Week Six – Lesson Six – Inspiration and Madness

Lesson Six – Inspiration and Madness

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Prelude

From the title of this week’s lesson you can see that we explore the irrational within you.

Yes, a touch of madness that distinguishes you from a rock, so important in matters of the heart about which grief has so much to teach us.

Grief helps us to listen to inspiration, to be influenced by intuition, to leap boldly across to a parallel path, and in the process display an authentic madness that might puzzle those who had already defined you according to their script.

This lesson asks you to take a deep breath, hold your arms apart, close your eyes in wonder, and listen.

Part One – Inspiration

Have you ever encountered an author or someone writing to meet a deadline, who is plagued by writer’s block?  Not another word will be released onto a page until the block is lifted. 

More often in life, we have been tested by an inability to become motivated – though you know the goal is worthwhile.

What situations come to mind? Beginning an exercise program? Regulating one’s diet? Completing a study for which you signed up? Attending to your record keeping? The list of possibilities could go on without end, though I just mentioned those that have haunted me in the past.

The inspiration, to which I am referring, however, is so compelling that it is not some unreliable muse upon whom you wait.

Rather, it is your attention that is called upon. Inspiration is similar to a radio signal that whistles through the airwaves day and night searching for a receiver – your receiver.

All you have to do is operate the dial on your receiver and the signal received will be loud and clear. Even in the middle of the night, inspiration comes and sometimes even more precisely than in the day with all its distractions, and this is especially so when transmitting to you inspiration related to healing, loss, and grief.

Inspiration comes in the form of word or phrase it seems to isolate from all others like the words hear me in the silence from a song as I waited for the film credits to scroll down.

Inspiration is evident in the selection of a path whether at junction point in high terrain, a destination to visit for the first time, a query to which to respond that could change the direction of one’s life, or the prompting received to answer yes or no without further delay.

Underlining inspiration is innate optimism.

It’s the rush that you receive when on a surf board you commit to the wave rising before you, in an aircraft when you follow the instructions of the jump-master and leap through the door, picking up a pen to sketch an all too familiar scene that you are seeing for the first time, attending an event where someone is waiting to meet you.

Inspiration is an inner knowing that all is well this moment, regardless of the grief and loss you have suffered and still suffer.

It’s the searchlight being shown into the gloom for refuge – knowing it is there and will be caught in the beam.

Inspiration is not only grounded in optimism, but also humor built in strength of character that is not to succumb in sadness. Inspiration is resilient, unflagging, and at times tosses caution to a wind that is always threatening just outside your window.

In your journal recall three recent experiences that fueled your inspiration; they might involve a recipe, a chance encounter, a film – anything that encourages you to refine the reception on your receiver.

And also record what action was prompted by each experience.

You will discover that more of who you are at the very core is revealed, regardless of how long this essential, authentic self had been left undisturbed.

Grief and loss have a great capacity to waken you from slumber.

Don’t go back to sleep.

Part Two – Inspiration and Intuition

How does inspiration contribute to healing?

Read the following written by a Sufi on inspiration as it relates to intuition and creativity:

Inspiration is a higher form of intuition, for it comes as an idea, as a complete theme with its improvisation, as a phrase creative of a poem. Inspiration is a stream, a stream of wonder and bewilderment. The really inspired person, whether a writer, a poet, a composer, or whatever may be his work, when once he has received an inspiration, has found satisfaction—not with himself, but with what has come to him. It gives his soul such a relief, for the soul was drawing from something and that object from which it was drawing has yielded to the soul, has given it what it was asking for. Therefore, inspiration may be called the soul’s reward.

* * * *

And as the soul’s reward, inspiration and intuition serve as sources for healing.

The following poem, I wrote in answer to a question someone asked me a few months after my loss.

The question was simply and directly, “How do you communicate with her now?”
Startling question when you consider it. Asked so matter-of-factly, it was only later that I wrote these words.

How Do You Communicate?

“How do you communicate with her now?”
He asked—not “if.”
I hesitated, thought, and answered

In the wind that sounds in my ears,
—the chimes that ring,
—the music not shared earlier
—on which melodies she now rides.

In messages that tap my fingers
To form letters or touch keys.
—insights that explain love
—unchanging, expanding, and eternal.
—dreams that calm soul turbulence
—tears that resonate truth.

   In the robust figure on the beach,
—the reminder of a favorite dress
—that one so young now wears,
—a quiet sunset alone on the shore, or
—an equally compelling sunrise.

   In visions of golden light
Encircling me when most vulnerable.
—the eye-sparkle of a child, friend, and
even lover.

   Aye—how do I communicate?
Absent mind-chatter
In the silence of my soul.

The inspiration that stirred me to compose this poem, served to guide me gently through a shared love to a place of celebration, joy, and silence.

Identify your path, allowing inspiration to guide you.

Part Three – The Parallel Path

…Crack yourself open!
What use is it to continue to hide
Behind your facades and roles?
Why waste your energy playing games?
Isn’t it time to cry your tears;
To shout your passion;
To dance like Zorba;
And to let your soul touch
The Soul of the world?

In cracking yourself open you discover lurking there intuition, ready to serve you in the process of your healing.

You might ask, what is intuition and what could it possibly have to do with healing grief?

Before I address your questions, isn’t it fair to say that we are trained to solve problems, even the most perplexing, by establishing one truth , then another consecutively until we arrive at an understanding of something that had been previously so puzzling – A-B-C all the way to X-Y-Z?

 In matters of the heart, we must adopt another approach where the path is not linear.  

A better description of this approach is to prepare ourselves to experience the shift to a parallel path that in truth confounds the linear approach to life.

Just when you feel trapped in your grief, an opportunity presents itself to break out into new directions, if you so will—if you can command the courage to do so.

I studied Greek drama in a Jesuit high school, and I remember how the Greek tragedians made frequent use of a device referred to as deus ex machina to extricate the hero from some impossible dilemma.

At the time, I judged the Greek tragedians harshly for what seemed to be the easy way to resolve a life issue.

However, the more I consider this ploy now, the more I believe that deus ex machina refers to the parallel paths that are presented to us—especially in times of grief—that we can all leap onto or cross over to if we so will.

* * * *

Yes, we can adhere rigidly to a linear path of reasoning, but we can also choose to leap onto a parallel path that shifts our options for soul development.

Parallel paths offer thrilling choices to embrace and enhance our life journey.

Think of these paths as lines or ridges, equally spaced across a large ball or globe. Running parallel, they do not intersect but seem to.

It is this illusion—that they appear to intersect—that gives us confidence, even courage or heart, to leap across one line, perhaps two, three, or more lines to a distant line or path, and continue our walkabout, as the Kalihari Bushman would say.

And that is how we break that linear, inductive approach to life.  And that leap of faith, that bold action, is fueled by intuition of the heart.

* * * *

Take a moment to consider the labyrinth as a path that facilitates intuition.

* * * *

So consider that your walk-about in grief and healing is actually a leap to a parallel path that will surprise those observing you – at least those who had mapped out your path in advance, or had written the script for you to follow.

And as I said earlier, intuition fuels this boldness. So what is intuition in terms that you can understand?

Intuition is connecting with our internal guidance system which we tend to neglect, especially in time of turmoil – like in grief.

When we exhibit the courage to embrace our intuition and follow its promptings, we feel that aha enlightenment reserved for the masters.

During the last week, identify three promptings of the soul that you experienced.

Did you follow the guidance for each? If not, why not? If so, what is unfolding in your life for each?

Make notes in your journal.

This exercise will at a minimum expose you to the surprises that are unfolding in the transformation of your life – and on a parallel path.

Part Four – Spontaneity or Madness

Look, one day I had gone to a little village. An old grandfather of ninety was busy planting an almond tree. “What, Granddad!” I exclaimed, “Planting an almond tree?” And he, bent as he was, turned around and said: “My son, I carry on as if I should never die.” I replied: “And I carry on as if I was going to die any minute. Which of us was right, boss?”

The message for us is not death but life that invigorates you.

The eccentric is one who breaks all sorts of social norms and expectations, disdaining the very thought of death as an irreparable ending.
At times of loss it is important to be sufficiently mad to contradict the norm. Think in paradox—your loss is your gain, death begets life, sanity yields to holy madness.

* * * *

Zorba the Greek was one of my heroes as I grew to maturity.

My hair has now grayed and thinned like his.

We both believe we have not lost much speed running down the beach—but we have—we just run alone now.

We both howl in the wind when no one is about.

We seek the impossible dream as our compatriot, Don Quixote, did and does.

We both prefer to step in unspoiled sand rather than to follow the tracks of another.

We both take responsibility for following our bliss, though it might not suit those who would rule us.

As I discovered in engaging grief, madness provides some comic relief.

When I was stationed in Warsaw on my first assignment abroad, I wrote the following poem, Zorba.

What was I thinking?

Who was I revealing, if only to myself?

Indeed, I am blessed that Zorba accompanied me even when years ago I was wrapped up in a bureaucracy of sorts.

Zorba

Who is that fool
With arms outstretched
Above black-haired ankles—
Pale bare feet?

Whose smile mocks
Himself no less than
Those who trudge uphill—
Dull face to neck.

Why does loose earth
Remember his shuffling embrace,
Hum the measured
Steps of the wise?

Does he build bridges?
The column must have begun—now.
Maybe it will end—when?

He has colored it
With his white worn pants
And blue-beached shirt.

His dance is seen and sure for him
Because there is a column.
Your neck is before my face
Because of his madness.

Think about times when you exhibited a certain madness, even freshness in life and life’s choices. 

Can you identify who that person was and whether he still lingers to refresh you in this time of healing?

Part Five

The following are the exercises and activities for this week.

 How does inspiration for new beginnings enter your life?

What can you do to attract spontaneity into your life, recover the youthful enthusiasm that once fueled your dreams?

Create a Master Plan for your next week. You might want to include an exercise regimen, an evening reserved to pursue interests long dormant, treating yourself to a luxury that could be as simple as a book purchase.

And, most importantly, don’t forget to include a service to be rendered to someone in need.

This exercise incorporates intuition and the leap to a parallel path into your daily routine.

As you might appreciate, nowhere are parallel paths more important or rewarding than during the grieving and recovery process.

In order to conduct the work of espionage under surveillance one first had to see oneself as those conducting the surveillance observed one.

Keep a record of who you are or are becoming for three days.

As preparation, jot down the activities that are a part of your routine, the thoughts that seem to recur at unlikely times but regularly, the dreams that you recover when you wake, and those that stir your attention during the day.

Once you have the three days written down, pause and allow life path alternatives to emerge.

Do not assign any value as to why such a path might be unreasonable, unlikely, or unachievable.

This exercise begins the process of widening your peripheral vision to take in alternatives that you might have missed if you were too focused, or that you had no reason to consider before your loss.

At the conclusion of the exercise, ask yourself what parallel paths are opening for you.

Recall three instances when you exhibited mad behavior—times where you truly were a free spirit before responsibilities weighed you down.

Decide how to rekindle your madness and recover the You who never left your side.

It is time to dance and sense the freedom of expression.

For the classicists among you view the renowned Russian ballet prima, Polina Seminova.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uz2Gp7a38DM

For the rest of you, may I suggest that you check out the classic film Zorba with Anthony Quinn and practice your dance-steps.

For your pleasure, a preview of Zorba’s madness is provided. I heartily recommend the film as well as the book written by Nikos Kazantzakis, see below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AzpHvLWFUM

 Remember always to dance as if no one is watching.