WHAT IS SUCCESS?

Photo Image from The Carole Smith Gallery - Bend, Oregon
Contact Number: 800.346.5860

WHAT IS SUCCESS?

Here is Ralph Waldo Emerson’s response to that question:

“To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.”

Never underestimate the “ripple effect” you have on our world. Just one person can and does make a difference to someone...somewhere; whether you are aware of it or not.

Unfortunately, too many people…too many parents…too many teachers…too many students…too many athletes…too many businesses…too many politicians…too many media giants and yes…too many artists and writers have manipulated the concept of success; putting an unrealistic and idealized “spin and twist” on what REAL SUCCESS is all about.

These Museologists would like to suggest that you take a few moments, every now and then, to define what REAL SUCCESS means to YOU, as an INDIVIDUAL. Remember to reframe your self-talk and protect yourself from those nasty inner critics who work diligently to tell you otherwise based on the tornado of hype that bombards us every day.

PERSONAL SUCCESS.
Define it! Feel It! Own It! Live it! Have Fun with it! Create a Paradigm Shift!

Postscript: What’s a Paradigm Shift?
(Ref: Definition taken from www.taketheleap.com)

“In 1962, Thomas Kuhn wrote The Structure of Scientific Revolution and fathered, defined and popularized the concept of “paradigm shift”. Kuhn argues that scientific advancement is not evolutionary, but rather is “a series of peaceful interludes punctuated by intellectually violent revolutions”, and in those revolutions “one conceptual world view is replaced by another.”

Think of a Paradigm Shift as a change from one way of thinking to another.
A revolution. A transformation…a sort of metamorphosis.

It just does not happen, but rather it is driven by agents of change.

…What we perceive, whether normal or metanormal, conscious or unconscious, is subject to the limitations and distortions produced by our inherited and socially conditional nature. However, we are not restricted by this for WE CAN CHANGE. We are moving at an accelerated rate of speed and our state of consciousness is transforming and transcending. Many are awakening as our conscious awareness expands.”

RISK NOTHING - RISK EVERYTHING!

RISK: To expose to the chance of loss or injury whether intellectual, emotional, spiritual, physical, or financial.

Imagination, Inspiration and Creativity REQUIRE RISK.
Life IS risky business every single day.
We’ve stumbled upon some quotes worth sharing!

From Katherine Mansfield (1888-1923) New Zealand Writer:
Risk! Risk anything!
Care no more for the opinions of others, for those voices.
Do the hardest thing on earth for you. Act for yourself.
Face the truth.

From Phillip Adams, Australian Writer and Radio Broadcaster:
A lot of successful people are risk-takers.
Unless you’re willing to do that – to have a go,
Fail miserably, and have another go,
Success won’t happen.

From John F. Kennedy (1917-1963) President of the United States:
There are risks and costs to a program of action,
but they are far less than the long-range risks
and costs of comfortable inaction.

From Anais Nin (1903-1977) French Novelist:
And the day came when the risk to remain in a tight bud
was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.

From Maxwell Maltz:
Often the difference between a successful man (woman) and failure is not one’s better abilities or ideas, but the courage that one has to bet on his (her) ideas, to take a calculated risk and to act.

From Quevedo:
He who spends time regretting the past loses the present and risks the future.

WHAT ARE YOU WILLING TO RISK TODAY?

JUST LOOKING AT OURSELVES

Thank you to Dr. Sandy Islands for her permission to reprint this article.

Humility…The “H” in the A-Z’s of “Just Looking at Ourselves”

By Dr. Sandy Islands

“Oh Lord, it’s hard to be humble, when you’re perfect in every way”, the song echoes with a country twang. Humility is a quality not to be confused with humiliation. Humiliation is a feeling of shame and worthlessness. Humility is being open-minded, willing and teachable. It’s surrendering to not having to be right. We all know people who live by the motto, “Last time I thought I made a mistake, I was wrong”. Arrogance is the opposite of humility. This attitude emanates the sense that they’re right and everyone else is wrong.

Arrogance comes from insecurity; the fear that if “I’m not right, I’m worthless, I’m nothing.” It’s a prideful inability to admit we’re wrong and portrays the illusion of superiority. We silently expect the world to behave the way we want it to, then we judge it when our expectations are not fulfilled. The truth is we are ONLY disappointed by our own expectations! We cannot humbly accept life and have our expectations met at the same time.

Many of us have heard the Rude Girl’s closing comment on WOW-92.7’s morning radio show, “The mind is like a parachute, it doesn’t work unless it’s open.” An attitude of humility confers dignity and grace. Anyone who saw Peter Seller’s movie BEING THERE observed a character who was present and humble where ever he showed up. The people around him assigned intelligence and power to him as he humbly listened and related life to simple analogies about gardening. By the end of the movie, they wanted to nominate him for the presidency.

Have you ever noticed that confident people are usually humble? If we live on a ladder where we envy everyone above us and pity everyone below, we are constantly judging and definitely NOT looking at ourselves. When we step off the ladder, we join the circle of ONE HUMAN FAMILY and find a sense of humor about being right. In those moments when we find it hard to let go, we might want to ask ourselves two simple questions:

1. Do we want to be right or happy?
2. Do we want to be right or peaceful?

Confident humility allows us to laugh at our fears, to be honest with ourselves about our shortcomings and not continue to make the same mistakes over and over. It’s a sense of trust that the grand design in the universe is truly for us to realize our highest good. When we’re humble we’re in touch with our human-ness, and we have compassion for ourselves and others. In the perpetual quietness of the heart, we see our true relationship with the spirit that lives in all of us. Like the biblical beatitude, “Blessed are the meek (humble) for they shall inherit the earth”, an old story told of a man who sought counsel from a wise woman who was holding a precious stone. He asked her if he could have it and she graciously gave it to him. He came back the next day and returned it to her saying, “What I really want is the quality in you which allowed you to give me this stone.”

When we find ourselves holding on to being right, let’s have a hearty laugh, let go and be happy instead!

Please feel free to write to Dr. Sandy Islands at conchtalk@bellsouth.net or simply click on the LINKS TO EXTRAORDINARY MUSES Dr. Sandy Islands which will take you directly to her web site.

WORTH ANOTHER LOOK!

WWW.212MOVIE.COM

YOUR FIRST WEEKEND OF SPRING!

“LIVE IN THE SUNSHINE.
SWIM THE SEA.
DRINK THE WILD AIR.”

--Ralph Waldo Emerson--

GRIEF AND GRATITUDE

Museologists have been traveling again… to a memorial service and celebration of a dear friend’s life well lived. As we flew suspended above gigantic puffy cumulus clouds drifting lazily over the Gulf of Mexico, these “auto-pilot” minds were being carried along towards the philosophical possibility that grief and gratitude are two sides of the same coin. We are, of course, not the first ones to ponder this profundity; however, recent experiences bring these two elements up close and personal.

GRIEF: Emotional pain or distress from an extreme cause, as bereavement, affliction or loss; deep sorrow or sadness; the cause of such sadness.

TO MOURN: The act of expressing GRIEF.

GRATITUDE: A warm and friendly appreciation of a kindness or a favor received; thankfulness; gratefulness.

TO BE GRATEFUL: The act of being appreciative or thankful for kindness shown or benefits received. Agreeable; REFRESHING.

The human mind-heart-body is an astonishingly creative and resilient work of art! Take, for example, the last four days. It borders on the miraculous to consider what mind-heart-body is capable of experiencing and processing simultaneously. Let us share a diluted overview “list” highlighting the last 96 hours:

First… The Phone Call. The kind of call we all know will come some day or night. We dread this call because it brings with it a sense of deep absence and loss. Instantaneously, a VOID now exists and is felt on the planet when one of us departs. The heart feels pain and sorrow yet beats on… allowing us to:

**Efficiently communicate via cell phones and satellite with individuals who offer their help and expertise without hesitation. (Thank you Toni, Teri and Robin!)

**Travel through the skies at 565 miles per hour.

**Travel on land at 70+ miles per hour with no more than 36 inches between cars.

**Go without sleep.

**Genuinely smile at the blessed latte-making saint in the Dipsea Café. (definitely caffeinated, whole milk, no foam, sprinkled with Ghiradelli cocoa).

**Hug your Best Friend…her Daughter…her Mom…her Sister because they just lost their Dad, Grandfather and Husband.

**Feel a warm strong hand on your shoulder as a sign of “checking in” and signaling an unconditional presence.

**Hold loved ones and friends, arms around each other, giving and sharing strength and support.

**Meet an exceptional pastor with a brilliant sense of humor who welcomes everyone regardless of creed or religious belief without arrogance, judgment or disdain. (This comment comes to you from a “born again pagan” who studies and respects Native American spirituality and medicine)

**View the photo collage of an exceptional man’s life and feeling awe, respect, love, loss, sadness, pain, joy and gratitude… all at the same time.

**Sit alone in the lovely chapel of Peace Lutheran Church in Mill Valley California; as the cool silence calms, one becomes intensely aware of the extraordinary power of nature and human kindness expressed through beautifully arranged flowers (Thank you Sally!)….dozens of yellow and red roses, lilies, hydrangeas, tulips and iris.

**Watch men and women work companionably, side by side, setting out amazing offerings of food and drink as renown film-makers (friends of the family) quietly and unpretentiously set up a video camera to record the event.

**Listen to the dedicated organist warming up for the service unaware that she accompanies a dozen glorious birds singing merrily in the budding tree outside the open stained glass window.

**Watch the indomitable courage of four tall, beautiful, elegant, intelligent women (one is only nine years old…but she deserves this description) as they greet those who have come to share in their loss.

Brilliant Words. Stellar deeds. Inspirational music prompting unified voices. Photographs memorializing an extraordinary life. Fragrant Flowers. A Gentleman’s English Tea. All of these are the material manifestations of human magnificence…energies that resonate with loving-kindness, respect, compassion and caring.

Grief and Gratitude. Woven together in the human tapestry of understanding because they “see” the invisible, they “feel” the intangible and together they “achieve” the sometimes seemingly impossible task of making it through the day.

POSTSCRIPT: Allow yourself seven minutes to review and contemplate what your mind-heart-body have experienced and processed during the last 96 hours. Prepare to be AMAZED!

HARRY SUTCLIFFE

HARRY SUTCLIFFE 1924-2007
Tribute To An Exceptional Man
An Engineer’s Muse

Last night we lost one of the most preeminent engineering minds of our time. Harry Sutcliffe died peacefully surrounded by family at his beloved home in Mill Valley, California. Harry loved to laugh and to make others laugh as well. He was always quick with a line, a story or a limerick. As his friends and colleagues will attest, Harry loved April Fools Day however his practical jokes were in no way confined to this date! Harry often regaled his friends and family with witty, detailed stories generally accompanied by his wry, slightly irreverent commentary. The mischievous sparkle in his eyes will not be forgotten. He was one of those rare men who made lasting friendships wherever he went. Even at his busiest, it was always a priority for Harry to keep in contact with his friends who were spread, literally, across the globe.

Born on 18 March 1924 to James and Amy Sutcliffe in Rishton, Great Harwood, Lancashire, England; Harry served England in WWII and was an honors graduate in civil engineering from Manchester University in England and held an MSCE from Caltech in Pasadena, California. His illustrious career began in 1941. Over the next several decades, he became a renowned Engineering Specialist and Designer of tunnels and complex underground construction. Employed with Bechtel in 1953, Harry was in charge of the design of the Felbertauern, Hahnenkamm and Ploeckenpass Tunnels on the TransAlpine Pipeline in the Austrian Alps, the Berkeley Hills Tunnels, on BART in the San Francisco Bay Area, the Homestake Tunnel in Colorado and the MBTA subway tunnels in Harvard Square/Davis Square in Cambridge Mass, as well as several hydroelectric projects. After retiring from Bechtel in 1983, he accepted the offer to serve as their Manager of Civil Design for Eurotunnel on the Channel Tunnel connecting England and France.

Harry spent twenty years as an expert consultant, with clients including Massport for the Boston Third Harbor Tunnel Crossing. He also served nearly twenty years on the United States Air Force Scientific Advisory Board with a Top Secret Security Clearance. He was a guest lecturer at Stanford University, the University of Illinois, Urbana, and Sloan School of Management at MIT and chaired a variety of design and technical review boards. He was active on several national tunneling committees, including those on better contracting practices and management, and has authored a number of papers and edited two volumes. Registered in several states and the British Commonwealth, Harry was a Fellow, ASCE and a Fellow, Institution of Civil Engineers, London. He was named a Paul Harris Fellow and was an honorary member of the Rotary Club of Great Harwood and Rishton.

While at the University of Manchester, Harry met a beautiful and talented American, Betty Ann Donnan who was attending University in England on a prestigious scholarship. After a two continent romance, they were married and the Sutcliffe’s made their home in the enchanted woods of Mill Valley where they raised two beloved daughters, Lucy and Ann. Harry combined his ingenious engineering skills with innovative craftsmanship; using redwood and teak to restore their historic and charming home. Harry was also an inventor at heart. He liked nothing better than a challenge or mystery which allowed him to devise and create imaginative solutions whether theoretical, structural or mechanical in nature.

Harry’s kindness and generosity to family and friends was well known and much admired. He was keenly interested in others and in the world around him. A great history buff and collector of maps, his personal upstairs study was an inimitable and fascinating place. Harry spent many happy hours there and devoted a great portion of his later retirement to researching the genealogy of both his and his wife’s family. This challenge took him on an unexpected adventure of discovering and corresponding with countless relations worldwide.

In the Bay Area, Harry is survived by his wife Betty Ann, his daughters Lucy and Ann and his granddaughter Grace. In England he is survived by his sister Marny, her husband Som Gude and nephew Nicholas Wilkinson. Harry will be greatly missed by his loving family and faithful friends. His indomitable spirit will continue to live in the hearts of those who were fortunate to know him.

TUT

For those of you who have not yet discovered TUT; this is an Adventurer’s inspirational site (www.tut.com) created by Mike Dooley whose singular message can be summed up in three words…THOUGHTS BECOME THINGS.

On his site, TUT’S ADVENTURERS CLUB, you have the option of subscribing daily to A Note From The Universe. Today’s message, particularly for a MONDAY, may just add a smile and give you that tiny nudge to keep moving, visualizing, desiring and having a little FUN in the process. Check him out.

“Start it; you don’t have to be fancy.
Keep moving; you don’t have to go crazy.
Visualize; you don’t have to admit it.
See the end result; it doesn’t have to be material.
Expect miracles; they don’t have to be huge.
Pretend you’ve arrived; you don’t have to dance on tables.
And above all else, have FUN.
This is why you started it, right?"

Life, what a trip - The Universe ** Mike Dooley**

Photo By: Nick Vedros

THERE IS A LANGUAGE THAT DOESN'T USE WORDS

THERE IS A LANGUAGE THAT DOESN'T USE WORDS

This morning we discovered a powerful image that speaks volumes without the use of words. Henry David Thoreau understood this force when he said,

“THE LANGUAGE OF FRIENDSHIP IS NOT WORDS BUT MEANINGS.”

We must never underestimate the power of our body language, eye contact, touch and action. When our words don’t match our actions…or vice versa… then we create a rift in the energy field of expression, sending out mixed messages and the potential for misunderstanding and conflict.

LAUGHTER

The English novelist and critic G.K. Chesterton (1874-1936) said,

“Laughter has something in it in common with the ancient winds of faith and inspiration: it unfreezes pride and unwinds secrecy; it makes men (women too) forget themselves in the presence of something greater than themselves; something that they cannot resist.”

ROBERT WILLIAM SERVICE

ROBERT WILLIAM SERVICE (1874-1958)
Muse, Poet, Writer
Known as the “Canadian Kipling”

Ref: Poems on www.mysticalquill.blogspot.com

The photo backdrop above was taken on the Bering Sea, off the coast of Alaska. The young man in the red parka is an extraordinary Muse with the heart and soul of a true Adventurer. His name is Dave. In the mid-1980’s, after receiving a degree in Geology and spending a summer negotiating the treacherous white waters of the awesome Grand Canyon while surveying for the USGS (United States Geological Society); he decided to explore Alaska. As a commercial fisherman, Dave discovered the deepest and most remote parts of this vast, awesomely beautiful wilderness…and himself. We can’t tell you the exact moment that Dave first read Robert W. Service, but we do know that it made quite an impression. Like Dave, Robert Service was an adventurer, handsome and educated. Two men born of “A race that can’t stay still”. They possess seemingly boundless courage, energy and strength. Men willing “to buck the system”, follow their hearts and “climb the mountain’s crest”.

Robert Service was born in Preston, England on 16 January 1874 to a Scottish bank clerk and the daughter of an English factory owner. His family returned to Scotland where he was schooled in Glasgow. At the age of 15, he dutifully followed his father and began working at a Glasgow bank. By the time he was 21 (1896), his dreams of becoming a cowboy seduced him to leave Scotland for Vancouver Island, British Columbia where he joined his younger brother in a ranching “experiment”. This experience was far from Robert’s expectations. After 18 months, he set off to explore California.

Robert’s “walk about” took him the length of the Pacific coast. By 1903, he found himself back in Vancouver, needing an infusion of cash to live. The Canadian Bank of Commerce readily hired him. He eagerly traveled to his new office located in the frontier town of Whitehorse in the remote Yukon Territory. Living in Whitehorse was the realization of Robert’s dream. The expansive solitude of the northern woods inspired him to spend much time thinking and reading. His talent for words emerged and he began writing about the Yukon. As he tells it,

“It was Saturday night, and from the various bars I heard sounds of revelry. The line popped into my mind: “A bunch of boys were whooping it up” and it stuck there. Good enough for a start.”

Looking for a quiet place on that Saturday night, Robert went to his bank to write. The startled bank guard fired a shot at him in alarm and it was this event which gave birth to his famous piece The Shooting of Dan McGrew.

Robert Service’s Muse Mind had come alive. His creative floodgates opened and he wrote several poems in a few short months. He decided to publish them and found a publisher willing to pay a 10% royalty. His work was met with praise and he achieved some measure of financial success. Still working for the bank, Robert was transferred in 1908 to Dawson City, 400 miles to the north. It was here that he composed and published Ballads of a Cheechako.

Having achieved financial success with the publication of THE SPELL OF THE YUKON AND OTHER VERSES, Robert resigned from the bank in 1909 to dedicate himself full-time to his writing. He lived and wrote in a log cabin on 8th Avenue in Dawson City. Robert had decided to focus on a novel about the Gold Rush and traveled along the Klondike River visiting boom towns and famous gold sites to gather facts and interview those who had settled in the area. Upon finishing the novel, he moved to New York City where it was published as THE TRAIL OF 8.

A bit of wander lust ensued and Robert traveled to Paris, the French Riviera, Hollywood, Louisiana, Cuba and back to Alberta. From there he returned to the Yukon by paddling a canoe down the Mackenzie, the longest river in Canada. Back in his “writing studio” (the log cabin in Dawson City) he enjoyed a bohemian lifestyle and the respect and recognition for his creative talent.

In 1912 Robert accepted the Toronto Star’s offer to work as a war correspondent in the Balkan War. During his travels in Europe he met and married Germaine Bougeoin, a Parisian beauty. They bought a home together in the Brittany Region of France.

In the First World War Robert served as an America Ambulance Volunteer and became a war correspondent for the Canadian government. Following the war, he traveled and wrote several novels and two volumes of poetry. At the outbreak of World War II, Robert was in Poland and fled the country to Hollywood, California where he lived in exile until his return to Brittany, France at the end of the war.

Robert Service never returned to his beloved log cabin in the Yukon but it remained a nostalgic centerpiece in his life until his death on 11 September 1958 in Brittany France. He is buried there in the local cemetery.

Over at http://www.mysticalquill.blogspot.com/ you will find two of Robert’s poems. The Men Who Don’t Fit In is the poem that spoke to Dave in Alaska. We have also included the poem Just Think! to remind us of how very precious each moment in life really is.

On a future post, these Museologists will revisit The Men Who Don’t Fit In; particularly the stanza,

“He has failed, He has failed, He has missed his chance;
He has just done things by half.
Life’s been a jolly good joke on him,
And now is the time to laugh.
Ha, Ha! He is one of the Legion Lost;
He was never meant to win…”

We don’t agree that this has to be the outcome of “the rolling stones” who have gypsy blood flowing through their veins. Maybe, just maybe “not fitting in” is the secret ingredient to authentic individualism and personal freedom. We like to believe that was Robert Service’s “wake up call” to us all.

THE NINE MODERN DAY MUSES BY JILL BADONSKY

THE NINE MODERN DAY MUSES BY JILL BADONSKY

A CALL TO ARTISTS, WRITERS AND CREATIVE THINKERS EVERYWHERE!

Submitted By Royce Addington

If you haven’t yet had the privilege of reading Jill Badonsky’s magnificently motivating book The Nine Modern Day Muses (and a Bodyguard) you MUST find a copy and read it.

A Master Muse of our time…Jill Badonsky is a witty , sometimes wickedly irreverent, delightful and brainy Tinkerbellesque Warrior of the creative enchanted mind; illuminating the magic and possibility of creative ideas, visions and artistic dreams. This is a writer that not only walks her talk…she lives it. See for yourself at www.themuseisin.com

The Nine Modern Day Muses gives you SERIOUS TOOLS to take your dreams and your goals from imagination to reality. This brilliant and delicious recipe is that of an intellectual gourmand with a sense of humor. Ms. Badonsky shares cutting-edge psychological technologies, specific exercises and the extraordinary power of guided imagery to aid us in winning the battle against self-sabotage and marauding inner critics. Add to that a dash of whimsy and several pinches of joyful, motivational merriment and you have a timeless reference that takes significant information and presents it with a sense of ease and FUN!

You will find yourself picking up this timeless creative classic again and again and again. There is a mysterious energetic resonance that infuses THE NINE MODERN DAY MUSES. With each read, no matter what page you may choose, the book seems to reveal another layer of excellent information; as though the Muse Faerie Scholars come out when it’s on the shelf and add more dazzling, thought-provoking ideas!

This is NOT just a book for Artists, Craftspeople, Poets, Writers and Lovers. This is a book for EVERY HUMAN BEING. We are all students of ourselves.

JILL BADONSKY’S THE NINE MODERN DAY MUSES (and a Bodyguard) will lovingly speak in non-judgmental voices and persuade you to consider the power of yourself…the Wildchild you still are… and the inimitable gifts you have to share with our world.

Postscript: A SECRET…The latest word on the streets of Museopolis is that Jill Badonsky and her Muses are soon to launch another inspirational and brilliant morsel…The AWE-MANAC. Keep your eyes open for it this September!

BRIDGES Postscript

This image appeared on the Museologies desk today. At first glance we thought the photo was taken on one of The Florida Keys Bridges, but we were wrong. The similarity is uncanny. The inspired couple is dancing on Ambleside Pier in British Columbia, Canada.

We did a little research and discovered The M.I.L.K. Collection. Their mission is a celebration of humanity. The organization explains it this way,

“THE M.I.L.K. Collection – Moments of Intimacy, Laughter and Kinship – is the result of an epic global search for 300 extraordinary and geographically diverse photographs that capture the essence of humanity. Chosen from 40,000 entries worldwide, these powerful images cut across race and nationality and celebrate what it is to be part of a family, to share the gift of friendship, and more than anything else to be loved.”

The next time you travel across a bridge, a boardwalk or a pier; pull over for a five minute respite. Soak in The Moment and LET YOURSELF GO. May we urge you to consider the possibility of audacious boldness whether by yourself or with others. Ask yourself,

“What would it feel like if I danced as though no one were watching?”

Ref: Photo by Anthony Redpath

BRIDGES Part Two

BRIDGING THE KEYS TO LIFE
Photo by Ken Raveill

Remember the last scene in the movie version of Grease where John Travolta and Olivia Newton John fly off into the beautiful blue enchanted sky in their red classic convertible to places far, far away where we believe they will live happily ever after? I don’t know about you, but we walked out of that movie hand in hand with silly ear-to-ear grins feeling that life sometimes just doesn’t get any better! Such sparkling, dazzlingly happy moments seem to be a type of magnetic force field that vibrate through you as you drive from bridge to bridge down The Keys! It’s hard not to notice the synchronicity of the Beatle’s tune playing on the radio in their unforgettable style,

“Let It Be. Let It Be. Let It Be. Let It Be.
There Will Be An Answer.
Let It Be…”

It occurs to this muse mind that “Let It Be” is one and the same as “Let It Go”. Are Bridges our symbol for letting go of the Past while simultaneously letting the Future “BE”? Does the rhythmic cadence of the ride, the warm sun on our faces, the humongous pelican which has joined us, gliding alongside our car in a perfect parallel symmetry, whisper in bold dramatic splashes of sensory perfection, “Hey You! Do you get it yet? The Present Moment! It’s not a bad place to BE?” HMMmmmm.

So…why is it so damn hard to harness the power of ourselves to stay in The Present Moment and let the other stuff (yes, I know, it’s very important stuff) go? Museologies owes a debt of gratitude to many magnificent minds who ponder this very subject. But on this particular afternoon, Guy Finley’s impressive work, THE SECRET OF LETTING GO seems to be appropriate and relevant to bridging the keys to life. On Page 9, Mr. Finley dares us to proceed with the discovery of learning TO LET GO and writes,


“…Let the following special insights speed you on your way.

*Letting go of yourself is letting go of your problems, for they are one and the same.
*Go along with your longing to be limitless.
*Uncovering what is wrong must always precede the discovery of what is right.
*You can only be as free as you are willing to be truthful about yourself.
*Letting Go is strictly and inside job.
*There is nothing hidden in the world from the man who will reveal himself to himself.
*You can live from true intelligence or with self-insistence.
*Letting Go takes no strength…only a willingness to see the need for it.
*We can never act any higher toward a situation than our understanding of that situation.
*Letting Go is the natural release which always follows the realization that holding on hurts.
*Unhappiness does not come at you, it comes from you.
*Defeat comes from clinging to solutions that don’t work.

*Real freedom is the absence of the self that feels trapped, not the trappings that self acquires to make it feel free. Wanting to learn about yourself while limiting your discoveries to what you want to find is like saying, “I want to see the whole world from my bed.” The only thing you lose when you Let Go of something you are afraid to live without is the fear itself. Be Stronger Than Anything That Frightens You."

I feel better already.