Category Archives: Environment

Is No iPhone the first step?

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I lost my iPhone two days ago, meaning when I am travelling away from my abode I am literally off the grid unless I run into someone I know. At first it felt kind of weird, but I have become more and more used to it. It made me think of a journey my friend took down the length of the Yarra River in my home city of Melbourne : The Comfort of Water

I also remember hearing  about a family who travelled around their country seeking out fellow off gridders:  Off-grid.net .

The quotes I have chosen are directly related to the subject with a few left field ones thrown in for good measure: Lets begin our journey :-

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1. Hollywood actor Ed Begley Jr. could have chosen a life of fast cars and flashy woman. Instead after hearing a speech at the First Earth day he had his aha moment and it transformed his relationship to the planet. Here is a story about his eco-house Live by Example.

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2. Lets have an unplug day a month and build up our off the grid moments from there.

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3. When you go off the grid you give up your attachment to the physical things that drive most people’s lives. You still retain these essential things though.

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4. Mainstream society destroys our basic needs, putting yourself off the grid trains you to be self-sufficient. Here is one of his blogs on The myth of Human Progress.

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5. When we are kids we didn’t know what a dollar meant, try living off one dollar. Here is the impressive 2013 documentary on that exact subject: Living on One Dollar.

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6. I’m sure many of you have visited places that shudder, there is no WiFi connection. I remember these as moments of deep connection with the people who had been brave enough to journey outside the grid.

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7. Vincent Kartheiser, the actor who played Martin in the widely popular Mad Men series announced in 2010 he was taking on Simple Living. He no longer has a car and is slowly giving away everything he owns.

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8. Several years ago I attended an Anti-clutter workshop at my local library. The first question the woman asked who was running it was How many towels do you have. She had people raise their hands from 4 to 30, and yes there were people who had 30 for two people. 

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9. Known for diverse roles such as Hellboy and Clay, president of the Motorcycle club in Sons of Anarchy, Ron Perlman is another actor who has joined the growing umber of actors who have followed this path.

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10. All the characters in J.R.R. Tolkien’s books would be considered off the grid. As he states, not all those wander are Lost!!

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11. The quote is from a Maine organisation in the United States, but the link I have added is for off the Grid living in my home country, Australia: Is it possible?

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12. I became curious writing this as to how many people live off the grid, this article states it is as many as 1.7 billion. Its informative and well written: There are lots of us.

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13. I believe it would take something special like Fire in my Belly to live totally off the grid, I am very attached to my internet.

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14. You can’t buy the smiles with things that these simple enjoyments put on children’s faces.

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15. Earthing is seen by many as being an alternative, even maybe hippy term. But the simple act of walking on the earth barefoot is having more and more evidence support it for its health benefits. Definitely off the grid, the wearing of no shoes. This article points them out: Barefoot for better Health.

I get my iPhone back in 3 days but think I will take on the practice off going out without it and see what ensues on my path to off the grid living from there.

Namaste my dear friends and speak to you Thursday, I was a day late again as it is up to my sister what day we go op-shopping with my mum.

Namaste2

 

 

 

Do Unicorns Dance?

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Sacred Dance 8Had an amazing dance journey over the past three days, the first a Sacred Cacao ceremony, the second a pyschotranced filled shared house party spectacular and finally the completion of my beloved Kundalini dance journey with Leyolah Antara – Pathways to Ecstatic Awakening.

It was interesting that even though I danced to 4.30 a.m. in the morning at the house party I did not feel as touched by the music or the fellow dancers  as at the other two events, which had my think that purposeful sacred dancing is a different experience to moving and shaking your body.

So having thought about it my definition of Sacred Dance is an exploration of movement that heals and transforms your soul. I researched as to what other people had to say about it and chose these 15 gems, Gabrielle Roth and Michael Jackson feature quite a bit. Here we go :

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1. Possibly the greatest poet to have lived Rumi equates the sacredness of Dance to be able to crete verse as you move through the dance floor.

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2. Gabrielle Roth (February 4, 1941 – October 22, 2012[1]) was an American dancer and musician in the world music and trance dance genres, with a special interest in shamanism. She created the 5Rhythms approach to movement in the late 1970s; there are now hundreds of 5Rhythms teachers worldwide who use her approach in their work.

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3. Dancing with Life day by day guarantees that love will be present on an ongoing basis.

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4. Sacred dance has been a part of societies for generations. Black Elk, a Lakota Chieftain in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s compared completion of Sacred dance to floating in the air.

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5. Sacred Dance practice takes a dedication to the art and a willingness to push through what you already know. It could be said it is a firm of Worship.

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6. If we persist with Sacred dance it will flow over into other parts of our life making the dance all parts of our journey. And Yes, we will be healing and creating a better world.

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7. From the Moonwalk to the incredible dance steps in Thriller The Killer of Thriller, Michael Jackson believed that dance is an eternal journey that is part of Consciousness, we as dancers are  just its current disicples.

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8. To reach the stage of no judgements of others and ourselves on the dance floor, that is the moment of sacred dance.

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9. The five stages of the 5 Rhythm’s Wave are Flow, Staccato, Chaos, Lyrical and Stillness – Gabrielle’s Wave. Dancing these as a daily practice makes this sort of life available to anyone.

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10. When you obtain that magical and sacred moment on the dance floor when there is no you, just the dance, Empty Mind as my Tai Chi teacher Andy refers to it as, the Balance of Synergy becomes available.

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11. Mata Hari is better known for being executed as a spy in WW1 than for her career, she was an exotic dancer and courtesan, but this beautiful quote shows that she did not see it as a secondary role.

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12. The first time I heard about Gabrielle Roth was when I brought her book Sweat Your Prayers at Savers in Sydney Road Brunswick. My hand reached out and pulled it out of the secondhand books for $1, an action that would change my life profoundly.

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13. It seems they can : Pink Fluffy Unicorns dancing on Rainbows

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14. Early Christianity demonised dance but Famed Anarchist Emma Goldman had a different view, that the revolution would not succeed without it.

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15. Editor of the renowned Huffington Post, Arianna feels that you need to balance planning with free thinking to allow all of life to dance at it wildest and most effective.

I will miss my Sunday nights in Fitzroy with the people who are willing to discover what is possible through Sacred Dance. I honour Leyolah Antara for creating this beautiful and sacred journey but request that she not forget us, the Men of Dance when planning her 2016

Namaste until Thursday my dear Friends.

Namaste

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What’s that rumbling in my Gut?

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I redid the process at Kundalini dance last night led by the remarkable Leyolah Antara, creator of the magnificent Kundalini Dance process that transformed my life in 2013 and set me back onto a healing path after being in a locked psych unit for six weeks a mere six months before. Here is the link to Leyolah’s web site : The Road to Freedom

The process was dancing blindfolded for up to two hours to investigate the wisdom inherently available by cleaning your Third Eye Chakra and freeing your intuition. We were meant to dance with a question in mind. In 2013 I chose How would I get to the $1300 festival that Nemone, my previous KuIdalini Dance teacher had said it would be good for me to go to when I had $50 in the bank. When I got home from the process, the payment plan email was the sixth I opened. I intuitively took from this I was meant to go , even though I had never heard of Tanishka Tantrika, The Moon Woman – she has 500,000 followers on Facebook, here’s her website, empowerment of women is her speciality : Star of Ishtar.

I chose as a question this time to dance to what would it take to cleanse the deep seeded mistrust of allowing myself  to be loved by women following an incident when I was five when I was dacked by my best friends two elder sisters. Look up any good Australian slang dictionary for its meaning. So we will see what my intuition or gut feeling or as my friend Lissa Rankin in her new book The Fear Cure our Inner Pilot Light comes up with.

That’s why I have chosen 15 images on intuition, that old gut feeling to comment on, two of them don’t even have words, the image speaks for itself. Here we go :

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1. Sacredness is a very special word and state of being to many of my friends. They have stepped outside their servant status and honoured the path of the intuitive.

 

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2. Sylvia Clare, author of the best selling book Trusting Your Intuition : Rediscover Your True Self to Achieve a Richer, More Rewarding Life has written many quotes on the subject, I like this one on transcending all other abilities.

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3. It wants the best for you, but how often do we give in to the dark side of reason and logic of our closed mind.

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4. Your Inner Pilot Light is a beautiful way of expressing that voice with in our gut that says get out, get out now.

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5. Here’s the first wordless image, as you can see it doesn’t need them.It creates its own powerful scenario and touches me deeply.

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6. Is your gut rumbling, that’s your hunch speaking to you to listen and listen deeply.

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7. I  like number seven, Intuition has no age. How many times have we been shocked by the wisdom of our 5 year old nieces and nephews, How could they know that at such a young age.

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8. A colourful mind map showing there are many ways to utilise our intuition, its not like our logical journey of right and wrong, black and white and good and evil.

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9. The good old listen to your heart not your mind for the important things like who you love, what you do to fulfil your passion in life, where you live, who you live with and many other questions.

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10. Trusting your Intuition, your third eye wisdom can transform your life into one of eternal bliss if you stick at it over an extended period.

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11. McCall Erickson has a truly beautiful webpage, Pictures and Quotes on Life. He points at you have to become a risk taker and listen to that old gut feeling ,it gets you under its spell to sense the beauty that is possible following your intuition.

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12. Ingrid Bergman was one of the greatest actresses from Hollywood’s lamented Golden Era. Her natural and unpretentious beauty and her immense acting talent made her one of the most celebrated figures in the history of American cinema. Bergman is also one of the most Oscar-awarded actresses, second only to Katherine Hepburn. This beautiful quote speaks to the training required to nurture that small voice inside.

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13. Another quote that speaks to the power of intuition over closed logic, discovery over knowing. Leonardo is a prime example of what you can create if you are willing to be intuitive in your actions.

 

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14. Learning from within, the heroes journey. Its takes a modicum of courage and bravery to walk this path. Doe Zantamata is an author, artist, and photographer. In addition to the Happiness in Your Life book series, she also creates and designs poster books of different titles, including “Happy By Nature,” “Old Children, A Book for “Adults”,” and others. I like her pointing to don’t let yourself be talked into something that doesn’t feel right.

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15. Wordless image number two to finish on, good versus evil. You definitely don’t need words to define this one. Who do you listen to the most?

Well if I have as much success with my intention from last night that I did with my 2013 one I am looking forward to a whole new relationship with many of my women friends I adore but have been unable to fully appreciate due to my deep held belief.

Namaste and speak to you again on Thursday my dear friends.

Namaste

 

 

 

 

 

We live on Her, sometimes we Forget

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I just went to this fascinating seminar on the weekend Free Humanity lead by entrepreneur Jeffrey Slayter His website who has got in contact with his conscious as well as his business side. Most business seminars do not have drumming ceremonies and lengthy discussions on the need to be in contact with Mother Nature to heal our souls.

Having not been out of my urban environment for quite a while and traveling out of the city for four days next weekend this made me think about what our relationship to Mother Nature is and its importance to humanity.

Wikipedia gives the following definition of Mother nature :

Mother Nature (sometimes known as Mother Earth or the Earth-Mother), is a common personification of nature that focuses on the life-giving and nurturing aspects of nature by embodying it in the form of the mother.

It has been a popular subject over time and here are the 15 quotes I have chosen to exemplify her importance

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1. Language is an interesting concept, Before written languages there were the languages of nature, the wind, the rivers, the animals, the birds.

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2. Since we have arrived on the planet we have chopped a lot of these down to make things without realizing they are our lungs and healing spaces. There is no anger or greed in a forest.

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3. Author of the best selling Wikinomics Anthony Douglas Williams attributes great healing powers to Mother nature, we in the west appear to have forgotten this.

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4. If you wish to be reminded of the power of nature, look to your children. They see the fairies, the beauty of plants and the glory of the night sky, Life is still a wonder to them.

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5. As you hustle off to your income generating job on a crowded train or highway it is easy to forget the beautiful planet that we live on. Whoopi Goldberg points out that she doesn’t feel that way towards us.

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6. My friend Kavisha  Mazzella the singer/songwriter with the voice of an Angel, hear her here An Angels Voice, says that the power of music is in the silence after, very much like the beauty of the sound of walking in a pristine forest.

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7. It is said a week in a forest is recuperative as a month in hospital, I know which one I would prefer.

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8. Do the words Tsunami, Earthquake and Perfect Storm bring up pleasant associations for you. Mother nature is mild and calm until she is woken from her sleep and then her rage can be devastating. Be nice to her.

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9. Jeffrey said at his seminar this powerful one liner, as we get older we become more of a student, less of a teacher. You cannot read in books or hear in talks what mother nature can teach you, you just can’t

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10. Where are the invisible spaceships that are being built to exodus us from the planet when it become uninhabitable for humans. Oops, that’s right they’re not being built, damnation.

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11. The humorous quote, most of those sounds you hear in nature are mating calls not unlike the pickup lines that are heard in the beer caverns that fill our cities.

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12. David Brower, founder of Friends of the Earth, points us back to our origins with a poignant reminder that we still need them, because with out them we will not be here either.

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13. Lao Tzu, one of the great thinkers, slows us down to remember that everything is accomplished in nature, and not at the breakneck speed that humanity is rushing along at.

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14. The fascination of language, the two words left out of this quote that seem to be relevant are corporate greed, shame really the influence they have on our current situation at the moment.

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15. Karolina Kurkova, listed in the top 50 most beautiful women reminds us that we come from Mother Natures loins as well. We are all a beautiful offspring of the stardust that makes up our planet.

One could write on this subject for time immemorial, which is how long she has been around. I felt my heart open writing this, thank you Mother nature for that gift.

Its time to say Namaste until next time my friends, thanks for reading my quirky output, Love you all.

Namaste

I’m part Horse, Wolf and Eagle

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Do you see animals in your dreams, and in your daily life them seem to be following you around on billboards, in movies and in actual physical form. These are the spirit guides that have been sent to travel with you in this lifetime.

A spirit animal is characterized by a personal relationship to the individual that it is associated with. You can have one or several spirit animals throughout your life, during a specific phase of your life, or at specific occasions.

It is that connection at the individual level that differentiates the power animal from the animal totem that tends to symbolize a group or person’s identity. As such, power animals are the equivalent of animal spirit guides or spirit animals.

Your spirit animal often represents qualities and attributes that you may see in yourself. It is instructive to learn about the habits and characteristics of your power animal and see how they are reflected in your own personality and life.

I recently attended a retreat where I went through a process that introduced the Eagle, then the Horse and finally the Wolf as my spirit guides.

Here are my 15 favorite saying and quotes on the matter :

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1. Pythagoras is best known for his maths, but was also one of ancient Greece’s leading philosophers. What about those animals we meet and it feels like we have known them forever, our souls are meeting

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2. I used to live in a town called Eaglehawk North where you could see flocks of Eagles in flight, they were magnificent, they are the only bird who flies above a storm to seek protection.

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3. Each animal through its actions have lessons to teach us. Here are the lessons you could learn from a Humming bird. Such a wise little bird.

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4. Sometimes we wander out with seemingly little protection, don’t worry, nature and our spirit guides have got their eyes open and are watching our every move.

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5. Had to include the Cat  or my sister’s moggie Lhasa wouldn’t let me in their house next time I visit. This is a very worthwhile list of pastimes for the regal cat family to pass on.

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6. They say our totems appear at the times we most need them, like when we are putting ourselves in danger, or when it is time to move on to the next part of our lives. To help us keep it real.

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7. As adults we wonder why our children talk to the animals. Chief Dan George of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation, a Coast Salish band whose Indian reserve is located on Burrard Inlet in the southeast area of the District of North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada stated that we fear creatures because we do not listen to them or talk to them anymore.

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8. Each tradition has animal worship included in it, from the cat gods of ancient Egypt to the naming of Sports team in modern society the love affair with their powers has gone on for eternity.

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9. Have you ever felt those big black crows are watching you a little more than necessary. Perhaps they brought you back to make up for those things you stuffed up last visit. Show them some respect.

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10 Chief Seattle was prominent in the 1800’s for establishing links between his people and the Whites. He is famous for a speech on how humans affected the environment. here’s a link to it Chief Seattles speech, he said that we were interconnected with all creatures of the land.

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11. The love we show to our animals, trains us in love for each other, recently a friend of mine organized a dance party to raise funds for her very sick cat, Kevin. We all attended  because the love that was generated at the event was amazing in, the love for an animal taught us love for each other.

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12. What creatures in Nature provide us , wonder and the chance to Soar.

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13. We have all seen those posters of the forest with quotes like one week in nature heals the damage one year in the city does. it connects us with the spirit world and the potent healing power of our planet.

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14. I used to live in a place near a river where mice ran through like they owned the place and stared at us like How rude we were being on their property. They especially loved it in winter when we lit the fire.  Mice teach you to dance through life.

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15. At that retreat I did back in 2013 where the Wolf showed up I shed a lot of stuff and took a lot on, becoming an Elder was one of them. The Wolf guards your self-esteem and integrity, useful traits to have.

Well that’s my take on the power and wisdom that Totems provide you. Namaste  until to next time my friends

Namaste

Time for an Overhaul, Renewal is Needed.

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I have been feeling the desire to transform what I do for a living. I was retired 4 and a half years ago by a federal agency Unfit to work ever again and placed on a life time pension. I believed this for two and a half years and did nothing eventually starting to do voluntary work as this did not necessarily mean that I was doing anything that I would receive value for my work.

Since I began writing my blog I have discovered that I also have great proof reading, marketing, editing and copy-writing skills I picked up in the seventies when I became joint Editor of a national Community Development journal by default. The editors left to drive around Australia and gifted the journal to the volunteers. It was pre-Internet, the early days of email so everything was basically a manual process. I did not use them for years except proof reading every sign and chalk board as I walked the streets of Melbourne. When I moved into a voluntary Social media role I discovered I still had the skills, they just had been dormant.

So what does it take to renew oneself? Here are my Fifteen favorite quotes and thoughts on the matter from over the pages of history.

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1. I know that I will not be able to earn a living from these skills doing what I do or thinking that I’m to old and my skills are out of date, so I will have to open myself up to a new way of being about these matters.

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2. If you think you know it all, there is a famous Gandhi quote

“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.”

Being frozen with your thoughts and ideas points to the fact that you have settled into the cement of rigidity.

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3. Henri Amiel born in 1821 had great insight into the matter, stating that as long as you had the capability, you could renew.

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4. Shamans who visit the West are often saddened by the way people with mental issues are treated. Breakdowns are seen in their communities as a stepping through to the next stage of a persons journey not a disease. Often to renew we have to go through the process of our situation being in breakdown.

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5. Nature has been around a lot longer than we mortal humans, our time on earth is equivalent to a few minutes of natures history. It keeps regenerating again and again. Do we see our lives as regenerating moment to moment, not as much as we should if we wish to transform our lives.

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6. We drive to work the same way, eat the same meals watch the same TV programs, then we walk into a cafe and the person who serves us changes our life for ever. Her or his fairy wings flutter and say come and play. Renewal at it’s most beautiful.

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7. Socrates, one of our great ancient philosophers points out the importance of no regrets, don’t spend our time focusing on righting the wrongs of our past but to look forward and spend our time renewing our identity.

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8. Jean Racine, one of France’s great playwrights from the 17th Century, doesn’t see quarrels as the impending end of a relationship , but the strengthening of people’s love through speaking up for what they required in the relationship.

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9.Why is renewal important, because it allows freshness in our lives, the joy of stopping and smelling the roses on a daily basis. As the founder of Buddhism was heard to comment, the root of all suffering is attachment.

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10. This one is just too cute to not put in. What came first the egg or the chicken. Who cares.

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11. There are so many beliefs about death and what happens. the ease with which we go to it often affects how peaceful and pain-free our final years occur before we begin it all again, The ultimate renewal, or do we?

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12. Wendell Berry, Author, Poet and Environmental Activist points out that some renewal is more important than others. We can renew our life and commitments but if we don’t renew our love of the planet it won’t matter much.

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13. Our family and friends within our community are who we turn to when we have a down time in our lives. This makes it extremely important to look after these relationships om a daily basis, the non renewal of them could be very costly.

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14. Angela Anaïs Juana Antolina Rosa Edelmira Nin y Culmell, better known as Anais Nin points out that the act of renewal in relationships is one of the sparks that brightens them moment to moment. Renewal prevents stagnation in whatever you bring it to.

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15. Finally, life’s greatest renewal, our beloved children. The reason we go to the well time and time again. Who remind us that their is a simpler life and in a lot of cases, that we just gave up.

I still have to deal with those thoughts and feeling that will allow me to renew my position in Life. Luckily I am off to my Creative Mastery course tonight run by my friend Arion whose fabulous work enables you to work through this quite quickly. Here’s a link to find out more – Activation School home page.

Well it’s time to say Namaste again, enjoy the read and share it on Facebook if you like it.

Namaste

When Language Ends, What Then?

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I had been ruminating on what to write my blog about this week, but after spending a particularly creative day at my friend Emeli’s business Collective Potential the thought ballon went off so here they are , 15 perspectives on creativity, some quite famous , others virtually unknown.

The great inventors, artists and musicians were often considered flakey in their own time and most definitely did not fit in and many died penniless as their recognition came years later. What do we say about this area, creativity , that has changed our planet time and time again over the ages.

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1. Henry Matisse painted beautiful flowers, he also penned one of the greatest quotes about creativity, simply three words, Creativity takes Courage. When we get to our fear factor that is where creativity kicks in, in that area we have not been before, the Unknown.

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2. Remember as a child when you trashed your mum’s kitchen making your first cake, flour and cake mix and dirty bowls everywhere. One of our first major acts of creativity and it definitely was not tidy. Guess what, creativity rarely is.

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3. Sylvia Plath’s poems were often considered on the dark side, but they always seemed to strike a cord with the reader. On creativity she pointed to the danger of trying to be creative when you were visiting the realm of self doubt. Do something to get out of this state before journeying down its path.

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4. Some say Love is the drug, creative types know that the boredom of a life without creativity is the drug that feeds their adrenaline glands.

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5. Four years old, playing knights and dragons with our imaginary friendly dragon, other kids come along and join in the game until everybody in the playground is taking part. Creativity, pass it on.

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6. Author of the 9 Intense Experiences, Brian Vaszily points to the fact that creativity is actually showing other people their blind spots, something new and exciting that they can add to their daily life.

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7. The M word, Edison made a million of these before he came across the right formulae for the light globe. Yes on your creative path you are going to make many mistakes. In fact if you are not you are not being creative.

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8. Einstein, motley hair, eccentric as hell. But he always had that cheeky grin that one wears when you are being totally creative, much fun.

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9. Let it go , Let it Out , Let it all Unravel. Let it free and It will be a path on which to travel. Michael Leunig’s beautiful ode to letting go, this is the world of creativity, go there.

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10. Do we call them goals those things we attain to and that are not in existence yet, but in the world to be. I use Danielle LaPorte’s Core Desired Feelings from the Desire Map technology to relate to this area of my life. Mine are Peace, Bliss, Love, H.O.P.E. – Helping other people evolve and Abundance. Living out of these is much more fulfilling than any To Do list.

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11. My friend Jules is wild and juvenile and one of the most creative people I know. His imagination is unfettered. He is often accused of not growing up. I think he should be given an Order of Australia for his contribution to the creativity of the planet.

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12. Our minds often get blocked up with the grunge of our everyday lives, there are methods such as meditation, Yoga and my favourite Tai Chi to help clear them and allow some space for creativity to replace it.

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13. Oh those times in our lives when it felt like everything was floating around torn asunder, not connected at all. A perfect opportunity to use your creative juices to restore some sense to it all.

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14. We all have the same number of hours in the day as luminaries like Martin Luther King Jr., Gandhi, Beethoven, Sir Richard Branson and my friend Emeli Paolo of Collective Potential. The difference in what they achieved and are going to achieve, go Emeli is that they knew and know that you cannot change the world by being like it, you have to do something radically different.

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15. Fonzie in the classic 60’s TV show Happy Days couldn’t say the word sorry. In the world of Creativity you had better be able to be with being wrong, because you will be many times, that’s why it’s called creativity after all.

Another 15 vignettes pondered and written Namaste until next time my friends.

Namaste

Why I write a daily Love Meme.

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Being enrolled in two courses at the same time sometimes leads to confusion  as to which one I am referencing. The two courses are Creative Mastery two, a six-week coaching held by Arion Light and Sacred Union for Singles, a seven month online course facilitated by the Moon Woman Tanishka Tantrika.

The subjects I wish to discuss in this blog are Love and Abundance and how the two combine. Definitions first –

Love is a variety of different feelings, states, and attitudes that ranges from interpersonal affection (“I love my mother”) to pleasure (“I loved that meal”). It can refer to an emotion of a strong attraction and personal attachment.[1] It can also be a virtue representing human kindness, compassion, and affection—”the unselfish loyal and benevolent concern for the good of another”.[2] It may also describe compassionate and affectionate actions towards other humans, one’s self or animals.[3]

Ancient Greeks identified four forms of love: kinship or familiarity (in Greek, storge), friendship (philia), sexual and/or romantic desire (eros), and self-emptying or divine love (agape).[4][5] Modern authors have distinguished further varieties of romantic love.[6] Non-Western traditions have also distinguished variants or symbioses of these states.[7] This diversity of uses and meanings combined with the complexity of the feelings involved makes love unusually difficult to consistently define, compared to other emotional states.

Love in its various forms acts as a major facilitator of interpersonal relationships and, owing to its central psychological importance, is one of the most common themes in the creative arts.[8]

Love may be understood as a function to keep human beings together against menaces and to facilitate the continuation of the species.[9

abundance (əˈbʌndəns)

n

1. a copious supply; great amount

2. fullness or benevolence: from the abundance of my heart.

3. degree of plentifulness

4. (Chemistry) chem the extent to which an element or ion occurs in the earth’s crust or some other specified environment: often expressed in parts per million or as a percentage

5. (General Physics) physics the ratio of the number of atoms of a specific isotope in a mixture of isotopes of an element to the total number of atoms present: often expressed as a percentage: the abundance of neon-22 in natural neon is 8.82 per cent.

6. (Card Games) Also called: abondance a call in solo whist undertaking to make nine tricks

7. affluence

[C14: via Old French from Latin abundantia, from abundāre to abound]

So as we can see there are many different meaning for both words, but what do we as the human race have to say about an abundance of Love. Here are some examples

1.

. abundance

It seems to me that the people who have been most turned on and passionately loving their lives are those people who have discovered what they love and have made that their career.

2.

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All through school I was taught reading, writing and arithmetic. Not much of this proved very useful in discovering in what it was that made my heart shudder. It was a 30 year journey after being cloned by the school system that finally got me to discover the joy of  writing as my self-expression.

3.

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Do we allow ourselves to be vulnerable enough to open our hearts to the whole world nd allow everybody and everything to be our teacher, I find this difficult at times when I let my head and judgements rule me.

4.

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Self Love is something that is not pushed in popular media, the news is full of war and hate. What if we focused on the dignity of the human  spirit and the power of Love, different world.

5.

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We all at some time in our lives have had one of these, our bestie, people we do not need to say many words and there seems to be no separation from. The relationship is much more than physical.

6.

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Spring is such a beautiful time, the scent of flowers permeate the air. Yet these fine examples of the earth loving itself are available all year round in poems, photos, our memories of times that they have bloomed.

7.

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Great Love equals a great abundant Life, go live it.

8.

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This beautiful image reminds me of the love where no words are needed, that which we seek for all of our lives.

9.

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A woman who created an abundant life by creating the belief of self-love and then went about fulfilling it, a shining example of self-love and abundance.

10.

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Love allows us to live in harmony with each other and the planet. People like Janet Goodall and David Suzuki who love our planet do so from a place of deep love for all creatures great and small.

11.

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We create the distinction of home, our calling, our journey with our words, they are not physical things, but things of Love, this is one of the great gifts we have.

12.

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Emenate Love and you will become a beacon for those who need the present of a little bit or a lot of love in their lives, become an Anchor of Love.

13.

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I don’t know if this is true but I believe one of my sisters said to me in the middle of one of my Mental Health crisises that It didn’t matter what I did, she would love me forever, my journey to being well transformed that day.

14.

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That’s what so great about these two distinctions, lived purely they have no costs to them, only benefits. We need to stop putting a caveat on them.

15.

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Finally, its time we started loving our abundant planet and not seeking a return from it with each economic transaction we make with it. Abundant Love is the way to freedom.

So these are my chosen 15 quotes that express the abundance of love to me, not sure if it explains why I write a daily love meme on Facebook, till next time my friends Namaste. If you wish to read them her is the link to my Facebook page, as a warrior of Love I will Like you and Include you in my world wide tribe Rod Williams

Namaste

May the Animals be Blessed.

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puppies Today I remember the animals of the world, our cohabitants of this precious planet. I recognise their vulnerability, as well as the harm we sometimes do to them. May careless, even cruel behaviour towards animals be forever removed from the earth. May my heart be open to ways I can be of service to them. May the relationship between humans and animals be lifted to its highest place. Dear Gaia, Please bless the animals. Protect Them From the actions of those with cold hearts. May we be proper stewards Of these precious creations in our midst. Amen. I love this prayer by Marianne Williamson to the other inhabitants of our planet although I changed one word, I cannot bring myself to use the word God, it is far to damaged in my estimation to be used to represent the spirit that is mightier than the human race, I much prefer Gaia, the spirit of the planet that does not relate to any power seeking religion. I spent last weekend volunteering at World Vegan Day in Melbourne Australia, my friends call me the worlds greatest volunteer. I was highly impressed by the  number of young  people who have journeyed down the path to Veganism. What is Veganism, Wikipedia defines it as follows

  1. Veganism /ˈviːɡənɪzəm/ is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal products, particularly in diet, as well as following an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of sentient animals. A follower of veganism is known as a vegan.
    vegan
    I used a picture of Beagles to begin this blog as there is a group in Victoria that specifically operates to rescue them from abandonment or cruelty http://www.beaglerescuevic.org/aboutus.html, and they are damn cute.
    There were many other organisations that defended the rights of animals around the world and I was drawn to the Tiger Protection booth and was amazed to find out that there are only 3,200 tigers in the wild, as articles say it is ironical it is the Chinese Year of the tiger when mankind is rapidly removing this noble creature from the planet. The link to this article does not hold out much hope for them in 12 years when the next Year of the Tiger rolls around. http://www.treehugger.com/natural-sciences/all-worlds-tigers-extinct-in-15-20-years-without-better-conservation-efforts.html.
    I chose to become Vegan due to the fact I did not want the energy of a living creature in my body not due to animal cruelty but the talk I heard by Philip Wollen pointed to why we need to give up eating meat and fish, we are literally killing the planet for the sake of our daily steak. Philip is a philanthropist who used to be head of Citibank in Australia and who had a turn around in his life and now funds project worldwide to prevent animal  cruelty and extinction. He has the ability to speak to people who can make a difference in a huge way. here is a link to a blog with one of his speeches http://livelearnloveeat.com/2012/12/16/philip-wollen-animals-should-be-off-the-menu/. He also funds Kindness House in Victoria where he allows groups dedicated to animals such as Vegetarian Victoria space for minimal rent so they can do their work to defend our fellow creatures.
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    It takes 25 times as much energy to produce one kilogram of beef as it does a kilogram of vegetables. If the developing nations keep changing their dietary habits to be carnivores we will need two planets at least to produce the energy required, we don’t have two planets, we have a profoundly wounded one. The children born today will not have fish to eat in the year 2050 according to an influential report released by scientists in the U.K. recently, this is sad but not as sad as the effect this will have on the oceans as fish are the life blood of the oceans. A friend of mine who is a solo ocean crossing sailor said the things he noticed in two journeys ten years apart was the silence of the seas, no fish no birds, he was profoundly worried for the future of our oceans and was speaking from experience.
    There are people worldwide who do not mistreat animals, heres a list of some of them http://list25.com/25-animal-saviors-who-will-restore-your-faith-in-humanity/  So are Vegans and vegetarians the saviours of the planet in the future, they are a growing number worldwide as the benefits of a meat free diets become apparent and it is recommended by more and more health professionals to battle the ever increasing battle with obesity and diabetes that has become an epidemic worldwide, here are some stats on vegetarians and vegans worldwide http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vegetarianism_by_country. 
    Namaste until next time my friends
    Namaste

Who seeks Asylum?

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asylum

I work at the Darebin Intercultural Centre in Preston where we have an Asylum Seeker Lounge which actually means I get to interact with actual Asylum Seekers.

Seeking international protection

The term asylum-seeker is often confused with the term refugee. An asylum-seeker is someone who says he or she is a refugee and seeks international protection from persecution or serious harm in their home country. Every refugee is initially an asylum-seeker, but not every asylum-seeker will ultimately be recognized as a refugee. While they are waiting for their claim to be accepted or rejected, they are called asylum-seekers. The term asylum-seeker contains no presumption either way – it simply describes the fact that someone has lodged the claim for asylum. National asylum systems are there to decide which asylum-seeker actually qualifies for international protection. Those judged through proper procedures not to be refugees, nor to be in need of any other form of international protection, can be sent back to their home countries.

I always ask people who agree with the policy that there are no such thing as asylum seekers who need to catch boats and not wait on the list that never decrease for organisations such as the UNCHR have they ever met an asylum seeker and listened to their stories. There is a great project in Melbourne Australia that tells these stories http://opencity.org.au/ – they cannot use there real names for fear of reprise to their families in their home countries and unfortunately in our country from over zealous government officials but I know several of the people in this projects and having read them it changed my ideas of what and why these people take the dramatic action of boarding a rickety boat that may end up at the bottom of an ocean.

boats

Sara who I know has lost her family because of the repressive laws regarding women in her home country. Highly educated and a translator of books Sara decided to leave after the last books she translated was not allowed to be published because it broke Islamic Law. religion raising its head once again. Women do not have the right to seek leaving their country where Sara was from , so she flew out with the intention of not returning and seeking asylum in a country where women had rights and chose Australia. Sara spent 9 days on a boat after paying $5,000 to a boat smuggler and lost contact with the person who traveled with her from her home country. Because one has money does not mean you are an Asylum seeker, money is not the answer to living a meaningful life.

Mustafa was raped by the Taliban at the age of ten years old for a three month period and has been in Australia and on the same visa for the past five years. He has 8 dollars a fortnight  left over after paying his rent which he buys a packet of biscuits and a bottle of drink and recently had to leave his shared accommodation and has been going through the trauma of finding new accommodation on a severely low income.

biscuits

I recently found a Pledge to Asylum Seekers written by L. Clancy and L. Mariah for Bendigo for Refugees, http://www.pledgetoasylumseekers.org/

Our Pledge to Asylum Seekers

YWC pledger_4 Welcome!

This site is for sharing the Pledge to Asylum Seekers, written by two Australian writers who wanted to create something that would generate empathy, humanity and hope.

We wrote the Pledge to bring some perspective to an issue that has become lost in politics. We hope that it will move people’s hearts, demonstrate the depth of compassion felt by both individuals and groups, and inspire further action.

The Pledge is as follows

To those who come from desperation and despair,

To those who have endured violence and unrest.

To those who have no place of safety,

Who come to our shores seeking sanctuary:

You are Welcome here.

We pledge to the mothers and to the fathers,

We pledge to the children and pregnant women,

We pledge to those tortured, broken and dispossessed,

We will acknowledge you with kindness and compassion:

You are Welcome here.

We pledge as part of the human family:

We pledge as members of a global community:

We pledge as people who have sought and found

A peace and safety such as you seek,

You are welcome here.

As the children and grandchildren of displaced persons,

We will not shirk our responsibilities.

We will Not stand by while your cjhildren are hidden offshore.

We will insist on change to the current system.

You are welcome here.

If you dream of your children living in safety,

Of sharing the hard works and the rewards:

If you long to contribute to a caring and just society

And subscribe to a ‘fair go for all’,

You are welcome here.

Bring respect fellowship and goodwill.

Bring your heart, your courage and your aspirations.

We are fair honest, open-minded and generous,

We greet you in friendship

And you are welcome here.

Signed ___________________

This is for the humans to sign, people who recognize that do not belong to teams, but one human race. Go to the webpage print a copy out sign it and get your organisations and friends and family to sign it and return the humanity to a situation that seems to have lost it at the moment.

Namaste until next time my friend

sNamaste