Put Your Weapons Down

I’m not talking about your 12 gauge shotgun, AK47, or 9MM. I’m talking about your phone. It is reported that the number of active cell phones will reach 7.3 billion by 2014, all of which are being carried unconcealed, in the palm of our hands.  We need not look any further than the bent necks and tapping fingers of our youth to realize these devices may be the deadliest weapons of our time.

No they are not drawing blood or killing anyone. And many would argue there is technological brilliance behind this invention. Hell, they are keeping us “connected.” But they are also highly effective at destroying our ability to be present. 

The incoming call, email, text, alert, notification, reminder, etc. has the power to go off like handheld grenade – blowing up your train of thought, your concentration, your listening, your awareness, or simply your precious time.   

I’m guilty of playing roulette with the phone. It warps my thinking and often my daily schedule, especially when kids and spouses and workmates are scattered about the country and relying on my availability. 

But I’m also launching a silent advocacy group – encouraging us humans to Put Your Weapon Down.  If for no other reason than to re-capture the present moment.  

Cheers, Chris

The Pose is Meaningless without the breath

Meaning for me that everything from the grandiose dreams we pursue to the simple acts we take are only as relevant as the life we breathe into them.  The breath, particularly when woven into meditation, can have a powerful grounding effect, calming the thoughts, relaxing the body, opening doors into the unknown, and giving us the courage to walk through those thresholds.  Ironically the pursuit of deep breathing is not necessarily encouraged as a way to find meaning, but to experience stillness and peace. 

Often while trying to breathe my way through meditation, I get caught up at the doorway, unable to pass through because of the thoughts or memories or laundry list of to-do’s that jam me up. Supposedly the trick is to simply observe those thoughts – be present to their existence like I’m tying to do with all the shit on my desk and the fact that I just realized I have an 8 am breakfast meeting that I had forgotten about. 

Truth is I believe I might have slipped into a much deeper state of depression had I not quit drinking and aggressively taken up meditation, yoga and focusing on my family first (not work). 

Does this mean I should be grateful for the life-altering experiences that led me to the bottle?  It’s not really the external that causes us to take certain actions right? Ultimately we are the ones pulling the levers whether it's based on feeling or intuition or spontaneity. 

We are 100% responsible for our own actions – each and every one – to own that is frightening, especially if you want to dwell on yesterday. What’s far more empowering is acknowledging our strength as relates to decisions we will make today or tomorrow. This way we can own our actions, the comments we make, the love we deliver.  By being present going in, we can not only experience our choices in a new light, but we can own and accept them after they are all said and done. 

To accomplish this, being present is essential. And access to this time called now starts with a deep breath.   

Cheers, Chris

My Peyote Trip...

Flying down the tracks, Boston to NYC - heading to high school reunion. Came across some notes from Carlos Casteneda’s Journey to Xtlan.  These were my take aways, grasped concepts, captured thoughts (Summarized for the benefit of me and my mom.  Both of us read this book after the passing of my father who held it (and it's messages) up as a game-changer for him and his life):

1.     Lose your personal history – shed it from your being. What are the risks or challenges of trying to do this in an everyday world? Is the dialogue shift from “I have been…”  to now “I am…” or from “what I have done…” to “I am NY, London, Vermont, owner, starter/builder, father, teacher, ….

2.    Look for the signs.  What are they for you?  For me I see Frank’s death, now Greg’s, my daughters' mindset, Kendall's music, Oakley's speaking, Launch Money, Yoga, Boyd, Nick, Soul Degree, my wife, Darrin, Mandy, and so many more.

3.     Remodel your behavior to learn. Open up time to do what is meaningful, to read, write, be contemplative while being more efficient in utilizing hours in the day.     

4.    Don’t take yourself so seriously.  Relax, release, put ease into the struggle.  Self-importance does not add value or advantage.  Besides, you can’t appreciate the world around you if you’re focused on yourself. 

5.    Death is an advisor. Through the words of a memorial, through learning about legacy or the soul of a man, through sadness, grieving, tears?  Through forcing stark reflection on the fragility of life? 

6.    Go all the way (on something). Without any doubts, just experience what it means to fully trusting.  Accept that going all the way is worth the pursuit, that it won’t disappoint, that the ups/downs will be miracles at the least, and life altering at best. 

7.     Assume responsibility for being in this world.  Accept what has been so, but don’t dwell, rather live into what can be. 

8.    Accept that we don’t know what our best is yet.  And might never know it.  For this reason, don’t fear failure, there’s no such thing.

9.    We think we do (but we don’t) have plenty of time. The concept of time and clocks are a truth I wish was never created.

10. Don’t just agree.  Create your own personal revolution and take relevant actions. 

11.  Act as though this were your last Act. 

12. Make yourself accessible to power.  The forces that guide us, bring us together, to this situation, now in front of us.

Cheers, Chris