The Light Life Flash Dash

The Light Life Flash Dash

A flash fiction, is fiction, written quickly, on the fly or, in the moment for a writing sprint exercise. I’m currently taking part if the NaNoWriMo, a yearly competition for novel writers to get to a goal of fifty thousand words ~ done in one month. It’s a fund raiser for literacy. In my spare time, I write novels. I’ve only published two of them but it’s great practice and a good cause. The Light Life, when organized is a bi-monthly contribution to TPPP. I thought it would be fun to add some flash writing here. A writing sprint is a great way to get into flow. Not everyone is a writer while certainly, not everyone wants to be a novel writer. That’s not the point of the exercise though. A flash dash is a way for a person to stay focused on their flow of ideas in a stream of consciousness which in turn, allows them to articulate and clarify how their brain works. It’s a way for students to engage in the material they are learning and, like a sprint training session in sports, a way for athletes to build skill. Practice Practice Practice All exercise when crafted to suit the needs of the athlete, engages that muscle memory to become accustomed to working out. Once saturated with ease, the individual can then, crank it up to go a bit further, then further still. They become attuned with their mind/body connection. That movement memory becomes a part of who they are. They are changing their brains to become the person they want to be. Visualizations can help...
Grit, Grace, Gratitude 2020

Grit, Grace, Gratitude 2020

2020 means perfect vision. A perfect balance of all that allows one to see both the near and the far. I’ve been thinking about my part in helping the positive psychology people develop, along with other journeys in the growth of the field of positive psychology. “I” statements invite powerful ownership of our personal truth. From there, we can change anything we want. I didn’t become a world renowned researcher or author, but that never stopped me from seeing it through a lens of clarity. I didn’t strive toward owning my place at the table of IPPA, or even get the invite to the party. I could have. No regrets. Still, I’ve dedicated myself to the research and practice of the philosophy in my own small corner of the world. This year, that shifts toward a bit more. 2007-2019 the birth and death of the way I used to do business. 2020 What I’ve done is set some resolutions, intentions and goals for the professional and personal ways in which I will contribute to the conversation of the field of the positive psychology movement. 2020 seems the perfect invitation to do so purposefully, with intent and with the passion. Since 2007, I’ve participated on small stages in this profession. In 2014, when my life imploded, I went through living life on a teetering ball of flaming grief. Part of me died.  It’s funny how we mark the tree of life with the number of years, rather than the number of moments. That’s also how we make it through grief. we walk on a path, marking the surroundings with the...
Noetic Nomad in Search of … coupling

Noetic Nomad in Search of … coupling

No! Not that sort of coupling. 😉 Upon the celebration of a renaissance of my blog writing (I’ve been blogging for ten years now as a whole), I am coupling my two favorite topics. “Clarity Is” was my Positive Psychology People blog for two years. ‘Noetic Nomad in Search of‘ has been 49 entries in the making. This is #50. Today is my launch of a blended contribution to the theory and practice of applied positive psychology with my evolution of knowledge. I’m calling it … Noetic Clarity.    In the past 104 weeks of writing, the topics have been varied. In my past musings, I wrote based on current events in a fluid motion toward thought. In the moment, rather than with purpose.  Today, I am practicing mindfulness and meditation. It suits the tone of writing to focus on the singular ideal that when we master ourselves, the clarity becomes our guidepost.  A great deal has changed for me personally. Two weeks ago, my father died. We had a strained relationship, but, because of my conscious uncoupling several years ago, that I began my journey toward awareness in the first place. In a way, I found my life’s purpose through being born into an utter lack of one.  There is clarity in that discovery. Noetic means to be intellectual. Clarity is the quality of coherence. To combine them, I intend to explore what it is to thrive, to feel the power of lucid consciousness. To couple these too powerful ideals means that I will be specific in my simple words of wisdom, passed on to me by my teachers....
Noetic Nomad in Search of … coupling

Noetic Nomad in Search of … Gorillas.

Look around. Gorillas are everywhere. We see them everywhere we go, no matter what country, or community. They live amongst the wealthy, and the poor. They exist in cities and in the rural villages.  Did you ever see that social experiment where the scientists asked groups of people to play basketball? They were told to keep their eyes on the ball to count how many times it was passed. While intensely watching the players, the ball, the passing, a person dressed in a gorilla suit walked right through the scene. It even stopped to wiggle a bit. When asked what they observed, only a few people said, “there was a guy in a gorilla suit”. More people than not didn’t even notice the gorilla.  That is true of how we carry poverty, depression, people in crisis, kids who need our help. They are our gorillas.  Gorillas I call social issues ‘gorillas’, because for the person carrying the burden of living with one of these, they go virtually unseen as they walk around in our society.  Traveling through day to day life as a poor person; a depressed person; a person in crisis; a grieving person; a child who needs help, but is scared to ask for it, feels like a 600 pound weigh. Even when you’re out and about, doing what every human does.  I see myself in you Why would individuals in a society assume that someone who is lost, depressed, anxious, sad, or scared is also weak?  In fact, they’re probably the strongest amongst us. They’ve been carrying a weight that many know nothing about.  Do you...
Noetic Nomad in Search of … coupling

Noetic Nomad searching for solicitude

One of the most liberating, yet gentle creations of the human mind is compassion or, solicitude, the caring of another. Compassion is the cure. Sometimes for others. Sometimes, for ourselves. When we delve more deeply into the awareness of others, we open a part of ourselves that we were not aware of in our conscious lives. Finding a clarity of mind means that we have to walk away from what we think we know. It’s not easy. We can be outraged about something or someone beyond our control, but we will never feel the peace of a resolve until we also stay away from that thing long enough to become still in our awareness of it. Our own awareness of our own response. We are ultimately responsible for how we react. We’ve all seen people act badly. We’ve all had our own language to describe the injustices of the world, we’ve all seen courageous acts of bravery, kindness, paying-it-forward, and love. Practice Not everyone is compassionate. Not everyone sees the compassion in others. Not all people even want to show compassion for others. It’s value based. Morals and values are intricately entwined with our cultural norms and our group think. When we see others act in kindness or thoughtlessness, we tend to feel more compelled to do the same. We humans choose how we spend our days. Nelson Mandela said, “As I walked out the door toward the gate that would lead to my freedom, I knew if I didn’t leave my bitterness and hatred behind, I’d still be in prison.” A perfect example of compassion for himself, and...