When A Guardian Sets Down His Shield…

Charlie ~

Today is Veteran's Day, 2011, and I only just found this post.

Thank you! - for your service in 'the green suit'; for your service *here* where the wwworld can see it and feel it and benefit from it; and IRL where, I'm positive, strangers who merely walk through your aura can feel it and benefit, too.

Bright Blessings ~ and keep doing your Great Work, whatever clothes you put on in the morning!

Karen

Charlie, It is such an honor to see your commitment as a guardian. I have a son, a Naval Officer -- he's going on 22 years of service now. I see the heart of you warriors and I am proud. Warriors may leave the branch of service they are in, but the heart of the warrior continues. Thank you for your service to the United States of America. Freedom is not free. We are blessed to have men and women like you. Blessings, Lee
.-= Lee Miller´s last blog ..Expectation: An Hors D’oeuvre for Disappointment =-.

@Mynde: Me, fearless? Not in the least. Just willing to work through the fear.

Thanks for your support, here and elsewhere. I'm glad we're in this together.

@Fabeku: Thanks for letting me know what it's like on the other side. You brought some points to be that our so clear, but I haven't been able to see.

It’s like you’re guarding the good stuff that people are doing, so they don’t burn out or break down and give up.

This really made my day because, like I said, Guardians protect from external and internal sources of harm. I'd never consider that there was another layer deep when it comes to the external/internal divide - specifically that many people are either harming themselves or holding themselves back.

A lot to mull over here. Thank you for showing this to me.

@Mark: Your support this week has been phenomenal. Thanks for holding the space for me and listening with the voice of experience. Should things get rough, I know I have another Guardian to turn to for help.

@JoVE: If I've learned anything on this journey, it's that transitions are their own things that need to be handled, just as if you're trying to create too many things at once. I guess that's precisely the point: in a transition, you are creating something new. A new self, new workflows, new orientations to your environment. We can only do so much at once.

@Christine: The next time I encounter that branch, I'll have a saw in hand. Hopefully a video with dismembered digits won't follow. :p

Thanks for your support!

@Mahala: I'm feeling around the edges to see what that new version of the Guardian looks like. I'm starting to see - with everyone's help - that I may just be changing the way that I'm a Guardian. It is part of who I am, but my life has changed now, so I'll just do it in a new way.

Thanks so much for sharing your journey with us, Charlie, and for just being real about it.

Language is such a gift - it's one of the wonderful ways we can connect with each other, how we make sense of the world and how we can have stimulating discussions and debates that open up new perspectives. But words can become a prison for us too, when we forget that words are always just an abstraction of reality and never a full representation of reality. As you say, labels like "entrepreneur", "philosopher" and "guardian" all raise certain associations for us - that's just how we make sense of the world. And so when someone says, "I'm an entrepreneur," we immediately decide a whole load of things about that person, based on what we think entrepreneurs are all about - and then our idea of who that person is is at best limited and at worst totally inaccurate. That's not who they really are - it's just our representation of them. And, in the same way, we often create limiting perspectives of ourselves when we use words to describe who we are. Words will never be sufficient to describe who you really are. You're much, much more than an entrepreneur, philosopher and guardian. You always have been. And whatever words you choose to express and affirm the new narratives you want in your life, realise that they're only words and they're inadequate tools for representing reality, and you're always much, much more than that.

I'm looking forward to witnessing the results, as you put your energy, attention and heart into serving in new ways.

Cath
.-= Cath Duncan´s last blog ..Call with Michael Watson: How to Be Resourceful in Difficult Times =-.

Thank you for sharing this very personal story, the push-pull between wanting to continue to serve in one way -- where you have identity and a clear sense of this is what I give to the world -- and making the leap to a new direction. I appreciate your discomfort with I, I, I. Is this all about me? I'm also absolutely certain you'll still be a Guardian, even without the green uniform. It shines from within you.
.-= Mahala Mazerov´s last blog ..The Bowl of Stars – A Guided Meditation =-.

Very powerful Charlie. Identity is such a tender place. Thanks for sharing it with us. Glad to see you are healing up from your encounter with the branch.
.-= Christine Martell´s last blog ..Looking at slices of time =-.

Honored and blessed to know you and learn alongside you on your journey Charlie!

Somehow I missed the injury. Glad it is healing.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this big change you are making. I agree with others that the guardian role comes through strongly in your other work. And the other changes that might happen (like moving, presumably if A. gets a job somewhere else now that she's done the PhD) will take an awful lot of energy.
.-= JoVE´s last blog ..You always have time for yoga, mama =-.

Thank you, Charlie. You give voice here to a dynamic that continues to function in my life. I left a guardian role back in 2000, and that story still follows me and defines part of who I am, although not nearly as intensely as it did when I first left.

I can't imagine who I'd be today without that story. And, I'm also glad to have some distance from it and see it mellow. It feels great to have it be a portion rather than the center of my gravity, which it was for awhile.
.-= Mark Silver´s last blog ..Another Way to Fill a Class =-.

This was a powerful video. And to say I admire your courage and transparency is a serious understatement.

One of the things that's struck me about you as I've read your blog, hung out with you online and talked to you on the phone is how beautifully you bring the whole of you who are together in a way that feels both brilliant and and extraordinary.

And that aspect of being the guardian comes through in so much of what you do. Not just when you're wearing the green suit, but when you're talking to people about how to do what they do with more meaning, and freedom, and clarity. It's like you're guarding the good stuff that people are doing, so they don't burn out or break down and give up.

And as that's happening, the philosopher and entrepreneur are right there too. Which gives the person on the receiving end a pretty profound experience that goes so far beyond basic productivity stuff. There's a richness there that I appreciate in a huge way.

What you said about roles and how people stick us into familiar stories struck a chord with me. As usual, you've given me something to sit with and think about it, which is another thing I appreciate about you.

Thanks for sharing this here. It's big. And powerful. And awesome. Just like you.
.-= Fabeku´s last blog ..Sankofa Song video blog – Episode #1: Weird Instruments That Don’t Suck =-.

Nice job here Charlie. Forever fearless you are. And I guess I'm one of the ones who see all those personas interacting together in beautiful ways. It obvious to me that you may not be wearing a green suit for much longer, however you will continue to be a guardian for many, standing ready to serve the fullest expression of their creativity beginning with your own.

One of my teachers invited her students to strip away all of their attachments (aka identities) and do it on an annual basis. Partly to rediscover yourself again and partly because from where there is nothing, new growth begins very unlike what has gone before.

I'm happy to know you because you inspire me by being an example. I'm excited and happy for you. And Yay for well ups... again, fearlessly authentic.
.-= Mynde´s last blog ..What Are You Asking For? =-.