Card of the Month, August 2013
Demon Red Rainbow* Insecurity What do you do when you have a good idea but it’s bringing up self doubt? There’s something you want, but a variety of little voices, not always of the positive kind, start conversing in your brain. There’s a change you want to make in your life but those voices want to dissuade you—not a good idea, too hard to get started, actually kind of stupid, and by the way, you must be pretty stupid too. The fable of Demon Red Rainbow sends a profound message and helps us think about some pretty tough questions about the way we handle the ubiquitous “rainbow” of insecurities we all experience. It’s the story of inventor Bob McMullen, and what he has invented Is pretty special: a vaccine that could eliminate fear. No fear? How wonderful would that be? But with surprising speed, Bob’s initial excitement turns to doubt after he has been visited---or should we say invaded--by Demon Red Rainbow, who wants to put bob back in his place: “What do you think you're doing here? This is rubbish! It's dumb, just throw it away!" And, quickly, the Demon was starting to have bob pretty convinced. He was ready to throw in the towel, even on a potentially life changing until a dream an a reminder from the Grea Servant turned the tide. "I still feel fear!" But the value of the vaccine isn’t exactly what you think. It might not eliminate fear but perhaps it does something even more important. “It allows one to function when they are afraid," the Great One said.” What a profound reminder. We might, as is pretty common, have doubts—anxieties, insecurities, fears—so many we don’t have names for them?—but how do we handle them? Invalidate them? Get frustrated so our good ideas don’t going traction? Recognize the fear for the sometimes important internal voice it can be? In this regard, the Great Servant offered some final thoughts for Bob: “It is you who must distinguish between the real and the imagined. If your inner device senses fear, the action is up to you." Great insight and one with the potential to turn feelings of insecurity into the power of choice. So, at bottom, it’s about recognizing the self doubts, taking the not so easy steps of confronting them, and, above all, as they say, feeling the fear and doing it anyway. *Quotes and the fable are from the tori Hartman book.
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Red Thought of the Week
Novelty “Every time I walk down one of those red carpets, you think I'd be used to it after all these years, but it's like it's happening for the first time.” Jeff Bridges (actor) What a wonderful way to approach the world. The imagery of the red carpet as well as all the perks we associate with it, of course, doesn’t need to be confined to our treatment of celebrities. What if we gave more thought to extending some of that treatment to the friends and neighbors so much a part of our lives? Towards ourselves? What if we approached life with the certainty each of us is special, therefore deserving of nothing but the best? An energizing attitude to cultivate and one to inspire others? And what about the color are more directly addressed in the quote. As an award winning actor, Jeff Bridges has journeyed along that red carpet many many times. Does it get old for him? Does he get bored? Does he say, same thing, different day? Not hardly. Don’t you get the idea he’s enjoying each occasion to the max and getting the max out of each occasion? He’s looking at each experience through fresh eyes and appreciating and valuing it for its own unique character. Extrapolating, he’s reveling in the novelty, learning new things, and just plain living in the moment. In what ways this week might you apply this kind of “fresh eyes” perspective to a task you have engaged in many times? How do you learn something new from tried-and-true routines? More, how can you use the imagery of a red carpet as a reminder that you are special, as well transforming each ordinary moment into an experience all its own? Passion
"I love red so much that I almost want to paint everything red." Alexander Calder.” (artist) Where’s your passion? What really gets your juices flowing? What do you find so stimulating you just want more? Alexander Calder’s enthusiasm is contagious, and his observation raises the kinds of big questions we don’t often enough bring front and center. Kind of cool that he does so in the context of the color red. A color associated with a wide variety of passions, from the heat of burning anger to the euphoria of deep and abiding love. A lot of feelings, all of them strongly held, get linked with the color red. On the other hand, for those familiar with chakra lingo, red is also the color associated with one’s personal foundation. As such, it helps you ground, center and find support. It goes without saying that the stronger one’s roots centeredness and founding principles, the more clarity and certainty with which one’s purpose can be fulfilled/passions can be developed. Finally, the color red simply grabs your attention, forcing you to attend to what i wants to say. And in this case, the message the color red seeks to get across , as represented by Alexander Calder’s enthusiasm, is a reminder to go out and find the things that really keep you energized. for our own lives, doesn’t he get you, as he did me, thinking about the things that you really love? Doesn’t he do so in a really vivid way? Doesn’t his excitement, that might lead him to paint not only everything but for all we know everyone, red, get your attention? What from this do you learn about your passion/passions, and what one or two things this week might you do to bring a little more to your life? |
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