PERSPECTIVES
“You are here in order to enable the world to live more amply, with greater vision, with a fine spirit of hope of achievement. You are here to enrich the world and you impoverish yourself if you forget the errand.”
--Woodrow Wilson—
“Fear Is Not the Answer…”
Everywhere we turn we hear people talking of the financial crisis that has swept our mortgage industry, and thus our credit institutions. We read it in the newspapers, we hear it on the radio, and we see it on television. And the solution we are offered by our leaders is fantastically expensive. As a man who looks at everything through the lens of “vision”, I cannot help but wonder what happened? Every problem is born as a small disharmony that will grow until it is seen and acknowledged, and until an answer, a vision, is found and applied that will restore the balance. Typically, a crisis occurs only when the budding disharmony is missed, or worse, ignored for long enough for it to grow to enormous proportions! The restoration of balance is healing. What I am suggesting is that the crisis we find ourselves in began as a crisis of vision first and foremost. Once that vision failed, we were left with a trail of wreckage as the failed vision ripped through the economy.
In this article, I am not interested in dissecting the mechanics of the failure of vision in this situation. My solution is much simpler. If a failed vision is at the heart of this situation, a new vision, a revitalized vision, will awaken new possibilities for action and healing. And since it seems that our leaders think with ideological blinders on and so can only see a narrow slice of life, it will be up to us, the people, to seek within our hearts for the comprehensive vision and wisdom that will guide us through these troubled times back to harmony (or perhaps to harmony for the first time!). In other words, it is more important than ever for each of us to find and be guided by the vision that lives in our hearts.
For too long we have given our power and vision away to the ‘experts’ only to find that they see no further than we do. Sometimes all the pretty speeches merely mask a heart empty of real vision. It seems that for the last forty years we, as a culture (or counter-culture!), have sought to learn this lesson of the folly, even danger, of giving our power over to others’. Certainly since the sixties we have questioned everything, sought new ways of living and justice, and learned to honor all the life forms we share this life with. Despite our progress, we are once again turned back to our own hearts to find the guidance and vision with which we will live our lives.
One of many things that can be said of the human being is that we are designed to create, and that is what we do! We create from the vision of our lives either consciously or unconsciously, and it is the fact that life can and must respond to those creative visions that assures us we live in a universe of law, not one of chaos. This is the reason that I have been so committed to the vision quest all these years. Not only has it turned my awareness back to my heart for guidance and understanding, but I have seen it do the same for thousands of others as well. No one vision quests without receiving countless awakenings and insights into themselves and directions for their lives. And in these turbulent times where our economy has lost its track, it is even more essential to be guided along the pathways of our safety and vision. Unfortunately, when we find ourselves in a crisis situation, we often tend to retreat into our fear and “hunker down” to survive, or at least wait out the storm. However, this is just the wrong thing to do as it further isolates us from our guidance, our creative vision, and our heart.
Actually, it is precisely in this situation that the ancients would go into the forest to pray and seek guidance for themselves, but even more, for their people. They sought the pathways of safety and growth for all. They sought to shake off the fear and doubt of what they saw and reconnect to the life force all around them for the guidance and direction the people needed but could not reach themselves because of their fear and struggles.
To confront this situation, I would encourage you to consider the vision quest. At Earth-Heart and The Total Human we have seen the power of the vision quest to transform both the heart of the individual and therefore the direction of society, several years ago we sought to create a quest that would more dramatically and directly spread that individual benefit to the culture as a whole. Six years ago we decided to pull together 100 people to do their individual quests together to magnify the visionary energy into the atmosphere to impact others. The first 100-person quest was a stunning success and another was gathered three years later when we found an even more dramatic impact. The last of the series of three originally planned is scheduled for this coming August 8th to the15th, 2009.
I want to invite all who feel a call to quest to come join us to add the power of your quest to that of the other 100 people to benefit as many others as possible and help us turn around this national, even global, crisis. If you feel called to the quest, please come join us. If you feel inclined to quest but your fear or procrastination has been holding you back, now is the time to confront these resistances and join us. And, as with the ancients before us, it is not just about ourselves now but about helping our brothers and sisters, it is about helping our country and our planet.
Questing now will benefit you by opening new directions and possibilities to ward off the fear that would seek to cause you to pull back into your shell and wait things out, to wait for the “experts” to fix the problem. But more than that, it will help all of us to generate a momentum back towards balance and harmony and towards a healing of the crisis that we face.
…. Malcolm
HELPFUL PRACTICES
Exercise: (From our Lighten Up retreat) Sit comfortably and close your eyes. You can place your hands on your heart, or just rest them in your lap. Focus all of your attention on your heart. Imagine a warmth there, and a bright light. Allow the warmth and light to grow with every breath you take until it fills your entire body. Feel your body radiating with the energy from your heart. Then feel the energy of your heart expand past the boundaries of your body. Send the energy as far out as you can, feeling that everything around you is contained within the energy of your heart. Keep expanding outward, farther and farther. Allow the influence of your heart energy to touch everything. Stay in this expanded place for as long as you can, knowing that your influence reaches farther than you can imagine, knowing that your presence makes a difference in this world. ---- Allyson
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NEWS
NOW AVAILABLE!! Allyson's new coloring book for women called THE COLOR OF JOY, with inspirational and humorous writings to go with the wonderful pictures. For those of you who may not have colored for many years, it's an easy and deeply relaxing way to release stress and to get the creative juices flowing, even for the artistically faint-of-heart. It's a great gift for yourself, or for a friend (or spouse!). To see some of the drawings, or to purchase this coloring book, go to: www.WomensColoringBooks.com.
If you still haven’t done so, please update your address books to reflect the new newsletter address so it doesn’t get labeled as SPAM: MalcolmAndAllyson@EarthHeart-TotalHuman-Newsletter.com
Just added new pieces on the HEALING BLING™ site: www.Handmade-Healing-Jewelry.com , handmade jewelry that Allyson makes and works with in ceremony and prayer. Each piece is one-of-a-kind and is a powerful healing object. Allyson utilizes her work as an energy healer to implant specific healing intent for the wearer of the piece. If you're interested in ordering for the holidays, best to get your order in early!
UPCOMING PROGRAMS
Click on the underlined links below to read about a particular class, or go to The Total Human™ Programs or Earth-Heart Programs to read about other classes not listed here, and TTH Student Comments or E-H Student Comments to read comments from past participants.
Malcolm has a couple of spots that have just opened up for his long-distance, one-on-one Mentoring program. This is a very special program, longterm one-on-one work with Malcolm, that is personalized for you to help you move more deeply onto your path. 6-month minimum commitment required. Call or email for details.
Malcolm has a limited number of 6-day Personal Intensive dates in Oct, Nov, and Jan. Call soon - dates fill up very quickly.
Allyson is accepting a limited number of people for her 3, 4, or 5-day Private Intensives which are also being scheduled in November and January.
Applications are already coming in for Allyson's Sedona Women's Retreat, April 22-26, 2009. If this is the year for you to come (also enabling you to do the 2nd level class in Oct which isn't offered every year), but you need a little help spacing out the payments, call or email to arrange a long-term payment plan.
For those women who have attended the Sedona Womens’ Retreat and have been waiting for the next Adv. Women’s Retreat – Level 2, Allyson will be running it in October 7-11, 2009, once again at the beautiful Buckhorn Springs Retreat Center in the woods outside Ashland, Oregon. Mark your calendars!
Next year's Lighten Up Retreat is scheduled for June 10-14, 2009 -- once again at the Joshua Tree Spiritual Retreat Center.
Our very special 100-person Vision Quest will be run Aug 8-15, 2009, in the Pine Barrens of southern NJ, so make sure you keep those dates open. You do not want to miss this extraordinary opportunity to Vision Quest in this enormous amount of powerful group energy!! (Visit the Earth-Heart site to read an article written by a participant from the first 100-person Quest).
WORLDWIDE “WEB OF LIFE”
We want to support organizations out there who are working for the uplifting of humanity. If you know of websites that are doing really good work in the world, email them to us for possible inclusion in a future newsletter. We’d like to help get the word out.
http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com
The Animal Rescue site is having trouble getting enough people to click on it daily to meet their quota of getting free food donated every day to abused and neglected animals. It takes less than a minute to go to their site and click on the purple box "fund food for animals" for free. This doesn't cost you a thing. Their corporate sponsors/advertisers use the number of daily visits to donate food to abandoned/neglected animals in exchange for advertising.
Click to Help Fund Free Mamograms
Since we're sending you to sites to click a button to help fund a good cause (at no cost to you -- just like the one above)... help celebrate Breast Cancer Awareness Month by going to this site and clicking on the pink button that says "click here to give - it's free". Every click generates more funds from advertisers to fund free mamograms for women in need.
Women For Women International
What if you could change the course of one womans' life in a war-torn region of the world? What if you knew her name?... Women For Women International's sponsorship program creates a unique experience by building a one-to-one relationship between you and a woman trying to rebuild her life after war, for only $27 a month. To read more about it, or to give a one-time donation, click on the link above. |
