the new earth works

clarity bites

2011-12-10T15:52:00.000-08:00

There are times when, whilst floating in the deep, we reach a crossroads. And then in what can sometimes seem an eternity we have to grapply with the whys and hows, the ins and outs and the pros and cons of left vs. right.

Sometimes these can be minor moments of decision making. But from time to time its a big one - a life changing moment that will reverberate through both you and the universe for time to come. Lists, discussions, hand wringing, evaluations, advice taking and navel gazing ensues. Feelings count. BUT so does logical analysis. Both are necessary. This all takes time. And effort. And honesty.

In the end the decision is stripped to its bare bones. The lies, inconsistencies and bad faith removed in a moment of bright lightnad for me anyway - articulation. Its true nature is revealed. and in the moment a little of mine is revealed too. I see that rather than being a cross roads the fork is in fact the universe showing me a little more of who I am and me patiently waiting for my experience to allow me to honestly choose who I want to be.

In the end, if I go left it is only under very specific conditions and if not I will go right. And either way I will be thrilled so long as the conditions were met. Because the underlying factor that governs both forks is me - who I am - who I want to be and which bit of my ongoing lifework that the universe is kindly allowing me to fill in next.

analyse this

2011-12-09T03:59:00.000-08:00

I'm back from three weeks in the UK where the beginnings of a transforming planet were in evidence against the backdrop of grey skies, mass conflict avoidance, my birthplace and the closest thing I'll ever get to home.

1. I witnessed the sheer power of loads of people able to articulate and argue pretty much anything from any point of view. And boy can they do it well. But accessorised with a hefty side order of sarcasm there is a price to play for all those beautiful words and all that effortless communication and that is the truth. what's right. a collaborative discussion that might lead to a direction that works. To truly transform right now we need to stand up for what we really believe. NOT what we think someone else wants us to believe, what sounds good, or what we can argue really well. but what what we truly think is the best way forward for us AND everyone.

2. I realised why transforming our education system is SO important. The home of the industrial revolution is also the home of rote learning, one size fits all classrooms, knowledge regurgitation, widespread curriculum setting and an undeniable obsession with test performance over anything even vaguely akin to knowing who you are and what you might be here to accomplish. The rather strange array of talents and skills that comes together in a human being to create a perfect multi-dimensional person is squashed in pre-school to be replaced by a barrage of standard tests, well structured essays and clever teachers to guide you through them. Hundreds of thousands of pounds spent on creating well mannered and articulate test takers who can argue anything from any point of view and are very good at doing what they are told. Perfect for the old world but hardly valuable for the creative, entrepreneurial and just plain elative tasks of the new.

3. Of course having done what one has been told for so long why stop at 18 or 22. Having given up responsibility so long ago it is then not surprising that responsibility is no where to be seen when lives are no longer easy, things need changing and the power of a society and its most valuable resource (its people) is suddenly in demand. There is NO incentive in British society to change oneself, go through that messy process of going within, be who you are, take a chance or take responsibility for one's life or anyone else's. There is NO incentive to do this. And for many who despite all this are somehow driven to try - a huge number of obstacles will lie in their path - and the proverbial status quo will eventually suck them in and their chutzpah too. And they know it. So they don't bother. This is called learned helplessness. Its contagious. In the UK its an epidemic.

Its time for big change in the UK. And the inspiration, motivation, creativity and compassion to see it successfully through. for everyone.

beyond duality

2011-11-25T23:24:00.000-08:00

For the last three weeks I have been deep in the heart of right and wrong. A strange world of almost total fantasy created by the most amazing misconceptions and perpetuated by habits long since unnecessary but deeply persistent. Let us begin.

Firstly, to understand the strange world of right and wrong we must gaze at it from elsewhere. And that elsewhere is the land of everything is connected. Many see this as the imaginary land. but of course it isn't. This is the real thing - the true nature of reality. We are connected through all the sub-atomic waves/particles that morph and change and move and carry our energy round and round. We are connected through the water that makes up 55% of us and 65% of the planet. We are connected through the neurons in our brains, our genes, our species, our history, our shared experiences, the internet, telephones, communities, schools and ultimately the one planet on which we all live. Despite our apparent fascination with us and them its just plain wrong. We are all connected to each other and as with any closed system, each part contributes their views, beliefs, attitudes, opinions, time and effort to the whole and then experiences this whole as their version of life on earth. And that is basic systems theory and there is NO escape from that.

When the system needs to change we have to change ourselves, our lives and our world. And this is where going beyond duality really pays off.

WHY?

Comforting Habits
We are prepared to be good or bad, right or wrong, in or out, from birth. Starting from yes and no and the praise for good stair climbing created in early childhood all the way up to the graded papers and well argued persuasive essays of A-levels and beyond. Its no wonder our ability to be right, to be factually correct and to take a side is so well developed. Our entire early childhood is based on it and not much else. And from then on we use it - regardless of whether it is useful, conflict seeking, helpful or results driven. It often stands in the way of our connection to ourselves and blocks us from being who we are. HOW can we be who we are when we are busy conforming to what is "right", regardless of its intrinsic value to our journey?

In groups and out groups
Ahh. the pleasure of an in-group and the pain of the out-group. Observe it in your next social or community gathering. Free fuel for the church of one size fits all and so easy - to find the outlier, the odd one out. To brand them wrong, to exclude, to count them out, talk behind their back, treat them unjustly. Do we even have the skills or know how to deal with them and their "not us" ways. So much easier to brand them and send them on their way. Our societies, communities, groups, companies and governments all thrive on in-groups and yet this group think has devastating consequences not just for the people who aren't "in" but moreso for the people who lose the benefit of diversity in their midst surely more important now than ever before.

the blame game
We hone our ability to argue our side - some with years of training and practice. We find our group or groups (in or out!) in which to happily exist. And then we play the blame game with everyone else. Its our ultimate protection, our armour against vulnerability and our safety in numbers. The game has many variations - including sarcasm and condescension. Blame means not me - not my department - not my concern - I didn't do it, say it, mean it. Whether we say it out loud or just think it inside, the most powerful survival tactic kicks in from the moment the possibility that we are wrong, out or vulnerable emerges. Which keeps us safe, warm and "in" and free of conflict, the need to care and the possibility of transformation.

Who cares what happens in the real world so long as we are right, defend our turf, compete and triumph in our tiny worlds, no matter what? The result? an impasse of the highest order. which keeps the system working and only stops when the cogs in the wheel stop to question it and themselves.

Which is exactly what we need to do to get somewhere else. We need to stop. Because when we do we can start to see what we are doing. And then individually and together we can start to cultivate the humility to be wrong and the courage to be inclusive and with all of us, our ideas, our opinions and our plans - individually and together - in small groups - and bigger partnerships - we can go beyond right and wrong to a land where we are vulnerable, and flaw filled and different and all part of one interdependent, connected, global system called planet earth.

And the best news of all? Its been there waiting for us all along.

New Earth Rising

2011-11-05T18:08:00.000-07:00

I can clearly see the birth of the new earth now and it is a magnificent vision and difficult to keep to myself. I want to talk about it all the time and am secretly searching everywhere for anyone who has enough of grounding to discuss the practicalities of the birth and early childhood of this exciting moment.

At the neurological level there are now brains on the earth that for a number of reasons are significantly different from other brains. Keeping in mind that the brain is remarkably fast at restructuring itself, generating neural connections and new synapses relatively quickly, this is not a particularly bizarre concept. Think of the amazing capabilities of the brain to sort itself out after brain injuries and strokes. Sometimes, when parts of the brain that govern certain things are damaged, the brain just moves that functioning somewhere else. The brain is like a parallel processing computer with 90% of its capacity still free. So that some brains will have run ahead of others is not a crazy concept. And the more that run ahead with connections to others the more the others will eventually run ahead too.

From the point of view of every aspect of all living things on earth, EVERYTHING is a connected. Its all just loads of little networks, ant hills, communities, eco-systems, solar systems and internets connecting to bigger and bigger ones.

Anyway - so back to these brains. People who regularly think big picture and then minute details. People who spend time in nature. People - who pursue deeply spiritual practices like meditation and retreat. Farmers. Artists. Musicians. who must engage their small motor skills for their craft whilst creating or connecting to the divine inspiration or direction of the universe. These people have all become neurological seeds for the new universe.

They are the mutants. The innovators. The initial seeds. And their increased consciousness is contagious. So by now they have spread their increased consciousness to many people in many ways. Their corpus callosum is thickened as the transmissions between left and right brain have increased in size and velocity. They are like cell phone towers for the new earth. Receiving from the universe and broadcasting at a phenomenal rate.

And all this broadcasting is not random. Because these mother seeds and their connections to each other and then to new generations of seeds are connecting and spreading and helping each other at a phenomenal rate. And this network that started in a very sparse and fragile way is now getting stronger and stronger. And the benefits of this higher consciousness are becoming manifest physically in many diverse and fascinating ways - alternative lives, new structures, cool products, creative solutions - all early contributions to a tiny emerging network of initiatives, projects and ideas that will ultimately, from the bottom up - as life emerged from the primordial soup - bubble and squeak and connect its way to the new earth.

Meanwhile, and not randomly, things back at the old earth are not going so well. More and more people are waking up to the injustice, irrelevance, inequality, lack of love and unsustainability of the old world. But in order to ensure a smooth transition the old world and its less conscious participants will continue to hold the space whilst the new model is put in place. and they will make a lot of noise in the process. But even this will eventually just become a dull roar as the multi-tonal symphony of many individuallly meaningful and globally connected lives begin coming together.

And just as the transition from typewriters to computers, analog to digital, records to CDS and now to MP3s, one day - the new system reaches a tipping point and suddenly just takes off with energy and quite smoothly transitions in whilst the old one just fizzles out.

Its just a matter of numbers now. How many people will feel it, be moved by others, open their eyes and see the need to make this evolutionary step and begin to take it. Everyone has a role to play. Are you part of the old world struggling to hold the pyramid in place as its foundations literally crumble. Or are you in the new one, harnessing your talents and unique capabilities and using them to occupy an important part in the chain of events that will lead us to the new earth and a better and more sustainable way of living for everyone?

Trust

2011-11-04T00:57:00.000-07:00

Go inside yourself. Find your voice. Listen to it. It will take you deep into the deep. Trust yourself. Go there.

Later you can look just a little bit behind yourself. And find your perfect life unravelling just behind you. Fall in love. But don't get distracted. Face forward. The road is long. Keep going. Watch out for sharp rocks.

Our judgment addiction

2011-10-22T15:54:00.000-07:00

I guess with judgment day approaching fast everyone is getting their practice in now. And sure why not. Judging others is such a fulfilling past time - filling the multiple objectives of creating boundaries (she has no manners), defining self (thank goodness I'm not like that) and distracting oneself from the task at hand (our own shortcomings, sadness and pain). Most insidiously, judgment seems to be partnered with the need to discuss, analyse and share. Our individual judgments of each other aren't good enough. We need to spread them around too.

Of course I'm judging now. See. And a few weeks ago I had the lovely experience of being judged by one of the most judgmental people I've ever known. Which was a really enlightening experience because that was the moment that I realise that the entire practice of judgment was yet another completely and totally waste of time habit (like living in the past, what if ruminations and freaks out about the future) that we humans seemed to have accidentally adopted to great effect.

Our judgment of everyone and everything keeps us properly bound and tied in our little isolated worlds. There's no need to talk to anyone, reach out, bake a pie for your neighbour or try something new. Why bother when we've judged all road as leading in a less satisfactory direction.

Judgment has led all of us in the west to an unhappy stalemate. and not a peaceful one but a festering, angry, bitter one. and no one is really free of it. because we're all in it. we're all a part of it. We've all got our view on "other" even if other really is ourselves. I wonder what's going to happen on judgment day. No need really for someone else to show up and pronounce judgment on us. They can just leave us sitting around in a big room waiting and judging each other. GOD knows that'll be hell enough for eternity.

What we see in others is ultimately the universe mirroring what we see in ourselves. But like seeing yourself, seeing yourself, seeing yourself in a mirror the only way to escape this infinite mirroring of each other to each other is to rise above it and completely remove yourself from it. For many of us this will be like quitting smoking. But its got to be done. Judges: STOP. Find something else to do. Take up golf or basket weaving. Get a job. Get a life. If you don't like someone don't see them. If you don't like something don't do it. If you don't like somewhere move. Otherwise, if you can't think something nice, don't think anything at all.

Giving up judgment will be hard for all of us but the curiosity of what lies behind those mirrors is incentive enough for me to start right away. See you on the other side.

the calm before the storm

2011-10-16T02:32:00.000-07:00

Is it me or does it feel like the calm before the storm. There has been too much disruption lately to assume that a storm is not in fact about to ensue. Oh sure - a cleansing, purifying monsoon burst of energy - but yes. a storm nevertheless.

the flow is disrupted.

why does this happen. Before I got here I always thought that the zone - the flow, the deep - was always smooth. that life just floated by as a series of meadows with me running through it in a flowing cotton skirt (organic of course).

but transformation doesn't exactly work like that and there's no where like the deep for witnessing transformation at its rawest, most efficient best. No noisy distractions here.

the seeds in the pod mature and mature. the caterpillar in the cocoon grows and grows. the water pressure behind the ice gets bigger and bigger. until suddenly in one seriously not very flowing way - there is what scientists call a step function change. Do the lemmings know just before they hurl themselves off the cliff? Does the tree know before it suddenly bursts into fits of blossoms?

I guess they do. Intuitively know. As much as a tree can. But in the case of us humans those of us who are bothering to listen surely know that change is coming. Individual lives are being effected by this energy everywhere.

Synchronicities abound. Inside our head neurons are connecting more and more rapidly as new data and environmental stimuli construct the networks and connections required to gain the clarity we need in the midst of all this confusion and uncertainty. For many this is happening at light speed.

On the earth people all over the world are connecting to each other - from movements of solidarity and occupation to friendships on social networks, cross border customers to far away family. And as we are connecting so simultaneously millions of people are twigging to the realisation that quite a lot is not right. Again, networks and connections are being forged at light speed and again confusion persists.

It is not until sufficient time and muddling around has passed that clarity begins to emerge. Dr. Suess calls this the waiting room. Coffee calls it percolation. Science calls it gestation. But make no mistake. When the clarity emerges the knowingness will too and that and only that is all that anything or one needs to take the next step required for transformation of any size or shape. And that is to ACT. And act I, we and they will. Because that's how my brain, and our brains and the planet and everything works. We're hardwired to change, to mutate and in doing so to survive.

The flood gates of transformation

2011-10-09T10:03:00.000-07:00

The other day I met with a lovely small businessman grappling with the difficulties of a problematic employee. The scale of the problem was small but could have easily become a sickening cancer. The writing was on the wall long before I showed up. Our discussion revealed plenty (and I mean PLENTY) of evidence which over a medium term had pointed to the only potential solution: major surgery. And yet the surgery had not been completed. By the time we met the level of conflict avoidance was so high that it was clearly causing this gentleman considerable problems. And yet he had not acted. He had written testimony from experts in the field. He had a strong intuition that something was wrong. He had feedback from customers. Still he had not acted. By the time I arrived the avoidance, denial, lack of confidence - call it what you want - had reached mammoth proportions. Distress had set in. And yet he had not acted. Chaos had ensued.

I wondered whether to share my own intuition or not. It really wasn't my business. And I didn't know the parties well. But he asked for my opinion. Twice. And so. with the best possible intent I gave it.

Suddenly something clicked. Twenty four hours later, the cancer had been removed and the flood gates of relief, realisation, order, understanding and knowingness were blown wide open.

We are globally experiencing a similar kind of situation. One or more cancers lie deep in the heart of the critical political, financial and corporate structures on which life is built. Everyone knows they are there and knows they probably need to come out. But avoidance is high. Things are starting to get chaotic. And still we wait. The pressure is mounting. Its all good.

Soon something is going to give. the flood gates will open. and transformation can begin.

resistance

2011-09-24T18:01:00.000-07:00

Resistance is in emergence everywhere. In the minute details of my everyday floating around. My relationship with myself and my self's relationship with everything else. On a micro and macro basis. Resistance is everywhere.

This is no accident. The greater the rate of change the greater the resistance. And in the multi-dimensional view of the universe resistance comes in many flavours. Here's what the dictionary says:

re·sist·ance
1. the act or power of resisting, opposing, or withstanding.
2.the opposition offered by one thing, force, etc., to another.
3. Electricity
a. Also called ohmic resistance. a property of a conductor by virtue of which the passage of current is opposed, causing electric energy to be transformed into heat: equal to the voltage across the conductor divided by the current flowing in the conductor: usually measured in ohms. Abbreviation: R
b. a conductor or coil offering such opposition; resistor.
4.Psychiatry
a. opposition to an attempt to bring repressed thoughts or feelings into consciousness.
5. an underground organisation composed of groups of private individuals working as an opposition force in a conquered country to overthrow the occupying power, usually by acts of sabotage, guerrilla warfare, etc.: the resistance during the German occupation in World War II.

Whatever the transformation, politically, psychological or physical, resistance is always around. I see it. I meet it. I engage with it. and like heat, I transform it. Resistance of the magnitude we are experiencing at the moment means the river is running fast and furious. No one knows where we're going. But whether its a challenging yoga pose, the outrageous execution of Troy Davis, the response to civil unrest or some incredible volume on some topic from the voice within, the response is the same. Breathe deeply, push as deeply as you feel you can into the resistance - psychologically, politically, physically, globally - with as much compassion and grace as you can muster. Then hang on for as long as you can, paddle when necessary and watch out for sharp rocks.

Feeling

2011-09-20T18:36:00.000-07:00

Somewhere down the road we stopped being very good at doing the thing that will probably end up being the most important aspect of our future survival both individually and as a species.

We stopped or perhaps I should say started to stop feeling. Don't get me wrong. There were LOTS of reasons for why this happened and before anyone gets on their high horse let me just say that NO one was to blame for this now near epidemic avoidance of everything from conflict to ecstasy, cognitive dissonance to abject joy. Our current lifestyles are anti-feeling. We eat a very bland, same taste diet when in fact our palates are anatomically built and neurologically connected to much more. Some of those tastes - like high fructose corn syrup - are so over engineered that they bypass our taste system and trick our brain into all sorts of complex nonsense. We bombard out bodies and our homes with toxins of all sorts from window cleaner to fake strawberry flavour. We scent our homes with fake smells.

Our right brain which is built to sense, to feel and to make intuitive, non rational judgements, in addition to needing less of the above, also requires much more freedom, liberated, non linear wandering and arts programmes. It needs to see things that aren't in rows, with neat menus and click to buy buttons. It needs something more than fifteen shades of beige. Our right brain is not commercial. It can't be scaled, taken over in a leveraged buy out or sold to the highest bidder. But it can be shut down. And as well as high fructose corn syrup, pine fragrance and plastic, what really keeps our right brain from getting in the flow is fear.

Hmmm. doesn't that sound familiar.

Its not surprising that we will go down in history as the civilisation of feeling avoiders. (and this is not an excuse) but somewhere down the line it just all got too much. Too many bombs, and mass murders and taking off most of our clothes just to fly to Dulles. I've tried feeling in that long line of belt removers and those two or three people that only recently worked out that a 1000 ml bottle of body lotion (full of fake fragrance and parabens no doubt) is, sorry, no longer allowed.

So for the past two weeks I've been doing an experiment. I decided that it was time to just feel. Things were going well when I made this rash decision. The sky was blue, the sun was hot and the breeze was gently blowing over the rice fields. I was kind to dogs and children. There had been no major bombings. All was well in the world.

And then suddenly, just as I was going to declare the experiment an outright success and quite out of blue, feeling struck. We were trying to make an important decision to move forward in a certain direction. It was an intuitive move but I had done lots of research. It was certainly a plausible direction.

At first it was just a slightly sleepy, nauseous feeling which I ignored. But then it slowly overcame me. The clouds blew in. A slight drizzle began. My dog started smelling a little wierd. Eventually I could no longer work. The momentum and drive of our big decision came crashing down.

I recognised this place. I stopped. After many years of not stopping. pushing through. going around. or just breaking something I finally just stopped. This in itself was some kind of crazy. But I did it. Painfully, I might add. I put everything on hold and sat down and waited to see what was going to happen next.

But the bad feeling didn't stop. Soon my dear husband became embroiled in the messy waiting marathon. I had no idea where it was coming from. What it was about. Was my decision wrong? Was it right and I was just unable to shoot? Where was it coming from. Where was it going? And worst of all ....who was going to win? Me or it?

I knew it was waiting. The feeling that is. It was waiting for me to do something. And the thing that it was waiting for me to do was to pass on this negative energy to someone else. Or to myself. All this inertia, and schlump and confusion would be gone in an instant. I could just make a hasty decision. Speak insensitively to someone. Eat a brownie. Or move to another country. To make it go away I had to give it life, acknowledge it and energise its presence. It was tempting.

But no. Just this once and for the sake of my failed career as a social scientist, I kept waiting. Eventually, I couldn't work or frankly do anything. Many difficult situations arose. My toxic state was attracting all manner of conflict and prejudice. Little things began to irritate me. I was experiencing a personality change, perhaps a spiritual lobotomy? How long would this go on?

I sewed. I made soup. I wandered around aimlessly and took a few long drives in the car. I gave out some serious hugs and took the dogs for a walk.

TWO WEEKS PASSED. Painfully.

Before I was finally pleased to announce.... the bad feeling finally picked up its ugly brown briefcase and left town. Yup. After what seemed like the stalk of the century it just rather uneventfully turned around and went away. And it took ALOT of baggage with it.

To celebrate I cleaned the house and threw out some other stuff I didn't need. And as my mind cleared my confused strategy unconfused itself and was waiting for me on my return.

My two week adventure into the caves of illusion were just that. but nevertheless highly recommended. bon voyage.

its the real thing

2011-08-30T18:15:00.000-07:00

sometime AFTER we all started being or aspiring to be like everyone else - learning one thing, in one way. on one path. sometime AFTER we all started living our one size fits all life, competing for the same damn illusive nothing, the bigger this, the more that. another bag. another belt. a bigger house. these tickets. that front row. that hotel. don't you know? the pictures are on facebook.

well it was sometime AFTER all of that started (i figure about 100 years ago) that we began losing what was real. not just who we were and what we were doing. not just the way forward for us. where we were meant to go. who we were meant to be. not just that. but more deeply too. the bigger, better you're my competition not my kin way ate our humanity. our morality. and our ability to be real. and true.

we didn't just get lost for 40 years and wander around. wonder around. instead we got lost and then quickly began covering up the truth. in 100 different marketing ploys. and self promotions. we've covered up ourselves. our naked, lost unrealness. we've made so much up we don't know what's real anymore. and we're all hiding inside these stories. these expressions of our vocal chakras gone awry. we jump on the band wagon of others and their self promotion. we're sponsored by this and chosen by that. consciously or unconsciously. knowing or not knowing. still lies. and fear of self. intimately manifested. like its ok.

we've covered, avoided and run from the thing that can help us most. the hole of unknowingness. the confusion of not knowing how we feel. or worse, not being able to express it. because we don't have the skills to do those things anymore. or the manners to be quiet if we don't. its the real thing. what is?

we've been replaced instead by an incredible commercial machine. we're technological devices. brands. the next cool thing. we can make it up. lie. steal it from someone else. all of which just means that real us doesn't get to be. the energy of real us doesn't come out. the passion of real us doesn't live. the creativity and art of real us never becomes real. and no matter how good we may be at faking it - without real us we're nothing. every time.

for real us to make an appearance we have to stop all this unrealness. we have to feel. we have to want to feel. we have to wait. and wait. and watch. make things. grow things. be quiet. and watch and wait. and wait. and wait. this is not easy. its like unpicking something impossibly complicated. and as there is no proven upside why bother? if you're already guaranteed as many mars bars as you want why forgo them ALL for the promise of a handmade 70% chocolate raspberry truffle you've never tasted?

the moment

2011-08-24T19:05:00.000-07:00

I remain amazed at the ongoing power of the moment. I am flooded with information, networks, newsletters and websites. So much data. Its easy to become jaded. turn off. or in a fit of complete left brain ego craziness - try to absorb it all.

More and more these days I see. In the midst of this chaos sits the precious moment. The rich, full of everything I need, perfect moment. It goes on and on. As deep as my neurologically driven sensors are able to go. And here is the secret I've found: the more focus on the moment the more my ability to focus is honed. And the more it is honed the more I can see, hear, feel, touch and taste. It really is exercise just like anything else. And discipline.

After a while of bringing the mind back over and over from the past and the future, back to the present, to now, to the blue sky and the wind and the barking of the neighbours dog this exercising begins to pay off. and in a slow motion explosion of sensual beauty, the moment starts to unfold and reveal its itself and its magic.

in that new world is everything I need - every idea, every website, every recommendation, every book, every bit of info, colours, friends, feelings, decisions, what I should eat for lunch, where I should go for the weekend. inspiration direction connection. YUP. everything that I could possible want is already there. and all I have to do is keep the focus on the moment all the time. the more I do, the deeper it gets.

it still amazes me. my incredible, personal, perfect, just for me, unfolding adventure that was there the whole time. that I missed for so long because I was in yesterday or tomorrow instead of just where I need to be. here. now.

Getting real

2011-08-18T17:17:00.000-07:00

I can't remember exactly when it happened. But one day sometime ago it turned out that if you had some money or something else that was like money and/or some future income from say a field, you were allowed to borrow some more money against this to use for example to buy a plough. In fact you weren't really buying a plough. You were actually borrowing a plough from the people that lent you the money. This transaction was based on lots of assumptions. The assumption that indeed with this plough you would be able to guarantee that you would make the money you needed to payback the value of the plough plus whatever you needed to continue living etc. The value of the stuff that was put up against the loan of the money for the plough. AND the cost of the loan itself.

When the transaction was a simple plough this was not that complicated to work out and I am assured that this was a good idea though frankly I do have my concerns, especially when for example the cost of borrowing the money was in the hands of the person lending the money. But soon after that regulators showed up and apparently they were supposed to keep all these transactions on the straight and narrow.

And then sometime not that long ago a series of really wierd things started to happen. Suddenly everyone needed a loan for everything. Perfectly good companies started borrowing all sorts of money and creating massive amounts of debt. Perfectly good countries and people started doing the same. (see growth below).

Unfortunately the assumptions that seemed pretty benign back there in paragraph one suddenly became really important. AND that concern about conflict of interest from back in paragraph two also turned out to be kind of serious too. The next thing you know everyone needed a plough. And some people needed ten or fifteen. Until the actual value of themselves and their company became very small indeed compared to the money that had been loaned to it. In fact most companies over the last thirty years became big balloons of fake money. And so long as they kept on growing and growing and making enough money to pay the people who loaned them the money and still carry on they did just that.

All sorts of nonsense has ensued as a result of these balloons of fake money masquerading as companies. It has effected the way we live. What we want. How we live. Important things like community, connection and citizenship have been replaced by call centres, consumption and commercialism. Not to mention a few sleepless nights. These companies and their (sometimes rather mis-managed) balloons of money have driven mass production, massive marketing budgets and messy closets everywhere. Alot of fake money, creating fake advertising to get you to have fake needs and then fulfill them with fake products.

This is stopping. Because growth isn't infinite. But also because eventually we were going to figure it out. And we have. And we are. And we will. It really is time to stop feeding this nonsense. One act at a time.

repair. recycle. reuse. or just don't replace it. get off your computer and walk the dog. go see a friend. and just talk. or if you really need to buy something stop and take the time to seek out the artisan. the small brand. the quality production. spend twice as much and buy something that will last. don't go see another rubbish movie that took tens of million of dollars just to distribute. hang out with your kids instead. or go meet your neighbour. you know the drill. we are helping, indeed funding, the fake balloons to control our lives in so many ways you'd be reading the list till your ninety. its definitely time to start getting real instead.

better growth

2011-08-15T18:32:00.000-07:00

I'm thinking about better growth. partly because I am so, so bored of listening to everyone go on about growth. no growth. slow growth. point zero zero zero one percent growth. less growth. who knows growth. the thing is there just is not alot of growth left in the western world. we've already bought it, made it, owned it. we are as fat as ever. the closets are as full as ever. we're as rich as we'll ever be. AND by constantly trying to grow despite this people & businesses are making silly & strategically flawed decisions that are ending in tears.

perfectly good companies. perfectly good jobs. perfectly good people. all doomed by our addiction to more, bigger, growth. and as we all know.

(the stock markets are going to have to find something else to wake up for everyday. and high time they did if you ask me. how about sustainably produced profits year on year as a starting point?)

but leaving that rather serious issue aside briefly, what about the strategic possibilities for people and companies that didn't focus on growth. focus on customers. focus on education. focus on passion. focus on design. focus on international development. research. trees. people who like psychedelic folk music. and focus on doing that well, sustainably, evolutionarily.

nothing, absolutely nothing grows forever. but mammals, many insects and most birds survived whilst the dinosaurs went extinct.

of the 117,000 jobs created in the US last month 105,000 were created by companies of less than 500 employees and 50% of those jobs were actually from companies with less than 50 staff. Lots of small, diverse companies create a wide variety of value for a wide variety of stakeholders. many on a long term basis. making small investments that count for employees, customers, shareholders and the planet.

lets celebrate that. praise that. support that. invest in that.
that is our future.

a system that works

2011-08-09T19:02:00.000-07:00

Whilst violence and destructive behaviour can never be right the spontaneous uprisings across the globe certainly point to the fact that for many groups of people around the world, things aren't working. and why would they be? With most people (80%) living on less than $10 a day whilst the rest consume 76% of total resources (isn't that crazy?) clearly something needs to give.

That these uprisings are worldwide is a critical signpost in the mass evolution that is currently upon us. East or west. North or south. Large groups of young people are facing a world of uncertainty and have neither the skills nor the temerity to know what to do. some have difficult governments and political problems to boot. some have severe weather conditions. all are facing difficult job markets, often with the wrong skill set to navigate them (in some cases despite hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of education). all are living with the shocking realisation that the world they were born into will never be that way again.

We are flowing fast towards a much, much better world than we live in today. The actual structures, systems and way of living that we currently have don't work. They actually don't work for most of the people who are killing themselves trying to make them work. And they certainly don't work for everyone else. We value machines over men. Imaginary financial structures over simple assets and liabilities. Greater and greater material consumption for a few vs. more than enough for everyone.

And that was never going to work.

Because nothing grows forever. especially not a closed system with finite resources like the earth. And basing our way of life, our jobs, our businesses and our global financial system on that as a fundamental principle was just kooky.

keep your eyes open. this is life evolving. something better is certainly on the way.

Trudgery

2011-08-07T07:05:00.000-07:00

Its been a week of walking through mud. the thick, deep, mucky variety. there is a part of me that really hates this. I had always assumed that contrary to my pre-deep life, the deep, along with its unending flow and broadband connection to the universal oneness, was full of ease and grace and early bedtimes. peak experiences and divine masterpieces - isn't that what all this living in the moment and lentils and deep breathing is all about?

but this isn't the first time that all my guidance, and direction has led me straight into a week of seriously hard slog. wading through details. starting again and again. logistical nightmares. and more of that naughty retrograde messenger disturbing the launch of my new windows 7 upgrade.

it seems that the deep is not without its moments of just applying oneself as hard as ever. without too much doubt or too many tea breaks.

but there is one important difference. the not inconsiderable complexities of this week were mine. and this hard slog was completely on my terms. it played to my capabilities. my passions. it involved the things I love. and creating the things I want to create. how I want it. in the house I built. in the country I want to live in. in the company I want to build. and in the end there still was, as one might have expected, a glorious result.

as I sat in the mesmerising cool of tropical August to reflect on this strange occurrence I realised how beautifully the old earth will seamlessly evolve into the new one. I'd worked as hard as I had when I was in the old world this week and used all those old persistence, resilience, focus skills to just get through it and get it done. AND I'd produced an end product just the same as I would have before.

but this time the end product was a completely and totally meaningful effort - another baby step on the journey that is my totally meaningful life expressing itself. the result was mine. me manifesting and being a little bit more and more. another personal mystery unfolding before my eyes. another dimension revealing itself. another potential unravelling. just the way I like it. and for THAT result a little trudgery is so worth it.

spiral on

2011-08-01T02:35:00.000-07:00

the spiral is a recurring theme. an ancient symbol that crosses time and culture. nature loves them. as did the Maories, the Mayans and countless artists throughout history from the beautiful gardens of Klimt to the pottery of the Anasazi. the spiral even has its own clever mathematical relationship in the form of the golden ratio. what's not to like?

the parallels between life and the spiral are unending. for many cultures and traditions it was in fact the symbol of life, appearing on everything from jugs to walls for over 5000 years and long before these disparate cultures could send each other a fax. Somehow this symbol emerged and with it a complex lesson in the meaning of life. because although life has changed quite a bit over the years. the structure of life evolving hasn't changed a bit. as relevant today than ever.

Lesson 1. Life is constantly moving, flowing, changing. we all knew that. but wait. if these spirals are indeed reflecting life flowing then life is flowing... in circles. yup. so long as you stay in the flow - the potential is already locked in there. just waiting to be lived. in the grandiose sweeping of its great arm as it extends into the world of unlived possibilities - further and further, deeper and deeper. down the road we have not travelled. into the wild we have not yet seen.

Conflict to the spiral is just life's way of saying - turn. turn. turn. problems. obstacles. even dead ends. only reminders that this constantly (and I mean constantly) changing life is indeed doing as is its chief characteristic states and changing. flowing. moving. turning. as ever.

how we choose to react to these road signs are up to us. spirals can go in many directions. the grace, emotional fortitude and dignity with which we face these moments are great predictors of the future potential we ourselves indicate through our present day behaviours.

we are living in times of more problems than ever. wars. divorce. broken cars. mercury retrograde. and my phone which didn't work all morning. turn, turn, turn screams the spiral. you and me and the United States Senate and my internet provider and Syria are all being asked to move along faster than ever. more evolution than we've faced in a very long time. about time too.

living bigger

2011-07-30T18:12:00.000-07:00

I spent the day at the beach. as we were rushing out the door I grabbed something to read. A tiny book called Letters to a Young Poet in which, at the beginning of chapter 3, you find Rilke describing Niels Lyhne (by Jen Peter Jacobsen):

there seems to be everything in it from life's very faintest fragrance to the full big taste of its heaviest fruits. There is nothing that does not seem to have been understood, grasped, experienced and recognized in the tremulous after-ring of memory, no experience has been too slight, and the least incident unfolds like a destiny, and fate itself is like a wonderful, wide web in which each thread is guided by an infinitely tender hand and laid alongside another and held and borne up by a hundred others. You will experience the great happiness of reading this book for the first time, and will go through its countless surprises as in a new dream. But i can tell you that later too one goes through these books again and again with the same astonishment and that they lose none of the wonderful power and surrender none of the fabulousness with which they overwhelm one at a first reading.

One just comes to relish them increasingly, to be always more grateful, and somehow better and simpler in one's contemplating deeper in one's belief in life, and in living happier and bigger. (Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet, Chapter 3)

the road less travelled

2011-07-29T05:14:00.000-07:00

Sometime between the dawn of the industrial revolution and now, the world turned into one big, mass produced, commercial, one size fits all plastic toy global economy: high stress high school, automated answering systems and mind numbing mega malls ensued, not to mention a spiraling addiction to material acquisition and an over abundance of venture capitalists and bad movies.

Seriously? Is THIS really what all those piano lessons and exams were about? THIS? Overpriced lattes, credit card debt & all inclusive resorts, before more THIS and then death.

A while back it occurred to us that THIS wasn’t working. Something about THIS just didn’t feel right. Deep down inside our double tall latte we had an inkling that THIS needed a serious makeover. There was definitely something deeper, richer and just plain more excellent than THIS somewhere. But where? We decided to find it.

Since that moment we’ve been experimenting with new ways to think, learn, work and be, all with the single purpose of seeking something more than THIS. Admittedly, it took a while. And wandering around did occur. Then one day, not so long ago, in the quiet between THIS, a couple of warrior poses and what seemed like a lot of nothing – we finally had a breakthrough. And then another. And soon after that we realised we’d discovered something that was infinitely more joyous and beautiful and real than any THIS we’d ever seen.

The New Earth Works is our work in progress: traveling roadshow, interactive manifestation, philosophical provocation and creative trip. Ideas, experiences and stuff we’ve discovered on our adventure so far presented in an engaging, multimedia format so you won’t get bored. Beautiful views. Intriguing ideas. And piles of inspiration. Not to mention some totally actionable take aways and an obsession with chocolate.

We hope you will join us to investigate the road less traveled, expand your senses, discover your intuition and paint your vision for the new earth. Sensual junkies, committed travelers, consumer activists, nature lovers, undercover writers & artists, closet philosophers and anyone with a faint inkling in their heart that something is not right: this work is for all of us and that really loud ringing you hear is the wake up call you’ve been waiting for.