Been reading Down the Santa Fe Train and into Mexico written by nineteen year old gal who traveled for 15 months in 1846-47 from Independence, MO through Santa Fe, El Paso, Chihuahua to Matamoras during the Mexican American War. She was the brand new young wife of a veteran Santa Fe trader and kept a journal of her observations and experiences – just amazing insights into the conditions, cultures, customs and lifestyles in New Mexico and Mexico 150 years ago.

Now for Busting Loose part … on page 228 her wagon train is traveling over very rough Mexico roads with an eye out for both Mexican soldiers and indians and has this to say: “Our travels now are made altogether after night on account of the heat. Though it is not very agreeable to me, as my head and stomach are somewhat delicate of late. I came to travel and therefore take it patiently, as a custom of the road.”

A pretty darned good Phase 2 living reactively observation, don’t you think?

1.  What if I am walking around, sitting, standing in a “Now Moment Bubble”? This Now-Moment-Bubble expands or contracts based on my awareness – maybe it’s just me and my chair and my iMac screen as I type this – and then it can expand to include my life-partner relationship, or to my blood relationships, or to my relationship with the Oort cloud at the edge of the Universe. And I roll that sucker along with me wherever I go, creating my awarenesses and perceptions (oh yes, and my judgments, too). So in that metaphor, I-me am creating and becoming aware of my creations as I roll along. Small and focused. Larger and more inclusive. Huge and Cosmic. And I’m making it all up just for my fun of it.

2.  Other thought going along with that would be, “every other individual I create in my Now-Moment-Bubble is really me in disguise, acting, behaving and saying what I would say to myself if I could but do that from an objective viewpoint.”

Interesting. Ya’ gotta appreciate the possible implications of the possibility that could possibly be what’s really going on.

In The Human Game, the name of that effing flag is ‘Utopia’  and is often stated as,  ’when I graduate from high school, or when I graduate from college’, or ‘when I get my first real job, or when I get married, or when I get that promotion, or when I have a kid – or two – or three, and when they grow up and leave home THEN I’ll have it made. THEN I’ll be able to (re)claim my authentic life. THEN I’ll be able to travel and see the world. THEN ’I’ll be able to (fill in the blank).’

So in the Busting Loose Human Game model, ‘Utopia’ is nothing more – or less – than ‘just another effing creation’ in your effing hologram.

In the rigorous game of logic, the process  of creating (becoming) has been called a ‘dialectic’. In this ‘dialectic’ an initiating idea or concept is called a ‘thesis.’

Each ‘thesis’ automatically calls forth a contrasting ‘anti-thesis’ (in actuality, the ‘thesis’ is usually caused by something unwanted that looks an awful lot like an ‘anti-thesis’.

The next dialectical activity is a coalescing of the thesis with the anti-thesis called a ‘synthesis’ ’ which magically and automatically becomes a ‘new thesis’, which inexorably creates or causes another ‘anti-thesis’. And they, over time, merge into a ‘new synthesis.’ Nez pas?

And even though our physical sciences cannot say exactly what ‘time’ actually is, this process or dialectic sure seems to have been repeating from ‘the beginning of time’, and it seems will continue until ‘the ending of time’.

Whatever ‘time’ is, and whatever ‘the ending of time’ means.

“Resistance is futile.”

And what are YOUR thoughts about all this … or all that?

“Our ability to grow is directly proportional to an ability to entertain the uncomfortable.”

She just doesn’t describe The Process as a ‘what to do’ with the discomfort like Robert Scheinfeld does, but in reading her book, you really get the power of living reactively in a Phase 2 orientation.

One-ness. The concept and quality of one-ness.

One way to approach the concept is through observing that YOU are ONE person with ONE mind and heart and ONE set of eyes, ears, arms and legs. And that you are part of your ONE blood family that has ONE genealogical lineage that spreads backwards in time. And that your lineage is part of ONE whole population of the planet with myriad lineages. And that you do live on just ONE planet, in your ONE solar system in your ONE galaxy in your ONE universe and in your One cosmos which some are saying really contains all of your parallel universes as well.

In a very real and observable sense, then, you are indeed ONE. It all just depends on where you are choosing to stand and what you are choosing to observe there. And no matter where you choose to stand and observe in any moment, you are also standing within all the other ONE-nesses at the same time … at all times. And that thought is the one that can most boggle one’s mind, isn’t it.

But then, whatever you are holding in your one mind, you are holding in your mind. After all, whose else’s mind is it? And even if you feel like arguing that it’s your mind that’s holding it for some spiteful and not understood reason, and not YOU … well, it’s still YOUR mind, isn’t it.

So it could be supportive to notice periodically what you are holding in your mind; what you are telling yourself about what you (think you) are observing. And it might be further supportive to notice that whatever you (or your mind) resists, actually causes that to persist. And the greater the resistance, the greater the persistence.

Another clever way to say that could be: it most likely supportive to notice which thoughts you are having … and which thoughts are having you.

I wonder if I can do 300 words on something profound.

Like, I woke up this morning hearing Monty Python’s Galaxy Song in my mind. “Just remember that you’re standing on a planet that’s evolving, and revolving at 900 miles per hour. And orbiting at 90 miles per second so I recon, the Sun that is the source of all our power.”

And in a Busting Loose context, that was very supportive as to the illusion I live within. And I dimly get the power that it takes to just produce and sustain THAT set of circumstances. And then, in a Busting Loose sense, that what if it really is a hologram at Plank Scale, giving it such seductive touch-ability, smell-ability, see-ability, that – if I am seeing and experiencing it I must be creating it!

I mean, the “I” that is the Player self that is joined-at-the-hip, or conjoined in consciousness with Expanded Self. Conjoined. Too much! I mean, really! CON-joined; joined in grand CON experience called The Human Game. “Conned” into believing we aren’t really creating this whole thing, that “it” is somehow “real.” “Real-er,” more real than ourselves. That “it” is happening TO us rather than THROUGH us.

It’s much more convenient to believe that this all is happening TO us than THROUGH us.  Is convenient the word I’m searching for here? It’s certainly convenient to The Human Game illusion of convincing myself that I’m the opposite of who I really am: infinite, eternal, unlimited. The dual pattern/belief of being-at-the-effect-of something outside myself, not myself, and the hard-to-describe unseperatable relationship (con-joined relationship) with an infinitely powerful, eternal, Expanded Self “driving the bus” at all times. joyfully! Peacefully! In full and complete freedom! In exploration of itself through the Player me in a full-immersion 3-D movie called “The Life And Experiences Of Tom Miles.”

Just the can’t-failed-ness of that image is juicy beyond words.

So … how will Player Tom listen for Expanded Self Inspiration? I almost said “today,” but than realized that there really is no “today.” Just the experience of sequential moments of ever-fleeting “now” in eternity and infinity.

And Infinite is infinite. Cool!

“In the long run, it is far more dangerous to adhere to illusion than to face what the actual fact is.”

What do you think?

Many, MANY years ago my Al-Anon sponsor said, “You know, Tom, I discovered in working the program that I’ve always wanted my Higher Power (Al-Anon speak for Expanded Self) to talk to me in burning bushes, but It/He/She always just seems use gentle nudges.” He went on to say that this was often a frustration because gentle nudges were too darned easy to ignore, pooh-pooh, or miss all together.

I notice that for some 50 years I’ve been practicing that very Phase 1 conversation. It goes something like, “I know this inspiration  s-e-e-m-s  interesting and exciting … but what if it’s just a passing fancy; what if it’s not really ‘the one;’ it surely doesn’t seem all that important or that would make any difference.” Discomfort. Do The Process!

So … many years later and close to three years of facilitating Busting Loose workshops – doing the process – reclaiming power, it feels like my inspiration illusion still is just out of arms reach in my Human Game illusion. But it also feels like the Phase 1 cloud cover on that one is getting close to being drilled through. Why do I think that?

Because I’m noticing I’m creating a lot of other players / conversations mirroring that back to me, remembering that that I script  other players in my hologram do three things: (1) reflect back to something I am thinking or feeling about myself, (2) provide information or data, and/or (3) set something in motion – thank you, Robert, for the insight and reminder.

And just this morning (it always happens in the morning), ES just popped this into my hologram via the internet, further languaging it very nicely in, “If you think you haven’t found your passion...” by Derek Sivers.

The Readers’ Digest version is, “It’s dangerous to think in terms of  ‘passion’ and ‘purpose’ because they sound like such huge overwhelming things. If you think you haven’t found your passion yet, you’re probably expecting it to be overwhelming. Instead, just notice what excites you and what scares you on a small moment-to-moment level.”

You can read the whole post and a bunch of great comments by clicking on this link. It feels like a real Busting Loose keeper. Your thoughts?

I’m not sure Robert mentions the distinction between appreciation and gratitude. It’s rather subtle, but then as powerful as the distinction between Phase 1 and Phase 2 is, it too is rather subtle. Let’s see what the dictionary definitions tell us:

grat·i·tude n
a feeling of being thankful to somebody for doing something

ap·pre·ci·a·tion n
1.    a feeling or expression of gratitude
2.    a favorable opinion of something
3.    recognition and liking of something’s qualities
4.    a full understanding of the meaning and importance of something
5.    an increase in value, especially over time

So gratitude is defined as feeling thankful for something, for somebody doing something. And appreciation is defined as a full understanding of the meaning and importance of something, or an increase in value over time.

The distinction I get is that gratitude suggests a passive “power outside,” while appreciation is an active inside job.

And that’s why Robert calls “Appreciation” one of the two major, major tools in Busting Loose. Appreciation of everything and everyone as your Expanded Self’s perfect creation perfectly supporting your growth and expansion into Phase 2 of your totally unique, individual Human Game.

I’d appreciate learning of your thoughts in a comment.