Teaching Each Other

In her book, “The Feel the Fear Guide to Lasting Love,” Susan Jeffers suggests that sharing what we know is a good way to show we love someone.

She was speaking about our traditional roles as men and women.  Men, easily, seem to know how to fix things. Where women are more practiced in the art of nurturing.  What if we made a conscious effort to teach each other what we know?

What a win-win situation this is!  I get to talk about something I know well and you get to learn something new.  Something in that process passes between us and strengthens our relationship.  Making us more than the sum of our parts.

I can think of no better way to give something of ourselves.  And won’t the receiver be so much richer for getting something so precious?  It is a yin-yang balance that just feels right. Doesn’t it just feel ancient and wise to pass along what we know?

This sharing of knowledge has plenty of benefits.  It makes us all more well-rounded, more capable people. It allows us to meld our complementary skills and talents.  Creating a better world for it. Surely, it would enhance the education of any child in the vicinity!

Even more importantly, it creates a bridge of understanding between us.  As I learn from you, I get a clearer picture of who you are and how you operate.

It’s a chance to show and tell how you see something.  Sharing your passion and wisdom on a subject.  People love to talk about themselves and their lives.  We all, in a way, really just want to be heard.  This transferring of a skill, talent or passion is a way to be heard while giving something in return.

Can we put a value on education?  On expansion?  The cost of a college degree or a certificate program?  What about a lifetime of learning, person-to-person, me to you, you to me?  As free as love.

It’s All About Others

A story, really any good story, is about someone.  I suppose that Someone could just as easily be a robot, a talking Mantis, a zombie, or anything else my more richly imaginative writer colleagues might conjure up.  At the end of the day, it is always about a person behind whatever costume is put on.

When writing hard-as-reality non-fiction, we are always writing about Someone. Even if the story is about a proposed dump site in your community, it comes down to a person (or persons) who are making it happen and/or being affected by it.

I’ve found this is also so in job searching (or at least that’s my theory, pre-landing). It’s about people.  Strictly speaking I’d say, whether it’s a job, an association or group, a small business or corporation, a piece of information, a resource you are seeking . . .  at the end of the line you will need to speak a person. One-on-one, person-to-person, leads to another, that leads to another.  And one can hope, to whatever you need.

And so it goes with a story.  You sketch together the stories of each person. The more people you include, (or the more deeply you draw them), the more well-rounded your story and fuller your outcome.  The story itself unfolds from what each Someone says and does, how this person relates to the people and situations around him or her.

In “Conversations with God, Book 1,” we are told that relationship is our greatest gift from God. It might well be our greatest asset, not only for personal and spiritual growth, but also as writers.

Relationship allows us insight into how we are operating, learning more about our own and others’ motivations.  These things that make us all tick are the stuff  writers use in Character building.  After all, how we choose to relate to each other and everything around us, defines our character – who we are and what we believe. This kind of understanding can lead us to a deeper feeling of unity with all beings.

So whether the person is fictional or real, whether we are developing a character in our minds, or dealing with one on this plane, we can cull amazing insight through our relationship to others.

Proof is What you Make It

I’ve observed that life will come at you as it will.  I believe it manifests itself based on several things: Your thoughts, your wishes or intentions, and picking up whatever is in your path from the Collective Consciousness.

So what you see in front of you is a collage of inputs.  It’s not there because you “deserve” it.  Nor is it proof of something you did or didn’t do.  It is, simply, what you conjured up.  Therefore you are free to choose how you wish to experience it.

Now, the question is: What are you going to do with it?  That is the central question to ask of everything.

Life isn’t about deserving or not deserving.  Proof of your goodness or badness. It’s not about rewards or punishments.  (I’ve often wondered if God would employ someone to keep track of all this. On a scale, I might add, that is not made clear to us.)

Life is about how we choose to be in relationship to whatever is happening around us. How do you want to relate to what your life is? What do you choose to do with what you have?  Simple, but awesome.