A profound thought

I read a profound thought yesterday, from Paulo Coelho's excellent blog. I encourage you to visit his site, www.paulocoelhoblog.com, but if you don't, here it is:

A reader asked:

We know your messages from your books, but can you summarize with your own words, what’s are the most important things of a human life ?

Not to be paralysed by fear in the path of our dreams.

That is the key, isn't it? I know that my lack of successes are not a result of trial and failure, but paralysis. We are inspired by bold action; our movie heroes and their fearless adventures through trials that would freeze most of us like a rabbit with its ears back. We are inspired, but do we move? Do we leave the theatre thinking, I will ask for a raise (or quit my job); I will apply for that transfer; I will ask for extra sauce on my burger; I will ask that girl out (or to marry me).

That is my question to you: Do you ask? Or do you slide back into the wagon rut and wait for the sequel? What inspires you to take action?

Paradise found.

Sometimes, I forget that Summerland is an area so breathtakingly beautiful that people from around the world come to visit. Other times, I remember. All of these images were taken within a five minute drive from my house, this week.

The Okanagan is a playground year-round, not just during the summer months.

A Tale of Understanding

A mechanic was driving outside a small village when he came up on a man parked on the side of the road, looking into a field. From his clothing, the mechanic knew that he wasn't from the village, and he pulled over to see if he could help. He got out of his car and by the time he got to the man, he knew what was wrong. He must have a broken fan belt! Why else would someone be parked there? Excitedly, he told the man how to change the fan belt; what nuts to loosen, how to stretch the new belt when he put it on, and how to remove the old belt, but the man just smiled and said nothing.

A farmer was walking up the road, and he asked what the problem was. The mechanic told the farmer that his car was broken, that the fan belt was broken, and that the man was refusing to change it. The farmer looked at the man and thought, it's not his fan belt, he's wishing he had a horse, and excitedly he began to tell the man about his horse for sale, how high it stood, how it rode through the tall grass, how it liked to eat carrots with its lips, and how it could pull a cart. The man smiled and said nothing.

A realtor saw the men standing there, and thought Fantastic! Someone wants to buy the property I have listed! So he came up to the man and began talking louder than the mechanic and the farmer, describing the property, how many bedrooms were on the main floor, how the deer grazed in the front yard, and how quiet the neighbors were in the evenings. The man just smiled and said nothing.

A doctor saw the people gathering and thought, someone must be hurt. So he ran over and saw everyone gathered talking about the man, and said Stand back! This man needs medicine! He has a headache, and that is why he is parked here! And he ripped out his doctor's kit and gave him a bottle of pills. The man smiled and said nothing.

A sage was walking down the road when he saw a crowd gathering around a man, parked just past a bridge. From where he stood, he could see that underneath the bridge, two boys were running back to the car, holding a big fish. The two boys came back to the car and showed the man the fish, babbling excitedly in a foreign language. The man exclaimed something back, smiled and put the fish and the boy's fishing rods in the trunk, and drove off with the two boys, leaving the townspeople standing there.

The moral of the story is that until you understand the situation, you cannot help, and by trying to help without knowing, you look like a fool. Perhaps you know someone out of work in the Great Depression of 2009. Before offering wisdom on how to fix their situation, ask them how they are doing. An age old adage, Seek first to understand, then to be understood, applies here. It is wonderful to point out that bills need to be paid, and that the person has a mortgage swinging around their neck like an albatross, but the chances are that the person already knows that. It is wonderful to suggest that someone you know is working at two dead-end jobs to make ends meet, and that the person should go out and do that, but the person may have already been applying to dozens of jobs and had no calls back. It is wonderful to tell someone to work as a janitor or at the coffee shop for twelve hours per week instead of following their own well-thought out plan for getting back on track, but before you do that, ask how things are going, and listen to the answer. If you want to help someone, asking "How can I be of service?" goes much further than mindlessly bleating like a frightened goat.

A few thoughts about Christmas

Hello all,
Well, Christmas is come and gone, and I now have time to work on images from the holidays. Apart from not working, it was a good Christmas, and the first Christmas as a married couple. To enhance the experience, Tania and I invited the relatives over for a big dinner on Boxing Day. Sadly, there were no photographs of this momentous occasion.

I have included some of our favorites for your enjoyment! Merry Christmas, and may your 2009 be blessed.

Considering goals

So much has happened, and yet nothing has changed. I just noticed that my blog has not been updated since November, and that is a sin. How can I hope to keep my audience above 50,000 avid readers if I let things slide? For that, I apologize, dear readers.

December has been eventful, as I am certain that all of you can also say. I took an insurance course in Vancouver and received the highest mark in the class, 91%. On the first day Edith Strauss, the instructor, asked us to write down what mark we expected to get in the class. By stating our expectations in a clear, positive way, we exponentially increase our chances of achieving them. I wrote 95%, as I felt that was a believable level to aim for. Many people in the class didn't write anything down, and coincidentally, many people did not pass the course either. I don't remember which people failed or passed, but I believe that those who took action in the direction of their goals were the ones who passed.

Having goals are a fantastic way to shape our lives, to enrich our existence, and to squeeze more out of the marrow of life. Clearly stated goals give us a framework to see where we want to go, or what we want to do. But they are just a map; without the action of getting into the car and following the map, we remain suctioned to our easy chair, dreaming of what might be. Having said this, when I look back at my own existence, I am guilty of drawing many maps from the comfort of my own Lazy-boy, and not going outside to pursue them.

This year, I intend to reread some of the classics from my library: Think and Grow Rich, by Napoleon Hill; The Magic of Thinking Big, by David Schwartz; Cashflow Quadrant, by Robert Kiyosaki; The 4 Hour Workweek, by Tim Ferriss; the Power of Intention, by Dr Wayne Dyer; and Awaken the Giant Within, by Anthony Robbins. I'm open to suggestions too, so if anyone knows of a book that I just cannot live without, feel free to leave a comment below.

The image above was taken in Vancouver, during a break in the course.

I think I will be revisiting this topic in the next few posts, so if this interests you, stay tuned.

Being optimistic in today's economy

Today I took Abby for a walk. Not a long walk, nor the short, "fake" walk when I just need to check the mail, but an average walk. I was struck by how happy Abby was, sniffing all the posts, rocks and checking the Pmail. Sometimes, we as individuals need to check our ego at the door, and say, It is enough. It is enough to go for a walk and be happy. It is enough to listen to a piece of music and be moved by it. It is enough to....(fill in the blank) but the key is to be content.

But how to be optimistic in these times? Every time I login to CNN, or CBC News, I read about tragedy, or recession, or falling housing prices. I know that these organizations exist to crow pessimism from the rooftops, but like driving past an accident, I still look. How do I stay optimistic when I am looking for work today? When a part-time secretarial job posting can harvest 90 resumes? Am I deluding myself by trying to be optimistic? Is it as bad as they say? I struggle almost daily with that question, and tonight, Abby showed me.

I try to see the silver lining when I look at something. When I hear that house prices are down, and that it's a buyers market, I try to look further to see the truth. Yes, prices are down, but not across the board. Some neighborhoods are down, but others are up, and those don't get reported. I'm looking for work, in a bad time to be looking for work. All the signs in the Okanagan are pointing to a long drought economically, but is that true? Or is that what I've been seeing because I've focused on that? So much of what we do is based in fear, fear of losing something, fear of something bad happening, it is good to catch ourselves being fearful and to say, "Is that true? Or is that what I've focused on?" If the reality that we live in doesn't suit you, then change it. Change your description of an event, or focus on something else. I admire those that can do that easily; my natural lack of tact usually has me blurting out something that could have been better phrased. But if you practice looking up, you'll see the sun shining sooner than if you're studying your navel.

Abby could have set out on our walk, grumbling because it was too dark to see many things, or too cold to want to go longer, or that she hadn't finished her unauthorized nap on my pillow. But in a dog's world, a walk is something to be enjoyed, and so she left the grumbling at home when we left.

And so, I've decided to be optimistic for just a little bit longer. I choose to look for the sunshine, rather than the clouds. I choose to believe there is work out there, and that "My business will assume VAST proportions". That was an actual fortune cookie I got last week, and I saved it. And at the end of the day, if I was wrong, I haven't lost anything by being positive.

Inspiration

Patanjali was an Indian mystic who wrote the Yoga Sutras over 2,000 years ago. Over the eons, many have believed this man to be a saint, and he is considered as important in Eastern tradition as Aristotle would be in the West. I recently read a passage that he wrote, regarding Inspiration:

"When you are inspired by some great purpose, some extraordinary project, all your thoughts break their bonds, your mind transcends limitations, your consciousness expands in every direction, and you find yourself in a new, great, and wonderful world. Dormant forces, faculties, and talents become alive, and you discover yourself to be a greater person by far than you ever dreamed yourself to be."*

Wow.

That is easily one of the most profound statements I have read in my life, and I would suggest that it is even more applicable today, than it was 2,300 years ago when he conceived it.

When I consider this in terms of my own small existence, I can reverse a bad mood or turn a good day great by the simple act of creation. Whether it be going for a coffee and sketching ideas on a napkin, discussing a killer idea for a series of portraits, imagining a home built from shipping containers, or developing a black and white print in a darkroom, that act of creation makes my heart sing. I feel powerful, imaginative, and I feel the self imposed limits that my ego has shackled me with slipping away. I feel connected to my destiny, and certain that I am on the right track. I feel determined, and absolutely sure footed.

I believe that to be inspired is to become closer to God. Our goal in this life should be to delve deep and to discover what it is that inspires us to create, and to pursue that. To find what it is that keeps you going long after the other employees have left for the day, or what it is that wakes you up at 4 am to start working on. This is different than motivation; I can be motivated to go to work at 4am because I'm in debt, but I may or may not be inspired!

I have become inspired recently to create a series of portraits. I am beginning a series of images of people who have walked away from a job, and become successful at what they love to do. I'm in the conceptual stage of this series, and I hope to begin it soon. I've had this in my mind for years; the first time I began, I realized to my dismay that at that time, I didn't have the skills to do it justice, and I shelved the project. In hindsight, a better alternative would have been to attack the project and learn on the fly, but everything happens in this world for a reason, and now is the time to begin.

What inspires you? How do you know when you are on the right path? What does it feel like to you? What do you create, and how do you feel when you have created? I've corrected the comments section to make it easier to post; feel free to drop me a comment if what I've written inspires you....

The images above are of Abby, just being inspired to be Abby.
- Kees

* From the book "Inspiration: Your ultimate Calling" by Dr. Wayne Dyer