For Hands Against the Palest Pain
Totally saw Reese Witherspoon fall off a horse this morning! Luckily she was fine. Remind me never to decide to make a movie about a circus... it took like 10 hours to get 2 shots because the horses were not in the mood to do tricks over and over. We were supposed to shoot the lion performance as well, but the horses were a hassle and a half. Wicked smart, but mix smart and ADD and you get horses that couldn't care less about doing a trick more than several times. For the most part, they were trained on verbal commands, which I found really interesting since my riding instructor is pretty insistent that horses can't learn verbal commands alone (besides whoa). Now I know that they can, it's just a matter of training and the will of the horse.
No Robert Pattinson the last two days. How WILL I manage? (Happily, methinks)
I've been reading a book called, "Awakening the Heros Within." One of the most insightful books I've ever read. I've never understood humanity or myself as well as I do by reading this book. It's a challenging read... there's a lot to take in, and it's rather obtuse due to its metaphorical nature... but the more I grasp, the more I understand about people. It's so good, that I have these internal rages of anger while reading it due to my ego's resistance to excepting concepts that makes so much sense but aren't logical to my ego's understanding of the world. So I have to take breaks every page or two to do some yoga to chill myself out and open myself to reading more. The best thing is that the book has taught me how to forgive. Every other book is just like "forgive, because you should and you'll feel better," but it's not that easy for me. But this book (which explains humanity and its progression using Jungian analytics and archetypes) explains that if you believe in the power of universal collective consciousness, then every person is born capable of every deed, from the very worst to the very best. And once you recognize that you could have done the same thing, compassion is awoken and forgiveness can be given. It's a matter of saying, 'In the right circumstances, I too could be guilty of this deed." I think we like to pretend that we are above the worst of humanity, but secretly fear snapping and becoming a person who does something horrendous. If we weren't so obsessed, the news wouldn't be half as interesting. I've found it both terrifying and calming (depending on my resistance) to accept that I am capable of doing great harm. It is even more terrifying to accept that I am capable of great good. What responsibility!!! As scary as it is, it is THIS acceptance that has allowed me to forgive. I never dreamed I'd be so able to forgive and release my grudges and judgements. However, the book is also very clear that forgiveness does not mean that you deny the serious impact that the forgiven person had on you, and actions should still be made to seek justice. So you can forgive, but still demand consequences for criminal actions. But as brilliant as the book is, I think that the vast majority of people would not be open to it. It goes against everything we are taught. It is against blind religious devotion, consumerism, traditional definitions of masculine and feminine, dog-eat-dog mentality, and so much more that many people invest so much of their energy into. I've always been on the outside fringe when it comes to believing in common Western values... so for me it's been a challenge to open my mind to the book, but I connect to it.
But the thing that really hooked me from the beginning is the Jungian philosophy that every person has a journey to make and that if every person knew that there was this journey that their subconscious was trying to lead them on and were able to get past their own demons to fulfill whatever journey is in their hearts, than humanity would be sight to behold.
It's so weird. Every hunch I've ever had, and didn't know why... every strange and inspiring thought I've had that didn't fit into the average thought mold... has been touched on and explained in this book. Sometimes I've thought "I don't know if my life is predestined, but I have these powerful urges to do certain things and go certain places... and so many books and people fall into my lap right when I need them... why does this happen? Who's running the show? Is it wishful thinking and egocentrism?" Other times I have these thoughts out of nowhere that lead me in a direction I hadn't planned on going, and I thought I was maybe one of a few with such wacky out-there thoughts. And then they appeared in this book. I'm very skeptical when it comes to ANY philosophy, but this book has gotten me to open my mind to collective consciousness. My dreams suddenly are giving me advice that works. I'm understanding why I do the self-destructive things I do. I know why I "know" things so certainly that I've never heard before and that don't seen to fit into my ego's definition of the world.
This isn't a "miracle" book... it won't magically solve all of your problems, but if you drawn to it and willing to be frustrated out of your mind (a sign of subconscious resistance due to fear of the unknown)... I highly recommend it.
I still don't know what my journey is and my inner hero is not fully awakened, but it's a life process, right? As much as I sometimes want to rip the book up and pretend I'd never even heard of it (denial can be so comforting)... I can't deny that this book has opened my eyes, and now I can't seem to close them.
No Robert Pattinson the last two days. How WILL I manage? (Happily, methinks)
I've been reading a book called, "Awakening the Heros Within." One of the most insightful books I've ever read. I've never understood humanity or myself as well as I do by reading this book. It's a challenging read... there's a lot to take in, and it's rather obtuse due to its metaphorical nature... but the more I grasp, the more I understand about people. It's so good, that I have these internal rages of anger while reading it due to my ego's resistance to excepting concepts that makes so much sense but aren't logical to my ego's understanding of the world. So I have to take breaks every page or two to do some yoga to chill myself out and open myself to reading more. The best thing is that the book has taught me how to forgive. Every other book is just like "forgive, because you should and you'll feel better," but it's not that easy for me. But this book (which explains humanity and its progression using Jungian analytics and archetypes) explains that if you believe in the power of universal collective consciousness, then every person is born capable of every deed, from the very worst to the very best. And once you recognize that you could have done the same thing, compassion is awoken and forgiveness can be given. It's a matter of saying, 'In the right circumstances, I too could be guilty of this deed." I think we like to pretend that we are above the worst of humanity, but secretly fear snapping and becoming a person who does something horrendous. If we weren't so obsessed, the news wouldn't be half as interesting. I've found it both terrifying and calming (depending on my resistance) to accept that I am capable of doing great harm. It is even more terrifying to accept that I am capable of great good. What responsibility!!! As scary as it is, it is THIS acceptance that has allowed me to forgive. I never dreamed I'd be so able to forgive and release my grudges and judgements. However, the book is also very clear that forgiveness does not mean that you deny the serious impact that the forgiven person had on you, and actions should still be made to seek justice. So you can forgive, but still demand consequences for criminal actions. But as brilliant as the book is, I think that the vast majority of people would not be open to it. It goes against everything we are taught. It is against blind religious devotion, consumerism, traditional definitions of masculine and feminine, dog-eat-dog mentality, and so much more that many people invest so much of their energy into. I've always been on the outside fringe when it comes to believing in common Western values... so for me it's been a challenge to open my mind to the book, but I connect to it.
But the thing that really hooked me from the beginning is the Jungian philosophy that every person has a journey to make and that if every person knew that there was this journey that their subconscious was trying to lead them on and were able to get past their own demons to fulfill whatever journey is in their hearts, than humanity would be sight to behold.
It's so weird. Every hunch I've ever had, and didn't know why... every strange and inspiring thought I've had that didn't fit into the average thought mold... has been touched on and explained in this book. Sometimes I've thought "I don't know if my life is predestined, but I have these powerful urges to do certain things and go certain places... and so many books and people fall into my lap right when I need them... why does this happen? Who's running the show? Is it wishful thinking and egocentrism?" Other times I have these thoughts out of nowhere that lead me in a direction I hadn't planned on going, and I thought I was maybe one of a few with such wacky out-there thoughts. And then they appeared in this book. I'm very skeptical when it comes to ANY philosophy, but this book has gotten me to open my mind to collective consciousness. My dreams suddenly are giving me advice that works. I'm understanding why I do the self-destructive things I do. I know why I "know" things so certainly that I've never heard before and that don't seen to fit into my ego's definition of the world.
This isn't a "miracle" book... it won't magically solve all of your problems, but if you drawn to it and willing to be frustrated out of your mind (a sign of subconscious resistance due to fear of the unknown)... I highly recommend it.
I still don't know what my journey is and my inner hero is not fully awakened, but it's a life process, right? As much as I sometimes want to rip the book up and pretend I'd never even heard of it (denial can be so comforting)... I can't deny that this book has opened my eyes, and now I can't seem to close them.