The beginning

My inspiration to blog came from my desire to find a way to have an avenue to connect with people who are working to build a foundation for a world order based not in materialism, but in an all sided perspective of living that includes life. It is easy to see, if one takes the time to stop and look, that the current prevailing paradigm does not support a quality of living, but is actually destroying it. Materialism has become a substitute for "life", which means that if you don't have money you don't have life - at least any quality of living. We are all conditioned to make money so we can purchase all the things that have become the symbol of "life", there is precious time left for being present to relationships. This must stop! And the only way it will is if each of us chooses a different path.






My desire is that this blog will open a dialogue leading to creative ways for living simply. The allsided truth is that living materialistically has never provided quality of life for everyone in the 5000 years + that humanity has been focused in that way. I don't think we can get there in a moment, in just one decision, but rather with many decisions intentioned to move in a direction of optimal living.






What choices are you making right now to live optimally?






There is an ancient Principle espoused by the Essenes of the 1st and 2nd century C.E. called the Principle of Optimum that says, "The best form of all human activities is that form which secures the best results with the minimum sacrifice and the least expenditure of time, labor and money."






The Principle of Optimum leads to its companion principle of every-sidedness because the principle of optimum has its greatest value when it is applied universally to everything.






This means the optimal form of the state of humanity is health and longevity. It also means that every thing in life has an optimal form - optimal diet, exercise, breath, and so forth. We can start on this new path by just noticing the things around us and make them better up to their optimal form. Is your room cleaned optimally, or your bathroom, or the refrigerator? How about your car or is your closet organized optimally? Those are great places to start. As you make those choices notice how it feels inside as you bring those aspects of everyday living up to their optimal state.






I am suggesting you do those things with a sense of enthusiam and excitement and as you go through the activity take the opportunity to be present in your body - fully aware of your breath, your heart beat, the flow of blood through your veins, how it feels to be in conscious contact with your surroundings - wherever you happen to be in the moment.






Are you able to build from within a feeling of gratitude and joy as you notice how good it feels to have an organized dresser drawer or closet or how great the bathroom smells after you have cleaned it. Or you have taken time to wake up early to make coffee for yourself and as it is brewing notice it fragrance and as you pour yourself a cup you walk out on the patio, the balcony or in the backyard where you can hear the singing of the birds, or the smell of the wet grass, or the laughter of a nearby neighbor carried to you on the wind.






This personal experience is for me an example of living: I was sitting on my patio today enjoying the warmth of the sun, the brilliant red of the roses in bloom in the nearby flowerbed, there were robins in a nearby tree singing, the air was fresh and crisp following the rains of yesterday. Those were the facts that were present around me. I loved just being with each of those senses as I brought them into my awareness fully experiencing them.



Now, that was living and it cost me nothing to be present to it. In fact, I gained a sense of peace and joy! I felt safe and connected to a greater source of energy that filled me up - that calmed my spirit and inspired me to hum a random tune. I was happy.






Contrarily, When I get caught up in the mundane - "what if-ing" - my experience of life deteriorates into worry, fear and inadequacy. My thoughts go to how can I make this better -trying figure it out. Thoughts like, "Maybe if I work harder and longer" float up. But, that is the merry-go-round - the hypnotic trance between pain and pleasure - that seems never to end. The result deterioration of mood, health and relationship with myself and others.






That says something about our choices or that we feel we have no choice. It isn't a foundation - a world view - that lends itself to living in wonderful, creative ways. It is about making money, the bottom line, buy more, build more. We have been good at that - and technology - that keeps us distracted from what is alive around us. Even this blog could become a distraction from life - from spending time with those I love and who love me, if I let it.






I hear those around me complaining about healthcare, politicians, financial institutions, religions who should be doing this or that to make our lives better, but it is obvious to me that relying on others - governments, politicians, religions, educators, corporations, to do it for us will never happen.






So, lets start an individual movement - a collective committment to finding ways to live that includes all the states of being that are missing now - joy, happiness, integrity, congruence, peace, love . . .

To get some new ideas about what you can do check out these websites from some of the people who have inspired me to think in new ways:

Barbara Marx Hubbard http://www.humanityascending.com/, Colin Tipping, http://www.radicalforgiveness.com/ ; Ervin Laszlo, http://www.ervinlaszlo.com/ ; Andrea and James Steward, http://www.humansourcecode.com/

drcone