“If I had to live my life again, I’d make the same mistakes, only sooner”. Tallulah Bankhead (1903 – 1968)
Wild Minds: In her book “Wild Minds” Natalie Goldberg made startling comments about life. I have gently rewritten her article to fit the available space. My apologies Natalie…you know what I mean:
“…. I want you to look up at the whole unlimited dome of the sky. Do you see it in your minds eye? That big sky in all of its grandeur is wild mind. I’m going to climb up to that sky straight over our heads and put one dot on it with a magic marker. See that dot? That dot is what Zen calls monkey mind or what western psychology names our conscious mind. We give all our attention to that one dot. So when it says we can’t live our lives the way we want to, that we’re no good, are failures, fools for even trying, we listen to it.
The rest of the sky, from horizon to horizon is our wild mind. Western psychology calls wild mind the unconscious, but I think that is a limiting term. If it is true that we are all interconnected, then wild mind includes mountains, rivers, Cadillacs, humidity, pains, emeralds, poverty, old streets in London, snow and moon. A river and a tree are not unconscious. They are part of wild mind. I do not consider even a dream unconscious. A dream is a being that travels from wild mind into the dot/monkey mind/conscious self to wake us up.
Can you do this? Lose control and let wild mind take over.
It is a powerful way to approach your life and live too.
“Think highly of yourself
because the world takes
you at your own estimate.”
– Unknown
Gremlins: Sometimes when I hear the word gremlin, I think of the little Hostess Munchies. Remember the little guys who looked at you with shiny grins from the bag and forced you to eat more chips than you meant too. The gremlins we encounter now could be related to those guys but their mission is more specific. They are there to make sure that our lives stay the way they are, safe and comfortable. We follow an easy to see, well worn path. They get nervous when we want to try something new. They worry if we laugh or get too excited. They are little old ladies clutching teacups and leaning over us. “This is for your own good dear. Pride goes before fall, do the right thing and you won’t get hurt.” Their faces register shock when we reach for the untried. They nag constantly. It is easiest to keep still, not make waves.
Remember: The trick with gremlins is – the louder they yell, the closer we are to making a break though. Call it a victory chorus. Call it anything you want but when you take a leap, their voices in your ears will be
a sign that you are moving into change.
A Muse: Creativity swoops like a spread-winged dragon, hunting the artist. Multicoloured scales scatter in the scalding wind. Fiery breath heats the hand to a glowing red, inspiring craft and impressions. Fingers fly holding paintbrushes, needles, fabric or pen and a glow emanates from the fevered eyes of the possessed. Finally exhaustion creeps into the studio. The dragon withdraws to find another soul to drench in liquid fire.
Who calls the beast, inviting it in to curl around our shoulders? Is it her whim as she sweeps the skies looking for a deserving vessel or is it the energy, the powerful life force reaching for the universe that encounters unlimited fire?
Getting what you want: There are lots of ways of getting what we want but it can’t all be easy or we would all have total fulfillment. Here is one way. Make a Wish List. Write a list of the things you want. Make it specific. Don’t say, “I want more money.” Say, I want $100,000.00. Say, I want to go white water rafting, not I want adventure. Don’t leave anything to chance. (Once I said out loud that I wanted a change in my life. I got my wish. My husband lost his needed to be driven every where for what seemed like a very long time. My life changed drastically. I shouted out to the universe, “YOU KNOW THAT ISN’T WHAT I MEANT!” but it didn’t matter. I got what I asked for). Once the list is complete put it where you will see it often. Read it out loud at least twice a day and be ready for opportunities to come your way.
That may feel like magic. How can writing things down put them into your space? I am not sure. It could be just be the act of asking for what you want and then claiming it. It could be because you are more open to opportunities but heck…why couldn’t it be enchantment. I read somewhere that magic has disappeared from the earth because people stopped believing in it. If the reverse is true, we could bring it back just by believing in ourselves and our world
If the world still was a place of magic and we all believed, then something fundamental might shift. We would live in a place where anything is possible and every day would shimmer and glow. It would be a gift for us to savour. Welcome to my world.
Mulling it over:
“I think, therefore I am.” quoted by Descartes...
does that mean, what I think I am, I am?
In search of perfection: go out this month
be cheeky, bold, daring, plucky, courageous,
spirited, vigorous, lively, energetic, brisk, and risky…
all in the name of living your life to the fullest.