I talk about perspective often in my letters to
you. A picture is worth 1000 words. Music
helps, too. This lovely 6:13 minute film by NASA
is beautiful and humbling, in a good way.
Enjoy,
William
P.S. Simply Serene – Four Amazingly Powerful Ways
to Be Instantly Alert and at Peace will serve you
well if you want some guaranteed ways to become
present. I talk about the famous Owl Eyes in
depth in this one.
Go for it = > http://tinyurl.com/mbd4x
Which is sacred – The fast-food box floating at the lake
edge or the swallows zooming over the surface hunting?
Practicing Taiji, my bliss in the present moment deepens
while I dance with the darting swallows. The Styrofoam
interrupts. How to find the sacred even there? Bobbing
beautifully, dazzling light – Ah. (50 words.)
Can you hear the heavenly choir in the lawnmower? Can you
hear it sing in the leaf blower? (The big park lawn mower
was swooping around me as I practiced my morning Taiji as
it does each Monday morning.
Can you find the Sacred Present in litter floating in the
pristine lake?
After all, you spend more time with these things than in
the so-called Sacred places. Wouldn’t it be useful to
learn to find the Sacred anywhere any time?
You can. Just listen to the sounds of the lawnmower. Just
be with them. Without judging. Without resisting.
I often tighten up when I hear unpleasant sounds and
research shows noise pollution amongst the worst forms of
pollution regarding the effects on human and animal health.
When I just listen, relax the cringing, the Holy Angels
sing inside the lawn mower and even the leaf blower.
The Styrofoam? As I removed it from my lake, I was
mesmerized by the beauty of the light on it and the way the
wavelets caressed it and the way the Styrofoam played at
the very top surface of the water. My mind was quiet. I
was as peaceful and full of light as the most serene
meditation.
So, where is the sacred? Find some trash and be with it.
Blessings,
William
P.S. Obviously, Looking Deeply into Presence would support
you in being present and making your decisions. The book
is designed to help you Solve Problems, Make Critical
Decisions, and Create an Extraordinarily Rich Life.
Get some help => http://tinyurl.com/os966
Obviously, you’d like a technique that can restore you to
sanity and help you to regain your perspective instantly,
right?
I have a technique wherein you can instantly shift your
perception and become sane and grounded and whole. Well,
not quite true. There’s a catch. The shift happens
instantly, but you have to be in the right frame of mind to
flip the switch.
The good news is that if you practice this before you need
it, it becomes so fast for you that even when you’re nuts
you can go to your special spot and flip the switch to sane
grounded and whole.
Here’s How What Need
First, did you know that you can directly perceive the
curvature of the earth? You can. You need two things to
be able to do it, maybe three. First, you have to know
it’s possible.
Second, you need a big enough space that also quite flat.
Tian An Men square in Beijing at 440.000 square meters is
the largest square in the world. Tian An Men has the
reputation of being so big you can perceive the curvature
of the earth here. I haven’t been.
The best is the open sea, of course. Nothing blocks the
view. According to naval author, Patrick O’Brian, the
horizon is 3-5 miles away depending on how far off the
surface you are viewing from. Conveniently, that means my
Salish Sea, AKA Puget Sound, allows me to easily see the
curvature. But even Lake Washington is wide enough for me
to gain the perspective.
Third, you have to quiet your mind enough so that it can
perceive the curve. Most of us still live on the flat
earth.
Here’s What You Do
Find a big flat place. Do you live near the ocean? By a
lake? Can you find a huge space where you can see the
horizon? Go there. If you don’t have this, see what you
can do with your imagination.
Stand or sit looking out at your space. Gaze at the
horizon. Let your eyes go soft. Take in the space with
your peripheral vision. Stretch it to the edges. Now, let
yourself see the curve.
In order to perceive the curvature, you need to access a
different area of your brain than the chattering monkey
part of your mind. The shift happens accessing your
peripheral vision and by hanging in until you perceive the
curve.
Notice how you feel when you perceive the curve. What
things shift for you? Let me know; I’d love to hear.
Because the world is round it turns me on
Because the world is round…aaaaaahhhhhh
—Because by the Beatles.
P.S. Simply Serene – Four Amazingly Powerful Ways to Be Instantly Alert and at Peace will serve you well if you want to feel alert and at peace. And who doesn’t?
I reveal Cristie’s story here and much more…
Go for it = > http://tinyurl.com/mbd4x
P.P.S. You have my permission to share this story with no more than three people.
If you use a word processing program, you can
save some of your money and spare some vital
resources with a simple step.
Set the default margins on your paper to a
smaller setting. Word and others have a default
setting that looks good but wastes valuable
paper. My version default is 1.25″. I changed
it to 0.75″ on the right and left. If you use
metric, change your default to 1 cm less.
In MS Word
1. go to File then click Page Setup.
2. You’ll see the margins there. You can change
them all. I just changed the right and left.
3. Then click Default in the bottom left corner.
4. When the query box comes up, click Yes.
I use this margin setup for printing drafts and
when printing documents where appearance doesn’t
matter. For materials that matter, such as
patient handouts, I change the margins to look
attractive.
Obviously, one of the reason I use PDFs to
deliver my books and manuals is that it spares
paper.
Go forth and save the planet.
Paradigms explored
- Simple Is Sophisticated => http://tinyurl.com/3ab4m9
- Spaceship Earth => http://tinyurl.com/38o8fy
Blessings,
William
P.S. A magic message from Uncle Mike –
If you ask me, {!firstname_fix}, I’d say the main
thing to keeping the main thing the main thing,
is reminding yourself as often as you can of
where the most joy will come from.
Ain’t no thing -
The Universe
If you aren’t getting these magic messages from
Uncle Mike, read my review of Mike’s goodies
including this fabulous freebee.
Go for it = > http://tinyurl.com/3yu6yz
Every once in a while something comes along that
lets you break out of your mundane, day to day
perspective.
This event is free. And it won’t be repeated for
three more years. You want to catch this one.
Perspective: Here’s a news flash. You live on a
sphere in a solar system. You and I live on
Spaceship Earth. How cool is that!
It’s the heart of simplicity just look at the
moon and watch the sphere of the Spaceship Earth
block the sun’s beams of light from caressing the
moon.
Yes, it’s a total eclipse of the moon on
Wednesday Feb. 20th , 2008. (Read below for
specific local times.)
Let me know how your perspective of your life
changes.
You can find details from a facebook article
below. Clearly, you can find me on facebook.
Paradigms Explored in this article:
Simple Is Sophisticated
Spaceship Earth
Blessings,
William
P.S. Pass this one on to friends. They won’t
want to miss it.
* * * * * *
A Lunar Eclipse takes place at a Full Moon when
the Moon moves into the shadow of the Earth cast
by the Sun. This takes place at the same instant
for all observers, but the LOCAL time on the
clock depends on your time zone!
In North America (Canada & the US), the Total
Eclipse takes place during:
Newfoundland ~ 11:30 p.m. – 12:21 a.m.
Atlantic ~ 11:00 – 11:51 p.m.
Eastern ~ 10:00 – 10:51 p.m.
Central ~ 9:00 – 9:51 p.m.
Mountain ~ 8:00 – 8:51 p.m.
Pacific ~ 7:00 – 7:51 p.m.
MEXICO, Central America and the Caribbean include
all time zones listed above, so if you’re not
sure which time zone you’re in, just keep your
eyes on the skies from 7pm until midnight!
South American time zones range from UTC (GMT) -5
to -3, so the time will be from 10pm until 1am.
In Europe and Africa ~ 3:00 a.m. – 3:51 a.m. UTC
(GMT) in the early morning of February 21
Look 1 hour 20 minutes before and after to see
the partial phases. In Western regions, the Moon
may rise partially eclipsed.
You don’t have to go to any special place to see
the eclipse, as long as you can see the Moon from
where you are: front porch, backyard, walking
down the street.
To the left of the Moon you will see the planet
Saturn.
It may help to look for the Moon on the night
before, so you know roughly what part of the sky
to look in. On eclipse night, the Moon will be
further East and a little lower in the sky,
compared to the previous night. But don’t
worry…a near-Full Moon is hard to miss, even in
the city!
IS IT SAFE TO LOOK AT? SHOULD I BE WEARING
PROTECTION?
Not only can you view a Lunar Eclipse with the
naked eye, it’s absolutely amazing when viewed
through binoculars. Better yet, you should try
watching it through a telescope. Incredible.
THERE WON’T BE ANOTHER FOR ALMOST 3 YEARS, so you
don’t want to miss it!
3 years? BUT I JUST SAW ONE IN AUGUST!
Yes, there was a Total Eclipse on August 28,
2007. Eclipses run in cycles, as the moon does.
Although there will be a few partial eclipses
over the next few years, the next Total Eclipse
won’t be until December 21, 2010, when we will
have 3 more Total Eclipses in a row over a 12
month period.
