#Mortality

Rambling thoughts

I am writing so that everybody knows I am still alive. I here one can leave messages on FaceBook now that will be released after you are dead. I think that is a cool idea...I wish Xanga will so a similar thing. Since a friend's friend died with cancer I am again aware of our physical mortality and how it contrast with my belief also that man has an eternal nature. Gurdjieff taught that we man must work on himself in order to attain that status of immortality. My own mystical inclination is to believe that we have an eternal nature that continues beyond this life time. I do think I have acquired sufficient evidence to accept #reincarnation as the most plausible explanation of the nature of man. Off course there are also different views on reincarnation and even many misrepresentations of the idea...especially when combined with that of Karma. For most people reincaration means simply coming back in a next life to pay for the sins of a previous life....and if you are really bad you will come back in a next life as an insect. Reincarnation is about the continual evolution of man's eternal spirit. I do not view this cycle of birth and death as one that we must try to escape...rather I see it as a cycle that must be mastered. Evolution seldom takes a step backwards and mostly is a relentless push forward to new levels of holism and potential. Understanding our eternal nature and the continued integration between function, will and being is truly good news. The Divine's presence is always edifying and always at work..always there as a guide for us to continue evolving.

I know that there are many who believe differently and I truly respect different viewpoints. However my dear reader on this blog, you must allow me to voice my opinion. You are welcome to comment and disagree or question.  This blog is my ramblings with all its imperfection about life and finding my orientation towards life. In a sense my Xanga is the compass I use to find where I am, so that I know where I am going. I do not easily walk the path of others...Although I have a constructivist following a relativistic approach to knowledge it does not mean that my own opinions are flexible. As a matter of fact I am probably more set in my thinking than many fundamentalists. I am tolerant to other opinions because I learn from them ... I am even eager to hear other opinions and find out more...however listening is not by default accepting. I test my own world view on a regular basis and it must stand the test of time...but it also mean that I am less flexible to adopt ideas that are not fitting into the logic of my world view. We exchange ideas and those ideas inform us but we might draw different conclusions about the world around us. After all we differ in our thinking, our background, our education and we definitely do not share common experiences. While I am confident and certain about my own beliefs... I would be the first to tell you that they might change without notice. If I find a logic that is more coherent than what my own is or I have to face a fact more definite then I must open up my mind and question my own assumptions...that is part of our evolution. However if I say this today and that tomorrow, then I will always have a good reason why I changed my mind.

Life is interesting for we are continually evolving and growing. Our challenges changes. When we think we understand one life time, we end up in another with its own set of ideologies appropriate for that time.  This was just a ramble ... I am alive and well and still blogging.

Facilitating #meetings

Reflection

I facilitated a operational planning workshop for our Information and Communication Technology Division. The output required was a detailed operational plan of all activities that will be undertaken in the 2012/2013 financial year. The business #plan is used to report on in terms of work completed and budget consumes. Using public funds places an burden to be extra careful how and where funds are being used. This is just a reflection of the two days in terms of how the process of facilitation went in order for me to capture some learning experiences. The overall process was successful and I think we achieved the objectives we set out for the workshop to achieve. The workshop consisted of five sections and a contingent of about twenty people.

Some basic #facilitation things I did this year that worked well were:

• I maintained a positive atmosphere by ensuring that the objectives and aims relates to personal objectives and aims.
• I prevented discussions on the facilitation process itself. There is almost always a bright spark who thinks they can facilitate the sessions better. When I started facilitating meetings I was more open to these ideas but if you give it attention, is turns into an hour or more discussion that does not add at all to the outputs of the meeting. A facilitator can not afford such time wastage. This time at the first suggestion that we should do things differently, I made it clear that I will entertain suggestions only during breaks and the only person who can change the process is the head of the division. I had done several facilitation and I know how to get us to the outputs. This might sound arrogant but I had no such interventions after that and we all worked well.
• Coming from Toastmasters, I introduced people to clapping for there co-workers after presentations. Clapping is an amazingly effective tool. Firstly it creates a sense of unity and in the other it does support the speaker and makes listeners more attentative. Later people clapped sponteneously without encouragement.
• A facilitator must work with a stop watch. I set times for presentations, give the speaker a warning when that time comes to an end and when the time is done get up and thank the speaker for their contribution. At first speakers find it annoying but the rest of the audience are grateful for the intervention and the following speakers soon realises that they can not continue with verbiage that does not make sense. It keeps the programme focused.
• I liaise frequently with the owner of the meeting during breaks to ensure he/she is happy with progress and if they want us to go faster or slower.
• Break-away's and breaks always causes problems because some people will take an half an hour to get back to the venue after a fifteen minute break. As facilitator I make it a point to go around three minutes before the time and just simply remind people that we will be starting within the next three minutes and reiterate the time we agreed to be back. A simple gesture like that helps a lot.
• In the role of Toastmaster of the day I have learned many bridging techniques from a joke to an insertion to an interesting fact. This is a skill that comes in well when facilitating. The facilitator must make sure there is something between speakers that are of interest to bring their attention back to the task at hand.
• On the second day, I put on a white T-shirt with a huge number one on it. I explained to them that it is to remind them that they want to be the number one team. Simple things that is an additional almost subliminal message works extremely well to change the focus and mood of the meeting.
• Finally it is important to do the normal things required from facilitation....ensuring everybody gets an opportunity to contribute (Everybody speaks through the facilitator and not to each other), summarising what has been said and highlight the positive contributions that were made.

That is a few thoughts on facilitation that made this round of facilitation an enjoyable experience. At a point in time one of the people said to me: "You are really enjoying yourself, aren't you?". I had to confess that it is true. I love to play a part and see that my contribution uplifts the group to achieve more than normal. That is what life is about...to be an edifying influence on the people that cross our path.

The venue where we had our planning session for two days.

Making a new #beginning

Triad: Raidho, R-Pertho, R-Berkana

The Art of War by Lao Tsu taught me that preparation wins the battle. You must know what you want to achieve, what the environment looks like and what will resist you from achieving #success. Whenever you set out on a path to do something these three basic questions must be answered in part in your mind. The answers is never static for it will change as you venture closer towards your aim. Great generals were continuously aware of how things change so that they can spot #opportunity to get to their aims more quickly. When starting out with something new,  a lack of effort to know at least the basic answers, will often lead nowhere real.

You must leave as little as possible to chance, so that chance becomes your ally, rather than your enemy. The unpredictable must become the doorway for new strategies towards the same aim. However if you have no strategy you will not be prepared to use opportunity to fast track yourself to the desired results by grabbing the opportunity. Be sure to think wider than just what is but also consider what might be. When things look like it can not happen, when you are stuck...then it is time to look at alternative scenarios's.

What are the "musts" and assumptions that had become constraints. Assumptions are dangerous slopes that often can be proven false. "Musts" are often due to rigidity in our own thinking. Unmask the assumptions with clarity and challenge the "musts" with vigour and you will find that problems have weaknesses. The creative man can not be stopped. The creative man stretches forward into the unknown...pushing the boundaries of his mind continously outward.  

In victory I will stand

Dyad: Sowilo - Jera 

In #victory I will stand until firm. I will not blink an eye, I will not back down.

...our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter...

This is my firm resolve today to distinguish that which matter from that which does not.

The ability to discern must be cultivated in my mind.

I must step out in all relationships with boldness and affirmation that I have thought about the day

There should be no doubt if I have truly contemplated where I am going.

I need not be ashamed when I speak my mind if I have taken the time to think through all consequences.

I will measure the result of my actions in the harvest of my life

The rain and weather will not be to blame for a failed #harvest

I will learn how to read the signs around me, contemplate the movements of the sky

I will learn to see in the behaviour of the animals when the rains will come.

The righteous man will prevail, to be righteous requires inner strength -

a quality that stands firm on values, that builds on a foundation that is certain.

We can not predetermine the outcome but we can do what is needed for success

We can work together to achieve what we set out to achieve.

The victory is personal but the harvest is for all to share.

The battle must be won so that all can cellebrate peace.

Affirming self

#Armanen #Futhork Entry 9: #Is

"The ninth song I know is when there is danger at sea. To protect my good ship, I conjure the winds onto the billowing floods, singing into slumber the sea"

This is a continuation of a series of writings on the rune song of Odin as was presented in the Havemal.

The ninth rune IS is the rune of self preservation, self identity and self consciousness. The sea represents a volatile environment and/or even more important a violent storm of emotions within as a result of external perturbation. This is about developing emotional intelligence to bring peace, stability and clarity within. Some people call it grounding but Is goes a bit further than grounding. Is creates a connection between the divine and the world and establish the self as the link between the two. The emotional strive is on the human domain...the Earth is stable and the Heavens is creative and by drawing on both a stable creativity is created within. Where previous runes had a notion of others build in it this rune is primarily about isolating the self into a stable creative existence or being. Disciplines connected with Is would be isolation and times of silence. In other runic traditions Is is associated with a sheet of Ice that is spaced between the water and the air....cold and hard...yet allowing people to cross a river or lake safely. Finding the self is important on a daily basis. Gurdjieff taught about the many I's that we portray...the various roles we play and the necessity to establish the observer as the single authoritative "I". Rather than playing multiple roles Is commands from us to become still and link to the master within, the central I that is core to our being. The I or self that is connected to our experience of the divine.  

When focusing on Is the runemaster brings clarity to his thoughts and lifts his emotions to a higher plane of positive expression. Gurdieff taught that one way of balancing the emotional center is to stop expressing negativity. When singing IS  the rune master knows that when one expresses negativity, one lowers the image of self and loose the creative energy within. The winds here can be referenced as the thoughts that must be contained...the mind must first be silenced and ordered before the emotions can be brought under control. The term conjure is interesting because it implies making use of a super natural power. Is is drawing from the knowledge of the divine to clarify the mind. It is not seen as a pure process of self will because such a process will be driven by thought itself. Is talks about when one uplifts the thoughts to a higher authority like in a prayer. In the Bible we read David write in a psalm..."I lift my eyes to the mountains...where will my help come from" (I translate direct from Afrikaans and not from the Bible itself). IS is the same expression we see here in Is, namely a lifting of the spirit to the heavenly sphere but keeping your feet firmly on the ground. Then something happens and a song starts to vibrate within a song that brings all our negative emotions to rest... a song that restore within us the joy we find in the safety of knowing who we truly are. The rune master uses IS to clarify thoughts and restore peace and joyful emotions within....and that is how we travel safely through the world despite is peril and danger. 

The rune Is illustrated through posture as per the younger futhark in stav.

Entry 8: Nod of the Armanen Futhork series can be seen here: Getting involved

Learning from #Mythology

Living life fully

I am going to divert from the normal today by quoting two paragraphs that stood out for my in my book: "Taking up the runes" by D.L. Paxon. Both these carry some thoughts about courage and persistence in the face of peril that they demand us to stand still and ponder the implication of such a philosophy towards life. Certainly even tho it is from ancient pagan thought we can learn much from the old #wisdom. 

"The Gods are mortal and subject to defeat not, surely, because the Northerns could not imagine immortality or permanent success, but because disaster is the final acid test of character. The valour of Odin and his peers, like the valour of human heroes, can only be proved by their fighting a losing battle, with defeat fordained and foreknown. (Phillpotts, 1928)"

"If you are to have any energy left for living, you must identify those things that you can change, accept those things about which you can do nothing - learn how to tell the difference between them. Neither joy nor pain lasts forever,. You may not 'live happily ever after' but if you understand the necessity that drives you, it is possible to live triumphantly. Life might not be easy but it can, at the deepest level. be satisfying....motivating us to live our lives as an inspiration to those who follows."

For me this is a very realistic approach to live life fully. To often positive thinking and other approaches (which has value if applied correctly) lead to people experiencing failure where they simply give up. In the above philosophy it is about fighting until the end irrespective the odds that are against us. This approach is very similar to the old Stoic approach of the Roman pagan philosophy: "Concern yourself only about what is in your control". The Nordic philosophy however goes a bit further by adding a spirit of defiance to the formula of life. Rather than just a fatalist acceptance, this philosophy of life took problems by the horns in an almost fearless manner. The end result of defeat versus success was almost irrelevant. What mattered was the fact that one stood firm as long as possible. Life was not what was achieved but rather about the attitude with which life was lived. A good life lived with full passion was for these ancients much more worth than what was achieved as a final outcome. There are rich and famous people who never lived life...yet there are beggars who fully lived life.  Often we take the easy way out when things get tough...some people even resort to suicide as a means of solving life's issues. 

The Nordic pagan mind was wired differently. What is the impact of my attitude towards life on the society in which I live? If I give in, then those around me will give in. If I fight a good battle I inspire those around me to fight the good fight. Life for them was not just about individual glory but rather the impact their life had on the survival of the community. The stories of their gods and their heroes refrained this attitude over and over. To live life fully implies that we find the courage to face life even in the face of certain failure. To me there is a certain quality in this philosophy that needs to be recovered and brought back into the fold of modern day living...we face economic melt down, global warming, disasters and wars and within that context it is for each to live life fully. Living life takes courage and requires from us all to follow the examples we see in mythology and in the ancient stories of heroes...not to crumble in the face of disaster but to stand fearlessly to face what is coming. If not for ourselves, then as inspiration to all mortals that walk the world with us on this day in this world.  

Progress for the year

Saturn leaving

Yes, yes, yes the year has started and before we blink the first month will be gone. What a year! The clouds are moving away and the sun is shining through.

The year is already delivering on its promises. Five great events in one week!! Saturn is leaving the constellation of Libra this year and the foundations laid in the last two years are beginning to pay off.

Firstly, I got word that the #business case I worked for last year had been approved. It means that I am well positioned to achieve the objectives I have set out for this year in terms of my work. The effort will be daunting but the first stumbling block is out of the way. I must now hope the money gets positioned in a cost center so that I can start the next phase of selecting the right solution.

Secondly, I got again positive feedback on my #PhD proposal from the Prof this morning. He feels that we are ready to submit it. I need to do some grammar improvements and a final overview over the content by scanning all my sources. I got a new key word which seems to touch well on my topic namely interoperability. I should have picked that that up sooner but it is not too late.

Thirdly I am honored by my Division who requested from me to #facilitateagain their annual strategic planning session later this month. I did it last year which was an honor but being asked to do it a second time is a double honor...since they now know what they will get. Thank you  to Toastmasters International for equiping me for this role.

Fouthly I saw the end result #implementation emerging from one of the first business cases I did in my current position ... The project manager took me on Tuesday on a tour to look at the sound and vision equipment that was implemented, the acoustic improvements that wer made and the refurbishment of interior of one of the main meeting rooms. Aaah it looks impressively professional. They will be finished by 3 February 2012 and hope to start using the upgraded vanue before March 2012. I had little to do with the design and implementation but felt proud that I was involved right in the beginning when the requirements and business case was developed.

Lastly I have started a new #friendship. I seldom encounter a person that has so many overlap's in interest. I met this guy a while ago but we only sat down for a chat over a coffee yesterday. He is a brother of the Rosi Cross with an active interest in philosophy and enjoys intellectual discussions. He is a mecahnical engineer and started his Phd last year. He speaks Afrikaans and plays chess. I might over stress my joy of meeting him... because I have many aquantences but few friends that truly share my interests.

So on Friday the 13th I will count my blessings for the year: Business case approved, PhD proposal almost ready for submission, an request that is a great honour to receive and a new friendship.  What a lovely start to the year may the good momentum continue ...

ART UPDATE

Oil paintings

Last year I only managed to make five oil #paintings. I have recently done two new paintings. #Art is a way to embrace beauty. Our art might not be perfect but when seen from a mystical perspective, then our art puts us in touch with the divine  creative spirit. Once we discovered that spirit in practical terms we engage much more creatively with life. The mistake we make is that we compare our art to that of masters...and never match up to them. The point is not too do so and not too judge yourself by the standards of those exceptional people. We should look within and search for the beauty that is within and allow that to be expressed in art even if the result is somewhat crude.  When we touch the universal spirit of creative activity we will not only appreciate beauty more but we will also become more keen to address the issues we face with more creativity.

1) Sparkle in the eye

In this @portraiture the nose did not came out as well as I wanted to have it...I might still do some work on the painting. I love how the eyes turned out. Last year I painted Beowolf and the one thing I learned in that painting was how to paint the eyes. I think in this painting I did a much better job with the eyes. I experimented in this painting to paint with a bigger brush.

2) Kung fu fighters.

In this painting I love the uniform of the red Kung Fu fighter. I am not fully happy with the background...especially the upper right corner. I am not sure it the faces are good enough. I like the morning play of light falling in from the left of the picture. The shadows on the ground also reflects well the stance of the one fighter. The hands of the red fighter was done well. I learned last year to remember that a human hand is about the same size as your face. We often draw the hands too small ...once you realise how big the hands actually are it becomes much more easier to draw the hands. What I like about this painting is that the hands are positioned correctly and the stances are portrayed correctly.

Snake update

Life

Brutis, the 3snake we found in our garden was released last night. We drove to the reserve entrance but could not go in because it was late already. As we were to release the snake, the Game manager drove out and stopped to see what we were doing. He told us that they catch snakes and record the snakes they release back onto the reserve. Apparently the snakes are very active this time of the year and he had even caught a few Cobra's. I hope we never have to encounter one of those in our garden. He loved our little snake and immediately picked it up to have a closer look. The snake is a Skaapsteker or scientifically known as Psammophylax Rhombeatus. This harmless snake is common in the Western Cape, and is often found in moist areas. It is not really dangerous, because its venom is quiteweak. Even though the snake is often found in sheep kraals, its venom cannot kill sheep. It eats lizards, frogs and small rodents. It has rows of dark brown spots on the olive-brown background of its head and body. Its belly is bluish-grey, and some even have orange or red spots on the sides of the belly and neck.

So mission completed and the snake safely released in the reserve.

Critters in the garden

Life as it happens

I had an amusing incident yesterday when our maid got sniff of a small #snake. Cape Town is really warm these days and the lady was cleaning the children's school bags...washing it and putting it in the sun to dry. When she wanted to feel if the bags are still wet inside...she gave a yell and threw the bag to the side. We discovered that a small snake slittered its way into the bag ... probably looking for a cool place to rest. We have not had a snake in our yard before so the visit of the snake created aquiet a stir. I caught the snake and put it in an old fish tank...for the children to enjoy. Off course the snake had to get a name...which is "Brutis".  Today I will take Brutis to the nearby game reserve and release it there. Never before was there a snake visiting my house, so this is a highlight. Brutus is about 30cm long and I do not know what type of snake it is either. The fellow does not look poisonous but one never knows...so rather be safe than sorry.

Brutus the snake, visiting my home.