Brands prosper through consistent core values

Uwe Hook, co-founder and CEO of BatesHook quotes Thomas Moore in today’s blog post, ”How to Build a Lasting Brand”:

“Because the soul has such deep roots in personal and social life and its values run so contrary to modern concerns, caring for the soul may well turn out to be a radical act, a challenge to accepted norms.” – Thomas Moore 

Hook continues, “Thomas Moore’s word aren’t just true for people, they’re also true for building lasting brands. For a brand to stand the tests of time, it has to have deep roots that help it stay true and valuable over time.” Hook bolds the take-away in the post: “The changing exterior is merely an adjustment to changing tastes, the interior core stays the same.”

Blogger quotes Moore about Jesus' sexuality

"Did Jesus have sex with Mary Magdalene?" asks Tom Rapsas in his post for Elephant.

Rapsas quotes Thomas Moore’s book, Writing in the Sand: Jesus and the Soul of the Gospels in his response.

He includes Moore’s observation, "What is shocking about the new view of Mary Magdalene and Jesus, of course, is the implication that Jesus was not celibate. People who see Jesus in an entirely spiritual light may have trouble considering the possibility that he was a sexual being as well. Yet ... if you’re going to acknowledge Jesus’ humanity, you have to include his sexuality."

Rapsas quotes Luke 7:43-46, translated in Moore's book, to convey Jesus' sensuality.

Matrimony, a form of soul work, impacts our world

Thomas Moore's book, The Soul of Sex provides the scaffolding for "The holy tree of Marriage," posted 14 June 2012, in which the blogger refers particularly to Moore's chapter "The Marriage Bed":

 “Matrimony is a form of soul work, and marriage is the most potent alembic available to us where we can become initiated into the rudiments of community and the basics of intimacy. In this context sex is the primary ritual. It’s one thing to resolve arguments and tensions in a marriage through conversation and counseling, but it’s another to perform the mysterious rite that addresses the deepest mysteries of the union.”

Passages shared underlie Moore's repeated concern that we need to expand our understanding of soul to hold more and we need to see how soul directly affects community and the world:

"Each marriage is a laboratory for the soul, and in each marriage lies the deeper laboratory of sex, the holy of holies, where passion, union, differences, pleasure, difficulties, and even work achieve their necessary balances. If couples realized the importance of their lovemaking and its impact on the world around them, from their children and neighbors to the nation and the world, they might have a less personalistic, less psychological view of their sexuality, and in that broadening they might enter into sex with larger vision and greater joy. Everything in life suffers when our vision of it is too small and too personal.”

Responses to this post appreciate the need to enlarge soul capacity.

Caution: Avoid life's ruts by listening to your soul

Sandra Guzman starts yesterday's blog post, "See the blessings that live beyond your immediate horizon", with a quote from Thomas Moore's Care of the Soul:

"A deepening of consciousness usually requires a strong move in life." 

 Following some examples of major life changes, Guzman writes, "These changes, however difficult or frightening they may be, Moore argues, are calls that come from deep and mysterious places and listening to them is life's work because it allows our souls to grow. In fact he posits, it is our soul that is speaking to us, begging to continue moving."

She references Carl Jung's interest in alchemy, highlighting the separatio stage and continues, "I love the concept that when burdened with the need to evolve we need to separate from our life, or lives as we knew them so that our ordinary existence can turn to gold." Moore continues this theme of alchemical transformation in his book, A Life at Work: The Joy of Discovering What You were Born to Do.

Personal development includes facing your shadow

Do you distinguish between "self help" and "personal development" books? Robert Everett does in his blog post today: "Personal development requires that you take a deep look at yourself, both good and bad, discover your truth, and then find a way to live that truth in a positive and productive way."  Everett includes Thomas Moore in his list of recommended authors:

"No, I'm not talking about the historical Thomas Moore. I'm talking about the modern-day author, psychologist, musician, blogger, spiritual seeker. His books on the soul and soulfulness are poetic and profound, bringing a lyrical quality to an often cut-and-dry field. His works are a must-read for anyone wanting to merge spirituality and soul into their daily lives."

Read Everett's post if you'd like to consider additional writers he endorses. See if your favourites are listed.

Honour the artist in you with your soul and passion

In today's blog post, "Creative name calling", Cindy La Ferle describes her art as therapeutic and creative. While she hesitates to call herself an artist, just as she used to question her role as a writer, La Ferle quotes Thomas Moore about the artist in each of us:

"In his landmark bestseller, Care of the Soul (HarperCollins), Thomas Moore insists that art is our birthright. He urges all of us to pull ”The Arts” down from the pedestal that renders them too precious. He reminds us that everyone is an artist when his or her work is crafted with soul and passion.

“Art is not found only in the painter’s studio or in the halls of a museum,” Moore writes. “In fact, when art is reserved as the province of professional artists, a dangerous gulf develops between the fine arts and the everyday arts.”

I often remind students in my writing workshops that every art or craft is as much about process as it is about product."

La Ferle also shares an Emerson quote: "Every artist was first an amateur."

Writer recommends ways to satisfy soul's desires

John McElhenney, self-described excitable learner, writer, dad, creative, author of The Twitter Way, writes "Love Money Ambition: Finding Your Sweet Spot and Career" about his love of writing. He shares:

"In Thomas Moore's Care of the Soul, he talks about listening to where your heart gets it's greatest excitement. When you talk to others, what topics and ideas really get your blood boiling. Perhaps that is where your soul will be most satisfied.

So I studied Creative Writing at an expensive university with no real idea of what I wanted to do for a living. I wanted to be a writer. I still want to be a writer. And in the last 25+ years since graduating, I have done a good bit of writing. And here's the kicker, I am a writer, simply by the act of writing. There is a difference between being a writer and making a living as a writer. But here's were the new economy gets interesting.

McElhenney describes his college program and his employment choices:

"In my highest ambition, I am sure I will publish a novel or two, at least a few tech books, and perhaps a screenplay. I would like to be seen, eventually, as a writer. That is my dream and my ambition. I am still pushing towards that idea every day.

And every day I am also working out how to pay my bills. Today I am about 80% of the way there. I am actually doing something I love, I believe in the power of communication and social media to change the world. I see it changing business and I am part of that change."

He concludes, "Find your "know and love" mix in "do for money" and never give up the "ambition and dreams." That's what college is for. Find the formula that works for you."