Cool Mind Warm Heart

The Spirit of You

Here’s a rewarding way to spend every minute, whether as an individual or an institution.  Be on the lookout for the “spirit of you,” the spirit of who you really are, whenever and however it may appear.  A joke, a song, a photograph, a pizza, the caress of a shirt on your skin, a gracious memo, the way someone rakes the lawn or walks their dog––every smidgen of existence is a potential expression of that distinct vibration of beauty that is you. 

Maybe all there is to creating a healthy life or a healthy enterprise is identifying the spirit of our true self, and doing our best to make choices hand-in-hand with that spirit.  And the more open we are to discovering (or tripping over) that spirit in the world around us, the easier it is to spot when we look within.

...Vermont sunlight in September, Cirque du Soleil’s collaboration with the Beatles, the architecture of Antonio Gaudi, the part of a clam shell that forms a heart with wings, offerings by crazy quilt artist Allison Aller....

My heart smiles, “Hey, that’s me.”

Clear Vision

Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart.  Who looks outside, dreams.  Who looks inside, awakens.
–– Carl Jung

PORTABLE PEACE

As someone who needs all the help he can get, here’s a practice I find useful in growing a more peaceful heart.

A Few Good Funerals

“Divine perversity” (a term I made up) is when the universe asks us to teach that which we most have to learn.   If that weren’t bad enough, the best teaching can take place only with a few good funerals.

Since all we ever teach is ourselves, teaching the “real” us requires the death of whatever masks we wear.  Such as my old standby, Mr. I’ve Got My Shit Together.   Letting go of masks can be like the passing of a dear friend.  It’s tough for anyone, perhaps  especially those who play the role of leader in a world where image is everything. 

But that difficulty is actually a blessing, so far as I can tell.  It is the universe encouraging us to become more and more aware that, in every moment, with every choice, we are answering what some consider to be life’s most important question: “Who am I?” 

You can read more on the topic in my recent essay, Divine Perversity and the Death of Masks.

How...is everything

How we define our world actually creates our world.

–– Danaan Parry

TO COMMUNICATE WELL

My professional history has caused me to be asked on occasion, “What will it take for us to communicate effectively with the world?”  Over the years, the first words out of my mouth have become, “Learn to manage fear.” 

Eyebrows have been known to hit the skylight in response—“fear” being the most despised four-letter word in American business, if not everywhere.  No surprise, really.  We fear most what we understand least.

So I offer my two cents.