stained glass windows of Chartres Cathedral

I went on a whirlwind four day trip to leave some of my mom’s ashes in her favorite city, Paris. I am traveling a lot these days and one exercise I find extremely useful and rewarding is to seek pleasant surprises and acknowledge them as they occur. A pleasant surprise is just that. Of course I like to think that we have invisible partners that arrange them, but this is just my belief system.

You don’t think about going to Paris in the Winter, but when the sun shines it can be quite pleasant with a warm coat, hat, gloves, and scarf. My first pleasant surprise came when the adjacent seat in coach, which I refer to as sardine class, was the only empty seat that I could see on the entire plane. Being able to stretch out just a little bit is a god send on a 10 hour plus flight.

I was traveling with Larry Hauer and Jeannie Smiley. They had made this trip before so much of the ground work had been done.  Our boutique three star hotel, the Villa Martin, in the 10th district was another pleasant surprise. It was but a short walk from the magnificent Gare du l’Est. train station. The small room and bath was modern, clever, inviting and simply well thought out, especially the lighting. The staff of young women all spoke English and best of all the smile was a permanent condition of their faces.

On a short trip if you master the subway, you can sample a wide range of Parisian delights. Drawn to sacred geometry I had always wanted to see the Rose windows of the  Cathedral at Chartres, We did. I was not disappointed.  Hoping on the subway in minutes we were at the  mus’ee de Orsay, one of the most inviting and tasteful buildings on the planet. It is a converted train station whose architectural elements accentuate the exquisite art deco, impressionist and art noveau treasures it houses. The cafe there is a must, a feast for both the eyes and the palette.

musée de Orsay

A cruise on the Seine, expressos at the myriad of  sidewalk bistros, and a stroll through Monmarte. I could go on, but you get the drift.  Few cities can give you day for day what Paris can. It is one big pleasant surprise.

Quincie Hamby is truly a gifted jewelry designer who can dazzle a naked neck like nobody I know. She and her husband Billy (We were in the 4th grade together) hosted me and through a delightful book signing party.  Their son, Henry, had me address a gathering of students at his junior college.  It is fun to visit with friends whom you have not seen for aeons and about their  life journeys while talking to kids who are getting ready to set sail on theirs.

I have been reporting on synchronicities as a guide to us being in the flow and on the right path. Even days that seem devoid of anything note worthy usually contain these subtle undercurrents. Today was no exception. I thought that I wanted to buy and I pad, but frequently I find that I am a bit impulsive. The looming question was whether I really needed one.  I drove to Best Buy, went in, and then could find nobody to help me. I asked one clerk who said he wasn’t knowledgable. There was another but he was tied up with a customer. Everywhere I turned helpers were involved. Finally, I accepted the idea that this simply was more of an impulse than a true need. I owned a Mac Air book and a new I phone. Between the two my travel needs could be met quite adequately. And so, nobody to help confirmed to me that I really had not taken the time to think this all through.   I could have gotten upset, but I realized that perhaps something else was happening. Small setbacks or disappointments can quickly be seen for what they are, like trim tabs on an airplane, the fine adjustments to life that help us smooth out the ride.  I write a good bit about Invisible Partners in my book book released this year. In this case it was like being with a good friend who was saying, “Do you really need this?”

This year I will be on the road a good bit much of it open-ended, consciously paying attention to simply letting the journey unfold and making notes about it.

Tallahassee, has been a wonderful stop along the way.

I just spent a week in the sleepy village of Barra de Potosi on the west coast of Mexico. Up the road is the bustling tourist beach community of Zihuatenejo where the action resides.  Barra is more like a zen experience. I stayed with friends in a camp (as in cool) little b & b on an unpaved village lane. A Trip Advisor review had given it a poor rating because they said it had bugs and seemed run down. I reflected on how frequently people impose expectations into just about any situation without regard to where exactly they are. I was  happy we had hot water, clean sheets, and mosquito netting, which we did. Furthermore  the French Toast was remarkable.  But that is not what made this entire setting memorable.

We were in a time warp. it was as if we had gone from our customary  60 to 70 mph pace to practically zero.

After a leisurely breakfast and scintillating conversation with Laura, the owner, we could amble down to the enmaradas. These are small restaurants with thatched palm roofs over chairs and tables firmly planted in the sand. You could stake out your spot for the day and settle back into a shaded view of the large bay.  Your eyes would rest on a gentle shore break with an endless show of various dive bombing sea birds, and fishermen with throw nets or little hand lines on spools they could toss and wind  miraculously fast. Somehow the Mexicans seem to find the simplest way to do things.

The beach spread down for as far as the eye could see and was virtually empty. A few hundred yards away you could stumble in to an hour  long massage which would leave you in yet a further altered state of relaxation. I brought books and tapes but always found the visual scenery too alluring. When you finally felt the mild pangs of hunger there was an abundance of  seafood right from the water in front of you. In the other direction were large fresh water lagoons surrounded by mangrove trees one could explore by kayak or small skiff. If you were curious enough you could find crocodiles at the far end. I wasn’t. i even learned how to toss the fishing not well, but well enough.

The large Frigate birds were fascinating enough. They like to perch on abandoned poles or posts in the water. Their wing span is so long that if they accidently crash into the water they cannot easily take off again if at all. They skim the water surface deftly scooping fish on the fly.

Then there were the walks on the shore. If you wanted to walk for an hour you just headed out for 30 minutes, on the hard sand of the soft shore break, reversed course and were back as if you had been in a dream. No treadmill in a Gold’s Gym looking at your watch every 10 minutes to see how much more you had to endure.

At 5 pm the enmaradas quit serving, but the anesthesia of the day carried you into the early evening where the warm glow of that large orange ball slowly sunk on the haze covered horizon transfixing  you for the days finale.

Wandering the short distance back to Laura’s place, the evening life emerged. Dogs playfully running after one another, the chatter of children, open doorways and tables being set up on the street offering a simple meal of tacos, or the latest house specialty.

In this kind of atmosphere you don’t just  decompress,  you slow down and then as if you have crossed into another reality,  become conscious of life moving at the deliberate pace of a Tai Chi exercise.

creation

I am in Honolulu now. It has been almost four years since I have been here. It is a time of catching up with friends from a past period.  Ghandi said we can never stand in the same river twice. Even though the geography remains familiar like the place you put your foot in the river, the river is not the same.  I am in another state of mind or consciousness and realized that with that state comes a corresponding way of  experiencing the familiar terrain.

See if it isn’t happening for you right now… 

I was having lunch with my former wife, Susanne and her former business partner, Maureen. We were talking about 2012 and all of the predictions. Susanne said she had just heard a profound comment:  our ability to manifest is directly proportionate to our capacity to love and being particularly conscious of this would be an interesting way to embrace and track  the year’s personal experiences.

In reflecting on people from the past we  commented on how much we had  enjoyed a mutual friend, Jesse, and how nice it would be to see him. He was always on the frontier of the new and novel.  After lunch, we were waiting for the elevator at the 2nd level of a local mall. As it opened there was Jesse. We laughed. No sooner had we talked about wanting to see Jesse, there he was.

Having just spent ten  days with dear friends on the Big Island and  taking care of a real estate sale as well as  shedding and storing “stuff,”  I reflected  on events,  and they seemed to have come together as smoothly as  zipping up a well oiled zipper. They were not big things, but they could have been were they to have gone the wrong way.

I think that the most difficult challenge for me is to be mindful of what is gaining my attention and not to dwell too long on bad news, conflict, and turmoil which is the daily diet of the media. Secondly, when even the simplest of events like running into Jesse occur, I want to take a moment to connect the dots and say, “Yes.”

While these are small parts of existence being aware of them not only creates strength in the face of uncertainty, but adds  excitement when we see them happen. I would love to hear whether you are noticing these small daily occurrences and in this state of mind realizing that they are happening faster.

The uncertain road

I am on the road again. This time my first stop is Ventura, California to visit a long time friend. He urged me to go see the latest film out called “THE ARTIST.”  We can all see films differently. For my pal, he was captivated by the uniqueness of the film’s communication mode- no dialogue, yet fascinating. I saw it from another perspective. I was reminded of the need for PATIENCE.  We live in an instant gratification oriented world, where computers and smart phones give us instant information and answers.  Yet in this movie the star’s role is a metaphor for the perils of resistance to change. Success in a dying art left him depressed as he realized his accomplishments and recognition were from a dying art. The ensuing period shows him in the depressing “chaos of creation,” that never never land where we just don’t know ihow what is next will all come together. I won’t give away the story any further in that it is an excellent film. Why it is important to me is that in-between periods are like being in between stations on the radio frequencies. There is static and no clear signal. I like to think the universe is busy filling our orders. In the movie our hero is about to do himself in because he is losing patience with the process and sees no end to his misery.  He is on the vertical climb of a stairway trying to find the level ground of the next step.

So Patience seems to be the antidote. Our hero reinvents himself when all seems lost, and that seems often to be the case especially in these times.  I think the difficult part is to keep plugging away knowing that forces are at work to deliver what we have ordered.

Inner Peace

Happy New Year!

May you Experience these

“Symptoms of Inner Peace”

in abundance in 2012!

This came from Susanne Sims. They are worthwhile suggestions.

A tendency to think and act spontaneously rather than from

fears based on past experiences.

An unmistakable ability to enjoy each moment.

A loss of interest in judging self.

A loss of interest in judging others.

A loss of interest in conflict.

A loss of interest in interpreting the actions of others.

A loss of ability to worry.

Frequent, overwhelming episodes of appreciation.

Contented feelings of connectedness with others and nature.

Frequent attacks of smiling through the eyes of the heart.

Increasing susceptibility to love extended by others, combined with the

uncontrollable urge to extend it.

An increasing tendency to let things happen,

rather than make them happen.

All the best for the New year and what a year it promises to be.

I have been attending a circle on conscious evolution sponsored by Barbara Marx Hubbard. The thrust of this is that we are perhaps in the most profound time of recorded human history (that we know about). it is referred to as a cross over period in which we are birthing a new consciousness. What that means is that we do not know exactly what is coming next. Just about everybody I meet feels that we are not in just in ordinary times but extra ordinary times.

There are so many choices now with the expansion of the internet as a news media and the proliferation of devices especially the smartphone. What this does is increase the connectivity but it also means that a much of what I don’t want or need can also impact me. Basically it translates into the apparent speed up of time. I find that I have to practice what  I write about which is to trust my intuition and get more and more used to it as the primary guide. This is a conscious and critical thinking choice.

We don’t seem to get much training in critical thinking. What I mean by that is not just how to solve problems but the whole idea of what to think about in the first place. Ask yourself if the way you are spending your time is enhancing your well being or detracting from it. If the latter think about changing.

Here are five ideas I try to  employ now.

(1)  Make feelings my goals.  If am  feeling happy, resourceful, and healthy then what is happening on the outside is manageable. Things as goals are only a means to feelings. Think about it.

(2)  Realize that as things speed up I  shall need to journey inside for answers. Find quiet time to meditate. Learn to trust my intuition. Practice.  Even if the outcome seems to be awful in the short run it may have delivered me to just the right place. Be patient.

(3) Become more familiar with synchronicities. These are meaningful coincidences. We live in a much more complex world than we can even imagine. But we are given glimpses of how other realities intersect and can help us. These are like signs which tell us we are on the right or wrong path.

(4) Simplify and lighten up my life. If I have too many things and obligations, then the things and obligations start running my life. I used to have no storage space. now I have storage lockers or containers in three cities. I’m working on reducing this. The old paradigm was “Time is money.” The new paradigm is, “Money is time.” If I have too much stuff and obligations then I will constantly be using the new wealth to manage those demands. Is that what I really want to do?

(5) Make technology my friend. it is our way of being ever more connected and included.

The more I read about politics and finance the more I see that the experts have no idea how everything will shake out. They  have cogent and persuasive logic and then conclusions which make so much sense. Yet, there most assuredly is the “X” factor, which is not in their equation  which alters the course of their reality.  This ” x” factor is just that. It is not known. So what do we do and how does this affect our decision making?

I have been writing about getting in touch with our intuition, paying attention to synchronicites, and trying to get into the flow. The idea of course is that we are part of a larger reality that is constantly trying to make contact with us through these means. I feel the name of the game is to look for and improve the contact on a daily basis.

So over the last few weeks I have had some examples. They are not big or for the most part even recognizable unless you are looking for them and then consciously see them for just that. Here they are. See if you can jot down the same for yourself.

Returning to the airport in San Francisco I had felt an urge  to give myself way more time than I really needed on the theory that you can read a book, do stuff online, grab a bite but you have plenty of time for the glitches that can crop up.  I am carrying two very heavy bags as well as a shoulder bag and a drag bag. I need a cart, but don’t know where I am going to get one as I pull the car into the rental return line on the 2nd floor. Yet just as I park I see the people unloading their car in the lane over. I run over and they gladly give me their cart. Problem solved. Then the attendant comes out to inspect the car. She is going over it with a fine tooth comb. Eventually she points out to me a hairline crack in the rubber bumper that you could hardly see and certainly not at night when I had rented the car. She pulled at a damage form and said I would have to fill it out. I said I wanted to speak to the manager. She said she would look for him. Normally, as most of us are,  I would have been in a rush and just said to myself that it was not going to be my lucky day, but because I had decided to come to the airport early I had time to kill and could calmly wait. Ten minutes later she returned saying she could not find the manager, tearing up the form and wishing me a good trip. You could say that these two events were just fortuitous. Yet I maintain that that urge to go real early was connected to the ensuing events rather than happenstance.

Example two. I had to drive to the Mexican border to renew my Mexican registration and pick up some household belongings in a San Antonio storage locker. I had had a noise under my hood checked out by my mechanic who assured me it was a power steering pump that would not make the journey unsafe. Upon my return to San Miguel I realized that it would take me quite awhile to unload the car on the steep down hill narrow street where there is little room to pass a parked car and traffic gets backed up. Yet when I arrived there was a detour sign because the main road was blocked off for repairs. I was able to come around the detour and access my street. No traffic was coming down the street now and I had plenty of time to unload the car with no pressure from backed up traffic. A few days later I was making a short day trip and noticed the red battery light come on while driving. That is not a good sign as it can mean  that  the battery is being used to supply a charge rather than the generator alternator. In short you cannot drive for a long period of time, maybe two hours during the day and much less in the evening. It turned out I could drive conveniently to his shop, found out I  needed a new generator, and conveniently had it replaced. My mechanic had said I could make the trip to the border and back. He was right. But that was all and being broken down on a long highway in Mexico would not have been convenient. But it did not happen. Things came together smoothly. Was it happenstance and luck or again, being in the flow?

I maintain these situations are taking place in our lives almost daily and if we string them together we can see patterns.

What events have you had in your life that allow you to connect the dots? Negative events can also serve the same purpose, suggesting that a course of action ought to be changed or at least re-evaluated.

I think all of this is important because as the world gets crazier and I feel that is exactly what we are experiencing we need to have recognize that we have other resources at our disposal. Yet, we have to develop them to count on them.

I would love to hear your comments on this.

Senior wisdom

My psychiatrist buddy, kerry Monick, who lives in Austrailia sent me this engaging piece by a 90 year old woman, and I decided to simply post it. People who are in their nineties have the perspective and wisdom that comes with having engaged life for so long. My mother just passed a way this year at 99 and I am sure she could have said most of what is said below but didn’t.

Written by Regina BRETT, 90-years-old.

This is something we should all read at least once a week!

“To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me.
It is the most requested column I’ve ever written.
My odometer rolled over to 90 in August, so here is the column once
more:

1.        Life isn’t fair, but it’s still good.

2.        When in doubt, just take the next small step.

3.        Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
Change the way you think.

4.        Your job won’t take care of you when you are sick.
Your friends and family will.
Stay in touch.

5.        Pay off your credit cards every month.

6.        You don’t have to win every argument.
Agree to disagree.

7.        Cry with someone.
It’s more healing than crying alone.

8.        Release your children when they become adults… it’s their life now!

9.        Save for retirement starting with your first pay cheque.

10.      When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.

11.      Make peace with your past so it won’t screw up the present.

12.      It’s OK to let your children see you cry.

13.      Don’t compare your life to others.
You have no idea what their journey is all about.

14.      If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn’t be in it.

15.      Everything can change in the blink of an eye.

16.      Take a deep breath It calms the mind.

17.      Get rid of anything that isn’t useful, beautiful or joyful.

18.      Whatever doesn’t kill you really does make you stronger.

19.      It’s never too late to have a happy childhood.
But the second one is up to you and no one else.

20.      When it comes to going after what you love in life, don’t take no for an answer.

21.      Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie.
Don’t save it for a special occasion.
Today is special.

22.      Just because you believe you are right, doesn’t mean you are.
Keep an open mind.

23.      Be eccentric now.
Don’t wait for old age to wear purple.

24.      The most important sex organ is the brain.

25.      No one is in charge of your happiness but you.

26.      Frame every so-called disaster with these words:  ‘In five years, will this matter?’

27.      Always choose life.

28.      Forgive everyone everything.

29.      What other people think of you is none of your business.

30.      Time heals almost everything.
Give time time.

31.      However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

32.      Don’t take yourself so seriously.
No one else does.

33.      Believe in miracles.

34.      Your job is to love your children, not choose who they should love.

35.      Don’t audit life.
Show up and make the most of it now.

36.      Growing old beats the alternative… dying young.

37.      Your children get only one childhood.

38.      All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.

39.      Get outside every day.
Miracles are waiting everywhere.

40.      If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else’s, we’d grab ours back.

41.      Envy is a waste of time.
You already have all you need.

42.      The best is yet to come…

43.      No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

44.      Yield.

45.      Life isn’t tied with a bow, but it’s still a gift.

Its estimated 93% won’t forward this.
If you are one of the 7% who will, forward this with the title ’7%’.

I’m in the 7%.

shadow or more

I just returned from a trip to California and was reflecting on the nature of being in the flow. This for me has been the idea that my urges, when acted upon without a motive, are ways to connect with helpful forces, the ones I cannot see, but know are there. Many times what I used to think of as lucky breaks, I now consider the conscious efforts of invisible partners. What do I mean?

For example I decided to get to the airport three hours before my flight from San Francisco to Dallas and on to Mexico. I had some large bags and had to return a rental car. If all went well I would have an hour or more to wait. I could browse the books store, read, grab a bite or fiddle with my computer. If there were hitches, there would be time to deal with them.

Upon bringing my car  to the rental return I knew that I needed to find a trolley: there were four bags. Directly across from me was a person getting into their car and leaving a trolley behind. The timing could not have been better. In fact they asked me if would like to have the trolley.

The attendant  went over my car with a fine tooth comb finally saying to me that my bumper had been damaged. The newer cars have plastic rubber which can tear. There was a tear of about an inch but you could not see it as it appeared to be a hairline crack. I told her that when I checked out the car at nine thirty in the evening it would have been impossible to see this. She said I would have to fill out the claims form. I did and asked to see the manager. She left and after ten minutes still had not returned. Had I been short on time I would have had to leave and envisioned a sizable charge being added to my bill. However, since I had allowed plenty of time, I just waited patiently. She returned stating she could not find the manager. She just  tore up the claim form and wished me a safe flight.

At customs in Mexico I realized I had brought in some unusual machines used for various health modalities and I might be hung up explaining what they were for, what they cost, etc.  Once you present yourself you push a button and it is either red or green. Green means pass and red means proceed to the bag examiner. My light was green.

As I mentioned, in the past I would have not thought much about any of this except to simply call it a smooth trip. Now I acknowledge every bit of small good fortune as the manifestation of other forces conspiring to assure me that  I am on the right path. It makes me feel connected to a greater reality in the flow. The ordinary becomes extraordinary.

See if you can recount a string of small coincidences such as these confirming you are in the flow. I would love to hear about your observations.