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Archive for Mystery – Page 8

Tuning

The other day I was having another mind-blowing conversation with Michael Jones where we were discussing being in tune with your audience. As a pianist, there is a quite literal aspect to Michael’s ability to ‘tune in’ to his audience, but even though the required skill is indeed musical in a very real sense, the instrument I’m interested in learning how to play is less visible. It’s more like another octave of my own body & psyche – scales I can reach and sound through my heart and mind and voice.

I can imagine this most clearly on a metaphoric level, as resonating or
vibrating within a relational field, slowing down to the speed of
discernment in order to access a ‘knowing’ about what note to strike in
any given moment. For me this is a multi-dimensional process – knowing
what is needed in order to be true to my own experience and express it
in an authentic way, having a sense of what is needed for others in the
group, and beyond that, getting a sense of what’s needed in the
relational field of the group as a whole.

This subtle discernment in the relational field is something I’ve been
inviting and trying to develop in myself for some time now, and one thing I do know is that it begins with a clear recognition and
acceptance of my own needs. If I can’t go beyond my tendency to
acquiesce to what I imagine is expected of me & suppress anything
that doesn’t fit that model, I can’t access what is actually going on
with myself or anyone else; if I am frozen by my own fears, I can’t
hear what others are afraid of, or what they will be inspired by. I’m
locked in a prison of my own making and can’t see or feel into the
larger field outside that imagined boundary.

And perhaps more tellingly, I have no connection to the core of creativity & originality in my that can actually carry my knowing out into the world in a way others can see and respond to.

So that’s where I’m starting; this is the seed I’m planting… slowing down, checking in with myself, listening carefully to what comes in return and then acting on it.

Transformative Fiction

What I’m beginning to see with more clarity is the awakening of a new medium… as I go deeper into this new erotic electronic world which gives me my work, I am seeing new horizons. The realization begins to emerge that all things are possible …

Standing on the edge of the hill, looking out over the city across the bay; more and more lights coming on as the sun sets, the light in the sky darkens and the colors deepen…

Tam

There s a screech owl in a branch immediately above my head, calling to
a mate in a nearby tree. A sudden flurry of sinew and air as he flies
across my path to her. In this moment, all my senses are alive with the magic of the place and time. I don’t want to move, though it’s cold and getting colder.

Stay with me in this place, and hear my words.

I’ve been thinking about something lately… cooking it like a long simmering stew. The meat isn’t falling tenderly off the bones yet, but the flavor is distinct enough to share a taste & the fragrance is intoxicating. It has something to do with a new kind of creative expression, a new genre. Something I’ve been imagining for many years is beginning to take form in me, although the form it’s taking is nothing like I imagined when I first heard the call as a child, knowing I wanted to be a writer when I grew up.

For a while now I’ve identified this new genre I want to produce as ‘transformative fiction’. In a way that term doesn’t work to describe something ‘new’, since fiction has been working its transformative magic on readers since the earliest alchemical touch between marker and mark … but now the possibilities of form have expanded and the transformation we can envision has itself been transformed. Nothing less than a collective leap in consciousness is required; a practical grasp of the unity that underlies all things; a way to reach the world’s heart and open our minds to the gift of humanity and the natural world, to the light that suffuses all life.

What I’m beginning to see with more clarity is the awakening of a new medium. I’ve been honing words, visualizing images… Previously I imagined I would write and paint this vision of mine, but as I go deeper into this new erotic electronic world which gives me my livelihood, I am seeing new horizons. The realization begins to emerge that all things are possible within a creative medium that lends itself to the total recreation of reality and allows multiple senses to enter into a narrative chorus of sight, sound and story.

In Second Life, they talk about the social & pscyhological implications of creating the “world we dream of” before it manifests in the “real” world. The ‘transformative fiction’ I’m envisioning works with this same set of ideas and creative principles… I’m looking at the possibility of linking the mind and the body in new ways, of opening new views in our collective neurostructure … making space for transformation – the "great turning" or paradigm shift that many people feel is crucial for humanity’s continued survival.

Freedom

What would you do if you’d just found out you have a life-threatening illness, and were so weak you needed to rest while your body recovered enough strength to attempt a cure?

This was the situation a friend and colleague of mine faced recently. A visionary who’s been a clear voice in articulating the emergence of collective intelligence in the world, my friend had a remarkable response to this daunting challenge.

He asked that those who love and care for him let him go; that they hold him in a love without attachment, so he is free to discover what is happening to him on a soul level and do whatever is necessary in response.

His response was remarkable to me in at least two ways; one that he had the capability to go beyond his own personal fear & attachments in the face of death and hold to his highest aspirations. Two, I found it remarkable that he had enough confidence in his community to make this request and know it would be understood and granted. The real blessing is that he was right. The strength and clarity of the support that has gathered to hold him in this journey continues to inspire me and give me hope for the ability to transcend fear of death and know liberation.

On this Thanksgiving Day, I humbly give thanks for my friend, and the gift of freedom that in his wisdom he has given all of us whose lives he touches.

Seeded Conversations

I’ve been working on a project with the Collective Wisdom Initiative that really exemplifies the ‘new way of being’ online that I was describing the other day…. and we launched this week.

Seeded Conversations‘ start with short evocative pieces of text or imagery that explore the field of collective wisdom, from which a few specific questions are posed to catalyze a deeper response to the material. The invitation is to listen for the ‘collective thought’ you sense gathering in the pieces themselves and whatever others have added before you… and add your part to the emergent whole.

It’s an experiment in a very different way of engaging online, and I’m excited by the possibilities. If the initiative intrigues you too you’re welcome to come play.