Friday, April 26, 2013

the Upside of the Downside Pt. III / III

Text and Photographs © Ralph M. Ferraro, MSW 2013
The day after my presentation – the day after not placing in the top three, I felt good, my energy was increasing. I felt renewed.
The feedback from the night before was beginning to bloom in my head. I needed to improve the organization of my speech based on the time frame. I had tried to weave three stories into my talk – the Sunday morning dilemma, the apparent divergent paths and the importance of searching for beauty and meditating on it. It dawned on me after talking with Gwen, that given the time frame, I was presenting too much material in too short a time frame. If I was giving a three hour presentation, the three stories could have been woven into the presentation in a smoother flow. Given the 7 minutes, I would have presented better if I had focused on the importance of the two key elements requried for placing one's intelllectual energy and emotional energy in a good feeling place, namely meditation (breathing) and searching for and focusing on the beauty that is within our experience.

Shortly after the contest two events happened: The bombing in Boston which dominated the news for days; and the opportunity to attend another Toastmasters meeting. I was asked to give a speech at the meeting. 
I gave a speech entitled, “Switching Gears.” I started my speech by focusing on pain and destruction – mentioning the recent bombing in Boston and the shooting at the school in Connecticut. As I mentioned these issues I raised and aggitated my voice. I displayed a photo of fractured colored lines on a black background. I pointed out that the jagged photo, the horrible acts that inflicted pain on people were energy exchanges that didn't connect that didn't work synergistically. These acts were fragmented, and negative destructive emotional energy.
I asked the group to take a deep breathe – 6 seconds in – 6 seconds out. I then showed three photos that expressed beautiful emotional energy. Once again I told my story of the 2” beautiful blue flower. I then shocked them. I told them that even when there are tragedies like the bombing and like the shootings, there is beauty there. I said that I didn't want to minimze the pain of the people who lost someone or the tragedy of those who died but there was a beauty within those events. Perhaps the beauty could be found in those who were still breathing, in those who risked their lives to help. The question I posed to them was “can we afford not to search for beauty whereever we are, and spend sometime drinking the beauty in, being grateful for the beauty – the flower – the fireworks – the abstract color photos that I shared with them. I pointed out that by getting up close and personal with the beauty that we find, we create a space within our thinking energies, within our feelings energies that renews us, that allows our special talents and creativity to emerge. As our talents and creativity emerge, we beging to create a better human experience for ourselves and for those who we encounter.
All of the attendees at the meeting enjoyed my presentation. When they gave their evaluation of my speech, they said that they could “feel the healing” – that connecting with beauty can refresh and energize them despite the tension that they may feel. One person said “Gee, with the week I had, I really needed that presentation.” There was a light joyous feeling in the room.
When one of the members asked about the availability of the photos, I said that I will have available next month some meditation podcasts with a series of photos, also the photos will be exhibited on the West side next month at a great restaurant, and that indiviudual metal prints are available. I also told them that I can be booked for Emotional Energy training or presentation for their group.

The Upside is I was able to grow from the downside. The Downside inspired me to enthusiastically share my emotional energy healing and my emotional energy photography.
Please follow my postings as new announcements about the meditation podcasts and the photo exhibition that will be coming soon.
Till the next time be well and prosper --- Rmf

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