Outside the lines

“Outside the lines” by Calvin Harris

Last month while having coffee & croissants at a Long Beach, CA. dinner, with a few buddies, a discussion came up on finding ways to think beyond the boxes we find ourselves in, and the possible futures those changes could create.  It all started with Tom talking about the 2016 Hybrid and Electric Cars as an example of a change in our shared view of the box called Transportation. Roy pointed out, that this change was due to fuel cost for crude oil, especially in the summer, the cost of fuel goes up as vacationers take to the road and to the so called bi-annual fuel reformulation cost.

Then the conversation really took off with ideas on alternative fuel sources that moved into alternative ways to travel such as an affordable personal aircraft.  We ruminated over how long each of us thought it would take before an idea such as this would get from drawing board to prototype to market. Comments were made that some of these ideas must be in the works already and perhaps have been for decades.  That’s when Roy brought up the quote, and conversation moved around African-American writer and activist Dr. Amos Wilson who is credited with the quote “If you want to understand any problem in America, you need to focus on the profits from that problem, and not who suffers from the problem.”  Comments where all over the board about that quote when we were interrupted by the waiter’s commented to us, that whatever we were discussing must have been good for we were on our 4th cup of coffee, where as we are usually nursing only the one or two cups of the brew.

My thoughts kept returning to Jerry, and what he had said about an article by a new writer for the CSM, Ben Rosen (It’s funny how you can throw down a name or in this case a name of a newspaper - the “Christian Science Monitor” and all ears perk up, LOL, well it is a great paper), anyway Rosen had done this article on a research project at the Airbus facility in Munich, Germany where they are working with green algae slime, to turn it into biofuel that will at some point fuel their commercial airplanes.

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Tom pointed out “that If Companies are doing this, you know it has to do with cost, efficiency.” When Abe chimes in “Or in finding a better environmentally sustainable product than crude.” So as it turns out the Airbus biotechnological researchers have deduced Algae grows faster and produces higher energy yields than other plants. The downside right now is that it is much more expensive to turn into fuel than traditional petroleum byproducts. So we figured that your first flight using algae fuel could take a while. In fact, I was told that in an interview for Reuters International News Agency, that researcher and professor Thomas Brueck, at Munich Technical University, predicted that algal biofuel use could take as long as 35 years to become viable and pass jet fuel requirements. Professor Brueck is quoted as saying “…. We need a combination of different technologies to actually enable crude oil substitution.”

We deduced, in our coffee klatch conversation that new products could come sooner if enough incentives were there.  Of course, we concurred that it would take creative people with the agility and boldness of mind to seize the opportunities to create new inventions and technologies. Who could take ‎ inspiration or ideas from areas that are outside or beyond the boxes we confine ourselves to. Then Roy brought up the need and having in place those people with the understanding of the issues, that have both the agility and diplomacy for rectifying the new directions of technology with the old method of doing things.  We all agreed that people with these abilities need to be developed as drivers to change. It would take people developed with different education, perspective, and skill sets to brings about the transformation of transportation, aviation and shipping industries. Where science will meet art.  Jerry said “One thing that is in place that could move things along, is that there is some sort of regulatory mandate to cut carbon dioxide emissions by 2050. Getting closer to that date, could bring many ideas off the drawing boards, to speed up the process of concept to market.  This will take individual’s, in various disciplines to come together committed to research and discovering sustainable solutions that move us forward.

The same could be said of our personal lives. Charles Darwin is reported as saying “It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.” I chose to call this Blog  Outside the lines, I think because it means to me that we all can become that agility, the agent to conceptualizing problems differently, approaching our life in new and innovative ways and understanding our position in relationship to any particular situation in new ways, perhaps taking action in ways you’d never thought of before. 

This would mean incorporating doing something in a different way than we are used to doing it. It is the need to invite randomness into our lives. Suggestions would be like asking a child for advice. Like working a project from conclusion to its beginning at least in your head. Reading or researching something in an unfamiliar field for the purpose of using it in another area. Drawing a picture or writing something with your left hand on paper.  It can be very revealing as I learned from a class I took from Artist-Instructor-Mentor Heather William of San Diego, CA.  I don’t know a better to say it than what I heard reported to be a quote from Dustin M. Wax, a writer, who wrote “– the talents you develop may come in handy the next time you face a situation “that ‘everybody knows’ how to solve.”  All I could say was WOW.  Try some of this and let me know what you think, who knows you could be the next new creator of the future.

Aloha

Calvin

7 Signs that may Indicate a Life Course Shift

1.    You have an urge to explore your potential and in the course of doing so you find yourself reviewing your past. A past you desire to detach yourself from, in order to create and explore new possibilities of your own making.

2.    You want to spend more time alone away from negativity and drama, but not isolated and lonely.

3.    You crave change in your current environment be it the sense of home and/or employment, for something that is uniquely yours and that accommodates your true purpose.

4.    You find yourself feeling acute emotions when looking at past or current situations while trying to move pass them into a more philosophical or spiritual way of Being.

5.    You have the desire to give up on harmful habits that no longer serve you, be it toxic interaction with people or substances, that drain strength, inner-peace and the sense of wellbeing.

6.    Your current world view no longer makes sense to you. Things, objects, desires, goals you once placed great value in, no longer holds importance to you, and perhaps feels harmful to the new sense of identity or purpose you are moving towards.

7.    You gain an awareness, of a conscious synchronicity of words and actions that repeat in your life, that come together as if as a signpost to direct you into right action and towards revealing your naked truth and your mission in life.

My Experience of Discovery with Jean-Paul Basquiat's Notebooks

By Michael Kelly

"In my opinion, an individual without any love of the arts cannot be considered completely civilized. At the same time, it is extremely difficult, and sometimes impossible, to interest people in works of art unless they can see them and know something about them."

—J. Paul Getty, 1965

In a continuing discourse on Art and where to begin finding yours. I would like to present a post by my friend Michael Kelly who, among other things, is a technical business & educational systems creator. -Calvin

On my first visit to the High Museum’s exhibit of Jean-Michel Basquiat’s “Unknown Notebooks” here in Atlanta, I was disappointed. Close to a hundred pages from the notebooks were displayed in the usual waist-high display cases in two large galleries; it was a very mixed bag: some were interesting, but most seemed to be the product of someone playing with one or two words, or a few lines. Here’s an example:

colors with numbers on the back
brooming into mezzo /aspuria-

You have to picture a page with just these two lines on the top the rest blank. Insight, anyone? It’s true that this is the kind of private noodling that art-history scholars love to sift through, but why was it trumpeted as providing insight into Jean-Michel’s art for the rest of us?

Before saying more about my visits, you should know that this is a traveling exhibit that may come to a Museum near you. It came to the High from the Brooklyn Museum, where it was first organized, and where an important Basquiat show was mounted in 2005. I wanted to see Basquiat’s notebooks because of seeing and enjoying other artists’ notebooks, and because his art is baffling to me. While some of his pieces have a very strong visceral impact, I draw a blank when I try to understand why; many of his pieces hardly register as art, which of course is hardly unique to Basquiat. Although I’ve spent a good number of years in New York’s many museums and galleries enjoying and learning about all kinds of art, especially modern art, I find it difficult to sort out what is going on in any given Basquiat painting—and if you are familiar with his work, you know that there’s typically a lot going on. He put an enormous amount of energy into his work, which attracted me and affected me, but it was also clear that I had very little resonance with what was actually being depicted in the paintings.

Although I left the exhibit disappointed, I was actually still processing a lecture by Franklin Sirmans on Basquiat and his notebooks which I’d attended earlier in the evening. Basquiat was born in New York City on December 22, 1960 and died there in 1988. He emerged as an artist in the 80s, and some of the key points of reference in Mr. Sirmans’ talk were the cultural transformations that Jean-Michel was immersed in during this period: rap music and other kinds of street art, most notably for Jean-Michel graffiti. Where he emerged was in Manhattan’s famous downtown gallery scene, which was scruffy, energetic and Punk.

Discovering that the Notebooks show was closing in a matter of days, I decided to give it one more try. The second time I could feel the pieces start to come together. I realized that I was reading the words on the page in a literal way, as if they were orphans from a story or that he started describing something and kept getting interrupted. In other words, I was reading like I would read my notebook, not like the words of a graffiti artist! And not words from a street-art, rap-inflected view of the world. These neatly printed words were like bits of poems: creating visual imagery in the mind’s eye; testing out how they looked on the page; and experimenting with how they sounded. Once I made that shift, the notebooks came alive for me. I still don’t know what “colors with numbers on the back” means, but as poetry it comes alive: maybe a colored ticket or artist’s paints? And “brooming into Mezzo”—I get that he’s playing with word-sounds: booming into…, brrrroooming into…. I began to peer down at each page, trying to free-associate with each one. It was an intense kind of fun, and had the side-effect of creating a backed up line of museum visitors.

My discovery was to see the notebook pages more like a street-smart graffiti artist with an attitude and a lyrical gift with words as images. It takes time to see something in a new way because we don’t have any indication that we are seeing in a way at all and don’t have a conscious way to change it even if we want to. But despite our habitual ways of seeing, that ones we don’t know are ways, with lots of inputs and a willing attitude our brains are able to process things differently. So be on the lookout for possible visual shifts, and then pay attention when what you obviously see is raw fish—try to get your brain to show you sushi!

Michael Kelly can be contacted thorough his blog Explorations.

7 Tips for Cultivating Success and Financial Security

It was one of those parties large enough where folks had formed groups of different conversation each going on simultaneously. I decided to refill my wine glass at the bar, and on my return from the bar, heard bits and pieces of varying conversation as I move through the room. My attention was suddenly captured and drawn to a conversation when I heard the words ‘Yes, it would be a way of securing more of your money’ caught my ear, as I turned and gravitated into the group.

There I saw and heard the voice of Michael Hughes (not real name) aka the playboy and man’s man of financial gain in my circle of friends. He was at the center of a discussion where he was agreeing with some fellow over advice about finances that the fellow had gleaned from a television talk show whose guest were composed of “Sharks” (a business-themed T.V. show where multi-millionaire tycoons listen to people from all walks of life, who have come to pitch their dreams and ideas for the chance to secure funds in a business deal that could make them millionaires.) The Sharks' goal is to find a deal that brings a return on their investment and allows them ownership of a piece of the next big business idea.

The Sharks included billionaire Mark Cuban, real estate mogul Barbara Corcoran, QVC-famed Lori Greiner, tech innovator Robert Herjavec, branding expert Daymond John, and venture capitalist Kevin O'Leary. (These investors had found themselves being interviewed about keys to financial success.)

Our cocktail group conversation spring-boarded from that conversation about the show into other areas of money and success. As the conversation moved along I found myself going through my own mental check list of techniques I had tried over the years that worked and I found useful, but only when I would put them to work for me and my circumstance. Circumstance in one’s life is why a grain of salt is needed when taking any advice.

Having said that, this post is for that group of you who keep harassing me about my take on your financial decisions. To those of you that I have told on several occasions that finance is not my field of expertise! Well, I did learn something from that cocktail conversation encounter: that I had known more and forgotten it than I thought I did. It has given me the confidence to pass on these 7 tips, about finance that you may find useful to consider. I would suggest that you do your own research on it and only then to put it into action if you determine any of it useful to you.

Tip 1 - Be ready for when the poop hits the fan, because it always does

In life you learn that if you don’t like something give it 15 minutes because it is going to change.  You and your financial picture will certainly see change happen. If you are looking for security in a time of flux or a downturn, then you would need to learn how to prepare financially and emotionally for the unexpected, because there's a 100 percent certainty the unexpected will happen. It is suggested that one way to be ready for change is to keep 10 percent of your total assets in cash.

Tip 2 - Follow your heart, but do not forget your brains

People can be so overzealous about their dreams to the point that they scare themselves out of moving toward them; or they go rushing in, blinded by their passion that they miss the realities of making their dreams realized. They need to see themselves and their ideas/concepts differently, perhaps more like a savvy entrepreneur, which is a person with a plan for success, with flexibility of focus both for their ideas/dreams and lifestyle. And not to forget that they will have to generate money to survive and thrive, not only for themselves but for whatever ideas/creation they want to birth.

Tip 3 - Cultivate healthy skepticism

You can expect as an entrepreneur, a preoccupation with your dreams/creation (that could even have you forget to breath, thank heavens breathing is automatic), you will find you want to do everything possible to maintain and financially secure it.

Know that successful people have learned to take the hit on both finances and dreams, but they grew from the hit, got up and stop feeling sorry for themselves and keep moving forward.  In your financial world, you will need to apply the same strategies. Know there are opportunist looking to take a bite out of your savings, reputation and dreams. To protect yourself from paranoia about this, you must cultivate two types of focus - Knowledge and Wisdom. To do that I share a Marilyn Voss Savant quote: “To acquire knowledge you must study and to acquire Wisdom one must observe.”

Thus in your game plan development you have short term goal that involves learning to spot, what Sharks call, “Slick Willies.” These are slippery folks, quick to take shortcuts or shift stories, and they're often dishonest. Slick Willies are in every profession, from financial advisers to lawyers to real estate brokers, and the best way to tell if you're dealing with one, is to call a time-out and listen to your gut. Then proceed accordingly.

In your Long term game plan incorporate “the worst-case scenario” to every situation. For example, what would be the personal impact of a significant stock market correction in your life, if it happens in the next five years? What if a spouse, or parent falls ill and needs long-term care? What if your job downsized before you were ready to take your dream/concept full throttle, or before you were ready for retirement?

To incorporate action plans for such situations as these into your game plan, you will need healthy skepticism, or what Andy Grove, the former CEO of semiconductor giant Intel, calls Paranoia as suggested in his book “Only the Paranoid Survive” which deals with lives in sudden change.

Tip 4 - Know “Who’s On First”

The Sharks Tank show has two dramatic words, "I'm out," and when spoken, I am told, you can see the air go out of the person who is trying to pitch their idea / product. Comments of the various investors have been reported as saying: Mark Cuban of the show says: “It's an emotionally charged moment for the entrepreneurs, it is remarkably emotionless for the Sharks. That's because, ‘No deal is better than a bad deal.’ Understand the investment.” Cuban is reported as going on to say "If you don't understand what is going on, whether as an investment or a deal, then why are you doing it?" Lori Greiner said: “The problem is, most people either don't realize that when you have a dream, persistence pays off, you find a way.” Or as Barbara Cocoran says: “They lack the fortitude to walk away.” Daymond John says: "Money is purely a tool, and you shouldn't attach any emotion to it. But you see it happen all the time with the buying of homes or people living beyond their means. They get emotionally tied to something, and it eventually hurts them."

Tip 5 - Take a Risk, a Calculated Risk

Shark - Kevin O'Leary was purported as saying regarding risk - "A calculated risk is based on knowing the outcomes of similar investments over a long period of time. It means learning from the past when you're looking toward the future."

In our cocktail conversation, we talked about 3 components of risk reduction, which came down to:

1. Invest in what you know, and in what companies or products you love.

2. Do your homework. Research the idea or product, use your resources the Internet.

3. A New idea for me was reported to have come from Shark Tank’s Kevin O’Leary who was paraphrased as saying: “Prioritize return of capital. Instead of focusing on how much profit you can make; determine how quickly you'll recoup your investment. The key is return of capital first, not return on capital," He goes on to says. "If I give somebody $500,000, I first figure how that money is coming home."

Tip 6 - Negotiate Everything

“I am not interested in money but in the things of which money is the symbol,” said Henry Ford. One understanding of Money that I have come to understand a great deal more of, as of late, is from etymological origins of the word Money which means EXCHANGE, and later BARTER; In Latin origin - CAMBIRE "to exchange, barter; Celtic origin, from PIE root KEMP - "to bend, crook" (with a word sense evolution from "to turn" to "to change," to "to barter".  Which suggest to me an exchange of services.

So much of life is a negotiation. It must be noted that it is a mistake when negotiating to think of the goal is ‘trying to get something over on someone’, it is more important to try to find that ground or medium where both sides walk away feeling they've gotten value. Few things are worse than remembering getting bad quality and service out of an exchange.
Understand then, Money as exchange or barter gives us all more opportunities to find ways to turn or better our situation and life. Look for new ways to bring opportunities of trade or barter to you.

Tip 7 - Listen and keep learning

Are you present in your dealings with people? Conscious of your transactions?  Listening to others as well as yourself to be able to make corrections in a bad encounter or repeat the actions that produced a good outcome? What did you learn from the interaction? These questions encourage constructive thinking, and gives you tools to learn, to change, or adapt your dreams/ideas/projects as needed to bring about success.
So I had a lot to think over and distill, to come up with my conclusions as to what to share with you regarding cultivating success and financial security. One other point I would like to leave with you, is to look for the opportunity to make it abundant in your life. Marianne Williamson is quoted as saying: “The key to abundance is meeting limited circumstances with unlimited thoughts."

These were tips to help change your mind set about creating a secure future with new ways for you to think about money and doing business. If you take action and try some of these changes, shoot me an email. Tell me how it’s going for you.

Man's approach to life's deepest act

Two shorts by Scott Keene

Introducing short story writer Scott Keene of the Long Beach, California, Writing Group

Tattoos & Footsteps

by Scott Keene 27 July 2012

He woke with a start. He looked around the room with sleepy eyes. Where was he? He looked at the nightstand next to the bed. The hotel clock said 3:15. Of course, he sighed. The Marriott near the airport in St. Louis. The connection to Cleveland had been cancelled because of the storm. Southwest had tried to put him up in some crappy hotel that looked like some sort of medieval castle. He wasn't having that. He took his hotel voucher and his Marriott rewards points and gave himself an upgrade.

He lay his head back down on the pillow and let his eyes adjust to the darkness. Then he heard it again. The same sound that had awoken him. Footsteps. Except… no, it couldn't be. They sounded like they were coming from inside the room. He flipped the switch on the lamp next to his side of the bed and listened again. He could hear the faint sound of music coming from somewhere, but he couldn't make out the tune.

He got up, pulled on a t-shirt and jeans and slipped his feet into his loafers. Grabbed the key card and the ice bucket and walked down the hall.

There was a vending machine room at the end of the hall, where the ice machine was. He put the bucket in place and pressed the button. He heard the gentle whir of gears turning, but no ice. He pressed again and still nothing. He turned and walked back towards his room. As he passed room 217, he paused. The music was coming from behind this door. Still, he had trouble recognizing the tune. He leaned forward and gently pressed his ear to the door. Music, yes, but other noises too. Was that…? Yes, just beneath the sound of the music was the soft slapping and moaning of copulation.

He blushed and stepped away from the door. As he turned once again to make his way back to his room, he heard the door to room 217 open. "Hey," the woman said. He faced her, looked her up and down. She was naked he realized but covered nearly head to toe in tattoos. The music was louder now with the door open and he could still hear the sounds of love-making from inside.

Interesting. "Hey," he said, smiling.

Breasts

by Scott Keene 14 April 2016

He had a lot of thoughts about breasts. He was certainly not a breast man, but when prompted to write about breasts, there were several thoughts that came to mind.

He didn’t like the way the female breast was sexualized in American culture. Women were not allowed to be topless. Unless, of course the nipples were covered up. Why was this? Why was it okay to leave the breast exposed as long as the nipple was not revealed. He just didn't get it.

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The Bather, 1858, Gustav Courbet

He remembered watching a special on Discovery Health channel about breast reduction surgery. This is medical. Clinical. There is nothing sexy about breast reduction surgery. Yet when the exam begins, the doctor pulls back the paper gown to reveal the breasts and the nipples are pixelated. Ridiculous.

By contrast, he remembered another special on weight loss. Same type of scenario, only this time the subject was male. The man weighed close to 300 pounds and was about to undergo reduction surgery, including breast reduction. But this time, full male breasts, no nipple pixilation. And this man's breasts were way bigger than the woman's in the other special. He realized, of course, size had nothing to do with it. It was clearly a gender issue.

But he still didn't get it.

Life as Art

It’s Spring and like bears after hibernation people seem to be getting out of their caves more and doing things. In my recent meet ups with my peeps there is a lot of chatter the last few months around ART – as in having seen it, or going to see it or new places to find it and even discussions about who’s doing it dead or alive.  That’s all well and good but you can get so involved in that idea that ART is out there, that one forgets everyone is an Artist to some extent, and perhaps a dam good one at one time or another in their life. They are good at something, maybe a lot of different things – it could be wood carving and auto mechanics. You could be a great brick layer with people saying yep, the way he works, he’s a great craftsman, an artist and a great chef too! Okay, I heard you in the back bleachers. Yes, as the wise guy in the bleachers has shouted out. We can all be exceptional in something, even if it is being the best bull shitter in the room. That still counts as Art, the art of bullshit.

We need to somehow sustain that knowledge of ourselves as artist in the continuing shift of our talents throughout our lifetime. Taking pride associated with doing a job well done, be it baker, lawyer, candle-stick maker, architect, musician, mechanic, painter, web-builder, actor, physicist, and or dancer (you choose) and then do it.

This dialogue may be of assistance for you guys who feel you have no, or have not found your ART (aka) talent yet.   Even the mention of the word talent…worse the word ‘ART’ sounds foreign to many, but I can tell you that it is there. I suggest that if you are up for the challenge of looking for it, you start with your life style. Hey come on, what do you have to lose but perhaps some ignorance about the way your life could be lived. Oh I must warn you, you may be shocked at what you learn about and see in yourself while you are making those discoveries.  It’s like James Bond, 007, you will find out that the assignment can unearth an identity, where you’ll be faced with a wide range of emotions and actions that come up and present themselves to you, and like Bond, you will become quick on your feet finding ways to master and be proficient in the use of them. Oh did I mention danger and unsavory action? I didn’t? good.  That may be saying too much and I am getting ahead of myself.

Let’s take a step back, and attempt to understand the basis of the nature ART, Talent and Life. Then we might get an idea of what kinds of balls you will need to pursue it.

Some think being Young, a Hunk, and Moneyed is just about as far as you can go in life…that ain’t it kids, not even half as far as it goes. What you really have is frozen yogurt pretending to be ice cream.  It’s like using apps on the electric device and pretending you are dating rather than getting some clothes on your ass, hitting the street and meeting somebody.

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I hope you can see that when I mention the word ART I’m not talking about pictures on a wall or music at a concert, or dance on a stage per say. Oh no Baby ART is much more than that and can be expressed in many facets. That is why in life you get to find your ART, name it and put it to use for you.

ART is the uncanny ability to communicate” a particular facet of an idea or unique twist to a subject. To depict a moment or flash in time securing that idea or subject in some kind of medium, that can bring a vibrancy and depth to something ordinary, that then transforms it, much like vivacious colors and brush strokes on an impressionist artist canvas, changes the ordinary landscape into something memorable. You look for the best possible situation for you to express your medium, to bring about your object of ART and to capture it. That facet of itself not yet known or enlightened before. It is the best of compliments when someone says, “Wow, you made that ugly building beautiful.” Or when a customer says “you saw something gorgeous in that old wreck, that I did not see.” It’s about capturing the spirit of the subject not seen before.  If you can do that, then your job is done.'

Where do you look to find your ART? It might be found in the location of where you grew up, or where you lived, or in the influences of those you grew up with. If you reflect on those areas in your life, you may find traces of what would becomes your technique, or how you learned to express things.  It could be the very thing that becomes your muse. A Muse, is that inspiration which draws out of you talent, or what I call, your ART. The Muse can start out as simply as Betty Sue telling you she liked the tie you wore to her 10th birthday party, or you handing your pop tools while he was restoring an old car, or the math or science teacher that showed you an answer to a problem that you could not get your head around. Whatever it was, picture it now. Then let the scene show you that spark becoming the passionate fire that catches you up in it, and still drives you to keep doing more.

Then again, a muse can appear fickle, but know that it is to maintain your passion, it can steer you to change an activity. It can take you from the love of auto mechanics to being a musician. A muse may take you down some avenue as a way to keep the fire in your loins going.

Now that is the rub. You imagined yourself being a mechanic for all of your life, and your muse has now brought you up against other images in your head representing other ways to be successful in the ART of living. Other ways to succeed,  and you feel conflict of purpose. Your muse has taken you down a different path than you thought.  This is where it is good to stop and reflect. You may need research in how to processed, what to do, or in what order to flush out your direction towards your new goal. Know that no path is wrong, just that each has different dynamics to succeed. Conversations with others may be helpful. Taking pictures relating to what you want to do, or even writing a bio – description will bring it more into focus. These forms of activities can create the internal dialogue between you and your muse to catch inspiration and move you forward. Remember to breathe, keep it interesting and fun.

You may find that your talents can take you into different directions at once.  Finding yourself going from no talent to jack of all talents all at once. 

Recognize where your energy wants to take you. Look back on your body of work, there you will see the threads and a style that shows your unique stamp for doing things. You may find that when you create, like 007 on a mission, the challenge requires you to step up for an assignment with different skill sets, but that you to know you have the right equipment. 

Pick that one medium and let the rest of the possibilities go for now. Once you have learned what that experience has to teach you then you can go on to the next challenge. Start in on the chosen task knowing that whichever one has been chosen, that it is the right one for now.  Everything is experimental, and once in your hands, it is designed for you to know the form, and what’s more important, to know yourself as the ARTIST in mastering that form, in the Art of Living Life.

Man Love

I have a curiosity about people and their interaction with each other. While attending a Birthday party recently, my attention was drawn to a group of Jocks who were gathered together (as far away from the dance floor as they could get.) but it was their body stance and posturing, as well as their nervous laughter while talking that had caught my attention.

As it turned out, their conversation was on: ‘Bromance’ and how confusing the term was, one fellow said: “I love this guy (pointing to the man standing next to him), but hey, don’t get me wrong, we are straight and married.” I thought it was funny that he had to point out the obvious, but I guess with people calling themselves any number of sexual orientations and the list growing every day, that he felt he needed a qualifier.

In this current age of transformative roles and changing morality, the question of male love / bonding really becomes tricky.  As human beings, we naturally experience changes during the course of our lives here on planet Earth with some appearing to come out of left field.  These changes are challenging, even overwhelming at times.

Individuals find themselves unconsciously seeking to make sense of it.  I feel they are trying to articulate their Archetypal journey from sense to soul - The path that is hidden beneath the surface. In the case of this male bonding episode it was grist for my mill to ponder, I call it Tantalum or the practice of contemplation to clarify.

It may seem a bit odd to think that the answer to this form of relationship lay in the Ancient Archetypes. Let's bring examples of those mythic archetypes to the forefront of our mind to lend some clues and have a chance to release some taboos about our man friends in the flow of daily encounters.

Seldom is a Conscious focus used to understand what may be going on with us, life just seems to happen. Thus, some wander disoriented through life, others on a self-destructive path, in a world that is understood, and measured primarily by the external environment. Seldom by a choice of the Conscious Contemplation.

You hear all the time how we have lost sight of the personal connection be it with environment, each other, and with even our self.  We have a disconnect from the Archetypal Source. Sadly, too, we have come to understand “myth” as a lie rather than the symbolic and metaphoric gateway to a deeper truth.

For example, when the guy was talking about his love of his buddy, a piece of the mythic story or experience came to my mind. It was told to me years ago as a form of American Indian lore about manhood and love.

Love in Indian lore as per males, was described not as a concept revolved around a romantic getting your grove on sentimentality, but rather shown as adherence to service and duty.

Every boy, from the beginning of his training, was an embryo public servant. He put into daily practice lessons that reflected public service, so in this way, it would become part of him. His expectation for his service was not salary, nor prizes to work for. He took his tribute in the recognition of the community’s betterment and the consciousness of unselfish service.

The finest love a man could develop then was with his fellow men in unselfish service; these friendships were thought to be - the severest test of character.

You'd think it would have been loyalty to family and clan, or man and woman. The love between man and woman founded on the mating instinct and is often times not free from desire and self-seeking. But to have a friend, and to be a true friend under any and all trials, was considered the mark of a man! The highest type of friendship was the relation of ‘brother-friend’ or ‘life-and-death friend.’ This bond between man and man was usually formed in early youth, and could only be broken by death. It is the essence of camaraderie and fraternal love, it was considered beyond the thought of pleasure or gain, and whose bases is on support and inspiration. Each is vowed to die for the other if need be, and nothing is denied the brother-friend, but neither is anything required beyond their bond.

Their Courage was predicated on the ability to forget oneself in the pursuit of duty and the desire to serve and protect others. Bravery was a high moral virtue, yet it did not consist so much in the form of aggressive self-assertion, but in the development of conscious self-control.  The effect of the vigorous physical training young men participated in, was thought to be a way sports and games could serve as a funnel for their sexual energy, so that they might maintain a courageous self-mastery in their lives. A boy was taught by the men in his tribe how to use this skill in hunting, fishing, and the warrior defense of their agrarian way of life. Also to understand the tribe’s code of service and to learn to be led by Spirit.

Men’s groups known as fraternal organizations have existed as far back as ancient Greece and Rome. In the 1950-60’s there were many different fraternal groups in the United States, and I would guess a good 30 to 40% of adult males belonged to one or another of these kinds of organizations.  Many with animal sounding names such as Lions, Moose, Goose, Eagles, Owls, Orioles - or with names like - Odd Fellows, Knights of..., Veterans of…, Freemasons, Rotary, to name only a few of the vast array.

Men associated with these organizations with the intent to bring out the best in themselves through companionship and brotherhood; these environments were dedicated to the intellectual, physical, and social development of its members, and in some way, somehow to be of service to their community.

So I entertain, in this current age of contemporary coded language – that entails words like - Bro, Bromance, Dudes, Posse, and Wing-men -  that the context of these 21st Century words, have a deeper and more Universal Reality that is the same in all cultures, and all times, which is the Mystery that binds all lives, which is Love.

These are ancient archetypal rooted practices are trans-formative in a man experiences. It is the “encounter” experienced as a larger focused context of Purpose. That brings clarity to relationships and a larger sense of Love.

“Amazing things begin to happen when we do what we can where we are. Albert Schweitzer, the French Nobel Peace Prize recipient of 1953, expressed it this way: “I am certain of one thing. The only ones among us who will ever be truly happy are those of us who have sought and found a way to serve."

The greatest shift in most of our lives will take place when we decide to make ourselves available to something greater than our-self. The moment that the internal dialogue moves from the question “What’s in it for me?” to the question of “How can I be of service?” will be the movement in the direction of discovering our unique relationships with others.

Otherwise there is that uncomfortable veil feeling, as if something is missed.  As if the Universe has kept knowledge hidden from you. Look closer then at what your relationships are - to the Men in your lives, to Service, and what you say you Love. To be more present, be more patient, and to stay on purpose that delivers you to the possibility of a life-lived-in-depth, the possibility of authentic living. By keeping it real, the veil is lifted.