Heart-storming

I was so inspired to post on my return from my retreat on Tuesday (actually it's not a retreat as in going back, but a dwelve: to dwell in awareness, to inhabit my self, to fathom and penetrate a depth of being).

Then it registered. It's not just any Tuesday. It's April 18th. I'm supposed to, you know, I am expected to post something about the 100th anniversary of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake today. Today is the day.

From spontaneous enchantment to the weightiness of seeming expectations - poof - my enthusiasm deflated (Middle French: enthousiasme, from Greek enthousiasmos, from enthousiazein "be inspired," from entheos "inspired, possessed by a god," from en- "in" + theos "god").

"You'll always be the tsunami surfer to me," quipped Robert Scoble in his usual jovial manner at the NewCommForum in March.

Day-of disaster porn and rehashing really isn't my thing. History either.

Yet I do care what happens well after teachable moments (in other words, traumatic events) and how people and communities bounce back, grow and renew themselves.

A few weeks ago Kathy Sierra inquired about products or things we are passsionate about on her blog. Among the choices she asks people to pipe up on: Anyone who is passionate about a particular non-profit cause or service. I was about to leave a comment but couldn't articulate it. I feel an irrevocable bond with tsunami survivors and volunteers and the peoples of those countries that I can't begin to comprehend. I try to shake it off because I tell myself it's not practical, not reasonable, not logical, blah blah, blah.

And yet it remains.

What does your deepest being, the deepest part of you, want to do? asks yoga teacher Erich Schiffmann in a chapter from his book "Yoga: The Spirit and Practice of Moving into Stillness" (book online sans yoga poses).

I contemplate this and write in my journal as I sit at my neighborhood park and watch spring bloom. A boy runs "I'll make it alive!" and the girl retorts, "No you won't! You can't make anything alive."

So. What does my deepest being want? The clouds are moving ever so slowly, almost imperceptibly, across the blueness. Other times they look pinned up and motionless. Either way they rest on the back of the wind.

I was so impressed with Thai graciousness and equanimity under pressure that I re-immersed myself in Buddhist teachings after the tsunami. In Thai, jai is a word meaning heart-mind. There is no equivalent word in English. But still you know it. It's what guides you, what inspires you. To me, it's the lifeline to consciousness. To me, it's what already knows but my brain denies.

What's heart-mind? Awakened Ones, such as the Buddha, talk of the heart-mind that possesses innate boundless intelligence and insight imbued with compassion and
care.

"The heart has its reasons which reason knows nothing of." - Blaise Pascal

A myriad of ideas pop up from brainstorming and I can do an analysis and prioritize them according to profit potential because we can't do everything - those dang opportunity costs.

Where does the question: 'Does this path have a heart?' come in in this analysis?

Looking back, I can equivocally state I have never ever followed through on a half-hearted endeavor. This blog itself is a testament to the power of inspiration. It was conceived first after an in-depth 'planetary leadership' course (uh, not like world domination) and finally hatched after a 7-week pilgrimage in Central America that began with a workshop with Miguel Ruiz in the 'place where men became gods'. Typically I'd be too restless to see through anything for this length of time, particularly anything this public.

"Before you embark on any path ask the question: Does this path have a heart? If the answer is no, you will know it, and then you must choose another path. The trouble is nobody asks the question. - The Teachings of Don Juan, by Carlos Castenada (longer passage of Does this path have a heart)

The thing is we can stress over the sales and the marketing campaign, and if the product lacks heart, hmmm, it's all for naught. The energy is easily summoned when the product has heart. I won't even notice if it's 8 pm or 4 am. It all flows together. It need not be extraordinary to have heart. It just needs to tug at you. And that pull is infectious. Think about the things that particularly speak to you - do you think anyone had to be coerced or prodded to make them?

A path without a heart is never enjoyable. You have to work hard even to take it. On the other hand, a path with heart is easy; it does not make you work at liking it. - Carlos Castenada

A lot of innovation never gets off the ground due to lack of courage. It seems to ask too much of us. The risk unknown, unfathomable, so it's best not to act and find a safer bet somewhere else on the brainstorming list.

But if it has heart the thing grows louder. It's what your deepest being wants. Everyone whose gathered in the same company feels that pull too. And in the same place the idea emerged is where you find the courage - in your heart (Old French corage, from V.Latin *coraticum, from Latin cor "heart," which remains a common metaphor for inner strength). Only recently have I finally touched the courage to do what my deepest being wanted to do after last spring's Dwelve. The desire only grew stronger and I knew I couldn't abandon it any more than it could abandon me.

To have such clarity you must lead a disciplined life. Only then will you know that any path is only a path and there is no affront, to oneself or to others, in dropping it if that is what your heart tells you to do. - Carlos Castenada

And so if I want to write about 1906 earthquake on August 1st and that's what my deepest being wants, that's what's so.

Here's an edited excerpt from my journal; then from this space I was able to commence my heart-storming list:

My deepest being has no apologies to make, no restitution to make. Whom would be apologizing to whom? My deepest being wants to play and be gladdened and invite others to play. To be light-hearted as a child with wide-eyed wonder and spontaneity and frolic through the fields of infinity. My deepest being wants to meet the peoples of the world where their heart lives. My deepest being doesn't need to 'liberate' anyone (as if they are in prison!) but simply relish them and their unique flowing from Vastness. My deepest being wants to sit a while with them on a park bench looking at the trees and flowers and simply know the stirring in our heart, the tingling in our temples is the voice of Self whispering peace, love, joy.

p.s. photos from my neighborhood walk to the park bench - very teeny in photo - to heart-storm yesterday

Comments

[rodrigo gonzalez fernandez]

Muy buenos articulos. Podrias escribir en español. Recien acá en Chile conocemos de este espectacular blog , pero no muchpos hablan ingles para deleitarse con tus artículos, un abrazo, Rodrigo González fernández, consultajuridica.blogspot.com

[Evelyn Rodriguez]

Hola, Rodrigo. Bien idea pero...

Aunque mis padres son de Cuba nacie in Estados Unidos. Yo entiendo mucho español, puedo hablar con un bebé ;-) pero no puedo escriberlo.

For English visitors: After some complimentary remarks on my blog articles, Rodrigo recommended that I translate my blog into Spanish as well as folks have discovered my blog in Chile, but not everyone reads English there. I replied in broken Spanish that although my parents are from Cuba, I grew up in USA. I understand a lot of Spanish, can speak to a baby (okay, I can speak a bit better), but my writing in Spanish is poor.

Perhaps someone out there wants to pick up this idea of translation & run with it?

[John Dodds]

I encountered a similar level of passion for issues such as the people of emerging economies and cancer charities at a woman's networking group I visited last night and blogged about today. I don't know if it's gender-related but the altruistic drive was intense. Equally intense however was the the determination of these people to do something about the issus themselves and to do so via their business acumen and contacts rather than work via non profits. I found that very enlightening.