What Box?^®

I am constantly having to remind myself that “I know more than I know I know” when I get stuck on some challenge. There is a solution out there. The challenge is to remove the blocks that prevent my mind from being open to discovering new, different and creative ways of thinking.

As an example, we all have up to three dreams each and every night. Yet, how many of us remember our three dreams. Images in your dreams use all of your imagination and are rich in symbolism. For some reason many of us block these dreams and don’t allow ourselves to experience one of the great joys of living. Daydreams and the dreams that you have when you are sleeping have the ability to communicate deep insights into our creative nature as humans. When you work to unblock your mind and start recalling your dreams and intuitively look for the meaning found in the images dreamt, you start to open a whole new path to expanding your creativity along with the power of your subconscious mind. What did you dream last night?

Because we are all made of pure creativity we can do anything we set our minds to. When we are able to understand our strengths and weaknesses we are able to hone our abilities and start building on them. Some of us are more verbal than others. Some think more linearly than others, and still others use more of their emotions to increase their creativity. The challenge is to take an honest look at yourself.

What do I really want in life?

What do I want to create for myself?

What are my greatest skills?

What abilities can I improve upon?

What creative abilities do I have that I am letting sit dormant?

A child’s mind is totally open when he or she is born. Many of us lose this openness as we move through adolescence and into adulthood. Children are learning and exploring at a hyper rate as they grow. Anything is possible and their creativity is at an all time high. Yet, somehow as time goes by they start to think that they can’t do this or that. They start thinking I can’t draw and then stop drawing. As they try new things they begin to think that their ideas might not work and therefore they don’t try them because they might look bad. All of this thinking is learned and blocks our ability to reach our full creative potential. See if you can do this for just and hour, “Let go of all negative thoughts and allow your mind to think that anything is possible. I can do this.” Your creativity will blossom right in front of you.

“If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with success unexpected in common hours.” Henry David Thoreau

Exploring your creativity is not limited to dreaming, drawing, imagining, attitudes, and thinking. Instead, there is virtually an unlimited number of ways that you can expand and grow your creativity. Focus on understanding your natural abilities and build on them. Be who you are. No one else can be you and you can’t be anyone else. Be prepared to change. Many times everything is changing but the way we are thinking.

In our society we focus a lot of our energy on linear, logical thinking. Some of the keys to being more creative are paying attention to our intuition, expressing our emotions, and exploring new ideas visually. These non-traditional methods of thinking and being creative are exactly what today’s competitive workforce needs to have if they are going to be at the top of their game. How can we change the way we think about education and what is taught in our schools? How can we change the way we think about who we are and what we know?

Each and every one of us needs a balanced life, the balance of work life and family life, the balance of linear thinking and creative thinking, along with a balance of rest and activity.

It is not always easy to balance the activities in your life. Here is a little secret, “When you are using more of your creative abilities you will come closer to creating a more balanced life.” Each and every one of your creative abilities is unique to you. They make you who you are. They hold unlimited potential and cost you nothing. The time is now to unleash your creative abilities.

Let me know what you think.

Write me at sean@whatbox.info or The Chronicle of Grand Lake PO Box 757 Langley, OK 74350 c/o What Box?  Visit www.whatbox.info to learn more.

Until next week, remember the only boxes that exist are the ones you create yourself.

No matter how much I try to remember and remind myself, sometimes I forget just how precious and fleeting each and every moment of life really is. The pace of living in the Western World has a tendency to run over our greater insights and we find ourselves on auto pilot. A place where our life’s activities become second nature and the “human doing” takes over our “human being.”

Most of the time it takes a dramatic and shocking experience to illuminate in a meaningful way the power and potential each moment of life holds for us. We wake up, drink coffee, let the dogs out, shower, get dressed, feed the cat, take the kids to school, work, eat, feed the dogs, sleep, workout, watch TV, and hang out in cyber space. It is no wonder we allow our lives to be set on auto pilot and ignore the seen and unseen signs along life’s journey. Signs that hold the potential to support us in the creation of greater meaning and value in our lives. Let’s face it. It is just easier to live a life on auto pilot and many of us choose this route.

Last Friday was one of those meaning of life illumination days for me. I had intentionally set a casual schedule so I could enjoy the morning with Kristen, my wife, before a lunch meeting. The day before Cupid, my bull terrier, was not feeling so well and he did not seem to be himself. Cupid has eaten his share of underwear, indestructible Nylabones, shoes that have lodged in his insides so I decided to take him to the Vet for an examination just to be safe.

The Vet probed Cupid pretty good before deciding to run some x-rays and run a few tests. I headed to my lunch meeting a little early. Thai food lunches are some of my favorite and Lanna Thai in Tulsa is always a treat for the senses. During lunch Kristen called to let me know that the Vet needed to take a look inside Cupid to be sure what was going on. This did not surprise me as I thought maybe he might need to take a closer look. I continued on with my lunch and conversation wishing my little buddy well. Kristen called again shortly after the first call, only this time her voice was strained and she could hardly talk. She told me that they were going to have to put Cupid down and that there was nothing that could be done to save him. I was in total shock and delirium. NO! This could not be happening!

“Has the Vet put Cupid to sleep yet?,” I asked. Kristen said that they hadn’t and that if I wanted to see Cupid alive I would need to get there right away. I drove to the Vet’s immediately. He walked me into the room where Cupid was laying. He was still the Handsome Devil Boy that he had always been and did not look sick at all. How could this be happening? I gave Cupid a great big kiss and thanked him for being a part of my life. Pancreatic Cancer had taken Cupid.

Walking out the door of the Vet’s became surreal and dream like. I went into to a daze. Over the next couple days at Grand Lake as I walked my land and sat quietly in some of the places Cupid and I used to hang out, I started to open up and break out of the auto pilot mode, the “doing” mode, which had consumed me over the past few days. I started looking for meaning in Cupid’s passing. What did Cupid’s passing mean beyond the loss of a companion? What life growing insights could I tune into?

“Life is all memory except for the one present moment that goes by so quick you can hardly catch it going.” Tennessee Williams

“When one door closes another one opens” is what my internal voice kept repeating to me for the longest time immediately following Cupid’s passing. Settling in I quieted myself further, I allowed the present moment that I was experiencing to take over my being. The power and potential of each moment that we live became my main focus. The shock of Cupid being taken away never to return was jarring my spirit to the depth of my being, reminding me that there is meaning to life, that love and making a positive difference has great meaning.

“We don’t receive wisdom; we must discover it for ourselves after a journey that no one can take for us or spare us.” Marcel Proust

Cupid’s passing has jogged that part of my memory, the part that focuses on the meaning of my life. Each time I feel the pain of Cupid not being around anymore, I remind myself and consciously look for the meaning of the feelings that I experienced in response to the loss of Cupid, I write them down, and then I let them go. The insights harvested from this kind of creative thinking have allowed me and can allow you to live a life with greater meaning and purpose.

The interesting thing is that as time passes, I lose touch with the feelings and the insights that I experienced because of a shocking moment. I find myself slipping closer and closer to living life on auto pilot. There are many options along life’s journey and it is very easy go into the auto pilot mode. It takes practice, patience, and persistence to break out of a pattern of living a life as a human doing and instead to choose to balance with our human being side. Our human being side has a lot to teach us about being present in the moment and reaching our full potential.

Now if I can only figure out how to reach such levels of insight regularly without being whacked upside the head so hard.

Let me know what you think.

Dear Sean,

My husband has a good friend that I really enjoy, but I find it challenging to be around his wife. We do a lot of things together as a couple, but I find it difficult to carry on a conversation with her. Any ideas?

Curious in Glenpool

Dear Curious,

Focus on understanding her passions and interests. Ask questions about what it is she is interested in. See if you can identify similar interests to yours, this kind of common ground can open new communications and grow friendships. If she has children or pets this could be an ideal place to start. Let me know how it goes.

Keep on keeping on,
Sean

Remember the only boxes that exist are the ones you create for yourself.

Traveling around the world is one of the most powerful ways to gain a greater understanding and appreciation for the different cultures and ways people have learned to live and survive on our planet. For me, it is always a powerful means to experience the similarities and common threads that bind us all. Traveling abroad or around the United States always serves me as a way to inspire new thinking, to learn new ways of being, and to reconnect with friends old and new. Although, since being so close to the tremendous life altering experiences of September 11^th, 2001, traveling has not been something I have been so keen on.

But traveling by plane these days is part of life as we know it and when a family member is going to be wed, the time and expectation for travel increases. The marriage of one of my cousins is no exception. The opportunity to reconnect with current family and new family is one to be cherished. It is also a time to reaffirm those marriage vows taken, oh so many years ago, with the one you love. My travel to San Jose, California to share in the marriage of my Cousin Matthew Kuykendall to Anne Wood was no exception.

My arrival in San Jose was picture perfect. Nothing out of the norm for the flight from Tulsa to San Jose, a flawless travel experience to be sure. Kristen, my wife, and I were picked up by her parents at the airport without incident. As we began the drive home I started noticing political signs with, what appeared to be, Pierluigi Oliverio promoting his run for the San Jose City Council. I started to have a “flash back.” Could this be the same Pierluigi Oliverio that I was strategically involved with over 12 years ago? Could this be the same candidate that I spent hours upon hours supporting to get elected so long ago? Could this be the same candidate that said even if I don’t win the 1994 election I will be back again to run for the San Jose Council District 6 Seat?

I was not sure if this was the same person and I had to find out. Kristen found his Website address and pulled it up on her computer. Sure enough. It was the Pierlugi Oliverio I had worked with so hard to get elected some twelve years ago. Boy, how could time have passed by so fast? It was only yesterday that I was living in an artist studio in a warehouse in downtown San Jose consulting with some of the soon-to-be greatest companies on our planet along with many of the future political influencers of our day.

I dialed the number in anticipation of talking with the candidate himself. It had been over twelve years since I had last spoken with him and since his attempted run for the same position he is running for today. As I stood listening to the phone ring I was not sure what I would say. What would I communicate to a person who was on the brink of securing a new role in life? My question would not take long to be answered. The voice on the other end of the phone said, “Hello, this is the Pierluigi Oliverio campaign headquarters. How can I help you?”

I thought “right on!” Then I said, “I am looking to speak to Pierluigi Oliverio if he is available.” The voice on the other end said, “This is he. How can I help you?” I returned with a very powerful response, “Never-Ever-Give-Up! This is Sean Griffin giving a call.” Without a second of thought, Pierre responded with, “Sean, it is great to hear from you. You were always the out-of-the-box inspiration for my last run for City Council and it is great to hear from you. Where have you been?” “Oklahoma” was my response, to his astonishment.

“The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible. Arthur C. Clarke

We set a time to meet the next day to reconnect and learn about each other’s journeys over the last twelve years. Pierluigi had been following his passions as a teacher of the San Jose public schools, an entrepreneur of a biotech start up, and an advocate for local libraries. He had been making a difference and was now was back on track to run for City Council. Over the last twelve years Pierluigi had never given up the desire and determination to run and secure a position on the San Jose City Council. I was so fired up by his determination and never-give-up spirit that I had could hardly wait to give this man a hug.

When the doorbell finally rung at my Parent’s house and as I opened the door, I was struck by the power of this one person’s ability to never-give-up. It had been over twelve years since we had last seen each other. It was on the day of his defeat when he was running for the San Jose City Council. I was reminded of Abe Lincoln’s many attempts to run for office. I opened the door to greet my old friend. Here in front of me was man who was continuing on his life’s mission to make a positive difference, to go against the grain of traditional politics, and to engage the grass roots of the Rose Garden community of Silicon Valley. I was inspired. I was filled with joy. I was overwhelmed with a spirit of “anything is possible.” I could not help myself and embraced Pierluigi with a great big bear hug.

“Don’t limit yourself. Many people limit themselves to what they think they can do. You can go as far as your mind lets you. What you believe, you can achieve. Mary Kay Ash

We shared stories of the past and hopes for the future. Twelve years had passed since we had seen or collaborated with one another. My travels to California had opened a door of reconnection and inspiration. As we stood in the kitchen of my parent’s home and Pierluigi shared his philosophy and vision for the future of San Jose, I could not help but be moved by his never-ever-give-up attitude. Here was a man who twelve years ago was beaten by another candidate for the same political position, and who twelve years ago said, “If I don’t win this time around I will take another stab at this City Council position.”

Pierluigi’s story has helped me to realize that sometimes things do not always happen the way we desire; that dreams and aspirations do not always happen as we have planned; that never-ever giving-up means just that. No matter how long it takes to make that dream become reality; no matter how long it takes to show what is possible; no matter what amount of time lies between the vision and the attainment of that vision, one must never-ever-give-up.

“Don’t give up when you still have something to give. Nothing is really over until the moment you stop trying.” Brian Dyson

Pierluigi may not win his seat as the new City Councilor for District 6 of San Jose, but one thing is for sure. He never gave up, and I would bet that no matter what, he will be back for another run at the seat in four more years.

What in your life is so powerful that you will never-give-up to achieve it?

What ever you desire you can make real.

Let me know what you think.

Remember the only boxes that exist are the ones you create yourself.