Take the word abandoned.  The Oxford dictionary begins with some of the emotional baggage attached to this word: cease to support or look after (someone); desert:”her natural mother had abandoned her at an early age”.  It continues: leave (a place or vehicle) empty or uninhabited, without intending to return: “derelict houses were abandoned”.  And then zeros in on the heart string pulls: condemn someone or something to (a specified fate) by ceasing to take an interest in them.

However, the dictionary also offers a less negatively loaded understanding of the concept: abandon oneself to – allow oneself to indulge in a desire or impulse.  (Note the term indulgence also carries a lot of baggage.)  In a constructive context this definition tells us we have the ability to focus on creating something by letting go of (abandoning) the distractions and habits that stand in the way of moving forward.  When this is done, those who prefer the earlier meanings of the word may uses those definitions to attempt to influence us.  Luckily we may opt to abandon the guilt and continue to live and create. 

Stating we wish to abandon duality is both a way of clearly stating what stands between us and the life we seek.  And it also points us to the underlying truth of life – oneness – wholeness – unity.  To consciously abandon duality is to embrace oneness. 

Oneness and individuality coexist in nature.  Think of an aspen grove.  Every tree in the grove has exactly the same DNA yet each provides special and crucial services to the whole organism.  (I will use the term trees for the individuals and grove for the organism until I learn a better way of identifying the parts.)  The trees in the higher or drier parts of the grove bring in micro nutrients that are passed to all the other parts.  Those in the lower and wetter areas provide water to assure growth and wellbeing across the entire grove. 

In the aspen grove there is no duality.  No mine and yours.  No better or lesser.  No right or wrong.  There is simply life.  In the grove individual trees age and die and new shoots take their place.  The death of one does not reduce the genetic components of the whole.  Similarly, the new shoot is not different genetically from any other part of the grove, it is simply another part of the life of the whole. 

The great religions of the world and the mystics they have produced, have attempted to communicate the spiritual oneness of all creation.  Being human some have focused on a small ethnic or cultural area of life while others imply that wholeness (oneness) is the basis of all life and creation – even the rocks. 

To abandon duality is to align with mindset of the aspen grove, with the spiritual DNA of creation and to live from that perspective. 

A.C.O.R.N. is an acronym for a daily practice that humans can use to align with the wholeness (oneness) of the aspen grove.  I know that Oak trees are strongly individualistic in their approach to life.  However, their seeds give us our acronym.  A – ask. C – commit. O – obey.  R – report.  N – notice. 

In the aspen grove parts have needs, nutrients, micro nutrients, water.  Individual trees  that have these share them. 

The post Abandoning Duality by Creating Practical Civility (Spirituality) first appeared on Thinking About Thinking .

It has its face in light,

Demanded nothing for itself,

Opened out to offer each of us

A field of brightness that traveled ahead,

Providing in time, ground to hold our footsteps

and the light of thought to show the way.

The mind of the day draws no attention;

It dwells within the silence with elegance

To create a space for all our word,

Drawing us to listen inward and outward.

We seldom notice how each day is a holy place

Where the eucharist of the ordinary happens,

Transforming our broken fragments

Into an eternal continuity that keeps us.

Somewhere in us dignity presides

That is more gracious than the smallness

That fuels us with fear force,

A dignity that trusts the form a day takes. 

So at the end of this day, we give thanks

For being betrothed to the unknown

And for the secret work

Through which the mind of the day

And wisdom of the soul become one. 

John O`Donohue, Irish poet and philosopher

From Benedictus (Europe)

The post Inner History of a Day first appeared on Thinking About Thinking .

A few years back I decided on a new way to engage in the electoral process.  I would write to each of the candidates with three questions.  Two would be the same for all candidates and one would be unique for each candidate.  In the letter I told them that I would base my voting choice on their responses. 

I continue to do this each election – although now I e-mail each candidate.  In all the years I have done this I have never gotten more than one response per election. 

This leaves me with a challenging decision; do I intentionally spoil my ballot?  This is often my option, however, it does not help the candidates understand why that ballot is spoiled.  So often I will write on the ballot ‘none answered my questions, therefore they are all unqualified to receive my vote’ – this is illegal but it does communicate to the party scrutineers my displeasure.  And sometimes I hold my nose and vote for a candidate even though they have not responded to my questions.  This is usually actually a vote against another candidate as much as it is a vote for the one selected. 

In each election going forward I will do everything in my power to assure we have a minority government, as this result is the only event that makes parties take the time to think and maybe even begin to listen.  They are not elected to serve their party leader, nor are they elected to serve the party they are a member of.  They are  elected to serve the people, all the people in their riding. 

Remember we do not elect governments or cabinet ministers, opposition critics.  We elect representatives who have the honour of serving us for their term.  Their job is to work together to make our province and country a better place for all.  No matter what they may want, they work for us and should be representing everyone, even those who didn’t vote for them or didn’t vote at all. 

They need to remember they are civil servants.  Civility needs to be seen and heard in all they do, especially in the halls of power.  I hope the remember an election is a drawn out job interview and when they are elected they are on probation until the next vote. 

The post Is Voting an Exercise in Power first appeared on Thinking About Thinking .

The media is doing in depth coverage or foreign electoral interference while seemingly ignoring the simple fact that electoral interference has been a foundational part of representative democracy from the beginning. 

There is finally some recognition that the nominating process within the party system is deeply flawed and open to pressures from many levels (often reaching the level of interference).  BC’s recent withdrawal of one party to enhance the chances of another with both the withdrawer and the “victor” influencing or abandoning already completed nominations could easily be considered to be electoral interference. 

But back to polls.  It is not always easy to determine who paid for the poll.  Finding out the questions that were asked and how they were phrased, a key to determining the validity of the poll is also guarded information. 

Commentators have discussed that polling reports can encourage people to stay home (voter suppression).  They have also opined that certain poll results may encourage strategic voting.  Yet, polls are rarely discussed in terms of election interference, even though there are polls that are conducted and paid for to achieve influence on the outcome of an election. 

Needless to say, while not immune from polling data, I determine my vote in ways that will be covered in future posts. 

The post Polling first appeared on Thinking About Thinking .

In 1958 on the way to the largest Progressive Conservative majority government Prime Minister John Diefenbaker’s train stopped outside a small Alberta town.  He was driven to the local high school and was standing back stage with the local PC organizers.  They stood at the bottom of the stairs leading into the stage left fly loft talking.  I was stranded, unnoticed at the top of the stairs so I simply sat down and listened.  The Prime Minister said a number of things that caused me to think about thinking. 

What I remember him saying went something like this: 

Remember, nobody in this riding can vote for me, or any other federal party leader!  The leaders are not on the ballot here.  Now, our job, yours and mine is to show the voters here that our candidate is the best qualified and most worthy to represent them in Ottawa for the next four years. 

His second statement came with a visual aide.  He said, This will be the last time that someone like me (he then shook his head, and after looking at each of them, put his hand to his chin to stop his jowls from waggling) will be able to be elected as a party leader and potential Prime Minister in Canada.  The electronic pollution from the south means we are forgetting how our democratic system works. 

Even when we are not in the midst of an election,  the “electronic pollution” from the south is filling the airwaves and digital media pushing out most of the ideas and issues that might be relevant to Canadians. 

One issue that is crucial is that in our system we cannot and do not vote for a Prime Minister or a Premier.  We only have the power to cast a vote for one of the local candidates running to serve as a Member of Parliament or the Legislative Assembly in our electoral district.  Yet, the political parties and the press focus the majority of their energy of promoting the party leader or attempting to discredit or undermine the leaders of other parties. 

Is it just my imagination or has everyone forgotten how the Canadian parliamentary system works!  Maybe this is something we should all think about.

The post Electronic Pollution first appeared on Thinking About Thinking .

As we prepare for any election it is important for individuals to determine the role that they will play in the electoral process. 

There are many options – I will list the two at the extremes of the pendulum and name one other. 

The first, is a role that has been carefully crafted by decades of political operatives.  They have create an anesthetic to numb the voters but not totally debilitate them.  And then they have used unbridled propaganda to emotionally reactivate the sedated by offering them the opportunity to be extras (all be it unpaid, unlistened to, and with no allowance for costume or make up) in the reality TV show called Fake Democracy Canada.  We will cover the incredible downsides of this option in a series of post about “Election Interference”.  By thinking you will undermine the effectiveness of this approach to elections. 

The second, is to claim the position of “Citizen Elector”, to see yourself as part of the human resources department that will hire the next representative for your constituency.  The candidates running in your riding are asking you to give them a job, a well-paid job, for the next four years. 

As a Citizen Elector you have the right to have the candidates meet with you, answer your questions, demonstrate their vision and commitment, offer information about their qualifications, and ideally demonstrate that they have the ability to listen and respond in meaningful ways. 

Population and geography may make a personal interview impossible, however there are ways to gather this information.  Assure you treat their proxies that appear on your door step with the same level of scrutiny as you  would the candidate.  At public meetings pose your HR interview questions to the candidate(s). 

Also, as a CE you need to reflect on the messages being published, mailed and the comments in interviews. 

And before you fill in your ballot remember what you are doing.  You are hiring someone to represent you for the next four years.  Are you willing to pay them for the term?  Do you believe they will be able to fulfill the job?  To me voting is not an option.  If you don’t vote no one needs to listen to your complaints.  However, if no candidate meets your hiring criteria you may spoil your ballot and place it in the box. 

Citizen Electors always vote. 

The post Citizen Elector or Unpaid Extra in Fake Democracy first appeared on Thinking About Thinking .

An idealist because I deeply want and believe that together we can make our world a better place.  When I look at the long arc of history I see that over time there are now more people with hope and options than ever before.  True this ebbs and flows, however, over time the benefits have accrued to a greater percentage of the population than ever before.  [Don’t misinterpret this statement.  The bad times and the places where ideals and principles are abandoned to bullies and sycophants are also worse than ever before.]  The arch of inclusion and blessing is still advancing and being demanded, especially where it is not being experienced. 

Disillusioned because change is such hard work.  And as humans we have an innate tendency to select “easy” instead of “thinking” and looking not only at the moment, at self, but also at what we are wanting and how to create that in a lasting and sustainable way. 

I am reminded that “If you don’t stand for something – you will fall for anything.”  The challenge is that what we stand for is not static.  It is dynamic.  It must be applied to every experience, person and situation we encounter.  Therefore, how we use the principles and values we claim to hold must evolve and be refined in order to assure that they are appropriate so we may transform the impossible into the desired potential. 

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