A Personal Revolution, A Hidden Sunrise, Taking Back Control of One’s Mind

“The most important kind of freedom is to be what you really are. You trade in your reality for a role. You trade in your sense for an act. You give up your ability to feel, and in exchange, put on a mask. There can’t be any large-scale revolution until there’s a personal revolution on an individual level. It’s got to happen inside first.”
— Jim Morrison

It’s July 13th, and it’s a little chilly up here at 8232. It’s 6:00 a.m., my wife and pup are sleeping, the coffee is made, the fireplace is to my right, the sunrise is hidden behind some low flying clouds.  I’m speaking in about an hour to a group in New Mexico.  Thankfully it’s virtual; I’m going to spread some news.

We had a great day yesterday. We had a couple of leftovers staying with us.  A Couple of Avett Brother’s friends had extended their trip.  They headed to the condo yesterday afternoon and stayed there last night before flying home.   We took some us time once they left; a house full is fun but limits our alone time.  We enjoyed our time then went for a hike with our pup; we got back and cleaned up our email. 

We then got ready and headed to the iconic restaurant in our area, the Bistro, to meet our friends Matt and Deb Ward.  They are good friends; Matt was the lead on our home remodel project.  The food was excellent; we got home about 8:00, watched some silly television before hitting the bed about 9:00.   I slept until 5:30, then laid with my wife until 6:00.  I love being married to the love of my life.

I’ll pen a few thoughts, then I’ll speak, then we have a closing on our house refinance; pro tip, if you have not refinanced lately, the rates are silly.  I’ve got a few other meetings; I’m wrapping up one client teaching program today, looking to add another group this month. So I think tonight we will just hang out at home and enjoy each other.  

I’ve been doing some work on myself, doing about forty-five to an hour of meditation every day.  I must say I have a renewed clarity of mind, I’m able to control my mind better than ever before, and I’m only two weeks into this program.  I don’t do it all in one sitting, I’ll do five minutes here, twelve minutes there, but throughout a day, I’m getting in my time just to be.  My senses have become sharper; I can see like never before, my hearing is tuned up, my sense of touch has improved, my sense of taste and smell has recently left me.  Kidding; that’s a free throw over COVID joke.

What I’m learning is we are in total control of our lives.  Yes, something bigger than us is always at work, in the background, pushing buttons, impacting our lives, but your mind is yours to control. So here’s a question, do you manage your mind, or does your mind control you?  It’s a fair question; I think we all have those little voices inside our heads telling us lies, judging others, providing negative thoughts and ideas.  But you can train your mind to catch when the mind begins to misbehave; you can reset and look at everything as a gift and opportunity.  

On our walk yesterday, my Queen shared that she was looking back at her life in 10-year increments.   It’s an exercise she is doing, and she focused on her life from forty to fifty.  That’s when I arrived in her life; we had some tough times; in her words, our lives became a shit show, but looking back, the shit show allowed us to arrive here in paradise.  Life is not fair, but life is just. So please understand if your life is a shit show today, there is a path to heaven.

Chimes are ringing in the distance. Fortunately, the owner of the house left their “bear chimes.”  It’s a constant sound around here, sometimes you can tune it out, but it’s a natural soundtrack of our lives if you listen. They are turning the wind into a song that changes as the days pass.

The sunrise today was not spectacular, the clouds hid my friend rising, but I suspect tomorrow I’ll get to see the show.  The sun is now moving back across the sky.  The sun moves from left to right during the year until she hits the solstice and then begins moving from left to right.  I never noticed the sun’s movement; I’m sure the moon is a mover and shaker, but I’m not a moon guy; I’m a sun guy; the moon is when my dream machine revs up her engines.

We had some friends last week for a show at Red Rocks.  Bill and Carla were great guests, and he confided in me he no longer reads my work daily; he noted, “your writings are much longer than before?”  First of all, I don’t expect or believe that anyone reads my work every day. However, a check-in now and then is what I would suspect most people favor. So, with regards to the length of my work, yes, it’s longer; it’s now about 1000 words a day vs. the old 500 words a day; I made the switch last year during the pandemic, I thought I was not giving the true essence of my mind, short forming my thoughts and ideas and so I expanded my morning exercise.

It is interesting to me what resonates with folks; the most read thing I’ve written in the last two months was my Air B and B horror story.   I guess if it bleeds, it leads, but I’m not a bleeder most days; I’m writing from a place of joy and happiness, and for most, that is not of interest. So get the widow on the set; we need dirty laundry.  

That’s enough, enough of my mind being emptied before I start my day.  I often wonder about you, why you read my work, but don’t take the time to dump your mind.  You need not share, I have my reasons for publishing, but you, maybe you could benefit from a daily or perhaps weekly mind dump of what is rattling around in that skull of yours.  It’s just an idea, a thought if you will, you do you, and I’ll do me, and forever we will be free.

“The most important kind of freedom is to be what you really are. You trade in your reality for a role. You trade in your sense for an act. You give up your ability to feel, and in exchange, put on a mask. There can’t be any large-scale revolution until there’s a personal revolution on an individual level. It’s got to happen inside first.”
— Jim Morrison