A third practice of honorable closure to the year is gratitude.  Gratitude comes from the Latin “gratus” and means to be thankful. Gratitude acknowledges the gifts of abundance and generosity that we have received. We meet these gifts with open-heartedness and receptivity, the practices of respect that honor what we have been given. Cicero, the Roman philosopher and orator, confirms this view. “Nothing is more honorable,” he writes, “than a grateful heart.”

Giving thanks and being appreciative is recognition that we are upholding meaning in our lives.  All that we value, including work and creative projects, intimate relationships, health and well-being, and the chance to follow a path that has heart and meaning, are honored when we are thankful.

Michael McCullough and Robert Emmons studied gratitude and suggest that there are tangible benefits, including “higher reported levels of alertness, enthusiasm, determination, optimism and energy.” Other benefits reported include reduced levels of stress and depression, and more effectiveness in achieving personal goals. To Visionmakers this is an important signal: the Fire of Purpose is being fuelled by gratitude for the journey to meaning. Ellie Weisel, Nobel laureate and holocaust survivor suggests:

“When a person doesn’t have gratitude, something is missing in his or her humanity.  A person can almost always be defined by his or her attitude towards gratitude.”

 

As we reflect on the year that is closing, what are we grateful for that has deepened our experience of being alive?

• What has surprised and delighted me this year?

• Who or what was deeply moving?

• What was accomplished that heightened my sense of purpose?

• What relationships grew or changed for the better?

• Who helped me this year?

• Who inspired me?

• What did I see in the world around me that was uplifting?

• What encounters did I have with nature that were healing or energizing?

• What challenges emerged that I faced that I am better for as a result of the experience?

• What people entered my life who made a difference?

• Who passed away that I was honored to have known and loved?

• What strangers crossed my path who were important teachers?

• Who were the teachers of my heart?

This is the final post of the year.  I am grateful to all of you who have visited Visions. I have been deeply moved by how many of you have made the journey to this site-in the thousands.  You have come from a wide geography, Visionmakers from all parts of the United States and Canada, Europe, Asia, Australia, the Middle East, South America, and the Caribbean. I hope that these posts have supported your path of heart and meaning.  

In the New Year, I will be providing some thoughts about beginning well.  The old proverb, “in the beginning is everything” is true.  Visionmakers recognize that to initiate something is an act of power. Who would enter a fresh container of time like a New Year unconsciously, or with a cavalier attitude?

Happy New Year.

© Patrick O’Neill 2008. All rights reserved.

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A second practice for completing the year well is forgiveness. Visionmakers see forgiveness as an act of personal mastery because it recovers energy and personal power from the unresolved past. The unresolved past diverts energy from the present moment, the domain of manifestation. It is important, then, that emotion, intellect and will, the fundamental ingredients of personal power, are focused on generating purposeful acts, rather than hanging on to the past.

Every path of heart and meaning will have its share of disappointments, betrayals, disagreements, loss and difficult people. It is part of the larger design of Destiny that we should be tested like this-through tests of the heart. These kinds of challenges require us to grow and mature rather than fixate on a negative impact.  Obviously, easier said than done.  But then, Visionmaking is not a path of comfort and ease. It is a path of challenge.

We all have forgiveness work to do. Visionmakers see forgiveness as a completion of a cycle of gaining greater clarity and discernment.  Where we have refused to see clearly, dismissed the obvious, mistrusted our intuition, colluded to our own deception or made assumptions and neglected to do the homework to ensure our assumptions were correct, we will have collisions with reality. We are culpable.  We must take our share of responsibility for this unwillingness to see.

It is possible that we have also been party to the injury of others, consciously or unconsciously, through acts of commission or omission. Therefore, we have contributed to breakdown in another person’s world. Two practices of forgiveness–reparation and rectification–allow us to recognize a negative impact and seek to restore the relationship to its former state of well-being. The knowledge gained from being impacted or impacting another person sharpens the eye, opens the heart and builds greater discernment for future.

The following invocation from the Buddhist tradition was introduced to me by Angeles Arrien. Over the years, it has provided great comfort and a means to exorcise the past. I hope that it provides solace to you as well in this time of honorable closure to the year:

If I have harmed anyone in any way,

Either knowingly or unknowingly,

Through my own confusion,

I ask their forgiveness.

If anyone has harmed me in any way,

Either knowingly or unknowingly,

Through their own confusion,

I forgive them.

And if there is a situation

I am not yet ready to forgive,

I forgive myself for that.

For all of the ways that I harm myself,

Negate, doubt, belittle myself,

Judge or be unkind to myself,

Through my own confusion,

I forgive myself. 

 

© Patrick O’Neill 2008. All rights reserved.

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As 2008 winds down, it is important that Visionmakers ensure that the year ends well so that the New Year can open cleanly. Carrying additional baggage from the past weighs down the momentum of the journey forward and makes it increasingly burdensome to move ahead. Reflection, the ability to turn the eyes from the exterior landscape to the interior landscape, assists in the survey of what needs to be completed to close the year without regret.

Completion is a purposeful act that retires aspects of tasks and relationships that remain unfinished due to lack of attention, avoidance, poor planning, or procrastination. Of course, in any large or long-term endeavor, there will be always things to do that require ongoing attention. Completion is different in that its primary focus is on issues arising from half-heartedness, closed-heartedness, weak-heartedness and doubting-heartedness. These four conditions reduce a Visionmaker’s ability to see the path of heart and meaning with the acuity necessary for a continued successful journey.

From today to December 31st is the perfect time to pause and examine the following questions as a means of seeing those issues, problems or impacts that require attention before the end of the year and to make a plan to bring them to completion:

“Where have I been half-hearted in my tasks and relationships?  What has that cost me?  What do I need to do to restore full-heartedness and full commitment in my tasks and relationships? What are the steps that I need to take to retire these issues or make progress in their resolution?”

 

“Where have I been closed-hearted or hard-hearted? What has that cost me?  What are the steps that I need to take to reopen or soften my heart?  What do I need to do to repair or rectify these situations with others?”

 

“Where have I been weak-hearted, lacked the courage to be myself, or the strength to stand up for my vision?  What has that cost me?  What do I need to do to strengthen my heart and fund courage in my life?  Who or what do I need to face to restore my confidence and self-respect?”

 

“What issues or problems have I been unable to gain the clarity I require to choose well and take the decisive steps that are required to move on?  Where has complexity overcome me or disquieted me?  What about these issues or situations frighten me or evoke fear of failure? How can I look at these problems in an objective way that restores clarity and perspective?  Who can assist or advise me on how to gain the perspective I seek?”

 

An old proverb states: “In the quiet mind, all things are possible.” Visionmakers see that the road to the quiet mind begins in the heart. That road requires our vigilance and attention to ensure swift and safe passage.

 

© Patrick O’Neill 2008. All rights reserved.

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All too often, those of us with large dreams for work, creativity and community forget that the journey of love, family and relationship is central to a meaningful life. We get so immersed in the daily pursuit of professional achievement that we forget to attend to the journey of intimacy. As a result, we find ourselves growing distant from those we love.

Such preoccupation can arrest the development of the heart. It also undermines the bonds of love and affection that are necessary for the experience of closeness and connection, so central to our health and well-being. It is a real and growing danger that can undermine our happiness and the happiness of those we love. Angeles Arrien makes an astute observation when she suggests that many people come home from work every day, talk to their spouse or partner about work and the kids, and mistake that for attending to the relationship. Then, they are surprised when the relationship lacks fire or falls apart.  

It is little wonder that intimate relationships drift from lack of focused attention, energy and careful stewardship. Intimacy is a mystery to be explored, not a routine to be taken for granted. Many of us have worked hard to clarify our aspirations and goals for our work in the world. But what of our vision for our committed relationship, our family, our friends and neighbors? A vision for family and relationship develops through four practices:  open-heartedness, authenticity, generosity and gratitude.

Open-heartedness

To be open means that we are accessible, available, candid and unguarded.  It is the ability to allow those we love into our thoughts, feelings, and dreams. We are receptive to those who are most beloved in our lives and honor them with our focus and attention, as though they were our honored guest. To be open-hearted means that we recognize that time together is a gift to be used consciously and that the journey of relationship is time-bound. We can’t take it for granted. Open-heartedness means that we are giving of our affections and willing to forgive a mistake.  

Openness also means that we provide a safe space for other people to share with us what is most important to them.  We listen. Too often, our loved ones are met by a wall of judgment and criticism rather than understanding and support. Ultimately, open- heartedness allows love to be given and received, which is the journey of intimacy in a nutshell.

Authenticity

Learning to “say what’s so when it’s so” and to “tell the truth without blame and judgment”, are two important principles of the Four-Fold Way, by Angeles Arrien. These principles are both the test and requirement for healthy relationships.  Many people believe that intimate relationships require social lying if they are to survive. Social lying is saying what we think someone wants to hear or withholding our thoughts or feelings because we don’t think another person can handle them. Nothing could be more damaging.

Authentic communication keeps relationships present, rather than focused on past transgressions, disappointments or grievances.Talking through problems rather than pretending they don’t exist is a sign of relational maturity. Love is not immune to disagreement. Nor does it prevent misunderstanding or hurt feelings. In those moments, when anger and resentment tempt us to withdraw our affections, we must be able to place our allegiance to the relationship first and work through the differences that separate us until real resolution can be found.

Gratitude

“The practice of gratitude keeps the heart open,” is a saying by a very wise woman that I know. The gift of family and friends is a blessing that supports our journey of the heart. Such a gift is not to be taken lightly or treated in a cavalier fashion. Those who have been blessed by love with a spouse or intimate partner, children, parents, siblings, or close friends, is wealthy in a way that material abundance can never touch.

To recognize that wealth, and be thankful for it daily, is a practice that contributes to nurturing those important bonds of the heart. Be deeply touched and moved at the miracle of companionship on a path of heart and meaning. It is a blessing and a comfort, especially in those times when the way is difficult and challenges appear around every corner.

Generosity

Generosity is the natural response of a heart filled with gratitude. When the heart is full, we naturally look to share that abundance with those that we love. The gifts of time and full engagement are the greatest gifts that can be extended in relationship.  When we show up with our loved ones fully, with no distractions, preoccupation or other pressing appointments, we make a gesture that speaks volumes about the importance of these people in our lives. Who could be unmoved by such commitment demonstrated on a regular and reliable basis? This is fertile territory for opening, deepening, softening and strengthening heart lines.

In this holiday season, we have an opportunity to envision a preferred future for our most important relationships, to see what is truly important in our own hearts, and to be thankful for all the blessings that flow from love of family and friends.

© Patrick O’Neill 2008. All rights reserved.

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A Visionmaker sees the world quite differently from the average person.  To those who pursue meaning, the universe is not empty, mechanical or random.  It is spirited, living, dynamic, mysterious and meaning-filled. Visionmakers listen deeply to the world around them, recognizing that it is constantly communicating, constantly co-creating. Visionmakers watch and listen intently, tracking meaning as it unfolds through the agency of the natural world.

You could say that Visionmakers are animists, certain that the natural world–both seen and unseen–is spirited. Visionmaking has much in common with shamanism in this respect. A Visionmaker sees that everything has a spirit, a purpose, and is a medium of meaning.  

Traditional people the world over watch the signs in the natural world as communication from helping allies. Those who hold this view remain awake and alert to the presence of helping allies, thankful that the natural world is supporting our pursuit of destiny. To ignore or dismiss such assistance is an act of arrogance and disrespectful. Such pride severs the opportunity to see more.

Allies come in many forms–favorite animals, birds, even people. Dr.  Michael Harner, quoting a Hopi source, illuminates this perspective:

“To the Hopi all life is one–it is the same.  This world where he lives is the human world and in it all the animals, birds, insects, and every living creature, as well as the tree and plants which also have life, appear only in masquerade, or in the forms in which we ordinarily see them. But it is said that all these creatures and these living things that share the spark of life with us humans, surely have other homes where they live in human forms like ourselves. Therefore, all these living things are thought of as human and may sometimes be seen in their own forms even on earth…”

 

A falling apple stimulates an insight by Isaac Newton that is now known as the theory of gravity. A boiling kettle leads James Watt to a breakthrough called the Newcomen engine. The erratic flight of birds, described in oral tradition, saves an isolated indigenous tribe from the South Asian tsunami. There are signs everywhere. The Visionmaker remains awake to them and thankful for them.

 

© Patrick O’Neill 2008. All rights reserved.

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“The first stage of the mythological journey–which we have designated the “call to adventure”– signifies that destiny has summoned the hero and transferred his spiritual center of gravity from within the pale of his society to a zone unknown.” –Joseph Campbell

There is a “zone unknown” awaiting every Visionmaker, a wilderness of experience that can only be located through the heart, and where transformation awaits us. Visionmakers see this sacred territory where destiny resides by casting their vision forward, as though it were being carried across the landscape of possibility on the wings of a large, dark bird. 

The call to adventure is always an invitation, never a command. We are free to accept, decline or ignore a rendez-vous with destiny. To answer “yes” to destiny, though, begins the expedition to knowledge which lies beyond convention and certainty. This is a realm where theories, concepts and inherited beliefs are impotent. It is the realm of our original experience.  

Original experience is the raw material of Visionmaking. Such experience is a head-long encounter with life that demands the full engagement of every faculty available to us. In this kind of encounter, we never remain the same. Complete transformation is demanded. Here, we can actually feel destiny brushing us, feel its breath on our neck, and know that there is something at stake.  In this territory, we are fully alive.  Walt Whitman captures the call to adventure in Passage To India:

Sail forth–steer for the deep waters only,

Reckless O soul, exploring I with thee, and thou with me,

For we are bound where mariner has not yet dared to go,

And we risk the ship, ourselves and all.

The experience of being fully alive and fully engaged at the frontiers of our own lives is the journey of meaning. Why else would one seek destiny? Certainly, it is not to remain unchanged, static and unmoved! This is the experience that every Visionmaker’s heart cries out for, the adventure into a field of transformative possibilities where life expands the scope of our vision, funds personal power and provides the opportunity to act.

And what of those calls to adventure that we decline or ignore?  They too have their consequences. Joseph Campbell elaborates:

“Refusal of the summons converts the adventure into its negative.  Walled in boredom, hard work, or “culture,” the subject loses the power of significant affirmative action and becomes a victim to be saved.  His flowering world becomes a wasteland of dry stones and his life is meaningless…Whatever house he builds, it will be a house of death; a labyrinth of Cyclopean walls to hide from him his Minotaur.  All he can do is create new problems for himself and await the gradual approach of his disintegration.”

This is not the destiny of a Visionmaker. To refuse the call, or turn back from such a compelling vision would be to betray everything that we have been born to do. Even if we have failed to respond in the past, every Visionmaker knows that positive change is just a choice away!

© Patrick O’Neill 2008. All rights reserved.

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“Belief is the unshakable conviction that each of us has a greater purpose and that this purpose is attainable.”

                                   –The Visionmaker

Belief is a conviction that every Visionmaker requires for the lifelong expedition to meaning. In Visionmaking, belief means the heart and the intellect stand behind an unshakable conviction that each of us has a singular destiny, a purpose and a journey for which we have come into the world. Destiny, which comes from the Old French word destinee, refers to the culmination of a journey, a destination.

Destiny demands our active and deep engagement in the creation of meaning.  Most people view destiny as a straight jacket of predetermination, something we are confined and defined by.  They mistake destiny for fate. Fate is “something unavoidable that befalls a person; the decreed cause of events.”  A Visionmaker dismisses fate as a self-fulfilling prophecy that is created by our unwillingness to take responsibility for making choices or by choosing poorly. In the Visionmaker’s philosophy, we get what we earn and not what we’re assigned.

It is our singular mission to pursue our personal destiny with every resource at our command and all of our fire.  Even when we are unsure of what steps to take, we must work hard to see what is most meaningful to our growth and development, to relationships, to work and creativity, to the larger community.  We are obliged to engage with meaning, rather than wait for it to arrive having done all the work to find us. That is laziness, not Visionmaking.

Where we have clarity, we must take action.  Where clarity resists our vision, we wait, reflect, and examine our hearts until a path forward is revealed to us.  We must remain unwavering in our belief that the way forward, even if it is just a step, will appear.  

To believe means that a Visionmaker has the personal confidence and conviction that he or she is capable of creating a path of heart and meaning despite difficulties or challenges – that our gifts, talents, character, creativity and resourcefulness are sufficient to manifest a singular destiny. Andre Gide, the Nobel Laureate, writes: ”The belief that becomes truth for me…is that which allows me the best use of my strength, the best means of putting my virtues into action.”

© Patrick O’Neill 2008. All rights reserved.

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Reflection is one of the most important practices in Visionmaking.  It is the practice of turning the eyes from the outer world to the inner world and the Four-Chambered Heart.  It is to the heart that we return in order to examine what is both meaningful and purposeful in our lives– to the strong, clear, open and full heart. On this journey inward, a Visionmaker seeks to quiet the mind and find that place of stillness, where we are simultaneously alert and relaxed.  This takes discipline and regular practice.

Silence, solitude, and stillness are necessary for reflective practice.  These conditions have become scarce in the modern world, where daily life is often noisy, hasty and kinetic.  The Visionmaker recognizes that in order to pursue a meaningful journey in a world filled with such noise and static, the counsel of the heart and the companionship of solitude are necessary to steer a self-directed course in the world and not be waylaid by distractions.

Visionmakers throughout history have used Six Doorways of Reflection, which are identified in the Four-Fold Way, by Angeles Arrien–an excellent resource and a must-read for every Visionmaker.  These doorways will also be covered in Chapter 9 of The Visionmaker.  They are:

• silence – only in silence can we hear the heart’s instructions;

• nature – where the rhythm of life is slow and stillness and solitude reside;

• beauty – which has the power to stop us in our tracks to reflect on the transcendent;

• art – the realm of the creative spirit;

• movement – where the rhythm of the body accelerates and the mind slows down allowing us to see with greater acuity;

• meditation – through seated, lying, standing or walking meditation, we seek to still the mind to hear the heart.

The Six Doorways of Reflection, when entered with discipline and intent, will carry us deeper into the wisdom of the heart and reveal the world anew. Two questions remain at the forefront of the Visionmaker’s daily practice of reflection:

•  ”How are you using the great gift of life?”

 

• “Are you doing what you came here to do?”

 

© Patrick O’Neill 2008. All rights reserved.

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Visionmaking is the discipline of creating meaning through a journey of purposeful acts. Meaning is a deep recognition of quality and value that awakens the human spirit.  Creating it is one of the most important responsibilities of Visionmaking.  Without meaning, there is no compelling reason to live or act. With no compelling reason to live or act, the status quo maintains its grip on the imagination and feeds undisturbed on the life force of humanity.

The status quo is “a state of stasis where there is neither motion nor development, and where there is no hope of change.”  Imagine that: no hope of change!  For many people this describes one or more aspects of daily life.  The result is a growing feeling of helplessness and hopelessness, the perfect conditions for the status quo to take root.

The status quo of our age has carried us into a crisis of meaning that undermines us personally, and threatens the well-being of our families, organizations and communities.  It also contributes to the derogation of the environment in which we live.  As such, the need for Visionmaking has never been greater. 

Visionmaking is what enables us to live a purposeful life, a life of heart and meaning.  To accomplish this, we must stand against the status quo in our own lives and break out of the cage of routine and complacency. Every Visionmaker knows a potent secret about the status quo to help in this regard, a secret that allows each of us to pursue a journey of meaning, no matter what resistance or obstacles present themselves. That secret is this: anything can be changed, ourselves included.  Even though the inner and outer status quo may seem permanent and supreme, it can be overcome with commitment and perseverance. 

Edna St. Vincent Millay wrote: “Whatever I do, I give up my whole self to it.”  That is The Visionmaker’s commitment in meeting the tyranny of the status quo–to put every ounce of personal power into overcoming its oppressive gravity field.  The result is freedom from constraint and an ability to cut a personal path towards Destiny. However, we must be constantly on our guard to ensure five conditions of the status quo do not overcome and undermine our journey of meaning:

1.  Complacency– the smug, self-satisfaction and lack of continuous improvement or change that leads directly to the status quo and the comfort zone.

2.  Laziness – a lack of effort, activity, poor work ethic and passionless performance that is rooted in half-heartedness.

3.  Risk Avoidance – closed-heartedness that contributes to the fear or unwillingness to try new things, push beyond what is currently known or understood or the unwillingness to fail.

4. Conflict Avoidance – weak-heartedness that manifests as a fear of controversy or disagreement,  conformity over authenticity, or unwillingness to set limits and boundaries in the uncivil conduct of others.

5. Attachment to Success – the condition that befalls us when victory, accolades and accomplishments become far more important than learning, growth and exploration.

A Visionmaker is constantly on guard against the creep of the status quo in his or her life.  With vigilance and full-heartedness, stasis is weeded from the path of heart and meaning.

© Patrick O’Neill 2008. All rights reserved.

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The Chinese curse, “may you live in interesting times,” evokes uneasiness in many people, especially given the current state of the world. Everywhere we look, we seem to be confronted by challenges.  For many of us, challenges are seen as afflictions.  They induce worry, heartburn, sleepless nights and a general sense of anxiety and fear.  And they certainly irritate the comfort zone!

Some of you have asked recently how challenges are perceived by Visionmakers.

As with most things, a Visionmaker sees a  challenge differently than is commonly held. A challenge is seen as a test of the heart, intellect or will.  It’s purpose on a journey of meaning is four-fold:

• first, as a means of calling forward our resources;

• second, to develop new resources;

• thirdly, to learn about right application of those resources;

• and finally, to expose that which requires strengthening in our nature.

“It is difficulties…” suggests Epictetus, “…which show what men are.” To a Visionmaker, a challenge then is an initiatory crucible.  It induces the conditions of uncertainty, volatility, surprising events, surprising disclosures of what had been previously hidden from view, and tests of character to accelerate learning, growth and change.

Initiation is the commencement of a growth process that leads to transformation. For those committed to growth and change–a fundamental commitment of a Visionmaker– the arrival of a challenge is cause for both celebration and sober preparation. Celebration because we have proven ourselves ready to face the unknown with only our gifts, talents, character qualities, resourcefulness, experience, and creativity to support us. Sober preparation because we recognize that we must go into the wilderness of new experience, out beyond our comfort zone, and apply all of the resources at our command.  In this wild country of the spirit we will be changed forever.

Courage is a resource that is very helpful in facing an initiatory challenge.  To a Visionmaker, courage is the ability to stand for what has heart and meaning no matter what we may meet at the frontier of life’s experience. Angeles Arrien, writes eloquently about strong-heartedness in The Four-Fold Way:

 

“Where we are not strong-hearted is where we lack the courage to be authentic or to say what is true for us. Strong-heartedness is where we have the courage to be all of who we are in life.  The word “courage” is derived from the French word for heart, coeur, and etymologically it means “the ability to stand by one’s heart or to stand by one’s core.”

 

The tests of courage seek to uncover our attachments, weaknesses, and susceptibilities.  Any aspect of our nature that requires strengthening, softening, opening or deepening will be exposed through initiation.  

For those who stand behind the heart, there is much to be gained. Where we are weak, we will become stronger.  Where we are were attached, we have the opportunity to gain more freedom. Where we are tempted, we fund the character to overcome temptation.  Where we are overly concerned about what others think of us, we increase self-respect and the ability to overcome patterns of self-abandonment and the addiction to the acceptance and approval of others. Where we are fearful, we gather the personal power to overcome those fears and enter a new peace of mind and heart.

All of these are mighty advances on a path of heart and meaning.  It is the geography of a meaningful life.

© Patrick O’Neill 2008. All rights reserved.

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