On Peaceful Terms

This young woman, Malala Yousafzai, sends chills of inspiration down my spine.

Check out how she comes to terms with death as she awaits her assassin from the Taliban: "Malala, just take a shoe and hit him. But then I said, if you hit a Talib with your shoe, then there would be no difference between you and the Talib."




Learn more about her: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malala_Yousafzai

endless opportunities / finite time

Readers, I've neglected Gentlelift.

I've neglected my life passion--connecting to the world via writing.

Sad because there's something personally therapeutic about exposing the innermost thoughts of my conscious. Pulling out the ideas from the bottom of my soul and sharing them with whoever dares to care.  

To some it may seem voyeuristic. To me, it feels like I'm just bringing to light something we've all thought once before or might be turning over already in the backs of our mind.

Some people say it's better to leave things unsaid...

But now, based on personal experience at work, transparency is truly the fasted method toward progress. 

Two heads are better than one, right? 

And what if even more?

Just imagine the possibilities when brilliant minds unite.

OK, so I feel I owe an explanation as to my whereabouts: work, love, distractions, attachments, etc. etc.  

I can make valid excuses.

The main (classic) excuse being that there's only so much time in the day.

Yes, we have a finite amount of time. Which means the decision as to how to spend that finite amount of time becomes immensely important.

So important, that sometimes people shut down and avoid it altogether.

Why else would people waste so much time arguing, worrying, running around in circles...? When there are miracles to behold and endless opportunities to pursue. Or maybe there's no pursuit at all because you've already attained what you've always had from the start.

So fast forward, 

and at the end we might reflect on how we spent this time.

Maybe it was time spent writing, or running, or watching sunsets, or looking deeply into someone's eyes, or striving for perfection, or writing blogs?

But at least it was time spent together, 

with me writing these words and you reading them. 

As long as it was also spent smiling, 

laughing, 

reconnecting, 

and living life to whatever you deem to be the fullest. 

And digging down deep into one's soul and pulling out whatever might need to be pulled out. 

Hopefully it was spent loving all life's creatures, and feeling grateful for being alive!

was it spent...

was it spent well....

was it spent willfully well... ?

What if You Had a Stroke of Insight?

Sometimes, we get so caught up in the daily grind that we forget what could or might be.

Sometimes, we get so jaded that we forget to ask, "What's my life purpose?"

Sometimes, we get so burnt out... we lose touch with each other, thus losing touch with ourselves.



What matters most?

What's the bigger picture?

What's the shared human experience?



I love this TedTalk by brain scientist Jill Bolte Taylor.

Check it out and share in her experience of having a stroke. And listen to the revelations it brought about.


Does such a traumatic event have to occur in order to wake up to what truly matters?

Hopefully not, or else it might be too late.

Brain Reflections

Poet Emily Dickinson once wrote:

Sparknotes translates Dickinson's poem as:

“[It's about] the mind’s capacity to absorb, interpret, and subsume perception and experience. 

The brain is wider than the sky despite the sky’s awesome size 

because the brain is able to incorporate the universe into itself,  

and thereby even to absorb the ocean. 

The source of this capacity, in this poem, is God.”

This poem makes me think about how the human brain is so complex...its capacity for understanding is so impressive.

Over the course of hundreds of millions of years, it evolved tailored by the environment, and we developed handy tools like feelings, learning, and memory. 

Then after humans evolved a questioning brain, they naturally began searching for answers to the  mysteries around them. But to what end?

In a book called Chess Metaphors, author Diego Rasskin-Gutman says,

"During the last 30 thousand years (at least), the human species has incessantly questioned its own nature and it's position within the universe—an overwhelmingly empty enterprise because of the paucity of valid answers and always led by a search for religious meaning.   

Little by little, this search has been stripped of its divine sense as attitudes evolved through the influence of the scientific community and by the transformation of societies in modern nation-states. 

Thus, a huge role has been played by scientists:

•  Copernicus and Galileo showed that we are not the center of the universe, 
• Darwin recognized the animal with our being,
• Freud placed consciousness at the center of the scientific quest,
•  and Einstein equated matter with energy and showed nature's dependence on point of view."

It's all about perspective.

And the evolution of not only our brains, but of our shared experience.

How one defines God is a very personal journey, but the collective pursuit of that definition influences our relationship with the world and our relationships with each other.

Any path taken is both personal and shared. Am I open and feel awe? Am I closed and feel fear? Am I confused?

So then why is Western society so "mum's the word" about the discovery of a higher truth in the secular context?

I very much respect Dickinson for expressing her inner reflections via poetry, like past poets Rumi and 寒山.

In Dickinson's opinion, the mind is a manifestation of God, or the individual is an instrument of God. 

[here's a little poem response dedicated to her]

----

hey, brain. 

you may be wider than the sky...

swallowing endlessly 

for total absorption

but why

resist the ocean's deafening roar

participate with silence

Then witness 

the love within 

-also boundless-

our own reflection(s).

simple reflection.

----

Optical Delusions

An optical delusion is when you see things as you want them to be, not as they truly are. 

Humans make excuses, overlook things that shouldn't be overlooked, hold onto optimism or pessimism, fall into complacency, make assumptions, etc. etc. etc. 

It's so easy to do. 

What's not easy is looking beyond the immediate.  

Is it even possible to fully see if we come pre-programmed with years of conditioning, biases, and opinions?

After all, personal history directly impacts world view. My interpretation of the world is no one else's truth but my own. And of course, your interpretation is uniquely yours.

When we come together, it's so much easier if we work from a compassionate, loving, open, and communicative playbook. Then at least we can help each other draw—if not the right conclusion—then at least a pretty decent one. Because 2 (and more) heads are better than one.

Here's some insight from the brilliant Albert Einstein:

"A human being is part of the whole called by us 'the universe,' a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something separate from the rest—a kind of optical delusion of consciousness.

This delusion is kind of a prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and affection for a few persons nearest to us. 

Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening the circle of understanding and compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty."