Reason to Love Eric Maisel #283

Okay, you already know that I am a fan of Eric Maisel, the godfather of creativity training.   

But he also totally gets mindfulness and the POWER of finding a simple, quick practice that can change your life TODAY—without spending years meditating.

This quote says it all: 

“Ten-second centering does not demand a full practice of mindful meditation or a complete course in cognitive therapy … This is not an illegitimate shortcut. Suffering is overrated. I would prefer you change your life in a day and not in a decade … I hope that you concur that you have already earned your merit badges in suffering and that it is legitimate to quickly learn a way of centering that works …”

Eric Maisel, author of “Ten Zen Seconds”

So, yes, we’re on the same track here–focusing on ways to be MINDFUL without the meditation part.  It’s not that we’re not appreciating the value of meditation.  It’s an amazing practice. 

But for every person who meditates and feels that it really helps them develop greater awareness, there are dozens of others who–for whatever reason–just can’t get into it and still need a way to get calm, clear and creative. 

MINDFULNESS is the key, and you don’t need a cushion.  If you like this approach, you’re in the right place!  Along with Eric, I’m all about opening your eyes to what is going on around and within you and popping into mindfulness mode wherever you are. 

Eric’s book, Ten Zen Seconds, is great if you’re looking for quick little statements/incantations to help you remember to focus on what matters most.

If you’re looking for the next step–simple, fun, powerful techniques for enhancing your creativity, awareness and multiple intelligences at the same time, I’ve got just the thing.

It’s the Awakening Awareness™ course, and you can get the whole thing online immediately. 

To get started, just go to www.Real-WorldMindfulness.com/awakening-awareness.htm and start turning everyday moments into opportunities for eyes-wide-open epiphanies!

Drop In On Eric Maisel’s Blog Tour for Ten Zen Seconds

Eric Maisel is “on the road” for his blog tour.  Yes, he is traveling virtually (the safest, easiest, most environmentally-friendly way!) to share his insights in interviews on a blog a day for the next few weeks.

As I mentioned in a previous post, Eric will be interviewed RIGHT HERE on my blog on May 29th.  But you don’t have to wait until then to catch him on tour! 

What will Eric talk about?  Well, his new book, Ten Zen Seconds:  Twelve Incantations for Purpose, Power and Calm presents twelve little phrases that help us get focused intentionally in a variety of settings and circumstances.  Remarkably simple?  Yes.  Very powerful?  Yes.

Here’s a little taste of the type of things Eric will be discussing on his tour.  This is an excerpt from his interview with artist Kay Pere on her blog at http://www.KayPere.blogspot.com

Eric says: I like to create “islands of mindfulness” that are qualitatively “more mindful” than the rest of the day. Like everyone, I am doing one thing after another and trying to pay attention to details, do good work, and get tasks checked off my to-do list. Through all of this I am mindful, but situations arise where I want to be “more mindful” than ordinary, because the situation is more meaningful.

It might, for instance, be a scheduled phone conversation with an editor or literary agent in which the fate of some book is determined: before this “more meaningful” event in my daily routine I will use incantation 1, “I am completely stopping,” and actually stop—not slow down, but stop—remember to expect nothing (incantation 2), and name as my work “Get clear on my agenda,” “Make a good list of questions,” etc. I use the TZS technique to demarcate my activities, adding “extra mindfulness” where and when I feel it’s needed.

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You can view the blog tour schedule on the Ten Zen Seconds website at http://www.TenZenSeconds.com 

You’ll get a chance to meet some very creative bloggers AND hear what Eric has to say about using his Ten Zen Seconds technique for greater mindfulness.   Sit back and enjoy the tour!

Malaya and Maya’s Excellent Creative Adventure: First Creativity Lab in Buenos Aires!

Okay, I realize that if you’re reading this, you’re probably not in Buenos Aires, Argentina.  But so many people ask me, “So, what do you DO there in Buenos Aires? How do you MEET people?” that I wanted to include this little bit about a fun group that my friend Malaya (in photo above) and I are putting together here.  You see, there are MANY, MANY expats who have moved here and now they are all crafting brand new lives for themselves.  It’s like painting on a blank canvas.  It’s exhilarating and terrifying and wide open.  So, we’re opening up an opportunity for others like us to gather weekly to connect and collaborate.  Here’s the blurb:

Creativity Lab–Playing In Flow

An evening of lighthearted collaboration with Malaya Llewellyn

7:30 pm, Tuesday, April 24^th

In Palermo on Beruti, near the Botanical Garden

For details, email mvq@inteleto.com or call 4831-1664 

● Looking for a way to merge meaning between art, work and life? 

● Longing to connect with others who play with the creative process as a spiritual practice?

● Hungry for something to stir up your possibilities?   

Join Malaya Llewellyn for the first of many free gatherings to share lively conversation about creativity and connection!  Whether you’re playing with paint, flour, film, cloth, words, programs, or products, you’re invited to join expats and Argentines alike to explore ideas and get inspired. 

About Malaya:

Malaya Llewellyn glided from a background in art history, visual art and expressive arts therapy to the explosive world of creativity coaching in business, education and healthcare. With a master’s degree in depth psychology and doctoral work and extensive training with the infamous Creativity in Business guru, Michael Ray from Stanford University and renowned mythologists Michael Meade and Jean Houston, Malaya brandishes a multi-dimensional array of practical tools that reconfigure obstacles into opportunities.  

The impact of Malaya’s Chinese-Irish-American origins, residency in six different countries and a lifetime of world travels from Hong Kong to San Francisco, Tanzania to Tangiers, the Yucatan to Kathmandu, Laddahk to London, and from Borneo to Buenos Aires has structured her global view of what it means to live and work creatively in the ever-changing new millennium.   

“It doesn’t interest me what you do for a living. I want to know what you ache for and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart’s longing…” 

Oriah Mountain Dreamer

<><><><>Okay, Maya here again.  Anyway, there are all kinds of interesting things to see and do here and fascinating people to meet.  It’s endless.  And it’s inspiring, too–everywhere you turn, there’s something to spark a new idea and prompt some serious work time.

And yes, I DO work.  It just FEELS a lot like play here.    

Ten Zen Seconds interview with Eric Maisel–coming May 29th!

I’m pretty excited about my upcoming interivew on this blog with Dr. Eric Maisel, widely regarded as America’s foremost creativity coach. 

Dr. Maisel is the author of more than thirty books. He holds Bachelor’s degrees in Philosophy and Psychology, Master’s degrees in Creative Writing and Counseling, and a Doctorate in Counseling Psychology. He is a California licensed marriage and family therapist, a creativity coach and trainer of creativity coaches, a columnist for Art Calendar Magazine, provides regular segments for Art of the Song Creativity Radio, and teaches Ten Zen Second techniques through lectures, workshops, and teleseminars.  Dr. Maisel lives in San Francisco and is conducting a blog tour to promote his newest book.

No travel for him.  No print ads.  No commute for those interested in hearing what he has to say.  I love blog tours!

Dr. Maisel has written two of my favorite books on creativity:  Creativity For Life and Coaching the Artist Within.  His newest book is Ten Zen Seconds:  Twelve Incantations for Purpose, Power and Calm.

Born of his work with thousands of creative clients in his creativity coaching practice and field tested worldwide, Maisel’s Ten Zen Second techniques are deceptively simple and extremely powerful.  (Oooh…do you see why I love his work????)

By combining deep breathing with carefully chosen “incantations” (phrases that do a particular kind of inner work), you can center in a matter of seconds, bring greater awareness and resolve to your life, and provide yourself with an “instant” mindfulness practice.

Dr. Maisel has taught thousands of creative and performing artists how to incorporate Ten Zen Second mindfulness techniques into their creativity practice, and I’ll be talking with him about his own ways to get inspired as an artist. Best of all, he’ll share his tips for finding the fun wherever you are. 

Watch this space!  The blog interview will be posted on May 29th. 

Want to start playing with his technique right now? 

First, take a look at this list of incantations  so you can see ahead of time what you’ll be practicing:

• I am completely stopping

• I expect nothing

• I am doing my work

• I trust my resources

• I feel supported

• I embrace this moment

• I am free of the past

• I make my meaning

• I am open to joy

• I am equal to this challenge

• I am taking action

• I return with strength

Okay, now go to the site and watch the Ten Zen Second video!   You’ll get a chance to read each of the phrases during a ten-second image–it allows you to practice the incantations one at a time and get a sense of how long (short!) ten seconds is.  

Go here now:

http://www.tenzenseconds.com/video_assets/photo_slideshow_streamed.mov

Miranda July and her No One Belongs Here More Than You book announcement

This is Miranda July, a very talented performance artist and writer.  She is wildly creative.

Want proof?

Well, NORMALLY when you write a book, you put together some sort of boring press release and send it out to the world.   Then you do some interviews on the radio or for newspapers, talk things up in your blog, and basically keep yammering away at anyone who will listen about how fabulous your new book is.  Next step:  travel from bookstore to bookstore reading from said book and praying that adoring crowds will show up and buy piles of your published pride to give to all of their friends.

Well, that’s ONE way to do it.  But let’s look at some creative options, shall we? 

FIRST:  a different kind of book announcement.  SECOND (in my next post): a different kind of book tour.

Miranda decided  to announce her book in a way that absolutely anyone could have done–but didn’t.  That’s what makes her so brilliant.

You see, she created a very simple website using digital photos taken in her kitchen.  Seriously.  And it’s just, well, GREAT. 

Take a look here:

www.noonebelongsheremorethanyou.com

It’s for her newest book of stories called, um, No One Belongs Here More Than You.

And if that’s not enough for you, check out her main site at www.MirandaJuly.com

Be Yourself and Be Perfect, Too: My response to an article in The New York Times

Wow. 

I’m hearing from a lot of people around the world regarding today’s Friday Mind Massage article.  I wrote about my reaction to a recent New York Times article (“For Girls, It’s Be Yourself and Be Perfect, Too”) describing the pressure-cooker environment of a competitive high school and the girls who are doing everything imaginable to be the “perfect” college applicant–and get into those name-brand universities. 

I’ve had two unsubscribes so far–below normal for even a non-Friday Mind Massage day.  And I’ve had 27 responses from people who basically said “Yay!  It needed to be said!” or “This really resonated with me” or something similar.

And it’s still Friday. 

So, it seems that there are a lot of readers–parents, students, grandparents, and those worried about the US education system in general–who feel that doing more, more, more of the same old thing is just getting ridiculous.  It’s time to reel in the outrageous expectations and let students be a little more who they ARE. 

Here’s what I wrote:

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Mindfulness and Perfection:

Jumping the Achievement Track

 As a mother of four young women
(ages 16, 17, 19 and 20), I am
pretty clued in to the whole
be-perfect trend so prevalent
in high schools in the United
States.  In fact, it’s one of the biggest
reasons we jumped the
achievement track and headed
to Latin America.

So, I wasn’t surprised to read an
article in The New York Times
that described the pressure facing
upper/middle class high school
girls as they prepare for college.
But I WAS reminded of the
craziness of a system that asks
our children to do more, more,
more of the same old thing
instead of inviting them to
become a completely different
kind of college applicant.It used to be impressive to take
one or two Advanced Placement
courses in high school–tougher
options with the possibility of
getting college credit later.  Now,
the norm is to take three or four
or even more each semester.

This shows a complete lack of
creativity and logic–not to
mention strategy, for which we in
the competitive US of A are known.
It’s a perfect example of blind
adherence to a particular idea–
that more is better.I don’t get it.  Didn’t you
have a mother who asked you,
“If everybody else jumped off a
cliff, would YOU do it, too?”
whenever you wanted to do
something ridiculous because
“all the kids” your age were doing
it?  I certainly did.  And though my
mother was definitely not one to
step off any track or expand her
options, she didn’t have a problem
pointing out that doing what
everyone else is doing isn’t always
the smartest option.

Here’s the thing:  your child could
stagger under the load of four AP
classes and still not do well
enough on the final test to get
those credits. Instead, she could
simply take a college class—online,
even (don’t laugh–these are tougher
than you might think)–and be sure
to get the credit and also stand
out among college applicants who
have never taken a real university
course.Are sports likely to get your child a
scholarship?  Though that seems to
be the plan among many parents, the
odds are dismal.  In fact, you’d be
better off saving that sports camp
money and sending your child on
an exchange program or some
other kind of experience that will
wake up those admissions folks
bleary-eyed from reading through
the piles of perfect GPA/star athlete
applications from around the country.

Just as adults are struggling in
the work-more/do-more/have-more
current, we are tossing our kids into
the same river rapids.  This is destructive and unnecessary–
and utterly devoid of mindfulness.
 
When everyone is playing the same
game, you’ve got a choice.  You can
either work like a crazy person to try
to climb to the top of that very big
team of wannabes, or you can be a
star at a completely different game
that is more suited to your interests–
and more supportive of your health
and well being.As parents, it’s our job to show our

kids their full range of possibilities.  
How can we expect them to shine if
we force them to play a game that
doesn’t suit them?  And let’s not even get into the
concept of the debt they might be
saddled with upon graduating from
that “name-brand” university, thus
necessitating a cubicle job in a field
they hate just to pay the bills.  That’s
how the game goes, you know.

Think of a different game.  Don’t be
afraid to drop the quest for perfection
and jump the achievement track. Make
it a point to teach your kids to be
creative about their own options.  

And remember this:  if you’re
overworked, burned out, and still
playing the same game against
everyone else to get ahead, that is
precisely what your kids are going to
absorb.

Jump the track and veer in the
direction that is best for YOU.

The kids are watching

COPYRIGHT 2007, Maya Talisman Frost

<><><><><><>  Okay, me again.

And here’s a link to that New York Times article:

Be Yourself and Be Perfect, Too

http://tinyurl.com/2m39xw 

One subscriber sent me a link to an article that was published in today’s Washington Post on this same subject:

Battle to Win Top Colleges’ Nod Escalating

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/05/AR2007040502251.html?referrer=emailarticle

So….comments?  What do YOU think?