Death + Creation
Navigating the Unknown
To change the game you have to change the story...
In order to create something new, we have to let go.
I have a great deal of respect for existing bodies of knowledge and their lineages. I think that is necessary. I have always operated on the premise that in order to truly know something, you must go totally into it. Experience it fully. And the only way to do this safely, is to have the capacity to remain yourself at the same time.
There is an experience that does not engage in belief or non belief, it engages in what things are. It is inherently subjective, however, it also transcends that through awareness to the degree that is possible through our sensory lens of perception.
I was set on my path from the beginning and circumstances coincided. I was trained in meditation and martial arts as a child, I was embraced by Native community reclaiming ceremony as a teenager. I have practiced seriously for a long time. I have investigated. Considered the contrasts. I was intent on understanding what everything was all about; what it was, what it wasn’t, why it worked, how it worked and how it did not.
This investigation has revealed a large intersection of cause and effect. I certainly do not claim to know everything, but I know what I know and it contains the many forces at play in our human condition today.
It is knowledge won by bearing witness, by immersion, by painful and arduous experience and also by committing to the long game of life and never giving up on what I know to be true and real and love.
There are many threads and times and memories and histories, and how to communicate it all, I do not know, but I am endeavoring to begin now. What is most compelling is not my own story, but the story of how everyone can find their path of healing and transformation with greater ease without sacrificing the necessary substance.
The time is now to change the way we are. This learned condition of suffering. While it arises from the tendencies of humans by the nature of our embodiment, it is not necessary or determined.
In order to let go, it is necessary to understand. And understanding is not that difficult. Things have been obscured through the centuries in order to control or be hidden from control.
The main difficulty lies in attachment to the behaviors and beliefs driving us that we are largely unconscious of. They can exert tremendous sensory power over our experience of life which keeps us stuck in a cycle of pain and perpetuation of pain.
In order to create something new, we have to actually want it. Not just the idea of it or the same thing wrapped in a shiny new package. We have to want to be different and to put our energy in that direction. It’s very difficult to have one foot on the train and one foot on the station. If you really want to take the ride, you must let go, get on board and commit fully to being where you are.
It cannot be done with a mental trick. It’s a physical change. A way of life.
The Story
We are governed largely by mental forces. By the way we conceptualize our existence. By stories. These stories become our sense of who we are and define what we do.
We know that stories are extremely powerful, because people seeking power, gain it through story. It may be a story backed up by force, but force alone cannot assimilate a people, only story does that. Story has the power of destruction and creation. Story has the power of millennia.
Over time, our sense of identity becomes indistinguishable from the story we occupy. So in order to change the story, we must distinguish it. We must make it observable so that we can see it for what it is. In this way, we become able to release our attachment to identity.
The Unknown
We exist within a series of expectations, many of which are correct; many of which are correct because we create the condition for their correctness. A self fulfilling prophesy. As creative beings, we have a strong tendency for those.
We create goals based upon these expectations which arise from a story.
Breaking even a little bit from these embedded expectations can yield remarkable results. Whether you will be pleased with the results is another matter, however, if our intention is to change our condition, then we must look to as yet undefined goals and create non existent maps to the unknown territories we wish to occupy.
In this quest for the unknown, we can find ourselves re creating the very conditions we endeavored to change because we ourselves were not willing or able to first undergo the transformation.
The Game
In the ambitious world of entrepreneurship and personal growth, there's a paradox few dare to acknowledge: the very drive that propels us forward can become the force that holds us back.
Perhaps you've done the deep work. You've traversed the darkness, emerged from years of therapy and inner exploration, and now stand ready to birth something meaningful into the world. Your confidence burns brighter than ever, your vision clearer than before. Yet in those moments when the pressure mounts or the stakes feel overwhelming, you find yourself slipping back into old patterns, pushing, controlling, forcing the flow.
What if the most powerful thing you could do for your vision isn't to work harder or move faster, but rather, to step fully into stillness?
Having guided accomplished professionals and visionaries like yourself, I understand intimately the unique challenge faced by those who are building something aligned with a personal vision after years of conventional success. The hardest part isn't the strategy, the marketing or even the execution, it's learning to get out of your own way and allow your truest intention to emerge.
Welcome to a different way of creating – one that honors your visionary drive and the wisdom of surrender.
Conscious Creating
Navigating the creative identity is a fascinating phenomenon. I have been engaged with this my entire life and professionally for twenty-five years. It’s an intersection of self, business and freedom. There are a plethora of skills involved, especially if one works in multiple disciplines. What I have learned running creative, independent businesses for decades is, business is business. It is what it is. And it's very easy to build a business you don't actually want.
The real trick is creating something that is authentic, healthy and sustainable in this socio economic reality. This is the task I have been engaged with. It requires commitment and dedication, but it's the only way I can see that real change becomes possible.
The path of conscious creating is the path of liberation from established systems and preconceptions.
This practice challenges the boundaries of being a creative human in any discipline on the physical, mental, emotional and environmental platforms.
It asks the questions... Who are you, what are you doing and why?
And it answers with a process of discovery and transformation grounded in the nature of reality. This is not for the feint of heart, it is for passionate people who are intensely engaged and wish to confront limitations and oppressive conditions.
I am preparing a new workshop called Death + Creation which applies impermanence and non attachment principles and practice to the development of creative work.
Sometimes, you need a new perspective in order to create new systems. 🗝
Discover the transformative affect of being where you are…
Transforming the most vulnerable aspects of ourselves into empowerment is perhaps the most challenging and treacherous journey one can make, but truly, what else is there?
When are you offering the workshop? Is this a zoom thing? I clicked on the link. I didn’t s specific date or dates. I’ll be traveling. So, I may or may not be around. It sounds interesting though.
You continue to open my eyes to new perspectives. I'm looking forward to this treacherous journey!!