| A Return to Joy & Passion An interview with Alan Cohen by Christine MacLennan Alan Cohen, M.A., is the author of 20 popular inspirational books and tapes, including the best-selling The Dragon Doesn't Live Here Anymore and the award-winning book, A Deep Breath of Life. Alan's syndicated column, From the Heart appears in new thought magazines internationally. He lives in Maui, Hawaii, where he conducts retreats in spiritual growth and visionary living. Cohen brings a warm blend of wisdom, intimacy, humor and vision to the spiritual path. He travels often throughout the United States and internationally presenting seminars. In conjunction with Unity Village Retreats, Cohen will present "Looking In For Number One" June 5-8 at Unity Village, Mo. Combined with dynamic events sponsored by Unity Village Retreats and the sacred beauty of Unity Village, this weekend will inspire spiritual transformation, renewal and inspiration. For reservations, call (816) 251-3540 or visit Unity's website at www.unityworldhq.org The following is a recent interview with Alan Cohen on his upcoming event and his inspiring work. I know in your new book, Looking In for Number One, you start out talking about how you heard a voice over your clock radio one morning and found out later it was the voice of Eric Butterworth, a Unity minister in New York City. The voice said, "Know who you are. You are not just a body. You are not just your emotions. You are not your experiences. You are a spiritual being here to experience joy." You certainly seem to be doing that. You travel around the world and speak to audiences. You live in Maui, write books, and you get paid for it. My main question to you is how have you been able to breakthough mainstream thought and create such a joyous life experience for yourself? Cohen: It's really an ongoing process. I think one has to be very honest about how everything feels. For instance, when I do things that don't match my spirit or I'm trying to live up to someone else's expectations or just follow the crowd, I usually feel smaller or worse. But when I listen to my intuition, my higher voice, the voice of God and I do things with a sense of joy and creativity, I feel really good and things turn out better. So my life has been an experiment in trying those different voices on for size and acting on them. It's a fine-tuning process of getting in touch with that joy voice and living from it. Do you think it's that simple? You could just follow that joy voice -- that really good feeling. Cohen: Yes, it really is that simple. One of my earlier books is called Joy is My Compass. I thought it was a great title, because it is a great affirmation. Someone said that the truth is simple; if it were complicated, everybody would understand it. So you are saying that as we are able to feel those feelings of joy -- that joy voice -- and we follow it, we are guided to what is going to be the perfect response to what we are seeking? Cohen: Exactly. It takes a leap of faith to begin to trust that God does want us to be happy and that when we do something that makes us joyful it really is the joy of God. God's will for us is happiness, and if you believe God's will is suffering or struggle or pain then you will follow that voice and it won't get you very far. You'll think, "I'm doing God's will," but it's the exact opposite. God seeks for us to be creative, celebratory beings. God's happy and we're happy -- it's a good match. So it's about just trusting and learning how to hear and feel that joy voice saying go this way, and even though we might not have gone that way before it's a way that will expand into more joy. Cohen: Exactly. In my workshops I do a very simple exercise -- so simple that it's almost unbelievable. But people get a lot out of it. Do you want to do it now? Sure! Cohen: Do you have a coin handy? Yes! Cohen: Take out any coin. Tell me, is there any decision you have been struggling with? For instance, to live one place or another, be in a relationship or not, stay in a job or not, to buy a Honda or Toyota? Is there anything you are sort of going back and forth on? Yes. I'm thinking of a creative project I'm not quite sure I'm going to pursue it or not. Cohen: Ok let's play with that one. Let's say that you are going to flip the coin and heads says you are going to do that project and tails mean your not going to do it. The way the game works is: You are going to flip it and then you are going to imagine that the one that comes up is actually the one you are going to follow through on. You are going to let go of the other one and just dive in that direction no matter what. Once you flip it and see what comes up, pay attention to the feeling that bubbles up in your chest, your heart and your solar plexus. You are going to have a visceral sensation like, "Yeah, that feels good" or "No, that feels crummy." And then you are going to tell me what you felt as soon as you notice what it is. Got the idea? Got it! Cohen: Go for it. Christine: It's heads. Alan: OK, so heads is to do it. Now, quickly, what happens inside you when you see that. I feel excited and I'm smiling. I feel good. Cohen: So what you did was get in touch with your joy voice. The decision you sought to make matched your joy voice, and it felt good. Now, if it had come up tails and you felt crummy or contracted or depressed, it would show you that that particular path did not match your joy voice. So you win and learn either way. If it comes up something and it feels good, then that's it. If it comes up something and it doesn't feel good then that's not it. I teach people to use this exercise even for little decisions, like "What should I order off the menu?" or "Do I go away this weekend?" or "Do I buy that particular car?" Of course, you really don't need a coin in the long run. You just try that particular decision on for size, and in every moment your inner being is broadcasting to you where your joy lives. When you feel good about something, that means your inner being is saying yes. When you are feeling crummy about something, your inner being is saying no. It sounds very simplistic, but most people go into their head or into their past programming about this stuff and they don't honor that inner voice when it speaks. They override it.The idea is to step back from the voice that overrides it and, in a very childlike way, move with the energy instead of bucking it or denying it. What if the coin came up "No"? And I would have felt "No"! I don't want that. Would that have been my inner being sending me a signal, making it apparent to me that I really do want to pursue the project -- and when I saw a "No" then that made me clear that I do want to do it. Cohen: That's exactly it. See some people just do the exercise and they think you are supposed to do what the coin says, but that's not it. You are supposed to use what the coin says to get in touch with what you really want to do. The trick is you have to be honest about what you feel. If your mind comes in and tries to override the feeling, you get confused. Could you tell me about your writing process? Cohen: There are two ways it happens. The first one is when I'll be going through my day and I'll get an idea. I'll get fabulous ideas throughout the day just through daily life experiences and I'll write them down on a napkin or matchbook, or my notebook, and then the next time I get to my computer I'll sit down and just take off on that theme. That's just acting from inspiration. The other way is I'll sit down every morning early as soon as I get up and I'll just start writing. I'm usually already working on something and as I get into it and I focus on it very deeply, I get into a rhythm. A channel opens up, if you will, and I get connected to inspiration and it just flows. I go into what I'd call, for lack of a better term, a mild trance. I don't like that word, because people think its hypnotic. It's like an altered state where I'm not trying to write, but I'm letting the words flow. I'll be sitting there for two, three, four hours and I don't even remember the hours. Then I look and I have a chapter in my hands or a couple pages. It's almost like I allow spirit to flow through me and that's what comes out. What's your process? The morning is the best time for me. I ask questions and then I just start getting answers. It's like a dialogue back and forth. As far as creative self-expression, do you think that is something that we need to master in order to have a joyous life? Cohen: Yes. The word I would choose is not so much "master" as "allow." It's not something you make happen, but something you let happen. I think our inner being is always knocking at our door to express ourselves creatively. The people who let that energy move are the true artists, musicians, writers and teachers. If you stifle it in any way, you start to feel frustrated, upset and depressed, and you're not really living your life. I think Carl Jung said that unless you get to tell your story, you go psychotic -- and I don't think he meant just telling a story. I think he meant live from your inner being, live from that creative place. Do you believe we can have it all when we discover that we are creators ultimately? Cohen: Oh yes, totally, totally. Every single person on the planet is an immensely creative being, and if we just trust that, then our life would really work. The problem is that you get to school at age 5 and rather than drawing your creativity forth, in most cases they kind of pound it out of you by forcing you to conform and do things that they ask of you. If they just let kids roll with their natural energy, lots of good things will come forth. When you create something, do you focus on what you want? How does creation come forth? Say you want to create something. How does that process work for you? Cohen: I wouldn't really say that I ever decide to create anything. It's almost like the thing decides to create through me. An idea will kind of crash into my brain and then it won't let me go until I do something about it. I'll just get excited about an idea and it just wants to take life through me. I never really sit around and think of what I'm going to create. It's more of a matter of just deciding which idea that has gotten my attention I'm going to work on next. And then it guides you and it brings you more joy in your life? Cohen: It really has a life of its own. I sort of have this belief that the book has already been written by spirit and it's just asking me to bring it through -- to be as true to the actual thing that wants to come through as I can. That's why I'll sit with a page or a chapter and kind of play with it. I'll add or subtract until I'll feel that ahh! -- it's just right. If it's not just right, it will kind of bug me and I'll stay with it until it's just right. I don't really think I'm sitting around just trying to figure out what's right. I'm just trying to tune into what's already right about it. So you can just feel, "oh I should leave that out or add that." Cohen: Like when Michelangelo sculpted David, he was asked, "How did you do it?" He said, "I saw David in the stone and I chipped away everything that wasn't David." So it's the same kind of thing. It's already there. You are just trying to draw it forth. I've heard you are really good at helping people get back in touch with their joy and passion. Could you tell us what people could expect at your upcoming retreat at Unity Village, Mo., on June 5-8. Cohen: It's really an exercise in getting back in touch with our joy and our passion and trusting that who we really are is good enough to have all the things that we want. So what I'll do is a series of processes that I invite people to go through that remind them how wonderful and creative and beautiful they really are. Being in that space of really knowing that calls it forth and it starts to become more real than our doubts and fears. I do a retreat in Maui that is somewhat similar and when somebody goes through that experience we say, "Another one bites the light!" Do you think at that point that something is really dissolved pre-consciously, so you don't have to keep repeating some weird pattern? Cohen: Yes, because the truth is that once you experience how good it feels to be free and be yourself, all those other nagging thoughts don't have the same power over you that they once did. A belief is just a pattern of thought, and once you get that it isn't really serving you, and that something better is available to you, then anyone in their right mind would pursue the better. So the retreat I'm going to do at Unity will give people a chance to actually experience that in a gentle space, which allows them be totally relaxed and free. Then, of course, there is no limit, because once you go home and start putting the experiences into action, then your life really changes. We get many wonderful letters and e-mails from folks after these retreats telling us about stuff that was stuck for a long time that starts moving -- and then the miracles and blessings start happening. For more on Alan Cohen go to www.alancohen.com or call 1 (800) 568-3079. Or to register for his upcoming retreat, "Looking In for Number One" on June 5-8 at Unity Village, call for reservations at (816) 251-3540. Christine MacLennan is a writer and editor for Unity Village, freelance writer and a Certified Speaking Circle Facilitator. Contact her at 816-524-3550 or e-mail her maclennancl@unityworldhq.org Copyright © 2003 Christine MacLennan |
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