On November 9th, 2009, Captain Trevor Greene received the Sacrifice Medal at Rideau Hall, Ottawa. He has traveled a long and hard road from March, 2006 when he was shipped back to Canada from Afghanistan in a coma. He was not expected to live.
In March of 2006, the Vancouver BC reservist, journalist, published author and new father of a baby girl, was serving a peace mission in Afghanistan. In a small village in the Taliban area, he and his troops sat down to a meeting (shura) with tribal elders for discussions to build trust. As a measure of goodwill the troops typically remove their helmets and lay down their guns, a position of vulnerability. Almost immediately he was savagely struck in the back of the neck with an axe. Another Canadian soldier shot the attacker dead.
Surprisingly, when he regained consciousness and after brain surgery, his cogitative abilities were still in tact! His recovery to this point has been a series of near-miracles strengthened by the dedication and support of his fiancée, Debbie. Still, it is the drive within that ultimately moves one past insurmountable obstacles. Trevor had not only the will to live, but to live a meaningful life again.
CTV’s W-Five produced the documentary The Peace Warrior which follows Trevor and Debbie for more than a year as Trevor undergoes brain injury rehabilitation. This documentary (http://watch.ctv.ca/news/w5/w-five-presents-peace-warrior/#clip121589 ) received the Gemini Award this year for Best Biography Documentary.
Trevor appears at speaking engagements and is now writing a book about his experience and the power of hope.
Trevor before the attack and now is a thoughtful, deep and caring person. This has come back to him ten-fold from near and far.
The true warrior knows he doesn’t stand alone.
The true warrior knows he must be an instrument of peace.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Monday, October 26, 2009
Stop Kicking Your Entrepreneurial Spirit
Possessing an “entrepreneurial spirit” does not mean that you must have your own business. Not all business owners possess it.
When a business, career or relationship is new - you feel alive. The vision is clear. Senses are engaged and vibrating.
And for a while you feel unstoppable, until one one day you notice that you are hurtling through space on the busy-ness rocket - into the darkness until you literally start asking yourself:
“When did the light go out?”
“When did the path become littered with noise?”
“When did my passion turn into panic?”
That’s when a 180 degree u-turn can help you get back on the right track - by doing something different.
Be still. Turn down the volume of endless chatter in your head.
Breathe. Have you been holding your breath?
Share. Speak what’s on your mind with someone who can objectively ask the tough questions and offer you new perspectives. Find someone who’ll hold up the mirror so you can see the real you.
Dump the details that just don’t serve any purpose.
Try something different - hey maybe a kick butt life coach can help :-)
When a business, career or relationship is new - you feel alive. The vision is clear. Senses are engaged and vibrating.
And for a while you feel unstoppable, until one one day you notice that you are hurtling through space on the busy-ness rocket - into the darkness until you literally start asking yourself:
“When did the light go out?”
“When did the path become littered with noise?”
“When did my passion turn into panic?”
That’s when a 180 degree u-turn can help you get back on the right track - by doing something different.
Be still. Turn down the volume of endless chatter in your head.
Breathe. Have you been holding your breath?
Share. Speak what’s on your mind with someone who can objectively ask the tough questions and offer you new perspectives. Find someone who’ll hold up the mirror so you can see the real you.
Dump the details that just don’t serve any purpose.
Try something different - hey maybe a kick butt life coach can help :-)
Monday, October 19, 2009
Are You Living Your Dreams?
Every dream and every goal that you haven’t achieved is the result of your shadows. In the darkness are the things that we hide, the parts of ourselves that we can’t be with.
Think of yourself as a house with many rooms. Some of those rooms are vibrant with light and colour. There is a distant melody. But a few of the rooms are in darkness. You have passed by so many times that you no longer consciously notice the closed doors.
Although you deny and resist your unconscious self, there are constant reminders. That little voice in your head feeds off your fears with harsh words, self-judgments and lies and claims “victory” each time you retreat in defeat. It is the voice of your Saboteur.
Your Saboteur wants to silence your Soul.
Your Saboteur delights in telling you, over and over, that you are not enough. Guilt, shame, addictions and self-destructive behaviours are the means of control. This dialogue is more painful than the secrets you hide from, but the pattern has been set. And round and round you go.
In cloaking those rooms in shadow you have also closed off the gold, the magnificence of your full potential. For in every shadow and every painful memory or story, there is a gift.
And so, it is only when you have the courage to fling open the doors and face things exactly as they are, without fear or illusion, that the light will shine gloriously on the learning, the gift.
You will recognize your Path. You will hear your Song clearly.
You will begin to Live the Real You!
Do you have the courage to seek peace and to let your Soul fly?
Think of yourself as a house with many rooms. Some of those rooms are vibrant with light and colour. There is a distant melody. But a few of the rooms are in darkness. You have passed by so many times that you no longer consciously notice the closed doors.
Although you deny and resist your unconscious self, there are constant reminders. That little voice in your head feeds off your fears with harsh words, self-judgments and lies and claims “victory” each time you retreat in defeat. It is the voice of your Saboteur.
Your Saboteur wants to silence your Soul.
Your Saboteur delights in telling you, over and over, that you are not enough. Guilt, shame, addictions and self-destructive behaviours are the means of control. This dialogue is more painful than the secrets you hide from, but the pattern has been set. And round and round you go.
In cloaking those rooms in shadow you have also closed off the gold, the magnificence of your full potential. For in every shadow and every painful memory or story, there is a gift.
And so, it is only when you have the courage to fling open the doors and face things exactly as they are, without fear or illusion, that the light will shine gloriously on the learning, the gift.
You will recognize your Path. You will hear your Song clearly.
You will begin to Live the Real You!
Do you have the courage to seek peace and to let your Soul fly?
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
See me...hear me...touch me...tell me..
that I matter.
We all need to know that our lives matter, that our lives have meaning. We need to be acknowledged. We need to know that the struggle, the pain and the trials have meaning and purpose.
More importantly, we need to be heard and understood.
One of the today’s greatest challenges is feeling isolated. Not knowing where we fit. It is a death of sorts. Fear isolates us. And so, there we all are, together, yet totally separate. Disconnected. Weary. Acting out our roles, our personas and wearing the appropriate masks. Trying to meet the expectations of others.
Remember the teenager.
The teenager walks that tenuous line between dependency and independence…two extremes. Not understanding interdependence. Longing to be unique, terrified of being seen as “different”. The world delivers such mixed and confusing messages.
What does it mean to be unique? Is the “real me” enough?
Many of us never move from those teenage terrors. What does it take to cross the “terror barrier”? Who will be there if you do? What if you fail?
Look at the criminal.
Who is he/she other than one of “us” seeking to be seen, heard, acknowledged and known. “I exist. I am here. I can make a mark. See me.”
Life is Choice. We tend to forget that. We can choose to be helpless victims or we can choose to have purpose and meaning in our lives.
We can choose Courage and Freedom and Service to others.
That is when our lives really matter. Are you ready?
We all need to know that our lives matter, that our lives have meaning. We need to be acknowledged. We need to know that the struggle, the pain and the trials have meaning and purpose.
More importantly, we need to be heard and understood.
One of the today’s greatest challenges is feeling isolated. Not knowing where we fit. It is a death of sorts. Fear isolates us. And so, there we all are, together, yet totally separate. Disconnected. Weary. Acting out our roles, our personas and wearing the appropriate masks. Trying to meet the expectations of others.
Remember the teenager.
The teenager walks that tenuous line between dependency and independence…two extremes. Not understanding interdependence. Longing to be unique, terrified of being seen as “different”. The world delivers such mixed and confusing messages.
What does it mean to be unique? Is the “real me” enough?
Many of us never move from those teenage terrors. What does it take to cross the “terror barrier”? Who will be there if you do? What if you fail?
Look at the criminal.
Who is he/she other than one of “us” seeking to be seen, heard, acknowledged and known. “I exist. I am here. I can make a mark. See me.”
Life is Choice. We tend to forget that. We can choose to be helpless victims or we can choose to have purpose and meaning in our lives.
We can choose Courage and Freedom and Service to others.
That is when our lives really matter. Are you ready?
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Say What?!!
Recently, on a Sunday, a client called. She blurted out that she had experienced a major breakthrough. And, it was a result of my telling her to ‘Shut up”!
Whaaat? I couldn’t have said that to a client! My mind scrambled to remember.
Ahhh, now I get it. I had suggested to her that she step back from her situation and observe; that she remain silent and allow herself to hear.
She had been verbally ‘reacting” to this other person based on her past experience. The knee-jerk response. Making assumptions. The ‘stories’ she clung to and dragged forward into the present were controlling her mind and emotions. She was, like most of us, projecting onto another what had hurt her in the past...her wounds.
For her, the new perspective was life altering.
What's interesting is that often. in the coaching process, the client will receive the message that they most need to hear.
Shut up. Perhaps we all are doing too much talking and not enough listening.
What about you?
Live the real you…. mindfully.
Sharon
Whaaat? I couldn’t have said that to a client! My mind scrambled to remember.
Ahhh, now I get it. I had suggested to her that she step back from her situation and observe; that she remain silent and allow herself to hear.
She had been verbally ‘reacting” to this other person based on her past experience. The knee-jerk response. Making assumptions. The ‘stories’ she clung to and dragged forward into the present were controlling her mind and emotions. She was, like most of us, projecting onto another what had hurt her in the past...her wounds.
For her, the new perspective was life altering.
What's interesting is that often. in the coaching process, the client will receive the message that they most need to hear.
Shut up. Perhaps we all are doing too much talking and not enough listening.
What about you?
Live the real you…. mindfully.
Sharon
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
What About Happiness?
For 20 years I had the privilege of being a patient of family practitioner Dr. Duncan Hadley. In 1998 he died tragically in an accident at the age of 49.
Shortly before he died he asked me how I had managed to survive and conquer so much adversity in my life. He was surveying his patients in an attempt to understand why some fall and others grow stronger.
I replied that I must remain strong for my son: set an example. He then asked, “What about happiness?”
I paused to ponder. I then answered “Happiness is in the moment….bits and pieces. It is there; it is everywhere; it is who I am.” He frowned as he tried to absorb this.
As he went to the door, he turned and said: “You are a very strong woman.”
And then, in an instant, he was gone.
The devastation to the community was beyond description. No room in the church for all who mourned the loss of a great man, a warrior.
His spirit lives on and I still feel the loss. He lifts me up still. He was a gift to all who knew him and to his beautiful wife and three daughters.
Is life fair? Absolutely not! But, this is the only life we have.
Duncan Hadley made it matter.
Live the real you, NOW
Sharon
Shortly before he died he asked me how I had managed to survive and conquer so much adversity in my life. He was surveying his patients in an attempt to understand why some fall and others grow stronger.
I replied that I must remain strong for my son: set an example. He then asked, “What about happiness?”
I paused to ponder. I then answered “Happiness is in the moment….bits and pieces. It is there; it is everywhere; it is who I am.” He frowned as he tried to absorb this.
As he went to the door, he turned and said: “You are a very strong woman.”
And then, in an instant, he was gone.
The devastation to the community was beyond description. No room in the church for all who mourned the loss of a great man, a warrior.
His spirit lives on and I still feel the loss. He lifts me up still. He was a gift to all who knew him and to his beautiful wife and three daughters.
Is life fair? Absolutely not! But, this is the only life we have.
Duncan Hadley made it matter.
Live the real you, NOW
Sharon
Thursday, September 10, 2009
On Becoming Authentic
I was de-cluttering my office and sorting old files when I came upon this poem. It was sent to me by a friend back in 2001. When she wrote it, she was working on her Masters degree in Education and one of her courses was about being your authentic self. Since my tag-line is Live the Real You, I was struck by the significance and depth of this little poem.
On Becoming Authentic
We search for a lifetime
For what we
Lost at the beginning---
Our real self.
Left is a void
Anxious,turbulent
Vacant at times
And yet unyielding.
A constant search
To find the scattered pieces
And put them together
Into our original
True essence.
The journey back and forth at the same time
Requires committed
Vigilance
To integrate all our parts
Face our fears
And learn to love what
We lost in the beginning.
JMD
On Becoming Authentic
We search for a lifetime
For what we
Lost at the beginning---
Our real self.
Left is a void
Anxious,turbulent
Vacant at times
And yet unyielding.
A constant search
To find the scattered pieces
And put them together
Into our original
True essence.
The journey back and forth at the same time
Requires committed
Vigilance
To integrate all our parts
Face our fears
And learn to love what
We lost in the beginning.
JMD
Monday, September 7, 2009
THE CAR BUTLER
I am excited to say that I now have a butler- a car butler, that is – and I am willing to share! Derek Killam has hit upon a brilliant business idea and he is selling peace-of-mind. Who wouldn’t want some of that?
My car recently failed the MVI and I was informed that the cost to bring it up to snuff was going to be at least $1700. It was then I first decided to call Derek. What could I lose? He came quickly, took off with my car and had a couple of other experts look at it, suggest alternative solutions and provide estimates. The outcome was a saving of $1400. Now, that is not to say that he will always have that kind of result, but he will do whatever is needed to ensure that all of the options have been explored and you have an honest result. And, if it is a part you need, he will source the parts, take your car for the repair and get it back to you.
Now, in my case, he returned for my car when the part came in, had the work done and got the inspection sticker put on. This saved me hours of lost time. I was able to continue working and to feel confident that my car was in good hands.
Derek was a service manager for 12 years and now he brings the service desk to your door. Wow! This is creativity at its best!
Derek can be reached on his cell at 506.260.6271 or you can email him at DerekKillam@rogers.com.
A peaceful solution for very busy people
Love and Peace
Sharon
My car recently failed the MVI and I was informed that the cost to bring it up to snuff was going to be at least $1700. It was then I first decided to call Derek. What could I lose? He came quickly, took off with my car and had a couple of other experts look at it, suggest alternative solutions and provide estimates. The outcome was a saving of $1400. Now, that is not to say that he will always have that kind of result, but he will do whatever is needed to ensure that all of the options have been explored and you have an honest result. And, if it is a part you need, he will source the parts, take your car for the repair and get it back to you.
Now, in my case, he returned for my car when the part came in, had the work done and got the inspection sticker put on. This saved me hours of lost time. I was able to continue working and to feel confident that my car was in good hands.
Derek was a service manager for 12 years and now he brings the service desk to your door. Wow! This is creativity at its best!
Derek can be reached on his cell at 506.260.6271 or you can email him at DerekKillam@rogers.com.
A peaceful solution for very busy people
Love and Peace
Sharon
Thursday, September 3, 2009
MARY KAY ASH: More Than a Pink Cadillac (by Jim Underwood)
Jim Underwood, Ph.D., is an award winning author, business professor and strategy and leadership consultant. More Than a Pink Cadillac: Mary Kay Inc.’s 9 Leadership Keys to Success is an important book for all entrepreneurs, large and small. Even since Mary Kay’s death in 2001 her company remains one of the best run and most successful companies in the world. Her business philosophy and strategies have been taught at the prestigious Harvard School of Business.
I joined the company as a consultant in 2000 during a period of recuperation from illness that had taken me from my usual entrepreneurial pursuits. Although Mary Kay was no longer personally attending the Seminars, her presence was and always will be powerful. She began her business from her kitchen table with a passionate dream of making life better for the women in her community. She had $5000. The odds were overwhelmingly stacked against her. Mary Kay Inc. is now a debt-free, multi-billion dollar company in over 30 countries with a sales force of 1.7 million.
For myself, I felt privileged and proud to be on the “team”. It gave me a different perspective on business from where I had been. It showed me that a principle-based business can achieve phenomenal success without ever compromising the values and the mission. Often mistaken for a MLM, this company is, in fact, a solid direct-sales business where all consultants receive equal opportunity and some of the best commissions and incentives of any company in the world. Mary Kay was posthumously named the Most Successful Woman Entrepreneur of the 20th century.
Here are her 9 Leadership Keys to Success (from the book):
Create and Maintain a Common Bond
Create the Future: Think and Act Strategically
Make Me Feel Important
Motivate Others with Recognition and Celebration
Never Leave Your Values
Innovate or Evaporate
God, Family, Career: Foster Balance
Have a Higher Purpose
OK Never Does It: You’ve Got to Be Great!
The Six Virtues of a Great Leader
Humility
Seeking the Best for Others
Expect Excellence
Integrity
Be Impatient with the Status Quo
An Indomitable Spirit
Mary Kay’s guiding philosophy was the Golden Rule. And, P & L stands for more than Profit and Loss. It stands for people and love.
“Your career will blossom with the amount of care and love you send into the lives of others.” Mary Kay Ash
This is a book worth reading whether you are an aspiring entrepreneur, a seasoned entrepreneur and simply one who wishes to become a great leader in all areas of your life.
Love & Peace
Sharon
I joined the company as a consultant in 2000 during a period of recuperation from illness that had taken me from my usual entrepreneurial pursuits. Although Mary Kay was no longer personally attending the Seminars, her presence was and always will be powerful. She began her business from her kitchen table with a passionate dream of making life better for the women in her community. She had $5000. The odds were overwhelmingly stacked against her. Mary Kay Inc. is now a debt-free, multi-billion dollar company in over 30 countries with a sales force of 1.7 million.
For myself, I felt privileged and proud to be on the “team”. It gave me a different perspective on business from where I had been. It showed me that a principle-based business can achieve phenomenal success without ever compromising the values and the mission. Often mistaken for a MLM, this company is, in fact, a solid direct-sales business where all consultants receive equal opportunity and some of the best commissions and incentives of any company in the world. Mary Kay was posthumously named the Most Successful Woman Entrepreneur of the 20th century.
Here are her 9 Leadership Keys to Success (from the book):
Create and Maintain a Common Bond
Create the Future: Think and Act Strategically
Make Me Feel Important
Motivate Others with Recognition and Celebration
Never Leave Your Values
Innovate or Evaporate
God, Family, Career: Foster Balance
Have a Higher Purpose
OK Never Does It: You’ve Got to Be Great!
The Six Virtues of a Great Leader
Humility
Seeking the Best for Others
Expect Excellence
Integrity
Be Impatient with the Status Quo
An Indomitable Spirit
Mary Kay’s guiding philosophy was the Golden Rule. And, P & L stands for more than Profit and Loss. It stands for people and love.
“Your career will blossom with the amount of care and love you send into the lives of others.” Mary Kay Ash
This is a book worth reading whether you are an aspiring entrepreneur, a seasoned entrepreneur and simply one who wishes to become a great leader in all areas of your life.
Love & Peace
Sharon
Friday, August 28, 2009
ENTREPRENEURIAL SPIRIT, Part 2
Part 2
I’ve been down in the bunker dodging the gunfire. Tentatively I’m looking towards the horizon to see if the coast is clear. I’m sure you can relate! While down there I decided to practise what I preach.
Be still and reflect:
What is my purpose, my dream?
What’s working and what isn’t?
What is it that I need to let go of (because it is out of my control)?
What blessings am I most grateful for?
Overwhelm: is not real. It is about what is happening all around us in the moment; what happened in the past; what one “should have, could have” done and what one “should” be doing; and what didn’t happen. When one is truly in the present, the moment, overwhelm is impossible.
De-clutter your life:
Organize, sort and prioritize your physical environment and your work. Delegate what you can and release what is no longer relevant. De-clutter your mind by spending time in the stillness and quiet. Make space for what really matters to you and listen to your inner wisdom that speaks from the silence.
Be Present:
In this moment, which is all any of us really has, deeply breathe in the peace and calm and breathe out the stress. This will give you clarity for the decisions you must make and the actions you must take. Be present to yourself and to others. Listen.
Shift your perspectives:
Put on a new pair of glasses so that you can see what is happening with new eyes and clearer vision. What is another way to look at this situation? What is the learning, the gold in what has seemed difficult and disruptive?
Take yourself less seriously:
Hey, the universe is not out to get you! There really is some humour in the fact that I stubbed my toe, fractured the metatarsal and am not able to walk in this glorious summer weather! So, when all else fails, laugh. Throw yourself on the floor and laugh hysterically. It is healthy for body, mind and soul!
The business owner buys himself a job. The entrepreneur follows his dream with passion and purpose. He/she climbs the mountain stumbling, slipping, eyes focused on the glorious sun-caressed peak.
“Sometimes our light goes out but is blown again into flame by an encounter with another human being. Each of us owes the deepest thanks to those who have rekindled this inner light.”
Albert Schweitzer
I’ve been down in the bunker dodging the gunfire. Tentatively I’m looking towards the horizon to see if the coast is clear. I’m sure you can relate! While down there I decided to practise what I preach.
Be still and reflect:
What is my purpose, my dream?
What’s working and what isn’t?
What is it that I need to let go of (because it is out of my control)?
What blessings am I most grateful for?
Overwhelm: is not real. It is about what is happening all around us in the moment; what happened in the past; what one “should have, could have” done and what one “should” be doing; and what didn’t happen. When one is truly in the present, the moment, overwhelm is impossible.
De-clutter your life:
Organize, sort and prioritize your physical environment and your work. Delegate what you can and release what is no longer relevant. De-clutter your mind by spending time in the stillness and quiet. Make space for what really matters to you and listen to your inner wisdom that speaks from the silence.
Be Present:
In this moment, which is all any of us really has, deeply breathe in the peace and calm and breathe out the stress. This will give you clarity for the decisions you must make and the actions you must take. Be present to yourself and to others. Listen.
Shift your perspectives:
Put on a new pair of glasses so that you can see what is happening with new eyes and clearer vision. What is another way to look at this situation? What is the learning, the gold in what has seemed difficult and disruptive?
Take yourself less seriously:
Hey, the universe is not out to get you! There really is some humour in the fact that I stubbed my toe, fractured the metatarsal and am not able to walk in this glorious summer weather! So, when all else fails, laugh. Throw yourself on the floor and laugh hysterically. It is healthy for body, mind and soul!
The business owner buys himself a job. The entrepreneur follows his dream with passion and purpose. He/she climbs the mountain stumbling, slipping, eyes focused on the glorious sun-caressed peak.
“Sometimes our light goes out but is blown again into flame by an encounter with another human being. Each of us owes the deepest thanks to those who have rekindled this inner light.”
Albert Schweitzer
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Entrepreneurial Spirit Meets Life Coaching: Part 1
In the heart of every entrepreneur or potential entrepreneur there is a song that needs to be set free. Passion and inspiration write the lyrics. The soul gives rise to the music. So great is the longing that a risk-taker is born.
In all my years as an entrepreneur I never lost the dream, the passion and the desire to create. Reality, however, has a way of dimming the light. The details of running a business, dealing with employees, meeting government regulations and the daily grind can wear a person down. Maintaining your integrity and being true to your values can often clash with a seemingly hostile world. There is an “aloneness” for the entrepreneur with a dream. Creativity requires nurturing and nourishment. What happens when one day you wake up and discover you are running on “empty”? It all feels so heavy and you are wondering what it really means to be successful. You can no longer clearly hear the music.
When I first encountered life coaching I knew it was my path. My heart began to sing again and the fire was lit. The training was so exciting because a way to help others give expression to what was deep inside became crystal clear. The process of self-discovery is so rewarding as you let go of the clutter and baggage and peal away the layers of stress and struggle to reach that place of passion and truth…the real you.
Most significantly for entrepreneurs, coaching provides focus, clarity and better decision-making. By unloading worry, stress and fear, the main blockers of energy and creativity, you can once again connect to your passion and purpose. It is less about change than it is about uncovering what was always there. You have to be before you can do.
In the next article, Part 2, we will look at some tips for re-connecting with your passion and purpose and why happiness precedes success.
“The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift.”
Albert Einstein
In all my years as an entrepreneur I never lost the dream, the passion and the desire to create. Reality, however, has a way of dimming the light. The details of running a business, dealing with employees, meeting government regulations and the daily grind can wear a person down. Maintaining your integrity and being true to your values can often clash with a seemingly hostile world. There is an “aloneness” for the entrepreneur with a dream. Creativity requires nurturing and nourishment. What happens when one day you wake up and discover you are running on “empty”? It all feels so heavy and you are wondering what it really means to be successful. You can no longer clearly hear the music.
When I first encountered life coaching I knew it was my path. My heart began to sing again and the fire was lit. The training was so exciting because a way to help others give expression to what was deep inside became crystal clear. The process of self-discovery is so rewarding as you let go of the clutter and baggage and peal away the layers of stress and struggle to reach that place of passion and truth…the real you.
Most significantly for entrepreneurs, coaching provides focus, clarity and better decision-making. By unloading worry, stress and fear, the main blockers of energy and creativity, you can once again connect to your passion and purpose. It is less about change than it is about uncovering what was always there. You have to be before you can do.
In the next article, Part 2, we will look at some tips for re-connecting with your passion and purpose and why happiness precedes success.
“The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift.”
Albert Einstein
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
MJ THE WARRIOR
The media frenzy continues around the sudden death of Michael Jackson. Larry King is set up with stories for many weeks to come! The hungry giant of the 24/7 news-babble must be fed. However, as I focus my laser beam on the whole picture, I question the idea that gossipy intrigue and curiosity is the driving force behind the prolonged mourning of the King of Pop. We have seen and experienced global mourning of celebrities in the past and through modern streams of media we have the meta-view of how it seems to feed upon itself.
The commonality that I perceive in this is deeper and more primal than a hunger for intrigue. In a world of war and corruption and a culture of fear, there is evident in these events, a profound craving of the soul for connection with others that transcends age, colour, creed, and race. This longing to be connected has not been satiated by modern technology and constant exchanges by text. If anything, we are more separated than ever before in our history. In grief, we can touch and feel and pool our tears. Our tears for the human condition, the struggles, the aloneness.
We have always been attracted to the tragic hero of both fiction and reality. What is unique in Michael Jackson’s case is that he seems to embody all of those “heroes” who have gone before him. We cannot know his troubled mind, but we can feel his soul. We relate to his human frailty, his suffering and his message of love. It is as though a power greater than himself was channeled through his fragile body to deliver a message to unite through love and forgiveness and acceptance. That is all there really is. As he so deeply wished, his message will live on in his music, his lyrics:
“If you wanna make the world a better place, Take a look at yourself and make that…change” Man in the Mirror.
Rest your weary head, Michael. You are a warrior and your message has been heard.
We are the world….we are the children…
The commonality that I perceive in this is deeper and more primal than a hunger for intrigue. In a world of war and corruption and a culture of fear, there is evident in these events, a profound craving of the soul for connection with others that transcends age, colour, creed, and race. This longing to be connected has not been satiated by modern technology and constant exchanges by text. If anything, we are more separated than ever before in our history. In grief, we can touch and feel and pool our tears. Our tears for the human condition, the struggles, the aloneness.
We have always been attracted to the tragic hero of both fiction and reality. What is unique in Michael Jackson’s case is that he seems to embody all of those “heroes” who have gone before him. We cannot know his troubled mind, but we can feel his soul. We relate to his human frailty, his suffering and his message of love. It is as though a power greater than himself was channeled through his fragile body to deliver a message to unite through love and forgiveness and acceptance. That is all there really is. As he so deeply wished, his message will live on in his music, his lyrics:
“If you wanna make the world a better place, Take a look at yourself and make that…change” Man in the Mirror.
Rest your weary head, Michael. You are a warrior and your message has been heard.
We are the world….we are the children…
Check out website: www.uturnwarrior.com
Thursday, July 9, 2009
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