DW's Blog

The Wisdom of Little Eyes

by DW Green — April 16, 2025

“I found myself wondering how much richer our lives might be if we could reclaim even a fraction of that child-like perception…”

Last Saturday, I found myself sitting across from my old friend Rich on his back porch. The afternoon sun filtered through the oak branches as we sipped coffee and caught up on life’s latest chapters. Rich’s face lit up when he mentioned his four-year-old grandson, Ethan, who had been staying with him for the week.“You know what’s strange?” Rich said, leaning forward in his chair. “Yesterday, I was having a rough morning— nothing major, just feeling a bit off. I hadn’t mentioned it to anyone, was just going through the motions making breakfast. Ethan walked into the kitchen, looked up at me, and asked, ‘Grandpa, why are you sad today?’”Rich shook his head in wonder. “I hadn’t said a word about being upset. My wife didn’t notice anything different about me. But somehow, this little boy picked up on something in my expression or posture that gave it away.”As Rich continued sharing stories about Ethan’s uncanny perceptiveness, something clicked for me—a realization that felt like a gentle wave washing over my understanding of human consciousness.Children like Ethan exist in...

by DW Green — April 9, 2025

It’s been my experience that following the status quo promotes imitation rather than innovation.

It’s been my experience that following the status quo promotes imitation rather than innovation.I was reading an article on leadership the other day. The following from Bill Taylor, cofounder of Fast Company, makes really good sense to me.“The true mark of a leader is the willingness to stick with a bold course of action—an unconventional business strategy, a unique product-development roadmap, a controversial marketing campaign—even as the rest of the world wonders why you’re not marching in step with the status quo. In other words, real leaders are happy to zig while others zag. They understand that in an era of hyper-competition and non-stop disruption, the only way to stand out from the crowd is to stand for something special.”It’s been my experience that following the status quo promotes imitation rather than innovation. Leadership is about discovering and performing different activities from rivals or performing similar activities in different ways. Differentiation arises from both the choice of activities and how they are performed. Activities, then, are the basic units of competitive advantage. Overall advan...

by DW Green — April 2, 2025

Our dreaming mind might be showing us something profound about reality that our word-saturated waking mind often misses.

During our recently completed Dreams and Zen retreat, participants explored a fascinating territory that many of us overlook—the profound differences between our waking and dreaming minds, and what these differences reveal about the nature of reality itself.The Word-Soaked Waking MindIn our daytime consciousness, words and concepts dominate our experience. We narrate constantly, labeling, categorizing, and explaining our reality through language. These words seem to express our whole experience, yet they actually limit our awareness in subtle but profound ways.Our waking self-identity becomes wrapped in verbal constructs—stories about who we are, what we want, what we fear. We soak our experience in words until the direct encounter with reality becomes obscured by our descriptions of it.The Dreamworld’s Wordless WisdomBut at night, something remarkable happens.In dreaming, we fully experience a concentrated presentation of reality that operates largely without words. We enter what feels like a collective storehouse of pure experience where we interact directl...

by DW Green — March 26, 2025

The emotions we experience, though very real, originate from within ourselves, not from external circumstances.

When we say things like “My work is overwhelming” or “My boss is frustrating me,” we’re making a fundamental error in how we understand our emotions. These external factors—work tasks or another person’s behavior— don’t actually have the ability to create feelings within us. They exist outside us and cannot access our minds.The emotions we experience, though very real, originate from within ourselves, not from external circumstances. This insight was central to Stoic philosophy, which used the term “hypolepsis” (meaning “taking up”) to describe how our minds process perceptions, thoughts, and judgments.What we assume and what we generate in our minds belongs to us alone. We cannot legitimately blame others for making us feel stressed or frustrated any more than we can blame them for our jealousy. The true cause of these feelings resides within us—external factors merely serve as the targets of our emotional responses.

Read more – Smart & Dumb

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by DW Green — March 19, 2025

The ego loves being “center stage” where the self becomes the hero or heroine of the melodrama.

Do you remember the 1978 novel The World According to Garp by John Irving? Later made into the 1982 movie starring Robin Williams. I loved the book. I like John Irving and Robin Williams. I also like eating waffles for dinner on Taco Tuesday. This has nothing to do with The World According to Garp. It has to do with the world according to the ego. Personal judgment is based on perception. This perception is reinforced by belief and prior programming. All of these elements are held in place by the payoff of the ego’s negative energies. Holy moly! The ego just “loves” suffering a “wrong.” It enjoys being the martyr, being misunderstood, and being the endless victim of life’s changing conditions. Consequently, it gets an enormous payoff. This comes not only from the positionality itself but also from sympathy, self-pity, entitlements, and importance. The ego loves being “center stage” where the self becomes the hero or heroin...

by DW Green — March 12, 2025

It teaches us that balance is not a static state but a dynamic one – a continuous adjustment between opposing forces.

The Spring Equinox marks a profound moment in our yearly cycle – that perfect balance between day and night before light begins its gentle dominance. This astronomical event has been celebrated across cultures for millennia, and for good reason. It symbolizes not just the changing of seasons, but a universal principle that applies to our lives: renewal requires change.As the natural world awakens from winter’s slumber, with tender shoots pushing through soil and animals emerging from hibernation, we’re reminded of our own capacity for renewal. The equinox invites us to consider what dormant potential lies within us, waiting for the right conditions to flourish.In our current era, this symbolism feels especially resonant. Humanity stands at a crossroads of unprecedented change – technological, social, environmental, and personal. We’re collectively shedding outdated systems and beliefs, much like trees dropping their leaves in autumn to prepare for new growth. This “upgrade” process, while necessary, rarely feels comfortable.Our resistance to change is completely natural. The human brain is wired to prefer the known ...

by DW Green — March 5, 2025

Learning to trust your instincts and following that inner guidance can be powerful.

Intuition is a phenomenon that allows us to know or consider something likely through instinctive feeling rather than conscious reasoning. It involves trusting the collective wisdom of all your subconscious experiences. This internal guidance system draws on everything you’ve experienced throughout your lifetime, which means it’s constantly growing and evolving.Unlike logical thinking, intuition bypasses the linear thought process of the mind to directly perceive or cognize a truth or insight. Rather than methodically assembling different thoughts, ideas, and perceptions to reach a conclusion, intuition provides an immediate understanding of the final answer without the mental busywork.Some say that “Intuition is the highest form of intelligence, transcending all individual abilities and skills.” Learning to trust your instincts and following that inner guidance can be powerful. Consider that you’re connected to a broader consciousness with a holistic knowledge base that extends beyond linear cause-and-effect logic.

Read more – Good Intentions Don’t Stock the Shelves

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by DW Green — February 12, 2025

“Teachers and lessons emerge exactly when we need them.”

Have you ever noticed how certain themes seem to appear in clusters throughout your day? Recently, I found myself in a series of conversations about fear, rejection, and the stories we tell ourselves. What emerged was a profound realization – seeing isn’t just about what’s before our eyes, but about how we perceive our entire journey.We often think of fear as a response to external threats – like being chased by a bear. But most of our fears exist primarily in our thoughts, in the stories we tell ourselves about what might happen. The same is true for rejection. We build elaborate mental constructions of possible hurt before we’ve even reached out to connect.What blocks us from seeing deeper truths often lies in our thinking rather than in reality itself. This isn’t just about seeing the world differently – it’s about seeing our own journey with new eyes. When we return to our personal story, something remarkable can happen. Moments we once judged harshly reveal themselves as stepping stones. Periods of struggle show themselves as times of growth. What seemed like wrong turns appear as necessary parts of our path.As T.S. Eliot wrote, “We shall not cease from exploration...

by DW Green — February 5, 2025

“While money itself isn’t inherently negative, it serves as a yardstick for self-responsibility…”

Fear, often seen as humanity’s universal foe, can actually serve as our most insightful guide when we learn to understand its messages. At the purely physical level, fear expresses itself as disease. Every illness offers us the potential for inner cleansing and transformation, spotlighting areas where healing is needed. While we have lived with fear for so long that we cannot conceive of life without it, perhaps its physical manifestations are actually pointing us toward deeper wellness.In our social sphere, fear appears as greed – an addiction born from our deepest insecurities. We feel empty inside, and this emptiness drives us to endlessly fill that void by taking from the outer world. Money becomes not just currency, but a mirror reflecting our relationship with fear. While money itself isn’t inherently negative, it serves as a yardstick for self-responsibility, highlighting opportunities for creating genuine abundance and trust. When we recognize this, we can see how the world might be healed through a balanced approach to the economy and resource distribution.At the individual level, fear manifests in its most subtle yet revealing...

by DW Green — January 29, 2025

“… simply close your eyes and rest in pure being.”

When we speak of infinite being, we’re not describing an abstract metaphysical concept. Rather, we’re pointing to the simple, ever-present awareness that you already are. This is accessible to everyone—simply close your eyes and rest in pure being. While this infinite awareness may appear to take on limitations when wrapped in thoughts and feelings, its boundless nature remains unchanged.Our journey isn’t about transforming from a finite self into an infinite being. It’s about recognizing the infinite being that we eternally are. The Seeming Search
Most spiritual seekers believe they’re on a path toward something—enlightenment, awakening, or ultimate truth. This creates an endless cycle of seeking, with fulfillment always appearing to be one step away. But what if the very act of seeking reinforces the illusion that what we’re looking for isn’t already here?The Simple Recognition
The radical simplicity of this message can be overlooked precisely because it’s so obvious. Like trying to find your glasses while wearing them, we overlook our true nature because we’re looking from it, not at it. This recognition isn’t about achiev...

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