How do you look at…work, relationships, life? A challenge? A fight? A struggle? A losing proposition? I’m not sure if it’s a “western civ” thing or a modern world thing, but often it seems we view parts of (or the whole of) our life as some type of confrontation. We go to war with life. We have to fight for what we want, conquer obstacles to happiness or success, defend against enemies who intend to take what is ours. There is always some battle to be fought. ...

Gravity, as generally understood, is a good thing. It keeps the coffee in the mug and the mug on the table. It allows the pitch to be hit or caught. More or less, it makes life on this planet possible. Without it, we literally have no idea where we would be. Yet, though it is ever present and necessary, more is not better. When we are overcome with a sense of gravity, a sense of weightiness and importance, we begin to close down. Suddenly everything feels more significant and fear of some perceived loss arises. Life gets heavy and less fun. ...

Surely thought is the most powerful force in existence. You can use thought to achieve full aliveness or to effectuate your own death. You can use thought to create a new story or song or product. You can use thought to redirect the course of your life and the lives of others. Everything we create or experience is rooted in thought. But thoughts are more numerous than the stars in the sky and by their sheer volume they often overwhelm us. They exist inside and outside us. For much of the time we are barely treading water in a non-stop torrent of thought that pollutes our stream of consciousness. ...

Could it be that we attain our spiritual apex when we, as infants, discover our feet? Our eyes are undeveloped and so our range of vision is limited. People, at that stage in our development, are forever getting in our face and demanding our focus. However, when they move away, everything is soft and liquid and lovely. This peculiar thing appears in the glow – it later becomes known as a foot – and captures our attention. Instinctively we reach out, stretching far beyond the known world, and meet it. There is a burst of sensation, exciting, satisfying, as we feel this amazing thing which sends waves of pleasure through us. We are the universe. Everything registers within us. ...

For the most part we think we are good communicators. We may not necessarily enjoy all aspects of it (i.e. public speaking) and we may stumble with or over words and phrases, but we can get a point across. If we have to turn up the volume a little bit, it’s no big deal. We can make ourselves be heard. Communication, however, is a two-sided affair. Even if you are talking to yourself, there is the one speaking and the one listening (or the one writing and the one reading, etc). The speaking role is the one that often comes most naturally. We seem to have an innate urge to express ourselves and language quickly becomes the default means. How often are young children told to “use your words”? Early in life, speaking becomes the acceptable way of seeking reward or necessity. Hell, some even attempt to require it of pets! We associate speaking with power and influence. Be they ministers, entertainers, or politicians (ugh), we elevate and attend to those who speak effectively. ...

There’s something fey about intuition. Hearing “Well, I just had a feeling,” is an unsatisfactory experience. Often an intuitive hit is likened to making a guess, taking a chance. On any given coin flip, one has a 50% chance of being right. But it goes beyond that. Modern society has less respect for the heart. We have the internet, the accumulated wisdom of the world, just a tap away. We have AI. We have satellites orbiting the earth tracking our every action. Such things are creations of the modern mind at work. And we adore the mind. ...

“A genuinely lazy man is always misunderstood.” from A Deadly Shade of Gold by
John D. MacDonald Okay, yes. Sometimes the world does just beg for the middle finger—most days, come to think of it—and sanity says it’s time to go bye-bye. Have you noticed what’s really going on out there? Who wouldn’t want to call time out every once in a while? Self-preservation is not reserved for the faint of heart. ...

“Remain true to yourself, but move ever upward toward greater consciousness and greater love! At the summit you will find yourselves united with all those who, from every direction, have made the same ascent. For everything that rises must converge.” Pierre Tielhard de Chardin It’s a lovely image. A summit of consciousness and love. A point of reward for those who have held fast to an often solitary pursuit at the end of which they will be united with a most genuine tribe. Of course, summit suggests a climb, a prolonged effort. Yet that too is an ongoing reward to those who accept the challenge. Access to the summit path requires a conscious choice and a steely commitment. Though the actions required are of simple nature, this is the uncommon way. ...

The adjective relative, derived from the French relatif, landed in the English language in the 15th century. But for the sake of argument, let us assume the word gained a new life with Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity. Any work which allows for the bending of space-time surely allows one license to exercise the right to perspective. Each of us possesses the possibility of a unique perspective (only a possibility because if one fails to exercise the thought muscle he will simply parrot the perspective of another). The wealth of art, ideas, and products we have access to derives from our inherent uniqueness. One size does not fit all. One’s take on an object or a notion is indeed relative. ...