Celestine Prophecy: an experiential guide

MICRO REVIEW

This book, written by James Redfield and Carol Adrienne builds on the original book "The Celestine Prophecy" written by Redfield.

Sometimes these add-on books are just an excuse to sustain an idea, keeping sales going by selling second book to those who bought the original book. In this case though, this books adds a lot to the original work with plenty of thought-provoking insight. It is a fascinating read with plenty of useful exercises. Each chapter takes one of the nine insights from the original texts, expands on the ideas behind the insight and then has a series of exercises for individual use and workshop ideas for group work.

Self Publishing

In a recent post, Rik Roots talks about self-publishing using a print-on-demand service called Lulu. This is a really interesting approach to producing perfect-bound books without having a heap of them sitting about on a shelf.

Rik points out that he has a specific need to publish so that he can share his work with friends, family and people who ask to see work. The web, in the form of downloadable pdf files is one way to satisy this demand. But there really is nothing like a real artefact to hold in the hand and turn the pages.

Something well worth investigating further.

I have self-published chapbooks / booklets a couple of years ago under the bluewater books imprint, and am in the middle of preparing a new series of booklets - all produced myself. I like the idea of a service like Lulu where the work is done for you.

World Cafe - a great way to get everyone involved

Welcome to The World Cafe

A couple of years ago, I took part in a knowledge cafe, run by David Gurteen. I wrote about it on my now deceased blog called 'Things I found'. The technique, which is openly available in a truly open source way, is a brilliant way to get true participation. I used it myself for an event which I facilitated at the start of this year.

The technique is taken from the work of the World Cafe, which can be found at their website. The Principles of the World Café are:

* Clarify the Context
* Create Hospitable Space
* Explore Questions That Matter
* Connect Diverse Perspectives
* Encourage Each Person's Contribution
* Listen Together for Patterns, Insights and Deeper Questions
* Share Collective Discoveries

They work well because:

* The future is born in webs of human conversation
* Compelling questions encourage collective learning
* Networks are the underlying pattern of living systems
* Human systems--organizations, families, communities--are living systems
* Intelligence emerges as the system connects to itself in diverse and creative ways
* Collectively, we have access to all the wisdom and resources we need

I particularly like the fact each table is covered in paper sheets and everyone is encouraged to write or draw on them. This gives the quieter members of a group an alternative way to contribute. I also like the 'consensus' approach which encourages everyone to build on others' ideas rather than to critique them.

(From the 'Things I found' archive)

TED Talks

TEDTalks (audio, video)

I was led to 'TED' by David Gurteen who wrote about it in one of his recent newsletters (well worth subscribing to - it is free!) TED stands for 'Technology, Entertainment, Design'. It is an annual event which hosts talks, music etc. But it is much more than that description implies. If I said that speakers over the years have included Tony Robbins, Malcolm Gladwell, Bono, Peter Gabriel, Richard Dawkins, Dan Gilbert, Nicholas Negroponte, Dan Dennett, and Al Gore - would that give some idea of the sheer range and depth of presentations? TED sells out at least a year ahead, and is to an invited audience anyway. So, why should I be talking about this? Well, the link above takes you to a page where you can download videos of over 70 of these speakers. More are added each week - using an RSS feed, they can be downloaded as video podcasts. I've watched a handful of them and am incredibly inspired by what I have seen.

M Scott Peck - the ideas or the life

I spent a lazy evening recently browsing through my local branch of 'Borders' bookshop. I came across a copy of a new biography about M Scott Peck. Written by Arthur Jones, it is a detailed description of Scott Peck's life.

Regular readers will recall that I wrote about Peck's death a while back, and was particularly unimpressed by obituaries which were around at the time. There was an undue focus on the way in which his life had failed to live up to the promise of 'The Road Less Travelled' and his other books. Now I don't think that an obituary is the place to tackle that kind of thing.

Doubtless, there is the fact that he left his wife of 40 years a few years before he died, remarried again. And he was reported to be estranged from his children.

It just feels to me that those who criticise are failing to understand the key message in Peck's writing. He wasn't putting himself up as a role model or guru. He was just offering advice on how to live a life. I found the advice incredibly useful at the stage I was at in my life when I first read it. For that I am grateful.

As for the biography, I'm as fascinated as anyone to read about the lives of others - that is how we learn. But we shouldn't be disappointed when we find a flawed and deeply human person rather than someone who is perfect.

Link to Earlier post

Yoga - wow!

I have tried all sorts of relaxation approaches - meditation, reiki, tai chi, qi gong. But I have never tried yoga. Well, I am on holiday at the moment. We are in the middle of an activity week. We are learning to sail - something I am not finding easy. Capsizing seems to be the bit which I find particularly easy.

Each morning we have a class of yoga, which is amazing. We are learning Ashtanga Yoga - it is one of the most strenuous hours I have spent. I am gaining remarkable levels of fitness really quickly.

I intend to continue with yoga after the holiday.

Setting goals

“The greatest danger for most of us
is not that our aim is too high and we miss it,
but that it is too low and we reach it”

- Michelangelo

Running your own race

Robin's Blog: Blog Archive: "Robin, the most important thing in life is to run your own race." Never forgotten that one. Run your own race. Don't worry about what others are doing. Stick to your values and cling to your dreams.

This is a quote from the latest post on Robin Sharma's weblog. It is a really thought-provoking idea. I remember being really hopeless at sport at school - and I think that was because it was always someone else's race I was a part of, so I was always going to fail. It took a while into adulthood to realise that the way to progress was to compete with myself - to run my own race. Another way of looking at this is to see it as a process of continuing self-improvement.

M Scott Peck dies

I just found out today that M Scott Peck died at the end of September. He was 69. There is a full obituary in the Telegraph, a UK paper, which ends rather grudglingly and rudely in my view. Scott Peck wrote some fantastic books - to comment on his inability to write great songs seems like a mean-spirited sort of comment to me.

I read 'The Road Less Travelled' in the early 90s and was hugely influenced by it. The beginning 'Life is difficult' must be one of those great one-liners that helps with the process of growing up. It sits alongside 'life isn't meant to be fair' as one of those things that moved me forward in life.

I read several of his other books too - 'The Different Drum' is a wonderful book about building communities. My favourite book is 'In Search of Stones: A Pilgrimage of Faith, Reason and Discovery' which describes a journey which he made through Britain looking at ancient sites with standing stones. It's a spiritual read, and an enjoyable one too.

I was sad to hear that Scott Peck had left this life.

For a more recent post on this subject please click here

Triplux :: 101 Things in 1001 Days

Triplux :: 101 Things in 1001 Days

I was referred to this meme by Clare at Eclectic Artisan. It's a great idea - basically you draw up a list of 101 things that you want to complete in 1001 days. There are many sites out there with versions of this. This one has a great list, partly completed.It's interesting to see which ones he has done so far. The first ten are:

1 Learn enough French to watch Amelie without subtitles
2 Learn to juggle 4 balls
3 Visit Stewart Island
4 Stop eating meat for a week
5 Win at least $10 on an Instant Kiwi lottery ticket
6 Read 10 books on the Modern Library (Random House) top 100 list
7 Release a message in a bottle containing this web address
8 Publish this list on the web
9 To have seen all IMDB top 250 movies
10 To have seen all AFI top 100 movies

I like the idea of this - it's an alternative to New Year Pledges. The idea of 1001 days is that it is a more realistic time frame to work with than a year. I'm going to have a go with this. I already have a heap of goals which I could put into the list. I need to remember the following basics:

The Mission:
Complete 101 preset tasks in a period of 1001 days.

The Criteria:
Tasks must be specific (ie. no ambiguity in the wording) with a result that is either measurable or clearly defined. Tasks must also be realistic and stretching (ie. represent some amount of work on your part).

David Gurteen's Knowledge Letter

GURTEEN View: Gurteen Knowledge Letter

I have been a member of David Gurteen's on-line Knowledge Community for about a year now. His website is a tremendous resource comprising web links, book details, people profiles and event summaries. It is well worth a look. I also subscribed to David's newsletter. There are a lot of sites offering regular newsletters, many of them are a bit feeble. David's newsletter is full of great information and links. As a rough guide, I usually spend anything up to an hour exploring the various links and sources of information which he cites in each issue. The link takes you to the archive of newsletters - why don't you sign up to the newsletter too? It goes to over 12,000 people in over 130 countries. David sees himself as a knowledge management specialist, but you don't have to be into KM to find his information useful.

On the subject of newsletters, I'm experimenting with the idea of a newsletter. I have put together a pilot issue for June. It would contain the blog entries for the previous month and any other internet stuff that I thought might be interesting. I'm aware that not everyone wants to check a blog regularly (although you can use useful services like Bloglines to make it easier - see subscribe button to the right). So I thought a newsletter might help. Comments welcome on this.

WikidPad - wiki notebook/outliner for windows

WikidPad - wiki notebook/outliner for windows

I've spent some time over the last few days experimenting with a new piece of Open Source software called wikidPad. It's an amazing piece of software based on wiki technology. I think it might be really useful for managing to do lists in a more flexible way than mainstream software like Microsoft Outlook. There is also a really helpful discussion group to support the software. It has recently become open source so I guess there will be a lot of development from the group over coming months.

It also looks like a really good outliner, and space for keeping notes. I've copied the book manuscript over to it, so that I can try it out. It has the ability to create hyperlinks between pages 'on the fly'. You just type in a WikiWord, which is a word with capitals in the middle, like WikkiWord itself.

Another great thing which it can do, is to export the wiki as html, so it is possible to put together a series of linked pages and then export it as webpages, all without the need to know any html.

One to explore some more.

NLP - Five Key Questions

These five key questions were suggested to me by Ben Shoshan, who is a mind set / executive coach working for Si Group. They are meant to be used when something negative happens, to reframe the situation, and change the usual reaction:

1. What could be good about this?
2. What's not perfect, yet?
3. Who can help?
4. How can I have some fun with this?
5. What can be learnt from the whole thing?

This approach is really powerful. It draws on the learning to be found in Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP). I'm reading a fascinating book about this at the moment called "NLP Solutions" by Sue Knight.

I have tried it a couple of times. Taking each question in turn, and in order, I found that they create real actions that lift me out of the tendency to become negative.

Drama for the soul

Last night I went to a local drama group, to see whether I should join them. I have thought about getting involved with a drama group for a while now. It's one of those quietly written resolutions or ambitions that I never seem to get to. So, last night I went and watched the Riverside Players as they rehearsed a play for performance in a couple of weeks. The play, "The Tuna Fish Eulogy" by Lindsay Price, was a marvellous play. There were just four actors in it - it was performed to an amazing standard. This is a play that uses overlapping voices and overlayered texts to great effect.

I was incredibly impressed. Now I need to think what the next move should be. I'm not convinced that I should join the drama group just yet - I have no experience. I think I need to find a workshop or something where I can gain some skills first. I also have been thinking for a while about getting some time with a voice coach to learn how to breathe properly and project my voice.

Comments are welcome - I'm going to do something - I just need to be clear about the next step.

Meanwhile - I haven't forgotten podcasting. I've just been overwhelmed with other things. I'm still listening to Richard Vobes and Paul Nicholls regularly and gleaning ideas from a host of others too. I'm a few days away from jumping in at the deep end and having a go...

Do one or two things really well - if only!

Advice from Dave Pollard’s weblog (How to save the world): –

Do one or two things really well!!

That focuses right in on one of the things I have real challenge with. Even at the best of times, it is a real effort to sustain focus on one thing for very long. I always have a huge list of other things which I am really keen to do.

Dave admits that he too is not exactly brilliant at this. He sets it out as a "do what I say, not what I do" item. Well, I too can realise that the focus on one or two things really does make a huge difference. People who I know who are really obsessed about a small number of things achieve incredible things.

But then I do admire the polymaths in the world – those people who excel in a wide number of areas, who dabble in all sorts of things out of interest. Look at Leonardo da Vinci.

So, just maybe the world needs a mix of specialists and polymaths.

Blanked

Sometimes things just don't work out the way you want them to. Let's just say that I'm trying to sort out a few things that are major for my future - my job, what I do with my time - and things are not going according to plan.

It's important at times like these to work on the basis that things happen for a reason, even if it is not clear at the time. So, although the decisions being made around me look like they are sliding away from what I am trying to make happen, just maybe it will all make sense in the long term.

I can but hope.

P.S. Sorry to speak in code. People get sacked for being too specific about their employers in blogs, you know!

Workshop on Archetypes

Over the last ten days I have had the chance to deliver a workshop testing out some of the ideas from my PhD thesis. The workshop, called "Working with Archetypes: understanding individual and group behaviour" takes a group through a series of exercises and techniques which introduces the concepts and ways to make use of archetypes in a practical way. The focus of the workshops was the work setting, as they were delivered on a programme through Manchester University. There is, though, enormous scope for further developing the ideas within the workshops to work with a wide range of groups. The key theme of the work is personal development which lends itself to many settings.

Whack it unpack it

I have had a pack of playing cards for a few years now that was created by Roger von Oech (www.creativethink.com). It is called a ‘Creative Whack Pack’ and I use it when I am a bit stuck in moving things forwards. For the last two days I have started the day by choosing a card to get the thinking going.

Yesterday’s card was “Set a Deadline” – something which I am experimenting with where I have things that need doing that lack external pressure to get them completed. Seems to be working!

Today’s card was “Change its Name”, which left me a bit confused at first. Not sure what use to make of this concept.

The text on the card reads:

“If an architect looks at an opening between two rooms and thinks “door”, that’s what she’ll design. But if she thinks “passageway”, she may design something much different like a “hallway”, “air curtain”, “tunnel” or perhaps a “courtyard”. Different words bring in different assumptions and lead your thinking in different directions.” What else can you call your idea?

Now, after a bit of thinking two things occurred to me:

1. A task which I am really struggling to get in touch with at the moment is redrafting my PhD thesis. It’s a painful task which I have told myself I don’t enjoy doing. By renaming it, I’m trying to change the allure of this task. It is now ‘Redesign’ the thesis. So, I am currently working on redesigning chapter nine – seems more enjoyable already, and it introduces concepts of redesign that didn’t occur to me in the job of drafting.
2. Change my name – not literally of course. But when you change jobs you have an opportunity to redefine yourself, and particularly to draw out parts of yourself that were submerged in the previous role. This means that I can draw out my creative side much more than previous. Be much more extravert about my creativity.

I’m going to continue with the Whack Pack approach through the working days of next week too, and see what it generates.

Whilst writing this, I am listening to ‘Space Groove’ by Projekct Two (an offshoot, R&D unit of King Crimson). I love this double album for its twiddling innovation. It takes a prolonged groove off into stellar depths. Great stuff!

Introverts

"many introverts produce work so controlled and organised that all life has gone from it"
- William Empson

The introvert needs to take extra effort to get out there and interact, otherwise the tendency to define life in terms of achievements can become all-consuming at the expense of sanity.

Ideas of introvert and extravert personality types are set out in Carl Jung's work. The psychologist, Dorothy Rowe talks about the character types associated with these in her books on depression, particularly 'Breaking the Bonds' which emphasises the need for the introvert to maintain contact with the outside world to keep a grip on reality.

Celebrating Procrastination

So we all find it difficult at times to apply ourselves to the things that need doing, when there are lots of things that don't need doing, but we want to do because they are fun!

This morning I was supposed to be settling to the redrafting of the PhD thesis which I feel like I have been working on since the beginning of the 18th century. I have been sitting down to do this for weeks now, and only succeeding maybe one in six times. The rest of the time is applied to other useful things, but not the task in front of me.

It's a great way to clear backlogs of papers, and wipe away the dust. There must be a good book to be written on the subject of everything that can be done when you're trying to avoid doing the main task of the day. Let's face it, even writing weblogs is a good way of avoiding doing that difficult task.

Well, this morning I managed to overcome the problem by spending half an hour on an exercise from Julia Cameron's book 'The Artist's Way'. The exercise is called 'Blasting through Blocks' and is well worth a try if you find it difficult to get on with things.

She focuses on the two big blockages - anger and fear. By bringing them into sharp relief we can unravel all sorts of baggage about fear of success, avoiding the risk of failure and so on. The key to the whole thing is that it really does work.

Music and the letter B

Last night I surfed the internet and found musical downloads from Christian Fennesz (the guy who contributed to the last track on Sylvian's new album) - beautiful and mysterious music. And I found heaps of material in the archive of Resonance FM which is a London based music station broadcasting over the airwaves and the internet. Some interesting stuff here.

I've also been listening to tracks by Farmers Manual and Autreche - strange noises, but interesting experiences still.

On the CD player, I'm listening to Eno, Sylvian and the new Radiohead album which is growing in my consciousness. In the car is 'Heathen' by David Bowie which has something incredibly catchy tunes on it.

This morning my concentration was helped by listening to late Beethoven string quartets - Beethoven, Bartok and Bach really help me to concentrate. What is it about the letter B?