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So Many Rails, So Little Time 
A difference of opinion or argument can be healthy and productive.  When it’s more about less than conscious communication process, we get the endless tug-of-war that eats our time and energy.  Think about how much time you spent with an initial interaction that went badly, and then add the amount of time you spent thinking about it afterward, plus the follow up communication time, plus how much more time you now spend thinking about the follow up, then multiply that times how many occurrences in a day, and times everyone else spending their time and energy the same way, and you’ll see we’re talking about a vast amount of time and energy being wasted.  That’s a valuable resource we can reclaim.

There are many things we do to de-rail our communication, from assuming and projecting, to “Being Right,”  and maybe if we know more about the existing tracks, we’ll recognize the signs of going off of them before we crash.  The vast majority of the struggles we have in communication are about what I’ll call the Translation level.  Read the rest of this entry »

Well I accidentally erased this entire entry, so we’ll see if I can reconstruct it from memory.  And that’s the last time I do a post without committing it to another file form first.

The Evolution of Consciousness parallels the evolution of astronomy.  Our part within it shifts more and more to being a real part of it all rather than the detached observer.  The differentiated specialness of narcissistic ego is very different from the “isn’t it amazing to be part of this” experience.  Our consciousness as it evolves matches the constant movement outward from center of a small known Universe, outward and into an ever-enlarging other that we are a part of, which in turn expands, showing everything we thought was everything, is merely floating in something even larger, and we’re just part of that.  Read the rest of this entry »

 

 Two Sides of Compassion [7:27m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Empathy vs. Objectivity

Empathy and objectivity seem to be incredibly different at first glance.  Empathy is all about your mirror neuron systems  doing their jobs in the insula region of the brain, causing you to have experiences internally that match what you are viewing or hearing externally.  You feel sadness take you over when watching someone experiencing deep grief and loss.  You wince in reaction to seeing someone else being kicked in the head.  When you see someone grasp a glass off a table, you can somehow “tell” whether they’re going to drink it or they’re clearing the table.  These are the basic building blocks of empathy.  The more developed and complex our mirror neuron systems are, the more empathic we are.     Read the rest of this entry »

There is a quiet power in Consciousness Evolution.  The straightforward concept (mentioned last post) of “you cannot diminish me,” when truly, bodily known, creates an unbreakable strength.    The mere words, when not really believed, actually preclude access to this strength.  The inauthenticity sets up a kind of internal incongruence, and an internal argument between factions fights within you.  The argument inevitably  lands on the side of basic survival (always our lowest consciousness, closest to our animus) which assumes the worst: “you can diminish me, but I’m going to fight that, and you.”     Read the rest of this entry »

 

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Manipulation or Facilitation
A number of clients over the years have expressed some discomfort with their newfound skills in communication, even asking questions about ethics.  These questions are familiar to those who’ve studied Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) or Hypnotherapy.  Being able to move someone with communication; whether that’s moving them in their “position,” or moving them emotionally, is quite powerful.  When we’re moved by a poem, we rarely think of that as being manipulated, even though in the strictest definition that’s exactly what happened.  In fact, depending upon your source, the negative connotations that the word carries can be a second or third definition. 

Manipulation actually comes from the Latin: manipulus, which is to operate with the hands or by mechanical means.  To “turn something over in your hands” is actually a precise definition of manipulation.  We’ve only added the “devious” implications over the last few hundred years.  Now that we’ve shifted its meaning, it seems we’re stuck with that. 

When a technique proves extremely effective, it becomes an advantage.  Conscious Communication gives you an ability to move others through your words.  In and of itself, this kind of advantage is no more malevolent than having a graphite tennis racquet or a titanium bicycle frame.  These advantages are available to everyone, and they’re not breaking any “rules.”  You still have to use the tools well, regardless of how good the tools may be.  How you use them becomes the real question.  What is your desired outcome?  This comes back to Non-Zero Sum game theory.     Read the rest of this entry »

 

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The Three Little Pigs
Tough times call for adaptation and evolution, not desperate measures.  Ramping up our creativity is how we’ll survive and thrive over difficult stretches of time (and rising to challenges is our strongest suit.)  The Big Bad Wolf of Reality will always huff and puff, so we have to build a solid house. 
 
The first little pig built his Dot Com house out of straw.  Who needs income when you can have market share?  March, 2000 huffed and puffed, and blew that house down.  The second little pig built his Financial Instruments house out of sticks.  If I can sell I.O.U.s to you, and you can sell them again before anyone notices, maybe reality won’t catch up?  2008 huffed and puffed and blew that house down too.  Now it’s time for us to build a Solid Economy house out of bricks, and that will take creativity, ingenuity, and heavy lifting. 
 
Unfortunately for some, a portion of the business world has gotten accustomed to an artificial environment over the last few years, where old-fashioned business savvy and creativity were less necessary, as “play” money flowed into the economy, creating a game mentality, which tends to invite cheaters.  If I can borrow money from the future to pay for the present, I’ll be less likely to save money from the present to pay for the future.  Credit replaces profit when numbers on paper look just as good as actual money, and it’s so easy to get.  As long as we don’t convince ourselves that this is the only way to be successful, we have options.     Read the rest of this entry »

 

 The Language of Success [0:08:43m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Make It So Now that the U.S. is in the midst of a split personality disorder: caught between renewed hope for the future and panic, how we talk to ourselves is going to drive and direct that future.  There’s an old adage that says, “if you believe you can or you believe you can’t, you’re right.”  We convince ourselves of our futures before we take the actions that make them real.  This is old news to the golfer who visualizes the ball dropping into the cup before the swing, or the artist who sees the completed painting before lifting a brush. This is also the underlying feature of everything from Positive Psychology to “the Secret,” and the “Law of Attraction,” and it works on us every day.  When we convince ourselves that everything is happening to us, and we’re nothing but a thistle-seed on the breeze of life, that becomes our experience.  It becomes reinforced as we prepare ourselves for that future, expect that future, and yes, take precisely the action steps that will lead to that future. Read the rest of this entry »

Let me preface that this is neither an indictment nor judgment, but an exploration into the differences that Enneagram Types tend to govern in our leaders, and the altitude differences are extremely Integral to this (pun intended).  As many have said before me, it is impossible to understand where we are without looking at how we got here.  The actions and decisions of the former regime are absolutely reasonable, logical, and within the normal structure of a low altitude Enneagram Six.  Understanding is far more useful than vilification, and this is the purpose of this post.  
  
The quickest summary for anyone not familiar with the Altitude Tiers of Consciousness, is that we [hopefully] evolve and progress from an I, me, mine centric Tier I, to an us and we Tier II, leading to an “all” no longer excluding them from the us and we.  There are of course many levels within each of these Tiers, but we can save that discussion for another time.  Levels of Consciousness (altitudes) are incredibly Integral to the relationship of any Enneagram Type to themselves and the world around them.  This is where interaction lives, and thus where we outsiders get to observe someone else’s Internal Processing Center at work.  From a linguistic standpoint, you may notice that in Obama’s Inaugural Address he used the word “I” three times and “we” seventy-seven times.  (This linguistic indicator was present throughout the 2008 campaign.  ”Together, we can…”  Compare with his opponent, McCain on YouTube for example.  McCain’s favorite words (besides “my friends”) were “I will fight…”  Tier 1, I, me, and might-makes-right fighting.)     Read the rest of this entry »

 

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Cutting Back to the Stump Kills the Tree
As much as we know about losing our ability to think clearly when we’re in a panic, when it wins over reason, we’re plunged into a non-resourceful state.  “Good news doesn’t sell newspapers,” so spin doctors make things out to be worse than they are to stir up fear and sales.  

Here’s an example of how they try to manipulate you: when the media reported “2008 holiday shopping numbers were the worst since 1969,” they ignored the actual dollars spent and used a year-over-year growth statistic out of context.  In fact Americans spent millions of dollars more than the previous year, but the growth rate slowed down.  When people live within their means, that’s what happens.  This isn’t reason for panic, but panic sells newspapers.     Read the rest of this entry »

One last opportunity to look back at 2008 before the parties get under way, and we wake up just 3 years from the Mayan Calendar’s Armageddon.

The Fearmeisters of the Media have traded terrorism for economic meltdown, as it’s so much closer to home, and keeps people in their tenderized state; ready for control and plunder.  Remember, as long as you are scared and thinking about survival, you’re not thinking about issues requiring higher consciousness.

This means that they can keep you focused on yourself, and not run the danger of community-minded thinking, banding together to help one another, or other non-consumer–oriented activities.  What’s more, if you become somehow content with yourself, they can’t sell you the clothes, perfumes, cars, hair colors, or pharmaceuticals that promise to give your worthless self value.     Read the rest of this entry »