Last night, into this morning, I was beginning to slip. I was getting down and loosing my enthusiasm. I was not excited about life. This happens from time to time, and for me it is an agonizing thing. I am the type of person who always has to be excited with something I am looking forward to. I must have a quest or adventure. For me, it also helps if I can see part of the mystery of The Universe along the way. Along with my adventure. I need to feel my connection and oneness with the Universe. A few hours or a day of not having this will tear me apart. As I said. I was beginning to slip. I went to bed early, feeling like something was missing.
This morning I awakened to my 5-year-old son Jordan coming in the room. As I walked him back to his room he told me “I had a dream it was my sister’s birthday.” I asked him which sister, because he has two, Mylan and Taylor. He said “my sister Taylor.” I was surprised. This was the first time Jordan has shared a dream with me that was not a rare nightmare, him being 5 and all. I proceeded to ask him a question or two, but all I got was it was her birthday and she had a party.
I walked away thinking, once again, that “here lately everybody seems to be telling me about their dreams. Now, even people in my life who don’t know that I interpret dreams are talking to me about them.” Then I began to think about my book I am writing on dreams. My next thought was “what time is it? I really want to go back to bed.” I looked at the clock. It was 5:40 A.M. Then I went to the bathroom. I thought “man would it be cool if I got a miracle and the time changed to 4:40 giving me another hour before my early morning reflection time.” Then I thought “that would be a super miracle, to happen again.” When I went into the other room it was 5:43. No super miracle for me. Now I was debating once again “do I go back to sleep or get up, meditate, write and reflect?” I chose to sleep until 6:30 and still have 30 minutes of free time before getting Jordan ready for school. When I laid down, all I could think about was Jordan’s dream. “Why did he tell me about it?” It felt like it was meant to be for a reason. There was not much to interpret. Then a thought hit me “what if it was not about interpreting his dream for him? What if it was about how it related to me getting up and writing more in my book about dreams? What if his dream came into my world, my waking dream, as a sign for me? What if it came in my life to remind me that” “this is what you are supposed to be doing Dad? It’s already past 5:30.” As I thought about all of this, my life felt very dreamlike and connected. I opened up my manuscript to another book I am working on that I open up randomly every morning to get my message for the day. It was relating a story about how my sister’s cat woke me up at the exact time I needed years ago. I elaborated on the story and then thought “this is the same thing that happened with Jordan this morning. I didn’t need an alarm clock to get me up. My 5-year-old son came and got me, practically saying “Dad it’s time to get up. You know I had a dream last night. Aren’t you supposed to be writing about such things at this moment?” As I thought about all of this, I felt so alive. I knew it was because I was doing what I was supposed to be doing, meditating, writing and reflecting first thing in the morning. I was back in my place. Later this morning, I was reminded about the principal message in the movie Hugo, which I happened to see yesterday. That message is, we must do what we are meant to do with our lives. If I try to stop even for half a day, I feel like I am dying. Think about it. What gives you life?
My theme for this week is the magic and mystery of work. I guess before I go any further I should explain what I mean by having a theme for the week. Long ago I discovered that my
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lessons seem to come in waves and one particular lesson may last for a week or longer. Sometimes it turns into a month or
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even a year. Whatever that deep spiritual lesson in my life at the time is, it seems to keep showing up everywhere I go. Not only does it show up everywhere I go but it takes me deeper and deeper into a a sort of mystical understanding of whatever the subject matter is. During these adventures I find myself more at one with my world and the universe on account of the incredible ways the same information keeps showing up everywhere. As I started out saying my theme has shifted to the magic and mystery of work.
Early yesterday morning my mom, Brenda Toodle and I were talking. The conversation
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went into what is the next move for her in terms of happiness and self-expression. Whenever such things come up I think about ways of giving and ultimately work. More than I think about the money, I reflect on the sense of giving and being alive. Later that morning I spoke to my mom, Aleatha Kimbrough. I am one of the truly blessed who has two moms and two dads. Anyway, back to my story. Mom Aleatha and I talked about retirement and how we must find purpose in life after retirement. If we don’t achieve this, in my opinion, we either die early or die while still living.
Later that morning I saw Cheryl, one of the members of our meditation group, at a meditation meeting. She had a blue book with her written by my param guru, Dr. Thind. This was unusual so I asked her about it. She said she wanted to read a passage from it during the meeting. After my lecture Cheryl talked about having trouble finding joy in her work, and how the passage in the book reminded her that she must find joy in the work itself and not in the outcome and outer rewards of the work. Last night, which is still the same day of course, I found myself watching the Oprah Winfrey Network. Oprah is interviewing George Lucas, the man behind Star Wars. He was talking about work and saying that you have to follow your bliss. He reminded me of his mentor Joseph Campbell, the master mythologist, as he talked. Just like Joseph Campbell, George Lucas also said that it can’t be about making money. You must work because you love what you do, to truly be happy. You must follow your bliss. This morning when I woke up I found myself thinking about work and my place in this world. I opened up a book by Russell Simmons, Super Rich, and he was talking about transitioning from doing work for money and survival to work you do simply to give. As I thought about all the information coming my way, I realized the magic of work is my theme for now and decided to be open to all it has to bring me. In the next couple posts I will elaborate on memories and discoveries in this area. For now I will leave you with this. Your work is your way of giving to the world. Even if you think you don’t like your work if you shift to thinking of it as giving and serving, the work will seem different. One more note. If you are still here, your work is not done. You still have some sort of work to do, something else to give. Get busy.
