Hello! I just wanted to add a different kind of meditation practice that I find very helpful myself. I very much recommend this even if you don’t normally meditate. Just give it a go, and thank me later…

You can listen to the recording here on the site, but I very much recommend that you download it to your MP3 player. Whatever you do, make sure you use some good headphones and make sure you can do this undisturbed. The recording is about 10 minutes.

You can also do this practice with several people. Then you probably don’t need the recording, but it is up to you. I have done this practice with more than 50 people and it is indescribable.

Instructions

Sit comfortably on a chair or on a cushion. Make sure your spine is straight but relaxed, not leaning on anything. Turn on the recording and close your eyes.
All you have to do is to sing “huuu”, on any note, with the recording. Don’t worry about being in tune or not. This is not a “singing perfectly“-exercise. Sing long comfortable notes. It can be the same note or you can change. You can sing in anyway you like, but I recommend long notes. It should always be “huuu” though.

huu chant

Right-click to download

Cheers!                                                                                                                           photo credit

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According to most popular literature and media, you are supposed to strengthen your will so that you can create “whenever you want”. At a first glance this might sound good. It is true that will goes through levels of complexity as we grow; a two year-old’s will is rather differently expressed than most adults’.
I think most people struggle with the idea of “willing” one’s art though. Still, articles talk about attitudes, practices and tools, trying to make you more creative (like this blog for example…). This is an attempt to exercise or force your will.

There is some truth to the befits of those ideas, but I wanted to inquire a little more deeply into what will is. But what else is there than just seemingly forcing oneself into action?

Will is often portrayed as a kind of freedom-tool; you are not bound to circumstances; you can do what you want, providing your will is developed enough. Will, then feels like something outside of you that you have to master in order to keep yourself in control. I often hear about the “will to succeed”, to go for what you want, or even the will to be free or the will to love.

Sure. You have to sometimes “will yourself” to pay the bills and do the boring day to day stuff. I have to will myself in some ways to write this article. But we see then that will is actually not about freedom but about a kind of control:
We have a set goal; an agenda that is about one way, one path. Having goals is healthy, but it is interesting that we assume that stronger will (stronger boundaries) equals more freedom, when in fact it mostly refers to a very specific attitude.

Free will?

For example, what would happen if we don’t “will” ourselves all the time? What would happen if we don’t have to know everything every second? What would happened if you let things be exactly as they are, changing by itself, moment to moment?

Most would react and say that would be a disaster. “I might run wild on the streets, biting tires if I did not control myself!”
We control our assumptions even if we don’t know if they are true or not. We frighten ourselves with unlikely catastrophe-scenarios that could happen IF we don’t follow the control. – Sounds a bit like our parents, right?
Control is mostly not something that others do to us. We control ourselves with our own will. It is interesting considering many talk about free will.

Fear of absolute freedom

I believe that we fear having total freedom, because that would mean (to most people) that we would have to do everything ourselves; nothing would be handed or served to us. We fear we would be alone at the top, having to make sure anything happens at all, and no one would help us. Perhaps even feeling the fear of being abandoned by God now when you can do it all by yourself? But being independent all the time; being free to do whatever you want, and being in no one else’s control, are in fact what most people strive for. And I believe that this strive is not balanced, creating a huge pressure on ourselves, not knowing where to go; there seem to be only two options: massive success or massive failure.

So, most of us continue to play the game of idealizing freedom and willpower, in reality not wanting it, but fearing the opposite more. I also think we confuse free will with “feeling good”. And people feel good for very different reasons.
The freedom ideal is really only keeping ourselves where we are at for fear of the unknown. We don’t really know what will is, but rather follow some, mostly cultural concepts, that we then equate with will. But that is not free will, it is just a bunch of set rules you probably don’t even agree with.

Separation?

We think we have to do something in order to be here. We believe we have to “will ourselves” in order to have some value at all. But this act is actually what separates us more and more; if you believe that you have to will yourself out of your present situation, you are in fact only reinforcing your belief that you are not connected and valuable.

There is great confusion about will because on the one hand we often hear that you have to be independent and take care of everything yourself, but on the other hand we all know that we need others to do anything at all (try having babies on your own…). We are in fact here together, but it does seem like being independent is being on your own.

And if you argue the opposite, saying there is no point in doing anything at all, you are then caught in another more subtle concept, slightly biased towards everything being hopeless and desperate. Believe me, this is a kind of will as well, keeping you in one place. And it usually does not make you feel that great either.

Will has a lot of ideas on how you should behave and look, what to say and like, etc. I’m sure you have experienced being sad, and at the same time feeling your emotions are not appropriate. I’m sure you have been sick, and at the same time really upset about not having your full strength.
Thus, your will is not letting you be; you want to be something else. Sometimes even you want to be somewhere else entirely. In any case, all these ideas are basically saying you are not free and valuable; you are separate from nature. (God, universe, consciousness, Gaia, love, earth etc.)

Universal will

Let’s get back to the idea of not knowing. What would happen if you let yourself totally be? (not just giving up on it all…) Would you just fall apart not being able to do anything? Would you still think and feel, would your heart beat, would your body still function? Would you be able to walk, or even drive a car? Would you be able to create?

In fact, are you truly in control?
No matter your will, the world still happens, your body is still changing. Was it your will to be born and to eventually die?
Is art really a result of strong will? I see art as a side-effect rather than a result. Most artists have the experience of “starting to create”, but not being in much control beyond that. You don’t create art, it is already here. Rather, you notice art. You create perspectives of art, both as a creator and spectator.

Have you ever noticed that when you create something, art is more something that seems to happen in front of you? Sure, you have some specific tools; you might have a specific form, but usually the process of art takes over after a while. Suddenly you don’t seem to be the master anymore, but rather the spectator. Art is happening through you, and you don’t know what will happen. Often the end result is quite different than what you might have intended initially.

I recommend looking at some true masters of art to see that they are not “willing” their art in the sense that will has been popularized nowadays. Look at videos of Picasso painting for example. Look at artists who are improvising. The guitarist Pat Metheny talks about “sitting back and listening” to himself as he plays; he is a creator and spectator at the same time.
These artists, in their better moments, neither try nor want to predict the end result.

Even artists who really try to be the same, for example symphony orchestras who do everything they can in terms of quenching every spark of creativity by playing exactly the same way every time, having the same clothes and playing in the same places, do still experience variations of their art that they can’t predict.

How have you noticed universal will creating through you? A good way is to try a form until it evolves itself. For example, how long can you play the same kind of rhythm or scale on the piano until it changes by itself, without you consciously trying to change it? You can try the same idea with any art: Pick a specific form and see how long it takes for it to change by itself. You’ll probably enjoy yourself more too.

Cheers!                                                                                                                           photo credit

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Today I wanted to bring attention to the topic of “conversation”, especially on the internet.

More and more we all get involved with internet: We write and read blogs, we comment on the blogs and we get involved with social media like Facebook and twitter.
It is great to get involved, to find more people around the world, and also to get a chance to show yourself a bit. But most of these interactions are still done with text only, and all the complex “silent language” that is involved when having a conversation with a person face to face, is lost.

For example, we don’t hear the tone of voice in a text, we don’t see the facial expressions, the speed, the accents, the emotions, the body language, etc. I constantly see people misunderstand each other online, and often, these misinterpretations lead to really huge discussions and sometimes, mean personal attacks.

Evolving our interactions

Of course we are slowly developing tools to help the interactions online; a simple one is of course all the smileys that we use to emphasize our emotional state. But I think we have to evolve in other ways as well and not just rely on tools trying to mimic our expression. We also have to evolve as human beings, concentrating on our internal side a bit and not just on technology.

Of course, we don’t always agree and that is ok. It is a part of the human drama. But I do think we can learn to not always jump the gun and react so quickly to what other people say and think.
So, here I will list a few ideas and practices that I think are extremely useful when you engage online as a reader, commenter and writer. Why is this good for art? It will open your mind to the possibilities out there. Being creative in your surroundings and interactions make you a much more creative person in general. And you might also be able to take the critiques a little more lightly this way.

• When reading a post or comment, read it like YOU wrote it. You can even read it aloud. This way you will connect more with the message and be a little more open to the idea presented.
• Find at least one thing that is correct with the the post/comment. You might not agree in general, but try to see some value in this perspective, even if it is a tiny one. But focus on that. Remember, no one is smart enough to be a 100% wrong all the time. What is right about the comment or post?
• Read a post , text or blog with the voice of your favorite person.
• Read your own posts or comments like someone else wrote them. The idea here is to become more objective about your own views.
• Find ONE thing (just one to start with or you might deconstruct your whole message and we don’t want that….) about your post that actually could be limiting.
• When reading harsh critique against you, try to see what is truly helpful, or read it with a happy and kind voice that means you well, or with the voice of the smurfs.
• Take a moment to let the message sink in before you reply. Perhaps even a day or a week, and ground yourself in the wisdom you have before answering.
• Don’t skim through a text if it really interests you, and especially not if you intend to reply. Take the time, you might learn something new.
• Ask yourself: “Why do I have to be so right? Is it really worth all this effort to prove someone wrong and will they truly change? Who am I truly trying to convince, the other person, or myself? Does working so hard to prove someone wrong making our relationship better? Am I feeling better from this interaction? Could it be that there are perspectives that I yet don’t know?”
• Change the tone of voice. Now, this requires a little more explanation. Please try an experiment with me. Read this sentence normally: “I can’t believe you did that.”
  • Now read this sentence like the person is really angry.
  • Read it like the person is really sad.
  • Read it like the person is very happy.
  • Read it like the person is very horny. 

  And so on. Who is really imposing the emotion? – You, or the one who wrote the sentence?

Of course, the person who wrote it had an intention, and in some cases it is quite clear what emotional state the writer is in. But in most cases this is not easy to tell, even if we think so. I suggest you don’t really know most of the time no matter how smart you are. Read with a neutral tone. Assume you don’t know the state of the writer and understand the text without jumping to conclusions.

Projection and Translation

Most of us confuse our OWN imposed emotional state with the writer’s; we actually think what we feel is the way the writer feels. And worse yet, while reading someone’s post or comment, we often negatively react to the emotional state of the post, that we in fact ourselves projected in the first place. So, we are in fact reacting to ourselves when we reply. We are talking to ourselves!

Another thing we often do, that is quite similar to the emotional state-confusion, is when we read through someone’s text and “translate” the meaning to something we have heard in the past. Instead of just reading and truly seeing the perspective of the writer, we change the meaning slightly to something we already know of that “sort of” sounds the same as what we are reading. This happens mostly unconsciously, and we do it very quickly.
The reason for this is that we are not comfortable with the unknown and we like to think we know. So, rather than reading something and actually not knowing what it truly means, or perhaps the text is making us ask questions or think in a new way, we rather translate the meaning into something we are familiar with. The problem is that this translation completely misses the message most of the time. We truly don’t hear nor understand the perspective of the writer. Again, we are having a conversation with our own assumptions.

I know best!

You might think the above sounds strange, but it is a well known fact in psychology and there are all kinds of fancy names for these kind of behaviors which I won’t bore you with now.
These behaviors happen outside the the social media too, in normal life, but I see that the confusion is even bigger with text-interaction.
Just look at most politics and religions and you will see this phenomena is happening constantly: Most people don’t hear a single thing of what the opposite is saying. We just assume “they” talk about “that” and just react to it. Just think of how much more complicated it is with just text.

The real truth is that we are not very willing to see the other view, even a tiny bit. I think this fear comes partly from the fact that we are so identified we our views; thinking our views are what we are, that we are often terrified of changing them. It is almost like we think we would disappear if we changed our minds. It might sound ridiculous to you but I remind you again how strict people are with politics, religion and sex for example. And I’m sure that you have views you hold onto very tightly, just as I do.

Arrogance comes from frustration, not from compassion

If people want to believe something that does not harm anyone, even though you think it is really silly, why not let them do that and grow at their own pace? Why so certain you know better and that you need to “save” them? Truth is that by ridiculing people and forcing them to think differently does not work at all, and has the opposite effect in most cases. For example, I like Bill Maher and understand some of his points, but only his fans hear him. No one else does. Perhaps this is not the most effective way to reach people and help them grow?

Many people think that certain religious behavior is very forced and dogmatic. That might be very true, but it is also very violent to attack someone for having those beliefs, demanding a change. We forget that people are mostly happy with where they are at and if you attack them for their beliefs, often with a superior and aggressive tone, why would they want to be where you are at if it seems like you are quite unhappy?

An interesting example is Richard Dawkins. He is clearly a very intelligent and educated man capable of critical thinking, and he has a lot of good points. In many aspects I totally agree with him and I see he has a strong passion that I encourage. But he is not aware of the arrogance he puts out, which is a kind of a hidden anger, and it is this anger that people who don’t agree with pick up on, not his message. People who do not agree with him, especially devote religious people, see an arrogant angry person attacking their worth and this does not make them want to change a bit. Dawkins also lacks the capacity to understand another person’s view (other than his worldview) which he really should be able to do, truly coming from a more educated and open worldview than some of the mythic-oriented religions he attacks. My advice is that Dawkins learns the language of the people he tries to “help”, because they simply do not understand him because he talks only from his “own world”.

I don’t mean that Dawkin’s knowledge is arrogant. No, he is often right, but that his tone and sometimes over-confidence that he knows best is a problem. He is not nearly as open to other views as he says he is and not humble enough to realize there are many things he does not know. And it is very simple to attack mythic religions. I have yet to see him talk to a person with a high spiritual intelligence.

So what to do?

Well, you can continue to be angry with people. Most will in fact, and I do all the silly things mentioned above too. Part of this is to relax about the fact that this is so.

But why not start with a little awareness of the fact that we all have some truth, but not all the truth, and that we need to work together. It does not mean accepting everything. Only an idiot accepts everything. No, it means truly listening and it means compassion for letting people be where they are at. And being open to new ideas makes you more creative.

And sometimes we can be angry too, angry that people refuse to open and see what they are. Angry that people cannot be themselves and grow. Angry that there is so little compassion. But let’s try to be angry from our deepest places, from our deepest heart and mind, full of compassion for people around us who are trying to understand this world in their way just like you are now in your way. And let’s try to use less anger from the place of repression and sadness due to the fact that we feel that we don’t belong and that the world has not given us what we need.

If we feel more listened too, if we let people be themselves a bit more, we can relax. I think this fact is one extraordinary and helpful step towards peace. I think most people who react very violently, are simply not being heard enough. It is of course not just that simple, and certain behavior is simply not accepted and shouldn’t be. But I think listening and giving people some space is still an important part that we could all do for a more civilized and open society. And we can start practicing this online as well.

So, try the points I have mentioned above, or come up with your own in order to be more open to what people are and what they say and think. Is there anything right about the opinion of your enemy, or the person you argue with? What can you learn from them? How can you communicate with them in their language? Think about how you love it when someone truly understands you. Why not give that gift to someone else?

I would love to hear more comments of your experience and thoughts about this.

Cheers!

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I wanted to talk about something that I do all the time, especially when I write here. I’m seeing life from the third perspective, and in some ways, this view has little to do with creativity.

What do I mean with the 3rd perspective?

The third perspective is the objective view; it is when I look at something from the outside. I am usually thinking about, analyzing, and/or trying to solve something. There is nothing wrong with this of course, it is very useful and quite needed to survive for example. But if we only see things from this perspective we often feel outside, unemotional, and not very connected to other people.

The second perspective is when I relate to something. It is usually when I am in a dialog with someone. I might agree with someone, or I have compassion for someone else and I try see what they see. This perspective is also very important, because we see that the world is more than just facts and/or more than just my own view. But if we only see the world from this perspective we lack objectivity and we tend to be too involved and caught up in the other, forgetting our own value.

The first perspective is about me only. But it is also about direct experience. This is what happens right now, right here. The experience is mostly physical or sensational. You are not analyzing what is happening, you are living what is happening. Being in the creative flow is mostly a 1st perspective experience in the sense that the experience is happening now and you are not stopping yourself or analyzing the situation. (It can also be a 2nd perspective experience (we-space) when we flow with another person.)
But if you only see the world from this perspective, you will hardly understand anyone else and you won’t be able to distinguish objects in the world; there is no difference between a tree and a forest. Only seeing your view, is the same as narcissism because you don’t actually see the world, you only see yourself.

We need all perspectives

I’m sure it is quite clear to you that all perspectives are important. Perhaps you can also see that different people tend to use different perspectives? Few actually are open to all; most of us are fairly stuck on one of the perspectives. If you look around, or at yourself, I’m sure you will see we often stick to one view. Even religions and politics are often just about one of these perspectives. Some conflicts come from arguing only what perspective is right, not understanding the mutual interest in the topic itself. For example, is love a brain activity, a mutual experience, or just a personal feeling?

When someone argues your ideas, in most cases it is not JUST because you, or the other person is RIGHT/WRONG, it is that you are both right partially, and that both your views actually complement each other. You might be more right, true. But no one will ever know or explain the universe absolutely right; there is always more to say. (which is good news, right?)

No one is smart enough to be a 100% wrong all the time

Let yourself be

The reason for my somewhat bold title of this post is that when you are objective, when you are outside of yourself, analyzing, judging, you are in fact not creative. As soon as you objectify the situation you have left the now; you have stepped aside of yourself to look at yourself and the situation.
Creativity is the opposite of hesitation. Creativity flows, it is. Creation is happening everywhere all the time. As soon as you step outside and see if something is good/bad enough you stop that flow and disassociate with it. Another way to describe it would be like taking out your eyeball from your head and turning it around in order to see yourself.

But I did say that we need all perspectives and that is still true. Problems arise mostly when we are stuck to only one perspective. I bring up mostly about the 3rd perspective here because I guess that most of us are quite stuck in our there, and this does not allow us to experience ourselves, our creations and what we feel. Usually our 3rd perspective jumps the gun too quickly and let us know “exactly what is going on” before we’ve had a chance to experience anything.

The problem is the problem

A good friend of mine reminded me of the fact that I’ll lose connection to my creativity and my own experience instantly when I go to the 3rd perspective. We were talking about a challenge that I had at the time and I was trying so hard to fix it. He showed me that, in a way, the solution is quite simple:

There is in fact only a problem when you are in the third perspective. For example, if you create a piece of art that may or may not be good, you only suffer that possibility as soon as you go into the third perspective and objectify what is going on. As you create and stay with the experience, whatever arises, there is actually no problem.

3rd perspective saves creativity

So what perspective are you in the most? What if you could see thing from other perspectives as well? I remind myself about the 3rd perspective in order not to get too caught up in objectifying my situation. That act of reminding myself, is in itself a 3rd perspective, but this will still help me get back to the now with a gentle nudge. As I said before, none of the perspectives are better or worse, they are all needed. It is the addiction/conviction that only one of them is right that causes problems.

Cheers!                                                                                                                         photo credit

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As you already know, your emotions and thoughts affect your physical body. In the same way, your physical body affects your emotions and thoughts. Knowing this well, you can actually change your attitude rather quickly if needed.

Faking your way?

Some would argue that being able to manipulate one’s emotions and states would not be “real”; it would be fake and superficial; it would not be who you are.
In some sense I totally agree with this perspective, because I see lots of people forcing themselves to “be happy” when they truly are not.
But the idea stated at the beginning of this post is not about repressing oneself but about how you can be more aware of yourself and your surroundings. How can you be more in control instead of always falling victim to your own 3-year-old-reactions?

Think about it: WHY is all the stuff you have learned from your family, schools, books etc. MORE authentic than anything else you could have learned? What you think you are is mostly a bunch of learned patterns and habits anyway.  Is being authentic a state you inhabit when you stick to your original, taught mostly by your parents, patterns?
I mean, maybe your habits are really not so good? Maybe you can learn better ones? If you, for example, start to react like a five-year-old who has lost his toy every time someone gives you feedback it might be time to consider understanding and mastering your states a bit more? (and perhaps some good therapy as well.) Unless you are five, that is.

There is more out there than just you

Sometimes it is not just about you expressing your own “authentic” (starting to almost not like that word…) self but being able to see what is necessary in the moment. Perhaps sometimes you need to put a cork on your own egotistical tendencies and really help or see more than just you?

This takes time, practice and patience. But why not learn some tricks that can help you see your habits coming and being able to stop them before they take over? Perhaps, learning this, you will be able to not always react in the same way, for example to your own artistic creations, thinking it is just the same old crap as always and you end up tossing potentially good ideas in the trash?

Bodily awareness

Right now, how do you sit or stand? What would you say is the state of your body?

• If you are tired or a little unhappy, you are probably slumped over, holding your head with your hands, or feeling tensions in your body. Your breathing is probably shallow and you probably look down most of the time.
• If you feel rested and happy, you are probably having a more straight posture, you look up more, you probably breathe fuller and you are not “hanging” your body everywhere.

If you want to change your state you can actually just change your physical body. It can be as easy as standing up and stretch or take a walk for example.

How can we be creative with out bodies?

I’m sure it is pretty obvious to you but here are a few examples:

• Dance
• Make love
• Do sports
• Bathe (in different substances)
• Wrestle someone playfully
• Enjoy food (in any way you can imagine)
• Sing
• Exercise and stretch
• Run and jump
• Do things as slowly as you can
• Use your body as a paint brush

I’m sure you can come up with a better list. 

More awareness, more options

Have you noticed that you are much more aware of your body right now because we talk about it? Also, you can use this simple knowledge to get yourself more into the state you are after when you need to have a good focus, for example while creating something.

Sometimes you need more energy, and other times you might need to calm down. Breathing alone can change that instantly. Try it: Breathe shallowly, or deeply for a couple of minutes and see what happens.

Listening more to your body will take care of your basic needs as well. If you are really aware of your body it will actually tell you when to go to sleep, to eat, to exercise, to stretch, to have more water, to go to the bathroom and perhaps have some more fruit and veggies. Or perhaps when you need to take care of yourself better or go to the doctor.

The cool thing is, our bodies are smart enough if we give them a chance. We don’t have to be so damn clever or authentic in order to be aware of the gross realm; we need awareness and everybody has this capacity. Only ego is arrogant enough to compare thousands of years of evolution with the “perfect strategy” of this life-time alone.

Looking for trouble?

Where are you looking? Where are your eyes most of the time? If you see the street and the floor too much you are too caught up in your emotions and thoughts guaranteed. Luckily the solution is very simple: Look up!

Seeing what is around you is such a simple solution that you hardly hear people say it (because it is hard to make money out of it….). But it works. Look around, what do you notice? What have you not seen before? What is happening around you?

You could almost say that when you always look down you are looking for trouble because you become too self-focused, and at those times you become too serious and often start finding everything that is wrong. Also, you don’t notice what is happening around you; you miss the person(s) admiring you: you miss the effects of the wind and the weather: you miss the smells, colors and sensations in the air; you miss people’s voices and others sounds. All you usually hear is something like: “I am a steaming pile of something!” coming from your own mind.

Open the doors.

Think about it like this: Let’s say that your mind, heart and body is a combined room that you can fill up with things. Like all rooms,  you have to clean the room now and then or old crap keeps piling up, making no space for new things. When the room is full, most people tend to close the doors and windows instead of cleaning the room out because they think no ones should see the mess. Or worse, being overwhelmed by the mess they avoid the room entirely and try to forget about it.

If we only focus on ourselves this way, all the time, without letting new fresh winds come in we get really sad and depressed. We get overwhelmed by a room that feels messy and stale.
Looking up, instead of always at our feet is like opening the doors and windows of this room. Fresh vistas, senses and ideas now gets noticed by us and this freshness cleans our room really well. There is so much life around you happening now that the old stale stuff cannot compete with and so, it gets cleaned out. Of course, if you go back to “looking down” too long it means you closed the doors and the new stuff will soon become old and stale again.

I want to mention that not all stuff in your room can or should be cleaned out. If you have ignored something really important in your life, it will need serious attention and awareness or it will haunt you for the rest of your days. I hope you understand that this about having a fresh perspective, getting unstuck and not about ignoring your issues.

How to open the doors?

Any kind of physical activity works wonders. All I have mentioned so far works. I highly recommend regular exercise for anyone, especially artists who sit inside on their ass too much (musicians and dancers too even though they might move because they hardly see the sun… And it has to be something different than what you do all day). Just going out to look at the sun (or the rain) is a good idea. It will give you lots of new ideas.

The hardest and the most simple idea that REALLY works well is “looking up”.

If you think “Where you look” is a small thing, then pay attention to where you look for the next week. That means, looking people in the eyes, noticing what is around you and also above you. Find what is interesting and beautiful in your neighborhood, city or area. Look straight in front of you when you walk, not at your feet or shoes. I guarantee you will have new thoughts and feelings, or much fewer worries than normal because everything you will take in will push your everyday-stuff out with great force.

If you have not done this before you will probably experience where you live as an entirely new place. If you manage to keep up this practice for a longer time you will soon discover that everything (beyond all clichés) is truly beautiful and mysterious, and my words cannot describe this experience even close. You have to experience this yourself so that you can understand what my words refer to.

Sensing

Sensing who we are is also a great practice. It is not just about feeling fantastic, sometimes it is just about acknowledging what is truly going on which could be that you feel terrible. Just notice what is going on. You don’t have to have a doctors degree to sense yourself.

Is there pain or discomfort in your body? Try to be more specific and feel what is happening in your body and where. With experience you will be very good at this and you will start to live a life that suits you, that is more healthier to you.

Challenge

You have five minutes wherever you are. Right now. Find something new about your surroundings. Go out and breathe for a moment if you can. Remind yourself as much you can of this practice.

While you are here, why not be here. There is much suffering around us all the time, but it is also exceptionally beautiful if you can see deep enough, if you can see beyond the suffering and the attachments.

Here’s to your beauty, and the beauty around you!

Cheers!                                                                                                                           photo credit

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There are many schools of interpretation of art. Most of them claim to be the only way. I think they all have a truth but why not use all perspectives available to you for a fuller view?

But today I want to remind you about three simple ways you can use to either interpret art, or to create art yourself. I learned about this myself from Ken Wilber.
Most of us, including myself, usually judge objects as bad or good. But you have probably noticed it is never that simple; maybe a part of it was still good even though most of it stunk to high heaven?

We like to simplify this way because then we don’t have to change. We don’t want to change our opinions because we are attached to them; we think our opinions define who we are. Changing opinions feels unsafe and risky for most.
“You might disappear if you don’t stick to your opinions….!”
(Damn those ___________________ and their politics!)

So, think about True, Good and Beautiful when you look at anything.

• What is true about the art. How do you know?
• What is good about the art. How do you know?
• What is beautiful about the art. How do you know?

What do we mean with true, good and beautiful?

Well, there are of course many interpretations and here is where you come in. But if you also see these “three” as Science, Morals, and Art it might be a little more clear? We can also refer it to It, We, and I.
If it is confusing, read on. It will be clear(er).

Meaning:

• What is beautiful, is mostly a personal judgment. You might have heard of the saying “The beauty lies in the eye of the beholder”?  So, this judgment about beauty comes from you; it is a personal judgment. (Something is esthetically pleasing or not.) Art, the way we talk about it here, is simply esthetics.  In this way Beauty, Arts and I are related.
• In the same way as above, Good, Morals and We are related.
  But this time time is not a personal judgment; when we decide what is good or morally right, we need more than one person. We need at least two people who agree with each other – In general a whole society. This is not about facts, but about a consensus.
• Finally, True, Science and It refers to facts, not to opinions. For example, if the sun is shining it is not a matter about preference, nor if you agree about it. It is simply true; it is truly happening no matter what anyone wants or not.

Now, I believe that none of these perspectives are enough on its own. You might find that you, or other people like to only see the world through only one of these perspectives. In obviously ok to specialize in any of these areas, but I find that most approaches who only deals with one perspective is rather limited and missing out a whole lot.
For example, for every experience there is an interior and an exterior; you can feel what you experience, and then you can, for example, measure that experience in brain-waves. But to say that only one of those perspective is important and the other just imaginations is in my mind very close-minded.

I mean, next time you are dealing with your partner about a delicate issue, try to explain it all with just brain-waves and chemical imbalances… Good luck…

Of course, this could be a much bigger discussion but I hope you permit some generalizations and that you understand what I am after.

Seeing art in three ways.

I hope you can see that these concepts are not necessarily dependent on each other. For example, something can be true, but perhaps not good, nor beautiful. Or perhaps something is beautiful and good,  but not true. Or something can be all three.

Next time you are too hard on yourself, remember that it is never that simple as just good and bad. Rarely is something not true, nor good, nor beautiful. Now you can at least find something that is either true, good, or beautiful.
Most shows I have seen have mostly one or two of all three. Really interesting stuff have all three (and I’m of course not just talking about my own judgment here…)

I find that looking at things this way makes everything more worth-while. Next time you go to a performance you might not like, remember these three perspectives. Let’s say the show is not beautiful and not good, but perhaps true. – Maybe that part alone was worth the visit?
Remember, “good” in this example is not about personal opinion but about what is morally good for “us”. Also, sometimes we have to break moral boundaries in order to go further. If you have studied art-history you know that most famous artists did just that.

Of course, the arts, is about art in the way we discuss here. So we are talking mostly about beauty, but I think it can definitely be useful and opening to one’s mind to view art art in the other two perspectives as well.

Judging too quickly and so much gets lost.

Many say that judging is bad.
Well, people with this opinion forget that what they just said is a judgment too. We can not escape judgments, so let’s use them wisely rather than trying to ignore them. Every time you decide what to eat, what to wear, what to do, you use your judgment. Wouldn’t you say it is quite crucial to be able to judge well?

So, knowing these three views makes you judge more wisely.

For example, maybe you see a show that is truly beautiful. Let’s say that the radiance of the show had a great effect on you, making you feel very inspired.
Later you find out that the show was made by a person who believes that black people and Jews are lesser beings and that the show actually had a message saying that the white race is better than other races.

Let’s say this message was not obvious to you the first time. Now, having the facts, you change your mind about the show instantly and you like don’t like anything about it. This is to be understood because when we don’t like something in any of the perspectives, we usually decide that the other perspectives must be bad as well, without any consideration.

But maybe the show was still beautiful as a presentation? This is very difficult for most to be open to. But I think we have to, in order to evolve as artists and deepen our art. Especially as a practice of seeing the value of all the perspectives. This way you will be more aware of them so that you can include as much of them as possible.

Seeing, does not mean agreeing (with everything)

Now, I am not saying that you should agree with a racist view. In this case, the show was not “good”, at least if we are to agree with more evolved people. But think about the fact that if you never would have found out about the racism-part, you probably would not have changed your mind about the show in terms of beauty.

There is obviously a difference between agreeing and seeing.
You can understand, but not agree. You can still stand for what you think is right.

Can you for example see something that is right about your opposite political party, even though you still believe in your own views?

Become a big artist

Ok, so I made an extreme case to make the point clear. Most of the time in your life it is not this extreme, at least I hope so.

Most of the time, it should be easier for you to appreciate the three perspectives and hopefully open up your view about your art and of other’s art. Perhaps you will be even “more conscious” when you create so that you try to include as much of “the three” as possible? Or choosing not to, with awareness.

Can you see the freedom in being able to see more clearly and having more perspectives? Can you see the expansiveness in not judging too fast with overly-simplified concepts?

You can still appreciate something that is mostly crap, and you can also really know why something stinks and why it does not deserve much of your time.
This attitude will make you see the bigger picture. A bigger picture does not mean that older ideas get lost, it means that you have more possibilities, including the possibilities you had in the past. But probably the newer possibilities feel somewhat fresher.

Cheers!                                                                                                                           photo credit

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Today’s post is a little different. It is actually a guided practice. Even though I highly recommend the MP3 for better results, you can also read the exercise here on the blog.

You can use this exercise anytime. I very much recommend it when you feel life’s challenges are too much, or if you feel alone. The more you do the exercise the better you will get at it. The guided meditation will take you ten minutes of your time and can be downloaded, or listened to here:

Guided meditation 1

Guided meditation 1 (Right click in order to download)

You can of course do this exercise anywhere but it will probably be easier and more effective if you are able to do it undisturbed while having your eyes closed.
Find a relaxed position that works for you. I recommend that you don’t lie down.

Transcript

Close your eyes and follow your breath. Don’t try to change the breath in any way, just let it do what it wants to do. Enjoy the fact that you don’t have to do anything to the breath; it functions perfectly without your input. Relax and notice your breath.

Begin to notice and sense your body. Don’t correct or change anything; just notice. Also, try not to scratch yourself.

Sense your:

• Feet
• Legs
• Belly
• Chest
• Arms
• Hands
• Neck and head

What part of your body grabbed your attention the most?
Feel deeper into that area for a moment.

Now come back to your breath; follow your breathing.

What is your biggest challenge right now? What do you need the most help with right now?
Just ask the question in your mind and don’t try to answer it, nor react to it. Just sit with the question for a while and sense your body.

Now imagine that your favourite person is next to you.
It can be anyone; your best friend, your partner, your child, a famous person, a religious person, perhaps someone who is not alive anymore, someone you don’t know but you just like the way they look or smile.
Every time you do this practice it might be a totally different person, that is ok.

Imagine this person looking in your eyes, smiling.
Connect deeply with his or her eyes and face.
Notice how this person cares for you. Notice how this person loves you.
Perhaps the person holds you, or makes you warm? Perhaps the person laughs and dances in front of you? Perhaps this person does something silly or funny that makes you laugh? Feel the warmth and excitement, sharing the space with this person, like when you fell in love for the first time.

Let any emotions be free and notice how this person understands and cares for you.
Enjoy any sensations or experiences that come up.

Perhaps an answer to your question will come up? Perhaps not? Don’t force it, just wait. Sometimes and answer will come in terms of a sensation, memory or an image. Sometimes just holding the question is enough. Whatever you experience, let it happen and experience it fully.

Now slowly open your eyes and stretch gently.
Breathe deeply.

Notice what is new. Perhaps you noticed something you did not notice before?

Remember that this other person is always available to you, that this love is created by you. There is an enormous capacity of love in you for you, and the world. You are not alone; there is not just you, but also the other and the world, which are all manifestations of who you truly are.

Enjoy this day in all the spaces that are you:
Enjoy yourself, for example have a warm bath, eat something good or realize how precious you are. Enjoy us; share a moment with friends, family or your lover. Enjoy it; take in the amazing mystery of everything around you. Take a walk in nature or the city.

This is the end of the exercise.

Cheers!                                                                                                                        photo credit

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How can we deepen our art? How can we have a fuller expression, even if it is a particular focus?
I often hear people say one should feel more or to be more authentic. At a first glance, that might sound like a good idea, but at the same time I wonder about those statements.

A person like me, who seem to be a lot of my time in my mind, can definitely benefit from paying more attention to the body.

But what about this consensus that when you are more in your body, you are more “spiritual”, or evolved? Some even say that feelings are more important.

Well…

The notion that emotions or thoughts are better is quite a generalizations and even though it is true that being grounded is important, it certainly is not the end of a journey. “Only feelings”, would be quite a handicapped partial journey indeed.

There is body, mind and spirit and you want to be aware of all of them. These three are also referred to as Gross, Subtle and Causal. (for those allergic to anything spiritual…)

Is it possible not being in your body?

When you come to think about it, it is pretty impossible to do things that do not include the body. Even thinking is done with the body, at least objectively speaking.
Still, we tend to separate mind and body like they were two different objects. Many assume that people who think a lot, usually are “not in their bodies”. I understand what they mean if someone is not present or aware of their bodies. But not being in their bodies…? That seems a bit extreme.

It is not that thinking itself means you are disconnected to your body but rather that you can be unaware of the body, thinking or not. It is more a matter of WHY you are unaware of your body? Why don’t you want to feel it? How come you only rely on thinking or feeling?

Thinking vs. feeling

For those who think that feelings are the only authentic way there is, even emotions can make you not aware; if you are completely caught up with your emotions you might walk into something, drive over someone or miss your best friend waving at you.

“Being authentic” is is another way of fooling yourself into another dogma that you probably did not invent.
I mean, try not being authentic for a few days and you’ll see what I mean.

If you have the belief that feelings are more authentic than thinking, you are forgetting that this preference is still derived through a thought.
Only being concerned with your own feelings also makes it impossible for you to take another perspective because you are only centered on yourself. Being unable to take another perspective is also referred to as narcissism.

Two sides of a coin

Emotions and thoughts are different and the same. None is better than the other and it is impossible to leave any of them out. They co-exist and depend on each other; thoughts and emotions derive from each other. Having a discussion about what is more important is like discussing if in-breaths are more important than out-breaths; they are different yes, but still connected to each other and both quite necessary. One certainly is not higher or lower than the other.

Most who argue that feelings are higher (better) than thoughts merely refer to emotions and not sensations in general. Well, if you think an emotional drama of a three year old is “higher” than an adult leader’s cognition, something is quite wrong.

It becomes clear we cannot compare emotions and feelings and also that there are levels of complexity to both of them. Of course we don’t want an emotionless leader either! But if she behaves like a child, emotionally or cognitively, we don’t want that person leading us in any case.

Going deeper

So, even though we need a healthy body, mind and heart, none of those are particularly deep if it is the only thing we can see. For example, thinking and feeling are just two kinds of intelligences and when you are attached to any of them, you are in trouble because you limit your view of the world.

When you are aware of your thoughts and your emotions, you are acting from a higher level of awareness that is not body, emotions, nor thoughts. When you can see your thoughts and emotions and not just react to them, you come from a more inclusive openness; you see more than just your thoughts and emotions as reality, hence you have a less limited view.

Being in body, thoughts or emotions is not the same being aware of them. Would you say that you are aware of your thoughts and feelings as they happen, or are you like most; totally engrossed in only your own reality?

I’m not saying we don’t need body, mind or heart. No, we definitely do, but the idea that anyone of them are more important, or perhaps more spiritually advanced, is really quite silly. Especially since most spiritual traditions do not have any of the three as an end-goal. Even if you are not into spirituality I hope you understand what I am saying.

If you disown any of them, you will get into serious trouble sooner or later.

So we want healthy mind, healthy heart, and healthy body. We want all of them and we want them to evolve. We also want to be able to see more to life than just these three objects.

The challenge for the artist

As an artist (of life) how can you create with “the three” in mind and how can you move beyond them as well?

Cheers!                                                                                                                        photo credit

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Have you been trying a new habit, a new diet, a new training program, etc. and failed to keep it going? If this has never happened to you I bet you are from outer space! 
Well, if you are not from outer space, and this has never happened to you, I really would like to meet you because you are a bit strange and fascinating!

I used to be so angry with myself when I forgot to keep up a new habin I knew was good for me. I felt like failure and I did not try again because I thought it was no use anymore.

I truly wonder how I managed to develop such a silly attitude?

Anyway, I am here to tell you that this happens to EVERYBODY all the time no matter how smart you think you are.

There is no perfect strategy

Listen, it takes a few tries for any habit to really stick, and even if you have done something for a while, you probably will stop following that habit at some point. Anyone who says there is a way to never fail a new habit is a big fat liar and is probably after your money in a dishonest way.

There is no point in being angry with ourselves; it does not help anybody when we start hating ourselves for not following through. In fact, we are probably no the best company when we complain about not doing the things we want to do.

So stop looking for the perfect strategy and just try a strategy that makes some sense to you. All strategies will “fail” sooner or later anyway. Now, this might sound depressing at first but it really is not bad news. This knowledge will keep you from being constantly frustrated and blaming yourself. Keep reading and you will see what I mean…

Stay awake!

I have mentioned on this blog the value of meditation. Even if you do it or not I think the analogy of practicing meditation works well for attempting to form a new habit.

In simplified terms, the point of meditation is to “observe” oneself and this is difficult if one is distracted all the times by one’s thoughts. So, in order to not start to “drift away” all the time, there are meditation techniques to help to stay focused. (You could in fact say meditation is a technique in not drifting away.) But even so, most of all meditators start to wonder now and then with their thoughts, they might even start to dream or fall asleep.

But this is ok, even expected actually and a good meditator does not get angry when this happens but gently reminds herself to get back to the practice. With lots of experience, a good meditator manages to stay “awake” for longer periods of time.
Forming a new habit, could be seen as trying to stay awake during meditation.

Practice makes perfect focus

Humans like to have habits because it makes them feel secure, and makes them feel they know what to expect out of life. (interesting third person sentence there… I’m a human too)
In this way we also quickly disregard anything that does not seem important, basically things we don’t do very often. Our mind has so much to think about that things that seem less important are easily forgotten so that we can focus more on what “seems” important.

When you want to learn something new, you have to “teach” yourself the importance of the habit by doing it often and keep reminding yourself. In the beginning, your psyche is not going to think the new habit is important because if you have only done the new habit a few times, your brain equals this habit to “not important” comparing to other things you do “all the time”.
You already know this is true; the things you do all the time you actually don’t have to remind yourself to do, they happen anyway.

So, if you want to, for example, learn how to swim regularly or quit smoking, doing it just a few times is just not going to cut it. You won’t continue the habit unless you do it daily for an extended period of time. I talk more about this in my upcoming book but at the moment I want to tell you that even though you are good keeping up the practice, you most probably will still relapse and forget to continue the new habit because your system is actually “working against” you trying to eliminate what seems unimportant and “extra”. Anything that is not considered “normal every day life” will be resisted by your psyche no matter your intention. “Normal” is considered habits you have done for years.

So, you will eventually stop any new habit BUT this is to be expected! It is a part of the process. When you stop a new habit, be glad because you have just reached a the first milestone.

What to do when you stop?

You simply start over again when you notice you have “fallen asleep”.

It is that simple! Now isn’t that good news? You might think: “How silly, anyone can do that!” Yes, exactly, that is the whole point. Why make it harder?

But hold on. This simplicity also means that there is no “why did I forget?” or “How come I always…” or “I should be doing this but…” or “I’m a failure, I never manage to do something”. This is actually the hard part. Can you ace this one too?

You get the picture? Simplicity. Just start over. No remorse.
So, you simply start over and this is how you will eventually be good at it. There is no other way in fact.

By the way, I recently found a great site I really recommend that can help you get some things done if you are motivated. It is a simple and absolutely free online tool that logs your investment in time to any program or habit. It even grades your progress. I highly recommend it!

I hope this encourages you to try something you might have forgotten to do that is important to you. Of course, forcing oneself to do things one “should” do instead of what you truly want to do is another story.

Cheers!                                                                                                                        photo credit

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I try to remind myself of doing creating things even though the idea might not have an end in mind. Even if the, for example, song is not complete or even that special, I also try to engage in these smaller projects to keep myself going. Who knows what they will bring in the future and I always seem to learn something.

The other day I just quickly produced this song on my computer. I thought it could be fun to post on facebook just to share with others and also get myself motivated by having the pressure of others see that I actually produce stuff now and then.

Well, I quickly realized that you can only post videos on facebook. There is still no way of just posting an audio-file. So, I ended up doing this silly video because I thought it would be more fun then just a “video” with only audio.

I probably won’t do this every time I post some music, but I had a good time creating this and I learned a few things about video as well. I hope it will inspire you to go for any idea no matter how (un)important or silly it is. Perhaps just create a sentence or a part of a song is enough for today?

Enjoy!

Cheers!

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