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September 2009 
Enlightenment.Com State of the Site newsletter, in video or words
Posted on Jan 1st, 2009
by 
Jordan
Jordan
Below please find the video (also at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6iK-XgisfA) and the words from Enlightenment.Com's Happy New Year and 2008 Wrap-Up State of the Site message. This newsletter anounces a new in-depth audio interview, progress on our "Atom of Enlightenment" initiative, and includes a Healing of Grief Musical Reflection starrting Jem.
Note that from the front page of http://Enlightenment.Com, you can Chip-In $5 or $10 or $100 to help support our efforts.
Enlightenment-Com archives
Enlightenment.Com Newsletter: Happy 2009! & State of the Site
Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2008 19:44:52 -0800 (PST)
From: jordan@enlightenment.com
Subject: Enlightenment.Com Newsletter: Happy 2009! & State of the Site
Enlightenment.Com Newsletter – 2008 Wrap-Up, Happy 2009!
[Note: This all-text newsletter was sent to the Enlightenment.Com
list today, December 31, 2008. If you'd like to sign up to receive
future newsletters, please send a blank message to
Enlightenment-Com-on@mail-list.com. To unsubscribe,
please see the end of this newsletter.]
CONTENTS of this Newsletter:
1. Welcome!
2. The State of the Site: In Video or Words
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6iK-XgisfA]
3. An In-depth Audio Interview with Bonnie Gintis, Osteopath
[http://www.enlightenment.com/media/audiointerviews/Bonnie_Gintis.mp3]
4. What's Great About '08: An Awareness by Jordan Gruber
5. A Gem of a Jem of a Healing Journey: A Personal Musical Reflection
6. Chip-In to support us, if you can!
7. Thanks.
[Note: This newsletter was written by Jordan Gruber, J.D., M.A.,
Enlightenment.Com's Founder and CEO, who takes responsibility
for all errors and omissions found in this newsletter and throughout
Enlightenment.Com. Please email me, mailto:jordan@enlightenment.com,
if you have any questions or concerns.]
---------------------------
1. Welcome
Welcome back to our new, simplified, plain text newsletter. I've been
writing online newsletters for Enlightenment.Com on and off since
early 1996, which means I've now been at this for over a dozen years.
And honestly, I love it.
That is, I love getting to write for you (I love writing for a caring
audience), I love the fact that (from all reports) a decent number of you
still spend time with at least some of the newsletter's more in-depth
pieces, and most of all, I love that the act of putting together a newsletter
always seems to call upon me to gather up, reflect upon, digest, and then
transmit some of what I've experienced and learned since
the last newsletter.
So while writing a newsletter for you is always a bit of a personal
undertaking for me, this issue in particular will be more personal
and more challenging than most, mainly because these times
have been harder than most.
Financially, of course, notwithstanding our Enlightenment-focused
practices, many of us are under great stress right now, and that certainly
applies to me personally. (My biggest client was acquired and no longer
needs me, so if you happen to know somebody who needs a
*great ghostwriter* who can write on anything from law to technology
to financial services to personal growth to spirituality, then
please let me know, or take a look at http://practicalwordsmith.com,
and then let me know.)
And, like many of you, I've had other personal losses in the last year,
including the death of a wonderful, brilliant, beautiful friend in
her mid-40's, and then the disappearance of my most favorite cat. I
lost my dad and wrote about that here some two years ago, but having
my deeply bonded pet disappear off the face of the earth with
absolutely no explanation—well, that rocked my world. I mean, this
cat walked up my body and purred me into bliss literally thousands
of times in the past 7.5 years, so it's not surprising that we were
deeply bonded.
So, you can expect a couple of pretty personal pieces in here, including
a kind of annotated walk-through of the YouTube space for
the Welsh recording artist Jem. Jem's music, synchronistically
magically, and ultimately delightfully, helped me to get through my
pet's loss, and is still helping me heal. This piece is an attempt to
tell that little story, just because it might help somebody else
with some grief at some time.
There will also be an original "awareness" or micro-essay,
"What's Great About '08,"
where I'll share some thoughts about why the great
Financial Crisis of '08 isn't necessarily so bad after all.
There are also a couple of pieces about Enlightenment.Com itself,
including a video (or the words), straight from Mendocino, CA, of
"The State of the Site, January 2009"–address,
just so you long-term fans of our work can stay up-to-date. One thing
I talk about is our new EnlightenRank or "Atom of Enlightenment"
initiative. If you want to go right to it,
it's at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6iK-XgisfA
There's also a brand new in-depth audio interview with a fabulous
healer, thinker, and person, Bonnie Gintis, Doctor of Osteopathy. If
you want to go right to the interview, it's at
http://enlightenment.com/media/audiointerviews/Bonnie_Gintis.mp3
Lastly, with the economy as it is, rebounder sales have plummeted,
and so once again we'd like to invite any of you who might have a
few spare dollars to support our ongoing work here at once of the
longest-running Enlightenment-oriented websites in existence. So,
if you can afford to Chip In, please go to the front page of
http://www.enlightenment.com and do so.
That's it. Enjoy the newsletter, and feel free to send me feedback.
I read it all.
Blessings from, in, and around Mendocino, Dec. 31, 2009
Jordan Gruber
---------------------------
2. The State of the Site 2008-2009
The State of the Site message is viewable in YouTube video
at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6iK-XgisfA
It's about two minutes and twenty-three seconds long.
Here is the transcription:
Hi, I'm Jordan Gruber, the Founder and CEO of Enlightenment.Com.
This is the annual State of the Site message, and I'm coming to you
from beautiful Mendocino, California; I don't think you are going
to be able to see the waves, but they're out there, right through
these windows. And on behalf of myself and my partners
Jeramy Hale and Gabriel DeWitt, let me wish you a great 2009.
2008 has been a hard year for many of us. So let's have a great 2009.
So, three quick points.
One, we're still here. We're still putting up new content, we're still
putting up interesting audio interviews, and we've got a brand new
initiative that I'm very excited about that I'll tell you about in a
minute, and you know, ultimately, we're excited and delighted
that we continue to have the opportunity to serve you as we have
since 1996.
Second, we could use a little bit of help. Our main means of support
has been rebounder sales, but those have plummeted in the current
financial crisis. So, we've put up a Chip-In icon on the front page.
If you can Chip-In $5 or $10 to help Enlightenment.Com, to show
your appreciation, or because you're excited, then please do so.
We'd greatly appreciate that.
Third, we do have a major new initiative. It's very exciting, and it
comes close to the heart of what Enlightenment.Com has always
been about. It's codenamed the "Atom of Enlightenment"
or the EnlightenRank project, and involves
a way to take different facets or characteristics of psycho-spiritual
websites and present them to you, and get feedback from you,
so that we can really evolve a system of what's most likely to
work for people.
My partner Gabriel DeWitt and I have spent many hours working
through a way of showing what the means, and the goals, of a
website are.
So is the goal more about enlightenment, or is the goal
more about manifestation?
And is the means more about participation, with the people,
on the website, and their events and energy, or is it more
about real-time knowledge that you can take advantage of,
already on the site?
Which is it? How do those work together? It's not as simple as
you think, but we do think we've found a way through it, and
we're very, very excited about sharing it with you.
So, that's it. We're still here;
Chip-In if you can (from http://www.enlightenment.com);
and look for the "Atom of Enlightenment" initiative.
Have a great 2009, and I'll see you soon. Bye-Bye.
---------------------------
3. An In-depth Audio Interview with Bonnie Gintis, Osteopath
A little over a year ago I met with Bonnie Gintis to receive an
osteopathic treatment and to interview her. I thought the book
she had written, *Engaging the Meaning of Life*, was a fabulous
read—check it out at http://www.amazon.com/dp/1556436076 –as
it pulled together much of what I thought and knew about
the body and was completely applicable to rebounding. Through
her writing, Bonnie's mind expanded my mind and my body,
and I quickly knew I wanted to meet her and interview her.
We had a great time, and then I let the interview sit for many
months. Then, earlier this month, I remembered that I told
Bonnie that I'd get to it within a year, so I took it out and
managed to finish the audio editing on the 364th day. So
now, without any further ado, I'd like to invite you to
listen to our conversation at:
http://enlightenment.com/media/audiointerviews/Bonnie_Gintis.mp3
If you give it a couple of minutes, I can promise you that we
have a truly fascinating and stimulating conversation.
If you want to expand the boundaries of your views about the
body, water, energy, medicine, structure, movement, healing,
thought, and more, then please give this interview a listen.
---------------------------
4. What's Great About '08: An Awareness by Jordan Gruber
I know, I know. The sky is falling. Some of it hit me, even.
But still, amidst the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
there always seem to be bright notes, different possibilities,
alternative futures.
So while we sit and weep amidst the Financial Crisis of '08,
or whatever it will eventually officially be called,
we have to keep our eyes open for the bright notes, the bits of
ying in the middle of the yang, the unperturbed flow of
coherent life vectors amongst the chaos.
My friend Harmon Hathaway wrote me as follows, about a
month ago, when the markets had been down more than
they had been down for a very long time. He wrote:
"My World centric view is not completely unhappy with the
contraction happening all around. It will give us all more time for
breathing and being happily alive."
How simple is that? How brilliant is that?
Yes, we are in crisis, rather, crises. But there's always a
bright side, and the bright side here is that we can see where we
are personally and civilizationally out of alignment, and
then make adjustments.
We can see where we're not spending enough time on
what's really important – on our relationships, on
ingesting/digesting/living the truths of our spiritual knowledge,
on taking care of others, ourselves and our planet –
and do more of that. It's pretty simple, actually.
Meditation, for example, is completely free, yet certainly
makes a difference.
And a kind word is certainly without cost, yet it can
change a life. Or many lives.
And putting down the
blackberry/iphone/laptop/ipod/headphones/Bluetooth
while walking on the street or riding a bicycle or
just hanging out at home usually, if anything, saves you money,
yet it can rapidly improve both your inner awareness and
your outer environment. (It's hard to safely maneuver your
body or give a delicious hug when you're mind, and therefore
your body, are somewhere else.)
I learned long ago that if I was receiving serious, ongoing
feedback about something, usually experienced as pain,
then there was almost always something I
needed to pay attention to.
Well, it seems pretty obvious that we,
collectively and individually,
and with some but not that many exceptions,
are precisely responsible for the mess that we,
collectively and individually, find ourselves in.
Will things get better on the outside? Maybe. From
a new President in the U.S. to all sorts of scientific
and other developments, there's a whole lot going on in
the outside word, and it's moving faster than ever.
The real question is: what will you do to be in alignment
with the changes that have been occurring so that things
will get better for you on the inside?
From strengthening your commitment to your practice
to determining that this is the year you take the
necessary risks that only you know of,
the time, once again, is Now. The place, once again, is Here.
And the Point of Power, to quote Seth (yes, Seth), once again,
is Now.
So, before it's too late,
realize what's great
about now-gone '08:
A chance to re-state,
what you need to up-date
to up-grade your fate!
---------------------------
5. A Personal Musical Healing Journey: A Gem of a Jem of an Artist
Part 1: Background–The Loss of An Exceptional Companion
As I stated in the "Welcome" to this newsletter, this has been a tough
year for me in some ways. I have lost a friend to brain cancer; our
big construction project had some truly unnecessary (and expensive)
delays (but I am thankful to be back in our house); and worst of all,
my very favorite cat, Shadow, an exceptionally friendly, loving,
and handsome 10-year-old Maine Coonish fellow, simpl…
disappeared. (He had a collar and tag, and an ID chip in his shoulder,
but we haven't ever heard anything definite about what happened to
him, and we are, at this point, unlikely to.)
The fact is, when he disappeared, I was beyond crushed. Unwilling
and unable to fight back the tears for weeks, at one point I was on
the verge of calling my doctor for tranquilizers. As one close friend
said, "Really, in many ways it's like losing a child."
Now, many times when someone I know has lost someone, I have
recommended that they buy Peter McWilliams's little
book, *How to Survive the Loss of a Loved One.* At less than
$8 on Amazon.com – see http://www.amazon.com/dp/0931580439 –
this book has proven to be a tremendous resource for those
in need of support.
Part 2: Right Place, Right Time
But this time around, I needed something else, and I
synchronistically found that something else in the music and lyrics
of the Welsh recording artist Jem Griffiths, usually just known
as "Jem." (Jem: I see in your liner notes to "Down to Earth"
that you have a 'Mendocino Family.' Mendocino! Well, if you're
ever here when I'm here, I'd just love to buy you a cup of coffee
and interview you for Enlightenment.Com.) Jem, who is 34,
has a very eclectic world musical style, and her music has been
used for the movie Sex & the City and elsewhere.
In fact, the very last night I ever saw Shadow was the
very first night that I was introduced by a close friend to
Jem's music. Over the next 6 weeks (until right now, essentially),
not only have I listened to both of Jem's albums, but I have allowed
and encouraged myself to go on a musical healing journey with her.
I'll begin describing that musical journey in a minute,
after I give the "Instructions" for the rest of this
annotated voyage, and after I just say a couple of more things
about Jem.
So, let me first admit, straight up, that I am currently completely
enamored of Jem. This has happened to me many times before,
most recently with the great Leonard Cohen, and before that
the Indigo Girls, and at earlier times in my life with a variety of
other recording artists and groups.
One of my all-time favorites has been and remains David Bowie.
It has always seemed to me that certain Bowie albums, both very
early (like Hunky Dory) and very late (like Reality), are put together
in such a way that Bowie, from the inside out, seems to know what
I'm thinking and feeling, and what I need to hear. That is, his music
is just absolutely perfect for me at certain times, like it was divinely
scripted to provide me with the insights, and emotional and spiritual
nourishment, that only great music and a great musician can provide.
Well, for me, with Jem, it has been the same way. From the moment
I knew Shadow was gone, her words and music – and more
importantly, the energy behind them – served as my refuge and
rock of healing. Now, in what follows I'm only going to briefly
describe five of her songs from her two albums and the impact
they've had on me. But both her newer album, "Down to Earth,"
and her first album," Finally Woken," are fabulous, and it really is
only in the context of both works taken together that I have
benefited so much from her. She's got great beginnings, great drums,
heart-felt lyrics, a sense of fun, a sense of spiritual profundity, and
is also quite fetching. If you feel moved to do so,
please support her by purchasing her music.
Part 3: Instructions
OK, if you've read this far–if you've ever lost a pet or a person and
were devastated with grief and want to see how I got through it
this time, or if you just want to get turned on to some very cool
psycho-spiritually oriented music–then let me gently suggest that
you follow the following instructions:
Listen to the video or audio on YouTube, following
the YouTube link I give here, before going on and reading the
text below each song.
So, it's kind of like a show and tell–you go to the URL, and spend 4 minutes
or so listening to the show–and then I do the telling
of what I found so compelling.
Part 4: Five Gems by Jem
As I mentioned, I first heard my first Jem song the very night that was
the last night I ever saw Shadow. That song, oh so appropriately
named,is called "It's Just a Ride." There's a great YouTube video,
by Jem, here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90KyZ1GbJGI.
[Please watch it and listen to it now, if you can.]
From the first lines, I knew I was hooked:
Life, it's ever so strange, it's so full of change,
think you've worked it out, then Bang!
Right out of the blue, something happens to you,
to throw you of course and then you…break down."
That's how I felt. Bang! Right out of the blue, my beautiful cat
was simply gone, with no explanation. I was crushed.
But then Jem exhorts us not to "break down," because:
It's just a ride, it's just a ride, no need to run, no need to hide
it'll take you all around, sometimes you're up, sometimes you're down
it's just a ride, it's just a ride, don't be scared, don't hide your eyes
it may feel so real inside, but don't forget, it's just a ride.
Now, in addition to the words and music with its fun driving beat
and harmonies, as well as some really fun visuals of things
happening to Jem (things that might cause someone to "break down"),
I love watching her head going back and forth,
side to side. The first time I saw Jem do these motions,
she struck me as being some kind of Hindu deity,
or reincarnated special being, letting us know that
on some level this is all illusion, that this is all just a ride.
Then the song comes to its dénouement:
Slowly, oh so very slowly
Accept that there's no getting off
So live it, just gotta go with it
'Cause this rides never gonna stop
Ultimately, then, it's just a ride, so "don't be scared, dry your eyes."
It's just a ride, it's just a ride, no need to run, no need to hide
it'll take you all around, sometimes you're up, sometimes you're down
it's just a ride, it's just a ride, don't be scared, now dry your eyes
it may feel so real inside, but don't forget, enjoy the ride.
So, "Just a Ride" got me some of the way there. I could take a step
back, move forward through Kubler-Ross's healing stages, and begin
to get to acceptance. But I was still feeling pretty bad a day or two later
when I purchased her second album, "Down to Earth," and listened
to her song "You Will Make It." There's no Jem video for this one, but
you can still listen to it on YouTube here at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wQVuALdpJw
[Please listen to it now.]
Well, this song was absolutely remarkable for me. Every word,
every line, seemed to be written just for me, just for my situation.
In fact, this is a spectacularly heartfelt grief song, appropriate
for a wide range of grief situations. I shared it with a therapist
friend of mine last week, at a small party, over my LG Dare phone,
and he was very moved and immediately said he would share it
with some of his clients. Let me give you the beginning lyrics now so you
can get a taste of it:
Go to bed everything's alright
Don't know the whole
world's changing
As you sleep through the night
Wake up slowly and it's a
different world
Hear the news and the
floods begin
Screams so loud but only
felt within
Heart is shattered
The pieces can't be found
I feel your pain, I wrote this
song for you, for you
You will make it, you will
make it through
I promise you, he would
want you to
So, yes, I went to bed when everything was all right, and woke up
to a world that was changed, with a shattered heart. And I really,
honestly, believe that when Jem says "I feel your pain, I wrote
this song for you," she actually did so. For me, personally, as well
as for everyone else who has suffered loss.
Such insight and pathos…For example, one lyric is:
Helping hands but you
push them away
How could they understand
Don't wanna share your pain
Afraid to heal, 'cause that
would be goodbye
The notion that sometimes we are afraid to heal in these kinds of
loss situations because that would mean really and finally saying
"Goodbye," struck me like a thunderclap. That was part of where
I was stuck, and now I knew it.
Then, after time passes, things change. We start to remember our
lost one in a different light, a positive light, like so:
One day sunlight hits
a photograph
And it makes you smile
The memories dance
around you now
And they make you smile
You're not alone
You'll never be
Just like the stars
They oversee
And they whisper to you
You're still, you're still,
You're still, you're still alive
Then, after the "I feel your pain, I wrote this song for you" chorus,
Jem reads a poem (I'm told it's well known, but I'd never heard it)
where the lost one is now to be found….everywhere:
Do not stand at my
grave and weep
I am not there I do not sleep
I am a thousand winds that blow
I am the diamond glints on snow
I am the sun on ripened grain
I am the gentle autumn rain
When you awaken in the morning's hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight
I am the soft stars that shine at night
Do not stand at my grave and cry
I am not there; I did not die
The song ends with some beautiful male vocalizations, and
trails off leaving the listener—leaving me—cleansed and
refreshed. My beautiful Shadow is still there, on the glints
of the ocean outside the window, in the gentle autumn rain,
in all the places where previously I only felt pain.
So, by this point, I was feeling…well, more human, more healed.
Then I turned towards this song, "Good it Good,
which you can listen to at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-l6LCpAvJY
This is a fun little song about gratitude, and I'll just give you a little
bit of the lyrics here:
Got a soul, got a mind
Got a heart that beats in time
You've got a smile, got a voice
Got the gift of love
You've got it good
Don't forget how lucky you are
Darling, darling, use it to connect with everyone
Then there was Jem's great inspirational song, "It's Amazing."
You can hear it and see the lyrics at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHdA6RVTX7A
This song tells you that you can do it, that you must use your gift,
and that nothing can compare to "deserving your dreams." Jem
talks about her own rejections here, about hitting the wall, and
what it takes to move forward. The chorus is simple but empowering:
It's amazing, it's amazing
all that you can do
it's amazing, it makes my heart sing
Now it's up to you.
Then, near the end, Jem does a kind of electronic synthesized voice
as hypnotic induction, that is really pretty cool. The words are:
Don't be embarrassed
Don't be afraid
Don't let your dreams slip away
It's determination and using your gift
And everybody has a gift
Never give up
Never believe the hype
Trust your instincts and
most importantly
You've got nothing to lose
So just go for it.
Well, this song made my heart sing, and has further inspired
me to re-commit to my most important projects.
Finally, take a listen to "On Top of the World" at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=peZVH846Kos. There's a great
part in this song, almost like a sudden epiphany or theophany
(an "in-breaking of the Divine"). The words go:
All of a sudden
The people, the talking, the telephone all fades away
You visit a place in a timeless dimension where
All of your fears are at bay.
You can fly away….
I sincerely hope and wish that you've enjoyed this little
recap of my healing journey thanks to Jem,
and that you get the same kind of value from her that I have. She
truly is a gem, and I feel very lucky to have found her, for in
her words and music I have seen my own true face reflected
much more clearly.
And if you happen to be in grief right now, then, well,
I wrote this piece for you.
---------------------------
6. Please Chip-In to Help Enlightenment.Com
In the transcription from my State of the Site message above, I wrote:
Lastly, with the economy as it is, rebounder sales have plummeted,
and so once again we'd like to invite any of you who might have a
few spare dollars to support our ongoing work here at once of the
longest-running Enlightenment-oriented websites in existence. So,
if you can afford to Chip In, please go to the front page of
http://www.enlightenment.com and do so.
While we don't like having to ask for money, we do think we have
been doing and continue to do good and important work. We're
very excited about the new EnlightenRank ("Atom of Enlightenment")
initiative, and hope to bring that to you in a powerful way in the
coming year.
So, if you can Chip-In just $5 or $10 (or more), please do so.
---------------------------
7. Thanks!
Thanks for reading this newsletter. Thanks for sticking with
Enlightenment.Com for the long-run. Thanks for all your personal
work and practice and discipline and energy. Thanks for being
who you are. Special thanks to all those who have over the
years supported me and the website. Thanks to my two
partners, Jeramy and Gabriel. Thanks to all our lovely
families and friends and pets, those here and those gone.
So, thanks for many reasons,
and we at Enlightenment.Com wish all of you
a very wonderful New Year and a Great '09.
Best Blessings and Warmest Wishes,
Jordan Gruber, J.D., M.A.,
Founder, CEO, Enlightenment.Com
May this act, and all acts,
be dedicated unto the complete liberation
and supreme enlightenment
of all beings everywhere
pervading space and time,
so mote it be.
May the benefits of practice, ours and others,
come to fruition,
ultimately and immediately,
and we remain in the state of presence.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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The State of the Site: Enlightenment.Com's 2008 Wrap-Up
Enlightenment-Com archives
Enlightenment.Com Newsletter: Happy 2009! & State of the Site
Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2008 19:44:52 -0800 (PST)
From: jordan@enlightenment.com
Subject: Enlightenment.Com Newsletter: Happy 2009! & State of the Site
Enlightenment.Com Newsletter – 2008 Wrap-Up, Happy 2009!
[Note: This all-text newsletter was sent to the Enlightenment.Com
list today, December 31, 2008. If you'd like to sign up to receive
future newsletters, please send a blank message to
Enlightenment-Com-on@mail-list.com. To unsubscribe,
please see the end of this newsletter.]
CONTENTS of this Newsletter:
1. Welcome!
2. The State of the Site: In Video or Words
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6iK-XgisfA]
3. An In-depth Audio Interview with Bonnie Gintis, Osteopath
[http://www.enlightenment.com/media/audiointerviews/Bonnie_Gintis.mp3]
4. What's Great About '08: An Awareness by Jordan Gruber
5. A Gem of a Jem of a Healing Journey: A Personal Musical Reflection
6. Chip-In to support us, if you can!
7. Thanks.
[Note: This newsletter was written by Jordan Gruber, J.D., M.A.,
Enlightenment.Com's Founder and CEO, who takes responsibility
for all errors and omissions found in this newsletter and throughout
Enlightenment.Com. Please email me, mailto:jordan@enlightenment.com,
if you have any questions or concerns.]
---------------------------
1. Welcome
Welcome back to our new, simplified, plain text newsletter. I've been
writing online newsletters for Enlightenment.Com on and off since
early 1996, which means I've now been at this for over a dozen years.
And honestly, I love it.
That is, I love getting to write for you (I love writing for a caring
audience), I love the fact that (from all reports) a decent number of you
still spend time with at least some of the newsletter's more in-depth
pieces, and most of all, I love that the act of putting together a newsletter
always seems to call upon me to gather up, reflect upon, digest, and then
transmit some of what I've experienced and learned since
the last newsletter.
So while writing a newsletter for you is always a bit of a personal
undertaking for me, this issue in particular will be more personal
and more challenging than most, mainly because these times
have been harder than most.
Financially, of course, notwithstanding our Enlightenment-focused
practices, many of us are under great stress right now, and that certainly
applies to me personally. (My biggest client was acquired and no longer
needs me, so if you happen to know somebody who needs a
*great ghostwriter* who can write on anything from law to technology
to financial services to personal growth to spirituality, then
please let me know, or take a look at http://practicalwordsmith.com,
and then let me know.)
And, like many of you, I've had other personal losses in the last year,
including the death of a wonderful, brilliant, beautiful friend in
her mid-40's, and then the disappearance of my most favorite cat. I
lost my dad and wrote about that here some two years ago, but having
my deeply bonded pet disappear off the face of the earth with
absolutely no explanation—well, that rocked my world. I mean, this
cat walked up my body and purred me into bliss literally thousands
of times in the past 7.5 years, so it's not surprising that we were
deeply bonded.
So, you can expect a couple of pretty personal pieces in here, including
a kind of annotated walk-through of the YouTube space for
the Welsh recording artist Jem. Jem's music, synchronistically
magically, and ultimately delightfully, helped me to get through my
pet's loss, and is still helping me heal. This piece is an attempt to
tell that little story, just because it might help somebody else
with some grief at some time.
There will also be an original "awareness" or micro-essay,
"What's Great About '08,"
where I'll share some thoughts about why the great
Financial Crisis of '08 isn't necessarily so bad after all.
There are also a couple of pieces about Enlightenment.Com itself,
including a video (or the words), straight from Mendocino, CA, of
"The State of the Site, January 2009"–address,
just so you long-term fans of our work can stay up-to-date. One thing
I talk about is our new EnlightenRank or "Atom of Enlightenment"
initiative. If you want to go right to it,
it's at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6iK-XgisfA
There's also a brand new in-depth audio interview with a fabulous
healer, thinker, and person, Bonnie Gintis, Doctor of Osteopathy. If
you want to go right to the interview, it's at
http://enlightenment.com/media/audiointerviews/Bonnie_Gintis.mp3
Lastly, with the economy as it is, rebounder sales have plummeted,
and so once again we'd like to invite any of you who might have a
few spare dollars to support our ongoing work here at once of the
longest-running Enlightenment-oriented websites in existence. So,
if you can afford to Chip In, please go to the front page of
http://www.enlightenment.com and do so.
That's it. Enjoy the newsletter, and feel free to send me feedback.
I read it all.
Blessings from, in, and around Mendocino, Dec. 31, 2009
Jordan Gruber
---------------------------
2. The State of the Site 2008-2009
The State of the Site message is viewable in YouTube video
at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6iK-XgisfA
It's about two minutes and twenty-three seconds long.
Here is the transcription:
Hi, I'm Jordan Gruber, the Founder and CEO of Enlightenment.Com.
This is the annual State of the Site message, and I'm coming to you
from beautiful Mendocino, California; I don't think you are going
to be able to see the waves, but they're out there, right through
these windows. And on behalf of myself and my partners
Jeramy Hale and Gabriel DeWitt, let me wish you a great 2009.
2008 has been a hard year for many of us. So let's have a great 2009.
So, three quick points.
One, we're still here. We're still putting up new content, we're still
putting up interesting audio interviews, and we've got a brand new
initiative that I'm very excited about that I'll tell you about in a
minute, and you know, ultimately, we're excited and delighted
that we continue to have the opportunity to serve you as we have
since 1996.
Second, we could use a little bit of help. Our main means of support
has been rebounder sales, but those have plummeted in the current
financial crisis. So, we've put up a Chip-In icon on the front page.
If you can Chip-In $5 or $10 to help Enlightenment.Com, to show
your appreciation, or because you're excited, then please do so.
We'd greatly appreciate that.
Third, we do have a major new initiative. It's very exciting, and it
comes close to the heart of what Enlightenment.Com has always
been about. It's codenamed the "Atom of Enlightenment"
or the EnlightenRank project, and involves
a way to take different facets or characteristics of psycho-spiritual
websites and present them to you, and get feedback from you,
so that we can really evolve a system of what's most likely to
work for people.
My partner Gabriel DeWitt and I have spent many hours working
through a way of showing what the means, and the goals, of a
website are.
So is the goal more about enlightenment, or is the goal
more about manifestation?
And is the means more about participation, with the people,
on the website, and their events and energy, or is it more
about real-time knowledge that you can take advantage of,
already on the site?
Which is it? How do those work together? It's not as simple as
you think, but we do think we've found a way through it, and
we're very, very excited about sharing it with you.
So, that's it. We're still here;
Chip-In if you can (from http://www.enlightenment.com);
and look for the "Atom of Enlightenment" initiative.
Have a great 2009, and I'll see you soon. Bye-Bye.
---------------------------
3. An In-depth Audio Interview with Bonnie Gintis, Osteopath
A little over a year ago I met with Bonnie Gintis to receive an
osteopathic treatment and to interview her. I thought the book
she had written, *Engaging the Meaning of Life*, was a fabulous
read—check it out at http://www.amazon.com/dp/1556436076 –as
it pulled together much of what I thought and knew about
the body and was completely applicable to rebounding. Through
her writing, Bonnie's mind expanded my mind and my body,
and I quickly knew I wanted to meet her and interview her.
We had a great time, and then I let the interview sit for many
months. Then, earlier this month, I remembered that I told
Bonnie that I'd get to it within a year, so I took it out and
managed to finish the audio editing on the 364th day. So
now, without any further ado, I'd like to invite you to
listen to our conversation at:
http://enlightenment.com/media/audiointerviews/Bonnie_Gintis.mp3
If you give it a couple of minutes, I can promise you that we
have a truly fascinating and stimulating conversation.
If you want to expand the boundaries of your views about the
body, water, energy, medicine, structure, movement, healing,
thought, and more, then please give this interview a listen.
---------------------------
4. What's Great About '08: An Awareness by Jordan Gruber
I know, I know. The sky is falling. Some of it hit me, even.
But still, amidst the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
there always seem to be bright notes, different possibilities,
alternative futures.
So while we sit and weep amidst the Financial Crisis of '08,
or whatever it will eventually officially be called,
we have to keep our eyes open for the bright notes, the bits of
ying in the middle of the yang, the unperturbed flow of
coherent life vectors amongst the chaos.
My friend Harmon Hathaway wrote me as follows, about a
month ago, when the markets had been down more than
they had been down for a very long time. He wrote:
"My World centric view is not completely unhappy with the
contraction happening all around. It will give us all more time for
breathing and being happily alive."
How simple is that? How brilliant is that?
Yes, we are in crisis, rather, crises. But there's always a
bright side, and the bright side here is that we can see where we
are personally and civilizationally out of alignment, and
then make adjustments.
We can see where we're not spending enough time on
what's really important – on our relationships, on
ingesting/digesting/living the truths of our spiritual knowledge,
on taking care of others, ourselves and our planet –
and do more of that. It's pretty simple, actually.
Meditation, for example, is completely free, yet certainly
makes a difference.
And a kind word is certainly without cost, yet it can
change a life. Or many lives.
And putting down the
blackberry/iphone/laptop/ipod/headphones/Bluetooth
while walking on the street or riding a bicycle or
just hanging out at home usually, if anything, saves you money,
yet it can rapidly improve both your inner awareness and
your outer environment. (It's hard to safely maneuver your
body or give a delicious hug when you're mind, and therefore
your body, are somewhere else.)
I learned long ago that if I was receiving serious, ongoing
feedback about something, usually experienced as pain,
then there was almost always something I
needed to pay attention to.
Well, it seems pretty obvious that we,
collectively and individually,
and with some but not that many exceptions,
are precisely responsible for the mess that we,
collectively and individually, find ourselves in.
Will things get better on the outside? Maybe. From
a new President in the U.S. to all sorts of scientific
and other developments, there's a whole lot going on in
the outside word, and it's moving faster than ever.
The real question is: what will you do to be in alignment
with the changes that have been occurring so that things
will get better for you on the inside?
From strengthening your commitment to your practice
to determining that this is the year you take the
necessary risks that only you know of,
the time, once again, is Now. The place, once again, is Here.
And the Point of Power, to quote Seth (yes, Seth), once again,
is Now.
So, before it's too late,
realize what's great
about now-gone '08:
A chance to re-state,
what you need to up-date
to up-grade your fate!
---------------------------
5. A Personal Musical Healing Journey: A Gem of a Jem of an Artist
Part 1: Background–The Loss of An Exceptional Companion
As I stated in the "Welcome" to this newsletter, this has been a tough
year for me in some ways. I have lost a friend to brain cancer; our
big construction project had some truly unnecessary (and expensive)
delays (but I am thankful to be back in our house); and worst of all,
my very favorite cat, Shadow, an exceptionally friendly, loving,
and handsome 10-year-old Maine Coonish fellow, simpl…
disappeared. (He had a collar and tag, and an ID chip in his shoulder,
but we haven't ever heard anything definite about what happened to
him, and we are, at this point, unlikely to.)
The fact is, when he disappeared, I was beyond crushed. Unwilling
and unable to fight back the tears for weeks, at one point I was on
the verge of calling my doctor for tranquilizers. As one close friend
said, "Really, in many ways it's like losing a child."
Now, many times when someone I know has lost someone, I have
recommended that they buy Peter McWilliams's little
book, *How to Survive the Loss of a Loved One.* At less than
$8 on Amazon.com – see http://www.amazon.com/dp/0931580439 –
this book has proven to be a tremendous resource for those
in need of support.
Part 2: Right Place, Right Time
But this time around, I needed something else, and I
synchronistically found that something else in the music and lyrics
of the Welsh recording artist Jem Griffiths, usually just known
as "Jem." (Jem: I see in your liner notes to "Down to Earth"
that you have a 'Mendocino Family.' Mendocino! Well, if you're
ever here when I'm here, I'd just love to buy you a cup of coffee
and interview you for Enlightenment.Com.) Jem, who is 34,
has a very eclectic world musical style, and her music has been
used for the movie Sex & the City and elsewhere.
In fact, the very last night I ever saw Shadow was the
very first night that I was introduced by a close friend to
Jem's music. Over the next 6 weeks (until right now, essentially),
not only have I listened to both of Jem's albums, but I have allowed
and encouraged myself to go on a musical healing journey with her.
I'll begin describing that musical journey in a minute,
after I give the "Instructions" for the rest of this
annotated voyage, and after I just say a couple of more things
about Jem.
So, let me first admit, straight up, that I am currently completely
enamored of Jem. This has happened to me many times before,
most recently with the great Leonard Cohen, and before that
the Indigo Girls, and at earlier times in my life with a variety of
other recording artists and groups.
One of my all-time favorites has been and remains David Bowie.
It has always seemed to me that certain Bowie albums, both very
early (like Hunky Dory) and very late (like Reality), are put together
in such a way that Bowie, from the inside out, seems to know what
I'm thinking and feeling, and what I need to hear. That is, his music
is just absolutely perfect for me at certain times, like it was divinely
scripted to provide me with the insights, and emotional and spiritual
nourishment, that only great music and a great musician can provide.
Well, for me, with Jem, it has been the same way. From the moment
I knew Shadow was gone, her words and music – and more
importantly, the energy behind them – served as my refuge and
rock of healing. Now, in what follows I'm only going to briefly
describe five of her songs from her two albums and the impact
they've had on me. But both her newer album, "Down to Earth,"
and her first album," Finally Woken," are fabulous, and it really is
only in the context of both works taken together that I have
benefited so much from her. She's got great beginnings, great drums,
heart-felt lyrics, a sense of fun, a sense of spiritual profundity, and
is also quite fetching. If you feel moved to do so,
please support her by purchasing her music.
Part 3: Instructions
OK, if you've read this far–if you've ever lost a pet or a person and
were devastated with grief and want to see how I got through it
this time, or if you just want to get turned on to some very cool
psycho-spiritually oriented music–then let me gently suggest that
you follow the following instructions:
Listen to the video or audio on YouTube, following
the YouTube link I give here, before going on and reading the
text below each song.
So, it's kind of like a show and tell–you go to the URL, and spend 4 minutes
or so listening to the show–and then I do the telling
of what I found so compelling.
Part 4: Five Gems by Jem
As I mentioned, I first heard my first Jem song the very night that was
the last night I ever saw Shadow. That song, oh so appropriately
named,is called "It's Just a Ride." There's a great YouTube video,
by Jem, here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90KyZ1GbJGI.
[Please watch it and listen to it now, if you can.]
From the first lines, I knew I was hooked:
Life, it's ever so strange, it's so full of change,
think you've worked it out, then Bang!
Right out of the blue, something happens to you,
to throw you of course and then you…break down."
That's how I felt. Bang! Right out of the blue, my beautiful cat
was simply gone, with no explanation. I was crushed.
But then Jem exhorts us not to "break down," because:
It's just a ride, it's just a ride, no need to run, no need to hide
it'll take you all around, sometimes you're up, sometimes you're down
it's just a ride, it's just a ride, don't be scared, don't hide your eyes
it may feel so real inside, but don't forget, it's just a ride.
Now, in addition to the words and music with its fun driving beat
and harmonies, as well as some really fun visuals of things
happening to Jem (things that might cause someone to "break down"),
I love watching her head going back and forth,
side to side. The first time I saw Jem do these motions,
she struck me as being some kind of Hindu deity,
or reincarnated special being, letting us know that
on some level this is all illusion, that this is all just a ride.
Then the song comes to its dénouement:
Slowly, oh so very slowly
Accept that there's no getting off
So live it, just gotta go with it
'Cause this rides never gonna stop
Ultimately, then, it's just a ride, so "don't be scared, dry your eyes."
It's just a ride, it's just a ride, no need to run, no need to hide
it'll take you all around, sometimes you're up, sometimes you're down
it's just a ride, it's just a ride, don't be scared, now dry your eyes
it may feel so real inside, but don't forget, enjoy the ride.
So, "Just a Ride" got me some of the way there. I could take a step
back, move forward through Kubler-Ross's healing stages, and begin
to get to acceptance. But I was still feeling pretty bad a day or two later
when I purchased her second album, "Down to Earth," and listened
to her song "You Will Make It." There's no Jem video for this one, but
you can still listen to it on YouTube here at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wQVuALdpJw
[Please listen to it now.]
Well, this song was absolutely remarkable for me. Every word,
every line, seemed to be written just for me, just for my situation.
In fact, this is a spectacularly heartfelt grief song, appropriate
for a wide range of grief situations. I shared it with a therapist
friend of mine last week, at a small party, over my LG Dare phone,
and he was very moved and immediately said he would share it
with some of his clients. Let me give you the beginning lyrics now so you
can get a taste of it:
Go to bed everything's alright
Don't know the whole
world's changing
As you sleep through the night
Wake up slowly and it's a
different world
Hear the news and the
floods begin
Screams so loud but only
felt within
Heart is shattered
The pieces can't be found
I feel your pain, I wrote this
song for you, for you
You will make it, you will
make it through
I promise you, he would
want you to
So, yes, I went to bed when everything was all right, and woke up
to a world that was changed, with a shattered heart. And I really,
honestly, believe that when Jem says "I feel your pain, I wrote
this song for you," she actually did so. For me, personally, as well
as for everyone else who has suffered loss.
Such insight and pathos…For example, one lyric is:
Helping hands but you
push them away
How could they understand
Don't wanna share your pain
Afraid to heal, 'cause that
would be goodbye
The notion that sometimes we are afraid to heal in these kinds of
loss situations because that would mean really and finally saying
"Goodbye," struck me like a thunderclap. That was part of where
I was stuck, and now I knew it.
Then, after time passes, things change. We start to remember our
lost one in a different light, a positive light, like so:
One day sunlight hits
a photograph
And it makes you smile
The memories dance
around you now
And they make you smile
You're not alone
You'll never be
Just like the stars
They oversee
And they whisper to you
You're still, you're still,
You're still, you're still alive
Then, after the "I feel your pain, I wrote this song for you" chorus,
Jem reads a poem (I'm told it's well known, but I'd never heard it)
where the lost one is now to be found….everywhere:
Do not stand at my
grave and weep
I am not there I do not sleep
I am a thousand winds that blow
I am the diamond glints on snow
I am the sun on ripened grain
I am the gentle autumn rain
When you awaken in the morning's hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight
I am the soft stars that shine at night
Do not stand at my grave and cry
I am not there; I did not die
The song ends with some beautiful male vocalizations, and
trails off leaving the listener—leaving me—cleansed and
refreshed. My beautiful Shadow is still there, on the glints
of the ocean outside the window, in the gentle autumn rain,
in all the places where previously I only felt pain.
So, by this point, I was feeling…well, more human, more healed.
Then I turned towards this song, "Good it Good,
which you can listen to at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-l6LCpAvJY
This is a fun little song about gratitude, and I'll just give you a little
bit of the lyrics here:
Got a soul, got a mind
Got a heart that beats in time
You've got a smile, got a voice
Got the gift of love
You've got it good
Don't forget how lucky you are
Darling, darling, use it to connect with everyone
Then there was Jem's great inspirational song, "It's Amazing."
You can hear it and see the lyrics at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHdA6RVTX7A
This song tells you that you can do it, that you must use your gift,
and that nothing can compare to "deserving your dreams." Jem
talks about her own rejections here, about hitting the wall, and
what it takes to move forward. The chorus is simple but empowering:
It's amazing, it's amazing
all that you can do
it's amazing, it makes my heart sing
Now it's up to you.
Then, near the end, Jem does a kind of electronic synthesized voice
as hypnotic induction, that is really pretty cool. The words are:
Don't be embarrassed
Don't be afraid
Don't let your dreams slip away
It's determination and using your gift
And everybody has a gift
Never give up
Never believe the hype
Trust your instincts and
most importantly
You've got nothing to lose
So just go for it.
Well, this song made my heart sing, and has further inspired
me to re-commit to my most important projects.
Finally, take a listen to "On Top of the World" at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=peZVH846Kos. There's a great
part in this song, almost like a sudden epiphany or theophany
(an "in-breaking of the Divine"). The words go:
All of a sudden
The people, the talking, the telephone all fades away
You visit a place in a timeless dimension where
All of your fears are at bay.
You can fly away….
I sincerely hope and wish that you've enjoyed this little
recap of my healing journey thanks to Jem,
and that you get the same kind of value from her that I have. She
truly is a gem, and I feel very lucky to have found her, for in
her words and music I have seen my own true face reflected
much more clearly.
And if you happen to be in grief right now, then, well,
I wrote this piece for you.
---------------------------
6. Please Chip-In to Help Enlightenment.Com
In the transcription from my State of the Site message above, I wrote:
Lastly, with the economy as it is, rebounder sales have plummeted,
and so once again we'd like to invite any of you who might have a
few spare dollars to support our ongoing work here at once of the
longest-running Enlightenment-oriented websites in existence. So,
if you can afford to Chip In, please go to the front page of
http://www.enlightenment.com and do so.
While we don't like having to ask for money, we do think we have
been doing and continue to do good and important work. We're
very excited about the new EnlightenRank ("Atom of Enlightenment")
initiative, and hope to bring that to you in a powerful way in the
coming year.
So, if you can Chip-In just $5 or $10 (or more), please do so.
---------------------------
7. Thanks!
Thanks for reading this newsletter. Thanks for sticking with
Enlightenment.Com for the long-run. Thanks for all your personal
work and practice and discipline and energy. Thanks for being
who you are. Special thanks to all those who have over the
years supported me and the website. Thanks to my two
partners, Jeramy and Gabriel. Thanks to all our lovely
families and friends and pets, those here and those gone.
So, thanks for many reasons,
and we at Enlightenment.Com wish all of you
a very wonderful New Year and a Great '09.
Best Blessings and Warmest Wishes,
Jordan Gruber, J.D., M.A.,
Founder, CEO, Enlightenment.Com
May this act, and all acts,
be dedicated unto the complete liberation
and supreme enlightenment
of all beings everywhere
pervading space and time,
so mote it be.
May the benefits of practice, ours and others,
come to fruition,
ultimately and immediately,
and we remain in the state of presence.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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