Robert Gale Ongley

Month: August 2019

  • CREATIVE LIVING FOR A SMOOTHER LIFE

    Ernest Holmes once wrote, “Seek to make your work a prayer, your believing an act, your living an art. It is then that the object of your faith will be made visible to you. It is then that you shall ‘kiss the lips of your desire.’ “

    Holmes was saying that to make life what you want it to be, it isn’t necessary to pray and/or meditate all the time. Though prayer and meditation have their place in life, it’s even more important to be living that which you aspire to rather than pleading for it or visualizing it.

    Who Are You?

    These words are found in Holmes’ book titled, “This Thing Called You,” published in 1948. It’s one of my favorite books, packed with wisdom. He goes on to say, “Your thought is creative, not because you will, wish, hope, pray or long for it to be so. It is creative because there is a creative law operating upon it. You did not make this law, you only use it.”

    I’ve used this book in my life and Holmes’ spiritual philosophies are never far from my mind, but the distractions and stresses of everyday life have taken me off track in some ways. I haven’t been using my creative abilities to make this journey as joyous as I had been for much of my life. Turning to this book again has lifted my spirits and made me realize newly that my decisions determine what and how life can be.

    Seeds of Creativity

    When we send an intention into the universe, it is tantamount to sowing a seed. To make a seed grow into a full-sized plant, we water it until it germinates, furnish it with sunlight, nourish it with fertilizer, and weed around it as needed to help it thrive.

    We expect a seed to grow when we plant it. We are wise enough to not expect it to happen instantly. We exercise patience and allow it to go through its various stages until it flowers or bears fruit. We need to understand this about our seeds of thought. They probably won’t manifest our intentions immediately. We should expect them to come to bear, though. We keep the intention in place, nourish it with enthusiasm and weed out thoughts and emotions that can destroy it. We will eventually see our dreams come true.

    This is a natural process based on natural law. We’ve all used it whether we have a garden or not. We’ve set a goal of creation, shown determination to reach it despite any obstacles, and followed through until completion. The problem is we don’t do it enough. We don’t make it a point to live this way every day in every way. As Holmes said, make your living an art.

    Living Examples

    Jack Canfield is one of the most inspiring individuals on the planet. Author of Chicken Soup for the Soul, he made a series of such books and sold over 123 million of them through his franchise. He is a motivational speaker and has helped hundreds of thousands of people realize their dreams.

    When he was a teacher making about $8000 per year, he was coached on how to use the Law of Attraction and was instructed to set an income goal of $100,000 for the next year. He attached an image he’d made of a $100,000 bill on the ceiling above his bed, visualized having that every morning, and made his goal the focus of his activities every day.

    His book started selling well, money started flowing his way and when the year was over, he had earned $97,000. Phenomenal, considering he had never experienced anything like that prior to using the Law of Attraction.

    Oprah Winfrey tells the story of how she got the part of Sofia in The Color Purple. When she read the book by the same title, she loved it so much she bought many copies for people she knew. She was consumed by the story. Eventually, she received a call asking her if she would like to audition for a part in a movie even though she wasn’t known for acting. It turned out to be The Color Purple. She auditioned and heard nothing back.

    She thought she wasn’t being chosen because she was so overweight. She went to a “fat farm,” as she called it. While there, she was locked in on the part so much that she was crying and praying simultaneously. She sang a song of surrender and acceptance to herself. Even as this was happening, she received a call from Steven Spielberg. He wanted her for the part. She knew she had brought that role into her life by using the Law of Attraction.

    Laws of the Universe

    There are many laws governing how this universe operates. The Law of Attraction is only one of them. Holmes wrote of it back in the 1920’s. I’ll cover more on how we can use these laws for our collective benefit in my next post. For now, another quote from Holmes.

    “Enter in and possess this promised land. When you accept in simple faith, you will receive. When you knock in childlike belief, the door will be opened. What you seek with enthusiastic acceptance, you will find.”

  • WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR OWN CREATIONS?

    If you’re driven to bring any kind of artistic expression into the world, you care about its quality. You want it to be good, valid, worthy of your time and worthy of having an effect on others. I submit that the more you create, the more you care. There will be exceptions, of course, but I’m convinced this is true of most people.

    When you’ve completed a project, whether it’s a film, a drawing, a dance routine or anything in the realm of art, you stand back in some sense of the term and assess what you’ve done. This may involve viewing a visual version of it, hearing a recording or reading a manuscript. When you evaluate your final product, are you filled with a sense of accomplishment? Does it excite you as a representation of your evolution in the field of your endeavor? Or does it usually bring disappointment? Do you tend to emphasize your weak points and the imperfections in your work?

    The Artist and the Ego

    I’m writing here about observations, not scientific fact. A discussion about this topic would bring out others’ views and a variety of welcome viewpoints. For now, though, I’m offering mine.

    In this one-sided discussion, it’s important to first clarify what I mean by the ego in this context. The basic definition in the Random House Webster’s College Dictionary is “the ‘I’ or self of any person; a thinking, feeling, and conscious being, able to distinguish itself from other selves.” Carl Jung described the ego “as the centre of the field of consciousness which contains our conscious awareness of existing and a continuing sense of personal identity.”

    Taking this a step further, I quote Eckhart Tolle who uses the Bhagavad Gita as his guide on the ego. ” According to the Gita the ego is the feeling of separateness, the sense of duality, or the idea of being distinct and different from others. It is the false perception of oneself as a separate being or a limited being.”

    I believe this sense of self goes a long way in determining the opinion we form of our artistic creations. The way we view ourselves can be in rational balance with regard to the truth, self-esteem and how we are perceived by others, but with many people, it’s irrationally low or high in any one of these areas. If we don’t have this rationality and a healthy sense of objectivity, we have difficulty being able to see our work without bias one way or the other. As much as possible, we need to set ego aside and take an honest look at that which we create.

    Love Yourself, Love Your Art

    The way I see it, if you’re down on yourself in general, you’re less likely to have a high opinion of whatever you bring to the world. This could be job performance, your appearance, whatever you create. With healthy, in-perspective self-esteem, you should be able to assess what you’ve produced accurately as long as you are well informed or educated as to what makes for quality in the field where you’re creating.

    I have a long list of mistakes I’ve made in life and considerable objective proof that I didn’t know what I was doing along the way. Plenty of times, I’ve been highly frustrated with myself. However, more often than not, I’ve been able to take it easy on myself and loved who I am internally and eternally. For whatever reason, I have confidence in and take pride in my creative work. I have often thought my latest song is my best. I get excited about the literary and journalistic pieces I’ve written. I like what I do. I like editing and revising these works, making them the best they can be.

    The Dim View

    As much as I believe in my theory above, I’m not so arrogant as to discount other factors that may enter in with regard to an artist’s opinion of their own works of art. Here are a couple of examples.

    There are those in every discipline who don’t like their work. This doesn’t necessarily mean they have a low opinion of themselves and what they do. Some simply have higher standards. They may have an extraordinarily clear vision of what it is that the Muse is showing them and they’re determined not to fall short of that vision.

    Maybe there are those whose work isn’t that accomplished yet and they simply have the good sense to see it for what it is. At least they have that awareness and can strive toward improvement, perhaps one day reaching their goal of excellence.

    On Balance

    I suggest maintaining a positive approach regarding your chosen art. Have a critical eye, but admire your good works. The Muse will.

    Erato The Muse of Love Poetry by Francois Boucher