mad in pursuit journal
DISPATCHED FROM THE CROSSROADS, AT THE intersection OF comfort and challenge
a
new year Yesterday asked the question: "what the heck did I do in 2006?" Today demands resolutions!
[1] Stewardship & Sales: Keep up the pace.
[2] Passions: Demand more of myself & venture out of my comfort zone
[3] Higher Self: Use my skills in service of nonviolence — without losing my intolerance for the stupid people in charge, who misuse their power.
[4] Health & Wellbeing : the usual — eat right and exercise. Hustle!
Framework. I pulled out the "hero cycle" (above right) I've been working on: a combination of Tantric chakra philosophy, night journey literature, and an old management tool. The gist: If you work your way up the ascending (left) side of the circle, you achieve the inner quiet that life's challenges demand (liberation) — complete openness and release from worldly troubles. Then, on the descending (right) side of the circle, you take all your knowledge, ideas, wisdom and DO SOMETHING (manifestation).
For this year's "call to adventure," I'm still in quadrant [A]: Reflecting. Not ready to make a big action plan — even though there are plenty of specific things I already know have to get done.
More. The table below expands on the numbered steps (or energy levels) in the diagram above. A little self-assessment.
Chakra |
LIBERATION: the
energy ascends from chakra #1 to chakra #7 |
Is my energy at the right level, without overkill and without half-stepping? |
MANIFESTATION: the energy
descends from chakra #7 to chakra #1 |
Is my energy at the right level, without overkill and without half-stepping? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
7 crown |
Enlightened |
Can I accept wisdom, without becoming righteous and without becoming pedantic? |
Enlightened |
Am I ready to engage with the world again? |
6 brow |
Perceptive |
Can I recognize and understand newly revealed shapes, without getting paranoid and without becoming clueless? |
Accurate |
Do I get it about my new purpose, without distorting my "mission" and without egomania? |
5 throat |
Creative |
Am I inventive in resolving my personal trials, without getting glib and without choking? |
Eloquent |
Can I tell my story clearly, without getting all muddled and without getting glib about it? |
4 heart |
Reconciling |
Can I make peace with the powerful and accept help from others, without having to appease them and without undermining them? |
Gregarious |
Do I have the people skills to build community, without getting insulated and without getting clubby? |
3 solar plexus |
Resolute |
Do I have the guts to do what needs to be done, without getting bullheaded and without ambivalence? |
Focused |
Can I stay on message, without becoming bored and without becoming angry? |
2 sacrum |
Surrendering |
Can I take the plunge, without freaking out and without holding myself back? |
Charismatic |
Can I appeal to the emotions of my audience, without being dry and without sexualizing it? |
1 root of spine |
Grounded |
Am I connected to my sense of abundance, without getting bogged down and without getting scattered? |
Productive |
Can I make things happen, without becoming barren and without getting overwhelmed? |
1.1.07