They say all things begin with a seed. An idea. A source from which inspiration grows. My seeds remain unharvested. What happens with disregarded seeds?
My voice. I have a sore throat. I know what this can lead to. My first day of Reading Deprivation (no books, magazines, media, news, social networking)… and now I can’t talk. I vow absolute silence until I’m healed. My voice = my biggest asset. So much for my plan of calling everyone in my iPhone and Skype rosters! What do I want instead?
The Head Gardener has been asking me for weeks from 9,000KM away, “Have you collected the Aas Gao (Morning Glory) seeds. No. “Have they turned brown.” Yep. Like, um, 3 weeks ago.
Too busy. Got stuff to do. Gonna (fill in the blank) right now. I want the Head Gardener to come back and do it for me. Everything is so much easier when someone can do it instead.
Reading Deprivation. No books. No media. No social networking. Email once a day after noon. What do I do instead?
First thing (without being asked by the Head Gardener) I picked the seeds from the skeletons of Asa Gao buds ready to sleep for the winter. Easy. It took 15 minutes. I enjoyed plucking them from the crispy case and finding the seeds. I put them in a pretty “strange English” envelope and labeled them. I enjoyed being in the garden. I collected ideas. Ready to grow my next project immediately.
I did that project + 3 more. Things I’ve never done before. I’ll tell you more about that next time.
What was I doing that was so important that I couldn’t collect these itty bitty seeds to sow for next year? Am I doing the same thing with my time and money investments? What are you doing?
Please, leave a comment on what you delay or have taken action on; experience with Reading Deprivation; What would you get more done if you weren’t on Social Networking or Email’s chain leash? I’d love to open a dialog with you!
Sitting on the couch, there's no TV, but spines facing me to stand up
Books stare at me. I stare at books. Often I miss the point.
Socrates said that nothing should be written down; we should pass on history and philosophy by word of mouth lest we forget how to remember.
We wouldn’t know what Socrates had said if Plato had not taken notes.
Have you ever felt like there’s too much noise? Maybe you’ve been busy or can’t seem to get a chance to hear your own voice?
Mind Fasting:
This week I’m again teaching and practicing Reading Deprivation for week 4 of The Artist’s Way+ in Tokyo. It’s a week to sit in the juices of creativity, listen to what is around me, and engage in dialog.
I’d love to have a dialog with you! Please call me or Skype me as I’ll only be checking my email once a day.
Did you know that Tim Ferriss of The 4-Hour Work Week doesn’t read the news and only checks his email once a week? Leo Bauboa in Zen Habits has 20 minute email Ninja secrets too.
What would you be able to create if you could listen to the world around you?
In the meantime, leave a comment. I’ll get back to you next week. Even better yet, call me
Do you feel like a horse with its blinders on–only able to look straight forward? Wouldn’t you rather receive all the information that you need around you like a Samurai?
I share in this video talk with The Artist’s Way+ in Tokyo the secrets to Expanded Awareness allowing you better problem solving, absorbing new content faster, and Jedi Knight awareness.
What could you do if you could get into Expanded Awareness at any time?
I see London, I see France, I see your underpants!
You’ve been given the advice to calm your nerves before speaking to “imagine your audience naked.” Why not create a presentation where everyone is naked–being authentically you. Garr Reynolds in his book The Naked Presenter encourages us to create relationships with the audience like hadakasukiai (everyone naked and on the same level with no ranks).
In Reynolds’ book The Naked Presenter, he clearly teaches through simple steps how to present with impact.
Speak to your audience as in a conversation. Get rid of the TV shopping approach.
Give them a “Why?’ to begin your presentation. For those of you who are familiar with Bernice McCarthy’s 4-Mat method, this is the first component to reaching of your whole audience.
Zen. Be here. Right now.
Show your passion. I call this State Elicitation. If you want your audience to have a change of state, you have to embody that state.
Present yourself. In the early age of PCs, I remember my teacher saying WYSIWYG. What You See Is What You Get. Your audience looks for that in you. Additionally, your sound. Only 7% of communication is through words. 38% is through tonality (how you say it). 55% is your physiology.
Punch! Use storytelling to bring punch to your presentation. I remember a time when I used storytelling in a …
The Naked Presenter teaches familiar concepts in a clear way. Reynolds focuses on the presentation rather than hiding behind wordy PowerPoint and demonstrates how to keep those simple as well (check out Zen Presentation).
If you want to become an authentic presenter, get The Naked Presenter. And practice the techniques by speaking every chance you get.
You can find the link to this book on Amazon Japan below to which I am an affiliate:
Take a moment. Imagine if you could tap into your creativity whenever you wanted. What would you do if you could do anything? What would you try if you had no fear?
Maybe you want to…
Discover or rediscover your creativity…
Find your passion and genius…
Remove blocks…
Be supported…
Live passionately…
Simplify your life…
Wake up!
Join The Artist’s Way Plus in Tokyo!
Through the next 12 weeks of introspection, rediscovery, and support, you will create those changes. Julia Cameron’s Artist’s Way: A course in Discovering and Recovering Your Creative Self book has been a best seller for 20 years. It works!
Previous Artist’s Way in Tokyo students include: singers, actors, I.T., Management, Restaurant owners, filmmakers, painters, bloggers, coaches, professional athletes, yoga teachers, and more.
Professional Photographer Peter Blake says
We follow the traditional Artist’s Way process; and have fun with Playful Games; plus, I share a series from my consulting on empowering topics such as:
How To Be Your Own Best Coach Listen: I’m Hear for You Creating More Connection Through the 5 Love Languages How to Hypnotise Yourself…You Already Have How to Connect With Anyone in Under 30 seconds
When: Wednesdays from 7-9PM Sept. 28 through Dec. 21. Where: Shibuya, The Pink Cow How much: 30,000yen for the whole 12 weeks. If you pre-pay by PayPal or Bank Transfer by Sept. 27, only 25,000 yen. If you decide to cancel during the introductory meeting, you may have a 100% refund. Spots are limited so register and pay now to reserve your spot.
Who is Soness Stevens? I am the founder of The Artist’s Way in Tokyo. I have taught workshops on Vision Boarding in Tokyo, Hong Kong, and New Zealand; I’m a certified Trainer of Neuro-Lingustic Programming and Hypnosis, Master Results Coach, Performance Consultant, helping internationally. Currently developing a unique program working with creatives to Share Your Mastery globally. Artistically speaking I am a Voice Artist, singer, dancer, surfer, avid travel hacker, and the English voice of Hello Kitty.
Singer/Songwriter and now actor David Mashiko says
I know you are wondering how you can sign up now.
First, Email me now on Facebook or
Then, confirm pre-payment for the discounted rate via PayPal or Furikomi
Then, order The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron at the link on this page (or dust it off your shelf)
And if you sign-up and pre-pay by Sept. 23, you get a complimentary personal 30 minute coaching session with Soness, a 10,000 yen value.
AND If you are one of the first 3 to sign up, and additional complimentary 1 hour session where I will work with you personally on balancing your goals, a 10,000 yen value.
You know I take a lot of interesting seminars internationally and do online courses. I love to learn. I want to live life fully. These Rock Your Life courses are by some people whose lifestyles and philosophies I admire. These are people I study with who have impacted the world. I think you’ll enjoy them, too.
In November 2010, I purchased a different set of courses through the 72Only sale and it blew me away! Here are some new courses.
If you get these courses separately, it will cost $1087, but with this package, you can get it for $97. Plus, $5 from each sale will be donated to the Kidney Foundation to support research and prevention of kidney disease.
The sale lasts only for 72 hours. It goes from Monday, June 20, at noon (EST) to Thursday, June 23, at noon (EST). It’s strictly for 72 hours only. Visit this page before the sale ends.
You can go to the website for this special sale from here.
Let me introduce 22 courses included in the package.
It’s the commitment of pro-footballer Deuce Lutui. He made this acronym. Not me. I won’t try to compete with it: The Best Offensive Lineman In The National Football League. Check out the site and watch the video: www.TBOLITNFL.com
Dedicate the 2 hours to watch it and then another 2 hours to baste in the concept and develop your commitment.
It inspired many to share their commitments deep in their hearts. I’d like to share mine with you. It’s been a busy where I calculated in just the past 10 days I worked 112 hours and commuted 39. That’s 151 hours dedicated to working. I couldn’t be bothered to calculate this whole month. Today I dedicated to catching up on sleep to prepare for the final week of this before I can fully commit to my personal projects.
Here is what I am committed to:
I am committed to the service of others sharing their mastery.
I am committed to my God.
I am integrity.
I am divine love.
I am a future eternal wife and mother.
I am committed to working remotely by March 31, 2012.
I am an entrepreneur.
I am the best bus driver on stage.
I am the best friend.
I am the best listener.
I am the best consultant.
I am compassion.
I connect with audiences like no one else in the world.
I am the clearest writer in my community.
I am global.
I am committed to living the life that I teach.
I am committed to living my future right now.
I am the best character.
I take the best care of myself.
What are you committed to? I want the hear that you will be the best of what you are (and I do believe there is room for the best of the best). Please share with me.
It’s been my dream since first watching the circus on TV as a little girl to fly on a trapeze. The gorgeously costumed ladies swinging gracefully high in the sky. Fearless, beautiful, and strong.
A few years ago when first doing The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron, answering what job I wanted to do as a kid, flying on a trapeze leapt onto my page. Five sessions of facilitating The Artist’s Way later, I still resolved to fly on a trapeze. The past 2 years I’ve been actively hunting down trapeze experience rigs in Vancouver, Florida, Australia, New Zealand and Japan. Timing and locations never seemed to match but I never let go of that dream. I put it on my Vision Board a couple of months ago, which as we all know, makes it really come to fruition. Then I found the perfect rig and instructors Mike and Bronwyn in Auckland, New Zealand which aligned with my trip. http://www.inflight.net.nz/Home.html
Taking a risk to follow your dreams, starting a new venture, taking a chance on love, whatever you feel is scary and exciting, do it. Learn to FLY through life like a trapeze artist.
F. Fear Operating System
Textbooks say that in a fearful situation, we either choose fight or flight. Can we choose both?
Climbing up the very tall, shaky ladder, Mike had warned me most people fear the climb up. He instructed me to keep my focus upward. I was actually fine with this part, I was just really excited about going up. The ridges on the ladder hurt my feet the most. Then standing on the edge of the intimidatingly high platform. Focusing on the upward movement and where I wanted to go allowed me to conquer normally scary things such as the floor and net being a great distance below.
It is interesting to see how one reacts in that circumstance. When I first came into the gymnasium, friendly Maryanne greeted me and was nice even when I said it was my first time. ”Oh, you’re a first-timer?” in that way that each person did, like the general consensus on first-timers is that they are nervous and panic. Still, all the people there encouraged me warmly. I eagerly sought this experience for years now and I was super excited to just do it fearlessly. I had two choices, I could do it with gusto, or I could freak out and be “encouraged” (pressured) into doing it by experienced flyers.
I developed a mechanism that puts my body into the mode. If it’s scary and exciting, smile and do it. It’s not an affirmation. It’s a belief. I’ve practiced this and continue. Does that mean it’s not scary for me? Well, no, it is scary, and I implement this theory immediately. I’ve been scared too much in my life. There’s too much to lose through fear, and tons to gain through courage. This would complete one of my little girl, and grown woman, dreams.
What is your standard fear operating system? Do you have control over your fears? What do you have to gain by this experience? Are you willing to let fear stand in your way? Or would you rather choose to reprogram your Fear Operating System?
L. Learning Visualization
The key was visualization. I’m not a gymnast by any means so this wouldn’t come naturally physically to me. I do know that visualizing the steps would enable my mind to take my body on the journey first. Professional athletes spend most of their time visualizing before getting to the event. They spend hours watching videos. The entrance themselves by working through the routines before even considering the moves.
I tried to find videos of step by step instruction, but there weren’t any. That would have been ideal. I found a few people had loaded their beginner’s attempts which I watched to get a basic idea. What really helped was listening to Mike’s instruction, repeating it aloud as I saw it in my mind through both my eyes and physically moving my hands and body. Then again visually watching the basic style of the people who had been doing it for a couple of years.
Up on the platform, I again went through the steps in sequence with Mike calling them as I visualized. I repeated them aloud as I visualized. My mind had already done it 4 times. Time to fly. No balking, just go. It went just as well as I had visualized. Easy. Smooth.
Visualizing takes practice. It requires working with visual, auditory digital (the voice in your head), and kinesthetic (physical).
I’d love to hear when you have you effectively used visualization.
What happens when visualization doesn’t work during the practice? You have to use…
Y. Yo-yo momentum
My final trip had me catching the bar, swinging forward, then using my now-very sore abs to tuck my knees up. Only as I leaned back spotting the platform would I be able to make enough space for my legs to pop through my arms and hang by my knees upside down from the trapeze. I would then arch my back with my arms reaching back towards the catcher who would grab me as I released my legs from the bar flipping in his grip.
I used Learning Visualization for this before trying on a static swing. Tried as I could, I couldn’t get my knees through. Was it my weak abs? I made so many attempts and finally got it to go though once as Bronwyn coached me to open my body by looking towards the platform. It would naturally make a gap, even though it feels a bit counterintuitive to not look at my feet trying to squeeze through the small gap.
“It’s much easier when you swing.” She encouraged me. How could it be easier while swinging high up in the air looking at a platform I would be rocketing head first towards?
The momentum would propel me into form. She promised it would be easier. I had no reference point for any of this. I simply had to trust.
What benefit would there be to doubting her? I had a choice: I could doubt her and fall, or I could trust her wisdom and years of experience visualizing it would be easier, just as she said.
She was right! The yo-yo momentum allowed my body to open up more as I looked for the pink shirt watching from the platform. It was easy!
Sometimes when planning things out, we wonder, how can we possibly achieve that next step. We have to trust that things will align, open up, and the momentum we have created makes it easier to accomplish nearly impossible feats.
Taking a leap of faith since you have taken every other step properly, trusting that you will be caught. Leap and the net will be there. Reach out and the catcher will catch you.
I loved fulfilling a dream I’d had my entire life, even if I’m reaching it at 36 years old when circus dreams are things kids amuse themselves playing make-believe.
I am applying these make-believe fantasies now to my real life–my love life, and my business.
How can you apply these fantasies? When you were a kid, what did you want to do? What childhood fantasy is scary and exciting, and a bit ridiculous? Put it on your vision board. When are you going to do it?
They say all things begin with a seed. An idea. A source from which inspiration grows. My seeds remain unharvested. What happens with disregarded seeds?
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