What Box?^®

What have we learned?

Having grown up in California ice storms were something I had never experienced much less knew about. My first ice storm experience was the 2000 Holiday Ice Storm on Grand Lake. My parents were visiting my wife Kristen and I at our new home for the Holidays. Since we had only been living on the lake for less than five months and with snow predicted in the forecast, we dreamt of waking up to a snow white Christmas.

What did we know? Next thing you knew we were covered in ice and snow and ice and snow. I will never forget my Dad walking out the side door onto the deck saying, “How nice it is outside,” and instantly slipping on the ice. He did an amazing horizontal fall. Glad you are ok Dad. That was when I awoke to the fact that ice has the power to cause major changes in the environment and our behavior.

More recently, reflecting on the chaos and challenges that the 2007 Holiday Ice Storm has brought to Oklahoma, I am reminded of the power that ice has to change how I go about doing my business and living my life.

Looking back on this latest ice storm what have we learned?

I mean we have all been wrapped up in preparing for the Holidays and when the ice storm hit it basically stopped us in our tracks. No electricity, no heat, no phones, and food that went bad very quickly. How were we going to get everything done?

This can be a frustrating time of year on any given Holiday Season, but adding an ice storm to the equation really takes things to a new level.

How did many of us survive? Could we have gone longer without power to our own homes?

On Grand Lake with only a generator for power, a fireplace for warmth, candles for lighting, my Honey Bunny by my side, a grill for cooking, and a deck of cards, I was catapulted back into a simpler time.

This was a different kind of experience on Grand Lake. Living without power reminded me that I require downtime, reflective time, quite time with my wife, and sometimes the ability to do nothing or catch up on those things that I just never get around to.

“ The great omission in American life is solitude; not loneliness, for this is an alienation that thrives most in the midst of crowds, but the zone of time and space, free from the outside pressures, which is the incubator of the spirit.” Marya Mannes

I learned that I did not need to always be doing things, that maybe I just spend too much of my time working. I learned that I can survive with very little. I learned that I could live a simpler life and that playing Gin Rummy can be fun, especially when you are winning.

It is my hunch that the ice storms are going to be a more regular occurrence for much of our nation going forward. If the way that we pulled together to make it through this last storm is any indication, we are survivors and we have the ability and know how to work together through whatever crisis comes our way.

We may not get everything done that we want to before Christmas Day is upon us, and that is ok. Focusing on what we can be grateful for, what we have instead of what we need to get or to buy allows us to connect with something more meaningful, something deep inside of our souls.

“We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures.” Thornton Wilder

Celebrate your Holidays with great joy and passion. You have everything you need right inside of you. What a great gift!

Happy Holidays,

Sean

Until next week, remember the only box’s that exits are the ones you create yourself.

Every day, day after day, we go to sleep each and every night, and then wake up again and again to the rising sun of the new morning. Month after month it continues, and if we are fortunate enough year after year, we go to sleep every night and then awake each morning to yet another rising of the sun, another day of waking up.

Yet how many of us really are awaking to the realities of the lives we live?

“I’m not asleep, but that doesn’t mean I’m awake.”  Author Unknown

How many of us are awakening to how the decisions and actions we are taking today affect our lives and the lives of others?

Sometimes we need to be jolted out of our slumber so that we can wake up to our true nature and the implications of our behaviors and actions.

Mother Nature is one of the most powerful jolting forces that I know of. She has a way of waking us up, causing us to change our behavior even if we do not want to do so.

The 2007 Oklahoma Holiday Ice Storm we’ve just experienced has jolted many of us out of our daily routines and has challenged us to wake up and pay attention to the lives we are living. The question is will we be able to pay attention to the “wake up call” that nature has presented to us?

The Ice Storm caused many of us to be left without traditional electricity or power causing us to resort to limited generator power for our basic needs, candles for additional light, and fireplaces to provide much needed warmth. We were fortunate to have friends who had full power and were kind enough to invite us into their home to take a much-needed shower and enjoy a warm meal. Thank you so very much to those special friends who opened their homes and their hearts to us. Kristen, my wife, and I will be forever grateful.

All of these experiences caused something quite unexpected to happen. Not having electricity and the connectivity to the rest of world that I have taken so much for granted awakened something inside of me that had been asleep for longer than I would like to admit.

Without electricity, phone lines, and connection to the Internet I was forced to slow it down which enabled me to spend time in reflection, introspection, and silence. I was able to wake up late in the morning and stoke the fire in the hearth just to keep warm. I was able to feed the birds, walk in nature, boat out on Grand Lake in the snow without any feeling of having to be somewhere or having to do anything. I was actually awake again for the first time in a long time.

“Losing an illusion makes you wiser than finding a truth.” Ludwig Börne

I have lived on Grand Lake now for almost eight years. The time I have spent here the past couple of weeks has given me the opportunity to explore the extraordinary power of lake life as it helped me to uncover greater meaning for my life. I was starting to ask myself, “What have I been doing with my life?”

When Kristen and I first moved to our home on Grand Lake I was able to spend much of my time walking in the woods of Zena, able to “be” with the trees, birds, animals, and nature. I didn’t need to worry about what it was that I had to accomplish each day, who I had to create something for, or how much money I had to make to accomplish my next big goal.

Looking at my life today I can see that I have fallen asleep, a kind of self-imposed sleepwalk through life. I am caught up in traveling to facilitate strategic planning sessions and creativity workshops, attending critical meetings, and buying this thing or that to achieve the desired goal or objectives as required by any given client. I have entered the perpetual treadmill of life and have not even fully known it. I have been asleep at the wheel and, from what I am experiencing from people around me it appears that I am not the only one. It might even be an epidemic.

With so many people around me that have been out of power, unable to connect to the Internet and phone service, I have learned that they too have started to wake up to their “over ambitious” and “take too much time” lifestyles. They have been awakening to the power of asking questions and taking time to be introspective and reflective, embarking on the discovery of what brings meaning to ones life. 

What are we doing with our lives? 

It was over a game of Gin Rummy with Kristen, the first time I have ever taken the time to learn this game, that I started to realize that I have given up my connection to just being and doing nothing in exchange for the fast paced, consumer driven, being somebody life that our Western society rewards so much.

There has to be a balance, a way to walk in both worlds. It may take the rest of my life and yours to figure this one out, but I promise not to give up and I encourage those of you have awaken, even if only slightly, during this Holiday Ice Storm to not give up as well. There is a more meaningful way to live our lives.

“Good for the body is the work of the body, and good for the soul is the work of the soul, and good for either is the work of the other.” Henry David Thoreau

This Holiday Season I encourage you to take the time to do nothing for a while and just be, allowing yourself to awaken to your connection to all life, nature, our community, and our world.

Mother Nature has given us a great gift, the gift of powerlessness and the ability to wake up to our full potential. It just takes some down time.

How are you waking up each day?

Let me know what you think.

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

You have a creative resource in common with everyone else on the planet. This is one of the most important creativity enhancing resources you have. What is even better is that it occurs naturally and is free. In fact, it’s a creative experience that happens each and every night. What is this amazing creative power? It is your ability to dream while you sleep.

Did you know that each of us has at least three dreams each night? That is right, three dreams each night. How many of these dreams do you remember?

Our dreams hold hidden messages that want to come out and allow us to understand our deepest desires and inner feelings. If you take the time there is much to learn from you dreams.

When I was child I could remember my dreams much better than I can today. They were more vivid, colorful and, at times, it was hard to distinguish between what was real and what was a dream. I can still remember some of these dreams as if I dreamed them last night. Why is it that as we get older our dreams get harder and harder to recall? Some people I know will say that they don’t have any dreams. What? Since we all have dreams whether we can recall them or not what keeps us from remembering and learning from one of our most important creativity resource?

With all the media, advertising, television, and internet communications coming at us each and every day it is no surprise that our dreams are being suppressed. Think about this for just a second. A hundred years ago radio was just starting to take hold of our imagination. Television was not even known and who could have imagined the internet? Our dreams were not drowned out by the overwhelming barrage of media driven communications we experience today. People remembered more of their dreams because their dreams were one of the only kind of creative movies people were able to view in those days.

Now more than ever we really need to get back in touch with our dreams to help us understand our increasingly complex world. Our dreams are one of the ultimate ways to exercise our creativity muscles. You actually write, edit, choose your video angles, and can, at any moment change the dream you are dreaming. What is more even impressive is that these dreams are sharing intimate messages which can give tremendous meaning to your life. You can learn from your dreams and then apply those lessons to support you in reaching for your full potential. And what could be more important.

“Reach high, for the stars lie hidden in your soul. Dream deep, for every dream precedes the goal.” Joseph Campbell

You have read it before and will read it again like so many things written in What Box? “It is not easy.” It is worth it and with practice and persistence you can learn to remember and learn from you dreams.

You may say, “Great Sean. Another way to exercise my creativity muscles and I can’t even remember one dream each night. How am I supposed to do this?”

Here’s what I do. When I go to bed and need help solving a problem, I imagine what I am going to dream about as I am falling asleep. I may say to myself, “I am having difficulty figuring out how to solve a particular problem and I am looking for answers.” As I am going to sleep I will ask for help from my dreams to share new solutions that I have not thought of. It is that simple, imagine what help you want from your dreams and say to yourself as you go to sleep, “I am going to remember my dreams.” It will take practice. Try it. Don’t give up and see how it works for you.

The best time to recall your dreams is when you first wake up in the morning. I like to keep a notebook by the side of my bed just for my dreams so that I can record them first thing in the morning. Just by placing a notebook with a blank page and pen next to my bed supports my ability to recall and learn from my dreams. The longer you wait to recall your dreams the more they will slip away and the realities of the physical world take over. When you awake from your sleep, stay still, don’t move and think about what you dreamt last night. If you are unsure of what you dreamt try and go back to sleep and consciously replay the dream. You will be surprised how well this one works. You can actually replay the dream and change it if need be. Whenever I am scared of something in my dream, I consciously tell myself to face the fear in my dream and confront it head on. Amazing things can happen here. Go ahead and give it a try. You have nothing to loose but the fear.

Ask your dreams questions. Your dreams want to share with you new inspirations and insights. When you practice getting in touch with your dreams you can actually go lucid, that is the ability to become aware of your dream while you are dreaming. This very powerful and not so common experience has the potential to expand your creative thinking and heighten your ability to express your creativity in the physical world. Your dreams are a great gift. Everyone has them. The difference is how much people get in touch with and utilize their dreams. There are any number of great books on dreaming available today to support you to interpret and understand your dreams better. Go out and pick up a couple to help kick start the process.

In the end only you can know the messages that your dreams are trying to communicate and how to apply these creative lessons to your life.

As Mike Munn, my good friend and former head physicist of Lockheed says, “There are no bad dreams only opportunities for learning.”

What are your dreams trying to tell you?

Let me know what you think.

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