International Alliance of Holistic Lawyers
Posted on | January 2, 2008 | No Comments
I received confirmation today that I’ll be leading at least one session at the 2008 Annual Conference of the IAHL, May 15-18 at The Retreat Center in Plymouth, Michigan.
Back on Track
Posted on | December 4, 2007 | No Comments
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the intersection of law, business, creativity, and spirituality. I’ve been listening to some recordings of Joseph Campbell and reading his work, along with a lot of other great thinkers. Here’s what I’ve come up with:
Law enables Business
Business is the vehicle for our Creativity
Creativity fuels the spark of divinity within our Spirit
Spirit should inform Law
Here’s a visual model of what I’m talking about:
When you see it this way, you also see that Law effects Creativity – in a left-brain (law) v. right-brain (creativity) sort of relationship. Business and Spirit also interact in a quasi-kabbalistic way with Spirit on a “higher” plane manifesting on the material plane in the form of business.
I think it’s worth examining these relationships, especially in the areas of the overlap.
How can we get more spiritual influence in our legal policy? Should we? I’m not talking RELIGION, I’m a firm believer in the separation of Church and State. I’m talking about SPIRIT – or at least the golden rule, should infuse all of our laws. Can we overcome the greed and short-term self-interest that seems to motivate our law-makers and lobbyists working behind the scenes? Maybe that’s naive, but I think we need to start somewhere.
How can we get more people, especially small business folks (the backbone of our country and future), to understand and engage in the aspects of the law that KEEP them out of trouble rather than waiting until they’re neck-deep in bad stuff to ask for help? It seems that people get upset that legal fees cost so much – but they usually are only engaging with lawyers AFTER they’ve gotten in trouble. I can guarantee that it costs way more to get out of trouble than to avoid it in the first place.
How can we get more spiritual inspiration happening in our businesses? Maybe that’s simply through the Creative process itself. Maybe the role of Creativity is simply to channel a spiritual aspect of existence into our daily lives, which tend to revolve around business. Maybe our arts organizations need to take on more outreach programming (if possible) rather than constantly trying to just get people to come to the museum, symphony, etc. (Of course I recognize that many arts organizations already do great outreach programs.) How can we get more Creative inspiration infused into our legal framework at the national, state, and local levels?
I think if you have read books like Dan Pink’s A Whole New Mind, watched Shift Happens on YouTube, engaged in Bruce Mau’s thoughts of Massive Change or even just been allowed to lift your head up out of the cubical and take a fresh look around – these questions should be bubbling in your subconscious.
To use some of the language of Joseph Campbell, I think American Culture is hearing “the call” of the “hero’s journey” into some challenges that we need to face head-on, or be forced to face in a bad way (much like those small business owners who wait until after the trouble starts to create a plan). Maybe an understanding of the interactions above might help us in that quest.
I’m no expert on these topics. I’m as guilty as the next person (maybe more so) of waiting until I’m in trouble to start finding a way out, but I think these issues are too important to ignore. Maybe that’s just me, but I don’t think it is this time.
I’d really like some feedback on this topic and I’ve enabled the commenting feature on the blog again (thanks to some blog-spam software that seems to be working). So, feel free to chime in with your thoughts on this or other things I should be considering. I’m going to keep exploring and writing on these issues and hearing (and sharing) some different perspectives would be great.
Queen of Wands
Posted on | November 13, 2007 | No Comments
I’ve been trying to work through some issues with giving and receiving lately. It seems I “give” so much, that I’ve been flooding the spiritual conduit and blocking the “receive.” This can also be seen as an imbalance in my male/female or ying/yang energies. I’m out of balance on the male side, always have been. Lately it seems I’ve been forced to bring these things back into balance.
Lots of things have been happening relative to female energy including:
- Meeting my birth mother in person for the first time last week.
- Getting closer to my wife as we work through the “normal” stresses of having 3 young children and being self-employed.
- Working with a female life/business coach for the last year+.
- Having some “body-work” done by a new female massage therapist that caused some pretty emotional stuff to be stirred up and worked through.
Last Friday night we had some great friends over for dinner. They brought me a copy of “A Joseph Campbell Companion.” I’ve been aware of Campbell, but had never really sat down and read his essays or books. The old saying from they Kybalion that the lips of the master open when the ears of the student are ready to learn is holding true. I was between books. I was ready for this next chapter in my study.
I started reading it Saturday. I’m hooked.
The powerful thing is that Saturday night I had a very powerful and vivid dream where a beautiful and very powerful blond woman (don’t worry, it doesn’t go there) is literally holding a “key” to my future success and freedom – get this – in her mouth. Ya, I didn’t understand either, but I remembered.
Sunday I continued reading. Sunday night, she was back, again with the key. I thought I recognized her as one of the women in the images of my Archeon tarot deck. Monday, I pulled the deck and looked at all the female cards. It started falling together. I narrowed it down to three possible cards: The Queen of Wands, The Priestess, and The Empress.
Last night she was back. It was definitely the Queen of Wands. Today I looked at several versions and explanations of that card. I asked around to people smarter about this than I am. I’ve only ended up with a stronger feeling that this archetype is with me in my dreams. Now I’m working through why, what message, what actions, what meanings.
In the Thoth deck, she is resting a hand on a leopard. It reminded me of Lyra’s father in Phillip Pulman’s “Dark Materials” series who’s daemon is a leopard (I think…). Pulman’s character is powerful. So, I need to re-read that series. I’ve always thought my daemon (as in the story) would be a large predatory feline. I thought it would be a mountain lioness, but in the world of archetypes, a leopard is probably close enough… So, maybe the Queen is one with the leopard. Maybe the Queen of Wands is my daemon – the female part of my soul.
Maybe the message is to embrace the qualities of the Queen of Wands as the feminine half of my soul that I’ve been blocking. Maybe she’s my muse and the spirit I channel when I’m being creative. Maybe she holds the key to my freedom and success.
I just realized that she also looks a little like the angel in the Spiritcurve Masthead Image at the top of the page. Amazing.
There’s a lot going on these days…
Brian McLaren’s “President Bush’s UNGIVEN Speech”
Posted on | November 6, 2007 | No Comments
Amen.
If only…
Download the file by clicking HERE.
Rune’s Journal
Posted on | November 6, 2007 | No Comments
My son Rune will turn 6 in January. Earlier this year he took an interest in the journals that Abra and I normally keep. He kept wanting to write in mine, which is OK every once in a while, but it seemed the right time to get him his own “special book.” He’s really taken to it. Tobin (4) has one too, but it’s not quite kicked in with her yet – so it seems like 5 years old is a great time to start kids journaling.
He gave me permission to share one of his favorite pages. It’s a work in progress. He adds stuff on this page almost every session.
Oh ya, he uses a fountain pen! 🙂
Click on the Thumbnail below for a larger view.
(c) 2007, Rune Cleo Houchin, Age 5.
The “Way”
Posted on | October 22, 2007 | No Comments
The Tao is translated as “The Way.”
I think Jesus’s words in Matthew 6 and 7 speak in almost the same cadence and content as the Tao.
Can we get to a better understanding of:
“I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the father except through me” in John 14:6
When you consider that “the Tao” is an acceptance of the oneness of all of creation, then it might be fair to speculate that Jesus may have been saying something that MEANT:
“I am the Tao (oneness), and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the father except through the Tao (oneness).”
Granted, this is just my speculation. But if you consider that Jesus arguably spent time in Egypt, he could quite possibly have had access to a copy of the Tao. This meaning is FAR more consistent with Jesus’s message of inclusion and oneness. How much better would this interpretation have been in the past rather than it’s use as the justification for separation and “conversion by the sword” the “orthodox” church? How much better can this interpretation be for the future, as our global economy requires a more open and tolerant religious context?
Strange Fire: 5 Guiding Values
Posted on | October 17, 2007 | No Comments
This is my newest E-book. For a printer-friendly PDF of this content, visit www.guidingvalue.com.
Strange Fire: 5 Guiding Values
Spirituality, business, and life in general should be happy and relatively easy–with challenges coming to add growth and interest to life rather than anxiety, fear, and pain. To me, short, simple books resonate with the most truth. Sometimes it seems authors and publishers, probably in response to readers, appear to appreciate wordiness instead of brevity.
I think these 5 simple principles can be applied to all areas of one’s life ranging from spiritual endeavors, relationships, parenthood, leadership, and business to achieve balance and true success.
We could argue the words that describe the principles, we could add to the list, we could probably even reduce the list, but I like having 5 rules, because it’s easy to remember the list, and I believe everything you face, fits nicely into one or more of these principles. Let them guide you as they guide me. If you have to reduce things to one rule, let it be “The Golden Rule” as stated in almost every sacred text including at least 5 times in the New Testament of The Bible including Luke 6:31: “Just as you want others to do for you, do the same for them.”
accept things as they exist or to accept the
responsibility for changing them.
– The Universal Traveler, page 41
I’ve been intensively studying the Western and Eastern spiritual traditions for 5 or 6 years, because out of these traditions we base our unconscious assumptions. As I spent year after year peeling back layers of this savory onion of thought it became apparent that the Western traditions tend to say “make it happen,” while the Eastern traditions tend to say “let it happen.”
Movies like “What the Bleep Do We Know,” “The Secret,” and even “The Matrix,” “Star Wars,” and tons of others explore the whole concept that ideas are really all there is in life. It’s what we do, or don’t do, with those ideas that matters. The Western idea of the law of attraction asks us to visualize what we want and let the universe manifest that vision as we act in our lives. This is a “make it happen” idea. The Eastern traditions say to step out of our visualization and to empty our mind, and receive or “let it happen.”
While studying, journaling, and meditating (thinking & praying) on these topics the words “surrender” and “receive” kept coming up. I have a hard time with surrendering – I’m a “never give up” kind of guy. But “surrender” has a lot of meanings, including to give away or let go. So, I can surrender my anxiety without giving up my goals. That was a break-through. I also have a hard time receiving, for some reason, I felt guilty when I received – like letting someone else buy my lunch or a round of drinks. I had to move through that and learn that surrendering and receiving are part of a cycle. One can’t give without receiving and one can’t truly receive until one has given something to have earned what is received. These have to be in balance.
While meditating, I sometimes mentally recite “receive” as I breathed in, and “surrender” as I breathe out. Sometimes I add pairs like:
Receive – Surrender
Respect – Judgment
Freedom – Attachment
Wealth – Greed
Love – Guilt
Wisdom – Pride
Harmony- Envy
Health – Disbelief
The pairs of concepts, items, and emotions that we can receive and surrender are endless.
As I kept meditating and watching for these pairs it finally hit me that the word “accept” embodies the spirit of both receive (getting something) and surrender (letting things be). That made a huge impression on me. Interestingly, within a day of realizing this, my new copy of one of my favorite books arrived in my office.
“The Universal Traveler” was the text book of one of the best classes I ever took: Design Studies 101 at Iowa State University, back in the spring semester of 1987. I’d given my copy away to one of my favorite high school teachers and had just found out it was back in publication. The Traveler has an entire, wonderful chapter on acceptance which includes the quote at the beginning of this chapter. It’s worth repeating because I believe this is the dichotomous seed at the core of a melded Western and Eastern philosophy: “The most profound choice in life is to either accept things as they exist or to accept the responsibility for changing them.”
Accept. It’s the first guiding value.
How many times have you heard someone say “I made this great connection with someone at the breakfast gathering yesterday…” or something similar and thought “they get all the luck!”? I’ve thought it, I’ve been envious of those people. Surely you can think of those times in your life.
Good things happen all the time, but only to people who Show Up. I’m continually amazed at the number of people who never show up at a networking meeting and complain about not getting business leads. I’m amazed at the number of people who never show up at cultural events and complain there’s not enough to do. I’m amazed at the number of people who never show up for dinner and complain that they have a poor relationship with their family.
In my life it’s impossible to physically show up for everything I’d like to attend. Obviously, setting priorities is a sub-set of showing up, but you have to do it. To be successful you have to show up in your life. You have to be there. Sometimes that’s enough. You don’t always have to have a plan for working the room. You don’t always have to be the best one there, but for good things to show up in your life you have to show up to receive them.
For me, showing up means saying “yes” to almost every opportunity to give presentations or teach. If I can afford to be there, I go. Almost every business success I’ve ever received is saying “yes” when asked to show up. Sales is simply the task of creating opportunities to show up.
It’s a simple rule and a short chapter.
Accept, then Show up.
Lots of books exist on the topic of 100% attention, but few use the title because 100% attention shows up in almost all the different tasks we undertake. “Active Listening” requires 100% attention. “Meditation” is truly recognizing and practicing (in the context of getting better at something that doesn’t always come naturally – like “practicing” the piano) your ability to pay 100% attention.
Paying 100% attention to the task you’re engaged with is amazingly powerful. Your clients will know you care which is a true differentiation point from all your competitors who are not giving 100% attention to the person. Your spouse will light up when he or she knows they have your full attention. Your kids will know the love you feel for them when you don’t answer the phone, when your mind isn’t somewhere else.
100% Attention is truly “showing up” in each moment of your life and “accepting” either the moment as it exists, or your responsibility to change it–or both. To be 100% attentive is to be completely in the moment. It’s timeless. When you are 100% attentive there is no past, no future, only the now–which is the only thing we truly ever possess, but few ever appreciate.
When you are 100% attentive you can visualize, forgive, smile, remember, communicate, understand, give, receive, surrender, and accept. However, “simply” paying attention is not easy. It takes conscious effort and practice. It takes an understanding that power manifests in silence. The most powerful person in the meeting is usually the one who says the least, but is the most attentive to the discussion. As one of my mentors (a very financially successful and family-conscious man) stated off the cuff one morning at breakfast, “I’ve found that the more important the decision, the quieter I need to be.”
See if you can pay 100% attention to anything for even just 15 minutes without getting distracted. It’s hard. When you can do this you’ll find yourself in “the zone” and time will not exist. You will be in the bliss of the moment, and the people who are lucky enough to be with you at that time will be transported with you.
Accept, then Show Up and Pay 100% Attention.
The idea of having many irons in the fire may seem in conflict with the rule of paying 100% Attention. It’s not. In fact, I don’t think many humans have a chance of actually paying 100% attention to the things in their lives without having lots of things in their lives to pay attention TO.
Only a very few of the most highly-trained and focused minds can pay 100% attention to one thing very long. The images of meditating Eastern religious masters, or Medieval monks at prayer for hours a day come to my mind. While that sometimes sounds like a wonderful luxury and sometimes like the most boring existence on the planet, spending hours at a time in mediation, prayer, writing, painting, running, chopping wood, hiking, or any other task we enjoy is difficult at best in our society. We get interrupted. Our minds aren’t trained to pay 100% attention to one thing, person, task, or activities for more than a few short moments at a time. So, in order to be successful, I believe we need to have several irons in the fire.
A blacksmith keeps several irons in the fire so that he can pull one out at the right time, focus his 100% attention on that iron for the time needed, then move to the next iron. When I took a watercolor class in college, we were taught to have several paintings working at once so we could move from one painting to another allowing each to dry appropriately in turn. Almost anything worthwhile takes some time to “dry.” Working metal, wood, art, and even writing, needs time to mature into completion.
When you have several irons in the fire, you can pay 100% attention to each iron as it needs your attention, then move through each without losing your ability to pay attention and as a result over-working (“noodling”) or under working (neglecting) the activity. Businesses fail when they only work on the current project and fail to prospect, propose, sell, and bill for other projects.
Accept, Show Up, then Pay 100% Attention to each of the Multiple Irons you have in the fire during the time those irons need your attention, then move on to the next iron. At least some of those irons should be giving back, which is the next guiding value, Stewardship.
Every spiritual tradition gives humans the responsibility to take care of the planet and each other during our lifetimes. The way we are accountable for this responsibility through the three keys of stewardship: your time, your talent, and/or your treasure. You need to give back to the environment or society in order to keep the cycle of surrender and receiving positively fueled in your life. Some traditions call this “tithing,” but I prefer the term “stewardship” because we are the stewards of our existence – the caretakers of our world.
Time
Today’s fast-paced world makes time the most scarce commodity for many people. When we show up and give our time to a cause that makes a positive contribution to our environment (I use “environment” in a context beyond “green” causes…) we are being “stewards” of our world. This can be as simple as sitting behind an information desk, working the concession stand at the ball game, helping on the homecoming float, or serving on a board of directors for a local charity. Your time is truly a gift from the spirit of your life, share it.
Talent
I think everyone has at least one talent. When I was a kid at church, those talents were usually considered in the musical context, playing piano, leading the singing, etc. Beyond this scope, you might have a talent for financial management, and thus serve as treasurer, or a talent for gardening, and thus serve as grounds-keeper. Whatever your occupation, it probably evolved out of your talents. Give some of that talent back to the people that need it. If you’re “handy” work on a Habitat for Humanity home. If you’re a great writer, be a tutor for underprivileged kids. If you’re a naturalist, lead a scout troop. There are hundreds of opportunities all around you to give of your talents.
Treasure
Treasure is your money. I put this last, while many organizations (especially churches) seem to put it first. I think writing a check is easier than giving time and talent for most people. That doesn’t make giving money less important, because almost every organization or cause needs financial support to progress toward the fulfillment of a worthy mission, but to be successful, you can’t just write a check and go watch TV.
You should give your time first, which will probably involve the use of your talent, then in addition to the time and talent you’re giving, provide from your treasure. Sure, there will be many organizations to which you simply write a check, and you can feel great about that – just make sure there are some causes that you give of the more personal elements: time and talent.
Accept that you need to show up both for your own benefit and for the benefit of others, pay 100% attention to what you’re doing while your there then move on to the next iron in the fire, which must include some stewardship of the natural and societal environments in which we live.
It’s a short book. It took 39 years and one afternoon to write. It’ll take a lifetime to implement and will probably never be perfected. I accept that. I’m showing up for duty. I’ll try my best to give 100% attention to the iron I’m working on at the moment, while keeping many irons on the fire, including some irons that allow me to manifest my accountability to be a steward of my world.
I hope you will too.
This book is a gift. If you like it, consider making a gift of your own; maybe some time at helping your neighbor rake leaves, maybe writing a thank-you note to someone who doesn’t expect it, maybe an extra $10 to a local cause. Practice some stewardship today.
Strange Fire: 5 Winning Principles
Posted on | October 3, 2007 | No Comments
I just posted my latest ebook Strange Fire: 5 Winning Principles, for FREE download on the Guiding Value Web site. It’s short, only 10 or so pages to print out. Feedback has been good on the drafts. There may be a few typos, but I’d love to hear what you have to say. Just email me any comments you might have.
Tao
Posted on | September 16, 2007 | No Comments
I’ve been getting a lot of good out of the Tao lately. Here’s a good translation (as if I know “good” from “bad” translations…).
http://www.religiousworlds.com/taoism/
This looks fun
Posted on | July 27, 2007 | No Comments
Book Recommendations
About Kevin
Kevin E. Houchin is an attorney, artist, teacher, author, and principal of
Houchin Consulting, PLLC, a copyright, trademark, arts & entertainment,
business development, and branding firm located in Scottsdale, Arizona.
To schedule Kevin for keynote speeches, workshops, or seminars, call 970.231.2426
or email
kevin@kevinhouchin.com.