the Community of Humanity

One of the important things we do at Inner Child is to create bridges between the various segments of humanity. Janet and  I had the opportunity in 2015 to travel to Kosovo and participate in The Kosovo International Poetry Festival. During our time there we were able to establish connections and create friendships with a variety of wonderful poets from all over the world. One of the significant things we learned was that as a Westerner, American, our perspectives were limited . . .  very narrow!

As a Writer Poet, Publisher we found ourselves in a position to further develop these relationships, and thus take a role in the sharing of these voices here in the west.

Following we would like to take this opportunity to introduce to you an Iraqi Poet, Ms. Faleeha Hasan. I hope you enjoy the article and her words. I hope you too will cross the bridge and embrace her as a part of our human family.

Bless Up

bill

Introducing

Faleeha Hasan

Faleeha’s Poetry

Healing and the Poet's Brain

by

Kimberly Burnham

Poetry, Storytelling, and Blood Pressure

Telling your story in prose or poetry is helpful in letting go of stress and to decrease blood pressure symptoms. This study showed that "storytelling is emerging as a powerful tool for health promotion in vulnerable populations. The storytelling intervention produced substantial and significant improvements in blood pressure for patients with baseline uncontrolled hypertension," according to Houston, T. K., J. J. Allison, et al. (2011). "Culturally appropriate storytelling to improve blood pressure: a randomized trial." Ann Intern Med 154(2): 77-84.

Who do you tell your story to? Whose stories do you hear? Try writing a short story or poem about an experience you have had.

“...and then, I have nature and art and poetry, and if that is not enough, what is enough?” Vincent van Gogh

Recovery From Serious Illness

In a study that aimed to explore the effect of a poetry writing program for people who had experienced a serious mental illness researchers said, "Participants responded enthusiastically and each group demonstrated an increase in wellbeing over the course of their workshop, moving them from medium to low risk on the Kessler-10, a measure of wellbeing. Participants enjoyed the challenge of writing and the companionship of other group members. Psychiatrists are in a position to encourage patients who have experienced a serious illness to explore writing as a way of coming to terms with their experiences," according to Rickett, C., C. Greive, et al. (2011). "Something to hang my life on: the health benefits of writing poetry for people with serious illnesses." Australas Psychiatry 19(3): 265-268.

These studies seem to indicate that poetry writing and storytelling can contribute to physical and mental health. It can also help us connect to the reader or listener of our story and helps us imagine someone else's feelings during an experience they tell us.

“Every heart sings a song, incomplete, until another heart whispers back. Those who wish to sing always find a song. At the touch of a lover, everyone becomes a poet,” said Plato.

Dementia and Brain Power Help

An article in "Dementia" reported, "This article focuses on poetry interventions as one example of cultural arts interventions. The use of poetry might seem counterintuitive, given that people with dementia lose their language abilities and that poetry is regarded to be the most complex literary form. I argue that expanding on existing research on poetry interventions from a health and science perspective with a humanities approach will help illuminate how poetry works to enhance the exchange with people with dementia. Drawing on participant observations of poetry interventions by Gary Glazner (Alzheimer's Poetry Project, USA) at the New York Memory Center, I frame poetry interventions as a specific form of oral poetry in which people with dementia are positioned as cocreators of embodied texts and directly benefit from the power of the spoken word," said Swinnen, A. M. (2014). "Healing words: A study of poetry interventions in dementia care." Dementia (London).

Another study reported on a series of poetry writing workshops, "All of the women said that they benefited from the workshops, but their experiences differed greatly. Themes included competence and self-efficacy, personal growth, wanting to contribute and poetry writing as a way of coping with the progression of the condition. Creative activities such as writing poetry hold promise for enhancing the quality of life of people with dementia," according to Petrescu, I., K. MacFarlane, et al. (2014). "Psychological effects of poetry workshops with people with early stage dementia: an exploratory study." Dementia (London) 13(2): 207-215.

Poetry enhances the quality of life of people with dementia and perhaps anyone who writes or reads poetry. Do you know a poet? Ask them how their life is better because of poetry. 

Role of Interfaith Group in World Peace

by

Kimberly Burnham

Are you part of a religious or spiritual community? Do you feel connected and understood by your neighbors? Do you feel like we are all part of the community of humanity?

There are some religious communities that are trying to convert people from other religious communities to their way of seeing the world and interacting with the powers that be in the universe. But more and more today, interfaith communities are springing up, perhaps in response to hate speech or bigotry and sometimes in an effort to be proactive and create peace.

Communities that are trying to convert people to their religious beliefs and interfaith communities are very different and have a very different impact of world peace.

Spokane, Washington has a very active interfaith community. Each month or so, the Spokane Interfaith Council creates an event called Meet The Neighbors. This month we met at the Islamic Center of Spokane. The purpose is education, an opportunity to see the inside of another religion's sacred space, and talk with people—one person to another. At events such as Meet The  Neighbors it is easy to see that we all have a lot in common, we want our children to be safe from harm, we want to learn and grow in the world, have a warm home, and meaningful work and lives. After listening to the Muslim call to pray, members of the Muslim community share what is most beautiful about their religion. "That moment in pray when I connect deeply with my creator," said one man.

Several people in the audience quietly nodded in agreement. Past Meet The Neighbors events have taken place in Sikh temples, Jewish synagogues, Bahia (Muslim) centers. Next month we will visit a Native American center.

In early February there will be another event in Spokane designed to encourage dialogue and learning. As part of the Being Religious Interreligiously Lecture Series and in honor of the 50th anniversary of Nostra Aetate (an encyclical from the Pope) at Gonzaga University in Spokane, WA, Dr. Amy Jill-Levine will be speaking on "Of Pearls and Prodigals: Hearing Jesus' Parables through Jewish Ears."

In an earlier interview with David Neff, Levine said, "In working with Christian congregations and clergy groups, I find an enormous interest in Jesus' Jewish context—how the parables would have sounded in Jewish ears and what the controversy stories suggest about early Jewish practice. I think that if Christians want to take the Incarnation seriously, they should also take seriously where and when and to whom it occurred. Hence the volume has 30 short essays on such topics as the Pharisees, the temple, the ancient synagogue, Jewish parables, Jewish miracle workers, Jewish beliefs in angels and the afterlife, Jewish family life, and so on. "The Jewish Annotated New Testament" also serves to correct unfortunate stereotypes of early Judaism that sometimes find their way into Christian preaching and teaching. It also addresses anti-Jewish teachings such as that all Jews are "Christ killers" or lovers of money or children of the Devil. The annotations provide historical contexts for the passages that give rise to such canards as well as note that the vast majority of Christians read their Bible as a text of love, not hate."

I also recently attended an Interfaith Havdalah presentation. Franciscan friar, Al Mascia and Steve Klaper, a cantor or Jewish musical leader ask Christians to come early to Catholic Vespers and Jews to stay after their Havdalah (Saturday night ending of the Jewish shabbat). "The Interfaith Havdalah is not a mixture of faith traditions; rather we are unique communities praying in each other's company," said long time friends and colleagues, Al and Steve.

As part of the Jewish Havdalah, Steve Klaper leads Mincha (afternoon prayers) and Maariv (evening prayers) with songs like Shalom (Peace) Aleichem (peace be upon you) and V'hi No'am which is taken from the 90th Psalm, noted Klaper, saying the Psalms are something both traditions have in common.

Making the transition from Jewish Havdalah to Catholic Vespers, the leaders ring a Tibetan bowl and encourage participants to take a deep cleansing breath. The candle in front of Friar Al is then lit and they sing "Upon the Lighting of the Lamp at Vespers". Other songs that are part of the Vespers service include "Rejoice, Rejoice" and "Shalom My Friends." Noting the inclusion of the song "Upon Giving Thanks for Incense," Brother Al explained that both the Jewish Havdalah and the Catholic Vespers has an olfactory or smell component.

As they close the service, Brother Al says, "Shavua Tov" wishing Steve a "good week" and Steve responds by wishing Al, "Shabbat Shalom" or a peaceful Sabbath.

"We light candles as an external expression of prayer, said Brother Al ending the event with a quote from the Sufi / Muslim poet, Rumi, "A candle doesn't lose its light by enlightening another candle."

The 13th century Persian poet also said, “Out beyond ideas of wrong doing and right doing there is a field. I'll meet you there." And sometimes it is enough just to pray beside each other because as Rumi said, "When the soul lies down in that grass the world is too full to talk about.” 

A Happy New Year

the Neurotheology of Dopamine

by

Kimberly Burnham

This year eat, sleep, move your body, meditate, sing, love and if you can do it in community even better.

According to Kenneth Blum et al (2015)  “Finding happiness may not only reside in our genome [genetic material or genes] but may indeed be impacted by positive meditative practices, positive psychology, spiritual acceptance, love of others and self, and taking inventory of ourselves-one day at a time.”

Happiness

Will the new year be happier for you?

Do you have a meditative practice that also involves movements, like Qigong, Taichi, breathing exercises, yoga, chanting, running, etc.

Do you seek to bring new awareness to your psychological state and how you feel?

Do you practice love of self and others?

In the 2015 article entitled, "The Molecular Neurobiology of Twelve Steps Program & Fellowship: Connecting the Dots for Recovery," in the Journal of Reward Deficit Syndrome 1(1): 46-64, Blum and his colleagues outline each step of the Twelve Step Recovery Program in terms of what is happening in the brain and how dopamine (pleasure and anti-stress brain chemical) is involved.

Dopamine

The researchers note, "A breakdown of this Brain Reward Cascade will lead to the dysregulation and dysfunction of dopamine homeostasis [balance]. Dopamine has been established as the pleasure and antistress molecule. Any reduction in dopamine function can result in a deficiency in reward that leads to substance seeking behavior [addictions]."

While the article focuses on people with significant addictions who are trying to recovery, there are some lessons for all of us in how we seek community and how we look for rewards and support in our lives.

Neurotheology

First, let's consider these questions:

How can we use the sensations we experience in the world and our beliefs about our surroundings to feel better and help our communities function better?

How can we bring more awareness to our lives and see the path forward more clearly?

This is really at the core of the neurotheology or the spiritual neuroscience of brain health and dopamine.  Dopamine is a neurotransmitter or a small molecule that is produced in the brain and helps nerve signals travel from one place to another. It also helps us feel good, feel rewarded, and move comfortably.

In a simplistic way, Parkinson's disease, with its tremors, tight muscles, chronic back pain can be described as not enough dopamine, as is also true of some people with significant addictions. At the opposite end of the spectrum, schizophrenia with it hallucinations and breaks with reality can be described as too much dopamine.

Brain Cross Talk and Well Being

The researchers continued, "There is evidence that through the 12-step program and fellowship cross-talk [communication] between the Pre-Frontal Cortex-Cingulate (site of decision-making) and the Nucleus Accumbens (NAc) (site of craving behavior) is developed.

The site of the brain where one experiences feelings of well-being is called the Mesolimbic System and has been termed the reward center. The reward center is where chemical messages, including dopamine (DA), serotonin, enkephalins, and γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), work together, to provide a net release of dopamine in the Nucleus Accumbens. "

AntiStress

"Dopamine, as stated earlier, has been associated with pleasure and is the primary neurotransmitter modulating the activation of the reward system of the brain. It has been called the anti-stress molecule and the pleasure molecule. When dopamine is released receptors are stimulated and feelings of well-being and stress reduction increase."

Food, Sex, & Exploration

"Drugs of abuse are considered to be stronger positive reinforcers than natural reinforcers (like food and sex). Natural rewards include satisfaction of physiological drives (like hunger and reproduction and exploratory locomotion), and unnatural rewards are learned and involve satisfaction of acquired drives. Acquired drives involve hedonic sensations and pleasure derived from alcohol, other drugs, as well as, from gambling and other risk-taking behaviors."

When an individual is trying to make up for not enough dopamine they may use drugs and other non-natural rewards.  Think about your practices around food and sex. Do you feel like you have a healthy relationship to both? Are you stimulating the brain reward centers naturally?

Is Chocolate the Answer?

Certainly chocolate and salty grease foods can be satisfying for a short period of time but when was the last time you ate delicious healthy food prepared with love that brought you pleasure and a deep sense of satisfaction?

Move Your Body

"Exploratory locomotion" is the third natural reward. How often do you move as you explore your environment? Many of us drive cars and are moving in space as we see new sights but our bodies are not moving. This research implies that we have a physiological drive to move our bodies and explore new things in our environment. And that our brain rewards this "exploratory locomotion" with a better balance of dopamine and a strong sense of satisfaction.

Other research indicates that consciously long walking or taking long steps can also enhance the balance of dopamine in the body. One of the symptoms of Parkinson's disease (too little dopamine) is the development of a shuffling gait or walking with short steps. One way to counteract this and improve walking, balance, and muscle relaxation is to consciously take long steps.

Music

"The reinforcing effects of drugs of abuse such as cocaine, alcohol, nicotine, food, and music are mediated in the NAc, a site within the ventral striatum. Indeed, it is believed that this structure directs motivated behaviors, elicited by natural rewards or incentive stimuli."

In what ways do you involve music in your life? Do you sing to or listen to music in a community setting? Does performing or listening to music bring you pleasure and satisfaction?

Meditation

"Other work by Davidson’s group on mindfulness reveals the importance of mediation in terms of brain activation of the reward circuitry. Understanding this could suggest that meditation coupled with enhance spiritual belief may indeed induce dopamine release" and a happier new year.

On Motivation

Let Go of Carrots and Sticks

Why do we do things? What motivates you? Do rewards or punishments motive you, truly? If we want peace and success in this world for all communities and for all people, what do we have to do?

Recent world events have shown how people try to motive others. The problem with many of these carrots and sticks is that they have not been thought through. As long as rewards and punishments are used to motivate people, we will live in a world build on fear and scarcity.

When a terrorist plants a bomb and kills innocent people, what do they hope to accomplish? Will France be motivated to give them land, money, and jobs? Will the United States? I think one of the saddest things in this world is when people destroy other people in an attempt to get what will make them happy. It is literally never successful.

What do you want? Do you think about how you are trying to get it?

Marshall B. Rosenberg developer of "Non-Violent Communication" shares that there is enough for every one of the seven billion people on this planet as long as we don't have to have a specific piece of food, land, and person. There is enough love for each of us as long as we aren't set on that love coming from someone who doesn't love us. There is enough land as long as we are not set on a particular unattainable piece of land.

The movie, "Avatar" featured all the stress and trauma that went into mining for a particular mineral, which the movie producers adeptly named, "Unattainium." There was enough for everyone as long as force and destruction was not used to get energy, housing, and love.

I ask myself what is my "Unattainium?" How can I share more?

The Mormon (LDS) church recently changed their guidelines to bishops and other leaders of congregations to include this wording in revisions to the LDS Handbook, http://www.scribd.com/doc/288685756/Changes-to-LDS-Handbook-1-Document-2-Revised-11-3-15-28003-29  "A natural or adopted child of a parent living in a same-gender relationship, whether the couple is married or cohabiting, may not receive a name and a blessing."

And I wonder how is the LDS church trying to bring people to God or make the world a better place with this kind of mandate. What do they want? Do they want to shame or coerce gay men and lesbians into leaving their relationships so that their children will have a chance at a particular piece of heaven? Do they want to punish children and withhold blessings as a way of manipulating the people and world around them? Are they trying to send a message to their membership that anyone who doesn't do what they think is right will be punished and love will be withheld?

If they are trying to motivate people, I think they will have about as much success as the terrorists in France, the United States, and elsewhere in the world.

Dan Pink, in an article entitled, "Drive: The surprising truth about what motivates us,"  from www.thersa.org said, "the science shows that we care about mastery very, very deeply, and the science shows that we want to be self-directed. And I think that the big takeaway here is that if we start treating people like people and not assuming that they're simply horses, you know, slower, smaller, better smelling horses, if we get past this kind of ideology of carrots [rewards] and sticks [punishment] and look at the science I think we can actually build organizations and work lives that make us better off, but I also think they have the promise to make our world just a little bit better."

Further explaining, Pink puts motivation into an economic model but many of the same principles hold true for any organization, "Pay people enough so that they're not thinking about money and they're thinking about the work. Now once you do that, it turns out there are three factors that the science shows lead to the better performance, not to mention personal satisfaction: autonomy, mastery, and purpose. Autonomy is our desire to be self directed, to direct our own lives. Now in many ways traditional notions of management run afoul of that. Management is great if you want compliance, but if you want engagement, self-direction is better."

In your organization, whether it is a church, a business, or a country, do you want compliance or engagement?

Pink continues, "Mastery is our urge to get better at stuff; we like to get better at stuff. This is why people play musical instruments on the weekend. You have all these people who are acting in ways that seem irrational economically; they play musical instruments on weekends -why? It's not going to get them a mate, it's not going to make them any money why are they doing it? Because it's fun, because you get better at it and that's satisfying."

Bombing people or condemning then for not agreeing with you does not motivate them to get better at what you want or pay attention to what you want.

"What you see more and more is a rise of what you might call the purpose motive as if more and more organizations want to have some kind of a transcendent purpose: partly because it makes coming to work better; partly that's because that's the way to get better talent. And what we're seeing now is in some ways, when the profit motive becomes unmoored from the purpose motive bad things happen. Bad things ethically sometimes but also bad things like not good stuff, like crappy products, like lame services, like uninspiring places to work that when the profit motive is paramount, or when it becomes completely unhitched from the purpose motive, it just... people don't do great things," explains Pink.

What is the purpose of your community? Is your community growing in engagement and talent? Are you and those around you doing great things? 

Pattern Recognition at the Parliament of World's Religions

by

Kimberly Burnham

Bowls of colored sand stood ready on October 15th, 2015. Across the hallway people were preparing vegetarian food. Hanging from the walkway ceilings were flags and banners with quotes on peace, the environment, and faith. A walking mediation labyrinth was being laid down in bright blue tape. Stages were being prepared. The words of spiritual leaders and seekers were about to fill the rooms of the 515,000 square feet Salt Palace in Salt Lake City, Utah.

A pattern was forming. An empty convention center transformed into a sacred space, a microcosm of life on earth. Ten thousand people from every continent and corner of this round earth filled the space with consciousness of the devastation and the challenges the community of humanity face but also hope, love, and a commitment to peace. There were turbans, scarves, yamaks, crowns, masks, robes, crosses, and all manner of symbols as people of faith talked together from their respective vantage points on how best to show gratitude for the blessings of life.

Five days later the bowls of colored sand were transformed in the hands of Tibetan monks into a stunning mandala for some people: a tool for gaining wisdom and compassion. For others a mandala is a geometric piece of art that blesses this world with beauty and gives pause to all of us consumed in a busy life. The pattern emerges only through the work of someone willing to have patience and dedication to express themselves in compassion.

The vegetarian food, prepared by the Langar Sikh community brought nourishment and joy to thousands. It also won the heart and minds of everyone open to seeing the strength and magnificence in the face of the men and women who welcomed each person. "Thank you for coming, Kimberly," a Sikh man said each day I visited. Giving for no other reason than because there was a need to be filled and a desire to be of service, a beautiful pattern emerged from the work of the Sikh community.

Nearby the spires of the LDS (Mormon) temple were recognizable with the gold statue of the angel Moroni on the top. The yellow leaves on the mountain trees, the cool water in the fountain, and decorative pumpkins all converged in a warm and welcoming pattern of the fall in Utah.

The 2015 Parliament of the World's Religions graced us with a glimpse of what this world can look like when people of all faiths listen to the other and see in their eye a neighbor or relative. What do you need? What can I share? What can we do together to take our message of peace into the world?

"It is difficult to change how you read a text but ask a new question: Do I need to read the text in a new way as I find myself in a new situation?" Brandan Robertson noted, "Many communities fear, unnecessarily, that there is a relationship between change in belief and decline." How can we find success in breaking out of a negative pattern and gain an expanded vison of love?

"We have had thousands of years of hatred and slavery. Let's try a little friendship, " said Wande Abimbola, a Yoruba man from Nigeria. In other words, let's change the pattern where it is not working for us.

The Imam Jamal Rahman started his presentation with a Koranic whoooooooooo huuuuuuu, creating with sound a pattern of peace. "Silence is not the absence of sound. It is the absence of the little self," he said. Can you find your pattern of peace in the silence?

"Mother Earth the source of life not a resource," said Chief Arvol Lookinghorse. Take a little and give back some. Breathe in a little and give some back. This is how we can all continue to live in peace and abundance.

"God is Echad," said Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb, quoting from the Jewish Shema prayer: God is One. "One is not a person alone but all connected into oneness," she added. Can you find yourself in the pattern of oneness?

Participants at the 2015 Parliament of the World's Religions also had a chance to see films and theatre productions weaving poetry and light into a pattern that can change the world. Born Into Brothels: Calcutta’s Red Light Kids teaches us that we can break free of the patterns that keep us in poverty, prostitution, or uneducated. But it is easiest and most successful if someone gives us a hand and we take their hand, and work with them.

Referring to her home on the other side of the world in New Zealand, where they are already in tomorrow, Rangimarie Turuki Rose Pere said, "I have come from the future. What do you want to know?" She also shared an image of her land where 6000 hectares of indigenous trees grow. "Children come in with intuition. We only have to love them," she said.

Arnold Thomas taught us, "Relatives, what if this is—heaven all around us? Are we behaving in a manner that our grandchildren seven generations from now will enjoy this earthly heaven?"

In this microcosm that was the 2015 Parliament of the World's Religions we learned that peace and harmony are possible. Today, we begin again to put into action what we learned.

Inside, Seeing From the Fourth Dimension

by

Kimberly Burnham

If you draw a four sided square on a piece of paper, it is said to be a two dimensional object. It has length and width but not height. Of course a piece of paper does have height, so it is not truly a two dimensional object but for our purposes we will think of it as such.

You can also think of a house with no roof as having walls in only in two dimensions. From above you would be able to see everything inside the house or inside the square on the piece of paper. The contents of the house or square would be vulnerable to the elements and to being seen. You can easily see inside from the third dimension or from above. It is the reason castles were often built on a hill, so that they would not be vulnerable from above. As three dimensional beings we often create protective structures for ourselves, like putting up walls and a roof to protect ourselves from the rain and wind. 

There is a wonderful movie, based on the book on Amazon, Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions by Edwin A. Abbott. "It describes the journeys of A. Square, a mathematician and resident of the two-dimensional Flatland, where women-thin, straight lines-are the lowliest of shapes, and where men may have any number of sides, depending on their social status. Through strange occurrences that bring him into contact with a host of geometric forms, Square has adventures in Spaceland (three dimensions), Lineland (one dimension) and Pointland (no dimensions) and ultimately entertains thoughts of visiting a land of four dimensions—a revolutionary idea for which he is returned to his two-dimensional world. "

Spoiler Alert: The feminist values in the book written in the early 1900's are appalling. The movie, which is much more recent, leaves the misogyny of the book behind.

In Lineland, which a one dimensional space where there are only lines which can move forward or backward but have no concept of width (side to side) or height (above and below). A two dimensional creature like a square visiting from two or three dimensional space can see the middle of the line from the side or from above.

So, from the second dimension you can see inside one dimensional space. From the third dimension you can see inside a two dimensional space, which begs the question, "Where do you need to be to see inside of a three dimensional object?"

Some people consider the fourth dimension to be time. If we can follow light and energy through time, perhaps we can see inside —people, buildings, and other three dimensional objects.

Think about it, for a moment, what is needed in order to see inside another person.  There is the physical —medical technology can use energy (ultrasound, x-rays, infra-red light) to "see" inside a person's body.  Alternative medicine practitioners use their hands to feel these energies and "see" or feel what is going on inside a person but with time we can also get to know someone, if we really paying attention.

Have you ever spent time with a person who you felt could see inside your soul? What was it like to feel their full attention for a period of time? Are you using time to see the world and community of humanity around you?

Think about where you would have to be to be able to see inside the fourth dimension or time. In a way by engaging in the moment, learning from experiences, and remembering the best of the past you are seeing into time. Imagine what the future could be like if we all could see ...

Thriving on the Beauty in Diversity

by

Kimberly Burnham

There is value in enjoying our differences and similarities. When everyone is the same life is boring. Our brains are not excited if all we can see is one kind of tree or all we can buy is one kind of car, which is the same as everyone else's. Sameness also increases competition, which if you think about it — what is competition ... the differentiation of self as better than another in some way. In order to win you have to be different.

If we value differences then everyone can win in some way. Everyone can be better or best adapted to a particular task. What are you good at? What can you be the best at?

The biological value of diversity is survival. The more different kinds of birds, butterflies, or dinosaurs there are when the environment shifts or changes, the more likely one, two, or more will survive. If everyone is the same and the environment becomes too cold, too hot, too blue, the wrong mix of air, or too much water, none will survive. But if some people, animals, butterflies, or bacteria do better in the cold, hot, blue, or wet environment then they can survive and life continues.

An example of this kind of diversity is Charles Darwin's finches. He studied all the different types of beaks on the finches of the Galapagos Island. Each beak seems designed for a particular kind of food, whether for sucking nectar from a bright purple flower, chewing tiny protein filled seeds, catching mosquitoes on the fly, or picking grubs out from under layers of fractal shaped tree bark. We don't even have to agree on whether these differences evolved or were created in order to enjoy the beauty and practicality of being different. If all the birds are eating exactly the same kind of food, they will run out. There is enough for a greater number of birds in a diverse environment with a variety of birds skilled in finding and eating different things.

You could look at the extinction of dinosaurs and say, they were too similar in their needs for food, temperature, air, etc. Their environment changed and none survived, but some creatures, like horseshoe crabs did survive from a time before the era of dinosaurs. The horseshoe crabs were different from dinosaurs in the ways that mattered in the new environment and they survived. They thrive in coastal water today.

There are lots of ways in which we enjoy diversity. Many people like to see lots of different kinds of butterflies in a ripe summer field. True, some people try to kill the white cabbage butterflies, which eats vegetable crops, but it is the caterpillar that does the most damage. The adult butterfly feeds on nectar and pollinates flowers. Some people don't believe in the giant blue morpho butterfly of Latin America, it is so rare and elusive. Some people even hate butterflies and find them creepy. Other people study certain types of butterflies and ignore the rest. You may have a favorite kind of butterfly but none of this changes the benefit to butterfly survival of having lots of different kinds of butterflies.

In this world we have a diversity of religions and faith traditions. Perhaps there is a survival value in the variety of ways to appreciate life, community, and nature. Perhaps there is some other kind of value in having a diverse and pluralistic society.  Different religions came out of a wide variety of different cultures and environments. It seems odd to think of one as better than another or more valuable than another.  The religions of the world are just different from one another and each appeals to certain people and doesn't appeal to others.

There is a Japanese saying, "There are many ways to get to the top of Mount Fuji." Let us appreciate the beauty, even of what we don't understand or enjoy on other levels. It is simply enough that someone enjoys the beauty of what exists.

The Source of Peace

by Kimberly Burnham

With the 4th of July celebrated in the US, I have been thinking about war and peace and how we separate ourselves from one another and how we build our communities. My contribution to the monthly poetry anthology, The Year of The Poet II from Inner Child Press focused on peace and the first three quotes in this column.

Albert Einstein said, "Peace cannot be kept by force; it can only be achieved by understanding." Quotes from Brainy Quotes (http://www.brainyquote.com)

And I wonder where in my life am I trying to force things that cannot be force. Where can I share or achieve more understanding?

Martin Luther King, Jr. said, "I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality... I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word."

And I wonder how clearly do I see the bright daybreak of peace. What truth and love am I contributing to peace and brotherhood becoming a reality?

Virginia Woolf said, "You cannot find peace by avoiding life."

And I wondered how can I embrace life more fully.  How do we create a life full of joy and peace?

Jimi Hendrix said, "When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace."

And I wonder what do I love. How can I engage with the power of love more deeply?

Thomas a Kempis said, "First keep peace with yourself, then you can also bring peace to others."

And I wonder how to find my own peace more strongly.  What is peace?

John Lennon said, "Imagine all the people living life in peace. You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one. I hope someday you'll join us, and the world will be as one."

And I wonder about how to access my dreams. How can we use our dreams to join us together?

Joseph B. Wirthlin said, "You can find peace amidst the storms that threaten you."

And I wonder where do I see the silver linings more readily than the storm. Do we see threats that are not really there?

Francis of Assisi said, "While you are proclaiming peace with your lips, be careful to have it even more fully in your heart."

And I wonder what is fully in my heart. Do we proclaim peace with our lips and our heart?

Mother Teresa said, "If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other."

And I wonder where and with whom do I belong. Have we forgotten to build our communities and reach out to others?

Henry Miller said, "If there is to be any peace it will come through being, not having."

And I wonder who am I and what do I have that takes too much of my attention? Who are we becoming?

And I wonder ...

Inside and Outside 

Who Are We Exiling?

"Is it true you used to be a Mormon?" He was tall, dark, and handsome with a bright warm smile.

"Yes" I said to the man who was on Benay Lappe's Queer Talmud Retreat with me.

"Me too!"  He said as we explored what we had in common.

"Do you think they will ever change their stance on gay marriage?"

It is a common topic among queer ex-Mormons.

Last year during all the furor over a woman being excommunicated for blogging about the possibility of women getting to hold the priesthood in the Mormon church, my sweet liberal Mormon uncle gave me a hug and said, "If we let women hold the priesthood, will you come back?"

Deep down I feel most of us understand that need to be recognized and included.

I think the Mormon church will open its membership to queer people before women will get the priesthood.  My reasoning is this:  in 1978 men of African descent were able to hold the priesthood in the Mormon church where before they couldn't. Change has happened in the past. It can happen again. This may mean that women will eventually be priesthood holders. That was a less politicized battle and white Mormon families (the majority at the time) could say to themselves, "This issue (blacks and the priesthood) doesn't affect us, doesn't affect our family." They would be wrong of course because when we marginalize any group based on race, gender, culture, religion, etc. we become less vibrant and smaller.

Today, no Mormon family can be completely assured that the "gay" issue doesn't affect them. Some parents throw their gay children out on the street when they come out but most do not.  Most are torn up about how their children are seen by the church. For many people, women and the priesthood is not as heart wrenching an issue as gay marriage. And it is everyone's heart that is getting wrenched.

I had a teacher who called it the "crotch syndrome", one foot is in one camp, the other foot is in the other camp and the two camps are getting farther apart ... something has to give or your pants split. As Rabbi Benay Lappe would say, "You crash."

Gay young people can stay hidden and closeted in the Mormon church but that is the path to suicide—physical or mental. Young people can leave the religion of their childhood, tear up families, support systems, and communities or together we can create something new, taking the best of the old and creating something new that will actually thrive for the next hundred years and beyond.

What will your community or organization feel like in the hands, hearts, and minds of people in 2115? Will there be anyone left who thinks like you do today, values what you value, or views the universe the way you do? Who is on the margins of your community?

In 1990 a prominent sociologist compiled the statistics for the 1990 National Jewish Population survey saying, "There is good news and there is bad news. The good news is Judaism will exist in a hundred years. The bad news is it will be unrecognizable to us."

Rabbi Benay Lappe, founder of Svara, a radically queer yeshiva told this story ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBWIEAR_GQY ) and continued by saying, "What I would like to share with you today is why this one queer Jew doesn't think an unrecognizable Judaism is particularly bad news."

"Every religion comes into being to create meaning, and meaning comes by way of a "master story," like Torah. But every master story will eventually...crash," according to Rabbi Benay Lappe. She lays out a roadmap for navigating the current "crash" in Jewish life, arguing that it is those on the margins who will be the leaders of the next Jewish future, and outlines the curriculum that will equip them to be "players."

When I heard Rabbi Lappe speak at a weeklong Talmud (Jewish learning) retreat, I started to think about the different communities I have been a part of and why I have deepened my connected to some and walked away from others.

Ultimately, we are each a member of the human race but then we further divide ourselves into like minded communities. We do it by differentiating and comparing our beliefs and identity to others. It is a natural thing to seek out people like ourselves. We often feel more comfortable with people like ourselves, whatever that defining characteristic may be. But in forming communities of like minded people we also marginalize or exclude others who we feel don't fit in our community.

And who gets to decide? Who chooses whether one person is a valued or marginalized member of your community? Do people get to self-define and include or exclude themselves based on where they want to be? What community characteristics can be defined? Can gender or race be self-defined in your community as easily as what genre of books are engaging or religious affiliation?

How long will it be before there are fewer people within your community than the number of people who say, "Yes, I used to be a part of that community but I left?"

Have you considered whether your community is marginalizing the very person who will find the path for your community or organization to thrive and grow into the next 100 years?

Connection to the Earth

Two years ago I was bicycling through Spokane, Washington on a 3000 mile Cross-USA trip from Seattle to Washington, DC. In the last two years I moved across the country from Connecticut to Washington state and this spring just moved into a new house with trees and land for a large garden.

Sponsored by Hazon which means vision in Hebrew, the bicycle adventure connected me to the land, this land of my birth and experience has taught me so much about myself, my friends and the United States. I found community with people who otherwise would not have spun in the same circles as I did. I noticed our similarities and the places we are connected and I learned from our differences.

Now I wake up to the sound of quail running in the tall grass, baby birds just learning to fly and the sound of children's bare feet on the newly carpeted stairs. I am part of a family, a community, a country and the earth.

Earth Teach Me

"Earth teach me to forget myself

as melted snow forgets its life.

Earth teach me resignation as the leaves

which die in the fall.

Earth teach me courage as the tree

which stands all alone.

Earth teach me regeneration as the seed

which rises in the spring."

- William Alexander

I Am Learning

I am learning patience

from a garden that takes time to build and grow.

I am learning compassion from seeing the frustration of children

too small yet to do all they want to do.

I am learning to better explain my needs and desires

from setting up a house and merging our things.

I am learning to heal the land

with cast offs like coffee grounds and banana peels.

I am creating from dry earth where no worms yet burrow

a lush vegetable filled garden.

I am learning to appreciate and the sunshine and the rain

from the colors and hues of the setting sun as I stand on my porch.

I hope you are learning great and wise things

from the land and your community this summer.

Vignettes

by

Kimberly Burnham

Vignettes

Words shared can cause joy and pain, delight and laughter, misery and despair and ...

I wrote once to Reader's Digest. Asking to be published, I submitted my brief stories—100 words exactly crafted to tell how I am. "You are chosen", they said, "to take the next step." Post words on a wall. Use language to spread colors into life. See what your neighbors, tall and small, says. Wear your blood red beating heart on your sleeve and so I flirted with life on a big stage. Words came. Someone else chosen and I alone with my thoughts.

Winking

Only a little intimidated, I winked at her across the campground. I was, after all, bicycling 3000 US miles. She was riding only the first week. I wasn't really flirting. I was in a new realm, a little off balance. It changes you, the challenge of riding 70 miles a day, waking up in new places every morning, feeling sunlight on your face and the wind sometimes blowing straight in to your face.

It's hard to get your bearings when you are always moving towards the horizon. And sometimes you do that magically unpredictable thing that turns out amazing.

Rich Colorful Vision

With a 28 year-old photographer's eye, I scanned magazines in the ophthalmologist's waiting room. Wasn't good news when he finally saw me. "You need to consider what your life will be like if you are blind." A stark white coat, impressive degrees on the wall, "it is genetic, so there is nothing you can do," he darkened my life.

I went to massage school, a profession you can do blind, if you have to. There I found acupressure, craniosacral therapy, nutrition, matrix energetics, reiki and the keys to the kingdom of better eyesight at 40 than 28.

Peruvian Gatekeepers

As if to say, "why are you here?', Peruvian ibises squawk. The color of Andean snow, they fly as I respond, "the universe conspired, bringing me to this Star Gate near Lake Titicaca. I am here, feeling a deep peace, a rightness with the world."

After a mile pilgrimage across farmland, my guide, Bruno motioned to channels carve, an outline in granite. So old, no knows by whom but legend goes: in flight from Spanish conquistadors, an Incan priest took precious artwork, walked through stone and up to the Pleiades', opening a channel from the stars to me. 

12 Million Plus Great Horned Owl

Her beautiful silk kimono spreads the color of sunset. I remember. But even a Japanese bride wouldn't draw this Tokyo crowd. What has summoned photographers with 300 mm lenses stretched out like tree trunks. Following their eyes up a massive tree stands against the densely populated skyline. A great horned owl peaks out.

Waiting for him to fly, one photographer peers through an identical camera body to my Canon. I beg in Japanese, "just for a moment, lend me your lens." Capturing a wise owl so adaptable he can live alongside 12 million people.

Montana Proud Cross-USA Bicyclist

At 55, I bicycled 84 miles into Forsyth on July 4th. "Freedom", said a grain farmer asked about life in Montana. "We know everyone", said three small town women power walking.

A six year old, I realized "Gringo" was not good in Bogota. I barely knew Vietnam's location, as a teenager when someone spit on me in Europe. At 22, I stayed inside my Tokyo apartment on Hiroshima day.

Bicycling Seattle to DC, seeing beauty, talking to people, feeling sunlight on my face, hearing birds sing, I am a proud American for the first time, ever.

Life Is Uncertain Live Your Passion

Egyptian beachfront shopkeepers see me achieve my bucket list #57: Red Sea SCUBA diving. The hotel where I dreamed last night is three armed check points away from the Blue Hole near Dahab.  Warm water, clear as it laps the Sinai desert, containing brightly colored yet poisonous lionfish and deadly camouflaged stonefish. Exhilarating. Jacque Cousteau called it, "Earth's most beautiful place."

Loved Red Sea diving. It's the week before I work in Tel Aviv, helping people heal. The clinic door opens. Someone reports, "A bombing near home in NYC." It is September 11th, 2001.

Walnut Trees

Planted a walnut tree today in back of my new house with her and the kids—an act of faith in nuts which will not come for five years. Uncertainty reigns. Will I know the nutty crunch, seeds grown with tough shells and soft spongy coats worn to protect yet falling away in the fertile earth, growing into seedlings, then in the blink of an eye or 30 years a 75 foot tree continues reaching for sunlight, growing to the outer limits of what is possible with abundant resources, feeling gratitude for love, and the willingness of trust.

Finding the Faces of My Community

The face conveys evolutionarily significant information. When I look into your face do I see a predator or prey, a friend or enemy, are you trustworthy or not, a part of my community or an "other", a potential partner or friend? Beyond helping me to survive, will you help me create and love more deeply?

Much of this information gathering comes from my eyes and from what I see in your face. I feel your movements deep in my mirror neurons reflecting back how it feels to smile, laugh, cry or yell. My eyes are very important in how I see you and the perspective I take on people's emotions, intentions and creative processes.

I wonder sometimes what is reflected in my face as I peer into the faces of those around me or as I walk by without looking. What does it say about me, about my connection to my community if I don't look into your face?

Springtime bring flowers like the white and yellow narcissus, named perhaps for the Greek word for intoxicated (narcotic) and the mythical Narcissus, who seeing his face, falls in love with his own reflection in a pond. Glassy lake surfaces, internal and outer mirrors, window glass with the sun reflecting off our faces, a shiny piece of metal, someone's glasses—these are all way we can see our own face or a reflection of what others see.

What do other people see when they look into my face? Sometimes they smile with love and sometimes their brows furrow with concern or compassion. Sometimes their eyes light up in joyful recognition or surprised confusion. Who do you see when you look into my face? Look and see me. Facing the world is a delightful process with shifts and changes like a kaleidoscope of spinning jewels and colors as I turn my attention from one face to another. Face me as I face you. Who are you saving your face for?

Gary Zukav put it this way, "The coming and going of the seasons give us more than the spring times, summers, autumns, and winters of our lives. It reflects the coming and going of the circumstances of our lives like the glassy surface of a pond that shows our faces radiant with joy or contorted with pain."

What is reflected in the face of this community of humanity, which shines out impacting the creativity and growth in your life?

Neurodiversity

Your brain is not the same as my brain. The way I see the color red may be completely different from the way you see that same shiny deep red light reflecting from a ripe apple. We have agreed to call a certain wave length of light: RED but we can't know if we see it the same. It is unlikely that I recognize faces in the same way you do. My favorite tree, a tall blue spruce or a weeping wisteria in full bloom may not be your favorite kind of plant. You might be an extrovert. I am an introvert. We each see the world in different ways. Different things make us happy. We each learn and contribute differently.

There is neurodiversity in our community of humanity. With the idea of neurodiversity we propose that a variety of ways or diverse approaches to learning, functioning and accomplishments within a community is a good thing and are the result of normal variations in brain function. Businesses are being encourage to hire a neurodiverse staff, including not only people who see, hear and communicate in more common or typical ways but also those with a diagnosis of Asperger's syndrome, deafness, anxiety or schizophrenia. Neurodiversity is the idea that we should focus on what is positive, on skills and abilities rather than what is in some peoples' view broken. There are T-shirts now that say, "Can't Fix What Is Not Broken."

There is a TV series called Alphas that follows a team of people who have uncommon abilities, almost like super powers. One man is able to perceive radio waves, interpret and follow them through the air. He is also autistic. Is he disabled? One of the women has synesthesia, a rare but real ability to taste, hear or smell colors. In the show she has the ability to hear conversations that are happening far far away or sense very faint smells on a gun, for example that was used in a crime. Historically we think of these conditions as abnormal or aberrant but who decides what is normal.

I once worked with a little boy who could do multiplication equations like 2592 times 3094 in his head. He would rattle off the answer and look at me as I used complementary medicine approaches like Craniosacral therapy or Matrix Energetics to help him function better in the world. If I didn't respond, he would say, "It is correct you know!" I would look at the mother of this six year old with a diagnosis of Cornelia de Lange syndrome, who couldn't feed himself because of a lack of hand-eye or hand-mouth coordination and say, "I know. No one here is going to dispute that." He was always right. His brain worked differently from mine. I can feel things, like rhythms and vibrations with my hands that most people can't but my spelling ability is horrible. Am I disabled?

What should we focus on in our global community? Should we teach people or give them the opportunity to learn in ways that work for them and then offer them ways to contribute to society that fit the way their brain works? Should we only employ or reward people with common abilities?

Some people in the autism community and the deaf community have stopped looking for a cure because they don't see the way they perceive the world as problematic. Who gets to say whether it is or it isn't? Working in the complementary medicine system as I do, I never presume to tell people what they should want to be able to do. I just use my hands, coaching and skills to help them achieve their goals whether it is to decrease their tremors, have more brain clarity, or something completely different.

When I worked at a large multidisciplinary clinic someone once wrote on their goal sheet: 1. Eliminate my back pain; 2. Have a bigger house; 3. Improve my relationship with my son; 4. Sleep deeper ... At the time I was most comfortable with helping people eliminate back pain and get better sleep but this list of goals made me stop and think about how our physical health influences how our body feels which in turn influences our ability to make money and communicate in relationships. This person didn't need me to change the way they look at the world. They needed me to help them feel and function better so they could find the way that they were going to have less pain, more money and communicate better. It was not for me to define what is "better", only to help coach them or guide them in finding their way.

What is your unique way of seeing and engaging in the world? How can I help you? How can you help me?

Chronic Pain

From An Alternative Medicine Perspective

Pain abounds in our community, but so too does joy and success and creative solutions.

The pain in a child's face, tears streaming after a fall on the grassy hill or the scratch of a tree branch.

The pain of loss with the death of an uncle.

The pain of sore muscles after a 100 mile bicycle ride.

The pain of a chronically injured shoulder stiff in the morning.

The pain of rejection of a friend shaming you in public.

What to do about all the pain?

Noticing someone else's pain, reaching out to them and doing what we can to alleviate the pain is a sign of brain health. It can be scary to see someone in pain. I might wonder if their pain is contagious. Will I have pain if I help them? Seeing someone in pain can also make me wonder about my own fragility and vulnerability to pain. But reaching out with caring and compassion strengthens the connections in my brain, improves my clarity and cognitive function.

Medical research also indicates that from a brain perspective and perceptual point of view there is very little difference between social emotional pain and physical pain. The children's taunt, "sticks and stones will break my bones but words will never hurt me!" is simply not true.

So what can I do with my skills in complementary and alternative medicine to help my community find the creative solutions? What does Traditional Chinese Medicine, Acupressure, CranioSacral Therapy, Matrix Energetics or Reiki have to say about pain and all the ways to alleviate it?

Color Yourself Comfortable

Traditional Chinese Medicine

shines the way

catching bits of colored light

striking eyeballs and skin

penetrating inward to the emotional body

shifting physical and emotional pain

Yellow the color of the stomach and spleen

fuels immune and detoxification

on the clock at work

exchanging nutrients for toxins

The color of bile

rises and soothes anger

green the nourishing light of a cool forest

Heart beat red

colors of blood flow

rich in iron

nutrients digested in the small intestine

A large white breath

drawing in the color of snow

assuaging the grief of loss

with oxygen on the path to muscles

breathe in plus a long breath out

find that sweet spot of comfort

Blue flows the water elements

the kidney deciding what will stay

and what goes forward and out

draining fear from life

leaving in its place joy and comfort

Acupressure Hands Healing Pain

Three points times two

improving pain conditions

soothing the autonomic nervous system

In the neck

GB 21, SI 14 and SI 15,

In the arms

LI 4, LI 10 and LI 11

After acupressure

she said it feels better

my neck moves easier

the muscles soft and supple

racing heart slowing

to a calm even beat

- Research from Matsubara, T., Y. C. Arai, et al. (2011). "Comparative effects of acupressure at local and distal acupuncture points on pain conditions and autonomic function in females with chronic neck pain." Evid Based Complement Alternat Med 2011." http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2952311/pdf/ECAM2011-543291.pdf

Subatomic Light Visualization: Where Exactly is the Pain?

This exercise and visualization can be used for any part of the body. Here we focus on the neck and shoulders.

1. Take a couple of deep breaths and close your eyes. Rest the eyelids and turn vision and intuition inward.

2. Start to focus on the neck and shoulders. Make sure your hands and arms are in a relaxed position. Let your elbows and shoulders relax. Feel your head sitting comfortably on top of the neck with your spine aligned. Be loose and supportive.

3. Name the structures as you relax them. Relax your right shoulder, elbow, wrist and fingers. Focus on the left shoulder. How does it feel different as you relax the muscles in both shoulders?

4. Feel the fabric of the clothing on your shoulders. Is it easier to notice the top of the shoulder or the upper arm where the fabric meets the skin? Feel the clothing or fabric or air as it meets your skin throughout your body.

5. Now focus on a deeper layer. Which side is more comfortable? Can you visualize and feel the muscles, ligaments, tendons, cartilage, bones, blood vessels, nerve fibers and all the tissues that make up your shoulders, neck and throat.

6. Move inward to a smaller layer - the cellular level. Notice the difference in the color of muscle cells and red blood cells. Feel the density and flexibility in the bone cells compared with the tendon cells.

7. Then go even deeper. Embrace life inside the cells, each cell as it listens.Notice the activity of the cell walls pulsing positive and negative. What are the tiny organelles within the cells doing. Here lie the mitochondria, the powerhouse of the cells and the genetic material. Feel the movement as the cells of the right shoulder breathes - taking in oxygen and releasing carbon dioxide. Is there a sense of comfort at this level?

8. Then deeper still into the realm of atoms. Notice the carbon atoms with electrons spinning around neutrons and protons. Feel the space at the atomic level with a stable core around which electrons circle, balanced in their orbits. Does the front of the neck feel different from the back of the neck at this level? Is there comfort at the atomic vibration?

9. Then telescope into the weird and wacky realm of quantum physics, quarks and bits where electrons pop in and out of existence, where nothing is real and everything is vital. Feel the flow in your shoulders as electrons pop in and out of existence, spinning free in space, where they have as much space as they want., where photons and bits of light shine out through the neck and shoulders with warmth, compassion and creativity.

10. Now look around this tiny universe inside your shoulder at the cells and tissues that make up the muscles, ligaments, tendons, cartilage, bones, blood vessels, nerve fibers and all the tissues that create the reality of your shoulders, neck and throat.

11. Notice again the feeling of the fabric of your clothing on your skin. Does the temperature feel different where there is a sweater or a shirt or bare skin touching the air?

12. Breathe in some of that air and expand your senses out into the room as you feel the air in the room. Is it still or moving? What do you hear around you? And finally when you are ready open your eyes and notice all the things that have changed in you and in your surroundings.

Visualizing yourself with an expanded sense of ease. Meditating on the ways to bring success and comfort to all those in your community of humanity as you reach out to yourself and others with compassion.

Brain Solids

Conversion

by

Kimberly Burnham

Attachment Disorders and What Do I Need?

Playing Back A Colorful Life

With Lots of Moving Pieces

Kind Possession Now

Future Time and Space Unknown

John F. Kennedy said . . .

"Our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this planet.

We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children's future. And we are all mortal."

Real Community Prayer

by

Kimberly Burnham

Poetic Responsibility and Peace

by

Kimberly Burnham, PhD

Jiggling Eyes, Genetics and The Potential to Recover