Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band turns fifty this week, the Beatles’ innovative and historic album — it was the first rock LP to win Album of the Year at the Grammys — released on June 1, 1967. Some musicologists argue that Sgt. Pepper is rock’s first great “concept album,” and many biographers agree that its most essential concept, given the Beatles’ love-ballad, tour-driven, fame-enslaved lives, was escape. The whimsy of having the Fab Four masquerade as an Edwardian show band came to Paul McCartney as he was returning from his own masquerade, a holiday in Africa during which he had traveled incognito. The group leaped at the chance to get off the road and into the studio, where they hoped to deepen the technical and cultural complexity of their music beyond the usual pop song constraints.
For Paul and John Lennon, says Steve Turner in Beatles ’66: The Revolutionary Year, the creative work on Sgt. Pepper was also an opportunity to get back to where they once belonged:
What gave the Beatles different ambitions? It had a lot to do with their arts education — Paul studying English literature and art at school and John enrolling in art college. It enlarged their frame of reference sufficiently enough that when they came to compose music, they were able to see themselves simultaneously in the tradition of entertainers and in the tradition of painters, sculptors, film-makers, poets, novelists, and dramatists. It was surely significant that when they made up their list of influential figures for the cover of Sgt. Pepper, the actors (14), writers (11), artists (8), and comedians (6) far outnumbered the musicians (4).
Turner establishes 1966 as revolutionary based on a handful of band-shaping events — not just the release of Revolver and the beginning of work on Sgt. Pepper, but George meeting Ravi Shankar, and John meeting Yoko Ono (and making the “more popular than Jesus” comment that helped to make that year’s tour their last). Jon Savage argues in 1966: The Year the Decade Exploded that the year was a cultural cluster bomb, each of the detonations set off or amplified by a wide range of music. Each of Savage’s twelve chapters is tied to a song; for example, the chapter on the Vietnam War is tied to Barry Sadler’s “The Ballad of the Green Berets,” which was released as a 45 rpm single in 1966, that being “the last year when the 45 was the principal pop music form, before the full advent of the album as a creative and a commercial force was heralded by Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band in summer 1967.”
The Beatles’ “Yesterday” is the top song on BMI’s list of the 50 most performed songs, 1940−90. Jimmy Webb’s “By the Time I Get to Phoenix” is #3, and his “Up Up and Away” is #27. For the title of his recent memoir, Webb turned to neither of these, nor to his equally popular “Wichita Lineman,” but to his 1968 hit “MacArthur Park” and perhaps the most mocked metaphor of the decade:
Someone left the cake out in the rain
I don’t think that I can take it
Cause it took so long to bake it
And I’ll never have that recipe again
Oh, no!
In The Cake and the Rain, Webb describes cruising the ’60s and ’70s in the fast lane — at one point, Glen Campbell was paying him in Corvettes — alongside some of the era’s most famous musicians, producers, and personalities. For many of them, Webb included, it was a bumpy, dependency-driven ride, the cake often commingling with rain in preposterous ways. Like the time Webb and record producer-engineer Gary Kellgren turned the Magnifico, a WWII hospital ship, into a floating recording studio and invited Harry Nilsson, Micky Dolentz (from the Monkees), a handful of legendary West Coast sidemen, and an armful of hangers-on for an overnight cruise up the California coast. After an afternoon of music and margaritas, the group ferried themselves to a seaside restaurant, leaving the sixty-two-ton ship, its lights ablaze to warn away intruders, anchored at sea — or so they thought. As everyone got lost in the wine, the cocaine, and Kellgren’s stories about his recording sessions with Lennon, Jagger, Clapton, and others, someone finally looked up to see “the lights of the Magnifico just disappearing over the horizon.”
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If genius means anything anymore—for me it is the union of inexplicably keen insight with an uncanny capacity to say or show what others fail to articulate but everybody knows—then the artist Raymond Pettibon is one, the man of the hour at minutes to midnight on the Doomsday Clock. Fittingly, two exhibitions this spring show an artist obsessed with the larger, grittier, and often hallucinatory contradictions of “this American life.”
Integrity is probably at the center of my core values.
If I’m not being generous, I’m out of integrity. If I’m not being honest, I’m out of integrity. When I’m not showing compassion, I’m out of integrity.
Another way to look at it is if I’m out of integrity, I’m not in alignment with what’s important to me. And to be perfectly honest, I simply can’t function when my integrity is out. My life just doesn’t work.
Now, whether my integrity is out or not is entirely subjective. Logic doesn’t come into it and I can’t talk or justify my way out of feeling out of integrity. If I’m out of integrity, I KNOW I’m out of integrity and no amount of sophistry, understanding, justification or reasoning is going to change that.
It sounds like I’m being really harsh on myself, but that’s not how it is at all. By working on getting myself back in integrity, I’m constantly moving further into alignment.
Things don’t flow when I’m out of integrity. Stuff doesn’t work and I feel blocked. It’s unpleasant when I’m that way. It feels like I’m wading through quicksand.
Half the time, it’s not obvious that I’m being out of integrity and that’s where problems happen. Because my integrity so intrinsically links with everything else, all I know is I feel out of sorts and things feel just not quite right.
I’ve felt like that for a few days now and it’s been getting more and more difficult to achieve or complete anything. Even writing has been difficult and, trust me, I usually have no problems in writing something.
Then I realized: I’m out of integrity.
I gave my word to do something and it hasn’t happened. The reasons for it not happening are completely out of my control, but it’s still my responsibility.
My word, my responsibility. No one’s fault, just my responsibility.
I told someone I’d do something and it hasn’t happened. I’ve communicated with the person and reset the event date 4 times now. It’s still not going to happen and I’m not willing to reset the date again. My integrity is out, not just on sticking to my word but also on another of my core values: fairness.
Even though the reasons are completely out of my control, I don’t feel like I’m being fair to the other person for constantly changing the plan. And I’m feeling awful about it.
I’m feeling awful because my integrity is out and I can’t do anything about it. The other person was very understanding, but it isn’t my fault and I’m not the only one to blame.
But, that’s not the point.
The point is that it’s MY integrity that’s out, therefore, it’s MY integrity that needs mending.
I want to feel good about myself, so I MUST take responsibility. The reason is simple.
I’m taking responsibility, regardless of the fact that not all things and people are under my control because I gave MY word that I’d do something.
Living with knowing that I can’t stand by my word is unacceptable.
I could go down the path of justification, reasonableness, and blame. After all, it’s not entirely my fault.
But, if I do that, then it’s like giving the power over whether I’m true to myself and my core values to someone or something else.
I’m giving the power about how I feel about myself to someone else. It’s like letting someone else have control over my life. And no one should have that power over anyone else.
Only WE know whether we’re being true to ourselves or not.
If you feel that something’s “off”, that life is hard work or just a bit icky, take a long, hard look at yourself. Find out where you’re not being responsible. No matter how ridiculous it seems or no matter how much things are completely out of your control, TAKE RESPONSIBILITY.
Take responsibility for knowing that you’re being true to yourself. Don’t leave it for years like I’ve done in the past. Look at it NOW.
See Also: Taking Ownership: Are You Taking Full Responsibility For Your Life?
I can pretty much guarantee that if life is feeling like hard work for you, it’s because you’re out of integrity SOMEWHERE.
It might be around your values or because you feel like your job isn’t the one for you. You might have given up on a dream, eating poorly or not exercising. You might be in a relationship that you know is not right for you. It might be due to all the things you’re saying in your own head.
So, have a close look and find out where you are running out of integrity.
Don’t waste any more time not feeling completely in the flow. Do something about it NOW.
See Also: Flow: Discovering The Secret to High Performance and Happiness
The post How Lack Of Integrity Can Affect Your Life appeared first on Dumb Little Man.
This residence, built vertically, was designed by Le Studio in 2016, and covers a total area of 68 square meters. It is located in the district of Minh Khai, in the city of Hanoi, Vietnam.It was built with the express desire of continuity, in the search for a place where the family could grow and always stay in the same place. Its interior is marked by the decoration of grays,..
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Public lands are all about flexibility. There’s so much to see and do. Exploring nature and watching wildlife are just a few of the many recreational activities waiting for you. It looks like this young moose at Seedskadee National Wildlife Refuge in Wyoming is giving outdoor yoga a try. Photo by Tom Koerner, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
“Many people are alive but don’t touch the miracle of being alive.”
— Thich Nhat Hanh, The Miracle of Mindfulness
In between work, family and social media, we take few precious moments to reflect upon our lives and realize the importance of mindfulness.
Perhaps, you purposely avoided looking at your life because, if you’re totally honest, it can be brutal. Just think about the tsunami of judgmental thoughts that swamped your mind and caused you a great deal of stress and anxiety.
Not surprisingly, a lot of worries are just byproducts of our society. However, our greater personal dissatisfactions are actually the result of our own internal turmoil driven by confusion.
You’re not the only one. Notice how confusion is self-evident all over the world.
Research scientist Kathryn Tristan suggests in her book Why Worry that at some time in our lives, half of us in the U.S. will suffer from anxiety, depression or addiction—the very opposite of an authentic life.
But, then something miraculous happens.
On your way home from work or a rushed meal out, the dusk’s rising luminous moon captivates you and you experience a moment of ecstasy and utter peace.
All is right with the world and you weren’t thinking about a thing. You were just alive and brilliantly so!
What was the shift?
The clouds of confusion lifted. For a moment, you were in perfect balance, consciously mindful of the miracle of life that involves you.
Here’s the big picture:
You were being your best, most authentic self instead of listening to habitual, self-limiting thought patterns.
Authenticity emerges when you live not just from mind and body, but from the heart which is your natural state. Done consciously, it is mindful living. It is the mastery of life.
A life lived without a heart and soul is a life filled with confusions. This can manifest as problems in your personal life.
“If quality of life is important to you, mindful living trades confusion for life’s magical moments—every single day.”
In his book, Living from the Heart, Nirmala said, “What you are seeing, smelling, hearing, sensing, and pondering is limited by and filtered through your thoughts. Your thoughts mediate between you and reality and interfere with seeing it more fully and purely.”
According to neuroscience, what thoughts are and what gives rise to them is still a mystery.
Think of thoughts as one of the many useful tools the brain uses to navigate our physical world. By themselves, thoughts are two-dimensional mind fences.
An expanded awareness that includes the heart means a far richer life that is fulfilling, regardless of the circumstances or what you are doing.
Shocking to some, you don’t have to do anything at all to experience an authentic life.
But, ask yourself this:
Would you rather run through a meadow at sunset with fences? Or the meadow of your life unhindered as far as the eye can see or even beyond?
When we live from the more inclusive reality of our mind, body, and spirit (heart), we open our lives to the miraculous on a daily basis.
Although you’re not fully aware of the importance of mindfulness, you’ve been actually practicing it intermittently throughout your life without realizing it. Immersing yourself in nature, going for a walk and even hand-washing dishes are forms of mindfulness.
Recall how you felt a sense of calm and well-being within your body. Notice how balanced your world became. Now, do these things consciously and with your heart. Add yoga and meditation.
Life gets immensely satisfying when we let go of our mental expectations and enter the “Zen” or the flow.
“When you allow your thoughts to breathe by paying attention to the gap in between, you move out of reactive-ness to being response-able.”
Thought devoid of the heart and soul is a form of insanity. No wonder so many people are confused.
You have the ability to tap into your highest wisdom and determine whether the glass is half empty or half full.
Minding the gap is how you go from continually making lateral moves in life to sky-high vertical limitlessness.
Whenever there’s a challenge, rather than carelessly and spontaneously reacting, surprise everyone by saying you’ll give it some thought. This means giving your initial thoughts some space to breathe.
Silence without judgment is extremely powerful and contains miracles. It shifts, even breaks, habitual destructive patterns.
In Western culture, planning is thought to be one of our greatest assets. Google the power of planning and you’ll be inundated with reasons why a plan is paramount to reaching your goals.
Are you willing to open the door to the even higher power of synthesis the Harvard Business Review calls “strategic thinking?”
Strategic thinking lets go of planning initially, integrating intuition and creativity to allow spontaneity to appear naturally.
Albert Einstein said, “The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift.”
Rather than projecting different possible scenarios, be a blank slate by asking, “What’s next?”
Leaving infinite possibility open is to create a vacuum that life must fill. It’s more powerful than projecting imagined preferred scenarios which contain limits.
At least to yourself!
Emptiness is very challenging when you are pressured by society to fill every nook and cranny with busyness. Your brain will be sure to scream it to you every chance it gets.
Emptiness removes all barriers, including you getting out of your own way.
I can tell you, based on my experience as a writer, that the muse is within. Any artist or creative person will agree to that. All inspiration arises from the void of emptiness.
Get comfortable with emptiness and learn to play with unlimited possibilities.
I personally prefer being a blank slate every chance I get. Like the unofficial Buddhist mantra goes, “Empty, empty. Happy, happy.”
I can easily put myself into a state of emptiness by watching trees blow in the breeze.
In Practicing the Power of Now, spiritual teacher and author, Eckhart Tolle, extols the value of mindfulness by acting as witness to your thoughts. To quote, “So when you listen to a thought, you are aware not only of the thought but also of yourself as the witness of the thought. A new dimension of consciousness has come in.”
Have you tried being a witness to your own thoughts? It’s life transforming.
The beauty of learning to be mindful at any age is that it allows you to express your thoughts at your personal level of truth and authenticity while enabling you to dig for deeper understanding.
Don’t stop there. Yes, keep going. There is always more inclusive wisdom to discover.
“Let us honor one another where we stand, knowing we each travel
a unique journey toward higher consciousness.”
Ask any Zen Master or Yogi and she or he will tell you that your identity is not wrapped up in your thoughts. Yet, it’s one of the causes of human existential crisis.
As you climb Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs toward self-actualization, you will come to realize that you are much more than your body. Only in the complete synthesis of mind, body and spirit can you see beyond basic survivalism so that you finally begin to thrive!
Mind, body and spirit realization is fulfillment in and of itself!
There is no greater authenticity than to know who you really are as part of the infinite. Greater is the gift of YOU, boundaries removed.
As a guiding light, you now offer others, by example, the same freedom and opportunity. No longer confused, doing good naturally follows as you move from a place of selfishness to one of service to humanity.
Are your choices today filled with love?
As part of evolution, aided by the tools of technology, human consciousness is expanding faster than ever. Living multidimensionally in mind, body and spirit will be your brilliant future.
Embodying consciousness, your new, authentic life will change everything for you. Your mojo is now working for you, instead of the other way around.
You will wake up energized in the morning, excited to be alive because you’re expressing yourself authentically. You will feel empowered like never before as things you despise begin to disappear. Freedom and prosperity will flow more abundantly in your life.
The importance of mindfulness is now completely clear to you. You will see the world and the Universe supporting you every step of the way.
It got you here, didn’t it?
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Located in Kidron, Israel, in an extensive area of olive vineyards, ancient tombs, and funerary monuments that divides Jerusalem’s Temple Mount from the Mount of Olives, this spacious, comfortable, and luminous house enjoys expansive grounds full of green vegetation, giving us the opportunity to easily be in contact with nature. The main idea of this project was to create a connection between the front and the back of the house…
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Emotions stir inside every human each day and their silent pull ends up dictating life.
At times, we bottle up feelings and set them aside because we can’t say what we really want to in the current situation. In certain instances, we think our emotional reaction is abnormal and that no one will understand.
We forget all about our emotions and just plan to come back to them at some point. We ignore them for as long as possible — or until our neglect leads to a total meltdown.
Research has proven that suppression tends to cause more harm than good. Negative emotions can drag you down, especially when helplessness kicks in.
It leads to depression, anxiety, anger, loneliness and a slew of new problems to deal with.
Your risks of serious mental and physical problems are drastically increased, the longer you bottle up your emotions.
It’s a destructive habit. But, like all habits, it can be broken.
Here are a few steps to guide you on how to release pent up emotions and how you can live a more positive, healthy and happy life.
Figure out how you feel, why that rude comment from your coworker upset you or why driving in rush hour makes you feel annoyed, and get to know what makes you tick.
Accepting and understanding your emotion will allow you to truly know yourself. This, in essence, will help you live happier and healthier.
Admit that you have emotions and that how you feel matters, rather than setting your emotions on the back burner. You may think that showing your emotions can make you look weak. In reality, however, it’s denying you have emotions that does.
Vulnerability isn’t a curse. It allows you to connect with others, to love and to experience what it really means to be alive. Allow yourself to open up and you will notice changes.
Try this: Take the time you need to think. Recognize your emotion for what it is, then choose how to react to it.
See Also: 5 Happiness Hacks That You Need To Try Today
You don’t want to care about what other people think. You probably even told yourself that you don’t have an inkling of concern about their thoughts.
It’s simply not true. Everyone cares about what others think.
The trick is to prioritize what you care about and, most importantly, whose opinion matters.
Brene Brown, the author of Daring Greatly and Rising Strong, said it best: “When you don’t care at all what anyone thinks, you lose the capacity to connect. If you are defined by what people say, you lose the courage to be vulnerable.”
If you reach one extreme or the other, you’ll notice a total shut down. You’ll produce little, motivation will slip and you will wind up minimizing your impact.
Try this: Write down the names of a handful or people that matter to you. You can arrange the names in descending order or you can just list the people that matter the most and equally divvy your attention between them. Either way, what’s important is that you know whose opinions matter.
Do you really care what the grocery store clerk or your mailman think? What about your mother? Husband or wife? Children? Friends? Coworkers? How about your boss?
Make your list and ignore what everyone excluded from the list thinks.
Express your emotions in calculated reactions by doing something. This is not the time for procrastination or excuses.
In step 1, you should have decided how you would like to react to specific situations or scenarios. For example, by keeping your cool or expressing your emotions in positive and proactive ways.
Although it’s easier said than done, letting your frustrations out in beneficial methods can actually help keep you from hitting your breaking point.
Doing is achieving. You can do all the planning in the world but you have to back it up with action. The time is now.
Try this: Let out your emotions with a hobby. Write, listen to or create music. You can pray or even meditate. All of these activities have countless studies that prove how valuable they are, especially in dealing with emotions.
You can also practice gratitude. It can help build better relationships, networks, career prospects and even belongingness.
Hundreds of studies have demonstrated how expressing gratitude can change lives. Its benefits include getting better sleep, having more energy and being happier, healthier and more resilient days when something unexpected pops up.
There will be times when you’ll feel something is out of your control, but keep in mind that you’re never helpless.
Speaking your thoughts will allow you to feel like you —your ideas, dreams, goals, challenges and accomplishments — matter to other people.
Ever wonder why a dream vacation is more exciting when you’re telling your best friend about your plans? Or why you feel more proud about winning first place in the 4k-mile run when you celebrate your accomplishment with loved ones?
The answer is simple. We need someone to care.
Try this: Talk to your friends, family or even pets. If there’s something bothering you, get it out of your chest. Knowing how to release pent-up emotions isn’t that hard. You just got to know how to voice your concerns, desires, and emotions. If you’re not sure why you feel so crappy, talking things out can help you figure out the real issue.
Talk to nature if there’s no ear available to listen or, for some reason, you’re too embarrassed to tell a real human. Just drop that emotional burden and move on.
Increasing your emotional competence doesn’t happen overnight. You must learn and work daily to better yourself and improve your life. Keep in mind that there’s always room for improvement.
Never stop learning how to grow and better yourself. The moment you do, it’s when you stop truly living.
Life is a magical mystery and it should be enjoyed with a smile on your face.
Emotional competency doesn’t mean you must only feel positive emotions. It also involves understanding how to better manage your emotions and why it’s a never-ending process. You must learn to make your life easier despite it being ever-changing.
Try this: Read constantly. Keep up with your favorite self-improvement sites, authors and publications. Find writers you can relate to- perhaps with the same struggles even- and learn from them.
Humans love to share what they’ve learned, so be open to listening to those around you. Even if you don’t entirely admire their opinions, you’ll still learn.
Finally, remember that it’s okay to feel your emotions, that some days you don’t have to be happy and that you can take control of your life. But, don’t take things too far to the point that you won’t go out of bed or shower for a week.
Don’t let your emotions take over or linger. As much as possible, don’t dwell on your problems. Address them right away and do something constructive to make the situation better before you react.
You have the power.
See Also: 9 Baby Steps To Happiness For The Naturally Gloomy
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Sig Nordal 