Dear Crafty,

Chief Feature will always be there. It's neither good nor bad in itself, although the repercussions may be otherwise. The repercussions actually shape our lives. It is astonishing to see its effects, over time.

One very experienced Work Person, unaware of their CF, actually declared it to me on a Guitar Craft course in the US, utterly unaware of what they were saying. I asked them a day later - do you know your CF? They replied, no. And yet their entire pattern of behaviour, in all the time I have known them, was a result of this.

What to do?

1. Unless we are alert, there is nothing to do. That is,life is only real then, when I am. If I am not, my life is the unreal succession of events, following in reaction one after the other, that we all know. There is no hope at all.
2. We develop The Observer. The Observer is a part of personality; that is, a developed and trained construct, an aspect of personality, through which part of us looks at the other parts of us. But, the observer may, in time, become a vehicle through which The Observer may occasionally actually see; this in a way which also informs the rest of us.
3. Part of developing the Observer is to listen to what we say when we are speaking. This has been part of my practice for a long time, at least 1979. Sometimes, Fripp hears Robert speaking. The distinction in quality is quite marked. Many of the Guitar Craft aphorisms are a direct result of this. Also, seeing my hand writing, and giving it permission to keep writing. Then, when it's tired, telling it to keep writing!
   
   Part is to look over our right shoulder (that's how it is for me), to step back and watch what the animal is doing. Sometimes, my feet lead me places and I give them permission to walk there, while I keep my eyes open to see where they're leading me.
   
   Part is to develop the practice of separating who and what we are, in a fairly mechanistic way. Such as: not - I did this, but - Fripp did this.
   
   Sometimes, when Fripp is having a bad time, I say: Poor Fripp. He's having a bad time. This by itself can change my state.

4. None of this is, nor can be, judgemental. This is the animal we inhabit. It has been poorly trained. It requires different direction and clearer instructions. We begin with the body, move to the thinking and feelings later.What we are submits to who we are. Who-we-are has the difficulty that it has almost no way of communicating with what-we-are. But, in time, we may establish lines of communication.
5. I suggest: take a specific theme, like listening to ourselves speaking, for a specific period of time. Like, ten minutes. In a specific context that you know is coming. So, prepare ahead of time. Use your intelligence and creative imagination! This is not dull work.

No doubt, more in person.

Friday 9^th. March, 2007

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