Monday, June 09, 2008
Something we've been taught to avoid.
Is that sage advice?
In his book, The Force of Character, James Hillman quotes Plotinus who says "The soul circles toward itself, the movement of self-concentrated awareness, of intellection, of the living of its life, reaching to all things so that nothing shall lie outside of it."
Hillman goes on to say that "If you want your life not to stray too far from your soul, you need to make constant tiny adjustments so that your line of action does not go off on a tangent from the circle of the soul...the sailor knows that he is never quite on course, always a little off, always in need of small adjustments."
This is one of the most eloquently-stated cases for introspection I've read. Who, among us, hasn't courted disaster simply because we've failed to circle back to our values, beliefs, desires. How often have we delayed success by continuing too long on the wrong path? What major adjustments in our lives could have been avoided if we'd been making minor adjustments along the way?
It's counter-intuitive, but if you don't circle back, don't close the feedback loop, don't analyze the information you're getting in light of what's important to your soul (your values, beliefs and desires); you'll find yourself making major adjustments in heavy seas.
You can avoid calamity by comparing your course with your charts at the end of each day. If you've strayed off course, as we all do, make the minor adjustment you need for the next day's leg of the trip.
If you've read or heard something that you've found inspiring, please share it with our readers by posting a comment or emailing me at dale@furtwengler.com.
Is that sage advice?
In his book, The Force of Character, James Hillman quotes Plotinus who says "The soul circles toward itself, the movement of self-concentrated awareness, of intellection, of the living of its life, reaching to all things so that nothing shall lie outside of it."
Hillman goes on to say that "If you want your life not to stray too far from your soul, you need to make constant tiny adjustments so that your line of action does not go off on a tangent from the circle of the soul...the sailor knows that he is never quite on course, always a little off, always in need of small adjustments."
This is one of the most eloquently-stated cases for introspection I've read. Who, among us, hasn't courted disaster simply because we've failed to circle back to our values, beliefs, desires. How often have we delayed success by continuing too long on the wrong path? What major adjustments in our lives could have been avoided if we'd been making minor adjustments along the way?
It's counter-intuitive, but if you don't circle back, don't close the feedback loop, don't analyze the information you're getting in light of what's important to your soul (your values, beliefs and desires); you'll find yourself making major adjustments in heavy seas.
You can avoid calamity by comparing your course with your charts at the end of each day. If you've strayed off course, as we all do, make the minor adjustment you need for the next day's leg of the trip.
If you've read or heard something that you've found inspiring, please share it with our readers by posting a comment or emailing me at dale@furtwengler.com.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home