Staying Open-the 'What's In it For me?' Deal

Sometimes, the hardest thing you will ever be faced with is the demand that organic life places upon us all to remain open. A closed womb can accept no seed, nor bear any life.

It comes naturally to us- to be open. It's inherent in our nature, but as we go along in life, various thing can occur and we can get our fingers burnt, our hearts bruised, our hopes smashed and our dreams broken.

It's right about then that you REALLY need to stay open. Ok...maybe I should I.

Taking a Leaf out of Nature's book...or maybe a trunk

I love, absolutely LOVE, visual metaphor. One of my "favouritist" places is a chunk of Rainforest atop Burleigh Head, and when I go there with my camera, I am truly in another world. I lose myself so completely,so effortlessly and oh, so blissfully. I see 'into' things, 'beyond' things and 'through' things...and all these 'things' I see whisper back truths of ancient knowing that only creatures like trees and seas can know.

I see myself. A timely insight. I know it's just what I need, because it is the message that comes.

I looked at this trunk and the hole into the hollow of its core. I pondered whether this was a 'good' or 'bad' thing. An open wound or a functioning orifice. It was a clean opening. It didn't look 'broken'. I'm sure many living creatures had ventured in and found shelter as needed. How did it serve the tree, other than allow the tree the serve others?

As is frequently the case, judgement on a matter is often relative. This gaping hole, apparently organic in every way, still looked odd in its own right, but 'normal' in light of what was beside it.

Now, this hole, although 'whole' in that it was closed over, like an old, scarred wound...this hole didn't look 'good' to my eye. It looked like the other hole, gone wrong.

It looked like an opening that no longer wanted to be open and had to work contrary to its organic way to shut down.

It looked gnarled, twisted, tormented and well barricaded, from within and deformed. What happened here?

I stood there, meserized, much to the surprise of passers-by, I'm sure! Switching from opening to the other, and 'feeling' more than hearing what they spoke to me.

In light of my morning meditation, today, this set of photos seems to speak even more clearly to me. The clear opening was vulnerable-all its guts exposed and accessible, and I'm almost certain there'd be things inside that tree that had no place being there, pushed in thoughtlessly, carelessly. Even so, I'm equally sure that the creatures that made a home in there, would have found resourceful ways to recycle that stuff too! Because that is what ORGANIC LIFE does.

Even with abuse, this hole stayed open, clean, functional, non scarred and life nurturing.

The Second hole had the appearance of one that had 'taken offence' to being treated that way, shutting down to the abuse, but at what cost? It lost the capacity to be of certain use in shutting down to the possibility of abuse. Not only was it not able to 'serve' others through its life, it became all mangled in its own form. I relate to the second hole as being ruled by the "what's in it for me?" question, and in not finding a desirable answer, decided it would have none of it!

ALL ONE LOVE ENERGY FIELD

And here's the interesting part...these holes are right beside each other, part of the same

tree trunk. We are all ONE! We are all connected. My guts are YOUR guts. When I shut down to you, I shut down to ME. When I shelter you, I am safe. When I leave you in the cold, I am alienated. Whatever I see in you, is but my own reflection-whether beauty or fear,love or judgement.

My heart is like the hole in the tree. It has undergone many piercings, and suffered several breaches, but if I close it down, I cannot function at all.The wind cannot breathe its song through me ( and I live for the Song of the Wind reverberating through my being!), nor the sparrow lay its young, and I so delight in the freshness of new life .

NOt only that, but ALL That Is knows how to make GOOD of all the abuse as well-using it resourcefully to benefit others maigically.

In a shut down place, I cannot even sleep without nightmares-ever afraid of forced or uninvited entry, further distorting my authentic nature with fear, through resistance to phantoms!

Staying open is about turning the "what's in it for me?' into "YOU are what's in it for me". To see You grow, expand, thrive, LIVE...that's what's in it for me. To deny you access to my heart, to all that I am is to deny myself. And I just can't live that way.

How does the hole serve the tree, but to allow it to serve others? How does my heart serve the WHOLE but to allow its LOVE to serve others through me? I would rather DIE than shut down, because in physical death I expand into all. I would rather DIE than stop believing I can be all I desire in this life through enriching the lives of others.

I don't want to TAKE. I don't want to EXTRACT under duress, peoples' favour, money, time, faith.I want to give...and in giving, receive rare and beautiful treasures of every kind.

I refuse to compete. I choose to create. I allow myself to be an incubator of life, and with all that I am I desire to remain ever open to love and be loved.

So, yeah...that's where my head is today. Please don't interpret this as being about going through life with nothing...it is exactly the opposite!

Lisa :-)

You KNOW I could turn this into a kids' story!

I even wonder if the second hole only developed because the first one shut down. This is what the abundant Universe does. This fantastic giving Universe just makes more wherever it's needed. If one shuts down, another opens...but that's another story!

Draw A very Special Christmas this year!

Even tho it can be hard to know where to focus your attention at times, I still really like being able to do lots of different things...coz they all enrich and give back to me...and others, in very different ways.
And sometimes...I just want to draw!

What is CTT?

Creative Thinking Technology-or...CTT

Creative-inspired, imaginative, inventive artistic, ingenious, productive, innovative, resourceful

Thinking-philosophy, idea, accepted wisdom, opinion, view, judgment, assessment, belief

Technology-skill, knowledge, expertise, know-how, equipment, machinery, tools.

Creative Thinking Technology, or CTT, is a program model that I have put designed, using various manifold Arts based practices to help people become familiar with certain types of right brain thinking processes.

Once a process of thinking is identified, the idea is then to practice and habituate the use of it through ‘creative engagement’ in as many multi-sensory ways as possible, and with as much pleasure as possible (the subconscious is impacted through connecting information and strong emotion).

The purpose of this is TWO FOLD:

If a person allows time for the creative process and play, their lives are immediately enriched in ways that are difficult to describe. It just feels GOOD to create! We are creators, by decision or by default-but it feels SO, SO GOOD to be so on purpose. We remember and deeply hold to moments in which we invest our heart creatively. Things MEAN more. We live MORE passionately. We are happier.

In beginning to grow and develop in that ‘Intentional Creativity’, as triggered by my workshops, a person’s mind (conscious and other than conscious) is progressively opened... Things start to change.

Not only is every day, and each activity given a heightened sense of appreciation, but appropriately habituating these processes means that when a life circumstance or desire requires their unique function, whether for fun or otherwise, the mind is readied to respond-with openness, willingness, a sense of joyful challenge, confidence and competence, knowing it can generate ideas, solutions, options and alternatives.

In short, the two greatest benefits are:

1. Makes Life WAY more fun and

2. Anything is possible-limited thinking slowly starts to breaks down and we begin to come alive with our dreams again...and all in a very organic fashion-just as we all did before we were taught not to.

Creative Thinking Technology (CTT) is my baby, brought about through literally my lifetime of personal research, experimentation and observation.

At present, these workshops are the way I present concepts and deliver matching experiences. They are not the limit to my plans. They are the starting place.

Creative-inspired, imaginative, inventive artistic, ingenious, productive, innovative, resourceful

Thinking-philosophy, idea, accepted wisdom, opinion, view, judgment, assessment, belief

Technology-skill, knowledge, expertise, know-how, equipment, machinery, tools.

CTT is my innovative and, I believe, inspired application of a deeply held belief that we are designed for, and most happy when, intentionally co-creating with Source, and doing so through the artistic tools which easily access the know-how of mind mechanics and provide experientially pleasurable opportunities for well practiced skills.

In my opinion, CTT is like a scientific theory or a maths formula.

A great bonus of my CTT model is that you don’t have to understand psychology to use it. You don’t have to be academic, or be able to explain it. All you need to do is engage in it wholeheartedly...have fun with it, and these activities/games will do the rest.

My Week In Review

hi all!I was having so much fun uploading photos yesterday (on Facebook), that I thought I'd do a week in review, snapshot style here too.
One of the absolute, greatest, most fantastic aspects of documenting life this way is that you get to relive the pleasure of all the good stuff, over and over and over again.But the other thing I discovered too, is that in knowing I want to document something, I actually invest a whole lot MORE enthusiasm into it as well. In my head, every experience is constantly being narrated, like a story, for someone else to be able to enjoy with me. To ignite their imaginations, stir their desires,and generate ideas for manufacturing their own versions to tell.
Because I'm imagining the re-telling of my story as I go, I get so much more involvede and engage on a much deeper level...and here's the beauty of life. Nothing makes me feel MORE ALIVE than being FULLY IN THE MOMENT! And digital technology has made it so much easier to do so, this way...and fro the "Show'n'Tell" later.
I have been a compulsive journaller-CHRONIC even, for as long as I can remember. I have MANY MANY journals, and of various types and natures. being so visual as well, I used to add doodles and diagrams to some, but that's been made so much easier with technology too. Still, i like the rawness and readiness of sketched things as well.
I have been SO fascinated with this practice,and so in love with doing it,I always felt it held a key to my future. I love making books, from scratch. I love telling stories in unorthodox ways, through wooden puzzles, ceramic pieces, quilts, a list of objects. ANYTHING, EVERYTHING
But I feel today like I've re-discovered something within myself with a gusto and GUTZ that have not before been equalled.An inferno has somehow been rekindled.
LIFE IN THE FIRE
And the hilarious part is, it looks just like ordinary life! I feel almost a bit hysterical with joy!For years, I've had people tell me that my life is so intersting, so creative, so fun. But, me dear, it's all in the telling!!It's all in the focus.If I went to the tropics and spoke of the beauty and serenity, the resonance i felt with lush rainforest and placid waters, I create one impression. If recounted the incessant bug biting, the massive spiders, the crocodiles and the sleezy Real estate dude...you'd get another.
IT'S ALL IN THE TELLING
Tell yourself the story you WANT TO HEAR.
I had some hard and pressing moments this week. Some frustrating and difficult moments...but look at what else there was!
Sunday:

This was a wonderfully pleasant 4 and 1/2 hours. I hadn't seen this guy for 29 years!!Lunch on the deck over thelake with my friends playing music, a walk thru the rainforest on Burleigh head. COffee right on at the beach at Mermaids, and mineral...AND hot water. can you believe we both like drinking hot water?It was lovely!Monday-dealt with some nitty gritty "YuKS" that came up thru having so much fun and wanting MORE, and getting frustarted wih myself for feeling like such a loser, coz I couldn't see enough progress fast enough. That was the 'loser' part really-my focus!!! So short sighted! but it led to the idea of designing myself "A Month in the Life of Lisa". Whenever I get grumpy about how things seem, I ask myself what it would take RIGHT NOW, for me to feel better. The answer is usually pretty simple, and usually AVAILABLE ALLTHINGS ARE MINEI felt SO rotten monday, even my kids were worried about me! But whilst at work, making calls, I got caught up in whatit would take to feel better, and thought about how I'd want a typical week to be...but then realised, a week isn't enough, coz i like LOTS of variety, so it's better to design a month.And MAN! something clicked powerfully!I was out of my doledrums as victim and actively CREATING again. All the lights went on, and my heart got busy!I made myself a 'template' of a month, and filled it with things to support every area of desire: Business/family/lover/recreationa and travel...and LOTS of opportunity for "Show'n'Tell"-my 'downtime' processing.then , I immediately started to enter those things that I felt I could do..even in part..and I tell you-the WORLD OPENED UP TO ME! Again...and I remembered...
CHOOSE YOUR EXPERIENCES
Remember, I've said that we can design MOMENTS. We can only live NOW, and the power of creation is in NOW.
GOD! I love this understanding and what it brings forth. I started filling my ongoing calendar with my desired NOWS.And those NOWS started to come in!!!I specifically wanted a roundedness of expereinces-across the board of life. Not just my business, and 'trying to make money', which was beginning to feel like it was wearing me out, coz i was striving in it. I do pretty well, but it can be so easy to sliude back into "ruts" of thinking.In this way, my calendar is a god send! Bringing balance and intention to my focus every day!So Monday was another exciting, life impacting day!!! :-)
Tuesday
My friend, CArol and I did something a bit different and went to Burleigh for coffee at 6:30 am! She was coming off a night shift, and I was entering another day...full of creative enthusiasm for my calendar, and thinking about the specialnmess of having a unique time to share with my friend as part of it.
MOMENTS...life is made up of Moments. And they are RARE and BEAUTIFUL treasures, if we tell their story right!We had two hours there, then she wwent home, and went about fulfilling my desires, via my calendar. I planned all week to spend today making up a magnificent, full colour detail version! It fed me all week.And I had the agant from the Crowne call with four more dates...just as I'd entered it in my calendar!
Of course, I went to work and made calls, and this creative endeavour kept me awake in between!
WednesdayWas overjoyed realising that I had the next two nights singing, instead of making calls, as result of my creative exploits. I say this with totoal conviction and absolute certainty, 'there is SO much CREATIVE POWER in designing NOWS'...the specifics of it, and the manifestation of it...exhilerating!!man, i am high and flying by now!
Thursday
SO, this evening I sing for the opening of a Bridal/evening wear store. I get paid, but I was also given a dress!! And on top of that, I sold three CDs. As part of my calendar 'month by design' I've given myself set hours to be uninterrupted and get work done on my workshops outlines, and related material-Business stuff. SO, I am feeling generally, much less frazzled.

Friday
I awoke SOOOOOOO happy that I could do EVERYTHING I wanted to do for My OWN life and business. And i realised it was the Second day in a row, and both those days make me more money than working for someone else. more than Double!! On both days.Still inspired with my calendar, and what it's done has filled with me with ideas for ways to highlight my week with Moments that are special and shared, fun and diverse. I decided I'd go to garage sales on saturday, as I hadn't since being back here (a year), and knew, even with only $10, I could have fun. It went into the calendar, and I followed my plan for the work I wanted to be doing that day.
Then I went to work at the Crowne, played the grand piano again...which has been in my focus and thinking. I feel grounded and earthed when I play piano. I don't get that with keyboards, or digital pianos. I need the earth percussion of timber and tactile stuff!! Oohhhh!! LOVE IT!
Went to bed, knowing I would have ANOTHER day to fill with my own designed pleasure. Does it get any better?(I will say...irritating thoughts like mosquitos, come incessantly, but as with my tropical illustration...it's the story I tell myself and the focus I keep, that matters)
Saturday
What a great day! Rache did the driving, and we took Matt to the Skatepark. En route back, we find a garage sale ( happens to be Matt's mate's place!) Stop in and I buy a small glass/timber lantern, and a wrought iron lamp. They were $5 each, and I should've bargained, but silly me, forgot! However, didn't feel like enough, so we drove around and did a full circle trying to find another...which was around the corner from the 1st!! Rache needs the driving practice anyway! And as I had change n my wallet, I allowed myself that leniency to continue to buy.This place was a great stop and I bought LOTS of stuff: 3 different types of books, to use for creative expression, lots of candles and holders, another really unique ashtray, and of course, my garage sale staple, a chunly wooden box with hinged lid...all for a total of $3.90!! I was ecstatic. ANd now, I could go home satisified :-).

I'd already planned some house work, as yet another attempt to clear away the residual dust of many dust storms, plus the landlord wanted to bring some prospectove buyers thru. As I vacuumed, I made the conscious decision not to rush. I didn't have to get anywhere fast, or finish so I could do anything else sooner. I decided JUST tobe in the moment. I vacuumed the three levels of my tower, mopped the tiles on every level, and also did some dusting and washing.
As i did all this, the idea of doing something with the things I'd bought occurred to me. That way, I'd fill the part of my calendar that was about family time, and put ADDED value to the experience of having something new to play with. i went to the store, bought vegs and chicken, came home, and cut and pared and planned. All the time soooooooo feeling GOOOOOD!

here's the 'floral salad" i made. I figured, as my kids were out and I had a rare time to 'play' and that we hardly ever get a nice 'sit down together' dinner any more, coz I'm working, it was a good time to do something special, and different and surprising.I spent the whole day knowing I would document it, and I had a BALL! From the moment I said I was gonna go to a garage sale and since...I've been narrating my life to and for anyone that wants to share it...coz I just have to share it!
So we had our Dinner:Garage Sale Style ...and if you go to my Facebook, you can get all the details...http://www.facebook.com/lisahshahcoz as I documented, I realised how much of all we were using had been acquired at previous garage sales!!This added even more to the moment for me!Seriously, the pleasure I gleaned from the day made it worth a year in my mind...gold
"thru wisdom a house is built,by understanding it is establishedby knowledge its rooms are filled with rare and beautiful treasures...." yeah. :-)
but just to get you started...

ANd now...it's time fo rme to get started on SUNDAY! YAY!Play with my BIG version of my calendarhave an AWESOME day!!