“Michael Wood…”

Magical Thinking (Photo credit: alvaro tapia hidalgo)

Michael Wood. Do you know his name?

He is a British historian, the man behind such magnificent documentaries as “Legacy,” and “Myths and Heroes.” You can find them both on Netflix. He is amazing. Just like me, he has a childlike exuberance for history. I cannot imagine that it would be possible to watch his documentaries and not feel his passion.

I would love to have his job. Problem is . . . if I am being honest . . .  I lack the drive to get the education necessary to do it. There is no shame in that – but it shines a light on something that we need to be aware of, and that is this: you can accomplish anything in life – but ONLY if you have the drive and commitment.

There is no magic bullet that will do it – you have to physically commit to going all the way.

For me – well, I live vicariously through the amazing commentary of Michael Wood. Yes, it could be me, IF I possessed the ambition.

Remember “The Secret?” It was such a big deal, such a watershed – but it failed in one respect [it did not take into account the intense PHYSICAL drive that is necessary to combine with the belief]. There IS a way, but don’t think that it is an easy way . . . .that you can just imagine it and that it will fall in your lap. Belief MUST be combined with action. Without action, you are just playing with “magical thinking,” which, on its own, will get you nowhere.

You CAN do it – whatever IT is – BUT you must ACT in conjunction with your faith. Don’t be a fool and think that if you just imagine it that it will arrive. Set your intention, which is critical, but then ACT. THIS will ensure your success.

Many Blessings To All…

Rising Hawk

“It Has Begun…”

This image shows a close-up photo of a Poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima). (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I don’t say that “it has begun” because of all of the Christmas commercials, (which I think started back in September or something), but because I just completed my first official act of the Christmas season – the Dickens Village.

Now, that may not sound like much, but it took me most of the day to do it. This year, it was an entirely different layout, with two new buildings, and a few more people on the streets.

Being some sort of OCD about these things, I am a stickler about the appearance being as realistic as possible – you know, hiding the cords perfectly, symmetry, etc. It’s like going from 0-60 as a City Planner in the course of a day.

Just like being a writer or painter, you have this blank canvas, all this stuff, and have to create your masterpiece. It’s gratifying when it’s done, but truly mentally and physically taxing when you are doing it.

It IS my favorite part of all of the decorations, though. I wish I could say that we were through, but we still have three trees, three rails worth of garland, the mantle, a halfwall, table centerpieces, and the outside – all to be done before Thanksgiving morn, and I have to be gone most of the day tomorrow. And, we haven’t gotten the poinsettia yet, either. Yeah, we do a lot of Christmas.

Why so much? Well, Christmas for me as a kid generally sucked, and I went most of my adult life in the “humbug” state about the holiday business. Then, one day in the last ten years or so, I made the decision to take Christmas back from my past that stole it and I have.

And why does it all have to be done by Thanksgiving? Because we have two sets of grandchildren, and one bunch might make Thanksgiving and not Christmas, and the other might make Christmas but not Thanksgiving. So, the only way to ensure that they ALL get to see the decorations is to have it done by Thanksgiving.

I suppose this is part of the self-created stress of the holidays. But, one thing is for sure – it is going to look really beautiful and festive around here for about 6 weeks, and that’s pretty cool.

Many Blessings To All…

Rising Hawk

“Don’t Be Fuzzy…”

New York (Photo credit: Elliotphotos)

All things come to those who wait. Everyone has probably heard some variant of that statement before. I would say that it is, for the most part, true – but there is a caveat. There are a couple of conditions. Woodrow Wilson said:

“All things come to him who waits – provided he knows what he is waiting for.”

That’s one of the conditions; knowing what you are waiting for. I’ll come back to that one. The second “condition,” relates to the quality of your waiting. Is there such a thing as quality waiting? You better believe it!

There are two kinds of waiting that a person can do. The first is to sit around hoping that something is going to change.

Now, hope is a good thing to be sure, but it is not waiting with quality. Waiting in hope is sort of an anxious, wistful sort of thing, and when you are waiting in this manner nothing usually manifests for you. It’s not proactive – it leaves the driving to someone else, so to speak.

“Quality waiting,” on the other hand, can best be described as patient faith. You are not simply hoping that something will come, you know that it is coming because you have applied your faith and taken the appropriate actions to yield a specific result. Notice that I used the word “specific.” That is part two of the formula – “knowing what you are waiting for.”

Let’s suppose that you wish to go to Times Square in New York. And let’s suppose that Times Square just happens to be east of your current location, and you must take a cab. So, what do you tell the cab driver once you are settled in the back seat – to head east, or that you want to go to Times Square in New York?

Well, the answer is obvious: you would say, “take me to Times Square in New York.” If you just said “head east,” you wouldn’t be doing any quality waiting; you would be anxiously hoping that you somehow ended up at Times Square. Good luck. No, you have to be specific with cab drivers, and you have to be specific with the universe, too.

When you want change in your life, both you and the Infinite Source must know – specifically – what condition or change you wish to experience . . . that is, “what you’re [quality] waiting for.” If you are without a specific vision for your future, then you don’t know what you’re waiting for, and with that sort of vagueness of energy, who knows what you’ll get? The idea of a positive change sounds fine, but offers nothing concrete and specific from which the universe can build. The lesson here? Know EXACTLY what “good thing” you wish to come into your life, apply some patient, quality waiting, and then you will have a real good shot at getting it.

So, no more hopeful waiting in vain for some fuzzy, non-specific outcome. Make a plan, paint a detailed picture in your mind and write it down. That’s where one begins when one is serious about experiencing a desired change.

Many Blessings To All…

Rising Hawk

“Mr. Spock Saved My Life…Then Messed It Up”

Vulcan (Star Trek) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Yes, THAT Mr. Spock, from the original “Star Trek” series.

I’ve never met Leonard Nimoy, the man who played the role of Mr. Spock, in his character or out. So, it isn’t as though he pulled me out of a burning building or something. Nevertheless, the character of Mr. Spock was a role model for me in my early teens.

Back in those days I was what was commonly referred to as a nerd, or a geek, (I’m still a little off-center, just a lot bigger and harder to intimidate). I got picked on a lot by the cool guys – you know, the athletes and the rowdy pot-heads – and I was a passive person in those days. I WANTED to be Captain Kirk, but that was out of my reach. I didn’t have the looks, or the muscles, or the charisma. But, I COULD emulate the attitude of the Spock character – emotionless, cold, logical, and highly intelligent. And by doing so, I developed the ability to cut those that would harass me to pieces with a calm and quick wit, withholding from them any satisfaction of getting a rise out of me. Maybe it is a bit much to say the character “saved” my life, but at the very least it provided a model by which I could peacefully endure a difficult time.

Well, a problem arose with my plan. You see, after a couple of turbulent years, I really wasn’t treated that way anymore, but I discovered that I stayed “in character.” I had become one with the persona, and I stayed that way until college, where I broke free of it. Or so I thought.

The persona was still there, like a loaded pistol stashed away in case of an emergency. This was brought to the fore when I entered the military. I was tailor-made for some of what I was called upon to do – cold, emotionless, and deadly efficient. In times of threat, my “Mr. Spock” would arise – only this time, there was menace beneath that trade-mark “arched-eyebrow” that Leonard Nimoy brought to the role.

It turns out that this personality trait that proved so valuable to me in earlier years, has now proven to be a set-up for great misery. All of the horrible things that I saw and did . . . well . . . my highly developed “Spock” rendition simply buried them deep in my mind – no reaction, no release, no dealing with the pain. But that doesn’t mean they went away. No, what you end up with is very severe post-traumatic stress disorder.

Of course, everyone who goes through combat or some other trauma does this “burying;” it is a form of dissociation that allows us to get through whatever “it” is. Ideally, though, there is a release afterwards – the extreme emotions are brought out and laid to rest. I couldn’t do it. The wall that I had meticulously constructed in my earlier years is so tall, so thick, and so powerful that even I can’t look behind it. Six years of therapy haven’t gotten behind it, either, but that may all change soon.

Next week, I will be going to a support group at the Veteran’s Administration, surrounded by Veterans with some of the same issues as me. Am I nervous? You better believe it – I’m not certain what monster lives back there, and not sure that I, or anyone else, wants to meet it. But, I am a warrior, and if there be a dragon of immense size back there, I intend to slay it – or it, me. I shall no more walk along the middle ground. I suspect that there is going to be a lot of charred earth before this one is over.

So, is there a lesson in here? Some “word to the wise?” Yes. Don’t bottle up your feelings, or YOU will be the one that gets bottled up.

Many Blessings To All…

Rising Hawk

 

 

“At A [Writer's] Cliff…”

English: penulis = writer (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

That’s what I need -  a bridge.

You see, I’m writing this fiction book, and a couple of months back I wrote myself right to the edge of a cliff; I had no idea what was going to happen next. I didn’t know where the story was going, so I couldn’t proceed. So, for about two months or so, I haven’t messed with it. Sad. Thirty-eight thousand words in . . . and then, nothing.

I’ve written and published a book in the past, but it was non-fiction. All that I had to do was relate what I experienced in an intelligent and coherent way. I didn’t even have to do any research – I had lived it. Fiction, on the other hand – well, that’s kind of hard for me.

Don’t get me wrong . . .writing fiction CAN be easy in two cases:

1. You are a genius – you know, the Stephen King , J.K. Rowling types. Or . . .

2. You THINK you are a good writer, but you churn out really crappy stuff. Writing crappy books is a lot easier than being a good writer, (and your friends won’t tell you the truth).

Outside of those two cases, writing a fiction book is very difficult. I’m not in category number one, and I know full well when I am writing total shit, so I’ll can it rather than stand by it, so I am not in category number two. [I don't count my blogs so much, because they are much more casual, "off-the-cuff ," and I may or may not do much editing before I zip them off into cyber-space].

Where was I? Oh yeah, at a cliff and needing a bridge. On the bright side, I know what the problem is. It isn’t that I suck as a writer, it’s that I don’t write with a plan in mind; no outline, none of that stuff. I have a vague, general idea of where I’m going, but that’s about it. I take that and sit down and start writing. It’s true – I don’t even know how the book will end, or have a list of characters, or a firm idea of a plot. That’s totally wrong, I hear – I would fail writing school.

Now, one would be making a reasonable presumption if one presumed that such an approach is destined for disaster. But, I re-read the entire book that I have thus far today, and it is a real page-turner. It pulls me along . . . I couldn’t stop reading it, and I wrote the damn thing! Just as if I was a total stranger to the work, I really want to know what is going to happen next for these people. I suppose that makes perfect sense, since in the real world, as the author, I DO want to know what is going to happen next, and I don’t.

But, I think the “dry spell” is coming to an end, because after reading it again today, I felt the “flow” of it again. I realized that the pace of the story had slowed, and that I had stopped at a place where dynamic action was needed in the story. It’s great to feel the pacing, because then you know where and how to direct your creative energy. The writing stopped within shouting distance of becoming boring, and that’s really good information to have as a writer. Now I know the nature of the energy that needs to be portrayed next, and that is a huge help in building that “bridge.” I know that there needs to be another dose of intense action, and that gives me focus by narrowing my creative field of vision.

Today, some ideas began to brew again. That feels good.

Many Blessings To All…

Rising Hawk

“It Isn’t Christmas Yet, But . . .”

Ignorance and Want, woodcut — from A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens (1812 – 1870) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I wrote this blog, (under another title), back in December 0f 2010. And though it isn’t Christmas yet, the message that came through on the night that I penned these words are timeless. We have never needed to lift each other up more than today – be it by kinds words, or acts. Here it is, (previously titled “May We Be Forgiven…”):

 

Charles Dickens’, A Christmas Carol, was first published in 1843. Amazingly, it only required six weeks of writing to produce this now well-known tale of Ebenezer Scrooge.

It was also during that same year that the first Christmas Card was introduced, and a time that marked the beginning of a shift among the populace of England toward a more “happy” idea of Christmas than the previous, more somber celebrations.

“Rise, and walk with me,” said the ghost of Christmas past, his hand out-stretched to the unrepentant Scrooge. Ebenezer did not want to go, but he could not resist.  And now, I ask you, with my hand out-stretched, to take my hand and “walk with me” for a few minutes.

Welcome to 1843.

That gnawing in your gut is not a stranger to you – you live every day in hunger. You are poor, working in a factory for an obscene number of hours each day, only to receive a trifling sum of money to provide for your home and family. And your home is drafty and cold, or unbearably hot, jammed against other homes to form a tinderbox waiting to explode. Your family lives in deprivation, and filth, and hunger – there is little that you can do. But there is Christmas.

On one day a year, if you play your cards right, and have scrimped and saved even more than you thought possible, you have a chance of leaving the dinner table with a stomach that is at least approaching satisfied.

When you gather around the table with your family, you truly ARE grateful, for one meal…for one day when you aren’t starving, for one day when you aren’t slaving for a cruel master, for one day of HOPE.

Today, there are people in the same condition, but it isn’t likely that it is one of you who is reading this. Without a single gift under the tree with your name on it, you are already blessed beyond measure.

May we be forgiven for taking for granted the  sheet that covers us, in a real bed, with a roof over our head, and enough food to eat on any given day. May we be forgiven for walking past those who have not, and for judging their condition and who they are. May we be forgiven for bitching while sitting in the midst of what would be splendor and majesty beyond belief to a Third World child. I should be upon my knees, weeping,  when I think upon the blessings that are showered upon me each and every day.

The time has come for spiritual maturity. It is time to give to those who have not, to lift them up with love in any way that we can, EVERY day. If you cannot do this, do not pretend to be celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ on December 25th, (or any other day for that matter). His entire message was to “give as I have given.” We are surely blind if we do not reach out to our fellow-man who is in desperate need; for in reaching out to them, we are reaching out to ourselves.

Many Blessings To All…

Rising Hawk

“Nuts! . . . “

Think Tank (Photo credit: Robiwan_Kenobi)

If there was one word that would best describe what is being said by Albert Einstein in the following quote, I believe that it would be perspective. He said:

“The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them.”

So simple and so true. And it doesn’t just apply to “significant” problems, either. When the way that you think creates a problem, it is impossible for that same line of thinking to resolve it. There must be a mental “shift,” a change in the way that you look at an issue before it can be fixed.

In corporate speak, the popular phrase is to claim a “paradigm shift” in the way that company conducts its business; i.e. “we’re approaching problems and challenges from a new and fresh direction.” In short, they’ve changed the model that they were previously using to solve problems and move forward because that way of thinking wasn’t working. We, as individuals, must do the same thing when faced with unpleasant situations that our thinking and actions created.

Have you ever been to a carnival and thrown a ball to knock down a milk bottle or pin? When you miss it, what do you do? You recognize that what you did “caused a problem;” it didn’t work in attaining your goal. So, you change the angle of your arm, or the speed with which you were throwing, or maybe adjust the positioning of your feet. Mentally, you tinkered with your perspective, which led you to physically alter the way in which you approached the challenge. If you did the same thing as before, you would get the same, ineffective result. To not change the way that you think and yet still expect to receive a different result is the much quoted and humorous definition of “insanity.” Reading it here, right now, we all say, “yeah, that’s common sense.” But it isn’t that common, and you would be surprised at how many folks, (you and me included), will steadfastly NOT change anything in full expectation that the outcome will be different. Nuts!

Take a stroll around your problem. Look at it from above, or from the other side, or from another person’s perspective. A simple change in the way that you look at something forces your mind to re-evaluate, and that puts you at a different level of thinking. That’s where the solutions are.

Turn the rocks in your path over – they look different from that angle, and that stimulates new thinking.

Many Blessings To All…

Rising Hawk

“When Is Your Next ‘Happy’? . . . “

Happiness (Photo credit: Advertise2win®)

Here’s a quote for you, from the late and magnificent Eknath Easwaran:

“But the young prince [Buddha] scrutinized the content of worldly happiness much more closely than the rest of us, and his conclusion was that what people called joy was a house of cards perched precariously on certain preconditions. When these preconditions are fulfilled, the pleasure we feel lasts but a moment, for the nature of human experience is to change.”

I really wanted to throw this quote out there and just leave it . . . with no comment. Why? With the hope that even one, single person would read it over-and-over, would dwell upon it for weeks – even months – until the full and profound impact of the words struck that meditating soul like a thunder-clap, breaking forever the chains that bound them to unhappiness. As it is, I won’t add much.

When is your next “happy?”

What are you “looking forward to?”

Is it payday? The weekend? A new car? Seeing the children/grandchildren? Maybe your favorite TV show?

It is difficult to wrap ourselves around a truth so deep, that seems to run so counter to everything that we have come to believe.

Those things that I mentioned are “happier than I am now” points; little feel good shots that we have come to define as joy. What they really are is your own, unique set of “preconditions” for being happy. And sadly, no matter what the precondition may be, it won’t last – which means that your “happy” isn’t going to last either – because it has been hitched to a transitory condition. “The nature of the human experience is to change.”

The root of joy, bliss, peace, and happiness is within, and to mentally make their existence dependent on an outside precondition is a sure way to guarantee that your experience if them will be fleeting at best.

If thinking and evaluating your preconditions causes you to become uncomfortable, or agitated, or even angry/defensive . . . congratulations. That is the way that wisdom usually begins – with resistance.

Stick with it. Give the idea the benefit of the doubt. The subject is a very deep well that one could explore for many lifetimes before ever really fully comprehending it.

So,I will leave it at that. Read the quote again . . . and again. Contemplate it. It can change the very nature of your existence.

Many Blessings To All…

Rising Hawk

“The World’s Greatest Thespian…”

If there is one thing that I have written many times in many ways on this blog over the years, it is that NOTHING is more important than accepting and loving yourself for who you are – warts and all. I do not know of too many things that can bring one to a state of peace more efficiently than embracing the knowledge that there isn’t anything wrong with who you are and what you want to do with your life [Hurting other people being excluded. I am not the one who judges "right" or "wrong," but their will be consequences for that sort of activity and society, by a majority, has a moral compass that is true enough that it won't be tolerated]. Having written all of that, this blog IS called The Fortress of Potential, so being a “different” person, having the potential and ability to change is likewise important.

I really want to reach beyond the obvious things here: you know, stuff like not smoking, getting some exercise, smiling more, etc. I think most everyone knows the value in making these sorts of behavioral modifications without having to hear about them again and again. What I want to write about, if the words will come, (and hopefully doesn’t take all day), is becoming a completely different person.

I can already feel a struggle beginning with this message; it’s going to be difficult to word, and I’m feeling a bit lazy, so I am resisting what I am being prodded to share. I would rather take a nap – but I am going to forge ahead just the same.

The first step to becoming a totally different person is understanding the first paragraph that I wrote. Don’t set off to be a different person because you think that there is something wrong with who you are RIGHT NOW. You MUST love that person without reservation before you can embark on what I am attempting to describe. You’re fine just like you are. If there are a few things here and there you would like to tweak, go ahead. . . . . man, this is hard to convey. I really need to step-aside and let It flow. Anyway, that’s where you start; knowing that you are as worthwhile and as important as any other human on the planet just as you are.

Next step is a big decision. A CONSCIOUS decision to become a different person. A decision to become a “new” being NOT because there is anything unworthy about the being that you currently are, but because this “new” person intrigues you. It excites you, and you want to experience it. Do you understand the difference in the thinking?

Now, of course, in order to make the decision to which I am referring, you have to know “who” you desire to be – that is, whose shoes to you want to walk some miles in, or maybe even the rest of your life?

This person does not have to physically exist today, (or to have physically existed ever). By that I mean to say that your model can be a fictional character. Sound crazy? Maybe at first.But it is important to understand that becoming a “different person” has to do with changes in the realm of mind, ego, emotions – maybe even the way that you walk and talk. Even fictional characters, (well-developed ones, anyway), have those elements built-in. Your essence, your Spirit, isn’t going to change. All that you are doing is deciding to experience a different, physical character. That’s actually all you are doing right now . . . acting. You’re acting out a character on the grandest stage of them all.

What’s really neat is that the “dressing room” is all around you – along with acting teachers, speech coaches, you name it. People in your neighborhood, public figures, movie characters. It’s  like going shopping . . . what do you want to try on today?

What I have written here today is a LOT “heavier” than it may seem at first read. It speaks to the God-breathed ability that each of us posses to create and “be” whoever we desire to be. It is not a decision to be made lightly, it’s not a decision that has to be made at all; you may very well like your character just fine, and that is a beautiful thing.

The idea that is pressing me so hard today, (and for the past several days), is to make sure that people know that they are actors. Not just any actor, but the most in-demand thespian in the world, who can choose any role that he/she wishes to play. Now, assuming that you make the decision to change roles, how do you do it? You do what any great actor would do – study the part, then act it and live it.

Start small, maybe by mirroring the way that your chosen character thinks – establishing their worldview as your own. Then perhaps physical mannerisms, or style of dress. This isn’t some earth-shattering, new revelation. It is has been said many times and ways over the ages: ACT like the person that you most want to be, and you will become that person. You know the quote, (attributed to lots of different people), “we become what we think about.” Or, to use other words, we are our actions, which are driven by our thoughts. Therefore, change your thoughts, which will change your actions, which will lead to you becoming a totally “new” person.

As I wrote, this is not a light message. It is very heavy, and powerful. DON’T decide to become a different person on a whim. It can be very scary, and you could end up meeting with a lot of resistance. Know your motives, and count what the cost may be. Is it worth it? Only you can answer that question.

This is a hard message. I AM NOT suggesting that ANYONE change who they are. I am attempting,in my own feeble way, to pass on an understanding of the incredible power that we each have over our experience of this physical world. It’s like our world is a giant bowl of soup. Everyone is sitting in their chair and eating, tasting, experiencing the soup. Just remember, you are not bound to the chair that you are in – you can get up and move to a new seat and taste the soup from there.

Well, maybe my longest post, and I’m still wondering if I effectively expressed what my Spirit was trying to get through to me. Nevertheless, there it is. I think I’ll take that nap now.

Many Blessings To All…

Rising Hawk

“An Emphatic Announcement…”

Help starts to move your way when YOU move.

Miracles happen.

People show up in your life that have the answers or support that you need.

This isn’t new information, but it bears repeating. There is the old, traditional saying, “The Lord helps those that help themselves.” There is also this quote from Louise Hay:

“Be willing to take the first step, no matter how small it is. Concentrate on the fact that you are willing to learn. Absolute miracles will happen.”

When you practice this, circumstances arise that perfectly mesh with what you are working to achieve. These timely manifestations are NOT coincidences; they are synchronous displays of the amazing power of the universe, Creation, responding to your step of faith. But your steps can’t be guided if you aren’t taking any.

You can’t just sit in your chair and wait to be told which direction to go; it doesn’t work that way. In order to get those mysterious forces involved, you have to stand up and take a step, no matter how small, and no matter if you are not dure of the direction. Then,as Louise Hay states, “Concentrate on the fact that you are willing to learn.” Believe me, when you do that consistently and expectantly, you WILL begin to be taught and directed, each step becoming more exciting than the last.

So, if you have a vision for your life, (and I sincerely hope that you do), and you haven’t gotten started because you are waiting for direction, then it’s time to move!

It’s not about the economy, or who the President is, or whether or not you can see how it will work – it’s about taking a step in faith. Your step may seem ridiculously small and insignificant to your intellect, but it is a very BIG announcement to those forces that are waiting to assist you. It is a declaration to the universe, an emphatic announcement, that says, “I am ready.”

Many Blessings To All…

Rising Hawk