Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Who are you? Random thoughts on who we really are...

A friend of mine commented to me about my blog last week, remarking on the fact that I have appeared to have moved forward in my mind space and life. It's true, I have. But the remarkable thing about writing a blog concerning one's life is rediscovering the true self. It's been amazing to start writing something and have unbridled emotions and thoughts come bubbling up. This has been very, very therapeutic in many ways, and I'm so glad to be entering an enlightened life through blogging.

So why are we like caged animals most of the time? Why can we not break the emotional chains which tie us to misery (for some), or don't allow us to grow to our full potential? I have been pondering this thought for a while now, as I begin to recognize some of my own emotional chains which have kept me from growing in ways that I should have.

I suppose asking everyone to free themselves of mental bondage is like asking everyone to forget everything they've learned and were taught over the years. Obviously, some of that information is useful, so we can't purge our minds entirely. Where do we start in the cleansing process, and what do we clean up and discard? Perhaps we should learn to find and define our core values first, then work our way outwards as in a mind map.

Just think of all of the fears, phobias, and sicknesses we've been burdened with by way of schooling, religion, government and other influential institutions. Now, I must be careful here, as I don't want to imply that these institutions are all bad. There are many good points about each one. But abuse of knowledge, and the reluctance to allow free thinking is common place.

Or perhaps it's just human nature to be lazy, to follow the least path of resistance, or to need a sense of security (usually false) by letting themselves be taken "care" of by higher institutions. Many people are not interested in thinking, let alone growing. The content of mainstream television appears to prove that point.

Never-the-less... I digress. :)

My intention for this year is to dig down through the flotsam and jetsam of my confused and puzzled mind, and find that bright, burning core of the soul. I want to discard all which harms and bothers, and concentrate on growing my consciousness in a healthy and meaningful manner.

How about you?



Monday, January 22, 2007

"Well, I keep gettin' younger...my life's been funny that way" - Neil Young, Crime in The City

Funny thing about getting older... the body changes, but the mind doesn't seem too. Internally I feel the same way I did when I was twenty-five (except for being a tiny bit wiser), but my external self (body) is telling me otherwise. I suppose it's time to ensure my external self stays in good, healthy shape. My mind certainly gets lots of exercise, my body does not.

It's interesting and sad all at once to realize that the human body deteriorates no matter how young one feels. Does our soul remain forever young and ageless?

Last week was a truly intense week with several extremes occurring in my life.

  • First was the gift of some computer memory from a colleague at work. My youngest son and I have been looking for more memory for his computer, but have been unable to afford any at the present. I never even put the word out to my workmates, but the memory appeared just like I had asked for it. Definitely the law of attraction at work. Cool.

  • Second was the theft of my work laptops from my car. That was a BAD thing. I lost some good information there.

  • Third was my wife finding out who my lawyer is (a very, very good one). She totally and completely freaked out, throwing pots and pans at me, and scaring the heck out of the kids. Seems that she feels that she should have the right to approve of which lawyer I retain (NOT!). Once she calmed down a bit I told her that I would call the police and have her charged with assault if she ever threw anything at me or hit me (yes, it has happened before). I also told the kids to call the police if they ever felt in danger at home. Looks like my new single life will begin shortly.

  • Forth, I experienced great success last week in my endeavour to become more "psychic". A very nice lady in England has been practicing "remote viewing" with me, and we've been quite successful in receiving images from each other. Cool stuff, if not a little freaky.

  • Fifth is my horoscope (I'm a Pisces) for the moment which is bang on.
    "The Moon passes through Pisces from January 21 to 23, heightening your emotional sensitivity and enhancing your psychic receptivity. dreams and visions keep you entertained while a series of unusual events may keep you amused and perplexed. You may feel that you truly want to make a difference in the world, and you may set out to do so."
    Cool...

Interesting times. Instead of feeling beaten up and depressed I feel stronger and happier. I now know what I want and where I want to go. I know that I can do just about anything... This is so exciting!

Hopefully this coming year will prove to be as positive as I feel right now...

Wednesday, January 17, 2007

If I didn't have bad luck, I'd have no luck at all...

Wow! Weird things are happening to me lately. I had my two work laptop computers stolen out of my car trunk yesterday morning. I had yet another appointment with the retinal surgeon yesterday morning, and I foolishly parked my car (containing the laptops) in an underground parkade. When I was done with the appointment I got into my car, drove to work, opened my trunk and discovered it was empty. I still don't know how the thieves got into the car. Four thousand dollars worth of laptop computers and priceless data gone. An expensive lesson.... Fortunately, I work for an understanding manager who is more concerned that I didn't surprise the person(s) breaking into my car. So now I sit at work, doing even less than I did before (hmmm, is that possible?), waiting for a new computer. The positive (if you can call it that) thing out of that is that my wife ranted at me after I told her what had happened. No support, just anger and rant. I was starting to feel to comfortable at home again, so this has indirectly given me a bit of a kick in the backside to get moving again.

Oddly enough, my mood has remained positive and upbeat. I'm determined to get through this phase of my life in one piece, and nothing is going to stop me.

I've been furiously working on stripping wallpaper in the laundry room of my house. I've discovered the usual disaster underneath the wallpaper - bare drywall and plaster. Lots of work to fix that up, but I don't mind too much as it keeps me busy while the lawyers do whatever they're supposed to do. We've had several impressive wind and snow storms pass through the region, so it's kinda nice to be working away in the basement as the weather rages away outside.

I finally went out and purchased one of my favorite books (I've been loaning it from the library 'till now) which I have mentioned in previous posts - "How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci: Seven Steps to Genius Every Day". What a great book. I'm really enjoying the challenge of trying to think like Leonardo. That fellow was truly amazing...

Just in case I get bored (!), I've decided to build a neat "Mood Lamp" someone has created. I like this "kitschy" sort of thing, plus this little project gives me an outlet for my creative urges. I've ordered parts for this lamp from all over the world, and I'm having fun corresponding with others building the same thing. Hopefully, it won't be too long before I can proudly display pictures of my creation on my blog. Fun stuff!

Tuesday, January 09, 2007

Mind mapping...

I have always been interested in maps and mapping techniques, and I've eagerly embraced "Mind Mapping" since I read about it in "How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci". Mind mapping is a great way for people like me who are totally scatterbrained and unorganized to create a visual list or map of the multiple paths required to meet certain goals. I recently downloaded and installed "Freemind", which is a free mind mapping application, and I sat down and mapped out a mind map which is centralized on my happiness. It was lots of fun rediscovering the things which I used to yearn for, plus add new things to help enable my future happiness. See my mind map here. Now I have to get serious and follow some of those paths...

I've been looking for art which gives me the "warm fuzzies" and I ran across a site which has reproduced pictures from the book "Oxford: Brief Historical and Descriptive Notes". Beautiful stuff. I love the detail put into the works. How an artist can reproduce a scene to near camera quality is totally beyond me. I'd love to have those skills. Yet another goal to map out on my mind map... :)


I haven't been posting lately because of a variety of reasons, including a nasty hard drive failure (ended up doing a major upgrade to my computer....cool), activities with the kids, and a definite writer's block. Plus, I've motivated myself back to doing a little more work on the house after seeing this years property assessment. The assessed value has gone up another $50,000, so it can't hurt to put a little more spit and polish into the place as I wait for the lawyers to make up their minds. So I'm back to scraping and painting while thinking about Leesa and her "Princess Panties". I have to get a life..... :)