Articles

In last week’s newsletter article, Lost, I mentioned a private conversation I had with Spirit. He was helping me interpret a strange dream I had.

 
John Cali

There was a part of that conversation I didn’t talk about last week. The part where Spirit “lectured” me about my habit of intellectualizing everything.

I’ve had a years-long habit of being super-cautious before I take any action. I usually analyzed things to death, even after my inner guidance told me to go ahead.… Read more

One night last week I had a strange and scary dream.
John Cali

I used to be a commercial pilot and flight instructor. I’ve always loved flying and everything to do with aviation, though I haven’t piloted a plane in years. I occasionally think about taking it up again, but only as a hobby this time.

Therefore it makes sense that in my dream I was thinking about flying again. Here’s the rest of the dream:

Arnold, a close friend and fellow pilot in “real life” from many years ago, offered to take me flying and give me a “refresher course.”… Read more

Last week I had several “down days.” Nothing serious, but very frustrating and annoying.
John Cali

I have occasional ups and downs, as we all do. But I rarely stay down very long, certainly not several days. Also, I’m in pretty good physical shape. I exercise regularly, follow a healthy diet, meditate every day — you know, all the “right” things. So I was baffled why I was feeling ornery, not my usual self.

One morning after the dark mood passed I was lying in bed upon awakening.… Read more

Over a year ago we wrote an article by the same title as what you see above. We decided it was timely to revisit the subject.
John Cali

Last week Geoffrey Hoppe of The Crimson Circle wrote a wonderful article in their May newsletter with the same title as this article and the article we wrote last year.

Geoff talks about a daunting incident where he was challenged to speak the truth about his work. He managed to make a mess out of the situation until his wife Linda saved the day.… Read more

Whenever I mention the word “death” to people, I almost always get a negative reaction. Perhaps you had such a reaction when you read the title of this article.
John Cali

In just the past couple months we’ve had three deaths among my family and two among old family friends.

When I was younger, I didn’t really understand death that well. After all, I grew up in a large Roman Catholic family of Sicilian immigrants. Death was not something we talked about a lot.… Read more

In an article taken from his book, Reinventing the Body, Resurrecting the Soul, Deepak Chopra talks about a beautiful Buddhist doctrine.
John Cali

Here’s how Deepak describes the doctrine:

“There is a profound Buddhist doctrine that speaks of a great river that flows through all of reality. Once you have found yourself, there is no more cause for action. (Emphasis is mine.)The river picks you up and carries you along forever after.

“…effort from the personal level, the kind of effort all of us are used to in daily life, become pointless….This… Read more

Ann, the central character in our article last week, finds little or no joy in her life. This week we want to talk about another friend who’s the exact opposite of Ann.
John Cali

Ann, who’s still relatively young, may or may not live a long life.

But the friend we want to talk about today has already lived a long life, and is still going strong.

Jim (not his real name) is in his 90s, closing swiftly on the century mark.… Read more

A while back I ran into an old friend at the airport. Since we were waiting for the same flight, we got to talking. It turned into a most interesting conversation.
John Cali

Ann (not her real name) has a high-profile job. Highly paid too. She’s been very successful in her chosen profession for all her adult life. In her work she gets to travel all over the world to places most folks only dream about.

Ann and her husband are happily married and have a successful business, which he runs since she’s gone so much.… Read more

You’re probably familiar with the lemming myths. Lemmings are real animals, but some of their alleged behavior, though legendary, never happened.
John Cali

Lemmings are small rodents living in or near the frigid regions of the Arctic Circle. Among the myths surrounding these little creatures is one from the 1500s when they were thought to fall out of the sky during storms.

Another myth, popularized by many, including Disney Studios of all people, was lemmings often committed mass suicide, following one another over cliffs, plunging to their deaths.… Read more

John Cali

I started having this dream long before I moved to Wyoming. The dream ranch feels like my brother Paul’s “real” ranch in Wyoming — it has the same peaceful, yet powerful, energy. (I had visited Paul’s ranch many times before moving to Wyoming.)

As the dream started recurring regularly I began noticing a mystical, even magical theme running through it.

In the dream I’m wandering around Paul’s ranch in the foothills of the Absaroka Mountains when I get the urge to travel to another dimension.… Read more

The other day I read a Science Daily article about acts of kindness. Something you probably don’t often find in a science magazine!

John Cali

The article talked about a well-researched study published March 8 by the National Academy of Sciences.

Here€™s an excerpt from the article:

“Good acts — acts of kindness, generosity and cooperation — spread just as easily as bad. And it takes only a handful of individuals to really make a difference….When people benefit from kindness they ‘pay it forward’ by helping others who were not originally involved, and this creates a cascade of cooperation that influences dozens more in a social network….Humans… Read more

You’ve probably heard this many times: We’re all students and teachers for each other. Interesting concept I hadn’t given much thought to in many years.
John Cali

I watched a short video with Wayne Dyer last week. He was talking about a conversation two of his daughters were having at breakfast one morning when they were teenagers. It went something like this:

First daughter:
If you didn’t have feet would you wear shoes?

Second daughter:
That’s ridiculous! What do you mean?… Read more

Last week I was talking to my good friend Harry. Having known each other all our lives, we have a special bond.
John Cali

Harry mentioned he needed some electronic equipment, and asked if I knew where to get it at a good price. I said, “Sure, I’ll check it out for you.”

I found exactly what he wanted, bought it, and had it shipped to him. Then I told him I wanted this to be my gift to him.

He refused, saying I’d done so much for him over the years, he could not accept the gift.… Read more

In our last newsletter I talked about Haiti. I intended to just leave it there with my brief mention of the catastrophic, record earthquake. But Spirit decided he wanted to discuss it further.
John Cali

First, here is the news article I posted on Haiti in our last newsletter:

The news from Haiti has the world riveted on the heart-wrenching human devastation. Please keep the Haitians in your thoughts and prayers. And, if you can, donate money to relief efforts. But be careful.… Read more

One cold autumn day many years ago my old friend Joe and I were towing his antique truck from its storage place back to his house.
John Cali

The truck’s suspension system was in pretty bad shape. So we tied several concrete blocks to the front bumper, thinking that would stabilize the truck while we towed it.

About halfway to Joe’s house we noticed the truck suddenly became lighter and easier to tow, creating less resistance to the tow vehicle we were using.… Read more

How important is it for you to stay connected with your friends, family, co-workers, etc.? Probably pretty important, and rightly so. But for many folks I observe in my work with Spirit, it’s so important they’ve lost their ability to truly enjoy “alone time.”

John Cali

I often marvel at the technology we have today. It enables us to achieve things undreamed of just a few short years ago. For example, Spirit and I could not do this newsletter if it were not for the technology we have literally at our fingertips.… Read more

Last week’s newsletter article, Happiness Revisited, generated some interesting feedback directed to me, and also a lively discussion at our Spirit Forum.
John Cali

It was clear, from the feedback and discussion, different people have widely different opinions of what happiness is. Some questioned whether true happiness can be sustained — or achieved, even if only momentarily. Especially in today’s world. So many people, instead of celebrating what’s right with the world, complain about what’s wrong with it.

As “coincidence” would have it, after we published the newsletter last week, I came across a video called Celebrate What’s Right with the World.… Read more

We usually talk about peace on earth at this season. However we celebrate the season — Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Epiphany, or another way — many of our thoughts turn to peace.
John Cali

For many years at Christmastime Spirit and I have talked about peace on earth. And we’re doing it again this year, but with a slightly different slant.

Nearly everyone wants world peace. Of course, there are many different, often conflicting, ideas of how to achieve that goal. The path to peace sometimes turns into a warpath.… Read more

Are you doing what you love? Or are you just making a living instead of making a life?
John Cali

I have a good friend of many years who travels almost constantly all over the world doing her work. Her name is not a household word, but she’s internationally famous in her own niche.

She has a beautiful home in a place many would love to live. But she spends most of her time on airplanes and in other countries. She loves what she’s doing.… Read more

I had a short, but strange and curious dream several nights ago. It was very vivid, and I knew it held an important message. As our dreams often do.

John Cali

In the dream Spirit gave me a gift, an unusual gift. It was a small multi-colored ball. Small enough to easily hold in the palm of your hand, or carry around in your pocket or purse. It had a pattern similar to the ball used in American soccer games. Or, for those of you in Europe, I believe you call those games “football.”… Read more

If you grew up the way I did you know our elders were forever pressuring us to work hard if we wanted to succeed in life. We always had to be DOING something.

John Cali

We live in an action-oriented society today. Even during our so-called “leisure” time, we have to be doing something productive. We work hard at relaxing. After all, working hard is the only way we’ll ever achieve anything worthwhile.

Right?

I used to think so. But no longer.… Read more

The other day I read a short article by Dr. Andy Weil titled What’s Wrong with Antidepressants?

His answer: Plenty.

John Cali

As I read the article, it reminded me of something we’d written a couple years ago about depression. The stimulus for our article was also something Dr. Weil had written on the subject.

I know many folks among my family and friends suffering from depression. Some of it only occasional, some of it chronic and severe, all of it disturbing or worse.… Read more

Last week in the grocery store I couldn’t help overhearing a loud discussion two women were having about politics. I guess this is true in other places also, but folks here in Wyoming love to discuss politics. Or, more accurately, argue about politics.

Anyway, one woman was describing to the other a heated political argument she’d recently had with someone. She said she ended the argument by hurling out what I guess she intended to be an insult: “You liberals are all alike!”… Read more