A "PARTY" VISION

THE PHOENIX

Having an IDENTITY (PHOENIX) is a first step, but, without a VISION, that Identity doesn't mean much.  So, let's move on to shaping a PHOENIX PARTY VISION.  Vision in not just thinking about what you want to be...it also means that you keep seeing that vision over and over again so that...for you...it becomes second nature.  By that I mean that it's not just a matter of having a Vision...it's about VISUALIZING that image so often that your association of the word PHOENIX PARTY and your VISION of what that term means is so connected that thinking one subconsciously imagines the other. Not only that...having a Vision means that - almost coincidentally - you find yourself facing opportunities...choices... to make that Vision come true.

Why?  Well...believe it or not...we're genetically designed for this to happen.  Our brain has a space between our emotional limbic system and our cerebral (thinking) brain. That space is filled by what's called the brain's RECTICULAR ACTIVATING SYSTEM. (Think "recticular" as in "retina" as in "look for"...as in...you guessed it.."VISION". This is the part of your brain that receives the commands that your THINKING BRAIN has ASKED IT to look for.  Now...if you're not sure you believe me...think "trying to remember someone's name".  We have these experiences when you look at someone and "we ask ourselves..WHAT IS THAT PERSON'S NAME?!?!"  Often what happens is sometime...much later...that person's name just seems to "pop up".  Why? Because you told your brain that you wanted to know it...and...on a subconscious level...your brain kept looking for that information way beyond that immediate moment when it might have been helpful and...as soon as it finds it..it sends it to your CONSCIOUS BRAIN to think it!

Why is that important?  When your subconscious brain knows what you want to be...it continually looks for ways to make that happen...and...when it discovers something...it sends your brain a conscious message "pay attention to this!" If you've ever followed the way athletes prepare for some competitions; you know that they've often gone to some sport's psychiatrist who helps them...step by step...visualize themselves being successful in their sport. They visualize this information very specifically - seeing the moment...feeling the moment...hearing the moment.  If you've seen athletes before a competition they often are wearing earphones. For many of them what they are listening to is that vision...repeated over and over. In fact, they've probably been repeating that vision over and over since they first shaped it.  When they win it's almost like BECOMING what they've always believed they could be.

That last line is critical! "...what they've always believed they could be."  If you're Poor...how often have you been able to imagine that you could be rich?  How often have you imagined yourself not just working...but working at a specific job....at a specific workplace...with a specific office...and...specifically...being successful...and coming home to a specific home in a specific neighborhood...to your happy family with that paycheck that proves that you're successful? And...if you're were ever able to do that....how often did you just tell yourself..."this is just silly...I'm daydreaming...this will never happen!"  See...that's the problem....just when you begin to tell your brain what you want to be...so it can look for opportunities to make that happen...you send that second command: DELETE PREVIOUS VISION!

What's a PHOENIX PARTY VISION?  Well....we can continue to flesh it out...but, for me, it includes seeing a large...LARGE..RECOGNIZED AND RESPECTED group of WELL-INFORMED VOTERS (knowing specifically what they want politicians to vote for and having a certainty about which politicians will do that) showing up at the VOTING BOOTH (knowing specifically where that polling place is..and what it'll be like to arrive there.) feeling CONFIDENT CASTING A VOTE and walking out of that Voting Booth FEELING GREAT because they DID THEIR PART and BELIEVING THAT TOMORROW WILL BE BETTER BECAUSE THEY DID!

If that message can get to our subconscious brain because we keep repeating it over and over; I'm a strong believer that the next step will be that our brain will start telling us.."If you want this to happen...then...you need to do this...you need to say that...oh...this is a person who can help make this happen...aha!...this information is useful....yes! I have the energy to go out to this meeting...talk to a friend....figure out where my polling place is...decide when and how I'm going to get there"...any step from the smallest to the biggest will soon present itself and say: CHOOSE ME!

The term PHOENIX PARTY doesn't just include the word PHOENIX; it also includes the word PARTY.  As a descriptor of a political group or movement, that might seem to just be a normal term to add. We have a Democratic "Party", a Republican "Party" a Libertarian "Party" a Conservative "Party" and so on. But, I would suggest we begin by thinking about the term TEA PARTY. This political movement doesn't just use the word "party" because other movements do.  It's in their title because they associate themselves with a specific time in history and a specific historic event - THE BOSTON TEA PARTY.  The planners of THAT event used the term specifically because they wanted participants to think of the event as just that ...A PARTY!!! They wanted the ENERGY of a PARTY....the ENTHUSIASM of a PARTY....the POSITIVE...CELEBRATORY...ATTITUDE about being a part of this PARTY! And...in this case..they wanted to people to come because they had the DESIRE to participate in this PARTY and...this desire was so strong...it gave them the COURAGE to PARTICIPATE in this PARTY no matter what the CHALLENGE or DANGER might be if they did so!

In fact, as this blog continues on and we talk about the GOALS, OBJECTIVES and STRATEGIES that can make this VISION a REALITY, I want to suggest that actually having PARTIES can be a very SUCCESSFUL STRATEGY to use. FUN ENERGY...JOYFUL ENERGY....makes the PHOENIX PARTY VISION a POSITIVE vision. If the need to make one's VISION a REALITY requires you to keep repeating it...VISUALIZING it...over and over...it's essential that that process makes you feel POSITIVE!  No one will...or should...keep repeating a vision that makes you SAD...DEPRESSED...FRUSTRATED...ANGRY.

Did you know that if you make your face muscles create a SMILE that very soon you'll start to feel HAPPY? (try it!) We may be talking about that FAKE IT TIL YOU MAKE IT strategy...but, as one who's tried this approach more times than I can count, I assure you, IT WORKS!

And...if you're reading this and you're thinking...it's just me reading this...how can "ME BECOME A WE?"  Simple...tell your brain to make it happen!  And...as you are building your WE in your area...going from two or three to a few to many...to LOTS OF MANY....remember this quote: "If you think you are too small to be effective...you have never been in bed with a mosquito!"

Margaret Mead, a famous cultural anthropologist, said: "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed it is the only thing that ever has."

So...that's the VISION...being a THOUGHTFUL, COMMITTED PEOPLE...committed to the VISION that VOTING DOES AND WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE..  Tell your brain that and see what it does next!