Do it with interest

The concentration and the learning follow if you are interested.  You are willing to do the extra work to overcome the obstacles if you are interested.  Without interest, nothing happens.

Am I interested to write about this topic?  Or am I quickly bored with it?  Is there a story that I would like to share about it?  Or is it a whim and fancy to mention on my blog and preserve it here so that I do not forgot about it?  When will I read it again or act upon it?  If the answer is never to both those questions, then why bother preserving it here?  So many interesting blogs that I have written over the past few years and I have not revisited them.  Maybe I should cull my blogs to find some nuggets.  My nuggets are fragmented in these bursts of activity.  Why have I not consolidated them?  Do I lack the conviction to compile them into a collection of useful thoughts that will help others?

Well, at any rate, I am baring my soul on this topic with considerable interest (and frustration, I might add).  Wait, wait, it is not all bad.  In the sharing of my feelings, I feel authentic and liberated and the writing is continuing to flow.  This is a good thing.  I may be on to something here!  I am interested in my chagrin about my fragmented thoughts in my blogs.  It is clearly a self love of some perverted form. Self love nonetheless.  Thank you for this moment of chagrin and thank you for reading, if you are reading, I mean.

Flow of Creative Energy

Creative energy needs to blossom into reality without resistance.  It is an act of unconditional love and caring for our own thoughts.  We have to learn to honor our own thoughts and follow them without fear.

As I look toward the door of my room, I see the "I love Pi" apron that I bought at Discovery World last year.  For me it is a memory of my preparation for the United Nations World Water Day Milwaukee.  I had walked from Milwaukee Water Works to Discovery World to experience how it might be after the walk.

As I look at the window of the room, I see the circle/bubble print curtains that Usha and I purchased after careful shopping together.  After taking measurements, we went to several stores to find curtains for this room.  When we did buy them at JCPenney, we both had a pleasant discussion with the sales person and really enjoyed the decision making to buy this combination of curtains.  The print for the outer two and the transparent ones for the middle two.

As I look at my desk, I see my Crayola Washable Markers.  "The Power of Kindness" by Piero Ferruci, "The Creative Life" by S. Radhakrishnan, a plate reading "Wander down the pathway of your dreams", and an owl and a tortoise from Park Guell made with tiles that are the trademark of Gaudi's creation.

This is the room that I would like to think is the room that puts me in the Open Mode.  Each day it would be sufficient for me, as a practice to sit in this room and remember the process of how the contents of this room came to be.  This would in itself allow me to honor my thoughts and feel reenergized and ready for the challenges in my life.  This is the source of my creative energy.  This is my creativity pool that I can immerse myself into each morning and emerge soaked with creativity.

Cherish the Dear Ones

Cherish every interaction because you never know if it is the last interaction that you will have with the person.  Interact zestfully and whole-heartly and make it worth the meeting.  Each person that you meet is a dear one.  

'Tis the Season for Hats

When you go to a mall or a restaurant this week, you are probably going to run into a jolly man with a hat on.  Mostly and not surprisingly, the hat is red!  This got me to wondering if have you ever tried on a new hat?

Edward DeBono is known for the Six Thinking Hats.  You may already have heard of them but in the spirit of the season, here goes.   All of us tend to have a preferred mindset toward problem solving.  In the Six Thinking Hats approach we solve problems wearing one of six different colored hats.  Each color is associated with a mindset.

A White Hat is Logical, Green is Creative, Red is Intuitive, Blue is Organized, Black is Cautious, and Yellow is Optimistic.  Next time you are challenged to solve a problem, pick a hat, wear it, and think with the mindset of that hat.  For example, if you wear the Yellow Hat be optimistic in your attitude to the problem and expect to see wonderful solutions.  After about ten minutes with that hat, wear another hat and see what ideas you get with that attitude.  After wearing the six hats in turn, look at your list of solutions and somewhere in there you may find something totally unexpected.  Like your Christmas present! 

Whatever your form of celebration during this season, enjoy and be grateful for your gifts in life.  We all have many talents and we only need to remind ourselves of them.

Happy New Year 2013!  May you be prosperous and healthy and a colorful problem solver!

A constant companion

Thoughts are my constant companion.  Thoughts are there for me whenever I need love, compassion, bonding, solutions, healing, and more.  I am never lonely, my thoughts always travel with me.  And yet, I forget to appreciate and value my thoughts.  From today forward, I pledge that I will value my thoughts.  My thoughts help me persist until I succeed.  My thoughts teach me new skills.  My thoughts nurture my spirit.

I survive because of my thoughts.  Thoughts are my constant companion.  They do not mind the condition of their surroundings, they tag along all the time.  They do not mind being ignored, they keep coming back in new forms and persist until I pay attention to them.

Writing helps me to honor and reflect upon my thoughts.  My thoughts are precious and they must be preserved through writing.  Each thought is a gem, each word is worth reading.

Thoughts are my constant companion and their form is preserved in my journal.  My journal is alive and well, thank you!