Clowns for Peace
JOIN THE MOVEMENT! 17 members now!Part 1: The Flow of Love
Introduction
The flow of water
Micko says the Flow of Love is like the flow of water in a garden hose.
Here we see HappyGardener in the new rock garden. HappyGardener has been gardening plants and flowers for years and heard about rock gardens and decided to grow a rock garden.
HappyGardener just bought a brand new water hose to water the rock garden.
Micko says there are different ways we can influence the flow of water.
For instance, Micko says we can prevent the water from flowing through the hose.
We don’t do this on purpose, we just allow things to happen in a way that prevent the flow.
Notice that HappyGardener is standing on the hose which is preventing the flow of water.
Or we can allow allow a trickle of water to flow.
Again, Micko says this doesn’t have to be a conscious act, we can allow things to happen in such a way that allow other things to happen.
Notice that HappyGardener has shifted the foot in such a way that a trickle of water is flowing.
But HappyGardener still doesn’t understand the flow of water.
Or we can allow a full flow of water.
Again, Micko says this doesn’t have to be a conscious thing.
Notice that HappyGardener has lifted the foot off of the hose, allowing a full flow of water.
See how happy HappyGardener is now that there is a full flow of water and the rock garden can be watered!
The Flow of Love
In a similar way, Micko says, we can influence the Flow of Love in our lives —we can prevent the flow, allow only a trickle, or allow the full flow of Love.
And again, this is usually not a conscious decision.
Micko says there are 3 different types of Love Flow: Self-Love, Other-Love, and World-Love.
Self-Love
Micko says it’s very important to give Love to ourselves because this allows Love to Flow within our bodies due to improved self-perceptions. Loving ourselves allows the Love hormone oxytocin to flow freely through our body.
Self-love means that you accept yourself fully, treat yourself with kindness and respect, and nurture your growth and wellbeing.
Ways we can love ourselves include simply having nice thoughts about ourselves, meditation, mindfulness, positive self-affirmations, gratitude, and sending Loving Kindness to ourselves.
Micko's favorite technique is the mirror routine. Micko holds up a mirror to look at Micko's face and has positive thoughts about the self.
Other-Love
Another type of Love Flow is Other-Love.
You can manifest Other-Love in many ways in your interactions with other clowns, including being friendly, being kind, smiling to others, being patient with others, being tolerant of different customs or behaviors, helping others, donating to good causes, volunteering, creating a career in the helping professions, and of course sending your Love to others in your Loving Kindness meditation.
Like Self-Love, Other-Love greatly increases the flow of the Love hormone Oxytocin in you and in many cases such as helping another clown it increase flow of oxytocin in the clown you are interacting with.
LoveBlossoms (Barbara Fredrickson) talks about micro-moments of connection that she says are the hightest form of Love.
[ ] Links to more info about this, and maybe to the walking to the store sequence.
Here we see Micko waving to another clown while driving by.
World-Love
Micko says that World-Love is a very powerful form of Love Flow.
There are many ways we can manifest World-Love: enjoying nature, recycling, opening our hearts to other clowns around our world, being tolerant of different customs and beliefs, minimizing our carbon footprint, engaging in environmental activities, finding new ways to make products that are not harmful to our environment, cleaning up our beaches and roads, not littering, and of course sending our Love to the trees, plants and animals around our world in our Loving Kindness meditation.
Being-Love (Abraham Maslow) talked about the “synergy” between individual clowns and their communities, pointing out that when harmonious both the community and individuals experience more positive outcomes.
Micko created this website to help others create a world of Peace and Love. Micko believes that we can do this if we all work at sharing our Love and if we teach young clowns to share their Love.
Our choices!
Micko emphasizes that it is the choices we make – or don’t make – that determine our Love Flow.
Will we choose to prevent our Love Flow, allow a trickle of Love Flow, or allow a full Flow of our Love?
Below you can check out some examples of how our choices determine our Love Flow.
Prevent Love Flow
Trickle of Love Flow
Full Love Flow
Self-Love
Dum-Dum is trying to learn to juggle, but puts self down because keeps dropping tomatos.
Or, Dum-Dum is discouraged but hopes maybe more practice will help.
Or, Dum-Dum is determined to learn to juggle no matter how long it will take.
Other-Love
Dum-Dum enters a pie throwing contest, but unfortunately throws a pie in the face of the judge of the contest. Once again, Dum-Dum puts self down and feels worthless. The judge is very angry.
Or, Dum-Dum feels bad but also feels compassion for the judge for looking so silly with pie on face. The judge, still angry, feels some compassion for how Dum-Dum must feel.
Or, Dum-Dum overcomes bad feelings and starts helping the judge clean the pie up. The judge also overcomes anger and feels gratitude for help cleaning up.
World-Love
Dum-Dum walks in nature enjoying the smells and the scenery, trips over a baby skunk and tips it over. Once again, Dum-Dum puts self down, feeling worthless. The mama skunk is very angry.
Or, while feeling bad about self, DumDum also feels some compassion for the poor baby skunk on it's back.
And the mama skunk, although still a little angry, feels some compassion for how the clown feels.
Or, Dum-Dum works through self-pity and feels great compassion for the poor baby skunk and picks it up to cuddle with it. And mama works through her anger and gets back to her normal loving kindness for all living beings.
Two way Love Flow
But there is a big difference between the flow of water and the Flow of Love.
Water only flows one way, but the Flow of Love flows in more than one way!
LoveBlossoms (Barbara Fredrickson) talks about micro-moments of “connection” when two clowns share positive emotions and mutual caring says this is the highest form of Love [link].
But remember that it is our choices that determine this two-way Love Flow!
Check out these examples.
Prevent Love Flow
Trickle of Love Flow
Full Love Flow
Self-Love
Dum-Dum has a self-fulfilling prophecy: the more Dum-Dum puts self down the more a negative self-image is created.
Dum-Dum has a self-image that includes some negative elements and some positive elements.
Dum-Dum has a self-fulfilling prophecy: the more Dum-Dum focuses on confidence the more a positive self-image is created.
Other-Love
If both Dum-Dum and the judge only focus on their frustration and their anger no Love will Flow back and forth.
If both Dum-Dum and the judge open their hearts a little a trickle of Love can Flow.
If both Dum-Dum and the judge get past their negative emotions and open their hearts fully, a Full Flow of love can happen.
World-Love
If Dum-Dum only focuses on personal frustration and mama skunk only focuses on her anger no Love will Flow.
If both Dum-Dum and mama open their hearts a little a trickle of Love can Flow.
If both Dum-Dum and mama get past their negative emotions and open their hearts, a Full Flow of love can happen.
LoveSight
Prevent Love Flow
Trickle of Love Flow
Full Love Flow
Self-Love
Dum-Dum has a self-fulfilling prophecy: the more Dum-Dum puts self down the more a negative self-image is created.
Mindsight: "Here I go again"!
Dum-Dum has a self-image that includes some negative elements and some positive elements.
LoveSight: "I am frustrated, but maybe if I keep practicing I will do better"
Dum-Dum has a self-fulfilling prophecy: the more Dum-Dum focuses on confidence the more a positive self-image is created.
LoveSight: "I'm going to prctice untill I learn this! And I''m doing so much better now! I only dropped one tomato this time"!
Other-Love
If both Dum-Dum and the judge only focus on their frustration and their anger no Love will Flow back and forth. DumDum mindsight: "I'm a bad clown" Judge mindsight: "Bad clown".
If both Dum-Dum and the judge open their hearts a little a trickle of Love can Flow. DumDum LoveSight: "The judge is upset, I need to help clean up the pie. It feels good to help clean up" Judge LoveSight: This clown is not so bad, made a mistake and is trying to help me. It feels good".
If both Dum-Dum and the judge get past their negative emotions and open their hearts fully, a Full Flow of love can happen. DumDum LoveSight: "This really feels good helping clean the pie from the judges face. I'm feeling some warm feelings toward the judge". Judge LoveSight: "I really like this clown for caring about the pie on my face I'm feeling some nice feelings".
World-Love
If Dum-Dum only focuses on personal frustration and mama skunk only focuses on her anger no Love will Flow. DumDum MindSight: "I screwed up again! I'm such a terrible clown"! Mama skunk MindSight: "That clown is such a bad clown! I think I'll have to spray to teach a lesson"!
If both Dum-Dum and mama continue to open their hearts a little a trickle of Love can Flow. DumDum LoveSight: "Oh, this little skunk is so cute! I'm having some nice feelings. Mama seems a little upset, I hope she doesn't spray me!" Mama skunk LoveSight: "Well, the dumb clown feels bad and seems to like my baby. Maybe I won't spray. We'll see".
If both Dum-Dum and mama get past their negative emotions and open their hearts, a Full Flow of love can happen. DumDum LoveSight: "Aww, I love holding this cute little skunk in my arms, I can feel it's little heart beating! I'm having wonderful feelings"! Mama skunk LoveSight: :That dumb clown isn't so bad, honest mistake, and look at the caring in the eyes! This feels great"!
Upward Love Spirals
When in Clown College Micko studied upward spirals and after many years of bumbling around study wrote a little thing about Upward Spirals of Positive Well-being.
Two-way Love Flow is the most basic dynamic of spiral processes and some researchers Micko studied said that when there are 3 back-and-forth cycles of sharing positive emotion and mutual caring it becomes a true upward spiral.
[] links to dissertation
But remember that it is our choices that determine this two-way Love Flow!
Let’s check in again with our examples of Love Flow.
Prevent Love Flow
Trickle of Love Flow
Full Love Flow
Self-Love
After 3 cycles, Dum-Dum's self-fulfilling prophecy turns into a downward spiral: the more Dum-Dum puts self down the more a negative self-image is created. Mindsight: DumDum will likely start feeling "Here I go again"! more often and in many more situations.
Dum-Dum's self-image continues to include some negative elements and some positive elements. LoveSight: "I am frustrated, I keep dropping the tomatoes even with more practice, but maybe I'm dropping fewer tomatoes? Maybe if I keep practicing I will do better"
Dum-Dum's self-fulfilling prophecy turns into an upward self-love spiral: the more Dum-Dum focuses on confidence the more a positive self-image is created and the better he gets at juggling..
LoveSight: "I'm going to practice until I learn this! And I''m doing so much better now! I only dropped one tomato this time"!
Other-Love
If both Dum-Dum and the judge only focus on their frustration and their anger no Love will Flow back and forth. DumDum mindsight: DumDum will continue to think of self as a "bad clown" and will likely do this in many different parts of life Judge mindsight: The judge may tend to think of other clowns as "Bad clowns" and the result would be more of those nasty hormones like cortisol flowing through body.
If both Dum-Dum and the judge open their hearts more over 3 cycles of back-and-forth, a trickle of Love can Flow. DumDum LoveSight: "Maybe the judge is still a little upset but doesn't seem quite so mad, and I feel really good helping to clean up the pie. Judge LoveSight: I like that this clown is helping to clean up the pie, It makes me feel good. I'm not so mad now".
If both Dum-Dum and the judge get past their negative emotions and open their hearts fully, a Full Flow of love can happen. DumDum LoveSight: "This really feels good helping clean the pie from the judges face. I'm feeling some warm feelings toward the judge and I feel good about myself too". Judge LoveSight: "I really like this clown for caring about the pie on my face I'm feeling some nice feelings toward this clown. I feel good about myself too, for getting past my anger".
World-Love
If Dum-Dum continues to only focus on personal frustration and mama skunk continues to only focus on her anger no Love will Flow. DumDum MindSight: "I screwed up again! I'm such a terrible clown"! Mama skunk MindSight: "That clown is such a bad clown! I'm spraying this bad clown get back"!
If both Dum-Dum and mama open their hearts more a trickle of Love can Flow. DumDum LoveSight: "I feel such warm feelings holding this cute little baby skunk! Mama skunk LoveSight: "The silly clown seems to really like my little baby. It makes me feel such nice feelings watching them. ad and seems to like my baby. Maybe I won't spray. We'll see".
If both Dum-Dum and mama open their hearts more over 3 cycles of back-and-forth there can be an Upward Love Spiral! DumDum LoveSight: "I feel such warm feelings holding this cute little baby skunk! Mama skunk LoveSight: "The silly clown seems to really like my little baby. It makes me feel such nice feelings watching them.
Taking charge of our Love Flow
Micko says that although Love can Flow when we make choices in our life experience, Love Flow isn’t limited to choices we make in certain situations.
Micko says that we can Take Charge of our Love Flow at a higher level of our consciousness by making a conscious decision to maximize our Self-Love, our Other-Love, and our World-Love.
In some clown traditions they talk about becoming a bodherattva.
This refers to any clown who vows to integrate personal growth with a desire to create a world in which all clowns love each other.
This creates a synergistic process in which both self-interest and other-interest are integrated.
Ways we can Take Charge of our Self-love.
meditation
mindfulness
loving kindness, (routines),
tai chi,
relaxation apps. progressive relaxation
gratitude
positive self talk, affirmations
Ways we can Take Charge of our Other-love.
smiling, making contact
connection, LoveBlossoms, Love
sharing
donating
paying it forward
opening doors
volunteering
caring
integrating Self-Love
Ways we can Take Charge of our World-love.
enviroment
clean trash side of road
cleaning pelicans
donating
enjoying nature
integrating Self-Love
caring
sharing
donating
Dealing with barriers
Micko says that if we want to create a Full Love Flow we need to deal with the barriers to Love Flow.
Like when a clown is driving to a big clown celebration but there is a tree across the road.
Dealing with barriers to Self-Love
Negative self-image
Any negative thinking
I’m a bad Clown
I can’t do anything right
I’ll never change
Accepting the way one is without opening to possibilities
? explanatory style?
Dealing with barriers to Other-Love
We can prevent the Flow of Love by making judgments.
Here we see Bippo visiting Bippo’s new friend Poppy’s home and when Bippo has to go to the bathroom Bippo becomes so judgmental because the toilet paper is on the wrong way that Bippo decides he has to leave as soon as possible and never again be friends with Poppy.
anger
indifference
(Truck driver…chance to interact with young clowns playing with trucks)
impatience in line
fear, insecurity-Micko, other clown
me/them thinking
explanatory style? file:///C:/Users/Wayne/Downloads/AttributionalStyleQuestionnaireASQ.pdf
Dealing with barriers to World-Love
Two major barriers: negative thinking and we/them social identities
Negative thinking
never happen
people won’t change
look at bad things we do now
letting current stuff prevent a more optimistic view-assuming it is permanent
current self-image and world view too rigid to allow hope and optimism to emerge
difficult to get head around big ideas or big potentials
We-them-social identity
like Me/them but wider scope
Daniel Siegel
Barbara Fredrickson
Lynne McTaggert
Upward spirals?
-revisit: 3 cycles
-Individual spirals
-group spirals
–organizations, hierarchy?
-Global spiral
dual goals: individual and World/other clowns
For more information about taking charge of your Love Flow go to the section on Young Clowns and Share your Love.
[ ] add links
We can help our young clowns understand and take charge of their Love Flow.
-brains like sponges absorb info
-what we put in front of a young clown
-talk to young clowns about Love
-helping young clowns learn to make their own decisions
-present opportunities to understand and take charge of their Love Flow
–Self-Love
–Other-Love
–World-Love
Upward spirlals?
[ ] links to Parent section and Teacher section- DS teens-4 things brain Love
- Emotional intensity
- Social Engagement
- Rewards, risks
- Creative exploration
- Push limits
- Expanded sense of consciousness
- Questioning of status quo
- Approaching problems with ‘out of the box’ strategies, new ideas, innovation.
- Downside: searching for meaning of live in teen years can lead to crisis in ID, vulnerability, lack of direction, purpose
- Upside: thinking, imagining, perceiving the world in new ways, creatively exploring the spectrum of experiences that are possible….minimize the sense of being in a rut that can sometimes pervade adult life…more on the rut he hears about in his work with adults
- Sequences cum. Learning
- Transfer to other things
- Transfer to other young clowns
For more information about helping young clowns understand and take charge of their Love Flow go to the sections on Parents and Teachers.
[ ] add links
Generational Spirals.
HappyLeapFrog (Julian Huxley) talks about the development of a cumulative tradition in Clown evolution that allows the transmission of learning from one generation to the next.
Micko explains that this cumulative process will allow clowns to create generational Love Spirals over future generations.
Micko notes that many animals show the beginnings of such a cumulative process but in no other case than clowns is this process cumulative. For instance, the offspring of other animals learn from their parents, but they learn the same kind and quantity of learning as they, in turn, impart. The transmission of learning never bridges more than one generation.
In clowns, though, cumulative learning and transmission of experience allow improvement in quantity and quality of learning over generations.
For instance, the progressive improvement of clown tools and technology. Many animals employ tools but they are always crude tools employed in a crude way.
Tickling;
- Social bonding for many generations of clowns
- Over time, evolved to playing tricks, antics.
- This led to further brain evolution, which led to inventing Wheel, bike, steering wheel, horse and buggy, clown car.
Look at what clowns have created:
wheel
clown cars
juggling
Internet
cell phone
toilets that clean butts
space travel
Micko believes that in the same way that clowns have created so many cool things over many generations we can create Love Spirals over future generations.
We just need more bodherattvas Micko thinks-clowns who want to improve their lives while they are working with others to create a world of Love.
More explain, or go to cartoons of future developments?
bbb
Stop here.
The rest of this is in limbo.
Micko is not sure whether to include the following or if so, where.
But Micko says we can often allow a trickle of Love to Flow even if we don’t consciously see it as the “Flow of Love”.
Micko believes that many clowns do simple things in their daily lives because being nice and friendly has become part of the way they are.
For instance, many clowns allow a trickle of Love to Flow by smiling at strangers.
Many clowns allow a trickle of Love Flow by holding the door for another clown.
Many of you clowns reading this have held doors for other clowns or had the door held for you.
For many clowns doing nice things like this becomes automatic.
You’ve probably heard the expression “Paying it forward”.
Sometimes clowns allow a trickle of Love to Flow by “Playing it forward” after another clown has shared their Love by doing something nice for them.
Have you ever done this or had it done for you?
SAVE FOR ANOTHER PLACE?
Or we can allow a trickle of Love to Flow by catching ourselves making judgements and refraining from dirty looks or nasty comments or leaving situations or stopping new friendships.
SAVE FOR ANOTHER PLACE?
Or we canOr we can allow a tickle of Love to flow by being patient with other clowns when they insist on looking through their coins to pay.
Allowing a Full Flow of Love
Micko is very excited about the many ways we can allow a fuller Flow of Love.
Micko feels that clowns sometimes do big things that allow a full flow of Love and that we also sometimes allow a full Flow of Love by doing little things.
Big ways of allowing a full Flow of Love
Many clowns allow a fuller Flow of Love by volunteering regularly at an animal shelter, a home for elderly clowns, or in activities to save our environment.
Sometimes clowns mobilize resources in times of crises to help other clowns or other critters.
Many clowns allow a fuller Flow of Love by joining a helping profession like teaching, healing, or law enforcement.
Many clowns engage in a variety of causes that are meaningful to them, such as animal rescue, social activism, and coaching young clowns in pie throwing contests.
Sometimes clowns create unique ways to help other clowns or critters. Sometimes individual clowns create their own way of helping others and sometimes clowns form small action groups to make the world a better place.
Little ways of allowing a Full Flow of Love
Not every clown has to engage in those big ways of allowing Love Flow. Micko believes that the simplest and easiest way for any clown to create a full flow of Love is to work at sharing Love in all the little ways that present themselves in the course of one’s life.
This includes the examples already shown as well as a multitude of other ways to share one’s Love.
image: use one of earlier
For instance, LoveBlossoms (Barbara Fredrickson) explains how clowns can share their Love by simply connecting with each other in meaningful conversations…sharing personal stuff and caring about the other clown.
LoveBlossoms says this can happen between two strangers on a plane or even at a pie-throwing contest!
LoveBlossoms calls these moments of connection micro-moments of love and believes they can evolve into powerful Loving relationships.
Furthermore, LoveBlossoms believes that this simple connection between clowns is the highest form of Love!
LoveBlossoms also believes that we can allow ourselves a steady diet of loving moments in our lives that will make us happier and healthier.
Some clowns describe this as simply trying to be the best clown they can be as we live our lives.
Micko is working on allowing a steady diet of loving moments in Micko’s daily life. For instance, Micko is trying to have Loving Kindness for the people that do commercials on TV. Micko is having some success but it is a struggle. Micko really admires HappyFlower for HappyFlower’s ability to allow a diet of loving moments in HappyFlower’s life.
Below you will see HappyFlower experience such a steady diet of Loving micro-moments just on a simple walk to the store.
Here we see HappyFlower pass a stranger on the street and they both smile and greet each other, and they both feel good.
HappyFlower gets a phone call from a telemarketer but instead of being annoyed compassion flows to the telemarketer.
A flock of birds flies right in front of HappyFlower's face but feelings of being closer to all creatures flowed freely.
It starts to rain and it seems odd to HappyFlower that the rain is purple but natural that the rain is nourishing the plants.
When HappyFlower gets to the store there is a long line, but HappyFlower isn't upset because it's a chance to practice patience.
HappyFlower lets another clown get in line, and this makes both clowns happy.
While in line a baby is wailing loudly, but HappyFlower only feels compassion for the baby and the parent.
HappyFlower finally gets to the front of the line but the clown at the cash register is taking a long time finding the right coins to pay. HappyFlower isn't annoyed and focuses on the beauty of this clown's being-ness.
When HappyFlower pays for the seltzer the cashier gives thanks for being so patient, and they both share a micro-moment of connection.
On the way home HappyFlower walks by the memorial for that clown who promoted Peace from bed, and felt warm inside.
HappyFlower also walked through Trellis Park and stopped to smell the flowers, which always creates warm feelings inside.
HappyFlower came across some clowns trying to save a cute little kitten up a tree.
HappyFlower decided to help out and is so happy! The Love is flowing between all the clowns and the cute little Kitty!
The clowns feels so connected after saving the little Kitty that they decide to share their social media information. How is that for a significant sign of Loving connection!
HappyFlower was almost home, looking forward to checking messages on the social media platform LoveyDovey, when those beautiful birds came back with a little present. HappyFlower is overwhelmed wth gratitude for being alive in such a wonderful world!
Although there are many ways for clowns to share their Love, Micko feels that in order for a fuller Flow of Love to happen throughout Clown World we clowns need to open our minds and hearts to the possibility that we can create a Full Flow of Love within us and between us, all over our world.
Micko believes that each of us can find our own way of sharing our Love, either by allowing a trickle of Love to flow or allowing a full flow of Love to flow.
In the illustration we see FlightyButterfly, who has been struggling to find a way to allow FlightyButterfly’s Love to Flow. But there are too many clowns who think they have the right way. So FlightyButterfly is confused.
Finally, FlightyButterfly did the obvious thing that should have been done in the first place: go to the Internet. At first he was overjoyed because he found a song titled “Show me the way”. But then he found a different song with the same title! So FlightyButterfly is again confused.
Before we go into more details about the Flow of Love, Micko wants to ask you about YOUR experiences. It’s sort of a quiz.
Have you ever prevented your Love from flowing?
Have you ever missed an opportunity to spread your Love to yourself or to others?
Have you ever allowed a trickle of Love Flow to flow to yourself or to others?
Have you ever allowed a fuller Flow of Love for yourself or for others?
How did you feel during those experiences?
Which felt better…preventing the flow of love, allowing a trickle of Love, creating a Full Flow of Love or a missed opportunity to spread your Love?
Which feels better, checking out this site or sitting on a thumb tack?
Great answers! You score 100% !
.
Stop here.
The rest of this is in limbo.
Micko is not sure whether to include the following or if so, where.