Young people are amazing - Choose Change Become

Choose Change Become

Today we again realise the incredible competence of our young people. This happened whilst working with a group of inspirational young people who volunteered themselves for a two day programme of sharing, reflection and self understanding.

Given the title 'Choose Change Become', the programme was organised by themselves, with a very little help from Campaign for Adventure, the World Spiritual University, The Wrekin Trust and MobexNE. It was run in Oxford at the Global Retreat Centre which had donated its quite astounding - in beauty and concept – facilities.

Now these 'young people' varied in age from 18 up to 35 and were 'young professionals' in their terms. For myself they were the usual creative, the confident and the enlightened young of our age, seeking more that our generation has been willing/capable of offering our youth. Indeed It is easily arguable we have given them a broken world which is theirs to fix, although there is still a little time for later-year adults to do something to help.

For instance, we could accept a 'whether proven or not' attitude to saving this planet. We could rescue the monetary system, and for that matter the banking, government (local and national), farming, justice, political and health (hospital, doctor, pharmaceutical and lifestyle) systems. We could do this by demonstrating some basic life values - which these young people exhibited in truckloads – such as integrity, trust, fore-thought, conscience and a demonstrable concern for all regardless of nationality, religion, appearance or difference.

Perhaps the main realisation was that our young people live in a culture of fear. A fear for their planet and their future - trusting adults, work, health, communities, adult common-sense, big business, nations, government, education systems – you name it and our young people are in fear of its capacity to realise their potential.

One 'exercise' they chose was to walk this world in supreme confidence. This allowed them the opportunity to shed their fears and show some indication of the true potential the world has for our young people. Another exercise was to spend time reflecting, from this place of confidence and not fear, who they are, where they want to go and how to get there. Using internal mirrors, accessing the reflective self (some might call this a form of 'meditation', although others would simply see it as sensibly taking stock of one's life) and looking at one's choices, possibilities and future actions for life.

Without any real detail - in this short piece - we have described some young people and their own actions to help themselves over their easily argued picture of a world and a humanity not doing what it could for itself. It also describes a process of Choose, Change, Become, created by themselves as they seek better and a way to make better happen for their (a?) future.

Our young people are amazing – 'Our hope for the future depends on them'.

A little cosmic exercise

My little cosmic exercise...taking yourself into the Allness of Being....



Sun at back ( the science =facing North and East is to your right and we are spinning that way), surf to right.

Sun at front (the science =facing South and East is on your left and we are spinning that way), surf to left.



Now you are dragon riding....you are your own dragon...and your flying speed is....

850kph = approximately your speed round the Earth in kilo-meters per hour at the 54th parallel; 98,000kph Earth speed round the Sun; 800,000kph = Sun speed round the Milky Way galaxy; 1,600,000kph = speed of the circulation around Sirius/Andromeda/Milky Way Galaxy 'Near Group' celestial cluster. Max speed = 2,4996,00kph… of course at times we are in relational-retro, so we can lose a few thousand kph or so occasionally.



Now 40 million sub-atomic particles travel through each one of us every second of our lives, each travelling at up to the speed of light, without touching anything, and we get some idea of how energy-centric we, and everything, actually is.



From this place, we can look at this world, our place upon it and how we should treat it, ourselves and each other.



Please feel free to offer corrections....

Consciousness Evolved - Part Two

Consciousness Evolved - Part Two - Coming shortly - sign up now!

Rio Summit 2012 - Leadership Thoughts In Adventure - What Matters?

Wake-Up World: A Non-Destructive Economy - Ian Lewis

So instead of creating more, greater and faster, we use less power, less raw-material, less transport and thus sustain our one world.

Michael Gove is right. More intellectual, more artistic, more philosophical education which leads to greater scientific, greater discrimination, higher artistic enjoyment and with this lower environmental costs.


We do not have to be shallow, values-free, over-the-top, media-hyped, fashion followers. We can be deeply committed beings of great self-worth who self-lead.

The artistic, the intellectual, the healthy, the creative, the highly rewarding are just a few examples of what makes up a sustainable economy within worthwhile lives.

For instance, nuclear and oil-based power are sad reflections of collective creativity, for whilst we can send oil across continents, cannot manage nuclear-waste economically yet know 0.3% of Saharan sun can power Europe. This takes awhile for energy companies to see the opportunities, yet a mindful attitude to lower power usage as a values-base in education and learning could have immediate effect. Who actually enjoys driving anyway? Hours/days of lives wasted?

For food issues read sensible carbon- and conservation-conscious farming, eating healthy (low-fat, -sugar & -meat diets), and using land well.

For manufacturing common-sense consider items being used for extended times – pictures & picture-frames last centuries, as does, for example, some furniture, buildings, art, parks/forests/gardens and musical instruments. All have a remarkably high value-to- raw-material ratio - and they accrue value whilst supplying great enjoyment.

Yet even these are left standing by the mental and physical (let alone the spiritual) attributes of being fully human and the low-carbon economic value available here. The intellectual arts, performing arts (reading, writing, dance, comedy, drama), visual arts, sporting excellence, hobbies and crafts and all the fun areas of being which celebrate the human capacity are virtually ignored in favour of high-carbon un-stainable living. Time for a gentle change?

Come on world, wake up. Teachers, listen to Gove - part of what he says is right even if for the wrong reasons: Rio 2012 Environmental Summit matters, but it must be creative and we should be active in self-leading change.

Superpositioning in Allness

Superpositioning oneself is a great way into allness – that state where one attunes to the 11 million or so simultaneous connectors in one's brain and thus is not disturbed by the constraints and inhibitions of single or few-framed consciousness imposed during early childhood and social conditioning.

Of course one remains conscious in a superpositioned state, but it takes a form of journeying around the possibilities in allness, not of being stuck in time, particularly the now – useful but now outmoded/transcended. Better even than this is superpositional consciousness where one is in all places and all times and all universes at once. Holding this place through a process of letting go, of daring to be all, not merely seeing all, is at the heart of our true being in the manifold worlds we inhabit. Some of the lifecollege.org experiences focus on the attainment of superpositional consciousness through personalised journeying. Connect with Pippa Lee and her Energetic Coaching at lifecollege.org

It will take time to let go, to travel into allness and realise that we are all and always have been. It is a great place and will reward those who break-through however they self-realise themselves – through meditation, dance, music, performance, stillness, physical exertion, great achievements, and all extreme adventures of mind, body and spirit...for by definition access to allness is achieved through extremes since this is where one finds oneself.

My next input will examine the influence of being allness on the multiverse and how one may contribute and take from time, space, being and all other energies. If interested, please acknowledge this blog!

Visionary or Visionery?

Visionary or Visionery?

Both spellings are correct, although visionary seems to be least offensive to spellcheckers.

Perhaps the most interesting thing about being visionary, or being a visionery, is that we are taken as a negative, even a frustration to anything useful.

Some definitions:
“given to or characterized by fanciful, not presently workable, or un-practical ideas, views, or schemes: a visionary enthusiast”; “unreal; imaginary; visionary evils”; “Affected by phantoms; disposed to receive impressions on the imagination; given to reverie; apt to receive, and act upon, fancies as if they were realities.”; “Existing in imagination only; not real; fanciful; imaginary; having no solid foundation; as, visionary prospect; a visionary scheme or project.”; “One whose imagination overpowers his reason and controls his judgment; an unpractical schemer; one who builds castles in the air; a daydreamer.”

My favourite is somewhat more positive: “a person of unusually keen foresight.” It is also rather more succinct.

So why the negativity?
Looking at the effect of a 'visionary' on a more mechanistic person, i.e., someone more driven by habit, stayed-culture (e.g., proven or logical), the more cautious or non-adventurer, we see the origins of a particular form of leadership - the visionary leader. Such leaders naturally (and perhaps thankfully) cause issues for the more mechanistic. Although there is no evidence to show mutual exclusivity, it is frequently assumed to great cost.

Visionary leadership theories (which can be termed 'transformational' and may be NLP, Lifecollege, Landmark or otherwise based on future/not past), are all charismatic in some form. Tutors are high to very-high in self-esteem, occasionally bordering on the evangelistic. Learning often involves confidence-building and personal trials – to break past or inhibiting habits.

The learning is at 'events', where a stage is often present and at which it is the the facilitator's ability to tie a follower's self-concept and later self-esteem to the actualization of the leader's goals that comprises the essence of leadership evidenced at events. Transformational learning theories (e.g., Lewis, 2011, Values & Leadership; Lewis, 2012, Further Reaches of Human Nature) support these traditional models of motivation – including Pink's Three (Mastery, Autonomy, Contribution).

It is expected that both students and facilitators enjoy the mutual 'leader – follower' power effects these events generate. Indeed it is frequently the case that it is this effect that is being invested in and which, all being well will create the more confident and successful followers.

It is certainly true that both the tutor and the student can benefit in a transformational way from the experience.

Mind the Gap – the Big Society Gap

Mind the Gap – the Big Society Gap

The Big Society is out there. It seems the only criticism is that some cannot make enough money from it. Shame on you. It is of course, in its non-monetary way, rough at the edges, variously present in a big way or small, solidly present in 'happy' communities and often seen as 'a little working class, council estate, and to do with times past' by those who see little of the help it gives them. Yet these descriptors confound our less happy communities. It is far wider and far more influential in its present form, than given credit for. And the Big Society - and its potential - are both huge.

So let us move towards the Big Society potential. It is all! It can change lives. It can move us towards and even be the cause of our being the happiest nation on Earth. Oh, now this is telling. The happiest nation on Earth is not the richest or even nearly so. What is the per-capita GDP of Bhutan? What is the average income? Hmmm, now where does this get us?

Did this start with a concern about money? So let us drop this, since there is evidence that money does not make you happy. Where is the gap, exactly? Is it the need for depressive negativity (blaming the 'they'/someone else) in an otherwise every-reason-to-be-quite-positive society? A society where those who have will keep and those who have not will not get because of the keepers? Now, here we have some useful dividers...are there keepers out there?

This society – yes, the Big One, has many positive contributors. It is the neighbours and those along the street, of course. As it is our friends in the village, our work-colleagues and our networks, teams, industry, commerce, sport and the arts. We just need to up the game, realise the potential....start liking people, including ourselves, and learn to trust, to give a little more towards a nicer world – One Big Society. And a smile.

Seeing and being the future

To see the future do not use eyes, use vision. One makes the future so by holding and living this vision.

There are those who want a different future and continue living the present - or even the past. Please, if a different future is what is desired, at least give this future a chance.

In all there exists a framework of habit which exists to keep the status quo: no change, no improvements, nothing disturbed. It is helpful - up to the obviously very limiting point that if nothing changes, nothing changes or 'The more you do of what you've done, the more you'll get of what you've got'. One may even change the breathing, eating and temperature habits in our lives - indeed, doing so may speed our future into being.

Perhaps surprisingly, the future is not a place or a time that starts in the future. It starts right now....from here onwards.

Thus, to change the future, start now. What one wants to happen (differently) begins here. Every vision of the future has 'attributes'. The beliefs, behaviours, actions, thoughts, emotions, values, skills and expectations which form one's future life need embracing. To embrace these is to form one's future.

One needs to understand that one sees not what we are holding on to, yet it is exactly this that is forming our present - and our current, our existing future. Once we change what one is holding onto, the future changes. So look very closely at what one is holding onto, for it is holding one, here, too.

A great exercise is to write down, reflect or meditate on what we are holding. Through this route what is held onto can be changed - easily. Compare past with future. Hold onto what one wants - the one really wanted. Leave the other behind...and whoosh - we have a new future.

Stay in the now to keep the old habit/s out, and stay in the future wanted.

Sometimes there is a challenge. New skills may be needed, new knowledge, new understandings - these are the easy ones. New friends are easier than new family. A new life, a new way of being, whilst a great excitement to some, is a huge rift for others.

Here comes right balance. Knowing what to let go and what one may keep. Some things are mutually exclusive, of course. Think about this. Others may want to travel, too, and some may say 'Yes!' and exhibit 'No!'. Discrimination, presence, action....yet always vision.

Comments please!

The Games of Life

And so, here in 2012, we are a humanity of tricked game players. We are those who have chosen which games to play or we are those who have not chosen but are to play the games of others' choosing. And we are those, the corporations, the governments, the institutions, who are the big game organisers. These also comprise humans, but are not human. These, who have and who have not chosen, but who choose the games we are all to play and, through accident, inability or conspiracy, set the rules.

We play the games because humanity, like most life, depends on pattern-recognition to make sense of its world. Chairs are chairs, friends are friends, work is work, life is life. Fail to fit the pattern and acceptance will likely not be. It is quite a set of games. And all difficult to change.

The main rule is to engage with the rules, for to fail to engage the rules creates outsiders, deviants, innovators, death or even leaders....all, or mostly, lonely positions. These are great places!

One does not tend to win in the game, it is more that one survives to a greater or lesser degree. This would appear to be the aim of the corporation, the government, the institution: to allow survival in a controlled way. Through the rules of history, cultures and unintended consequences, we conform to the games and play - as actors on the stages of life - the correct roles, in the main.

To survive the ravages of a starving or thirsty nation (or, maybe with some earlier choices), wars, one may not have options unless other nations help. To escape the work-wheel game of training>employment>retirement one must win the lottery, be inventive or find an inheritance. To win the game of friends one must conform to friendship game rules - have personality and interest equal-to or greater-than one's peers. To enjoy one's family strict adhesion to its special rules is demanded – or a black sheep you will be. Be careful those who suggest better ways to spend our taxes, organise the fundamental game-rules of economics or change the rules of 'politics' or 'authority', for special rules apply to these deviant gamers and they will be challenged and most likely silenced.

Of course academics have a special 'Game of Knowledge', although this is undergoing a game-makeover due to mass communication. We now have Wikipedia, et al, to share the knowledge-counters, and the counters of skill, understandings and attitudes with which one wins the academic game. A similar, although as yet only partial, game-makeover has been applied to our 'Economic Game', with a recent huge counter-play by the old winners. There is evidence that 'The Political Game' is due a similar makeover through Avaaz, 38degrees and others of the internet-play. Families have been evolving their game for aeons, with state assistance, migration and learning/education the great trump-cards and game-changers.

Then we have the game of 'Break-Out'. Available to those who choose to ignore or follow rules of prevailing games rules. These are they who play the game of new communities. Or they play the game of 'Lets Make It All Better', seeing new patterns, new ways to win through with ever-changing rules of creativity, evolution, being, etc..

And who wins in this World of Games? Well, we have an answer and it seems not to be 42, unimaginable wealth or a guaranteed step on the stairway to heaven after we leave the Earthly Game Board.

The answer seems to be 'Great Happiness' which comprises the following. But to achieve this we have to step outside the standard set of 'Game Rules' which seem the 'Academic Game' evidence shows rarely leads to happiness for players anywhere.

Win the 'Happiness Game by....

having enough but not too much
making others happy
keeping healthy
doing something worthwhile, that 'makes a difference', but which does not cost/damage the earth
having really great friends
having integrity (trust in self and trusting others?)
having a spirit with enough courage, independence and adventure

It is a great game, the real game of life.

Who said there is not a jot of evidence that life is meant to be serious?

Was it Jane McGonigal or Woody Allen?

Time to review our systems and make the world work properly...

Ian Lewis - How to help empower and move blocked communities who want better.

Brazil is the 'B' in BRIC - the first of the four fast-moving nations. Take 10 minutes to hear how this really happened... "TEDxTeen - Jeremy Heimans - Aim Higher Than President"

Cut and paste this to your browser to better understand your potential and life role...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OGK4Q6PKUI&feature=player_embedded


Jeremy Heimans is co-founder and CEO of Purpose.com, a social enterprise that builds movements to help solve major global problems.

AVAAZ - The Future of the World?

BEING FULLY HUMAN - Ian Lewis FRSA FInstLM

"Ian is a fascinating man to know and a great friend to have on the
evolutionary journey. He’s an innovator extraordinaire, but in ways
that most people wouldn’t necessarily see. Like most new visionaries that I know, Ian IS evolutionary energy at work in the world. Here’s what he has to say about the world of vision, leadership and energy:

“My work is adventure … adventure of thought, spiritual adventure, aesthetic adventure, entrepreneurial adventure, adventure in being complete and free. Every life-arena needs the adventure of new creation to keep it vital, refreshed, true and complete.

Once free, fully alive, open to adventure and all possibility, the future is yours. You choose all that can be in it. Life-energy knows this and (what I call) 'The All' or Allness is celebrated in a feeling transcending future, fulfilment, joy, completion, wholeness. My role as an Adventure Guide is to help everyone access 'The All', seeing and feeling pure source energy and possibility in everything.

As ALL (another name I use is 'The (or Our) Euphoric Field', in this joining with pure source energy, we become evolution manifesting in our world right now. This is the foundation level of real experience from which everything - ALL - happens."

[taken from an evolved except first published in 'New Visioneries'- Ian Lewis

Nice Life and Growing Up - Secrets of All

Life is a strange commodity. We all have some of it. We value it variously. It can run out surprisingly quickly. How to use it is an interesting question amongst many interesting questions on life. How many years we have in life will never be more important than how much life we put into our years. Some would talk about experience as fundamental, and some of these say experience is as to intensity not duration.

We know we would all astound ourselves if we did all of which we are capable. Science tells us we build connections in our brain at the astounding rate of 1,800,000 connections per second in the first
two years of our lives and never stop learning although various changes bring focus and relevancy to what we notice, retain and are able to retrieve.

Of all the metaphors for how the brain works I prefer the patterns, hooks and retrieval – we operate and identify patters of significance, create relational hooks on which to hang specifics and none of this will mean a jot unless we access these sufficiently often to build good tracks to find things again, and tracks do grow over, especially when other inputs are coming in at an estimated 11000000 items every second of every day of our lives – from our all our senses.

Tradition has it that we can only focus on one or a few of these 11 million inputs. This is being shown to be untrue. We have the capacity to focus on many more, indeed our brains do focus on much more all the time – usually unconsciously, and through enormously efficient filters to consciousness based on pattern-recognition/level of significance, which is situational - related to habit and/or expectation. Even processes of ageing and health are governed by expectations driven by, primarily, socially/culturally driven expectation.

In a later blog we move into the discussion on whether we are Grown-Ups or merely Growing Ups, but for now two sayings come to mind: “How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, and tolerant of the weak and the strong. Because someday in life you will have been all of these.” [Carver], and 'Don't be afraid of death so much as an inadequate life'...both relate, in essence, to certain limitations on life, and particularly death.

Now many have concerns just now about the nature of spirituality, energetics and consciousness. One may be concerned with with a wide topic here, some would say of cosmic (or perhaps in some circles even comic) proportions. The great place that the next blog will go is into this arena of how to access at will and use the 11 million simultaneous connectedness our brains are using with an 'always on' availability. In my next blog this will also be cover the physiological origins of spirituality.

A question to followers: “Is spirituality of physiological origin?”.

Letter to All - The Secret, Seven Habits & Success

The Secret, Seven Habits and Success. Why we need to BE the future - so we really can see the future! So this is what we see.... “We are all living in this place of fabulous and incredible beauty called The Earth with an humanity full of life, opportunities, possibilities and wonder in creativity with all. The ever increasing gifts of abundance and fun just continue to flow from where they reside in the people, day after day after day, forever. This knowingness and complete connection with all in the lightness of being and fantastical effortlessness enjoy fulfilling our undemanding beingness. There are no gaps or uncertainties – all is present now in our well shared, unexploited, giving planet of plenty as we collaborate in being, loving and actioning wonder and possibilities. We have the planetary, state, organisational and community governance with wisdoms profound, open and selfless, which make this so. This life of games, fun and gifts goes on. We are un-paced, easy and free to enjoy our time, so fulfilled always, sharing with the magnificence of all, each and everyone. With potential fully realised and such freedom bringing alive all lives everywhere, who would leave? It is so right, true and in being with all. There is only here and now – more is unnecessary and wasteful.”

Changing the old is not enough

"There are only new ways - we must create them, changing the old is not enough.

The past and the present are holding us back. Lifecollege offers New Exploration, New Abilities, New Understandings and a New World Future. A world universally rejecting ALL violence, a world which safeguarded and celebrated positive aspects of cultures yet removed, through higher level [super-ordinate] thinking and action that which is unacceptable - hunger & malnutrition, crime & dishonesty, disease, environmental abuse, socially irresponsible organisations: we can do much better"

New understandings produce unlimited power
We are learning to capture and enjoy huge and new energy as the global information system empowers, unites and flows with your vigour and vision. You need to know how new learning will help you become fully a part of this.

New, new, new
There are only new ways - we must create them because changing the old is not enough. The past and present are holding us back. Now we KNOW we did not do it right, although most of us tried. Lifecollege offers new explorations, new abilities, new understandings - and of course a New World future. Be part of it now and gain a real edge and buzz for your life.

Live life with passion
A Passion for life, a Passion for people and a Passion for the future - which starts right HERE. 'New Global Leadership' is a course for All. It will help politicians, captains of industry and community activists alike. Take the time to look at your future and your real NEW contribution to a New World.

Try the Global Leadership option
Join with the creatives team and see where you could be. From around the world 5 Global conferences have drawn amazing people and we want many, many more. Full support is there to get you up to speed - and what a speed. Normal living will just not be possible after this remarkable awakening of your whole energy amongst our new Global Leaders

Passionate times, All the time
Passion in all things - as we do the physical, emotional, intellectual and all other facets of being. Even time itself becomes a profound, unconstraining thing - just learn to walk on it! All your past and future happinesses here at once. Lifecollege - gateway to a New Passionate World. Commit to being a part of the Global Leadership Programme and know you are changing the world…

Like going back to a fun childhood, the lifecollege method advocates fantastic personal leadership and immediacy richly endowed with your own life wisdoms yet without the hang-ups and catches. You really will both BE and be BECOMING throughout your life-adventures with us. Just consider that we focus on making violence, the complete rejection of all forms, an unacceptable behaviour in this world. What would it be like? How would it be different? Does it feel better. We can make it like this if we focus on the changes we need and the future as it will be.

Want to be more...? YOU CAN BE
Whoever you are you will find an open and creative world of friends. Many are a long way along their journey, many are just beginning and there are many in between. All share those great emotions of hope, kindness, vision, energy, creation, openess and passion.