|
|
Welcome to June & Greetings from Jerusalem!
I'm writing this newsletter from Jerusalem, which I consider to be like a second home. I'm nearing my 30th trip to the middle east! Coming to this part of the world has had a profound impact on me and the perspective I bring to the living of my life. New vantage points really can change our relationship to life.
Travel, for me, has been one of the major formative experiences in my life. Bali was my first international trip and it rocked my world. I remember coming home from that first trip questioning everything about my life and how I was living it.
One of my first inquiries, upon my return from Bali, was to ponder why I had a lawn! I suddenly realized that it needs to be watered, fertilized, mowed and edged. I thought about all the precious resources it took to maintain it, and other ways those resources might be used. Water, for example, is such a precious resource that many of us take for granted. In Bali, however, it was a huge issue!
Fertilizers can pollute and damage the earth when overused, and yet we Americans dump tons and tons of them onto our lawns to keep them looking green and lush.
Then, there was all the time and energy involved in mowing and edging. I'd seen some different ways of using one's time when I was in Bali, and they appealed to me a lot more than mowing my lawn!
In addition, there was the money and effort I spent to maintain my mower and edger, the gas I used in those machines, and the pollution that created. All for a green, manicured lawn!
Multiply that thought process out by all the other things I was doing in my life at the time, and you can imagine how overwhelming it was to come home from that trip!!
I still have a lawn, since that is one of the conventions in my culture. It is smaller than my old lawn, I use organic materials to fertilize (sparingly) and I now have someone do the lawn work for me so I can focus on other things. Some aspects of that have changed for me, while others have not.
The point is, that viewing life through other people's perspectives, even briefly, can bring more conscious awareness to our own life paths. We can greatly benefit by stepping into the shoes of another, and taking a look at life through their eyes.
Travel is a great way to do that, but so is reading books and articles, or talking to people from different places, cultures, and spiritual traditions.
Rock your world by opening your mind and heart to the perspectives of others. See where it can take you!
|
|
~ Inspiration for the Path ~
"Courage doesn't always roar, sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying 'I will try again tomorrow.'" ~ Mary Anne Radmacher
""I am not the same having seen the moon
shine on the other side of the world."
~ Mary Anne Radmacher "It is not the easy or convenient life for which I search - but rather - life lived to the edge of all my possibility." ~ Mary Anne Radmacher Visit Mary Anne Rachmacher Website |
|
Shifting Perspective
New Vantage Points Clear Up Vision
Sometimes despite our best efforts, we don't see life around us accurately.
I took a drawing class in college. I'm about the least artistic person on the planet, but in my senior year, with all my requirements fulfilled, I decided to branch out into some new territory. I took a drawing class and a pottery class (where I tried to make a giant crock for brewing beer - but that's a story for another day!)
I struggled in my drawing class, and the professor wasn't particularly encouraging. I just couldn't get any version of what I was looking at down on paper. Something was missing in my ability to see what was in front of me and communicate that through the language of drawing.
One day, the professor gave us a different sort of assignment. He asked us to cut out a picture from a magazine and draw a grid on the back of it. We were to divide it into 9 squares of equal size - 3 rows across and 3 rows down. Then we were to cut the picture apart into the 9 separate squares and scramble them, so they were no longer in order. The last step was to draw each square individually. Our instructions were to just focus on shapes and lines, not on what each piece was 'supposed to be' in the greater picture. This proved to be a remarkable revelation for me. Each of my 'pieces' looked a lot like the original. If i rearranged my 'pieces' back to the original sequence, I had succeeded in drawing the picture that I had started with! By changing the way I was 'looking' at the 'subject' I was able to see it clearly. I was no longer pulling the subject through my filter of what I thought I was looking at, and my brain was no longer trying to create the 'thing' I thought I saw in the photograph. I was simply studying each part in isolation, and putting the 'raw data' down on paper as best I could. In the end, it was an accurate rendering, but I had to take a different path to get there. It was all about changing my vantage point so that I no longer imposed my ideas onto the process. I got out of my own way, and achieved a result that had previously eluded me. It was a powerful example of how our perceptions can sometimes stop us from seeing life clearly. Got a problem or a situation in your life that you can't seem to make any progress with? Are you stuck or stalled out in your approach to a task you are facing? Are you confused with something that life has presented you with? Change your vantage point, alter your approach. Try looking at it from as many different angles as possible and see what emerges! You just might solve the puzzle and 'get the picture!'
| |
|
|
Inspired Path® Living Blog
Each week day, I use my blog to share my thoughts and spiritual perspective on the events going on in the world - both close by and around the globe.
Through my blog I seek to inspire, uplift and stimulate ever widening and deepening perspectives on life and how to best live it. I invite you to check it out!
www.inspiredpath.blogspot.com | |
|
Inspirational Song
Change Your Mind - Sister Hazel
Music is a huge part of my personal and spiritual growth process. I use music every single day for motivation, inspiration, and as a tonic when I need comfort and encouragement.
This month, I'm writing about changing our perspectives and our vantage points. This song by Sister Hazel speaks to the opportunity that we all have to "change our mind" at any time.
I love to be reminded that I'm only a thought process away from a different reality! What is happening to me isn't nearly as important as what I think about it and what I do about it! That's true for all of us.
Perspective and attitude are key elements of how we experience our lives. So much is up to us!
Let's change the our experience of life by taking hold of the power we have inside our own heads!
Here is an excerpt from the song:
If you've had enough
Of all your tryin'
Just give up
The state of mind you're in
[Chorus]
If you want to be
somebody else,
If you're tired of
fighting battles
with yourself
If you want to be
somebody else
Change your mind...
You can listen to the song on Youtube at this link:
"Change Your Mind" by Sister Hazel
|
|
Nola's Movie Pick
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Movies are one of my favorite ways to relax and inspire myself! Many movies have profound messages for us, embedded within the stories they tell.
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is the movie I've selected to share with you this month. It tells the story of Benjamin, who although he is born as an infant has the body of a man in his 80's or 90's. He is destined to live his life in reverse, as he grows younger with each passing year.
His biological mother dies in child birth and his father abandons him in grief and shock. A lovely black woman, who believes she is unable to have children of her own, takes Benjamin in and raises him as her son.
The story unfolds as Benjamin grows younger each year and 'reclaims' the faculties of youth each day.
As I watched the movie, I wondered what it would be like to grow younger each year. To work the process 'backwards' would have some fascinating impacts on our perspective! I would think that we would be more likely to fully appreciate the gifts of youth and vigor if we were able to compare it to the alternative from first hand experience!
Often we take things for granted until we lose them! So, if we started life with some difficulties that can come with old age, we just might appreciate the absence of those challenges as they disappeared!
Benjamin Button is the ultimate example of living life from a non-standard perspective! His life can be an example to all of us about how we can see and value our experiences in a different way.
It is a heart warming and thought provoking story. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
|
How's your perspective?
The quality of our life is directly related to how we look at the experiences we have. Perspective and attitude are incredibly important.
If you are struggling in some area of your life, I wish for you a shift in perspective. Take action to alter your vantage point and look at the situation anew!
Change your mind...today! |
Nola Drazdoff
Inspired Path, Inc. |
|
|
June 2009
