thinking

Thinking Out Loud ~ Our Shared Consciousness

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Joseph Campbell speaks of a shared plane of consciousness in Reflections on the Art of Living. He says, “I am more and more convinced that there is a plane of consciousness that we are all sharing, and that the brain is a limiting machine that pulls it in. . . .  I’ve had such experiences on enough occasions to attest to that; meeting somebody, having i kind of “click,” and knowing that you are going to do something important together that will be a major feature in your lives. I mean, when you meet people who are going to be a deep significance in your life, knowing that it’s going to happen is somehow right there in the first meeting. It’s a very mysterious business. P.132

Note: I’ve had similar experiences. This week the name of a workout buddy, Brad popped into my mind. I hadn’t seen Brad at the gym in more than a year. I had this feeling I’d see him this week. Did he show up at the gym? No. Today I went on a nature trail hike and was out a good distance when who did I see coming up the trail toward me but Brad. Some may say that was a coincidence. I think our meetup was in the realm of the shared plane of consciousness. . Yes, it’s mysterious business as Campbell says, but it also fills me with awe and wonder.

Thinking Out Loud ~ Why Saying Grace Before Eating Has Deep Meaning

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Joseph Campbell speaks of the importance of ritual when sitting down to eat in Reflections on the Art of Living. He says, “Ritual introduces you to the meaning of what’s going on. Saying grace before meals lets you know that you’re about to eat something that was once alive. When eating a meal, realize what you were doing. Hunting peoples thank the animals for having giving itself. They feel gratitude. The main ritual of mature, hunting tribes, like those of the Americas, were addressed to the animal. On the northwest coast, the principal rites were when the first wave of salmon came in, and they were intended to than the salmon. The life of the animal that you’ve taken is given back when you recognize what you’ve done. And so, sitting down to eat, realize what you are doing: you are eating a life that has been given so that you might live. P. 90

Note: The ritual of grace before meals or some form of expression of gratitude for what we are about to eat seems to me to be important. We are not entitled to the food, it is all a gift. Something died to feed us whether it is an animal, fish, or plant. Human beings other than us worked so we could eat. There is a line of people who made our meal possible from the grocery to the farmer or rancher. Yes, a heartfelt THANK YOU for this food is a worthy ritual.

Thinking Out Loud ~ Don’t Fear the Adventure

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Joseph Campbell says in Reflections on the Art of Living in speaking of the heroes journey, “When one thinks of some reason for not going, or has fear, and remains in society, because it safe, the results are radically different from what happens when one follows a call. If you refuse to go, then you are someone else’s servant. When this refusal of the call happens, there is a kind of drying up, a sense of life lost. Everything in you knows that are required adventure has been refused. Anxiety build up. What you have refused to experience in a positive way, you will experience in a negative way. P 78

Note: When we refuse the call to go on the journey, we make excuses. We rationalize why it is safer not to go then to go. I have had colleagues who had wonderful opportunities where they could have made a big difference who refused to answer their call because they were afraid. They made elaborate excuses and they said, “I could have, I would have, but they didn’t. They lost their great adventure in that moment. Don’t fear the adventure.

 

Thinking Out Loud ~ Answer the Call

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Joseph Campbell says in Reflections on the Art of Living, “The heroes journey always begins with the call. One way or another, a guide must come to say, “Look, you’re in Sleepy Land. Wake. Come on a trip. There is a whole aspect of your consciousness, you’re being, that’s not been touched. So, you’re at home here? Well, there’s not enough of you there” And so it starts.

Note: I think at some point we’re all called to “the hero’s journey.” It begins if we hear the call. The call usually comes when it takes us to a place we don’t want to go. It takes us to a place where we are uncomfortable and challenged. If we answer the hero’s call, we will discover our true destiny through the multiple tests we’ll encounter. If we fail to answer the hero’s call, we’ll languish always wondering “what if.”

Thinking Out Loud ~ Take the First Step

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The Chasm is Not as Wide as You Think

Joseph Campbell says in Reflections on the Art of Living, “A bit of advice given to a young Native American at the time of his initiation: as you go the way of life, you will see a great chasm. Jump. It is not as wide as you think.” P. 26

Note: When I was teaching at the University, I taught a course on change. I learned a lot about change by teaching about it. I learned I could only change myself and no one else. I also learned that the most difficult step to take in making a change is the first one. Once it is taken everything falls into place. Don’t be afraid. Listen to the wisdom of the Native Americans. The great chasm is not as wide as you think, take the first step and the rest will fall into place.

Thinking Out Loud ~ You Are Tougher than the Challenge

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Joseph Campbell says in Reflections on the Art of Living, “Opportunities to find deeper powers within ourselves, when life seems most challenging.  . . . Negativism to the pain and ferocity of life is negativism to life.  . . . We are not there until we can say yes to it all. P. 20

Note: The saying, used by many who exercise, “no pain no gain” is also true in other aspects of life. Our greatest life lessons come from the moments of great challenges. We will be challenged. Challenges are unavoidable. The best way to deal with challenges is to go through them.  When we face our challenges head on, we come out, stronger, more resilient, and wiser.

Thinking Out Loud ~ Trust the Leap

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Joseph Campbell says in Reflections on the Art of Living, “We must be willing to get rid of the life we have planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us. The old skin has to be shed before the new one can come.” P. 18

Note: It’s difficult to give up something we’re used to and to work for something we’ve yet to full comprehend. It is like asking someone to give up dessert so they can acquire a healthier body. At first, giving up dessert is painful as the smells ,the sights, and the taste all work against giving it up. iI is the same in any aspect of our lives where we want to make a change. Sometimes we have to let go and leap into the future believing it will all turn out well. It will, trust the leap.

Thinking Out Loud ~ What Will I Become?

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I conclude my reflections on Victor Frankl’s work Man’s Search for Meaning, with Frankl’s affirmation of the human freedom to determine what he/she becomes as Frankl says, “within the limits of his/her endowment and environment.” A human being is not one thing among others; things determine each other, but man is ultimately self-determining. . . . In concentration camps, for example, in this living laboratory, and on this testing ground, we watched and witnessed some of our comrades behave like swine, while others behaved like saints. Man has both potentialities within himself; which one is actualized depends on decisions, but not on conditions. P. 155

NOTE: Hopefully we will never experience the living hell of a concentration camp as Frankl and millions of others have. We, however, are confronted each moment with choices on how to live our lives. Will we be faithful to our commitment to a partner? Will we honor and love our parents as they age? Will we support fairness and justice for all people? What kind of neighbor am I; do help my neighbors when they need help? These are a few examples of the choices that we have to make. How we make our choices determines the kind of man or woman we want to become. 

Thinking Out Loud ~ The Wind Beneath Your Wings

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Victor Frankl says in Man’s Search for Meaning, speaks of love being the only way in which we can fully grasp and understand another human being . He says, “Love is the only way to grasp another human being in the innermost core of his personality. No one can become fully aware of the very essence of another human being. Unless he loves him by his love, he is enabled to see the essential traits and features in the beloved person; and even more he sees that which is potential in him, which is not yet actualized, but yet ought to be actualized, furthermore by his life, a living person enables the beloved person to actualize these potentialities. By making him aware of what he can be, and of what he should become, he makes these potentialities come true. P. 116

NOTE: Have you had a person in your life who believed in you and what you might become even when no one else saw your possibilities? I was fortunate to have a person like that in my life. My wife was, as the song lyrics say, “the wind beneath my wings.” When we offer this gift to another, we open up a world they may never thought possible. Will you be the wind beneath someone’s wings today?

Thinking Out Loud ~ Three Ways to Experiencing Meaning In Life

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Victor Frankl says in Man’s Search for Meaning, speaks of three ways in which we can find meaning. He says, “(1) by creating a work or by doing a deed; (2) by experiencing something or encountering someone; and (3) by the attitude we take toward unavoidable suffering. P. 115

NOTE: Frankl’s words resonate with me. I discovered meaning (at various times in my life) in each of the three ways he describes. I found meaning in the publication of my research and books while I was a university professor. I found meaning in the love I shared with my wife and for my children. And, I found meaning in the unavoidable suffering I experienced with the death of my wife. I was determined to show my daughters I was strong enough cope with the suffering I was experiencing. I wanted to be an example for them. How have you experienced the types of meaning Frankl describes?

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