Tag Archives: Conscious Living

Living Blog Post Image

Living

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Living is my word for the new year. Living is one of those words that is typically followed or preceded by other words or phrases. Although inspired by the subtitle of our upcoming book, Midlife, New Life: Living Consciously in Midlife and Beyond, many positive words and phrases can precede or follow the word living: Living Well, Living Life Creatively, and Living with Technology, are all chapters in the book; other phases that may come to mind include living space, living wage, living things, living peacefully,  living the dream, or senior living, sustainable living, purposeful living, vibrant living, working for a living, or the philosophy of living. Living from the place of surrender, living in harmony, and living in hope all connect well to my words for previous years.

Living is the active word for the verb to live or the noun life, it is about being alive. This brought to my mind the words of Howard Thurman, “Ask what makes you come alive and go do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” The new year offers new opportunities for being awake and alive, and for living intentionally.

Living is such a versatile word. What are the “living” phrases that come to your mind? How are you choosing to live? I invite you to bring attention to what you are noticing as you read this blog post and set an intention for how you will be living in the new year. Join me in living more consciously.

Seeds of Consciousness

Seeds of Consciousness

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Our conscious mind is small in comparison to our vast unconscious mind. This unconscious mind is part of what Thich Nhat Hanh referred to as store consciousness. Describing consciousness as like a house, Thich Nhat Hanh suggested that store consciousness is the basement and mind consciousness is our living room. Mind consciousness is our active awareness, our conscious mind. Store consciousness, sometimes called root consciousness, is in the lower levels of our consciousness. This is where all our past experiences are stored along with the seeds of our reactions to the triggers we experience every day. Although we may not be fully aware of what is in our store consciousness, we can influence the manifestation of its contents in the conscious mind.

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Hope Blog Post Image

Hope

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Hope is my word for the new year. I am sometimes weighed down by pessimistic perspectives on life’s challenges. This year I want to turn this pessimism around, going beyond simple optimism, to real hope for the possibilities of the future. This hope is defined as the belief that our future will be better than today and we have the power to make it so. Ecophilosopher Joanna Macy uses the phrase active hope.

In research studies of hope by Charles Snyder (author of the compelling book, The Psychology of Hope: You Can Get There from Here, 1994) and more recently by Casey Gwinn and Chan Hellman (authors of Hope Rising: How the Science of Hope Can Change your Life, 2021), three components of hope have been revealed: goals, willpower, and waypower. Goals need to be aspirational and realistic, built on imagination and possibility, and a belief that the goals are achievable. We need multiple pathways to follow from the present time to the desired future, with alternatives for when the inevitable obstacles impede our progress. And we need confidence, energy, and willpower, sometimes referred to as agency, to sustain us as we move along these pathways towards our goals.

We may also need help and collaboration from others rather than trying to go it alone. “Together we can; together we will” is Dr. Jane Goodall’s rallying cry in her new book, The Book of Hope, written with Douglas Abrams. In her invitation to hope, Jane acknowledges that we are going through dark times but believes the hope for our world is much more than wishful thinking. My invitation is to begin a new journey of hope, or reinvigorate an existing journey, with two or three aspirational yet believable goals to make our future better than the present, and a belief that we have the pathways of possibility and the energy and willpower to make it so. I invite you to take positive steps on your journey of hope today.

Hope Blog Post originally published on DrPaulWard.com website.

Uncertainty, Fear, and Anxiety

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I hope that you, your families and your friends are managing to stay safe and well, and, whatever your circumstances, are surrounded by love.

I know many of us are experiencing heightened levels of anxiety during these unprecedented times. Anxiety arises from fear and uncertainty. During this Covid-19 experience, we know there is and will continue to be uncertainty and it is quite normal to feel the fear. It is easy to say we need the courage to face the fear, even embrace the fear, but we also need tools to support us and calm our anxiety, and maybe even learn from our anxiety.

Answering the question, What has your anxiety taught you about yourself?” Kevin Hines, who jumped off the Golden Gate Bridge intending to end it all and yet survived, answered it this way on Twitter: “That I can always survive the pain.” What can we learn from our anxiety and how can we move from surviving to thriving?

For my heightened anxiety, I like to apply Rhonda Magee’s S.T.O.P. Practice:

S — Stop: a moment of mindfulness, a purposeful pause, putting a stop to that negative inner voice

T — Take a conscious breath: just breathe, focusing only on your breathing

O — Observe: notice what’s going on inside of you – become aware of thoughts, emotions, bodily sensations. Bring in self-love and compassion, let go of the tension and anxious thoughts

P — Proceed: with intention, taking the next step consciously and with increasing confidence. 

Read more about the STOP Practice on mindful.org. For my Moment of Mindfulness guided meditation on audio or video, visit The Conscious Leadership Blog Post.

Fear and uncertainty may linger, but the anxiety may subside. Be at peace with yourself. Begin to move from surviving to thriving.

Raising Consciousness through Art

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As part of the research for our upcoming book on conscious living in the second half of life, I was fortunate to have a wonderful conversation with Greg Peters who lives in Long Beach, California. Greg’s philosophy is, during the first half of your life you go and investigate what it is that you enjoy doing and the second half of your life you try and do it. He has put this philosophy into practice. After a 28-year career in the aerospace industry working in commercial design and communications, Greg chose to pursue his passion for fine art. Greg painted the picture above and it is included with his permission.

During our conversation, Greg said, “I strongly believe that each of us comes to Earth with a mission to learn so that we can raise our consciousness and use our mission to raise everybody else’s consciousness.” Raising consciousness is part of the reason we are writing this book on conscious living. Raising consciousness begins with awareness.

Raising consciousness through art is Greg’s life purpose. In his book, The Vanishing West, Greg and co-author Johanna Lerwick combine interests in history and the American West, as well as Eastern and Western philosophies, to raise people’s consciousness about what has been going on in the western United States. They have told the story with inspirational quotations and beautiful images, helping people to connect with history through imagery. If you have a story of transition you would like to share, please contact us via the contact page.

For your free copy of The Vanishing West, a colorfully illustrated ebook featuring artworks from Johanna Lerwick and Gregory Peters, go to https://www.gregorysfineart.com/