* Creating Values * in Just Stuff

Get a blank unlined sheet of paper, and be prepared to really follow these
instructions fully and emotionally. Do the steps, one at a time, carefully
and in order.

On the paper draw an oval that is roughly the shape of a human head and is
about eight inches high and six inches wide. If you are an artist, do not “make a big deal” out of this effort. Leave about an inch of space on the
paper all around the oval. Now, say aloud, “This is my face that I am
drawing.”

Next, carefully decide about where your eyes should be placed and put two
tiny dots to represent where the pupils of your eyes will be. Say aloud, “I
will be seeing out of my eyes that are forming in these two spots.”

Now carefully draw your right eye’s outline that will contain the whole of
your eye’s iris, pupil, and white areas. Say aloud, “This is my right eye
which gathers the colors of the world.” Now draw the right pupil and iris
around the dot you previously placed there. Say aloud, “This is my living
right eye.”

Next repeat these steps for your left eye. When finished, additionally
say, “These two eyes are my living connection to the world’s beauty.”

Now, place two dots where you estimate your nostrils should be placed, and
then draw a nose of some sort that “contains” these dots. Say aloud, “These
are my nostrils through which will pass the vital breath of my life.”

Draw a simple line for your mouth, and say, “This is my mouth through which
the world shall hear of my truth.”

Next, draw ears, and say, “These are my ears into which I will accept the
living words of wisdom from every source imaginable.”

Finally, add eyebrows, eyelashes, hair and the beginning of a neck. You
may add anything else you like. Then say, “This is my sacred image’s
symbolic representation, may I always honor and bring dignity to the
manifestations of myself.”

Ask yourself,
How would I feel right now if, when I was not there, this picture were
tossed out as a crumpled ball having been thought as a worthless scribbling
or mindless doodle? How much do I like this picture now–despite its less
than artistic merit? What will I now do with this picture? Why is this
decision easy or hard to make? Why is it that I prefer to be the one to
make it rather than, say, having a “stranger” decide?

How is it that a few strokes on an almost worthless piece of paper have
been transformed into something of value to me? However little that value,
what is that value?

How do I manufacture value for myself in daily life? Once it has been
done, how do I feel about un-doing such value? If I tear up this paper, how
forgiving of myself would I be? How do I withdraw value from objects?

How do I “draw” value for myself in the “scribbles” that the lives of
others are to me? How much value (negative or positive) do I manufacture
everyday in my environment? How conscious am I of the mechanics of my mind
as it assigns values to incoming perceptions?

Is there any value in my perceptions if I do not manufacture any? What is
the most important part of a perception–clarity of the sensory input or the
meaning, value and/or content I insist it represents?

Do I always have the same value for the same input?

What would be the payoff to completely mastering the creation of value in
my life? What would perception be like if I simply stopped creating value?

When my environment causes a strong emotion in me, is there logic to my
assigning causality of my emotion to the environmental stimulus? If I
refuse to create value, do any stimuli have intrinsic value that is
absolute?

Regards,
Rick