The Original You

Competition. What images does that word conjure up for you? Are there words like excitement, joy, and hope. Or, do you have feelings of anxiety and fear? Everyone reacts to competition in a different way. In our world, competition is a reality that we all have to deal with. We deal with it in our careers, our schools, and sometimes even relationships with others. It is not something that is going to go away. I believe that for creative people, competition gets especially complicated. We want to be seen in the world. We want our works to be seen by others. When we create, we are not only creating for ourselves. We are creating, because we want a connection with our audience. Creative works are meant to speak a message to the world about what is important to us. Let me take a moment here, and talk about my own personal relationship with competition. I am personally not a big sports fan. Once in a while, I will enjoy a good game. In fact, when the Olympics are on I love

We all have something to offer. A gift that nobody else has. In my creative life recently, it seems that this theme of wanting to create something valuable keeps coming up for me. And, I don't think I'm alone in that search to feel like I'm contributing something valuable to be world. I spent a great deal of my life feeling like what was inside of me was not going to resonate with anyone. In fact, I feared that if I started sharing my thoughts that someone would think either I'm crazy or just plain ridiculous. These ideas were stored up for so long that I think I was experiencing some kind of creative and spiritual constipation. I remember a moment when, in a moment of contemplation, I was given the thought about the value of my creativity. My thoughts were centered around originality, and this belief that somehow everyone on the planet had created all of the new ideas that were possible. I thought about the thousands of books for sale on the internet, the

All of us can think of  miracles that have happened to us or other people. How about the car accident that you were not involved in? How about the health issue that suddenly reversed itself? How about the person who called you at the exact moment you were thinking of them? But, what about the everyday miracles? Do we consider these? Here is an example from everyday life. I open my refrigerator in the morning, and it is full of fresh food. How do it all get there? Yes, either my wife or myself bought it at the grocery store. How did it get it to the store? Who planted the seeds? Who harvested the food? Who packaged it? Who delivered to the store? Who stocked the shelves? When I think about these things, I realize that so many people have helped to keep our refrigerator full.  Yes, I think about these things. And, this is a miracle in my world. Our lives are full of these little miracles. When I go in the bathroom, I turn a knob and water comes out. That's a miracle. When

Let's admit it. None of us like to grieve. It is not something we ask for. It is not something we look forward to. It is not something we hope for. But, grieving is a reality of life. I had a dear friend who told me years ago something that I will never forget. He told me that there was something he wanted to tell me that would at first be very upsetting, but would later be a tremendous comfort to me. He said "John, everything and everyone in your life will eventually leave. Either you will leave, or they will leave. But, the good news is that you will always have a relationship with your Creator, and you will always have a relationship with yourself." Of course, this did not seem like good news to me. But, upon later reflection this did come as great comfort to me. The fact that regardless of who comes in and out of my life that I will always have me, and I will always have a relationship with my Creator. Knowing that ultimately I will never be alone is a tremendou

AN INVITATION Something interesting happened recently that helped me understand myself better. And, I think it's something that many of us can relate to. A good friend approached me, and asked me whether I would like to share in a forum that would be new to me. This person has a program that I think is just wonderful.   They were essentially asking me to share a little bit of myself. My friend shared with me that they were relating to many of the ideas I have posting on Facebook and Twitter recently. MY REACTION My reaction to this invitation was most interesting. I immediately went into a state of fear. The first thing I heard my mind say was, "I can never hang out with these people. They are more spiritually evolved than I am. What possibly could I offer to this conversation?" Have you ever heard these sentences (or ones similar) go through your mind? Has your mind ever tried to convince you that you don't have what it takes? Have you ever believed you