Scraps of Honesty

Hello Everyone -

I know, I know - I haven't posted in a while - practically took January off. There are several reasons for this but perhaps the biggest one might be because Heartsong 'nominated' me to post 10 of my deepest secrets. Honestly, that kind of scared the heck out of me - hmmm, deep secrets published for the world to see? Or really the eight people from my 800 followers on twitter, or the 4 from the 8 in my family - so I have to be totally honest to the 16 people I care most about in the world!! Aaaargh - then maybe they won't like me anymore and then only 3 from twitter and 2 from my family will ever visit my site anymore, then I'll only have five viewers - ok - so you see my dilemma - Thank you Linda, I see the world crashing before my eyes - ok, here goes:

1) The thing that makes me saddest is seeing people who are capable of greatness, trapped by false prisons.

2) I am actually moved to tears when I see someone ignore their false prison, and achieve in spite of any obstacle.

3) I am constantly working on myself, internally, by actively discarding any thought that is not productive or inspiring.

4) I am constantly trying to be more grateful but my goals are so seemingly big that I forget, at times, how blessed I am.

5) I would like to know more artists who talk about free-market capitalism.

6) When I was six I thought I was Jesus Christ. I developed a series of tests to 'prove' if I was or not and I passed all of them handily - I announced my discovery to my mother but she was too busy with all the other kids to notice.

7) I love the smell of oil paint and oil based clay. I've smelled that almost every day of my life since a very young age and I think it would be safe to say, I am addicted to it. Although, I promise - it's a harmless addiction which guarantees I'll be painting for the rest of my life.

8) I don't think Capitalism will take hold until artists understand it. Then it will be ok.

9) My dreams are filled with incredible visions. I dream things like a bee sitting in a throne in the center of a chrysanthemum, crystals that hold all of my memories, architectural wonders beyond anything I've seen with panoramic views of a star lit sky - and yet, until just yesterday a person made me realize I hear nothing in my dreams - not a single sound.

10) I am working on a book - I don't know when it will be ready but it is intended to describe the type of qualities I think are the best hope for happiness and peace. This is an 'awakened' person who realizes that there is no obstacle outside of their own thoughts to achieve whatever they can 'see and believe'. This person has integrated the best of liberal and conservative ideas - they love and support the arts, accept differences in those around them, live life to the fullest with joy as their highest ideal and refuse the idea that government can initiate force - particularly to seize wealth in the name of 'helping'.  I am not original in this idea, but I would like to play a small part in helping manifest a world where fear, force and violence are strange concepts. 

This post is dedicated to Lausen - who fits the description of my deep dark truth #2, is an artist who understands my deep dark truth #8 and has brought me more music in the last two months than I have ever listened to in my whole life, and made me aware of my deep dark glitch #9.  If you ever have the great joy to get to know her, you will be shocked that she lives in a country whose courts and government run counter to every principle of freedom we should cherish but often forget - and yet, she understands the source of our freedoms more thoroughly than anyone I've ever met.  If you can read Spanish - I recommend her site forgottenman.wordpress.com - And her new English site promises to be beautiful - flowerinthesun

My Dream

My dream, my mission, my 'visualization' - to create a blog that helps inspire people to live without fear.

Resolution

I resolve to remind myself daily the words of Wallace Wattles:

KNOW that there are countless millions of dollars' worth of gold in the mountains of the earth, not yet brought to light...

KNOW that the money you need will come, even if it is necessary for a thousand men to be led to the discovery of new gold mines tomorrow....

Never look at the visible supply.  Look always at the limitless riches in formless substance, and KNOW that they are coming to you as fast as you can receive and use them.  Nobody, by cornering the visible supply, can prevent you from getting what is yours.  

You reading this - YOU - have everything you need right now to live the life of your dreams - now live it!

Happy New Year!

Understanding Manifestation (Part III)

(Part I & II Below) 

Why am I telling this story? In a way, I am trying to understand what works and what doesn’t work by tracing through my own thought processes. I don’t want to appear to have all of the answers. In fact I’m hoping that others will be inspired to explore their own inner-workings and perhaps share stories that will help us all to understand how to affect positive change in our own lives and the lives of others. I believe the times that lie ahead will be intensely challenging and that only through patience and understanding will we be able to use this ‘power’ of the human mind. In the piece I am working on ‘Ogallala’ – it is a story of a vast amount of water that existed directly under the feet of those who suffered the Great Depression and the terrible dust storms. The analogy and relevance is so powerful, that right within our grasp are the tools we need to solve any problem – it is a ‘Law of Nature.’ As I mentioned earlier, my experience with actively ‘manifesting’ uncovered enough direct evidence for me to say without out doubt, thought directed action is real and can be actively applied.        
After listening to Napoleon Hill, I realized a few of my mistakes. While I wanted to be an artist contributing my art to the world, I didn’t fully believe it was possible. I would always ‘do the math’ in my head thinking, okay if I did this piece I could probably get this much – hmmm, this much times x number of pieces a year, hmmm, could I do that many? Would I be emotionally and physically drained, could I find that many people who would buy that much? So on and so forth. So, my first ‘work’ was to stop myself from that kind of thinking, literally refuse to engage in it. When it began in my mind, I would stop in mid-sentence and imagine what was possible instead. My second big mistake was thinking I had to be ‘like’ somebody. While it is important to have role models, I think it is equally important (if not more) to begin to realize you must be yourself – you and you alone are unique, and like a person I met on Twitter (Maria Andros) taught me – there are thousands of people who have waited their whole life to meet you.
The speed of ‘flow’ is uncanny. Within a day or two of beginning this transformative thinking the little post arrived of the firefighters search. I read it and the floodgate of visions opened up in my mind. I literally ‘saw’ the unveiling of the final piece. I wrote back to the unknown person, in almost one draft – and I was very clear to them that I had never done a bronze sculpture in my life. I had done some sculpting, I explained, but I ‘knew’ I could do this. That one line had significance as I discovered later – and further reinforced the concept ‘be yourself.’ On many occasions throughout the process I learned over and over again that it was me being honest and direct that brought me to the point of delivering my first sculpture to NYC on a beautiful October day – and consequently some fear had overtaken me afterwards that caused problems, but also a significant discovery. I am sorry to keep stopping the story but I am advised not to make a blog post too long and I’ve already blown that rule time and again - [To be continued…]

Fear

Fear paralyzes.

Fear makes real the problem not the solution.

Fear is the belief that a situation has power to harm, not enlighten or purify.

Fear is literally the suspension of the human mind to solve any problem no matter how large.

Fear is what causes stress, strain, greed, anger, violence, hunger, aggression, worry, pain.

Fear is the root of all evil in the world.

Fear inspires action without thought.

Fear makes what is unwanted, permanent.

We have many futures before us -

The one we choose will depend on how many of us refuse fear.

Refuse to believe that any event can't be solved.

Accept the idea that even the worst things that happen can be invitations to greatness.

Greatness is accepting into your mind that you can and will overcome any obstacle if you refuse fear.

Be great today - 

Refuse fear.

Quick Story On Serendipity

Many years ago a book was published on using the mind more effectively in the solving of problems.  It was sold new in a book store, bought by some curious mind.  Read, cherished, discarded.  Ended up in a yard sale for 25 cents.  My wife's friend was wondering by, picked it up, lent it to her husband.  I happened to see it on his desk, paged through it and was so moved I bought it.  Without realizing,  I had it on my desk yesterday.  A colleague noticed it, picked it up and randomly thumbed through to a page that was discussing the exact thought he was struggling with that day.  He smiled, shook his head and put it down.  I wonder how many lives he will change from that one small paragraph.  Everything you do matters.

Understanding Manifesting (Part II)

(Continues from Understanding Manifesting - Part I Below)

     I want to reinforce the groundwork of my ‘exploration’. My first memory in life, I ‘woke up’ drawing a whale at around the age of four. I had always thought of myself as an artist – the vision of being a professional artist had been engrained in me my entire life. I could see the goal and mentally experience the goal – all of the requisites of ‘manifestation’. Year after year, I would achieve juried shows, art awards and other recognition from grade school, through high school, college and beyond. But these achievements cost money. For example, getting into a prestigious juried show means you have to spend money to make a piece. Actually it is lots and lots of work of which you select one or two. Then there is entry fee with no guarantee of getting in. If you get in, you have to get the work there and back – the larger the work the more cumbersome that is. Odds are against a work winning a cash prize or being sold. This is similar, I imagine, in sports like tennis or golf, where for many of the competitors you are paying and paying to be in play.
     When I stumbled on Napoleon Hill, it was an audio CD. Listening, I started to realize that my whole life structure was built around an idea that I could not actually make a living from art. It was very subtle to me (although not to a trained observer). I had in my mind a ‘model’ that I would do ‘real’ work and this income would allow me to keep making art. I’m not just talking about having one job – I’m talking about doing all kinds of things like getting involved in real estate, pursuing other degrees to enhance my salary – in essence, a lot of activity other than going straight at the process of being a professional artist. I kept doing one job after another to be able to afford creating art. This was exhausting, distracting and counterproductive. One key idea I learned from listening to the Napoleon Hill tapes was the concept ‘faith.’ I had not heard it explained quite so well. Faith, as I now began to understand, believes that if you give yourself to your passion you cannot fail. That the universe is in fact ‘designed’ to provide every tool one needs to achieve whatever one commits to and believes, positive or negative. When I finished listening, I remember looking interior to my own thought processes and realizing there was the obstacle. I thought in my mind that I would abandon all other pursuits and ‘give’ myself to my art completely. This process was so abrupt and immediate as to be unbelievable in retrospect. That very day, I received a small, non-descript e-mail posting ‘firehouse looking to honor four men lost on 9/11.’ I read that posting, and the image of this project in its completion poured into my mind. When I replied I had little idea that this ‘manifestation’ process would lead to the deepest, most sustained pain I had ever experienced. That it would shatter my previous understanding of the world and myself. In this process I began to see that ‘manifesting’ didn’t really mean creating a laundry list of all the things I think would thrill and then they would appear. Rather, manifesting, at least for me, began to mean participating in the process of discovery and allowing things to come into my life. It was then that true ‘miracles’ began to occur. [To be continued…]

Give

Give yourself to your passion - only there will you find greatness.

"Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck." - Dali Lama

Manifesting - Tips & Tricks

My post 'Understanding Manifesting' - will be a few installments discussing my experience over the last few years with positive visualization and manifesting - road blocks, highs, lows - why I think I got stuck and why I think sometimes the worst events could actually be invitations - if only you know how to look. I'd love to hear if you've got some tips / tricks - please post.