Conversations
Freedom: a matter of choosing, a place to stand
We commonly think of freedom as the ability to define options and choose among them.
Notes onclarity, practice, meaning, change
Short pieces on the distinctions that change how a thing is seen — written by the people doing the work.
Conversations
Being fully ourselves — the courage to live in a transformed way
Having power, success, and freedom is a lot more risky than not having them.
Conversations
Acknowledgment — a powerful catalyst
We doubt, endlessly we doubt. If we had the chance to be free of doubt, would we take it? If yes, what then.
Conversations
The power to choose is uniquely human
Decisions have to be made constantly. Coin-flipping, I Ching consultation, Rock-Paper-Scissors, asking a friend are all time-honored means of coming.
Conversations
“Yes” — it extends boundaries and establishes new playing fields
In our recurring dialogues, patterns of conversation, the habitual ways that we listen and speak, our first response often defaults around a no or a but.
Conversations
Engaging in something bigger than ourselves
Everything in our own immediate experience supports the notion that we are the center of the universe.
Conversations
Reshaping the course of events
We take for granted that things are a particular way—and that it's the facts, realities, and circumstances that determine what's possible.
Conversations
Possibility — it flies on mighty wings
When we don't pay heed to the dance with uncertainty–when we limit the ambiguity, the floundering about, the experimentation–we deprive ourselves.
Conversations
The art of inventing ourselves
For most of us, I is positional (you are there and I am here), a location in time and space, a point of view that accumulates all previous experiences.
Conversations
The three-part myth of “is, because, and I”
Superman had issues with Kryptonite. For Achilles, it was his heel. For us, it's the three-part myth of is, because, and I.
Conversations
Power and freedom where fear used to be
He's not alone in these thoughts. Slocum says, In the office in which I work there are five people of whom I am afraid.
Conversations
Shifting the horizon of what’s possible
We often approach life counting on a certain order of things, thinking that predictability and control are possible.
Conversations
Happiness is an inside job
Some of us think happiness is dependent on things outside of ourselves—we'll be happy when…or happy because…or happy if… Others think of happiness.
Conversations
The value of money
The form and composition of money may change (e.g. livestock, beads, metal, paper, bitcoins, etc.)—but its significance remains.
Conversations
Possibility — more like dancing than stepping
Most of us can ride a bicycle, but no one actually knows how it is done.
Conversations
Possibility leaves us with power and freedom
All we are given is possibilities—to make of ourselves one thing or another.
Conversations
Paradox and Possibility
If a cat jumps on a hot stove, he will never jump on a hot stove again. And that's good.
Conversations
Encountering “nothing” as a freedom
Where would something happen if there wasn't nothing? Everything would be static.
Conversations
New horizons — the province of possibility
The maps we start out with are mostly handed down, inherited with all the peculiarities and standards of our cultures.
Conversations
Breakdowns — the good, the bad, and the opening for action
Breakdowns and upsets are pretty much always a double-sided affair.
Conversations
Forgiveness enlarges the future
Forgiveness is one of the most powerful actions a human being can take–it doesn't change the past, it enlarges the future.
Conversations
Beyond the vicious circle
Our stories represent the richness of what it means to be human—there is a power, validity and value in them, but not when those stories get confused.
Conversations
The stone must gravitate and tiger must pounce. Only human…
The stone and the tiger have no choice of life. The stone must gravitate and tiger must pounce.
Conversations
Taking the past out of the “future” drawer
The present is given by the future, but we unwittingly file the past (our many experiences good and bad, how we interpreted them, what we decided about.