The Best of Staying Awake Ezine 2004

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January — March
April — June
July — September
October — December

OCTOBER 2004

Serendipitee Through TeeVee
by Barbara Moore

I was having a particularly difficult week during which a number of key people from my congregation strongly criticized my work.

That Saturday afternoon, I was to the point of doubting whether I had what it takes to be a pastor, and was wondering how I was ever going to lead worship the following morning. Writing my sermon was not going well, so I took a break and joined my husband, who was watching Inside the Actor’s Studio on A&E. John Travolta was being interviewed.

The interviewer said to John, “Between 1980 and 1994 you did not make any films, and critics told you that you couldn’t act and would never be a successful actor. What did you do during that time, and how did you handle the rejection?”

Travolta replied, “I did some traveling. I got my pilot’s license and did a lot of other things I wanted to do.”

The interviewer pressed him, “The critics were really hard on you. How were you able to make a comeback?”

John smiled and said, “I didn’t believe them. I have never decided what I could and couldn’t do based on what others thought.”

And then he said it: “If you let others tell you who you are and what you are capable of doing, shame on you.”

The message -- just what I
needed at that very moment!
The timing -- perfect!

Barbara Moore, presently a United Methodist pastor, graduated from Oklahoma State University with a Bachelor’s of Music Education. Married; 2 children, 3 grandchildren. A secretary & administrative assistant for 35 years before schooling earned her the Masters of Divinity in 2003.

Barbara's intention became all too clear after the "Surprise!" appeared. One synchronous moment can instantly lighten the load of troubling circumstances.

Two More Amazings
by David Moorhead

Some amazing things are happening around us! I want to say that because, as we Earthlings' awarenesses expand, we will undoubtedly witness vivid occurrences of guidance, of rhythmic ... expected ... serendipities. I have experienced two exquisite synchronous moments, lately.

Here's the first :: Recently, a client called requesting a logo for her new online company. She wanted several small faces incorporated with the company name. Later, I began visioning the graphic design with faces under a blurred effect like a thin white scarf; still able to distinguish the faces.

Not but a few hours later while watching a new, never-seen documentary, my mind wandered, and suddenly my creative cap was stimulated. At the very moment I was again mentally considering that logo's blurred effect, the very same effect appeared in a graphics display in the documentary. Well ... my eyes bugged.

Here's the second :: At ten minutes of every hour, my computer reminds me to stop working, take deep breaths, and to get up, move around, go outside... Anything! Just get the arse out of the chair.

Twice now, my body, without letting me know first, has taken a deep breath at the very moment the computer popped up its reminder.

NOVEMBER 2004

The good news of the day is giving thanks for what you already have brings more for which to be grateful.

Nearly every day, I turn a few minutes into grateful reflections of family and business associates; the well being of our global neighbors in circumstances less than peaceful are remembered along with heads of state.

Out of our abundance of ideas, let's consider some which might add unexpected dimensions of awareness to your already busy lives and businesses, and those of your clients.

First, let's go here... The format for Staying Awake will change for a while, but the mission and our stories of "Surprise!" manifestations will continue. What you can expect will be publications containing three or four headings that at first glance might seem unrelated ... choose the title that tugs at you, and its content will be reminders, alerts, or tips you may apply, as you wish.

Approaching national and global changes will affect you and your families, our clients' enterprises, and probably our pocketbooks. Anthropologists consider America a citizenry that looks at its plights only after something shocking occurs (to us). Staying Awake wants to be a stimulator, a healthy questioner, and an updater of floating ideas yet considered pivotal for the design of our plans and those of our clients.

Staying Awake will sometimes exalt feminine aspects of observation, and alert males to the same. Here we go with the new format...

Nothing is as it seems

We entrepreneurs and professionals have probably not been in close touch with political science's attachment to traditional religious intent. I am your typical idealist, your proverbial stargazer who is playing catch up; researching unfamiliar realms and those points of view not shared by me satisfies curiosities around America’s 11/02 election.

The phrase, nothing is as it seems, is meant to stir our curiosity for the deeper inquiries of principles and ethics which put systems in place long before we were born, and have kept them stabilized. This is an alert :: unethical practices born out of patriarchs' exclusivities are in a fractured state ... behind closed doors, they juggle breakdowns to keep debacles at a distance.

Staying Awake supports us peering deeper into what appears a dilemma by associating with people and reading some materials that don't share our points of view. Be wise to matters you find fascinating but questionable.

The truth we don't know

If you are digesting all your news from traditional media sources, consider upgrading your inquiring mind with Internet savvy. Conventional communications agencies withhold information via ever-widening governmental and corporate controls, but the Internet is (still) quite capable of providing in-the-moment notices, stories, knowledge, and opinions which might differ from the truth as you and I understand it, respectively.

For a jump start, visit my Links Page which resources some familiar and unfamiliar web sites which could peak some curiosity.

Here's a shocker... Did you know the biggest investor in New York’s Broadway show productions is Clear Channel? That mega media corporation has presumed a level of control even of the dynamic creativity and messages played out on Broadway stages.

Illusions

Language rules. Spoken or written, humans' seeming want for illusions continues, and no one knows that better than the highly influential, psychologically sophisticated, and insatiable advertising agencies.

Language, as grand as it is, combined with images help generate illusions, and many corporations and politicians, oh yes, governments too, vie for our dollars-votes by experimental uses of an advertising system called narrow casting. More about that next time.

Advertisers and the corporations they serve already know buyers shop out of the innate desire to belong in communities. Communities is the important word, because great storytellers ... advertising geniuses ... and corporations want nothing less than (our) loyalty beyond reason ... they know we will buy into the memes stimulated by the word community.

Educators define political campaigns as an extreme example of divisive and consumptive advertising. Many Americans are unaware the ad giants guffaw on the way to the bank, and media Herculeans chortle while depositing billions of citizens' cash.

Keep on observing gratitude

Women know well when quiet instant nudges occur, and Staying Awake will continue reminders of the frequently overlooked and intimate wisdom that shows up in manifestations and nudges.

Tip :: notice the simplicity of a nudge and the body’s response, and add a moment of gratitude that you experienced the nudge ... then notice what gratitude feels like.

These days, the manly language-oriented systems in which women have learned to live and work are showing up more powerful than ever the oppression of the feminine, energetic observations. I am guessing many of us have been trained to believe the physical body, nudges and sensations were unimportant. Oh, I don’t think so.

It is my forecast that one day, not too soon, nudges and our bodies' responses will likely be the primary method for choice-making. We are remembering and retraining now for that period to which we are inevitably evolving.

The Sun's Signs ::
manifestations

Because corporate media rarely release notable scientific reports, too many of us take for granted the sun's light as well as the cycles through which its consciousness moves. If we besieged meteorological groups for sunspot reports, we would be poised at breakfast every morning for explicit updates on the sun's presently abnormal cycle.

Tracking solar activities since November, 2003, I have discovered the sun periodically inundates Earth's magnetic cocoon with solar flares called coronal mass ejections. Just recently, heavy-duty blasts increased from the end of October to mid November, and I understand that was one of the heaviest storms registered in the history of geomagnetic observations. Some people can see auroras following the flares' brush against the cocoon.

Why my science report? As if we didn't have enough to think about, i.e., politicians and advertisers, our global economies quietly hang in the balance of the sun's signs of dramatic activity. After myriad disruptive climate changes, outages from badly maintained or weakened equipment could show up :: global banking, online communications, and phone services (oh yes, most home comforts, too) could be indefinitely halted.

For me, results of the recent Earth-bound flares caused numerous interruptions of Internet and email services as well as increased intuitive activity.

In my journal, you would see a list of times when "Surprise!" nudges to glance at the digital desk clock's proverbial 10:22, 3:22, or 7:22 occurred; two "Surprise!" moments came when I was nudged to stare at the phone a few seconds before it rang: the first caller was a long-time friend, and the other was a client; a "Surprise!" ping of inspiration created chills when a long-ago associate's favorite quote was recently spoken to me by an unrelated friend. I am guessing "Surprise!" moments might become common to us all.

DECEMBER 2004

Applaud yourselves for intentionally staying awake to matters that inspire thoughts for deeper conversations. Applaud your clients' well being and their business's creative flow!

Keep in mind more than changes in politics and religion and money and climates are affecting us :: our consciousness is quickened in an evolutionary process. So...

• Rejoice for friends and clients who share their humor with you

• Express gratitude for remembering common and deeper awarenesses

• Applaud yourself when intentionally freeing candor in the face of angst and curiosity.

• For heaven sakes, breathe deeply, go quietly deeply daily; know your intentions, notice nudges; eat, exercise, and get plenty of rest. You know the drill.

Give thanks. You may see how easy your days go!

January — March, 2004
April — June, 2004
July — September, 2004
October — December, 2004

Our constant curiosity is key
to watching what’s being created.
~ David Moorhead