Green vs pink

I mentioned in my last post that I had found my green stone. Or it found me 🙂 A friend called it a literal touchstone and in fact, it has been … in the past.

The stone directly relates to working on an Eric Maisel exercise, from the book “Coaching the Artist Within – advice for writers, actors, visual artists & musicians from America’s foremost creativity coach”. This particular chapter is about ‘passionately making meaning’ or living passionately. Or translating our values into the way we live. There are five components to this.

First you decide how you will lead your life, or deciding to matter. Maisel says here “few people will support you in this decision, so you will have to fly in the face of others’ opinions. Life is easier on cogs than on independent souls, gives more support to those who go along than to those who speak out. You, however, will be loud and independent. This is a decision you make.”

“You decide to matter, to live a principled, creative, active life in support of your cherished ideals, to manifest your potential, to do good work, in short, to make your life meaningful at least to you.. You decide to make your life count for something. You do not presume that your life matters on a cosmic scale or that your efforts will move mountains. Rather, you embrace the idea of authenticity and proclaim your intention to live authentically.

Second, now you’ve decided to matter you announce your intention to make meaning. “What you are saying is ‘there is no meaning until I make it.’ What you mean is ‘I am not going to sit around waiting for the universe, some guru, some book, some god, some workshop, or anything else to let me in on the secrets of the universe or the shape of my personal path. I am going to decide, base on my best understanding of reality and my life purposes, how I intend to make my meaning.'”

Third you ask yourself what are my life purposes? You need to identify your real reasons for living and the roles you intend to play in life, eg to fight against injustice, live a better life, make beautiful things, do good deeds etc. You need more than one life purpose. “These multiple life purposes fit together seamlessly into a composite and typically include the following six elements:
* making use of your innate talents and abilities, your heart, mind and hands
* using your whole being every day , rather than intermittently or sporadically
* serving truth-telling and other important values
* getting genuine satisfaction out of life
* working hard on meaningful projects
* entering into loving relationships.”

You then combine your life purposes into a personal life purposes statement, eg: “I will make use of myself every day in the service of truth-telling and other important values while at the same time getting some real satisfaction out of live through love and work”.

The fourth step is to “hold your intention to fulfill your life purpose. That is, you need to keep your meaning-making efforts firmly in mind.” And here, at last, enters my green stone. To do this you find a smooth stone or some other small object that will fit comfortably in the palm of your hand. “Close your fist around it and feel it. Squeeze it and repeat the life purpose statement that you constructed in the previous exercise. Squeeze it a second time and repeat your life purpose statement again. Do this as many times as you are willing to.

Hold you stone all day. Whenever you become aware of it in your fist, repeat the life purpose statement.” Much of the time during the day you will forget you are holding it – it and the life purpose statement will be just outside your conscious awareness. Every time you remember it is in your palm, repeat the statement. “The longer you manage to hold the stone, the more firmly you will imprint our life purpose statement. Sometimes your hand will get tired and you will have to open it. Whenever that happens, repeat your life purpose statement. This will remind you that it is vital to remember your life purposes when you are tired, bothered, distracted, upset, and otherwise not in your best frame of mind.”

If you need to put it down, when you pick it back up repeat your statement. Sleep with it under your pillow. Hold it again the next day. The ultimate goal is to hold the intention without having to hold the stone. You can always pick it up and keep it with you if you need a refresher course.

The fifth step is to passionately act to fulfill your life purposes. Maisel on passion … “Perhaps you think it goes without saying that a person would naturally be passionate about something as central and vital to her life as her own life purposes. However we know this isn’t true. Few people live their lives passionately. Most people go through the motions, burdened by their tasks, their everyday work, their responsibilities, their own personalities. They live closer to depression than ecstasy, often in a perpetual crisis.” (Julia-note … ahuh yup.) “Indeed, most people need convincing that it makes sense to be passionate about anything.

“Why take the risks that option for passion requires? People are trained to avoid displays of passion and even feeling passionate. They settle for a life that fails to nourish them, one that feels safe rather than wild and outsized. Although they’ve probably never thought it through, they suspect that passion demands heroism — and they don’t feel heroic. They fear that passion and madness are close friends. Yes, Beethoven was passionate — and look at how manic and disturbed a life he led. Yes, van Gogh was passionate — and he declined into a depression that ended in suicide. The average person looks at the headstrong, egocentric, heroic, mad passion of such artists and thinks, ‘Yikes! That’s not for me!’

“But it must be for you — although perhaps in a less dramatic form! … Passion is the driving force that motivates us and fuels our meaning-making journey. Without it, we are exactly like a fuel without gas.”

I have gone on the above ‘journey’ a couple of times and never felt like I succeeded at it. I think my problem is that my life purpose statement was so involved it was hard to remember and it never sunk in. So I am going to start from scratch and attempt this a third time, with a new life purpose statement that I have not worked on yet. Another change I will make is that I will not be using my beautiful piece of green chrysoprase this time. Now I am not a new-age hippy that anthropomorphisises crystals. But I don’t discount (but not saying I believe in) the supposed properties of gemstones. And I think that a piece of rose quartz I have hanging around may now be more appropriate for me than the chrysoprase. Here’s a pic of the two:

The properties of chrysoprase:

* Chrysoprase is a good choice for those born during The Moon of Long Days (Cancer) – (21 Jun – 21 Jul). Its ability to help you achieve greater personal insight can allow you to see new paths to explore.
*  Its calming and shielding energies can help you work through issues without the distractions caused by outside influences. It promotes the calm state of mind that is useful in objectively examining your problems and can help you to find realistic solutions to these problems.
* This stone also can help you gain self esteem without ego. This can lead to greater confidence and allow you to interact better with those around you.
* It is said to bolster clarity of thought and creativity.

All very appropriate. The stone found me originally. I don’t know where it came from or remember how it came to be on my kitchen windowsill so long ago. I think I may have found it in our garden. Those dark marks and ‘veiny’ looking things weren’t there originally. It appeared to be a very clean apple green. But with my previous attempts at this exercise, having had it permanently in my palm for days at a time, it has absorbed oils and grub from my hands into it’s flaws, making it an even more beautiful and interesting looking thing. Nice bit of symbolism there 🙂

However, on reading the qualities of the rose quartz I have decided it is more appropriate for me now, after the year that has been…

* Unconditional love. Self-love. Friendship. Nurturing. Promotes the arts. Calming and soothing. Balances emotions. Brings peace and harmony. Boosts self-esteem and self-confidence. Promotes compassion and forgiveness. Healing. Rejuvenating.
*Gives physical aid in treating: Depression. Calms in crisis situations. Aids in weight loss. Skin and cell rejuvenation; clears complexion; prevents wrinkles.
* Placing a rose quartz under your pillow at night can help promote peaceful sleep and creative inspiration.

God knows I need sleep, creative inspiration, and the anti-wrinkle treatment lol!

Of course, it could be argued that the stone isn’t necessary. That these things can be accomplished without it. However I think it is very ritualistic and full of symbolism and for that reason, for me (one who prefers clear steps and guidance), it is needed.

Typing this up has inspired me. Has it inspired you? I hope it has the effect of firing up somebody, even if only briefly. I have been just “sat” this year after a fleet of trucks have run me over … bam bam bam. I’ve licked my wounds long enough and I have vague plans starting to form. Possible university study next year. Possible avenues for self-employment because the job thing is just not panning out here – there ARE hardly any jobs, I’ve applied for a few, but none are going to magically drop into my lap. I am in a huge transitionary stage in my life and decisions have to be acted upon.

Are you living your life passionately? Are you “passionately making meaning?” Go out there and burn, people. Burn like mad artists and set your world afire.