What if the world were a reflection of my consciousness?
A mirror into which I peer and judge,
Each person a fragment of my own self,
Just an interpetation, a shadow, a vapour trail,
What if we were a temporary distortion of God's thoughtlessness?
Pieces in a puzzle we are creating,
Lovers in a game of our own making,
Just an expression of life's grand will,
From this mindset, where would we then explore?
Like animals again, dumb and free,
Living the living so painlessly,
Dying in the arms of a benign reality,
Losing the will to be separate and terrified,
How would I feel without this thought of being?
Would I stop and fall like a battery dead toy?
Or would I shine with an eternal brightness?
A portion of the collective
A dancing, aimless, magnificent, unknowing child.
(The title of this poem comes from Byron Katie's book of the same name -
http://www.thework.net/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=298. I have been inspired by Byron Katie's writings and I have practised with her technique 'The Work', both on myself and with my clients - see http://www.thework.com/thework.asp. This poem plays with some of Byron Katie's thoughts on the nature of reality and also combines this with similar thoughts from the leading physicists. For example, if you read David Bohm's book 'Wholeness and the Implicate Order' http://www.amazon.co.uk/Wholeness-Implicate-Order-Routledge-Classics/dp/0415289793) , he alludes to the same possibilities, although expressing these via a logical, 'mathematical' language in contrast to the more poetic musings of Byron Katie. Whilst I do not pretend to understand or live by all that these authors decribe, I do believe that they have glimpsed something exciting and transformative. I believe that they are pioneers and that, one day, their way of looking at the world will become mainstream and that this will lead to many positive changes in all aspects of human life. Not if, but when?)
Monday, 26 October 2009
Monday, 19 October 2009
Books
That which is left unexpressed,
Remains shrouded in doubt and question marks,
Let my faith not fall into this shadow land,
Let it be expressed with conviction, courage and clarity,
Without fear of critique or adulation,
So to align itself with the Universal Will,
That which brings forth the miraculous,
From the womb of a future, open and free.
(Is that it? I had forgotten how short this poem was! Still, 'they don't make diamonds as big as bricks' as my Mother used to say - God bless her soul. I am writing a book at the moment, with my colleague Ian Day, so this poem strikes a chord for me right now. Maybe it does for you too, maybe not. The poem is about finding your voice and giving yourself the permission to express that which is in you to express, regardless of what other people might make of it. For anyone who has started a blog, wirtten a book, composed a song or simply presented to an audience that you respect then the sentiment remains the same. Don't allow yourself to be placed in the 'shadow land' for fear that your truth will be criticised or that it will be praised. Some of us are frightened of failure, some of us are frightened of success but as Kipling famously said 'If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster , And treat those two impostors just the same.....you'll be a Man, my son'. When you free yourself from these 'imposters' then you are left simply with the joy of creation - that which brings forth the miraculous from the womb of a future, open and free.)
Remains shrouded in doubt and question marks,
Let my faith not fall into this shadow land,
Let it be expressed with conviction, courage and clarity,
Without fear of critique or adulation,
So to align itself with the Universal Will,
That which brings forth the miraculous,
From the womb of a future, open and free.
(Is that it? I had forgotten how short this poem was! Still, 'they don't make diamonds as big as bricks' as my Mother used to say - God bless her soul. I am writing a book at the moment, with my colleague Ian Day, so this poem strikes a chord for me right now. Maybe it does for you too, maybe not. The poem is about finding your voice and giving yourself the permission to express that which is in you to express, regardless of what other people might make of it. For anyone who has started a blog, wirtten a book, composed a song or simply presented to an audience that you respect then the sentiment remains the same. Don't allow yourself to be placed in the 'shadow land' for fear that your truth will be criticised or that it will be praised. Some of us are frightened of failure, some of us are frightened of success but as Kipling famously said 'If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster , And treat those two impostors just the same.....you'll be a Man, my son'. When you free yourself from these 'imposters' then you are left simply with the joy of creation - that which brings forth the miraculous from the womb of a future, open and free.)
Friday, 9 October 2009
Remorseless Joy
Slipping slowly and gracefully, Long shadows and creeping time,
A cycle draws to a close,
A glorious, glorious time,
An era of great struggles, great achievement and great learning,
A long sunset to a shining day,
And tomorrow you wake up in a different world,
The new, the emerging, the implicate,
An open space, a blank sheet,
The looming gift to write new tunes,
As others gather in musty rooms,
Will you strike out with the edge of your creativity?
As others embrace familiarity,
Will you choose a strange, uncertain path?
And so the wheel turns and turns again,
Gathering pace then slowing down,
Propelled by the remorseless joy of our reinventing souls.
(I recently read the book 'Nature and the Human Soul' by Bill Plotkin - see http://www.amazon.co.uk/Nature-Human-Soul-Cultivating-Fragmented/dp/1577315510/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1255103054&sr=1-1. It was an inspring and challenging read with many wonderful snippets of poetry scattered through the prose. Bill's premise is that life has many stages and that each stage feels like it is the best stage of life when you are in it! So much so that individuals, groups, societies can cling to a stage far beyond its useful life. He suggests that Western society is trapped in a permanently adolescent stage with little access to the wisdom of later stages of life. This poem mirrors this feeling of transition from one day to another, from one stage of life to another. A great day draws to a close because this is the natural cycle and, in the morning, you start again with a 'blank sheet'. And whilst there is an inevitable sadness associated with endings, there is always the excitement that follows with new beginnings, possibilities to create, to engage the unfamiliar. The last line of the poem highlights that sometimes, even though your mind and your heart might wish to stay in the known and the familiar, the soul can only find joy in the act of creation and it is this that it seeks with patience, persistence and passion.)
A cycle draws to a close,
A glorious, glorious time,
An era of great struggles, great achievement and great learning,
A long sunset to a shining day,
And tomorrow you wake up in a different world,
The new, the emerging, the implicate,
An open space, a blank sheet,
The looming gift to write new tunes,
As others gather in musty rooms,
Will you strike out with the edge of your creativity?
As others embrace familiarity,
Will you choose a strange, uncertain path?
And so the wheel turns and turns again,
Gathering pace then slowing down,
Propelled by the remorseless joy of our reinventing souls.
(I recently read the book 'Nature and the Human Soul' by Bill Plotkin - see http://www.amazon.co.uk/Nature-Human-Soul-Cultivating-Fragmented/dp/1577315510/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1255103054&sr=1-1. It was an inspring and challenging read with many wonderful snippets of poetry scattered through the prose. Bill's premise is that life has many stages and that each stage feels like it is the best stage of life when you are in it! So much so that individuals, groups, societies can cling to a stage far beyond its useful life. He suggests that Western society is trapped in a permanently adolescent stage with little access to the wisdom of later stages of life. This poem mirrors this feeling of transition from one day to another, from one stage of life to another. A great day draws to a close because this is the natural cycle and, in the morning, you start again with a 'blank sheet'. And whilst there is an inevitable sadness associated with endings, there is always the excitement that follows with new beginnings, possibilities to create, to engage the unfamiliar. The last line of the poem highlights that sometimes, even though your mind and your heart might wish to stay in the known and the familiar, the soul can only find joy in the act of creation and it is this that it seeks with patience, persistence and passion.)
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