Edge Notes Archive

“What’s happened to us — and me — over the past 10-15 years…? What’s changed? What’s happening now — for real…?”

There’s no point to any of this. It’s all just a… a random lottery of meaningless tragedy and a series of near escapes. So I take pleasure in the details. You know… a Quarter-Pounder with cheese, those are good, the sky about ten minutes before it starts to rain, the moment where your laughter becomes a cackle… and I, I sit back and I smoke my Camel Straights and I ride my own melt. – Ethan Hawke as Troy Dyer in “Reality Bites”

Remember the time before cell phone and internets was ubiquitous…?

It’s a stretch, I know.

The innocence of not having the entire world of knowledge at our fingertips. The frustration of not being able to figure certain stuff out. Not quite knowing how to get our message out without infiltrating the mainstream in some way (or getting large amounts of financial backing …?)

Now we have the opposite: too much information and possibility.

We’re living in a different world now. A REALLY different world. I don’t think many of us are really realizing the significance.

Consider the children now. The intelligence they have. Have you met any of these wunderkids…? Not counting the babbling breed of all-day TV-watching hell’yuns, the children I’m connecting with lately are so damn smart, so connected, so real. Their individual intelligence — the operating system they’re working with — is massively upgraded through association with our expanded collective intelligence. (Yes, this is real.)

Each one of us is just so much more powerful at this point due to what we know and what we can do. The power we wield is immense. It can be overwhelming!

Those of us who are just a bit older have the disadvantage of built-in operating-system programming that makes us believe we have to work REALLY hard to get epic sh*t done; that only the young and otherwise privileged ones have that magic-mystery touch.

We’re at a disadvantage in that sense. But we have the advantage of experience and self-knowledge — the gift of depth of vision and perspective.

The self-limiting programming can be undone. But it must be seen and understood first — embraced! Then it can dissolve into the greater understanding which is there always. Waiting to be embedded fully. Waiting for the full system upgrade.*

System upgrades. That’s what we’re looking for: Full upgrades.

Before we all had cell phones and the world was interwebbed, we had a lot more innocence in a way, more opportunity to discover things for ourselves, to strive for and create meaning. In many ways “getting things done” was harder then, but certain things were easier — more clearly defined. Like knowing who “the enemy” was, or choosing what to occupy your free time with. Freedom of choice is good, but it doesn’t necessarily equate with more freedom.

So what’s happening to us as a collective humanity with all this knowledge — these upgrades and changes? I’m seeing trends, and I’m seeing changes. I’m seeing a lot of stuff, really — scary, beautiful, and everywhere in between — and I’m curious to watch it all unfold over the next 40′ish years I reckon to be alive. (God willing….)

One change I see clearly: Less opportunity to let our individual purpose slide. Every day we have the opportunity to see and know and feel so much more — more clearly now than ever before. The dangers we face as a civilization, the needless suffering and injustice in the world, the suffering that we perpetrate ourselves. We’re here for a reason.

What’s happening to us? I’m going to keep asking and inquiring and watching. Holding the space for us to continue evolving with strength and truth and beauty. What do you think? What’s happening to us…?

Of all the ways we’re changing what strikes you the strongest? What gives you the greatest hope? What scares you the most?

What do you think? Send me a tweet and let me know, or write about it yourself, and link here…

*System upgrade: The Flow Manifesto. Get it here.

My lovely friend, Chantelle, responded beautifully:

“I get scared by how little people seem to care for each other. The wars, the anger, the rapes, the pain we inflict on one another scares me. It seems to get more gruesome by the day.
It seems the darker we become the brighter we shine. Moving towards an awakened world gives me hope. Witnessing someone wake up gives me hope.”

Steven, a wise old friend, simply eloquent:

“I live. I breathe. My children are tomorrow. I have hope. Pessimism of the intellect must be balanced by optimism of the heart.”

Fabian said:
“I find the occurrence of change itself to be encouraging. As long as we can change, there will always be hope for me.”

Peter:
“fright = global human regression despite the web. hope = #flow.”

Others…

Thanks for your support! – please RT/share with your gang… :)

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ARCHIVED 7/20/11: Done With Blogging Yet? Try Living [Edge Notes]

Edge Notes is a regularly updated journal-style entry. This is what’s going down now.

A blog is where boring people share things few really care about, while amazing people sweat out their greatest work to a small group of followers, and a select few learn to make a living online. This is no way to live.

If you want to live, you have to actually f*cking live. Your writing and your work online should be an expression of that, but blogging alone is not living. A lot of people seem to believe that writing their hearts out and sharing their grand aspirations and ideas just because they can or want to make a difference is enough. It’s really not. Especially if you’re writing about personal development. Ugh. Do something that actually matters, change your life for real, or actually do something of benefit. Then write about it.

I love this website because it’s my home online, and it reflects me and some of my greatest struggles, hopes and triumphs. But this is not my reason to live.

I’m here on this earth to learn how to live well, to live a life that actually matters, and help guide others along this path of no path. I’m working out how to do that best, every day. I stumble and fall all the time. And I pick myself up again and continue on like us all.

A blog is not a reason to live.

I’ll continue to write here occasionally, and focus on creating actually valuable content for my closest readers, but I will not blog.

On Friday, I was surprised at the amount of response I got from one tweet:

[blackbirdpie url="http://twitter.com/#!/satyacolombo/status/74195888360267776"]

Here are some of my favorite responses:

[blackbirdpie url="http://twitter.com/#!/StellaSzeto/status/74196789586173952"]

[blackbirdpie url="http://twitter.com/#!/teezeng/status/74197580204097536"]

[blackbirdpie url="http://twitter.com/#!/Wildfledged/status/74197883410325504"]

[blackbirdpie url="http://twitter.com/#!/ZTimmyCaldwell/status/74200255045976065"]

[blackbirdpie url="http://twitter.com/#!/VaginaBookClub/status/74234498493054976"]

[blackbirdpie url="http://twitter.com/#!/datinggod/status/74198011785388032"]

What are you here for? Send me a tweet and let me know, or write about it yourself, and then let me know…

NEW: Sign up for The Letter. You’ll get the Art of Epic Flow digital book free with your subscription when it launches. Xo.

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ARCHIVED 05-31-11: What to do when grief and despair kill your flow [Edge Notes]

This post is continuously updated. It’s a living piece on the flow of life at the edge.

Before we get started, Edge Flow deadline for submissions is this Friday May 27th. If you’ve been on the fence about it, time to make it happen. If you know someone who would be perfect for it, please let them know. I’ve received some great submissions, and it all keeps coming together slowly, but there’s definitely room for more amazing work in line with the project’s purpose.

As for myself I’ve struggled with the flow for these past couple weeks, and it’s definitely not benefitted my work or creative output.

I’ve been in relationship turmoil the past couple months, and it all came to a head when the GF decided to end our 2.5 year relationship, and cancel her planned visit from Australia at the last minute. We’d been navigating a long-distance relationship, and trying hard to make it work since circumstances pulled her back home 6 months ago, but things had become extremely messy and complicated. There’s a lot to it, and the circumstances surrounding, in deference to decency and respect I won’t repeat here.

As for myself, I’ve been left in a state of enraged despondency, alternating between hatred, anger and despair with little energy left for intelligent creative output.

My only real solace has been making music again for the first time since college years. I began as soon as the keyboard came in the mail last week — my first track is called The Deception. I think it conveys a bit of what I’ve been going through better than my words can.

My work has definitely suffered as a result of all this mess, but certain aspects of my experience have been heightened and shifted, also changing my approach in a lot of ways.

The biggest challenge is really overcoming my inherent weaknesses and shortcomings. What’s happened is the things I struggle with the most in general have all become a lot stronger and harder to overcome. The big questions I’ve periodically asked of life, and my life in particular, have loomed even bigger, while many of my worst qualities have emerged victorious and stronger than ever. It’s an epic battle of sorts. With myself… can you relate at all?

Much of the time I’m relegated to maintaining. Doing my best to keep on top of client projects, and stay sane. Maintain mode.

With the wind knocked out of you, and a madly crying heart, it can be hard to find words. I try and refer to my action plans, to-do lists, project outlines, but the shadow looms.

When you lose your sense of flow, and the purpose of everything you’re doing, it becomes next to impossible to continue on. An action plan built on structured flow helps a lot, but only if it’s based on your heart’s truest calling. Even then your action plan can seem stupid and irrelevant in the face of everything. But the best thing you can do is muster the courage to face your sh*t, and just keep moving forward.

Moving forward as mindfully as possible, and embracing the suffering for what it is, somehow makes it manageable if you’re lucky.

Here are some of the things I can do to keep moving and revive the flow:

Push through the resistance to getting out and changing the scenery.

Go to the gym every day (weights, exercise, yoga — building a better body — something different).

I could polish unfinished blog posts.

Keep supporting my friends and people I admire, and try and help them as much as I possibly can.

Keep working on the bigger projects — keep pushing through.

Just keep moving forward, with little steps and occasional leaps.

Do more interviews (really need to speak to Gwen asap, she has a lot to say about this stuff).

Focus on making myself and my work as useful as possible to bring more meaning to this life

Meditate, breathe, do more of my own 5 elements of epic flow work and spend more time outside in nature.

Keep providing amazing guidance, consulting and service to my clients

Get out of town for a break

Just continue doing all these things.

I will do my best to keep up with all this now, and continue doing so moving forward.

What can you do for yourself to keep pushing forward, and stay in the flow…?

Love,
Satya

Edge Flow is coming, and my Elements of Epic Flow book is almost finished.

Subscribe to the epic flow list for advance copies and my four-part series on capturing the flow.

Image credit.

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ARCHIVED 05-25-11: The Curious Deliciousness of Structured Flow [Edge Notes]

This post is continuously updated. It’s a living document on the flow of life at the edge.

For some people that causes problems or issues. That’s OK.

My work apparently rubs some people the wrong way. Also OK.

Others apparently find joyful transcendence. That would be in alignment with my style.

When you engage with work that compels you to look at the naked truth of who you are, that can cause a bit of uncomfortableness. Learning to sit with the discomfort if you get lucky it merges into the silence.

At that point of merging the flow really flows…. When you get comfortable again, you keep pushing into the unknown… and when it all becomes too much…you pull back and chill out for a bit. Maybe have a dirty martini. Or sex on the beach. Or a day or two of wandering aimlessly through the streets of desire.

This is one aspect of Edge Flow. The ebb and flow of internal flow.

Did you skim the part above about merging into silence? The great thing about writing is it can be all things to all people. Most people will skim this, but others (the special ones…the ones who engage with their full beings and senses) will feel it in different parts of their being.

You’re the ones I write for. You, and all those who love the written word as they love fine chocolate, deliciously naked bodies, or savoring the precious little joys in life that most of us overlook.

State of the Edge Flow Manifesto

The majority of 41 invites to a group of amazing edge-pushing writers, artists and changemakers have now been sent. (To who precisely..? For starters the luminaries here.) The responses coming in are just absolutely, intimately, ecstatically delicious.

When you ask the right questions, they just beg to be answered. And I fully recognize my imperfect capacities in this regard…

What I’m continually learning and refining in this work, is the art of honing in on the most relevant and engaging questions for my subjects. This is the hardest part of the process, this choosing of questions, second only to choosing the subjects.

I’m not fond of the assembly-line approach. Everyone gets their own carefully chosen questions. Two to be exact.

My job is to peer into the soul imprint of each subject’s work on this earth and ascertain what their essence is crying to answer, within the context of what I seek to shed light on. The more I’m flowing in myself, the easier it becomes.

Which brings us to the core of what I’m getting at: (which I was pleased to discover meself)

The Tyranny of Structurelessness

There’s a famous piece from the 1970‘s by Jo Freeman on the inner workings of social movements and their organizations, The Tyranny of Structurelessness, essential reading for anyone with anarchistic tendencies, and those who love to hate them.

What always struck me about this in practice is that with no real structure, control in an organization is inevitably ceded to the core participants who seize upon it. The direction becomes easily swayed, and the voyage invariably tumultuous. Eventually, the chaos works itself out, for better or worse…

In our own lives, we see this happen all the time. We want to be wild and free, and set sail to fly with the wind. We want to set the world on fire with our passion and creativity. But when we venture to do these things by the seat of our pants, with no cohesive structured to guide our work, we’re burnt by the sun and sent crashing down to earth.

What happens is the domineering aspects of our personalities take over, and our quest is left shipwrecked by the mutinous tyrants of vanity, insecurity, self-doubt, loathing and general disorganization.

The challenge is to create adaptable, living frameworks to operate in. Frameworks of structured intention, with the understanding that they will change, but with the appeal of reason keeping them together.

Frameworks that really work

Frameworks are easier for left-brain highly analytic people, and harder for right-brain highly creative people.

That’s why the fusion of both sides in a way that works for each can create amazing results. But you have to make it work. Creativity and vision meets planning and structure, in a way that works for you…the supreme goal. :)

To close with a more personal example…

I started my process of Edge Flow invites with a spreadsheet. On the far left column are all the names of invitees. The next has their two questions, followed by columns for dates, confirmed responses, contacts, etc.

I love this! I despise structured authority, but being organized is a point of pride for me, since it pulls on a part of my nature that’s always rebelling. It’s like taming the beast.

Knowing my rebellious nature, I decided to put it in chains, and proceed down the alphabetical list one by one. I put my chin down and did the work. I would sit with each person’s work for a while, come up with my two questions, craft the email, refine the questions, send it out… and move to the next one down. It was painfully enjoyable, like the satisfaction you might get from a hard day’s work. Over and over and over. This went on, dragging on, for the first 15-20 people, for the better part of a WEEK.

Then I did something different. I took my structured list, and started to jump around to where my interest was drawn… “Ooo…this person, what do I want to learn from them, what are they up to right now anyway…what’s the burning questions their soul is crying to have answered..?

Why didn’t I do this from the start? My reasoning was if I did it that way, I would skip the hard ones, the people that scared me to contact — the people in the upper echelons of worlds which I had absolutely no connection with or realistic hope of getting a response from.

But this was assuming my own weakness — the kiss of death for all things structured or free. I tortured my work, and crimped the flow, under the false pretense of structure to account for weakness.

Structure must be joyful to work right — you’ve gotta set it free. Stare the weakness in the face say HA — Booyah suckah…try me!

For the second half, I gleefully jumped around my list, pulling up the ones who called to me, until I finished all my questions. And it took me a matter of hours.

Such a small adjustment, and everything turned to joy. What allowed me to make this decision…? Simply easing into the flow, within a workable framework. A structured flow.

Glorious, free and wild yet adaptably structured Flow.

Curiously delicious.

This is the core of my current work, and what I’m moving fully into. It’s also what’s behind Edge Flow. I want to give the artists and highly creative ones — those kissed by divinity’s spark — clear and functional pathways for flowing and doing our greatest work.

The freedom of your true expression, unleashed effectively to the world, brings us to our knees.

It also dissolves hate, injustice, separation, conflict, starvation and destruction in the world. How…? Just watch the process of aligning with the great flow of your spirit. It’s real. And it touches everything outside you also.

This is all our greatest work.

The Dreamers are the saviors of the world…. Composer, sculptor, painter, poet, prophet, sage, these are the makers of the after-world, the architects of heaven. The world is beautiful because they have lived; without them, laboring humanity would perish. ~ James Allen (“As a Man Thinketh”)

Where does last week’s edge notes go when it dies? (Shhh… I have a secret, and if you subscribe to my capturing epic flow series I may be compelled to share it with you.)

Retweet and share with your friends… IN FIERCE LOVE, FLOW & GLORY.

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Archived 04-18-11: My secret love-hate relationship with the Flow [Edge Notes]

Edge Notes is a regularly updated feature. More of a container for mindful evolution than a traditional blog post.

If you’ve read my work at all these past few weeks, you know I’ve been obsessed with “Epic Flow.” I’m at the halfway point of finishing a four-part series about this right now, and battling at the edges with it in one of my biggest projects yet, the Edge Flow manifesto.

The way I work best, I have to keep my most important work under wraps until it’s almost ready to launch. I’m also fueled by you, so always testing and pushing — riding that edge. So here we go…

Letting go

Each day I have at least 10,000 ridiculously amazing threads of inspiration coming to me to write and share about. My focus is tempted. I’m sure you can relate.

It kills me that I can’t follow and pursue them all.

It also happens that one of my greatest challenges is choosing just a few and sticking with them to the finish. Can you relate?

The challenge and beauty of an insanely creative mind is seeing so many different aspects to any situation. It’s debilitating if you don’t have extreme discipline, or massive flow.

As highly creative (smart ass) people, we don’t realize HOW F*CKING DIFFERENT we are from left-brain super-analytic types. (Creatives, be mindful where you take your advice from, it’ll make you crazy wondering why you can’t work that way).

The great beauty, of course, is how we all flow together in the dance with our different approaches and roles.

All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players:
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts…

~ William Shakespeare (As you like it)

The pieces I’ve read that hit me hardest the past week are about letting go into the epic flow of your life story. When you let go into the flow, let it push through you, that’s where the magic happens:

1. Pushing Publish, Corbett’s response to;

2. Ev’s creativity-insanity edge flow on James Franco, and;

3. Julien’s artfully meandering piece on dropping the net and grabbing your epic life quest by the balls.

The connecting thread is: JUMP THE HORSE, RIDE IT HARD, CARRY A SHARP SWORD, DON’T LOOK BACK, MAKE IT HAPPEN.

But the invisible thread is much more important to me. It’s the thread I weave into my own work and my own world.

It’s the thread you ride as you decide what you’re doing with this one short precious life you have, and weave it into a tapestry for us all. Your thread.

..

I love the flow, and sometimes I hate it.

I hate it because it pushes me to do sh*t that makes me insanely uncomfortable. It forces me to spend hours and days contemplating projects that scare the hell out of me, and even though I sometimes produce my best work in the flow, it also forces me into states of tortured paralysis while I look at what I’m being pushed to do. Sometimes I’m pushed to do stuff that’s so epic, it’s virtually impossible to accomplish. I don’t know why this happens to me.

Do you have this experience? Even though we have a lot in common as humans, in truth we’re all so bloody different it’s completely mind blowing. I love this.

Everything I think about, I have a picture [in my mind]. NO PICTURE. NO THOUGHT. I used to think everybody thought in pictures. Now I understand why the artists are fighting with the accountants. They really are thinking in a different way.

- Temple Grandin, widely regarded as the most famous person with autism today.

..

My love affairs are usually rocky and intense.

I’ve been toying with the connection between my work, and my experience in dating and love. One thread I find is this push-pull dynamic. You know when you’re first falling for someone, or you’re pursuing a new relationship, there’s this play of inward vs. expressed vs. shared desire in balance. Then later if it clicks you get to dive into all of each other’s crazy love, and your own crap.

The way I live, every day is practically a new life. A new love affair.

I dive into life and work like I dive into love. I want the full experience. I want it all. I like my coffee strong and black. I drink my whiskey straight or on the rocks. I wake up at 4 in the morning to work. Sometimes I stay up til 4 to keep working. When I dance, I like to dance it hard and long.

Once I catch the horse, I ride it hard until pretty much we both collapse.

So I’m looking at my work, and I’m asking myself, is this the best I can do? Is this living, dancing, loving, riding it out to its fullest expression?

Of course not. I can go deeper. I can push myself harder. I can drop into the discomfort and keep pushing through. Getting through to the other side is the only reward I seek.

..

The Edge Flow manifesto

Edge Flow is a manifesto I’ve been working on and polishing the last month or so. It’s about the dance of flow at the edge of our human evolution. My own part is about 80-90% done. The rest is now in the hands of something bigger.

As of now, I’ve chosen 35 36 people to invite to contribute to the manifesto. Many of them you may be familiar with, and some likely not. Many have not been officially invited yet, but I’ll let you know when they’re confirmed. Watch this space, follow on Twitter, or subscribe for the updates.

Everyone invited is either fully reaching towards or sailing at the top of their game. Artists, creators, celebrities, epic writers. Each carries a common thread of pushing the edges of their capabilities, diving deep into their hearts, pulling out the gold and launching it at any cost, and lifting our collective evolution.

The hardest part about a project like this for me is choosing who to include, who to exclude, and then DOING it. Scary as hell. There are a lot of friends I would really love to invite, but who didn’t necessarily fit with this group, this project, this moment. Also some high-profile — read BUSY — personalities who may not be able to get their contributions in with the deadline I’m pushing. Goal is to launch within two weeks.

This is just how I roll. I don’t think it makes sense to play comfortable and easy in life in any way, no matter how successful you are.

How you can help: Go ahead and Tweet this now. You can also get yourself on the epic flow list to receive an advance copy.

TweetThanks. :) Once we launch, sharing it, talking about, linking here. All great things. Goal is to reach 20,000 downloads the first week. That should give us enough momentum to carry it through for the next few months. With the caliber of contributors, that shouldn’t be too hard, but I’ll need your help. Send me a tweet to let me know what burning questions you want answered, and I’ll do my best. The manifesto will be free and creative-commons licensed. The opinions of all contributors, myself included, will be our own. The bottom line is: The better we can learn to understand and ride out that creative edge flow, the stronger our work becomes, the greater impact we have in elevating the world. When you raise yourself up, you raise the world with you. We rise to meet you.

Read what 19 beautiful people had to say on Capturing Epic Source Flow.

p.s. #1 emotional blockage to the epic flow: Fear of what others might think, triggering deep-grained survival instincts for social-tribal acceptance…

Solution: Meet Awesome Doggie — ;)

- Thanks Neil.

Title image by the ever-fascinating Chris Arkenberg at the westernmost end of the road of northern Oahu, Hawaii.

Retweet and share with your friends… IN FIERCE FLOW, LOVE & GLORY.

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Archived 04-08-11: The best thing you can do. (Edge notes)

Ever catch yourself wondering, “is this really the best I can do…?”

Let’s get straight to the point: The absolute greatest thing you can do for the world is find the latent joy within yourself and express that fully, openly, madly, deeply.

However the hell it wants to show itself.

To get to that place takes fierce courage, discipline and practice. The courage to believe in your innermost voice, and the discipline to pursue it to the ends of the earth if that’s what it takes. Therein lies the beauty of a life worth living.

“How does this make a difference…?” When you heed the cry of your heart, there’s really no limit to what you can produce, together with the world. This is the key piece of the Epic Flow puzzle. It’s the secret to the world’s greatest creations.

Pushing the edge of you means hearing the call of your heart. Expressing that to its absolute fullest no matter the cost.

You want to know the ultimate test of whether you’re wasting your life or not…?

1. Ask yourself honestly, “What is my heart of hearts calling for right now…?”

Then ask,

2. “Am I listening…?”

3. “How can I act on this right now…?”

Do whatever it takes to get out of your own way, and please make yourself an action plan built on the flow of your deepest heart’s call. I know you can do it, because you’re an above-average intelligence, sexy evolutionary cosmonaut.

More on Capturing Epic Source Flow.

Hey there, are you listening…? Please don’t waste your breath, we’re waiting.

Retweet and share with your friends… IN FIERCE LOVE & GLORY.

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Archived 03-31-11: Momentum-Building and Burnt Creative Toast (Edge Notes)

Edge Notes is a regularly updated feature. More of a container for mindful evolution than a traditional blog post.

Edge notes is back in action after a much needed rest. We’ve made some good progress since our last update, but first:

A note on keeping momentum for creative types.

I wanted to talk briefly about keeping momentum and my personal experiences with overcoming obstacles to “shipping” (aka “getting it done and out the door” ala Seth Godin) as a creative type. If you’re like the vast majority of my readers, you’re a highly creative, intuitive type with an entrepreneurial strain and above average intelligence (not to butter you up, it’s just a fact that I know a little about you, deal with it).

I was reviewing some older content of mine this weekend as I wrote my new About Satya page (why have I not written this sooner?). I was shocked to find an ENTIRELY launch-ready epic 5,000 word document on the fundamentals of conscious business-building, mission strengthening and website content creation. This was not just any old blog post. It was in fact meant to be either a free or paid product, or part of another course (I really don’t remember), that I worked on and off for a couple weeks about a year ago.

All told I probably spent at least 15 hours on that one piece, and all it lacked was a couple hours of formatting and design work, and I would have been able to ship it. This piece alone would have generated at least 1,000 email subscribers to my company list, or about 10 times that in dollars if sold as a product or in conjunction with another product. So why did it not ship…?

Looking back, I think I decided to fold it into another bigger project, which I eventually scrapped because it was too much work, and I was overloaded with client work at the time…

FAIL.

As creative types, we’re often looking to the next big thing, and tend to get bored quickly. There’s a tendency to overlook the gifts and momentum we’ve already generated, and jump around between projects and new ventures. Speaking from my personal experience, for every blog I’ve posted over the past three years, there are at least 10 unfinished posts or article threads that didn’t launch. Luckily, I seem to have figured out a solution.

Part of this is the creative process, and part of this is a lack of discipline, combined with an undirected flow of energy towards accomplishing your goals.

If you want to get insanely productive, first clear your energy, then get really clear on why you’re here on this planet in this life, and then make an action plan to accomplish that. The action plan must spring from your mission, inspired by an epic flow of energy from your source. This is the true secret.

An action plan coming solely from the desire to make money, or from what you learned from some jerk you paid $197 to teach you “internet marketing riches,” or worse yet, from the uninformed vague desire to “do some good” with your life. Sorry, these just don’t cut it. Epic flow from source. Let it speak through you and inform you into a place of true personal power.

Without some sort of divinely informed, yet super-concrete action plan to follow — you and your bad-ass self ARE CREATIVE TOAST.

So get in that flow, and get that epic action plan together. If you’re following old energy action plans, you’re wasting time. Start new. Put aside 1-2 key hours of high energy, and put it down on paper. Then keep developing the plan, keep working on the pieces, and keep shipping in small bite-sized increments. As you ship, each victory or failure informs the overall plan, but because you HAVE a plan, you don’t start new again and lose momentum for the umpteenth time. Get it?!

The true test of whether or not your action plan will work? Whether or not it excites you, turns you on, and makes you nervous, butterfly-stomached or queezy, pushing you to the edge of your comfort zone. Pushing the edges, that’s what this is about, right…?

This will be on the test. ;)

Love you,
Satya

Get on the Epic Flow email course (free). Feedback has been great so far. Learn more about what this is all about in my Capturing the Epic Source Flow (Forever) post.

Quit burning the toast dammit!

May your every move be imbued with infinite light, power and wisdom — that you flow with unreasonable strength, progress and FIERCE LOVE.

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Archived 03-27-11:

Edge notes: Rest!

Edge Notes is a regularly updated feature. More of a container for mindful evolution than a traditional blog post.

Happy spring! Edge notes is resting today in a state of graceful repose. The weekend was LIFE is marvelous, and we have much to be grateful for. The Fukushima meltdown info resource post has moved to a new permanent page: Getting to the Truth About Japan and the Nuclear Wind Situation. Bookmark that link for future reference.

Are you pushing, pushing and pushing your most important work? Like a farmer who lets his fields lie fallow to replenish their nutrients, your work also needs space to rest. This is what crop rotation is for! Work on something new and different. Allowing the leading aspects of your work to rest for a short time allows for rejuvenation and stronger periods of growth. (This approach has really opened up the flow for me.)

I love this quote from the master builder:

“Simplicity and repose are the qualities that measure the true value of any work of art.” – Frank Lloyd Wright

May your every move be imbued with infinite light, power and wisdom — that you flow with unreasonable strength, progress and FIERCE LOVE.

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Archived 03-23-11:

Edge notes: Resting

Edge Notes is a regularly updated feature. More of a container for mindful evolution than a traditional blog post.

Mon. March 21st – Happy spring. Edge notes is resting today. The weekend was marvelous, and we have much to be grateful for. The Fukushima meltdown info resource post has moved to a new permanent page: Getting to the Truth About Japan and the Nuclear Wind Situation. Bookmark that link for future reference.

Are you pushing, pushing and pushing your most important work? Like a farmer who lets his fields lie fallow to replenish their nutrients, your work also needs space to rest. This is what crop rotation is for! Work on something new and different. Allowing the leading aspects of your work to rest for a short time allows for rejuvenation and stronger periods of growth.

I love this quote from the master builder:

“Simplicity and repose are the qualities that measure the true value of any work of art.” – Frank Lloyd Wright

May your every move be imbued with infinite light, power and wisdom — that you flow with unreasonable strength, progress and FIERCE LOVE.

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Note: Japan resource page first published as an Edge Notes Feature on 03-16-11 and subsequently moved to a permanent page at http://satyacolombo.com/japan/ due to high demand.

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Archived 03-16-11:

[Edge Notes is a regularly updated feature. More like a container for sustained evolution than a blog post.]

Woke up this morning with a big smile on my face, thinking about two of my edge-pushing friends…feeling so blessed. Don’t ask why, but today is a blessed day. Feels like weekend already. Don’t think we’ll be spending much time indoors and hope you can get out too, so will keep this short…

There are a bunch of luminaries pushing the edges of mindful human evolution online and in the “real world” right now. There have always been. But the new breed is different.

We don’t shy away from the full expression of our humanness in whatever way we fancy it — in fact we embrace and thirst for it — and cry for more. We want more of what’s good and true and ALIVE in this life — We want the world and we want it….now! (Not afraid to go for it also, however that looks.)

But the difference between this desire and the selfish greed of a destructive (rationalist-capitalist) ethos of two centuries, is we’re also willing to take a step back and look at it. Dissect it. See it for what it is, and decide which parts of that are really for us, and which parts of it may be pushing us PAST the edge, and out of our personal power. More than willingness, in fact, it’s an imperative.

Becuase riding the edge, and pushing the edge means you’re always at risk of falling — you must be willing to fall — because otherwise you’re just talking about the edge, or thinking about it, or playing with power like a child plays with her neighbor’s toys.

It’s normal for there to be discomfort at the edge. If you’re comfortable where you are, you probably aren’t pushing yourself out far enough. Or, you may just need a little time to recoup, ground, and process the lessons from your last interplanetary voyage… you would know.

What are the questions we’re asking?

We want to know where we’re going individually, collectively and as a human family. Who will come with us, and who will be left behind…?
We want to understand how we’re evolving and whether our collective evolution will be quick enough and dramatic enough to save the human species.
We want to understand how the evolution of technology will intersect with the evolution of humanity, and how soon the “singularity” is coming, if at all.
We want to know how far we can go, and what happens at the outer limits of the edge — will we be able to communicate the findings of interdimensional exploration also?

These are some of the questions we’re asking. I propose we use the term #humanevol for extending this discussion of mindful human evolution twitter (in the tradition of #blogevol – a parallel topic).

Assuming I make it to Monday I Made it! :) I’ll release a piece on some of the luminaries I’m resonating with right now, and looking deeper into some of the implications of playing with power vs. mindful influence… until then, au revoir my friends.

Here is the piece I promised: (in progress) http://satyacolombo.com/humanevol/

May your every move be imbued with infinite light, power and wisdom — that you flow with unreasonable strength, progress and FIERCE LOVE.

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Archived 03-11-11:

[Edge Notes is a regularly updated feature. More like a container for evolution than a traditional blog post.]

NEW & NOTABLE:

Happy International Women’s WEEK!
I’m so grateful for all the women and mamas in my life and in the world! THANK YOU.

• LOVE this piece from Marjory @sacredflow: “A real woman feels nature wild, it is her inner spark. She lets spirit sing through her very flesh…” –> The Pendulum is Swinging
• Badass –> 16 of History’s Most Rebellious Women – Photo Essays – TIME
• Women For Women/Google Join us on the Bridge campaign and video.
• Still working on tightening my filters of input, along the lines of Intimate Alchemy. Finding the power of what does come through is SO MUCH stronger…
• …like this super potent piece that came thru from super-goddess Danielle on the lie of self-improvement and strengthening your innate power.

New feature: Quotes! Edge notes now with one RELEVANT quote to chew on…

QUOTABLE:

The reasonable (wo)man adapts (her)self to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to (her)self. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable (wo)man. ~George Bernard Shaw

Consider this: (MAN OR WOMAN) Instead of waiting around for sh** to work itself out, how about looking at how to make it work for you, what feels right, and then taking action on that…?

Working with what you have — all the glorious, juicy, incredibly infinite resources at your disposal as an evolved(ing) human being.

Push your own evolution first and foremost, and the tide rises with you.

CURRENTLY FLOWING:

• All new talks from TED2011: The Rediscovery of Wonder (including TEDWomen). (Direct link to most recent uploads).
• What’s up with Satya?: Added some fun pics from my shoot Sunday.
• Still communicating on the Twitter primarily, useful for planning F2F/Skype/etc. Has its augmented drawbacks of course. There’s nothing like real life.
• Catching up with project admin on some of my work, still considering hiring part-time project manager. Open to sharing/recommendations – tweet me. :)

May your every move be imbued with infinite light, power and wisdom — that you flow with unreasonable strength, progress and FIERCE LOVE.

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First Edge Notes: 03-03-11 13:03 PST

This post is sticky — it stays here at the top for now, and maybe also somewhere in your mind. When you have an idea that’s half-formed, but you’re not sure where it wants to go, or you just need a shot of inspiration on your hero’s journey, remember to come by this site and find it.

It’s fluid like a compass at the edge of the center, orienting you to what is essential now, and where you already are.

• My most recent addition here is a quasi-lifestreaming page in process What’s up with me.
• I’ve moved most easy communications over to Twitter. That is currently the best place to reach me, tho I haven’t eliminated email yet.
• I’m currently refining and clarifying my work on all levels, focusing in on providing the most effective service possible to new and existing clients, while staying true to my vision of gradually expanding this work on a broader scale.

May every move you make be imbued with the highest magic, wisdom and power, in great joy and harmony.

Wisdom is your perspective on life, your sense of balance, your understanding of how the various parts and principles apply and relate to each other…. Power is the faculty or capacity to act, the strength and potency to accomplish something. It is the vital energy to make choices and decisions. ~Stephen Covey

… and may the essence of this work mingle and resonate with your own highest vital essence to create more beauty, truth and wisdom — in equilibrium — in your world, and the lives of all beings.