The secret to diagnosing a problem with a broken scene lies in its subtext.*
Robert McKee

Being more vulnerable, we reach out, we extend our hands and your hearts to others who are wounded. It is only at such a pass that we grow into a larger sense of what life is about and act, therefore, out of a deeper and nobler nature.**
Jean Houston

I was never get to where I wanted to be with
what lay beneath the surface –
I had to face the the beliefs and truths I held within myself –
But life and god are good,
And this has always been more of an adventure than punishment –
I say “has” because it continues,
Always open and searching,
Finding confederates along the way.

*Robert McKee‘s newsletter: The Secret to Fixing Broken Scenes;
**Jean Houston’s A Mythic Life.

Apotheosis (n)
a: the perfect form or example of something
b: the highest or best part of something

Not known, because not looked for
But heard, half heard, in the stillness
Between two waves of the sea.
Quick now, here, now, always –
A condition of complete simplicity
(Costing no less than everything) …*
T. S. Eliot

There’s always more to discover about ourselves
than we know;
The best way to plumb our depths is to
add venture:
The basic story of the hero journey
Involves giving up where you are, 
going into the realm of adventure,
coming to some kind of 
symbolically rendered realisation,
and then returning to the field of normal life.**

A good place to begin is to identify something important about yourself,
Imagine the smallest enhancing iteration of this you can and
action it – follow where it leads,
And perhaps what you find will be worth
everything.

*David Whyte’s Crossing the Unknown Sea;
**Joseph Campbell’s Pathways to Bliss.

My companion knew how much he didn’t know, and he had a sense of how much he would never know. And I didn’t know either, at least not yet.*
Brian McLaren

*Brian McLaren’s Faith After Doubt.

The way to find your own myths is to determine those traditional symbols that speak to us and use them, you might say, as bases for meditation. Let them work on you.*
Joseph Campbell

Society wants us to live a planned existence, following paths that have been travelled by others. Tried and true. The known, the expected, the controlled, the safe. The path of the wanderer is not this. The path of the wanderer is an experiment with the unknown. To idle. To dream.**
Keri Smith

First we follow others,
Read others,
Speak with others;
Then we make our own path –
Though, to continue following, reading, conversing
with as many as possible
only adds to the uniqueness
of our way.

*Joseph Campbell’s Pathways to Bliss;
**Keri Smith’s The Wander Society.

if there is no conflict, there is no interest*
Fred Wilson

*Seth Godin’s blog: The landlord and the creative coach.

Eventually everyone learns his or her own best way. The real mystery to crack is you.*
Bernard Malamud

Since the vast majority of our words and actions are unnecessary, corralling them will create an abundance of leisure and tranquility. As a result, we shouldn’t forget at each moment to ask, is this one of the necessary things … unnecessary thoughts, too, so needless acts don’t tag along after them.**
Marcus Aurelius

I was talking with my friend Andrew over the weekend
about the new directions his life was taking –
He’d come up with an excellent way of considering
his work and activity that he’s dubbed the 5 Cs:
Continue with those things that express your passion and skill, that
you make a difference through;
Cease those things that empty, deaden and reduce you, that may be
for someone else to do;
Change those things that hold promise, but perhaps need more learning or
a different audience or a different time investment;
Combine different ideas, or work with another’s skills, and
Create what is wanting to come into existence, your new horizon, the result
of all your years and all your experiences.^

Our aim is to avoid an unnecessary life –
To include in our four thousand weeks those things that are
life-fulfilling, -absorbing, -engaging, -expanding for
ourselves and for others.

What is the new horizon in you that wants to be seen?^^

*Mason Currey’s Daily Rituals;
**Ryan Holiday’s The Daily Stoic;
^These are my iterations of the 5Cs;
^^John O’Donohue’s Benedictus.

He gathered his notes, tucked them under his arm, said softly, “I’m sorry, I’m empty,” and left the classroom. The notes from those classes I threw away years ago and from this distance his ideas don’t seem particularly memorable. Those four words, however, are memorable. I knew when I heard them that I wanted nothing more than to be a teacher myself.*
James Carse

*James Carse’s Breakfast At the Victory, quoting his undergraduate teacher Katz.

The meaning of your life is to help others find the meaning of theirs.*
Student of Viktor Frankl

The first step is to imagine what the people you serve want and care about it. The second is to figure out why they don’t have it yet.**
Seth Godin

If we don’t enjoy or value the meaning of our lives,
The good news is, we can come up with another one –
This is what we do:
We are meaning-making creatures;
Make this about others and
you’ll be on to a winner.

*Jonah Lehrer’s A Book About Love;
**Seth Godin’s blog: Dreams and roadblocks;
^Tu propósito es mi propósito – Your purpose is my purpose.

Our lifetimes are specks in the universe, but they are the longest and only spans of time we will ever know.*
Beth Pickens

As Rilke says: Hier zu sein ist so viel – to be here is immense.**
John O’Donohue

We must be here twice:
Once is the sheer miracle of being here at all –
Something we had no choice in or control of,
Twice is being here in a uniquely messy but wonderful way
that only each of us can be,
Not to be played upon – though our time here will
involve plenty of this,
But, also to be a player,
To make your difference,
To bring your imperfect beauty:
The point is to master the habits
of showing up.^

What are your habits,
And how will you use them today?

*Beth Picken’s Make Your Art No Matter What;
**John O’Donohue’s To Bless the Space Between Us;
^James Clear’s Atomic Habits.

Today we don’t have the stasis that is required for the formation of a mythic tradition. The rolling stone gathers no moss. Myth is moss. So not you’ve got to do it yourself, ad lib … We’re all without dependable guides.*
Joseph Campbell

Instead of threats and scarcity, and instead of compliance and control, we have the opportunity to help people become significant.**
Seth Godin

Myth adapts because we need it to,
We need our guiding stories despite our science;
Resourced by thousands of years of megamyths,
We’re discovering our personal chronicles of meaning and purpose.

It is quite normal for us to uncover our story
through struggle and challenge and failure,
As we come to understand and appreciate
these are the lively elements of a myth.

We not only find our path to follow,
We also become guides for others as they seek their own way;
As we understand the importance of myth and story for human existence,
A new generation of guides are appearing – you may be one of these.^

It’s our interpretation of, and approach to, our past that generates resilience … “Do not be a victim of your past.^^

*Joseph Campbell’s Pathways to Bliss;
**Seth Godin’s The Song of Significance;
^My friend and guide Alex McManus is preparing to publish his new book FutureU – I’ll be sharing more when it appears;
^^Victor Strecher’s Life On Purpose, quoting Henry Nyombi.