Your Sanctum Within: Part 2

July 21, 2011 · Posted in Self Improvement · Comment 24 views

Rating: +2 (from 2 votes)

Now that you have chosen a location for your Inner Sanctum, it’s time to create your fortress. I use this term broadly. For example, my personal “fortress” is a bamboo one room shack attached to the side of a sheer mountain cliff. The mountain is covered in dense green vines and the building is just below the cloud line. A covered porch extends out along the other three sides with a half wall for safety except for a couple of openings where I can sit and dangle my feet. It’s perpetually raining, sometimes heavy, sometimes just a mist.

Tags: Better Living Through Imagination

Your Sanctum Within: Part 1

June 30, 2011 · Posted in Self Improvement · Comment 36 views

Rating: +1 (from 1 vote)

This is the first post in a series designed to provide a method for you to further take advantage of your mental capacity. This is not for everyone, nor is it the only way to achieve the goals listed below. It’s simply a way I have found to be rewarding and fun at the same time. The exercises detailed in this series should be repeated each day to increase their effect. As with any training, be it physical or mental, it will not be mastered immediately.

Goals: to gain full access to all memories, communicate with your subconscious, amplify natural healing, increase energy, enhance awareness, unlock your creativity and many other mental abilities

Part 1:
Creating the Mental Construct

Before you can begin any great work, you need a workshop. It should be designed to best accommodate the tasks being performed. A woodworker and a blacksmith need two very different workshops. Your work will be entirely mental, and likewise your workshop will be within your mind. This will take some planning.

First, you need to decide on the environment surrounding this place. It can be something you are familiar with or a place that makes you feel comfortable. It doesn’t have to be a place that can be found in the real world. Some ideas: a rainforest, an arid desert, a giant warehouse, a deep underground cave complex, an island, a fortress floating in the clouds, or someplace entirely alien like inside a nebula in deep space. The location is very important. Make sure you give it meaning. Ask yourself why it is where it is. What gives this location a connection to you?

Tags: Better Living Through Imagination

The Candy Shop

June 29, 2011 · Posted in Social · Comment 8 views

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June is National Online Safety Month in the U.S. Every day children are lured away by predators using every method available to them, including the Internet. Be aware of your children’s online activities and educate them. Watch the film below, share it with your family and friends.

The Candy Shop from Whitestone Motion Pictures on Vimeo.

Further information here.

Tags: National Online Safety Month

Building Stronger Connections

June 29, 2011 · Posted in Self Improvement · Comment 7 views

Rating: +3 (from 3 votes)

Almost anywhere you look, you can see people pointing out the faults of others. Political candidates work hard to expose the failures of their opponent. Whatever the issue, it’s always someone else’s fault. They are to blame.

These are the traits of a weak and combative person. Those who focus on placing blame cannot be expected to provide solutions. Whatever you bring attention to also becomes associated with you. If you are known for burning the enemy’s crops, you will not be known for growing your own.

Keep this wisdom from the Daodejing in mind: “The virtuous promote agreement, the vicious allot blame”.

There is no need to draw attention to the negative traits of another. Focus always on solutions and agreements and you will be seen as a positive force, wise and preferred over those who focus on putting down their opposition.

Tags: The High Road

Who? What? When? Where? Why?

June 28, 2011 · Posted in Self Improvement · Comment 42 views

Rating: +2 (from 2 votes)

Probably the most asked question throughout human history is “Why are we here?” The meaning of life has been speculated since the dawn of our time. Over the ages we’ve come up with all sorts of answers, from divine placement to random happenstance. Yet understanding the why and how of our existence does little to help us with what to do with it while we have it.

Does knowing the starting conditions of life in general really affect your choices from day to day? Instead of focusing on why you are here, consider these other, more personal questions:

Who am I?

You are not just a name. You are a set of experiences and choices. You are who you choose to be. Often we travel along the years with no clear understanding of who we want to be. Such wandering can lead you around in circles. Take the time to work on this answer first, so that you have a base from which to make consistent choices.

What do I value?

Who you are affects what you value. Knowing what you value gives you further insight into who you are. Make a top ten list of your values. These can be actual things, people or concepts like honesty or dependability. These should be important to you specifically, not a list of things you desire or traits you seek in others.

When do I move and when do I stay still?

Every journey is a series of movement and rest. Whether you’re planning a trip across country, a lifetime career or just the day ahead of you, your goals of things to do must also include time for not doing. Make sure you consider things like time off, breaks, and vacations as essential parts of your plans.

Where am I going?

This isn’t a question of a singular destination. It’s not “where do I want to be at the end of the trip?” This is a question to ask yourself each day. Just as examining a compass tells us the direction we are walking, so does examining our choices and values give us insight into the direction of our lives. Check this compass regularly by thinking about what you have done and where those choices are leading you. You don’t have to know where you want to go in order to know where you don’t want to go.

These are the more relevant questions. These are questions you can influence. Ask them. Answer them. Live accordingly. The meaning of your life will take shape only as the memories of where you’ve been. If life has a purpose, the best we can do is to live it and see.

Tags: Asking the right questions

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