This is from the wonderful Robbert Genn Twice Weekly Letter.

Robert has given me permission to reprint anything from these, and he is truly a wonder. A painter who teaches, writes (TWO beautiful newsletters a week), amongst many other things.

I was going to post this up on the Diving Deeper: a writing workshop pod, but then thought, no, it's for all of us.

April 18, 2008

Ever since I was a kid I've been interested in the nature of
creative thinking. Where does it come from? Can it be learned?
Can it be taught? I've been curious about my own periods of
creative intuition and creative ineptitude. I've also been
interested in the difference between "wild child" creativity
and mature creative self-management.
 
Most of our creativity takes place in the right back corner of
our brains. In addition, many folks are able to toss the
creative ball both fore and aft and port and starboard. Studies
of various brain disorders and traumas have thrown further
light on the game. Anne Adams was a Vancouver, BC, scientist
and painter who recently passed away from the effects of PPA.
Primary Progressive Aphasia patients eventually lose their
ability to speak. Anne tracked the progression of her disorder
in a remarkable series of paintings. As her condition deepened,
her creativity seemed to move to a different part of her brain.
Her work became more linear, mathematical and ordered. One of
Anne's paintings, "Unraveling Bolero," takes Maurice Ravel's
"Bolero" and makes it visual. Ravel, who died in 1937, also
suffered from PPA. We've illustrated some of Anne's work at the
top of the current clickback. See URL below.

Neurologist Bruce Miller of the University of California in San
Francisco notes that one part of the brain can learn to do what
another part becomes incapable of. While modifications take
place in the process--as in muscle building for specific
sports--by persistently asking, we get. With curiosity,
audacity and effort, creativity can be redeployed. Just knowing
it's there for the taking is part of the game. Sophocles said,
"Look and you will find it; what is unsought will go
undetected." Like Anne, we need to be prepared to let
creativity take us where it will.

We all have personal keys to developing our creative potential.
For some it's necessary to remain mute--for others a mild
distraction is needed--music, even TV. Our individual
preferences in reference material and experience are precious
triggers. Studio tricks, attitudes and physical exercises
jiggle the liquid brain into building the creative muscle. Our
miraculous computers are forever rebooted. These days we seem
to be able to modify and improve the performance of just about
anything. Not including the use of drugs, you can train your
creative brain to be brainier than you think.

Best regards,

Robert

PS: "If one part of the brain is compromised, another part can
remodel and become stronger." (Dr. Bruce Miller)

To subscribe to Robert's newsletter, go to the website The Painter's Keys, which is full of other interesting and supportive material for all artists ( and everyone! )



(From MONPA - the Museum of non primate art)

And.. finally, Nora, the piano playing cat...

Andrew Johnston is 13 years old. He get's bullied at school, because they don't like what he sings.

Andrew's dream is to sing on stage. It's a dream of mine too, and watching him makes me feel he's fulfilled my dream for me.

Here he is, on "Britain's Got Talent".

An inspiring and deeply moving TED talk. Watch right through to the end, it is a full on experience that builds as Jill speaks:   Jill Bolte Taylor: My stroke of insight

Here is the YouTube version, but it is worth going to the TED website as there is so much wonderful stuff there.





From TED:
"Neuroanatomist Jill Bolte Taylor had an opportunity few brain scientists would wish for: One morning, she realized she was having a massive stroke. As it happened -- as she felt her brain functions slip away one by one, speech, movement, understanding -- she studied and remembered every moment. This is a powerful story of recovery and awareness -- of how our brains define us and connect us to the world and to one another. (Recorded February 2008 in Monterey, California. Duration: 18:44.)"

My dear friend Alan Steinfeld of New Realites ("Consciousness" cable program broadcast from New York) interviewed Dr. Bruce Lipton a while back. I only recently saw the interview, and loved it. Bruce says that the 'human is a reiteration of the cell'  -  that the cell's evolutionary step is the same step we as 'individual' humans have to make - to hook up with each other into community...



And, a little something from the wonderful Tony Parsons... just a reminder, that all there is is this...

Well, I thought I was going to do a series of uplifting videos etc for spring.  Life does not always work out like I want.

The following video, called "Earthlings"  is a feature length documentary about our  dependence on animals, but most of all shows the 'inhumanity' of how animals are treated by industry etc. I've known all this, but to see it is another thing. The film is narrated by Joaquin Phoenix (GLADIATOR) and features music by Moby.

Well, February is over. What a month. I think it's time for some inspiring and interesting videos...

First: Randy Pausch - reprising his "Last Lecture" on the Oprah Show. He has pancreatic cancer, and was told he had three to six months to live last summer. He's still alive.



I love the bit about choosing to be a 'tigger' or an 'eeyore'...

Randy (www.randypausch.com) is a virtual reality pioneer, human-computer interaction researcher, co-founder of CMU's Entertainment Technology Center (www.etc.cmu.edu), and creator of the Alice (www.alice.org) software project. 

I'm really happy to announce that the ”Gaia Groups Community” pod, aka The Mod Pod, is up and available for membership.

A few of us have been working on ths for some time, I think it will be a great addition to the work of supporting this community.

It is a semi-private pod, but visible by all. Anyone who wants to join simply has to email one of the moderators.

Pease come on by.


Here is a copy of the pod description:

This group is for cultivators and moderators of groups (a.k.a. “pods”) here at Gaia, as well as for anyone else who has aspirations of becoming a cultivator or moderator or otherwise promoting the vibrancy of the pod community.

In this group, we discuss various strategies, issues and ideas related to group administration, as well as help less experienced moderators to develop their groups into thriving spaces that bring about a sense of community both within the group and throughout Gaia. That also includes discussing strategies for and providing support in mediating conflict with and between members of the groups we moderate.

This group also provides opportunities for working together with moderators of similar or complementary groups, as well as for merging groups in order to more effectively unite people with similar interests, not to mention generally building a sense of community among group moderators.

Finally, this group is a place in which we can discuss various important ideas that may have emerged separately in multiple groups, thereby providing us with a better sense of what the free will of the broader Gaia community is, which will, in turn, help us to be better moderators.

Joining the Group

All group cultivators, moderators and other enthusiastic community advocates are encouraged to join the group. To do so, simply contact one of this group's moderators, who are: Grey, Sandra and Meenakshi, Bruce, and Dave.

Enjoy!

I've thought of many things I would like to do. One of them is to work in prisons. It might seem a strange wish, and perhaps naive of me. The fantasy of going in amongst 'hardened criminals' and 'helping' them, is, I'm sure, not uncommon, at least for  lucky people like myself who have no idea what it is really like to be incarcerated.

Recently, Don Childers, a friend of mine here on Gaia, sent me his book, Inside Out. Don spent two years in prison on a number of charges including possession of cocaine, consensual sex with a minor, and possession of firearms. He was 40, was married and had two sons, 17 and 20 years old. It's a beautiful, inspiring book, simply told and all the more effective because of this. As Don says on his profile:

Two years of prison changed my life, gave me life and awakened the healer within. It was when my freedom was taken away at age 40 that I started discovering the power in “being still.” And what a blessing it was.  In the stillness I found my strength, my life, my everything.

Don came to the realisation that he had been in his own personal prison long before:  he had been imprisoned by listening to his parents, grandparents, family members and friends telling him how to be, how to think.

He embarked on a journey of discovery. By uncovering who he was not he began discovering who he really was. "Nearly everybody is in a prison no matter where they are, whether behind walls or just within themselves."  

Don now ministers in prisons, and hopes to spread the work of Inside Out. Have a look at his website.

You can get copies of Inside Out from Amazon or from him directly.  He writes about miracles and healing; he writes about small events and large ones, - all of them a possibility for discovery:

"One day I asked a guard what time it was and he told me. Two other men were standing right there when I asked. When he told me the time the one inmate said, "3:20," and the other one said, "No, he said 3:24," and I said, "No, he didn't. He said 3:24." And the guard said, "No, I said it was "3:26." I thought, "What in the world; none of us heard the right time, even me."

We all heard what we wanted to. They thought it was nothing; nobody was interested in what had happened, but I was! I wanted to find out what had happened because I didn't think it was right to go on with life not knowing if I am hearing the other person correctly or if I am hearing what I want to hear."

It was while reading Don's book that I remembered my own dream of working in prisons, which began many years ago. I did not really have an idea of what this might look like, but I had met Leonard M. Shaw, who wrote a beautiful pamphlet called  “Love and Forgiveness, A Workbook for Self Healing and Healing Relationships". Leonard leads Love and Forgiveness Seminars at Monroe State Prison and, amongst other things, has been a consultant for Federal Offenders Rehabilitation.

Some of Leonard's methods are controversial.  He works with both survivors and perpetrators of sexual abuse (as well as physical/psychological abuse). The controversy centers around asking the survivor to put themselves in the shoes of the perpetrator.


This is deep work, and close to my heart. Perhaps this is why I'm drawn this work: I have always felt that what other people did, no matter how horrible, was a potential within me. It is the basis of many healing principles and methods, including Ho'oponopono.

And, I have spent time with people who have been inside prison. I have spent time with people who have done 'terrible' things.

Were they 'bad' people?

Kahlil Gibran wrote:

And one of the elders of the city said, “Speak to us of Good and Evil.”
And he answered:
Of the good in you I can speak, but not of the evil.
For what is evil but good tortured by its own hunger and thirst?
Verily when good is hungry it seeks food even in dark caves, and when it thirsts, it drinks even of dead waters.
You are good when you are one with yourself.
Yet when you are not one with yourself you are not evil.
For a divided house is not a den of thieves; it is only a divided house.
And a ship without rudder may wander aimlessly among perilous isles yet sink not to the bottom.
You are good when you strive to give of yourself.
Yet you are not evil when you seek gain for yourself.
For when you strive for gain you are but a root that clings to the earth and sucks at her breast.
Surely the fruit cannot say to the root, “Be like me, ripe and full and ever giving of your abundance.”
For to the fruit giving is a need, as receiving is a need to the root.
You are good when you are fully awake in your speech,
Yet you are not evil when you sleep while your tongue staggers without purpose.
And even stumbling speech may strengthen a weak tongue.
You are good when you walk to your goal firmly and with bold steps.
Yet you are not evil when you go thither limping.
Even those who limp go not backward.
But you who are strong and swift, see that you do not limp before the lame, deeming it kindness.
You are good in countless ways, and you are not evil when you are not good,
You are only loitering and sluggard.
Pity that the stags cannot teach swiftness to the turtles.
In your longing for your giant self lies your goodness: and that longing is in all of you.
But in some of you that longing is a torrent rushing with might to the sea, carrying the secrets of the hillsides and the songs of the forest.
And in others it is a flat stream that loses itself in angles and bends and lingers before it reaches the shore.
But let not him who longs much say to him who longs little, “Wherefore are you slow and halting?”
For the truly good ask not the naked, “Where is your garment?” nor the houseless, “What has befallen your house?”
The Prophet xxii


I'm also reminded of Thich Nhat Hanh's poem, one I often quote:

Don't say that I will depart tomorrow --
even today I am still arriving.

Look deeply: every second I am arriving
to be a bud on a Spring branch,
to be a tiny bird, with still-fragile wings,
learning to sing in my new nest,
to be a caterpillar in the heart of a flower,
to be a jewel hiding itself in a stone.

I still arrive, in order to laugh and to cry,
to fear and to hope.

The rhythm of my heart is the birth and death
of all that is alive.

I am the mayfly metamorphosing
on the surface of the river.
And I am the bird
that swoops down to swallow the mayfly.

I am the frog swimming happily
in the clear water of a pond.
And I am the grass-snake
that silently feeds itself on the frog.

I am the child in Uganda, all skin and bones,
my legs as thin as bamboo sticks.
And I am the arms merchant,
selling deadly weapons to Uganda.

I am the twelve-year-old girl,
refugee on a small boat,
who throws herself into the ocean
after being raped by a sea pirate.
And I am the pirate,
my heart not yet capable
of seeing and loving.

I am a member of the politburo,
with plenty of power in my hands.
And I am the man who has to pay
his "debt of blood" to my people
dying slowly in a forced-labor camp.

My joy is like Spring, so warm
it makes flowers bloom all over the Earth.
My pain is like a river of tears,
so vast it fills the four oceans.

Please call me by my true names,
so I can hear all my cries and my laughter at once,
so I can see that my joy and pain are one.

Please call me by my true names,
so I can wake up,
and so the door of my heart
can be left open,
the door of compassion.

These days I have a clearer idea of what I might do 'in prisons'. The Diving Deeper writing workshops I guide are very much about telling our stories. This is, in my experience, transformational - not only to write down our 'stories', but to witness them being read out and heard by others. Perhaps, one day, I will get the chance to offer my work in prisons. In the meantime, I know of many others who have expressed a similar interest.

There are many organisations and people actively involved in this area. Gangaji, for example. She says: I love going into prisons, because when we talk about freedom in prison, the men who have realized freedom know that freedom is not about the body.


Some links to explore:

The Gangaji Foundation Prison Program
Liberation Prison Project, A Tibetan Buddhist organization (with many links to similar organizations)
Shambhala Prison Community
Buddhism Behind Bars Project:  a book being sponsored by Wildmind - soliciting manuscripts and arranging for  inmate writers to have personal coaching in writing and when they have enough manuscripts they will submit the collection to publishers.
Prison Healing Works New Zealand organisation which "represents the outcome of five years volunteer prison ministry coupled with song-writing based around that ministry."
Boston Minstrel Company volunteer singers and musicians who visit shelters, residential facilities and prisons
The Insight Prison Project (of which The Work of Byron Katie group is a part)

For some reason, one of the most 'popular' blogs I ever wrote was last spring, called Paean to Zaadz. I tried to tell everyone about my experience here on Zaadz, how incredibly grateful I was, and to share about all the wonderful things that had occured during my time here. At the end of the blog I wrote:

But something is going on here, perhaps it is part of the omega point, the eschaton; perhaps Zaadz is part of that whole singularity thing, I don't know. But I am truly grateful....

....It's going to get bigger, much bigger. I say yes, bring it on!

At that time there were about 50,000 members and now there are, what, nearly 150,000? That's incredible. And the seed of Zaadz has grown into Gaia. I had no idea about this at the time of writing my Paean to Zaadz blog, and in yet a few days or sooner I believe we will have a new interface that will reflect our shift.

So... how has it been for me since that blog last spring?

Shortly after writing it (about three weeks) I became cultivator of the Diving Deeper writing workshop pod - something I had not planned at all, it seemed to 'just happen' -- I met the wonderful Alex Noble  (Happiness), and loved her writings on writing. She started a pod that quickly she suggested I take over and base it on the writing retreats I lead. At the time the pod had about 90 members, now the membership is well over 400.

My life on Zaadz became my life on Diving Deeper. I had no idea how much work it takes to cultivate and moderate a pod, but for the most part I loved every minute of it. I met so many beautiful and talented people there, and although I 'teach' on the pod, I had and have a lot of support for my own writing, and for my ideas about the writing process, not to mention reading some extraordinary and inspirational creative writing from other members. Through the writing there I am let into other lives and worlds in a deeply personal way. What an honour and a gift.

During my on Diving Deeper I have had three short stories published by online Literary magazines - my first publications of fiction. This was a very big and very powerful shift for me personally, and I have been supported and encouraged by the Diving Deeper members. The story I wrote where I felt I truly 'grokked' the short story form, happened on Diving Deeper, and I'd say a few well articulated words from my dear friend Burt were instrumental in this development.

Diving Deeper goes strong, it has it's ups and downs, it's 'hot' moments, and I saw that it was a reflection of Zaadz as a whole - it was a 'village' in the ever growing world of Zaadz.

There has been a lot of controversy and sharing about the Zaadz to Gaia change, (See the ThinkTank threads and the Gaia Community threads, and the Team blogs and elsewhere), and about some of the new 'tools' (e.g. the seed system) that are being implemented to support the growth and expansion here...

My reaction to 'change' is nearly always initially negative and then once I've taken a look at my automatic 'closing down', I dive right in and go for it. When I heard, in August of 2007,  that Zaadz had been sold and was going to be 'Gaia', I didn't think too much about it, but I did feel a shift here and at the time it didn't feel like a good one. I couldn't really put my finger on what the shift was -- I think it had a lot to do with the growth of membership.

The 'town' was now a teeming metropolis. The incredibly quick responses from the team to issues on the ThnkTank and elswhere seemed to have slowed down, for example, and I felt on overwhelm with the numerous pods and discussions, so I tended to stick to the 'safer' environment of Diving Deeper.

Then the Trust System 'happened' ( now called the Seed System). This event and the discourse about it It energized me to step outside of my 'safe' village, mainly because I felt it was going to threaten that village - we are a group of artists, and I have fought ardently to prevent any artist being hindered by thinking their work is 'good' or 'bad' , and I felt the Seed System, at least as it was first described and developed, would support this kind of judgement.

However, as I went along and stepped outside the confines of my village to talk about what was happening and to hear other voices, I realised that this was not some 'evil' imposition upon us from The Powers That Be, but a system to try and make this place work better. (See my own thread Seeds, the Trust System ??? on Diving Deeper); and that it was a work in progress, and that our voices were being heard.

Very shortly before the Seed System was implemented, myself and a group of others spoke against the 'blinking ads', and they were stopped, so I had real experience of change happening according to the needs of the community itself.

Now I actually believe that the seed system has huge potential, and whether or not any of this potential flowers remains to be seen. See, for example, some of the discussion on Zet's thread Seeds and Gardens on the ThinkTank. Seeds could be used, for example, towards manifesting Gaia developed projects in the world that are non-virtual.

Well....my stepping out into the 'larger' world of Zaadz has challenged me to take a look at what  and why I am contributing to this community, to open up more, to speak up about other ideas and visions I have, to listen to what people are sharing here, to play a greater part in this community I 'live' in.

Through this process I've met or deepened my connections with some extraordinary people who are doing the same: O.M Bastet, Zet White, Meenakshi, Earon, Michael Sheppard, Grey, Balder, Deborah, Dave, Mark, and many many others.

The Leap, the 'it's going to get bigger' is happening  right now. It's happening to me - and to all of us.

How I vision myself has, I believe and I experience, a direct effect on how I experience the outside world. The more limitations I place on myself, the smaller my 'world' feels. I apply this to Zaadz and to Gaia - I can see Gaia as being and and becoming as big and as extraordinary as I allow myself to be. If there are areas which need attention, or areas which are 'hidden' in myself, then these will be so in Gaia and in the world. It is up to me to do my own house-cleaning, and to expand this vision of 'house' to more than just myself; to be as open and vulnerable as I can be, to be willing to listen to the concerns of unmet parts of myself and of others in this world of ours.

I recently said on a thread Zet posted called: Damanhur - an example of enlightened action on the Gaia pod:

...we are living together - in fact I see / experience 'us' here in Gaia as living together in a very real way, not only creating real-time connections and closing the physical 'gap' via the internet.

 I actually physically experience 'rooms' here on zaadz/gaia - some are noisy, some are quiet, some are exciting, some are inspiring. Although I have met quite a few members in 'real life' – and hope to continue to do so, there are many people here I feel so close to it is as if we have met. 

I remember being slightly horrified when I heard about the 3D virtual world, Second Life, but I think there is something very powerful going on there, and in some ways I do experience my 'life' here on the internet and on zaadz/gaia in particular as being as absolutely real and three dimensional and as 'valuable' as my non-virtual life - and, more particularly being very much an integral part of my non-virtual life (just to note that since Gaia has a 'mission', it differs drastically from Second Life, and I'm personally not interested in playing a different 'role' via an avatar, this 'real' life is far too exciting already!).

If I am experiencing people and spaces that are 'virtual' as 'real', then something very interesting is happening, in my opinion.

 I do not suggest that I or anyone else 'lives' virtually, but that because of our ability to connect and imagine in this way, the possibilities for change on Earth are huge, unimaginable even.

As Mark recently quoted from Mirra Alfassa ( The Mother ) on his blogs A New World is Born:

"A new world is BORN. It’s not the old world that is being transformed, it is a NEW world that is born. And we are right in the middle of this transitional period when the two are entangled: the old still persists, all-powerful, dominating the ordinary consciousness entirely, but the new is slipping in, still very modestly, unnoticed- so unnoticed that externally it does not disrupt much… for the time being, and that in the consciousness of most people it is even completely imperceptible. And yet it is working and growing."

and from Mark's blog New Knowledge Emerges, also a quote from The Mother:

"Every time a new element is introduced into the various possible combinations, what we might call a “tearing of limits” takes place.  Modern scientific perception is clearly much closer to something that corresponds to the new reality than, say, the perceptions of the Stone Age were - without a shadow of doubt.  But even that is suddenly going to find itself completely exceeded, surpassed, and probably upset by the intrusion of something that did not exist in the universe we have been studying.  It is this change, this abrupt transformation of the universal element that will most certainly bring about a kind of chaos in perceptions, from which a new knowledge will suddenly emerge."

~The Mother

I mentioned singularity in my Paean to Zaadz blog. Singularity generally refers to a technological singularity (the futurist Ray Kurzweil being one of the more famous theorists in this field); but there is also something called the "Consciousness Singularity" .

This refers to .."a hypothetical point of time in the future when human consciousness, at both the personal and species level, experiences an abrupt transition, a phase transition of sorts, into a collective state of transcendence that is conceptually impossible for us to imagine "what it's like" with our current limited cognitive abilities."

For me this could be next leap -- perhaps a combination of technological and consciousness singularity. I believe we are in the process of the leap already. I see this 'consciousness singularity' as being something collaborative and deeply community orientated.


Mushin wrote on the fifth of his blogs Integral Community Building & Collaboration Ecology:

"Encouraging, facilitating and fostering pluralistic conversations and action for a flourishing planet and society in an environment of exponentially increasing social diversity and complexity on all scales, this is the larger purpose Community Development Professionals stand for. To fulfill this purpose we focus, beyond the traditional economic capital, on social, cultural and environmental capital and co-creating it in a new abundance become its stewards. Doing this we will surely craft and foster new types of organizations and communities that provide innovative solutions to environmental and societal challenges, organizations that also create large economic profits because the world-market is ready for them."

So. I am riding the wave here at Zaadz to Gaia: I do not know where it goes or what will happen, I can only say 'yes' to it and enjoy myself to the fullest as I ride, and to keep asking myself, how can I spread the wealth, the joy.....

I've often mentioned The Work of Byron Katie. Although many 'spiritual' teachers say 'nothing works' - in terms of techniques or methods to try and achieve awakening, I do believe there are some 'methods' which do, in fact, bring me to more awareness. Perhaps not full blown enlightenment (whatever that is) -- but to a deeper appreciation of and connection to this moment.

In terms of internal 'struggle'  - thoughts and emotions of fear, anger, confusion, upset; and in terms of feeling involved or engaged in a situation ( a relationship, to something or someone) that is stuck or causing suffering, I do not know of a better or more simple approach than Byron Katie's.  I 'did' the work ( a series of questions which you write down the answers) about 12 years ago and it radically shifted how I experienced 'reality' -- at that time my reality was feeling shitty in my relationship. 

Although I have never gone to a workshop or really 'done' the work as fully as I did then, I feel as if the process is deep inside me, and whenever a situation arises which I  feel myself being triggered by, the 'questions' and the 'turnarrounds' come easily, and my experience of 'what is' changes.

Yesterday I was meandering around the net and came across the following series of videos taken this year of Byron Katie in Israel. I found them absolutely gripping - I did not realise what an extraordinary speaker & communicator she is ( in the fullest widest sense of the word, i.e. listening) ; and also to see her actually do 'the work' in a such a context is very moving.

I know of so many teachers or meditative or healing 'methods' that sound good or seem to work in my nice comfortable life, but what about for people who live in war torn countries? Seems a bit iffy if I think about that.

But here Byron Katie is doing just that, and iffy it is not.