Betsy Grant: Today's Thoughts

"The true kingdom is that world beyond all worlds, the Ocean of Love and Mercy, the Absolute Reality. It is so far above all mankind that the very ken of thought cannot even imagine what it might be. Seek nothing but the true kingdom, for it is the great void of all. The realm of God." (from the book "Stranger By The River" by Paul Twitchell)

"An open-hearted truth seeker realizes that something inside is nudging him from the nest of his old beliefs. He rightly senses that the answers he is looking for do assuredly exist. This inner force pushing him towards that end is an urge beyond his conscious command.
This compulsion is the call of Soul." - (from the book "Those Wonderful ECK Masters" by Harold Klemp)

In the following quote the term SUGMAD means God:
"For each step taken in the spirit of freedom and love, whether it be in the writing of a piece of music or to learn survival on the higher planes of consciousness, is a step in the direction of the true home, the SUGMAD." - (from the book "In The Company of ECK Masters" by Phil Morimitsu)

"I don't try to imagine a God; it suffices to stand in awe of the structure of the world, insofar as it allows our inadequate senses to appreciate it" - Albert Einstein

"Eternity is limited. It has the limitations of time and space. Anything that can begin must end." - (from "The Book of ECK Parables" Volume 2 by Harold Klemp)

The purpose of the human consciousness,"he explained, "is to get you from here to God, to walk from here on your journey home." (from the book "Those Wonderful ECK Masters" by Harold Klemp)

Every moment is a moment to make a new resolution if one is looking to improve some aspect of his life. One needn't wait until the new year to do so. In fact one can begin new resolve, every week, every day, every hour, every circumstance, every minute. We can begin a new viewpoint by saying to ourselves "Happy New Moment!" with heartfelt joy...

May the joy and peace of this season be with you throughout the year. Happy Holidays to you all!

When I hear somebody sigh, "Life is hard," I am always tempted to ask, "Compared to what?"
- Sydney J. Harris

How do we view life? People tell us very much about how they view life by how they live their daily lives, how they treat others, and what they do with their time. The Wright Brothers may have seen it as a grand adventure in which one could go beyond the limitations that were part of widely accepted belief. The same could be said of Edison, Galileo, Harriet Tubman, or any other visionary human being that refuses to stand still just because everyone else is. This is the great gift, goal, and life pursuit of the artist or creative person, who has the potential to expand the vision of others by expanding his own.

One of the comments I remember hearing from a music teacher when I was a child was the quote "genius is 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration." For some reason this stuck with me and still echoes in the background of my thoughts in relation to creativity. I think about almost all the music I've written over the years and realize it would never have manifested had I not "made an appointment" to sit and write every week - the same as we make scheduled appointments with others in our lives. This aspect of discipline is crucial for creative people of all walks of life. If we wait until we are "inspired", the creative act may never come about and we miss the joy of creation and sharing that joy with others.

Isn't it amazing how much resistance there seems to be to change - to trying something new? We are like machines that run smoothly until someone or something in the environment throws something into the works that is unfamiliar or that the mind is unable to process due to lack of experience, and our inner censor begins to do whatever it can to continue the old way of thinking, acting, being, even if it's in direct opposition to the new way that we ourselves have instigated. This creates more conflict - convincing us further that the old way is better when in fact we haven't really given the new way a real chance to show it's strengths.

Every loss in life has a gain. Society applauds victory, winning, material, and or personal wealth, but has less time - or maybe no time - for those who in one way or another are experiencing loss. People learn and grow just as much from so called failing than from the appearances of success. There is a balance in life, and gracefulness of being and character is often produced by one's failures rather than successes. How does one really acquire humility anyway? Do we ever ask ourselves? While there is nothing wrong with success or "winning" in the various ways we can, we, ourselves are the only ones who can make room for our "failures". Society, for some reason, has chosen to leave out the importance of losing. It may in some ways be more important than winning. Maybe the next time we lose or fail in some way, we could also ask the question "what have I now gained that I didn't have before?" Am I more compassionate of others who "fail"? If so I have gained a degree of something I didn't have before, and we know that the more we love and understand our fellow beings the better.

To live creatively, or as the artist, means to be able to see life in a way that others don't. The artist can take into his/her inner vision the extremes in life - the comedy and tragedy, lightness and darkness, without losing his/her viewpoint. This ability to see life in a certain way doesn't occur just while engaged with brush and paint or whatever the instrument of choice, but rather is cultivated every moment as the very essence of oneself.

It's time for my periodical gratitude list. It definitely keeps my attitude in check - so here goes: My computer is gone, but was replaced without much ado. My car still works. My cat is well. I still have an income, roof over my head, food on the table, a place to lay my head at night, I'm surrounded by people who are able to smile easily - it warms my heart - I still believe there is goodness, love, and kindness in the universe, and am able to experience it in my life. I am able to see, hear, know, be and do. I am still able to wonder at the miracle of life and intelligence, and am still able to experience real joy and love in the presence and life of my fellow beings.

It is very, very hard to forgive yourself when you keep making the same unconscious mistakes in life. It may be the hardest thing to just say "well I thought it would be different this time" - though there was no prior evidence that it would be. This is the wrong use of faith I think to blindly hope that a situation that has proved a poor choice in the past, would somehow be different this time.

Living a life of creativity brings tremendous satisfaction in a way nothing else can. A creative person is a happy person - especially when engaged in a creative project. All useless thoughts cease when focused on the task at hand and one's feelings are elevated for the duration of the creative experience. This is actually one of the tests to see whether the project is really creative. Artists generally know this but perhaps this is why others are drawn to the arts. They know it intuitively but haven't yet made the creative experience an integral part of their lives...

Have you ever noticed that when we grow and develop and mature as individuals it seems to upset the people in our environment who don't want to change and grow and who aren't interested in developing themselves. And conversely - those others in our environment who ARE interested in growing are spurred on in their own lives by our growth and development. They suddenly become more interested in their own growth, whereas the lazy person becomes more interested in controlling the one who is changing and growing.

What are some of the things that try to prevent of us from living in harmony with life? Some people aren't happy unless they feel they're better than others at what they do, and are miserable if someone else's life or work appears better than their own. This craving to be "top dog" leaves them in a very poor inner state rather than with the ability to appreciate the wonderful variety in people's lives and work. The one that struggles to be THE best rather than the INDIVIDUAL'S best leaves it very diffficult for that one to enjoy life.

Try living a day just for love. Find a way (you're in harmony with) to express love either to someone else or to yourself or to something you love. Ask the question what do I need to change within myself so that I can dwell in a state of love? Love is the thing that all men seek (ask any wise man), but few realize this state exists within themselves independent of outer circumstances.

Sometimes we can have very difficult days in our life, despite our best effort. That's when it's time to be very, very grateful...even for the thing that seems to be difficult. Past experience would remind us that difficult experiences often lead to greater depth, understanding, wisdom, compassion, and empathy. These qualities are good for anyone - including the artist.

Pursuing one's dreams/goals can require tremendous effort and sacrifice sometimes. It's so much easier to take the path of least resistance. Or is it? Either way we pay. If we do what's easy instead of what we know is the act that will move us towards our goal, we end up feeling less than satisfied. If we pursue the dream, we often have to move out of our comfortable box, and make those hard choices. It's easier to stay where we are and not face the fact that we never really gave ourself the opportunity to move forward in life. We live in a sort of half alive, semi-conscious state where we're not really completely true to ourselves. That "easy" state comes with a price - we give up our dreams...

The recent oil spill is a reminder to not be so careless with this planet we live on. As artists, some of us seek to capture the beauty of the planet, while others are recklessly ignoring the part they play in imbalancing it's delicate state. It's this way with some artists too, who's art expression is more designed for it's shock value rather than it's appreciation of the beauty that already exists in nature, architecture, and human beings. It would be interesting to see what would happen if people would spend a little more time caring about how to protect and appreciate the beauty and resources of the planet rather than always seeking to take without thought of what they can give back. The same goes for artists who's art only chips away at man's love of harmony, form and beauty. The outer reflects the inner.

Some people think that discipline is a dirty word. I understand only to well how we learn certain concepts in life through our own experiences and frames of reference. But if we apply "discipline" to the thing we want or love, all it really means is sticking to a regular schedule with it and making it just as much part of our routine as everything else that we do daily or weekly. Why is it so hard for some people to commit to even 15 min. a day at their instrument, or computer, or medium of art?

If you have a love in life, whether its a relationship with a person, your business, or your art form, it requires regular care and nurturing and attention for it to survive and prosper. In some ways its harder to do this with your art form. In a relationship you have another person there to let you know one way or another when they are being neglected, but with art or music you just have a blank, inanimate canvas, or untouched instrument, which doesn't say "Hey I need some attention". All you have is yourself and how YOU feel. That's your only reminder, unless of course your love is your livelihood - in which case your reminders may come in the form of bills.