Inspiration and Gratitude - New Book Just Published





Just published on Amazon April 2020!

This is my third book and I am grateful for the inspiration to write. Ebook Free download Sept 18-22.

I felt compelled to write about why inspiration and gratitude are important as we are self-quarantined in isolation, and have time to reflect on our life, the world, what we are grateful for, and how to be inspired if possible in the midst this worldwide crisis. 

The link below is to the book listing on Amazon. It is in a Kindle format, and can be read with the free Kindle app that can be downloaded and used with different devices or on a laptop / desktop.


There is a "Look Inside" feature that allows you to preview the first pages of the book. -  Enjoy and stay safe and healthy.
David Brown
Link > Inspiration and Gratitude - Yes !



Also visit my website - www.DavidLawrenceBrown.com





The Legend of the Muse





"For those who believe and know it is so

a muse exists so that we may know

of ideas and creative words that will flow

like a waterfall in a forest where flowers grow.

She comes and goes as she pleases

Her inspiration may come as subtle teases

Her ancestors were muses for thousands of years

Revealing words and ideas to artists and seers."

- David Lawrence Brown 

 

The War of Art and Resistance

In Steven Pressfield's excellent book, The War of Art, he identifies a force that he calls "resistance" that causes writer's block, procrastination, self-sabotage, self-deception, fears, and anything that holds back our creativity. If we want to be living our highest and best purpose in life, we need to know about and overcome resistance. 


 Invoking the Muse

It's within Book Three, in The War of Art, that Pressfield discusses invoking the Muse, and working with that hidden power or force that has inspired men and women to create art for thousands of years. We can overcome resistance. A muse is on the other side. Inspiration is a blessing and a gift. 


The Legend of the Muse


 There are many legends of muses, as we can imagine that over thousands of years in human creative history, muses have been involved in various ways. 


Years ago, a young man went into a forest in an isolated remote area surrounded by mountains and waterfalls. He was searching for a new purpose in life and for whatever new insights and ideas he would have on this self-imposed retreat into the realms of the Spirit. 


He was fasting and praying and singing sacred chants and songs for days, and nothing came to him in the form of new ideas, inspiration, or insights into his higher purpose, and his life. 


 On the tenth day, he was walking down a path to a waterfall that he had discovered a few days before. There was something about the area around the waterfall, with flowers, trees, and rock formations that seemed mystical, magical, and had subtle yet profound energy. 


 It was early morning, and all of nature seemed to be waking up to the day, with the birds singing, and sunlight streaming through the trees, lighting the path. The air was fresher than it seemed the other day, and he felt a wave of energy through his body and mind that opened up his heart. 


 Within moments he felt love surrounding him, a love that was beyond description, but if words could describe it, then bliss, joy, opening, power, and grace. 


He sat down on a grassy knoll by the waterfall and closed his eyes, as the feelings of love intensified, and he let go of any thoughts or fears about this experience, allowing it to happen, and not resisting it.


Then, with his eyes closed in meditation, he had an epiphany, that a muse has been with him all along, and that when he was ready and had overcome resistance, the Muse would reveal ideas, thoughts, and insights for his creative work. It was so subtle that he did not even hear words or a message; it was just a hidden knowledge that he received. 


When he came out of the meditation, he had no idea of what time it was. He checked his watch, and it had been three hours since he started the meditation. It was late afternoon. There was a silence in the surrounding trees and forest. He decided to celebrate the new gift that he had received by standing under the waterfall. It was about 20 feet high, so it felt like a large, powerful shower of water and blessings pouring into his life. 


He kept his relationship with his Muse a secret until he felt like writing about it. Then it became his legend, as he knew that other legends would be born on his new creative journey of dancing with the Muse, listening, and realizing that with every breath, he connects to creation on all levels, seen and unseen. 

The Need for Unwavering Faith in the MIdst of this Global Crisis

During the Vietnam War, Vice Admiral James Stockdale spent seven years being tortured in a Hanoi prison.
He was tortured fifteen times, put in leg irons for two years, and put in solitary confinement for four years. When asked about his experience, he noted that optimistic prison-mates eventually broke, as they passed one imagined deadline for release after another. Stockdale's strategy, instead, was to meld hope with realism —"the need for absolute, unwavering faith that you can prevail," as he put it, with "the discipline to begin by confronting the brutal facts, whatever they are.  (from Atlantic Monthly – "Our Pandemic Summer", April 2020) 


 During this pandemic crisis and beyond, with physical isolation, may we all, while not ignoring the brutal facts, "meld hope with realism, with the unwavering faith that we will prevail", and enjoy our connection with a Muse, or higher power, or Divine Spirit.

Baby Boomers - Are We Toast ?




I hesitated to publish this blog post, and it has been in draft form since April 10th (2020). Enough already. I've had my fill of news about the virus this morning and now will vent about it then get on with my "non virus news" day.

This is a blog dedicated to inspiration. Maybe you wouldn't think so from the title.

Wait for it. It's coming.

The photo above is one that I created some years ago from a perspective of inspiration. Our life is and has been a journey. Have we enjoyed the path? Are we enjoying it now? Or are we "toast"?

In the face of a global pandemic that might end our life, are we being "empowered warriors" or ostriches with our head in the sand? Are we in denial or facing a reality check? It is normal to have mixed feelings about this. Anger, compassion, gratitude, frustration, anxiety, sadness, and a full range of emotions.

As one who tries to live and focus on inspiration and gratitude, it is a challenge to be in that vibe all the time.

To the Baby Boomers: "We're Toast"
is the title of a Boston Globe opinion piece published April 13 by Rachel Cohen
The subtitle :
"COVID-19 is now that mythical ice floe on which elders might be called upon to set sail into the sunset" pretty much nails the theme on the head. Maybe this is our last dance, and we can both grieve about it and celebrate it at the same time. 

In the article, the Governor of Massachusetts is quoted - "It's hard to believe we're in a period where hospitals might have to make difficult decisions about how to distribute resources like ventilators, but that's the worst-case scenario, and we must plan for it."

The article goes on with "If that doesn't scare baby boomers into giving up that trip to the grocery store just because you've run out of chips and onion dip, nothing will.

There is a scoring system to determine if someone gets a ventilator: If two people are tied in the score, then this is the justification for who gets it : 
"The ethical justification for using the life cycle principle as a tiebreaker is that it is a valuable goal to give individuals equal opportunity to pass through the stages of life — childhood, young adulthood, middle age, and old age," the protocol states."
(reference Boston Globe - 

Being suddenly expendable because of age is not easy to swallow, especially without warning. We (baby boomers) retired thinking that we can finally enjoy some years without working, or reduced working, and then we are faced with the possibility of less than a year to live. Of course, this is only a possibility that we might get the virus, be hospitalized, then denied a ventilator because of ethical justification. 

So What? 
So as we are in isolation with everyone else who are not baby boomers, we can entertain ourselves, keep busy, take time for reflection, chase away the fear, the anxiety, the stress, the sense of foreboding doom, and whatever else. If watching the news makes you happy, go for it. Need to update the will? Write your obituary? Make those final arrangement plans? Write in a journal? Work on a quilt? Play online games like Words with Friends? Write a blog post?

Where's the inspiration, if any? How can we be a "warrior" in this when we might feel powerless? Can we be empowered, or are we feeling like a victim?

Wait for it. It's coming.

If this is our last dance, how are we going to dance? Slow, maybe like Tai Chi, to be peaceful and calm, or like salsa with passion in our veins? Or both? 

We may have seen the question "If you had six months to live, what would you do?" We might ask that same question now. And then go ahead and do it, if possible, in isolation. It becomes a virtual bucket list. Virtual travel to Italy, France, St Petersburg or Morocco? Climb Mt. Everest? Armchair surf 50 ft waves?Take those fantastic virtual tours of cities, landscapes, travel blogs, and virtual museum tours. Love Nature? Watch BBC Nature or National Geographic on YouTube and and have a visual feast. Study a foreign language? Read classic novels? Watch music performances ?

Maybe write a book on gratitude and use some experiences in your life to fill in all those chapters. I am actually finishing up a book on gratitude that I started about a year ago, before this pandemic. At some point, I thought that this book could also be part memoir, and now I am thinking maybe part obituary. Of course, this is only a possibility. The book title is Gratitude and Inspiration. The original subtitle was A Journey of Loving Life. I changed it to In the Midst of a Pandemic.

So What?
We can live as warriors and affirm life with a powerful attitude of inspiration and gratitude. We can eat healthily - both will boost our immune system. We may need to live like hermits for a while. Enjoy the journey. If you resist, it makes it much harder. 

So what am I doing besides some web business, binging on Netflix, visiting Facebook, communicating with friends and family, reading novels, and listening to music? I am writing about this. I have the inspiration to try to inspire others amid this crisis. Some recent titles and links :

Deep Peace - Traditional Gaelic Blessing

Dark Clouds and the Beauty of Nature

In the Midst of Crisis - Gratitude for a Divine Spirit

It was Just an Afternoon Meditation

Corona Virus - Where's the Inspiration ? (March 16)

So, the title of this blog post - "Baby Boomers Are We Toast?" - applies to everyone, not just boomers, except for the protocol in the hospital for ventilator selection. We are all in this together. Our life, as we knew it might be toast. At least for a few years, maybe more, maybe indefinitely. 

Government control of our lives seems to be justified to some extent with the health crisis. Yet will it extend beyond that to everything else? 

If so, then maybe we all are toast.

Initially, that was the last sentence of this blog. Yet I'm not going to end there. There is a postscript, an afterthought, and an epilogue. I add this last bit of thought from another blog listed above (In the Midst of Crisis). 

"And if it is our time to move to the other side, there is plenty of work to be done there also with tribes unknown and yet to be revealed. We do not need to have a fear of death as death is an illusion on the soul level. If you believe that the soul goes on, then life goes on with it. At this time, it is a possibility that a million souls or more will move on to the other side of this pandemic. It is an earth-shattering tragedy if this happens on one level. On another, their souls will live on in new tribes and spiritual communities. Those that are left behind will be empowered to heal and rebuild again."

Wait for it. It is coming.
(This is a time for a dramatic spiritual revolution. A possible great awakening. I needed to add this here at the end, which is a new beginning)

Deep Peace - Traditional Gaelic Blessing


In these times of anxiety, fear, stress, and challenges, may this blessing, sung beautifully by the Mile HI Church Choir, provide you with some moments of deep peace in your mind, heart, and soul.

A Traditional Gaelic Blessing


Deep peace of the running wave to you, Deep peace of the floating air to you
Deep peace of the quiet earth to you, Deep peace of the shining stars to you
Deep peace of the gentle night to you, Moon and stars pour their healing light on you
Deep peace of the running wave to you, Deep peace of the floating air to you
Deep peace of the quiet earth to you, Deep peace of the shining stars to you
Deep peace of the gentle night to you, Moon and stars pour their healing light on you
Deep peace to you,
Deep peace to you, Deep peace to you, Deep peace to you


Dark Clouds and the Beauty of Nature


Even when there are dark clouds in the sky, the light from the Sun still shines, and the beauty of Nature is still here. We can choose to focus on the dark clouds or the light and beauty of Nature. Millions across the planet are starting to pray and meditate in organized online groups or at set times or at any time to heal the Earth and humanity. (photo is licensed from Adobe Stock and is a location in Iceland.)


Incluso cuando hay nubes oscuras en el cielo, la luz del sol aún brilla y la belleza de la naturaleza todavía está aquí. Podemos optar por centrarnos en las nubes oscuras o la luz y la belleza de la naturaleza. Millones en todo el planeta están comenzando a rezar y meditar en grupos organizados en línea o en momentos determinados o en cualquier momento para sanar la Tierra y la humanidad. (la foto tiene licencia de Adobe Stock y es una ubicación en Islandia).
In the Midst of Crisis - Gratitude for a Divine Spirit

inspiration

The Ancient Redwoods Spoke to Me - Free Ebook

Hello friends,

My ebook - The Ancient Redwoods Spoke to Me - is available for a free download between April 2-7th. It can be read with the free Kindle app from Amazon - no purchase needed.


You can click on the Amazon link and read the introduction and first pages with the "Look Inside" feature > then buy for free if you want.
View the book on Amazon >



After I had published the book 333 Keywords to Change Your Life, I was guided to start an inspirational blog with posts or writings on various mystical topics, some based on personal experience, and others on the exploration of consciousness, mystical experiences, unusual insights, new thought teachings, and the joy of the spiritual journey in life.

The main theme of these writings is to provide inspiration for readers as a ‘sanctuary of words’ in the midst of all of the challenges, fears, and uncertainty going on in the world. The Ancient Redwoods Spoke to Me was one of those blog posts that combined an unusual experience with the profound expressions of nature, and an unforgettable image in the trunk of a redwood tree. I chose this blog title for this book as it reflects on the message that can be given to us even in the deep silence of a redwood forest. This book consists of a series of blog posts from early 2017 through the Fall of 2018 in one combined format. I have chosen the ordering of the writings based on what I want to convey if they are read in this sequence, as they are an invitation to explore various ideas of the wisdom of life from different perspectives collectively and individually. “The Last Dance – Aging into Eternity” is only published here in this book at the end and was not published in my public blog. I hope that you have inspiration and enjoyment in reading these blog posts that are not dated, but considered as “evergreen content”, always being relevant in this amazing journey of life.



Description on Amazon

What does it mean to live in the question? How does an ancient redwood tree have a natural formation of the profile of a Native American face embedded in the trunk? What is it like to have a mystical experience? How important is inspiration in your life? In this series of inspirational writings David Lawrence Brown combines personal experiences with themes of inspiration, oneness, mystical depth, insights, wisdom and the love of life.

Preview the "Look inside" feature for the full text of the Ancient Redwoods Spoke to Me story, including the amazing photo taken on-site in the Jedidiah Smith Redwoods State Park in Northern California.

Read about a dog named Shaman that communicated in a unique way from the other side. Take a journey in an oasis meditation that evokes a powerful mystical experience. Learn why there can be magic in owning your own story.

These are examples of individual writings inspired by the mysteries of life lived deeply, with inspiration being a keyword for living in a world of challenges and negative vibes.

If you want to have more inspiration, share in the wisdom of deep spiritual experiences, have a taste of the mystical in narrative prose, and experience a 'sanctuary of words', then enjoy the Ancient Redwoods Spoke to Me.