LISTENING TO BYRON KATIE

Recently I’m listening to Byron Katie…a lot. I’m so endlessly grateful to this woman for what she’s done for me not even knowing about my existence. It would be wrong to say she had changed me…she’s rather keeps brining me back to me, brining light to the dark corners of my doubts. I don’t know her personally. I haven’t been to her workshops or classes, and, yet, she is so very important to me.

Katie goes around the world asking four questions. More and more people come to her, come to answer those questions as it gives them peace with themselves. For those who are not familiar with the work of Byron Katie I need to add that four question are perfectly enough to dig under the deepest layers of ego. It depends not only on questions, but also on the complete sincerity of answering. According to her all we ever do we do for love, approval, and appreciation. All we ever seek is the same trio. All we ever know is our own story about it. I don’t want to present the oversimplified version of Katie’s indefinitely powerful teaching. I have to note, though, that among other things Katie made so clear--what we learn theoretically is not a knowledge. Only living experience of what we learn is the life changer. It is the same about Katie’s work. One has to do it, and not any other way around.

From the Byron Katie’s view point, there is no failure because what is--is. All the thoughts about how it should be are arguments with reality, and a source of anxiety. There is no life that could be a failure because each life is unique and fulfilling regardless of how long or prosperous it is.

Failure is impossible as such. It is just a story we telling to ourselves or to the others. We know nothing but our story and, thus, we can change it. We cannot have anything but our story, and we can undo the story that makes us suffer; unless we want to suffer. We might want to be a victim hoping it’ll give us love, or appreciation. At any rate it’s better to be aware of our storytelling, and its possibilities.

Because of Katie my perspectives have changed. I became able to see what I was looking for without actually seeing it. (isn’t it interesting, though, as in all languages there is a difference between words: to look, and to see.) I joined the personal development industry. I see the meaning and purpose in serving fellow humans this way.

Personal development is a recent term in the whole line of tradition. There are many forks of different teachings merging in it. Katie doesn’t call it personal development. She calls it: “the work.” We call our program “Beyond Freedom.”

Well, it is just our story anyway.

MY ARGUMENT WITH NAPOLEON HILL

Or there is no such thing as life failure

As many of us, I’ve read and liked Napoleon Hill’s “Think and Grow Rich.” I’ve read the other books on the subject: “The Law of Attraction,” “The Strangest Thing” …and more. When reading Hill’s book I was entirely surprised recognizing the ideas on thoughts that I’ve read in a books of Christian mystics. Mystics, however, weren’t concerned by the converting ideas into cash. They didn’t implement the knowledge to the realm of earthly success. Just the opposite. Out of pure idealism they were developing methods to oppose all earthly issues.

The postulates, however, were the same: our mind is the receptor of thoughts, and not the creator. When we receive a thought, we have a choice to let it go through, and not to stop on it. If we chose to stay with the thought, it starts developing in us. It becomes a desire, then a passion, it takes over and makes us to act. The teaching was developed in order not to allow earthly thoughts to take over us.

What struck me in Hill’s thought is his seemingly independent arrival to the concepts developed by mystics. Moreover, he turns it over and develops methods of material success on the same basis.

I respect Hill’s philosophy of success very much, and, yet, have to admit it has a biased presupposition. He places human life between two options: failure and success. As if there could be such thing as a life failure. Every life is invaluable, and it doesn’t matter how long it is, or how active it is, or even, how prosper it is. Who determines the success and the failure after all? Different social paradigms have their own ideas on the subject. Well, we live here and now, and I understand the marketing and pedagogical value of polarization, and, yet the original developers of the concept-- mystics themselves would be considered a complete failure on the Hill’s model.

As many of us I’m caught between the two. I’m not a success story…from Hill’s perspective. I refuse to feel as a failure as well. I believe there is a beautiful pattern created by my life, or lives of people I know.

That is why I’m staying with the program that tries to tie both: the self-realization and implementation it on the material world. I also know that my arguing with Napoleon Hill moves me right now, and I’m very grateful to him for that.

ADWORDS AS A LANGUAGE OF TIME

At the beginning of speech there was no distinction between a poetry and a prose, not even between a word and a sentence. It was an attempt to express a need, or a desire by the most suitable means. Nobody then would even imagine the intricacy of language styles we have now. Nobody would want to picture the debris of a bureaucratic self-expressions of our time. Let’s enjoy for a while the idea of communication when people tried to convey ideas in a short expressive forms, not inventing the grammar rules, yet. Can you picture it? You bet! 

        It took generations of learning man to separate, to figure out patterns, establish ..,and develop styles. All the knowledge about language, progressing into linguistics, elaborating into semantics, and linguistic philosophy…there more to add to the list. All of it in our time is condensed to the messaging, and twittering, and the all-powerful adwords…It’s not a digression, it’s a turn of spiral, developmental digest.  I love it! 

       I love it as I love our time, with it’s speed of thought, and postmodern chic, it’s intensity of a self search, and unlimited depths of virtual worlds. It seems humanity is discovering itself in a completely new dimension, dematerializing everything: body, money, and reality itself. 

       Language is always a large part of the self-discovery, self-awareness, and self expression of a time. Epical tunes of ancient tragedies were followed by medieval chants. Renaissance brought some language changes and they didn’t stay too, Romanism, Baroque--you name it! The historical procession of language forms… Is the beginning of 21 century a time of simplification of a language or it’s incredible precision is a matter of opinion. It is a time of an adwords, do we like it or not. 

       You may not agree with me on this one, but I do see an inexplicable beauty in the adwards’ approach. It reflects the pulse of our time. It condenses meaning to the word, and it has to be the word that speaks to everybody, or to the majority. Isn’t it how the poetry thinks? Poetry does pack the maximum info and meaning into the compact image, symbol. Adwords used the same method making symbol a tool.

       There is no more difference between poetry and prose again. The use of the word, however, is more thought of, and more carefully chosen than ever. It is pay for a click, or pay for a word game. You want to be good at it. Every word is money, it plays immaterial word for the immaterial money.   

       I wish it could apply to the tones of books that better haven’t been written, and now just sit on a  bookshelves. Almost everybody I know published a book, or several books, either wrote a book. It’s not impressive any more, it lost its meaning. Sometimes I think it’s a curse of a time, since most of it is just a victimization of words and publishing tools. It came to the point when there are more writers than readers. It simply couldn’t continue like that any more--the wordal diarrhea.

    It came the time for something else to emerge and change the pattern. That something, I guess, is an adwords. Concise and compressed info pays more than writing a book. The precision of the word became its monetary value, its price. Wow! Aren’t we back in progression? After all, “In the beginning there was a word.” 

WHAT TO DO WITH DEGREE IN PHILOSOPHY

I could as well asked the same question about degree in English, or in History, or in almost any humanities? What do you do if you feel a need, a desire, an interest for the knowledge that doesn’t bring money? How do you combine your passion and life necessities? Or, better say, which do you choose? Even though, it’s not always a matter of a choice…

It seems that time periods offer different answers. Do you remember that Socrates belonged to the stone crafters? The greatest mind of the time made living by physical labor, and only later (almost as a retiree) he had a freedom to post his questions on the market place and streets of his town. Was it a shame? Or was it a norm? He didn’t have a PhD, after all. One may say they weren’t invented then, not even universities existed. Philosophy was born on the streets, walls around it were build later .

Do you remember that Plato was an entrepreneur? Well, after having some jobs and hard times trying to find a job, he opened his own school--the Academy. Who would want to have such an employee? He, probably, didn’t follow procedures, and was too opinionated, even though, I’d rather say, too creative.

Let’s move to a different epoch. The Renaissance icon Leonardo Da Vinci--an artist, scientist, inventor, philosopher was a… contractor worker, selling his skills, and an entrepreneur. He didn’t even have an agent, marketed himself, looking for contracts all over the country.

At certain historical point humanities were the privilege of an elite. A need to make living dictated it’s will for the majority. One had to be born with the opportunity to study philosophy. Remember German giants of an idealism--Kant, Hegel, and others? Idealism was their case--university professors they had jobs with the regular pay checks.

It seems that now many of us with the degree in Philosophy have to let it go back to a market place. The time paradigm has changed once again. The majority has a need in Philosophy now, and walls of the universities cannot hold it any more, though they believe they do. The market place has changed too--it went to the internet, and gained an incredible power.

What do we do with degree in philosophy? I don’t know about you. I cannot carve stone…even though, specialized in Philosophy of Art. I think I’m choosing an entrepreneurship. It seems as I always have, but like Plato was trying to find a job. My market place is here: www.libertyleague.com/irenemc.
I’m marketing amazing programs in personal development, as well as entrepreneurial opportunities. Come, join me: 4renem@gmail.com, or Call: 1-800-995-0791

Failure is not an option

For the last five years of my life I’ve been teaching language. I’ve learned a lot, and not only about the languages… As many of us know teaching is the best way of learning. Studying language is a fun, and a challenge. It takes a lot of repetitions to remember words and phrases, it takes a lot more to understand how to combine new words and make a new phrases…. I know it takes a lot of time to break through. For most of us it seems as a tedious work without any improvement, and only IF we keep doing it, there will be a leap on the next level.
Learning language isn’t difficult, but we sure can make it so by telling ourselves that it is. While learning we have to deal with concepts different from the ones we know. We also have to take an effort to turn on a different mindset. I’ve seen how people give up trying right away, and I’ve seen people who last a little longer. The only people to succeed are those who don’t block their mind by doubling the mind operations.
For example: if I try to learn a new concept--it is an operation one. When I try to do so and at the same time think that I cannot do it--my mind has to deal with contradictive commands, and it doubles the mind work. When I give a command to learn, at the same time saying that I cannot learn, and that it’s too difficult--guess, what will be the outcome like… Instead of simply learning I’m engaged in an inner argument and, in fact, do it instead of learning.
New life challenges are like that. We either do it, or dwell in an inner arguments, forsaking all the excitement and fun we could have. Entrepreneurship is a call of the time for many of us to answer. It is also about adopting the worldview of a doer without planning on failure. I’ve learned that it takes time to break through, and, yet, it will happen for those who don’t take failure as an option, and just keep doing.

If you feel the creative spirit of a time and understand it’s not about finding a job anymore, its about creating it--contact me.
If you are ambitious and don't desire to fail--contact me
If you cannot stop learning and loving --contact me.
It might be for you.
My name is Irene and I’m here for you:
Email me,
4renem@gmail.com
Or call: 1-800-995-0791

Problem of choice or a choice of a problem?

My story is typical for a time. I have applied for so many jobs that stopped counting them long time ago. I guess I’ve received answers on one out of every 50 applications. They were always negative, and came after couple months or more. Sometimes I wonder--can I consider it a curse?  I had some small contracts here and there…hardly enough to pay the rent, but never a job. Grad school was a poor preparation for a reality.

My applying for jobs could make a complete social-anthropological field work research. As a result I’d present a table ranking companies and agencies on how disrespectfully or politely they didn’t hire me.

Maybe it’s my luck, a sign of a time, or a shift in a global economy. Maybe God was telling me: stop looking for a job--make it happen. Remember video series entitled "Life After the City," in the Financial Times on May 9th, 2009? It’s about people loosing their jobs and finding themselves in an entrepreneurial venues. It provoke my thinking and searching around for my opportunity. I also new I have to change my mindset. Educational system, including grad school and PhD program, is developed by people living from a paycheck to a pay check. They are already in, they’ll live. I’m not in with them--it’s me who need to change my thinking. As Anais Nin puts it: “We don’t see things as they are, we see things as we are.”

I knew everything we need is right here, around us. Limitations come from within. They are products of uncertainty. The real question is: why cannot we see the possibilities? 

 

I did a lot of research and as a result chose the company that came up with the 

1. Fantastic and highly marketable products (which are in the area of my passionate interest)

2. Best compensation plan

3. Great coaching techniques, and instruments

4. Team support, and encouragement I’ve never seen at the university setting. 

It’s needless to say I joined the company, and I’m going through the changes right now. I’m discovering my potential, abilities and knowledge that I didn’t need to use before. I love sharing my passion with people, talking about the programs we present, and changes they make. 

The beauty of the idea is in combination of self-realization and entrepreneurial opportunity. It’s not theoretical at all, it could take you whenever you’re ready to go now. You not just realizing yourself--you actually releasing yourself into different mental and physical plane. It could be as simple as painting by numbers, or it could take you to all complexity of mixing your own colors and creating an original masterpiece. 

There are a few conditions. 

1.you need to let it happen, which means not just to begin, but rather not to give up. Let the changes work through you and find their outcome. 

2.The other condition could be considered as the metaphor for life in general: be ready to learn, and to change.

3.And one more: set a goal and go for it. Jim Rohn says: The major reason for setting a goal is for what it makes of you to accomplish it. What it makes of you will always be greater value than what you get.”

If you feel the pulse of a time and understand it’s not about finding a job anymore, its about creating it--contact me.

If you are ambitious and determined to create you own life--contact me

If you cannot stop learning and loving --contact me.

It might be for you.

My name is Irene and I’m here for you:

Email me, 

4renem@gmail.com

Or call: 1-800-995-0791

LEAD your life

Live YOUR life

Love you  LIFE