I learned yesterday that an old friend lost his job with a wind energy company, he'd been setting up green across the Plain States. Wasn't GREEN going to be the great white way, the savior of jobs, the new New Deal?
Unemployment creeps toward 10%. Folks, that means 1 of every 10 human beings you see on your daily circuit will be feeling just what we're feeling. 1 of every 10 will sit before her computer wondering who to shout out to today. 1 of every 10 counts the coins from the couch pillows to pay for the coffee he'll drink as he meets with whoever'll have him at Starbucks on any given morning.
It is "all outta kilter" alright, but the Universe will correct itself. We need to be clear and focused about how we'll contribute.
The Artist's Way, Julia Cameron's incredible road map for creativity, has introduced me to the Morning Pages. She says by way of challenge that "in order to retrieve your creativity, you need to find it... (you) do this by an apparently pointless process I call the morning pages."
It is a method for clearing your head and finding your way through the New Now, for getting to your resources, for navigating the day. Morning Pages are "three pages of longhand, stream of consciousness writing, done first thing in the morning. There is no wrong way to do Morning Pages-- they are not high art. They are about anything and everything that crosses your mind-- and they are for your eyes only."
Morning Pages are my regimen. I write them on the back of a paper towel, on the Business section when I can't take what it's saying, or in an empty Word doc I recycle daily, hitting "no" when it asks me to save changes. I have no idea what I've written in my Morning Pages, often it's just a list of curse words strung together to make a paragraph. Well-placed curse words are not gibberish, especially if they wing their way harmlessly back into the Universe that holds us in her sway.
Without the Morning Pages I'd have very little sense of humor. I'd cry when I listen to things like Grant Rogers' "When a Fellow is Out of a Job".
Try writing Morning Pages, do it without judgement or structure. It's an easy diet, it isn't detox or deprivation. The results are sure and the outcome is wealth.
Wealth is Creativity in the New Now.
1 comment:
What to do when a fellow is out? That's the question of the day. What should I do about the fellow that is out. I know two things to be true about being down and out: the first thing is that you feel most fully alive when you are in service to others. So my advise to anyone struggling with finances is to get out there and give of your time to help others. Find a place, find people in need and help. Help others' causes, nature, whatever it is, just "get involved." The second thing I have noticed to be a truth for me and my family is the joy you can experience from finding your own core, your own essential center to you as an individual and as a family. When money is not available, it can force the family to band together to turn toward each other. Instead of movies out or shopping, you could play games at home, go for a walk, or a hike in nature. You could linger over meals to find out more about each other's days.
Not to sound corny, but there is real satisfaction about being connected to the people who matter most to you. I have found that our money crises (which adds stress) has turned out to be a blessing too. I have started to put up small inspirational signs in the Kitchen. Yes my kids tease me, but they read them too! We still scream, slam doors, and walk away from each other...but at the end of the day, we know we have each other and we will be okay.
I hope this is uplifting
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