5 FAVORITE INSPIRITING QUOTES

On my other blog today, I put some powerful quotes I think can be life-changing.

The Ultimate Prosperity: Using Time Well

I mentioned that I kept a composition book filled with quotes from among the 1000 books I read during my nearly 12 years in prison. This, along with the dozen or so legal pads I used as journals, will provide source material for several books in the future, as will a number of the 110 posts I've so far written for this blog, and the several dozen for my other, newer blogsite.

In looking over some of these quotes, I found the following five that I really like and which I found inspiriting, one of my favorite words. It is defined as "to fill with spirit," and, "to cheerfully encourage."

1. "You must understand the whole of life, not just one little part of it. That is why you must read, that is why you must look at the skies, that is why you must sing and dance, and write poems, and suffer; and understand, for all that is life."

Krishnamurti

2. "Wisdom lies in engaging the life you have been given as fully and courageously as possible and not letting go until you find the unknown blessing that is in everything."

Rachel Naomi Remen

3. "Most of us come from the past, and we re-create the present. Those who excel come from the future, their vision, their mission, and it pulls them forward."

J.F. Freedman

4. "We wouldn't care so much what people thought of us if we knew how seldom they did."

John Lanchester

5. "We don't forget. Our heads may be small, but they are as full of memories as the sky may sometimes be full of swarming bees. Thousands and thousands of memories, of smells, of places, of little things that happened to us and which come back, unexpectedly, to remind us who we are."

Alexander McCall Smith

And a bonus quote that, like the preceding five, can stir our thoughts and give us new fuel for considering what constitutes a life well lived and results worth celebrating.

"I am very impressed with the mind's ability to make a complete shift,

to keep a corner free."

Madeleine L'Engle

Are you keeping a corner of your mind free--for new ideas, new adventures in consciousness, even a new you?

Jerry

SUFI YES, KRAUTHAMMER NO

I suppose you could say of me, "once a newsman, always a newsman." Which is why I often, in the past twenty years, have found myself gritting my teeth at blatant distortions and underreporting, and journalistic malfeasance. And I'm not talking about Fox News, which deserves its own place in the Journalism Hall of Shame. No, I'm talking about the other major network newscasts, where reports often totally ignore historical perspective and fact checking.

When I started my broadcasting career in the 1960s, journalists were expected to do their homework before going on the air. One of the few who sticks to that code of honor is NBC's Andrea Mitchell, who was a friend and colleague at KYW Newsradio in Philadelphia. Perhaps it's the circumstances of the 24 hour news cycle that dictates little or no preparation before something is reported and labeled as a "fact" with little evidence that this is really so. But the pressures of getting stuff on the air and filling all that space is no excuse for the total lapse in journalistic integrity visible throughout the media.

Maybe it even goes back to the major deficiencies in today's education standards, with less an emphasis on American History, World History, Geography, Social Studies. These are not considered the "money courses" designed to help students eventually earn a living--unless, of course, they want to become news people.

And with general standards of quality so shoddy, it is no wonder that mere negligence has evolved into propagandizing and misrepresentation. Take Charles Krauthammer of Fox News, The Washington Post, and various other media outlets. I find him interesting and entertaining, I'll admit. He's actually a psychiatrist, and the fact he is confined to a wheelchair, which is rarely apparent ala FDR, is a testament to his courage, which I do admire him for. He is one of the more influential voices of the right, though I much prefer the non-shoot-from-the-hip style of David Brooks. He is also a solipsist, which has become one of my favorite words since I first discovered it in prison in 1997. It's the attitude that you are the only person in the world, at least the only person you can be sure exists. It is a quality often found in habitual criminals and famous pundits.

An example: On August 13th, in The Washington Post, Krauthammer wrote a column titled, "Sacrilege At Ground Zero," in which he stated:

"When recently asked whether Hamas is a terrorist organization, Imam Rauf replied, 'I'm not a politician...the issue of terrorism is a very complex question.'" Talking about leaving important stuff out. But this is part of the narrative right wing opponents of the New York Muslim Center known as Cordoba want us to believe, that Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf is favorably inclined towards and refuses to condemn Hamas. But I just watched the video of Iman Rauf's interview with Chistiane Amanpour on ABC's This Week, in which the Iman clearly states, "Whoever commits terrorist acts, I condemn--and Hamas has committed terrorist acts."

And you never hear the right wing commentators (and to be fair, it's also underplayed in mainstream media) refer to the Imam's Sufism. He is a Sufi, the mystical form of Islam, and a hated enemy of radical Muslims. In fact, just about a month before the Krauthammer article equating Iman Rauf with the radical extremists, a group of them blew up the Data Darbar Sufi mosque in Pakistan, 42 people were killed, and there have been many such attacks.

I get little indication that the people reporting on opposition to the center near Ground Zero even know what a Sufi is. I've long been an admirer of that tradition, going back to attending dance classes based on Sufism at the Unitarian Church in Miami in the 1970s. And I've often used Sufi stories and jokes, usually termed Sufi Tales, in my seminars. My longtime dear friend, Rupa Cousins, actually is a student of Sufism (while still considering herself a Jew and honoring that tradition). She is trained in one of that discipline's most notable cultural contributions, the dancing turn of the Mevlevi Sufi Tradition (Whirling Dervish) of Turkey, which traces back to the spiritual teachings of noted 13th century Persian poet and mystic, Rumi . Rupa also knows Imam Rauf and his reputation as a peacemaker over a number of years due to her own work as a peace activist and interfaith advocate.

The Imam is a major mover and shaker in interfaith activities between Muslims and people of other faiths. And he is a devout American, just returning from one of a number of diplomatic missions overseas sponsored by the U.S. State Department. One can have serious concerns about the symbolism of a Muslim Center two blocks from Ground Zero without demonizing the man or inciting violent reaction by lying about his spiritual discipline or politics.

Even the Iman says he wouldn't have gone ahead with the proposed location if he had known all the controversy it would stir up. He says he is a man of peace, not controversy. But any decision must be carefully thought out, as moving it could inflame irrational radical reaction around the world.

If this really is to be a center of interfaith cooperation, designed to show the Muslim world that Americans respect their religion and to show non-Muslim Americans that only a handful of the billion followers of Islam are violent nutjobs, then perhaps it belongs close to Ground Zero, and some have even suggested it should be moved closer, become a part of the rebuilt World Trade Center.

There is no excuse for ignorance in reporting, especially on sensitive and controversial issues. And I'll finish with a Sufi story collected by Iries Shah that Charles Krauthammer should read:

One guru tells another, "Always say things that cannot be checked." "Why?" asks the second guru. "Because," replies the first guru, "if you say 'Mars is peopled by millions of undiscernible beings, and I have met them,' people will not dispute it. But if you say, 'It is a nice day today,' some fool will always reply, 'But not as nice as it was yesterday'".

Jerry

Check out my blog focused on prosperity consciousness:

www.MoneyloveBlog.com

L'CHAIM! TO LIFE!

On another anniversary of 9/11, I am reminded of the Hebrew word L'Chaim, translated as "To Life!"

On that infamous day itself in 2001, I found out about 
the attacks as I was walking along a corridor in Building 3 of Folsom State Prison, on my way to my class at the vocational printing shop, where I was mostly trying to learn some computer skills. There was a shout from one of the cells, and a fellow inmate who also attended the class but had not had his cell opened for release yet, called me over as the small TV set in his cell had just shown the first plane flying into the World Trade Center. He was KW from Orange County and later would have an amazing story of miraculous escape to share. 

I continued on to the print shop and one of the computer experts had converted the antiquated large screen (we had no Internet access, of course) to a local TV channel and we watched in shock as the second plane crashed, and later as the buildings themselves came down. That period between the crashes and the unexpected collapse of the World Trade Center towers reminded me of the eye of a hurricane, with a terrible event, then reacting to it, then an even more terrible event transpired.

Of course, I was living in an isolated world back then, and the only real impact on my life was that my Jordanian friend, Abdullah, with whom I had enjoyed many heated debates over the Israeli-Palestinian dispute, disappeared from the print shop and Folsom itself. All the Arabs were taken away, I presume for their own protection. All prison inmates throughout California and probably the U.S., were put on a 24 hour lockdown that morning.

And then KW shared the story of his aunt. She was a highly regarded stockbroker for EF Hutton, working in upper floors of the World Trade Center. During visits to her daughter in Orange County, she faxed some work back to New York from a local office. The local branch offered her a job. It meant a pay cut, but her daughter was expecting her first grandchild, and she thought it would feel good to be nearby, so she accepted. 
That was just a few months before 9/11, and all her former co-workers died in the collapse of the towers.

And then, when I talked to a friend in New York, making sure she was okay, she had her own amazing tale of fortuitous escape. A friend of hers from California flew out on September 10th, on the red eye, for an important breakfast meeting at the World Trade Center. But because of jet lag, she overslept, not hearing her alarm go off. She was very upset about missing the appointment until she turned on the TV and saw how narrowly she had avoided a fiery death.

I'm sure there are lots more stories of such close calls, and in fact have thought it would make a great inspiring book.

It is unfortunate that we have to constantly be reminded how very blessed we all are to have survived the trials and tribulations and disasters all around us. Every minute of every day is deserving of our raising a glass and shouting L'Chaim!

Jerry

TAKING TIME AND SPACE

On this Monday, I posted the following on Facebook:

Jerry Gillies The start of a rare week, with absolutely nothing scheduled. Not a phone call, or deadline of any kind, or business or social meeting. A hermit-like existence sure to inspire new creative outbursts, but none are scheduled.

This got me to thinking about the value I place on creating unfilled periods of time and unfilled space in my life. When I was in Folsom State Prison, there was a one year period that I considered my best of my entire twelve years of incarceration (you can read my prison story in the Appendix of the free Moneylove Manifesto, which you can download at my other blog:

http://moneyloveblog.com/

though I didn't include this particular episode.) I had bribed the housing clerk to keep my cell just for me, single cell status. It cost me $15 a month, but was more than worth it in terms of the extra privacy it gave me to write and think and meditate.

Now, I guess it goes without saying, that like most writers, I am basically a loner. I love people, and even lived in a commune from 1994-1996, and really enjoy being a part of workshops with dozens or hundreds of participants, whether I'm leading them or just one of the students. But I also love opportunities to enjoy my own company, and have even traveled cross country alone in a motorhome several times. (Well, maybe I was cheating, because I had my two cats with me.) I've also crossed the Atlantic on the Queen Elizabeth II by myself, and have done extensive trips lasting months in Europe and South Africa. I'm fortunate, I think, to have a balance between liking the company of others and that of myself alone.

With so much rapid change occurring the the world at an ever-increasing pace, it's vital that we each give ourselves time and space for surprises, for those unexpected events or transitions from the way things were to the way they are going to be. Part of the current unemployment crisis is because many people so filled their lives with the work they were doing that they didn't have the time to realize the old parameters were changing. In my father's time, you worked diligently for a company and could expect to be rewarded with guaranteed job security and a generous pension. What a shock it must be to have that traditional expectation dashed to the ground in today's world. I've talked to many people who are doing well in today's economy. Most of them gave themselves time and space to explore new areas, new uses for their talents and skills, so they had an alternative when all hell broke loose.

How are you with empty time and space? The degree to which you can see these as golden opportunities may indicate whether you have room in your mind and your life for dramatic new events.

I remember a workshop my friend, Jack Canfield, did at a psychology convention some years ago. He borrowed an exercise from our mutual friend and pioneering psychologist Jack Gibb. After introducing himself to the sixty or so participants sitting around a hotel meeting room, he shut up and didn't say a word. Five minutes went by, then ten, then twenty. Grumbling among the participants started. We had all paid for the workshop, so there were some shouts demanding money back. One man stood up and said he was going to create something positive in the adjoining room, and anyone was welcome to join him. Many did. All through this experience, I was thinking to myself, "I would never have the nerve to do this in a workshop, especially one people had paid for." But Jack did, and he trusted that it would produce valuable insight, and lots of material we could all work on about two hours after the workshop began, when he began to conduct the organized part of his program.

How do you think you would have reacted in these circumstances? I once went on a thirty day Zen retreat. While in prison, one of the things that made it bearable was that it was easier than the retreat. As horrible as prison food is, it was tastier than the bland brown rice dishes the Buddhist monks served. And we had to be silent 23 hours a day, except for one hour during a class in which we could ask questions. There was no reading allowed, no phone or TV or radio. And it cost $3000! Oh, and the beds were straw mats, much less comfortable than prison bunks. Of course the big difference was that I could leave anytime I wanted, not so at Folsom. But it produced a powerful realization of the power of silence, and the rewards of inner experience. Doing that inner work is what saved my sanity in prison, and allowed me to go through the twelve years with a sense of optimism and positive creative energy.

Time now to go back to my week of empty time and space, sure to fill up with some more ideas and happy surprises.

Jerry

THE WAITING GAME CAN'T BE WON

First of all, let me say this: There is nothing wrong with once-in-a-while wasting time, getting caught up in a completely nonsatisfying and noncreative and nonproductive waiting game.

We all do it, in business, in personal relationships, in living normal lives.

But we should also understand that there is no way to really come out ahead when you even temporarily postpone living in exchange for something you are waiting for down the road a bit. I reaffirmed this for myself in recent weeks as I discovered that I was playing my own waiting game. For one thing, I am waiting to hear from the powers that be whether I will be released one year early from my three year parole commitment--and thus free to get a passport and travel and generally get on with my life. If you a newcomer to my blog and life story, you can catch up by going to the very first posting on this blog, WHERE IN THE WORLD IS JERRY GILLIES? or by reading the Appendix in my free ebook, The Moneylove Manifesto, available at: http://www.MoneyloveBlog.com

Then, I am waiting for two major mentions of my Moneylove Club audio subscription series in two very widely distributed newsletters. Both have been promised by the publishers, who say they are huge fans of my work, but obviously promoting my site is not one of their major priorities as this has been going on for several months now.

So how am I dealing with this? Well, for one thing, by realizing I was indeed playing a waiting game, and understanding that this is not a winning strategy for me or anyone else. Yes, all three of these events can profoundly improve my life--but giving up present time action and momentum isn't going to make them happen any faster. So instead of waiting, I am now doing, being, preparing, and affirming the results I want. I am planning some of the initial traveling I will do once I am off parole and able to get a passport. I am producing my audios as if I already have an audience of thousands, rather than the dozens of charter subscribers now enrolled. And I am exploring other ways to reaching a wider audience, writing articles, looking into affiliate arrangements, and putting myself out there more rather than waiting for others to do so.

Oh, there are still moments of frustration, even anger at being at effect of other people's decisions rather than at cause through my own efforts. But then I remind myself that other people are never responsible for our success or failure, unless we turn over that responsibility to them.

I learned a lot about waiting during 12 years in prison. Waiting a week to make the one 15 minute phone call we were allowed, waiting for mail, waiting for a quarterly package of food treats, waiting in line for a shower, and for meals. And I came out with a lot more patience, and also knowing that the waiting for anything doesn't have to be the primary event happening in that moment. It's what you are thinking and doing and feeling during those waiting times that decides your success. It's what makes you a human being rather than a lump just sitting on a shelf waiting for something to happen.

You can waste a whole life being that frog in the pond waiting for a Prince or Princess to come along and kiss you. In the meantime, you could instead be practicing kissing some cute frogs, taking a course on The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective Kissing, taking vitamins to make your lips the softest, most desirable lips anyone could imagine, or think about whether life in a beautiful pond in the middle of a beautiful forest, isn't preferable to life in a cold castle with a partner who is a member of the notoriously inbred royal persuasion.

(I know, it's one of my silliest analogies ever--but I don't care!)

Jerry

RAMBLING THOUGHTS FROM A RANDOM THINKER

So, as I realized I had no specific subject in mind for this edition of this blog, the words "random" and "rambling" popped into my head. Things popping into my head are what I usually describe as random or rambling thoughts--spontaneous. A sort of personal brainstorming done without judging or editing. It's a practice I highly recommend to anyone wanting to stir up their creative juices.

The dictionary describes "random" as occurring without definite aim, reason, purpose, or pattern.

Well, that certainly describes a lot of my creative process. I've often heard novelists talk about how they start with a character or two, set a beginning, and let the characters do the rest. And often the work I get most praised for is work done spontaneously, in the moment, just allowing stuff to pop into my head and then sharing it.

This is very similar, at least to me, to the term "rambling." The dictionary says rambling is:

"to wander around in a leisurely, aimless manner." So as I have these two terms pop up to describe how this entry is going to happen, I end up talking about these two terms. That is certainly leisurely and somewhat aimless, wouldn't you say?

Another definition for "rambling" is: to take a course with many turns or windings. And doesn't that sound like a definition of life itself?

DO YOU HAVE A FREE RANGE MIND?

When you go to an elegant restaurant, "free range chicken" is considered a superior version of the old cooked bird. I guess being free to roam over the range makes for a happier chicken. Of course, then there's the existential question of whether you would rather eat an animal slaughtered in the midst of its happiness or one whose slaughter put it out of its misery? I'll have to think about that, randomly and in a rambling way, of course.

But I do believe that having a free range mind, the willingness and ability to allow your mind to wander leisurely and aimlessly down all sorts of winding internal roads, will make you more able to come up with worthwhile creative thought.

Some people are not capable or comfortable with an improvisational mindstyle. They much prefer having everything they say and do scripted precisely. I guess it's like trying to compare apples and oranges. Then again, wouldn't it be better to compare two other more incompatible

items? After all, apples and oranges are quite similar--both sweet, tree grown fruits. Both vivid versions of the same primary color, and often found together in fruit bowls or on Carmen Miranda's hats (I know I date myself here). It would make much more sense to use two other items that really are rarely found together, like "frogs and screwdrivers," or "broccoli and pelicans," or even "apples and scooters."

Then again, we probably will continue to use "apples and oranges". Things don't have to make sense to make a point. Which, after all, is my point, arrived at in my random, rambling way.

Jerry

And to view another side of this random thought machine known as Jerry Gillies, check out http://www.MoneyloveBlog.com

LESS NEWS MAY BE GOOD NEWS

I have, for at least the past 15 years or so, been disappointed, frustrated, angered, and sometimes simply astonished at some of the current deficiencies in the news media I was once a part of. So many times even national network anchors report on stories which they obviously have not checked and usually have no historical knowledge of from which to place the story in perspective.It's as if they never read newspapers or books on anything happening more than a few months ago.

I enjoy it when Jay Leno does one of his famous Jaywalking bits, where he asks ordinary people very easy questions, like who fought in World War II, who's the Vice President of the United States, and is President Obama a Democrat or Republican? It's shocking and funny how many answer incorrectly, and some of these people are college students or even teachers. But I'm not sure most so-called news people in today's 24/7 media could answer any better.

When I was a newsman for WRVA Radio in Richmond, Virginia; KYW Newsradio in Philadelphia; and NBC and WINS NewsRadio in New York, we were held to much higher standards. We were expected to be well-read, educated in current events and history going back at least 50 years.

I became nostalgic for this bygone era when I tuned in this past weekend to one of my favorite news and information shows, Inside Washington, which originates on the local ABC television station in Washington, D.C., and is carried in selected other markets. I catch it online every week. http://www.insidewashington.tv/

In this particular edition, moderator Gordon Peterson opened by commenting on the controversy surrounding Shirley Sherrod, a black women condemned and fired for making a racist remark during a speech. Except she never made it, the whole story, which started with an edited and doctored video posted on a conservative website, and then was trumpeted by Fox News, was a big lie, as in the kind of Big Lie perpetrated by Hitler's Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels. Even the Obama Administration acted stupidly and prematurely, and followed the herd mentality by firing her. The President has since apologized to Sherrod and offered her a better and bigger job. But it does point out the deficiencies of today's news media in terms of accuracy, diligence, and integrity. Gordon Peterson said:

"Some of you may remember the good old days of newspapers, TV and radio news, when you had hours to work on your story, and your editors and producers had plenty of time to sift through your stuff for accuracy. If you remember that, you're a dinosaur! Welcome to the blogosphere, the burn-out pace of online news, and the 24 hour instant deadline."

Well, call me Tyrannosaurus Rex, because I do remember that time. I remember one story at KYW NewsRadio in which Andrea Mitchell (yes, that Andrea Mitchell) and I worked for a couple of weeks checking out facts before we were allowed to go on the air with our report. I'll admit there have been times over the years when I wondered where I'd be if I had stayed in that career. It was fun and exciting. Andrea still seems to be the hard-working and impeccably prepared reporter she was back then when we were colleagues and friends. But she and a few others are rarities, dinosaurs if you will. And I'm happy to have quit when I was ahead, and the quality of news media was way ahead.

Jerry

(If you haven't discovered it yet, check out my prosperity blog, from which you can download my latest book, an online edition titled The Moneylove Manifesto, and even access a free sample audio from The Moneylove Club. http://www.MoneyloveBlog.com)