Friday night , Bill Moyer's Journal had a feature story about a project taken on to connect people worldwide through music, and through that connection, foster peace. It is beautiful project.
I hope you will look at the web site and listen to one of the examples. Click on 'Stand by Me'.
http://playingforchange.com/
Monday, October 27, 2008
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Connection and relatedness
I was thinking about the financial crises and how the size of the institutions and the lack of relationships contributed to the problem.
When I was growing up, we lived in a small town. My parents knew and were friends with the branch manager of the local bank. I remember going into the bank with my dad many times. We would always go go over to talk to Merle, the bank manager. He and his wife Elaine had become friends of my mom and dad. Even after Merle retired, and they moved out of the area, my parents stayed in contact with them.
The relationship between my dad and Merle, was critical to their successful transactions over decades. Based on a long history of interaction, they knew each other. They knew each other's character, family circumstances, hopes, dreams. So, when my dad decided to ask for a loan to purchase land and build a house, Merle knew he was trustworthy. He knew dad's history, his commitment to place and that he could be counted on to repay the loan.
My parents relationship with the Browns was not unusual. At that time, it was the norm that there were relationships and a connection between people who did business together. The relationships were a key part of knowing that you could rely on each other; and that you were supporting each others successful endeavors.
This almost sounds quaint in the context of today's big corporations. Big multinational institution rarely have a deep relationship to people or place. Because these institutions are doing business in so many places and dealing with such a high volume of customers, customer service is not a relationship but often an impersonal application of policies and scripts for interaction. The organization is designed for institutional expediency and self-protection, not relationship or connection.
Think of the last time you got stuck for hours in a plane on the tarmac; or when your flight got cancelled and you had to call customer service somewhere around the world. You will know exactly what I mean. There is little mutuality in the exchange. It is aggravatingly impersonal, and frustratingly ineffective.
I know it doesn't sound like a very 'sophisticated' explanation, but at a very fundamental level, this loss of connection, loss of a direct relationship with the customer, is at the root of the financial crises.
When I was growing up, we lived in a small town. My parents knew and were friends with the branch manager of the local bank. I remember going into the bank with my dad many times. We would always go go over to talk to Merle, the bank manager. He and his wife Elaine had become friends of my mom and dad. Even after Merle retired, and they moved out of the area, my parents stayed in contact with them.
The relationship between my dad and Merle, was critical to their successful transactions over decades. Based on a long history of interaction, they knew each other. They knew each other's character, family circumstances, hopes, dreams. So, when my dad decided to ask for a loan to purchase land and build a house, Merle knew he was trustworthy. He knew dad's history, his commitment to place and that he could be counted on to repay the loan.
My parents relationship with the Browns was not unusual. At that time, it was the norm that there were relationships and a connection between people who did business together. The relationships were a key part of knowing that you could rely on each other; and that you were supporting each others successful endeavors.
This almost sounds quaint in the context of today's big corporations. Big multinational institution rarely have a deep relationship to people or place. Because these institutions are doing business in so many places and dealing with such a high volume of customers, customer service is not a relationship but often an impersonal application of policies and scripts for interaction. The organization is designed for institutional expediency and self-protection, not relationship or connection.
Think of the last time you got stuck for hours in a plane on the tarmac; or when your flight got cancelled and you had to call customer service somewhere around the world. You will know exactly what I mean. There is little mutuality in the exchange. It is aggravatingly impersonal, and frustratingly ineffective.
I know it doesn't sound like a very 'sophisticated' explanation, but at a very fundamental level, this loss of connection, loss of a direct relationship with the customer, is at the root of the financial crises.
Saturday, October 11, 2008
McCain blows the Leadership Test- Again
For the past week, Gov. Palin and Senator McCain have been fanning the flames of incendiary rhetoric, trying to turn our attention away from the real political issues that should be the focus of our examination and discourse. Palin particularly has had the role of using lies and innuendo to try to attack Obama's character. She would not be taking this approach without the full endorsement of this strategy by McCain.
At the most recent rallies with McCain, people were so incited that they yelled the slurs of "traitor" and "terrorist" and used invectives about hurting Obama. This has been met, belatedly, with a tepid denouncement by McCain.
Yes, campaigns get tough this time of year, but the use of this strategy demonstrates such poor judgement, it can only be explained as an act of extreme desperation. When Palin stirs up the mob mentality that is created at their rallies, and McCain accepts it, it is dangerous and a huge disservice to our country. It eliminates rationality and appeals only to the lowest, most base level of our humanity.
For someone who claimed to want to eliminate partisan politics, as McCain has repeatedly said he wanted to do, this strategy is dumbfounding. To treat another presidential candidate with this level of disrespect and slander is inexcusable. No matter who wins this election, John McCain and Sarah Palin have contributed to a heightened level of partisanship, distrust and hatred; leaving a residue of intolerance that has the potential to threaten us all.
At the most recent rallies with McCain, people were so incited that they yelled the slurs of "traitor" and "terrorist" and used invectives about hurting Obama. This has been met, belatedly, with a tepid denouncement by McCain.
Yes, campaigns get tough this time of year, but the use of this strategy demonstrates such poor judgement, it can only be explained as an act of extreme desperation. When Palin stirs up the mob mentality that is created at their rallies, and McCain accepts it, it is dangerous and a huge disservice to our country. It eliminates rationality and appeals only to the lowest, most base level of our humanity.
For someone who claimed to want to eliminate partisan politics, as McCain has repeatedly said he wanted to do, this strategy is dumbfounding. To treat another presidential candidate with this level of disrespect and slander is inexcusable. No matter who wins this election, John McCain and Sarah Palin have contributed to a heightened level of partisanship, distrust and hatred; leaving a residue of intolerance that has the potential to threaten us all.
Friday, October 10, 2008
Time to Reclaim Dreams
October 9, 2008
Tonight I feel a distance from the fear. I am aware of it. I am aware that if I really focused on it, it could build. But I mostly feel a separation and distance from the mass hysteria that is going on in the financial markets. I think no matter what happens there, we will be OK. Actually, part of the shift in my thinking is that the stock market is so ridiculously low that it is an opportunity of a lifetime to put money in. Because history shows that every time the bottom has been reached the rebound is huge.
But I am done worrying about the market. What is most important now, is to focus on the future. Its time to reclaim dreams. I have gifts, skills and talents that I want to contribute, to make a difference. And the world needs me to do that. Now more than ever, the world needs each one of us to do that.
Tonight I feel a distance from the fear. I am aware of it. I am aware that if I really focused on it, it could build. But I mostly feel a separation and distance from the mass hysteria that is going on in the financial markets. I think no matter what happens there, we will be OK. Actually, part of the shift in my thinking is that the stock market is so ridiculously low that it is an opportunity of a lifetime to put money in. Because history shows that every time the bottom has been reached the rebound is huge.
But I am done worrying about the market. What is most important now, is to focus on the future. Its time to reclaim dreams. I have gifts, skills and talents that I want to contribute, to make a difference. And the world needs me to do that. Now more than ever, the world needs each one of us to do that.
Importance of Managing Stress
This week has been a roller coaster of a stress. In order to regain and maintain perspective, it has been really important to take steps to actively manage your stress levels. Here are a few things that I have found can make a big difference:
- Stay connected to friends and family who support you. Avoid isolation.
- Talk to a trusted financial advisor who is a competent expert, committed to your best interest and who can give you accurate information and perspective.
- Take extra good care of yourself.
- Eat really healthy food. Avoid excess sugar or alcohol.
- Walk or do some form of aerobic exercise every day, to move the adrenaline out of your body and reduce the cortisol caused by stress. This will have a calming effect and help restore perspective.
- Turn off CNN or any other station that is broadcasting non-stop reports or analysis of the crises. It sounds like it may be new information, but it is usually just a regurgitation of the old and has the effect of recycling the emotional drama.
- Pay attention to and manage your thoughts and where you place your attention. Avoid going down the path of catastrophe and worry.
- Read things that are inspiring and uplifting.
- Spend some time during each day in a practice that helps you reconnect with yourself as a 'centered' calm being. This can be through meditation, or by simply repeating a word that you choose that is affirming like love, or relax, or by taking a series of deep, relaxing breaths and slowly, gently letting them out.
- Go to bed a little earlier, to get a full night of restorative sleep.
Chosing a New Focus
October 8, 2008
I woke up last night, again in cold sweat, but something had shifted. I realized that I had to get back to work. I have been on sabbatical, investigating other interests and what I might do in the next chapter of my life. Given what’s happening in the market, I may not have the back up resources to stay on sabbatical or consider semi-retirement. I have all these skills and talents that I am not using. Now I need to use them to make a contribution, to make a difference.
I am feeling a determination to move past this panic and to reclaim my future.
I still have instances of fear creeping in, but I have to stay focused on what I am creating. It will be a form of disciplined practice, to walk my own talk about how important intention and choice of focus is.
I woke up last night, again in cold sweat, but something had shifted. I realized that I had to get back to work. I have been on sabbatical, investigating other interests and what I might do in the next chapter of my life. Given what’s happening in the market, I may not have the back up resources to stay on sabbatical or consider semi-retirement. I have all these skills and talents that I am not using. Now I need to use them to make a contribution, to make a difference.
I am feeling a determination to move past this panic and to reclaim my future.
I still have instances of fear creeping in, but I have to stay focused on what I am creating. It will be a form of disciplined practice, to walk my own talk about how important intention and choice of focus is.
Catching the Contagion of Panic
Monday, Oct 6, 2008
Tonight I was shaking with cold terror. I really was cold from it.
I had caught the fear that seems to be a contagion on Wall Street. My whole picture of reality has turned upside down. I realized that I had been distracted this last month, not paying attention to the financial situation and its repercussions; not registering my vulnerability in having assets in the stock market; not taking action to get those assets out soon enough.
This realization spiraled into a web that spun me into total panic and propelled me back into the throws of worst case scenario visions that seem to be just under the surface of the collective consciousness. It was the giant reckoning of the second depression. This was the ultimate ‘other shoe’ that might drop and proof that dreams can’t be realized. The possibility of creating anything for the future is wiped out. From this perspective, there seems to be only desolation, and hopelessness. I saw no way out of the problem, and no consolation once the worst has happened. My perception of my reality was very clear and stark.
Then I progressed into the retribution stage.
How could I have let this happen?! How could I have spent money on my home remodel? Yes, I had great plan and hope for the future, for new work, etc. but Now I may not get the chance to realize any of it. How could I have been so blind to this timing? Why did I not stay alert to the economic situation and how it was changing over time? After all my committment to listening to my intuition, how did I overlook it this time?
I know that I am feeling the panic of the collective psyche. I think most of us are. The actions that are being taken to sell stocks at immense loss just to get out of the market, is a reflection of the devastation that fear can wreak. It can grab hold of you; building on itself, until it becomes an enveloping nightmare that squeezes the future out of you. When you are gripped by it, it seems like there is no place to look except into its nightmare reality. I ‘know’ that’s not the truth, but I haven’t gotten out of this morass yet. I’m working on it.
Tonight I was shaking with cold terror. I really was cold from it.
I had caught the fear that seems to be a contagion on Wall Street. My whole picture of reality has turned upside down. I realized that I had been distracted this last month, not paying attention to the financial situation and its repercussions; not registering my vulnerability in having assets in the stock market; not taking action to get those assets out soon enough.
This realization spiraled into a web that spun me into total panic and propelled me back into the throws of worst case scenario visions that seem to be just under the surface of the collective consciousness. It was the giant reckoning of the second depression. This was the ultimate ‘other shoe’ that might drop and proof that dreams can’t be realized. The possibility of creating anything for the future is wiped out. From this perspective, there seems to be only desolation, and hopelessness. I saw no way out of the problem, and no consolation once the worst has happened. My perception of my reality was very clear and stark.
Then I progressed into the retribution stage.
How could I have let this happen?! How could I have spent money on my home remodel? Yes, I had great plan and hope for the future, for new work, etc. but Now I may not get the chance to realize any of it. How could I have been so blind to this timing? Why did I not stay alert to the economic situation and how it was changing over time? After all my committment to listening to my intuition, how did I overlook it this time?
I know that I am feeling the panic of the collective psyche. I think most of us are. The actions that are being taken to sell stocks at immense loss just to get out of the market, is a reflection of the devastation that fear can wreak. It can grab hold of you; building on itself, until it becomes an enveloping nightmare that squeezes the future out of you. When you are gripped by it, it seems like there is no place to look except into its nightmare reality. I ‘know’ that’s not the truth, but I haven’t gotten out of this morass yet. I’m working on it.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Hope is an essential nutrient for life
I am realizing how essential hope is to everyone, individually and collectively. In the current economic situation it is easy to be overwhelmed by fear.
I think that fear works on us in such a way that it makes us small. If we let it grab hold, it can cause us to contract energetically, shrinking down to our smallest selves. It drives us to huddle in a tight ball in the corner of a dark room, scanning for anything that threatens us.
Hope expands us energetically. It is a catalyst to get up and get out of the room. It propels us to a high vista where we can survey the expanse of our possibility. Hope provides us the impetus to reach out and take the first steps toward realizing our potential.
Hope is an essential nutrient for a fulfilling life.
I think that fear works on us in such a way that it makes us small. If we let it grab hold, it can cause us to contract energetically, shrinking down to our smallest selves. It drives us to huddle in a tight ball in the corner of a dark room, scanning for anything that threatens us.
Hope expands us energetically. It is a catalyst to get up and get out of the room. It propels us to a high vista where we can survey the expanse of our possibility. Hope provides us the impetus to reach out and take the first steps toward realizing our potential.
Hope is an essential nutrient for a fulfilling life.
Turning the corner on Fear
There is a lot to say about fear and its affect on me/us. In my experience, fear can grab hold of you and totally distort the view of your life and your future.
Last night I woke up in the middle of the night in one of those cold sweats, where you are bombarded with the thoughts of what could go wrong. In this case from the economic situation we are facing and the panic generated from the lack of understanding and inaction from congress. (there is a much bigger story here too obviously), and the fear being compounded by the media reporting.
I woke up with the absolute realization that the game had changed and I was at risk. This wasn't an abstract concept. It was the recognition that the game had changed and all the rules and assumptions based on those rules were out the window. In the worst case scenario, if the economic system unravels then I and a lot of other people could be cast into a dire survival mode.
I found myself watching these thoughts roll out, creating a vast net like a spider web that ensnares and traps the victim. Thoughts can do that: create whole realities in themselves. And in creating this reality in my mind, I became aware of the way I was shrinking into the corner of my mind becoming smaller and more immobilized with every escalating dire prognosis.
I don't like giving a lot of credence to the fear based thought patterns. Usually, I am able to totally change tracks of thinking and get out of the pit of the negative. This time I couldn't. The force of the collective consensus of the situation had too strong a hold of me. So, I tried something else. This time I followed the path of the worst case scenario to see where it would lead. I'm sure you know that spiral: Loss of income or assets leads to not being able to pay bills, leads to losing my house; which, since I am self employed, results in having no place to work or create.
In the past, when I have been gripped by this fear, the unraveling usually ends up with the end point of becoming a bag lady. I understand this is a universal fear. This time, I got a different perspective. If I lost everything, I could still go to the library and use the computer to write. There was still a way I could have a vehicle to express. That was at the core. If I could do that, then I can keep going. I didn't have to have all that stuff, but I do need a way to continue to express and create. That part of me is the pathway to survival and revival.
I don't know if this makes sense to anyone else, but, following this line of worst case logic got me to a core of something really important to me that I will not lose no matter what the external environment. Creating and expressing are at the core of who I am. If I have a way to continue that, I can take care of myself. Knowing that gave me the sense of calm and reassurance that I will be OK no matter what happens externally. Having that calm, helped me get out of the trap of the fear based thought spiral.
So I wonder what this is for others. What is it that is so essential in you, that you know you will not lose, no matter what the real or imagined worst case scenarios are?
I am totally surprised to find how liberating the discovery of this answer has been for me.
I hope it will be for you too.
Last night I woke up in the middle of the night in one of those cold sweats, where you are bombarded with the thoughts of what could go wrong. In this case from the economic situation we are facing and the panic generated from the lack of understanding and inaction from congress. (there is a much bigger story here too obviously), and the fear being compounded by the media reporting.
I woke up with the absolute realization that the game had changed and I was at risk. This wasn't an abstract concept. It was the recognition that the game had changed and all the rules and assumptions based on those rules were out the window. In the worst case scenario, if the economic system unravels then I and a lot of other people could be cast into a dire survival mode.
I found myself watching these thoughts roll out, creating a vast net like a spider web that ensnares and traps the victim. Thoughts can do that: create whole realities in themselves. And in creating this reality in my mind, I became aware of the way I was shrinking into the corner of my mind becoming smaller and more immobilized with every escalating dire prognosis.
I don't like giving a lot of credence to the fear based thought patterns. Usually, I am able to totally change tracks of thinking and get out of the pit of the negative. This time I couldn't. The force of the collective consensus of the situation had too strong a hold of me. So, I tried something else. This time I followed the path of the worst case scenario to see where it would lead. I'm sure you know that spiral: Loss of income or assets leads to not being able to pay bills, leads to losing my house; which, since I am self employed, results in having no place to work or create.
In the past, when I have been gripped by this fear, the unraveling usually ends up with the end point of becoming a bag lady. I understand this is a universal fear. This time, I got a different perspective. If I lost everything, I could still go to the library and use the computer to write. There was still a way I could have a vehicle to express. That was at the core. If I could do that, then I can keep going. I didn't have to have all that stuff, but I do need a way to continue to express and create. That part of me is the pathway to survival and revival.
I don't know if this makes sense to anyone else, but, following this line of worst case logic got me to a core of something really important to me that I will not lose no matter what the external environment. Creating and expressing are at the core of who I am. If I have a way to continue that, I can take care of myself. Knowing that gave me the sense of calm and reassurance that I will be OK no matter what happens externally. Having that calm, helped me get out of the trap of the fear based thought spiral.
So I wonder what this is for others. What is it that is so essential in you, that you know you will not lose, no matter what the real or imagined worst case scenarios are?
I am totally surprised to find how liberating the discovery of this answer has been for me.
I hope it will be for you too.
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