The Overrated Mind

I’m a thinker—I admit it. I think, not because I am, but because I like to think. Thought fascinates me. Mine and that of others.

Since I turned 50 though, my thought has been systematically heading south. What do I mean by that? I’m learning to think with my heart. I think it’s a natural aspect of getting older. Consider this:

As we age, life tends to become simpler, more clear. We know what we want and we know what we’re willing to do to get it. Many years ago, I decided that the Prime Directive of my life would be Peace. This means that I measure every choice I make by this question: Does this (whatever this is) contribute to or diminish Peace? It makes my choices simple.

We all need a Prime Directive. It doesn’t really matter what it is. I have a client whose primary value (same as Prime Directive) is Love. He measures every choice as to whether it’s loving or not. A friend of mine uses Compassion as his standard. I know someone who is all fired up for Justice; another who values Freedom above all.

Do you see a pattern here? I sure do. All of these primary value notions are intangibles. If you think about it, they almost have to be in order to be big enough to encompass any circumstance. These sorts of ideas are umbrellas.

The thing is, one’s Prime Directive isn’t available in the mind. It’s not something we can decide upon and implement like a goal or a strategy. Nope, a Prime Directive has to come from the heart. Has to. Because that’s where individual prime directives live.

I laughed this week at a Google quote from Joss Whedon (the creator of Buffy, the Vampire Slayer) and friends, “It’s not enough to bash in heads. You’ve got to bash in minds.” Well, maybe not bash. That definitely doesn’t contribute to peace.

But we do have to question our minds. The mind is a wholly overrated commodity in our logic-addicted civilization. And, if you think about, you probably can’t even say where the mind is. The brain? Sure, we all know that brains live in our skulls. But minds? Where do they live?

Here’s a secret: the best aspects of our minds live in our hearts. That’s why my thinking has gone south. When I feel peace in my heart, I know I’m making the right choices. When I don’t, I know I’m stuck in that elusive mind-space that wants results based on intellect. Intellectual results get caught in polarity, and don’t give me a peaceful heart.

Try an experiment with me. Spend a whole day thinking with your heart. The process is: have your thought, then check in with your heart. Does that particular thought support the ideals that you hold most dear? If so, good. If not, think again.

Zen Valentine

Special Edition Seeds X

Seed: Zen Valentine

Beloved, on this day to celebrate love, consider asking yourself . . .

. . . what's LOVE got to do with it . . . ?

Everything.

And always, always, always, start with loving your precious self.

Be content,

Susan Corso

Dr. Susan Corso

Seeds are remarkable gifts. Sown in consciousness, they bring you to the most important part of your being-your Divine Spark.
Is it time to invite your friends to receive Seeds?

The Cheek of Love

Turn the other cheek.

We’ve all heard it especially when people who care about us want to help us not get involved in something that might hurt us.

Turn the other cheek.

I’d never thought about it till I was reading Mabel Katz’ book on Ho-oponopono called The Easiest Way. In one simple phrase she turned my head around. Mabel calls it the cheek of love.

Turn the other cheek.

What cheek?

The Cheek of Love.

I laughed out loud. Of course! When I’ve shown up with my first cheek, it’s often the cheek of resistance. When I’m encouraged to turn the other cheek, that other one has to be the cheek of love. Wow.

Go a little further with me. Cheek is a fun word that has more than one meaning. Sure, it refers to that span of skin which appears below your eye sockets and above your jawline, but according to the OED, it also means audacity!

And isn’t audacity what it takes in this world which encourages us to fight our way to and through everything to choose instead to turn the cheek of love to what we formerly resisted? I’d say so.

Honey, turn them (whoever they are) the cheek of love and watch what happens.

Four Square / Disney III

Seeds IX, 49

Seed: Four Square/Disney III

I have a file in my computer called Seeds Ideas. I add to it whenever something strikes me as a good idea for a Seed. Reading it this morning, I saw two “fours” that appealed to me.

The first is the work of metaphysician Florence Scovel Shinn. She calls it Four Square. The second is the work of Walt Disney. He calls it The Four Words to the Secret of Life. We’re going to explore Shinn’s and Disney’s four words a week at a time for the next four weeks. I think they link together nicely.

The third pair are Love, and Dream. Most of you know I’ve had a counseling practice for more than a quarter of a century. You can imagine I’ve heard a lot about love in that time. People often speak to me about wanting their soulmates. They make lists of characteristics they want in their paragon. They dream a soulmate into being. Sometimes it just stops there.

I can always tell when someone has done the true work for a soulmate. Here’s why: they’ve dreamed up this person, and then their focus switches from being loved by this wonder to loving this fallible human. When people are ready to love rather than be loved, a soulmate usually appears.

Think of Florence Scovel Shinn’s words as a square upon which you stand—the third side of the square is Love, and think of Walt Disney’s as the actions to take to get to that solid square—in this case, Dream.

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 and please visit my peace blog Ode Magazine.

Walls & Bridges

Seeds IX, 40

Seed: Walls & Bridges

Sir Isaac Newton (1643-1727) was an English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, and alchemist, regarded by many as the greatest figure in the history of science. I read this quote by him and it startled me to quietude.

“We build too many walls and not enough bridges.”

I don’t think of myself as someone who builds walls. I like to think of myself as open, welcoming, affirming, generous. Sometimes I am. Other times, though, I build a wall around my heart or my self so I don’t have to deal with things or people I don’t want to face. I feel it most often when I watch the political news.

How can I expect to have an effect on the politics of our nation when I’m building walls around my heart to hold the politicos away from myself? I can’t. I have to build bridges to them. Wynona Judd sang a song on an episode of Touched By An Angel years ago called “Love Can Build A Bridge.”

Here’s how to transform walls into bridges: let love, no, Love, dismantle the wall, one brick/stone/plinth at a time, and stretch the wall out toward the things you’ve fortressed yourself against till there’s a two-person wide bridge you both can cross and meet together in the middle.

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 and please visit my blog at Ode Magazine.

Faith in What?

Did you know that every human has all the faith required? You can’t actually get more faith. You’re hardwired for it, and one hundred percent of faith lives inside you all the time. Actually, you use faith all the time.

The point about faith is your awareness of it, not whether you have it or not. How aware are you of your faith? Aware enough to know where you’re placing it?

Faith is a neutral energy much like electricity. Electricity doesn’t mind if it dries your hair or electrocutes you. Faith too. You get a choice about where you place your faith.

If you want to place your faith in what you fear, your faith will support what you fear.

If you want to place your faith in what you love, your faith will support what you love.

Faith works, dear one. All the time. It just depends upon where you place it.