The Mystic's Message

I've heard this word a lot lately. To be honest I'm not even sure what it means. 

And even if I did, I'm not so sure it's something worth aspiring to...

It's been showing up in conversations with friends and family. 

I've read it in news articles. 

Just the other day the lady in front of me at the grocery store was going on about it with the checkout guy. It always starts like this...

"When things get back to normal..." 

And I can't help but think to myself, What the heck is "Normal" anywa…

This morning I woke up not feeling my best. It doesn't happen often these days, but when it does, wow...

As I got dressed, I pulled on a pair of my favorite sweats, and I was struck by a profound innovation. Dumfounded by the simplicity and effectiveness of a very simple thing. What was it? 

Drawstrings. 

Think about it...

Drawstrings are comfortable. They respect the fact that you change from day to day. They let you feel comfortable and snug no matter what. No pressure to squeeze or shimmy…

It's a simple phrase really. So easy to say. Only 3 words...

Yet there are times when it seems almost impossible to get them out. 

"I don't know." 

Not knowing is scary. It speaks to a vulnerable part inside that needs to get the right answer. Who wants to be the good student. And who is afraid of failing in front of others and looking stupid.

When that fear takes hold, we'd rather cling to the tiny patch of comfort that we DO know, rather than step out into uncharted territory. When you hea…

The summer of 1983 was a long one. When you're 9 years old, months of waiting seem like lifetimes. It wasn't that I wanted to go back to school- well, not school school...

I was waiting for another kind of school to open...

Earlier that year, a shiny new strip mall opened up in my suburban stomping grounds, and in that shiny new strip mall was school. Not a school, but an academy. And not just any academy, but a black belt academy. 

I loved action films as a kid, especially martial arts movie…

I've been Kung Fu fighting...sort of...

I'm learning tai chi, which is like slow motion kung fu. 

I learned the basic moves and 24 form routine in a few weeks over the holidays. Pretty sure my experience with yoga and tae kwon do helped me out a bit...

And now it falls to the arduous task of perfecting each move, each breath, each subtle nuance into the beautiful art form it can be. Little shifts so subtle that you might not even notice. 

Again and again.

Piece by piece. 

I love it. It's o…

Doubt is like a back door party crasher. Maybe you know the sort...

They sneak in the party seeming harmless enough on first glance, but one look and you know something isn't quite right. You ignore them. Maybe they came with someone else. It'll be fine...

The next thing you know, the place is torn apart and Doubt's buddies, Worry, Anxiety, and Fear have taken over. 

Your friends leave, of course, because who wants to hang out in that kind of volatility, and you're left alone with the disaste…

Regret is a sneaky business. 

I don't have a lot of them in my life, but a few come up off the top of my head, and I'm not afraid to admit it. 

There was that dope suede jacket I gave away when I first went vegan. So comfortable. Fit like a glove. Would have been perfect for Southern California weather. 

Then there was the Tibetan bowl I gave away when I was moving away from Michigan. I still don't know what came over me, and I've never found another quite like it. 

I sometimes wonder what m…

A spiritual experience is just that...

...an EXPERIENCE! 

It comes and goes like any other. One moment we're happy. Another we're not. 

Not unlike a drug. Spiritual energy is intoxicating - and addictive.

And that’s exactly how many seekers treat their spiritual life- like an addict jonesing for their next fix. 

Looking to travel to the next dimension so they can escape this one, even if only for a moment. The faded memory of the high haunting them as they return to their “normal” life. 

G…

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If you've ever hired an amateur handyman to do important work, only to watch it all fall apart, you probably have a new appreciation for the value of skill. 

If you've ever tried to do it yourself to save some money and it wound up costing you twice as much $$, 10 times as much time, and still wasn't quite "right"...

...you probably have deeper respect for the value of experience. 

If you've ever ignored a small problem only to watch it blow up into something infinitely more frustrating, c…

Peace isn't something you wish for. 

It's something you create. 

Many people have the misunderstanding that getting another to submit is peace. 

That's not peace. That's an armistice. 

We do this to other people with clever arguments and "mic drop" moments. You may silence them for a moment, or maybe get a dark chuckle from your followers, but did you actually change anything? 

We do this with ourselves, willing our mind into an ordered and positive state. Trying to keep the scary thoughts …