There is a place where we all come together, where nothing separates us. We are water, metal and earth, ashes and spirit, love and energy. Everything we breathe and share together creates us and the world where we collide.
We also create the boundaries, the limitations, the weakness of will that tells us that we cannot succeed at ____________. Think about the one thing you feel you are failing at now, and think again….is there anything insurmountable that’s keeping you from meeting your goals? Is your failure a true inability or a lack of intention?
In the sweat lodge with Daniel Hawk this week I struggled deeply, fumbling to breathe in the burning hot darkness of the Lakota womb. As my brothers and sisters sang I kept a wet towel close to my face, breathing deep and reminding myself of the very basics. Self love. My handsome partner. The beautiful tribe we share, our family and friends. The land we envision sharing with our global community, the unifying forces that bring us together in that space.
Then the fear hit…hard. I clenched, struggling to breathe. An asthma attack set in that kept me tight all night, reliving the last year and my incomplete failures, the measure of my love and how it spills out. I WANT it to spill out more freely to find new ways to be a loving being in this world.
The book the abbot gave me was “The Miracle of Metaphysical Healing” by Evelyn Monahan. My meditation practice now has a new challenge….is my will strong enough to heal my body? Can the fear and its symptoms find rest?
Evelyn Monahan challenges her readers to find their 3 WISHES, 3 WANTS and 3 NEEDS. I like this exercise as we begin 2008.
3 WISHES:
* An end to tyrannical regimes, imperialist wars and shameful propaganda
* That every one of us find the strength to face our fears openly, with love
* A healthy revolution across the world that protects our freedom to stay close to nature
3 WANTS:
* To identify where we will locate the AMO land
* Flying lessons, working toward the pilot license
* Solid partnerships and opportunities to produce groundbreaking media that educates and inspires
3 NEEDS:
* 365 blog, vlog, archive and tweet the signal and beat of our people
* Integrating the real and virtual with participatory arts culture, opening new doors through immersion
* Peace in my home and in my heart
Lying in bed with my handsome last night we talked about the heartbeat, how it channels the flow for the body and sets the rhythm for all movement. If action that inspires is the goal, the heartbeat must be the drumroll that makes our actions most authentic and true. The heart unifies my global wishes, my focused wants and my essential core needs as a creative human being.
Post your 3 wishes, wants and needs here or in your own blog, and tell us why you do what you do. As you think through how you will achieve your desires, consider your will and the strength within the cells and consciousness that swarm to become YOU. Who are you and who will you be? The photo above is from Mia Farrow’s blog, 3 Needs from Darfur from Sand and Sorrow, a documentary by Paul Freedman featuring Darfur advocates from around the world. I can’t wait to see your 3/3/3 in blog, vlog or tweet.
My home and city has been in hibernation mode for the last few weeks. Outside there’s a strike on somewhere, a mile or two in any direction people in shirts are yelling at other people in different colored shirts. As a new media writer I should care about the future of my industry…..I’ve registered a script with WGA but I’ve never owned it as my union any more than the AMPTP collusion table makes sense to me. The writing rules have never fully applied to my work, mostly shorts and live campaigns. After four years in this town it shouldn’t seem so foreign, the idea that people like to get around tables and yell at each other for power over the creative artists who work with them, but here we are again. Collusion meet fraction, break the creative individual to bits and pieces!
