Change is life's way of returning itself to a state of balance...

Change is life's way of returning itself to a state of balance...

In February 1991 the Dyerville Giant, was the world's tallest tree, standing 370 feet tall and towering over it's surroundings. A month later it fell after over a thousand year reign. Now it is 20 years into providing food and shelter for hundreds of animals, ferns and bacteria...

Why do we resist change? Fear...

We know how things are and we have learned to live with even uncomfortable circumstances. Change may bring great relief and opportunity, but we say,"The devil you know is better than the devil you don't know."

Change is the Universe stating that it intends to keep growing, and growth is the fuel of change. Without change nothing would move forward, nothing could evolve. It used to be OK to enslave human BEings, but we have changed... Cigarette ads used to promote good health!

Some people are determined to drag their feet and be an obstacle to any change. Many religious folks are like this, they decide to fight against change, they become "righteous"... In reality they are, "Stuck in the past," "Analog kids," "Oldschool," "Defenders," and not the vanguard they imagine. "Truth" changes. Ideas about what is right change, not only by individuals but by whole societies. It has always been this way. We no longer sacrifice our first born on the altar.

"Change" is going forward whether you want it to or not; you can't prevent the sunset, and sunrise IS coming... Healthy living requires accepting change, adaptation, adopting new ways, ideas, embracing the FRESHNESS of life.

Today when you come across a, "That's the way we've always done it attitude," (whether yours or someone else's) imagine yourself at the fulcrum, the balance point, and go forward DOWNHILL instead of resisting the inevitable...

Duffy

Find someone whose spirit needs lifting and give them a boost...

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When you're really feeling down and out, find someone whose spirit needs lifting and give them a boost. Experience the feeling you give them...

You've heard that Joy is in the giving and not the receiving. Mostly this has been said during traditional holidays where presents are exchanged.

There is nothing wrong with this view, however the original statement relates to a different kind of giving; a giving of oneself, freely and without regard for reciprocity. Simply stated, "When you wish to feel something, give that feeling to another." What is truly wonderful is that you too will feel the feeling that you give!

Imagine you're feeling "broke." Find a homeless prerson and give them $5. Not only will he/she no longer feel penniless, but you will magically feel you have money! It is an interesting phenomenon, but your brain can't accept you are broke when you obviously had the money to give, and thus it miraculously changes your outlook!

This works in all ways! If you want to feel pretty, cause someone else to feel pretty. If you want to feel love show someone LOVE... Or, encouragement, compassion, empathy...HAPPINESS!

Today when you're wishing for a feeling you aren't experiencing, find someone else and give them that feeling. You will reap the magical reward immediately...

Duffy

The greatest gift you can ever give another is your full attention...

The greatest gift you can ever give another is your full attention. BE absolutely present with them...

We have been taught to define our interactions with others as a function or a role, and as the good students that we unwittingly are, we conduct ourselves accordingly.

At work you are a co-worker, a subordinant or a boss, possibly a rival. At home you are a husband/wife/child/sibling, the breadwinner, the martyr, the housewife, the soccer mom... In other arenas, you are the best friend, the confidant, the other woman, one of the guys, a public servant, a customer, a neighbor, etc...

All of these and many, many more, have customary parameters that define how the interaction is to be conducted. Of course there are variations due to region, age or some other demographic, but mostly we are playing a "part" and feeling apart.

We are meant to BE interCONNECTING as spiritual BEings, each simply individual manifestations of ONE greater whole. Instead of the usual superior/subordinant positions we are used to, we are intended to experience reciprocal togetherness, and share empathy, compassion and LOVE... This can only happen when we are fully PRESENT with each other, when we drop our "role" or "function", and when the good in us speaks directly to the good in another...

Today look at each individual you meet and realize you are with
another soul. Instead of speaking "to" them or "at" them, BE with them...

Duffy

The human heart is like a spigot...

The human heart is like a spigot. Most people have theirs closed to a manageable slow drip...Open yours all the way...So you get wet!!!

Why are people closed off? FEAR...

We believe we can manage the pain of being hurt if we slow the flow of love. This is somewhat like trying to manage disease by not eating. And, this focus on the "hurts" of the past is one of the prime reasons we are not "in" the present as well.

We are surrounded by stories of "tough old birds" and the like, and are actually encouraged by our culture to become one. "Suffer in silence," "Nobody cares," "Big boys don't cry," etc., are constant reminders to close off/shut down/protect yourself...

It may be profitable for the manipulators of society to manage a flock of calloused, non-feeling ex-patriates of the human race, but is this really the life YOU want? If you had the choice of a life of living and giving LOVE would you not jump at the chance? It is in fact RIGHT THERE for the having. It is only your FEAR, and subsequent closing off of your spigot that is preventing it. Imagine the incredible lightness of BEing if you weren't dragging your fears through life...

Today, notice how often you are encouraged to close the spigot, and remind yourself that the only victim of this is yourself. Open that spigot and give LOVE unflinchingly. Don't be contrite, be the light...

Duffy

Your Ego perceives the faults in others as their identity...

Your Ego perceives the faults in others as their identity. Actually it is a reflection of your own identity...

We all have identities, some real and some imagined. Real identities are reference points, markers, the lines drawn from place to place across the
map of your life. It is natural for these experiences to mold you somewhat, a regional accent is a prime example. However it is in the imagined arena where the trouble lies, where our exagerated view of ourselves corrupts our view of others.

Why? Our Ego wants to be important. Our Ego, in its grasping, desperate need to be special, will latch onto ANYTHING available for even a momentary boost... It inflates all of your real identities, giving them relevant/unique/standout status; a "vain attempt" at significance.

Where this manifests itself is in our fault finding of others. When you label someone as classless/stupid/boring/tiresome/poor/uneducated or in any other negative manner, you perceive these attributes as their identity(s). In actuality it is your Ego saying that you are superior, unconsciously stating YOUR identity!

Today, notice when finding fault that you feel a touch, a tiny flush of self-esteem associated with it... Instead give a flush of self-esteem, by finding something to offer as encouragement. It will help you both...

Duffy

Only by ALLOWING is one moving in the direction of the Universe...

Only by ALLOWING is one moving in the direction of the Universe...Anything else is you fighting the Universe...

All is perfection... What is imperfect is your opinion.

The Universe is unfolding exactly as planned and it is easy to see when we look out at the heavens; billions of stars, billions of galaxies, supernova, nebulae, dark matter... Even here at home most people marvel, as a matter of course, the perfection of nature.

It is our attitudes to other people where we stumble; "Muslims! Christians! And Jews! Oh my!" Foreignors, strangers! or heaven forbid LIBERALS!!!!

Each and everyone is living life according to his/her personal view of what is right/correct/fine. Not one of them is "wrong." It is YOUR opinion/judgement/labelling that makes them wrong. In fact they are just as the Universe intended them to be. Their souls are each working out their own personal mission, their soulwork. In addition they each provide you with the perfect opportunity to decide WHO YOU ARE in relation to them. In that they are all teachers. It is said that God sends us nothing but Angels; and so it is...

All that is required to ease/end your anger/hatred/frustration is to change your opinion. A simple change of your perspective is all you need...

Today, key in when you begin to experience the feeling of judgement and simply change the way you are looking at things. To not do so, is simply fighting the Universe...

Duffy

The laughter of children is the Universal language of spirit...

Tired of hatred, ideology, parameters? Listen to the laughter of children playing in any language. It is the language of spirit. Go there...

Xenophobia is the unreasonable or unfounded fear or hatred of foreigners or strangers or of that which is foreign or strange.

In today's world where it appears we are running out of space, food, clean water, and fuel, one thing we are not running out of is FEAR...
We are bombarded by messages of those who benefit from our fear. The spokespersons, haters on the radio, TV and other media are well paid to spout their hatred, hatred that reinforces the fears of their audience. The truth is these mouthpieces are well paid by those who want to keep in place a "Winner take all" ideology, one that says that losers are.... LOSERS!

There are no losers in God's eyes...

We need a fresh way of looking at things. Children laughing provide a map for us. They look at each meeting, each interaction, as a way to share in the fun of pure living. We can take a lesson here, and begin to look away from our fears. If we begin to see as God does, that we are all winners, ALL ONE, we can devise a new way of sharing that guarantees everyone a life of dignity, with ENOUGH; for the ample bounty of the Earth provides enough for ALL, as long as we stop the hoarding by the few at the expense of the rest...

Today when you shy away from someone or something foreign, ask yourself why. A closer look will show you how much more similar we are than you expected...

Duffy

Nothing strengthens the ego more than being right...

Nothing strengthens the ego more than being right. To be right however it needs to make something else wrong.

If you could somehow look at humans through the wrong end of a telescope, you would see how mightily uniform we appear. When you see a herd of cows they're just cows, a flock of birds, just birds...

We are just humans... We are creations of the Universe, created FOR the Universe and not the other way around.

It is your Ego that makes you feel separate from the herd, your Ego that needs to feel special in order to maintain that separateness. One of the primary tactics used by your Ego to feel special is through being right. Nothing strengthens the ego more than being right. To be right however, it needs to make something else wrong...

When you judge something, label it, the action confirms that you are separate and SUPERIOR! Being superior feels awesome to your Ego. The problem is it is very short-lived, and so it needs to constantly seek new places to be right, constantly making something else wrong...

Today, when you see yourself judging and labelling, and how it is making you superior/special/separate, try to withhold judgement. Your Ego will hate it, but you will feel one with your BEing...

Duffy

Your soul is the whole ocean, calm and steady, ONE...

Your thoughts are like waves, demanding attention, each before the last was through! Your soul is the whole ocean, calm and steady, ONE.

For most people thoughts are an endless chain, one following almost on top of the other, crowding each other out,  a cacophany of noise so loud as to appear unbroken. We identify with this constant stream of thoughts as US, as who we are...

There is however a background behind those thoughts; the screen they are projected on, that is the real you. Your BEing is who you are... You, are not your thoughts, or even your thinking mind. Your thinking mind is a great problem solver, but when there is nothing to solve, it can be put back in your toolbox, to be called upon when needed again (Tolle).

There is a gap between your thoughts, and these gaps are doorways into experiencing the Peace and Calmness of pure BEing, of LOVE...of your SOUL...

Today find a moment when you can sit back and close your eyes. Concentrate on your gentle breathing; in, out, in, out... If a thought enters your mind imagine a wave washing the sand clean and removing it. Stay in the gap...

Experience the you that is the whole Ocean... behind your thoughts...

Duffy

Are you feeding the Wolf of Love or the Wolf of Hate?

The Wolf of Love constantly expands the circle of "us".
The Wolf of Hate expands the circle of "them"...

There is a story of a Native American leader expressing to a child that in every man there is a Wolf of Love and a Wolf of Hate competing for dominance. When asked by the child which one is going to win, he replies, "The one that I feed."

Stop and think for a moment; which one are you feeding in your own life? When you walk by someone different from you, dressed in a foreign way, someone with different skin color, someone poor, etc., what are you thinking? Disgust, disdain, anger, fear? These reactions all feed the Wolf of Hate. That's right... Any feelings that are not feeding the Wolf of Love are feeding the other one.

More importantly, feeding the Wolf of Hate shrinks the quality and quantity of allies/friends/partners you can share with and call on for assistance in times of need, or even for understanding. YOU, through your thoughts, are expanding the circle of "them" and in doing that you are weakening yourself as well as the group you identify with. You are hurting yourself... And us all...

Observe your thoughts today. See if your reactions to your surroundings are feeding the Wolf of Love, and if not change course. Expand the circle of "US!"

Duffy

Worry is an addiction...

Worry is an addiction. When a problem arises do what you can. No thought is needed before or after.

Worry is a state of fear. Intellectually we'd all like to lessen fear in our existence, so why are we so addicted to worriying? Let's examine the root cause...

We worry because we are living in "Psychological time" (Tolle). What this means is we are NOT in the moment. We are living in the (imagined) future. Our Ego needing to be important, is setting up scenarios of failure (awful-izing)... When you are identified with your Ego these scenarios are of great concern. It doesn't matter if they come true or not, for there is always a following scenario, and a following one...and another following that...

The PRESENT moment is the arch enemy of the Ego. The Ego hates being put back in the toolbox. Focusing on the NOW doesn't require the Ego or its sidekick "worry." If a problem presents itself, you take care of it in the moment. Give it your complete concentration. And after it has been handled go right back to BEing PRESENT... flowing/floating with the moment.

Notice today when you feel worry, and see that it is taking place (in your mind) in the future...then pull yourself back to the wonderful moment of NOW

Duffy

Expand the spaciousness of your awareness...

Give attention to the neutral things. Expand the spaciousness of your awareness, giving you room to avoid "fight or flight" reactions...

When you place your focus on the intense things in life, your body revs up. It dumps chemicals into your bloodstream to prepare you for battle. If there is no battle to use them up, those chemicals act as toxins... In addition, a tremendous amount of mental energy is expended.

Most people think concentrating on intensely positive events/experiences is the antidote for all the negative ones. Not true. Actually this keeps you swinging wildly from one extreme to the other, both of which cause the same physiological reaction/chemical dump. Both require energy and cause a "closed in" sense of BEing.

When one focuses instead on the neutral things, a quiet spaciousness appears; your body is at rest, your mind idles back. In that moment of non-anticipation your reaction to things is easy, patient, introspective...mindful.

Take a moment today and focus on something neutral and notice how relaxing it is, how wide your sense of awareness becomes...

Duffy

Compassion does not equal Kindness...

Compassion is the wish that others not suffer. Kindness is the wish that they be happy...

Is it possilble for one to be compassionate and not kind? Or the reverse? What is the difference? The difference is that while Compassion is the wish that others not suffer, Kindness is the wish that they be happy

Bringing compassion to a person reinforces the lesson that we are all one in our suffering. Bringing compassion to a difficult person gives this lesson life.

Showing kindness takes things a step further. It is an attempt to give others what we wish for ourselves. It goes beyond mere commiseration, and enters the realm of egalitarian spirituality, that we are all ONE and deserving equally what we seek individually... This is THE spiritual goal...

In your day today notice your feelings of compassion when they arise and then try to show kindness... Go the extra mile...

Duffy

Unless you allow abundance to flow out, you don't even know that you have it...

You cannot receive what you don't give. This includes abundance. Unless you allow it to flow out, you won't even know that you have it.

Abundance does not flow too you, it flows THROUGH you. Think about that. Once the flow is stopped by you it is no longer abundance. It becomes something else. You begin to think of it as something different; a hoard (to fear losing), property (to be protected/defended)...no one else allowed!

People tend to think that THEY made their abundance, but the abundance was already there. When you experience love didn't love already exist? How about a smile (oh that was your original idea?) How about Oxygen, or Nutrition...WATER!

If you don't currently acknowledge these things as abundance, it's time... As for the other things you may temporarily control, power/finances/assets, if you view them as things that can be taken from you, you cannot BE seeing them as abundance. Abundance flows freely in the Universe. If you don't allow it to flow through you, then you obviously don't believe/trust/anticipate it will keep flowing. Unless you allow it to flow out, you don't even know that you have it!

See the abundance around you today. Take a leap of faith and give it freely. When you give it you will then realize you obviously HAD it! More will flood in to take its place. That's how it flows...

Duffy

You can't force flowers to submit to your will...

You can easily destroy flowers, but you can't force them to submit to your will...

Flowers are one of the most beautiful AND fragile elements in Nature. However frail, they do not worry, and stand purposefully making their elogent statement about life and its possibilities without fear. They lead by example...

No amount of contrivance or construction by man can put out their shining light. They can be crushed, poisoned, or dug up, however they never waver. Flowers don't buy into lies, scare tactics or collusion. And no individual flower ever asks, "Why me?"

Man however...envisions himself to be separate; from nature, from each other and from God, all wrong-headed thoughts no matter how strongly he believes them to be so. Man believes, through his Ego, that he is special and not here as a contributor to the evolution of the Universe.

In comparison to planet/stars/galaxies man is equally as fragile as are flowers. But he could learn much about expressing his true nature from them; their courage and single-minded purpose. A great man once said, "Behold the lilies of the field..."

Notice today when you strive to vary from your path. Whenever possible return to BEing a contributor to the "ONE"...

Duffy

In a very dark place, YOU may be the only shining light...

In a very dark place, YOU may be the only shining light...SHINE BRIGHTLY!!!

There have been times in Human history where nobody, not one individual in a given place has existed at a positive spiritual level. According to Dr David R. Hawkins in his enlightening book, "Power vs Force," during the Dark Ages in Europe there was no positive spiritual energy for 200 years! Nothing but fear, grief, anger, guilt, pride and shame...

Although the Dark Ages were an anomaly of sorts, YOU may live in a place where you are surrounded by similar low energies. It may be your family, your neighborhood, your town or region. It may be in your church, or your circle of friends. Tremendous courage is required to step outside of what is expected of you, for you are risking acceptance from the group.

Your Soul however has its own agenda. Its purpose is to move the evolution of Consciousness forward even if incrementally. Most people deny their Soul out of fear or selfishness, and then rationalize why, or bury their self-loathing in the bottle or through some other addiction. If nothing else, they are condoning negative behaviors and attitudes through their silence.

If YOU stand up and BE the light, you can guarantee at least that your Soul will not remain in darkness. And it just may be that many others around you were waiting for someone to have the courage to go first.

Have a splendid weekend!
Duffy

What seeds are you planting today?

Your heart is a garden; you can grow compassion or fear, resentment or love...What seeds are you planting today?

The garden is a wonderful metaphor for so many things, and it is perfect for your thoughts. You are a creative BEing. Your thoughts are the seeds to your existence.

If you plant seeds of fear you will shrink your circle of US and thus will have created more of THEM. Your perceived safety will be less, which will lead to planting more seeds of fear... When will you be thrown out of that circle of US?

If you plant seeds of resentment you will lessen the quality of YOUR circle. Less and less will taste and smell, look or feel as sweet and nice. We all crave love. When we plant seeds of love we heighten the quality of our circle and all that it includes...

Use love and compassion today to increase both the size and wonder of YOUR circle. Do this daily and you will have a garden of abundance.

Duffy 

When you first meet someone, what do you say about yourself?

When you first meet someone, what are the things you need to say about yourself? Those are your ego identies...

We all have identities. They are our STORY. Why do we need a story? To explain who we are, where we have been and where we intend to go...

Since our story has built up incrementally over the course of our lives it can be difficult to boil it down to the basics. Some of it is simply reference material, but the parts we treasure most are the ones that stroke our Ego and make us special! You might have gotten 13 out of 15 spelling words correct on a test during the first week of October in fifth grade, but your Ego probably doesn't get enough juice revealing that...

Your Ego gets the most boost when first meeting people, so that is when your Ego indentities are revealed. Think about what you say about yourself; "I have been diagnosed with ADHD" "I had an abusive childhood" "I'm a born again Christian" "I'm a recovering drug/alcoholic".... These "stories" are telling people how you want them to relate to you. Your Ego needs to be special and would prefer to make you seem special for positive reasons, but negative ones work just as well. SPECIAL is what counts!

Observe what you begin to tell people to make yourself special today and try to find a substitute that makes them special, that connects you...

Duffy

Simply resolve to be a better version of yourself...

Don't waste any energy on guilt. Simply resolve to be a better version of yourself and put ALL of your energy on accomplishing that...

Have you ever witnessed Nature feeling guilty? God does not feel guilty. The Universe may create tremendous collateral damage through a cosmic event, but it never experiences guilt.

Guilt is a human construct. We are brainwashed into feeling guilt. It is a way of keeping us "in the corral." Any activity outside of the "accepted" behavior and we are taught to punish ourselves.

If God is all things, all knowing, and all loving then what could God possibly need from you? Certainly no specific behavior. God gave you a free will so that you could explore. There is no "wrath of God", no "judgement." If and when you do something that doesn't represent who YOU are, your greatest vision of yourself, then change course and aim for that...

Resolve to be a better version of yourself today, simply because you desire to be...

Duffy 

When you used to say, "Don't jinx me!", subconsciously you knew...

Your thoughts actually cause things to happen. Remember when you used to say, "Don't jinx me!"? Subconsciously you knew...

Thoughts have great power. They create your existence. Words have greater power still. Your souls knows this, so on some level your mind does also.

Most people are convinced that the world around them is fixed and unchangeable. It is however nothing but energy, patterns of energy that your brain turns into images. It is your thoughts about these images that create YOUR existence. No? How is it then that one person can "see" the same thing and one thinks it ugly, while the other thinks it beautiful? Or right and wrong?

You are not a victim of the world subject to its whims. You are a powerful creative spirit that can create the world of your choosing. Witness someone who chooses happiness. It may be someone who you see as disadvantaged or handi-capped, yet they choose to see the silver lining. What is different? Their thoughts...

Once again, your soul knows this. When you used to say, "Don't jinx me!", subconsciously you knew...

Duffy

Start believing it is a world where everyone is working together...

It is only a "dog eat dog" world if you believe it so...

Start believing it is a world where everyone is working together

and it will be so...

From early in life we are told, "it's a dog eat dog world, only the strong survive, it's survival of the fittest..." Is it any wonder you think you're in competition with everyone/everything?

WE are intended to be in COOPERATION with everyone/everything... It is in our DNA. No? Drop something next a toddler, and he/she will run to pick it up for you. It is only after a continuous repetition of fear based rules that we begin to see the world through the cracked lens of fear and competition.

You know what? If you look past that lens it is all like it was...

Start believing it is a world where everyone is working together and it will be so...

Duffy

BE the change you want to see...

 

You are the only one you can change. BE the change you want to see.

SEE the change you want to be.

Nature is always changing, becoming what it wants to BE. Humans? Not so much. The irony is we love to observe the changes in nature; the change in the seasons, flowers blossoming, new leaves, old leaves, the first snow...

When it comes to ourselves, we want everyone else to do the changing. We want more honesty, fairness, love, compassion, kindness, principles, morals, virtue... But we want the world to go first, we want the change to accomodate us. 

YOU are the only one you can change. If you want to see more compassion, go first. BE more compassionate, SEE more compassion. Be on the lookout for compassion and you will see a more compassionate world. Look for opportunities to be more compassionate and you and all in your world will experience a more compassionate world!

You are the only one you can change. BE the change you want to see. SEE the change you want to be.

Duffy

Your ego is not a team player...

Your soul is the part of you that is the TEAM player with the Universe... Your ego is not a team player...

What happens is what is supposed to happen. Think about that. Why is it that you resist so much of what happens? The answer is your Ego...

Since you're Ego NEEDS to be constantly reinforced it is special, it is continually bristling at everything whether true or imagined that shows its irrelevance. It requires exceptualism, even if one has to wear victimhood to gain notice. When it is not being fed we experience a host of negative emotions; anxiety, annoyance, anger, irritation, worry, etc. Usually this is where we fall back to judgement as a remedy...

Instead of judgement which reinforces separateness try allowance and acceptance. Our soul is interested in cooperation/collaboration/harmony. It's peculiar that we laud team players in athletics, but in living/ politics/finances, TEAM somehow undermines and threatens
"rugged individualism." Team is natural. Individual is artificial...

When you experience any negative emotions, use them as a signal to seek cooperation. Submit to the TEAM...

Duffy

Being part of the "ONE" has always been our true identity...

All fear comes from our sense of self. We fear losing our identity, but being part of the "ONE" has always been our true identity.

Our Ego wants us to see ourselves as separate. Separate is never equal, so our Ego tells us we are also superior/better/more worthy... SPECIAL! We identify with "things" that show us to be better. When someone spends $550 on a leather coat, the coat conveys you had the ability to purchase it, that you had the sophisticated taste to choose a trendy style, that you can afford to live in a place where it is safe to go out and brandish it...YOU ARE BUYING IDENTITY with the coat, identity that demonstrates clearly that you are better.

This identity is never lasting, and so must be constantly replenished. Tremendous fear is generated by your Ego when your ability to exhibit superiority is threatened. It needs to be BETTER!

Your true identity however, is that you are simply part of a greater whole, a "ONE"...You  are nothing more than a tiny piece of the Universe and subject to its cycles, its plan, its needs. Your Ego will fight anything that suggests this is your true identity, because your Ego becomes insignificant as soon as you awaken to who you are.

Notice when your Ego tries to point out how you are special and find a reason showing you're connected to all...

Duffy

The river is still going to the same place...

You can flow with the river and love life or you can try to swim against it hating every day. The river is still going to the same place...

The Tao (the WAY) has been called the river of life. You and I all follow the river, as do all of the animals and plants. The progression of the entire Universe is one continuous flowing stream of events.

You know this at the subconscious level of BEing. Your Ego however tells you that you that you are more important than God/Universe/Tao, that you aren't just a spoke on the wheel, but the HUB of the wheel! You are not. No amount of fighting the flow will change its course...

You can flow with the river and love life or you can try to swim against it hating every day. The river is still going to the same place...

Accept and allow that everything that happens is normal and fine today...flow...

Duffy