Escaping the Procrustian Bed…Together
Escaping the Procrustian Bed…Together
From Wikipedia:
In Greek mythology, Procrustes (/proʊˈkrʌstiːz/; Greek: Προκρούστης Prokroustes, "the stretcher [who hammers out the metal]"), also known as Prokoptas, Damastes (Δαμαστής, "subduer") or Polypemon, was a rogue smith and bandit from Attica who attacked people by stretching them or cutting off their legs, so as to force them to fit the size of an iron bed.
The word "Procrustean" is thus used to describe situations where an arbitrary standard is used to measure success, while completely disregarding obvious harm that results from the effort.
###
I'm moved into the new house. For the last six years, I was living in a place where my insides and outsides didn't match. After we moved back from Atlanta, we didn't have time to settle, adjust, catch our breath, and put down roots. Our landlord yanked a very nice house out from underneath us, and we had only a few weeks to find a new house, and our search-circle was narrow because we needed to stay within Jason's school district. The house we found was barely acceptable, but as long as my family was safe, I was willing to deal with an office in an unfinished room: too hot in the summer, too cold in the winter. Termites streaming up my window every spring. Ugh.
We had a two-yearr lease, and just when it was up…the Panemic struck, and we were frozen in place again. It was BRUTAL, but we hunkered down, got Jason through high school, and then when the lease came up again, we focused, aligned our resources, and committed to move.
Tananarive found this new house, and we moved. It was a major stress, and we're just recovering and clearing our heads. This experience has changed me.
And I am still learning how much, and how. What I knew was that my insides, WHO I WAS, and the outside, MY EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT, did not match.
And that caused stress. In such a context, the temptation is to rage with anger and fear, or allow life to diminish you so that you don't chaff. Or threaten those around you. So many are diminished by life's "Procrustian Bed" but while our egos may yield, our souls always know, on some level, that we are NOT what we have been blackmailed and bribed and forced to be to survive or advance.
All the kingdoms of the world can be offered to you, but you must be true to your soul.
###
This new house is beautiful. MY INSIDES AND OUTSIDES MATCH in my home, from the time I wake up in the morning until I go to bed at night, I feel something different. Emerging. It is wonderful
Career aspects are in flux, with so many projects going that I literally can't hold them all in my mind: all I can do is hold a central clarity and commitment as I move from one to the other.
In my family, my goal is to help Jason complete his journey to adulthood, and every day he is blossoming. So proud of my boy and love him so. My daughter Nicki is doing great in her career, and just bought her first house. Tananarive and I are reaching new levels of honesty and connection with each other, a partnership that is the safest home my heart has ever had.
Physically…still having fun, and learning, and growing.
My teaching. THIS is the arena I have the greatest need to transform. Mastery is a simple process: you find a valid path, take a step every day, and continue until you have gray hair. Simple, really. And with the FIREDANCE and SOULMATE PROCESS classes, I've finished the triumverate of Body, Mind, and Spirit. For the first time. Because the FIREDANCE class is 52 weeks long, I'm still in the process of creation (running only about 4 weeks ahead of our first students! A little pressure there…) but when I'm done there will be a record of all the basic things I've been trying to share with the world. I'm emptying myself out, and once its out in cyberspace, my son as well as all my students will always have a record of who I was, and what one man's view of reality and the journey of life is about.
That's all great, and there is one more piece: the live teaching. And THAT I want to give the world for free. What this new house allows me is the room to think about how to do that. And the answer I'm playing with is a monthly hangout, a Mastermind, where we can all move forward together and brainstorm how to change the world.
So the first will be a Zoom call tomorrow at 12 noon Pacific. If you are not on my mailing list, please join if you are interested at www.stevenbarneslist.com.
See you there!
Namaste
Steve
