Trust the Alchemist Within

Notice the alchemist within knows the moment arises when nothing and everything happens. Without effort we never get here. Yet, with effort, nobody ever reaches it. As we reach the peak of our effort, it dawns our effort is futile. Suddenly, all that we can do is done, and no need exists to do anything else.

This said, nobody can drop "it all" part way. Wisdom arises within like energetic activations based on experience. The hero's journey must come full circle- quest must be undertaken to completion for the fruit to emerge energetically. So, go to the extreme. Put everything, total heart and soul, into it, until it dawns effort is not going anywhere. Effort is itself a teacher. Only then, it drops on its own accord. Meditation happens, not as the result of efforts, but as a happening. As efforts drop, suddenly meditation is. This is not a state we enter into but radiance surrounding everything. It fills the whole earth and sky. True meditation cannot be created by limited human effort. The truth is infinite. It cannot be manipulated. It happens only in full surrender. Without surrender, true meditation cannot happen. That is, its about no-self — no desire, not going anywhere — when you are just here-now, not doing anything in particular, just being present, it happens.

The hook of a mystery

Something about the hook of a great mystery engages millions of readers.  Recent surveys reveal that thrillers and detective novels outsell all other fiction.  Something absolutely astonishing is happening.  More and more of us are engaging vicariously in the lives of protagonists who get murdered, are muderers themselves or, seek out and bring these murderers to justice or forgive them, if the conditions are right.  Not everyone goes to jail or gets hanged or the electric chair.  

Consider that Adventure & Action films are the most popular and Drama is number three in most popular movie genres in North America 1995-2019. The popularity of the film clip Next to Me by Imagine Dragons echoes how gut-wrenching and controversial death row is in real life, yet we watch films about it. Recall The Green Mile with Tom Hanks.  Millions were captivated. Fear of death and fear of life are why we are riveted by uncomfortable stories. What else stands out?

What stands out is that mysteries often involve multiple genres, including drama, and invite us to emote or live vicariously through characters who act in ways we rarely if ever do in real life. Could the growing popularity of mysteries/ dramas be saying we are growing more excited about decoding mysteries in our own lives?   Many of us enjoy losing ourselves in a great movie or book, but how many of us realize we are hooked to something directly related to what is happening inside ourselves? To our perception and consciousness... 

Look at it this way: virtually everyone experiences anger and has thoughts of what to do about it.  Yet, not everyone allows negative energy to control their action, like Kathy Bates in Stephen King's Misery, at least, not every moment. The idea muderers are so popular invites reflection. 

As we breathe our way through events in our daily lives, we encounter different events and must decide how to respond.  Much like Bilbo Baggins of The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien or other of our favorite characters, we are each on a Hero's journey.  We are called to adventure.  We encounter perceived challenges and must decide whether or not to succomb to temptations.  We  consult mentors, experience revelations and shifts in perception and conditions. This is how we balance the psyche, make the unconscious, conscious or the unknown know. The ultimate mystery is ourselves and we have repeated opportunities to explore and forge a path to deeper self understanding.  We are each like Paulo Coelho's Alchemist.  We are inviting ourselves to breathe our way to clarity.

Invite fictional characters to dinner?

Imagine the dinner conversations that would develop from a lively mixture of your favorite fictional characters. Consider what your guest list would tell you about yourself, your priorities, values, fears and expectations for your life in reality. Perhaps you dream you had the abilities and traits of these characters? What's to say your focus on these protagonists doesn't help you pinpoint meaningful purpose, ambition or traits you can develop in yourself? My top 15 choices are listed below:

1) Ellis Peter's medieval detective monk Brother Cadfael
2) Patricia Cornwell's pathologist-detective Dr. Kay Scarpetta
3) Paulo Coelho's Santiago (the Alchemist),
4) Charles Dicken's "reformed" Scrooge (*A Christmas Carol)
5) Ian Flemming's James Bond (007)
6) Agatha Christie's Miss Jane Marple or Hercule Poirot
7) Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes
8) Jules Verne’s Phineas Fogg (*Around the World in 80 Days)
9) Pamela L. Travers’ Mary Poppins
10) J.K. Rowling's Dumbledore (okay, and Harry Potter Hermoine Granger too!)
11) J.R.R. Tolkien's Gandalf (*Lord of the Rings)
12) Yoda (*Star Wars)
13) L.M. Montgomery's Anne Shirley (*Anne of Green Gables)
14) Mary Magdelan (*The Bible)
15) William Shakespeare's Hamlet

Success as you are

At this moment, you can feel successful before you do anything.  Other people would love to live the life you lead. Yet true success is not about comparison.  Remind yourself that you set examples for others wherever you go and whatever you do.  Even people you don't see or notice are influenced by you. As you grow more conscious that all you do matters, then what? 

Enjoying life and feeling successful are grounded in how you choose to perceive the "here and now."  You can be as content as you decide you'll feel, and you'll become as successful as you wish.  You may have a history full of examples of suffering, tragedy, grief and loss.  You could recount your experiences to others in ways that cause them to cry or, you could choose to develop a story of motivation, perseverence and triumph.  How you choose to interpret and imagine things affects your morale, your attitude and the many ways in which your life unfolds.

What matters is how you feel.  Results may happen as you envison or not yet, you always have a choice to focus on benefits of experience and what lessons you have learned.  You are successful because you are alive and growing.  No matter what your age, you have valuable experience behind you and opportunities in front of you.  Anything that's ever mattered to you, all the people, projects or issues you've cared for, help explain why you're a success. You refine this success even now.

"When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too." -Paulo Coelho