Monday, April 30, 2007

The Healing Codes II

Okay, so I’ve done The Healing Codes Quick Start Program—12 Days to a Changed Life.

Am I healed? Totally? No.
Am I changed? Most definitely.

I was speaking to a dear friend on Saturday night and talking to her about The Healing Codes. Does this ever happen to you? When you’re talking to someone else about an experience you’re having, do you ever “overhear” yourself and get your own message? Sometimes it’s as though the Spirit of me listens in on the Soul of me (or maybe it’s the reverse, no matter) and I truly hear myself.

Here’s what I said to Vivian:

“The static is gone.”

That’s the best description of what the first twelve days of doing The Healing Codes did for me. My mind is quiet. Very little fazes me. I feel peaceful despite the fact that there are a lot of big changes happening in my life.

Peace, as some of you will already know, is my life mission. I am a relatively peaceful person if a little high-strung. The Healing Codes enhanced my experience of peace, and it seems only to be getting deeper, broader, quieter, more global on the inside of me. For that reason alone, it’s been worth it.

The other thing I told her was:

“My intuition is extremely clear.”

Those of you who know me know that I live by my intuition and I have for most of my adult life. But I, like so many of us humans, can thwart my own intuition by being attached to outcome.

The peace I’ve realized from The Healing Codes seems to have a built-in non-attachment mechanism. I am able to ask questions of my intuition, and regardless of my own fondly-held opinions, I get dispassionate, compassionate, correct answers.

So am I totally healed? No. But do I feel as though I’ve gone a hefty way toward it? Yes. Am I going to continue The Healing Codes? You bet.

At 11 o’clock this morning, I have a telephone appointment with my Healing Codes Coach. From what I gather, I get to intend to heal whatever issue I choose (and Libra that I am, I'm still trying to decide!), and I will be given a Personal Healing Code for that issue by my coach.

I’ll keep you posted.

P.S. If you’re intrigued by The Healing Codes, try them yourself.
www.thehealingcodes.com

Friday, April 27, 2007

Apology I

Seeds IX, 17

Seed: Apology I

Anna Quindlen writes a column in Newsweek every other week. One that struck me recently was called “Contrition as Leadership.” She’s writing about our national leaders and apology. To be clear, she’s writing about the fact that the last real apology the American people heard from a president was from John Fitzgerald Kennedy.

It got me thinking about apology in relationship. As usual, I looked it up in the OED. I was surprised at the etymology of the word apology. It means a speech in defense etymologically. Only in its third definition does it mean what custom dictates:

3. An explanation offered to a person affected by one's action that no offence was intended, coupled with the expression of regret for any that may have been given; or, a frank acknowledgement of the offence with expression of regret for it, by way of reparation.

Here’s the thing though: apology is a valuable tool for genuine relating. We all do things we’d like to take back from time to time. We don’t feel good. We’re crabby for no reason. We’re pressured. No matter what is causing the difficulty, apology clears the air.

So, dear one, do you apologize? Easily? Is it like pulling your own teeth? Why do you apologize? Why don’t you apologize? Have a look at your habits around apology. We’ll explore more of this in the next few Seeds.

Be serene,

Dr. Susan Corso

Seeds are remarkable gifts. Sown in consciousness, they bring you to the most important part of your being—your Divine Spark.

When you have friends you would like added to the Seeds e-mail list, send their addresses to me at SeedsDrCorso@comcast.net

Wednesday, April 25, 2007

The Healing Codes I

Cool has never been my thing. Nope, warm is a better description of me. Cool, not so much. I never had whatever that something is that makes a person cool. No James Dean genes, I guess.

It used to bother me, but as I approach fifty, now it doesn’t. I guess it’s because I am finally old enough to allow myself my passions as they are without worrying about how those beings outside of me might perceive me.

It’s a good thing too. Being a warm sort of person, I am given to passions, enthusiasms, discoveries, risks, new things. One of the things I’ve sought for many years is a way to access and heal my subconscious mind including cellular and unremembered memories.

I think I’ve found it. In the DVD of The Secret, there is a gentleman named Dr. Ben Johnson. With a salt-and-pepper beard, and warm brown eyes, his quiet manner got my attention immediately.

In the back of the book The Secret, his biography says that Dr. Johnson is involved in The Healing Codes. Visiting their site, I was astonished to learn that he had been healed of ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease) by using The Healing Codes for six weeks. I’ve never heard of anyone healing ALS. Never.

Okay, said the warm me, I’ll bite. I filled out a form on their site and asked for more information. Daily emails started to arrive. To be honest, I wasn’t wild about their tone. It was a little rah-rah even for warm me. My “cool” wasn’t raised, but my skepticism was.

I can hear you asking: Susan? Skeptical? Well, maybe not skeptical, but conscious of having followed enough off-the-wall enthusiasms to temper myself on new paths of discovery. All sorts of systems had promised access to what I hadn’t been able to reach before. Would this one deliver?

I waded through the rah-rah emails. The video promos. Finally, I sought the phone number on their website and called. The person who answered couldn’t answer my questions. He got his boss. Neither could the boss answer me. I left a message for a “coach” to call me.

Within 24 hours, a well-spoken gentleman returned my call, heard my story, and answered my questions succinctly, clearly and satisfactorily. I bit the bullet the next day and ordered The Healing Codes. They’re $800, so it’s a genuine investment.

More daily emails, this time with rah-rah audio postcards. It’s funny. One of the things about being a “warm” person instead of a cool one is that I don’t need rah-rah. I need the space to let my own natural enthusiasm kick in.

Anyway, The Healing Codes arrive. It’s a huge package comprising a manual, a workbook/ journal, six audio CDs, 2 DVDs as an intro, two additional DVDs with another technique and a small pocket-sized book for the Quick Start Program.

Since I am adept at allowing my own passions to grow, you can imagine, I’m sure, that I’m an ace student. (Always was, always will be.) I “took” the course. Listening, reading, watching everything in it.

The thing that intrigued me the most was the Quick Start Program which they call 12 Days to a Changed Life. I was encouraged not to wade through all the material. No, instead, they encouraged me just to start.

Just start. Just like that.

I like that. Start, and see what happens. Start, and see how you feel. Start, and let The Healing Codes become to me whatever they become. Start. Like the Nike ad, Just do it.

As of today I’m on Day 7 of the 12. By next Sunday, I’ll be through the 12 days. On Monday, I’ll report to you on how my life has changed.

Monday, April 23, 2007

Behind "The Secret"

So many people have asked me what I think about the DVD of The Secret. I’ve seen it. I even bought the companion book and read it. If you do, you’ll discover that much of The Secret is based on the work of a man named Charles F. Haanel.

Mr. Haanel was a businessman who learned the secret of intention. He wrote a series of lessons, 24 in number, called The Master Key System, in 1912. At its peak, he had more than a million subscribers to these lessons.

Not content just with The Secret itself, I sought out the original work of Mr. Haanel. This is my usual path. I always go to source material when I can. The internet makes this pretty easy.

Mr. Haanel actually wrote six books over twenty years. His understanding of basic metaphysics is exemplary. His Master Key System is one of two basic metaphysical books that I can wholeheartedly recommend. The other is What Are You? by Imelda Octavia Shanklin.

There is a facility to The Secret that bothers me. It’s one thing to be choosing and creating something in your life that is strictly between you and that thing, but the moment you involve one other soul, things change.

For example, let’s say you want a brand new Cadillac. Well, it’s you, the dealer, your checkbook, and the machine. The dealer is a soul, yes, but this is a simple business transaction. Go, check it out, make the deal, write the check, drive home.

On the other hand, let’s say you want to get married. Well, it’s you, the institution of marriage, and one other soul. Where is he? Where is she? Is he ready? Is she ready? Are there things that need to be cleared up before a marriage is possible? By all means, choose to create a marriage partner, but then be prepared to let the Universe catch you both up to the program.

Mr. Haanel is a metaphysical fundamentalist—in a good way. Many years ago, I realized that there are no advanced classes in metaphysics. Only the basics. A metaphysician looks “beyond the physical,” which is what metaphysics means. A metaphysician holds an ideal, and disallows all other possibilities. Another name for this is Absolutism.

There is a pitfall here, though. A friend of mine who is a cancer survivor saw The Secret and heard implicit blame in it for someone who “creates” cancer. (I call this Metaphysical Malpractice.) As an absolutist, yes, of course, she created her own cancer experience, but not consciously!

This is the Catch-22. We have minds with three aspects. Conscious mind is where we think our everyday thoughts. Superconscious mind is where our Spirits live and guide us through intuition. The third phase of mind is anybody’s guess: the Subconscious Mind. None of us knows what’s in our subconscious minds—because they’re sub- (under) conscious.

Mr. Haanel was a genius. He explains the value of relaxation, meditation, concentration, goal-setting, visualization, choosing, all the components that go toward creating the lives that we choose. His lessons are as valuable today as they were nearly a hundred years ago.

If you are intrigued by him, go to http://www.psitek.net/pages/PsiTekTMKSContents.html and get the original lessons delivered via email over 24 weeks.

My next entry will discuss a new protocol which will address how to work with the subconscious mind. I’m five days into it, and already I feel different.

Thursday, April 19, 2007

The Butterfly Effect

Seeds IX, 16

Seed: The Butterfly Effect

Meteorologist Edward Lorenz discovered the butterfly effect in 1960. He was in a hurry one day whilst doing some weather pattern calculations and instead of rounding his long numbers to the nearest millionth, he used a short-cut and rounded them to the nearest thousandth. He knew, at the time, that this would change his results. What shocked him was how much they changed.

This discovery led Lorenz to ponder: Does the flap of a butterfly's wing in Brazil cause a tornado in Texas? Thus, 'The Butterfly Effect' theory. We see this in our own lives in myriad ways.

I remember being newly in love once upon a time. You know the feeling I mean. The one where everything is new and everything is beautiful and all’s right with the world no matter what it is. I was standing on the subway platform at 72nd and Broadway waiting for a train, and my beloved was suddenly at my side.

Think of it: what was the confluence of calculations and events that contrived to put us both on the platform at the same time, going the same way? The Butterfly Effect. So the next time you wonder if your choices matter, think of that butterfly’s wing in Brazil making a huge wind in Texas.

Your choices matter, I promise.

Be serene,

Dr. Susan Corso

Seeds are remarkable gifts. Sown in consciousness, they bring you to the most important part of your being—your Divine Spark.

When you have friends you would like added to the Seeds e-mail list, send their addresses to me at SeedsDrCorso@comcast.net

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Tragedy . . . What Can I Do?

I almost never watch the news, mostly because I spend enough of my day on a computer, and I get the news that way. The day before yesterday, however, I turned on CNN to find out what had happened in Blacksburg, Virginia.

What a tragedy. For everyone.

As is my habit, whenever I do watch the news, I found myself praying. Praying for the situation, the sadness of it, the madness of it, the senselessness of it, the uselessness of it. For those who died, for those who survived, for those who were wounded, for those who knew them, for those who don’t, for all of us.

Then something happened which stopped me cold. I realized, right in the middle of my heartfelt prayers, that I was hopping mad. Mad mad. Angry. P.O.ed. Ticked. Furious. Kicking-something outraged.

The commentators were doing their best, I realize, to sound sympathetic and compassionate, and to be gentle with those who were on the scene. It took a little bit, but I finally realized what was making me mad. I quote: the worst shooting in the history of the United States. Really?

{Even though I’m going to let my temper rise here, you don’t have to go with me. Just witness it!}

Really? I asked. Really—not, I answered. How’s about we consider the Civil War? Or the casualties of either World War? Vietnam? Or, consider this . . . Iraq? The worst shooting in the history of the United States? I don’t think so.

Oh, maybe they meant unrelated to war. Random shooting. I’m sure the Pennsylvania Amish who were so loving with the family of the man who killed their children and himself could think that theirs was the worst. And don’t even get me started on 9/11. (Yes, I know, not shooting per se.)

Anyway, I have to admit it took me quite a while to get a handle on my anger and calm down. Here’s what I came to for myself:

Every shooting, any shooting, is the worst shooting—always.

It doesn’t matter who is involved—it could have been any one of us, anywhere.

For me, shooting is never the solution—never, ever.


So now there will be various sightings and spoutings of various anti-gun politicians about how our country needs to regulate gun ownership more. There will be various holier-than-thou fingers pointed at those who were in charge calling for what they should have done and didn’t, or what they did do and shouldn’t have. There will be families and friends who go through the painful experience of mourning possible futures they won’t get to have with their now-dead loved ones. And the media feeding frenzy will continue.

To what purpose?

There is a purpose in events like these, you know, whether we like it or not. I believe that there is a purpose in every single thing that happens. EVERY single thing. No exceptions. What could the purpose be in these killings?

I think this happened so that we who remain will look closely at violence in this country. I mean, really closely. At what violence is. At how violence happens. At possibilities for learning from violence. At ways to deal with violence. Real, genuine interface with violence and its fallout.

I got an email this morning from The Peace Alliance for a U. S. Department of Peace. A group of well-meaning citizens have created this campaign to establish a Department of Peace as part of the regular cabinet of the President of the United States.

In the email, they addressed the issue of how we as a country handle violence (part of the Campaign is consideration of non-violence as a viable method for resolving conflicts). A Department of Peace would at the very least give our country a place to take a tragedy like this one for resolution.

If you’re interested in knowing more about the Department of Peace Campaign, go to this address: http://www.thepeacealliance.org/.

And as for Blacksburg, oh dear one, pray. Pray for them. Actually, pray for us all. Here’s a mantra to get you started:

Peace, Sweet Peace.
Peace, Sweet Peace.
Peace, Sweet Peace.

I’m saying it, praying it, and crying, right along with you.

P.S. I watched turned on MSNBC last night, after I'd written this, and Keith Olbermann, bless his heart, is asking a similar question to mine. To paraphrase: We are horrified and outraged at the senseless deaths of 32 young people in Blacksburg, Virginia yesterday and somehow we are not as horrified nor as outraged at the same number of deaths of similar young Americans in Iraq in the past 10 days. Why?

Monday, April 16, 2007

Opinions . . . Attitudes . . . Values

A question has reached me today that made me think deeply about how I make choices: What criteria do I use?

I am happy to talk about my own process with the caveat that everyone has their own process, and that it would surprise me greatly if someone else had my process.

Let me take a situation that was operating just this morning.

My sweetheart has an acting gig for an Equity theatre in Maine. Rehearsal starts tomorrow. Our plan was to drive together to Maine today, get things settled in, and then I would drive back to Boston on my own.

The Weather (in this case, with a capital W) had other plans this morning.

Conversation over breakfast went through the three-tiered process laid out below by British founder of Market and Opinion Research International, Sir Robert Worcester. He says of the general public:

“Opinions are the ripples on the surface of the public’s consciousness, shallow and easily changed.
Attitudes are the currents below the surface, deeper and stronger.
Values are the deep tides of the public mood, slow to change, but powerful.”


Well, no surprise here. I am a part of the general public. Aren’t we all?

My Earl Grey tea was sending its steamy plume toward the cold kitchen windows. We started with our Opinions (metaphysically, Thoughts). “I really should be able to drive back no matter the weather.”

We graduated to Attitudes (metaphysically, Feelings). “I don’t want you to go.”

Then, all at once, we both let go and opened ourselves to the Best Choice, namely Values (metaphysically, Knowings). “I don’t really need the car till Tuesday morning.” She has to come back on Monday evening to teach Tuesday morning. “It’ll be less stressful on me if I drive up with you Tuesday after class and come back to Boston Wednesday morning on my own after the weather has cleared up.”

I want you to know that we didn’t realize we were following Sir Robert’s steps. What we were really doing was asking my two standard Values questions.

Is it simple?
Is it elegant?


These are the two questions that I have learned to ask about ANY and EVERY choice I make. These are two of my important Values.

Often, we have to go through the Thoughts (Opinions) and Feelings (Attitudes) before we get to Knowings (Values). Better, we have to strip away and let go of our thoughts and feelings to get to what we know.

What we both knew this morning was that I tend to stress out going 65 miles per hour even when the day is fine. Did I have to go to Maine today? No. Could I manage without the car for a couple of days? Sure. Would I be better off later in the week when the weather has eased up a bit? Absolutely.

Is it simple? Is it elegant?

Unless I get an affirmative to both questions, I know that I haven't yet found the Best Choice.

This is my process for making choices. What’s yours?

Friday, April 13, 2007

"Action!"

Seeds IX, 15

Seed: “Action!”

“Lights!” “Camera!” “Action!” A three-part formula for creating anything new in your life. It’s the Quakers who say that we must put hands and feet on our prayers. It’s hard to bring anything into manifestation without action.

The thing is: there are two kinds of action. One is trial and error, random, and only rarely successful, and only then with a lot of luck. The other is action which is guided.

Think of the process, dear one. Light(s)—an idea from within, Camera—incubating the idea, and only then Action. If it’s guided, meaning if it comes from within you, the action is guaranteed to create results.

All of these words describe an inner process. For humans who are hell-bent on transforming ourselves out of human beings and into human doings, the mistake we often make is to hurry the process. A director never changes the order of the formula. Why? Because it works the way it is.

Be serene,

Dr. Susan Corso

Seeds are remarkable gifts. Sown in consciousness, they bring you to the most important part of your being—your Divine Spark.

When you have friends you would like added to the Seeds e-mail list, send their addresses to me at SeedsDrCorso@comcast.net

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Stars or . . . Not Stars

Do you know The Desiderata? It’s that wonderful poem/prayer for many years allegedly by Anonymous but really written and copyrighted by Max Ehrmann in 1927. There is a line in the poem whose title means desired things that has always spoken to me.

You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Do you feel like the universe is unfolding as it should? I do. Most days. Most moments. Whether I like how it’s unfolding is another matter altogether.

Ten years ago this year, my mother died. She was my last living parent, and I miss her terribly sometimes. Aching with longing. Wishing for . . . what? The option to talk to her. Not, you’ll note, wishing to talk to her, but wishing for the option to talk to her. To be able to pick up the phone and just . . . chat.

I got a catalogue in the mail the other day. An ordinary catalogue full of cute stuff. Flipping through it, I came across a calligraphic plaque of an Eskimo legend.

Perhaps they
are not
Stars,
but rather openings in Heaven
where the
love of
our lost ones
pours through
and shines down
upon us
to let us know
they are
happy.

I thought of The Desiderata. I may not be a child of living parents at the current perfectly-unfolding moment. Instead, I am a child of the universe itself. I take my place along with the trees and the stars, and like them, orphaned or not, not only do I have a right to be here, but it is right that I am here.

Sometimes it does not feel clear to me that the universe is unfolding as it should. If it were, I think to myself, my mama would be available by phone.

My spirit cries out to her. Mama, I miss you! And, I am so glad to know that you are happy.

When next you have a chance, visit with the stars/not stars, and let the love of your lost ones pour through your spirit.

Monday, April 9, 2007

Choice . . . and Consequence

Recently I was invited to give an informal talk at my undergraduate alma mater for seniors facing their first “real-world” (whatever that means!) experience. We met in the living room of Mary Ellen Chase House over tea.

My chat was called, “Yes, there IS life after Smith.” I thought the title was humorous. It turned out not to be. There was a genuine, heartfelt question about whether there really is life after college, and can I, do I have what it takes, to handle it, make it, function, in the real world?

What I thought I was going to talk about flew out the mental window. I found I went to a much more fundamental place in myself to address the fundamental place where these seniors were residing.

I ended up talking about choosing. Plainly, simply making a choice. I could feel the room hold its collective breath when I mentioned choosing. Why? Because right with the introduction of the concept of choosing came the towering fear of making the “wrong” choice. I mean, instantly, do-not-pass-go, immediately, at once. If I had to write it as an equation it would look like this:

Choosing = Fear of Making the Wrong Choice

The two were identical. How did this come to be? How could it be that a roomful of very bright, well-educated young women were paralyzed by the need to make a choice—any choice—at all?

It seemed patently clear to me that no one had told these promising young people that there is a simple secret to choosing which takes much of the fear out of it. It has three aspects.

First, there is no such thing as a wrong choice.

I mean it—quite literally. There IS no such thing as a wrong choice. There are only choices which yield results.

Second, choices simply have consequences.

Consequences. No more, no less. If you have peanut butter and jelly for lunch, you’re not having turkey. That’s all. If you’re seeing The Sound of Music, you’re not seeing a Star Wars movie at the same time.

Third, if you don’t like the consequences, you get to choose again.

Maybe you don’t get to have lunch all over again, but you could have turkey tomorrow if the PBJ didn’t satisfy today. Or you could rent a Star Wars movie tonight after a matinĂ©e with the Von Trapps.

I’m being slightly facetious by using less-than-what-seems-dire examples, but try out my theory with a choice about a job. There was a marvelous young woman in the room who had majored in Economics. She has applied for a one-year position with Teach for America. What’s the worst thing that could happen? She gets the job, and she realizes part way into it that she really doesn’t want to do a job like this. Great! More information about herself for herself. She gets to choose again when the position is up.

This is true for all of us. We get to choose again if we don’t like the consequences of our choices.

Did you know that commercial airline pilots are off-course 85% of the time? This means that they’re on-course 15% of the time. Only 15%! The rest of the time they’re, if you will, re-choosing, also known as . . . steering. Now airline pilots have measurable coordinates by which on- and off-coursed-ness is measured. Most of our choices aren’t measured in this way.

So what can we use as coordinates if Air Traffic Control doesn’t supply them? What we ALL have (pilots or not) is an Inner Air Traffic Controller called the Divine Spark. That Spark grows into a flame when we make choices which are in our best interests. The Spark diminishes into an ember when we make less than ideal choices.

Once again, dear one, help wanted? As always, inquire within.

It was a pleasure to speak to these young women, women who will step forward in their own ways and make significant contributions to the greater health and well-being of our world. I was glad to be able to tell them about choices—and consequences—and the universal ability to choose again.

This dozen young women got it, they heard me, and they let out that collective breath and let go a little of their fear. On the drive home, I thought to myself, Wow, these young women gave me a huge wallop of hope for the future of our planet. Ain’t that grand?

Friday, April 6, 2007

"Camera!"

Seeds IX, 14

Seed: “Camera!”

This is the second word of the three at the beginning of a shot for a movie. I looked it up in the OED and it’s short for camera obscura. The words mean, literally, a dark chamber.

Interesting, isn’t it, that the first invocation is “Lights!” and the second one is darkness? Why is that? Here’s why: because light comes from within, and in order to manifest it in a specific form, it needs gestation time. All gestation time is time in the dark.

When you come to the “Camera!” phase of creating, you keep the light in the dark. You sit on your idea and let it begin to come into form. This time is the one that is the most delicate. This is when talking about your light dissipates its energy. It’s a bit like being a hen with an egg. Roost. Sit. Incubate. Wait. Let the light grow so that it spills out of the nest.

Only then do we come to the third part of the formula.

Seeds are remarkable gifts. Sown in consciousness, they bring you to the most important part of your being—your Divine Spark.

When you have friends you would like added to the Seeds e-mail list, send their addresses to me at SeedsDrCorso@comcast.net

Wednesday, April 4, 2007

The Secret to Huge Changes

I’ve been going through a few weeks of huge changes on many levels. Does this ever happen to you?

My body is in a roil over a new medication; it’s keeping me up nights and I’m exhausted.
My work situation is reducing itself; two gigs have gone away and another is waning.
My taxes are due, and they were more than I’d expected.

There’s more, but you get the picture. What gives?

I’m sure you’ve heard of the phenomenal success of the DVD and book called The Secret. Its author and proponents would say that my attitude is everything during a time of change such as this. I agree with them, to a point.

Attitude definitely makes a difference in life.

So how’s this for attitude?

My body is guiding me now to the proper medications which only help me.
My work situation is adapting so that bigger, better things can come into my life.
My taxes are done—early!—and I have figured out how to pay them.

Both sets of statements about the huge changes in my life are true. Which causes more ease? The second one.

For me, however, there’s a hurdle to get over first. Simply put, I’d name the hurdle: Fear.

When things are changing rapidly, fear can become a constant companion. It doesn’t always, but it can. What to do?

When I am fearful, the first thing I do is scan my body. Am I holding tension? Where? Is there a message that my body is trying to give me? {Even as we speak, I am writing a book called How To Live in a Body. We all need an instruction manual sometimes!} Then I do my utmost to relax and let go.

Tense bodies aren’t the happiest bodies. Tense bodies aren’t the most inspired bodies. Relaxed bodies are much happier. I relax my body consciously.

Then I get still and go within where the Divine Spark of me is alive and well—and fearless. I ask myself what would turn the spark into a flame right now?

It might be to read a novel. On the other hand, it might be to have a good look at my finances and make a plan to contact someone about a new gig.

Whenever I see one of those Help Wanted signs in a store window, I have to laugh because I see the words with punctuation as below.

Help Wanted?
Inquire Within.


That’s the only requirement when dealing with fear. I know there are metaphysical absolutists (which is what the folks associated with The Secret are) who say never to deal with fear. That doesn’t work for me.

I feel better, and less fearful, when I face my fear.

Is being exhausted the end of the world? No. Is a new medication going to kill me? No.
Is it likely that I won’t get a new gig? No.
Will the governments of the U.S. and Massachusetts fail if I pay my taxes late? No.

Susan Jeffers wrote a book that I had on my shelf for many years although I never read it. I liked the title, Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway.

I’m not a metaphysical absolutist although I understand the purpose of absolutism (to hold one’s will to what one wants). It doesn’t work for me. I know too much of my own and others’ humanity.

Human beings can be fearful. Not ideal, but so what? Fear happens. It’s what you do with the fear after it happens that matters. I face it. I befriend it. Then, by all means, I return to the stillness within me and blow on the spark, knowing, without doubt, that breath (quite literally, inspiration) will fan my spark into a flame, and I’ll be off on the next adventure in my life.

Monday, April 2, 2007

Chief Spiritual Officer

First, there’s a stupendous article on personal mission at beliefnet.com. It was the Inspiration Newsletter story on March 30th. I’m pasting the URL here http://www.beliefnet.com/nllp/Inspiration.aspx?WT.mc_id=Inspiration03&date=03-30-2007 in the hope that you can click on it and it will take you there. It worked for me. If not, it’s worth the time to go and find it. Blessed work!

Speaking of blessed work, may I tell you what mine is? It has come to me over and over again in the past year as I have followed the advice I've given to clients.

When a client comes to me asking about how to find her or his mission in life, I give them an assignment—especially if they don’t know where they want to serve.

Describe your perfect day at work.

Often I recommend that you start by looking at your feet. What kind of shoes are you wearing? Pumps? Dress oxfords? Loafers? Sneakers? Bunny slippers? Shoes tell a lot about a person and a situation. We can pretty much be assured if it’s bunny slippers (unless you’re a slipper model) that you’re working at home.

Anyway, then I ask about how you spend your day. Are you reading? Writing? Measuring? Working with numbers? On the phone? On the computer? In a meeting? How many people are there? On a team? Working solo?

Check out your office. Is there a window? Can you see your desk? You get the idea. You’d be surprised at how clearly people know about their ideal working conditions, just not the subject of their work. In some cases, the subject doesn’t matter.

In my case, it does. I have spent the better part of half my life in spiritual pursuits. Study. Writing. Counseling. Intuiting. Speaking. Preaching. Reading. These are the components that make up my ideal day. Oh, and bunny slippers, definitely. I work at home for the most part.

So how does this tie in with my title? Simple. I am creating a position for companies who invest in meaning for their teams. Universally what everyone wants in their work is meaning. From CEO to janitor, when every single person in a company knows that what they are doing is contributing to a mission which makes a difference to the world, the work is inspired, people care, profit is made, and the planet is a better place to live.

Every enlightened company needs a Chief Spiritual Officer. That’s what I do. The position puts together all of my talents, skills, gifts and abilities to work for the good of business and the world.

At this time, I am the CSO for two concerns. I’m nearly through with the set-up work for one of them, so it’s time for another client. How may I offer you excellent service today? Chief Spiritual Officer reporting for . . . (joyous) duty.