What We Can See

Copyright Lorie Marsh

This image reminds me of a windswept canyon out West. But, is it? Depending upon one’s perspective, we can be fooled by what we see.

It’s currently the week before the nationwide “No Kings” protests, wherein Americans will show up to protest the authoritarian measures of the current government. From one perspective, I can feel how our old ways of doing things have slipped away or even been beaten to a pulp, never to return, and it alarms and saddens me. From another, I can see that in the big arc of history, we are caught up in the destruction of the old and are on the precipice of something new. Better, more humanistic and focused on the Common Good, I hope.

Will you hope with me?

Thoughts On The Dismantling of US Democracy

In Ft. Snelling State Park - Copyright Lorie Marsh

As of today, the U.S. is going into 2 weeks of government shutdown, a ceasefire has been called in Gaza, insurance renewal premiums have been mailed (surprise, your premium has DOUBLED!), and Americans’ First Amendment rights and rights to assembly are being overrun by authoritarian forces.

In this photo, I love how the plumes on the seed pods look like feathers. Like them, I’d like to be able to fly off and drift on the winds, landing somewhere loamy to lie dormant until ideal conditions call me for to germinate and awaken. Unlike them, I will stay put in constancy and faith to advocate for civil and human rights. And, I’m not alone, thankfully.

Still, this photo comforts me. How about you?

Your Brain Is Not The Boss of You

Your brain is like a puppy. Everything grabs its attention, and it wants to sniff all of it.

The way I like to think about the function of my conscious brain is that it is a great filterer. All my senses register inputs, and my brain handily notes, labels, sorts, files, stores, and compares them.

But, like a puppy, my brain can be all over the place.

If you've ever taken a walk with a puppy, you've probably noted that they don't step along in a straight line. Nope.

• I hear something buzzing thing over there!
• What is that smell?? Oooh, I've gotta roll in it. This is the best sm-- 
• RABBIT! I gotta catch it! Let me run. I gotta run! Nope? Okay.
• Look what I can do! Look! I can pick up this stick with my teeth! Mmmm, drool. Must chew stick...
• Do you hear that buzz? 

If an input catches my attention, my eager brain will automatically offer a string of connections related to it - part of that impressive sorting and labeling function. For instance, if I step outside and squint in the warm sunlight, my brain might flash these connections:

• hard-to-see,
• can I garden today?
• glare,
• visor,
• no, like sun hat better for gardening,
• sunglasses, 
• sunscreen,
• lip balm,
• where's my pitchfork?
• or even simply, "nice day." 

Beyond single inputs, the brain's sorting function easily extends to offering strands of thoughts, or often, mini-stories.

While squinting, I might think about that time in Florida - over 25 years ago - when I got a very painful sunburn on my face and upper chest, and the whole area blistered almost raw. It hurt for two weeks, and I felt bad that I'd been so ignorant about protecting my skin.

A sudden flash of shame, remorse, and worry erupts.

This might prompt me to whip back around and grab every sun protection item I've got.

Then again, I might note that yes, today, it is sunny and warm for an early morning on a Spring day in Minnesota. That means it's 50 degrees F, and I'm wearing a light jacket. My surroundings are quite different than they were at midday in summertime Florida two decades ago. I'll make a choice that works best for the present moment.

My brain offers me data, but it is does not discriminate on its own. It is not the final Chooser of my actions or inaction. That quiet ME inside that hears my brain's thoughts and stories is the one choosing my actions, the one "holding the leash."

From Michael Singer's book, "The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself."

PUPPY TRAINING

So, you. Quiet-Inside You. This means that you're the Alpha Dog, the Master, who can train your puppy brain not to run amok.

Granted, a playful, exuberant puppy is adorable. But, it can also destroy your house and make a mess. Stressful!

You are the Boss. You are the Author-Creator of your life story. Or, as author, Michael Singer, puts it, the Inner Observer.

Why am I making a point of this?

Because, you have a wealth of tools for experiencing the fullness of your life and potential: emotions, physicality, free will, senses... and, your mind. If you're at all like me, though, your mind likes to think it's the only one that matters. 

Here are two tips I've learned for training my puppy brain:

• Too many choices = overload
• What you focus on, expands.

Too Many Choices = Overload

Did you know that research has shown that your ability to make a clear-headed, confident choice diminishes with the more options you have?

When we are presented with many options, we usually fear making the wrong decision. This can be translated into simple math – when there are only two options, we have a 50% chance of choosing the right one. But when there are five options, our chances suddenly decrease to 20%. Matters become even more complicated when there are twenty options or more. Human cognitive ability cannot efficiently compare more than five options, so most of us will start looking at the first few options and then stop.

(But...)

Awareness that there may be a better option triggers the urge to find it. However, due to time constraints and human cognitive limitations, we are unable to engage in the elaborate thought process required to compare and contrast all of the available alternatives.

From PSYCHOLOGY TODAY, "The Psychology of Choice," by Liraz Margalit Ph.D.

Your Puppy Brain doesn't care about this research. Left on its own, it will react to any stimulus that grabs its attention. As soon as another stimulus beckons, it's off to sniff that.

Why do you think dogs chase their tails? Because it's there, and it grabs their attention.

You, the Boss, are aware of this now. If and when you find yourself feeling overwhelmed or stressed, ask yourself if you're drowning in too many inputs.

Make a choice to "tug on the leash" and take a breather. Invite your brain to do its sorting thing and work out how you might funnel down your inputs to a more manageable number of options.

This leads to my second tip.

What You Focus On, Expands

I'd like you to picture a leaf. See the leaf on the ground. Next, see it in your palm.

Now imagine viewing that leaf under a microscope. The size of the leaf becomes huge. Its terrain is vast; you can no longer see its edges.

Like a puppy, your brain will react to every single shiny thing that grabs its attention. Remember, your brain is a filter for your experiences. It's built to identify, sort, label, file, evaluate, catalog.

When you, the Boss/Author-Creator/Inner Observer, turn your focus to that shiny thing, it can pull you in to a rabbit hole if you're letting your puppy brain lead the way. The more you focus on something, the more closely you examine it, the bigger it gets in your field of attention.

Again, you can remember to "tug the leash." Is it in your best interest for being your fullest self to drop down that rabbit hole? Maybe that attention-grabber needs to be re-framed: try to view it as the leaf in your palm, not the leaf under the microscope.

One last tidbit. 

I do want to encourage you, Boss, to let your puppy "off-leash" to play, seek, learn, discover, experiment, and tumble with exuberance! It doesn't have to be All Training, All The Time.

Just remind the puppy it doesn't belong in the driver's seat.

On Creativity & Self Protection

We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We're spiritual beings having a human experience.  -- Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

I want to talk to you about shields, Latin, and the nature of creativity.

I wrote a post about becoming aware of a deep Want of mine: to feel limitless in my creativity. Have you ever heard the saying, 'you have to name it, to claim it?' I do find it empowering to name my Want, yes. In fact, I recommend it! But, while I've been "claiming" mine - acting upon it with intention - I've encountered a layer of "spiritual grime" that's built up within me.

This is where shields come in. I'm talking battle shields.

Picture Roman, Viking, Medieval, Chinese armor, whatever you fancy. Oblong, rectangular, or circular, I'd like you picture these shields grouped together to make an impervious surface. No painful arrows are going to penetrate that surface. The goal is Protection, with a capital "P."

Since I mentioned Romans, I’ll point out that the Latin word, "creo," means to create, make.

Verb

• I create, make, produce.
• I beget, give birth to.
• I prepare, cause.
• I choose.

Here's where I pull all this together. I agree, wholeheartedly, with Pierre Teilhard de Chardin.

I believe we all originate from All That Is, that boundless state of eternal awareness and wholeness. In human form, we each get to experience individuality, the alchemy of creation, and the nature of free will in tangible ways: senses and feelings, actions and reactions, choices and consequences.

While inhabiting this divine Lab of Creation & Materiality, wielding our choices, we get hit by some arrows.

Heck, we launch a bunch, too. Arrows = hurt, pain, loss, shame, sadness. We might notice a pattern of where arrows have come from, and then we create stories about those patterns.

“Every time I speak up, I get knocked down.”

“I’m not worthy unless I can show achievement.”

“Whenever I love someone, they abandon me.”

Somewhere in all this drama, we learn about these nifty shield things for protection!

Make this “blocker” against those arrows, and they won’t hurt so much.

Now we’re talking! Sure, it’s a little “shadier” under the shield, and your view is a bit blocked, but, hey, those arrows are peskily painful.

Oh, hey!

Incoming, new arrows! Quick, make another shield for that exposed flank you got there…!

Do you see where this is going? Pretty soon, all you’re going to see is the underside of your protective blockers.

Remember the whole CREO thing? You’re not here to only view life from the grimy underbelly of your shielding. Life is an act of creation, moment to moment, bursting with possibility, joy, variability, thrills, chills, highs, lows. It is essentially powerful and bright, and so are you.

Back to my spiritual grime.

A big shield in my personal arsenal has been, “You must show achievement, results!” to be worthy of respect and acceptance. Under the shade of this arrow-blocker, I made choices for years that were colored by my story that “If I’m not financially successful, it’s because I’m not doing enough/smart enough to achieve it.”

Do, do, do. Go, go, go. Research it. Analyze it. Figure it out! And, if and when I encountered a failure, a disappointment, a painful, oh-jeezus-that-was-awful-I-never-want-that-again consequence to a choice of mine or an event, it must be my fault because I didn't have enough padding for my shielding. So, I added more.

You can guess what happened, can’t you?

My shielding ended up bottle-necking my connection to my essential self. Yep, the Me that came from All That Is was camping out under the canopy of my protective Blockers. I started believing that what’s possible to create is only what can fit under that shade.

I’ve believed I can’t act on my creativity without conceiving plans for its outcomes to justify it.

• I’m creative, in service to producing plays and films.
• I’m artistic, in service to working with writers and filmmakers.
• I’m a storyteller, in service to showing others how to tap into their own voices and stories.

These feel true to me, but they're also cop-outs.

I’ve come to see by limiting myself to only the outcomes I can see from under my shielding that I’m not embracing the fullness of my inner creatrix.

I believe I come from limitless loving creativity, and I’m here as a human to experience this inherent ability on Earth. I don't have to have it all figured out in my mind first. 

I’m ready to drop my shields and trust I can take what arrows may come. I'm an artist, and I don't know where that is going. But, I'm ready to be fully present in the light of All That Can Be.

I’m a spirit having a human existence, and I’m a divine, creative dynamo.

So are you.