Hallelujah from Leonard Cohen

Posted to Facebook Jan 19th, 2023

I recently watched the biography of Leonard Cohen's song "Hallelujah".  There were many things in it I found interesting like: how many people seem to connect with the song; that it took Leonard six years to write it: that there are probably over 100 different verses for it in his notebooks; and how the song took on a life of it's own, hence the version you are probably most familiar with is not the one Leonard performed, but the one done by John Cale (think Shrek).

But perhaps what was most interesting, for me, was what I came to understand is the meaning of it.  Although there has always been a somewhat dark/somber tone to it for me (especially Leonard's version), it still gives me goosebumps.  Why is that?  What I got from the documentary is the song is saying that no matter how bad things get, no matter how hard things may seem, there is always a Hallelujah.  
No matter what, there is always an upward spiral.

LOP.  Hallelujah!

Thank you for being you Leonard.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQK4YfiPj1Q
Rufus Wainwright Live at the Fillmore

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcOQSk_cMO0 
k.d. lang at 2010 Vancouver Olympics (for Bear)

Being In My Now

Recently I have caught myself experiencing a feeling of pushing and rushing through my day, and I have also recognized how much it has been a prevalent underlying belief/emotion in my life. When I am pushing and rushing I feel like I am missing my now (I am not really, my now is just full of the experience of pushing and rushing). These realizations led me to wanting to be more present in my moments throughout my days -- it just feels better. 

So that brought up the question, what is 'being present' really about?  For me, being present in more of my moments is about how much am I allowing Who I Really Am (WIRA) in that moment (of course that requires me to have a sense of WIRA).  It's about how much am I allowing my desires, my priorities, all that I love, all of my skills, all of  the fun of moving forward, all of my creativity to join me in that moment?  There is an aliveness, a vitality, a beauty, a magic to life when I am honestly bringing all those truths of WIRA to a moment. 

If I practice allowing WIRA in my moments then it doesn't matter what the moment is, it is about how I am 'being' in that moment.  That can really increase the awesomeness of just a 'regular' day, and I find I am delightfully surprised what can 'appear' in those moments.

LOP is allowing myself to genuinely, confidently, and eagerly show up as Me . . . right now.

No Obligation Please

Being a friend, I fear, has gone astray.
From one who loves, to one who's afraid.
And so I ask that you honor us both.
The only gift for me . . . no obligation please.

No saying yes when you really mean no.
No inviting me along when you'd rather be alone.
No gifts required, only ones from the heart.
No sharing the same likes, for fear of being apart.
No changing, 

No agreeing, 

No yessing, 

No pleasing.
Our choices and preferences I know will not match.
But as we share who we are, an expression from the heart,
Neither of us lesser will be, so no obligation please.

You need not be different than the joy that is you.
And I would actually feel it a shame,

If I left this life without really knowing,
The light that has been given your name.

The View from the Upward Spiral is Different than from the Downward Spiral

I love the view from the upward spiral.  I love seeing the unexpected, the possibilities and feeling the fun, and I have come to recognize how different it is from the view from the downward spiral.  The difference is not because our actual eyes are different, but because the interpretation of what the eyes are seeing is different.  We have access to a whole different collection of synapses from a perspective of appreciation than from fault finding.

How can that be?  Well  Beau Lotto, a professor of neuroscience, shares in his book "Deviate" that our physical eyes make up about 10% of what we 'see'.  The other 90% is our personal interpretation of what the eyes are seeing.  That's how you can have one person loving and one person hating the same movie.  Or, how you can have two totally different accounts of the same situation.

Why would I care about that?  Well, if 90% of my experience of life is based on interpretation I have some wiggle room, some flexibility, some choices and options that I can consider.  It means there are some answers and possibilities out there that I may not be currently seeing because of my interpretation of something.  It means that there is an upward spiral view that I can find.

Once again, LOP is less about what is right and wrong and more about what do I want to be right about?

LOP is loving the view through the eyes of appreciation.

"I Can See Clearly Now."

Posted to Facebook January 17th, 2023

"I Can See Clearly Now" -- Johnny Nash  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FscIgtDJFXg 

I promise you, on the other side of whatever clouds might be in your life right now, there is a bright sunshiny day. 

Love the Goosebumps

Goosebumps are an indicator of being on the upward spiral -- me being in agreement with WIRA.

LOP is lovin' them goosebumps.

Unconditional Love

I do my best to choose unconditional love in my daily moments not for others, although my relationships benefit enormously when I do, but for me and my peace.  Because . . . Unconditional Love = Freedom.

Living On Purpose (LOP) is remembering I am free.

Thoreau Living On Purpose at Walden Pond

As I read the words of Thoreau in his book Walden; or, Life in the Woods, I am filled with the knowing that:  Our support is implicit; Our understanding inevitable; Our assistance eternal; and
Our journey simple.

As others express Who They Really Are it is easier for each of us to believe in Who We Really Are.

LOP is the path untravelled.

It's Not the What, it's the How

A while ago I heard the Facebook whistleblower, Frances Haugen, say, "No one at Facebook is malevolent, but the incentives are misaligned".  For me this statement held so much wisdom and depth to what we seem to be experiencing in many ways, in many places, about so many things.

A cornerstone of LOP is the belief that all of us want to feel better, and in our own way are pursuing that as best we can each day.  I am not saying all our methods are constructive, but I do believe that there isn't anyone who wakes up in the morning saying, "I want to have the most miserable day I possibly can."

So, as I watch some of what is going on in the world, and I hold in mind the belief we all are wanting to feel better, I keep thinking that maybe it is not the what that we all disagree on (no one is being malevolent, no one wants to have a miserable day) it's the how to do things that we are argue, fight, kill each other over (our incentives are just misaligned, we are not very constructive).  And if we generally agree on the what maybe we will be in a better/less defensive/less protective state when we discuss how we are wanting to move forward.  

So, if we pretend that we all agree that the 'what' equates to feeling good/better/more of who we really are, then why all the conflict?  I think it is because of the different possibilities on 'how' we can get there.  We spend our time and energy defending our 'how' over someone else's 'how', but if we are all heading to the same place (feeling good/being who we really are) does it matter if someone uses the same how as me?  If I really trusted that we are wanting the same thing would I be spending my energy to prove them wrong? 

• Maybe remembering we are truly all after the same thing will help us let go of our need to defend our individual 'hows'? 
• Maybe we could trust more that our 'hows' are as right for us as theirs are for them?
• Maybe when I am fearful of their 'how', it's because I am choosing fear over trust?
  
• Maybe as I get better at knowing that I get to choose how I want to feel/respond/perceive I will be less fearful of their 'hows'?
• Maybe if we decided that it is not really their choice of 'hows' that feels so awful, but it is actually us resisting their 'hows' instead of moving forward with our 'hows' that feels awful?
• Maybe as we free up a whole lot of time and energy for us to move forward with our 'hows' and achieve the 'what' of feeling better, we will understand their 'hows' better?
• Maybe when I resist someone else's how I am actually slowing down them discovering the 'how' that will end up working for many of us.
  
• Maybe the variety of all these 'hows' are the perfect ingredient for creating the harmony we are truly after?
• Maybe all of these different 'hows' were just a really great way for us to learn to trust each other, which is the 'what' we were after the whole time. 
  

LOP is trusting we agree on the 'what' and allowing all of us to pursue our own 'hows'.