Meditations on God

Giving Life To Life
Have you ever stopped to think about how truly amazing it is that we get to put art, music, and poetry in the world?

Simply because we choose to, simply because we are inspired to, simply because we are able to, we get to create. We get to express ourselves, our vision, our experience, and our perception through colors, sounds, words, movement, or whatever medium is available to us.

It is our destiny to create, to be creative, and to experience the awesome beauty, mystery, and wonder of creation as an active participant in its process.

It is our birthright, our duty, our inheritance from our ancestors, and our legacy to those who follow us to make the world and the experiencing of it more beautiful and more personal by adding some part of ourselves to it.

We are not here merely to survive, to battle, and to procreate.

We are here to transform what is into what can be. We are here to transform life into something more livable, more fulfilling, and more meaningful than it was before we participated.

We are here to give life to life.

There is nothing holding us back but our own resistance.

Holistic Budo: As it is in budo, so too it is in life. As it is in life, so too it is in budo.

Robert Van Valkenburgh is co-founder of Taikyoku Mind & Body and Kogen Dojo where he teaches Taikyoku Budo and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

Street art photo by Robert Van Valkenburgh. Artist unknown.

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July 3, 2020
The Difficult Thing
Do the difficult thing first. Get it out of the way. Check it off the list.

Face that which you are most avoiding. Do it while it is convenient knowing that it is never truly convenient. Do it anyway. Do it now. It will not become easier with time.

Time only adds to the fear, the anxiety, and the dread. Avoidance feeds on time like a cancer. The longer we wait to do that which we know we must, the more the worry, the resentment, and the shame metastasize into all other aspects of our selves and our lives.

The things we do not want to do, the things we do not want to face, they are not going anywhere. They are in us. We cannot get away from them by running. We cannot run away from ourselves. We can never truly hide from our fears, insecurities, needs, and wants.

Hard work now makes our lives easier tomorrow. Avoiding the hard work now makes our lives more difficult tomorrow, the next day, and the day after that. Do the difficult thing first. Do it now.

Holistic Budo: As it is in budo, so too it is in life. As it is in life, so too it is in budo.

Robert Van Valkenburgh is co-founder of Taikyoku Mind & Body and Kogen Dojo where he teaches Taikyoku Budo and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

All photos by Robert Van Valkenburgh unless otherwise noted.

Follow Robert Van Valkenburgh and Holistic Budo on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, and LinkedIn.

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July 2, 2020

avoidance, bravery, courage, difficulty, fear, guilt, life, life lessons, priorities, prioritizing, procrastination, resentment, shame, vulnerability
Our Inner Voice Is Ours Alone
We should not be jealous of others for behaviors our consciences will not abide.

A conscience is a funny thing. It is both very personal and very specific. Attitudes and behaviors that do not appear to bother one person’s conscience may make another’s flail and scream in protest.

Some people, it seems, have much stronger consciences than others, not necessarily better, just more pronounced, obvious, and restrictive. These people are highly sensitive to their actions and the consequences of these actions with regards to others They experience deep remorse and regret from even the slightest of moral infractions.

Other people, the attitudes and behavior of whom would suggest, have very little in the form of a conscience. Their actions seem unbound by any kind of quiet inner-voice or moral compass. Perhaps their consciences are merely quieter than the former type, maybe they are drowned out by other, much louder influences, or, it could be that their consciences just guide them differently.

The simple fact is, however, that none of this really matters. We each experience conscience differently. The attitudes and behavior of others should have little to no influence on the way that our own inner morality manifests. In fact, nothing good will come from trying to live in a way that aligns with a conscience not our own.

Holistic Budo: As it is in budo, so too it is in life. As it is in life, so too it is in budo.

Robert Van Valkenburgh is co-founder of Taikyoku Mind & Body and Kogen Dojo where he teaches Taikyoku Budo and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

Photo by Robert Van Valkenburgh. Artwork by Ana.

Follow Robert Van Valkenburgh and Holistic Budo on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, and LinkedIn.

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July 1, 2020

behavior, belief, conscience, ethics, ideals, individuality, integrity, life, life lessons, morality, purpose, relationships
A Team’s Perspective
Teamwork is a matter of perspective.

Demands, threats, and force may help us accomplish our immediate goals, but dictatorship is not leadership. True leadership requires that others follow us consciously, voluntarily, and willingly. This requires a shared perspective.

In order for others to follow us by choice, of their own informed free-will, they need perspective. They need to see and understand why they should trust us, why they should follow us, and why they should do so enthusiastically.

They need to see how and why our mission is in their best interest, how it relates to their life, their goals, and their purpose.

Before we can expect others to see things from this perspective, however, we must first see things from theirs. If we do not understand who they are and where they are coming from, we may be able to push them to where we are trying to go, but we can not expect to lead them there.

If we want others to care about what we want, they must first know that we care about them.

Once it is clear to those we wish to lead that we not only understand their perspective, but that we actually care about them, their lives, their needs, and their goals, it is much easier for them to care about us and what we want or need from them.

In this place of shared perspective, the leader-follower dynamic is transcended and the team begins to form.

Holistic Budo: As it is in budo, so too it is in life. As it is in life, so too it is in budo.

Robert Van Valkenburgh is co-founder of Taikyoku Mind & Body and Kogen Dojo where he teaches Taikyoku Budo and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

All photos by Robert Van Valkenburgh unless otherwise noted.

Follow Robert Van Valkenburgh and Holistic Budo on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, and LinkedIn.

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June 30, 2020

achievement, aspirations, compassion, empathy, goals, leadership, leading, mission, purpose, team, teamwork, understanding
Abundance And Scarcity (On Love And Time)
Live like love is abundant, but time is scarce.

Time is the only non-renewable resource in this life. Once we give it away, we never get it back. It is imperative, therefore, that we use our time wisely, that we are thoughtful with regards to how and with whom we spend it, and that we do not give it away frivolously to cares, concerns, and priorities that do not actually matter.

Love, on the other hand, does not diminish when given away. While there is no promise that the love we allow ourselves to feel and to express will be reciprocated, it is all but guaranteed that if we choose not love, if we choose to behave in a non-loving way toward others, our chances of experiencing love from others will be greatly reduced. The more that we love others, the more opportunity we create to be loved in return.

A life of depth, meaning, and fulfillment is one wherein time and love are intimately and inextricably connected. Time spent in love, time spent immersed in the experience of it enveloping us, flowing into us unrestricted and graciously received, and emanating out of us generously and unreservedly, is time well spent. Time well spent means a life well-lived and, when all is said and done, is that not the point of it all?

Holistic Budo: As it is in budo, so too it is in life. As it is in life, so too it is in budo.

Robert Van Valkenburgh is co-founder of Taikyoku Mind & Body and Kogen Dojo where he teaches Taikyoku Budo and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

Photo by Robert Van Valkenburgh. Art by Ana.

Follow Robert Van Valkenburgh and Holistic Budo on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, and LinkedIn.

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June 29, 2020

abundance, compassion, empathy, generosity, graciousness, love, meaning, passion, purpose, relationships, scarcity, time

Giving Life To Life

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The Difficult Thing

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Our Inner Voice Is Ours Alone

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A Team’s Perspective

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Abundance And Scarcity (On Love And Time)

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