Love of the Ordinary

Remember the child who receives a fancy toy for Christmas by his doting parents. Watch as the child opens the present, see the looks of adoration on the faces of the parents, then note the surprise that moves across their faces that changes in the next moment to disappointment, finally, as the light dawns, to delight.

What are they seeing? They’re watching their first born open the present, look at it briefly, discard it, and, then happily play with the box and wrappings for hours.

As I write this, I’m in Kona, on the Big Island, Hawaii. This is everybody’s paradise. I have thrown out the present and am endlessly enjoying the wrapper.

What draws me? I pass on the fancy catamaran trip to the best snorkel sit on the island. I pass on the night dive with the manta rays. This dive was life changing for some in my family. I pass on the parasail lifting high over Kailua Bay, which Kevin thought was the best event of the trip.

I pass because the ordinary steals my heart. Instead of stopping and smelling the roses, I stop and smell the plumaria.

The unfamiliar and ubiquitous bird songs of the mynas and the zebra doves enchant me.

The Saffron Finch that joins my dawn Taiji becomes a loved companion.

I listen to the ever-changing sounds of the surf 30 feet (10 m) outside my window. I “fly” over coral reefs, listening to the sound of my breathing as I snorkel in a rocky cove, 100m south of here.

My Zen teacher, Genjo, might say, “Zen is the celebration of the ordinary.” At any rate, I say so.

Now, what ordinary miracles do I see at home? Home too is paradise if I would but look. This trip I was bowled over by how beautiful Seattle is. Everywhere I look, I see the Divine.

What is sacred and magic about the ordinary in your life? Find it. I promise you its there.

Exercise: Go outside for 10 minutes, look with your artist’s eye, and find three things that knock your socks off. That make you say, “Oh, wow!”

Example: As I was driving home, I saw a photographer surrounded by trees with the astonishing fall colors, the beauty of the lake behind him, as he took a photo from one foot away (15cm) of a pay telephone. I almost pulled over to so I could see what he was seeing. Get it?


If we had a keen vision and feeling of all ordinary human life, it would be like hearing the grass grow and the squirrel’s heart beat, and we should die of that roar which lies on the other side of silence. As it is, the best of us walk about well wadded with stupidity. – George Eliot

Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity! I say, let your affairs be as two or three, and not a hundred or a thousand; instead of a million count half a dozen, and keep your accounts on your thumb-nail. – Our old friend, Henry David Thoreau

Blessings,

William

P.S. Pass this post on to anyone who you think would
Prosper & enjoy these wonderful insights.

Paradigms Explored

· Upgrade Your Right Brain
· Simple Is Sophisticated

Chuck Ling Ferret Studio

“What’s the name of your studio?” I gently inquire.

“Huh?” you wonder.

“What’s the name of your studio? What do you call the place where you do your creative work?

“You do have a place to do art and to work on creative projects don’t you?”


If you want to build your right brain, and I assure you that you do, then you need to have a studio.

It needn’t be more than a flat surface in the corner of a room stocked with cool pens where you can doodle. But setting aside space gives this aspect of your life importance.

I wanted to explore creating comics more as a way to play, expand my story telling abilities, and to enhance my design sense – all right brain skills, so I went to the library.

Tip: If you want to learn a subject fast and have the maximum amount of fun, look for books aimed at kids.

In this case, I discovered Dewey decimal J808.06674 So, You Wanna Be a Comic Book Artist by Phillip Amara, illustrations by Pop Mhan.

Hot Doggy.

Phillip suggested I name my studio. Cool.

I walked into Suzanne’s room, office, and suggested she name her room. Out of the conversation with her, up bubbled the name for my studio – Chuckling Ferret Studio.

The name needed to be playful – play is right brain stuff you remember.

Did you know that ferrets chuckle when they play? Otherwise, they are silent. I lived with a wonderful fellow, a ferret named, Dakota, for eight years. I miss him still.

Ferrets, like otters, are the most playful creatures I know. They also have an unquenchable curiosity. I want to cultivate these qualities, don’t you?

Ed, the ferret man, said, “Ferrets remain playful, like kittens, their entire lives.” He was right. I want to be playful my entire life, too.

The name Chuckling Ferret Studio also lends itself to some word play. Chuck Ling and his Ferret Studio popped into my head.

One of my on-going fantasies is to rent warehouse space to create art and breed ferrets – hence a ferret studio.

You get the picture – playful.

Chuck Ling also becomes a wonderful pseudonym. What possibilities for art and story emerge from this identity?

What books would Chuck Ling write? What comic books would he draw?

What will you name your studio?

Where will it be?

How will you stock it?

By when will you get it done? Set a date. Do it. Let the good times roll.

***
Paradigms Explored –

· Upgrade Your Right-Brain – Play, Design, Story
· Simple Is Sophisticated

Presencing

To see a world in a grain of sand
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand
And eternity in an hour.
-William Blake

Zen and the poets have been addressing presence for centuries. What’s new is that everyone is paying attention to presence now, not just a handful of monks.

Presence lives outside of language so I find it hard to talk about. Blake’s poem points to it brilliantly.

Let me take a stab at it, too.

You travel into Presence often, but perhaps you don’t fully grasp the importance of this. If you’re like most humans, you don’t even notice it.

When you are fully present, the chatter in your mind goes still. You experience this as the peace which passeth understanding.

When you start to notice you are having these experiences of peace and stillness, you can begin to learn to encourage them.

When your mind quiets, your mind’s obsessive concerns and fears no longer drive you. You may even feel at one with all.

This is good, right?

You can think of your frightened, controlling mind as your ego. Yogis and eastern traditions call it the “monkey” mind, which is short for “a drunken monkey who has just be stung by a scorpion” mind.

Have you been there? Of course, you have.

Another name for this mind is the competitive mind. I like this one because it points to the fear that underlies and drives the competitive mind. Yet other names for this are the survival mind and the lizard brain. (See Related Article below.)


What Do You Get When This Mind Is Silent?

· You get the peace which passeth understanding.

· You get a small tastes of enlightenment that gradually become huge tastes and last for ever longer periods.

· You feel one with all.

· You live in the pleasures of flow. (See Related Article below.)

· You feel safe and supported by the whole. There is no need for faith. You become faith itself.

· You get “heaven in a wild flower”.

· You “hold infinity in the palm of your hand and eternity in an hour.”


How, Then, Do You Still the Mind?

You still the mind by being present. When you become present, the mind is still. It has no choice.

“But William, I thought that when I was still, I got to in presence? Aren’t you contradicting yourself?”

“Probably… Hmm…

“Let me see, the confusion comes by using the very similar and related words, Presence with a capital P and present with a lower case p.
“Presence is sacred and although you are part of it and it fills you absolutely, you don’t control it. Being present – being right here, right now – is something you have some control over.

“When you become present, you become still and you enter into Presence or more accurately, you experience Presence directly.

“Does that help?”

You can use silence as a doorway to stillness. Hang out in the silence of nature. Even amongst roaring rivers or melodious birdsong, you will experience this silence and the stillness underneath it.

I have written two books that will show you easy methods to explore Presence. Obviously, they will be of immense help to you.

· Simply Serene – Four Amazingly Powerful Ways to Be Instantly Alert and at Peace
· Looking Deeply into Presence


Here’s the Cliff Note Version for Becoming Present

· First, get some silence.

· Go outdoors – somewhere peaceful. It needn’t be a national park. A city park will do – anywhere you have a spot of nature.

· Practice Owl Eyes – Lightly gaze at something in the distance. Keep your eyes resting there while you taken in as much of your peripheral vision to the right and left as you can.

Slowly, deeply breathe in your belly. Now, while maintaining all of this, take in your peripheral vision above and below. Do this for a few minutes. Your mind has quieted. You’ll notice you have moved into stillness. Yes?


What did you notice when you tried this? More peace I hope.

Practice every day.

Invest in Simply Serene and Looking Deeply into Presence for the full versions.

Smile.


Flow

Although Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, the guru of flow, doesn’t talk about Presence in his books, his observations imply that you be present to get into the lovely state of flow. All of his strategies for experiencing flow, therefore, would be good for becoming present.

Being in flow may be the most important goal of my personal practices. When I am in flow, everything, well, flows. I live in Heaven.

You love flow, too. You’ve been there often.

I want getting into flow to be high on your list of things you want from your Deliberate Living Program.

(Read my article, The Delightful Magic of Flow, below.)


Resources to Guide Your Way

1. The Scent Of Green Papaya – I saw this film in the theatre when it came out. The first five minutes into it were some of the slowest in my movie watching life.

Then I got it, “Oh, this is about Presence.”

This Vietnamese film takes place in French Saigon.

With almost no dialog, a young servant, by simply cleaning and cooking, models how you can move in your world fully awake. It’s lovely. You will emerge from the experience as after a lovely meditation.

2. Eckhart Tolle has written several wonderful books on the subject and I recommend them as a starting point on the subject of presence.

1. A New Earth
2. Stillness Speaks
3. The Power of Now

Find them here.

3. Again, I recommend my two books Simply Serene and Looking Deeply into Presence for working with Presence vs. talking about it or explaining it.

4. Obviously, you can read books on Zen to get a feel for it.

See Fun Resource on Spirituality.


5. The poets have visited Presence often and written beautifully about it.

Mary Oliver is my favorite. Invest in her books so you can dip into them when you want. Her books plus The Sound of Water, a book of haiku, reside by my bed. Find some books here.

Google Mary Oliver Poems – read some. Then invest in her books.

Browse the poetry books and poems I have posted in Poetry and Cool Ideas section.

Also here – Poetry of Life for titles.