Life Expands Courage!!


Went on an Unleashing retreat on the weekend, it was called Unleashing Ecstasy and we had to have an intention for the weekend. I came up with being totally and completely loved but during the weekend realised that I saw this was only for my good parts, so I added All of it to the intention on  the Saturday evening. I was mildly surprised when I came  down with  a severe cold an hour  later as I thought  intention where meant to illuminate you.

Still have the cold but thought I would have a go at the blog, even thought it’s a day late. What do we do to illuminate our lives on a day to day basis and what has society said about it over the years, Lets have a look:

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1. Crying has a bad rap and attracts much undeserved criticism  and unrequested support as there is something obviously wrong with you if you are crying, its just an emotion as is smiling.

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2. Dorothy Thompson (9 July 1893 – 30 January 1961) was an American journalist and radio broadcaster, who in 1939 was recognized by Timemagazine as the second most influential woman in America next to Eleanor Roosevelt. She is notable as the first American journalist to be expelled from Nazi Germany in 1934 and as one of the few women news commentators on radio during the 1930s. She is regarded by some as the “First Lady of American Journalism.” : Turn on the Lights

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3. They are waiting for you to illuminate your light, your friends and the rest of the world.

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4. I like reading books like this, that talk about triumphing over the dark side : Don’t stop believing.

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5. Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803 – April 27, 1882), known professionally as Waldo Emerson, was an American essayist, lecturer, and poet who led the Transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century. He was seen as a champion of individualism and a prescient critic of the countervailing pressures of society, and he disseminated his thoughts through dozens of published essays and more than 1,500 public lectures across the United States.

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6. And Pharrell Williams wrote a song about this: Happy.

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7. Stop searching for it out there, Big houses and Ferraris don’t bring you happiness, though  some may disagree with this.  It’s the inner journey where the answer lies.

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8. Jaeda is a self-taught photographic artist and poet. In “real life” she is a private, solitary and reclusive creature. She loves unraveling the mysteries of the human spirit. She creates self-portraits, dreamscapes, survivor art, spiritual art, sensual art and figurative.

Images . . . poetry . . .words . . .they can offer us a feeling, an experience and the magical gift of transport.

I want my imagery to give people a way to express themselves, to offer them a moment of magic and wonder, I desire to ignite their imagination, emotions and give them a sense of connection: Black and White Emotions.

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9. Sometimes we need to do this to illuminate what is important in our lives.

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10. Possibly one of the most recognised quotes about getting off your bum and doing it: I want to break free.

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11. A question if answered that will always illuminate your life if the answer is No.

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12. There are 7,000,000,000 different normalities on the planet, I don’t think it can be: Lights.

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13. If it light you up you are illuminated.

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14. They say meditation lights up your neural passages, this  person could be taking it to the extreme: Om Shanti Om.

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15. On the weekend I mentioned we spent a lot of time delving into the essence of giving and receiving Love. Our willingness to love the dark bits is just as important as the happy bits. 

To me it takes courage to seek what illuminates your life, thank you to all the people who are on this journey at the moment.

Namaste until next time my dear friends:

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Can you Feel the Noise?


Ever since I took on the life-purpose of radiating Love my feelings have been going haywire.Its like their noise level has increased and that I am meant to deal with them, one thing I was very good at not doing for a long , long time.

I had an experience on a tram the other day where a woman told me I belonged in a psychiatric ward for tapping my feet to the  music I was listening to. I felt it was my right to get angry and told her to Fuck off and that I would give her my psychiatrists number is she was disturbed by such minor things and to avoid school closure times when travelling.

So how do we relate and react to our feelings? Do we subdue them or let loose and lessen the hold they have over us. The world has many quotes on the subject of feelings and I like the 15 we are going to journey with todays: Lets begin.

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1. I’ve been having these feeling again after a very, very long time of not allowing myself to. I’m still an amateur at it even though I am in my eldership years.

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2. Those feelings you don’t want to have and wished they would go away, you had them for a reason. Breathe in, accept them and learn the lesson. Show The Tracks of My Tears.

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3. I have been guilty of this for most of my life, as I suspect many of you reading this have been as well. They won’t go away unless they are accepted and expressed. So it’s not Silence is Golden.

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4. The good old silent treatment, where you get to make up what is going on. Most times I go it wrong proving that this way of dealing with feelings is utter crap.

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5. Out damn spot, denying it and trying to make them go away is the booby prize arena in the feelings stakes.

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6. My friend Lissa Rankin talks about True fears and False fears, 90% of what we fear is never going to happen, its just our mind on full volume. Here’s a link to her page : The Fear Cure.

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7. I have lost a few people in my life by not expressing my feelings. The latter statement os the result of not doing this.

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8. Recently went through this, don’t know if she has forgotten me. gave her the choice to stay in contact, she declined. Feeling like this makes me think of Scary Monsters.

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9. Moving on down the line, not really because those dang feeling are still somewhere lurking in my body and mind waiting for more playtime.

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10. There is only one song that can go with this quote: Walk a Mile in my Shoes.

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11. Declaration of this can have dire or gorgeous consequences dependant on what the other person’s reaction is.

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12. Mind reading by any other name: If you could read my mind Love.

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13. When people become media stars it is often forgotten that they have feelings to. Marilyn Monroe was hounded to her death as the sex symbol of her time.

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14. How often have we thought or said, I thought I had dealt with that Feeling or Issue, yet her it is again raising its ugly head. Take it in your arms, my love. Feelings.

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15. The flip flopping world of dealing with our feelings on a day to day basis. Will we ever make our mind up?

The things that make us distinct from each other, unique in our own right. Are we anything else but our feelings, I say that actions are also part of our makeup, but these are predicated by the former.

Namaste until next time, my dear friends.

namaste

 

 

 

 

 

Connection is, of the Soul!!


There are many forms of connection  across the world, religious sporting, kindred spirits and even family. I went to a card making day for the United Nations International Day of Friendship at Darebin Intercultural Centre in Melbourne where I voluntarily tutor English to two Sri Lankans, one Pakistani and three Chinese students. They give me a great connection to other cultures.

I made a card for each of my siblings , and I am going to send them on August 7th, which is the official day, I’m not sure how my older brother will take being told how I love him, it’s not his thing.

The quotes for connection are widespread across many facets of life, so let’s begin our travel down the road of being connected to something or someone in our lives.

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1. Our connection to life can be like Anthony Robbins screaming out Just do It or like Eckhart Tolle cajoling us to just be in the now . Neither is an incorrect way to be connected to the earth. Kate Perry, OMG, has a courage song : Roar.

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2. I grew up in Bendigo and went to  High School in the 1970’s. The  last friend I saw from those days was at least 15 years ago as I had to move away for work. I sometimes regret losing those wonderful friends I used to ride my bike to school with.

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3. I’m not sure if this is the cinemaphotographer from Finding Tory, but I have been learning recently that it is not money you work for , it is your time that holds the value. when you lose value ,  you may contemplate this : Rock and Roll Suicide.

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4. You can do well at things, but if they are not improving life on earth, why do you bother?

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5. I’m sure we have all seen Steve Jobs, Tim Minchin’s and Jim Carrey’s commencement speeches. How many of the people listening follow the advice before they are sucked into the normality of a 9 to 5 job. Fear and Love.

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6. And if we could connect to our younger selves, what would we say. Here is what actress Sandra Bullock suggested at a commencement speech she gave.

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7. Make your connection with your spirit the best it can be , shoot high.  Terry Teachout (born February 6, 1956) is an American critic, biographer, librettist,author, playwright,and blogger. He is the drama critic of The Wall Street Journal, the critic-at-large of Commentary, and the author of “Sightings,” a column about the arts in America that appears biweekly in the Friday Wall Street Journal. He blogs at About Last Night and has written about the arts for many other magazines and newspapers, including the New York Times and National Review : We are the Champions of the World.

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8. Jim Carrey again, I have listened to the speech mentioned above in full about twenty times, if you have time seek it out on Youtube, the one I have included is a shortened version.

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9. I wrote a previous blog on Anam Cara, Irish for soul friend, people you can be apart from for years and it feels like a minute and it just continues like no time has passed: That’s what friends are for.

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10. There is a saying the greatest compliment you can give someone is to really listen to them. I think this quote sums that situation up pretty well.

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11. We are here for a short period of time, do not leave the planet worse than you found it: Peace Train.

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12. Not your Love, but your vision, creativity, character, and your passion, then perhaps it has a chance.

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13. Because it says so much about our changing types of connection: My thoughts on Google+

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14. Eleanor Roosevelt was the first lady of the United States and so much more. She said great empowering things, especially for women.

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15. And, yes we are getting two commencement speeches in the add-ons, take it away: Steve Jobs.

As I said, different ways to look at connection, quotes, songs and speeches. Some of them are inspiring, some daggy – Australian for quirky, and some just classic.

Namaste until next time, my dear friends.

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You are not a Tree!!


I suppose I spent the first 30 years of my life being a good country boy with not much ambition besides holding down a job that brought in some money so I could survive this life.

The first event that really changed it was when my sister rang me near her birthday and asked me had I heard anything about the Forum and would I like to come to an evening about it. Being a good brother I said yes as a sort of Birthday present. I could not imagine I would be running down the main street of St. Petersburg with the sports minister and mayor of that city that is larger than Sydney and Melbourne combined just a year and a half later after running the Moscow Peace Marathon.

This phone call was life changing for me as I had never really taken a look at my life up to the moment I enrolled in the Forum a couple of months later. It didn’t have a lot of effect at first because I sat there knowing what they were talking about. It was only when they said something my egotistical IQ did not understand or believe at the time that had me actually take part in the enquiry.

What changes our Lives? Is it looking across the room and seeing the person we know we are going to spend the rest of our life with, the birth of our first child, or in my case a willingness not to know something. Let’s have a look at what is said about it  out there:

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1. How does one change their life? Winston Churchill, known as much for his cigar smoking as his words says it take old-fashioned courage, the ability to continue down the path of life. Lets be Brave.

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2. Don’t listen to those negative stories in your head, go and talk to someone else who will point out the lies they are.

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3. There will be moments in your life that you rediscover your two-year old tantrum ability, NO, with this I will not put up with. Here’s why MLK was considered such a change leader : I’ve been to the Mountaintop.

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4. The meaning of life is not to get your values from mainstream media but from  personal experience, then you truly know how it affects you.

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5. Eleanor Roosevelt said the essential thing is to learn and that there is no experience from which you can’t learn something. My mentor Arion says it  like this: Everything is a gift. At times it hurts me when I try to comprehend this lifestyle. You could say Its Living not Dreaming.

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6. Do you agree with this?

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7. Over to John Lennon: Imagine.

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8. How many of the men out there were trained not to be emotive and shed tears because it was not being manly? Luckily our society has changed and this is no longer such a crime.

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9. I was just turning 30 when I chose the latter. Let’s hear from the Sesame Street crew: Don’t Give Up.

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10. My God, of which I don’t really have one, that hurt. Which type, which pain?

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11. I’m a How I met your Mother fan, big time. If you are not you will not know who this proud and out gay actor who played the womaniser of the series is. Such an irony. Here’s Tegan and Sara from the Lego movie : Everything is Awesome!!.

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12. Life will not always go the way you want  it to, time for some yachting lessons so you can sail your way back.

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13. My friend Emeli says it You’re Allowed, to live your dreams, she’s referring to. Arnie, the terminator in the classic movie series says  it even simpler: I will do! Rise Up!!

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14. Albert Einstein , 14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist. He developed the general theory of relativity, one of the two pillars of modern physics (alongside quantum mechanics). Einstein’s work is also known for its influence on the philosophy of science. Einstein is best known in popular culture for his mass–energy equivalence formula E = mc2 (which has been dubbed “the world’s most famous equation”). He received the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics for his “services to theoretical physics”, in particular his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect, a pivotal step in the evolution of quantum theory. His research has changed many lives.

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15. Possibly the oldest quote with the youngest and cutest image. Confucius points out how to change your life, begin by taking a step at a time : One Step at a Time!!

The title of this blog comes from another quote: f you don’t like where you are, then change it – You are not a Tree. Victimhood is the booby prize, take that step from tree hood today.

Namaste until next time, my dear friends

namaste

 

Love and Respect for All, Everyone Included.


I picked up a pocket guide to The Charter which speaks about Human Dignity, Equality and Freedom. It was promoting the state government where I live in Victoria, Australia Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities 2006. There are 27 sections of the charter covering from freedom of expression to cultural rights.

The title of this blog is a slogan I created about two and a half years ago to explain the ethos of Interculturalism where the rights of all human beings are respected. I also created an Interculturalism Facebook group for people to express examples that they came across , here’s the link : Interculturalism if you wish to join us.

Human rights are a subject that a lot of well known people have spoken on and I had many to choose my 15 examples from, lets begin our journey.

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1. Unfortunately where I live in Australia we have been doing this for several years by detaining people in concentration camp conditions on off shore facilities. The fact that some staff refer to people by their boat number and not their name speaks very loudly that human rights do not exist in these facilities.

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2. 
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Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the Earth. – Abraham Lincoln, the last independent nominee elected as the president of the United States. Unfortunately some countries seem to have forgotten this.
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3. A member of the German Greens party Volker Beck is an outspoken supporter of gay rights and recompense for families persecuted by the Nazi’s. In 2006, Beck sponsored an anti-discrimination act in civil law and at the workplace, outlawing discrimination based on race, ethnic origin, sex, sexual identity, religion, age, and disability.

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4. Anyone can be a champion of human rights, politicians, TV personalities, You.

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5. The youngest Nobel Prize winner Malala is afraid of no one in her quest for equal rights, especially through the right to education. Peter Tosh sang a great song about this in the 70’s : Equal Rights and Justice.

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6. Gandhi freed a nation from the oppression of the British Empirical rule but never gave up his belief that humankind was fundamentally good, dirty drops do not spoil the masses of great human beings out there.

 

7. I have the entire speech made by Martin Luther King, now so do you : I have a dream. Listen to this when you need to be inspired.

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8. Sometimes I think it’s sad that we need to have a day to remind us of this. I look forward to the day it is no longer required.

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9. Harriet Tubman  was an American abolitionist, humanitarian, and an armed scout and spy for the United States Army during the American Civil War. Born into slavery, Tubman escaped and subsequently made some thirteen missions to rescue approximately seventy enslaved families and friends, using the network of antislavery activists and safe houses known as the Underground Railroad. She later helped abolitionist John Brown recruit men for his raid on Harper’s Ferry, and in the post-war era was an active participant in the struggle for women’s suffrage. This song demonstrates what Harriet did beautifully : I’ll Fly Away.

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10. Remember that curiosity and joy that babies have, everything is a gift in life. Why do we train them to forget this? Love is all you need and underlies all emotions.

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11. What if everybody was Perfect. Pink thinks so: Perfect.

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12. If you know another you can not really hate.

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13. As Homer would say Doh!! YMCA.

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14. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is a declaration adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 10 December 1948 at the Palais de Chaillot, Paris. The Declaration arose directly from the experience of the Second World War and represents the first global expression of what many people believe to be the rights to which all human beings are inherently entitled. The full text is published by the United Nations on its website.

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15. This is a struggle worth getting up for. As the Warriors of Love the Beatles sang back in the day: All you need is love.  And as Arudhati Roy stated: Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing.

They are the rights of all people on our beloved planet, we have just forgotten and became focused on other crazy things such as war, profit and other such hedonistic pastimes. Lets give it up for Lent or Ramadan.

Namaste until  next time my dear friends.

namaste

 

 

 

Relax, Renew, Refresh!!


I have just begun to be able to relax again as I have had an injury caused by being pulled around the floor for three minutes to experience what it felt like to fly. Bring on three weeks of sleepless nights a lot of pain and  looks when I told people as to how it happened that I am a slightly unconnected individual.

I suppose we don’t really think how quickly our ability to relax and chill can be taken away from us, I hope I have learnt my lesson that relaxing take something as does stressing. Its amazing how many quotes on relaxing feature cute pictures of cats and dogs so I tried not to include to many in the 15 I have chosen to discuss this worthy subject, Let us begin our journey.

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1. How many times a day do we forget this little mantra. Frankie goes to Hollywood implores us to Relax, don’t do It.

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2. Which way do you wake up, I’m a bit of both.

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3. This is possibly what my very fat in law cat Lhasa looked like as a kitten, cats have it all over their canine friends in the relaxing stakes.

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4. The Chinese have given much to the world, one of the things is great philosophers who come up with great quotes. This is one of them.

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5. Remember to include in your daily to do list time to do stuff like this, laying on the earth is very good for you.

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6. Relaxation travels with its mates, here’s a group photo of them just chilling.

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7. Relax, take it easy is a song that comes to mind when I think of the baths I have had over my life time : Mika’s beautiful song

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8. My father was a teacher, as well as one sister and the other one was a lecturer. Sometimes the system in our country doesn’t allow for this as their marking time is not included in their attendance at the actual school. Cute Polar Bear.

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9. I believe that being in the presence of love is one of the most relaxing things you can do in your life. Find a loving community, family and friends and your stress will lower immediately.

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10. Now this is one relaxed looking dude, bet he’s rocking out some awesome licks.

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11. Our society has become so busy that there are even books being written on how to relax, I think the title of this particular book speaks to how difficult we have made a simple pastime.

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12. If you find a job or career you love, you will not work another day in your life. Allan Watts agrees with sense of relaxed play in Life: Allan Watts on Relaxation.

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13. One quote I did not choose said 7.45 roll over for a five minute nap, wake up at 8.30. have a 5 minute nap at work at 1.30 , wake up at 1.31 pm. Wayne Dyer’s quote speaks to something entirely different.

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14. Had to sneak in one for the dog lovers, He/She looks super relaxed.

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15. And we’ll finish with one of the most chilled out songs about relaxing. Take it away Mr. Marley :Don’t Worry ’bout a Thing.

So lets commit to living a more relaxed life and add some years to our time on Earth.

Namaste until next time, my dear friends.

Where we Wrong?


Today I wrote on reconciliation. In our country there is a call for reconciliation to recognise the indigenous people who are not recognised in our constitution. There is one slight problem, most of the indigenous people don’t want reconciliation they want a treaty that recognises the fact the land was stolen off them.

This has caused much division, in the area where I live there is a call to change the name of the local electorate from Batman, named after explorer John Batman to recognising our indigenous people, the Wurrundjeri.

Batman is a controversial figure due to his dealings with Aboriginal peoples in Van Diemen’s Land/ AKA Tasmania and Victoria. The artist John Glover, Batman’s neighbour in Van Diemens Land, said Batman was “a rogue, thief, cheat and liar, a murderer of blacks and the vilest man I have ever known”.

The treaty Batman negotiated with local Aboriginal peoples in 1835, to acquire land in the Port Phillip area, was a matter of controversy in his day, and has remained an event of great historical interest and debate.

So what does the world say about reconciliation and is it essential that it occurs for the soul of the earth to be restored. Lets begin out journey:

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1. Actually Thich Nhat Hanh, this beautiful man has been a peace and reconciliation activist since the days of the Vietnam War. He was interviewed by Oprah, a bit long but worthwhile: The Interview.

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2. Recognised as one of the greatest peace activists on his release, he was originally jailed for being a guerrilla, he set up the famous truth and reconciliation commission after the end of apartheid so that chaos did not break out and that a new future could be created in South Africa.

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3. Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, was a Spanish writer who is widely regarded as the greatest writer in that language and one of the world’s pre-eminent novelists. What do you think he means by this statement?

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4. It is said that we outgrow people but what about those times we made somebody wrong for what they said or did. I recently made up with a person who had been one of my dearest friends. My heart sung after I did it.

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5. What if we could restore all the broken hearts we suffered in our life, would the world occur differently, fuck yeah!!

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6. Nelson again, putting it in our faces. South African Songs

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7. Practical action, Fraser was the last Liberal Party Prime Minister to practise Keynesian economics. In retirement, Fraser became involved in international relief and humanitarian aid issues and, domestically, as a forthright liberal voice for human rights. Shortly after Tony Abbott won the 2009 Liberal Party leadership spill, Fraser ended his Liberal Party membership, stating the party was “no longer a liberal party but a conservative party”.

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8. In Victory someone usually loses, Reconciliation tends to be the opposite where both parties obtain what they desire.

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9. García Márquez started as a journalist, and wrote many acclaimed non-fiction works and short stories, but is best known for his novels, such as One Hundred Years of Solitude (1967), The Autumn of the Patriarch (1975), and Love in the Time of Cholera (1985). His works have achieved significant critical acclaim and widespread commercial success, most notably for popularising a literary style labelled as magic realism, which uses magical elements and events in otherwise ordinary and realistic situations. Some of his works are set in a fictional village called Macondo (the town mainly inspired by his birthplace Aracataca), and most of them explore the theme of solitude. This powerful statement speaks to the gift of reconciliation.

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10. The Fonz from the sitcom Happy Days could not say these words. How much pain has our inability to say them caused us? In my case quite a bit.

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11. Have you ever met someone you keep running into in the most unusual situations. I saw one of these people on a TV program the other day.

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12. Brother Roger was awarded the UNESCO Prize for Peace Education in 1988 and wrote many books on prayer and reflection, asking young people to be confident in God and committed to their local church community and to humanity. He also wrote books about Christian spirituality and prayer, some together with Mother Teresa with whom he shared a cordial friendship. A springtime to the Soul sounds like a wonderful place to hang out in. Leonard Cohen has a wistful song about reconciliation : Amen.

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13. South Africa’s other great peace activist, Desmond Tutu calls us out that forgiveness and reconciliation are real things we need to take action on. Tutu’s admirers see him as a great man who, since the demise of apartheid, has been active in the defence of human rights and uses his high profile to campaign for the oppressed. He has campaigned to fight HIV/AIDS,tuberculosis, poverty, racism, sexism, homophobia and transphobia. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984; the Albert Schweitzer Prize for Humanitarianism in 1986; the Pacem in Terris Award in 1987; the Sydney Peace Prize in 1999; the Gandhi Peace Prize in 2007; and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009. He has also compiled several books of his speeches and sayings.

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14. The great Chinese philosopher Unknown asks us to walk powerfully on the earth, so do I.

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15. And we must never forget the magical powers of the Unicorn of Reconciliation, they can help heal the world.

I believe that we can heal the planet through reconciliation, not with just fellow human beings, but the other animals and the plants as well.

Namaste until next time , my dear friends.

Namaste2

 

Do they really love us and can they talk?


I am back on the air. After washing my phone and not having access to my verification codes to do an article for several weeks I have my beloved I phone 6 back. I saw an elderly woman walking her beloved pooch this morning on my walk to work, she was dressed in black so I assume that her beloved had passed and that her little white poodle filled her heart in the physical sense at least.

This made me think as a pet-less one, putting me in the minority in my country, 63% of households have one, 40% dogs and 23% cats and probably like my sister Ruth having both ,what it is that pets fulfil in people lives.

I tried not to choose 15 images of cats and dogs, but they are definitely the favourite, so lets go on our journey about the love between the furry ones and their two-legged friends who bizarrely think they are the masters.

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1. I never got into pet ownership as a child due to our family having several disasters occur. Dog poisonings,  pigeon fox attacks etc. etc. I  would enjoy the company of a cat but my lease says nada to that.

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2. I am in-laws to a cat and a dog, Suki and Lhasa. How much attention Suki gets my brother in law said once that he wants to come back as her next time around to receive the attention that my sister pours on her. Lhasa is an old cat who rules the roost.

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3. Unknown must secretly be a dog or a cat. This speaks so strongly about the bond between the pets and their owners that I know. This song by Patti Page does also : How much is that Doggie in the Window.

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4. Those nights watching our favourite life’s a little bit hard at the moment” with our beloved moggie or puppy are so, so special.

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5. One knows that as soon as you begin cuddling or patting yours or someones pet you next half an hour has just been taken up.

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6. This is the contract you take on with an animal, are you ready for it?

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7. I just had to put this one in, it’s funny and explains some of their cuter expressions.

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8. Research shows that hugging (and also laughter) is extremely effective at healing sickness, disease, loneliness, depression, anxiety and stress. Research shows a proper deep hug, where the hearts are pressing together, can benefit you in these ways:

1. The nurturing touch of a hug builds trust and a sense of safety

2. Hugs can instantly boost oxytocin levels, which heal feelings of loneliness, isolation, and anger.
3. Holding a hug for an extended time lifts one’s serotonin levels, elevating mood and creating happiness.
4. Hugs strengthen the immune system. The gentle pressure on the sternum and the emotional charge this creates activates the Solar Plexus Chakra. This stimulates the thymus gland, which regulates and balances the body’s production of white blood cells, which keep you healthy and disease free.
5. Hugging boosts self-esteem. From the time we’re born our family’s touch shows us that we’re loved and special. The associations of self-worth and tactile sensations from our early years are still embedded in our nervous system as adults. The cuddles we received from our Mom and Dad while growing up remain imprinted at a cellular level, and hugs remind us at a somatic level of that. Hugs, therefore, connect us to our ability to self love.
6. Hugging relaxes muscles. Hugs release tension in the body. Hugs can take away pain; they soothe aches by increasing circulation into the soft tissues.
7. Hugs balance out the nervous system. The galvanic skin response of someone receiving and giving a hug shows a change in skin conductance. The effect in moisture and electricity in the skin suggests a more balanced state in the nervous system – parasympathetic.
8. Hugs teach us how to give and receive. There is equal value in receiving and being receptive to warmth, as to giving and sharing. Hugs educate us how love flows both ways.
9. Hugs are so much like meditation and laughter. They teach us to let go and be present in the moment. They encourage us to flow with the energy of life. Hugs get you out of your circular thinking patterns and connect you with your heart and your feelings and your breath.
10. The energy exchange between the people hugging is an investment in the relationship. It encourages empathy and understanding. And, it’s synergistic, which means the whole is more than the sum of its parts: 1 1 = 3 or more! This synergy is more likely to result in win-win outcomes.

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9. Did the philosophiser Immanuel Kant creator of I think, therefore I am also come up with this classic statement about the human part of the partnership of animal and owner?
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10. I’m sure most pet owners have nightmares about this. Cat Stevens would like you to sing you a song : I love my Dog!!.
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11. James Alfred “Alf” Wight, OBE, FRCVS (3 October 1916 – 23 February 1995), known by the pen name James Herriot, was a British veterinary surgeon and writer, who used his many years of experiences as a veterinary surgeon to write a series of books each consisting of stories about animals and their owners. He is best known for these semi-autobiographical works, beginning with All Creatures Great and Small in 1972. The British television series adapted from the books is also titled All Creatures Great and Small.
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12. My nephew was afraid of dogs for many a year after hearing a German shepherd bark for an extended period of time. Many things can cause phobias towards our furred ones. What would you name your snail?
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13. Not always the most logical creatures, are they. Just tricksters at heart really.
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14. Cutest animal picture of the blog, and best quote as well.
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15. How could I look at this photo and not think of Michael Jackson’s first hit: Ben.
Being one of the 37% minority in my country who do not do this I feel I am close to having the illegal cat. We spend close to 1 billion dollars a year on our furry creatures and they love us for it.
Namaste until next time , my dear friends.
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Taking it All In.


My friend Jo Jo Smith posted a comment on the Orlando massacre today: No More Guns . I have been listening to my body as to how it feels about what it would take for a person to take the lives of 50 fellow human beings. In my mind I can’t imagine how you could devalue life that much, but on a daily basis people do it.

Who or what teaches us our human values? When my father passed I learnt a harsh lesson in expecting someone to be there and then they were no longer. You can have memories but its not the same. So what do people say about human values, 15 quotes that delve deep into it today. Lets begin the journey:

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1. Elvis sings in his song Always on My Mind about making people feel second best, do you want to leave those type of fingerprints Second best or not.

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2. The fourth estate is another way of referring to the media. I think they have forgotten the above human value, at least in the  country I reside in, Australia.

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3. Your values cannot be challenged by it suddenly becoming the hard road to travel, they are what makes you who you are.

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4. Brene Brown  has a beautiful definition of Integrity : Courage over Comfort, What’s right over fun, fast and easy, practicing your values not just professing them. I think it adequately covers what the above quote is pointing at.

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5. I think they should have a subject that is called values all through our schooling years. Our later years would be so much easier and we would make a lot less mistakes.

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6. It’s like always telling the truth, if you live from your values you do not have to remember what you did, as you have nothing to fear having done wrong.

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7. Perhaps the greatest exponent of Human Values, Tenzin Gyatso, the Dalai Lama realises just how important it is to spread the message of having a set of harmonious values.

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8. University degrees, hit singles, Trumps Billions are no replacement for living by your word. Reliable, Accountable, Integrity, treat people with these.

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9. I’m sure if we lived our life this way we would live an extraordinary one. They say people who are knocked down, who then pause and ask the hard questions rise the strongest.

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10. The labels we place on ourselves by country, religion, race or colour enable us to not be a good person to others, try being a human being.

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11. Seems there are a few nations doing this over remembering that we are all part of the human race. We need a little more Respect – Aretha.

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12. I must admit I had to look up who Helen Walton was,  Helen Robson Kemper Walton was the wife of Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club founder Sam Walton. At one point in her life, she was the richest American and the eleventh-richest woman in the world.  Love her quote.

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13. If you do what you Love for job, you will never work another day in your life.

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14. Sherry Turkle is an M.I.T. professor who questions how Technology is treating our values and connection. her TED talk Connected but Alone has been watch over 3 million times. Perhaps she has got onto something.

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15. This is what was forgotten in Orlando. I beg of you to restore these values to where they must be  held by all human beings , in our hearts and minds.

My friend Jo Jo has an anthem for these values, its called Standing In the Lovelight.

Namaste until next time, my dear friends.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Love and Respect for All, Everyone Included


I just attended another of our intercultural events at the Darebin Intercultural Centre where many different cultures gather to learn about what makes each of theirs special. I have developed a Facebook page Interculturalism with the ethos that is the title of this blog. Join us in posting about things that express this.

How many different cultures do you have amongst your friends, I find the social groups that I hang around in are made up of the dominant Caucasian race that our country was settled with. A person from a different culture is a novelty , you may say.

How do you get to learn about the world if you cannot afford to travel, you have the opportunity at places like our centre and can reach out to other cultures and find out what events they hold to show off what makes them special.

I have chosen 15 quotes that cover the wide spectrum that is Interculturalism, lets begin our journey around the planet:

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1. If you meet someone who does not know your native language, give them the universal sign of welcome, a smile, that will break the ice.

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2. Our recently deposed Prime Minister ruled using jingoistic saying, one of the most demeaning was Team Australia, pointing out that if you did not belong to it you were on the outer in our country.

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3. These are some of the ways you can say welcome, there are 6,909 distinct languages on the planet.

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4. With all of our different customs and economies we cannot forget we are all inhabitants of Gaia, mother earth and must make sure that we treat her well. Some western economies seem to have forgotten this.

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5. 1984, the book and movie , In a dystopian 1984, Winston Smith (John Hurt) endures a squalid existence in the totalitarian superstate of Oceania under the constant surveillance of the Thought Police. The story takes place in London, the capital city of the territory of Airstrip One (formerly “either England or Britain”).

Winston works in a small office cubicle at the Ministry of Truth, rewriting history in accordance with the dictates of the Party and its supreme figurehead, Big Brother. A man haunted by painful memories and restless desires, Winston is an everyman who keeps a secret diary of his private thoughts, thus creating evidence of his thoughtcrime

Pray that this never occurs and takes away the diversity that makes up our planet.

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6. Bob Marley declared a war on those who lived a racist life, treating people differently because of their colour. How did he do it with songs like this : One Love.

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7. James Andrew Beard was an American cookbook author, teacher, syndicated columnist and television personality. Beard was a champion of American cuisine who taught and mentored generations of professional chefs and food enthusiasts. One of the quickest ways to break down barriers is to share our love of food with other cultures.

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8. I grew up a country boy from regional Victoria. They say you can move the boy out of the country but you can’t take the country out of the boy.

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9. How much of the six basic subjects we all had to learn at school do we use on a day to day basis in relating to the people in or lives. Not much in my case. It is all the workshops that I have attended after being asked to leave traditional education that have empowered my life.

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10. My aim in Life, still a ways to go.

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11. Be curious about others, this made me think of this song : Curiosity Killed the Cat.

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12. Ayaan Hirsi Ali  is a Dutch-American activist, author, and former politician of Somali origin. She is a leading opponent of female genital mutilation, and calls for a reformation of Islam. She is supportive of women’s rights and is an atheist. Her latest book was released in 2015 and is called: Heretic: Why Islam Needs a Reformation Now.

Racism is a form of cowardice.

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13. Have you been told you’re special today. Now you have.

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14. No words needed here.

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15  Catherine Pulsifer is an inspirational writer. She has faced many challenges in her life and found  ways to cope by reading motivational and inspiring books. 

 In 1998 Catherine wrote her first book, Wings for Wisdom. Since then she has then  written many more books and developed a website www.wow4u.com.

One of her primary goals in life is “to help others build a more rewarding and successful life by sharing her experiences and challenging peoples thinking!”

I teach two Sri Lankans, a Pakistani and a Chinese student English, I learn as much if not more from them. That is why I love Interculturalism.

Namaste until next time, my dear friends.

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