Tag: Imagination


Imagination is in our DNA

Ancient Technology That Powers Creativity – A talk on the People’s Stage, Wisdom 2.0, San Francisco February 2018.

Dont be confused by my accent. Born of Irish parents I lived in the UK until I was 10yrs old. I moved with my family to Ireland until my late 20s. Since then I have lived in the UK, Australia, New Zealand and the USA. My accent is chameleon.

The theme of my talk is that Imagination is ancient and it is a gift that comes ‘bundled’ in our DNA. The premise is that how you use your imagination determines your reality. My end result for the talk is to open up minds to the real possibilities of imagination and to pique curiosity to explore the magic of it.

We think imagination is child’s play – about playing make believe. But it is not. It is the key to FREEDOM when we know how to use it because with our imaginations we can make things up – we can make our dreams real and create what matters to us. We are fundamentally imaginative beings but there are two aspects to ourselves that vie to harness the power of our imaginations.

One aspect is wild, free, unfettered and focused on creativity – let’s call it SPIRIT.

The second is careful, cautious, rational and focused on past experience – let’s call it STORY.

Kodak is a great example of a company that was innovative in its time – founded in 1888 and up until 1976 had 90% of film sales and 85% of camera sales in the US. But then came Fuji followed by digital photography and Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2012. Kodak developed a digital camera in 1975, the first of its kind, but dropped it because of the fear that it would impact its film business.

On the other hand Apple is an obvious example of a company that has a history of being innovative launching products that we didnt know we needed while Netflix and Amazon have revolutionised their market sectors in the way they approached business.

On a personal note I am a dreamer and a procrastinator. In the lead up to the talk I conjured up all sorts of inessential activity including a road trip from Seattle to San Francisco. For those of you not from the USA that is ALOT of driving! I got to hang with some of my very favourite friends BUT it did put the squeeze on my preparation time for this talk.

These two aspects of SPIRIT and STORY co-exist in me so having the ability to shift the focus of my imagination is the difference between creating a reality of my choosing or getting side tracked and loosing sight of what matters to me. As I am trained in using my imagination creatively I daily put my focus imaginatively into the Vision of being on stage sharing my passion.

The talk takes you through using your imagination to shift your attention in relation to a problem you have from your STORY to your SPIRIT. I use a problem I have in the demonstration taking myself through some questions that reveal to me where my focus is and use my imagination to shift my focus.

Pick a problem you currently have. It could be about work, a relationship, about something that you would love to create but you have not got around to it – the book, that sabbatical, a weekend of hiking or a weekend of doing nothing…..It doesnt have to be a big problem – it could be that they had run out of your favourite muffin this morning at the store!

Our STORY communicates to us through our thoughts and feelings. My problem is about the book I am not writing.

The first question I want to know the answer to is ‘What am I thinking?’

What are your thoughts?

The second question I want to know the answer to is ‘What am I feeling?’

What are your feelings?

Our thoughts and feelings reveal the STORY and our imaginations create our reality. How would you summarise your STORY? And what is the reality you have created for yourself?

My STORY is “who wants to read what I have to write that and I cannot afford he time”…..this STORY is POWERING my imagination and basically I am spinning wheels going nowhere. No book. Similarly your story is powering your imagination to create your reality.

It was Einstein who said we cannot solve a problem with the same consciousness that we used to create it.

So lets switch from the consciousness of our STORY to the consciousness of SPIRIT. We do  this by connecting directly to our imaginations. Our SPIRIT does not communicate to us through our thoughts and feelings. SPIRIT talks to us directly through our imagination. The language of imagination is symbolic – that may be visual, sensory, auditory or just direct knowledge or awareness. As we are unique our language of imagination is unique.

Developing a creative relationship with imagination is about developing your ability to interpret and translate what you receive. You may already have a working relationship with your imagination or today may be Imagination 101 for you. Whichever it doesnt matter. As it is your language you can choose to learn it as you go.

Take a moment to be aware of your breath, it is helpful to close your eyes. There is no need to control or manage your breath, just allow it to oxygenate your body. To do what it does naturally and automatically. Now choose to be of SERVICE to yourself. Your heart is your highest level of intelligence and your highest good is its number one priority.

Breathe

Notice any thoughts, any feelings, notice your STORY. Whatever is going on in this moment doesnt matter. Imagine that you are somewhere that makes your heart sing – it may be outdoors in nature, or somewhere cosy with a good book. Your happy place. Wherever that is imagine you are there.

Breathe

Experience that place right now. Feel it. Hear it. See it. Taste it. Breathe it in.

Now imagine a golden circle. A clear clean space in this realm that you are in. Imagine this circle represents what really matters to you. You don’t need to know what that is just that the circle is a representation of that. Now imagine stepping into that circle.

Observe the first thing you get – it may be a feeling, an image, a sensation, a symbol. It can be anything but it is the first thing you get. You don’t have to know what it means but ask yourself:

what could it mean about you?

What could it mean about what matters to you?

What is the emotional quality of this space?

What does that emotion make you feel like doing?

When you are ready open your eyes and return to normal consciousness. Capture what you got on paper if you want to. It may make sense to you but dont worry if it doesn’t. Connect with the experience of it, the emotion of it.

What did you experience?

What did you learn?

Feel free to share in the comments below.

This is just a taster using this ancient technology. Innovative creators are renowned for their ability to bring together disparate ideas in new and unique combinations. Powered by SPIRIT imagination connects us to everything past, present and future in a non linear quantum reality. It is powerful, innovative, rule-breaking and life changing. It is radical. It is not for wimps. Innovation is not a function of DNA but rather a function of the ability to be able to determine the focus of your imagination.

I am not special BUT I have developed a living relationship with my imagination. I am using this technology to create an alternative STORY which I call my MYTH. A MYTH which is real, tangible and rich with meaning and magic. Some of my imagination creations:

  • Wiz-Biz a Business Mentoring program to inject magic into business – for wizard-business creators. A get together to serve each member imaginatively – this ensures that our businesses have heart, joy and real value for us rather than what we think the world wants from us.
  • CO:LLAB –  roving co-living, co-working project for like minded creators in beautiful parts of the world by the ocean.
  • Halcyon Days – a collaboration with Thea Allison, 5 day retreats in Greece to restore you to the richness of life. Diving deep into what matters to you and starting the process of making it real in your world.

Phil Knight founder of NIKE writes in his memoir ‘Shoe Dog’ of a moment long before his multi- million dollar business was a reality

‘I had an aching sense that our time is short, shorter than we ever know, short as a morning run, and I wanted mine to be meaningful, and purposeful. And creative. And important. Above all….different’

Phil was a runner before jogging was invented. He loved running but being a athlete wasn’t all that he wanted. So he wondered ‘What if there were a way without being an athlete, to feel what athlete’s feel? To play all the time, instead of working? Or else to enjoy work so much that it becomes essentially the same thing’. Phil’s words speak to me.

I love working with the technology of imagination, infinitely curious about what it reveals to me and my clients about what is important and to the crazy, beautiful, possibilities it inspires us to step up to. It is play, glorious play and it is heart warming to liberate people’s minds and open their hearts.

We sell ourselves short when we argue that unique creativity is only available to the chosen few e.g. Mozart, Picasso, Steve Jobs, Elon Musk. Imagination is neutral. We all have it. Being uniquely creative, being an innovator is a choice about how we use our imagination. Before I learnt that I could focus my imagination I was using it to power my STORY. Now I use it to power my creativity.

I am reminded of Don Juan in the writings of Carlos Castenada as he muses

‘Does this path have a heart? If it does, the path is good; if it doesn’t, it is of no use. Both paths lead nowhere; but one has a heart, the other doesn’t.’

Why wouldn’t you choose the path of your heart? My invitation to you is to connect with your SPIRIT and feel the freedom of your IMAGINATION to focus your energy and your gifts on creating and innovating rather than resolving the problems in your life.

If you want to road test that process again you can access a FREE DOWNLOAD here

Superconscious Thinking: 5 Steps to Access Your Genius

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It was Daniel Pink in his book A Whole New Mind who said the “The future belongs to a very different kind of person with a very different kind of mind—creators and empathizers, pattern recognizers, and meaning makers.”

The only thing we can be certain of is change.  Whether we are living in a time of more or less change is immaterial what is important is that we can be comfortable with it, work with it and ultimately welcome it.  When we do this we make connections that haven’t been made before and these connections facilitate us to bring something new into being.  Then we become one of the ‘different kind’ of people who belong to the future because we have created it.

We are led to believe that genius belongs to an elite.  That people like Steve Jobs or Elon Musk are one-offs: that what they do and how they do it is not repeatable but it was Jobs that said “I began to realize that an intuitive understanding and consciousness was more significant than abstract thinking and intellectual logical analysis.”

Whether we believe it or not this kind of consciousness is available to all of us and whether we like it or not it does influence our lives.  It is the quiet voice that we hear in meditation, when we choose to be mindful or perhaps unexpectedly when we spontaneously disengage from the cacophony of life.  This is the voice of true intuition – what the mind apprehends before rationalising.  A voice that we oft times ignore but in hindsight realise it’s truth.

We all have the faculty and capability to become super conscious thinkers.  My invitation to you is to cultivate a super conscious connection to proactively access your own well of unique potential.  To embody super conscious thinking cultivate a daily practise. Meditation is the process but the end result is wisdom. Start with 5-10 mins in the morning, somewhere quiet where you can be comfortable and preferably close your eyes.  Here are some easy guidelines to follow:

1. Be curious: you don’t have to believe or know to check out what super conscious thinking is about.  There is no condition that precludes you from being able to access your genius. Consider what if……what if you were a genius and a super conscious thinker what would life be like then?

2. Acknowledge your thoughts and feelings: your thoughts and feelings do exist but they are not a reflection of true reality.  They are a reflection of your past experience, your fears, your doubts, a reflection of the world as you learnt to see it. Remember the quiet voice I talked about earlier – well thoughts and feelings are what drown out the quiet voice.  Acknowledging them turns down the sound.

3. Choose yourself: this time IS about you, about accessing your gifts, your talents and ultimately finding out what is important to you. It is NOT about planning your day, working out the logistics of your home life or solving the problems of the world.

4. Let go of the need to know: Nothing has to make sense or to be worked out. That is for later on in your day!

5. Connect with your genius: imagine a golden circle or if you are not visual just know it is there and choose to step into it.  Remember the first thing that your mind apprehends is the gold nugget of the super conscious thinker.  Be with that, you don’t need to know what it is or what it means.  Ask yourself what it feels like to be here in your genius. Choose that emotion for the day.

You will discover that super conscious thinking doesn’t just put you in touch with your deepest self but – and this might seem a bit out there – like a sci-fi version of the internet it will connect you to all that is, in a place beyond the space time continuum.  From here it is possible to create what really matters to you because you are guided by the engine room of your soul.

Biography

Anne is an experienced innovation and technology professional with over 30 years experience. A hallmark of her experience is the early adoption of new technologies such as hand held computers for revenue collection, the first paperless office in the UK and workflow systems for offshore business process outsourcing.  Involved in a number of global projects Anne had to lead virtual teams from a variety of vendors challenged by time zone, language and cultural differences.  She was compelled to find tools to bring the best of diverse contributions and talents to together and she learnt about the subtle power of coaching to create synergy.  Anne now refers to this as the ‘Technology of Superconscious Thinking’ and has evolved a way of bring all her experience together to create end results that can often appear to be impossible.  She  works with a number of private clients in the UK, US, Singapore and Australia making personal and career transitions and with companies who are willing to innovate and commit to the potential of people in their organisations.

For more information on how to create super consciously email your details to [email protected] and Anne will get back to you for a 15 min consultation on how the technology of super consciousness can be applied for you personally or your business.

What is intuitive coaching?

“A warrior chooses a path with heart, any path with heart, and follows it; and then he rejoices and laughs. He knows because he sees that his life will be over altogether too soon. He sees that nothing is more important than anything else” ~ Carlos Castaneda

I am Anne. I guarantee inspiration and momentum for the curious through teaching and sharing the technology of superconsciousness and imagination.IMG_2814

“What is the work you do about?  What can I expect from an intuitive coaching session?”  Two great questions and an opportunity to share what intuitive coaching is about.

Often I am asked if what I do is life coaching.  The short answer is yes but, and it is a big BUT, intuitive coaching is life coaching not as you might know it.  The work I do is a creative modality using imagination and intuition which are tools that serve the agenda of the heart rather than the mind.   I use techniques that allow you to step beyond your limiting beliefs, assumptions and definitions to get a full 360 degree picture of what it is you truly want to create.  Even if you only choose one session the orientation will be creative.  When you choose a longer programme of work I share and teach you to use the techniques for yourself through coaching and training workshops. You don’t need to do any preparation for a session, you don’t even have to know what you love beforehand.  All I ask is that you be open and curious.

It takes courage to do what you love and to maintain focus and commitment to following through. Doing what you love maybe obvious but the distractions of life’s busyness get in the way, or perhaps you don’t know what it is you love or understand how to go about creating it or how you could possibly be fulfilled doing it. The work I do is about guiding you to create that which is truly congruent for you.  It is action oriented, it is about moving you forwards on your path. Whatever your challenge with the path of the heart I can be your guide. I have dedicated the past 8 yrs to staying on the path of my heart, despite the mist, the fog, the obstacles and the sneaky side paths.

What you can expect in a session:

Values:  The values of confidentiality and service are key to the work I do.  The intention will be to serve you, in confidence, to get to a place where you experience what is true for you and you have the clarity and certainty to take the course of action to make this real.

End Result:  Clarity on the path that is true for you with relationship to the challenge or question that you arrive with and a clear course of action to take to actualise what is true for you.

Format:  The majority of my sessions are online over Skype/Facetime.  The average session is 60 to 75 minutes.  You are advised to allow a little time to absorb the session afterwards so a 2 hour window in your diary is ideal to give you the time and space you might need.

Structure:  All sessions are clearly structured.  The specifics will be dependent on whether the session is a one off session or part of a coaching programme but an initial session will have two parts.  The first part is based around a simple set of questions that you will be asked to answer automatically – whatever comes in to your head is ok in this space.  The second part of the session is about tapping into the space of imagination and intuition using a little meditation and the conversation of story telling.  This is an open and free format but my gift is to navigate the way to the end result we have established for you.

What do I need to do before a session?  There is nothing that you need to do or bring to a session but I invite you to be curious and open to learn.

What can I expect after a session?  People have different experiences after the sessions; you may feel energised or quiet but without exception everyone feels like they have connected with who they truly are.  This can be freeing or mind blowing but regardless it is awesome – have a look at Success Stories if you want to see more.

How much do sessions cost?  As part of a coaching programme sessions are typically £100 each.  One off sessions cost £175 + depending on your requirement.  Bursary options may be available depending on funds.

I offer a FREE 15 minute Technology Of Imagination consultation when you are ready to follow your heart path. Fill in your details below.  Options include:

  • Dynamiting session to explore a specific challenge
  • FindYourMojo sessions to dive into your core talents and way of being (expanding on the FindYourMojo app on the Apple Store)
  • Vision Questing to establish your core goals and guide you to creating them (tailored to meet your needs)

 

In Defence of True Augmented Reality

My Computer VAugment is derived from the old French verb augmenter to increase , make bigger, enlarge, make richer.  And reality we all know what that is about.  It is our experience in the here and now or as the dictionaries put it something that exists as opposed to imagined.

So to augment reality – is to enlarge, increase, enrich our existence what we are experiencing right now.  I love the concept, I believe in the concept to the extent that I see it as the only way of being and living. Who wouldnt want an augmented reality?  One that improves on what already is.

Cut to the world of technology where all the good stuff is and augmented reality becomes something else.  It acquires a capital A, a capital R and a hint of a swagger.  In this world augmented reality is a shadow of its potential; truthfully it is about mediated reality where technology becomes a foil to enhance one’s current perception of reality.  Now don’t get me wrong; I love technology.  I spent 30 years working as a techie, I am in awe of its ability to keep us connected, create new connections, allow us to work from home, facilitiate global collaborations and keep delivering yet more gorgeous, shiny trinkets.  I design apps for God’s sake.  What is there not to love about technology!  Well yes.  It is the danger of arrogance, the blinding light of brilliance, when technology becoming our everything and we throw the baby out with the bathwater.

Augemented Reality is a loud, cocky imposter.  True augmented reality is a function of imagination; everything we experience is from our imagination, the technology that we have is from someone’s imagination.  Let us not forget that imagination is a tool that we all have access to.  It is there for the taking, it is free, it open source, we came bundled with it.  Sadly someone forgot to put that in our manual, in the education system, in fact it is actively deprogrammed in many educational environments.   Too basic for the sophisticates.  Let us not forget that we all have access to imagination, we just need to believe, take the time to reconnect with the pathway of intuition that takes us there and take follow through action that comes from our individual ability to join the dots and create connections that have never been thought of before.

Anne K. Scott is an Imagination Technologist who uses the tools of intuition to live her life and support others discover their intuitive uniqueness to enrich their realities.  She also loves technology for what it brings to the party e.g. her SatNav4TheSoul tool box and Google’s Picasa which enhanced the ‘V’ on her computer keypad to look like a heart.

For more information on the work that Anne does check out Coaching or drop me a line:

The Power Is In You

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Last Sunday the 9th February 2014 I was in Los Angeles completing the third day of William Whitecloud’s inaugural Million $ Book Club Congress. William is the best selling author of The Magician’s Way and The Last Shaman. William’s books are engaging stories wrapped around fundamental truths and premises that have the power to change lives. William by his own admission felt ill prepared to be a writer but he had a calling to share his wisdom. He did not write his books by following formulae or 10 step programmes but rather he used his intuition and imagination to connect with his genius and manifest high level creative function; creating unique stories that made connections that hadn’t been made before. And who wouldnt want some of that.

William’s weekend is not so much a course as a journey, one which 23 brave souls were up for. The consolation was company but the rewards proved to be individual, unique and beyond expectation. The bar was set high right from the start, William asserts that to operate at High Level Creative Function we have to understand consciousness and that starts with knowing ourselves. I was brought up close and personal with my deluded relationship with writing which swings between pointless futility and the arrogance of platitudes from some self-important sense of purpose. A place devoid of joy, frustrating as fuck and makes writing feel like extracting blood from a stone. The tension I experience is painful but revealing the truth of my egoic agenda takes the power out of it and truth, to quote William is the ‘fuel of a powerful creator’.

William unwraps his intuitive tools, shares how to use them and guides us to purposefully use our imaginations to see the potential of our genius offering; I experience expansiveness, gentleness, simplicity and vulnerability. A place where writing is a joyful unfolding, a mystery to be followed, a way of being infinitely curious. I am free to see who I truly can be as a writer and now ready to experience tension as the engine room of my genius and creativity. We learn that tension is the writer’s friend and it is our ability to master tension that determines the quality of the end results that we create.

On day three with the tension resolution system in place we are all poised to dive into the specifics of what we would love to write be it a book, a play, a movie script or poetry. All options are possible. The framework that William uses for writing; Theme, Premise, Qualities and Emotion is arrived intuitively and it ensures ample space for genius to emerge as an unadulterated offering from our Muse. I saw the book I want to write; simpler, more beautiful, compelling and revelationary. No longer is it The Quest rather it is A Journey, no longer is it about certainty and knowledge, it is about awareness and vulnerability about the revelation of a deeply imaginative sexuality – in the words of my Muse.

Returning from America, a week has passed, in the spaces between the jetlag I spy the divil of resistance. Under the covers of catching up and reconnecting I see the pariah of distraction. My personal saboteurs lurking at the wings but I know about them now, I see them, I can choose not to give them the power but to be professional to turn up as a writer regardless of the conditions and circumstances and choose to meet my Muse and write from my genius. It is a choice.

Follow the links to find out more about William Whitecloud and the Million $ Book Club

Photograph: On the Camino 2012 courtesy of Tobias Schade

I love the space where the earth meets the sea

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Tramore Bay

I grew up in the space where the earth meets the sea in Tramore, Co. Waterford in Ireland.  I love this space and am drawn to it wherever I travel.  This time last year I was in California in the romantically named Half Moon Bay looking west across the Pacific Ocean, being filled to expansiveness in the space where the earth meets the sea.  This is what I wrote:

Early in 2009 I was introduced to the concept of living my life intuitively and establishing goals created from my imagination. This blew my mind; intuitive choices are not SMART goals. They are often not specific, far from measurable, as to attainable, realistic & timely well I had brain freeze when my imagination advised me that I wanted to be a global warrior of discovery leading the way and connecting people through the warmth of technology. What the bleep!…..! Almost four years on I feel exactly like a global warrior of discovery. I now create choices as New Year resolutions and wait to see them manifest just by gentle consistent action to connect with each choice intuitively.

As of February 2012 I have been on the road, following the breadcrumbs to live and work a life guided by my heart. In the past 5 months I have been sailing in the San Blas Islands in Panama, collecting shells on the freezing shoreline of Satellite beach in Florida, sipping coffee overlooking the chilly surf in Ireland and today I have just walked the Half Moon Bay coastal trail in California. I dont tell you this to impress but rather to illustrate the penny dropping of a choice created intuitively. I love the space where the earth meets the sea. This choice has effortlessly being manifesting in my life almost unbeknownst to me. Lovely lyrical wording that at a logical level sounds like I love the shoreline but putting it like that underestimates my journey and the experiences I have had. I notice that I am drawn to walk along the shifting line where the sea tickles the land; I love the treasures that are found there and tell tale trail of ocean detritus that mark the segue of the tides but there is so much more.

I recollect that one of my favourite distractions in school was my geography homework. I was particularly drawn to maps and to drawing maps using a rainbow selection of coloured markers to artistically mark out where land masses and bodies of water came together. I would get lost in these creations to the detriment of less inspiring subjects such as physics or chemistry. My submissions were works of art. At the time I had no idea why I was so compelled to pour so much love into such a narrow activity. Now I make up that I had a deep knowing that there was something about that space that opens up inspiration and creates energy for me.

When I am tired or overwhelmed being by the ocean calms me, sleeping on the ocean soothes me, sailing the seas expands my mind, distracts me from the rational and steeps me in my imagination. I am always refreshed, energised and thinking expansively after a spell by the sea. I am rushed by the wild chaotic femininity of the sea and the steadfast masculine anchoredness of the land, I love the fusion of these two forces at the shoreline each bringing their own gifts together to create a space that is a child born of the two. Whether looking at a map, hunkering over a magical tide pool, drinking in the San Mateo hills, watching kite surfers dancing around the jagged tooth Maverick rocks, being tricked by warm sun & cold breezes, ear wigging on conferences of gulls or buzzed by macho pelicanos there is magic in this place. I am not alone in my fascination with this space – there is a nebulous yearning that rivets many of us to Coast, the magnificent BBC TV creation now on its eighth series, which exquisitely charts life in the space where land and sea come together.

Today I was filled to overflowing with a knowing that goes beyond understanding that where the earth meets the sea opens up doors for me that are foundational to living the fullness of the life I love. I am ready to sign off on the creation of this choice and embed it as a fundamental underlying structure in my life. No longer is visiting the sea a nice to have in my life it is a basic necessity and I am looking forward now to diving deeper into that space by creating a new choice to lead me to more discovery.