getting to know you

I don't like that man. I must get to know him better.
- Abraham Lincoln

I normally stick pretty close to home, but over the past several weeks I've taken two trips. One to go camping in Big Bend National Park in Texas, and the other to visit family in Chicago, where I also spent many hours in a nursing home visiting my dear great aunt. I'm sure I interacted with more strangers this month than all the rest of the year combined.

And every one of those strangers has a story. At first, I found myself wondering about these people -- where did he come from? Where was she going?

Did the serious receptionist not return my smile because she was embarrassed about her teeth? Did someone tell her to wipe that smile off her face one too many times as a kid? Was she depressed or overworked or burned out?

Did the laughing toll booth attendant just hear a good joke? Was he genuinely happy to meet and greet each driver that passed through his territory? Was his favorite song playing on the radio?

I heard folks around me inventing stories about others, too. She's trying to get away with something. He's a cranky old man. She never talks to anyone. He doesn't care about anyone but himself.

Such a curiously human thing to do, this story-telling. Isn't it amazing how a simple imaginary context can change our feelings about their behavior? If we attribute malicious intention, we react with anger. If we imagine innocence, we react with compassion. And neither one has any basis in fact!

Ultimately, I decided that if I felt bummed after interacting with someone, it was worth my time and effort to invent a story that helped me feel better. Thinking that she didn't smile at me because her teeth are yellow awakened my compassion. Thinking she must not have liked me would only harden my heart, and leave me carrying a painful burden long after I'd walked away from her desk.

Doesn't really matter what's true, I just search for whatever will awaken my compassion. Since I'm making it all up anyhow, I figure I might as well make up a story that I enjoy listening to.

get busy loving

I spent a few hours reading to my friend Adelle today from her Science of Mind magazine. There was an interview with John Randolph Price, the author of many titles including The Abundance Book.

I was moved by a something he said, and went looking the interview online so I could quote it directly, but it's not available in full. So no doubt I'll botch it up a bit, but hopefully the essence will come through.

It was in the context of prosperity and abundance. He had received some sort of inner guidance or a dream (can't remember the specifics) that told him that his job was simply to love, and that everything else he needed would follow from that.

He told his wife about it, and she said something like, "Well then, let's get busy loving!" Together they showered everything in their world, whether animate or inanimate, with love and kindness. This included their car, the refrigerator, their family and friends ... I bet it even included the sun and the clouds and the moon.

I thought it was the coolest project I'd ever heard of a couple undertaking together. To be honest, I can't remember what the article said about the outcome, although I imagine that the flow of prosperity in their lives couldn't help but increase. I didn't care. I was too busy being enchanted by the vision of a couple uniting their energy and attention in such a joyful common purpose. Wouldn't it have been fun to be a fly on their wall? I get goose bumps just thinking about it.

new free video clip from Abraham-Hicks

It's no secret that I'm a huge fan of their philosophy.
Check out their latest free clip on Natural Weight Loss.
Brilliant stuff ... such a beautiful way to relate to our bodies,
whether we want to lose weight or not.

http://www.thinkandgetslim.com/

the artistic crime of the century

Watched Man on Wire, and absolutely loved it! It's a documentary about the guy who walked a tightrope that he and his buddies illegally rigged up between the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in 1974.

The guy is a nut -- there's just no way around that. But I love nuts. You know me ... I am always inspired by stories of people who refuse to let go of their crazy dreams, no matter what. He decided on his goal even before the towers had been completely constructed, and just blindly and almost belligerently forged ahead, creating an elaborate plan to accomplish the impossible, recruiting others to assist him, fearlessly ignoring wisdom and common sense.

And he succeeded! I was covered in goosebumps as I watched him step out on that wire -- a quarter of a mile up in the air, with no safety harness or net. Woo hoo!

So there's all that, plus the soundtrack included one of my very favorite pieces of classical music:

http://www.last.fm/music/Anne+Queff%C3%A9lec/_/Trois+Gymnopedies%3A+No.+3?autostart

You can read more about Man on Wire on IMDB here:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1155592/
It's recently been released on DVD.

extreme mind makeover

I wrote about my little experiment with speaking only that which I want to come true a while ago. I've been working on installing a little "publish" button between my mind and my mouth, like the one here on Blogger, so I won't necessarily speak the raw version of everything I think. I'm learning how to make a draft first - not all the time, of course, just for the stuff that I feel icky after saying - and then tune it up before I broadcast it from my mouth.

I'll freely admit, there's a lot of wiring involved in the installation. I mostly notice after I've said something that I feel kinda crappy. But I'm actually pretty thrilled that I even notice at all, since I tend toward obliviousness. And I'm optimistic that soon enough, I'll feel the dip in energy before my words hits the airwaves, and flip 'em around. Instead of saying what I want to avoid, I'll talk about what I want to move toward.

My next experiment will be to allow myself to obsess about only that which I want to happen. I'm amazed at how far my thoughts can go before I notice them. My work is definitely cut out for me!

exceptions

To me, exceptions are far more interesting than rules.

Statistics, studies, predictions, prognostications, and limitations bore me. But my ears perk right up when I hear stories of people beating 'the odds', or ignoring culturally supported notions about what is possible and breaking the mold.

If nine out of ten people say they are being negatively impacted by the economy, I want to know more about the one who said she wasn't. If nine out of ten people die from a certain disease, I am insatiably curious about the one who recovered.

It feels so much more productive and satisfying to learn about the folks who managed to accomplish the outcome that I would desire. During driving lessons when I was a teenager, I remember learning that people often tend to steer in the direction they are looking. These days, I'm choosing what I watch, listen to, and read very deliberately. Before I get too caught up in it, I ask myself if I am feeling inspired and hopeful, or drained and powerless. I stay tuned to the former, and change the channel, figuratively and/or literally, on the latter.

on repeat tonight

my daughter, who turns 15 tomorrow (!), seems to have inherited some obsessive tendencies from me.

between our two computers, Letting the Cables Sleep by Bush has played dozens of times today.

luckily, I appreciate her musical taste! (usually)