Spirit In Gear

Gabby Giffords - Modern Day Shaman

During the bleak, acrimonious war playing out in Congress all summer, a temporary truce is called early this week.  It emerges from the unexpected presence of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords on August 1st to cast her vote to raise the debt ceiling. 

Those present, along with the world, feel moved and mesmerized by the vision of Gabby walking and talking after sustaining a severe brain trauma this past January.  In the flesh Gabby symbolizes hope and possibility.  Her appearance marks the triumph of good over evil.  As a casualty of violence, she touches those people in the political hall of Congress at a heart level, reminding them to reconnect to their humanity, to rise above the smallness and meanness, to transcend differences.

It is easy to get carried away with the symbolism.  Perhaps all Gabby wanted to do was to serve her constituents by casting a pivotal vote.  Yet I see much more.  I see this courageous congresswoman as a modern day shaman, one who by her very presence casts healing light around her. We desperately need these symbols of hope in a world where institutionalized corruption has led to the near collapse of the world economy.

In my mind I leap ahead.  What if Congress were filled with 50 more people like Gabby?  Would people work together in a spirit of cooperation?  What important work could be accomplished?

As I zoom the lens of my perspective outward, I see it is not about political parties.  It's more about how power continues to be defined in our world:  ego-based aggression in all forms; violent force; domination.  Winner takes all.  We still need warriors, but they must be enlightened warriors.

Civilization wasn't always like this.  Five thousand + years ago, societies thrived under a matriarchal system (and no, fellows, women did not dominate men).  The arts flourished; violence did not.  Both masculine and feminine energies got equal footing.  Check out the book The Chalice and the Blade,by Riane Eisler, for a provocative read.

Back to 2011, signs abound that a world dominated by masculine energy, without the balancing feminine energy of nurturance, creativity, connection to higher guidance, and to the sacred, will eventually self-destruct.  Fortunately there is a movement underfoot.  I may not live to see the ultimate change that rebalances the earth and the world.  But I can be a part of the movement that inches it closer.  If you are even reading this, you are likely part of this enlightened groundswell, driven by an inner knowing and by your own wisdom. 

I have been silent on this blog for 7+ months.  It almost feels like I have been in a hunkered down mode, in reaction to the financial instability in the U.S. and abroad.  I am breaking my silence, putting out a call to my comrades in spirit.  I need your light to keep on keeping on. 

I had the most uplifting experience a couple of weekends ago. We travelled from South Carolina, where we currently live, to Ohio to a small wedding reception filled with old friends and colleagues from my former profession (life coaching).  As soon as I walked into the room where the reception was held, I felt incredibly positive energy.  It was like being at a love fest.  What an experience to be in with a group of people holding enlightened energy!

It goes back to each one of us.  We start with ourselves.  Learning to love ourselves, both the good and bad.  Empowering ourselves by balancing the masculine and feminine energies in our own lives, and learning how to use power.  In the book edited by Michele Jamal, Shape Shifters, contributor Sandy Ingerman discusses the fear women have of getting in touch with their masculine energy, for fear of misuse.  She defines positive male energy as "right action:"

Right action is about taking the information from our intuition, from deep inside ourselves, and then acting on it in the physical world.   Right action is about allowing action instead of forcing action.

I write this to remind myself that one person, empowered with "right action," can be a force for good in ways I (we) can't imagine.  Game on!  Will you join me?

[Photo Credit:  Huffington Post]

 

 

 

What You Probably Do Not Know About BP

Hard to imagine pairing these two words together:  corporation and integrity.  Or how about this - a giant corporation learning to create three profit lines:  People, Environment, Shareholders.  Which profit line must come first to create the best bottom line profit?  Smart person that you are - yes, it's people.

I intended to write this post several weeks ago, when I first read what I share below.  Another good intention bites the dust, as I allow life and work to consume me.  Overdue?  Yes.  Still relevant?  Yes.

Now for some context.  I've been reading what I consider a brilliant book on the next level of human evolution - The Translucent Revolution, by Arjuna Ardagh.  Bare-bones definition - "translucence" allows us, if we choose, to awaken out of the ego-based trance of fear, doubt, and anxiety.

People become translucent when they wake up from their contracted self-preoccupation and feel themselves bigger than their personal story.  They discover they are both no one in particular and at the same time part of everything around them.  From this recognition of connectedness, translucent  people become more humorous, more honest, and less fearful.  Their lives get reorganized around service and contribution.

Imagine this . . . organizations that display translucent qualities, moving from a focus on fear, lack, and profit at all costs, to one of creativity, inspiration, honesty.  Organizations that reorganize around service and contribution, to their employees, to society and the environment, and to their shareholders.

Ardagh's book discusses in detail companies that have begun reorienting around translucent qualities.  He contends that there are thousands of conscious businesses throughout the US and Europe who "compete well with the global giants, because they offer something that economies of scale can never purchase on the cheap:  heartfelt integrity."

Imagine my shock when I read that BP was included in this group.  This same BP that recently created the worst environmental disaster in history through negligence and focus on profit at all costs.

Texting in Middle Age

I finally succumb to the pressure. 

For the past few months I've received text messages from a business colleague who apparently forgets I don't have texting in my cell phone plan.  As a result, I've paid additional charges to AT&T.  My recent cell phone bills make it clear to me that it's cheaper to add texting to my plan than to pay a la carte.

So it's official.  I now text, heaven forbid.  Last weekend, while sitting in an open house for a property we have for sale, I practiced creating text messages and learning how to punctuate.  Tedious, I must admit.  While I came away with some basic skills, I also came away with a sore neck that required a trip to my chiropractor this week.

I'm not sure texting is a good thing.  Oh sure, my adult daughters are thrilled that Mom can now text.  And it was exciting when daughter #1 texted me that she had landed safely in Chicago on her return home from Europe.  And with the flurry of texting that went on with daughter #2 last weekend, my husband was sure I'd run through my plan in no time flat.

Yes, texting can come in handy when I need to get someone's attention.  Like yesterday when I texted 3 business colleagues about an offer made on a property and told them to get the details in the email I sent.

There's also a little thrill, I admit, when my phone goes off to indicate I've rec'd a text.  This will wear off quickly, I predict.  The part I find less thrilling is having to compose a reply using the keypad of a plain old cellphone.  I'm fatigued after sending off the message.  My friend has an IPhone and with the ease of that keypad sends me texts several paragraphs long!

Unlike texting, I think that email is one of the greatest advances ever created.  I pride myself on being one of the first out of my circle of friends, family and professional colleagues to use email back in the early '90's.  In spite of spam and other abuses of email, I still derive great value from it.

In my middle-aged opinion, texting has a place . . . but a much smaller place in the large scheme of things.  I grew up during a time when people hand-wrote letters to one another.  When talking long distance on the phone was a luxury (I always called collect to home while in college).  We learned to communicate the old fashioned way.  Call me old-school, I still like to hear a person's voice.

On the other hand, my daughters live in a generation addicted to texting and other forms of electronic communication.  My kids sleep with their cell phones, and my niece admits to be compulsively attached to her Blackberry.  One of these days the American Psychiatric Association will include obsessive texting in their diagnostic manual. 

Since it doesn't hurt to broaden my perspective, please leave a comment and share how texting has affected your life.  If you don't text, tell us why.

In the meantime, I'll text when absolutely necessary, but no more. 

[Photo Credit:  John Lee]

Make Money through Blogging? Whatcha Think?

I caught up on my Newsweek reading this morning while sitting in a waiting room.  Daniel Lyons confesses in Time to Hang Up the Pajamas that he made no money while blogging furiously on his "fake" blog about Steve Jobs.  Even though he at one time had 1.5M people visit his blog in 1 month, he only made a little over $1k.  Poor guy.

I scanned some of the comments.  Bloggers nailed him.  You gotta be real, and your content serve your readers.  Can't get in it for the money alone.  And some commenters are doing both - blogging and making money from it.

I appreciate Lyons' candor tho.  There's too much hype about monetizing blogs.  For myself, I'm happy to be writing a post of substance (I hope it's taken that way!) every week.  It works well for me to follow my own judgment.  Will write for the sheer joy of it, at least for now.

Do  you care about making money through blogging?  Do you think it's possible for you?  Whatcha think?

[Photo Credit:  Svilen Mushkatov]