Maximize!

Last night I got a newletter from a brilliant mate of mine who is a kickass intuitive healer (this brother does some brain hacking and somehow debugs the emotional OS in ways I can only admire – good job Lior). However within said newsletter: there was a glitch* in what was supposed to be an accompanying inspiring poem (Oriah Mountain Dreamer’s The Invitation) for our edification.. but therein was a little crack that lead me to a great big chasm of misunderstanding.. (or understanding misunderstanding or how we misunderstand why we’re misunderstood or whatever).

Problem was the chinese telephone (nothing to do with the lowcost threat to global telecoms).. just the fact that stories get readapted and a little tweaked in each retelling.

It’s exactly this habit that gives us new iterations of evolution, whether new marketing techniques or wings on a dinosaur. But it is still disturbing. You cannot guarantee that your message or who you are will be understood by someone else. No matter how much you money or time you spend.

It’s up to us to do the best we can in being clear in our marketing and communication.. but eventually you have to relinquish control and let others see you and your work the way they want to.

And then if it suits their needs (makes them look good/ brings them money/ sex/ security etc.) they might tell their friends about you ..FROM THEIR PERSPECTIVE.

So please go ahead and read the poem (emphasis my own) taken from Oriah’s site :

*[The glitch that opened the doorway to this blogpost was that I received a readapted version with the content of a verse slightly altered to soften the blow of this deceptively powerful piece, slip God into catch the confused, credited the poet as a Native American elder (see more..), but most critically had changed the most potent word within this piece to faithful. oops! Such is the nature of art - that's why good art is a key that can open many doorways. Our creations must live beyond what we initially created them for.]

---

“It doesn’t interest me what you do for a living.
I want to know what you ache for
and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart’s longing.

It doesn’t interest me how old you are.
I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool
for love
for your dream
for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn’t interest me what planets are squaring your moon…
I want to know if you have touched the centre of your own sorrow
if you have been opened by life’s betrayals
or have become shrivelled and closed
from fear of further pain.

I want to know if you can sit with pain
mine or your own
without moving to hide it
or fade it
or fix it.

I want to know if you can be with joy
mine or your own
if you can dance with wildness
and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes
without cautioning us to
be careful
be realistic
remember the limitations of being human.

It doesn’t interest me if the story you are telling me is true.
I want to know if you can
disappoint another
to be true to yourself.
If you can bear the accusation of betrayal
and not betray your own soul.
If you can be faithless
and therefore trustworthy .. “

---

Quick addendum: Don’t Assume you Know (part2) is that we humans are really adept at associating.. which sometimes bites us in the ass.umption.

Oriah MountainDreamer is in fact not a Native American elder as most of us imagined (easily observed from pic right). No less wise because of it. (Marketers note the inherent branding association that Native American = wisdom).. If I told you I was South African what associations and images would that evoke??

(Being often mistaken for a heavyweight Teutonic fellow if my name precedes me, I can empathise – as a wee wisp of a gal it’s deeply amusing being Maximillian Kaizen, and South African. So rock on to all of us who offer surprise & flip the cultural expectations!)