The Gospel According to $Bling$ & Other Life Lessons

I was recently contacted via email to try a life coaching program put on by Jack Canfield based on his relatively new book, The Success Principles. Well, the email (which was incredibly manipulative in it's wording, as all good sales pitches are) made it seem like it was a cheap offer. Perhaps it was even free! So I went to the link, and filled out the little form and clicked submit. A few days later I got a call from a guy who works for Canfield as part of a pre-screening process. He talked with me for 10 minutes, and then wondered if I could go through an hour and a half interview where he would talk a little about the program. The guy sounded like he had been through this a hundred times, and he didn't feel genuine to me at all. I was more selling myself because I thought it was going to be free or very very inexpensive (keeping in mind that I am about to undertake two more years of school for my masters). Well, you reap what you sow.

He thought I would be an excellent candidate for their life coaching program. Then he told me the price, or 'economic investment.' I understand the nature of framing things a certain way - I've taken classes about this sort of thing. I know how it works. I've seen it in countless businesses when they change the title of different positions from 'stocker' to 'team member.' But the words mean the same thing. They refer to the same thing. In the end, you still needed to fork over $3500 in order to be successful.

That is a bunch of bullshit. There are a few reasons why. Yes, when you pay a certain amount of money you feel obliged to commit. The 'investment' inherently escalates your level of commitment to the program or product. You buy a nice car, you want to polish it's wheels every so often and make sure you take it in for regular maintenance, put in the proper fuel etc. The problem is that money is a difficult thing to come by. That amount takes out a significant percentage of the population. What about the homeless guy who wants to change his life? What about the foster kid who has been shuttled from home to home? Can they afford these things? Not unless they're doing something illegal and are sending a money order.

OKay, so automatically it assumes certain things about the people who are applying for this kind of service. Perhaps that is accurate, but it doesn't make it less shitty.

Secondly, the salesman who talked to me for much longer than I wanted provided me with the very logic that attacks his argument. He said, "Is a fancy dayplanner going to make you organize yourself?" Well, of course not. The only thing that can occur to make you change how you organize yourself is an INTERNAL change. You have to decide to change how you are living your life. You have to develop your own system. Okay, so the fancy schmancy life coaches might make that a little faster, but it will at the same time rob you of some good life lessons, like mistakes.

There is a reason we make mistakes. There is a reason we fail. It is to learn. When we learn from our mistakes, when someone asks us why we do things a certain way we can explain to them our choices. We have a logic, an easy proof - I tried it a few different ways, and this is the one that works the best. Granted, being willing to listen to new improvements on the successful action which make the action more efficient is a good thing, but at least you can provide some kind of history to back your action.

One of the things, which I have learned about myself, is that when someone doubts my ability to do something (which I already think I can do) it further strengthens my determination to do it properly and exemplary.

So, thanks to the stupid salesman for the lifecoaching thing, because he made me think of about 30 ways I could improve what I am doing on a regular basis in areas of health, income, and my productivity. The upsetting non-encounter also strengthened my resolve to take my 'goal binder' and turn it into a 'vision board' (which in my head, I actually call it a 'victory board' because I look at these things that I want, pictures and words, and feel like they are already happening or have happened - think the old Hebrew verb usage when referring to God). I also created a goal tracking chart which records all of my daily actions that are furthering (or hindering depending on the actions) my goals.

I have to say, I already feel better. It's amazing what not spending $3500 will do for you!

I should say, for those people who are too weak to do these things on their own, and need to spend the money, by all means, spend it. Canfield does give a guarantee that you will be changed. But for those of us who have less funding to play with at this time, and feel the overwhelming DIY urge that makes us Americans, I support you in your efforts and am here to say, you CAN do it, because I am doing it as you read this.

So peace, love, and frugality where it is deserved, or generosity respectively.

Talk AND Walk: A Soliton Critique

Ever been tired of people talking? I don't know how many meetings of various groups where we just sit around and talk. People talk and talk and talk. It's good to talk some. You do need to think a little before doing anything. The problem is when you don't act on that thinking. I was recently at an 'Emerging Church' conference put on by the Soliton network, and I was reminded at how important it is to DO.

This is not to say that the people at this conference were not doing, but rather we talked a lot more about thinking than about doing. There were not very many clear avenues to 'do' things. Even though the conference was about hospitality, I found hospitality lacking in several interesting ways. Perhaps these are cultural expectations but I couldn't help but be affected by them.

So what were they? Let me give you several examples. The first day of the conference seemed planned as though everyone would already know everyone else there. There was no easy way to introduce yourself to other people during the day. Unfortunately I was unable to attend the evening session that Thursday night so I didn't get to connect with people there. In addition to no formalized environment for introductions, during the lunch hour people primarily sat with the group of people they came with. AND once I made a comment about this, out loud so that other groups could hear it, only men went between groups. It was a male conference. Perhaps this is an outcropping of various Christian views on women. In fact, it took me some time during the conference to break through the incredible male barrier. Several conversations in which I participated, I was one of if not the ONLY woman to speak during the conversation.

This was ironic because the conference was about hospitality, and it was not particularlly hospitable to half of the population. Nevertheless, I met some wonderful people and made some interesting discoveries about myself, Christianity, and what I need to do as a follower of Jesus.

People often talk about talking and walking, and they walk an entirely different way. No movement is without it's hypocrits. No group is without it's doublesided elements. Or so I think at this point. I could be wrong. I want to be wrong. I just don't believe I am.

What I am interested in is people DOING what they SAY they do. BELIEVE what they SAY they believe. BE who they CLAIM to be. The attempt is valuable enough. It doesn't take a whole lot to begin, it only takes a few little steps. People often want to do something to change the way of the world but become overwhelmed by all the things they find wrong.

DO NOT BECOME OVERWHELMED!!!

One drop of water causes ripples across the lake.

Don't you see? If you do ANYTHING it has an effect on EVERYTHING. Your smile to someone, your gentle conversation, your compassion in any way it manifests has a huge impact on the way the world becomes. Be a follower of Jesus now. Do the things he calls us to now. Love. Live. Worship in every moment, in everything you do, because everything is sacred. Everything is full of God. Everything is part of the plan.

So stop talking - START DOING!!! Recycle. Change your lightbulbs to fluorescent bulbs. Smile at people you pass on the street. Walk more. Enjoy the beauty of the world. Seek how you can serve others in every situation and you will contribute so much to the world. You don't have to do huge things to make a difference, you only need to do small things to begin to make a change in the way things are. It takes so little to start. You just need to start.

Once you have begun, you will find it will be difficult to stop. Find a group of people who can help you keep walking...keep doing...and you support them in their efforts as well. Meet in holy time. Pray and meditate. Support each other in your endeavors. Take hikes together. Create together. These nourishing times will help you do begin to do larger things. And you will do the things God has called you to do in this world.

You are a child of God - you are holy. You have the power to do wonderful things, even with the 'smallest' actions. So get up! Start walking. Maybe someone else will follow you.

Custom Painted Guitar Pedals

My dad has played guitars for over 40 years. He has only recently rediscovered the joys of electric. With that he has also rediscoverd the fun of effects pedals.

Unfortunately I don't know that much about effects pedals. For a more indepth explanation of the kinds I painted here, see the entry in my dad's blog "Something Completely Different."

I studied visual art for two years at Bard College under a number of working artists who have exhibitions in musuems around the world, including the Guggenheim and the Tate. I also studied art history under a pulitzer prize winning author and a groundbreaking Asian art historian. I continue to paint, draw, make paper, design books, and cards as well as paint commissioned works for friends.

This is a picture of the first guitar pedal I custom painted. My dad purchased a make your own pedal kit and wanted it decorated. A friend of mine is putting the guts together.

I chose the colors for this first pedal because I thought they would bring together the colors my dad already has on his effects board (see his blog entry linked above).

The design is drawing on impressionism. I thought of later Kandinsky works while I was in the midst of making it. Like many impressionists, and certainly Kandinsky, I was thinking of the way music makes a person feel. The design then, was meant to recreate some of the feelings and ideas that come to mind with the different textures of sounds made by various effects pedals.

The second pedal I painted was a pedal my dad got through a trade online. It was orange originally, and instead of putting a coat of primer on it, I used the orange as a background and worked with the model paints I already had. This was difficult because I didn't have very many warm colors to work with.
This pedal was designed with similar concept in mind as the first. Except rather than thinking of a variety of textures as I did with the first one, I thought more of lava and fire. I also thought a little of the way leaves look in autumn for some of the dappled patterning. The shapes recall lava flows and rock formations. The color concepts were, as I said above, partially due to the palette in addition to the original orange background color.

If you or a friend are interested in having your effects pedals custom painted, either comment on this post or shoot an email to: alexis.tara@gmail.com

Please, serious inquiries only!

Sin: A Higher Cost

I've been thinking a lot about sin. What is sin? What is the damage it causes? Are the 10 commandments really a viable set of laws for our time? How should we interpret sin in our times? What are the things that God would really consider sinful?

Yes, these are a lot of questions. Where did this line of thinking come from? It came from being hurt recently by someone close to me, from someone whom I would never have expected this kind of damaging act. I am not considering murder or rape out of the category of sin - there is no doubt the wakes those acts leave in their paths are horrible and I would never question the pain they could cause. I am much more concerned with more subtle and slow-acting sins such as lying, cheating, and perhaps even stealing.

You may wonder, why be so concerned with lying, cheating and stealing? Sure they're bad, but everyone tells a little white lie every now and then. There's no harm in that! I'm going to do something I abhor, I am going to come out in a fairly absolute way on this. If you think a little white lie does no harm, you are wrong. Denying truth is a slow thing. If you allow one thing to pass, soon others will.

I am not arguing that if your mother comes home with a terrible hair cut you should bash it in a harsh manner. Rather, say something like "I'm glad that you like it. It's always good to try something new." This is not a lie. It also does not make your mother feel badly about her new cut. Just because you don't like it, doesn't mean she doesn't, and your blatant dislike could turn her feelings off of the style which would be a disaster.

No, I'm not talking about those kinds of things. It's little lies that do the most damage. They make it possible for you to tell large ones. Pretty soon you begin to live in your own fantasy world, concocted in your own mind through a web of lies which have no basis in reality. The worst thing is not just that you are damaging yourself, but you are also damaging your relationships when you lie to others. When you tell a lie, you are causing a breach in trust, whether the person you tell knows it is a lie or not. You felt you needed to keep something from them, out of fear or some other negative feeling.

Get over it. Bite the bullet and tell them the truth. You maintain your relationship, or at least you are respected for coming clean. I am not saying you need to tell every person everything - that would be social suicide and could potentially ruin many a relationship (romantic, familial, or friend). Still, lying, the pain it causes and the mess it brings both communally and individually is heart-wrenching. It's a sin.

What about cheating? Really, cheating is a different kind of lying. It is trying to short change the system - finding some kind of short-cut out of ill-gotten means. Exploitation is a kind of cheating. What else is looking at someone's paper but exploitation of the other person's work? It causes dependency in you, and potentially ruins your reputation as well as makes them feel underappreciated.

This is not to say if you find a better way of doing something which is more efficient and just as positive you shouldn't do it. If I could remove half of all bureaucracy, I would. That would increase flow in countless organizations, and by no means is cheating, rather people would benefit all across the board. Cheating can be as small as looking at someone else's answers, or as big as sweat shop labor to cut labor costs in a transnational corporation. The damage it causes to a community and to individuals is catastrophic. That is a sin.

Stealing. I think fewer people would contest that stealing is a sin. Even lying and cheating are both more socially acceptable than stealing. Perhaps it is our American sensibility when it comes to issues of private property that makes stealing such an easy element to categorize as sin. However, now more than ever, it becomes easier to 'steal' information. Intellect has become a prized comodity. For some reason, perhaps it is because I am of a bridge generation (just on the border of X and Y), I do not find stealing of things on the internet to be as bad as stealing a concrete material. I DO, however, find plagarism to be appalling (probably because there is the potential of me to fall victim to this as I am a member of academia).

Some might say that Robinhood actions are ethically acceptable. I would say that in the event of all other possibilities being exhausted, yes this is acceptable. How come? What makes this different? It is intention, and one might argue, stealing back already stolen property. WHAT?! Stealing back STOLEN PROPERTY?!?!?!?

Extreme wealth is a kind of sin. Greed is a kind of sin. What do you really need? It's not talked about as much as it could be in this highfalutin town of Santa Barbara. But really, making huge amounts of money at the expense of the poor is a kind of cheating. It's a kind of sin. That's not in the 10 commandments, but it could be just as damaging as lying, if not more so. This is why, as a culture, as the Church, we need to have a discussion of what is really damaging to the community. What is important? What do we value? What would break Jesus' heart? Those are the things we need to consider. When we consider those questions, we can begin to weigh the worst of actions and decide how we need to change.

God help us as we prayerfully struggle with these things.