5 Tenets of Awesomeness

Core values for business, love, friendship and every other kind of relationship you can think of.

1. Honesty

I majored in honesty. No, really, I did.

I'm not as much of a stickler as I once was about it, but it still makes it #1 on my values list. Life is much, much better when one is honest (to themselves & everyone else).

What is honesty? I'd say honesty is being an open channel communicating the thoughts & opinions that are relevant to the current experience. What is relevant? Generally, anything you are thinking & feeling about another person in any relationship is usually relevant to both or more parties. Why? Because thoughts are things, and people pick up on them. Honesty clears the air, and as a culture, I think we have an under-share our experience.

Don't be scared of telling people things. I can't vouch for how that will go for other people; but it's especially true for me. I am one of the most open minded motherf**kers I know. And I've spent the past 6 years in NYC & Venice. Being afraid to tell me something is absolutely absurd.

2. Integrity

Actions are fundamentally meaningless. The most well intended move can lead to unpleasant consequences and out-of-control outcomes & being attached to outcomes generally leads to insanity. There is no point to doing anything, really, with one exception;

If you say you will. Then it's a pretty good reason to do it.

In the grand spectrum of the universe, it doesn't really matter if you will get the proposal in by 5pm on Tuesday or 3pm on Friday, or not at all. But in the microcosm of your psyche, you'll build strength and trust in yourself if you stick to your deadline.

No one is perfect (I missed a coffee meeting on Monday) but building integrity is one the most wonderful experiences on the planet.

3. Courage

With the singular exception of bungee jumping, if something scares me, I'll probably do it on principle.

I may be confusing courage with stupidity, but I don't mind.

I've found fear is often a curtain for particularly wonderful experiences (think heights, public speaking, and letting someone know you find them attractive).

How nervous I feel is generally directly proportionally to how much I'm about to grow.

4. Creativity

Once again, actions are pretty meaningless. Everything we create is going to get destroyed in a big plasma explosion one day, if not sooner.

Yet humans tend to get off on it on creating things.

Making stuff feels awesome. So does growing, building and expanding. Perfecting, crafting, capturing the human experiences in joy, music and art...

Creating is being a part of the flow; in contrast, stagnation just feels bad. In some ways, being creative just means sharing yourself with the world. And sharing is caring; data, information, resources, and just about everything else.

As long as we admit that we enjoy creating for pure pleasure, we are going to have a lovely time here.

5. Compassion

Compassion is a super power. The most paramount emotion; the one vibration that can create complete and total change, that erases the past and brings in full recognition of creative potential in the present moment.

It feels like a stretching sensation in the heart. And at first it kind of hurts, but then it feels good, you know?

It is a secret weapon with the power to change any situation. And one of my favorite things. Ever. 

Mythical Being

I want to be this perfect human that listens fully, then pauses, and takes a breath before she speaks.

When she does, speaks slowly; spins words of gold. I want to be this mythical being of divine communication & creativity, that brings vision to reality with each breath.

"Mythical.....But mythical people aren't real," he says, "They are mythical by definition".

"Well, maybe. I believe that I can change my way of being, and if I keep refining myself I'll eventually become a very impressive being. I want to be like Albus Dumbledore.....okay, that was a bad example because he's obviously not real-"

"-Yes. He's a character, and a symbol".

"Ok, fine. What about Hillary Clinton? Hillary Clinton is real?"

"But you don't know Hillary Clinton".

"No, but I bet you she has her game face on most of the time".

"You don't know that. She's a symbol. You see her from far away. Mythical people aren't real".

Maybe? I still want to be a mythical being ;)

Ecstasy, Solitude and Progress

There are three things, Saul says, that are absolutely essential for the Bhakti yogi....

The first is Ecstasy. On the Bhakti path, ecstasy is essential. Ecstasy lifts you out of ordinary life and shows you what is possible. It also shows the truth, the bliss, of reality and the divine and wonderful love of our being.

Ah, to always be in ecstasy.....

I cannot wait for the day when I say"Oh, wow, that was a mind-blowing ecstatic rush of joy! Amazing! Now, why don't I leave this ecstatic rush gracefully? I'll just release that beautiful thought, vision or experience and move into the present moment now.....".

I'm not there yet. I will replay that ecstatic moment again and again, only to switch and fantasize into the future. Once upon a time I thought, perhaps, I could open the eternal portal to ecstasy if I always lived in distraction, Douglas Adams style. But this brings me to Saul's next point. 

Stillness. Solitude; Aloneness. The Bhakti yogi knows the importance of going off by one's self and experiencing the stillness that precedes everything. S/he knows the power gained by taking this time, and the realization that comes of it.

I love this. This wonderful truth, this little life hack. When I find it difficult to be alone (my mind likes to keep me company), I turn to yoga to clear my thoughts and remind me; I'm at the center of my experience. And my experience is happening now. 

And lastly, Progress. Progress is knowing that all love ultimately resides within the self. As we intertwine our states of stillness and ecstasy, we, paradoxically, reach for and relax into this space.

May you and I flow favorably; may we all grow. 

With @SaulDavidRaye, @Shakti Fest (Bhakti Fest's Spring Immersion).

Analytics on my Mind

I would sell my soul to run analytics on my mind.

I want to know, truthfully, objectively, what the hell it is that I do with myself most of the time.

I'd like to know my top keywords. Maybe there are really predictable like "sex" "money" and "joy". I'd just like to be surprised by my research.

I want to know the 'sites' I visit most often. How much time do I spend there? Really? Because when I'm daydreaming, I'm not often holding up a stop watch.

How many 'visitors'? 'Uniques'? Maybe I'll monitor myself for a month and record the results.

How amazing would it be to see the aggregate, and the outliers?

Keep it.

I took class with Jerome Mercier this morning. Santa Monica already heated up at 7AM. 

His classes are silent, challenging & advanced. For a change, he asked us to move through another vinyasa. 

And he said, "Don't dance. Don't flow through it. Keep your awareness, meditate through it". 

My first thought, was, "Don't dance? Are you out of your mind? Is there another purpose of human life I'm not aware of?". 

And he says, "When you dance, you sometimes enter another realm, and energy moves outwards. You don't disperse your energy. You cultivate it. And then you keep it."

And it just stuck with me. 

Innerspace.

I want something. 

I've had a difficult time understanding what it may be.... despite its identity, it's elephantine presence has been undeniable. 

You have felt that silent, confusing tug of desire and perhaps have spent hours identifying.....perhaps misappropriating, its source. Subtle but it's real, of course. 

I would like to share inner space with you. 

I would like to know your thoughts and your feelings; dreams, visions and goals. I'd like to know how your mind made sense of the universe and your soul breathed amongst it. Practically, I'd like to send you messages and connect in your day. Mostly; to exist in a mutual world with consideration. Not always, but most or some of the time. 

Merge a small part of my heart-mind. 

It's really an awful lot to ask, if you think about it. 

There's a tribe of people I hold in my heart space, and if you are interested, you may partake- although your participation may rise quickly through novelty. I'm seeing several now; but this offer is exclusive. Not at all on principle, through temporality of truth. 

I am a lucky one; I share heart space with many humans. I do not need yours. But I would like to make the offer. 

There's little to it. It's a vibrational thing. Unspoken &  ephemeral; let's make it acknowledged and intentional. I would like to share inner space with you. 

Let me know if that interests you. 

I really like you. 

#muse #seemed-like-a-good-idea-at-the-time

I don't know if this is a good place or not to announce that I am a total fuck up.

I have this idiotic vision of myself as a compassionate, patient person, when the truth of the matter is; well, it's not true at all.

I'm actually pushy, dominating in my viewpoints, aggressive, self-centered to an extreme; I'm still pretty confident that I'm not too manipulative but that's a subject for debate.

I do not want to be any of these things; I really don't. Especially as (since I'm self-centered), and when I am these things, the person most pissed off is me. And then, on top of that, I threaten and upset others. Which I do not intend at all. In the least bit.

I don't know if it's a cultural thing, because almost all the pushy, dominant people that don't know how to listen I know are all Russians. And everything that pisses me off about, say, my mother (who is a magical angel that still manages to annoy me) to my Russian friends (also, rad people that drive me nuts); yeah, that's not separate from me, that's ALL me, actually.

I swear to God I'm going to do everything in my power to make it better. I swear. Please, please forgive me and please be patient with me.