Movement gets us unstuck. It restores agency by giving us a feeling we’re acting on our situation … .* Bruce Feiler
although it may appear paradoxical, in order to acquire a profound view of things, you must first of all move randomly** Federico Castigliano
I know it is important that I keep my mind open to more and more information, It is also vitally important that I open my heart and know certain things more deeply, passionately, But most important of all is to open my will and move what I know and what I feel into some expression.
The fairy godmother replied that true magic is to help each thing become its best and most free self.* Rebecca Solnit
They won’t carry a wand and be from fairy-folk: They possibly won’t be someone you know and they may be no longer alive; You will know them, though, because they help you bring out the the true fullness of who you are, Strongly and growing, Free to imagine and free to give.
Free and alone in the maze of the city, the flâneur craves a revelation that might change his life and destiny.**
Fast or slow, Keep moving, Including as many of the senses as possible; Even the tohu va-vohu^ of life Gives way to the orderliness of walking, of moving.
*We solve it by walking; **Federico Castigliano’s Flâneur; ^Disorder and emptiness.
I found myself this morning reading a lot of texts on writing; Here’s Bruce Feiler connecting to Ross Macdonald, Noting how those he interviewed were able to transition better from the past to the future if they wrote about it:
Central to the act of writing is a process of growth, of slowly gaining control of their narratives. … The act of writing speeds up the act of meaning-making.^
And, A la Edward Carey, Here is Lynda Barry putting together writing and drawing:
When we get stuck [writing] instead of forcing or stopping we can go to the extra paper on our desk and start to draw a spiral.^^
I am thinking this is so important that I am beginning to suggest to those I am dreamwhispering with that firstly we spend some time exploring mindful journaling, Including writing and doodling so the adventure may continue.
Let me know if you would be interested in a session.
A transition is a vital period of adjustment, creativity, and rebirth that helps one find meaning after a major life disruption.* Bruce Feiler
With only slight exaggeration I would say that we are not; we continually constitute ourselves anew and differently at the intersection of all those influences that reach its the sphere of our being.** Rainer Maria Rilke
When I look back over my life I see many different Geoffreys – I imagine that you have had many incarnations too.
Annie Murphy Paul suggests that the continuous-me or -you is not to be found in our minds but in our bodies:
Because our hearts beat, because our lungs expand, because our muscles stretch and our organs rumble – and because all these sensations, unique to us, have carried on without interruption since the day of our birth – we know what it is to be one continuous self, to ourselves and no other.^
The more aware we are of the messages of our bodies – Interoception – The more we are aware of who we are: I feel, therefore I am.^
Everything else is open for change – Through urges from within or pressures from without – Change is one thing guaranteed.
This is a wonderful thing, Expressive of the wonder of what it is to be human, For whilst we do not shed skins or antlers or fur or shells as other creatures do, We are able to shed our old stories and grow into the new; A sense of stuckness or trappedness may simply be a sign or message to us that it is time to change.
The sense of wonder can also help you recognise and appreciate the mystery of your own life.^^
The word that comes to me from my past is askesis – A place of confinement (stuckness?, trappedness?) without which there is no energy or purpose, A place or moment of transformation.
Human beings at their best are givers of gifts.** David Brooks
noblesse oblige; the very status of a lord has been traditionally derived from protecting others, trading personal risk for prominence^ Nassim Taleb
There is a connection as powerful as life itself between exploring the inner life and sharing what we find with others:
It’s the same inward journey we’ve seen before: the plunge inward and then the expansion outward.**
We’ll know when we have found the most meaningful thing to us – We will want to make it available to others in some way shape or form: To enrich their lives in some way.
When asked the question What does it mean to me to be human? I felt it was to live with Creativity, Generosity, Enjoyment – The last part being dependent on the first two; I’d love to hear your reply.
The only essential is this: the gift must always move.* Lewis Hyde
The person going through the experience has to choose to convert the change and upheaval into transition and renewal.** Bruce Feiler
These two essentials for our growth and development, Are the reason it is so difficult to measure our potential: We are open to the love and knowledge others share with us, And we also have the capacity to generate them despite the challenges of life or sometimes because of them.
Men are born soft and supple; dead, they are stiff and hard. Plants are born tender and pliant; dead, they are brittle and dry. Thus whoever is stiff and inflexible is a disciple of death. Whoever is soft and yielding is a disciple of life. The hard and stiff will be broken. The soft and supple will prevail. Lao Tzu
Between the old and the new lies the messy middle.
I borrow the phrase from Bruce Feiler,** An accurate term when I recall the three times I was voted and and had to move on from a role, Though not for the best part of a year three times over, And also the time I decided to leave a role myself and the two years this was to take.
Determined to use the messy middle in order to grow and develop, My journal accompanied me for much of this; I didn’t journal or read much when it happened the first time, And the difference for becoming a reader and having my journal for the other times was significant:
Writing in your journal is more powerful than simple meditation for the same reason that writing your goals down is more powerful than leaving them in your head.^
From a certain angle, It feels as if all of these transitions meld into a messy middle, And every day I am exploring towards the something new.
This morning, I found myself pondering the “what ifs” of staying instead of having to move, Or moving in a different direction to the one that I have.
There is something inside that assures me that each of these would have been a good life, But this one, Born of all the messiness, is best, And for this I am grateful, Each of these posts being an expression of my gratitude, Today’s being number 3,219.
A transition is an adhesive and a healer. It takes something broken and begins to repair it. It takes something shaken and helps steady it. It takes something shapeless and starts to give it shape.**
[A man] doesn’t always know himself what he could do, but he feels by instinct, I’m good for something, even so! … I know that I cold be quite a different man! … There’s something within me, so what is it!* Vincent van Gogh
We see our turning points as a matter of life and death.** Bruce Feiler
Something has changed.
I am nowhere near where I thought I would be, Forty or thirty or even twenty years ago.
I think I’m coming to know what I am good for.
Not the result of a single once-and-for-all decision.
When I look back, I see there have been so many moments of letting go and letting die, Many times one leading to another until I am good for something.
Each of us is responsible for finding our own meaning to live.* Bruce Feiler
Thou shalt create complex characters rather than merely complicated story.** Robert McKee
In breaking down his reflection on the work of Viktor Frankl – How we do not ask Life what its meaning is, But Life asks us – Bruce Feiler offers an ABC for shaping meaning: A is for Agency, B is for Belonging, C is for Cause.
The most meaningful stories contain all of these, Though we are likely to prioritise, And in doing so, Our story deepens:
When you commit you deepen presence. Though your choice narrows the range of possibility now open to you, it increases the intensity of chosen possibility.^
I am reminded of the 3 Cs: Confession is for expressing the deepest and best truths about ourselves – And will be marked by growing humility, gratitude and faithfulness; Communion is for relating to others, our world and our god – And will be marked by growing integrity, wholeness and perseverance; Commission is for serving a purpose greater than ourselves – And will be marked by growing courage, generosity and wisdom.
My growing understanding is that our lives are trying to call us towards the kind of complexity Robert McKee suggests we need, So that if we were able to step outside all the noise and the rush, Even for a short while, We might begin to hear the whisperings of our lives and begin or continue to create our meaningful stories:
The ancient myths were designed to harmonise the mind and body. The mind can ramble off in strange ways and want things that the body does not want.^^
THIN|SILENCE 
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