded in a steep Vermont valley, laboring through months of sub-zero temperatures and then other months of nothing-but-haying, with a bottomless list of chores and repairs and innovations in between.  Work was slightly relaxed, but not abandoned on Sundays, and otherwise constant.

Now here’s the thing:  his writings tell me these facts of his life, but they do not in any way mention what it was like to work, and to work so hard all the time.  The journal is not without emotion, and careful thought is given to several subjects, but he did not consider his attitude towards work to be worth noting.  He cut wood, he did the haying, that’s all.  A simple report.

Maybe such a cavalier attitude towards the way one spends the majority of time is common to masculinity everywhere.  Nonetheless, what a contrast it is to me and all first world civilizations, who seek the best expression of self through work.  We expect, eventually, to achieve a satisfying, well-fitting occupation that allows us to achieve personal goals without undue drudgery.

Was my grandfather deficient in the intelligence necessary to escape such hard work?  Not a bit of it: he was well educated and many of his notes are about the books he’s reading.  He worked hard because it was natural to him, like gathering nuts is natural for squirrels.  Most of our ancestors – save, perhaps, those of the ruling classes - worked much harder than we do. 

The fact that my grandfather worked so diligently inspires thought about how that impulse is translated to me, and that’s why I’m telling this story.  Gramp was a farmer, and I’m in business, but in general terms, the two are both about work.

In your business, the straightforward work of it often causes stress or depression, because we have a self perception these days that demands we take care of our dreams.  We know that ignoring mental anguish is unhealthy.  We no longer respect mindless rote labor.

But we also know that our level of satisfaction in work depends chiefly on our attitude towards it.  If our ancestors worked without questioning the labor, we can too, if we are confident it will advance our goals. Much more, we can love the work; we can respect the health it gives us, we can use the time productively in one way or another.

A deluge of orders, or meetings, or petty crises, or whatever else demands going the extra nine miles for your business can be an opportunity, if you take it.  For the human frame and condition, work of any sort is a legacy and also a blessing.  We may have learned how to manipulate it more finely, but the ability to untiringly set to and accomplish work is always ready and waiting.

And then there are those of us who feel best when working, who enjoy our work to the point of obsession.  Had I been complaining about drudgery in my work?  Not at all.  To the contrary, work thrills me every day; I happily spend long hours at it.  Yet the technical failures around me last week, and the subsequent reading in my grandfather’s journal brought home the acute dependency on the internet I seem to have developed.  Work is an urge with me.  When my primary tool is broken, what can I work on?  What good am I unless I’m hard at it? 

So, for me, to be forced to lounge on the chaise and flip those old pages from 1933 was surrender to cosmic dictate, for once ignoring my tearing urge to be productive and Johnny-on-the-spot with clients and all that jazz.  This time, letting go of that ancient compulsion to work was the techno-storm message.

In my last post, I recommended bringing back to work with you some of the sweetness of the holiday.  Keeping close to the heart the small joys you experience when your time is your own will greatly ease the pressures of work life.  The little treasure I am cherishing today is singing.

Yes, singing.  Do you remember what it is to sing a song?  Some of you practice music daily, but the vast majority most likely never sing.  Maybe you listen to music all the time, but that’s still entirely different from making your own music.  If you go to church, perhaps you sing once a week, which is a whole lot more than most.  

Considering that using vocal chords to produce musical sounds is a human birthright, it’s pretty amazing how rarely we Americans exercise this capability.  Ask almost any adult to sing a ditty and they will refuse for fear of embarrassment.  Singing, it appears, is going the way of poetry - relegated to the refuse heap of all things impractical, profound, and mysterious - the saddest waste of our civilization.

But let me not dwell on this shameful loss; rather I propose a counter-revolution.  Consider dedicating to the rediscovery of your soul’s music.  There are ample opportunities for singing in daily life, and you don’t have to sing loudly.  Start out with a quiet whistling if your vocal chords seem dormant.  Or just hum.  Sing the tune that’s in your head, or the last song on the radio, or anything you just make up note by note.  As you become more used to allowing this expression, you’ll even find it possible to sing out loud in front of others.

And please note: you do not have to have “a nice voice,” or be able to sing on key.  Singing in order to improve your quality of life has absolutely nothing to do with the quality of your voice.  It’s only about using the abilities with which you were born to define and appreciate your ultimate purpose in life.

We’re ready for a summer holiday.  We need an innocent break from worries of recession.  A couple of days away from the oppression of oil tycoons and Dow Chemical will do us all a load of good.  We’ll flip a few burgers on the grill and spend time with the kids.  We’ll soak in some sunshine and try not to think too much about the intesifying glare of international disdain that threatens the pre-eminence of America. 

Make no mistake, our country is headed for major life changes.  Perhaps we’re on the verge of our twenties, escaping at last from the swash and buckle of teendom.  Perhaps we’re maturing into the responsibilities of adulthood, where nothing is certain and our accustomed pride implodes.

In our own business lives, when we grow past the startup and begin to look at how to establish long term sustainability, do we do so in the old way, with aggression, bravado, and competition?  Do we seek to establish ourselves as the one with all the toys, do we respect only those who evidence gigantic material gain?  Do we apply all the recommended tricks to trap wealth and in the process let our souls shrivel from neglect?

The deep, loving, intense, devoted, dedicated cultivation of soul has been missing in our culture.   So now, the current requirements for growth have everything to do with soulful revitalization.  Establishing sustainability in your business is about incorporating soul needs - yours especially, and also those of your customers. 

It may seem impossible, but actually only requires a little creative practice.  Learning to integrate your inner being with your business structures and offerings will be the most satisfying accomplishment of your life.  Taking advantage of global awareness, our maturation as a nation has everything to do with developing reverence for soul, just as the maturation of places like India and Africa has everything to do with integrating practicalities into what has previously been dominated by eternal mysteries.

Take a look, for instance, at this report from Stefan Sagmeister, renowned Austrain designer:

In addition to citing a fascinating range of outside influences, Sagmeister proves that sometimes the best ideas are generated from a source very close to home - ourselves.  In his case, it was his own journal that spawned his latest success, proving that professionals should not shy away from the highly personal.  He tells us, “By far the most interesting project I have been involved in the last years is a series of typographic works that came out of a list I found in my diary under the title, ‘Things I have learned in my life so far.’  Every one of these pieces was published, and so far they have appeared as French and Portuguese billboards, a Japanese annual report, on German TV, in Austrian magazines, as a New York direct mailer, and an American poster campaign.  The series was influenced by my grandfather (who was educated in sign painting, and I grew up with many of his pieces of wisdom around the house), by American artist Jenny Holzer, as well as the rustic wooden signs available in tourist stores all over my hometown of Bregenz in Austria.”

As you bask in sunny Independence Day frivolities, consider how you can carry some of the whispers of soul that permeate the holiday back with you when you return to work.

Ooooohkay, there’s no denying it.  Sometimes Life intervenes.

Sometimes, despite your sublime motivations, keen attention, and faithful executions the heavy hand of Nature holds you down.  I woke way too early yesterday, stumbled off to give a major presentation in a total daze, and then returned to my couch to crash for the rest of the day with a bilious stomach and other unmentionable disorders of the intestinal variety.   Yuk.  No matter what your conviction and intentions, the only thing to do in such instances is surrender.

It’s a reminder of several important things to me:

All my thought and effort, no matter how enlightened, is always in progress and never achieves ultimate truth.

Surrender is the essence of human progress.  Mostly we command, control, and otherwise manipulate the life that surrounds us, but it’s only in surrender that we encounter ultimate power and meaningfully move forward.

My friend blogs about the continual balance we must maintain between body and spirit.  Not only is care for your physical being imperative, but physicality is a force demanding proper worship, love, and tenderness.  Getting in shape doesn’t mean you can forget the constraints of the body; rather, it means letting your corporal self have a say, and respecting its dictates.

Going in to your job when you’re sick, pushing yourself to perform when the body only wants to rest, or even spending your sick time angry that you’re so incapacitated are all worthless pursuits.  The mysteries of physical being are best placated by quiet attention, by abdicating control.  Doctors and bosses attempt to persuade us that illness can be managed, but don’t let them fool you.  Illness is a powerful teacher that drops in to give you a lesson superceding the dictates of jobs and other practical authorities.  Listen quietly, be patient, practice allowing.  The sickness is not an interruption, it is an opportunity.

Consider movement.  The lustful straining of the seed towards the egg; the slow plod from ignorance to skill; the innocent wind rocking the trees; getting up and going on a Monday morning.  Everything begins with movement.

Studying a few of the core physical realities surrounding us can be liberating, and help distract us from ourselves.  Contemplating the bare wonder of sight or hearing or touch can lead to amazing insights.  No element of our existence is more powerful, however, than movement.  Losing yourself in the dance of anything is a sure way to creative insight.

Observe interactions around the office, the body language that is so revealing.  Watch people on the street and listen to the flow of their movement.  Contemplate a natural scene in terms of what is moving.  Watch television with the sound off.  As you sit reading this, slowly clench one fist and then release it, tuning in to the fine points of muscular action and concommitant emotional response.

Because of this essential value of movement, we’ve come to understand that physical fitness makes a huge difference to mental and emotional states.  A day that includes a nice long walk and a few yoga stretches is inevitably a happier and more aware day for me.  Touching back in on the foundational wellspring of movement ensures a brighter creative outlook.

A fun recent post by Mitch Ditkoff is the results of their poll asking when and where people get most of their creative ideas.  Check it out and see how many people seek movement when looking for new ideas.

It doesn’t matter if you’re outrageously out of shape and king of the couch potatoes.  Take advantage of your ability to move, if it’s only a finger lift to start with.  Let the mysteries of movement penetrate, sway, and entertain you.  Even on a Monday morning, you’ll find yourself refreshed.

Day lilies.  As the sun alights each morning on the drab backsides of their shut-in petals, the flowers succumb to its glory and open wide, bathing all day in sweet seduction.

There is one and only one mission that we have in life and that is to personally feel really good.  When you have achieved a truly feel good state, you are fulfilling your obligation as a human being.  When you open up to the light and allow it to embrace you, you become beautiful beyond measure.

A good hot summer weekend is a great time to consider how you can become like the daylily.

There are quite a few of us on the net urging the business world towards creativity.  I liked Sonia Simone’s message yesterday, a straightforward directive to get in touch with your creative side or perish like an old, abused machine. 

I think it’s important to distinguish between creativity and innovation.  The latter is a sometimes result of the former.  But many creative efforts don’t lead to innovations or anything else tangible or obviously helpful.  Still, every time we open wide to possibility, every time we get out of our own way and open to inspiration, we strengthen our survival skills. 

If you think words like perishing and survival are too strong for this context, make no mistake, the counsel of so many bloggers, mentors, experts, and thinkers these days to attend to your creative development is deadly serious.  Unlike a sport or knitting, you don’t take up creativity as an amusing distraction; you don’t practice it only on Saturdays.  Rather, you adopt the creative life like you adopt a nutritious diet, and it sooner or later permeates every waking moment.  You become a person who is open to ideas, and change, and possibilities.  You become a profound listener, a keen observer, a compassionate colleague.  You evolve in every fiber of your being.  You become able to face the future with calm assurance.

And yes, the implication is that if you do not attend to this evolution you will be lost in the rush.  If you accept your sadness or oppression or boredom as simple facts of life, and do not attempt to ‘be the change you want to see in the world,’ your business will fail, and your efforts will go unrewarded.  You’ll be left wondering why you’re not successful when you did everything by the book.

Even though, or perhaps because global population has grown astronomically, we need every soul to seek fulfillment, we need every mind to open wide to ideas, we need all people to learn to respect and appreciate one another.  Unless this happens, our old ways will carry us quickly to extinction.  We’re being challenged to become better than we’ve ever been - more knowledgeable, clever, and compassionate.  And the way this kind of development is most readily accessible is through creativity.