The book summarizes and synthesizes the results of several world-wide Gallup studies on the nature of well-being.  The authors conclude that well-being consists of [...]]]> I recently re-read “Well-Being: The Five Essential Elements,” by Tom Rath and Jim Harter, published in 2010.  I found the book easy to read and informative, and it prompted this post.

The book summarizes and synthesizes the results of several world-wide Gallup studies on the nature of well-being.  The authors conclude that well-being consists of balance among five different areas of life focus:  career, social, financial, physical, and community.  The findings are based on the response of representative populations to a series of surveys.

As most demographic surveys do, this study relies on statistics, thus a relatively small number of people were queried (around 350,000 across the studies used as the basis for the book.)  According to the statistics presented in the appendix, the sampling represents 98% of the world’s population, distributed across 150 countries.

Appendix D, Technical Report: Research and Development of Gallup’s Well-Being Metrics reviews how the study measured well-being: there are objective and subjective categories of measurement.  Subjective measures of well-being are subdivided further into those measures that are based on how people evaluate their lives, and those that are based on how people experience themselves in the moment.  These subjective measures approach what I consider to be the foundation of well-being.

As a result of working with clients over the past five years, I’ve gathered data on well-being, and agree with the Gallup researchers that well-being is both a consciousness based on logical perceptions, and an individual experience of life. Yet the foundation of well-being carries three distinct themes not mentioned in the study.  From my perception, wellbeing is personal, ever-evolving, and holistic.

In being personal, well-being becomes a state that each individual can define for themselves.  What constitutes well-being for me may not reflect well-being for you.  I may factor health, supportive relationships, and a work of service in the world as my well-being, while a friend may put family, a satisfying career, and a comfortable lifestyle as the personal foundation of their well-being. Your own well-being is likely to be different still, as you have your own way of combining the many aspects of life into an experience of personal well-being.

And this personal well-being evolves, as each of us experiences life, and grows and changes as a result.  Our paths are all unique and different, thus the experiences we encounter are dissimilar.  How we respond to these experiences also varies.  Each step along our path becomes more and more an evolution unique to us.

The characteristics of well-being change as a result of personal decisions, and in response to the changing scenery along a life path.  For example, the clients I work with currently put the ability to handle life stresses at the forefront of their well-being; in the past, the most important part of their well-being may have been running a successful business, or parenthood, or being an educator or a public servant.  Many of those attributes of well-being still figure into these peoples’ lives; the focus on each attribute has evolved and changed as they perceive its importance differently.

Finally, well-being is holistic. Well-being includes having positive experiences in all the roles one plays in life.  As mentioned in the previous paragraph, the value or importance placed on different aspects of well-being will change, but the desire to have experiences of well-being in all the areas of one’s life remains.  To experience well-being, most people say they have to feel a degree of competence or capability in all aspects of their life.   The Gallup organization’s studies support the importance of balance across areas of life as foundational to well-being.

When we make sure our well-being has, as its foundation, a recognition that it is personal, evolving, and holistic, we are affirming our value as individuals.  The diversity of life on this planet assures us that there are as many perspectives of well-being as there are human inhabitants.  It’s encouraging to each of us to live out the unique slice of consciousness and experience that we represent in the whole of humanity.

This flicker is an unexpected guest, a 12-inch stately grey woodpecker sporting a brilliant red neck band and a boldly speckled chest.

It’s interesting to me that the flicker turns out to be [...]]]> I  just glanced out the window and saw a flicker perched on the edge of the squirrel-resistant bird feeder in the side yard.

This flicker is an unexpected guest, a 12-inch stately grey woodpecker sporting a brilliant red neck band and a boldly speckled chest.

It’s interesting to me that the flicker turns out to be of insufficient weight to close the counter-balanced lever arm that keeps squirrels from consuming all the seed ~ he’s that big and stately, at least as big as one of the smaller squirrels that haunt the feeder looking for handouts.

He’s got the attention of my indoor cat, who moans piteously at the window, out of thwarted hunter instincts, perhaps, or from frustration at being separated from a potential play mate. With Arthur, more a lover than a fighter, it’s often a challenge to distinguish motivation!

Between us, Arthur and I manage to send enough attention energy at the flicker that he flies off to the shelter of the neighbor’s pine trees. The wind picks up and patchy snow squalls make their way across the yard. Minutes of concentration on Arthur’s part do not result in the return of the flicker.

Why, you may wonder, do I invest blogging electrons in relaying the tale of the flicker?

Earlier today I wrote a short piece for the Quantum Well-Being newsletter on the importance of trusting one’s own information. The flicker appears less than twenty minutes afterwards, providing me the opportunity to put my teachings into practice.

It’s fun to notice the thoughts triggered by the flicker sighting. In particular, the moment I spotted the flicker, a specific piece of information passed through my awareness about the esoteric meaning of the flicker as a totem. I even recall the source of the meaning ~ it was provided by a capable shaman, Ted Andrews, in his book “Animal Speak.” In the past, I’d often consult the book to tease meaning out of the frequent visits by various feathered and furry friends to my yard.

The flicker gives me the opportunity to examine how much of Ted Andrew’s information about the flicker totem is, indeed, still my information. I notice that for me, the flicker is handsome, dignified, perservering, and connected deeply to the comfort and joy of learning about nature from my mother and grandmother.

It’s a surprise to me that the information gleaned in the past from Andrew’s book is culturally informative, and esoterically intriguing, and ultimately, not true of my own experience of the flicker. I have no basis to either accept or reject the esoteric meaning of a flicker, whereas I have experience of its association with dignity, persistence, and happiness. Simultaneously I can hold one as a possibility and accept what is true for me now.

It turns out, for me, that the value of the flicker sighting is in demonstrating the wisdom of trusting my own information, albeit experiential. It also reveals that while much of the information I’ve absorbed over the years may have been true for me in the moment of encounter, perhaps its truth may not withstand the test of time. It’s a reminder that updating my world view is an ongoing and vital part of increasing my awareness.

At a summary level, I can say that today’s lesson of the flicker is twofold: information undergoes transformation with time, just as much of the physical world does, and good teachers (like Ted Andrews) cushion their teachings in an energy of ‘allowing’ that supports each of us in becoming more clear about the truth of our own information. I also notice these two observations may find their way into newsletter articles in some future moment.

Do you imagine the flicker had any inkling of the contemplation his presence at the bird feeder sparked?

I’ll leave you to trust your own information on the question ~ enjoy!

A winter storm recently stimulates me to pursue a goal of combining images with these words.  It gives me [...]]]> Here is a post begun some time ago.  The skills required to follow through and complete my initial intent took some time to acquire.  I’m grateful I can now share with you this experience of beauty in contrast.

A winter storm recently stimulates me to pursue a goal of combining images with these words.  It gives me an opportunity to be out in the lightly falling snow, admiring the contrast of small red (hawthorn?) berries and green leaves mantled with the heavy flakes of snow forming near the freezing point.  It sets up combinations of light, beauty, and grace that inspire me to make images that can be shared with others.

The beauty in contrast

Lance is the one who points out the snow-covered berry tree to me.  As I stand with my camera and find the quiet place that connects me with the beauty of the scene, he disappears.  My attention is on the extremes of color displayed here.  I look through the view-finder intently, capturing close-ups and vignettes of the entire yard where the berries reside.

The morning quiet, the silver-gray sky, and the peace of the setting is soothing and fills me with contentment.  I recall a time when standing and breathing in the peace of a beautiful setting comprised the totality of my image-making experience.

I recognize the foundation to this previous approach as both the absence of a camera and an intuitive, internal, and conscious choice to leave nature’s images to nature.  And I’m filled with gratitude now to hold the means of capturing nature’s beauty as digital images that can move from camera, to computer, to website with the same ease, grace, and dignity that nature uses in forming the images.

As I make images along the way through a variety of options the camera provides, I notice that Lance has returned.  He sets up a small step-ladder near the berry-laden tree, and in that companionable way that old friends have with one another, I pass him the camera.

It’s always a joy to see what captures his eye, trained early on by classes in the graphic arts.  This time he notices the heart-shaped form of a paper-wasp nest, covered in snow, high in the berry tree.  It blends readily with the monochromatic tones of the morning and requires a keen, and taller, perspective to add it to the library of images that is coalescing.

The wind picks up for a moment, gently tossing the branches of the tree and dislodging the snow.   I notice my fingers complaining about the cold temperatures.  We stand for one or two last moments in silent appreciation of the snowy morning and the gift of nature’s beauty in our neighbor’s yard. 

Then Lance picks up the ladder and we walk back down the street where the warmth of the house awaits us.  I notice that I’m holding the camera under the front flap of my coat with gentle care.  I am grateful for the images that it holds, appreciative of the experience of image-making, and happy to celebrate nature’s great beauty through image-making.

Heraclitus, from Diogenes Laertius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers Greek philosopher (540 BC – 480 BC)

You’ve probably heard this sentiment voiced in numerous different ways, by many authors, and applied to a variety of situations.  It seems that today there [...]]]> “Nothing endures but change.”

Heraclitus, from Diogenes Laertius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers
Greek philosopher (540 BC – 480 BC)

You’ve probably heard this sentiment voiced in numerous different ways, by many authors, and applied to a variety of situations.  It seems that today there is an opportunity for me to add my musings to this subject.

In preparing to travel for almost two weeks, I find it useful to list the activities necessary to a successful trip.  There are arrangements for pets, plants, and postal deliveries.  Resetting of scheduled meetings, events, and activities occurs.  Places to stay while traveling are located, and transportation is put together.  These activities may not occur in the same sequence for each trip I make, yet some semblance of each is common to the theme of traveling.

One activity to schedule around the trip is the regular posting of these articles. A perusal of the blog software shows where a message can be posted in advance of publication.  The feature allows me to write a post in advance and leave it to be published while I travel.  Excellent!  So I determine to experiment with this feature.

In enthusiasm, earlier in the week, I write a piece to post in the category of ‘Natural Beauty.’  There is such enthusiasm, that I get ahead of myself, and write the article with the intent to add at least one photographic image to it.  It seems like a next step to add pictures to the words.

Yet, as Heraclitus says, change endures.  In attempting to add the photographic image to the post, I discover aspects of the blogging software that I have yet to master.  After winding my way deep into the FAQ questions and answers about the software, I look up to discover that the period for writing is drawing to an end, and I’m no closer to uploading an image as I was at the start.  It is apparent something gets to change.

I find myself looking at the intention of the exercise, which is to communicate regularly in this forum.  Here is where the ability to accept change, allow a different outcome, and focus on the ultimate intent is valuable.  Flowing with change becomes a matter of shifting my attention away from one article, and placing it on an article for Now.  I feel fortunate to have tools for shifting attention, energy, and focus, so it is now possible to create an article for the next post.

As I finish writing the previous paragraph, the telephone rings.  There is a brief moment of choice ~ continue to write? Answer the phone?  And because there is flow and possibility of change, I can get up and speak on the telephone.  In the course of the conversation, an idea for another article presents itself.  I enjoy my phone conversation, jot a brief note, and return to complete this post.

The key to playing in a world where change is the constant is a three-fold ability to keep an eye on intention, to keep attention on being flexible in allowing the intention to unfold, and to make conscious choices among the possible actions that support the unfolding.   Being comfortable with change helps me to align with this process with fluidity, grace, and ease. 

I’m practicing presence and focus while breathing and feeling the energy of the heart. 

And all of a sudden it [...]]]> This is a short entry today. 

I’m practicing presence and focus while breathing and feeling the energy of the heart. 

And all of a sudden it gets very quiet and there is no line of mental chatter to transfer to the paper.

Instead I feel the breath in my nostrils and my lungs expanding and there is a flow of words that seems to bypass the rational mind.  There is warmth around the heart.

For those of us who have squabbled with the analyzer-brain for years it’s an interesting and intriguing sensation.

In my walking-around space, I experience it on occasion ~ it’s usually more accessible in meditation.  And what a wonderful possibility to be able to live every moment in this place.

The question is, would it be of value to post this brief observation?

Still breathing, no words.

It is in the sitting quietly that the beauty of the creation is born, and it is in the allowing that the Love of Creator flows. 

I Am grateful to receive these words and to share them with you today.

With love, joy, and gratitude for you as you live this Life!

Do you know the expression, “Blue Marble?”   It’s one that has rolled around in my awareness for years.  A quick trip to Wikipedia reveals its history ~ it’s an expression used for a remarkable photograph of our planet Earth taken by the astronauts of [...]]]>  

Do you know the expression, “Blue Marble?”   It’s one that has rolled around in my awareness for years.  A quick trip to Wikipedia reveals its history ~ it’s an expression used for a remarkable photograph of our planet Earth taken by the astronauts of the Apollo 17 mission.    More than 30 years later, NASA put a significant update to the original photograph on their site, which can be seen today.

I bring up the “Blue Marble” because it’s linked in my awareness with the recognition that, from space, distinctions or divisions based on humanity’s propensity to create separation are not visible.  Certainly there are differences in landforms.  Clouds, oceans, and continents all are visible.  What is missing are political, economic, social, religious, or even species’ differences.   There is one planet, hanging in the deep velvet of space, and all upon it share in its fate.

The very few inhabitants of our planet who have traveled in space all mention the change in perspective viewing the planet from afar brings.  Many report transformative experiences.  Most return to the planet with a broader view of our inter-relatedness and connection with everyone and everything on the planet.

What we all can benefit from in contemplating the “Blue Marble” is to recognize that “We” the inhabitants, who collectively share a dwelling place on Earth, include expressions of Life more numerous than humans alone.   The planetary perspective speaks to partnership, co-operation, and co-creation by all Life.  Viewing all Life with respect, indeed even reverence, and making choices that honor all Life seems appropriate, given “We” are all here together.  

Consider the choices and energies that comprise a world where everything is shared, every inhabitant is valued and honored, the contributions of each one add to the benefit of all, and the beauty of the whole reflects that of every partner in Life.  These choices and energies are expansive and focus on what honors All That Is.  These choices and energies come from a “We” that includes all who inhabit the precious “Blue Marble” called Home.   Imagine a Home where We All are One.  And so it unfolds.

Walking in the neighborhood the other day, I notice a neighbor tending his beautiful garden of sunflowers.  Several of these golden flowers tower over him, gracefully and gently dipping their heads in the slight breeze, and dropping their seeds upon the ground in early recognition of the coming [...]]]>

Walking in the neighborhood the other day, I notice a neighbor tending his beautiful garden of sunflowers.  Several of these golden flowers tower over him, gracefully and gently dipping their heads in the slight breeze, and dropping their seeds upon the ground in early recognition of the coming harvest.   Because sunflowers turn their heads toward the sun as they grow, a garden filled with them seems in dynamic motion throughout the day.  Such is my experience of my neighbor’s lovely setting.

This is not the first time that sunflowers have caught my attention recently.  Their seeds feed the sparrows, finches, robins, and magpies in my yard.  Occasionally some valiant seeds begin to sprout up below the bird feeders, at least until the grass is mowed.   They grow quickly and for a few brief days tower over the surrounding grass.  Perhaps next growing season, they’ll receive a place of their own to grow in, all summer long.

Sunflowers feature a lovely helical arrangement of seeds at their center.  The seeds in sunflower seed heads are actually arranged in Fibonacci spirals to assure optimal packing and distribution of the seeds.  Nature often builds on the ‘golden section,’ modeling the divine within all aspects of Life.

I notice, too, my involvement with a local neighborhood food co-operative, whose logo is reminiscent of a sunflower.  It’s a warm and healing energy to associate with an organization dedicated to bringing healthy food and sustainable practices to our community.

And yesterday, I open the folder containing ideas for blog articles and find a page with a picture and some healing properties about the sunflower.  Indeed, I’ve been attracted by sunflowers recently.  It’s interesting to read that the sunflower helps to align both the first chakra and our individual feminine and masculine energies.  When balanced, these all contribute to a sense of well-being and happiness. 

It appears that I’m surrounded by sunflowers as the last of summer days shorten into autumn.  I sneak a peek into Ted Andrews’ book “Nature-Speak” to see what shamanistic wisdom he shares about sunflowers.  He points out that the way the sunflowers follow the sun during the day is a great reminder for all of us to seek the higher Light in all we do.   

That’s an inspiring message to end this entry upon, as we move toward the Equinox and the shift into autumn’s harvest.  Let us focus on, and appreciate, that which is filled with Light, Healing, and Life ~ for ourselves, our communities, and beyond.   Let us allow the sunny happiness of the sunflower to direct our attention to all the aspects of well-being that are present in our lives right Now.   We’ll find blessings beyond count when we do.