Using the Nazi's Strategy to Empower Us!

I just finished reading Victor Frankl’s mind-blowing book, “Man’s Search for Meaning”. As I am sitting their next to my Israeli wife of whom we have a grandmother whom is a Holoucaust Survivor, it wells up in me to start asking some questions about the overall scope of this whole thing and this is what I learned and how it is related to my work in Empowerment through Music and so on…

The first question I remember asking is how long our beloved grandmother was in a camp,. and that led to an array of questions that took us down the rabbit whole of the whole entire era. It was a fascinating road to take last night.  

I became very very interested in WHY.  The first thing I learned was that Hitler’s strategy is one that all of us can learn from.  Basically, he found a common denominator for a struggling class of people, created a common enemy and began his work in destroying their every will to live through a very slow and steady process.  For some reason I thought it all happened very very quickly.  But no no, it simply started with Jews not being able to enter certain coffee shops, then universities, then they were sectioned off, closed in and slowly deported to the “work camps.”  I truly wonder if the original intention was to kill anyone at all or did that come with the critical masses anger and frustration.

One thing that came up in our conversation was man’s ability to adapt to his circumstances.  And this is a very positive thing. So what happened is one right was taken away, and the culture adjusted, finding the greater things in life, then another right was taken, and they adapted, saying it couldn't be worse, then another right is taken away, and humans say, well it cannot get any worse, all the way down until the work camp, sickness, humiliation, starvation,torture and ultimately death.  We want to see the light in every situation.  Like a flower we are always reaching for the sun.  Where my mind was blows was at the point that I realized that this was a class of people that was highly educated, a class of people that had it all so to speak, a class of people that knew the great value of trade and relationship building, and, at the end, that is was still stands so strongly in the Jewish communities.  

So how does this all tie into life right now, well, the clarity I receive is that EVERYTHING takes time. When I am working with clients or thinking about my projects I always get stuck in the notion that this needs to happen NOW, yet there is such great power in "slow and steady.”  The reason the impact was so profound and why so many people lost their lives was because it happened slowly, one step after another.  If the Germans would have woke up one day and just decided to start killing, the Jews would have out strategized them, but by making it one gesture after another that slowly stripped away their dignity and values, they turned a class of brilliant thinkers into people that lived only to dig their own graves. I know this is a very dark reflection, but there is something so profound in the learning of all of this when you think about doing the same thing to empower people. We are living in a time when it seems like a majority of people are digging their own grave with how they behave.  But, on the flip side, when you take a Step by step approach, it IS possible to build an new foundation of self respect and trust so that one can live a completely happy and free life.  You have to let go of the notion of overnight success, nothing was built in a day.  Everything worth any value in this world, whether negative or positive, has been built off of a step by step approach and takes time. When you show people one thing after another that can empower them to live more fully, their will to live will be stronger then any other force.  Take one step, adapt to the power of change, take another and so on until the foundation is so strong that nothing will ever be able to take it away. THE TIME IS NOW!

Maybe you would like to start building your foundation here

Also, Check out Victor Frankl's revolutionary Logotherapy here

Re-Defining Body Image

I have struggled for years with societies view of what sexy is supposed to be "shaped" like and have had to look within to see the qualities of my beloved partner that moved me towards her that attracted me to her "inner" sexiness. It floors me to see our world sell sexy through 17 year old innocence, photo shopped faces and stick figures. It seems as if the age of our models gets younger and skinnier every year and "sexy" has practically become "to young to go there" or “REALLY???!!!”  And, the funny thing is, my big blues wander the vast sea of advertising and living products of advertising and I find myself, even after all these years of inner work, projecting what I think sexy "should be" on my partner and society.  

Well, the other day blew my mind and changed the game forever!!

There is an incredible photographer on an profound mission to show the inner light of a woman that is beyond her shape by shooting nude photos of any size, shape, color and on and on (there was woman with one arm fully embodied!!). His idea is to capture that profound self appreciation that exudes all the sexiness a man could ever desire. We arrived at his quant Santa Ana apartment and were met by a peppy jazz tune and a smiling face that could light up any room. We relaxed, engaged in a profound conversation about the changing humanity, and, As I watched my wife, stripped of all layers, fully embody HER BODY, I could not help but feel the sensations of my desire rise up through every cell of my body and the flashes of ancient times (and not so ancient times) where the fullness of a woman's body was deemed sexy, where life experience was deemed sexy, where a woman embodied WOMAN in every sense of the word.  My Mind is forever changed. 

If your a man and your woman does not have the body of a teenage girl, be grateful and explore the layers of life experience that have created such an authentic creation, go deep, be present, allow the storm of her Being to come alive, fully!   If your a woman and you cannot look in the mirror because you intend to model the teenage dream of beauty, WAKE UP, relax, and allow the fullness of your womanhood to take shape, and with confidence, walk out in the world knowing that you are desire in motion, full of the essence of life and expressing that through every cell of your body.  

Like the photographer Romeo Gil said during our time together, “I like ALL women in their fullness, of all shapes and size.” What this man has set out to do is simply …. transformational.  What a Brave New World we reside in when all the eyes are pointed back inside to find the light!  The Time Is Now!

Connect with Romeo here if you are interested in finding out more about his incredible mission.  

Thank you Safta (Grandmother in Hebrew) - May 14th, 2011

Safta (Grandmother in Hebrew)

For the last 4 months in Israel, I have been blessed with the opportunity to carefully observe a pattern of thought and behavior inside myself while staying in the presence of Safta (Grandmother in Hebrew).

Safta is an 87 year old woman whom rises out of bed everyday at 5:30 in the morning, flips on the radio for companionship, takes an half hour walk, comes back for breakfast and then meanders through the day enjoying programs on television, rest and timely food breaks. At 87 years, she is full of life, smiles frequently, is sharp in the mind and quite honestly, enjoys more outside activities then me these days. 2 times a week she goes for pillates and often she attends gatherings of other Holocaust survivors (Yeah, all this and she is a Holocaust Survivor).

So, back to my pattern of thought. I find that I was raised to think that the old is tossed away from society like a used dishrag. The thought of claiming someone to be useless based on their ability to perform daily work is quite insane to say the least. But, here I am, conditioned in that pattern, looking upon the times when she is helpless or forgetful (which is very few and far between) with pity and even disgust.

So, I catch myself in this thought saying WHY? This great pillar of wisdom in front of me whom has suffered through and risen above the most horrific of circumstances and has lived to tell the story with her mere presence alone, WHY, can I be so narrow minded to look upon her deteriorating body and contemplating the uselessness, WHY, because that is what our great society in the West teaches us. If someone is old, they are mold. It is sick to say the least and

RIGHT HERE AND NOW, I am standing to transform it for myself.

I will NOW look upon this base of knowledge that Safta represents with humility and respect. I honor the age of her experience in THIS LIFE and to learn from the patterns of thought that have carried her into her later years. I wake up to the sun and embrace a new day with her sweet smile in my mind knowing that I am blessed with the opportunity to see the glory of creation expressed through an aging vessel.

Safta, aside from the great wisdom I have received in knowing your struggles and triumphs in life, I honor your gift to the world as it is a symbol of the strength we all have to keep on LIVING our lives until the day it is time to go. THANK YOU!!!