MINDFLIGHT: LOS ANGELES

Showing posts with label LOS ANGELES. Show all posts

ESCAPE THE BOX

Mental liberation is essential to the evolution of the human species. The beauty of what we are lies in our ability to create with the power of our minds. It seems there are a small number of individuals who are threatened by a world filled with free-willed people. So, we are corralled into social media platforms, force-fed lifestyle templates, and programmed to believe we have to live by the rules dictated in society.

Corporations, governments, and religious institutions have created a science out of orchestrating our every movement. So many people are caught up in the daily grind, trying to survive. They are blown by the winds and whims of popular opinion, broadcast news, and social media. A group of my favorite poets called the Watts Prophets recorded a poem years ago titled “Keepin You Doing Things” (https://youtu.be/LmCX80CaCvM).

There are so many environmental pollutants and distractions. If you live in any major city, there is constant noise all around you, all of the time. Even if you have a get away in the backyard or go to a local park, there is still energy popping off of the electricity lines or cell towers bouncing signals through airways. You could be deaf and still have to encounter the visual assault of billboards and advertisements that are everywhere. How much stimulation can our human brains take before overload? I think most of us simply shut down after becoming desensitized to it. Just because we shut down doesn’t mean the information is shut out. Our brains are still taking in and processing everything in our environment all the time.

The key is programming your mind, being conscious as often as you can of your environment and what is going on. Most importantly, downloading all that information by sitting down somewhere in silence. Yes, I do mean meditate. There are several methods of meditation, but to reboot your brain you would want to sit in silent meditation for as long as you can. You will surprised at the thoughts and ideas and information that you will observe as you let your mind purge itself of all the junk. It might even be a little scary, but once you let it go, you see how much more clear you will think. You will be able to discern your feelings and thoughts from the millions of ideas floating around in your environment.

Whenever you watch television or a video, you are surrendering your mind to someone else. Whenever you speak about someone, whether you like them or not, you give them dominion in your world. Reading is the one activity that you can perform and have full control over what you take in. It’s hard to read something and not judge it. The only people who do not evaluate what they read are people who are programmed to follow and accept what they read as the ultimate truth beyond common sense or logic.

I want to live in a universe inhabited by mentally liberated beings. People who have mastery over their emotions and reactions are thinking people. They can tell the difference between their personal issues and the emotional limitations of others. Mental liberation also looks like critical thinking and always asking why. There is always a reason and a motive for television programming, news items of the day, social media trends and such. We all need to keep our minds on what we can do to realize our potential. No one person is going to be everything or know everything. That’s absurd. As humanity, we have to support each other in becoming our best individual and collective selves. We can no longer afford to invest time or mental energy (conscious or unconscious) into people and ideas that do not serve us as a species.

BE YOUR OWN LIFE COACH

When the new year begins, I'm so excited about the goals I set and the possibilities I see in my mind's eye. During a good year, I don't hit the blahs until around May/June. This year caught me struggling to remain positive about the struggle as soon as February.

Resolution Revolution SNL Skit

Think about it. What is it that is really keeping us from accomplishing our goals? Short of someone physically preventing us from moving forward, there is NOTHING stopping us from doing what we want with our lives.

No money? Find a way to make it.

No resources? Ask someone or seek out the people who can point in the right direction.

No education? Go to the library.

No clue? Ask somebody.

No energy? Eat right.

Bad health? As long as there is life, there is another opportunity to share the thought so that something can be done with it.

I can go on, but I will not.

For every excuse there is a solution. At the end of the day, our thoughts and our feelings about our situation provide the obstacles. Please accept this: WE ARE WHERE WE ARE RIGHT NOW BECAUSE WE ALLOW OUR THOUGHTS OR OUR FEELINGS TO PUT US HERE. Consider this scenario: I woke up this morning and when I thought about all of the things I need to do and the the problems I have to address, I felt defeated. I was tired even before I got out of bed. I asked myself "what is the point?" My grandfather asked me what am I going to do, my checking account is close to $0 and none of the employers I reached out to have responded. All day I thought about it and tried to figure out what to do. I got on the phone and talked about it to my friend who was having similar challenges. By the time I put my son to bed, I was mentally and physically exhausted but had done very little.

The problem with the above scenario is that there was no mention of waking up with a sense of gratitude for having another opportunity to get it right, despite what might have happened the day before. I spent too much time focused on problems and not solutions. To my detriment, turned to someone who got down in my hole of self-pity with me instead of helping me out. Finally, there was far too much thinking and not enough action. Even if the only thing I did was meditate, that would have cleared my mind-space for more positive thought.

Quite often we shut ourselves out from the game before we even get into the arena. Imagine for a moment, we are standing on the corner down the street thinking about the problems, the visions, the goals and the obstacles. We haven't even arrived at the gate! Is it acceptable to dwell on the thoughts "I'm depressed," "I'm overwhelmed," "I can't do it"? No! I have learned how to coach myself. We have to coach ourselves. I’m not talking about the nice life coach that costs a million dollars a session; I’m talking about the loud coach with the whistle and spittle. Get in your own face.

I think to myself. If I am not physically impaired, if no one is holding me down, if I have the use of my mind, I can get it done. I think about the athletes who manage to do remarkable things with their bodies. I am training and conditioning to do something as remarkable with my mind. When I begin to resist myself and the things I need to take to achieve my goals, I get really raw with myself.

Things my inner coach says to get my A in gear:

If you do not do this right now, today when will it get done? What else do you have to do that is more important than realize the vision? Your feelings are not going to get it done; action and work is going to get it done!

The pain and the resistance means you are making progress!You are

almost there! Hold it, keep pushing forward just a little longer! Don't

give up!

You tired?! You haven't even made it to the board room! You don't even have a contract to negotiate! Get real and do something or stop lying to yourself.

How bad do you want it? What does your dream mean to you? Is it worth fighting for?

At the end of the day, achieving my goals Is my only real option. The other choice is to give up and die inside. As long as I am breathing, I will do something that will take me closer to my vision. It is that simple. I do not worry about what other people say or think. If they are not trying to help me, they get tuned out. I love what the comedian Katt Williams said about that situation. He said in the face of haters and dream destroyers to "tune in to your STAR PLAYER." My star player is me. I am my greatest supporter and motivator. I will not say that I do not need anyone or need help because I certainly do. What I emphasize here is that the source of our success lies within us. We have to want it more than anyone wants it for us.

To draw another analogy: this process is like being a recovering failure. There may be times when we fall off of the wagon and take a hit of self-pity, but there is nothing nor anyone who can save us from the sickness but us.

SOLITARY JOURNEY

I am an only child, so I learned to do things on my own a long time ago. There are times though that I would like to experience that synergy, that great flow of energy, when a group of like-minded individuals get together and feed off of each other. I have been lucky enough to have experienced it before on artistic collaborations. Those experiences were extremely challenging on an emotional level. Right now, I am excited about meeting people who are stronger than me, smarter than me, more positive and more motivated than me. I like seeing how other people go about their task of being excellent.

There always comes a time in the process when we plateau or run out of steam. I have managed to be strong for myself on several occasions, but I still look forward to having someone to lean on. In my quest to connect, I have partnered up with people who have voiced the desire to make change in their lives. That resonates with me profoundly. I get excited and happy form them because I know how it is to want to make progress in life, but not know where to start or have someone with whom to share the experience.

This year, I spent more than $100 on friends who said they want to make change in their lives. That might not sound like a lot of money, but considering my current financial situation, I would say it was a foolish decision. I wanted to encourage my friends and in return be motivated by their successes. Unexpectedly, what I began to hear is how hard it is.

I have been doing this for four years now. My first year, I kicked myself in the ass and said to myself that the minimum I expected from myself was to check in daily with my goals and weekly requests. With my minimum set, I hit the mark 85% of the time. By year two, I had a discipline and the idea in my mind that this is a life or death situation. I do not want to die inside because I do not try. I do not want my dreams to die because I crawled up in a corner to cry and feel sorry for myself.

I have learned through my friends and accountability partners that I cannot afford to try and help anyone else, if I cannot help myself. No matter how lonely it gets on this journey, I have to stay strong for me. There have been times when I spent so much time trying to encourage and motivate my partners that I failed to nurture myself. I find it mind-boggling that the more I reached out to help and encourage, the more resistance I received. I learned to step back, take care of me, and in some cases, just keep it moving. I feel bad for doing that, but I understand that sacrificing me does not help anyone, least of all me.

Yet, I see other groups of people who get along well, and seem to thrive as a group. I wonder what is it about me that disrupts the kind of unity I would like to experience. I know that I bring a certain element of conflict. I like to challenge people. I also like to say things that make people uncomfortable because I feel that once we, as humans, step outside our polite facades we are our most authentic. Sometimes people like to compete with me. I try to avoid the competition, but I don't mind it if it makes things interesting. All of those natural human emotions like jealousy, inferiority, and competition are fine with me. My personal process is to internally confront those feelings and turn them into what they should be: self-motivation, happiness for my partners as they are an extension of me, and a measure of what is possible in my life.

I never hold back on feeling good about someone else's success, for to do so would diminish the chances of my own success. In an ideal world, I would find my tribe of people who have a strong commitment to improving themselves to the exclusion of feelings or thoughts that enable progress. Yes, it gets hard. Yes, some days writing a word is like stabbing myself in the eye. Yes, my heart sometimes feels it is being squeezed hard when a friend achieves something I want. Guess what? I keep moving forward. In my mind, I fight those thoughts and feelings like I am Muhammad Ali. I am a bad ass bitch and I have things to do other than sit around being punked by my fears.

I'm in search of other warriors who are in the daily fight to beat down the thoughts and emotions that seek to destroy us. You want to join this army? Are you bad enough?

Don't get the wrong idea. I am a compassionate person; sometimes I have to unleash my woman warrior. Thank you for reading.

CHANGING HABITS

By Niki Billingslea

One of the “Eight Steps into the Master Mind Consciousness” states, “I decide to be changed. I make a decision to surrender my will and my life to the Master Mind (God). I ask to be changed at depth.” Another one of the steps states, “I am ready to have my beliefs and attitudes changed so that my life can be transformed.” Four years after taking my first Master Mind covenant, these words strike the very core of my being.

I think that four years ago I thought my life would change if I simply wished hard enough. Ignorantly, I thought that my world would change and I would somehow be the same. I was aware that I would have to do something differently, but I could not imagine that I would have to change.

Have you thought about what it means to change? I used to think changing my life, my beliefs and my attitudes was merely doing things differently: exercise more, meditate regularly, eat healthy. Sure, developing new habits help and facilitate a change, but those actions and habits alone do not create the deep change that is required to transform our lives.

Going back to my spiritual leaders, they say that all transformation begins with the thoughts we hold. We have to root out the ideas that do not serve us and our feelings about the things we want to change but are unable to take action. That is an overhaul that is no small undertaking. We have so many thoughts in the course of a day that to consciously deal with each seems daunting.

Meditation has become my salvation. I sit and focus on the quality I am trying to create in my life. The change that I think I want to make in order to allow for the condition I need to realize my purpose. I meditate on it, I analyze it and I try to envision and feel it as much as possible. Then, of course, I take steps to prepare myself for the situation.

An example, in my life, was the time I wanted a specific position at work. The year before I was offered the position, I said YES to life. I decided that any and every opportunity presented to me would be received with gratitude and taken advantage of. All kinds of opportunities were presented to me--some which I had no idea how I could follow through with or fully take advantage of.

After saying yes for an entire year, with my last couple hundred dollars in the bank, and no idea of how I was going to get out of this situation without selling my soul back in a position I did not want, I received a phone call offering me the position I wanted. Wow. It was a wonderful moment, not because of the position but because my beliefs about what was possible were transformed.

In that year-long process, I had to push myself to do things I did not believe I could do--I was the technical and media director for a multi-disciplinary and inter-departmental project. I was way in over my head, yet I honored my word and stuck with it. Throughout the process, I had to keep telling myself “I am capable. I can do it.” I proved it to myself by preparing and learning the software I needed to execute the project.

Not all processes are so intense, but the best are. A place to start is this web page dedicated to making change “Changing Your Habits.”

REPROGRAMMING THOUGHTS HELD IN MIND

By Niki Billingslea

When I found myself uncomfortable with the direction of my life, I called on the lessons my mother taught me. Her life was a testament of transformation. The stories she told me about her darkest days, and the few dark moments I witness first-hand were unbelievable when contrasted with the life she created--minister, organizer, talent manager and radio show host. She taught me to think it and be it.

She empowered me and sent me out into the world with abilities I was not fully aware of. I knew I wanted to graduate high school and leave California. Nobody thought I would and I did. I decided to go to New York. I didn’t know anyone there but I went anyway and found the exact situation my mind envisioned. When I was done with New York I finally felt free to dance and sing. Just like that, when I came back to L.A., spirit provided the opportunity for me to say yes to dancing and singing professionally.

I am thankful I was able to have such powerful results with no awareness whatsoever of what I was doing. Now that I am aware, my application of thoughts and intention are much more focused. I act with precision, and it makes me very sensitive to the outcome of my thoughts. Having a vision, knowing what I want and being purposeful is an empowering experience. When experiences or people present a possible distraction, all I have to do is tune in to that guiding thought and vision to illuminate my way back to myself.

    Control of thought is not a magical mystical occurrence. It is a rigorous and sometimes grueling undertaking--for me, that is. Becoming aware of my thoughts and evaluating them was intense. It was akin to watching a movie and constantly pausing and rewinding. I didn’t mind but some people in my life didn’t get it. The people who understood helped me when I spoke in counter-productive ways. I cannot say that I do not have to do that anymore. Like an onion, I keep peeling back layers of thoughts, ideas and habits that I have to manually reprogram.

    The work comes in not only identifying the things I want to change, but what I want to change them into. Having a vision of myself creates this blueprint for me. It is even better when I spend time feeling and seeing myself as I want to be. This isn’t a quick fix, it is a lifetime relationship that I create with myself.

    As I replace thoughts and habits that do not serve me with those that do, I embrace the experiences and people who help me demonstrate my new state of being. Sometimes I have to go back to the drawing board and reassess the depth of my work. There are times when the people or experiences help complete the process of transformation. This generates various levels of discomfort.

    I used to recoil from the discomfort--run and hide emotionally. Once I realized that the discomfort marks the threshold, I learned to take a deep breath and let go in the face of the struggle. There is no need to fight the change I called to myself. My students often offer the greatest opportunities for growth and change. I used to try to protect myself and put up a wall so that they would not hurt me. I came to understand that they were in more pain than I could ever imagine. The insight that they are not the adversary or a threat helped me to drop my guard and be more compassionate.

I breathe through those experiences as I remind myself of why I am here and what needs to be accomplished--most often understanding. There is also the memory of what I'm here for. When I was a child, I was very aware of my purpose for being.   Adults would consult with me and ask me for my opinion. In those instances, I felt the spirit of God speaking through me. I understood that it was not me but what I allowed to work in me.   My interactions with children my age had always been that of confidante and advisor. I heal. I empower. I give a voice to people who have been silenced.

My work as an adult is very much the same as the work I did as a child. Have I digressed from my path? Certainly. Have I experienced a sense of loss and confusion? Definitely. How do I find my way back? I remember. I do not try to go back in time. I do not try to relive experiences. I move forward with the knowledge of who I am and what I am capable of. I think we all have this ability.

WHY DO PEOPLE SUCCEED?

PLACES TO WRITE IN LA

Now that I am not living in a home I own, I find that workspace is a premium. If you are in Los Angeles and you want a virtual office or a place to work that inspires creativity, I have compiled a list of some of my favorite places to write, grade papers, and get work done.

Feel free to comment and add other productive spots around town.

SIMPLY WHOLESOME