Cinderella, Kindness And Magic

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Cinderella

Cinderella, the Disney movie, is coming in March 2015. Watching the promos, I cannot wait. The movie trailer made me a little teary-eyed.

Really. I even surprised myself.

Just look at this glass slipper. And I don't even like heels!

However, the Fairy Godmother tells Cinderella, "You'll find they're really comfortable." Frankly, I never argue with a Fairy Godmother.

I felt like I was 15 years old again. Magical possibilities and right-overcoming-wrong made my heart soar. This Disney movie trailer has all the right effects of swelling music and sparkling magic combined with a timeless story.

The Disney Movie Trailer For Cinderella


Chosen For The Part Of Cinderella

As I watched the video trailer, I found myself thinking, gosh, Cinderella seems so familiar. Who is that young lady? Even her voice seemed familiar. Wait, wait, don't tell me...

Oh, of course, beautiful Rose from our beloved Downton Abbey. British accent and all. What a perfect choice for this Cinderella movie.

What a thrill it must have been for her to be chosen for the part. Can you imagine it? Getting the call that said, "Yes, you've been selected among thousands to play the part of Cinderella."

Lady Rose, Lily James the actress, aka Cinderella, gracefully and delightfully evokes a sense of youthful awe and magic. I find myself believing, if only for a moment – "it could happen" – that wonderful suspension of disbelief.

Kindness, Goodness And Magic

I love the emphasis on kindness in this movie. We could all use a lot more kindness in the world. Even the Dalai Lama XIV talks about it in this quote:

Be kind whenever possible.  It is always possible.

Cinderella's mother shares with her a secret - "have courage and be kind" - which is wonderful advice for all of us. I, for one, would like to see kindness "win" more often.

I'm not particularly disposed to the idea of a Prince Charming coming to save me, in any literal sense, but I can certainly enjoy a story about it. These fairy tales are a part of my growing up.

Fairy Tales And Archetype

Fairy tales are universally appealing. They are old stories that have been handed down across the centuries and are told over and over again.  Fairy tales have archetypal energies that speak to something universal within us.

Good wins over evil; right succeeds after being wrongly treated. Having these energies enacted right in front of us appeals to our collective subconscious.

In literature, an archetype is a typical character, an action or a situation that seems to represent such universal patterns of human nature.

Carl Jung, Swiss psychologist, argued that the root of an archetype is in the “collective unconscious” of mankind. The phrase “collective unconscious” refers to experiences shared by a race or culture. This includes love, religion, death, birth, life, struggle, survival etc. These experiences exist in the subconscious of every individual and are recreated in literary works or in other forms of art.

Story telling is an important part of who we are. The stories comfort and entertain us and we bond together by sharing a common story line, nodding in agreement over the plot and outcome.

Even the highly commercialized Disney empire, keeper of fairy tales during the past century, has scored “direct visceral hits” with films that have captured the “power and the melodrama of the stories in their original form." -Maria Tartar

Photo of Cinderella dressed in her ballgown to go the ball. Image from Disney poster for the movie.

Cinderella goes to the ball. 

Applying Universal Energy To Archetypal Energies

Students of The Radiance Technique® (TRT®), can direct energy to parts of the story that personally resonate for them. Every topic is touched on in Cinderella – the death of a family member, ideas of right and wrong, the downtrodden, love and redemption. Watching the movie while applying TRT® hands-on is a great way to stay centered and aware.

Maybe you have little ones who have to see the movie. TRT® hands-on during the movie is a great time to catch up on a little extra energy for you.

Relax And Enjoy The Show

Of course, it's also possible to enjoy the show and not worry about archetype or any other deeper meaning.  I like to sit back and use my TRT® hands-on to enhance relaxation and enjoyment of the movie.

As for me, I also have a small, magical ability to tell the future. I predict we will be seeing a lot of little girls in Cinderella costumes next Halloween.

 

Meditative Stillness In A Galloping World

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Meditative Stillness

 
“Meditation is the journey from movement to stillness,
sound to silence.”
— Sri Sri
 

A lovely meme from the The Art of Living organization reminds us of the meditative process of movement to stillness.

However, because our lives are not a straight line, but rather an ongoing spiral – meditation also takes us back again from stillness to movement.

We are always in motion, but the balance between stillness and movement often becomes askew.

Our Modern To-Do List

Our modern lives are stuffed full of activities all the time. I'll bet you noticed. Upload a photo on Facebook, make sure you tweet something, email, text, call someone, watch a video. In the meantime you should also follow everyone else's Facebook posts, tweets, emails and texts.

Go to the workplace: work, work, work. 

Go back home: sleep, sleep, sleep.

Go out, go in, go to, go from... go, go, go.

Hurry up and work. Hurry up and sleep. Get up and do it again.

Stillness does not rank high on the to-do list.

Do More With Less

In the workplace, the dreaded phrase "do more with less" is used to justify squeezing more work out of you with less staff and resources to support the workload. Instead of being a terrible thing that should be corrected, "do more with less" has become a workplace badge of honor.

"I work 16 hours a day!" co-workers yell as a battle-cry, "Look at me, that must mean I'm important!"

It's incredible how skilled we are at turning things inside-out and backwards.

Caught in the dusty whirlwind of outer activity, I picture myself galloping like a horse from activity to activity, to yet another activity, and on and on, ad nauseum. Never stopping long enough to catch my breath, to gather my thoughts, or to look up at the bigger picture.

Galloping, galloping, galloping...

Have you noticed in our fast-paced world, there is never a lack of things to be galloping to or from?

Wild Horses Galloping

But we are not herds of wild horses thundering on the Great Plains; we are humans in search of our awakening. Part of that process involves stopping, sitting with stillness and holding space for awareness in our breath.

If we could master stillness, we could then learn to bring greater awareness to our "galloping."

Galloping with awareness. In motion with consciousness.

All this galloping made me think of a popular song from my youth – Wildfire. In 1975, in the days of driving down country backroads in my 3-on-the-column Rambler, I listened to the AM radio. Wildfire was a top hit.

For a little blast from the past – I created my own video version of this song:


Michael Martin Murphey, the songwriter, tells us much of this song blossomed from a dream. In his Story Behind The Song 'Wildfire' he shares:

 
“The song came from deep down in my subconsciousness.
My grandfather told me a story when I was a little boy about a legendary ghost horse that the Indians talked about.
In 1936, author J. Frank Dobie identified this ghost horse story as the most prominent one in the lore of the Southwest.”
— Michael Martin Murphey
 

You can weave the verses of this song into the context of your personal life. Murphey recognizes the fluidity of the symbolism in the verses and wisely resists trying to limit its interpretation, leaving it instead to each listener.

For me, some of the deeper meaning in this song has to do with cycles – how we come and go from this planet. The hoot owl can be a harbinger not just of death, but of a great transition.

I picture this aging, weathered farmer coming to the end of his life, setting aside the harshness of these outer planes and riding freely in the wind with Wildfire. Naming the horse Wildfire harkens to the inner fire burning brightly inside all of us.

What ideas and feelings does it evoke for you?

Finding Meditative Stillness

Mornings without time-constraints are the ones I cherish – when I have time to do a full TRT® hands-on session of The Radiance Technique® (TRT®).

What a healing gift.

For the many days when time is limited, however, I can still use TRT® hands-on while I'm on the move. We are able to use TRT® any time, not just when we are meditating.

As we bring more radiant light to everything we do, our awareness of wholeness expands to both our stillness and movement.

 

Happiness In Balance

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Happiness In Balance

A fellow meditator on Insight Timer shared with us:

“Happiness is being free from Anxiety, Depression, Loneliness, Grief.”

Immediately upon reading this, questions started to percolate inside me. I launched an exploration of ideas.

Happy Or Sad

Happiness is part of a pendulum that swings from happy to sad, always in motion, always with the knowledge that no matter where you are on the pendulum of happy, sad is on the other side, waiting for you.

The same is true when we are in sad, but from that perspective, it is sometimes hard to remember that happy is also waiting for us.

As long as we are in a human form, we are never free from either sadness or happiness. These feelings are conditions of the emotional body. If our emotions cease to exist, so too, will the human form.

The fact that we are here on this planet, means we are going to experience happiness as well as anxiety, depression, loneliness and grief. It's all part of the package.

We seem capable of getting stuck on sad for a long time, but it's interesting to note there are not so many reports of getting stuck on happy. 

The Story Of A King

The idea of impermanence and the pendulum of our emotions is often captured in the Zen phrase "this, too, shall pass."

Sufi and Zen stories, and biblical parables as well, tell of a great King who was given a ring with this phrase inscribed inside. In either moments of joy or sorrow, he would look at it and be reminded of impermanence.

Here is a link to one version of the story:

“According to an ancient Sufi story, there once lived a king in a Middle Eastern land. The king was continuously torn between happiness and despondancy. The smallest things could make him really upset or give him an intense emotional reaction, so his happiness easily turned into disappointment and despair. One day the king got tired of himself and started seeking a way out.

He sent for a wiseman living in his kingdom. The wiseman was reputed for being enlightened. When he arrived, the king said to him, “I want to be like you. Can you bring me something that give balance, peace and serenity in my life? I will pay whatever price you like.”

The wiseman replied, “I may be able to help you, but the price is so great that not even your kingdom would be enough payment for it. Therefore I will give it to you as a gift, if you will honor it.”

The king gave his assurances, and the wiseman left. A few weeks later he returned, and handed the king an ornate box carved in jade. The king opened the box, and found a simple gold ring inside. The inscription on the ring read, This, too, shall pass.

”What is the meaning of this?” asked the king.

The wiseman replied, “Wear this ring always. Whatever happens, before you call it good or bad, touch the ring and read the inscription. That way, you will always be at peace.”

Balance Between Happy And Sad

With ongoing use, The Radiance Technique® (TRT®) provides a supportive tool for deepening and expanding your awareness. 

Whatever you are experiencing – happiness or sadness – TRT® is there for you. With your use of TRT® hands-on, you access universal energy to apply to your own personal situations. Use of TRT® helps bring balance to your emotions, helping you to center yourself and see the bigger picture.

Use of TRT® provides you inner support and balance whenever you find yourself in a position that you need to say, "this, too, shall pass."

This, Too, Shall Pass

Walking carefully, we realize that enlightenment does not eliminate our human daily life. Someone may be enlightened, and yet they still have a human form and still experience the wide range of human emotions. 

All of our emotions, however, are not who we really are. They are something happening, almost accidentally. They are on the periphery. We are in the center, the observer.

"This, too, shall pass" is a bridge to higher wisdom. It can take us to a point of transcendence in our awareness.

We may even find that happiness embraces sadness and sadness holds within it happiness.

 

Marsh Wren Competes With Van Damme

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A Marsh Wren And The Joys Of Nature

This humble marsh wren is certainly talented. I adore its little mouth, wide open as he sings at the top of his voice. With gusto, as they say. All this, while doing the splits on cattail reeds.

No one can accuse this little bird of not fully participating in the moment. It warms my heart every time I see his photo.

Nature And The Radiance Technique®

Connecting with nature is one of the more healing things we can do. Deepen that connection by using The Radiance Technique® (TRT®) while in nature.

With The First Degree of The Radiance Technique® – apply TRT® hands-on for yourself and expand your awareness and love of nature.

With The Second Degree of The Radiance Technique® – you are able to direct radiant energy to different animals or flora without the need to actually touch them. This gives you freedom to serve and help in many ways.

Jean Claude Van Damme In Epic Volvo Ad

When I saw the marsh wren tweet by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service – Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge in Utah – I couldn't help but think of the Jean-Claude Van Damme video with his epic splits on two Volvo trucks. Van Damme's splits are crazy impressive, but I must say this little marsh wren is giving him some competition.

Personally, I find Van Damme's splits compelling at the age of 53. The Volvo advertisement picked a captivating choice of music, Only Time, by Enya. Two perfectly positioned 18-wheeler Volvo trucks roll smoothly backwards with early light gleaming off golden paint as the sun rises across the landscape of Spain.

All rather epic.

I Confess, I Used To Drive A Volvo

To be honest, I'm probably a bit partial to the Van Damme/Volvo video because I drove a Volvo S-40 T5 AWD for nine years, that I first picked it up in Germany.

I drove that Volvo all over Europe for 4 wonderful years. What an awesome piece of machinery on the German Autobahn. I definitely miss driving 100 mph in the early morning on an empty, silent Autobahn that had no speed limit. But, that's a story for another time.

Traveling the highways in Europe, I was always a bit surprised to look up to see big rigs with the mark of Volvo or Mercedes Benz. I'm used to seeing those marks on cars in the U.S. – but not on long haul, transport trucks.

In the video, Volvo shows off the impressive and steady precision of its big rigs.

Back to the topic of splits – I dutifully acknowledge anyone who can do the splits, no matter the species. I will admit that I (at any age) can't do anything vaguely resembling proper splits, even standing still in my living room, much less on moving trucks or slim reeds in cattail marshes.

Between the two of them, Van Damme and the marsh wren, I'm not sure which one has outdone the other.

Here's a link to the song of a Marsh Wren so you can be alerted when one is near and perhaps observe its lovely splits.

 

The Unseen Hand Of God

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Clunking While Geese Are Soaring

A cold evening spilled out across the darkening land as I dutifully dragged myself along in my requisite exercise-jog.

I was distracted from my discomfort when I spied a flock of Canadian geese in an open field. Finished with their eventide grazing, they lifted en masse into a pale wintery sky.

Strong wings beat up and down as they rose higher and higher. The strokes of their wings were audible as their feathers pushed against the cold night air. They gathered together across the icy blue expanse and eventually became a single line.

One goose dropped lower, slowed down a bit and then, rose back up into the line to take its place behind another.

Who would know why?

Held By The Unseen Hand Of God

My heart ached as I watched their flight. Joy and pain tumbled within me.

It looked like so much work to flap those wings over and over to keep them skimming across the wide expanse of atmosphere. Nothing else holding them up except, perhaps, the unseen hand of God.

From my awkward and earthbound state, I was reminded how brutish and dull I am in comparison to their lightness of being.

Watching their skyward journey, I held them in my heart as they traveled their sky-path.

An Overgrown, Wild Place

The honking call from their white-slashed throats resonated to an overgrown, wild place tucked inside my heart.

Like my fellow humans across the centuries, I found myself wishing that I could fly, free of metal or mechanics.

With all our technology, there is nothing we do that comes close to their level of mastery, grace, and elevated simplicity.