Greetings all,
It's the first weekend in October and that means one thing for me every year. The St. James art fair has been something I've been going to ever since I was a teenager. I've gone when it has been raining (like today), when it has been over a hundred degrees and people were melting in their booths, and I've been when snow flurries have been coming down. I walked the whole thing when I was half dead one year. It is something I don't miss. I look forward to it every year. It is held in an old part of town with victorian style homes and little city gardens. Tall oaks shade the city blocks in the area and gas lamps light the sidewalks at night.
This time of the year the leaves can just be at the edge of green or they can be in full fall splendor. After a season of growth I start to turn inwards. With all the creativity of hundreds of artists packed together in a few blocks, something magical happens. Summer has a kind of magic, but mostly it is filled with activity and getting out and about. The intensity of the sun can make it hard to focus on the mysteries. Here at the edge of the waning year, there is a sense of magic in the air. At the fair, I feel that if I stepped around the corner at the right time I'd find myself in another world cross wise to our own.
People who know me personally are aware that I make art as well as do healing work. It was something I came to late, almost by accident. However, years ago on another fair day in October I met a most peculiar artist. She made really interesting paintings done mostly in tones of blue (blue is my favorite color). She immediately started talking to me when I came into her booth. She told me all about her work and how she started making it after a near death experience. All her paintings were recounting her journey into the beyond. She had never been a painter before, but she had been told to paint what she saw. When she looked at me she said, "You're an artist too." I told her sorry but although I liked art I wasn't any good at it, but she persisted in her conviction that I was an artist. I did end up buying a small print from her that I liked. It was three or four years later that I took my first pottery class. I ended up going back to school for a second degree in art. Now people know me as either an artist or a wizard. I'm happy with either title they're almost the same thing in my head. I never saw that painter again after first year she never came back to the fair, but I still remember that spark of magic that passed between us.
I mention all of this because today as I was walking amongst the different booths someone started asking me questions about some of the work. They assumed I was the artist. Apparently there is something that I radiate that makes people think artist. One of the artists I'm friends with told me I practically ooze creativity. I haven't really felt like much of an artist lately. I've hardly done anything visual in months. I've been too busy working and writing. However I've decided to take a break from editing my book for its print version and delve back into the visual arts. The spirit of creativity and magic go hand in hand. Imagination, visions, dreams, and shaping are all ingredients in both media.
"Blah blah blah Mooneagle self aggrandizement," I'm sure you're thinking. There is a point that is relevant to you I promise. You see creativity is something that we are taught out of in our culture. We are all creative and then at some point most of us stop expressing ourselves visually, musically, or theatrically (I mean real theatre not personal drama). As we get older, most of us are passive consumers of the so called "elite" creatives. There isn't anything wrong with that. I mean we're not all meant to be sculptors, but we are convinced we have no creativity or talent. This is a problem. If we go along with the principle that we create our life then we are not living up to our potential. We need to flex our creative muscles to help us manifest and shape our lives. You don't have to be a great painter, musician, actor, poet, or author to add to the beauty of your world. You need to shape your vision of your life and the more you exercise your creativity the easier it will be to mold your life. If you can't picture it then it will be a lot harder to bring it into being. There is nothing as empowering as creating something. The first time I realized I could bring something out of the picture in my head into this world it was an epiphany. I felt powerful like I could create anything.
So how about you? Do you deny your own creative impulses? Are you a good cook and claim you aren't creative? Do you tell great stories to your friends and coworkers and think you have no muse? Are you a gardener who brings forth many fruits and flowers? Is your home a haven of beauty and warmth, but you think of yourself as without talent? Well STOP IT! You are a human being and that means you are inherently creative. As we move into the colder months, start tending the hearth fires of creation within yourself and see what you bring forth.
Peace and Blessings,
Thomas Mooneagle
Musings
Friday, October 2, 2015
Saturday, September 26, 2015
Fear itself
Greetings all,
Well this week I am going to write an actual post rather than just an announcement. You'd have to be on this side of the screen though to see that my shout out last week was miraculous even in its brevity. I'm actually amazed at all that has been done this past month or so.
As I meet deadlines, and take on new challenges I have been met by my old companion fear. I've been playing the what if game in my head, imagining all the different things that could go wrong. This is not something new. I do torment myself from time to time with the worst case scenario. However as I have delved more into my self I am realizing just how much fear has been entangled with my identity. It has become a character trait rather than a passing emotion.
There was a great book written in the 90s called The Gift of Fear. In it the author defined fear as a biological response in the presence of immediate physical danger. We have in our civilized brains taken fear out of the wild and removed it from its moorings. Now it stalks our relationships, our work, and our own daydreams. We daily recreate our own nightmarish fantasies of what we really hope doesn't happen, but can't stop thinking about. Sometimes we become so good at it, they even happen outside of our heads. We have become the chosen one, in our own self fulfilling prophecies of defeat and disaster.
Fear is a useful survival mechanism, but in myself and many others it has gone beyond that. It has become mixed up with who we think we are. We often define ourselves by our fears. This is not in our best interests. It makes us stressed out and it also makes us easy to manipulate. Our media works hard to keep us in low to mid grade generalized anxiety state on a daily basis. Make the people afraid and they will give anything to the powers that be to protect them to whatever bogey man the networks are selling. Most of the time we don't think about it, but every generation it rears its ugly head with things like ethnic cleansing, police killing unarmed men, internment camps, and religious persecution. These are the fruits of fear.
I ran across some old notes from a lecture one of my teachers' gave years ago. I found a quote, "Anyone who is trying to scare you a little is really trying to scare you a lot." It's quite true it is the basis for much of the manipulation we encounter. Now I am not saying we should do away with fear, because it has kept us alive. I am saying that we need to reestablish it as a temporary functional state rather than a constant presence in our heads. We must feel ourselves without constant anxiety. Once I recognized this pattern in myself I knew I had to address it if I was ever to have a moment's peace while I drew breath.
How about you? How much does your fear and anxiety shape your life and choices? Can you imagine yourself without it for a day, a week? or a month? Odds are unless you are living in a war zone or a very violent neighborhood there is no need for that continuous sense of unease. Start to examine how much of yourself and your actions is really you, and how much it is your fears. Until next time check out the song Drive by Incubus. I'll put the link below.
Peace and Blessings,
Thomas Mooneagle
Well this week I am going to write an actual post rather than just an announcement. You'd have to be on this side of the screen though to see that my shout out last week was miraculous even in its brevity. I'm actually amazed at all that has been done this past month or so.
As I meet deadlines, and take on new challenges I have been met by my old companion fear. I've been playing the what if game in my head, imagining all the different things that could go wrong. This is not something new. I do torment myself from time to time with the worst case scenario. However as I have delved more into my self I am realizing just how much fear has been entangled with my identity. It has become a character trait rather than a passing emotion.
There was a great book written in the 90s called The Gift of Fear. In it the author defined fear as a biological response in the presence of immediate physical danger. We have in our civilized brains taken fear out of the wild and removed it from its moorings. Now it stalks our relationships, our work, and our own daydreams. We daily recreate our own nightmarish fantasies of what we really hope doesn't happen, but can't stop thinking about. Sometimes we become so good at it, they even happen outside of our heads. We have become the chosen one, in our own self fulfilling prophecies of defeat and disaster.
Fear is a useful survival mechanism, but in myself and many others it has gone beyond that. It has become mixed up with who we think we are. We often define ourselves by our fears. This is not in our best interests. It makes us stressed out and it also makes us easy to manipulate. Our media works hard to keep us in low to mid grade generalized anxiety state on a daily basis. Make the people afraid and they will give anything to the powers that be to protect them to whatever bogey man the networks are selling. Most of the time we don't think about it, but every generation it rears its ugly head with things like ethnic cleansing, police killing unarmed men, internment camps, and religious persecution. These are the fruits of fear.
I ran across some old notes from a lecture one of my teachers' gave years ago. I found a quote, "Anyone who is trying to scare you a little is really trying to scare you a lot." It's quite true it is the basis for much of the manipulation we encounter. Now I am not saying we should do away with fear, because it has kept us alive. I am saying that we need to reestablish it as a temporary functional state rather than a constant presence in our heads. We must feel ourselves without constant anxiety. Once I recognized this pattern in myself I knew I had to address it if I was ever to have a moment's peace while I drew breath.
How about you? How much does your fear and anxiety shape your life and choices? Can you imagine yourself without it for a day, a week? or a month? Odds are unless you are living in a war zone or a very violent neighborhood there is no need for that continuous sense of unease. Start to examine how much of yourself and your actions is really you, and how much it is your fears. Until next time check out the song Drive by Incubus. I'll put the link below.
Peace and Blessings,
Thomas Mooneagle
Thursday, September 17, 2015
Shout out
Greetings all,
This week I am not writing a post, well not in the traditional sense. I am traveling again up to Columbus this time to ULE. I will be speaking there about Runes the topic of my first book which just went up on amazon this week. Needless to say it's been busy and as such I have not prepared a topic. Not to worry fresh insights will be unearthed next week. This week though I am taking the pressure off and just giving myself a pat on the back.
Check out my new book, Drumming Down the Runes Walking the 24 Roads.
Peace and Blessings,
Thomas Mooneagle
This week I am not writing a post, well not in the traditional sense. I am traveling again up to Columbus this time to ULE. I will be speaking there about Runes the topic of my first book which just went up on amazon this week. Needless to say it's been busy and as such I have not prepared a topic. Not to worry fresh insights will be unearthed next week. This week though I am taking the pressure off and just giving myself a pat on the back.
Check out my new book, Drumming Down the Runes Walking the 24 Roads.
Peace and Blessings,
Thomas Mooneagle
Thursday, September 10, 2015
Finding Beauty
Greetings all,
The travels continue as I set forth once more, this time to Camp Chesterfield for their psychic fair. I've been teaching quite a bit the past few weeks, and I've been putting the finishing touches on my first book. I'm just really a cover and a book jacket description away from publication. It has been very overwhelming. Hopefully the next time I finish a book, I won't have everything happening at the same time. I won't lie some weeks it has been quite a strain to pull something out of my head to share here. Not to worry, I'll soon be devoting all my author energy back to the blog…until my next book. Don't ask me when that will be or what it will be about, because I don't know yet.
In the mad dash to get everything done this week I had a moment of clarity in between my classes today. I was looking out a window and noticing the dew on the ornamental grasses of the corporate campus. (I've been teaching tai chi as part of a corporate wellness program this month). The mid morning light was glinting off the dew like jewels as the grass slowly swayed in the breeze. White cotton ball clouds floated by on bright blue sky overhead. It was beautiful. I was moved by the simplicity of that scene and privileged to acknowledge the beauty that nature provides us.
I hear a lot about how mankind is ruining the planet. Hell, I'm often one of the voices raising that point. People do go a bit far in suggesting the planet would be better off without us. We are a part of nature, even if we have forgotten it. Like all the plants and animals, we have a sacred purpose in the web of life. No one really agrees as to what that purpose is, but many of us do agree that most of our species has forsaken it.
Today looking at the perfect way the sunlight kissed the dew, it seemed clear to me what our purpose is. In that moment, I had a strong knowing that our purpose was to behold the beauty and splendor in the world, and when we have rejoiced in it till we are full then we expand it out into the universe. We are the beholders of beauty. By acknowledging and honoring the beauty in the universe we help make it sacred. We can even in a small way partner with it, and create even greater beauty.
Now some of you may think this purpose is shallow and all about looks. It isn't. In our culture, we often confuse beauty with sexy. Not that there is anything wrong with sexy, but it isn't the same thing as beauty. You can be beautiful but not necessarily sexy. You can also be sexy but far from beautiful. Beauty can be in an act, a gesture, or a word. Beauty can be the way you care for your loved ones. It can be perseverance in the face of impossible odds. It can be the lines of wisdom in the face of a beloved grandparent. It can be the way you greet the day.
We daily broadcast images of the grotesque and ugly acts that our kind perpetuate upon the planet and each other. I think it is coercive in a way, to shutdown our basic capacity for beauty. If we stop looking for beauty, we stop finding it. We live in a gray world of blood and ash without it. This makes it easy to market to us. Sex, blood, and death sell like ice cream on a hot day in a world robbed of beauty. The heart is what perceives beauty, and ad men have been really dodgy about marketing to the heart. It is tricky, much easier to cut it out and either make us afraid or horny. Hard-wired biological drives will increase profits, the heart in comparison is a risky venture.
You may be thinking, "Sheesh Mooneagle stop preaching about pretty sunsets and dew drops and give me something practical." If you are thinking that you haven't been reading my blog very long have you? There is some very practical applications and implications of my idea. If we accept it as one possible purpose for humanity it has the capacity to transform ourselves and our civilization. How would we treat the world and each other if we were imbued with the sacredness of our purpose in nature?
This is where I leave you….ok just kidding. Ask yourself if beauty has a place in your heart and life? Do you notice the thousands of acts of beauty around you each day? Do you notice the sun and the moon? Do you delight in how the wind moves through the trees? Do you devote time in your life to creating beauty? Do you bring it into your work and your relationships? If not, it may be time for you to hand your heart some markers and let it recolor the world for you.
Peace and Blessings,
Thomas Mooneagle
The travels continue as I set forth once more, this time to Camp Chesterfield for their psychic fair. I've been teaching quite a bit the past few weeks, and I've been putting the finishing touches on my first book. I'm just really a cover and a book jacket description away from publication. It has been very overwhelming. Hopefully the next time I finish a book, I won't have everything happening at the same time. I won't lie some weeks it has been quite a strain to pull something out of my head to share here. Not to worry, I'll soon be devoting all my author energy back to the blog…until my next book. Don't ask me when that will be or what it will be about, because I don't know yet.
In the mad dash to get everything done this week I had a moment of clarity in between my classes today. I was looking out a window and noticing the dew on the ornamental grasses of the corporate campus. (I've been teaching tai chi as part of a corporate wellness program this month). The mid morning light was glinting off the dew like jewels as the grass slowly swayed in the breeze. White cotton ball clouds floated by on bright blue sky overhead. It was beautiful. I was moved by the simplicity of that scene and privileged to acknowledge the beauty that nature provides us.
I hear a lot about how mankind is ruining the planet. Hell, I'm often one of the voices raising that point. People do go a bit far in suggesting the planet would be better off without us. We are a part of nature, even if we have forgotten it. Like all the plants and animals, we have a sacred purpose in the web of life. No one really agrees as to what that purpose is, but many of us do agree that most of our species has forsaken it.
Today looking at the perfect way the sunlight kissed the dew, it seemed clear to me what our purpose is. In that moment, I had a strong knowing that our purpose was to behold the beauty and splendor in the world, and when we have rejoiced in it till we are full then we expand it out into the universe. We are the beholders of beauty. By acknowledging and honoring the beauty in the universe we help make it sacred. We can even in a small way partner with it, and create even greater beauty.
Now some of you may think this purpose is shallow and all about looks. It isn't. In our culture, we often confuse beauty with sexy. Not that there is anything wrong with sexy, but it isn't the same thing as beauty. You can be beautiful but not necessarily sexy. You can also be sexy but far from beautiful. Beauty can be in an act, a gesture, or a word. Beauty can be the way you care for your loved ones. It can be perseverance in the face of impossible odds. It can be the lines of wisdom in the face of a beloved grandparent. It can be the way you greet the day.
We daily broadcast images of the grotesque and ugly acts that our kind perpetuate upon the planet and each other. I think it is coercive in a way, to shutdown our basic capacity for beauty. If we stop looking for beauty, we stop finding it. We live in a gray world of blood and ash without it. This makes it easy to market to us. Sex, blood, and death sell like ice cream on a hot day in a world robbed of beauty. The heart is what perceives beauty, and ad men have been really dodgy about marketing to the heart. It is tricky, much easier to cut it out and either make us afraid or horny. Hard-wired biological drives will increase profits, the heart in comparison is a risky venture.
You may be thinking, "Sheesh Mooneagle stop preaching about pretty sunsets and dew drops and give me something practical." If you are thinking that you haven't been reading my blog very long have you? There is some very practical applications and implications of my idea. If we accept it as one possible purpose for humanity it has the capacity to transform ourselves and our civilization. How would we treat the world and each other if we were imbued with the sacredness of our purpose in nature?
This is where I leave you….ok just kidding. Ask yourself if beauty has a place in your heart and life? Do you notice the thousands of acts of beauty around you each day? Do you notice the sun and the moon? Do you delight in how the wind moves through the trees? Do you devote time in your life to creating beauty? Do you bring it into your work and your relationships? If not, it may be time for you to hand your heart some markers and let it recolor the world for you.
Peace and Blessings,
Thomas Mooneagle
Saturday, September 5, 2015
Words
Greetings all,
Bittersweet has been this week as I close in on achieving one of the major goals of my life. My book is ready for publication. I'm just getting with a photographer and graphic designer to create the cover. Almost two years in the making for a book that is 70 or so pages seems like a lot. Drumming Down the Runes, was more than a book though, it was an epic journey. It also served as a reminder to me about the power in our words.
Marketing, love it or hate it, is omnipresent in our culture. For myself, it is one of those necessary evils. Still I try to make even my marketing align with some form of service. This blog could be seen as a form of marketing, but I also try to go deeper with it and hopefully provide some insights for my readers to ponder. Still at the base of it all, marketing to me seems to be about the devaluing of the power in words. It is glamour without substance more often than not.
In the beginning there was the word. Some of you probably recognize that phrase from one translation of Genesis. Our use of language has evolved quite a bit in the past few thousand years. A man's word (or woman's word just so as we aren't being sexist) used to carry a lot more weight. The breaking of one's word carried a heavy toll. These days we toss words around carelessly, sometimes not even sure of their true meaning. We use words that hurt in order to sound clever or superior. We may have become desensitized to our words, but there is power in them still. We see this in rise of teen suicides affected by cyber bullying. Just words on a screen someone might say, but those words carried a death sentence to the intended readers.
I myself have been lax in my use of words. I have at various times been told by spirit to "stop gossiping". It is a detrimental habit, one that I have taken a great deal of effort to reduce or eliminate in my life. I have a gift of words and influence. I can even imbue words with subtextual meanings to say a lot without saying anything. This can be useful, and it can also be manipulative and cruel if done without a lot of self reflection as to my motives. So my blog you see can be useful for things other than marketing. I think it helps me stop myself from idly doling out power on things that are beneath the line of integrity…I still fail. My words can be petty, spiteful, and brash. With a book on the way, I just hope I have used my words in a constructive and healing manner.
Words shape the framework of the perception of our lives and world. World is only one letter more than word. Ponder that one. Experiencing and writing about the power of letters for the past two years has been eye opening. A single letter can have a multitude of associations tied to it. It can be maddening to think of how much unconsciousness we tolerate in our words. Maybe this is why so many spiritual traditions talk about listening more than talking.
You might be thinking, "So what Mooneagle what does this mean to me?" Well how conscious are you of the ways in which you use language? Are you given to exaggeration? Is false flattery and flowery verbiage camouflaging your true feelings? Are you precise in your questions to one another? How about the words you use to describe your life? Self talk can make the difference between a positive self image and self loathing. Do your words have weight, or are they just pushing air around? What would happen if considered your words more carefully? How would your words shape your world? Let that idea gestate for a time within yourself, and then see what is brought forth.
Peace and Blessings,
Thomas Mooneagle
Bittersweet has been this week as I close in on achieving one of the major goals of my life. My book is ready for publication. I'm just getting with a photographer and graphic designer to create the cover. Almost two years in the making for a book that is 70 or so pages seems like a lot. Drumming Down the Runes, was more than a book though, it was an epic journey. It also served as a reminder to me about the power in our words.
Marketing, love it or hate it, is omnipresent in our culture. For myself, it is one of those necessary evils. Still I try to make even my marketing align with some form of service. This blog could be seen as a form of marketing, but I also try to go deeper with it and hopefully provide some insights for my readers to ponder. Still at the base of it all, marketing to me seems to be about the devaluing of the power in words. It is glamour without substance more often than not.
In the beginning there was the word. Some of you probably recognize that phrase from one translation of Genesis. Our use of language has evolved quite a bit in the past few thousand years. A man's word (or woman's word just so as we aren't being sexist) used to carry a lot more weight. The breaking of one's word carried a heavy toll. These days we toss words around carelessly, sometimes not even sure of their true meaning. We use words that hurt in order to sound clever or superior. We may have become desensitized to our words, but there is power in them still. We see this in rise of teen suicides affected by cyber bullying. Just words on a screen someone might say, but those words carried a death sentence to the intended readers.
I myself have been lax in my use of words. I have at various times been told by spirit to "stop gossiping". It is a detrimental habit, one that I have taken a great deal of effort to reduce or eliminate in my life. I have a gift of words and influence. I can even imbue words with subtextual meanings to say a lot without saying anything. This can be useful, and it can also be manipulative and cruel if done without a lot of self reflection as to my motives. So my blog you see can be useful for things other than marketing. I think it helps me stop myself from idly doling out power on things that are beneath the line of integrity…I still fail. My words can be petty, spiteful, and brash. With a book on the way, I just hope I have used my words in a constructive and healing manner.
Words shape the framework of the perception of our lives and world. World is only one letter more than word. Ponder that one. Experiencing and writing about the power of letters for the past two years has been eye opening. A single letter can have a multitude of associations tied to it. It can be maddening to think of how much unconsciousness we tolerate in our words. Maybe this is why so many spiritual traditions talk about listening more than talking.
You might be thinking, "So what Mooneagle what does this mean to me?" Well how conscious are you of the ways in which you use language? Are you given to exaggeration? Is false flattery and flowery verbiage camouflaging your true feelings? Are you precise in your questions to one another? How about the words you use to describe your life? Self talk can make the difference between a positive self image and self loathing. Do your words have weight, or are they just pushing air around? What would happen if considered your words more carefully? How would your words shape your world? Let that idea gestate for a time within yourself, and then see what is brought forth.
Peace and Blessings,
Thomas Mooneagle
Sunday, August 30, 2015
Pages are Turning
Greetings all,
What a week. I got back Monday and hit the ground running. I've been editing the chapters of my book this week. I'm happy to say that I have completed the chapters and now I just need to go through the afterword, resource page, and table of contents. Then it is on to generate a book cover image.
Editing and revising are an interesting mindset as they bring back to me the initial creation of a piece of writing. Sometimes I see it differently when I circle back around. I will see things that I missed from my initial read through. Certain concepts which sounded clear when I wrote them down, now sound odd when I read through them again. My editing process has been running parallel to an astrological alignment, specifically the Venus retrograde.
Retrogrades in astrology are often interpreted as times of review. They are opportunities to rethink a strategy, project, or in the case of Venus, relationships. It's funny I have been running into people I haven't seen in years. Sometimes it was with people that I had a sharper disconnect with, others just faded out. What is interesting is how different we are now at this point in our lives. I am curious to see if old some old acquaintances will turn into more close friends. On the other side of this revisiting energy has been the concept of the turned page.
Like a book our life has chapters. Some characters appear early on and we never see them again. Others weave in out of the chapters of our life. Still there are characters, some of whom may have been major story arcs in our definitive chapters, that have their run with us and then that's it. We have in a sense turned a page that we can't turn back. I like most people have had relationships that were intense for key points in my life, and like most people I thought that meant forever. It is not always so. I can tell you the most suffering I've endured is when I have tried to hold onto a relationship when it has passed its expiration date. When I do finally let go that chapter is closed, done….over. The pages can't be turned back if I wish to move forward with my own story.
Now on occasion, people come to me asking if I might consider reopening a closed chapter. Some well meaning, others just curious, and there are of course the others whom I call pot stirrers. I've actually had people so persistent to drag me back into the past that I had to close their chapter as well. It all finally crystallized into a saying that has since caught fire on Facebook. "Some relationships we just outgrow. Asking us to renew them would be like asking a butterfly to crawl back into the cocoon." No butterfly in their right mind wants to become a caterpillar again when they can fly.
So what about you? Have you been revisiting the ghost of relationships past this month? Do you reread the chapters in your life instead of writing new ones? Have you ever clipped your wings to crawl back into a cocoon that no longer fits? Well while it is sometimes nice to rekindle old flames, it is equally good at times to bury the ashes. Ask yourself if who you are now can fit your wings into the picture with the people that are popping up. If not you may just need to fly a little farther.
Peace and Blessings,
Thomas Mooneagle
What a week. I got back Monday and hit the ground running. I've been editing the chapters of my book this week. I'm happy to say that I have completed the chapters and now I just need to go through the afterword, resource page, and table of contents. Then it is on to generate a book cover image.
Editing and revising are an interesting mindset as they bring back to me the initial creation of a piece of writing. Sometimes I see it differently when I circle back around. I will see things that I missed from my initial read through. Certain concepts which sounded clear when I wrote them down, now sound odd when I read through them again. My editing process has been running parallel to an astrological alignment, specifically the Venus retrograde.
Retrogrades in astrology are often interpreted as times of review. They are opportunities to rethink a strategy, project, or in the case of Venus, relationships. It's funny I have been running into people I haven't seen in years. Sometimes it was with people that I had a sharper disconnect with, others just faded out. What is interesting is how different we are now at this point in our lives. I am curious to see if old some old acquaintances will turn into more close friends. On the other side of this revisiting energy has been the concept of the turned page.
Like a book our life has chapters. Some characters appear early on and we never see them again. Others weave in out of the chapters of our life. Still there are characters, some of whom may have been major story arcs in our definitive chapters, that have their run with us and then that's it. We have in a sense turned a page that we can't turn back. I like most people have had relationships that were intense for key points in my life, and like most people I thought that meant forever. It is not always so. I can tell you the most suffering I've endured is when I have tried to hold onto a relationship when it has passed its expiration date. When I do finally let go that chapter is closed, done….over. The pages can't be turned back if I wish to move forward with my own story.
Now on occasion, people come to me asking if I might consider reopening a closed chapter. Some well meaning, others just curious, and there are of course the others whom I call pot stirrers. I've actually had people so persistent to drag me back into the past that I had to close their chapter as well. It all finally crystallized into a saying that has since caught fire on Facebook. "Some relationships we just outgrow. Asking us to renew them would be like asking a butterfly to crawl back into the cocoon." No butterfly in their right mind wants to become a caterpillar again when they can fly.
So what about you? Have you been revisiting the ghost of relationships past this month? Do you reread the chapters in your life instead of writing new ones? Have you ever clipped your wings to crawl back into a cocoon that no longer fits? Well while it is sometimes nice to rekindle old flames, it is equally good at times to bury the ashes. Ask yourself if who you are now can fit your wings into the picture with the people that are popping up. If not you may just need to fly a little farther.
Peace and Blessings,
Thomas Mooneagle
Wednesday, August 19, 2015
Not My Business
Greetings all,
Yes it is early this week, but I am leaving once more for the open road. I won't have a way to blog. I've had something rolling around in my head of late. So I will process it here and maybe help you guys too.
I've done a pretty good job the past few years detaching from opinions as they are expressed on Youtube comment threads. For the most part I couldn't care less what some person hidden behind a screen thinks of me. Don't get me wrong it pleases me when people leave encouraging feed back, but I don't take it to heart when someone decides to insult me on the internet. This is good. This is progress. Where I still struggle is out in the big wide world. I do worry how I am received.
This I understand is a natural human concern. We evolved living in small groups and communities. We depended on each other for our physical well being. With all of our modern toys we may be less aware on the surface of how interdependent we are, however when we get down below that veneer our social standing is often a strong motivator for our actions. We are all keeping up with the Jones' in a sense. Now the form this takes varies among groups and individuals, but all of us (barring sociopaths) are invested in what esteem our social groups have for us. Now the degree to which this dictates our actions and behaviors also varies among people. Some people just don't care what others think of them…unless it is their family doing the thinking. For others it is their friends or their romantic partners which generate the most anxiety surrounding their self image.
Don't believe me? Think you are above all that? Well try this little thought experiment. Imagine someone you hold in very high regards, someone you really respect, someone you love. Now imagine how you would feel if this person was absolutely disgusted by you. Imagine they are repulsed by your appearance, your voice, your hygiene, your choices, your behavior, and your interests. Does that idea disturb you? Well welcome to the human race.
I have realized that I still worry a good deal about what the people around me think of me. I am likely projecting my own insecurities on them and playing out my own fears of rejection. The thing is, experience has taught me that I am a poor judge of what people think of me. In other matters, I'm actually really good at gauging motivations, but every intuitive has a blind spot when it comes to themselves. The other thing I have realized is that it really isn't my business what people think of me. I mean don't get me wrong I work very hard trying to make it my business. I am not quite sure why I think I am entitled to know what goes on in other people's heads. It isn't like the information gives me any sort of peace of mind, it is rather the opposite.
So what about you? Do you feel entitled to know what people think of you? Are you always concerned about what is going on inside the minds of our fellow humans? I think you'd be quite shocked at how seldom we cross the minds of others. What would happen if when these worries surfaced you reminded yourself that it isn't any of your business what goes on in other people's minds? Would that free you up? Would that let you relax a little bit more? Try it out and see.
Peace and Blessings,
Thomas Mooneagle
Yes it is early this week, but I am leaving once more for the open road. I won't have a way to blog. I've had something rolling around in my head of late. So I will process it here and maybe help you guys too.
I've done a pretty good job the past few years detaching from opinions as they are expressed on Youtube comment threads. For the most part I couldn't care less what some person hidden behind a screen thinks of me. Don't get me wrong it pleases me when people leave encouraging feed back, but I don't take it to heart when someone decides to insult me on the internet. This is good. This is progress. Where I still struggle is out in the big wide world. I do worry how I am received.
This I understand is a natural human concern. We evolved living in small groups and communities. We depended on each other for our physical well being. With all of our modern toys we may be less aware on the surface of how interdependent we are, however when we get down below that veneer our social standing is often a strong motivator for our actions. We are all keeping up with the Jones' in a sense. Now the form this takes varies among groups and individuals, but all of us (barring sociopaths) are invested in what esteem our social groups have for us. Now the degree to which this dictates our actions and behaviors also varies among people. Some people just don't care what others think of them…unless it is their family doing the thinking. For others it is their friends or their romantic partners which generate the most anxiety surrounding their self image.
Don't believe me? Think you are above all that? Well try this little thought experiment. Imagine someone you hold in very high regards, someone you really respect, someone you love. Now imagine how you would feel if this person was absolutely disgusted by you. Imagine they are repulsed by your appearance, your voice, your hygiene, your choices, your behavior, and your interests. Does that idea disturb you? Well welcome to the human race.
I have realized that I still worry a good deal about what the people around me think of me. I am likely projecting my own insecurities on them and playing out my own fears of rejection. The thing is, experience has taught me that I am a poor judge of what people think of me. In other matters, I'm actually really good at gauging motivations, but every intuitive has a blind spot when it comes to themselves. The other thing I have realized is that it really isn't my business what people think of me. I mean don't get me wrong I work very hard trying to make it my business. I am not quite sure why I think I am entitled to know what goes on in other people's heads. It isn't like the information gives me any sort of peace of mind, it is rather the opposite.
So what about you? Do you feel entitled to know what people think of you? Are you always concerned about what is going on inside the minds of our fellow humans? I think you'd be quite shocked at how seldom we cross the minds of others. What would happen if when these worries surfaced you reminded yourself that it isn't any of your business what goes on in other people's minds? Would that free you up? Would that let you relax a little bit more? Try it out and see.
Peace and Blessings,
Thomas Mooneagle
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