DW's Blog

Commencement Address

by DW Green — June 15, 2022

Learn the ways and means of the ancient yogi masters, pied pipers, cloud walkers and medicine men.

Recently a good friend, Don Gale, told a story about fiction writer Tom Robbins. Seems Don’s brother Tom gave Don a copy of Tom Robbins, Even Cowgirls Get The Blues. My older brother also gave me a copy of Even Cowgirls Get The Blues. And probably near the same time! It’s a great book. I have read most of Tom Robbins books. I recommend them all!Anyway, since May and June are graduation months, I thought it good to share a small portion of Tom Robbins Commencement address with you. I like Mr. Robbins perspective and sense of humor.This commencement address was delivered Friday, June 7, 1974 in Oak Harbor Washington.“So be your own authority, lead yourselves. Learn the ways and means of the ancient yogi masters, pied pipers, cloud walkers and medicine men. Get in harmony with nature. Listen to the loony rhythms of your blood. Look for beauty and poetry in everything in life. Let there be no moon that does not know you, no spring that does not lick you with its tongues. Refuse to play it safe, for it is from the wavering edge of risk that the sweetest honey of freedom drips and drips. Live dangerously, live lo...
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The Color Of Your Thoughts

by DW Green — June 8, 2022

Close if off and you’ll become closed-minded.

If you bend your body into a sitting position every day for a long enough period of time, the curvature of your spine changes. A doctor can tell from a radiograph (or an autopsy) whether someone sat at a desk for a living. If you shove your feet into tiny narrow dress shoes each day, your feet begin to take on that form as well.The same is true for our mind. If you hold a perpetually negative outlook, soon enough everything you encounter will seem negative. Close if off and you’ll become closed-minded. Color it with the wrong thoughts and your life will be dyed the same.
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Why Do You Need To Impress These People Again?

by DW Green — June 1, 2022

“We buy things we don’t need, to impress people we don’t like.”

Is there anything sadder than the immense lengths we’ll go to impress someone? The things we’ll do to earn someone’s approval can seem, when examined in retrospect, like the result of some temporary form of insanity. Suddenly we’re wearing uncomfortable, ridiculous clothes we’ve been told are cool, eating differently, eagerly waiting for a call or text. If we did these things because we liked it, that would be one thing. But that’s not what it is. It’s just a means to an end—to get someone to give us a nod.The irony is that the people whose opinion we covet are not all that great. They’re flawed—they’re distracted and wowed by all sorts of silly things themselves. We know this and yet we don’t want to think about it. To quote Fight Club, “We buy things we don’t need, to impress people we don’t like.”Doesn’t that sound pretty ridiculous? But more than that, isn’t it about as far as possible as you can get from the serenity and security that a ten-minute meditation can provide?
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The Plan Of No Plan

by DW Green — May 25, 2022

The Super bowl winning coach Bill Walsh used to script plays at the beginning of his games.

The opposing team comes out strong, establishes an early lead, and you never had time to recover. You walk into a business meeting are caught off guard, and the whole thing goes poorly. A delicate conversation escalates into a shouting match. You switched majors halfway through college and had to start your coursework over and graduate late. Sound familiar?It’s the chaos that ensues from not having a plan. Not because plans are perfect, but because people without plans—like a line of infantrymen without a strong leader—are much likely to get overwhelmed and fall apart. The Super bowl winning coach Bill Walsh used to avoid this risk by scripting the beginning of his games. “If you want to sleep at night before the game,” he said in a lecture on game panning, “have your first 25 plays established in your own mind the night before that. You can walk into the stadium and you can start the game without that stress factor.” You’ll also be able to ignore a couple of early points or a surprise from your opponent. It’s irrelevant to you—you already have your marching orders.Don’t try to make it up on the fly. Have a plan.

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The Best Retreat Is In Here, Not Out There

by DW Green — May 18, 2022

“Wherever you go, there you are.”

Do you have a vacation coming up? Are you looking forward to the weekend so you can have some peace and quiet? Maybe, you think, after things settle down or after I get this over with. But how often has that ever actually worked?The Zen meditation teacher Jon Kabit-Zinn coined a famous expression: “Wherever you go, there you are.” We can find a retreat at any time by looking inward. We can sit with our eyes closed and feel our breath go in and out. We can turn on some music and turn out the world. We can turn off technology or shut off those rampart thoughts in our head. That will provide us peace. Nothing else.
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Impossible Without Your Consent

by DW Green — May 11, 2022

“What we assume, what we willingly generate in our mind, that’s on us.”

On tough days we might say, “My work is overwhelming,” or “My boss is really frustrating.” If only we could understand that this is impossible. Someone can’t frustrate you, work can’t overwhelm you—these are external, objects, and they have no access to your mind. Those emotions you feel, as real as they are, come from the inside, not the outside.The Stoics use the word hypolepsis, which means “taking up”—of perceptions, thoughts, and judgments by our mind. What we assume, what we willingly generate in our mind, that’s on us. We can’t blame other people for making us feel stressed or frustrated any more than we can blame them for our jealousy. The cause is within us. They’re just the target.
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Living Without Restriction

by DW Green — May 4, 2022

Look at what success has cost them.

Take a look at some of the most powerful, rich and famous people in the world. Ignore the trappings of their success and what they’re able to buy. Look instead at what they’re forced to trade in return—look at what success has cost them.Mostly? Freedom. Their work demands they wear a suit. Their success depends on attending certain parties, kissing up to people they don’t like. It will require—inevitably—realizing they are unable to say what they actually think. Worse, it demands that they become a different type of person or do bad things.Sure, it might pay well—but they haven’t truly examined the transaction. Too many successful people are prisoners in jails of their making. Is that what you want? Is that what you’ve working hard toward? Let’s hope not.
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Find The Right Scene

by DW Green — April 27, 2022

“Remember, you become like your friends.”

Jim Rohm’s widely quoted line is “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” James Altucher advises young writers to find their “scene”—a group of peers who push them to be better. Your father or mother might have given a warning when they saw you spending time with some bad kids: “Remember, you become like your friends.” One of Goethe’s maxims captures it better” “Tell me with whom you consort and I will tell you who you are.”Consciously consider whom you allow into your life—not like some snobby elitist but like someone who is trying to cultivate the best life possible. Ask yourself about the people you meet and spend time with: Are they making me better? Do they encourage me to push forward and hold me accountable? Or do they drag me down to your level? Now, with this in mind, ask the most important question: Should I spend more or less time with these folks?The second part of Goethe’s quote tells us the stakes of this choice” “If I know how you spend you time,” he said, “then I know what might become of you.”
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Don’t Unintentionally Hand Over Your Freedom

by DW Green — April 20, 2022

Maintain control over your mind and perceptions.

Instinctively, we protect our physical selves. We don’t let people touch us, push us around, control where we go. But when it comes to the mind, we’re less disciplined. We hand it over willingly to social media, to television, to what other people are doing, thinking, or saying. We sit down to work and the next thing you know, we’re browsing the Internet. We sit down with our families, but within minutes we have our phones out. We sit down peacefully in a park, but instead of looking inward, we’re judging people as they pass by.We don’t even know we’re doing this. We don’t realize how much waste is in it, how inefficient and distracted it makes us. And what’s worse—no one is making this happen. It’s totally self-inflicted.The world can control our bodies—we can be thrown in jail or be tossed about by the weather. But the mind? That’s ours. We must protect it. Maintain control over your mind and perceptions. It’s your most prized possession.
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Accurate Self-Assessment

by DW Green — April 13, 2022

We underestimate our capabilities just as much and just as dangerously as we overestimate other abilities.

Most people resist the idea of a true self-estimate, probably because they fear it might mean downgrading some of their beliefs about who they are and what they’re capable of. As Goethe’s maxim goes, it is a great failing “to see yourself as more than you are.” How could you really be considered self-aware if you refuse to consider your weaknesses?Don’t fear self-assessment because you’re worried you might have to admit some things about yourself. The second half of Goethe’s maxim is important too. He states that it is equally damaging to “value yourself at less than your true worth.” Is it not equally common to be surprised at how well we’re able to handle a previously feared scenario? The way that we’re able to put aside the grief for a loved one and care for others—though we always thought we’d be wrecked if something were to happen to our parents or a sibling. The way we’re able to rise to the occasion in a stressful situation or a life-changing opportunity.We underestimate our capabilities just as much and just as dangerously as we overestimate other abilities. Cultivate the ability to judge yourself accurate...
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