Am I a Billionaire

Posted on February 21, 2023 by Rod's World

Two weeks ago I had a bank balance of $1.30 and for the first time in my life had to request a food parcel. I felt gutted..

Move forward two weeks and it was time for another of my many free webinars, this on wealth, says the man with a $1.30 bank balance. But they had Deepak Chopra and James Kornfield as the buying and they are always worthwhile. Have you seen the movie Riding with the Dragons, a fantasy at the heart? There were all these other dudes I had never heard of and they claimed they were millionaires and even, shudder, billionaires. I have recently has a Tjhor Eruption, no Kundalini Awakening for this bogan country boy Cats supporter, we won the flag, go Cats..

The course I had done looked at Love and Money archetypes, just what one needs after 30 years, and 8 more archetypes. F me when they got to the Nurturer archetype, being the World’s Greatest Volunteer, a laydown hand. Imagine my mild shock when I woke up the next day with access to all of the weird stuff I had done over the past 30 years that people would like me. Werner. Choedak,, ISTA, German yelling, all the good stuff, and they threw in a voice, something I had wished for all my life..

So i did the wealth summit, but could not find my glasses for two nights and yes I did comment to the host and panelists over this time, and of course, one must hang shit on the South African noted because we crapped on them in the cricket time after time. It seems some of the panelists found this mildly amusing and never told me what I was doing.

I threw songs and my opinion at them freely, they were only multi-millionaires and billionaires after all and what could an Age pensioner from Preston matter… Perhaps asking Jack Canfield he might be worth 480 million but what did he do on a day-to-day basis was a bit cheeky, but he did answer me the next day. Seems he built 700 houses for the texas flood victims, I told him that was not a bad start, and yes, I have become a smart arse after the eruption.

The participants claimed they would tell us how they made their millions for nothing, I could smell BS a mile off. Except I was wrong, dead wrong and they did, sure there were the $500 to $1,000m dollar courses but they were worth a minimum of ten times that. it seems one of them is a Louisiana Good old Boy and likes his Cajun music, as I did when I was a pisshead, especially a song, Ain’t nobody here but us chickens. Snap, it was the Good old Boys’ favorite song growing up, The multi-billionaire and the Age Pensioner had something in common..

so I kept swapping music he might like, The Vital Bits Spotify list from Melbourne’s most popular morning community radio show for example. And yes, the smart-arse thought he knew better than the wealthy ones because he had been an activist for 40 years.

We get to the steak knives, courses at about $500 to $1,000, so the one-dollar balance kid tuned out. lots of offerings but two really grabbed me, a 12-month mindset program and a course that covered all the aspects of a business. They sounded so good. i was a bit sad. I was going to miss out once again.

When I started getting links to $50,000 programs with the words you need to train brother, I was quite shocked. $120,000 dollars later one of them said I had to pay $50 dollars.. The 12-month program, and the business skills, all flowed forth, including programs from people not even on the panel, and the names involved, fuck me sums it up really..

I have had to decline some very famous people as I just had too much to handle. I have chosen my favorites and begun the journey, but they keep adding things during the programs, another 12-month business coaching program, and yes they sent me the link gratis..

Enough on that, time for marc and Angel’s kist:

Free yourself from negative people.
Let go of those who are already gone
Give people you don’t know a fair chance
Show everyone kindness and respect
Accept people the way they are
Encourage others and cheer for them
Be your perfectly imperfect selfForgive people and move forward
Do little things for others every day
Pay attention to who your real friends are.
Always be loyal.
Stay in better touch with people who matter to you.
Keep your promises and tell the truth
Give what you want to receive.
Say what you mean and mean what you say.
Allow others to make their own decisions
Talk less and listen. more.
Leave petty arguments behindKIgnore
Ignore the unconstructive, hurtful commentary
Pay attention to your relationship with yourself.

Poverty existence versus abundance,choose

I hung out in poverty land for 40 years.

Boom!!!

This is where i have my Werner Brain-Farts.

My nephews wife grew up in Tanzania.

The maestro speaks, Warren Buffett is the man,

But yoiu get coverage, musician BS

You need both, economy and community.

From day one teach the children well.

How much sleep do you need?

Uber-rich people never have money in the bank, no tax.

The Good old Boy is a fine example og this

Shake that moneymaker, Cute songtotlllt.

Francis was more known for his scientific elocutions, but this is quite wise on money as well.

Well, each and every day as I listened to this summit and more and more gifts in the form of line course arrived advising. me I needed to train and no money changed hands, I realized I had reached a hiatus with my newfound buddies, especially the good old boy, with whom I had become really cozy and like a lifetime buddy in a very short period of time. What was the limit to which he would invest in my crazy Werner Brain fart ideas? I have come to believe that there are no boundaries to I t at the moment, so theoretically, I. had become a billionaire. Fuck me are the two words that come to. mind,.

Back ot my traditional ending: Love and Respect for All, Its up to Us, Because we Can, Its Our Time, As we charged the machine guns, knowing that we all will not make it through, Inside there are more of us than them, and they know they have lost. These are my pithy slogans that make a difference, I am entering the brave new world of being paid for what I have done for nothing besides the fact I love words that empower, and see you on the other side of abundance. See you in Florida, Good old Boy. You rock for transforming my world and allowing me to become the philanthropist I have dreamt of being my whole life

The Dead Parents Society

Posted on January 29, 2023 by Rod's World

What do you talk about around the dinner table or consequently avoid discussion like the plague? I was having a catchup at Macca’s AKA a coaching session when this subject came up. Her dad had passed recently and mine were well gone so It was safe to discuss our feelings towards them.

It is something that is not on the list for a mention, Gardening, House ownership, and even sex are okay. But dear old mum and dad are not on the agenda. Is it because it hurts too much, they say it takes a few years, but my dear old dad passed 11 years ago, and when I think of him, which I must admit is rare these days, it still hurts.

AMarc and Amgel list, they are from the iconic tome:: 1000+ little things Happy Successful People do differently. google Life hack.

The most beautiful thing is to see a person nearby smiling. And even more beautiful is knowing that you are the one behind it
2. If you have the power to make someone happier today, do it. The world needs more of that.
Some people build lots of walls in their lives and not enough bridges, there’s no good reason to be one of them. Open yourself up. Take small chances on people.
4. Never stop doing little things for those around you. Sometimes those little things occupy the biggest part of their hearts.
Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of love – all of which have the potential to turn a life around.
Be present, be thoughtful Compliment people. Magnify their strengths, not their weaknesses. This is how to make a real and lasting difference in your relationships, new and old.
We don’t always need advice. Sometimes all we need is a hand to hold, an ear to listen to, and a heart to understand.
Today, just be 100 per cent present with those around you – be all there. That is enough.
There is no such thing as self-made Someone else believed in you. Someone else encouraged you. Someone else is invested in you. Someone else prayed for you. Someone else spoke life over you. Be that someone for others too.
It’s practically impossible to love your neighbours if we don’t know them, and yet that’s often the case We live in such a hyper-connected world with such limited or nonexistent communication Remember this. Relationships matter. Stories matter.
In human relationships, distance is not measured in miles but in affection. Two people can be right next to each other yet miles apart.
Stay in touch with those who really matter to you, not because it’s convenient, but because they are worth the extra effort.
The single greatest problem in communication is the illusion it has taken place. Too often we don’t listen to understand, we listen to reply. Bring awareness ti this. And listen for what’s truly behind the words.
Set an example. Treat everyone with respect, even those who are rude to you not because they are always nice, but because you are. And do your best to be thankful for the rude and difficult people too, they serve as great reminders of how not to be.
15. Sometimes it is better to be kind than right.
People are much nicer when they are happier, which says a lot about those who aren’t very nice to you. Sad, but true.
The real test always comes when you don’t get what you expect from people. Will you react in anger? Or will calmness be your superpower?
The way we treat people is the way we treat people we don’t understand is a report card on what we’ve learned about love, compassion, and kindness.
Be kinder than necessary. What goes around, comes around. No one has ever made themselves strong by showing how small someone is.
The best relationships are not just about the good times you share, they are also they’re also about the obstacles you go through together and the fact that you still say I love you in the end.

Now for the quotes and the songs, I promise to not get too morbid.

I missed doing this, I feel sad often. At 68nits too late, baby.

It has been eleven and four years for the Williams siblings since we became the elders. Each and every day.

Plum village, such a wisw nman. R.I.P. THich.

How many ways can you say, I love you mum and dad.

I did some terrible things to my mum during my teenage years, I call it our black vs. white time.

Lots of truth in this statement.

In my Buddhist years Pema Chodron always said this

They mostly always know already, they just love you for who you are.

Unrequied love by any other name.

Great image of motherhood.

For you, Karina.

Unfortunately , we do not do this all of the time, then we have to have our wounds healed.

Early days, it’s up to mum and dad.

over to my words. The first slogan I ever got paid the princely sum of AUS25 dollars for It’s up to us, Because we Can, It’s our time. The ethos of Interculturalosism: Love and Respect for all, everybody included. Leonard – The light gets in, Gil Scott Heron: The revolution will not be televised Me- fuck Rupert Murdoch. It is an interesting time in our lands: WE are charging the machine guns, and some of us will not make it. There are more of us than them, They know they have lost. If you enjoyed this I would appreciate s donation towards the 1 million dollars I am raising for the ASRC in 2023/ The button os on our website.

Until next time, my dear friends.

The best Ten Bucks you Will Spend.

Posted on January 22, 2023 by Rod's World

I have just escaped from a 30-year history of hanging around inside a Poverty Existence persona. A word of advice, do not wait 68 years, you have wasted so much fucking time. But it does allow you to discover all the bang for a buck things on the airwaves, and I know most of them. Here is my cut at it, some famous, and ones you will have not heard of outside OZ, but I promise you will hear about Emeli real soon.

First of all, Amarc and Angel list, I have been stealing them for years, they empower me, as I hope they will you:

Happiness is a…
What would make you smile right now?
What would make you smile, right now?
What’s one bad habit that makes you miserable?
What do you do when nothing else seems to make you happy?
How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you were?
If Happiness was the national currency, what kind of work would make you rich?Do you celebrate the things that you have?
What is your happiest childhood memory, what makes it so special?
What makes you smile?

Pretty cool huh? Marc and Angel are pretty special people.

Brian has read all the books we are meant to read. He does the deadliest precis of them on the web, he calls it his 10 big ideas.

So my list begins with:I love their work so much and share it mercilessly. So much so that they invited a penniless Age pensioner in Naarm/Melbourne to come to their live event. I will make it one day to thank them personally for getting me through the dark times.

Luminita aka The purpose Fairy out of Romania and Mindvalley comes in seconds for empowering lists, another on of my chronic reposts.

My new friends are out of South Africa. Yarpies rule. One of their speakers got me to see I am financially free, Super broke, but financially, let’s make some filthy lucre, so we can make a real difference.

The best-ever speaker in the world with no challengers, then and since. Founder of the glorious Est Training, when you listened to him create a distinction, the headache you got as your brainwaves were torn to shreds, was worth the pain.

Your email friend, receive 1 email, not 1,000.

Out of Illinois, you find some strange Facebook friends on the feed. I have loved Chantelles work from day one we friended each other.

Australia Mr Black Magick man out of Byron Bay, he doesn’t give a fuck what he says, as long as it makes a difference.

Two words, Brene Brown.

My dear friend Mastin, I used to steal so many of his quotes back in the days of his Daily Love blog. Now one of the best at trauma on the planet.

Oprah!!!

My Anam Cara, Emili was responsible for a nationwide concert To End poverty, at 24. She is no longer at 24 but after a mental Healthhiatus she is back, watch out,r is very powerful < has been to Rucker Island, met the Dalai lama3 times, once taking the piss, and he laughed. lots of others, By the way, the blonde one, Nicole Gibson of Love out LOud, was Australia’s National Mental Health Ambassador at 24 also, check her work at Love out loud. A very wise woman at a very young age.

To me one of the top ten influential Canadians on the planet. I used to buy her daily planner. It cost more to freght it than it cost. it was worth it though.

Lissa Rankin, her book on Fear, The Fear Cure is the best, no challengers.

Over to me, I finish with some commentary: It’s up to us, Because We can, it’s our Time:,my first paid words. $25 Australian. I believe we can change the world with them. Love and Respect for All, Everyone Included- Rod Williams.

Over to Leonard- The light gets in. Gill Scott-Heron: The revolution will not be Televised.. Back to me: Fuck Rupert Murdoch. I am learning about monetizing i have written 700 blogs and 4.9 million words on possibilty for zero income..

If you like this blog, I don’t want the money, I know I can make it now. Please donate to the organisation I love, The Asylum Seekers Resource Centre in Naarm/Melbourne where we restore people’s dignity stolen by our government when they created the disgusting distinction boat people and turned them into numbers not human beings. We also do food, health and legal stuff, we are very good at it, but no government interference on our watch.

So, meet the people who I think are your allies, they are definitely mine PS, It pisses me off sometimes That it only takes me just over an hour to create these. I may end up having to watch the Beautiful game for a while

PPs, I have committed to finding a million dollars for the ASRC this year, I have $30 of it. I would love you to toss some cash our wat. Go to our website and you will find the donate button there.

Until next time. back to twice a week, Yay!!!

The World of Dance

Posted on January 14, 2023 by Rod's World

I was not a born dancer. In fact, clumsy fucker comes to mind around my dancing ability. My first memories of dance are the Lockwood South Memorial Hall outside Bendigo and the Pride of Erin, I was about eight. My mum and dad loved this weekly sojourn, and we kids were dragged along each and every weekend.

I now live for a Dancing Freedom sunset dance outside Melbourne at Kangaroo Ground. led by my beautiful friend Phoenix Onesonf Maradola, the best-set creator in Australia. Throw her some love and sponsor her music on Mixcloud under Whitecalf, you will come out of it ahead because you can cancel your Spotify subscription, so it will only cost you 2,99 Euros instead of $11,00 a month.

Now to Marc and Angels list. This one is titled Success Questions to make you Think:

What’s the number one thing you want to achieve in the next 5 years
If we learn from our mistakes, why are we always so afraid to make a mistake
What’s something that used to scare you, but no longer does.
What mistakes do you make over and over again?
What did fear of failure stop you from doing?
If you could learn anything, what would it be?
What is something you will continue to do until the day that you die?
What is the best advice you have ever received?
If I were to say to you “Just go for it”, what would it be?
What’s something you must give up to move forward?

Here we go with the quotes and the music, Yay!!!

Ballet touches me in so many ways.

Follow the Yellow Brick Road.

Tap, One, Two, Three.

Didn’t that Happy song make it big?

No, you are the fool.

Love all the feelings things.

I love you, Mummy and Daddy.

It was not her first step she remembered, it was her first dance movement.

And we know who it is really for, don’t we?

And of course, you dance in the rain.

First crawl, then Dance.

I didn’t know Michael Jordan was a ballet dancer?

And during the Fire element they are so, so loud, aren’t they, Phoenix?

Our dear old blind and deaf dog, Suki knows this emphatically.

So remember Mojo – The Dance of Connection, 5 Rhythms with Rivka, 5 Rhythms with Evelyn and the magnificent Phoenix OneSong Maradola aka White calf.

Now let’s talk about me. I live my life from the ethos of Interculturalism: Love and Respect for All, Everybody included, look for my FB group called Interculturalism and my blog I am an Interculturalist. I would love to join our growing tribe. My saying: It’s up to Us, Because We Can, It’s our Time. The first words I ever got paid the princely sum of $25.00 for. I lived in the hope Greta T. would discover it and it would become the chant of the International school strike movement. She has her own words and I have mine. Remember the reviews, dear friends, and extra Brownie Points for the first one.

Peace Out, thank you, Dane.

Some day there won’t be a song in your heart, Sing anyway!!!

Posted on July 13, 2021 by Rod's World

We are raised on music, from our mothers singing nursery rhymes to us to the top twenty hits we full in love with at primary school to listening to our parents music they play during the day and night that keep styles existing across the ages. As the title say someday there won’t be one of these songs in our heart, but it requests we sing anyway.

Nobody gets through life without losing someone they love, someone they need, or something they thought was meant to be. But it is these losses that make us stronger and eventually move us toward future opportunities for growth and happiness.

Over the past decade, I’ve had my share of painful Losses, Losing both of my parents and several friends. When the time of mourning was over in each circumstance, I pressed forward with a greater understanding and respect for life. Here are some things to contemplate:

You are not what happened to you in the past.
Focus on what you have,, not on what you don’t.
Struggling with problems is a natural way of growing.
It’s Okay to fall apart for a little while.
Life is fragile, sudden, and shorter than it seems.
Emotionally separate yourself from your problems.
Don’t make a problem bigger than it is.
View each challenge as an educational assignment.
Things change, but the sun always rises the next day.
Giving up and moving on are two very different things.
Perfect relationships don’t exist.
You must love yourself too.
Don’t let others make decisions for you.
Resentment hurts you, not them.
Consciously nurture your inner hope.
It’s better to be hurt by the truth than comforted by a lie.
Not getting what you want can be a blessing.
Laughter is the best medicine for stress.
Worrying is literally a waste of energy.
Even when it’s hard to move, take small steps forward.
You are better off without some people you thought you needed.
You are only competing against yourself.
Life is not easy.
Your future is unwritten.
You are not trapped, you just need to relearn a few things.
Everything in life is two-sided.
You always have a choice.
Let others in when you are in a dark place.
If you ask negative questions, you will get negative answers.
The end is a new beginning.

So given the power of music, I wonder what has been said about it over the centuries, Let’s have a look:

1. Indigenous societies still use this thusand yeay old method that western society replaced by pills.

2. Santayana is popularly known for aphorisms, such as “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it”, “Only the dead have seen the end of war”, and the definition of beauty as “pleasure objectified”. Although an atheist, he treasured the Spanish Catholic values, practices, and worldview in which he was raised^. Santayana was a broad-ranging cultural critic spanning many disciplines: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0cBhdvXfJA

3. Music could be said to be like a car. It warms you up, gets you there and back, and chills down at the end of the day.

4. John Legend wrote the hit song All of Me for his wife to cheer her up: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=450p7goxZqg

5. Music can give you all of it.

6. From the 17th Century Ludwig Van Beethoven places a high value on music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jv2WJMVPQi8

7. Considered the greatest classical composer of his time, here is another Ludwig quote.

8. Music covers all the conditions as Alex states, from calmness to being pumped up: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Y71iDvCYXA

9. Policy advice on what education should spend their money on from 300 B.C.

10 now called a Spotify list: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VQ_3sBZEm0

11. A profound promise for the science of Music Therapy.

12. Wonderful Healing Codes from the world of music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWZmdoY1aTE&list=PLXZh40qo2oQlnhiKtJa6cHQMnaXYxP7Ay&index=7

13. In 2007 neurologist Oliver Sacks released his book Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain in which he explores a range of psychological and physiological ailments and their intriguing connections to music.

14. We find that music is a relaxant time and time again: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdQY7BusJNU

15. And for our final quote Nelson Mandela sets us free to dream wit the power of music.

Whether our heart has a song it or not, I believe the quotes talk to the powerful remedies that music has to offer on a day to day basis.

The playlist today contains the first classical track I have used in over 750 blogs. We begin with Shaina Noll then stay around this time frame with John Legend. Ludwig Van Beethoven is next who is followed by two rocky numbers from different periods of time, Elvis Costello and the Foo Fighters. The penultimate track is from Ed Sheeran and we finish with Cyndi Lauper: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJlQ3F9bKYruGUWns9UHcFOQwbJznIYaQ

There is a world of music out there and I believe is supports my world ethos of Love and Respect for All, Everybody Included. To spread the ethos around the world like my readers from 160 countries I have created a Facebook Group, Interculturalism, here is the link for you to join our tribe: https://www.facebook.com/groups/Interulturalism.

Till we meet again my dear friends.

You Are Not Alone In This!!!

Posted on October 15, 2019 by Rod's World

I went to a local council meeting today to support a group who had been defunded, there was a lot of anger in the room. One group called the other racist for doing it, and there were allegations flying everywhere. I left as it did not seem to be serving many purposes, the decision to not defund them was watered down to a prissy offering of looking at other means of funding them. So it appears they must use the energy of their anger to fight the next battle.

So anger, what is its purpose and is it very useful in today’s world? Marc Chernoff writes about it as follows:

WHEN SOMEONE UPSETS us, It’s often because they aren’t behaving according to our fantasy of how they “should” behave. The frustration, then, stems not from their behaviour differs from our expectations. This is a moment for looking within.

You can’t control how other people behave. You can’t control everything that happens to you. What you can control is how you respond to it all. Your power lies in your response. Let’s practice together…

Get comfortable with pausing.
Respect people’s differences.
Be compassionate
Extend generosity and grace.
Don’t take people’s behaviour personally.
Talk less and learn to appreciate silence.
Create a morning ritual that starts your day off right.
Cope using healthy choices and alternatives
Remind yourself of what’s right, and create more of it in the world.

What has the world written about the power that Anger has over us, here are a few of my favourites:

1. I wouldn’t suggest telling someone they are being stupid if they make you angry, that would mean there would then be two angry people in the room.

2. Known for his satirical wit and sardonic view of human nature, Ambrose Bierce earned the nickname “Bitter Bierce.” His mocking cynicism is on full display in The Devil’s Dictionary, a work that originally appeared under the title The Cynic’s Word Book. … As a short story writer, Bierce gave us many treasures: No Regrets.

3. Ralph points out simple homegrown logic in a lot of his quotes, check out this classic.

4. They say it is better to reclaim the anger than have it reclaim us by being blurted out all of a sudden: Just Give Me a Reason.

5. In the development work I do, we speak of the immature feminine and masculine, and the mature feminine and masculine. Guess in which fields an insecure personality would hang around in?

6. Anger doesn’t tend to hang around in the field of contentment: Going Through Changes.

7. The cardigan-wearing one points out what lies within when we are angry.

8. From the 16th Century, noted English poet Alexander Pope talks about anger being revenge on oneself: Smells Like Teen Spirit.

9. Duck!!!

10. Not a good anxiety practice, going to bed angry: Fight for the Right.

11. Fark!!!!

12. From the man who found enlightenment under the Bodhi tree, why holding onto anger is so toxic: Burning Down The House.

13. Commonly known as a foot in mouth disease.

14. It’s the old one finger pointing forward, three backwards routine: Lithium.

15. The final lesson is that anger is just as important to deal with as all the other things we feel.

Everybody gets upset and loses their temper sometimes. Remind yourself that we are all more alike than we are different. When you catch yourself being angry with someone, add “just like me sometimes” Choose to let things go. Let others off the hook. Take the high road today.

Today’s playlist is anthem clad. From the 60s we begin with The Walker Brothers followed by some angst from Pink. My favourite white rapper Eminem is next, then the first of two Nirvana entries. A unique version of The Beastie Boys biggest hit will test your mettle. Talking Heads second last then back to Nirvana to finish off this great rocking playlist: You are not alone in This.

So the world does not say anger is bad all the time, I believe I need some to get my ethos, Love and Respect for All, Everybody Included to triumph over the current world conversation. Remember if you like these blogs of mine sign up to have them in your inbox on the day of creation. Until next time we meet, my dear friends.

Why Walk When You Can Dance!!!

Posted on September 9, 2019 by Rod's World

I made chai for Mojo, The Dance of Connection over the weekend. I have been chaistro for four different dances over the past month: Mojo, Dancing Freedom, Ecstatic Dance and Resonance Project. Here, in Melbourne Australia, we have a vibrant conscious dance scene which I love being part of. I hold that dance is one of the true forms of healing available on the planet. It has existed longer than language and takes us to states that words alone cannot.

Each dance is different: Mojo, to me, is the dance of healing where people get to be touched in a safe, loving manner during the forest and if they fulfil the request to dance with a different partner each track, they get to examine their relationship to connecting with others: How to contact Mojo. Dancing Freedom is more a personal shamanic transformational dance through the elements the earth is made from, you are a little bit different after each journey: How to contact Dancing Freedom. Ecstatic Dance each fortnight brings you diverse rhythms beats and melodies to attune your Body, Mind and Soul to: How to contact Ecstatic Dance. Resonance Project brings together an evening of 5Rhythms embodiment and sound medicine magic, a full sensory experience for you to journey deep and invite transformation of the highest frequency. It includes a guest musician as well: How to contact Resonance Project.

So there was dance before language, what have we said about it since we learned to speak, read and write, here are a few of my favourites:

1. The Hebrew Bible is not somewhere I would expect to find this quote praising dance.

2. Passion, turn to the left, hold on that’s: Fashion.

3. My Happy Place.

4. I just had to look up who Marilyn Ferguson was after reading this fantastic quote, A founding member of the Association of Humanistic Psychology, Ferguson published and edited the well-regarded science newsletter Brain/Mind Bulletin from 1975 to 1996. Her acquaintances included Bucky Fuller, Ram Dass and Al Gore: Let’s Dance

5. Considered one of the most innovative dancers of the last century, Isadora Duncan began teaching dance in her teens, unfortunately, she suffered one of the most bizarre causes of death when her scarf went around her cars axle.

6. Transcend the limitations of our self – what a beautiful description of ecstatic dance: Desert Dwellers at Burning Man.

7. All hail the teachers of dance that exist on the planet.

8. They have them, they are just made out of gossamer: Fly.

9. We dance for all the things!!!

10. And for me, it is always an honour: Waiting for Love.

11. How true is this in a dancers world, very in mine.

12. I feel so sorry for the deaf ones, they do not know what they are missing out on: My friend Suebee Fae.

13. In all its forms: folk, ballet, conscious, line, rock and roll, swing, etc. etc. etc.\

14. Even the cardiganed one has something to say about it: Dance Monkey.

15. Our final lesson on the dance comes from an extraordinary source: Margaretha Geertruida “Margreet” MacLeod, better known by the stage name Mata Hari, was a Dutch exotic dancer and courtesan who was convicted of being a spy for Germany during World War I and executed by firing squad in France.

So as you may have guessed dancing is one of my passions, I have fallen in love with my friends Marc and Angel Chernoff’s lists again: Here are some questions on passion to make you think.

1. What will you never give up on?

2. What activities make you lose track of time?

3. What’s something you would do for every day if you could?

4. At what time in your recent past have you felt most passionate and alive?

5. Are you doing what you believe in, or are you settling for what you are doing?

6. What one thing have you not done that you really want to do? What’s holding you back?

7. What is something you would hate to go without for a day?

8. Would you rather have less work to do or more work you actually enjoy doing?

9. What would you do differently if you knew nobody would judge you?

I have tried to include some more obscure tracks beside the classic tracks about dance in the playlist today. We begin with David Bowie twice, yes, one of them is that track. From The Desert Dwellers next is a sunrise set then we fly with Marshmello. Avicii lays down the next track and then my friend from Byron Shire, Suebee Fae features. We end with a track from Ireland by the Tones and I: Why Walk When You Can Dance!!!

Remember to signup to receive these blogs in your email box if you enjoy them, we can dance our way to a new world ethos: Love and Respect for All, Everybody Included. Until we meet again my dear friends.

Not on my watch, Anymore!!

Posted on March 18, 2019 by Rod's World

I wrote the following in my Facebook news feed two days after New Zealand:

I am sitting in Preston Town Hall at the Multicultural fair, cultural diversity Festival 2019. There are hijab’s and henna painted hands everywhere, so many different cultures. Firstly I went to the Preston Mosque, ironically the day after NZ they had already invited their neighbours so they could meet and enjoy a meal together. I was privileged to hear the Imaan give his welcome speech and his communities comment on NZ. I firstly had spent an hour having my hand shaken by both Muslim men and women thanking me for being there, I did not know if it is cool to walk around a mosque with tears flowing from your eyes so I sort of controlled it. The Imaan spoke of common humanity, then of a noble death, where you are looked after in the afterlife. He quoted the Koran where it says if you kill an innocent human being you kill the spirit of the human race. I made a promise to myself at that moment I will do everything in my power that this will never happen again on my watch.

I picked up my friend and extraordinary poet Ari Amal’s beautiful tome: The Details and the Infinite when I got home and opened it to the following poem, it spoke to my heart, here is her webpage link: Find out about Ari.

May All The Blossoms Within You Unfurl

It only takes one brave bud

To start a revolution

So to the buds in you that are yearning to burst open

These words are for you:

Darling ones

Spring has come

It is time to become

All that you are

So lift your face to the sun

& laugh with the sky

For even your fragrance is a Gift

To those who happen by

It only takes one brave bud

To start a revolution

So tell me,

Who amongst you will inspire

the Fiesta?

I don’t think the human being who committed the heinous act in Christchurch had read it, who amongst us will do what it takes to transform the world into the majestic place it could be. What have we written about it, let’s take a look:

1. One of the bravest acts a human being , can commit in their lifetime, be themselves in the face of the crap society throws at them not to be.

2. Can’t read their name, but I have enjoyed the revolution, my artistic friends have created for the past 45 years: Art for Art’s Sake.

3. “Nisker’s book (Essential Crazy Wisdom) is twenty-three times more liberating than the Bible, the Torah, and the Koran combined. It may be crazy to say such a thing but it is also wise.” — Tom Robbins, author.

4. From the Black Panthers, if you don’t know who they are, google it. It’s not about the people, it’s about their stand: The Revolution Will Not Be Televised.

5. Begin one today.

6. No Isaac Newton here, grow some: Formation.

7. Donald Trump, Scott Morrison and other far-right world leaders, Jacinda and us mob, we are coming for you.

8. Dorothy got this answer to a question, I don’t accept it: Que Sera Sera.

9. A revolution of desire has given us today’s world, pick again.

10. Will it be yours, what area in your life will it be: Stir It Up.

11. He, Joseph Stalin may have got carried away with his zeal but I get his point, just don’t go over the top like Uncle Joe did.

12. When I read George’s books, I decided Tyrion Lannister was one of the great characters in literature. Not just fantasy literature – literature! A brilliant, caustic, horny, drunken, self-flagellating mess of a man. And there was only one choice to play him.”: Never Forget You.

13. And, Go!!

14. If you are decluttering your house to do this, stop it: Smooth Operator.

15. And finally to my Mojo crew, Awakening Women for Men brothers, Warrior of Love travellers, Dancing Eros sisters in male bodies, Expand the Box and Possibility Lab cronies, my ISTA family and my siblings Hugo, Ruthie and Jann, two words, Fuck Yes!!

I think writing this has helped the sadness I feel in my gut for what happened in New Zealand, time to grow some and go.

I like today’s playlist, it has some of music’s icons and one of my favourite spoken word jazz tracks: 10cc with a classic head it off, Gill Scott-Heron then some diva pop from Beyonce. Then we go way back to Dorothy Day. The certified legend Bob Marley follows, next is new to me but not ten million people, The Noisettes, and we finish with the always sensual Sade: Not on my Watch, Anymore.

Do I really have to say it, We need Love and Respect for All, Everybody Included or we all may not wake up one day because we thought everything was OK and someone will prove that wasn’t true in an ultimate way.

fine

We Can’t Direct the Wind, but We can Adjust Sails!!

Posted on October 8, 2018 by Rod's World

I was browsing through the offering of Brian Johnson’s Philosophers Notes, when he commented that he had never come across a book that he would recommend to read to help live an ideal life until he read Sonja Lyubmirsky’s The How of Happiness: A Practical Guide to Getting The Life You Want: Get It Here.

The key tenet of THE HOW OF HAPPINESS is that every human being has a happiness ‘set point’ which, depending on how high or low it is, can determine how positive or negative they feel. This book offers a practical approach to help readers increase their set point, and find a level of happiness above that which they would normally feel, and feel more satisfaction in life.

“In a nutshell, the fountain of happiness can be found in how you behave, what you think, and what goals you set every day of your life. ‘There is no happiness without action.’ If feelings of passivity and futility overcome you whenever you face up to your happiness set point or to your circumstances, you must know that a genuine and abiding happiness is indeed within your reach, lying within the 40 per cent of the happiness pie chart that’s yours to guide.”

Through remarkable studies with identical twins separated at birth, scientists have discovered that about 50% of our happiness is determined by our genetics and that we have what they call a “happiness set point”—a level of happiness we tend to gravitate toward. So 50% is FIXED. We can’t do anything about it. Now, there’s another 10% of our happiness that’s determined by our life circumstances. Most people spend all their energy on this variable but research shows that increasing our wealth, attractiveness and stuff like that has both a negligible and a temporary impact on our well-being. Which leads us to the 40% we want to focus on: “What makes up this 40 per cent? Besides our genes and the situations that we confront, there is one critical thing left: our behaviour. Thus the key to happiness lies not in changing our genetic makeup (which is impossible) and not in changing our circumstances (i.e., seeking wealth or attractiveness or better colleagues, which is usually impractical), but in our daily intentional activities. With this in mind, our pie chart illustrates the potential of the 40 per cent that is within our ability to control, the 40 per cent for room to maneuver, for opportunities to increase or decrease our happiness levels through what we do in our daily lives and how we think.”

Part II of the book delivers 12 Happiness Activities that’s been scientifically proven to increase our happiness levels. You’ll wanna get the book to explore the various studies that have established why these activities work and we’ll highlight a few of my favourites below. For now, here they are:

1. Expressing Gratitude

2. Cultivating Optimism

3. Avoiding Overthinking and Social Comparison

4. Practising Acts of Kindness

5. Nurturing Social Relationships

6. Developing Strategies for Coping

7. Learning to Forgive

8. Increasing Flow Experiences

9. Savouring Life’s Joys

10. Committing to Your Goals

11. Practising Religion and Spirituality

12. Taking Care of Your Body: Meditation + Physical Activity + Acting Like a Happy Person

(Another cool point Sonja makes again and again (!) throughout the book is that it’s *essential* for us to choose activities that inspire us as we’re much more likely to follow through on those activities than doing something we think we “should” do.)

So which of the above activities do you use to get your happy on? Statements on achieving happiness differ from their approach, here are just a few:

1. Considered one of the happiest people on the planet, His Holiness The Dalai Lama knows it is through your actions that this state is achieved.

2. The first of the 12 activities mentioned above, expressing gratitude for the fact that recognising what we have is a powerful first step to happiness: Grateful.

3. A moot point to remember in the dark times.

4. As Mandy points out, It’s our daily intentional activities that ensure happiness, not those of others: Follow The Sun,

5. I got caught at the railway gates today, it went for five minutes. The person in the car behind me was losing it, this is a little thing.

6. Such a simple example, but beautiful in its concept: That’s Entertainment.

7. An empowering fridge magnet to read daily.

8. Dancing is one way I choose to do it: Feel Good.

9. Waitley was also a founding member of the National Council for Self-Esteem and a former chairman of psychology for the U.S. Olympic Committee’s Sports Medicine Council. A worthy life of Happiness what a great title for the council.

10. Happiness spreads when you release it into the world due to its infectious nature: Spread a Little Happiness.

11. Back to the 1400’s for this quote that leaves out 50 per cent of the population. Erasmus was considered the greatest scholar of the Northern Renaissance.

12. Out beyond the horizon of accepting your imperfections lies the land of happiness: Perfect.

13. From the man with the most famous bedraggled hair in the world, Albert points out that giving away your happiness to people and things don’t really work.

14. I spent many years trying to be liked by everyone, it cost me a great deal of happiness, I’m getting better at not doing it: You Can’t Please Everybody.

15. And for our final look we return to the beginning of modern time, Seneca was around from 4 BC-AD 65. Still very relevant today though.

Pema Chodron says pretty much the same thing in her great book The Places That Scare You: “Acknowledging that we are all churned up is the first and most difficult step in any practice. Without compassionate recognition that we are stuck, it’s impossible to liberate ourselves from confusion. ‘Doing something different’ is anything that interrupts our ancient habit of indulging in our emotions. We do anything to cut the strong tendency to spin out… Anything that’s non-habitual will do—even sing and dance or run around the block. We do anything that doesn’t reinforce our crippling habits. The third most difficult practice is to then remember that this is not something we do just once or twice. Interrupting our destructive habits and awakening our heart is the work of a lifetime.”

The Playlist from today’s blog is quite joyous as you would expect songs dedicated to happiness to be. Empty Hands Music begins the journey, followed by an anthem from Xavier Rudd. I sneak some rock in with the Jam next, then some EDM with Felix Jaehn and Mike Williams. It gets a little darker with Sting followed by a beautiful duet from Ed Sheeran and Beyonce ending with some old time Funk from Rose Royce: We Can’t Direct the Wind, but We can Adjust Sails!!

Namaste until next time, my dear friends.

namasteflower

Intention + Action = Magic!!

Posted on April 12, 2018 by Rod's World

Take a moment and consider whether you’ve ever experienced something extraordinary or unexplainable, something that didn’t make sense to your cognitive mind. Have you ever known something you shouldn’t know? Have you predicted some future outcome in a dream? Have some called you when you were thinking about him or her? Have you been seized by an unexplainable impulse to do something that wound up helping another person who was in crisis?Have you experienced synchronicities you can’t write off as mere coincidence? Reflect upon your past and consider whether you’ve ever felt guided, either by your own intuition, another person’s guidance, or external “signs from the universe” in a way that protected you or someone else from harm.

This exercise is from Lissa Rankins excellent book The Fear Cure, specifically the chapter titled it’s a purposeful universe, for more info on this transformational book look here: Lissa’s website.

How does the world relate to living in a purposeful universe, here are some of my favourites quotes on the matter:

1. After publishing a string of best-selling books on the practical psychology of self-improvement, Dyer felt a shift occur in his thinking that led him to explore the spiritual aspects of human experience. “My purpose is to help people look at themselves and begin to shift their concepts,” he said. “Remember, we are not our country, our race, or religion. We are eternal spirits. Seeing ourselves as spiritual beings without a label is a way to transform the world and reach a sacred place for all of humanity.”

2. Let go of the control in your life and miracles can happen: Across the Universe.

3. One word says it all, Rumi!!!

4. During my Buddhist years, I did several community ten-day meditation retreats, you had the choice of doing it in Golden Silence. I did this several times and remember the local airport being so noisy after the experience: Silence is Golden.

5. Hate has never resolved anything in history, never.

6. The reason why indigenous cultures say that age on its own does not give you the right to be called an elder: Faith.

7. One of the grand purposes of life.

8. I recently gave up trying to be someone I am not, I feel so ridiculously free: I’m Free.

9. Remember your childhood dreams, at what age did you give them up?

10. Not over there in someone else, you are the one, own it: Star Trek – The Inner Light.

11. I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And I will not let what I cannot do interfere with what I can do.

12. Your part is just as important as everyone else’s: You are Eternal, The Universe.

13. We may be seeing the beginnings of the reintegration of our culture, a new possibility of the unity of consciousness. If so, it will not be on the basis of any new orthodoxy, either religious or scientific. Such a new integration will be based on the rejection of all univocal understandings of reality, of all identifications of one conception of reality with reality itself. It will recognize the multiplicity of the human spirit, and the necessity to translate constantly between different scientific and imaginative vocabularies. It will recognize the human proclivity to fall comfortably into some single literal interpretation of the world and therefore the necessity to be continuously open to rebirth in a new heaven and a new earth. It will recognize that in both scientific and religious culture all we have finally are symbols, but that there is an enormous difference between the dead letter and the living word.

14. We are sent here to provide the piece of the puzzle we came here to contribute: Live Your Life.

15. I think the human condition makes that wait without anxiety something that we have to work on our entire life.

So how did you react to these purposeful moments provided to you by the Universe – Lissa asks: did you ignore it? did you rationalise it away, did you trivialise it and write it off as coincidence, do you make up implausible stories to explain it? Did you tell others your story? Did you keep your experience a secret? Did you have a “This changes everything” moment? Or did nothing change?

Remember to listen to the Universe, it has your back.

We have 60’s music to begin with, The Beatles and the Tremeloes, followed by some boppy George Michael. Then mainstream Kenny Loggins followed by some Star Trek music and Alan Watts wisdom. We retun to this century to finish with some rap from T.I. and Rhianna.

Namaste until next time, my dear friends.