Is slavery extinct, or just in a different form?

I've been reading _The Lost German Slave Girl_. There is a part that describes the scene around a ship coming in with immigrants - it was a common exploitative practice to ship people across the ocean in return for indentured servitude on the other end. Read the book for a great look into the laws around slavery, but I am going off on a tangent here.

The scene is described as bustling. All sorts of people are interested in buying the labor of another human being for a cheap price... at first that seemed so strange to me. Imagine a boat pulls up to a major harbor like Boston or Philly or NY and a sign goes up - "Get yer indentured servants here!" Who would show up?

But we live in luxurious times - our indentured servants come in the form of oil-burning machines. The price we pay for raping the earth of resources instead of using human labor is only now starting to dawn on us... despite the fact that we have known most of this before we even started using oil... The slavery that oil represents is not as visible - the threat of rebellion and retaliation is not as immediate as within our own household.

And it's all about more. And all that more is a one-way street - consume, with no return to the source, no return to the earth our mother. (Check out a great short called the Story of Stuff http://www.storyofstuff.com/index.html ).

And it's all not new - humans have always wanted more, better, faster, harder, prettier, more fertile, more productive... We used to live simpler lives because we couldn't have more - given a chance to have more, we want more.

The big difference is that now we are so able to take, we are taking more than the earth can give. Now to save our lives we have to take less, give more. Maybe it's also a way to save our souls... cuz we collectively have sold our souls for stuff, convenience of stuff, stuff to put stuff in, stuff that moves stuff, stuff that makes more stuff, stuff to eat, stuff to sit on, stuff to put on other stuff.............. We are drowning in landfill even as we want that new LCD TV with surround sound.

The Sage appears stupid

There is a teaching in the Tao Te Ching that says "the Sage appears stupid."

On the surface, a wise person appears simple, attracts little public attention, worries little about what others think of his/her presentation. But sound the depth of his/her stillness and you find that he has resonances and overtones that the average person does not.

Cheng Man-Ching, taichi master, described a teacher like a bell: hit it with a small pebble and you get a small sound; hit it with a log and you get a big sound. If you don't even hit the bell, you may not even know the profundity you miss: thus the sage who appears stupid.

How to discern those with true wisdom from those who simply affect lightness of being? Listen deeply for the other's listening. Feel for their stillness of mind. For it is listening and receptivity which sound a teacher's bell. Everyone is a teacher if we are willing to learn; it just happens some bells are more resonant and helpful to us than others!

We cultivate a resonant bell by investing time and energy in our own stillness of mind. In the silence between thoughts comes knowledge - knowledge is an awakening rather than a learning. In an awake state we see more clearly and have more insight, intuition and information. With these tools we see farther into the horizon, make better choices, define clearer boundaries, organize thoughts better, become more stable in the face of strong emotion or stress. We have our own answers within: we simply need to know how to seek them and live them.

Leadership in your life

I have been reading John Carver on Board leadership and I realize that his message is easily transferrable to the individual.

The difference between leadership and management is that leadership creates the vision of what is to be, and determines general principles of how to get there and how not to get there. Management (staff) react to that vision by translating the vision into reality, managing the details of functioning in the world.

Most Boards don't spend a lot of time on their vision and end up doing staff work.

But it turns out that most people also don't create a vision and purpose for their lives and end up reacting to the twists and turns of fate rather than riding them. Basically getting caught up in each tree as an obstacle or a goal and losing sight of the forest and the lay of the land. Forgetting what you really want by getting lost in daily busy-ness.

Carver talks about creating a statement that answers "What is reason for this Board/organization's existence?" This question is broken down into three parts: 1. for what benefit to the world is the organization created, 2. who is the intended beneficiary (who do we serve), and 3. what cost is involved (money, but really all resources).

When translated to the individual, the big question is "Who am I?" Seems like a difficult question that many have grappled with. But let's get practical: 1. what do I do that is of benefit to the world?, 2. who benefits from what I do, who I am? and 3. what does it cost to maintain me - money, other people's love and affection, living space, etc.

What is my usefulness. I think answering that question is a very empowering and powerful exercise. Can I work on maximizing my positive impact on the world, leave everywhere and everyone better than where I found them? Can I do more meaningful and useful work? Can I be more loving and available to others?

What is my impact on my environment and on others. This is a realistic question: am I needy and a drag on those around me? Do I require a lot to live happily? Do I need a lot of space to live? Can I minimize the negative impact on the world, take less resources to be happy and satisfied?

It turns out that happiness lies in giving more than you take... and true leadership is about taking charge of your own happiness.

Not too much, not too little

There's a taichi concept that the stance should be big enough to be supportive, but small enough to be stable. You want to take steps that claim enough space to move freely, yet not so big that you have to reach beyond your balance point to claim. Arm movements should be big and full to experience momentum and gravity, yet not so big as to pull you off balance.

This teaching applies to life in general... as most taichi lessons seem to do.

I was at Stew Leonard's the other day and spent so much there that I was eligible for 2 free ice cream cones! There's a dilemma. I live alone, I was shopping for a nice dinner I was going to make a friend... what could I possibly do with 2 ice cream cones? I can barely finish one! So I ordered one... fully prepared for them to tell me I had to get my two cones at once... But no, they honor their word, they wrote on my receipt that I had another cone left. Very satisfying little place inside that decides to just take enough and not more.

I also am part of a CSA - community supported agriculture. You buy a share of a farm's harvest in advance, and when it comes in you pick up your share from a central delivery location. A great way to buy food farm fresh and organic, this one happens to be biodynamic also. Well, living alone it is a lot of food: last year I shared it with my brother. Well, I thought a lot about whether or not to participate this year: so much food, what to do with more and more food accumulating in the fridge! Well, it dawned on me that though I can't take more food than my share, I can take less! Whatever doesn't get claimed from the week's harvest is donated to a soup kitchen. If I take less than my full share, I will have the right amount of food and the rest will not be wasted. Seems like an obvious solution - but all those little voices inside that say, "I paid for it, it's all mine!" chime in with all those feelings of entitlement, accumulation, inadequacy.

It's easy enough to dismiss the choice as trivial - but you know, if we all just took only what we need and no more, if we all participated a little bit more with our own energy rather than just take, if we all give a little more and consume a little less... it all starts with little ol' me making little ol' decisions. Little decisions add up to make the difference.

I take the stairs now whenever I can. So I get some exercise: but I save a little electricity. One tiny drop less oil being used on my account - what's the big deal? Well, I just feel like I am doing some little good, and getting fitter in the process. And this way I also don't need to go to a a gym to get on an oil-driven machine to make me fitter!

What's the harm in trying to make a difference?

Who to believe?

I was looking for a nice relaxing nature documentary to watch... "Coral Reef Adventure" sounds so beautiful, no? Well, I put it on and first thing it starts out with is how the coral reefs are endangered... and this was going to be a little exploration in why they are dying in certain places...

I was a little unprepared, I have to admit, and though had it on, couldn't watch too carefully... I will have to get back to it again when I am more able to digest the information.

Turns out there are a lot of factors. Sea temperatures around coral rising as little as 2 degrees will cause the photosynthesizing algae to leave the coral, leaving the coral bereft of energy to grow... which does seem to be happening as a part of global warming. In addition there are problems of overharvesting the coral and its inhabitants... And a problem with silt from large scale logging operations both clogging the waters and clouding the sunlight... I never knew about the point of view of the coral reefs, but I certainly knew about the environmental problems that exist. It still catches in my throat every time I discover the scale of the problems - which we have known about for decades and still haven't solved.

Contrast that with my dad's sunny opinions: and my dad is a scientist and worked for the UN Environment Program. He figures we will have another 50-60 years of oil, and within 20 years we will be using extensive alternative energies... Maybe he watches too much Chinese cable TV, with their cheery propaganda? Or could it really be that our crisis will be more of a transition?

Well, as was pointed out in "A Crude Awakening," "Stone Age man didn't leave the Stone Age because he ran out of stones. Mankind didn't leave off using horses because he ran out of hay." In other words in no other period of human society have we ever depended so heavily and dramatically on as finite and polluting energy source and building material as oil.

Whoever you believe about the time and scale of the changes to come, they shall be dramatic, and within our lifetimes - how could it be otherwise? So snap in your seatbelts and take the ride.

We shall all be in this together, all colors of human shall ride this wave together, whether we can all get along or not, whether we can all agree or not... and maybe that is the meaning of the whole adventure in the first place: that we realize our differences are much less than our similarities, that our conflicts are less important than our harmonies. "I'd like to teach the world to sing!"

Art or Craft?

What defines art? Is it something beautiful made by hand? Or is it more than that?

I tend to think of art as a form of authentic self-expression. Anything less than that is a craft.

Taking oil to canvas and copying a photo is a skill that I don't have. Much as I admire this skill, this is a craft. Creating the scene from "nothing" is art.

Art doesn't come from nothing. I saw a quote on a furniture store: "we are the sum total of what we have seen." I think we are the sum total of what we hold important. Translating what we hold dear into our lives is an act of art. Copying what we see into another form without passing through our heart is craft...

By this definition our lives can be works of art: live from your heart, express meaning in your life, live as yourself and not as a carbon copy of what you see. This is the only freedom that has meaning. And it is the only freedom that cannot be taken from you.

Our minds seek to understand, and in doing so, we name things: this is a safe person to be with, this is a trusted health practitioner, this is acceptable behavior for this person. If we limit our behavior to what is acceptable to others we get trapped into a box too small for our soul to live. So I am an acupuncturist, taichi teacher... one who must be responsible in my professional life. But I am also a person, a child in an adult body, an adult in a young body, a girl living on her own for the first time in her life. I am full of exploration, play, safe risks...

I invited some of my patients to come to my student improv night, our end-of-semester show to culminate my first semester learning the fun and art of improv comedy. No one showed up... that's not a problem for me... but one patient said to me, "I just couldn't come. I can't see you as my trusted healing professional cutting up on stage."

His loss, I say. I had a blast that night!

Ice is not the answer

Say we sprain an ankle. Immediately after the sprain, we may not feel anything - no change. Then within 10 minutes a whole cascade reaction occurs: there is sudden swelling, pain, the range of motion is limited, the ankle cannot take full body weight.

The Western approach is to numb the pain and chase away the swelling with ice, then maybe bind it. After several days, the pain is reduced... but the problem doesn't seem to go away: the ankle is still easy to reinjure. People are just told to expect they will have "weak ankles."

This is not a solution.

The swelling is purposeful: it accomplishes two main functions: to bring nutrients and resources to the injury, and to splint the joint, protecting it from being able to move and therefore exacerbate the original injury. Trusting that the swelling has a purpose, the trick is to accomplish what it was trying to do so as to avoid the need to swell up.

An acupuncturist will want to increase circulation to the injured area, not reduce it. In mobilizing the joint as much as possible, there may be pain during treatment, but afterwards there is often dramatic reduction in both pain and swelling...

And the process gives the body and mind a chance to understand the injury. Consciously being careful about use of the joint reduces further injury, reducing the body's need to splint with fluid accumulation... I had a sprain about 7 years ago. I treated with massage and acupuncture. It hardly swelled up, while giving me little pain. I found that if I was careful about good alignment it was hardly a hindrance to me. And I have not since re-sprained the ankle.

The intention is solve the problem, not merely mask symptoms.

Learn to Learn

Sometimes less is more.

You know how when you are trying to learn something, you try too hard? The effort and concentration, and above all the fear of messing up, all seem to make the whole activity difficult. But when you have done that thing enough times, it seems so easy... We all have such experiences: remember first learning how to drive?

What is it about repetition that makes an activity come easier? Well, we let go of the fear when we have done it many times. We let go of the self-judgment when we know we have done this thing just fine. And eventually our body-mind develops a habit of this activity and we don't even have to think about it any more.

So what if we could actually learn something new as if we already were experts? What if we could be so self-forgiven that we can just do the action with full confidence. What if making mistakes was not so scary, looking good not so all-important. And vice versa. What if we took an activity we thought we knew really well and studied it? What if you could study your own posture, the way you walk, as if you were learning it for the very first time. As a beginner practice as if you were an expert, as an expert, study as if you were a beginner.

Life is ever-changing. And change requires adaptation - and learning. If we stop learning we stop growing and adapting to life... we get stuck, we get old. Old is not chronology, old is unadaptive. Old is not the quality of skin or the strength of muscles, old is weak in the mind and poor in aspiration. By this definition, the opposite of old is not young: the opposite of old is alive!

Reach out to others and learn something from everyone you meet. Take a risk and try a new restaurant, a new food, a different kind of job, talk to people you've never said hi to before. Go away to somewhere exotic: or explore a new street in your neighborhood, actually sit in the park bench you pass every day. Take classes in things that a week ago you never would have dreamed of taking: or take the classes you have been waiting all your life to take! Risk learning something, and in the process you will learn about yourself.

And what greater task in this world do we have than to find out who we really are? If we only knew that, all the world would be at our feet.

More play, less distraction

Sounds unusual, but I propose more playfulness!

There is nothing I hold more important than awareness of "the problem" whatever the problem might be. I am a huge proponent of practical realism. Taking time to understand what is going on in my own life both in external circumstance and internal mental geography is my ongoing passion and lifelong quest. I practice and teach taichi in order to study myself, my tensions, my reactions to stress, and hopefully help others to do the same. I write morning pages every day. I take classes that challenge my thought patterns and habits. And I contemplate a great deal whenever I have time between patients and classes... Sounds so serious, doesn't it?

Distraction and entertainment take us away from our problems. All sorts of activities can be used in this way: overwork, late-night parties, sex, video games, surfing the internet, overeating, a great deal of academic study... We can summarize by using the word addiction.

We use these addictions to escape - to run away from what we perceive to be difficult. Maybe it is a situation we are running away from; ultimately we are running away from ourselves: our fears, our hurts, our disappointments and our pain.

How can you find a solution to a problem without knowing what the problem is? Most of us don't even realize we have a problem to solve! If we don't solve the problem, it turns out that we end up in the same situation over and over again: maybe different people involved, maybe different circumstances: but the same emotion again, the same stuck place. If you don't know what I am talking about, wait another decade of life... you will see what I mean. Simply putting off solving the problem means that the problem doesn't go away, just revisits in other guises, or gets worse.

Becoming aware of these places and accepting them is the first and most important step in transforming them. Trust that you are strong enough to face your fears, your hurts. Sit with the problem, or share it with someone wise that you trust.

At first it will seem that you are not the right person for the job: the problem is too big or too scary. With some patience, you will learn how to unlock this scary place, defuse its power over you. And in that moment, you are empowered to be creative.

Creativity is your birthright. It is the godhead within. It is your partnership with the divine. You are amazingly creative, it is you that created the difficulties for yourself and it is you that can solve them.

When creativity is unleashed in this way, it doesn't stop at solving problems! That's just a reactive role: no, now it takes on an active role! You find that you start manifesting your deepest aspirations, that you start to create the life you want, rather than wait for it to happen. You take the bull by the horns more and more fearlessly: indeed after a while the alternative of not grabbing the bull doesn't even present itself!

And therein lies the playfulness.

Oil crisis ahoy!

I have been thinking a lot about the impending oil crisis, what with watching "A Crude Awakening", available through Netflix... highly recommend you watch it. You know, it's one thing to know the oil is running out and all, but another to realize the scale of use we have gotten into.

Look around you: there isn't one item of furniture, clothing, equipment, food or toy that isn't transported, made from plastic, packaged in petrochemicals or powered by oil-sourced electricity.

Fine, I used to say. So we'll just use alternative sources of energy, mine our landfills for plastic to recycle... we'll manage somehow!

So it was very sobering to hear experts talk about the hugeness of the problem. A barrel of crude is the energy equivalent of 25,000 hours of human labor! That's the equivalent amount of energy output of 12 people laboring forty-hour weeks for a whole year! Paid $5/hour that's the monetary equivalent of $125,000 - which we pay $63 for wholesale. When the price of oil rises, this is the scale on which inflation might occur...

Cuz when you think about it, a barrel of crude oil is like having access to slave labor - without the danger of a slave rebellion or intermarriage! Oil is doing all the labor that therefore humans don't have to - and our whole civilization and standard of living rests upon this foundation of cheap energy.

All great civilizations were founded on slave labor - can you think of any empire that didn't conscript slaves? Pretty much all the massive construction projects were undertaken with either slave labor or convicts... much the same thing after all.

So it's like every time we fill up our gas tank we are harnessing the work of 12 slaves, forcing them to do our bidding, making them haul us around in a big box going at 60 miles an hour... and we don't have to feed them, clothe them, put them up overnight. Just leave them outside in all kinds of weather, get pissed off if the price of gas goes up!

Nothing's for free. This "slave labor" might not rebel outright, but it will dstroy our planet. Global warming is a fact, no matter what major media would like us to believe: who owns the major media anyway? They have vested interests in keeping us oil-dependent. Check out Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth" if you haven't... pretty compelling. Hard to dismiss.

Basically, the oil crisis centers around food: how are we going to acquire food in cities, how are we going to grow it without petrochemical fertilizers, how are we going to feed 6 billion people and counting. The global warming crisis centers around water: too much water in one place, too little in another, water where ice should be, storms more violent than they used to be. Right at this moment, it's a toss-up which will kill us first.

It's time to make peace with change. And with suffering. And with death. It is going to be an interesting decade, no matter how optimistic the outlook. And it's time to learn to relax, because we are not going to be able to control any of the outcomes...

It's time for more taichi practice.