Jill Bolte Taylor, brain scientist, gives a TED talk about her stroke

Jill Bolte Taylor is a brain scientist who had a massive stroke and nearly died. She tells her story for the TED.com audience in this video. What an unusual opportunity for a scientist - to study the collapse of the brain from the inside out. What she learned - and was inspired to share - will change the way you think about yourself.

Do you choose to live from a left-brain or a right-brain perspective?

I had to share this video. I hope you find it interesting.



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Gaia Meditations by John Seed and Joanna Macy

I had the great priviledge of meeting Australian environmentalist John Seed last week during Earth Hour. John is a deep ecologist and director of the Rainforest Information Centre in Australia. He also helped initiate the US Rainforest Action Network in 1984.

Idolised by many, and well known the world over, John is a disconcertingly unassuming man with a tremendous aura of calm - ideal if you are planning a few moments of quiet reflection!

At 8.30, after the lights went out, we decided to mark Earth Hour with a reading: the Gaia Meditation written by John Seed and Joanna Macy.

I am thrilled to be able to share this beautiful piece with you on my blog today, with love and gratitude to John and Joanna. I hope you enjoy it.

The Gaia Meditation by John Seed and Joanna Macy

What are you? What am I? Intersecting cycles of water, earth, air and fire, that's what I am, that's what you are.

WATER — blood, lymph, mucus, sweat, tears, inner oceans tugged by the moon, tides within and tides without. Streaming fluids floating our cells, washing and nourishing through endless riverways of gut and vein and capillary. Moisture pouring in and through and out of you, of me, in the vast poem of the hydrological cycle. You are that. I am that.

EARTH — matter made from rock and soil. It too is pulled by the moon as the magma circulates through the planet heart and roots suck molecules into biology. Earth pours through us, replacing each cell in the body every seven years. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, we ingest, incorporate and excrete the earth, are made from earth. I am that. You are that.

AIR — the gaseous realm, the atmosphere, the planet's membrane. The inhale and the exhale. Breathing out carbon dioxide to the trees and breathing in their fresh exudations. Oxygen kissing each cell awake, atoms dancing in orderly metabolism, interpenetrating. That dance of the air cycle, breathing the universe in and out again, is what you are, is what I am.

FIRE — Fire, from our sun that fuels all life, drawing up plants and raising the waters to the sky to fall again replenishing. The inner furnace of your metabolism burns with the fire of the Big Bang that first sent matter-energy spinning through space and time. And the same fire as the lightning that flashed into the primordial soup catalyzing the birth of organic life.

You were there, I was there, for each cell of our bodies is descended in an unbroken chain from that event. Through the desire of atom for molecule, of molecule for cell, of cell for organism. In our sexuality we can feel ancient stirrings that connect us with plant as well as animal life. We come from them in an unbroken chain — through fish learning to walk the land, feeling scales turning to wings, through the migrations in the ages of ice.
We have been but recently in human form. If Earth's whole history were compressed into twenty-four hours beginning at midnight, organic life would begin only at 3 pm . . . mammals emerge at 11:30 . . . and from amongst them at only seconds to midnight, our species.

In our long planetary journey we have taken far more ancient forms than these we now wear. Some of these forms we remember in our mother's womb, wear vestigial tails and gills, grow fins for hands.

Countless times in that journey we died to old forms, let go of old ways, allowing new ones to emerge. But nothing is ever lost. Though forms pass, all returns. Each worn-out cell consumed, recycled . . . through mosses, leeches, birds of prey. . . .

Think to your next death. Will your flesh and bones back into the cycle. Surrender. Love the plump worms you will become. Launder your weary being through the fountain of life.

Beholding you, I behold as well all the different creatures that compose you — the mitochondria in the cells, the intestinal bacteria, the life teeming on the surface of the skin. The great symbiosis that is you. The incredible coordination and cooperation of countless beings. You are that, too, just as your body is part of a much larger symbiosis, living in wider reciprocities. Be conscious of that give-and-take when you move among trees. Breathe your pure carbon dioxide to a leaf and sense it breathing fresh oxygen back to you.
Countless times in that journey we died to old forms, let go of old ways, allowing new ones to emerge. But nothing is ever lost. Though forms pass, all returns.

Remember again and again the old cycles of partnership. Draw on them in this time of trouble. By your very nature and the journey you have made, there is in you deep knowledge of belonging. Draw on it now in this time of fear. You have earth-bred wisdom of your interexistence with all that is. Take courage and power in it now, that we may help each other awaken in this time of peril.

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Creating a more peaceful world

One peaceful person is like a pebble cast onto a lake. The ripple effect of that person's peacefulness creates gentle, wide, unending waves.

If we set peace as our primary goal, suddenly all of our interactions have focus and meaning. At each moment we can be choosing to create peace - or create drama and upset. It is possible to have difficult conversations without losing your peacefulness. It is possible to be frank - and gentle - when necessary, without crossing into drama and conflict. It requires committment, self mastery - a lifelong goal!!! - and at times we will not be able to pull it off. Old patterns will dominate us, challenge our new thinking. We will make mistakes, but every second is a new opportunity to see yourself more clearly and step outside to reflect and re-focus on peace.

Our sources of unrest may not be reactions to other people and events, they may be thoughts or situations we keep choosing for ourselves. In each new moment, though, you can make different choices. Meaning that with each new thought you have a new opportunity to choose and move closer to peace.

Sometimes our desire to please others, or protect them, means we don't listen to ourselves, our inner voice that tells us when we are okay and when things are off. I have a friend who is engaged - but doesn't want to be. To avoid disappointing his parents, and hurting his girlfriend, he is reluctant to break it off. Needless to say he lacks peace. In his heart, though, he knows what is right for him. When and if he can eventually be honest with himself, and those around him, about what is right for him, hopefully inner peace will be much closer for him. Although a period of drama and upset, may, indeed, be part of his journey in that case.  

Whatever your situation, work, home, self, it is possible to move and grow and embrace a more peaceful life, a happier, more honest life, closer to our individual bliss.

When fear and guilt coming rushing in and you stand on the edge of a major upset breathe, ground yourself, trust, and re-commit to a peaceful path.

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Desiderata: Old Words, New Meaning

Odd isn't it that words that can be so familar, after a time when we come upon them again, seem suddenly deeply resonant with new meaning? The good old Desiderata hangs on the back of so many toilet doors and in so many hallways that it has almost become wall paper. After speaking with a friend the other day - who surprised herself by bursting into tears as we spoke about an issue close to her heart - I was inspired to look up this classic peace poem and share it with her... and after it's new resonance for me, with you also. Enjoy. 

(By the way, there's a rumour that the Desiderata is not "by Anonymous" and wasn't found in "Old St Paul's Church" but was actually written by Max Ehrmann in the 1920s. I'd be interested to know the truth... if any readers know it!)

Desiderata

Go placidly amid the noise and the haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.

As far as possible, without surrender,
be on good terms with all persons. 

Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even to the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.
 
Avoid loud and aggressive persons;
they are vexatious to the spirit.

If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain or bitter,
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
 
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs,
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals,
and everywhere life is full of heroism.
 
Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love,
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment,
it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
 
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be.
And whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life,
keep peace in your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
 
Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.

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Love Is Letting Go Of Fear

The other day a friend sent me a text message. It said "You'd think I would find it easier to love than be fearful". Yet again she was at a cross roads in her life and, tormented by her expectations for herself and of others, was profoundly uncomfortable. Her lack of peacefulness was like a mantle she was wearing; a tight-fitting, restrictive jacket she was straining to be free of. You could see it in her face, hear it in her voice, her words.

It doesn't seem fair, when you want something so desperately, to find yourself so far away from it. Career, love, home comforts. It is easy to become angry, moody, resentful. Easier still to start to doubt yourself: "Will it ever happen?", "Have I done the wrong thing?", "Is there something wrong with me?", "Have I made bad choices?". You can get desperate, start to make rash choices, react, panic.

Stop. Step back. Breathe.

The sun comes up each day, and sets quietly behind the horizon. Most of us have a roof over our heads, a bit of cash coming in, a few people who care about us. There are birds singing in the trees. A big wide sky overhead. Fish in the oceans (for a while longer anyway).

Trust that the choices you have made were the best you could make being who you are and knowing what you did at that time. You may know better now, be better equipped now to make different decisions, but back then... you didn't. Don't beat yourself up.

Similarly, that glorious future you imagine for yourself... is it stealing joy from your now? Are you so consumed by the picture you have created in your head that you can't be grateful for the wonderful present? Sun on your back, steaming hot coffee, compliment from a stranger...

I was given a book many years ago by a friend. It was called "Love Is Letting Go Of Fear" (by Gerald G Jampolsky). It's a thin book, less than 150 pages. The writing is big. It has cartoons. Six years later I still sleep with it by my bed. I can go weeks without referring to it, but I think about it daily.

Fear, expectations (future), guilt (past) - they steal your peacefulness. They unsettle your day, take you away from this moment, right now. And it is so important that in this moment we are doing everything we can to expand and love and be generous with ourselves and others. By doing so we benefit immediately... and the benefits continue to flow to us over time... and whether those secret dreams of ours come true or not we've been feeling good along the way.

Unlike my friend, whose sleep is disturbed, heart is closed, and head is full of harsh stories of failure and doubt.

I love her and wish her peace. I hope she can shake off that prickly coat (and I hope I can keep mine hanging neatly in the cupboard...)

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Still Waters Run Deep

Your life can change in a moment. An event. A realisation. A word from a friend. Each of these things can cause a massive, instantaneous shift in you. From that moment on everything you think and do is shaped by that critical moment. You are changed forever, transformed in some way.

For most people though, these moments are rare, and for many, never occur. Instead, we go about our business, and kind of chip away at the Big Picture. Perhaps we hope to slowly build on each experience and opportunity, eventually reaching some kind of wisdom or mastery, or achieving recognition from our boss, or financial reward. Maybe we get a pay rise each year, maybe some years we go backwards a bit.

Is it true that what you have unfolding in your life today is a product of everything that has gone before? Every thought you've had, choice you've made, word you've spoken? Plus a few random external events - such as the country you were born in!

Perhaps you think the "slow building" idea is too optimistic? You could say: "I've been saving my pennies for years but still can't afford a holiday house by the beach"; "I'm a good person - why do my friends keep taking advantage of my generosity?".

What if the chipping-away-it thing is less about the external world (career, possessions, recognition) and a everything to do with you, honing who YOU are and want to be... getting a little bit better everyday at being consistently that person: more generous, more considered, less angry, more tolerant, less reactive, more fun, calmer, more hopeful, more engaged (whatever qualities matter to you).

If you build on YOU over time, then, at some point it is simply a matter of choosing where you put your attention: campaigning for a new park in your local area, building a business, becoming a salsa dancing teacher... whatever floats your boat! You'll know that however you tackle the task at hand it will be done by the best you it is possible for you to be at that time.

Impact? Explosive. Think of this "best yourself" as a river, wide and deep, life-giving; and your  project, an opportunity for creative expression, the waterfall. Beautiful, powerful, profound.

After years of flowing quietly through the countryside, suddenly the river has it's moment. And when you shine, the world benefits.

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Poem by Hafiz: What Should We Do About That Moon?

Do you have days where you find yourself anxious for no reason? Life may be good, with no dramas to report, and yet you feel an inner tension? Something is eating at you. Even the fact that something's eating at you eats at you!!! And peace is far away. Well, this little poem was written more than six hundred years ago... just for YOU.

Yes, I am still enjoying the poetry of 14th Century mystic Hafiz, the great Sufi master. My most recent delight is this one.

I hope it also speaks to you.

What Should We Do About That Moon?

A wine bottle fell from a wagon
And broke open in a field.

That night one hundred beetles and all their cousins
Gathered

And did some serious binge drinking.

They even found some seed husks nearby
And began to play them like drums and whirl.
This made God very happy.

Then the "night candle" rose into the sky
And one drunk creature, laying down his instrument,
Said to his friend - for no apparent
Reason,

"What should we do about that moon?"

Seems to Hafiz
Most everyone has laid aside the music

Tackling such profoundly useless
Questions.



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