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29May

Grow the Good

Posted by: R. Mordant Mahon Categories: Blog
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Why is it you allow yourself to get caught up with the things you say you do not want in your life?  You focus on your problems, knowing full well what you focus on grows and grows and grows…Your blood pressure skyrockets and your stomach bleeds fresh ulcers as you wring your hands in consternation.  What’s up with that?!

Wouldn’t it be better to fix your attention on those things you want?  Whether it’s to Be, Do, Have—whatever it is you desire—shouldn’t you be fixated on that?  Even a little bit?  And, since you’re co-creating your world by putting your conscious and subconscious thoughts in gear, shouldn’t you put more effort into training your brain to lean towards the positive?  If that is the way the Universe works (it is), then why-oh-why are you wasting your time mainlining negative drama?  If you’re going to be addicted to something, then shouldn’t it be something that lets you off at a much brighter place than the spot where you began this ride?

Rhetorical questions one and all, but all a must to think about.  Yes is the answer you are looking for.  If you have a choice betwixt Negative and Positive Drama (you do), then Grow the Good.  It’s that simple.  I’m not saying that there won’t be any work involved.  Quite the contrary.  You are going to have to work mighty hard to retrain your brain if you want its focus on the positive to become second nature.  Like any hard-won goal or skill: it sparks with a decision, catches fire via an exercise of willpower, and grows to a conflagration through multiple trial-&-error training sessions.  Willpower is the key that opens the door to this “new you” and it’s like any muscle.  You have to employ it to get started, train it to keep moving forward, and continue using it to persevere on your path to a Bigger, Badder, Better, More Y-O-U.

Grow the Good.  Focus, not on those things that are bringing you down, but center your attention on where you would rather be in your Life.

You’ve heard the brain is also a muscle, and exercising it increases your mental aptitude in whatever area you care to concentrate.  The more effort you put into focusing on what you want in this life instead of wallowing in the mire of what you dread might happen to you, the easier it becomes—and the richer your life will be for it.  Really-really.

International speaker Brian Tracy says, “You become what you focus on most of the time.”  If all you think about is the gross tonnage of bad luck barreling downhill your way, then guess what you’re growing.  At the very least, you’ve got your eye on the lookout for the “big nasty” that may show up any day.  Be forewarned: if all you’re ever looking for is the bad, chances are you might see something not necessarily there.  A friend of mine called this “Borrowing Trouble.”

Don’t go around borrowing trouble—looking for the “bad” that might not necessarily be there.  As a Dream Hunting Success Freak, you’ve got more important things to spend your hard-earned time & energy on now.  As Joe Vitale tells us in The Attractor Factor, use your complaints to help pinpoint what it is you’re craving in life (I’m paraphrasing here).  Then, turn those complaints around and set your desire, not on avoiding the negative, but on pulling yourself towards the positive.  (Just a little sprinkling of Tony Robbins here).  In other words, don’t diet to avoid being fat…diet & exercise so you can be the healthiest you can be.  See the difference?

It really is just a touch of mental & energetic gymnastics.  Nothing too difficult and certainly nothing you can’t handle.  All it takes is practice.  Not just a little, mind you, we’re talking about a lifestyle/point-of-view change here, but it’s still only practice nonetheless.  Think of it as your superpower.  Something that has lain dormant until you were ready.  You’ve only just discovered you have this special ability hidden deep within you.  Now it’s time to begin your training, honing your new-found skills to the point where you are able to do good in the world.  That’s right, the world—not just in your life, but the whole world.  It’s possible.  One step at a time, it’s doable.  You are able to become as amazing as the effort you put into Growing the Good in your life.  Even better—you cannot fail in this.

Grow-the-Good.aIf you keep working, keep training, keep Growing the Good, you will succeed in developing your superpower.  Whatever it may be.  Your perseverance in this will lead you to a better, much more fulfilling life.  Isn’t this worth the effort?  Wouldn’t you rather spend your time & energy on promoting more Positive Drama in your life than stumbling around, bull in a china shop, yearning for something, even Negative Drama, to spice up your life?  Isn’t your life worth more than this?  The answer is Yes.  However, even if you don’t think so, know it can be so.  All you need are a decision, an exercise of willpower, and multiple trial-&-error sessions and you will be well on your way to becoming Bigger, Badder, Better, More.  Who knows?  (I do.)  Perhaps you might even save the world—or at least your corner of it. (You will.)  Trust me, I’ve seen it happen.  In my life and the lives of others.

Work on having more Positive Drama in your life.  Develop your Superpower.  Grow the Good.  Your life, and the lives those you touch, will be richer for it.

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28May

Call Me Mordant

Posted by: R. Mordant Mahon Categories: Blog Mordant World
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There’s been some confusion of late, as to what you should call me. You’ve seen or heard me throw out the names “Mordant,” and “Raphael,” and “Riki”—and perhaps a couple others tossed here and there into the mix. What’s up with that?! What should you call me and where do all these names come from anyway? I’m a little public for the Witness Protection Program, so it’s not that. Probably. Perhaps I’m just eccentric (read: weird), and like the thought of a ton of pseudonyms. You know…having so many people in my head that I don’t ever feel alone. But, that would be just a little too whack-a-doodle, don’t you think? The voices in my head agree with me, so it must be true.

I was adopted at birth and given the name Ronald Richard Robinson. My family goes by their middle names, and that’s where Riki comes in—from Richard. (Much better than the other nickname I could have gotten from Richard, believe you me.) It’s always been Riki and it’s always been spelled the way it is. In my teens, I tried to shorten it to Rik, but my mother said, “No! You’re name’s Riki.” And so, Riki it is.

Until I became a Tortuga Twin.

In 1987, I co-founded a comedy troupe. Known mostly as a trio (there are currently six of us on the roster), but back then we were a duo. We were portraying twin gypsy brothers looking for their lost princess—a brilliant way to meet girls according to our twenty-something minds. We needed a catchy name that sounded ethnic. The Tortuga Twins fit all that.

At the time there was an independent comic book known as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (you might have heard of it). Tortuga means turtle in Spanish. As a play on words, and to pay homage to our geekdom, Jef took the name Donatello (he later changed it to D’Angelo), while I took Raphael. Besides, it began with an “R.” I have a fondness for “Rs.” Go figure.

To mix things up even more, if you ever happen to find a lost cell phone of mine, you’ll see the name Riki Tortuga on it. That’s how I’m known by most on the renaissance festival circuit. Again, go figure.

What does all this have to do with Mordant? Don’t worry, that’s next.

In 2003, I reconnected with my birth mother, Mary Mahon (her maiden name). While spending time with her—first in Florida, then in Spain—I asked her what name she would have given me. Being British of Irish descent, it would have been a doosie. John Edward Antony Noel Mordant Mahon, after her late brother. Wow.

As I was the only of her children that she had contact with—there is another that I know of—she asked that I do something to carry on the family name. Thus R. Mordant Mahon was born. I especially like it because “Mordant” is a reagent used on color in the dyeing process (“it makes things stick” as a friend of mine recently pointed out). Also, in literature, it is “a biting reply.” Not too shabby for a writer if I do say so myself.

There you have it. Call me Mordant. Some because I really like the name even if it doesn’t begin with an “R.” Some because as I brand it into the public consciousness, that’s how they’ll know me. But mostly, and honestly, because it pleases me dear mum.

R. Mordant Mahon

As An Addendum
Okay…to avoid FURTHER confusion – call me Mordant HERE. And when I’m out doing Mordanty things. It is my author name, but should not become a stumbling block for my old friends. The “R” in R. Mordant Mahon is for Riki after all. =)

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28May

Welcome To My Mordant World

Posted by: R. Mordant Mahon Categories: Blog Mordant World Writing
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Welcome to my Mordant World.  I’ve been talking with various friends of mine about creating and continuing a blog.  This to promote various aspects of my life—mostly the creative parts.  After hemming and hawing, then not doing much about it, I figured I might as well put something down, thus making ready for that auspicious moment when I actually do put an official blog together.

For those of you who don’t know, I am a man of many hats.  My Facebook & Twitter bios read:

Globetrotting Renaissance Man…Actor, Author, Entrepreneur…Universal Healing Tao Instructor, Quantum Manifestations Life Coach…Tortuga Twin.

This pretty much says it all.  I crisscross the United States, performing comedic stage shows at various festivals—mostly of the renaissance variety.  It is true that I am a world traveler.  I was born in Karachi, Pakistan in the 60’s.  Next came the Philippines and Laos during the Viet Nam War before settling down in Tarpon Springs, Florida.  All of this before entering third grade.  As an adult, I’ve hit Europe, Asia, Mexico, and Canada.  Boy, are my arms tired.

I am a hopeful on-camera actor.  I say “hopeful” because I haven’t gone so far as to get an agent yet (again at the time of this writing), and only worked on independent and student films—none of them paying gigs.  It doesn’t sound very hopeful, but I am.  You’ll have to take me at my word on this one.  I’ll do my best to prove it to you later.

I have co-authored a dating/relationship self-help book titled Why Real Women Drink Straight Tequila—The Tao of Intimacy.  Currently, I am working on a fantasy novel as well as yet another self-helpy type book.  I’m hopeful about these, too.

I am a Universal Healing Tao certified Instructor, trained under Grandmaster Mantak Chia at Tao Garden in Chiang Mai, Thailand.  Using various methods of Chi Kung meditation, I guide others in learning how to transform negative aspects of their energy and live a life of positive vitality.  Sounds a little woo-woo I know, but it works for me.

Though writing this illustrious, long-winded blog, I haven’t officially set anything up yet.  I’ve been thinking WordPress, but good friend and fellow writer Allison said she likes Blogger.  I should probably ask Marrus what she uses, as she is a big fan of blogging to inform, promote, and entertain (not necessarily in that order).  I guess you could say I’m hopeful about blogging, too.  We’ll see.

Sooo…if there were a theme to my wannabe blog, it would have to be…have hope.  I’m not talking about the kind of hope where you sit back and wish for good things to happen to you.  No, I’m a firm believer in imagining what you can do, then doing something about it.  Yes, you should dream dreams.  These dreams will become the blueprints for your fantastic life if you let them.  But, you can’t stop there.  Not if you want to succeed.  You have to visualize your success, seeing it in your mind’s eye and believing it can happen.  Then comes the work part.  The setting down tangible goals, then getting off your butt and knocking them out one by one part.  Big steps or baby steps, it doesn’t matter.  It’s the forward momentum that counts.

So, that’s the gist of this first blog.  Dream your dreams and take the steps necessary to see them to fruition.  Above all, have hope.  It will keep you going through the character-building rough spots.  Don’t worry; I’m not going to Pollyanna my way through everything I write.  I’ll share some of my trials, conflicts, and failures.  Besides, they’re all a part of this growing process, and extremely necessary if we want to develop into the kind of people we dream about becoming.

R. Mordant Mahon

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