I shared my feelings in an email to several of our lists yesterday. Funny, the only negative responses I got were from men. This one was typical:

“Yes! You are a Sap!! Now don’t send me your crying a** s**t anymore!!!” (asterisks added)

Of course, we only email people who subscribe themselves to our lists. And this fella was subscribed to one of our “Warrior” lists, so he was probably wanting to get emails that made him feel more… well… manly! LOL

Ok, this leads me to a great point. There is, especially in the West, a blind spot for many of us guys… and it’s not just guys as many women share this.

It’s a relationship to emotions, specifically tearful emotions as weakness. To make this association (even if just subconsciously) is to deny yourself access to one of mankind’s greatest powers.

There are, to be certain, many displays of emotion that are evidence of weakness. The child throwing a tempertantrum, because he can’t get his way, for example, is a prime example. The child, exaggerating his situation, as if he is a helpless victim who deserves our pity is… well, pitiful.

When adults display tears and emotions in this way, it is by our cultural standards, quite pitiful even shameful.

We usually learn that such displays of tears are seen as weak, so we learn to convert our feelings of inferiority, victimization and weakness to anger and agression–without the tears.

You can see this in non-tearful tempertantrums of the teenager… as well as in the adult teenagers, as often displayed by the angry macho male type.

Now, of course, anger can be a useful emotion. But it’s interesting how displays of such non-tearful tempertantrums are often viewed as acceptable responses to circumstance, while tearful, poor-me responses are not.

In many cultures, rallying in the streets in fits of rage, is not only acceptable but something to be proud of. I can’t help but wonder, what our world would be like, if such displays of anger were viewed by the majority of “alpha males” as pathetic, weak reactions. Yet, many of our most visible “alpha male” types in sports, politics, Hollywood, religion, etc. commonly display such pitiful, weak responses in life… which elicit the respect (or fear) from many of their peers and those who emulate them.

(I believe there will come a day when we come to see any such “positionary” reactions to circumstance as weak and shameful… and we’ll see humanity elevate ourselves to
much higher standards of behavior and interaction. To what I’d call visionary standards.)

Personally, I’d be very embarrassed if I reacted to life’s situations the way many macho male types do. For most of them, there simply is no visible third alternative. It’s either be a wuss or take control and force your view, your will, your position on others.

I’d feel like a reactionary wuss if I wrote someone the kind of tempertantrum-type email I got from the fella who sent the email quoted above.

From the world of the positionary, there just don’t seem to be many real ways to access power other than forcing your position on others.

Let’s look specifically at how the macho male type can access more genuine power.

At intense levels, feelings such as sadness, love, joy and honor all produce tears in humans. What these three emotions share is a deep connection to values–to what things mean to you. Your son is born and you feel such immense joy that tears come to your eyes. Your son dies and you feel such immense sadness that tears come to your eyes. Any time you get present enough to how much your son means to you–how much you love him–there will be tears.

The more we cut off access to our feelings (for example, to avoid a display of tears), the more we cut off access to our power.

Think for example of the person at the funeral who is weeping at the loss of his son , who has never really gotten present to how much his son means to him,… until he was gone forever. What a tragedy. Had he gotten present to his intense love for his son, while his son was alive, he would have done and said many things differently. This power to make different choices and take different actions was unavailable though, because the man did not want to feel his feelings.

A man may love his wife, yet the less present he gets to the feeling of love, the less he will act and speak in a way that honors the value of that relationship.

Here’s where honor, the feeling, comes in.

Love and honor are almost indistinguishable, and often felt at the same time. Love arises from being present to what someone (or something) means to you–feeling deeply connected to and valuing someone (or something).
Honor is a deeper cut at love. It has to do with not just getting very present to a value and it’s worth to you; but getting present with your choice to honor that value in the face of challenge. Honor can also be felt as you see others in this light.

Honor is an incredibly powerful emotion. It’s a uniquely human phenomena, because it requires a level of self-consciousness not possible to animals. It’s what’s at the root of the range of heroic actions we see in the world that we refer to as the “human spirit.” What inspires a person to face incredible criticism and even risk to his/her own life? Most often, it’s a feeling that is born from getting present to what is worth standing for. It’s a uniquely human emotion called honor. And it’s far different than pride or happiness.

The feeling of honor is literally a “force” of consciousness that can be accessed at will. In our new product called, Visionary Mind, honor is one of the two natural forces of consciousness that are practically cut off from us as we grow up. The other is vision.

Visionary Mind explains both of these forces in some detail and shows how these natural forces of self-guidance are short-circuited through our relationships with authority growing up. It also shows how that conditioning still guides us today in our moment to moment choices through VisionForce’s proprietary Inner Conflict Diagrams and models. Then, Visionary Mind gives you simple exercises that give you the powerful experience of both honor and vision. You come to experience these as guiding forces in your day to day life, and watch the new actions you take. You simply show up in a heroic way in relation to what is most important to you in life. (If you haven’t gotten that program, get it shipped to your door today.)

Love can have you do great things. Add honor to the equation and you’ll do much greater things–naturally.

Mr. macho is cut off from these heroic dynamics and is guided much more by positionary dynamics such as fear and pseudo-pride. He can, for example, feel good about himself by making himself look somehow superior to another. Pseudo-pride is a poor substitute for genuine honor.

It’s an honor-yielding vision that drives a Gandhi or MLK to make the impossible happen. It’s an honor-yielding vision that drives many great inventors, entrepreneurs, and social innovators. It’s the feeling of honor that often has parents make incredible sacrifices for their children–without experiencing it as a compromise.

The shift from a positionary mind to a visionary mind is what I see is next (and Now!) for human beings. It’s a fundamental shift in the way we relate to ourselves, our values, our responsibility and each other. And it’s what we’re all about here at VisionForce.com.
The “alpha male” of the future will be an inspired visionary, not a macho positionary.

Women, are more likely, as I see it, to be making this shift first, as they tend to have more access to feeling their emotions and thus feeling the powerful emotion of honor.

Here’s a video from one woman’s experience of vision and honor.

Who will lead the way? Women? Men? Does it matter? What about you? Who will lead your family, your community? Post comments below.

To get the complete Visionary Mind home study program shipped to your door, go here.

Sacred irreverence? What is sacred to you? What could be more sacred than your relationship to what is most important to you? Growing up in a world that trains us for obedience and conformity, having an authentic, powerful and sacred relationship with what’s most important to you can be quite challenging. Such a relationship determines the extent of one’s capacity to love, to create and to act courageously. That relationship is at the heart of the work we do here at VisionForce. Essentially we deal with that relationship in a way that restores and builds ones power to stand, to love, to see (vision), to act (with courage), to be true, etc. Said another way it gives people access to the courage, strength, compassion and vision to be the change they seek in the world, and to inspire others to do the same.

So, what of the title of this blog entry? What do you hold as sacred? Anything? What? If our relationship to our deepest values and vision were sacred to us, perhaps our strategies for protecting the sacredness of that relationship could also be held as sacred. Irreverence–is there a use for it in this respect?

Consider that it’s the social customs and societal norms, or more specifically the shame dynamics, that keep most people from acting in integrity with their highest values or being authentic. When the time comes to be true to what you hold dear or to compromise it to gain or keep the acceptance or others, who do you choose to be? At times when others feign reverence for customs that would have you betray your highest sense of self, who do you choose to be? Is there a place for irrreverence? Could there be a value in holding irreverence as sacred in some contexts? Comment below.

We laugh at different times and for different reasons. Why do you laugh? Consider that laughter is a release. When we laugh, it’s often an involuntary response to a paradigm shift.

Suppose you live a life of frustration, anger and despair because “the man” has got you down. In your world, life is hard and it’s all the fault of “the man.” So, someone tells a story about “the man,” and it engages your paradigm and all the weight you place on your paradigm. Suddenly, there is a paradigm shift, as the story teller makes a turn in his story that has you see things from a whole new perspective–with “the man” as the butt of the joke. And you laugh. Of course there’s an art to this, and if you’re really good at shifting paradigms in a way that elicits laughter, you can hit the road and make a lot of money from the stage.

This begs the question, what do you laugh at? What you laugh at and why you laugh says a lot about the paradigm you operate from.

Since I was a kid I laughed when I could elicit a dramatic emotional reaction from someone. Looking back, I can see a number of dynamics in play. For one, it allowed me to see myself as “superior,” because they were reacting emotionally for no sound reason. They were in my eyes less mature. (how arrogant!) Indeed, it was an easy shortcut to feel good about myself as an adolescent. In time, it evolved me such that I was freer from the shame and guilt pressures of authority and the majority than the average bear. I did come to pride myself in being “wise” and mature, and in many ways this led me down the path of learning more and more about psychology, philosophy, the mind, etc.

Generally, anyone who placed what I deemed to be unnecessary weight on a certain issue (especially the issue of their image in others’ eyes) was fair game for teasing.

There were (and are) not many limits to this. I would quite often (and still do) make a fool of myself to have someone look at me weird or have them think I’m someone I’m not. For example, I may intentionally respond in an exaggerated childish way around a friend who places a lot of weight in appearing mature. I elicit a certain look from them and then I laugh and we laugh (if they can laugh about it). Or, I’ll pretend to morally judge someone for an action they are trying not to be judged for. I elicit a defensive response, and I laugh and we laugh (if they can laugh about it). There is no seeming end to this. If someone is very uptight about any aspect of life or themselves, I’ll play the role that has us both be able to laugh about the extra weight they’re giving it. If someone is extra concerned about ego and people who have an extra large one, I’ll make comments that have them seeing me this way. And often, people don’t find such things funny. And it irks them that I laugh it off.

There are many things I do not find funny, however. When someone laughs at or judges the awkward person who is risking the esteem of others to follow her own mind and heart, I don’t. Not only do I not find it funny, it bothers me. A lot of people also laugh at the heroes, the successful people, because it makes them uncomfortable to either be seen as less than or to be reminded how they themselves are not making the effort required to be as successful. There was a video on the internet I saw of a many spitting in Bill Gates face. A lot of people found this funny. To me, nothing could be less funny.

Both of these things make people uncomfortable. Both of these things remind a person how they could also be risking the esteem of others to follow their mind and heart. We want to look good all the way to the top, but we fear stepping out and looking foolish. So we’re uncomfortable around the awkward person who is stretching themselves beyond their given social position/identity. We’re uncomfortable around the people who have risked what we don’t dare to risk. It’s easy to laugh at them.  (And it’s interesting how Hollywood generally only dares to inspire us to a certain extent before poking fun at the hero… thereby diminishing the power of a movie that could have been incredibly powerful.  Armageddon is a great example.)
Of course those who stay “inside the box” laugh at those who flounder outside of the box–the rebels, the radicals, the visionaries. Those who can’t take this social pressure jump back inside the box sooner or later, or live some kind of compromised existence on the edge of the box or close to the box (and they suffer on the edge of true freedom).
And, it’s important for these who stray from the box of the majority’s and authority’s norms to have the freedom to laugh at the pressure exerted by the masses to return to the box. You, the visionary, make them very uncomfortable. They seek a reason to laugh at you. Yet you are the one who is risking your social position and your very psychological identity to “be the change,” and come hell or high water, you WILL make this world a better place for all of us–them included. So, your freedom to laugh at the pressure they place upon you to fit in or be normal is invaluable to you–and thus to them.

Now, what’s interesting is that your laughter can help them shift their own paradigm and free themselves from their box. Your laughter can help free them to stand for their own values and vision, in the face of the world’s judgments and criticism.

Just think about why you laugh and when you laugh. Are you liberating yourself and others?

Laughter can free you from the external pressure to conform, or it can free you from the internal pressure to follow your values and dreams in the face of external pressure to conform.

So laugh your ass off today as you step free from what the critics and doubters might think. Free yourself to be yourself.

Post your comments below.

I just found a very cool tool for visionaries and revolutionaries taking a stand for something.  It’s called PledgeBank and it’s a way of generating commitments by having others see that they won’t be acting alone, but rather they will only be obligated to act if the agreed upon total number of people have also agreed to act with you.

Of course, it can be even more inspiring to take a stand regardless of what others choose to do.  I could see the use for a variation of the pledge, where an individual can say “I am doing this regardless,” or something similar.  It sounds a bit weak to have the pledges be “I commit do X, but only if ____# other people commit to do it too.”

Still, a very cool concept, and yet another way the internet is empowering those of us who are williing to take a stand for what matters, live from our own vision and inspire others to stand with us.

(I was invited to sign a new initiative by the Free State Project, as I am seriously interested in the idea of what kind of world could be created with human beings placing their trust in vision force, rather than political force.  It’s a bit radical, but hey, I think there’s something worth standing for, and I’m already committed to the original Free State Project pledge.)

Comments? Other resources for mobilizing grass roots efforts?  Post below.

Watch this presentation by William McDonough, a man who refers to human beings as “designers,” and looks at everything we see in our world as our intentional creation, so as to take full responsibility for creating the kind of world we really want.  If you’re in the Power To Stand course (register free), this man is exemplifying the distinction between Positionary and Visionary.  He speaks of the positionaries on each side, Capitalists and Environmentalists, and unites people in a stand for shared values and a vision that inspires all sides to step forward from behind the walls of their position.  It’s the new revolutionaries who will change the world.  They are visionaries, not positionaries (the distinction is here).  The next revolution is our evolution from a positionary consciousness to a visionary consciousness.

Please comment on the video here.

(I thought I’d post this email that I sent to those beta-testing the Power To Stand course. Advance warning… I’ll use many terms here that may be unfamiliar to those who are new to conversations from Power To Stand or the realm of conscious evolution.)

May I speak to you of your path to conscious evolution?

By “path to conscious evolution” I mean simply the ways in which you personally work to evolve your self, so that you can be the change you seek in the world.

You likely know the dangers of a positional mind. Those of us who still consciously operate from the realm of fear-based Truth and Righteous Judgement are sourcing the war and terror of our world.

You likely also understand that we grow up in a world that conditions us to form a positional consciousness. It’s how we protect ourselves from the pain of shame and guilt directed at us from the fearful positions of others.

And so, whether you and I want to not operate with a positional mind is often besides the point. How do we evolve ourselves beyond that so that we might positively affect the conscious evolution of those around us?

Perhaps you are someone who seeks enlightenment (however you define it) or inner peace through practices such as meditation. Perhaps you read the writings of people you esteem to be enlightened, such that you can further evolve your thinking to that of a more enlightened being.

Whatever your personal path to conscious evolution, consider what I am about to introduce to you. It’s a methodology you can
use to accelerate your personal journey to power (power to “be the change,” power to inspire the change, power to “do the change”).

What does a practice such as meditation give us? One benefit is an expanded sense of self–or an identification of self not as separate but as one with all that is. Some consider achieving this state as an end in itself.

However, I’ll bet that for you it is also a means. It’s a means to the freedom to *not* act from a fear-based, dualistic, conscious position. And thus, meditation can be a tool to be the change and do the change.

Of course, even with a practice like meditation, you find your mind coming back to it’s well-formed positions. This presents a major challenge in being the change, inspiring the change and doing the change.

For all the time you spend with practices such as meditation that work to liberate your consciousness form its position, your mind spends much of the rest of the time habitually spinning or strengthening its positions.

The Power To Stand course (and VisionForce technology in general) offers something powerful to the agent of positive change, such
as yourself. Consider this…

It is perceive threats to our positional identities/egos that cause the mind stress. In those moments, the mind tends to automatically resolve the threats by forming a dualistic position.

(this is made clear in the Inner Conflict Diagram tool presented in such programs as VisionForce’s Visionary Mind program.)

What if…

Rather than simply seeking to free ourselves from identity, or identifying ourselves with God or the universe or all that is–What if we had a dynamic, non-dualistic way to identify self or consciousness?

What might that mean? That might mean we have more access to power. The power to be the change, inspire the change and do the change.

Consider that the self-identifying function of consciousness is neither good nor bad. Consider that it is a valid tool in many cases (beyond valid, it is a powerful tool).

Consider that action and direction requires identity. To go from here to there, we must first be a something–we must first be here. To communicate something, we must start from one perspective or concept and make our way to another. To see something, we must first have a perspective from which to view.

So the self-identifying function of consciousness is not only *not* wrong or bad or useless. It is powerful and I would even say necessary. To act or speak your mind generally needs an identiy.

Consider then that it is the limited, dualistic, fear-based position identity that is what limits us–not ego or identity itself.

Understanding this then can give us access to power. The power to cause the change we seek in the world… If only we could self-identity not from a position…

What else is there?

Such questions are on the forefront of the field of conscious evolution. One tool is to identify as a stand, rather than a position.

(Before you assume the generally held definition for stand, dive further into the Power To Stand course, as I mean this as something new and different.)

(this has been quite an abstract conversation… let’s pause for a deep breathe… inhale… exhale… aaaaah!

OK! So, I generally avoid the extra intellectual conversations as I seek to simply offer new technology via simple concepts and methods to the general public.

My thinking is here is that the proof will be in the puddin. You use a simple concept or new tool, it quickly proves to be more powerful or useful, and…

You adopt it! You pass it along!

So, when I speak in the course and on the web site about seemingly simplistic and flat concepts such as vision, honor, position and stand; please try them on as tools before overlooking them as concepts not complex or new enough to interest your hunger for new ideas.

Now, never before has anyone been able to box up VisionForce (our human technology) as an experience and take it home with them… until now.

We have just announced the production of our first physical home study program, complete with audio CDs, workbook and on-line member area.

==> http://visionforce.com/action
I invite you to sink your teeth into this condensed program created from our iStand technology–technology for change agents who can’t wait for enlightenment, old age wisdom or divine intervention.

This program works like this.

SESSION 1 AUDIO
- You are introduced to Visionary Mind, Michael Skye and get oriented and prepared to succeed with the program.

SESSION 2 AUDIO
- You take a new look at the way you operate in the world. Take away all your sophisticated ideals and values, and where are you? Are you living in integrity with those ideals and values? What’s missing? And what’s possible? Understand the human faculty we call “vision” in a new way.

SESSION 3 AUDIO
- You participate in an inquiry into the nature of human consciousness and the new realm of human experience to understand an overlooked force. This force is but a natural faculty of human consciousness, yet one that we’re often left without much access to
after our upbringing. This is a state and feeling that we refer to as “honor.”

SESSION 4 AUDIO
- You revisit the conditioning from your upbringing in light of these two newly distinguished forces of consciousness: honor and vision. You see the extent to which your consciousness, including your methods for self-honesty, decision making and learning, has been thwarted. You begin to see what could be possible or our children and their development going forward, and you wonder how you might undo the effects from the past.

SESSION 5 AUDIO
- You are walked through an Inner Conflict Diagram, a process that brings light to your less-than-conscious decision-making, position-forming process. You dissect inner conflicts of your own in a way that can accelerate your own self-learning and evolution.
You find yourself in action where you weren’t before, honoring values you’d previously been compromising.

SESSION 6 AUDIO
- You are given a new lens through which to view human behavior and complete exercises that have you experiencing the aforementioned conscious forces (faculties) called vision and honor. You’ve begun to deeply connect with yourself and your values from a stand, rather than a position; and you experience in a deep way the power of doing so.

SESSION 7 AUDIO
- You look to your current challenges as a visionary in life and practice this new technology in your unique life situations. The experience is one of alignment with your natural and highest values in a way that results in courageous action.

SESSION 8 AUDIO
- You are given simple, practical steps you can take that will accelerate you on your path of conscious evolution as a visionary in life.

Here’s the good part…

I really want you to sink your teeth into this course without reservation. So I am extending a 365 day no questions refund policy to you. Try it out, test it for 365 days and if it’s not everything you’d hoped, return it in good condition and we’ll promptly refund your entire investment (less shipping).

I trust you won’t take advantage of this offer, and I also trust you’ll return it if you give it a fair shake and it’s just not your “cup of tea.”

As you’re a Power To Stand beta-tester (If you’re not, become one here for free), I’m also going to include a special gift in your package, if you purchase this first week.

Thank you for your interest, your support and your trust. Together we can raise human consciousness to new heights!

You are a contribution to my life and to the world,

-Michael Skye
VisionForce.com

P.S. The page to order this product is here:

==> http://visionforce.com/action

You can also call us at 1-888-844-6667, toll-free in the US.

P.P.S. Your comments to the ideas in this post are MOST welcome below.

The world can’t see your vision, yet you are out there in the land of being misunderstood. You could conform to their judgments, their laughter, their look of doubt, their skepticism… and retreat to a comfortable path, where you’re easily accepted in society and your communities.

Yet you choose to stand. You choose to be true. You can’t deny the vision you see, even if they don’t see it. You know the difference it could make in the world. And the pain of rejection and judgment is a small price to pay. You’ll pay it. All your life if you have to.

You’re a visionary. You are one of the few human beings in the early twentieth century who won’t deny your power to impact the world. And so, you have the power to move the world.

VisionForce.com is for the few, the courageous, the visionaries.

If you see such a vision, what’s in your way of stepping out, standing up, speaking up more than you do? Your conscious limitations are the greatest barrier to creating what you see. Your conscious evolution must be one of your highest priorities. We’ve designed the free Power To Stand on-line course for you to help you in your evolution from a position-based consciousness to a stand-based consciousness. It’s for the revolutionary who knows that yesterday’s ways of thinking about causing change just won’t work in the 21st Century.

If you’re not yet sure what your purpose or vision is… if you don’t yet feel deeply called to step into the unknown guided by a vision that moves you, consider that it won’t happen by staying comfortable. All there is to do is face what there is to face in a way that has your vision emerge. The Visionary Mind program was designed to have you experience your call to greatness–to have you experience your own vision on a level that calls to you so deeply that you find a new power and freedom, and with it a profound responsibility to “be the change.”