I love this message by the late Carlos Castaneda, American shamanic teacher. As a student of the shamanic arts I am always looking to repurpose the language and concepts that were given to me and I love how he gives new life to the concept of discipline. At some point, we have all struggled to fulfill its expectation. But lately I have been really empowered by this notion that radical surrender and activism could be the answer to feeling fully present, aware AND productive. My discipline is to have a balanced practice of mind, body, spirit, and communing every day, never giving business more love than the rest. Art does not exist within me without balance. In American culture, productivity is the essence of life. Many of us were taught to do anything in our power to attain the “The American Dream”. And, now that that is on hold, we are all faced to consider that there is more to life. We are faced to consider the widespread mental and physical chronic and fatal illness, famine, and destitution, and we are faced with the possibility that we’ve gotten many things wrong. Productivity has a stress trigger because it is a complex concept that involves our wholeness as an ecosystem, not because it will make us rich. Our bodies are only productive to the extent of our longevity and vitality because they have learned over many centuries how to work in unison with the other parts of the body as well as outside forces. Productivity, for our bodies, requires Onness with the land, the air, the germs, the insects, the animals, the water, etc. We might consider this is the same with our minds and our journeys to find purpose and fullness in life. As the land would have us learn about abundance, there is enough for us all if we learn to build healthy, productive communities inside and outside our homes. I believe in you. I love you. Asé. #lovenotes #discipline #shamanicarts