Pavarotti, The Dalai Lama and Links to Explore

Today I have a menagerie of brief topics I wanted to share with you. The first is the passing of the great tenor Pavarotti. One New Years Eve in Vancouver B.C., I had the great privilege of hearing the Three Tenors in concert. Pavarotti had a voice like a trumpet that could fill a hall like no one else. I listen to an interview of him by Charlie Rose and I was surprised to hear how incredibly afraid he was before each performance. He said, however as soon as he walked out on the stage he was absolutely transformed. “I went from this scared child to this person taken over by the music and the audience.” His gift was exceptional and his dedication to be the best he could be was life long. I see the greatness he was given and think about what greatness is in me and wonder what greatness is in you? I hope you and I allow our greatness to nurtured and fully realized?

Now a total change of pace, here is a really interesting site I came upon while doing StumbleUpon.com a site that sends you randomly to rate other websites. First StumbleUpon.com is worth checking out, secondly I came upon a website in which you can give yourself all these personality, intelligence and other tests. This site is interesting and fun and can give you some information about yourself that can be insightful and helpful www.testdex.com.

If you need a break or need to be uplifted while sitting at the computer and you can check out greatday.com. The inspirational videos can lift you up.

I save the highest for the last. I was reading in Ode Magazine odemagazine.com some wisdom from the Dalai Lama that will be out in a documentary called, 10 Questions for the Dalai Lama. You can find out more at 10QuestionsfortheDalaiLama.com and enter the filmmakers site. Here are a few of his insights that too me are simple and powerful. He is truly a blessing to all of us on the planet.

“Everything is independent. Everything is interconnected. . . . Our survival and our future are very much linked to one another. Therefore the destruction of your so called enemy is actually the destruction of your self. . . . To use the power of the gun is a sign of weakness. . . . This violence, it won’t work. “

“There is too much emotion, too much negative emotion: frustration, hatred, anger. I think that’s the greatest obstacle. So I think as a first step this should be cooled down. Reduced. Forget these things. . . . We need more festivals more picnics. Let us forget these difficult things, these emotions and make personal friends. Then we can talk about these serious matters.”
The Dalai Lama

Some May Say I Am A Dreamer . . . .

Speaking of rock and roll, I do love music and I have since I was a kid. I grew up in a rich time for music as I guess we all do. When I was a kid I use to love musicals, it seemed like there were lots of them on TV. The love of stories being told by music was something I never really thought much about until lately. In my forties I took up playing the guitar and I especially loved playing and singing. I have always found singing to be such a healing and joyous thing to do. One of the people I work with was singing away yesterday as she tried to deal with an overload of work and stress.

Somewhere along the way a force/inspiration in me caused me to attempt something I felt way over my head doing. I wrote a musical with 24 songs. I mentioned the musical the other day and the universe giving me the big YES. 24 songs out of me; it had to be some kind of divine intervention. I will tell you this, divine intervention or not; it sure felt exciting to have these ideas, dialogue and songs flow through me. I still get high thinking about letting such creative energy harmonize my cells on the way to my fingertips.

I have over time fined tuned the musical and the story but then I got to my level of incompetence. I then decided to record the songs on CD so I could have someone help me with them. The songs are simple and needing help and my voice scary to share. I found someone who could listen and turn the guitar and voice into sheets of notes and make it better as she goes. She is also helping to spiff up the dialogue. The progress is slow but moving along. I need to pump it up and I need some help or ideas to get some backing or expertise to take it to the next level. If there are any of you out there who have ideas drop me a line at explorelifeblog@gmail.com.

The funny thing is that from the beginning I have felt it was going to be a big hit. I love when I know something so clearly that my mind, body, heart and spirit sing in anticipation and celebration.

What masterpiece is waiting to be expressed through you? Is there and idea that makes you jump in excitement? What stirs you so deeply that it follows you around waiting for you to make it happen? Are you a business genius that will help us be free of dependence on oil? Could you be the person that makes a transporter (StarTrek) a reality? Are you the Oprah of tomorrow, or the Einstein, or the Jimmy Buffet/Jimi Hendrix, or the Mother Theresa or the Eckhart Tolle or some other extraordinary light on the planet? Maybe your parenting skills will nurture the jewel of a human being into full expression.

Please believe in yourself and your dreams. “Some may say I am a dreamer but I am not the only one” John Lennon. Thankfully in each of us is a big dream worth living. The world will be greatly enriched the more your dreams come into reality.

Is It Time To Do The Cosmic Rock And Roll?

I amazed at the human capacity to be surrounded by so much stimuli, stuff, stress, struggle, and situations and keep on functioning at a high level. Look around you and see everywhere people attempting to make sense out of the world. Listen and feel inside and you can sense your own attempts to figure things out. You and I and everyone else can get so caught up in this world thinking and feeling that the dramas we are in are real. Sure on a personality level they seem real and important. They however are not at another level, the level of your spirit/soul/higher self.

I wanted to write today about the part of you that is unlimited in understanding, consciousness, compassion and creativity. This part I sometimes call my spirit, my soul, my higher self, or unity consciousness. Different traditions have different names for the highest knowing in you and I. The reason I wanted to write about this topic is because it is a very liberating part of us, and the way to freedom from the dramas of life that can get us so twisted.

There is in you and I a vast knowing that is beyond the “I” of our personality/ego. That vastness is in everyone and is inclusive of everything. Try this: Today find a place where you can take a few minutes to observe all that is going on around you. As you observe remind yourself that all of this is part of a greater you. The mountains, the city chaos, the flowing stream, the suffering person on the street corner are all parts of you, not the you of personality but the you of expanded consciousness.

As I write this I remember how challenging it can be to put into words some of these concepts. Understanding of these concepts is beyond the rational because the mind is limited in its ability to grasp the workings of our expansive, unlimited Self. Writing about something the mind can only glimpse is not a walk in the park. So lets take a walk into this ideas from alternative viewpoint. I want you to imagine that you are a collection of energy and information held together in one moving organism by thought. This energy and information that you are is in constant relationship to all that is around you and in fact in relationship to the rhythm and flows of the entire universe. The particles in you are in a cosmic dance with your neighbors, the moon and the stars. There is a vibrational celebration of living going on constantly and filled with endless possibilities waiting for you to rumba.

Human understanding so far has put your thoughts as a major director in your life experiences. How you think about your life is how you experience it. That means your thoughts choose to rumba with potentials present for you or not. You can go this way or that way, it doesn’t matter because it is all the dance of life. So which way do you want to tango? Do you want to play, explore, express and be blissful? Or maybe be serious, work hard, put up with and do what is expected? Or get by, flow with what is coming your way, do what works easiest and be ok with what is? Or be the director, make things happen, shape your reality, go forward with intention and focus? The possibilities are endless on how you want to do the dance called you, your life and the sea of consciousness.

You are free in this moment although it may not feel like it. Take back your freedom, rethink your options, empower yourself with self-love and self creation, tune in to your greater knowing, and then create the life you want. Anything less will be less satisfying, settle won’t do, and putting up with what is mediocre will leave you less then thrilled.

Well I have rambled about today haven’t I? I hope some of this stimulated you to expand your thoughts, your possibilities, your awareness? Hope you join the dance of insight and cosmic rock and roll and get a big smile on your face when you see what you have created.

The Buffet of Life

Have you ever sat down and listed all the possibilities and potentials in you that are waiting for expression? Probably not, because it would take a very long time to make that list. Yes I am talking directly to you. Think of a tiny seed in apple, that seed can become a full apple tree that blesses the world with its fruit. Like a seed you have the potential to grow into something that blesses the world with all you create. An apple seed is limited in what it can manifest, but you as a human are unlimited in what you can create. There never has been found a limit to human creativity. The possibilities in you are limitless.

What in you is calling for expression? I ask this question because I know how life can close in on you and keep you so busy doing that you loose touch with your deeper desires and higher callings. The last two years I spent a lot of energy working in a very stressful job and a couple of important things for me got put on the back burner. Making a living can get in the way of expressing who you are. Does it have to? I don’t think so?

The need for security and fear of the unknown can keep you and I holding onto something that we think is the source of our supply. The Universe/Great Spirit/Creator is the source of our supply. Whatever you belief is, one thing for sure is true, there is a force much greater then you or I from which all things flow. That Source supplies what you ask for and if it is a job to get by on, than that is what you get. If you are willing to ask for the resources you need to follow your dreams and express yourself fully than that is what you get. The Source loves to assist you being all that you are here to be. You were given the unique potential that you have so that you could realize it.

Now it is time to step up to the buffet of life and look at where you are at and where you are heading and do compassionate assessment. Are you heading where you want to be going, where you heart calls you or are you in a track fear built? No judgment necessary but a course correction may be advised. If it is time to get in gear towards your fuller expression, what scoops of the buffet should you put on your plate? Do you need a taste of clarity, or a flavor of intention or a big bite of commitment or courage? What else is needed to get you going where you need to go?

I am embarking on course correction that leaves the fear track behind. The work I am called to do will challenge me to be in the world with courage and commitment. Trying to be content with less expression will no longer work for me. The years of making do and the times of tasting the possibilities have made my life work to a degree but that is no longer enough. I am blessed with a great partner, a rich awareness, a variety of skills and experiences and now I must go forward with all the purpose, intent and courage inside of me. Guided by my intuition and a higher knowing and supplied by the Source I cannot fail. I may need to adjust as I go but my highest realization is on the way today.

Join me and together we will travel where no one has gone before because no one has the mission you and I are on. Remember the where the mind and heart goes the energy flows and you will be just fine. Let me know how it goes and you will hear how mine flows.

Plan For Your Freedom On Labor Day

September is here and Labor Day is today. What happened to summer? It can’t be winding down already can it? I am a summer person who loves the outdoors and the warmer weather. Now I have to start getting ready for the days getting darker earlier and the weather changing toward the cooler. Cooler is fine as long as it isn’t really cold like it will be here in a couple of months.

As summer winds down, I start thinking about what I want to focus on as the play cycle turns toward more doing with purpose. I have several projects in mind and I will see what I can do to make them happen successfully: build traffic to my site; build traffic and business at Peace Together; find opportunities to consult, teach and do talks, presentations and workshops; write another book, run a fast mile, and take my musical to the next step.

These are all ambitious projects and will provide me the challenges necessary to bring out the best in me. What projects are you waiting to start, needing to resurrect, or to push through to the finish line? Are you challenging yourself or taking it easy? I you working for others and find your challenges there? The time to take an important project off the shelf is now. Dust them off, review your ideas and plans and decide where you want to put your energy. Put your focus toward ideas and projects that have a lot of potential to create positive results, to bring out your greatness, to move you more toward personal freedom. These are ideas worth exploring and giving you energy to at this time in your life.

Think of yourself as an energy force that needs to be focused. Unfocused energy dissipates. Focused energy generated more energy. What you think about expands/where you focus goes, the energy flows. The mind and heart with intention and commitment are power plants for energy. Where does your mind go? What do you think about? What do you want to make happen?

I was at this Metaphysical Fair for three days talking about peace and I enjoy getting a reading every once in a while. So I checked them all out and chose one that seemed right for me. The last time I got a reading by a psychic in this kind of setting was back in Santa Barbara about 3 years ago. I received my reading this weekend and the results were amazingly similar to the one three years ago. The psychic today and the one several years ago both asked me about something I was working on that I needed to bring into the world. That was this musical I wrote a few years ago.

I was inspired and guided in my writing of this musical but now I feel stuck lacking the musical expertise I need to enhance the 24 songs and then turn them into sheet music. Further guidance is needed and funding also. I have gotten some help but the project is stalled. Today the message from the Universe via the psychic about whether to go forward or not was a resounding YES. The last card I drew was from a creative deck of ideas and it said YES in big letters as clear as a bell. I must go forward and take some risks and I am again confident there is help that will come my way. I will keep you updated.

So there is much on my plate, how about yours? Is it time to go to the buffet of life and dish up a big batch of possibilities and start down the path of a passionate you in pursuit of joy and fulfillment? In honor of labor day, let your heart and mind guide you to work that doesn’t feel like work and go live with as much purpose and passion as you can. The world will be a better place if you do and you will feel such wonderful freedom.

What Is Our Nature As Human Beings

I have been reading lots of good stuff lately. Global Sense by Judah Freed is an excellent book that I mentioned before and now I have read much more of it. If you like political discussion based on common sense you will appreciate the ideas of Global Sense. The second book is The Heart of Social Change by Marshall Rosenberg who is a very respected teacher of Nonviolent Communications around the world. His short little book is full of great ideas and information. Both of these writers share information that is enlightening.

“Social change is liberating ourselves from any theology, from any spirituality that is not in harmony with what we believe will enable us to create the kind of world we would like. . . . The spiritual development that we need, as I understand spirituality, focuses on a few questions: What is our nature as human beings? What are we about? What is the good life?” Marshall Rosenberg.

This is a very interesting point of view and certainly puts into question what belief systems serve us and the betterment of humankind, and which ones serve the needs of organizations that want to be in control. Here I go again posing those pesky questions. When was the last time you sat down an asked yourself what you really believe and what is old ideas that need updating. This is to me is a life long project that needs updating on a regular basis.

"What is our nature as human beings? What are we about? What is the good life?" These are great questions and important for any person as they sort out what are the key aspects of their lives? I am confident, as they questions are explore openly, the possibilities for discovery of a much deeper and richer life will come into being.

Take a chance and go where many don’t dare. With courage explore all you hold true and all that opens up from a true search for higher knowing and consciousness. Share with us along the way and you and I and everyone will be better from your journey. Go in peace and stir up the dust on the limiting ideas until a new more expansive and inclusive view is brought into creation. Remember the highest source of the universe is in you.

A Life That Keeps Expanding

The next few days I am at the Metaphysical Fair in Denver. We are selling our peace t-shirts and talking to people. There are many interesting booths with healers, readers, stones, clothes and healing tools. The place is abuzz with people and healing energy. I just took a 15 minute nap on a bio-mat several booths away and I am feeling refreshed. I love the variety of people that are drawn to this kind of event; people that think outside the box and are open to a variety of points of view.

There is something about open minded that is very appealing to me. I guess it is the idea of not being set in your ways or think you have all the answers. How could you think you had all the answers? I feel there is so much more to know and become more conscious of in this life. If you are not here to continue your learning, to explore your potential, and to be more fully realized then what are you doing? Just getting by or only being focused on survival means you are under utilizing your innate abilities and may be too often run by fear.

I know fear and self-limitation intimately and frankly there aren’t that cool of friends to hang out with. Most of what has kept me from being more in life is imposed upon me by limiting thoughts in my mind. Stuff I learned either from those around me, from school, or religious training. Much of what I learned in my early years was not enlightening but their (family, school, organizations, religion etc.) own set of limiting ideas.

The lack of light in these ideas is because the critical thinking was missing and the heart wasn’t listened to. Like I have been, they too are stuck in limiting ideas that have been past on without question. Unquestioned beliefs too often create a rigidity of thinking that keep us from experiencing higher knowing. I know if you read my blog, you hear often from me about the importance of having a vigorous and actively questioning mind.

Today and the next few weeks see if you can catch limiting thoughts that you have. Hear the thoughts and then acknowledge they are there. Next write down or at least in your head, change that thought to one that is more expansive and empowering. An example might be: if you have a thought that you don’t deserve to have something you want like, love, success, abundance or whatever; acknowledge you are limiting you and then rewrite that thought and feel the new expansive you in your heart. Now in your thinking and feeling you do deserve what you want. Feel the power of that for your deserving is totally and complete correct.

Have a good day and be thinking and feeling you can have as good of day as you could dream possible. Lincoln said, “People are as happy as they choose to be.” One thought away from happiness sounds good to me.

THE BEST POSSIBLE LIFE PLAN

I wanted to create for you a simple clear plan to enrich your life. Print this and use it as a reminder on what to focus on that will encourage the best expression of you each day.
Find Your:
PERSON – to accomplish this the basic ingredients include: discover yourself; be aware you are mind, body, heart and spirit; shrink the inner critic, stop judging; forgive yourself and move on; and love and accept yourself more each day.
PURPOSE – explore and live the following: what is you unique contribution; what are you here to do; what is your mission, how can you make a difference; where does your heart and soul guide you to go in this life.
PASSION – to live life fully you need to know: what makes you feel alive; find where the energy in you resides and fully explore and express the source; listen careful to the intuition’s guidance; find the joy and follow it; where the focus goes the energy flows.
PEACE – this is a key result, how to get there: start by accepting who you are fully and completely in each moment; relax and slow down; bring your emphasis from doing to being; find the stillness inside; make goal inner peace your reality.
How:
CONSCIOUSNESS – wake up: come out of the trance of life and the habits that run you; seek insight and self-awareness; grow into your highest place of wisdom and potential; be self-realizing; discover the unity of all conscious being with all of life.
COMPASSION – this one is clear and joyous: open your heart and follow its wisdom; listen deeply; seek to understand; be loving and caring; give of yourself; be kind; it is ok to love everyone and everything.
CONNECTION – you and I and everyone are connected: find out what dreams, hopes, and desires you share with others; there are more similarities then differences; explore and grow your relationships with everyone you know; enjoy and appreciate differences.
CREATIVITY – there is in you and nature an infinite source of inspiration and creation: all needs and challenges can be solved by the creative forces of love and understanding; to create is to realize your highest expression and the divine in you.

Listening With An Open Heart

There is so much going on inside of you as there is in me and everyone else. What are your concerns in your own life? What concerns do you have for the planet? What are the needs you have so you can find some peace inside? I am asking these questions because I know, as a therapist for 30 years, there is much going on in your heart and mind. There is in everyone. I want to share with you a model of how being listened to, can make such a difference. The world needs lots of compassion listeners.

What happens when someone sits quietly and listens to you with an open heart is that you are able to share what has been banging around in your head. This sharing allows you to become more aware of your thoughts and concerns. Awareness is powerful because when you know yourself, you can take care of your needs, and be more present to the moment, you family and the world. Awareness is empowering and gives you choices. With choices you can choose the way you want to be and the kind of life you want to have. If you want to improve the quality of your life and your relationships begin by being aware, with awareness you can make choices and informed choices allow for health change. The model for change is:

AWARENESS   –->     CHOICES   -->     CHANGE

This model is powerful in its simplicity. Listening is a key ingredient. What you and I need most from the people who care about us is for them to listen with understanding and free of advice. Listening with an open heart and free of judging is a wonderful gift to give to those you love and others in need.

I write this blog to encourage your fullest realization. When you are stuck or in need, reach out to those who can listen. The more you verbalize what is going on the clearer you can become about what to do. Advice from others is not necessary because inside you have all you need to create the life you want. Advice from experts when you need their information makes sense. Yet inside of you is an inner source of wisdom that can guide you to the life you want. Sometimes the best thing you can do is listen to yourself with an open heart.

Please feel free to send me an email or leave a comment below if you need to be heard or want a different perspective. I am listening and I do care. Peace, joy, love and a meaningful life are possible and I am here to cheer you on.   Explorelifeblog@gmail.com

Taking a Leap of Faith

I have this part-time job that is stressful and deadening. I am about to take a leap of faith and put all my focus on my writing and my peace company. I write this journal to invite the best in you, to expand awareness, insight and consciousness, to encourage living with passion and purpose, to explore and express creativity, to teach and inspire and to spread peace, love and compassion. My writing is about giving and being of service to you the reader.

As you know I am very concerned about what is going on in the world and I had to do something positive. So my wife Bobbi and I started Peace Together as way for us to express our commitment to promoting inner peace and world peace. Our mission is growing and the Peace Together Foundation is our next major project. You can check us out at www.peace-together.com. Funding our work is the challenge we are facing and we are exploring how to do that and are open to suggestions. This blog is part of our peace effort because we believe peace is possible if people are awake, conscious and living their purpose.

Back to the leap, this is about trusting the universe and frankly I find myself scared and excited. I don’t know how this will all work out but there is a part of me that trusts and is guided at a very deep level. That is the part of me I want to hang out with as the fear comes and goes. Life is an experiment and I am entering into another testing phase. I get to put my theories of intention, attraction, flow and intuition into practice with my safety net being my inner resources.

What risks are you taking lately? Which leaps of faith are calling you? What is the next growthful step you need to take? How do you get up the courage to push yourself beyond your comfort zone? If tomorrow you could wake up and be living your ideal life, what would it be like and how would you be?

I was reading tips from problogger.net and came upon John Gerard and his really interesting, fun and courageous experiment. John is trying to become famous in 31 days as a sociological experiment and to see what it would feel like. His site is full of videos as he is filming his whole journey. This is a guy that has taken a leap of faith and it is working. Check out his website for fun and inspiration at www.famousin31days.com.

You and I have an essence that is fearless and free; that is unlimited in potential; that is open and wise. Join me and together we will go beyond the ordinary and play in the field of freedom, joy and infinite possibilities.

Innate Wisdom and Extraordinary Possibilities

I think I have fallen upon a pattern of how I select blog topics. I write about consciousness, compassion and purpose often encouraging the best in people. Then at least once a week I get all stirred up about what is going on in the world and in the political realm and I find myself ranting or at least asking questions and trying to stir things up in both your heart and your thinking. I also seem drawn to question the establishment often, which I am sure is part of my going into college in 1968 a time of expanding unrest. Regularly I like to share books and other resources I think you will find inspirational. Lastly it seems weekly I like to put together a list of what I consider helpful ideas. So there you have my unplanned schedule. I hope it is working for you?

My hope is that you not write me off for my direction one day because the next day it is libel to change. This blog is a reflection of a questioning mind, an ever-expanding awareness, a growing sense of inner peace, a deepening sense of compassion, and a driving desire to make a positive difference in the world. The balance for me is to feel all that gets stirred up inside and to keep my peace of mind.

On my recent road trip I listened to a very positive book that I think you will find of value if you like my writings about self-empowerment and personal growth. The book is by Deepak Chopra titled, The Book of Secrets, Unlocking the Hidden Dimensions of Life. The book contains 15 secrets, which I find deeply insightful and rich in wisdom and consciousness. It is a book that will need to be read or listen to at least several times. The depth of the writings reflect the insights of wise and contemplative teacher. Here is a my short summary of what in the first secret Deepak calls, “the wisdom you are already living:”

o You have a unique and powerful purpose
o You are connected to all of life
o You have an ever changing awareness
o You can feel acceptance of others, free of judgment
o You are in the moment rich in creativity
o Your being is in relationships with the universe
o You are open to the flow of life
o You feel inside a connection with source
o You feel the call to giving as the source of abundance
o You are open to seeing the truth of your immortality

Sit and be with these ideas. Each one is an invitation to step more fully into all that you are and can be.  Feel the energy of being in your innate wisdom and extraordinary possibilities.

Attorney General Resigns, Is Peace and Justice For All Possible?

Breaking News: I just read the news that the Attorney General has resigned. That ends a very sad chapter in the Justice Departments history. If the Attorney General runs Justice with a political slant then true justice is not possible. This administration has made telling the truth a lost art. I hope this disgrace makes for changes that are for the best of the people and the country. Learning from our mistakes can make us better and more conscious.

I feel energized and motivated by the challenges of life. How about you? There are many challenges out there. Each of us must choose a path filled with passion and purpose. The mission I have chosen is clear: I am working for peace, both inner peace and world peace. What path will you choose to be a positive agent for change? There is much work to do for justice, for understanding, for the environment or whatever cause has meaning for you. As I wrote yesterday, the three areas I am focusing on to promote inner and world peace are: consciousness, compassion and connection. I want to write more about these ideas and talk about how this pertains to you the reader.

Before I do that I wanted to share with you a book I have started to read. The book is called Global Sense, Awakening Your Power to Change Our World by Judah Freed. I met Judah at the Earth Works Expo and traded one of our peace t-shirts for his book. I finally have gotten time to read his book. The book takes the wisdom of Thomas Paine’s Common Sense and makes it relevant to what is going on in this country today. The book is excellent and just the reading I needed now to inspire me. I highly recommend that if you are concerned about the direction this country is heading that you read this book as a source to encourage you active participation in making a difference.

Peace to me begins inward. Inner peace comes from being a conscious and aware human being and from having an open and loving heart. When aware and awake you are present to who you are and act from a higher knowing within you. This consciousness allows you to live by the highest truths and values. You value all of life; respect all viewpoints; are accepting of differences; understand the value and power of love inside of you and in the world; are a caring citizen of the entire global community; value justice for all; able to see the big picture and the part you can play to for the betterment of all; and much more.

Conscious human beings are less judgmental of self and others, freer to play and enjoy life, and are guided from their inner knowing. This freedom and guidance along with emotional awareness and the other qualities above make inner peace possible. Inner peace is essential ingredient for those working for world peace.

World peace is a task that each citizen needs to participate in. Governments cannot be trusted with the task because they are to driven by control and power. I think of the astronauts view of Earth free of boundaries and I wonder how we humans, our governments and organizations like religions have sent so many lives to death in pursuit of nationalism, superiority, righteousness or whatever the drumbeat of the day was. That sheep behavior must come to an end.

In each of us is a much greater knowing and wisdom of the heart then any government, organization or religious institution. The inner and higher wisdom you have comes from your consciousness and your capacity to love and understand. No organization has the capacities of consciousness or love. It is the individuals of the organizations that have these higher capacities. Those innate ways of compassion and awareness in you need to be realized for the greater good of all. Unfortunately most leadership has lost these capacities in the pursuit of power and ego fulfillment so they can’t be counted on for guidance. It is you and I that have to step up and be the voice for the highest expression in each of us.

I will write much more about Peace and stepping up over the next few months. I feel positive that the people of this country and the planet are gaining their voice back and that positive changes are in the wind. Listen and you will hear people of all beliefs and points of view questions the status quo. Together you and I and everyone can work out the best path for a better and more peaceful world.

Two Blogs: Glad To Be Home, Still Stirred Up

Road Trip Is Over, Home At Last

The road trip is over and I am back after 19 days on the road. It was an excellent trip. We had a very successful conference in Palm Springs in which a lot of our peace t-shirts were sold and we made some new friends. The Enlightened Warrior Camp (Checkout PeakPotentials.com) my wife attended in Santa Barbara was challenging but excellent (I know because I went the year before). I enjoyed visiting my friends in my favorite city. Two days later we saw Crater Lake and visiting my sister in Central Oregon, hiked on the Pacific Crest Trail near Timberline Lodge on Mount Hood and then visited the rest of my family in the Portland area. Then two days of driving back here to Boulder. We saw and appreciated lots of beautiful country. Entered Bliss and moved on. Home sure is nice and to be off the road feels good.

I am glad to be home and I appreciate where I live even more because of the trip. This is a city where the mountains call you and the pursuit of fitness is part of the lifestyle. The ideas of this community are vibrant and alive. I feel a need to be more involved. I also loved being back in Santa Barbara on this trip. The weather there is ideal for an outdoors person like myself. The mix of ocean and mountains works best for me. I love the call of nature whether it is the waves of the Pacific or the Rocky Mountains. Nature nurtures my body, heart, mind and spirit

Still Stirred Up About Iraq

I have been all stirred up again about the politics of this country. We are still killing and being killed in Iraq. No one seems to have the guts to end the war, so it just keeps on ending and ruining people’s lives. I want to figure out a way that we the people can make a difference.

There is so much corporate profit from the war that we can’t count on the business sector for help. The elected officials seem more concerned about seeking approval than about holding the president accountable so they won’t help. The president and vice president want to have Iraq as a powerbase in the Middle East and have no intention of leaving. The various media components (newspapers, television, radio, web based sources, etc.) are owned by corporations so they are not helping either. Opposition is suppressed and those speaking out are labeled as unpatriotic or criminalized. So it is up you and I. Courage and focus are needed.

What do you suggest we do? The polls say Americans want out of the war but nothing is happening in that direction. How do we take back the government? What can you do as an individual? How do we come together and make a difference?

Our NGO Peace Together is about spreading peace on the planet through consciousness, compassion and connection. Consciousness is a key because when people are aware and thinking more expansively then wars are seen for the insanity they are. A conscious citizenry will demand a government that reflects higher values then power, profit and greed.

With compassion comes understanding and the power of the heart to resolve differences. Boy is that ever needed now. Love and compassion is a powerful doorway into a better world.

Connection is about you and I and everyone else sharing much more in hopes, dreams, and desires than differences. We are all citizens of the this beautiful Earth, we are connected in so many ways and our differences of beliefs are minor compared to what we share.

Isn’t it time we quit killing each other over differences in beliefs, which are simply no more than thoughts we think. Change our thinking and allow differences, be guided by our hearts, seek understanding not control and dominance, and be conscious enough to know that you and I create the reality we live in. It is time to re-picture and rebuild the world so that it reflect the higher knowing that is inside of us. Fear is not the guiding force as the president and the news people would like us to believe. Love, compassion, consciousness and understanding are the way.

Join me and together we must figure out a way for the light in us to prevail because the dark side of humanity is running us into the ground.

Highway Exit Goes To Bliss

I just saw on the sign that there were 10 miles between me and Bliss. I have had numerous moments of Bliss in my life but I have never driven through Bliss. Bliss, Idaho is where I am as I start to write this journal entry. As I look around me I see very little but lots of empty land. Maybe bliss is an inside state of being? So a simple clear place like this might allow the mind to calm down and the ego to find some peace. Then I would be in bliss. Now that I have passed through Bliss I know how to find it again.

I was thinking about what made life blissful. Here is what makes me feel blissful, what brings bliss into your life?

When I feel at peace and my mind is calm
When I am involved in creativity
When I walk in nature and take in the vibrations
When I feel filled with love
When I am intimate with my love
When I have had a great workout
When I communicate with my spirit both inside and the Source
When I have meaningful conversations with people I care about
When I am playing ping-pong or golf and just enjoying the play
When I am inspired by ideas, art, music or something else
When I have a moment of unity with all things
When I have insight or awareness that expands my consciousness
When I am successful at something that challenges me
When I relax and let go and am fully present in the moment
When I am uplifted by a talk or a good book.
When I am learning something that grabs my imagination
When I travel and explore new and wonderful places
When I see beauty in any form and take a moment to enjoy it
When I eat something that tastes great and is satisfying.

That is my list, what is yours? Take some time to write at least 10 things that bring you bliss. If you can’t come up with ten then it is time to have some more fun in your life; open your heart, let go, follow more desires, meditate, be creative, listen inward for guidance or whatever necessary. When you have your list put together, place it somewhere where you can read it often and do the things that bring bliss to your life.

Joseph Campbell a very wise and insightful explorer of human nature once was asked, “what he thought the essences of living a fulfilling and happy life was?” He response was, “Follow you bliss.”

Be blissful and enjoy today and everyday.

Conscious Consumerism

On the way to IKEA to do the consumer thing. My wife Bobbi loves IKEA via their catalog but she has never been to one of their stores. There is s new store here in Portland so she gets to have her first experience. I will give you an update later.

There country is so rich with things you can buy and have. We get to go look and want and buy and have. Fortunately the car is full and we can’t fit much more in.

I wanted to write about consuming to share with you some insights I have had. There is no such thing as truly cheap goods. Goods that we have available to us that are low priced are that way usually because someone is taken advantage of. Cheap goods come from people who are not paid a fair wage. There are many sweat shops in lesser fortunate countries and they make our goods but get as little pay as the company can get away with. Wal-Mart is a great example of taken advantage of cheap labor. They have many huge plants in China that don’t pay fair wages and are what can be called sweat shops. The goods they make are shipped to the US and sold to us a dicount prices. That is only possible because of workers being unfairly treated to produce our goods.

I am not sharing this with you to make you feel guilty. I too love a good deal. I still buy cheap items but now I buy them with the awareness that someone may not be paid fairly and someone in this country may have lost a job when this products production was taken to China. I try to buy with awareness and tend to support local businesses when I can. Conscious consumerism makes sense and is earth sensitive. We are all responsible for what we do at the level of impact on our fellow humans, other life and the planet.

Back from Ikea; I enjoyed the looking at all the really cool things there. She really liked taking in all the good ideas the design folks at IKEA have put into their products. If we had one closer to where we live, there would have been two very comfortable chairs added to our purchase. There was lots of stuff we could have gotten but I feel much less interested in having more things than I did before. Simplicity and less clutter has more appeal these days.

Well tomorrow we get back on the road as we head toward Boulder. I suspect we will be wearing some tire tread over the next two long driving days ahead. I hope to have a journal entry tomorrow. If not I will have one on Saturday. Have a good end of the week; be aware wherever you are and whatever you do.

Unconditional Love Is a Wonderful Gift

The time visiting my Dad and my brothers and sisters goes fast. Playing golf with my Dad is always fun. Having dinner with my sister and her family and then visiting after is over before it hardly starts. Tonight I get to meet my brother’s new twins and enjoy the company of his family. Tomorrow breakfast with my brother the mayor will be enjoyable but over too soon. Coming from a large family has been a major blessing for me. In my family I have three brothers and two sisters and my Dad and these are all people who have unconditional love for me. That is the best thing about family because there is always love when you needed it. My wife Bobbi and several friends have that same kind of love for me and me for them.

Unconditional love is love you get no matter what. This is love that isn’t based on certain conditions. This is real love you can count on. Unconditional love is the best love there is and it is genuine. If you have relationships that included unconditional love then you have relationships you can count on.

Where is there unconditional love in your life? Are there others who love you no matter what and for who you are? Do you appreciate them for the love they share with you? Do you have unconditional love for others? What would your life be like if you loved more people unconditionally? How would the world change if there was more condition free love?

I suspect you and I are here in this life to learn to love more freely without conditions. When you open your heart to give and receive love you become more fully realized. Love and compassion are two of the greatest human capacities. These days much love, compassion and understanding is needed to counter- balance the fear and worry so pervasive in our culture. Love sets you and I free to be more fully who we are. It feels good to love free of conditions. The heart greatly appreciates being set free to fully express itself. Love without conditions is an incredible gift to the world.

Take Appreciation For A Test Drive

It is a beautiful morning and I can see seven mountain peaks from my sister’s deck. Two days ago I saw Crater Lake one of the natural wonders of the world. It was socked in clouds but we still got a glimpse of the incredible blue water of that very deep and pristine lake. Oregon like many states is filled with amazingly beautiful places. Yesterday we were at Smith Rocks, a rock climber’s mecca in this part of the world. Today we will go up on Mt Hood and enjoy the views and see the famous Timberline Lodge built after the Depression as a WPA project by the CCC. The craftsmanship of this creation is something to appreciate. The hike we took overlooked and incredible canyon and there were wildflowers everywhere. Nature is gorgeous.

There is so much to appreciate about the natural and human made beauty of our world. Appreciating beauty always makes me feel good. Appreciating life works great too because it puts a positive and grateful spin on my experiences. I hope you get lots of opportunities to appreciate much in your life? If you have health, love, food to eat, decent place to live, work you enjoy and a good income then you are rich in many ways.

When you appreciate what you have, you open yourself to receive even more. When you focus on what is not ok you tend to have a life that is less than you want. Appreciation can be a powerful way to help you create the life you want.

Ending you day appreciating all that unfolded can make your sleep relaxed and restful. Appreciating those you love will keep your heart open and will make it easy for others to you love you. If you go through the day appreciating what happens and those you interact with, you will have an extraordinary life. Try appreciation out, take it for a test drive today and see what kind of mileage you can get. I predict, you will like the results.

Self-Love Can Save a Nation From Mediocrity

Today I am staying at my sister’s place in Central Oregon on the Crooked River Ranch. The smell of sage on my morning run was very pleasant and the occasional drops of rain made the desert even more pungent. It feels good to be back in Oregon where I grew up and to be with family. Although my biological family resides here I find my human family everywhere I go. You and I are in the same family whatever part of the planet we live on.

I saw a sticker on an RV driving yesterday that said get the US out of the UN?  I am amazed at the small mindedness of that idea. I guess the thought is the US would be tainted by being part of the world community. Nationalism is a very limited idea that puts pride and arrogance over thinking about what is best for all humanity. It seems to me the US would benefit from being a more active partner with other countries than trying to be the one in control and most powerful?

Self-love gives us the capacity to see beyond our own needs. Without love of self, you and I can too often be focused on what we don’t have instead of what is really needed for the best of all the people. With self-love a community of humankind is possible.

The United Nations to me can be the coming together of the people of the planet to work out problems (like terrorist, poverty, disputes, genocide, etc), to be compassionate to the needs of others, and to be a forum for setting global goals for the good of the planet and all of us who live here.

A love for self allows much more to happen because the self needs are met and then concerns of a big picture is possible. A health functioning UN would represent a healthy functioning citizenry. It seems to me that those opposed to this kind of unified effort are people in fear and out of touch with their own hearts? What make sense to you?

If you have self-destructive behavior going on in your life then self-love is needed. Destructive behavior going on in this country and on the planet would indicate the need for more love and compassion. Wars represent the total lack of self-love by those that start them and show nations who have lost their compassion and understanding. Countries who support wars have lost their heart.

I have slipped again into the political arena because what happens in a nation has to be the reflections of what happens inside the citizens. When there is poor turnout in elections there are many citizens who lack self-love. A citizenry who lacks self-love is much easier to control and manipulate. Self-love can save a nation from mediocrity.

Leaving Your Mark On Humanity

Saturday was a travel day so I arrived late in Redding CA and am writing some ideas for the next day. I have been feeling very inspired by all the kindness we a have received from so many people on this trip. Old friends and new friends have all been so nice to us and appreciative of who we are and what we are doing. I feel our peace work through compassion and consciousness is all about people interacting with people. Bobbi and I feel very clear about what we are doing with purpose. This clarity of purpose is very energizing and propelling toward leaving the planet in a better place then when we got here.

How are you going to leave your positive mark on humanity and the planet or maybe even the universe? Inside of you are all the resources you need to succeed. Yes I know there can be complications and barriers along the way. That is ok, because barriers are meant to get around, go over or go through. I know this work of purpose can be scary and difficult. That is what makes it so good when you are successful.

The end of the summer season is nearing. Now that the major play-time is moving into what’s next, what is next for you? I recommend you take some time to ready yourself for focused action. Take an issue and make something happen or join others and together be a force for good.

I volunteered with a friend earlier this week in Santa Barbara  http://www.foodfromtheheart.us  to work in a kitchen feeding those who are house bound. We filled 104 bags with 5 days worth of food we made. That felt so good. If you don’t know what to do, help feed people. If you are concerned about the planet, explore what groups you can join in your community or go green in your life. If justice is your passion go take a stand for something you believe in. Whatever it is, do something because it is needed and because you need to give of yourself and to live as fully as you can. This is a great way to find self-love.

Have a good day and know you are amazing. Sure others may not have noticed or were less appreciative but that was their problem. You deserve love; you deserve the life you desire.

Ann Coulter Deserves Love But Should She Be Listen To?

Every person on the planet deserves love. Even those who cause pain, are filled with hate or unkind towards others. I wonder Why do people listen to those that are filled with judgment, arrogance and self righteousness like Ann Coulter. I tried to read some of her book but it was so full of hate and untruths that I had to put it down. I see she is talking at Xavier University in September. Why would a school based on values have a person speak who seems to lack integrity and even the slightest bit of compassion. That doesn’t make sense to me. Why do people go listen to people full of hate and angry bias? If I was a student or graduate of Xavier University I would asked them to remove her because she lacks the important qualities of compassion, understanding and open mindedness.

Even Ann deserves lots of love. She especially seems in need of love and compassionate understanding. If I met her I would wish for her to have a life full of love and peace. I do not however support her spreading her misinformation of intolerance, superiority and hate on a college campus. It seems as wrong as inviting Osama Bin Laden to lecture on campus about what is unacceptable about America. She and her toxic views sadly represent arrogance at its lowest form.

I have been ranting again lately haven’t I? I do that once in a while. I still have parts of me that are reactive, that read or hear something that causes me to want to speak up. I have a thought about people who are so loud in the world about all that they see as bad. I suspect these people have very deep doubts inside about what is right and true. They shout because they are trying to convince themselves or trying to make themselves ok in some way? Does that make sense to you? Maybe my ranting is when I have doubts myself? I will explore that. I am 100% confident that there is much room in me for further insight, awareness and consciousness.

I hope you are finding these ideas interesting? Please take the idea of self-love as a very important key to you creating the life you want. Self-love can be the most transforming change you can make in your life. As each of us finds love then the whole planet gains a little bit more of a positive glow. One day the light of love and expanded consciousness will make this planet as bright as a star.