WOODY & BIRDY BALL VISION

After a round of golf Sunday, Woody and Birdy Ball, golfer’s partners during the learning-reading journey through Golf as Guru: Mind”full”ness, Awareness and Self-Restraint, were enjoying 19th hole eats and drinks on the patio of the community golf club. The conversation evolved to a discussion of a vision for the club’s brand, strategies, and integral brand attributes. Interesting outcome…
BRAND Read More

CANDIDATE PROFILE

As the run-up to the November 2020 election unfolds; and as we witness the dark divide becoming wider, deeper, and darker, contrasting the two candidates for President is interesting. It appears the critical decision is to vote for the candidate who can best move us closer to a created VISION-ALTERNATE REALITY for America: See 9-15-2020 BLOG.
How one chooses to “show-up” in the world can be critiqued by researching, examining, and witnessing talents, skills, and experiences; making observations; and scrutinizing character, personality, mentality, and interests. Let us take-a-look at President Donald J. Trump. (Resources list available with email to JohnDeVore@aol.com) Read More

ALTERNATE REALITY

As the run-up to the November 2020 election unfolds; and as we witness the dark divide becoming wider, deeper, and darker, a merging of the Democratic and Republican convention planks into a common vision—an alternate reality—and contrasting the two candidates for President bears fruit. It appears the critical decision is to select the candidate who can best move us closer to the vision. Let us start with the merged vision; and in subsequent BLOGs, candidate profiles will be offered peeking at talents, skills, and experiences; observations; and character, personality, mentality, and interests. Read More

ALTERNATIVE REALITY

As the run-up to the November 2020 election unfolds; and as we witness the dark divide becoming wider, deeper, and darker, a merging of the Democratic and Republican convention planks into a common vision—an alternate reality—and contrasting the two candidates for President bears fruit. It appears the critical decision is to select the candidate who can best move us closer to the vision. Let us start with the merged vision; and in subsequent BLOGs, candidate profiles will be offered peeking at talents, skills, and experiences; observations; and character, personality, mentality, and interests. Read More

SIMPLE?

A discovery has been that simplicity in golf can be uncovered on the other side of its human created complexity. Could it be as simple as one through eight? Let us take a look.

  • Integral life practice: exercise the physical body, the subtle body (felt energies), and the causal body (resting). [Wilber, et al, 2008, Boston, MA: Integral]
    1. Mind”full”ness: learn to work with all three minds (conscious, subconscious, and super-conscious-spiritual-peak performance).
    2. Mindfulness-concentration and awareness meditation: paying attention, in the present moment, nonjudgementally. Offers one-pointed grounding and inspiration for ritual; and visibility of how one chooses to show-up via the personality, character, and mentality.
    3. Nurture self-restraint, a learned skill: the alternative response to two shots in a nearby pond and insanity.
  • Pre-shot routines.
  • Immaculate set-up: grip, aim, stance, posture, ball position, sense weight balance desired (irons, scoring wedges, pitching wedges: front leg; driver balanced), and turn neck-chin to trailing shoulder. Maintain width of arc.
  • Rituals to create personal teepee where, on every shot, the programmed subconscious is trusted: go to the breath; ground-center, elevate: two-three quick, deep breaths; and pull the trigger. Maintain width of arc.

Read More

VISION

As the run-up to the November 2020 election unfolds; and as we witness the dark divide becoming wider, deeper, and darker, a merging of the Democratic and Republican convention planks into a common vision—an alternate reality—and contrasting the two candidates for President bears fruit. It appears the critical decision is to select the candidate who can best move us closer to the vision. Let us start with the merged vision; and in subsequent BLOGs, candidate profiles will be offered peeking at talents, skills, and experiences; observations; and character, personality, mentality, and interests. Read More

UNITED WE STAND

As the run-up to the November 2020 election unfolds; and as we witness the dark divide becoming wider, deeper, and darker, a merging of the Democratic and Republican convention planks into a common vision—an alternate reality—and contrasting the two candidates for President bears fruit. It appears the critical decision is to select the candidate who can best move us closer to the vision.
VISION Read More

SOUL of the NATION

The mission is quite clear: We the people need to save America’s democracy by voting for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, launching the strategic “battle for the soul of the nation.” This battle will begin to heal the deconstruction of the current administration and will inspire the dance of discovering, unfolding, and manifesting America’s uniqueness through a profound journey into the unknown. This trek demands trust, hope, faith, and awakening to radical freedom and to deep dimensions of embodied individuality, the unmanifest soul qualities of America’s natural world, heart, mind, and spirit. And this waltz into the unknown will be demanding, will not be easy, and will have challenges and opportunities. We may choose to resist it and miss a few steps; however, we will do the hard work. Imperative for this undertaking are strong leaders with exemplary leadership qualities who possess an impervious foundation of character, personality, and mentality that display peace-of-mind coupled with purpose and connections built on a foundation of compassion; published and walked core values, a code of ethics, guiding principles, and a track record of successes; a profound perspective and vision; an innate talent to accurately assess current reality; and an ability to build bipartisan coalitions who plan and strategize to evolve America’s soul qualities. Read More

SIMPLICITY

A discovery has been that simplicity in golf can be uncovered on the other side of its human created complexity. Could it be simple? Let us take a look.

  • Integral life practice: exercise the physical body, the subtle body (felt energies), and the causal body (resting). [Wilber, et al, 2008, Boston, MA: Integral]
    1. Mind”full”ness: learn to work with all three minds (conscious, subconscious, and super-conscious-spiritual-peak performance).
    2. Mindfulness-concentration and awareness meditation: paying attention, in the present moment, nonjudgementally. Offers one-pointed grounding and inspiration for ritual; and visibility of how one chooses to show-up via the personality, character, and mentality.
    3. Nurture self-restraint, a learned skill: the alternative response to two shots in a nearby pond and insanity.
  • Pre-shot routines.
  • Immaculate set-up: grip, aim, stance, posture, ball position, sense weight balance desired (irons, scoring wedges, pitching wedges: front leg; driver balanced), and turn neck-chin to trailing shoulder. Maintain width of arc.
  • Rituals to create personal teepee where, on every shot, the programmed subconscious is trusted: go to the breath; ground-center, elevate: two-three quick, deep breaths; and pull the trigger. Maintain width of arc.
  • Takeaway: stable swing center, forward press to target synchronous with connected-whole body (arms, torso, and hips as one unit) and shoulder tilt, coiling against a stable right side with no hip sway away from target; and no hurry to transition point. Goal: optimum length of arc and maintain width of arc through entire swing.
  • Forward swing: stable swing center, shoulder tilt straightening right arm and flattening left wrist to square the clubface. Goal: maintain width of arc.
  • Solid impact of club with ball:
    1. Head behind ball.
    2. Knees and elbows toward each other.
    3. Right heel off ground.
    4. Right shoulder below left-shoulder tilt 36D, water draining from right ear.
    5. Left leg is resistance.
    6. Left foot on outside edge.
    7. Right knee is bending toward the left knee.
  • Have a good coach.

Read More

SELF-AWARENESS JOURNEY

This is a story about a forty-seven-year, self-awareness journey to uncover the what’s, how’s, and why’s of life’s behaviors: simply awareness of how one chooses to “show-up” in life via the personality, character, and mentality. “Once upon a time” of the trek started during a pre-meeting walk with a new boss in a state-of-the-art, two-piece aluminum can manufacturing plant in Golden, Colorado.
Grateful for four years at West Point; eight years in the Army, including promotions to Major, military decorations, and two years of combat during the Vietnam War; three civilian jobs; and a wife with a child on-the-way, it was good fortune to land a Purchasing Manager position (1973) with Coors Container Company. During a walk in the pounding can plant, the new boss commented that unless the author began to manage his stress, evolving life would be hectic. This comment unleashed a life-long challenge and opportunity to look under the rug and uncover the “stuff” that makes this human being tick. The first tee and green were to read I’m OK, You’re OK: Practical Guide to Self-Analysis (Thomas A. Harris, 1967, NY, NY: Harper Collins) and to attend (1974) an “I’m OK, You’re OK” seminar at the Mountain States Employers Council, Denver, Colorado. The unfolded curriculum vitae (plus approximately $80,000 for the awareness search) includes five educational degrees and 27 years of assorted corporate leadership positions; targeted academic courses and seminars; study abroad and retreats; club, committee, and panel participation; group memberships, workshops, and associations; teaching and public speaking endeavors; published books and unpublished papers; and the student journey of living, family, reading, piano, writing, golf, experiencing, seeing, and learning continues. Here are some discoveries: Read More