I’ve got the Music in Me!!

Posted on July 11, 2016 by Rod's World

I have 33,000 songs in my Itunes library, I subscribe to Apple My music, Spotify, have 130 albums on my Bandcamp play list, Mixcloud, Soundcloud and am subscibed to about 300 musicians webpages: so the above statement is my truth.

I cannot play an instrument as my right and left hand do not talk to each other but my dear friend Kavisha Mazzella taught me to sing as a member of The Moon’s a Balloon choir which I honour her for each and every day. The secret is learning to listen not to sing the words. Here is one of her songs to explain why she has such an exquisite ability to do so: Invisible Indivisible.

There are a lot of quotes about the love of music and it is my joy to select them and interpret what they mean to me: Here we go –

1. This statement is very truthful, I have never been able to get into death metal or people who are racist and sexist.

2. I am sure we all have our favourite up and down songs, probably two or three. Think of yours as you listen to one of my all time fave love songs: Let’s Stay Together.

3. Feelings are said to have colours, I agree with the sentiment expressed in this quotes that they also have sounds, rage is aargh and love is aaw to me.

4. You can be stock still to it, you can also be in a state of total chaos but there is always a solution to whatever problem you are facing in your music collection, it might even be the sounds of nature.20 minutes of natures bliss.

5. Because I like puns.

6. Seems Plato was a music dude as well as one of the worlds great philosophers. Here’s some Soul of the Universe music : I am a Soul.

7. Unlike native languages music is understood in every country on every continent of our planet. From Antarctica to Iceland the dulcet tones of an instrument can unite people from all races.

8. Well, I didn’t expect her to be a news anchor. Here’s a news musical Clip: Not the 9 O’clock news.

9. You can put her on in the mood you need to talk about at any time and it doesn’t cost you 200 dollars.

10. How often have you heard music being performed where you forget to eat and drink. I recently went to see one of my favourite ex rock gods Stephen Cummings, lead singer of one of Australia biggest bands in the 1970’s the Sports now a much loved singer songwriter who plays to crowds of 40, here is one of my favourite Steve songs: When Love comes Back to Haunt You.

11. Kavisha, who I mentioned before used to lead a session called Empty Sky, there would be 5 minute breaks of silence between silence. She believed that was where the magic and the healing lay.

12. Not Might mouse Modest Mouse, they are actually a band – The band’s name is derived from a passage from the Virginia Woolf story “The Mark on the Wall,” which reads, “I wish I could hit upon a pleasant track of thought, a track indirectly reflecting credit upon myself, for those are the pleasantest thoughts, and very frequent even in the minds of modest, mouse-coloured people, who believe genuinely that they dislike to hear their own praises. In Australia there is only one song you can use to depict the soul, here it is: Soul Kind of Feeling.

13. Best known for his Fanfare for the Common Man, Aaron Copland was an American composer, composition teacher, writer, and later in his career a conductor of his own and other American music. Instrumental in forging a distinctly American style of composition, in his later years he was often referred to as “the Dean of American Composers” and is best known to the public for the works he wrote in the 1930s and 1940s in a deliberately accessible style often referred to as “populist” and which the composer labelled his “vernacular” style.

14. Yes it’s mi-spelt but that is the joy of this form of music , its can be corny and yet so deep. My favourite is alternative country and my favourite artist : Gillian Welch.

15. As my musical ownership list proves , I totally believe in music, and I also believe in Unicorns.

Thanks for letting me write about my addiction once again, every little bit heelp on the path to recovery.

Namaste until next time my dear friends

It’s always Changing. Life that Is!!

Posted on July 4, 2016 by Rod's World

I found out recently a friend had passed. He was young and it was unexpected, it was not in a nice way. I’ll leave it to your imagination. Everybody said that their life had been changed by the event and that it was not meant to happen that way. A wise friend then stated that we needed to be living our lives like that each moment could be our last .

Someone stated that was impossible as our mind and thoughts were so static about what life consisted of. This led to a healthy discussion as to whether this was true for each individual. It turned out about 50/50, we are close friends who are willing to go the distance and support each other in what’s so for each other.

So what does society say about a changing life. Here are 15 views on it that come from both sides of the bench: Let us begin our journey.

1. I think they left the word belong out of this quote. Paulo Coelho de Souza is a Brazilian lyricist and novelist. He is the recipient of numerous international awards, amongst them the Crystal Award by the World Economic Forum. His novel The Alchemist has been translated into 80 languages. The author has sold over 200 million copies worldwide and is the all-time bestselling Portuguese language author.

2. This quote speaks to me of the power of remaining in the Now, not relying on the past or the future to sustain a life, but to enjoy the blissful moments we spend with our friends and family.

3. How many of us are in the careers that were suggested to us at the school counselling session. I was meant to be a school teacher, as was my dear dad. Unfortunately the high school principal did not agree and told me I was not returning for my final year of high school and my first job was an an apprentice french polisher. Mel B sings about this sort of thing : For once in my Life.

4. I recently posted about not knocking on closed doors because what is behind them is not meant for you. This would be a good thing to do, run to the open one this way.

5. Hands up who remembers what this is being typed on. The word typed gives you a clue. Like typewriters becoming obsolete so do the previous chapters of our life. Be brave and type something new each day.

6. How could you not thing of our beloved David Bowie when you read about changes: David Live.

7. Today, and Today , and Today. Step forward bravely allowing for what educates you now but not what was taken away.

8. ..it Happens, move on.

9. My sister pointed out after reading the blog that this is by Meister Eckhart not Eckhart Tolle. Meister was well known for his work with pious lay groups such as the Friends of God and was succeeded by his more circumspect disciples John Tauler and Henry Suso. Since the 19th century, he has received renewed attention. He has acquired a status as a great mystic within contemporary popular spirituality, as well as considerable interest from scholars situating him within the medieval scholastic and philosophical tradition.

10. Each time I walk into a new workshop or experience I understand that this is what is waiting on the other side.

11. I have not become an astronaut, a prime minister but I have been many things but I still have many to go at the tender age of 61.

12. Kelly Heroes was a war film about an operation where all the bridges were burnt and they were not expected to come back : Burning Bridges.

13. Unfortunately most of us meet someone or something in our lives that the above statement can be related to. Take the advice.

14. My mentor Arion has a saying that you can get to a point in your life where everything is a gift. This would be after a lot of lessons learnt for me, I am not there yet.

15. Tomorrow is another day, I say take you first chances today, keep tomorrow in reserve. Here is my favourite Tomorrow song: Silverchair.

I hope that there is a song or saying that empowers you to get through your day, and always remember there is a new life possible in any moment.

Namaste until next time, dear friends.

Do they really love us and can they talk?

Posted on June 27, 2016 by Rod's World

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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?

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!!.

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.

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?

13. Not always the most logical creatures, are they. Just tricksters at heart really.

14. Cutest animal picture of the blog, and best quote as well.

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.

Are you telling a great Story?

Posted on June 6, 2016 by Rod's World

My friend Emeli has chosen Stories as the theme of her next workshop, based on stories can carry us, or break us: Collective Potential. At different times in our lives we listen to different stories, some empowering , others that take us to the depths of despair. What is it that has us choose to stop listening to the empowering ones? I have a friend who never seems to do this , he says he does it by concentrating on living in the moment.

There are many varieties of quotes that relate to our stories, I think I have chosen wisely in the 15 I have selected today, let us begin our journey.

1. Delicious ambiguity, what a beautiful term. Add some zest to your life by not knowing what the next moment is going to be.

2. What were your favourite kids stories, I liked Charlie Brown. Sir Terence David John “Terry” Pratchett, OBE was an English author of fantasy novels, especially comical works. He is best known for his Discworld series of 41 novels. Pratchett’s first novel, The Carpet People, was published in 1971; after the first Discworld novel, The Colour of Magic, was published in 1983, he wrote two books a year on average. His 2011 Discworld novel Snuff was at the time of its release the third-fastest-selling hardback adult-readership novel since records began in the UK, selling 55,000 copies in the first three days. His final Discworld novel, The Shepherd’s Crown, was published in August 2015, five months after his death.

3. That voice in your head speak in words like I am and I always. The stories of our life link us, such as I have two sisters Ruth and Jann and an older brother Hugo. Christina Baldwin is founder of , Peerspirit.com living on our planet with Nature powerfully.

4. As young children we have imaginary friends, believe in Unicorns and the fae. Society seems to delight in suppressing these as we grow older. Terry Prachett speaks to those of us that survive this.

5. My writing teacher Catherine Deveny, The Dev says you should always be truthful in your words. then you don’t have to remember what you said or wrote, because it is the truth.

6. 7 billion of them, each unique. Make it as good a one as it can be.

7. This to me is a Sacred Story from a life of Sacred love.

8. Perfectionism is the booby prize, how do you enjoy the journey?

9. Memories are often written in a song – some Elvis : Memories.

10. Neil Gaiman gave one of the most inspirational commencement speeches ever about making some art, its long but worth the time : Make some Art.

11. Putting Yellow stickies on our fridges to express our feelings to our beloved, a noble past time.

12. Sacred Love – to be told or tell someone I Love You and realising that It never has to be said again but that it will for the rest of their lives.

13. Terry Prachett again. Who is going to write your story, moi or someone else?

14. ANNA QUINDLEN is a novelist and journalist whose work has appeared on fiction, nonfiction, and self-help bestseller lists. She is the author of eight novels: Object Lessons, One True Thing, Black and Blue, Blessings, Rise and Shine, Every Last One, Still Life with Bread Crumbs, and Miller’s Valley. Her memoir Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake, published in 2012, was a number one New York Times bestseller. Her book A Short Guide to a Happy Life has sold more than a million copies. While a columnist at The New York Times she won the Pulitzer Prize and published two collections, Living Out Loud and Thinking Out Loud. Her Newsweek columns were collected in Loud and Clear. She loves London : Streets of London.

15. A reminder for number 15. Only you can remember how you see the world, so tell those stories proudly. You are a divine being.

Remember behind every favourite song, there is an untold story. Please tell your Sacred stories.

Namaste until next time my dear friends.

What’s that Aroma?

Posted on May 19, 2016 by Rod's World

Back into it one again, on the journey of living from my great purpose, living my life from contentment and Self Love, providing service to the world via the transformational work of Arion Light via his Activation School. We refer to it as our Essence, others refer to it as God, Consciousness, Gaia or many other names. Access to it is through the body not the mind, in moving all those learnt lessons that inhibit us from living a switched on life.

So how does the world hold Essence, Is it an aroma or a state of being, my 15 quotes look at both these areas in life, lets begin our journey:

1. Seeking out an essence to live your life the best you can may invite change in your life. The requirement to stop listening to what your mind tells you what to do comes to mind to let life flow freely.

2. One thing that helps you attain your essences in Life is good old persistence, in my case it is to do the daily meditations that come with the course.

3. “Live Today! Do not allow your spirit to be softened of your happiness to be limited by a day you cannot have back or a day that does not yet exist. But remember the next second in you life, you have to relate to this again.

4. O.K. I’ll go with this. I have made many of these in my life. Attimes I have not been very good at learning from them.

5. Remember you astronaut and Fairy Queen dream of childhood, what would you need to give up, to surrender to to return there. Time for an Essence song, Lucinda Williams, one of my favourite Americana artists : Essence, Live.

6.Gordon H. Hinckley was an American religious leader and author who served as the 15th President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from March 12, 1995 until his death. Considered a prophet, seer, and revelator by church members, Hinckley was the oldest person to preside over the church in its history.

7. Essence travels with companions: secrets,adventures, challenges and finally ecstatic joy.

8. Last night I lost my house keys and washed my Iphone, I know if I was not residing in the essence of contentment, my reaction would have been very different to making two logical phone calls to resolve it.

9. I attend a weekly meeting with Arion because he is my mentor, this week we got to the fact that I could live from the word Enough and see what the world created for me, staggering.

10. Bow down to the queen of Essence, Oprah Winfrey. She is the prime example of someone living from the essence of energy. Leona Lewis sings a perfectly titled tune: The Essence of Me.

11. This deeply relates to both self love and external love, the former allowing for the latter to flourish. Love yourself with all your might and essence.

12. This is so kooky I just had to include it.

13. This quote fulfils what is available when you live in pure essence, everything is a gift.

14. There are parts of me that have been numb for decades as I shut down possibilities with my life from decisions I made, often as a child, they are waking up. What parts of you are numb?

15. Aaw, the cute animal post for the day. The quote is powerful as well, Tejas Patel started Wisdom Quotes on Facebook after a lengthy spiritual journey. Here is the link to his website of extensive collection of powerful quotes : Wisdom Quotes 4U.

I am discovering that the path to my true essence does not lie in my head but my dear slightly misused body that is becoming freer and freer. I look forward to the journey.

Namaste until next Monday my dear friends.

It’s Your Home.

Posted on May 16, 2016 by Rod's World

They say that you are always looking for it until it settles in and it may take many journeys before you finally arrive there, because all the travel internally and externally cannot make the discovery of what is truly your home until it inhabits your heart.

I visited six countries and six states in Australia looking for home. As a very young child I felt that my family home was “home” but lost this when I moved to Melbourne to begin a French polishing apprenticeship in the early 70’s. I then did the shared house boogie, moving every few years as houses and friendships drifted apart and people partnered up.

As I could not find home externally I took up an internal journey studying the work of Werner Erhard and Tibetan Buddhism for periods of 8 and 9 years. I recently took up bodywork and found what I call home more and more. I have selected 15 quotes on what society has said about taking this journey, they are interesting to say the least. Lets begin this journey:

1. We often say to ourselves via that little voice in our heads but its all too much so never get round to it. Big Tony, Anthony Robbins calls these the impossible journeys, because we never begin them.

2. Then we get to that place in life where we realise this message is much more potent. Lissa Rankin calls this the Inner Pilot Light.

3. Remember when you were going to be Superman or Superwoman when you were riding your Unicorn back in your childhood days. Nelson says you still can be.

4. When I tell the story about going to Russia to run the Moscow Peace Marathon to end World Hunger the year before the Berlin Wall came down some people give me very strange looks. I’m not sure if it because I ran a marathon or that I went to the Soviet Union to do it.

5. We met Serge, Lara and Michael Jackson in Leningrad at a cafe. They wanted to Learn English and we had a lets learn Russian travel book. So they took us under their wings while we were there and showed us the real city. Michael was called Michael Jackson because he loved doing the moonwalk.

6. A lot of the time when I felt that I was not worthy I spent the journey alone, I now see this as a prominent part of my journey, where I spent time learning to Ramble On.

7. Are you a Trekkie, if you are you will instantly recognise the name of the actor who played Doctor Spock in the iconic original series. We spend a lot of time wishing that thing that occur in our journey didn’t occur, for me it is the five hospitalisations I have had over the years. But we cannot change how the chips fall after the event, just how they affect us later on.

8. We all have our sacred stories, I think we keep them to ourselves too much these days. If we didn’t I believe that we would live in a much stronger, loving world as we travel our journeys.

9. 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. All our journeys are individual , there are 7 billion of them, never forget this.

10. I had an African couple as good friends for several years, what I loved was the music they introduced me to , this was one of my favourite pieces: Akon – Mama Africa.

11. At the beginning of a journey the travel agent will give you a list of what is meant to happen each day. We all know from our lives that this simply doesn’t happen. If it did we would complete our to do lists impeccably. It is the lost areas of our life that magic happens.

12. The second mention of Unicorns. To me they are the truly magical creature. I have two friends Justine and Amandine that I swap unicorn images with because they represent a new magical beginning in our lives.

13. This is definitely internal, one of the great videos on this subjects comes from Jim Carrey: Love and Fear.

14. As I mentioned I ran marathons back in the day. When it was pouring rain in the middle of a Melbourne winter and 5 a.m. I had to remember I was running 42 kilometres in a month and yes, one step can make all the difference.

15. And as a final reminder, remember to include joy, bliss and love on your journey. Because after all its a personal choice.

So some of us will have longer journeys than others, we will often feel sad that people pass when they do. That is the journey they were meant to have this time around, if you believe in that sort of stuff. I think I do.

Namaste until Thursday my dear friends.

Is anyone Watching?

Posted on May 12, 2016 by Rod's World

I receive hundreds of different things through my News Feed from my 4,500 Facebook friends. I have a policy if we have 100 mutual friends we are friends who just haven’t met yet. Doing this you end up with a lot of musicians, American female life coaches and people you actually know on your list. As a gratitude exercise I have started sending all of them a Facebook Birthday Card as I believe everybody should receive a birthday card on their special day.

A couple of days ago I received a quote on Integrity that went something like this. Integrity is doing it even when no one is looking. What do you hold Integrity to be: Is it your actions, who you hold yourself to be or a mixture of both.

Choosing my 15 quotes to comment on was interesting, there are a few that dominate but I found quotes that will fascinate and please. Let us begin :

1. I have kept my integrity with my Facebook Birthday cards even one day I was not going to be at home and having left my phone there I went to an Internet Cafe to send them.

2. Many people say they are going to one day. My friend Catherine Deveny calls her writing class Gunnas Master Class, can you guess why. I googled saying vs. doing and it brought up this interesting blog: The Big Difference.

3. Zig Ziglar, most famous for the quote “You can have everything in Life, If you will just help enough other people get what they want” which features on his website passed in 2012. His podcast still receives an average of 350,000 hits a month.

4. Integrity is partially in what you do and who you be. If you wish to keep it intact don’t do things that will challenge it.

5. I like the fact that they are highlighting the word Integrity with a yellow marker so it stands out from the rest. Because when it becomes as ordinary as all other words the battle is lost.

6. Born in Ghana, Israelmore wrote his first Quote on his palm in a toilet, he has come a long way since. He is an Inspirational Writer and a born-again Christian, so passionate about transformation individuals through information. He holds a strong belief that reformation and transformation of society can only become evident in the presence of information. However, it takes only positive and relevant information to bring real and intended transformation.

7. How does one obtain beauty? Does going to the gym or buying the latest perfumes or having plastic surgery or a tummy tuck. None of these things can attain it according to master coach Thomas Leonard, to him beauty is obtained through your inner qualities, Integrity being one of these.

8. How many times does that thought ” Do I really have to ” pass through. The answer is yes even if there is no congratulations and no recognition, remember you still know.

9. These are the gifts you receive from living your life from Integrity. Is there a song about it, of Course: Integrity Song.

10. I used to run Marathons back in the day, during training I would get to my integrity point at about the 8 kilometre mark when my mind would go is this worth it, moast times I said yes.

11. As we move down the journey of time our definition is what is integrity changes over time. The friends I had in my boozing days would definitely not fit into my version of it now.

12.

Integrity

A firm adherence to a code of values

The state of being complete, whole, or undivided

Total honesty and sincerity

The ability to “walk our talk”

Discipline

Activity that improves a skill

Controlling behavior to mold moral character

Habits and ways of acting developed through practice

13. I love these balanced stones images, these show the power of gravity and the reliance on each other. Integrity also comes with other traits like the list Zig Ziglar has put together.

14. This short film made by USC covers the above statement very well : USC Integrity Movie.

15. Do you have conditions for your Integrity, Is it different if no one is watching to being in a crowded room. As the above quote says it’s internally you look for integrity and the actions one takes from that place.

Whilst writing this it has brought up examples for me where I have lapsed my Integrity. I will put them back in place over the next few days.

Namaste my dear friends. Speak to you again next Monday.

Where is your Heart?

Posted on May 9, 2016 by Rod's World

I recently did a Sex and the Soul Retreat that really confronted me. After it I felt as high as a kite for a few days and then a feeling of WTF was that took me over which has now become a deep sense of self love and coming home to myself.

It has made me contemplate what is a sense of home for people, our indigenous culture talks about it being the land they were born on, western culture labels it as the home you buy and the conscious movement that it is where you are at any moment.

So what does society hold it to be, there were many choices to make and the 15 I have picked cover many aspects, here we go:

1. Rosa Louise McCauley Parks (February 4, 1913 – October 24, 2005) was an African American civil rights activist, whom the United States Congress called “the first lady of civil rights” and “the mother of the freedom movement”. Her birthday, February 4, and the day she was arrested for refusing to give her seat up to a white passenger, December 1, have both become Rosa Parks Day, commemorated in California and Missouri (February 4), and Ohio and Oregon (December 1). The above statement shows how something as simple as going home can become much more.

2. What is more enjoyable on a cold winters day than being curled up in front of an open fire with your favourite book of the moment.

3. Since discovering more self love I have been spending more time alone, it reminds me of the saying in reference to the social media generation, if we do not train our children to be alone, all they will know is how to be lonely.

4. Orlando Jonathan Blanchard Bloom (born 13 January 1977) is an English actor. After having his breakthrough as Legolas in the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, he rose to fame by further appearing in epic fantasy, historical epic, and fantasy adventure films. In In 2009, Bloom was named a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador.

5. I have spent a long time finding a sense of home, becoming a Buddhist , being a marathon runner , doing landmark education work only to find after many years that is was in the company of my siblings I felt most at home.

6. Picture this, Tracky dacks and the unshaven look pigging out on chocolate and Netflix, enough said.

7. First lady of the United States Jackie Kennedy got to see many different lands which had different customs on how people were treated making her realise that the United States was not the centre of the Universe.

8. I asked my friend Mary did she feel a loss when she first became mother of her four boys. She looked at me and smiled, saying it is the greatest thing that happens to you in your life even though you don’t have a moment alone.

9. This flies in the face of home being physical,Lets Get Physical. it is spending time with those people that you discover your emotions and best parts of life come to fruition.

10. Life took me to be running down the main street of Leningrad with the Sports Minister and Major at 5 o’clock on a Friday afternoon having thousands of citizens waving Soviet and American flags. Love had my friends younger sister sing You made me love you, I didn’t want to do it to me at her 21st.

11. There is a women’s refuge in the street I live in. I found this out from meeting a young indigenous woman in the street who told me of the two years of horrific abuse she had put up with, she was 18.

12. George Augustus Moore (24 February 1852 – 21 January 1933) was an Irish novelist, short-story writer, poet, art critic, memoirist and dramatist. Moore came from a Roman Catholic landed family who lived at Moore Hall in Carra, County Mayo. He originally wanted to be a painter, and studied art in Paris during the 1870s. There, he befriended many of the leading French artists and writers of the day.

As a naturalistic writer, he was amongst the first English-language authors to absorb the lessons of the French realists, and was particularly influenced by the works of Émile Zola. His writings influenced James Joyce, according to the literary critic and biographer Richard Ellmann, and, although Moore’s work is sometimes seen as outside the mainstream of both Irish and British literature, he is as often regarded as the first great modern Irish novelist. His home remained at County Mayo.

13. As my friend Mary said, its the best thing that happened to her, the best thing that happens to us is that our mums birth us, sometimes we forget. Tupac loved his mum too, Dear Mama.

14. The title of this Blog is half of the saying home is where the heart is, I have lived in many places that were just the address where I live, my home at the time being groups and friends i was connected to.

15. And the access to the feeling of home is to let others in and share your heart space.

I have come to the belief that home is not a physical phenomenon but more of an emotional feeling. I have a home address that is more and more becoming ensconced in my heart but there are several other places where I would say home is where the heart is.

Namaste until Thursday , my dear friends.

Is Reality the X Factor?

Posted on May 5, 2016 by Rod's World

Looking for a subject today I notice The Green Guide: The best on Screen: Television, Streaming, Downloads & Radio was rating the reality TV judges. The Green Guide is the weekly entertainment section of our daily newspaper The Age, considered the more intelectual of the two papers that come out each day.

I cringed instantly that our society had sunk so low that this was considered news. What has become of mainstream society that this is what is considered entertainment for the masses. I checked out what people have quoted about reality over the years and have chosen a deft list to ponder. Here we go:

1. Each of us have our own reality, remember you are judging if you think your reality is more worthwhile than another persons.

2. Reality is that you will most likely end up with a partner at some stage in your life. I think that if you can achieve the above you are creating an awesome reality for the relationship.

3. Life is a game we all play at different levels, and we have our own unique devils. Meatloaf was one of mine: Bat out of Hell.

4. Growing up in rural country towns this above statements makes me relate to the time I went back to one of them as a Buddhist Calm Abiding meditation teacher. When I told people guess what they said?

5. From the first century A.D. Plutarch was a Greek historian, biographer, and essayist, known primarily for his Parallel Lives and Moralia. He is classified as a Middle Platonist. He had several other quotes which survived from that time, a famous one being: I don’t need a friend who changes when I change and who nods when I nod; my shadow does that much better.

6. Lisa Prosen is a passionate Sensitivity Coach, Speaker, and Author. She works with her clients so they can courageously look at their lives in new ways and navigate changes with new found confidence. She helps them learn to balance between their sensitivity and the things they are committed to accomplishing, so they achieve the life they truly want to live. Founder of the popular Facebook group “Practical Solutions for The Highly Sensitive Soul”, Lisa is familiar with the shackles of perfectionism and how living life for other people, ultimately disappoints everybody.

7. Or as the bard would have put it, Out damn spot, reality doesn’t go away even though it is an illusion as all our life is according to the chaos theory.

8. I think they wrote this for mainstream media and what they present as the news. Control, mayhem and evil are not my reality and never will be.

9. Before enlightenment wash the dishes, after enlightenment wash the dishes, welcome to reality.

10. Robert J. Ringer is an American entrepreneur, motivational and political speaker, and author of several best-selling personal-development and political books. The best known of these is a semi quote to the Bard, To be or not to be Intimidated.

11. Our current reality keeps changing faster and faster. A quote I read recently made me shudder. If our children are not taught to be alone they will grow up only knowing how to be lonely. The above quotes lies in that arena for me.

12. Reality lives in the now according to Eckhart Tolle, but what does Beyonce have to say about it : Me, Myself and I.

13. Lucius Annaeus Seneca (often known simply as Seneca or Seneca the Younger) was a Roman Stoic philosopher, statesman, dramatist, and in one work humorist, of the Silver Age of Latin literature. He was tutor and later advisor to emperor Nero. While he was later forced to commit suicide for alleged complicity in the Pisonian conspiracy to assassinate Nero, the last of the Julio-Claudian emperors, he may have been innocent. He clearly suffered more from imagination if he was innocent.

14. The ubiquitous to do list, how many of us are honest enough to write the one on the right when it is our reality.

15. This quote by Teal Scott supports my statement at the beginning of this blog. Society does now want to be aware, it would much rather remain in the illusory state that everything is OK as it is.

I have tried to drop judging society to much when writing this, Its just that I believe we were placed on this planet for more than what is churned out as mass entertainment these days.

Namaste until next Monday my dear friends.

What is Yours?

Posted on May 2, 2016 by Rod's World

I volunteer at an organisation called the Darebin Intercultural Centre where we hold programs that allow different culture to educate others on what inspires people about their cultures. We believe that this is the best way of integrating people in our multicultural municipality, there are over 150 different nationalities in Darebin.

What does culture mean, here is the Oxford dictionaries definition :definition of culture – the arts and other manifestations of human intellectual achievement regarded collectively:

“20th century popular culture”

synonyms: the arts · the humanities · intellectual achievement(s) ·

intellectual activity · literature · music · painting · philosophy

a refined understanding or appreciation of culture:

“men of culture”

synonyms: intellectual/artistic awareness · education ·

cultivation · enlightenment · discernment · discrimination · good taste · taste · refinement · polish · sophistication · urbanity · urbaneness · erudition · learning · letters · belles-lettres

the ideas, customs, and social behaviour of a particular people or society:

“Afro-Caribbean culture” ·

“people from many different cultures”

synonyms: civilization · society · way of life · lifestyle · customs ·

traditions · heritage · habits · ways · mores · values

the attitudes and behaviour characteristic of a particular social group:

“the emerging drug culture”

biology

the cultivation of bacteria, tissue cells, etc.. in an artificial medium containing nutrients:

“the cells proliferate readily in culture”

a preparation of cells obtained by culture:

“the bacterium was isolated in two blood cultures”

the cultivation of plants:

“this variety of lettuce is popular for its ease of culture”

synonyms:cultivation · growing · farming · agriculture · husbandry ·

agronomy.

This gives me a wide access to what I could choose as the 15 quotes for today’s interaction, I hope I do it justice, here we go:

1. In my country Australia when they arrived in 1788 the British declared Terra Nullus – vacant land and went on a genocidal attack on the native population who had resided here 60,000 years. Luckily for us they failed and we have a growing culture to look back on and learn from the first Australians.

2. The first thing conquerors do when they take over another is attempt to destroy their languages, music and knowledge of their past. In Tibet speaking their native tongue is banned by the Chinese.

3. Wade Davis CM is a Canadian anthropologist, ethnobotanist, author, and photographer whose work has focused on worldwide indigenous cultures, especially in North and South America and particularly involving the traditional uses and beliefs associated with psychoactive plants.

4. I am a language tutor for 4 people and find I am learning as much as I am supposedly teaching. I have taught 2 doctors. a Council member of a city three times as large as the one I live in and a structural engineer who was responsible for constructing the largest projects in his country until he was blacklisted by the Taliban.

5. I have visited several countries in my 60 years and one of my unique experiences was visiting a housing museum in Tbilisi, Georgia. The building went back 1,300 years and were a fascinating way to learn about the culture of the region.

6. I just had to include this one, as an editing professional I don’t know if the spelling mistake is a deliberate part of the message they are trying to expound or not.

7. And in my very core is one of the main cultural paths, music of many nations. Here is one of my favourite tracks: Culture – Wings of a Dove.

8. What has the world become where the basics of our life have become unaffordable for some, it is hurting the heart of our planet.

9. I believe mainstream’s media portrait of Iran to be a classic example of creating what is meant to be the culture of a country. In my work I have meant a lot of Iranian asylum seekers and become friends with an Iranian musician Studying here. Gelerah’s music is magnificent: Magnificent Tones.

10. Raymond Douglas Bradbury was an American fantasy, science fiction, horror and mystery fiction author. Widely known for his dystopia novel Fahrenheit 451 as well as his science fiction and horror story collections The Martian Chronicles The Illustrated Man, and There Will Come Soft Rains. Bradbury was one of the most celebrated 20th- and 21st-century American genre writers. Hitler tried to destroy German Intellectualism by doing this prior to WW2.

11. When Governments forget that cultures are not to dominate but strengthen the hearts and souls of their citizens quotes like this appear, unfortunately they are occurring at a growing rate.

12. Credited with creating modern Finnish culture Hugo Alvar Henrik Aalto was a Finnish architect and designer, as well as a sculptor and painter. His work includes architecture, furniture, textiles and glassware.

13. Gaining insight into 4 different cultures at the same time can be quite invigorating, I spend some hours investigating what they tell me about each of their unique upbringing, one spent 25 years in a refugee camp, being born there.

14. Pretty unique way to teach multiculturalism to your citizens, build different countries into your infrastructure, wonder what effect it will have on the inhabitants of each suburb.

15. Sound familiar with what is happening in the current era, Herman Hesse wrote this back in the 1940’s prior to the war to end ll wars, they got that wrong too . He was a German-born Swiss poet, novelist, and painter. His best-known works include Steppenwolf, Siddhartha, and The Glass Bead Game, each of which explores an individual’s search for authenticity, self-knowledge and spirituality. In 1946, he received the Nobel Prize in Literature.

I believe the best of each culture will overcome the evil that is being used at the moment to corrupt the world. That is why I have created a Facebook public group: Interculturalism to have a space where people of all cultures can sing the praises and what they love about their life.

Namaste until Thursday, my dear friends.