How Do You Define Genius?

Have you ever thought about it?

What really is a genius, or "genius" itself?

Google it, you get a Wikipedia entry at the top that says:

A genius is an individual who successfully applies a previously unknown technique in the production of a work of art, science, or calculation, or who masters and personalizes a known technique. A genius typically possesses great intelligence or remarkable abilities in a specific subject, or shows an exceptional natural capacity of intellect and/or ability, especially in the production of creative and original work, something that has never been seen or evaluated previously. Traits often associated with genius include strong individuality, imagination, uniqueness, and innovative drive[citation needed].

The term may be applied to someone who is considered gifted in many subjects[1] or in one subject.

Although the term "genius" is sometimes used to denote the possession of a superior talent in any field, e.g. a particular sport or statesmanship, it has traditionally been understood to denote an exceptional natural capacity of intellect and creative originality in areas of art, literature, philosophy, music, language, science and mathematics.

Which makes good sense.

A dear friend of mine once defined a genius as, "someone who knows what they don't know."

How could you know something you don't know?

Look more closely at the grammar: Knows what they don't know. They can say, without feeling inadequate, that they do not know something. they are self-aware enough to honestly appraise their situation and admit to themselves, or others, that they are ignorant on the details of some categorical subject matter. They don't throw out some "intuitive" guess, or gloss over it in their own minds, operating semi-consciously on erroneous assumptions.

So, by that definition, a genius is someone who questions assumptions, norms and mores.

I'm not saying I'm a genius because I question the government, the FDA, the schooling system, etc... Though I do claim there is a correlation between genius and asking the big questions in life.

So, maybe a genius is someone who asks good questions, and doesn't seek to resolve complex conundrums, but tolerates the ambiguity and paradox long enough to open their mind to something profound and transcendent, embracing the light of experience and a new perception not previous available at the level of thinking that the question was asked at.

What do you think defines genius?

Cheers,

Craig

to see original post and all my social media links, visit: www.enlightenedchild.com

Don't Miss!!!

There's a lot of wisdom in this advice I learned from Jim Rohn.

He says, "Don't Miss! ...don't miss the show, don't miss the party, don't miss the game"

So much of my younger life I spent in a bit of a shell. Not sure of myself or what I wanted from life, I played it safe. I stayed home. I kept my need for adventure under wraps.

Now that I've spread my wings once or twice, I have a sense of who I am and what I want. I know what I like because I've tried a lot of things. They haven't all been that greatest of experiences, but I've corrected course based on the feedback I got.

Monday night I had an opportunity to see a band rolling through town. I wanted to go. I met the band, they seemed cool... my friend has been raving about them for weeks... and I missed the show. I fell asleep and didn't wake up in time to go.

So last night we drove 2 hours to Ithaca and saw them (and another really cool band) and I didn't miss the show. I felt great about simply not missing the show. I was there. I saw that band. Those memories are mine. Those pictures, those are genuine article. And the band was INCREDIBLE!!! Check them out - http://www.myspace.com/theseunited

What made the difference between me now and me 10 years ago?

Somewhere along the way I reached some philosophical point where I was somehow different.

Maybe I discovered who I am. Maybe I decided what I want. Maybe I delved into life because it became more painful to stand on the sidelines watching than to go out and play a few hands of my own.

I wonder if you've had any kind of shift like that... where you looked back and said, "Wow, how did that happen?"

Seriously, let me know...

Cheers,

Craig

to see original post and all my social media links, visit: www.enlightenedchild.com

3 Types of Freedom

There are 3 Types of Freedom I have explored in my life.

Much of my mental energy in adult life has been exhausted seeking personal development material that works for me so I can experience more freedom in these 3 areas.

It has seemed to me for some time that the material that works best is very simple and could easily be taught to children from an early age.

Yet it's not.

So it has become my life passion to teach and mentor children of any age into the 3 freedoms of a great life.

What are the 3 freedoms?

1.) Physical & Health Freedom - Are you free to move about as you please? Are you free from ailments and illness that constricts your freedoms?

2.) Social Freedom - Do you feel confident in any social situation, able to lead and persuade toward a greater benefit for all participants you touch?

3.) Abundance - Wealth is its own unique kind of freedom. Money doesn't set you free - what you DO with it does.

These, to me, are the 3 cores of curriculum.

That said, I'm open to your feedback and suggestions.

As I always like to quote: None of us is as smart as all of us.

Cheers,

Craig

to see original post and all my social media links, visit: www.enlightenedchild.com

3 Steps to Helping Your Child Find the Answers to their Heart's Desire

The simplest thing we can teach our children is how to learn.

Children are innately curious about everything. If we just did our best to help them get answers to their questions they would grow up in the 21st Century better prepared than any of their generation to meet the challenges we've posed to ourselves as a species.

What are the 3 Steps to Helping Your Child Find the Answers to their Heart's Desire?

1.) Clarity - help clarify the question they want to know the answer to

2.) Territory - locating or constructing a map of the territory they will explore

3.) Guidance - help your child source up an expert in the field to be a mentor/teacher

For the rest of your child's life, if they can get clear on their objective, get a feel for the territory in which they are exploring, and seek guidance from qualified experts... they can accomplish anything they desire in their heart.

What better gift could you give your child than this amount of freedom?

We'll talk more about the 3 Types of Freedom in the next post.

Cheers,

Craig

to see original post and all my social media links, visit: www.enlightenedchild.com

What Happens When We Teach Kids to "Know Thyself"?

Know Thyself.

It’s the simplest, most fundamental admonition of all personal growth and power.

Yet, it’s the least taught, least experienced, least discussed topic in any curriculum.

To Educate means to draw forth from within. To me, this is the verb form of “coming to know thyself” since what you find when you sit quietly and look deeply within is that your True Self is the God you have been looking for. To draw this Self-awareness to the fore of consciousness is the process of education that Enlightened Child proposes.

Why not?

I mean, if it’s true what all the seekers and gurus say… why not give every kid a fighting chance to realize their life’s purpose and travel the world sharing spiritual knowledge grounded in the sagacity of entrepreneurial leadership and classical wisdom.

Can you think of anything better to raise kids to realize?

I mean, besides a 9-5er with a good company and a mountain of debt…

Think about it. Would you need all that if you truly “Knew Yourself”?

Let’s do what’s never been done. Let’s raise kids to Wake Up to their true identities.

Who’s with me?

Cheers,

Craig

to see original post and all my social media links, visit: www.enlightenedchild.com

What is Strengths-Based Learning?

Don't look at me like I'm supposed to know.

I just think it's interesting how our schooling system prepares kids for neither the skills they need to survive as an organism, nor the skills they need to survive in the 21st Century.

The schooling system is an antiquated relic of what our economy used to be based on. With a knowledge-, trust- or integrity-based economy, the rules are all different. Kids are gonna need a different set of skills than the ones they are being taught in school.

Marcus Buckingham worked with the Gallup Poll surveying achievement based on strengths assessments that revealed the most successful people focus on what they are best at, and essentially outsource or delegate the rest. This, in contrast, to struggling with shortcomings and working on improving areas of weakness. It's the simple understanding that your best salespeople shouldn't be doing admin work, or anything else but selling. Most suck at admin work. Everyone is served better if the salesman can just do what he's best at, and someone else who rocks out the admin can support the sales process. The salesman will get a lot farther investing time and money improving his sales ability than investing the same time and money improving his administrative abilities.

What Buckingham determined is that, to be our best selves in this life time, we need to determine (as Jim Collins would say in Good to Great) what can we each be the best in the world at? What are we passionate about? What adds value to the marketplace?

The confluence of these three things is what makes a person or an enterprise successful. It would make sense that we begin with this end in mind, since, afterall, we say we want the best for our kids. We want them to be viable in the marketplace so they can have things in their lives that make them comfortable and happy. A good income doing something they enjoy, abundant health for them and their family, great connections and a sense of compassion for the suffering we are fortunate enough to transcend as a result of our education.

So, Strengths-Based Learning would be something along the lines of:

Drawing forth the latent talents and interests the child carries within his DNA. Mentoring those abilities, and aligning the learners with each other based on strengths and needs compatibilities. Sending the team on a mission to fulfill their souls' purposes.

Or something to that effect.

Got anything to add or amend?

Cheers,

Craig

to see original post and all my social media links, visit: www.enlightenedchild.com

What Do Kids Need from Education in the 21st Century?

Communication.

It's no surprise that the internet is changing the lives of millions of people around the world.

Social Media sites like Twitter & Facebook (and the even faster, even funner applications they will no doubt become the great-grandparents of) connect people in organic webs by values and affinities. Marketing has taken a turn towards authenticity. Kids have great bullshit detectors, and within a decade I expect they will have torn down a great portion of the veil that shields companies from accountability in the global village.

Politics and health-care will no-doubt be affected as millions of Millenials rise up in a democratic vote with each post they make. Someone is gonna listen. Someone will meet the need. And it just might make our government a little more honest.

But what do these kids need to be empowered to stand up to the powers that be?

They need communication skills. They need to know how to get along with and influence others. They need a strong moral compass that considers the greatest good for the greatest number, and a spiritual connection to the source of truth.

They need resources and the ability to both garner and steward the resources and relationships necessary to carry out their vision.

Kids need an education that helps them become an apple tree if they are an apple seed, an oak tree if they are an acorn, a watermelon if they are a watermelon seed. And not a system of socialization that only recognizes and nurtures one type of seed.

Kids come with all the instructions already programmed inside them. It's just a matter of taking the time to ask. To give the child some orienting maps and a sense that what they want to do in their heart is a good place to start from, and to hold that passion out in front like a compass.

They need an education system that teaches them how to be free, sovereign individuals.

What do you think kids need?

Cheers,

Craig

What Do Children Need?

It's interesting to ask such a simple question.

Sort of like breathing... we just assume we know, so we seldom ask.

Do you feel like you know what children need? What is that understanding based on?

Like rings of a tree, we all carry our "inner child" around inside of us and are influenced by the same needs we had decades ago. Operating under the surface of our lives, we all share a common need for survival and connection. Yet, adults have a distinct advantage in getting those needs met. We can work and drive and facilitate the meeting of our own needs.

Maybe what children need is to be empowered to get their own needs met. Not the needs we think they have, but the needs they genuinely have.

How do we know what children need?

Ask them?

Observe them?

Study about them?

All of the above. Be curious. Practice beginner's mind. Follow the child.

Somehow, connecting with your child's true needs satisfies the needs of your own inner child.

It's a powerful practice.

Cheers,

Craig

What's Most Important to Learn About?

So, if children are learners by nature, and they can learn anything they are presented with, make it an innate part of their soul and utilize the language and meaning to thrive in the world, then what are the best courses to teach a child for success in the 21st Century?

What's most important to learn about?

Start with the "Big 3" - Art, Morals, Science and all the variegated disciplines therein.

These types of Maps, or Meta-Languages, help orient the child in the world and organize the child's mind around principles. Principles that are deep, perennial and universal.

Enlightened Child is based on the aggregation of 12 such Maps or Models. They include exotic and fascinating personality and personal development Meta-Languages like the Enneagram. They include old favorites like the Yin-Yang and Zodiac. From these Maps, a child can begin to explore and eventually seek the treasure laying within their unique soul's purpose.

From this foundation, with a clear compass of purpose, the child can grow up to learn and master income generating process based on sales and marketing principles. These are like the complex machines made from simple machines of the first 12 Enlightened Child Maps.

We look at Success in the 21st Century very simply: Health, Wealth & Connection.

The truth is, if children are going to learn these things they are going to have to learn them from true Experts on the matter the same way we pay thousands of dollars for a 2-3 day seminar. We go to learn the material and be around an Expert. Why should children be any different?

Cheers,

Craig

What To Do With a Child Who Won't Stop LEARNING!

Children are Learners by nature.

They have a natural, spiritual ability to absorb the bio-psycho-social matrix in which they are planted and reflect an understanding of how these domains operate.

If that's too heady (I know I struggle with some of the things I write when I go back and read them ;-) then think of it this way...

You never put your mind to learning your mother tongue. You were an infant, you absorbed the language as part of your being. Your being grew on and around the structure of that language matrix afforded you - the things you could describe.

Language helps us describe a lot of things that are important to us as young children, including Sensations (hunger), Emotions (sad, angry, joy), Wants (cookie, blankey), Wisdom (god lives inside my heart, what goes around comes around).

As we get older we are interested in how things work, and the dynamics in social relationships. Our deep interior structures mature and require additional language elements to make the experiences conscious, and to process them with the guidance of a mentor or coaching group.

It makes sense to give children an education as early as possible to begin orienting them to the world. Montessori schools do a very good job of this.

Educating the parent is equally, if not more important. Learning together, the way suzuki learners and their parents practice together, helps create psycho-emotional bonds. So, for example, learning about your child through astrology will naturally make you curious about your own.

Do your astrology here: www.astro.com

Studying astrology together, you will learn a language that describes things always present, though difficult to talk about. As you learn about yourselves and one another together, you develop the insight and dialectic to process the meaning in your lives at a much deeper and more authentic level.

It's an adventure.

It's worth taking.

Enlightened Child.

Dig it,

Craig

Is Your Child Curious, Interested & Engaged?

It's so easy to get off track with our kids. Life has a way of carrying us off into routines and ways of thinking that just miss the mark of authenticity.

Kids are so impressionable - their souls are forming within them, and socialization molds their behaviors and narrows their options.

We want so much to give them the knowledge and understanding we value that it's easy to overlook the innate compass they carry, and the direction it is calling them to go.

As a parent, it's important to check in with our own compass from time to time. More importantly, it's important to check in with our childrens' compasses. They need support and encouragement to follow their heart's desire. To follow their bliss, as Campbell would say (and my Godfather would often quote).

How do we check in with their compass?

Pay attention.

Ask questions.

Seek feedback from peers and mentors, as different relationships will bring out different aspects of your child, and other perspectives will round out your own.

What you are looking for is whether your child is curious, interested and engaged in the material, work and relationships they are presented with.

If they are not, it doesn't mean bail, it means to check in with the compass and the map and see where the value in continuing lies.

If there's no value in pursuing the current course of work or play, then re-direct. If it's agreed that there is value in continuing, then it's a decision aligned with the deep, inner compass of your child's soul.

Somewhere in between, learning and joy are balanced with challenge and growth. And we all find our way eventually.

Cheers,

Craig

Are You a Responsible Parent?

Today I took Corrina to African Dance class. I like that the head instructor is a brilliant artist and Jungian analyst. She is one of the "Tribe" I've woven around Corrina to help educate her soul.

Afterward we came home to clean the kitchen. We took turns scrubbing and washing all the surfaces, and you know the drill...

She turns to me all full of attitude about why she has to do all these chores, cook lunch (eggs and beans), and blah, blah, blah. "But I don't WANNA do all this..."

Well, this set me off. I certainly don't wanna do it. But we're human beings, and we have to eat to live. Which means we have to cook. Which means we need food, money, income, etc... Which I pretty much take care of, so it's only fair that she help out in other ways.

I took the opportunity to explain how it would be irresponsible of me as her father to let her grow up playing video games instead of practicing life-skills. After all, we've invested tens-of-thousands of dollars in her education at Montessori. The first 3 years they do a LOT of table washing and cleaning up their work. There's a reason. It's important. And she can help, so she should. It's part of being on the team. Eating on a regular basis. Sleeping in a warm abode. Stuff like that.

From there we got into a discussion of children in historical contexts. I told her if she lived on a farm she'd be up before dawn milkin cows and swiping eggs from the hen house for breakfast. She'd be working HARD, and she'd be lucky to have time to play, let alone all these toys.

I try to reference other contexts so she can appreciate how good she's got it. Some day I'd like to take her to Haiti or Ghana so she sees the value of a grain of rice and a drop of clean water. This life is too precious to waste in a fantasy world fueled by media and video games. These are cool. I enjoy them too. But they don't blind me to the reality of our global situation.

Are you a responsible parent? What does this mean to you in the 21st Century?

Craig

Why It Takes A Village...

There's a real simple reason why it takes a village to raise a child. There's probably many good reasons, actually, but I wanna focus on one.

The truth is, parents are not always the best mentors for their own children. To reiterate Kahlil Gibran:

Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.

Still, we are responsible for our children, and take that responsibility very seriously. We feed and clothe and house them. We teach and correct and model for them. Eventually we send them to school, lessons in music or sports or whatever... we try to give them advantages in life, and fulfill their souls to the best of our ability as their parents, but this is often only our best guess.

When we look at our children and see ourselves in them, are we really seeing our children at all? How do we know?

My sense is that we are "too close" to our creation. When we only see ourselves and our needs projected on the mirror of our children we lose track of the work we are supposed to be doing on our own souls, and certainly miss the mark with our children.

Traditionally, a mentor is someone who can see the child's soul in a way that parents are blind to. Mentors are also unafraid to challenge the child in ways that parents are not equipped for. Coddling retards the child's development as much as pushing the child out of the nest too soon. Children need a safe base to launch from and return to, which is what parents are best at providing. They also need a guide into the dark forest of their soul's growth - which is best provided by someone who has walked the way the child must go and can guide them there.

Think of your children's interests. Are you the best one to help them develop those interests? Let's say it's music. Even if you are a world-class musician, and your influence will certainly be felt, your children will be better served by another teacher than you because they need you to hold and comfort them. They need a teacher to push and challenge them. How can you effectively do both? It's difficult.

And what if you're NOT a world-class musician? Do you let your children's talents go to waste or do you find the best possible teacher you can for them? Naturally, you want to help your child grow in the direction of their soul's unique purpose.

Now, the truth is, there are probably a handful, if not dozens of interests in your child's curious nature that you would do well to help educate. In traditional societies you would look around the village and locate individuals with talents that could serve your child's growth, or your child would naturally gravitate towards these individuals.

Using this model, it's easy to see why it takes a village to raise each child.

What can you do this year to strengthen the village of mentors for your children? How can you ensure that they are receiving every ounce of guidance you can possibly offer them - not only through your own knowing, but through the guidance of the extended village you gather around them based on their soul's curiosity?

More on how to see your child's soul through the clutter of your own projections in the next post ;-)

Craig

Have You Ever Felt Stranded?

If you look up the meaning of the word "Stranded" on Google Definition, the first entry says: isolated: cut off or left behind; "an isolated pawn"; "several stranded fish in a tide pool"; "travelers marooned by the blizzard"

That's about how I felt most of my life. Not because I'm adopted... though the two experiences are likely tethered in some way. The type of experience I'm talking about now is very common in modern society (vs. a more traditional or tribal society).

Think of a teenage boy, just because it's a handy example. Maybe he's 16 years old. He's probably got a lot on his mind. Sex, cars, pecking-order status, maybe his favorite music or whatever else he's passionate about.

He's probably still got a dad in the picture some way. This relationship is probably strained because the father is not totally clear on what he's doing with his own life Purpose, let alone how to initiate his boy into manhood (which ALL tribal and traditional societies do, and which our modern religious parties fail to approximate).

Even just 100 years ago, a boy of this age would be working on the farm as a grown man, perhaps with a family and farm of his own. Or he would be taking up apprenticeship in a trade, or working in a factory to garner income to establish a life for himself and his family. He sure as hell wouldn't be laying on the couch playing X-Box and feeding his munchies with Pringles and Crystal Lite.

Parents abdicate the responsibilities of socializing this boy to either the schooling system (the State) or a religious organization (the Church), or some combination thereof. At best the boy will get some specialized training through a private school or lessons with an expert in some discipline like music or sports.

As for this boy's soul... his Purpose, the reason he was born into this life... completely ignored. Everyone just assumes the boy will grow up and figure it all out. How to contribute to society, how to relate to loved ones and far ones, how to stay healthy and spread good in the world by living a well-considered life... yet these things are never directly taught. The boy assumes he's stuck with whatever he picks up through osmosis along the way, or if he transgresses too deeply, he will be reprimanded and this correction will be sufficient to keep him safe and satisfied in life.

Error.

This boy is STRANDED.

He needs mentoring.

He needs someone who can draw forth a sense of purpose in his awareness.

He needs someone to sit with him and talk about what's important to him, what he wants in life, how he's gonna get there.

He needs support and accountability and blessing.

He needs initiation and responsibility and creative challenge.

Have you ever felt stranded?

Craig

What do you think about the term Self-Considered?

Self-considered.

What could this mean?

It's not self-centered. It's not self-conscious (not in the negative way, like shy).

It's not self-involved, or self-

It's more like self-aware, self-reflecting, self-assured.

To consider the self means to take ones own needs and desires into account when considering everyone elses' needs and desires to whatever extent you feel responsible for doing so.

It must be a part of character to be self-considered. It's a moral injunction - akin to Know Thyself.

To be Self-Considered means to Know Thyself amongst Others and the Environment.

To be Self-Considered is a quality of Enlightenment as it lives embodied in a Learner.

What do you think about the term Self-Considered? Is it useful as a definition?

Craig

An Open Letter to a Teenage Rockstar

then you should be a drummer in a band

that gets PAID, son

I gotta tell you kids... it's all about Marketing no matter what you do. I'm an artist at heart, and I'm only now just getting back to BEING an artist after 10 years of trying to figure out how to make a living at it.

School doesn't teach it.

Talent can't overcome it.

Until you learn how to sell yourself, you're never gonna be free. You gotta demand what you're worth, and get people to buy into you enough to pay it.

It's about self-worth. It's about doing it with class.

C

Ben Stewart - Evolutionary Cosmology