Follow The Energy

737. Join me in inspiring truly powerful people. Each day I will add a new thought, story or idea to support your quest and mine.

It is a basic tenet: form follows energy. Another way of stating this basic tenet is: what you think is what you create. Thought is energy. Recently, Mark shared another way of saying the same thing: what you focus on expands. Focus placement is more powerful than you might imagine. It is a creative act. You see it because you believe it, and not the other way around.

Yesterday Vesna and I had a call. We talked about the difficulty of building a website with a clear offer when you are an artist, coach, teacher, facilitator, entrepreneur,…. What single label covers all forms of expression? How can people possible know how to hire you if you are a circus of gifts waiting to be given? Vesna told me the experience was like trying to squeeze herself into too small of a box. She doesn’t fit in any of the labels. Neither do I. So, we talked about not fitting. We talked about releasing completely the intention “to fit.” What if, rather than fitting, we came to the party as we are? The form will follow if we allow the energy to express. We talked about identifying the single, central purpose that unifies all of the forms of what we do. Here’s mine:

Sam used to call me his Virgil. In the Divine Comedy, Virgil is the Roman poet who guides Dante through hell and purgatory before passing him off the Beatrice who leads him the heaven; it is an allegory of the soul’s journey toward heaven. That makes me, in Sam’s definition, a guide for souls on their journey to heaven. Heaven is a metaphor for wholeness and that makes me a guide for souls on their journey to wholeness. That’s what I do. Guidance can take many forms and in my life, it does. My website will state in bold letters at the top: If you’re looking for Beatrice you’re in the wrong place! She’s not here but I know how to find her.

And, the secret of my trade: form follows energy. Place your focus on your innate wholeness: it will expand. Stop trying to fit in too small of a box; if you need a box make one that fits you. No one gets to Beatrice without taking the full tour: you can only know and appreciate your heaven if you know its opposite so take the full tour and stop trying to protect yourself from experience. I recognize this is not great marketing language for a website – especially in a culture dedicated to comfort – and now that I’ve told you all of my secrets and put myself out of business I probably no longer need a website! I have no business being in business anyway; I’m an artist…I mean I’m a teacher…uh, a coach. Well, what I mean to say is…I facilitate…make speeches…. Ah, hell…if you need me, you probably already know where to find me.

Keep Your Eyes Up

710. Join me in inspiring truly powerful people. Each day I will add a new thought, story or idea to support your quest and mine.

Saul-the-Chi-Lantern talked to us today about fixing our gaze. “Where you fix your gaze often determines how the chi will run through you.” Tai chi is about rooting and alignment. It is like eliminating the kinks from a hose so the water can flow freely. Saul often says, “Receive the gift,” referring to the energy we receive when properly rooted. Rockets thrust into down to lift off and tai chi is like that; root and receive the lift. It is a process of learning to get out of your own way.

It seems like a simple thing to say: where you fix your gaze impacts the quality of your experience. For instance, fix your gaze immediately in front of you, not on the floor, not on what others are doing. Saul asked us to see softly what was immediately before us. As we moved through the form I was aware of how often I look at my feet. When I kept my gaze fixed in front of me, I was easier and more open. I was rooted! It is tangible! Do an experiment: place your focus in various ways, on various spot above and below and feel the impact it has on your posture. Where can you best fix your gaze to unkink the hose?

After class I finished the 3rd draft of the book and as serendipity would have it I rewrote the section on focus placement. I smiled as I reworked the passages about choices in where we place our focus and how potent we become once we realize we have choice about where we place our focus. Focus is like a flashlight, a beam. We see where we shine our light. We interpret what is in the beam. We cannot see beyond the narrow confines of our focus so the choice of where we place our light is important and very powerful.

As Saul said this morning, “Keep your eyes up and the energy will have someplace to go.”