Bliss and Stuff 10/13

[Where I am on the emotional guidance scale today: around 1 to 2, joy, passion, love, appreciation.]

 

Yeah, so, I’ve been very quiet the past couple of weeks.  I didn’t realize how many people actually read my blog.  I’ve heard from some friends that they miss my updates.  How sweet is that?

 

Well, Peaches and I spent a few days in Castro Valley, California at the beginning of October.  We stayed with our delightful friends Tom and Laurie.  Peaches and I were in Castro Valley to celebrate with Laurie on the occasion of her 50th birthday!  We had so much fun.  We danced like nuts late into the night

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Photos by Me! (except for this one of me by Chris)

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Laurie and Peaches were absolutely stunning!

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BFF's!

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We literally danced ’til we dropped.

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Happy Birthday Laurie!

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The day after the party, we all spent the day hobbling around the house, semi-crippled from jumping around all night in heels.

 

Peaches and I took a couple of extra days off together after we got home to Oregon.  Just because.  By the time I got around to looking at my computer I had over 300 emails!  Fortunately the vast majority of them were junk.  But if anyone wrote to me and I didn’t respond, I might have accidentally missed your message in the Great Spam Sweep of October 08.  I promise I’m not ignoring you.

 

And, well, this past week Peaches and I have been preoccupied with bouncing up and down the Emotional Guidance Scale (EGS) together, from the bottom to the top to the bottom to the top.  It’s sort of been an exercise in what it’s like to actively move up and down the scale at will.  See, the beauty of the EGS is that when one is way at the bottom, around 21 or 22 (unworthiness, guilt, fear, grief) it isn’t as easy as making a decision to simply bounce to the top, to passion and joy.  In most cases that’s way to big a jump for most people to make all at once.  But the jump from 21 (insecurity) up to 20 (jealousy) is an easy jump.  And from jealousy, the jump to rage is easy, and it feels a little better.  Then jump to revenge, then anger, then discouragement and blame, up to worry and doubt, then disappointment, etc.  Before you know it you’re up in hopefulness, and optimism, then around positive expectation, happiness, to passion and onward to joy.

 

Yeah, it really is as easy as it sounds.  When the late great scholar, Joseph Campbell, said, “…follow your bliss, find where it is, and don’t be afraid to follow it”, he may have uttered one of the most profound statements in modern history.  “Follow your bliss.”  Genius! 

 

But what about those who are wallowing in the pit of despair and depression?  What about those who are so far away from the experience of bliss that they question if such a thing as bliss even exists?  In that case, with the use of the Emotional Guidance Scale (EGS), anyone can get a handle on just about where they stand emotionally, and what emotional state they might reach for that would easily bring them just a little closer to their place of joy and bliss.  In other words, when referring to the EGS, for those who find themselves stuck in unworthiness, follow your jealousy.  For those stuck in jealousy, follow your rage to a better feeling experience.  Stuck in Doubt?  Follow your disappointment; look inside and find where your disappointment is, and follow it to a better feeling experience than doubt.  The important thing to be aware of here is to not settle or get stuck in hatred or revenge or blame.  These states are just stops along the way to optimism and enthusiasm and bliss. 

 

As for Peaches and me, we look forward to opportunities to deliberately bounce up and down the scale.  Not that we manufacture reasons to hit the bottom (depression and despair) but you know, life happens.  And we don’t sweat it, ’cause we know it’s an easy trek right back to the top of the scale (joy and empowerment.)  And I’m here to tell you, the deliberate climb back to the top of the scale can be a lot of fun.  The experience of jumping from one emotional state to the next when ascending the EGS feels like relief.  It’s like that delightful experience of kicking off your heels and burying your toes into plush carpeting at the end of a long day on your feet.  And the higher up the scale we get, the more euphoric the sense of relief becomes from one emotional state to the next one up. 

 

The real value though in spending the time to deliberately bounce up and down the EGS (when the opportunity for a little despair presents itself) is that we become well practiced at climbing up the scale whenever we feel knocked down a few levels.  The value is that Peaches and I are learning that we need not live in fear of terrible things happening to or around us during our life’s course.  We know from direct experience how easy it can be to deliberately climb our way back up to love, passion, empowerment and bliss because we do it all the time.  We get to face life without fear!  (Okay, with less fear, but we’re working on it.)

 

Anyway, that’s what Peaches and I have been doing with our first days of Autumn.  And that’s my excuse for being out of touch these past couple of weeks.

 

I’m glad y’all missed me.

 

XO,

K