Author: Jacques de Villiers

  • The Profane Creator

    The Profane Creator

    The more I play on this planet the more I realise that there is no difference between the sacred and the profane.

    The mundane, material and carnal activities that we do in this world are sacred. Going to work, studying, feeding a baby or changing a lightbulb is divine.

    If we so choose, any day-to-day activity can have a significant meaning. There are no small tasks, only God’s tasks.

    That we get to take out the trash is a mundane task so worthy of awe and gratitude.

    I don’t know about you, but I’m happy to take out the trash every day for the rest of my journey here. It means I get to play a while longer. I get to love here. I get to cry here. I get to experience here. I get to live.

    There is divine in everything we do. And, it is up to us to realise this and be grateful for even the most mundane aspects of our lives.

    Something like breathing is a mundane activity, isn’t it? We seldom give it thought, do we? But, stop breathing and see how our world comes crumbling down in an instant.

    If we reflect on it, what divine conspiracy had to come into play so that you and I could take out the trash?

    All I know is that there’s four billion years or so of a grand design to allow you and me to be able to do the mundane.

    No matter how tiresome the task, it’s still a blessing.

    Every hum drum activity is an opportunity to polish our intent so that we get to Eden in good shape.

    The way we conduct ourselves in even the most menial activity reveals our character. Everything we do is here to shape us into the human we could become. A human that’s full of character, kindness, patience, love, gratitude and grace.

    Go on, wash the dishes and rejoice because it’s all sacred.

    Jacques de Villiers helps organisations, professional speakers, authors and entrepreneurs triumph through: sales training, motivational speaking and consulting.

  • You could have been born in Yemen

    You could have been born in Yemen

    Whenever we used to see someone less fortunate than we were, my mother used to say, “But there for the grace of God go I.”

    I’ve used this idiom with my own daughter. But, I’ve never interrogated its real meaning until recently.

    I get to hang out with super successful people in my line of work. Many are grateful and humble of the largess bestowed upon them. But some are arrogant, entitled, selfish, self-indulgent assholes. They bitch and moan about having to pay tax and try their utmost to evade it. They look down on those less fortunate than them. They complain if anything is not up to their “standards”.

    They’re confused and ignorant, of course. They think that their ‘success’ is there because of their own labour.

    What they forget (or choose to forget) is that the universe conspired to make them successful.

    Think on it.

    Like you and I, they competed in their first race against 300 000 other sperm. Like you and I, they won and got to fertilise their mother’s egg. But we didn’t win, the others lost. Some were too weak, some got their navigation system screwed up and some were clueless.

    That they even got a shot at fertilising an egg was the perfect storm of good fortune coming together.

    How did their parents find themselves in the passionate embrace that produced them? What circumstances had to happen for this event to take place? What had to happen to their parents, and their parents, and their parents and their ancestors? But there for the grace of God go I.

    Think on it.

    How is it that they came to be born in countries like the USA, UK, France, Germany, Belgium and South Africa? They could have been born in Palestine, Myanmar, Yemen, Afghanistan, Zimbabwe, Kenya, South Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Iraq and Syria.

    Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you must know that these countries abound in human rights abuses, war, starvation, depravity and utter desolation. But there for the grace of God go I.

    Think on it.

    What sacrifice did their parents have to make to get them in a position to be ‘wealthy’? What did those who came before have to go through? Who did they meet that gave them a hand up? So, it’s pure arrogance to think that they became successful because of their own efforts.

    They should be bowing down every day and thanking the benevolence that got them here in the first place. Their arrogance and and self-indulgence should be replaced with awe and gratitude.

    They should also not be deluded. Who is to say that the beggar on the street hasn’t found the path before them? The path of course is paying attention to sorting out the soul so that we can arrive at our final exam in relatively good shape. Who is to say that when a beggar who has found the path looks at someone rich, doesn’t say, But there for the grace of God go I.

    There can be an argument made that the less one has, the freer one is. One has less to lose. And, one knows how to roll with the vicissitudes life throws his way. If you’re not used to suffering, when it comes, you’re not equipped to deal with it.

    “He who flows with the changes that come upon him is free, whereas he who is reliant on things is their servant and existence owns him.” Shaykh ‘Ali al Jamal

    So where does this leave us … the rich, the middle class, the poor and the destitute?

    Whatever our station in life, we need to pay our taxes and make donations. These are not financial matters, but matters of morality. Would you rather not pay tax and go and live in Palestine? I wouldn’t, that’s for sure. Would you rather be the giver of the donation or the receiver or the donation. You know the answer.

    And all, rich or poor have a moral imperative to look out for our brothers and sisters in humanity. Rich or poor, there is definitely a tax to pay. And, that tax comes in the form of awe and gratitude to the creator who blessed us with this consciousness. Because, “but there for the grace of God go I.”

    And, it is because of the grace of God that you’re exactly where you’re supposed to be right now. Both rich and poor have lessons to learn so that they can meet their creator with grace and gratitude. The alternative, regret and remorse, is too ghastly to contemplate.

  • Great artists crave appreciation

    Great artists crave appreciation

    There’s one thing artists crave more than food. And, that’s appreciation.

    All humankind craves appreciation.

    The thing is that we were created to be appreciative by the great artist.

    When he spoke his first words, “Let there be light”, he got the ball rolling. He called light, day and separated it from dark, night.

    He was pleased. And, this was only day one.

    Like all artists, God wanted someone to appreciate and be in awe of his great work.

    So he created humankind in his own image to be in awe of his creation.

    He saw the world through each one of their eyes and he was pleased.

    Humankind appreciates little

    But, soon he must have realised that humankind appreciated little.

    So, he manufactured the original sin. Humankind fell from grace and was separated from Eden. And from him.

    He brought darkness and separation to humankind.

    It was only when humankind was disconnected from God that they realised what they’d lost.

    And, ever since then, humankind has been trying to get back to their source and reconnect with it. That’s our real journey, today.

    • If there’s not darkness, there cannot be light.
    • If we don’t struggle and suffer, how do we know what happiness is?
    • If we don’t struggle and suffer how do we appreciate it when the struggle and suffering ends?
    • How can we be grateful?
    • How can we be in awe?

    Our greatest sin

    Our greatest sin is ingratitude. We were given the perfect home and the perfect life. All that was required of humankind was to be in awe and gratitude for the great work of art we live in.

    Humankind and its self-indulgent, entitled nature stuffed that up good and solid.

    As instruction, let’s take a tiny event in time. The impending ‘Day Zero’ in Cape Town is almost upon us. The day the taps run dry, darkness will descend upon South African humankind.

    Nobody appreciated the Eden we were in. Nobody appreciated the water supply. There was no awe and gratitude for this great blessing. Judging by the way we’re destroying God’s masterpiece, the darkness is only going to get worse.

    Oh, you thought you were his masterpiece?

    Maybe.

    But, perhaps you and I are just meant to be the witnessers of his masterpiece.

    And, if you believe we are his masterpiece, then we’re stuffing that up as well. Our smoking, drinking, drugs, avarice, selfishness and carelessness is destroying humankind.

    Can you imagine how aggrieved we’d be if someone defaced Leonardo da Vinci’s, Mona Lisa? The world would be in uproar. We would find it hard to believe that a right-thinking human could commit such a terrible thing. Why, it could only be psychopathic degenerate who could do such a revolting deed, couldn’t it?

    By that logic, then it can only be a degenerate who would stuff up his or her own body and the planet that houses it, couldn’t it?

    It’s sad that we would be more upset by the destruction of a Mona Lisa than the destruction of our own bodies and planet.

    HumankindThus, we were created to bear witness to God’s great masterpiece. He sees every nook and cranny of his art through our eyes.

    He painted this picture and gave us this story to enchant and entertain us. All he wants in return is appreciation. He doesn’t get that enough (or at all) so he gives us his great gift, the gift of suffering. It is only when we don’t have that we appreciate what we do have.

    For there to be light, there has to be darkness. It is the way of things.

    The trick for us is to appreciate every moment we have left on this plane. Let’s be in awe and gratitude for this great gift that we have right now.

    God’s an artist. You’re an artist. Let’s celebrate and appreciate this.

    Jacques de Villiers helps organisations, professional speakers, authors and entrepreneurs triumph through: sales training, motivational speaking and consulting.

  • Why our past narrative shapes our future

    Why our past narrative shapes our future

    I was chatting to some friends the other day, and we got onto the subject of a peculiar and powerful tribe.

    There are an estimated 67 000 of them living in South Africa. That, of course would be our Jewish brethren.

    We speculated as to why proportionally they’re the most successful body of people on the planet. Just in case you have any doubt let me put it into context. There are around 2,3-billion Christians and 1,9-billion Muslims on this planet. Cape Town and Gauteng have a bigger population than the entire Jewish community worldwide which is estimated at 16-million.

    The most powerful economy on this planet, the USA (although I think they’ve run their race and China is taking over) is considered the head of the world and protector of Israel. Then the Jewish tribe must be its neck. A neck that turns the USA in any direction it chooses.

    It appears to me that in the main, they also seem to rise to the top of the social and business strata – film directors, actors, lawyers, accountants, doctors and dentists are some careers that come to mind.

    What has shaped this tribe into such a formidable force in the world?

    I have a notion that what sets them apart from most other tribes is their ability to endure and survive, no matter what.

    And, they’ve had to survive a lot whilst they’ve been persecuted and hounded from one end of the earth to the other.

    From as far back as 250 C.E. when they were expelled from Carthage a litany of atrocities befell them … forced conversions, book burnings, synagogue burnings, stake burnings, property confiscations, massacres, pogroms, forced to wear badges, forced to wear horned hats, mob attacks, executed, slaughtered and enslaved.

    Nobody who has read the bible can forget that the Israelites were enslaved by the Egyptians for more than 200 years. And, once they were freed from the Egyptian yoke, they still had to spend another 40 years wandering the desert.

    Just when they thought it couldn’t get worse … came the final attempt to eradicate them from the planet; the Holocaust from 1938 to 1945 where an estimated 6-million souls were taken before their allotted time.

    This history of subjugation and suffering has shaped the Jewish tribe into what it is today – tough-minded, indefatigable, paranoid, focused and proud. No matter how harsh their circumstances, they have each other’s back, and they’ll carve out something that works and works well.

    The hard question I suppose is did they have to go through all the horror to become who they are today? If it were easier, would they be in a different space, something like the Greek historian Herodotus said, “In soft regions are born soft men?”

    The Brits

    Let’s take the British tribe for example. Rome invaded Britain in 43 A.D. and put its people through the harshest subjugation for the next 367 years. Did this experience not produce one of the toughest tribes on the planet? Did this not in some ways prepare them for the horror that was Hitler? At one stage they were weeks away from being defeated by the Axis. But, they withstood the onslaught with the same courage and tenacity that they displayed against the Romans. That’s why today we all speak English and not German.

    I think every tribe is shaped by its history. Those experiences become part of their DNA. Many tribes have a back story of perpetuating tyranny, colonisation, genocide, slaughter and slavery. In its quest to colonise the world, the British tribe has a spectacular record when it comes to cruelty (you’d have thought they’d have some empathy after their experience with the Romans).

    10-Million Souls

    America and Belgium (Under King Leopold II) are neck and neck when it comes to genocide. They made Hitler look quite tame. They each killed around 10-million souls. The former wiping out the Native Americans through plague and sanctioned killings and the latter, slaughtering mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters in what was then known as the Belgian Congo.

    All Tribes Are Stained

    Almost no tribe is without blemish when it comes to mass murder, subjugation and slavery. Some that can take a bow: Romans, French, Chinese, Spanish, Dutch (they had a stock exchange for slaves), Portuguese, Egyptians, Japanese, Koreans, Russians, Germans, Zimbabweans, Zulu, Xhosa and Afrikaner. All these tribes and more have a stain on them. It’s a stain that plays out today.

    Today, most tribes are still trying to dominate, subjugate and enslave other tribes so that they can better their lot. Most tribes compete for limited resources instead of collaborating so that everyone can win.

    As Individuals We Compete

    And, of course, as individuals we mirror our tribal DNA, don’t we? Most of us compete. Most of us want to win at the expense of the other. Most of us only think about ourselves and the short game and don’t give a damn about the long game and what’s left after we depart. We really do just pay lip service to the oft quoted, “We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.”

    Can we change our path? We can. Our history and our DNA shouldn’t just define who we are At this moment, but should shape who we can become.

    Of course, there’s something more powerful than our tribal history. We’ve just forgotten about it and maybe it’s time to remember it. It’s called our soul. It’s older, wiser and more powerful than any tribal history. We’ve just lost our way, and we’ve forgotten who we are and who we still have to become. Connect with your soul now and hear It whisper. It has the answers you and I seek.

    What’s your narrative?

    Photo Credit: GetStencil

  • Mindfulness

    Mindfulness

    Mindfulness: Why do you play so small?

    Mindfulness. This is a weekly newsletter I send out called Find a Path With Heart.

    Here are the statistics:

    Date: 30 November 2017 – 17h05
    Sent: 653
    Opens: 409 (62,83%)
    Clicks: 73 (11,21%)

    Hey Friend,

    In today’s mindfulness article I’ll be short and sweet. Strangely enough.

    Why Do You Play Small?

    I wrote Why Do You Play Small? to try and make sense of my self-loathing issues
    (don’t judge, I’m not the only one) ;-).

    Weirdly, this stems from coming from an intellectually brilliant family.

    A brilliant mind, a world-renowned surgeon and a mule breeder
    (who also happened to run a little company called the KWV) caused all
    the kak in my mind.

    If you’re trying to fill big shoes and have small feet, maybe this
    blog post will resonate with you.

    Size Does Count

    Help me out, please. My girlfriend, Celia really thinks that size
    does count and I’m coming up short on that score.

    She thinks that I have a big …

    database. Yes, the one you’re on now. She thinks I have 15 000 peeps on it.

    Shame, poor woman. There’s only 700 on this list. Only 30% actually open my stuff.
    And, less than 1% click through.
    If you’re in database marketing, you know how depressing this is.

    But anyway, she sells teepees for children. Who even knew that it was a thing?
    But, she makes more money than me, so that’s cool thing.
    Except she wants to make more money and has been nagging me to send a
    marketing mailer out to you.

    “But, darling, they’re not interested in teepees for their children.
    This is a serious business-minded lot.” I said.

    So, now I’m on the couch. So, please, just go and look at her offer, you’ll be doing
    me a favour. Evidently, she has some teepees on a special offer sale.
    One of these Black Friday or Cyber Monday things. Just go and have a
    look please. Oh, and consider buying one so that I can get off this couch. Go here.

    How I Got My Ass Handed To Me

    Because I’m so arrogant, I think I can do anything. So, I tried my hand at designing
    a book cover for one of my author clients, Colleen O’ Donnell. Well my friend,
    Deborah du Plooy from Skoobs Theatre of Books, said it was k#k.

    She got me in touch with a book jacket designer called Gregg Davies.
    Based on his work, I’ve decided to stick to my knitting.
    He really showed me what a pro can do.
    Go have a look at my effort and his effort. You make the call. Look here.

    If You’re a Successful Motivational Speaker, Don’t Read The Next Article (working 10 days or more)

    Most professional speakers battle to get found for keyword terms like “motivational speaker”,
    “business speaker” and the like on Google.

    I help solve this so that they can be found. Check out how being #6 in Google equals R70 000
    per month in speaking and training gigs. Oh, there’s an offer you can’t refuse.
    But it ends Friday night at midnight (tomorrow night). Then I switch the landing page off. Go here.

    LinkedIn and Dux-Soup Experiment

    I’m going to get the paid for version of Dux-Soup so that I can visit up to 1000 LinkedIn profiles a day.
    On the free version I can only visit 100 profiles.
    Supposedly, 7% of those connections I visit will come and visit my profile page. That’s 70.
    If only 10% connect, that’s 7 extra connections a day. I can live with that.
    So, let’s see if it works out. I’ll keep you in the loop. Speaking about LinkedIn,
    check out my profile page – I’m experimenting with problem-promise-solution copy.
    It’s been quite successful as I’m getting 10 new connections a day.
    I’ve also had more than 3000 post views in November.
    It may work for you too. Go here.

    Find a path with heart,

    Talk soon,

    Jacques
    082 906 3693

    Subscribe to more mindfulness articles here.

    Mindfulness

    Whilst we’re on the subject of mindfulness, let’s figure out what it is.

    Join our mindfulness Facebook Group.

    Here’s a Wiki definition: Mindfulness is the psychological process of bringing one’s attention to experiences occurring in the present moment, which can be developed through the practice of meditation and other training.

    Mindfulness and meditationI think that more and more people are practicing mindfulness because their outer lives are a shambles.

    This striving for status and money is a futile exercise to achieve happiness.

    We are all striving for some kind of security, power, fulfilment and harmony.

    We tend to focus more on the security/power aspect than on the fulfilment/harmony aspect.

    As Etsko Schuitema said, “No amount of zeros on your pay cheque will fill that hole in your chest called insecurity.”

    And, this is true. Striving for an having possessions never leads to happiness, does it. I’m not denying that ‘things’ make one’s life easier.

    We all want food, a roof over our head and someone to love and be loved by. But the car, the house, the shoes and the like are like Will-o’-the-wisps (foolish fires) that are normally found in bogs and swamps. They lead the traveller off the safe path. As soon as we think we’ve caught up with the wisp, it moves on. As soon as we get the new car, that amazing ‘new car’ feeling moves on. Now we want another, better car. We want a better house. We want better shoes. We want a better wife. We want a better husband. And so on …

    The trick to it all is to go inside and find inner happiness.

    In my opinion, this can only be done through prayer, meditation and journaling (and maybe yoga ;-))

    These 4 elements are an essential part of mindfulness.

  • You, the Chosen

    You, the Chosen

    My daughter, Rebecca, was around three or four years old – I’m hazy on the timing, but I’m crystal clear on the story I’m about to relate to you. It’s indelibly inked into my psyche.

    Rebecca reached out her hands to Simoné and I and said, “Mommy, daddy, I want to tell you something.”

    She led us to a couch and indicated that we should sit. She stood facing us. As I looked up into her eyes I drowned into the depths of my soul. Rebecca was gone. Someone or something else had replaced her. I can only describe it as the deepest wisdom I’ve ever experienced. I had the feeling I was meeting a blue-painted Pict that had been forged in the crucible of countless Caledonian winters. I didn’t get the feeling that she was a warrior, though. Her eyes were too gentle for that. They were like pools of love. If I were to describe her with the limited lexicon available to me, I’d have to say she was some kind of shaman.

    You were chosen

    Rebecca (the Pict) spoke, “You were chosen.”

    I looked at her nonplussed. She looked at Simoné and I with patience and with the total love only a parent can have for a child.

    She continued, “The old crone and I were sitting together waiting for you. And, when you came past she smiled, kissed me on my forehead and gently pushed me towards the two of you. And, you know what mommy and daddy? I’m so glad that we chose you.”

    Instantly, after she uttered those words, the eons of wisdom faded from her eyes. She became a child again and I had the illusion of becoming the parent again. She came to us and we all hugged and held onto this wonderful moment. If the great architect of the universe called me home right then, I would willingly have gone because for me, in that moment, all was right in the world.

    I’ve been given more than is due to me

    Ever since then, I’ve felt so blessed that this soul presented herself as flesh, named herself Rebecca and chose me as her father and Simoné as her mother. I know that by being graced by Rebecca, I have already been given more than is my due on this short journey.

    Take a moment to pause and have a look at your child, your lover, your spouse, your parents, your friends and your work colleagues. Look into their eyes. Feel the call … the call of one soul choosing another. Remember, no matter whom you are or your station in life, someone has seen you. Someone has reached out to you. That alone should be reason enough for you to carry on with what’s left of journey in awe and gratitude … because you, you’re the chosen.

  • Jonah, the Whale and You

    Jonah, the Whale and You

    I was reading about Jonah and the whale as one does when Stephen King starts to get boring. You know the story. God commands Jonah to preach repentance to the city of Nineveh.

    Jonah wasn’t keen on this. First, the city was known for its wickedness. Second, it was the capital of the Assyrian empire, one of Israel’s fiercest enemies.

    So, Jonah bolted and fled on a ship to Tarshish, in the opposite direction of Nineveh. God sent a violent storm which threatened to break the ship into pieces. The crew tossed Jonah overboard to appease God and he ended up in the belly of a whale (or fish). The sea calmed and they were saved. After three days in the whale he was spat up on the dry land of Nineveh. After lots of gnashing of teeth and praying, I might add.

    He then preached to Nineveh. And saved its people from a terrible trauma that God had planned for them. Everyone was happy. Jonah not so much … but I think he was a miserable character to start with.

    The story plays out like the The Hero’s Journey by American Mythologist, Joseph Campbell.

    Loosely and not quite in the correct order, here’s how the Hero’s (Jonah’s) Journey plays out:

    • Call to adventure – preach repentance to citizens of Nineveh.
    • Refusal of the call – get the heck out of there and head for Trashish.
    • Adventure – ship almost sinks in storm.
    • More adventure – thrown overboard.
    • Adventure/salvation – land in mouth of whale.
    • Dark night of the soul – how’s he going to get out of the whale? Is he going to get out of the whale?
    • Salvation – whale spits him out onto dry land after three days.
    • Heed the call – listen to God and go and pray for the citizens of Nineveh.
    • Climax – saves Nineveh by finally obeying God’s call.

    (You’ve seen this in the Hobbit, Star Wars and practically any movie where the hero is called to action).

    My interpretation of the Jonah story is a bit different to my Sunday School teacher’s one. Either way, I think the story of Jonah has relevance to all our lives.

    Some of us know what our calling is. But we refuse to heed the call. We stay where we are. That’s when we end up in all sorts of misadventures which steer us back to our calling. For Jonah, God’s purpose for him could not be denied. God tracked him and made sure he followed his calling. Your purpose also cannot be denied. It will be like ‘God’ … always following you until you decide to heed the call to adventureAnd, even when you find your calling, the adventures don’t stop. Sometimes you’ll falter and think that you made a big mistake (dark night of the soul).

    Of course the trick is to figure out what your calling is. Sometimes it’s foisted on you (just when things were going so well). Sometimes you have an idea about where you should be going but you ignore the call (refusal of call).

    “We must be willing to get rid of the life we’ve planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us.” Joseph Campbell

    You’re actually lucky if you get a calling and figure out how to follow it. Because most men as Henry David Thoreau so eloquently puts it, “… lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them.”

    That which makes your heart sing and that which calls you is seldom an easy journey. But, it’s a necessary journey if you are to make something of this life you have chosen to live out on this planet.

    Photo Credit: http://www.worldwildlife.org/species/whale

  • Don’t wait for tomorrow

    Don’t wait for tomorrow

    Phew. We’re coming into the home stretch … December. For many of us it will be a time to kick back and relax. We’re going to eat a lot more, read more, sleep more and chill out more.

    December might also be a time for reflection on the year that was. What worked? What didn’t? And, it might also be a time for looking into the future. What are the plans for next year? What goals need to be achieved?

    For me the challenge with future-thinking is that we always leave it for tomorrow (obviously). Have you ever caught yourself saying things like, “I’ll start on Monday” or “I’ll start in the new year”?

    It’s almost like we’re building up a head of steam to get started. Here’s a question? What’s wrong with deciding to start right now … this instant? Why do we have to wait until the new year to start something amazing or even mundane?

    What gets me through this human endeavour is that I see each day as a totally new life for me. So, even if I messed up yesterday, today I can start over and make choices that better serve me. And, if I mess up again today, I can start over tomorrow.

    This way my whole life is in cycles of 24 hours and I can consciously choose my outcomes every day.

    For me there’s no point in starting something in the new year that I can start today. I suppose what I’m saying is that I treat every day like a new year. Don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today.

  • The Warrior and the Artist

    The Warrior and the Artist

    Have you ever wished that you were somewhere else or doing something else? I used to want to be somewhere else, doing something else until I came across the notion of the warrior and the artist.

    It helped me shift from wanting something ‘out there’ to being grateful that I was privileged enough to be given the opportunity to become who I truly am. A being who is grateful and in awe that he gets to play around a little on this planet before he is called home.

    The Warrior

    A warrior fights both external and internal battles. The internal battles are infinitely harder. If you know this, you are already on the path to becoming a true warrior. The internal battles are the ones the warrior has to fight every day to become who she truly is.

    The warrior understands that the ultimate victory is victory over self – the victory over sloth, selfishness, ego, vanity and pursuing stuff. The warrior gets that her job is to sort out her head and her heart and to strive for a life of selfless service to others. And, to work on stuff. The warrior is prepared to die for her comrades, causes and countries She’s selfless.

    A warrior has little concept of time and place. He gets that wherever and whenever he is … this is where he’s supposed to be. In that moment. Because every moment is an opportunity to work on his inner self. Every moment is instructive and is an opportunity to do work that matters. Be it a mundane moment (replacing a lightbulb) or momentous one (really listening and connecting with a loved one).

    The Artist

    The artist speaks to the work we have to do. Too many of us are results-focused and we want to produce something tangible. I get that. In our work life, we’re paid for results, aren’t we? But how many of us are like artists, taking joy from the process? How many of us love the work for the work’s sake and not just for the result? Artists are nurtured by the actual doing of the work …the painting, the writing, communicating with a child, washing the dog, washing dishes, calculating a sum, solving a problem, taking a photo, serving somebody a cup of coffee, meditating. It matters not what they do because it’s all art to them. Everything we do is creation. And, I’m sure you get that we’re all artists. We all create something, no matter how insignificant we may think it is. Artists know that sometimes we’ll produce mediocrity and sometimes we’ll produce a masterpiece.

    Both artists and warriors don’t wish to be doing anything else but what they are doing in this moment. Why? Because we’re creators and it makes us happy to create. Because we are warriors and it gives us a chance to fight the inner battles and become truly who he is.

    However, choosing the warrior path is not easy because we actually have to deal with ourselves. And, more often than not, it’s not pretty. So, we choose not to deal with ourselves and distract ourselves with that outside of us. But, I think we owe it to ourselves to do the inner work because it’s so awesome to have been given the opportunity to play in this human endeavour, albeit for such a short time. I love Carl Jung’s take on finding oneself: “The privilege of a lifetime is to become who you truly are.”

    And, of course, choosing the life of an artist is not easy, either. Creating is not easy. It’s messy. It’s chaotic. It’s failure after failure. It’s inconvenient and seldom goes to plan. But it’s necessary. Because it’s the attention we give the moment we are in where the real magic happens. This is when we create something wondrous. Something that makes the soul sing. Something called art.

    Photo Credit: http://www.hp.com/hho/kungfupanda/

  • We Love The Lamborghini More Than The Lamb

    We Love The Lamborghini More Than The Lamb

    Work On The Stuff That Matters Or You’ll Be Left In Tatters (alternate title)

    I don’t know about you, but when I see a beggar on the street, I feel sorry for him. And guilty. I have so much and he has so little.

    But when I reflect that my job on this planet is to get on the path with heart and sort out my soul, is he any worse off than me?

    With all that I have been blessed with, am I actually better off where it really counts?

    It brings to mind a conversation that Don Juan had with Carlos Castaneda when they were watching street urchins scrounging left-overs from a restaurant.

    Don Juan asked Castaneda if he felt sorry for them? He asked him if he felt superior to them? Was he better off than them?

    Castaneda affirmed all the questions. I suppose knowing that there was a lesson coming even as the last ‘yes’ left his lips.

    Don Juan asked him what made him think that he would find the path before the street urchins?

    I’ve reflected on these words for a while and realised that Don Juan is spot on.

    When it comes to soul-work, guilt, judging anyone, feeling superior to anyone and feeling sorry for anyone (and, oneself) is a fruitless exercise. We don’t know who will find the path to sorting out his or her soul first (and, it’s not a race). The person we pity could be way down the path to enlightenment. You and I may not even have thought about a path.

    We love the Lamborghini more than we do the lamb

    In the West we tend to equate success with money, power and possessions. We think that our job is to get stuff and not to work on the stuff inside us. We’ve made stuff our god. We revere Rolex more than reading, we care more for praise (for ourselves) than for prayer, we love the Lamborghini more than we do the lamb and we’d rather be anywhere but here … in this moment. We’re confused and lost. Let me not put this on you and project … maybe I’m confused and lost.

    In my opinion, power, money, possessions feed our egos. They distract us from the true purpose: finding a path with heart and doing the work that the soul requires.

    There is a strong and valid argument that our quest for stuff could literally be the death of us. Right now, we’re little more than locusts, consuming everything in our path and raping our planet of everything that can sustain us. Our quest for power and to please our ego has already left our souls in tatters … giving us very little room for caring for one another. This drama is not going to end well, that I can promise you.

    You’re smart enough to know that by putting each other first we can still fix this planet, we can fix ourselves, we can find a path with heart and we can still sing our soul’s song. We can actually do work that matters. But we’ll have to become a lot less reliant on the notion that the stuff we consume and value right now will make us feel worthwhile.