Allan G. Hunter's Blog, page 76

Occupy Wall Street?

Here's a link that will take you to a one minute video that will help to explain why people continue to occupy Wall Street. You'll enjoy its focused and pithy quality, I'm sure. Alan Grayson is the speaker.

http://www.politicususa.com/en/alan-g...

Or click on this link: Wall Street Occupation

Antwerp - a flying visit

I'm just back from Antwerp in Belgium, where I did some interviews for "The Wisdom of the Heart" documentary, due out in early 2012.  I'll be in good company. Deepak Chopra, Desmond Tutu, Marianne Williamson, Gary Zukav and others are already in this wonderful movie. I didn't get to hang out with them, but I was blessed in a different way, because I got to spend time with Baptist de Pape, Mattijs van Moorsel and Arnoud Fioole, the three inspired friends who are making it happen.

To be part of a splendid project is always a delight, but to be part of a project where the three main figures complement each other so well, and have so much shared vision, and generate such a magnificent synergy - that, my friends, is truly extraordinary.

Be grateful there are such visionaries in the world - bold people who make their vision reality, who urge us to live from our hearts, not just our heads.  Be very grateful.

Radio Broadcasts

This past week has been rather busy - between Dr Pat's radio show (more interviews to come on Sept 29th) and Summer McStavrick on VoiceAmerica.com I've found myself delightfully in demand.

The thing that I enjoy most is that in this age of video everything, with extra effects and music, there seems to be a robust call for interesting conversations on the radio. The media may like us to think it's all zippy effects and explosions, with rock music attached at brain-numbing levels, but I am not buying that.  Far more prevalent are the thoughtful conversations and explorations of intelligent radio hosts.

And for that I am deeply grateful.

The Dr Pat Show, today

Today, Saturday, at 3:30 EST I'll be speaking on the Dr Pat show as she participates in a three day event to Memorialize 9/11. The idea is not to dwell on the grief but to acknowledge how the fear and sadness can be transformed, if we choose, into love and forgiveness. Love and forgiveness are not soft options.  On the contrary, they are far stronger than the evil that terrorists can bring to us.

We can remove that darkness by bringing the light of love to dispel it.

If you want to be part of this event you can be.

Here's the link: http://0101.nccdn.net/1_5/277/358/0ec/Invite-Email.pdf

The Rhinoceros Party

Some of you may remember this fine political body as the joke party of Quebec, some years ago.  It derived its name from Eugene Ionesco's famous play "Rhinoceros", which was, as I recall, about how to deal with something that wouldn't go away.

Perhaps it's time to revivify this ancient and venerable party.  After all, we have Republicans as elephants, and Democrats as mules, and nothing can get done in Congress right now. A rhinoceros might be the creature to push through some changes. After all, it's big, strong, armor-plated, and well armed.

It's also desperately endangered, fighting for survival, exploited by poachers and other conscience-less individuals.

It could be a great symbol for the vanishing middle classes, don't you think?

Education

Thousands of young people will be heading, or already have headed, to college this September. About 30% of them in the USA will drop out by the end of their first year, for various reasons. Even those that remain are sometimes tortured with feelings of stress that they do not measure up, either academically or socially.

Luckily, many colleges are sensitive to this and extend helping hands. And many students do find themselves empowered, excited at their new potential, and happy to be making their way in life.

Yet, as an educator, I do sometimes feel that those 30% who do not make it must, truly, be suffering - at least some of them. It's never easy to have to give up on something. It's never easy to spend $40K or more and be disappointed.

Even though I know education is central to personal development, I wonder, sometimes:  is the present set-up the best way of educating people to be good, helpful, loving human beings? Isn't that at least one of the real aims? As our world becomes more crowded and the need for civility becomes more acute, perhaps we need to turn more attention to that?

Storms and Stuff

Hurricane Irene is headed our way and the media have told us to prepare for this emergency. Many people are piling up food and water and flashlights. Others are rushing around trying to find safe places to put their lawn furniture. Still others have headed for the hills.

Which asks the question: what actually is worth worrying about? And to what extent do we worry about the wrong things? I recently read Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky - all about the exodus from Paris in 1940, when everyone thought Hitler would flatten the city. The tale is terrifyingly human, as people worry about their china, their money, their papers, their pets…. And the tragic irony that completes the book is that Ms. Nemirovsky herself managed to save most of her essential belongings from a threat that turned out to be not a threat - and then was rounded up by fellow citizens and to be killed in a concentration camp.

Everything is just stuff, except for human life. Treasure it.

Circling

As a small child my parents would read to me from A.A. Milne's stories. One of the stories I remember best is when Pooh and Piglet decided to go hunting for Woozles. As they walk through the snow to where the think the Woozles are hiding they see, just ahead, a pair of tracks, side by side, and decide that these are the marks left by two Woozles, a big one and a small one. Going a little further they see that there are now four sets of tracks, and they begin to feel a little anxious. Then, a short while later they see that there are now six sets of tracks…

We know, of course, that they're walking in a circle and the tracks are their own, but the two animals become more and more concerned. As a child I laughed at this, feeling superior to these silly creatures.

As an adult, though, I found that there was something I could learn from this, since this is exactly what adults do when they're anxious. We let our minds circle around and around a problem, and as we do this we frighten ourselves with the marks left on our minds, caused by our own imaginations. Problems seem to get get bigger until they are terrifying. But it is all of our own creation.

At a higher level, too, this comparison can be helpful. Most of us, when we are facing a situation, tend to resort to this circling action. We're looking for a better way, we're looking for an easier way, we're looking for a way forward that will hurt us and others less. And while we do this we're circling the problem, making it larger, losing sleep.

The bottom line is that there is only one way forward, and that is straight ahead. But circling is what we do when we're afraid.

Synchronicity: The latest Interview with Lilou Mace

We recorded this video yesterday, and it felt so good to be in conversation with Lilou, again!! She's an astonishing spirit, and she's helping to spread the good word about how we can see our world differently, from a more loving place.

To see this video you can cut and paste this tag: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVYbfn...

Or you can click on this link.

Synchronicity: Lilou Mace.

The Shadow

If anyone feels the Shadow is not really a force to be taken seriously, the recent London Riots should disprove that.

The Shadow self can arise when those of us who haven't acknowledged our lawless impulses are overwhelmed by those feelings. Yes, Lawless impulses, and who doesn't have them?  Go on.  I know you did 40 in the 30 zone…  and so we find them welling up.

The Shadow surges forward when we feel disregarded, undervalued, and as if real fairness doesn't exist for us. Living in England as an under-employed person, perhaps a minority, and seeing the sly, disciminatory corruption that keeps the wealthy wealthy, well, who wouldn't feel that way? And then the Ego says, Hey: what about ME?

The Shadow takes a while to emerge, but when it does it's not a pretty event. This is true for each individual going through this process, and for the mobs that cave in to the Shadow's rumblings.  In short, it's true for us all.

[To read more about the Shadow, look at: The Path of Synchronicity]