Mind Cures

Like so many young people of my generation, I was swept up in the popular trends of self-help back in the sixties and seventies. Those champions of mind-control, critical analysis and self-direction seemed to have the answers to all those questions bouncing around inside my head.

From a hip ghetto priest to a Mexican shaman to a wealth-analyzing rabbi, I was buying the whole package. I wanted to be rich and successful, or so I thought, just like everyone else around me. There was religious advice, medicinal advice, and common-sense advice; all packaged in easily readable chapters. About the same time, reel-to-reel audio tapes grew in popularity and whole audio packages were tailored to the consuming public eager for ‘the answer’ to success.

Yet even before that ‘something new’ packaging caught the public’s attention; I was aware of such classics as ‘Think and Grow Rich’ by Napolean Hill from 1937. Examples before that like Horatio Algier and other champions of Great Depression cemented that picture of young entrepreneurial men seeking the golden ring of life.

The 1980s saw a rebirth of that theory of mind over matter with champions of the cause like Zig Zigler, Brian Tracy, ‘Don’t sweat the small stuff’ and ‘Chicken soup for the soul,’ etc.

Back in the eighties, while marketing my own video productions, I toyed with the idea of adding a whole new line of self-help books and tapes to my distribution channel. Unfortunately, the competition was fierce and I didn’t have the capitol available for that side venture. So, I remained a buyer instead of a seller.

So, while the basics of a good work ethic was always there, these new approaches seemed much easier and more appealing. Guess I wasn’t the only one sucked into that cauldron of ‘something for nothing.’

Truth is, this capitalistic stance of ‘too good to be true’ and ‘gotta have’ material goods has been around since the first caveman found a pedestal upon which to preach. What’s interesting is that its most current revival began back in the late 1800s. From a recent reading of ‘Land of Desire,’ a history of Merchants, Power, and the rise of a new American Culture’ I gleamed a fascinating insight into the growth of the self-help movement in American beginning in the 1870s.

“Psychologist William James first called attention to the mind-cure movement in a notable way in his 1902 book ‘The Varieties of Religious Experience.’ The term had already been in vogue before, but James secured its place in history.

Mind-cure groups, he observed, consisted of several religious sects that maintained that men and women could, merely by acts of will and conviction, cure their own diseases and create heaven on earth.

Mind curers were also described as “new healers” or, later, as positive thinkers; they were more in touch than traditional religions with what was going on in America; and they proved more creative in taking advantages of new spiritual opportunities. Translation: a buck to be made.

The mind-cure groups grew out of the great religious turmoil of the 1870s and 1880s, a turning point in American religious history that not only saw the advent of many homegrown religious sects (from Ethical Culture to Jehovah’s Witnesses) but marked the decline of the preeminence of Protestantism, its earliest splintering into modernist and fundamentalist camps, and the rise of other religious communities and ideas.

Where there’s a will and a way, and in capitalistic America, money can be made with the informed offering something’ new’ to the uninformed. There were few counter-balances back at the turn of the century who were willing to shout their concerns into the wind. One of them was Thorstein Veblen, one of America’s most original economists of his time.  While he agreed that ‘the ancient Christian principles of humility, renunciation, abnegation or nonresistance had been virtually eliminated from the moral scene, he did not agree that the new capitalist world was ensuring abundance for all.’

Veblen despised this new class of business broker for shifting the economy away from making useful goods to making money or profit. These new brokers, he argued, ’knew nothing about workmanship but everything about profit, volume turnover, and the chemistry of wishes.’

Mulling over that history lesson harkens me back to my grade school years and all that indoctrination from my teachers and the adults around me. Those were the lessons of hard work, determination and some luck in finding success in life. Two different sets of directions to the road to success. While I bought into some of the positive mindset commandments, I never believed that Las Vegas crap tables, flipping old houses or gold bullion were the answers for me. It always remained balanced investments, budgeting, and a realistic lifestyle for Sharon and I.

2008 saw another blip in the ‘road to easy success’ with adjustable-rate mortgages, buying on credit, nothing down, etc. (same game plan – same result). Lately, it’s been flipping real estate, Bitcoin, ATFs, Robinhood and other exotic money-sucking ventures; all the newest versions of ‘spin the bottle.’ Something for nothing, easy way out, let someone else have the control and do it for you.’

Today’s latest high priest of mind cure unwraps itself under the banner of mindfulness. The biggest difference between then and now seems to be an appreciation for the ever-present simple things we all possess. It’s a present-day, realistic attitude for the gift of life itself. It’s an inward focus on self and one’s own control there-in verses outside influences that usually come at a cost or words from the pulpit that simply echo ancient voices of our for-profit past.

Mindfulness at Home

Out of my latest batch from Better World Books, I found a gem that surprisingly validated a new approach I’ve taken to embrace appreciation in my life. I had little more to go on than the title when I was perusing the BWB web site. But upon later review, the book opened up a whole new approach to thoughtful analysis of one’s daily life.

The Mindful Home is a book that embraces approaching life mindfully and extends it to the home environment. “The home is not grand, nor decorated by the latest trends.” Instead, the book discusses the home as an oasis for mindful exploration. It is a place that is restful, that reminds us of things beautiful and edifying, and one that is welcoming for visitors.”

Even before stumbling upon this plethora of new ideas, I’d been striving to embrace the good things happening in my life and learning to appreciate the simpler things all around me. Along with the miles traveled, I’ve seen, heard and experienced enough to know there is goodness in the air if one makes the effort to find it.

It can be a casual conversation with family. It could be my early morning sequester on the porch or pack patio which a friend has labeled as my ‘quiet time.’ It could be any opportunity just to ‘chill out’ and ‘smell the roses.’ I think my friend got that description of ‘quiet time’ spot on. It ties in nicely with my interest in yoga, meditation and other thought-fulfilling exercises.

Over the years, I’ve tried the yoga approach but never put on enough mat time to really feel I understood its benefits. Back in the mid-Sixties, I toyed with the idea of trying the newest craze among the hippie set; Transcendental Meditation but that didn’t work either. There was always some recommended pathway ahead of me but it was usually choked with self-doubt and confusion.

Those wondering / wandering meanders into the subconscious led to a lot of poetry and song lyrics being written during that period. Bookended between high school graduation and marriage, I had ten years of inspection and introspection. In retrospect, I think it was an attempt for me to capture in the vernacular, those thoughts, ideas, concepts, dreams, illusions and aspirations that escaped an easy explanation. Somehow, putting it on paper seemed to lift the fog of mystery and doubt.

As the years rolled by, those cerebral explorations of the unknown continued in a variety of locations, all of them, in one way or another, very conducive to grasping the questions still banging around in my head. The location was less important than the serenity that enveloped it as a conducive conduit for thought.

In the last couple of years, this cerebral exercise in Salon gymnastics as led to what I label as my ‘Coffee and Chat’ sessions, it’s really just a comfortable meeting among friends over coffee.

The conversation always takes on a life of its own and we just follow it along. Two old men (and a couple of women) sharing, caring and opening themselves up to one another. No subject untouched or uncovered if the moment is right. No regrets, no apologies, just an honest exchange of one self. Each of us feeling lucky we’re still around for such an honest discourse.

It’s reflective discourse we all can learn from. Mindfulness that is comforting and enlightening at the same time.

Finding Your Authentic Self

Discovering your authentic self for the first time is like meeting a perfect stranger you’ve known all of your life. If one can get past their ego’s definition of who they are, it can be a truly enlightening experience.

But to get there, you have to push beyond those influences that up until now have defined who you think you are. Past life experiences, relationships, loves, losses, and a wide assortment of pivotal life-altering events that have all conspired to shape a personal vision of yourself in your head.

There have been a number of books that have influenced me in one way or another over the years. I’m sure the influence was heavily fortified by the lifestyle, angst, mood and my own psychic temperament at the time.

Most of us spend a lifetime painting our skin like a canvas of who we think we are. It’s a personal journey of ego, attitude, needs, desires, fears and wants. But in our quest for satisfaction in life we sometimes inadvertently let outside influences shape and define our true self.

Often times, there’s been collateral damage suffered and you didn’t even know it. It came from those youthful messages imparted on you by parents, teachers and friends. Everyone who thought they knew who you were, what you were and what you should become in life.

Writing for me has always been a journey to find my authentic voice and express it in my stories. Yet, I can’t unlock the shackles of past influences that color my many words. I’m not alone in this vernacular journey of detours, distractions and negative voices lurking in the back of my head. Recently, I’ve read two books that expanded the spectrum of that chasm in writing.

Larry McMurty (The Last Picture Show, Terms of Endearment, Lonesome Dove, Brokeback Mountain, etc.) and Micky Spillane (Kiss Me Deadly, I, the Jury, Vengeance is Mine) had two very different writing styles and yet each was true to their internal voice. They both had two distinctly different writing styles that, despite their stark differences, managed to connect very effectively with their respective audiences. Both authors found their voice and satisfaction in their own approach to story-telling. In short, they were honest to themselves and never wrote to a supposed audience or group of readers.

Finding our inner voice is different for each one of us. We all have it. We just need to find it. If one looks at creativity not just in terms of the arts, music, crafts, and all of its many manifestations but far beyond that, it is another world welcoming us to explore.

Creativity can be found in our ordinary, often times mundane acts of living. Albert Einstein said it best when speaking about creativity. “Everyone is a genius, but if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will spend its whole life believing it is stupid.”

It means creating a lifestyle that embraces all that is important to you, your soul, and your inner cravings for your purpose in being alive. It means living by those principles that define who you are as a person, a spouse, a lover, a parent, a guardian, and a member of the human race. Living creatively can and should be your motivation for personal evolution, growth, learning and therefore, thriving in a complicated world.

For me, part of that organic process of writing is a new demand for more self-examination and thoughtful-processing of the past lives I’ve lived, my present environment and level of personal satisfaction.

It demands a closer examination of past relationships and my reaction to life events. It forces me out of old reflections, memories and explanations and gradually wipes away the dust and dirt of past assumptions to revealed a truer self. My research and writing have taken me on a journey I am only now beginning to better understand and appreciate. It’s all about answering the question of who I was back then and how it made me who I am today.

Helping me along the way is a daily detour I take to check-in inside my head. This practice is a monastic exercise but one with benefits. It’s finally coming face to face with the true me. Mind you I can’t say I know me that well even though it’s been over eight-one years of living in this skin.

As with any responsible enterprise it is our duty to find what it is that interests us the most. We must listen to our inner voice and answer its calling. To do this we must learn how to support our creativity. That means to take the time to daydream, doodle, imagine, and ponder those many ‘what if’s’ that seem to hang around the edges of our consciousness. Life-changing habits come from thoughts and energies beyond that which we normally access during our daily lives.

Then we must take those thoughts, ideas, concepts, and ‘what if’s’ and put them into concrete form or action. The tragedy here is not to try and fail but to do nothing at all. Each of us has an intuitive nature. We must harness the energy of and the power of that intuitive self in order to become limitless in our inner exploration.

You must first accept where you are in life and never regret the journey you took to get there. You should slow down and smell the flowers. That means eliminating toxic people and situations that do nothing but harm your self-worth. Practice the art of mindful living and appreciating your good fortune when intuition comes into your life.

It means breaking away from centuries-old assumptions, questioning old habits that hold us back and honestly looking deep within ourselves for the truth there. Creativity is a whole body and mind experience. It is a way of life not just an idea or an ambitious goal. It is preparing ourselves mentally and physically for the journey deep within ourselves that reveal truths about us we never knew. It is a mind-set that in turn is a road map that in turn is a guide to eternal truths…our truths about who we are and what we can become if we so desire.

Welcome to your inner journey. It’s going to be a wonderful, at times confusing, and ultimately satisfying trip. It’s better to jump on that train now than to wait at the station for another-life to arrive. It’s a journey I intend to follow for the rest of my life. A trek backwards that might help propel me forward with clarity and vision of who I really am.

·      Credit must be given to the following authors who wrote articles in ‘The Edge’ Magazine, June, 2016 on this subject matter. Theresa Nutt, Alley Brook, Jeanne Henderson, Lisa Sellman and Nick Seneca Jankel.

Journeys Inside My Head

I guess I’ve always been a dreamer; wondering what if and why not? It’s been a lifelong journey outside the fringes of consciousness, usually spurred on by vapid aspirations and free-flowing thoughts inside my head.

Transcendental meditation and chemical enhancements never appealed to me. I’ve always abhorred drugs and the idea of putting strange substances into my body was an absolute no-go. So, grass, gummies, magic mushrooms, chemical cocktails and the like all stopped before getting close to my lips. Alcohol, for instance, has been absent from my body for more than half a century.

While stationed at the Presidio of San Francisco, I decided one brilliant Friday night to get a little drunk along with my army buddies. After some Malt Liquor, a little wine, beer and who knows what else, I was totally wasted and gone from this world. Two days of recuperation and my body rejected any future ingestion of alcohol. Future partying went as far a couple of light beers and that was that. I haven’t touched hard liquor for the last fifty-five years and counting.

So where does that leave me if I want to venture forth into the world of esoteric thoughts, ideas, concepts, assumptions, reflections, and other soulful ventures into the unknown or cloudy past? Mindful exploring of the great unknown seems to be the answer. Yoga and meditation come first to mind.

Some claim that our mind is the ultimate filter. The newest cliché in a long list of ‘feel good’ labels is mindfulness. It comes after a long list of mind-altering techniques, with or without chemical enhancement, to see more clearly the world around us and thought patterns inside our head. One approach is to go someplace to meditate and not medicate. It can be a mountaintop surrounding the Coachella Valley, hanging off a cliff in Machu Picchu, or just reading about it in a book.

Starting in high school, I was curious about how to see the world in a different perspective. I wanted to journey inside my head sans chemical enhancements. After I stumbled upon Carlos Castaneda I was hooked. Granted, his approach to cerebral Valhalla was with magic mushrooms but the journey mesmerized me nevertheless.

Later on, despite my own divorce from organized religion after the eighth grade, I was mesmerized by a hip, chain-smoking priest named Malcom Boyd. Malcom’s approach to life wasn’t your semi-hippie ‘transcendental meditation’ so popular at the time. Rather, it was his attention to detail. Malcom spoke openly and honestly about real feelings, real emotions and real consequences in my own world. Following in Malcom’s footsteps, another group of truth seekers took up the lead that Napoleon Hill had created years earlier.

Napoleon Hill, Robert Pursig, Zig Zigler, and Brian Tracy all began preaching their own version of the gospel of success and self-enlightenment; the original ‘American Dream.’  Perhaps taking their cues from the original bible of self-determination, the ‘McGuffey’s Reader, first published in 1843, they adhered to the principles that ‘the road to wealth, to honor, to usefulness, and happiness, is open to all, and all who will, may enter upon it with the almost certain prospect of success.’ I’m sure if they were selling audio tapes of that book, they’d have made a million dollars by now.

Down through the decades, we’ve been introduced to a myriad of new-age dynamics that are guaranteed to change our lives. A recent trip to the library introduced me to this years ‘best seller’ and finally it seemed to make some sense. Without audiotape box sets, podcasts, U-Tube lecture series or in-person seminars, there seemed to be a rather simple approach to getting inside one’s head.

A quote from a book I recently read said it best: ‘Until we look directly at our minds we don’t really know ‘what our lives are about. Everything we experience in life goes through just one filter – our minds – and we spend very little time bothering to see just how it works.’

I would suggest that once people get a taste of it - it’s so completely fascinating, because really our life is a clear manifestation of what our minds are telling us.’ Good, bad, right or wrong, it’s all there for our perception, acceptance, denial, rejection or embracing.

Coupled up with these mind relaxing techniques are steps to facing our anxieties and learning to live with them. Almost all of the books refer to nature as an all-encompassing, all around us, every day, every time, kind of therapy.

Whether we venture to the top of a mountain, seek a quiet secluded spot among the oranges, or just rock in a chair listening to the birds, we ultimately end up in the same place; inside our head. It’s there, amid the distractions, outside noises, and nagging thoughts that our mind can slowly come clean to the honesty of our lives, our world, and what direction our heart is telling us to go.