Traffic Sucks

Traffic sucks.  We just spent a week in Cape Cod.I could have saved a fortune on gas by walking; I would have gotten there the same time.  Well – I exaggerate, but it’s nice to have something to bitch about where I have plenty of company.

When we gave up and took a dinner break at a rest stop that we finally, finally got to (first a bathroom break — (there was no room for another man standing at the side of the road – definitely one of the ways I eny men – women must have  been in agony)  Anyhow, I’ve never found it so easy to have conversations with people.  All you had to do was say, “wow – that traffic” and you were friends.  We were smart, planning on stopping at New Haven and sitting by the waterside, eating chicken Caesar salad, so when we gave up at 8PM and made it to MacDs, we had good food with us.

Seriously, it took 10 hours to take a 5 hour drive.  And then, one week later, we came home and found out what bad traffic really was.  I found out later that New York, New Jersey and Connecticut had passed emergency legislation, declaring Rt 95, Rt 287 and the Garden State a temporary parking lot.  We left our place at 10AM and got home at 9PM.   Nine P M!!!

Fortunately, our wonderful and glorious daughter had sushi and chinese shrimp $ brocolli waiting for us.  We did not eat in a tense spot at all, merely peed.  So we survived on almonds and raisins. 

Next time I will arrange to travel starting at 8AM both directions.

A Complex Day

If I were going to exercise my sports head – I’d observe the Giants getting clobbered, the Mets dissolving and even the Jets in trouble.  But it was a working day– and a good one – - Nancy & I had our weekly planning session – where we focus our energies and plan our week’s activities (somewhat limited because my daughter gives birth in 11 days). 

But what makes it complex is that I’m also redesigning my website and restructuring my coaching practice.  Here’s why:I invite you to participate in the second “Success Principles” workshop.

This has proven to be an exceptional introduction to the benefits of coaching as well as a valuable refresher course if you are already familiar with coaching.

I have had incredible and very useful feedback from the people who are in the current Workshop and so I want to extend this invitation to you.  This workshop has inspired me to change my practice. 

Send an email to michaellipp-261308@easywebautomation1.com to register.

Jack Canfield says: “I envision a world where all people are inspired to believe in themselves and their abilities and are empowered to reach their full potential and realize all their dreams.” He wrote this series to help make that happen.

The Success Principles Workshop
Written by Jack Canfield
“The Principles Always Work If you Work the Principles”
A 6 Session Series starting Monday October 1st- 7:30 to 8:30 EDT
(does not meet October 22nd)

A New Paradigm

(Identical to Contribution Coaching)

I’m operating in a new paradigm – that fits me–It’s the paradigm of the Gift Economy.  Give valuable things away for free.  I don’t think of customers (I never did.)  I think of clients.  And I think of the lifetime value of a client.

On October 1st I’m starting the next iteration of The Success Principles, a free 6-session teleseminar from 7:30 – 8:30EDT Monday evenings.  eMail to register (michael@michaellipp.com )…So far – Rave Reviews.  For Example

“I love being part of your Success Principles group.. It’s a novel way to stay plugged in.. I’ve done a lot of work at Landmark and other venues, and – your TeleClass is like “Accent” -  It’s ‘waking up’ my inner compass, and reminding me of just who I am, for myself, my family and for the world.  Accepting anything less is not acceptable.  Being part of your class is great – it’s energizing and is making a big difference in what’s going on between my ears on a daily basis.  Thanks for ‘re-lighting my fire’ Michael!”
Love,
Ira W.

The Organic Farm

Honeybrook may be the most successful CSA – It’s a great organic farm.  This is a most bountiful year–Climate is going nuts all over, where a map of the US changes from searing heat to constant floods and we’ve just had the coldest days i9n August that NJ has ever had.  But there’s been wonderful weather for Honeybrook… Heritage tomatoes that I had never heard of before this..  I’m now spoiled – I know what tomatoes really taste like.

The “problem” with bounty is that we are hard pressed to consume it.  I now have in my refrigerator salsa, ratatouille, cole slaw, gazpacho and just made bruschetta.  Trouble is more’s coming on Saturday and I still have pounds of unused tomatoes and peppers and eggplant and onion and garlic and ….  My cooking is stellar, but whew!

And in addition to just our share, we can pick what they allow.  15 different kinds of basil, 10 different kinds of hot peppers… a quart of raspberries.  Nicest part in some ways is the fresh flowers… 

Food is beautiful as well as so tasty.  People who eat “American” don’t know how good food is (and healthier and actually, during these months, cheaper) And Sustainable.
It makes me realize how money – advertising – display – easiness – actually changes our thinking.

Food has a greater damaging effect on the environment than cars…  The average food we eat travels 1300 miles,  is wrapped in plasic and or paper bags (instead of canvas bags)….  And we don’t even know it.

I will at least come out with a cleaning product that is worthy of  great food.

Meditating

I’ve been meditating for about two months after intending to for years.  The thing is, I always feel like me so I don’t know what’s ’supposed’ to happen.  Am I more loving, more joyous, even just more relaxed? I can’t compare myself today to how I was on other normal days. 

I know I’m more on purpose, because meditating is a purpseful act, not a habit.

I have a very active mind, so my attempts to just allow it to go without interfering are interesting.  I keep feeling as if there’s thinking happening right below the surface – non-audible thoughts that I know are waiting for me.  Occasionally I catch myself drifting and I do a kind of editing.  Sometimes I repeat mantras – different kinds depending on mood.  I favor Om Mani Padme On – that’s traditional.  And it helps that I have no idea what it means.

So – like many other things I do, I assume I’m getting  value by it and I’ll keep going.  I do it with Nancy, so the reinforcing works.  And electric timers are useful.

When I looked for quotations about meditation, this is the only one that made any sense to me:

I meditate and put on a rubber tire with three bottles of beer. Most of the time I just sit picking my nose and thinking.
James Gould Cozzens

Not So Secret

I spent last weekend at The Seminar of the Century (Woodstock for the Mind) and I spent time with Jack Canfield, Bob Proctor, Mark Victor Hansen, T. Harv Eker and many other masters.

They understand, teach and use one of the underlying truths of The Secret (the Law of Attraction) – This is fundamentally now recognized in physics and elsewhere.  And it is simply this:  Everything is energy.  Everything. 

What is less well known and equally fundamental is that what you and I think of as consciousness is also energy.  We put it out; the rest of the universe puts it in – As ye sow, so shall ye reap; Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.   Clearly known for thousands of years – No Secret.  I wrote this in one of my journals in 1974:

“In the language of the 60s – I think I emit some sort of spiritual aura or energy field and the universe responds to that field…. I get what I need.  I see what I’m supposed to see; things happen that are supposed to happen – and it’s all about my growth and development “

What hasn’t been widely known is what to do with that knowledge.  This is where the masters come in.  And we should look at our lives differently – that our lives start now – that what matters is what we transmit now.  Because now is all we have.

I’m doing a no cost teleclass on my experiences with the Law of Attraction in one week, July 18th at 7:30 (EDT).  You can  sign up on my website,
http://www.michaellipp.com/contributioncoaching/newsletter/signup%20teleseminar.htm

From David Bohm, physicist, philosopher, inner scientist:
“It is now possible to look into the question of how consciousness and matter are related.  One possibility is to  regard them as two generative and implicate orders, lie separate but parallel streams that interrelate in some way.  Another possibility is that basically there is only one order, whose ground includes the holomovement and may go beyond.  This order will unfold into the two orders of matter and mind, which, depending on the context, will have some kind of relative independence of function.  Yet at a deeper level they are actually inseparable and interwoven.”
         From: Levey wisdomatwork.com

When I was born in 1895, reality was everything you could see, smell, touch
and hear. The world was thought to be absolutely self-evident. When I was
three years old, the electron was discovered. That was the first invisible.
It didn’t get in any of the newspapers; (nobody thought that would be
important!) Today 99.99 percent of everything that affects our lives cannot
be detected by human senses. We live in a world of invisibles. The fact that
humanity does not understand nature is the prime reason for humanity’s
failure to exercise its option to attain universally sustainable physical
success on this planet. I am confident that humanity’s survival depends on
all our willingness to comprehend feelingly the way nature works.”–
Buckminster Fuller
I love those who can smile in trouble, who can gather strength from
distress, and grow brave by reflection. Tis the business of little minds to
shrink, but they whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves their
conduct, will pursue their principles unto death.
Thomas Paine

Creating the Past

Announcement:  Interested in the Law of Attraction?  I’ll be hosting a teleseminar on my experiences in using it on July 18th (7:30 WDT) - email me to register.

Creating the Past

It seems like a contradiction .  After all, the past is over; what happened happened (we think,)  Besides, what good could it do?

But it’s something we all do, often without realizing it.  My most recent experience was that I went on a vacation with my wife and a granddaughter.  We were crowded into a small efficiency unit and were forced to kow tow to a very unreasonable and demanding 6-year old.  And when it was over – and I wrote about it – the experience was very different.  As in most experiences, there were ups as well as downs.  While I was there, the upsetting times dominated.  But when I was able to see the whole experience, I was able to see what a good time we all had.

Of what value was this?  Immense.  I’ve been able to resurrect the great relationship I have with these two extraordinary women and I’ve been able to learn a lot about myself as well as seeing what constitutes fun, what to emphasize next time (instead of saying “never again”, I’m looking forward to our next time with her.)

I remember several years after we were first married – one night, lying in bed, Nancy suddenly sat bolt upright and said, “Wow!  I had a great time in high school.”  Reexamining your history can eliminate phobias, restore relationships, even reestablish old relationship. 

Since the past is always with us – and is uniquely ours – looking at it with new eyes, not the same ones that buried the memory, is a form of creativity we don’t often acknowledge and one that is potentially fruitful.

Useful Quotes

Forgiveness does not change the past, but it does enlarge the future.
Paul Boese

Looking back you realize that a very special person passed briefly through your life- and it was you. It is not too late to find that person again.”
Robert Brault

When we recall the past, we usually find that it is the simplest things – not the great occasions – that in retrospect give off the greatest glow of happiness.
Bob Hope

Events in the past may be roughly divided into those which probably never happened and those which do not matter.
William Ralph Inge

We cannot let the past cloud our perception of the future.
Karen Chikodro

Creative Corner

What Happened?

I thought I knew
After all, I was there -
Wasn’t I?
It didn’t rain;
the sky was blue
Wasn’t it?
But if I ask you,
so what – that’s your view
That’s only you
And who are you?
Another me.

Education and Creativity

I’ve been watching a few movies that emphasize that schools work very hard to train kids and they have a simple rule structure:  rules first, creativity last – if you’re lucky and stubborn (like, say, Bill Gates.)

One movie, Accepted, speculated on what school could be if students were asked, “What would you like to learn?”

And I’ve been rereading Calvin & Hobbes – a spiritual exercise I recommend that we repeat every few years – just long enough to forget most of the details.  Calvin was never asked that question and doesn’t care.

Here’s one:
Hobbes: Do you have an idea for that story yet?
Calvin:  No, I’m waiting for an inspiration.
Calvin:  You can’t just turn on creativity like a
             faucet.  You have to be in the right
             mood.
Hobbes: What mood is that?
Calvin:   Last minute panic.

And the next day he starts with a 2-panel discussion of the realities of school –

Calvin:  If you ask me these assignments don’t teach you how to write.  They teach you how to hate to write.  Deadlines, rules how to do it, grades…How can you be creative when someone’s breathing down your neck?

 Useful Quotes

It takes about $250,000 of taxpayer money and 12 years of modern education to take a child who sees the world systemically and transform them into an adult who sees the world linearly. 
Paul Hawken

It is, in fact, nothing short of a miracle that the modern methods of instruction have not entirely strangled the holy curiosity of inquiry.
Albert Einstein

It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education.
Albert Einstein

Creativity is a type of learning process where the teacher and pupil are located in the same individual.
Arthur Koestler
Thank goodness I was never sent to school; it would have rubbed off some of the originality.
Beatrix Potter

If we value independence, if we are disturbed by the growing conformity of knowledge, of values, of attitudes, which our present system induces, then we may wish to set up conditions of learning which make for uniqueness, for self-direction, and for self-initiated learning.
Carl Rogers

Creative Corner

Shopping Mall

This is the consumer Rhumba –
The rhumba in the shopping mall,
in the mall of conversations,
in the mall of conversations – ay-ay-ay.

The wagons jerk from side to side
and jiggle down the aisle
with rests to take and look
and stops to grab and hold
and the wagon wheels go squeak, go ay-ay-ay.

And every store is different
And every store’s the same,
Where we take the conversations for ourselves,

where we take the conversations by ourselves, oh ay-ay-ay
and we give the stores the blame.
We take the conversations from the shelves, oh ay-ay-ay
and we give the stores the blame
in the Mall of Conversations, ay-ay-ay.

You need to see that you have bought them
and not been given them as gifts.
that you’re the one who brought them to your life..

You need to see the stores are there for you,
for you to choose – oh ay-ay-ay
that the rhumba in the Mall of Conversations, ay-ay-ay
is there for you to use, ay-ay-ay

June 4th – Raining

You know that I am studying the Law of Attraction.  To me, the critical component is to keep the energy ‘pure’… authentic.  If I say X, but I ‘inadvertently’ communicate Y, I’ll end up with Y.

Now this is very common…ordinary.  My dog, Sadie, will be 18 next month -   She’s been a teen ager since she was 6 months old and she had seizures a few days ago… scared the hell out of my wife and me.  We understand that death is inevitable, at least according to our current knowledge.  And we intend she live for five more years.

My quandary is this – Is that intention authentic?  I think that even asking the question makes the vibe un-pure.  And that doubt can creep into any intention.  But not expressing doubt is still doubt.

Now all of this is because it’s raining today.

Useful Quotes

We need quiet time to examine our lives openly and honestly. . . spending quiet time alone gives your mind an opportunity to renew itself and create order.
Susan Taylor

The little reed, bending to the force of the wind, soon stood upright again when the storm had passed over.
Aesop

Absence weakens mediocre passions and increases great ones, as the wind blows out candles and kindles fires.
Frangois de la Rochefoucauld

If you’re careful enough, nothing good or bad will ever happen to you.
Ashleigh Brilliant

The game of life is the game of boomerangs. Our thoughts, deeds and words return to us sooner or later with astounding accuracy.
Florence Scovel Shinn

Creative Corner 

Shedding Rain
   ©June 7, 2000
Such is life.
The sun shines brightly
and we walk in late spring warmth.
A small breeze cools the face.
 Leaves shudder slightly
and the trees shed the last
of last night’s rain.
Each droplet catches the sun
and falls like a jewel,
and those that touch my face,
anoint me –
I am blessed to be alive.
Yet there was a time
not that far away
where I would have said,
”The sun shines brightly,
and yet the trees shed tears.”

Secrets for Sale

I am exploring The Secret.  I see it as fundamentally true.  Consistent with my life.  Consistent with what I’ve been taught and with what I’ve figured out.  I have always considered myself to be my own guinea pig, lab rat par excellence.

So I am looking for truing mechanisms/  Millions of people now know the Secret, the Law of Attraction, the LOA of life.  And they want to be rich and they say (quietly, because they know that ‘out loud’ is their answer)  “how come I’m not rich yet?”  “How fast does the LOA work?”  “How can I make it work faster?”

We need to discover how our inner lives are in conflict with our expressions.  I don’t ask those questions. 

I first discovered the LOA for myself years before I knew my ass from a hole in the ground.  Life was working.  I was great and I had no idea how.  I finally interfered with myself and went broke.  So here I came again.  This time I did the est training (now Landmark Education) and life was working and I was great.  Now I knew some things – I knew I was responsible.  I knew I was God in my universe.  So when I screwed up and went broke again, I didn’t know how – I didn’t know what – But at least I knew that I was the one.  OK here, I went again/

This pattern has repeated – Both stronger and worse.  God punishing God and rewarding God.  I remember a JD Salinger short story called Teddy–  “My sister was only a very tiny child then, and she was drinking her milk, and all of a sudden I saw that she was God and the milk was God. I mean, all she was doing was pouring God into God, if you know what I mean.”. So I am a useful test case.

I can feel the energy shifting as I become more me.  Nancy is an even better test case.  Yesterday they catered her lunch and she Loved the food (normally yecchy)  Then she got an unexpectedly large bonus – it’s been several years – and today she was allowed to leave early (support staff is never allowed to leave early.)  Is that evidence?

Of course it is.  Because we are the judges, the assessors, the evaluators – all crap – We are the Gods in our universe.  And you really learn to tune in to the energy.  But we’re doing a lot – not just believing in this LOU (Law if the Universe) – not just doing our jobs with integrity – We meditate every day.  We have instituted some practices that we are told will tune us up – practices of T Harv Eker, Jack Canfield, Robert Allen and mostly the Hicks’.  Life is new again, exciting, rewarding.

Useful Quotes

Every day is a new beginning.
Treat it that way.
Stay away from what might have been and look at what can be.
Marsha Petrie Sue

“Truth does not change because it is, or is not, believed by a majority of the people”
Giordano Bruno

Most of my major disappointments have turned out to be blessings in disguise. So whenever anything bad does happen to me, I kind of sit back and feel, well, if I give this enough time, it’ll turn out that this was good, so I shouldn’t worry about it too much.
William Gaines

Creative Corner

The Destination
                       ©April, 2000 
The destination must be worth the journey
And the journey worth its end–
It’s not enough to want the weight,
you need to want the diet, too 

I have been traveling so long;
I know the rest stops all along the way –
all the diversions,
all the highwaymen.In this commute from hell to health –
as soon as I arrive,
I head for hell again Perhaps if I enjoyed the trip
I wouldn’t have to take it so often