Many thanks to a good friend that pointed me to this TED talk today…

Sir Ken Robinson: Do schools kill creativity?

from the site:

Why don’t we get the best out of people? Sir Ken Robinson argues that it’s because we’ve been educated to become good workers, rather than creative thinkers. Students with restless minds and bodies — far from being cultivated for their energy and curiosity — are ignored or even stigmatized, with terrible consequences. “We are educating people out of their creativity,” Robinson says. It’s a message with deep resonance. Robinson’s TEDTalk has been distributed widely around the Web since its release in June 2006. The most popular words framing blog posts on his talk? “Everyone should watch this.”

There is so much good stuff at this site… it really is amazing. Check out the other TED Talks here.

A resounding theme I am very attuned to in so much of what I am learning right now is around the idea of Choice.

Choice = Freedom = Power

I really appreciated this post I came across today titled ‘Negativitis’ cripples the human spirit… which arrives at the same idea I am running into everywhere right now - the Power of Choice.

Life is absolutely dynamic.

I remember now the teachings of Heraclitus, which I was drawn to some twenty years ago…

“We both step and do not step in the same rivers. We are and are not.”

Of course, this is just one translation - but the idea that stuck with me from his teachings was about the dynamic nature of all of life, and that we are all one and utterly unique all at once.

The theme of the river is also resonating highly with me right now. The power of the river is in its flow. During the harshest cold of winter, the waters of a mighty river seem last to freeze, if they freeze at all.

The motion is life. Just as we are in motion, until our bodies stop working - we are alive when we are in motion and in the flow of life. The more we are in the flow, the more we are alive.

To hold on to yesterday is to try to stay still in the flow, or to hold back the flow of life.

There are many ways of expressing this same idea - in the flow. To some, it is being in “The Zone”, to others, it is being in “The Now”. But no matter how you look at it, the core experience is to:

• let go of the old story, and the drama associated with it
• feel connected to the physical world around you here and now
• not occupy your mind with the creation of future scenarios

How you get there is up to you:

• Prayer
• Exercise
• Yoga
• Meditation
• Music - listening, making, dancing
• Add your own way here :)

Regardless of how you find your way to the Present moment, there is an almost immediate reduction in stress and fatigue. A playful spirit arrives. The Universe opens up. Where you may have felt constrained, you now feel free.

And it all starts with you. It is your choice.  Just as your drama is your creation, your response to your situation… you can likewise simply accept your reality, and choose to let go of your mental constructs… think of the stories you have told yourself over and over… and let them go.

Visualizing this process is a powerful way to move in this direction. Envision yourself standing in the river holding all of your stories close to you… they are a cluttered mess of branches and leaves, things floating by you in the river that you have clung to, and now - the water swirls around you and your mess… and you are stuck there in your place as life passes you by. Eventually, you identify with your place in the river, rather than as being part of the river.

When you are ready - you choose to let go. Envision yourself taking apart your clutter bit by bit, with loving kindness… you take this branch and that leaf and hold them out into the river and release them. Watch yourself in your mind as you let go.

You become lighter. You free yourself from the mental clutter of your life.

And next thing you know, you will begin to sense a lot of good things coming your way.

You may be tempted to grab hold of the first best thing you see and cling to it - but as the good comes into your life, let it go too.

Give back everything you get, and you are sure to be getting more.

Your free will is your greatest gift, and the source of all your power. Give it away, and you will feel powerless. Embrace your power, you will feel free.

Have you ever simply asked for what you really want in life? I mean, a real genuine heartfelt honest asking?

When I first met a group of people who were really into The Law of Attraction, this was the first thing that really struck me… these people really seem to know what they want! I felt like I was in the right place at the right time - I mean, things were really clicking for me, but I felt a little fuzzy on the topic of deliberate intention.

The Abraham-Hicks teachings offer up specific practices to assist with this challenge. And one of the ideas that I appreciated the most on this learning journey was the notion that you do not have to know what you want in order to benefit from these principles, and that it is good enough to simply want to find out!

In fact, even if you think you know, life is an ongoing dynamic process where you are always learning, and your desires will always be in the process of evolving and changing.

There are days when I feel like a toddler in regards to the material I am encountering.

Today was one of those days.

To begin with, it got off to a rough start. First thing this morning, I was terribly thrown off balance by a recurring pattern of disruptive energy in my life.

What absolutely blew me away was this - on my train ride home this evening, I was listening to material that I download last night, and that material specifically and concretely addressed the issue that I hit head on this morning!

Let me restate that a different way.

Last night, I was drawn to some interesting and new material. I mean - really drawn to it… like I wasn’t sure what the heck I was doing, and when I found it, I said “oh - that was it!” - I downloaded it, and went to bed :)

This morning - I hit a wall. A familiar yet terribly unpleasant pattern of energy in my life. It kind of stuck with me and had the wheels turning much of the day - with no real progress or answers bubbling up… and then, on the train ride home, I remembered the material I downloaded last night, and listened to it for a while.

Wouldn’t you know… the exact, specific pesky pattern I am struggling with was addressed head on in this material. It was like a bell going off… and the answer was delivered right to me so directly and with such clarity that it was unmistakable.

Well, I am not saying too much more at this time. I am in the process of reaching out to the author of this material, and can’t yet imagine the possibilities of what is unfolding in my life. It is my intention to remain open to these possibilities.

What will be better is when I am actively and deliberately creating the life I want. For now, I am toddling along, and having a lot of fun along the way!

First things first.

If a garden is what I want, I am first preparing the earth in which it will grow. In fact, that is precisely what my next step is all about - my connection to the earth… my ability to be grounded and to know, versus getting swept away by feelings and emotions.

It is an all important step for me right here and right now. I know this now… in my gut.

I may have gotten to this point sooner had I known what to ask for. My skill in this area is not yet refined. But days like today sharpen my vision, to be sure.

The event at the start of my day was unpleasant - but was what I needed precisely because of how it made me feel… it pointed me in the direction I needed to go — and made me that much more receptive to a lesson I myself sought out the night before!

I am left tonight with nothing but gratitude, and a welcome anticipation for what tomorrow will bring.

My prayers tonight are likewise full of gratitude… and I am asking for nothing but for what I have learned today to sink in a little deeper and for these seeds to take root.

How much of “the way of the world” do we truly understand consciously? Is it possible we understand it more unconsciously than we do consciously?

Or in other words, do we have an awareness of how the world works that is deeper and broader than our conscious awareness?

It seems to me that some people are very comfortable answering Yes to this question. I definitely fall into this category.

Then there are those that seem to carry a deep seated disdain for this type of thinking. To me, it seems that these folks fear or resent or simply invalidate the idea that inner-thinking and inner-experience can reveal any sort of truth about the world outside.

But I would ask… no matter how much we learn through science, no matter how much we measure all the amazing objects “out there”… how much do we really know about them?

If anything, we have a tendency to replace the open and mysterious with poorly understood concepts. In the end, these concepts simply become props on the stage upon which we play out our lives’ greatest acts.

A great example of this is our very understanding of this thing we call The Universe.

Much like the term God, this term… “The Universe” will mean very different things to different people. I got a chuckle out of this patronizing and snide post that belittles a person for feeling gratitude toward The Universe. After all, how could another person’s belief system possibly measure up to our own?

Ours is right. Ours is true. Ours makes sense.

Even if we simply try to comprehend a more or less scientific understanding of The Universe - what the heck is it? I am college educated. I understand the basics. But the more we know, the more we learn about what we do not know.

I mean, I “get it” — to a degree.

But still… c’mon. Just how big is it? What’s outside of it? Nothing, you say? Am I able to truly comprehend nothingness? Seriously… how can my brain truly comprehend the age, size, or complexity of something like “The Universe”??? And yet, there it is - a word used in everyday language that we all just assume means something more or less specific.

I will never forget sitting in front of the TV as a kid watching in absolute amazement as Carl Sagan talked to me about the science of the Universe. I love this quote:

“It is far better to grasp the universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.”

~ Carl Sagan

I agree entirely, and can only guess that we would go about our grasping by different means :)

I also appreciate the work of Stephen W. Hawking, who said:

“Even if there is only one possible unified theory, it is just a set of rules and equations. What is it that breathes fire into the equations and makes a universe for them to describe?”

Indeed… what is it that breathes fire into the equations?

Any answer offered up rides on waves of language from you to me. Verbal Conscious Language is inherently limited.

And so we come back to the root of the question… how do we know?

Knowing bubbles up from within. Only when a deep inner knowing matches the language and words coming to us through Verbal-Conscious-Language do we recognize it. There must be a mutual context, a shared world view… you and I must co-exist in the same ecosystem of thought for us to even see one another as valid Providers and Consumers of Language and Thought.

What’s more - this deep inner knowing is larger and broader than the outer knowing. Our lives are full of opportunities to see this knowing play out in a variety of contrasting ways. For any shallow prop on the stage, we can knock it down and replace it with the real thing. A thing of depth and dimension.

This play of life is what life is about. It is about creativity, exploration, and Joy. And when our deep inner-knowing aligns with our outer awareness, things feel lighter and easier. Things happen. There is more Joy. There is inherently less conflict.

In this state of being, there is resonance.

Resonance is defined as: “the state of a system in which an abnormally large vibration is produced in response to an external stimulus, occurring when the frequency of the stimulus is the same, or nearly the same, as the natural vibration frequency of the system”.

The Universe is a word that points to an idea… and for me, this idea is a place which is a system. It is a system of energetic information. I am part of that system. I am of the system. Does the system care about me? Yes - very much so. And No - not at all. This is the problem with language. Just because I can ask a question does not mean it is a valid question. Just because I answer it one way does not mean I cannot answer it another.

When Abraham-Hicks states “there is great love for you here”, we will each hear what we are drawn to hearing. Our understanding will depend on our alignment with the words and thoughts.

I’ll leave you with a big Thank You for reading these thoughts, and with this quote from Alan Watts:

“You and I are all as much continuous with the physical universe as a wave is continuous with the ocean. The ocean waves, and the universe peoples. And as I wave and say to you ‘Yoo-hoo!’ the world is waving with me at you and saying ‘Hi! I’m here!’ “

Have you found yourself asking… Does this Law of Attraction stuff really work? How does it work?

If so, I would like to pose a couple of other questions to you…

1. What do you have to lose to try it?

2. Why do you care about how it works?

As word spreads about the site, and new members sign up, I am still a primary contributor to the high Vibe it site. The topic of interest to me these days has been the Law of Attraction material. As I read up, it still amuses me how much hype there is pro and con surrounding the movie The Secret.

I am also struck by the number of extremely judgmental and hyper-critical posts and commentary on the topic. The comments seem to fall into a few broad categories… (this is where I get to be extreme and judgmental* :)

* note: - I am responding here to comments I have come across in blogs… I am not judging whole segments of the population at large…

1. I am a scientist, or a “believer” in science. Your voodoo is not scientific, therefore, it must be rubbish. And, by the way, you are stupid for thinking these things. We all know science answers all of the important questions in life, and if science can’t prove it, then you might as well be worshipping the tooth fairy as far as I am concerned.
2. I am a Christian… and we Christians know that JC is the ONLY way to salvation and heaven. You “Secret” people are a scary, scary materialistic cult that wants nothing but money, money, money. Therefore you must be evil. I think the devil might even be behind the Secret. (You could write a variation of this item for each religious tradition.)
3. Then there are the people that consider themselves already so enlightened about the misery inherent in existence that it just plain strikes them as absurd that anyone could suggest otherwise.
4. To be fair, I believe there are people who have evolved their own sense of things to the degree that they are already quite liberated from the common baggage that life brings with it. These individuals have no need to understand a different system because theirs already works just fine, thank you very much. I also believe that these individuals can thrive in a multitude of belief systems, and function well within the confines of long standing traditions.

Well friends, if I were to put on my Law of Attraction colored glasses - I would see that everyone that falls into the above categories are correct! That’s right… their opinions match the world they live in. The world they live in is created by their thoughts about that world. For some, it works very well. For others, life is nothing but a constant stream of conflict and failure. In other cases, it’s just a mixture that appears to be randomly served up by existence… sometimes good, sometimes hard.

This reminds me of the Dr. Wayne Dyer quote:

“Loving people live in a loving world. Hostile people live in a hostile world. Same world.”

If any of this critical thinking about The Law of Attraction concerns you, I would offer up a few ideas to stir the pot o’ thoughts in your noggin…

1. Many of the critics are responding to “The Secret”, and what’s more… some of them haven’t even seen it, and are simply reacting to and resisting the hype and the media treatment of the movie. From what I understand, The Secret is a highly marketed and simplified version of some of the teachings of The Law of Attraction. It does not deal with the complex issues. No movie could deal with these complexities in a period of a couple of hours. Also, keep in mind that The Secret is new. The Law of Attraction is anything but.
2. The Law of Attraction is many things to many people. This really bothers some people. It makes perfect sense to me. Abraham-Hicks teaches that their interpretation of TLOA is just one interpretation, and encourage everyone to find the interpretation that makes the most sense to them. This is radical… in that it directs the individual to trust themselves above organized institutions… that is to say, trust their real selves… their higher power, inner-self, inner being. Many of the critics seem very afraid of this concept. I think this fear is based on deeply held beliefs that people are inherently weak, stupid, sinful, or whatever other negative term you want to throw in there. The teachings I have tuned in to from the Abraham-Hicks material align much more closely with the idea that we are born as inherently good beings, and then we allow ourselves to become negative.
3. Like any belief based system, you have to believe in order to get the benefits of the system. Critics, by definition, are not believers. Of course they don’t see the benefits.
4. The teachings of The Law of Attraction will manifest in alignment with the belief system of the person receiving the teachings. What does this mean? It means that if a Christian has an open mind, and hears the message, this person is likely to benefit and actively, deliberately CREATE a more Christian life. If a person who is focused on the material plane of life listens and absorbs the message, this person will find greater happiness, and greater material prosperity. How is this different from any belief system??? It’s not.

So, let’s revisit the questions with which we began…

Does this Law of Attraction stuff really work?

I have yet to come across very many voices that have given it a real chance and walked away convinced that there is nothing to it. What is more common is to find people who have studied and worked with it for years, and have evolved their thinking and understanding well beyond the messages being broadcast by The Secret movie.

How does it work?

You will find many answers to this question on the web, and all around you. I believe the variety of answers to the How question directly correlates to the wonderful diversity of life experience and thought systems present in the people that come to experience the benefits of this way of thinking.

My response is to restate these questions:

What do you have to lose to try it?

If you are an open minded person, and looking for ways to extend your mind and spirit… you have nothing to lose. There are processes you will learn that will benefit you for a long time to come… whether you work with this material for one week or one year. Despite the attempts by the media to find a new boogie man here, there is nothing inherently risky, damaging, or destructive in the teachings of The Law of Attraction.

An honest dive into this material will bring to you more self-awareness and more self-knowledge. Those are always benefits according to my world view :)

Why do you care about how it works?

If you reason for caring is fear based, you might want to take a closer look at that fear first.

If you are worried about what others will think, or afraid it will take you places you don’t want to go… these are very self-limiting fears and constraints. You might find some relief from these constraints in the teachings of The Law of Attraction. You will certainly benefit from these teachings to a far greater degree if you set yourself free from these constraints early in the process.

The bigger point here is - why does it matter how it works, so long as it works? Of course, what it means “to work” will be different for everyone.

As my father always said “if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it”. I believe that trying to answer the How question is trying to fix a problem we haven’t really yet identified.

To borrow from the Abraham-Hicks teachings… do you really care how the water gets to your faucet when you are thirsty? Stop and think for a minute about the amazing variety and number of things we do each day as inputs into systems - the mechanics of which we don’t really understand.

So, How Does the Law of Attraction work?

Ok… let’s say you still want to know what I think about this question.

I’ll preface my answer with three important notes…

1. My primary teachers on the topic of Intention and The Law of Attraction have been Dr. Wayne Dyer, Deepak Chopra, and the Abraham-Hicks material.
2. My thinking is also heavily influenced by my exposure to the teachings of Christ, A Course in Miracles, and my training in college studying psychology and philosophy.
3. Like you, I am always learning… my answer tomorrow will be slightly different from my answer today.

I tend to believe we have this thing I’ll call the brain-mind. The brain, from what I can tell, is a highly evolved and complex organ capable of reflection upon itself, and as such… is capable of reflecting on the nature of the Universe. Where the physical brain meets this element of self-awareness which is a 100% mirror of awareness of “other”… this is the brain-mind. Or, if you suits you better, you can call it the mind-brain :)

I tend to think of The Law of Attraction works by teaching us how to better use our brain-mind. It changes the focus. It helps us understand our point of Power… which is the Choice we have each and every moment.

Choice = Freedom = Power

It helps direct us to the Moment, where all possibilities unfold.

It liberates us from our self-created drama. Drama requires time. A past, and a future. The Now is drama free.

It reminds us that life is inherently Joyful. Our very existence is a demonstration of Abundance in the Universe. There is Joy in Being. To quote Abraham-Hicks… this is why we are called human beings, not human doings.

How The Law of Attraction works is by teaching the brain-mind to recognize patterns of how things work inside and outside of itself, and by teaching it how to use it’s own energy more efficiently, effectively, and in a way that is inherently more Joyful.

But don’t take my word for it. Give it whirl. Have some fun. Enjoy the journey!

Take a look at the high Vibe it site for more on the topic of The Law of Attraction. Have resources you’d like to share? Please submit them here for the benefit of others!