REFLECTIONS ON "MASTERY"

“Experience teaches that nature among mortals cannot operate in any other way than that in which reason teaches it to work.”

~ Leonardo Da Vinci  (1452 – 1519)

REFLECTIONS ON “MASTERY” …

I have been reflecting on the concept of Mastery lately. I realized that I had an underlying mindset, unconscious until I was reflecting, that I think has its roots in the distant past, when one could actually master all the knowledge that was available about any given subject. This was perhaps even less than 100 years ago.

Of course now, with the global technological ever-expanding access we have on pretty much any subject, along with the ever-expanding knowledge being gained on any subject, this type of mastery is impossible. Mastery now would be a possibility to live into for any given subject, but most likely not a finite venture.

So given my underlying “historical” mindset, “mastery” of anything seemed impossible.

I then wondered: Is there any subject or any place in my life where I feel I have accomplished any level of mastery? The one area that kept recurring to my thoughts was in the consulting work I do. I definitely feel a level of mastery in a couple of the professional areas I have trained and developed myself in over several decades. One area of mastery I have developed has to do with an ability to stay focused and grounded with others, often in a group, in spite of any reactivity and/or emotionalism on their part. Even if I get triggered in some way, I can count on myself to manage my reactions in the moment and deal with myself later.

So, I thought, well, if I can stay grounded in the face of my and other’s emotional reactions in a professional setting, why do I not always stay grounded in the face of my own and other’s reactions in my personal life, and with my significant others?! If I can do this professionally, I have the capacity to do it. So, why do I not do that?!

Good question, eh?

And then it struck me.

I am clearly committed to a larger purpose when working with others professionally. I am clear that I am committed to being a contribution to them, such that they are free from many of their own constraints from the past. It is not about me. I am committed to being of service, so I am able to interact impersonally and thus access my own innate wisdom in any given circumstance.

What I then saw was, in my personal life, I get sloppy. I am not willing to sustain a commitment to myself to stay grounded in spite of external circumstances. I allow myself to – through habit and consequent engrained brain patterns – forget my own personal commitment to be free from the past and profoundly present. I consciously choose that for others, but in the world of how I “should” be treated, how people “should” act towards me, I am of course disappointed in what others say and do “to” me, and take it personally. This then allows me to experience being that most delicious and seductive of human experiences: The Victim!

Tune in to the July blog to hear the rest of this exploration of the rewards and pay-offs of being The Victim … as well of course as the price! … With some helpful thoughts on how to extricate ourselves – if we so choose!

LISTENING FOR POSSIBILITY

 Light at the End of a Tunnel, Torno, Italy, 2015

“There are no facts that limit possibility, there are only conversations that limit or create possibility. Language shapes the way we think, the way we live our lives, and it gives us hands-on access to a world that’s open to being invented.”

~ Laurel Scheaf, Landmark Forum Leader

LISTENING FOR POSSIBILITY

I have been reflecting on how I listen to my internal conversations. I’m pretty good at discerning the voice of old patterns from the voice of inspiration. What I notice however, is that when I distinguish the voice of old limiting patterns, the voice that convinces me I don’t belong, or that I didn’t do it right, etc., I default to my training and think about the source of the pattern and then tell myself it’s an old voice, and sort of push ahead with the actions that I had planned for the day. What my experience is then throughout the day, is I take action in spite of the feeling, so I feel the low mood while I get scheduled things done, but the inspiration, the joy of life, is missing. It’s like I have accomplished things in the face of duress, I’ve risen above the arduous pull of the past! But … not a great day.

What started to occur to me was, what if the old patterns of thought were not really necessary mindsets to “deal” with, rather flashing lights pointing me towards what has been keeping me from what’s possible? Maybe I’m feeling depressed because I’m paying attention to those old patterns of thought? Maybe what I’m really doing is giving myself permission to step back into the past, which is actually over, disappeared really, as a means of distracting myself  from creating what’s possible, what I am actually committed to? What if those old patterns, from this different vantage point, were actually a possible portal to inspiration, creativity, and power - reminders of how I can get caught and what is really needed to re-engage in life and self-expression? What if listening to the insecurity, fear, nervousness, from the vantage point of possibility, was an access to freedom?!

Same language, different translation.

Listening to the past pulls me into a state of mind that made sense to me when I  didn’t have access to the possibilities I can see now. Now noticing the past conversation and then taking it as a cue to get present and step into possibility, opens up alignment with well-being, hope, and inspiration.

This way of listening is a discipline, a practice which takes ongoing remembering, yet one which definitely seems worth cultivating.

THE WISDOM OF ROUTINE

THE WISDOM OF ROUTINE

“I’m hoping my routine will break me out of my rut.

If I keep spinning my wheels, I’m bound to become a bicycling champion.”

― Jarod Kintz, This Book is Not FOR SALE

Over the last year there has been so much construction work on the house, and so many contractors executing it; coming and going and coming back again. Much of what was being done was planned by us, and yet as the work progressed on our 93-year-old house, it became apparent that in order to create what we had designed, previous poor construction had to be undone before new construction could be accomplished.

Etc., etc. …

The main disruption has been my routine. I count on a certain routine. Not a drudgery of imposed rigidity, rather a dependable and comforting understanding of a few things in the day going the way I expect, grounding me for the many unexpected things that are bound to emerge in the most ordered of lives.

I didn’t give it too much credence until about the last month, when I noticed my resilience had thinned – dramatically. I could tell by how little patience I had, and how I had become very demanding and resentful. It struck me that my schedule was not my own – my schedule was dictated by contractors and vendors who seemed to think that my life was waiting on hold to hear what their next need was. (Who’s paying who?!)

So I emerge, with this renewed appreciation for routine. I see now that routine can lend a goodly amount of ballast to the life, and when we can count on a routine, less energy is spent figuring out how certain parts of the day will go – and so there is a goodly amount of freedom to be had as well!

And things get dome! With routine, the daily necessary tasks of life get accomplished, instead of slipping through the moments of unscheduled time when something spur of the moment calls and seduces us into its importance.

And then there is more time for unscheduled time – when creativity can gather substance, and daydreaming can bring insight, and sitting quietly can allow for genius.

Like becoming a bicycling champion.

Clear Vision

"Detail from 'Homage to Botticelli' by Laura Basha"

CLEAR VISION

"Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart.

Who looks outside, dreams.

Who looks inside, awakens."

~ Carl Jung

“ The willingness to “deal” with the inner transmutation process, the willingness to deal with one’s inauthenticities and one’s own inner egoic status quo … is the true work, and once undertaken, the Infinite Intelligence inherent [with]in … unfolds us. …

Listening from the Silence within allows for wisdom to be shared in exactly the way it is needed in any given moment. …This is the process of awakening to the true self, awakening to self-actualization. …  all such evolution takes place from Center to circumference.

When we come from this knowing of who we are as true self, we can be bold. And the boldness comes, not from fear or arrogance, but from the clarity born of listening to Wisdom with humility. Add to this the ability of not taking the pressure of …our own internal habitual thought system … personally, and [one] is supported in … [developing] a depth of compassionate understanding. … the physics of a higher vibrational rate catalyzes the lower vibrational rate of the instruments around it, the resonance of the state of mind of a person aligning with the resonance of the Silence catalyzes the health in oneself, in another person, as well as in an entire system. …

The true mystic wears no armband advertising such. And the true mystic … walks through … all arenas of life: as homemaker, line worker, poet, teacher, student, elder, child. At any age, any gender, any role in life experience, any cultural or educational background, the true mystic emanates a serene countenance, listening from the cues of Infinite Intelligence, Omniscient Wisdom, and Omnipotent Love.

One with Silence is the majority.”

~ excerpt from The Inward Outlook, by Laura Basha, pp. 74&75