Posts
The Rule: You must Follow Self Help Books to the T.
Okay for the past several weeks I have been agonizing over my story's characters' development by writing out the smallest detail of their lives all because a book told me to. I wrote their physical and inner life as the author suggested in the order he presented. It worked wonderfully until I started getting board and the creativity was getting repetitious, even though they were different characters. I was hating this idea of writing such detail, in precisely the order he had suggested. Then as I leaned back in my chair today sitting quietly in the El Segundo library, I came across the thought, "who says I must do exactly what this guys says to do? He never even said in the book to follow everything exactly."
I think I did this because the author has remarkable credentials: own his own publishing company, has propelled great and gifted authors to prestigious heights and has written books that college professors use in their classes (so the reviews says). When we put people on a pedestal, we take everything they say as gospel truth and we follow them through our own insanity, after all I was pretty miserable following the author's order of things.
Most rules we follow, that this blog hopes to destroy, are due to people with authority setting our own limitations, our own creative guidelines, and spiritual development. "Since he said it, it must be true," kind of statements.
We need to take what they say and apply it to our lives accordingly and not jump into their words with a absolute devotion. Doesn't the Bible have something to say about devoting one's self fully to something other than God? If we do this, we become slaves to that authoritarian.
We want books and authority figures to be our rule setter because we are afraid of making desions by ourselves. We are afraid of being all alone in a world of so much uncertainty. Our passions, or dreams are being killed by the very people who give steps on how to be passionate.
So if I am ever someone with tremednious authrority, don't be devoted to what I say. I am not right all the time.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Close Out? I Don't Think So
The Rule: Change course if doors are closing on you.
The waves today were brutal. It took me two attempts to even paddle out in the lineup. By the time I finally made it, my arms were sore, my back was tighter than elevator cables, and my head pulsated from the strain of pushing through the whitewater. So there was greater risk in catching a wave. You better catch a good wave or you will get have to fight all that whitewater resistance again.
1 hour after several attempts of catching waves, and false starts into the waves and hesitancy, the first decent looking wave was coming my way. As I looked at the wave again, it changed and started to look like a long wall of blue and grey about to swallow me up. No hope for survival. Then the unusual thought occurred to me, "What the heck, take it and see what happens." I paddled feverishly into the madness, and I caught it and rode it the face for a couple seconds before the wave died on me. I was in a state of glee, for I disregarded a rule of mine: change course if the doors are closing on you.
The signs were saying, this wave can't be ridden , but I said to hell with that, I'm a free man and I'm going for it, and I rode it.
In my previous blog I mentioned about when does an artist stop? Usually many artists stop when they think the doors on their creative piece is coming to a close, but that perception could be as deceiving as the wave that I just rode.
There is a brick wall that every artist, every athlete, every entrepreneur, every musician, everybody faces when pursuing an endeavor. This wall is what separates the dreamers from the doers, the recreational enthusiasts from the professionals. This wall basically defines how badly do you want what you are after.
If you can't go over that wall, than you more than likely shouldn't be on the other side. You have no right and you have not earned it.
So the optimistic side of things is that just because there is a wall doesn't mean God is closing doors, he may very well want you to push through it so you can see how strong you can be, how determined you can be, how much authority and power in the name of Jesus you have. Come now, what makes you think your dreams are unattainable when you have God's word, you have his blood all over you, you have the Holy Spirit alongside you, and on top of that all, you have angles watching your back? That doesn't sound like a weakling who can't plow through walls. That doesn't sound like a writer who gives up just because he faces an insurmountable obstacles found in writing his book, play, script or an article.
Walls sometimes makes us compromise our standards. We fall short of excellence because the going is getting tougher and meaner and harder. The soul is in anguish and it needs rest, but the wall is too think and too high so we give up. We stick to the smaller dreams. We may get past one wall only to find a bigger one behind it, and by the grace of God and all the energy in your body, we get past that one and then an even larger one towers behind that one. Give up the souls say, there's no way. But that is not true.
15 Minutes of excruciating, frustrating paddling, I found myself exactly where I started, on the beach water a my waist. I was standing up right near the shore. So I clenched my teeth, jumped past the next whitewater landing prone on my board and I paddled back out, even though I failed miserably before. I was tired, but I went for it and I made it out.
So what in your life is a wall? Is it a relationship that is crumbling at your feet, a book you are writing that is failing to inspire you, are you looking for a job in an economic recession? Maybe, it's not over, but it is something as simple as gritting your teeth and pushing again through those walls.
A closed out wave doesn't mean anything.
The waves today were brutal. It took me two attempts to even paddle out in the lineup. By the time I finally made it, my arms were sore, my back was tighter than elevator cables, and my head pulsated from the strain of pushing through the whitewater. So there was greater risk in catching a wave. You better catch a good wave or you will get have to fight all that whitewater resistance again.
1 hour after several attempts of catching waves, and false starts into the waves and hesitancy, the first decent looking wave was coming my way. As I looked at the wave again, it changed and started to look like a long wall of blue and grey about to swallow me up. No hope for survival. Then the unusual thought occurred to me, "What the heck, take it and see what happens." I paddled feverishly into the madness, and I caught it and rode it the face for a couple seconds before the wave died on me. I was in a state of glee, for I disregarded a rule of mine: change course if the doors are closing on you.
The signs were saying, this wave can't be ridden , but I said to hell with that, I'm a free man and I'm going for it, and I rode it.
In my previous blog I mentioned about when does an artist stop? Usually many artists stop when they think the doors on their creative piece is coming to a close, but that perception could be as deceiving as the wave that I just rode.
There is a brick wall that every artist, every athlete, every entrepreneur, every musician, everybody faces when pursuing an endeavor. This wall is what separates the dreamers from the doers, the recreational enthusiasts from the professionals. This wall basically defines how badly do you want what you are after.
If you can't go over that wall, than you more than likely shouldn't be on the other side. You have no right and you have not earned it.
So the optimistic side of things is that just because there is a wall doesn't mean God is closing doors, he may very well want you to push through it so you can see how strong you can be, how determined you can be, how much authority and power in the name of Jesus you have. Come now, what makes you think your dreams are unattainable when you have God's word, you have his blood all over you, you have the Holy Spirit alongside you, and on top of that all, you have angles watching your back? That doesn't sound like a weakling who can't plow through walls. That doesn't sound like a writer who gives up just because he faces an insurmountable obstacles found in writing his book, play, script or an article.
Walls sometimes makes us compromise our standards. We fall short of excellence because the going is getting tougher and meaner and harder. The soul is in anguish and it needs rest, but the wall is too think and too high so we give up. We stick to the smaller dreams. We may get past one wall only to find a bigger one behind it, and by the grace of God and all the energy in your body, we get past that one and then an even larger one towers behind that one. Give up the souls say, there's no way. But that is not true.
15 Minutes of excruciating, frustrating paddling, I found myself exactly where I started, on the beach water a my waist. I was standing up right near the shore. So I clenched my teeth, jumped past the next whitewater landing prone on my board and I paddled back out, even though I failed miserably before. I was tired, but I went for it and I made it out.
So what in your life is a wall? Is it a relationship that is crumbling at your feet, a book you are writing that is failing to inspire you, are you looking for a job in an economic recession? Maybe, it's not over, but it is something as simple as gritting your teeth and pushing again through those walls.
A closed out wave doesn't mean anything.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
When To Stop
The Rule: There is a clear ending in any artistic endeavour.
When do you stop an artistic endeavour? I think every artist comes across this predicament. Of course sometimes it is easier to know then other projects, but still there always lingers a hint of should I keep going? Take this blog entry for example, it is easy for me to end when I have made my point, but when it comes to a story, a painting or a piece of music, how do you know the story's character has reached its objective, there is the right about of color and shadow in a painting or the right number of notes have been written?
It's a tough call for anybody.
The most creative being in this universe is always fine tuning His creation. God ever since the beginning of time has been tweaking mankind to emulate his son Jesus so that his creation can love him. Of course by looking at the sate of any human being or the state of humanity, God has a lot of work to do. Maybe he will never be completely done with humanity- it is to be his unfinished symphony. Is that Mean Old Man in the poem from a previous blog a complete masterpiece of God? Masterpiece? Yes, Complete? No. This goes to say, maybe all pieces of work are never completed. Look at the mines and the volcanoes, and the micro evolution, and environmental adaptation. They are always changing. He enjoys the process more so the completion. The greatest expression (which is art in its purest form) was however completed, and that was the death of Jesus. But through that death, mankind is saved, well only if mankind chooses to let God save him, and the process of pursing mankind and loving them is an art that can never be finished.
Then this goes back to us feeble artists who emulate the mere dirty, muddy shadows of God's creations. If God can take comfort in not finishing his work in humanity, why can't we take comfort in finishing our artistic piece? Maybe we seek the perfection that is found in God's pure creation of Jesus? Far fetched I am sure to say, but we seek such higher and higher standards in our art that we refuse to settle with anything other than pure perfection. But a piece will never be 100% completed because the pieces is stuck in the world in which it was created. Mankind is free, the pages of the future always blank. As for us we only have the power to stop something and start something else.
Ultimately, we stop when we fill that we reach the standards of our audience, or that we will never reach their standards (in that case we quit). An author has to write to the standards of the publisher and readers- they set the rules. But for God his audience is just himself- he sets the rules. Then as Christian artists we should complete our work only if it is pleasing to our number one audience and that is God, but how do you please God in your art.
That requires another blog, for I feel that I have finished what I had to say. I think God is pleased.
When do you stop an artistic endeavour? I think every artist comes across this predicament. Of course sometimes it is easier to know then other projects, but still there always lingers a hint of should I keep going? Take this blog entry for example, it is easy for me to end when I have made my point, but when it comes to a story, a painting or a piece of music, how do you know the story's character has reached its objective, there is the right about of color and shadow in a painting or the right number of notes have been written?
It's a tough call for anybody.
The most creative being in this universe is always fine tuning His creation. God ever since the beginning of time has been tweaking mankind to emulate his son Jesus so that his creation can love him. Of course by looking at the sate of any human being or the state of humanity, God has a lot of work to do. Maybe he will never be completely done with humanity- it is to be his unfinished symphony. Is that Mean Old Man in the poem from a previous blog a complete masterpiece of God? Masterpiece? Yes, Complete? No. This goes to say, maybe all pieces of work are never completed. Look at the mines and the volcanoes, and the micro evolution, and environmental adaptation. They are always changing. He enjoys the process more so the completion. The greatest expression (which is art in its purest form) was however completed, and that was the death of Jesus. But through that death, mankind is saved, well only if mankind chooses to let God save him, and the process of pursing mankind and loving them is an art that can never be finished.
Then this goes back to us feeble artists who emulate the mere dirty, muddy shadows of God's creations. If God can take comfort in not finishing his work in humanity, why can't we take comfort in finishing our artistic piece? Maybe we seek the perfection that is found in God's pure creation of Jesus? Far fetched I am sure to say, but we seek such higher and higher standards in our art that we refuse to settle with anything other than pure perfection. But a piece will never be 100% completed because the pieces is stuck in the world in which it was created. Mankind is free, the pages of the future always blank. As for us we only have the power to stop something and start something else.
Ultimately, we stop when we fill that we reach the standards of our audience, or that we will never reach their standards (in that case we quit). An author has to write to the standards of the publisher and readers- they set the rules. But for God his audience is just himself- he sets the rules. Then as Christian artists we should complete our work only if it is pleasing to our number one audience and that is God, but how do you please God in your art.
That requires another blog, for I feel that I have finished what I had to say. I think God is pleased.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Giving God Praise
The Rule: After Jesus, God is a much nicer guy.
As I was writing yesterday I felt a tug in my heart that I wasn't giving God any credit for my creativity or the wonderful electrifying creative energy he put inside me. So in my car on the way to my friend's house, I prayed for forgiveness. I rolled up at my friend's house 30 minuets early. I pull out my bible from my backpack and read where I last left off in Acts chapter 12. As I neared the end of the chapter, I suddenly came across this passage, "23Immediately, because Herod did not give praise to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died." Because Herod failed to give God praise he was struck down my God's messenger, and he was eaten by worms and eventually died. This is a gruesome death, even after the fact God made everything right with Jesus.
Of course, Herod was killing a lot of Christians, but don't you think God loved Herod a lot? I am sure he did, but love alone doesn't stop a brutal death from God.
I believe God loves me, not for what I have done, but I don't think he will stand idle and bless me as I continue to write without giving him glory and praise. I do this because he deserves it, and also because I respect him.
A Christian artist walks a fine line of glorifying himself and glorifying God. That is a tension that all great artists must face now and then.
As I was writing yesterday I felt a tug in my heart that I wasn't giving God any credit for my creativity or the wonderful electrifying creative energy he put inside me. So in my car on the way to my friend's house, I prayed for forgiveness. I rolled up at my friend's house 30 minuets early. I pull out my bible from my backpack and read where I last left off in Acts chapter 12. As I neared the end of the chapter, I suddenly came across this passage, "23Immediately, because Herod did not give praise to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died." Because Herod failed to give God praise he was struck down my God's messenger, and he was eaten by worms and eventually died. This is a gruesome death, even after the fact God made everything right with Jesus.
Of course, Herod was killing a lot of Christians, but don't you think God loved Herod a lot? I am sure he did, but love alone doesn't stop a brutal death from God.
I believe God loves me, not for what I have done, but I don't think he will stand idle and bless me as I continue to write without giving him glory and praise. I do this because he deserves it, and also because I respect him.
A Christian artist walks a fine line of glorifying himself and glorifying God. That is a tension that all great artists must face now and then.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Creative Angusih
The Rule: Creativity is always fun.
You sit down at your chair with a pen, paintbrush, or laptop before you. You already have a passionate start on your project. An energy that burnt inside has propelled you thus far, yet there still remains many blank holes in your story, journal, blog, painting or song. With the vast blankness ahead of you, you become eager to fill in the blank, thus the burning that once fueled the quality of your project's genesis is now giving you energy to hasten ahead and fail to develop what you already have started; thus, compromising the quality of the remainder of the piece.
Last night I faced this demon head on. I was (and still am in many ways) tired of developing and getting to know my characters. I say to myself, "I love them enough to move forward with the story." Yet as I move onto something new, I feel my characters calling back to me in sadness saying, "Know me more."
I realize, I thrive off of exploring new terrain and when I feel that I have exhausted all nooks and crannies of an imaginative portion (or the entire project itself) I want to move on to something entirely new, and that creates an anxious boredom. I squirm in my seat, my heart beats rapidly as if I had too much caffeine minus the euphoria, nervous adrenaline rushes to my chest and I frantically flip ahead several pages on my journal to write new thoughts or plot points, all the while I am not showing my character, whom I am developing, the proper attention and care.
I was in humdrum anguish, yet as I flipped back to what I was originally doing, I engaged in a more profound creative act, the act of creation under non-inspiration.
There is an island and it represents an artist's project or a task within the project. The artists has explored the white sandy beaches, the swaying grassy knoll, the colorful corral reef and even sampled many of the wild pineapples and coconuts. The artist grows bored with the island and decides to swim to another one, but something is calling him back. There is uncharted land. The artist goes back with a sigh of drudgery and explores the sand, the knoll, the reef and the fruit but then he sees something he hasn't seen before. It's a cave hidden by dead palm tree leaves. He pulls the dried up vegetation away and a rush of cool air blows from the cave onto his dry face. Sounds of adventure echo through the darkness below. BINGO! The artist has discovered through the exhausted search there is a pocket of newness. The artist has found his energy and is more knowledgeable of the island so when he takes his audience on the journey through the island, he can point out all of the island's true wonders.
You sit down at your chair with a pen, paintbrush, or laptop before you. You already have a passionate start on your project. An energy that burnt inside has propelled you thus far, yet there still remains many blank holes in your story, journal, blog, painting or song. With the vast blankness ahead of you, you become eager to fill in the blank, thus the burning that once fueled the quality of your project's genesis is now giving you energy to hasten ahead and fail to develop what you already have started; thus, compromising the quality of the remainder of the piece.
Last night I faced this demon head on. I was (and still am in many ways) tired of developing and getting to know my characters. I say to myself, "I love them enough to move forward with the story." Yet as I move onto something new, I feel my characters calling back to me in sadness saying, "Know me more."
I realize, I thrive off of exploring new terrain and when I feel that I have exhausted all nooks and crannies of an imaginative portion (or the entire project itself) I want to move on to something entirely new, and that creates an anxious boredom. I squirm in my seat, my heart beats rapidly as if I had too much caffeine minus the euphoria, nervous adrenaline rushes to my chest and I frantically flip ahead several pages on my journal to write new thoughts or plot points, all the while I am not showing my character, whom I am developing, the proper attention and care.
I was in humdrum anguish, yet as I flipped back to what I was originally doing, I engaged in a more profound creative act, the act of creation under non-inspiration.
There is an island and it represents an artist's project or a task within the project. The artists has explored the white sandy beaches, the swaying grassy knoll, the colorful corral reef and even sampled many of the wild pineapples and coconuts. The artist grows bored with the island and decides to swim to another one, but something is calling him back. There is uncharted land. The artist goes back with a sigh of drudgery and explores the sand, the knoll, the reef and the fruit but then he sees something he hasn't seen before. It's a cave hidden by dead palm tree leaves. He pulls the dried up vegetation away and a rush of cool air blows from the cave onto his dry face. Sounds of adventure echo through the darkness below. BINGO! The artist has discovered through the exhausted search there is a pocket of newness. The artist has found his energy and is more knowledgeable of the island so when he takes his audience on the journey through the island, he can point out all of the island's true wonders.
Monday, February 23, 2009
A Wicked Man
The Rule: Death of an individual is God's way of giving up.
At his bed dying of a disease
Is a wicked man on his knees.
"I've killed, and maimed
And tarnished my name
Thrown puppies off a peak
Made grown men give off a shriek.
But no horror can compare
To have never said a prayer
To a God I don't comprehend
And letting go of His hand."
At his bed dying of a disease
Is a wicked man on his knees.
"I've killed, and maimed
And tarnished my name
Thrown puppies off a peak
Made grown men give off a shriek.
But no horror can compare
To have never said a prayer
To a God I don't comprehend
And letting go of His hand."
Sunrises, Rain and Rainbows
The Rule: Expect to surf when surfing.
A huge fallacy is to think that what you are after is what you will get. Everyday we pursue something in order to obtain a desirable result, but what happens if that result isn't fulfilled? You have two options: be pissed or accept it and see something good.
This morning in my groggy fog I woke up hoping to catch at least 4 good waves, but in return I was given slow moving, softly crumbling waves that couldn't even propel Michel Phepls, the most streamlined man in the world. Twenty minutes into the surf session looking south-west a bright bold rainbow appeared. It grew longer and longer with its vibrant colors standing out. Eventually it stretched from the northern tip of Catalina to the homes over looking Dog Beach and its reflection wiggling in the water from the horizon to the nose of my board. Soon another rainbow appeared, but failed in splendor in comparison to its brethren. Later, a downpour came and splattered all of us as it diminished the rainbow's glow. To the south a sunset was breaking free from the scattered clouds and it shined on us as we waded in a stormy shadow.
It was a beautiful experience being out in the water. Though I expected to catch waves, I caught nature's beauty. "It was a great surf sesh."
A huge fallacy is to think that what you are after is what you will get. Everyday we pursue something in order to obtain a desirable result, but what happens if that result isn't fulfilled? You have two options: be pissed or accept it and see something good.
This morning in my groggy fog I woke up hoping to catch at least 4 good waves, but in return I was given slow moving, softly crumbling waves that couldn't even propel Michel Phepls, the most streamlined man in the world. Twenty minutes into the surf session looking south-west a bright bold rainbow appeared. It grew longer and longer with its vibrant colors standing out. Eventually it stretched from the northern tip of Catalina to the homes over looking Dog Beach and its reflection wiggling in the water from the horizon to the nose of my board. Soon another rainbow appeared, but failed in splendor in comparison to its brethren. Later, a downpour came and splattered all of us as it diminished the rainbow's glow. To the south a sunset was breaking free from the scattered clouds and it shined on us as we waded in a stormy shadow.
It was a beautiful experience being out in the water. Though I expected to catch waves, I caught nature's beauty. "It was a great surf sesh."
Thursday, February 19, 2009
The Rule of Emotions
The Rule: Whatever your emotion says, do.
I am constantly fighting off this rule that everyone leans on too much. I am too strong of a feeler and this gets me in trouble. I have seen this in my writing. I will write as the inspiration comes. Unfortunately, inspiration comes only as often as my dad ever calls me to go dinner. It's a rare occurrence. As I write this, the emotions to write that I had yesterday have faded into a quiet hush. But I must continue on. I must write, not for the enjoyment, but the strict development of a skill, for I am a master of non, and I long to be a master of something one day. If emotions don't lead me, than I'll be great one day.
Arguments always toy with my emotions like a yo-yo master. I can come into an argument with a positive emotional plan filled with facts and a plan of a attack, but when someone brings an emotion into the argument, such as sadness, anger or even joy, my heart transforms into what is being expressed by that person. I cannot get what I want, because I let my emotions tell me otherwise.
I am not that great of a surfer as well and we can blame that emotional gene of mine. When the nights are long and cold, and the next morning surf session seems like a miserable prospect, I choose not to go out, all because I don't feel like it.
An emotional prisoner is only as determined as a feather in a blizzard. The rule I am trying to destroy at this moment in my life is not always listen to those emotions.
But then again, we need this emotion for other things such as enjoying a sunrise over an Orange County landscape, a kiss from your significant other, or it offers protection as it trumpets with terror the predator outside or even that giant wave I have no business riding that is coming my way.
Emotions are neither evil, nor good. They are just there. It is too tiring to figure it out and follow it in life.
Feather in a snowstorm.
I am constantly fighting off this rule that everyone leans on too much. I am too strong of a feeler and this gets me in trouble. I have seen this in my writing. I will write as the inspiration comes. Unfortunately, inspiration comes only as often as my dad ever calls me to go dinner. It's a rare occurrence. As I write this, the emotions to write that I had yesterday have faded into a quiet hush. But I must continue on. I must write, not for the enjoyment, but the strict development of a skill, for I am a master of non, and I long to be a master of something one day. If emotions don't lead me, than I'll be great one day.
Arguments always toy with my emotions like a yo-yo master. I can come into an argument with a positive emotional plan filled with facts and a plan of a attack, but when someone brings an emotion into the argument, such as sadness, anger or even joy, my heart transforms into what is being expressed by that person. I cannot get what I want, because I let my emotions tell me otherwise.
I am not that great of a surfer as well and we can blame that emotional gene of mine. When the nights are long and cold, and the next morning surf session seems like a miserable prospect, I choose not to go out, all because I don't feel like it.
An emotional prisoner is only as determined as a feather in a blizzard. The rule I am trying to destroy at this moment in my life is not always listen to those emotions.
But then again, we need this emotion for other things such as enjoying a sunrise over an Orange County landscape, a kiss from your significant other, or it offers protection as it trumpets with terror the predator outside or even that giant wave I have no business riding that is coming my way.
Emotions are neither evil, nor good. They are just there. It is too tiring to figure it out and follow it in life.
Feather in a snowstorm.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Wisdom= Destruction of Paradigm
A simple act of defiance, a distortion of normalcy, rules bent, and authority questioned. Some may say these are the signs of anarchy, but can it also be the beginning of wisdom?
In your job, or in your relationship, do you have a strict set of rules? Do you follow them? It may be hurting you.
As Barry Schwartz argues
(http://www.ted.com/talks/barry_schwartz_on_our_loss_of_wisdom.html),
rules create a distortion of character and values.
Just last week in the news, a chimpanzee owner had to stab his pet to death with a butcher knife. Obviously this goes against great many rules, such as loving all God's creatures and animal ethical treatment. But I failed to mention on purpose that the chimpanzee turned feral and was ripping apart the owner's friend's face. Immediately all animal rights rules goes out the window to preserve the life of a human over an animal.
In our own lives we are confronted with similar situations. We may not have a chimpanzee gouging out our eyeballs, but we do have a system we adhere to, may it be a weekly small group, a boss, work contracts or even our own daily regiments such as exercising or studying or reading.
We are stuck in machines of the grimmest order. We do this because of the ease of life that rules and regulations offer. You don't have to think, you just do. "All I am doing is inputting data or a stream of letters in my job. It's boring, but it's easy."
That's why working with people gets messy. When it comes to relationships, we cannot input data to figure out what is hurting a person, we cannot use a formula to get out of an argument, or combine the right spacing of groups of letters to make someone like me. It doesn't work that way. And because it is not clear cut and the rules no longer hold our hands through the lovely fields of relationships, we get pissed.
So then, when we are confronted with problem solving, you have two choices: 1. do what has normally been done and proves to be successful, 2. do something different. If option number 1 always works and you stay with it, you are being mediocre. If you take option 2 you risk failure or achieve success.
In what areas of your life do you find dull or lifeless? Do you want change? Then more than likely you are sticking to option 1.
Sometimes we set our own rules and when the world doesn't play by them, our hearts get eaten alive and digested into goo. For example, I can safely say "I have worked hard. I have a degree. I am good person; therefore, I deserve a good job and a good pay and deserve to forever keep my job."
That is the rule of Karma my friend, and that rule fails very often.
Say that, "If I study my bible every day, pray three times a day, tithe regularly, and feed the poor, I should hear God's voice clearly."
That is the rule of kissing butt. As some of us learned in High School, this doesn't go very far either.
We set rules because we think what should be right and what should be fair and what should be protocol (I do it this way, so the world must follow suit). This is judging situations with mortal eyes. This leads to defeat, destruction and death.
We might as well have a primate ripping us to peace. So let's be creative, and set ourselves free from what we think would work. Option 2 is scary and comes with pain. But with that pain is learning and developing of character, of skill and craft. Option 2 says follow someone's footsteps but follow alongside them with a different stride, different foot size and maybe go beyond where the footsteps stop.
It's time to change and change now.
In your job, or in your relationship, do you have a strict set of rules? Do you follow them? It may be hurting you.
As Barry Schwartz argues
(http://www.ted.com/talks/barry_schwartz_on_our_loss_of_wisdom.html),
rules create a distortion of character and values.
Just last week in the news, a chimpanzee owner had to stab his pet to death with a butcher knife. Obviously this goes against great many rules, such as loving all God's creatures and animal ethical treatment. But I failed to mention on purpose that the chimpanzee turned feral and was ripping apart the owner's friend's face. Immediately all animal rights rules goes out the window to preserve the life of a human over an animal.
In our own lives we are confronted with similar situations. We may not have a chimpanzee gouging out our eyeballs, but we do have a system we adhere to, may it be a weekly small group, a boss, work contracts or even our own daily regiments such as exercising or studying or reading.
We are stuck in machines of the grimmest order. We do this because of the ease of life that rules and regulations offer. You don't have to think, you just do. "All I am doing is inputting data or a stream of letters in my job. It's boring, but it's easy."
That's why working with people gets messy. When it comes to relationships, we cannot input data to figure out what is hurting a person, we cannot use a formula to get out of an argument, or combine the right spacing of groups of letters to make someone like me. It doesn't work that way. And because it is not clear cut and the rules no longer hold our hands through the lovely fields of relationships, we get pissed.
So then, when we are confronted with problem solving, you have two choices: 1. do what has normally been done and proves to be successful, 2. do something different. If option number 1 always works and you stay with it, you are being mediocre. If you take option 2 you risk failure or achieve success.
In what areas of your life do you find dull or lifeless? Do you want change? Then more than likely you are sticking to option 1.
Sometimes we set our own rules and when the world doesn't play by them, our hearts get eaten alive and digested into goo. For example, I can safely say "I have worked hard. I have a degree. I am good person; therefore, I deserve a good job and a good pay and deserve to forever keep my job."
That is the rule of Karma my friend, and that rule fails very often.
Say that, "If I study my bible every day, pray three times a day, tithe regularly, and feed the poor, I should hear God's voice clearly."
That is the rule of kissing butt. As some of us learned in High School, this doesn't go very far either.
We set rules because we think what should be right and what should be fair and what should be protocol (I do it this way, so the world must follow suit). This is judging situations with mortal eyes. This leads to defeat, destruction and death.
We might as well have a primate ripping us to peace. So let's be creative, and set ourselves free from what we think would work. Option 2 is scary and comes with pain. But with that pain is learning and developing of character, of skill and craft. Option 2 says follow someone's footsteps but follow alongside them with a different stride, different foot size and maybe go beyond where the footsteps stop.
It's time to change and change now.
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