First, an assessment of the world situation:

There's another counterinsurgency war were a modern military is utilizing maneuver tactics and losing in the press.

The southern border of the United States is militarized. Some say it's successful. I don't know about you, but I learned in elementary school history class that the United States not having military patrolled borders was a wonderful thing. I still agree with my teacher. The military-industrial complex is pretty freaking scary. And I'm a Marine Corps veteran.

There's a continued global trend toward free-market capitalism. Multinational corporations are acquiring more power and influence through forcing the world into a global village of consumers. I don't have a problem with this. Actually, this dynamic probably holds the most opportunity for someone hell-bent on changing the world primarily through capital and market access where economic transformation can take place. 3rd world countries (emerging markets) can be taught how to fish instead of given fish. Consequently, 21st century Bodhisattvas are going to be politicians, venture capitalists, and economists.

I don't understand how free markets can co-exist with militarized borders. I'm not sure the U.S./Mexico border requires the level of force that comes with military involvement. Therefore, this operation seems to be merely a political move. The political split in the U.S. isn't Conservative/Liberal. One side seeks to keep the U.S. economy at a nation-state level and put up guards against globalization such as out sourcing and off shoring while going to war and putting military personnel on our borders because the common people need a common enemy to transcend conflicting opinions. Often this movement is led by stakeholders of multinational corporations so it's confusing and religion has been infiltrated. The other side seeks to take advantage of the emerging trends by utilizing the market forces for advantage rather than blaming them. War is the great disruptor. Anyone wanting to take advantage of free markets can't support preemptive war. This side sees the value and limitations of nationalism and gets excited thinking about a global community. They want to compete globally and prepare themselves for success.

There are lots of trends acting intersystemicly. History also has power. Protectionistic economic stances have never worked before. The World Bank was created to bail out starving countries who closed their borders. Now I see the same thing happening in the United States. I'm not pleased.

What can I do TODAY to change the world?

Continue to develop myself as a global citizen. In concrete terms: write the (rough draft) introduction to my next article before midnight tonight.

I'm still coming out of my Naropa experience. I feel like I'm taking form. It's a slow process, yet, a great opportunity. For example, yesterday I found a file folder full of business plans that I made two summers ago. It's GOOD stuff. Somehow in the confusion of graduate school ending I lost track of plans I had made.

Confusion is a strange thing. Was I really that confused or was I hanging out with people who used ambiguity and confusion along with a lack of setting goals as a defense against something existential and to fit into a culture I adopted those ways of being?

I'm pretty sure it's both. Uncertainty mixed with group-think sounds like a panic attack recipe.

How do blogs, podcasts, and eBooks fit into professional psychotherapy? (I mean, what’s the point really?)

This post is also up at MACP2006.

The beginning of the answer lies in Seth Godin’s concept of Permission Marketing. In summary, blogs, podcasts, and eBooks are three ways of bringing ideas into the world while not interrupting people. It’s hard to interrupt someone with a blog. Psychotherapists generally don’t like to interrupt people. People usually don’t like to be interrupted. However, someone interested wants to learn more. Next thing you know, a relationship is formed. The professional has permission to tell someone more and answer questions—this is a great opportunity.

A client knowing the professional’s conceptual framework holds value for both parties. People want to make informed buying decisions. Professionals are supposed to hold clients’ best interests in mind, right? A word of caution: This approach won’t work from a self-negating place.

My argument is that part of building a practice today is through disseminating ideas into the world. People who want to know more become clients. I don’t know of a more ethical way of marketing a practice than giving clients access to the professional’s conceptual understanding. Conceptual understanding where the therapist herself has control over what she discloses. Therefore, blogs, podcasts, and eBooks are powerful vehicles to let potential clients make informed buying decisions. Ultimately, they are what’s best for clients, and how professionals attract their ideal client base. Of course, selling a good product always helps!

Marketing happens through resonance not through a photo of you with your cheesy smile in some New Age magazine.

A study published today in the NY Times states that fewer Vietnam veterans have Post-traumatic Stress Disorder than previously thought.

Talk about a complicated issue.

On the one hand, it's great that fewer people are suffering with the hell of combat PTSD.

Yet, these findings could be used to justify a lot of things I don't agree with. For example, the Neo-cons could use these data with the same logic as "It's fat free. That means I can eat twice as many!"

I hope this research article will not be used to take more unnecessary human life.

I'm on a softball team. WHAT FUN!

Of course, I'm pretty sore today. I got a few strawberries diving to get a runner out at 3rd. Yep: They're a source of pride.

I mistakenly watched Hardball.............I don't understand how political (Republican) rhetoric can call someone who opposes the war in Iraq an isolationist when the war was launched from a unilateral (Republican) position.

(I deleted the rest of this entry.)

Often it seems like we have a piece of surgical tubing that’s around our waist and also tied to the doorknob. We think we’re gaining some ground then we suddenly hit the tube’s elastic limit and we’re bounced back. I’m not a fan of cutting the tube. I think that’s the same as a lobotomy. However, the elasticity of the tube is how well our minds can stretch. We build this like we build all strengths—through repetition and recovery.

I get something good every time I open up Zen Mind, Beginners Mind. (The pronoun "I" was used extensively in the last sentence about Zen.)

On Page 111:
"As long as we have some definite idea about or some hope in the future, we cannot really be serious with the moment that exists right now. You may say, 'I can do it tomorrow, or next year.' believing that something that exists today will exist tomorrow. Even though you are not trying so hard, you expect that some promising thing will come, as long as you follow a certain way. But there is no certain way that exists permanently. There is no way set up for us. Moment after moment we have to find our own way. Some idea of perfection, or some perfect way which is set up by someone else, is not the true way for us." Shunryu Suzuki

I realized last night right as I was falling asleep that I've been fighting against who I am.

Translation--I have been creating unnecessary suffering for myself. That damn 3rd Noble Truth.

I was taught in school that aggression is pushing away reality. And that self aggression is denying who we are at a deeper level. Luckily, when I was falling asleep I didn't think about all these concepts. I just remembered who I am. Otherwise, I would still be awake?

Chogyam Trungpa said, "Look. This is your world! You can't not look. There is no other world. This is your world; it is your feast."

This quote was on a bookmark in a piece of mail disguised as junk.