From the Ashes Rises?

Posted on March 7, 2016 by Rod's World

I attended a seminar on the weekend called Prosper from your Passion run by Ben Harvey’s Authentic Education. The point that really stuck with me was the term you are only as sick as your secrets. The premise was if you can rise above the worst thing that has happened to you nobody can do anything to you and there is nothing you cannot do in your life because they have nothing on you.

So what does it take to rise up, rise above these secrets. The world has much to say about it, here is one definition:

rise above something to deal well with a difficult or unpleasant situation

.To successfully deal with a problem or difficulty:

cope, overcome, carry off…

to be morally good enough not to do something bad, especially something that most other people do.

To be morally good or correct:

rise above, be in the right, look good/bad…

rise above something to be better than other things of the same type

To be the best or better than someone else:

surpass, outdo, rise above…

Many people have commented on what it takes to rise up above where you have been, the 15 quotes I have chosen go as far back as 384 B.C. to Aristotle’s time, so lets begin our journey of the phoenix:

1. I sure all cat owners have seen that look at some stage in their lives, well here is the reason why. They have not given their beloved moggie their morning coffee.

2. Bruce Hornsby is an American singer and keyboardist known for the spontaneity and creativity of his live performances . As he says when we are at the beach we do not wait for the tide to rise: The River Runs Low.

3. Love or Hate is a choice. MLK’s famous quote “Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it. Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it. Hatred darkens life; love illuminates it.” It takes a strong mind to rise above the weakness that allows hate.

4. The look on this swimmers face says it all. She has definitely risen above whatever concerns she had to totally enjoy the moment.

5. I have a mentor who believes that when we have risen above it all we see everything as a gift, that nothing is a mistake. Not many people have reached this lofty position as yet, we are all still rising.

6. You are a unique human being and have gifts for the planet. Some of us have just forgotten this, time to Rise UP!! I’ll Fly Away.

7. Perhaps the most famous rising quote by one of America’s founding fathers, Benjamin Franklin was a renowned polymath, Franklin was a leading author, printer, political theorist, politician, Freemason, postmaster, scientist, inventor, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat. He certainly lived a live that followed the premise of his quote.

8. Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī (Persian : جلال‌الدین محمد رومی‎‎), also known as Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Balkhī (جلال‌الدین محمد بلخى), Mawlānā/Mevlânâ (مولانا, “our master”), Mevlevî/Mawlawī (مولوی, “my master”), and more popularly simply as Rumi (1207 – 17 December 1273), was a 13th-century Persian poet, jurist, Islamic Scholar, theologian, and Sufi Mystic. Rumi’s influence transcends national borders and ethnic divisions: Iranians, Tajiks, Turks, Greeks, Pashtuns, other Central Asian Muslims, and the Muslims of South Asia have greatly appreciated his spiritual legacy for the past seven centuries. His poems have been widely translated into many of the world’s languages and transposed into various formats. Rumi has been described as the “most popular poet” and the “best selling poet” in the United States. His poems go from several lines as above to several pages long enquiries into subjects. Coleman Barks is considered the greatest interpreter of Rumi, here is some of his work: Coleman reading Rumi.

9. “The Phoenix rising from the ashes.” . As the story goes, the phoenix is a mythical bird with fiery plumage that lives up to 100 years. Near the end of its life, it settles in to its nest of twigs which then burns ferociously, reducing bird and nest to ashes. And from those ashes, a fledgling phoenix rises – renewed and reborn. At times we are like phoenixes , we feel like we have been reduced to ashes. It is our journey to arise new and reborn.

10. In our country of Australia, we have a situation called the tall poppy syndrome, it fundamentally speaks to the fact that you are not meant to rise above your calling, Luckily for the new generations it is becoming an outmoded principle and we can stop bring people down. We need to have it be OK to rise up and blossom.

11. Another quote I like about rising up is Marianne Williamson’s If you’re not being crucified , you’re probably not on your mission. It takes something to achieve your dreams and at times you will feel like you are dying inside because people are still listening to you pre dream fulfilment stage.

12. The Dark and the Light, its what gives us the opportunity to rise again, So called negative emotions are not bad, its just how we relate to them. Let them overcome you then you will suffer, learn from them and you are on the rise.

13. The worlds first philosopher, his books still sell 2000 years later. He is remembered for his wisdom and propriety. He was very much a supporter of the middle way.

14. Maya Angelou is one of life’s great female orators, she is a stand for people being as unique as they can and rising as high in the sky as their efforts allow them.

15. Maya’s most famous poem is Still I Rise. Here is a recording of her reciting it. Still I Rise.

It is up to up to Rise. Whether your dream is to be the worlds greatest mum, our children’s preschool dream of being an astronaut or a fairy, to have a number one hit single it is our responsibility to fulfil our dreams, that is what we were sent here for.

Life is about learning; when you stop learning, you die. Tom Clancy

Namaste until Thursday , my dear friends

Is No iPhone the first step?

Posted on February 23, 2016 by Rod's World

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Go back to where you came From!!

Posted on February 4, 2016 by Rod's World

My country made a sad decision today, it legalised the right to keep children who were born in this country in prison camps on remote islands where known cases of child abuses take place because their parents are supposedly illegal refugees.

What does this word refugee mean, the definition of it is quite clear:

According to the United Nations Convention relating to the Status of Refugees [PDF], as amended by its 1967 Protocol (the Refugee Convention), a refugee is a person who is:

outside their own country and
has a well-founded fear of persecution due to his/ her race, religion, nationality, member of a particular social group or political opinion, and is
unable or unwilling to return.

Yet we in our own country use terms like border protection and lock up children for up to a period of over 12 months, I call this inhumane and not meeting the above guidelines.

What has been said about refugees over the ages, have we improved the way we deal with them. There are many famous refugees, I had no clue Freddy Mercury was one, fleeing after the 1964 Zanzibar revolution.

Here are Fifteen quotes I have chosen to look at more useful ways to deal with refugees.

1. I work in a place who dealt with the first wave of Asylum Seekers in Australia, many of them Iranian. I will give an examples changing his name. Ali worked as an airport Manager, his younger brother was accused of political dissent. Ali was called in by the police and tortured for two weeks and on release told next time he would not leave alive. He fled the country, leaving everything behind the following day. It took him 9 months to get to Australia, and yes he came by boat.

2. Name calling by the media, used to demean not empower or open people’s hearts to these people who have suffered unimaginable atrocities that people who live in area of war do. The only way I can relate to the effects of it are when I was in Leningrad and our guide said to imagine what happened here in a 2 year period kill 1 in 5 of the people you know and that is what occurred here.

3. I saw the drone shots Russia took of the cities of Syria, as this quotes states refugees often have no choice, there is nothing to go back to. We are just very lucky to have never experienced this in our country.

4. Probably the worlds most famous refugee is Einstein. A German Jew, his work was discredited by the Nazi Party. He was one of the lucky one who got out early in 1932 and went out to make some of the most significant scientific discoveries of the modern era.

5. Tonn Benn served in the British parliament for 47 years as was seen as being the most left wing member of his party. He did not hold back in stating what he saw as the dangers of his right wing opponents, this is one of his most famous quotes.

6. Famous for We turned back the boats and Team Australia sometimes our politicians forget and let their heart slip out, this was one such occasion.

7. Go back home, to what?

8. I love the poster of two earth’s , one with all the flags over it and the other as it actually is , One planet. Then no one would be illegal.

9. They say that the strength of your team is measured by your weakest link, what does that say about planet earth and its treatment of our refugees.

10. This picture speaks to the UN convention relating to the status of Refugees, designed to do exactly what it says. Delivery, Comfort and Mercy.

11. “Refugees are people like anyone else, like you and me. They led ordinary lives before becoming displaced, and their biggest dream is to be able to live normally again. On this World Refugee Day, the 20th June let us recall our common humanity, celebrate tolerance and diversity and open our hearts to refugees everywhere.”

Ban Ki-moon, Secretary of The UN pointing out with there is no such thing as Us and Them.

12. Taken from the glorious song by Leonard Cohen Anthem. to me means that we give love as though like we have lost our country and are stateless, a pure love of mercy.

13. This is being questioned with the current refugee crisis sweeping Europe. perhaps they need to send the political leaders on a holiday to Syria for a week or two and it would be put in perspective.

14. This poem was written by a Somali refugee commenting on what happened to his country and how he thought before the war and after the war when he became one.

15. A sign that says it all, not needing the political or economic commentary, just the humane one. Please when commenting on they should go back home, remember this, especially in our country where a great majority of our immigrants were refugees.

I had to stop halfway through writing this, we had a U.N. Interfaith Harmony Week event, the ethos if this week is Love of God, and Love of the Neighbour. They has youth speakers from six different faiths, aged from 12 to 20 they all spoke of love and compassion. This gives me great hope for the future of refugees.

Namaste until next Monday my dear friends.

Is Adversity Awesome?

Posted on February 1, 2016 by Rod's World

This is a great question, do we want adversity in our lives or do we want them to chug along with very few bumps in the road. I confess that I tried the latter and kept ending up in psych. units because I did not handle the former very well.

The first time was when they were going to shut down the office I worked in where we had created a special relationship with our clients and I didn’t want to lose it so I clandestinely fought it with the community and union so that they kept it partially open in a smaller site around the corner. The stress of doing this saw me start a journey were I was dismissed and put on a pension never to work again with another two admissions during the two year period.

So what can dealing better with adversity offer us? There are many quotes from famous characters in history to unknowns on the subject and it was a difficult task choosing the fifteen most relevant, but here are my favourite ones. Lets have a look :

1. One of the great tests of adversity is who stays along for the ride when the going gets tough. I know that when in deep depression I was not an easy person to stay with but there were certain friends who stayed through me trying to tell them to go away because I was not worth knowing.

2. Adversity is put in our lives to test our resolve, how we get through them increases our Strength in life, helps us get through those moments in life that truly test our ability to break on through to a stronger person.

3. Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī, also known as Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Balkhī, Mawlānā/Mevlânâ, Mevlevî/Mawlawī, and more popularly simply as Rumi, was a 13th-century Persian poet, jurist, Islamic scholar, theologian, and Sufi mystic. Rumi’s influence transcends national borders and ethnic divisions: Iranians, Tajiks, Turks, Greeks, Pashtuns, other Central Asian Muslims, and the Muslims of South Asia have greatly appreciated his spiritual legacy for the past seven centuries. His poems have been widely translated into many of the world’s languages and transposed into various formats. Rumi has been described as the “most popular poet” and the “best selling poet” in the United States. I spoke to an Iranian friend who did not know who Rumi was but knew Mawlawi well. He says it simply but it is profound.

4. In my friends Arion’s work The Activation Program we work on an aspect of life called Renewal where we look at what controls us being more effective and look to accept this, in doing so this allows it to no longer control us, like having it blow the adversity away.

5. American author and bloggist Randi J. Fine points out that even though adversity is happening to us it is occurring for a reason, what is happening is exactly what is meant to at that moment to move us through life. You could even say from reading her site she is suggesting Don’t worry be Happy.

6. A lot of my friends lead workshops and seminars in the conscious movement and personal development areas. If you were to hear their stories as how they got there you would definitely agree that they are shining the light for other, living proof of the wounded healer stories.

7. here is one of the great natural examples of what can be created by overcoming adversity. Considered the most sough after gemstone who realises that it began its life as a piece of charcoal.

8. Discussing his quote we all think of Frank Herbert as a Science Fiction writer of note, best known for the novel Dune and its five sequels. Though he became famous for science fiction, he was also a newspaper journalist, photographer, short story writer, book reviewer, ecological consultant and lecturer. He had adversity covered in all directions.

9. It is a little known fact that many millionaires go broke several times in their life. But due to the fact they can handle great wealth they can also handle great adversity so have the ability to return to their former status.

10. John A. Passaro grew up as a wrestler and points out that is were he learnt to be a better person not in his Science and Math and English classes. Perhaps this is what Pink Floyd meant when they sang We don’t need no Education.

11. If we lived our whole lives between the lines, in the safe zone, how much meaning would there be in our lives, I often here people referring to the Nanny State these days, that everything is so controlled people don’t know what to do when they are challenged in life.

12. Climatic disasters are what this quote reminds me of. It brings out the best in people because at the heart of it, we all want to make a difference with others and these occurrences are when we are needed to do it most.

13. When we look at our politicians and how many of them have to resign due to corruption this quote from Abraham Lincoln hits home. It seems to bring out the worst of behaviour in some people who seek to be elected to make a difference. As JOhn Lennon sang Power to the People.

14. Walter Elias “Walt” Disney was an American entrepreneur, cartoonist, animator, voice actor, and film producer. He was a prominent figure within the American animation industry and throughout the world, and is regarded as a cultural icon, known for his influence and contributions to entertainment during the Twentieth century. Flowers grow in deserts and mountains , areas we do not expect them to.

15. Roads keeps us well under control, discoveries do not come from staying on the road, but trying out the adversity of the Unknown, not many life changing inventions were made driving the car down the road.

I have learnt to deal with adversity much better these days, I do not recommend waiting 58 years as I did, many of these spent trying to fix myself.

Namaste until Thursday, my dear friends.

I Feel I’ve meet you Before.

Posted on January 7, 2016 by Rod's World

Sometimes you meet someone, and it’s so clear the two of you, on some level belong together. As Lovers, or as Anam Cara – Soul Friends, or as Family or as something entirely different. You just work, whether you understand one another or you’re in love or you are partners in crime. You meet these people throughout your life, out of nowhere, under the strangest circumstances, and they help you feel alive.

What would it take to feel that way about everyone on the planet: Love and Respect for All: Everyone Included. This is the ethos for the public Facebook group I formed over two years ago, Interculturalism. You are free to join and tell your stories.

So I have chosen 15 quotes relating to We are One to comment on, No Oprah or Tony, but some very beautiful insights.

1. As far as we know all species on earth hearts beat the same. Maybe at different speeds but they all have to beat to stay alive. We forget this at times and enter the judgement zone that we are different.

2. Back in the 70’s in Melbourne Australia, a band called Skyhooks released a Song called Ego is not a dirty Word, Video of Ego is not a dirty Word. It may not be a dirty word , but it keeps us separate.

3. Eckhart Tolle is a German-born resident of Canada, best known as the author of The Power of Now and A New Earth: Awakening to your Life’s Purpose. In 2011, he was listed by the Watkins Review as the most spiritually influential person in the world.

4. Science Fiction writer Ray Bradbury reminds us we are an experiment with form by the Universe. Not separate but an experiment from a greater force.

5. When born we know nothing of Me and You, but are then trained to be a unique individual by other unique individuals. We then spend the rest of our lives trying to fit in with the colourful creation that is earth’s culture.

6. We look in the mirror and either like or dislike what we see dependent on our mood. This image points out what the reflection of Me is.

7. When we find those people mentioned in the first paragraph we feel like a force to be reckoned with. How much could we get done if we united together and used the force of a tsunami for good.

8.Luciano De Crescenzo (Italian pronunciation: [luˈtʃano de kreʃˈʃɛntso]; born 18 August 1928) is an Italian writer, film actor, director and engineer. He published a long series of books, including novels and popularizations of philosophy. For his work in the field of Greek philosophy he received honorary citizenship of Athens in 1994. Here is his quote on our need for each other to fly.

9. Radha Sahar is a New Zealand musician who sings meaningful songs to life Voices of the Wind. This beautiful ode calls out to us acting as one, not as loners.

10. Somewhere on our journey we forget this . I think this is what all babies are told as they are delivered and fight for it as long as they can.

11. Our celebrity today is His Holiness The Dalai Lama, he included everyone and every creature as well.

12. A lion and a bird, how much do we love those pictures on Facebook where two different species become friends, time to wake up.

13. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin SJ was a French philosopher and Jesuit priest who trained as a paleontologist and geologist and took part in the discovery of Peking Man. it is claimed we are all descended from Peking Man. One Family split asunder, time to remember our heritage.

14. Time for a reminder from one of the great disco songs We are Family, we have the same amount of blood and the same number of bones, yes We are One and the Same.

15. Unfortunately this question does not appear on most countries citizenship test, lets start a movement to have it be the first and only question people need to ask.

Do you feel more connection to people after reading this, I hope so as that was my intention. Namaste until next Monday , my dear friends.

What will I do? Unlock a Vision.

Posted on January 4, 2016 by Rod's World

Sitting here at my desk filling out my Desire Map Planner 2016 My Vision Building Process. and writing my daily Love meme it crossed my mind I didn’t have a subject for todays blog.

Then an inspirational thought crossed my mind, just open the planner and the thought for that day will provide it for you. So I did and we are discussing Unlocking your Vision today. My Visions and Essence for the year is twofold , more Sacredness and invoking Sacred Love.

I have chosen 15 beautiful quotes and they only include one from the big man, Tony Robbins, lets get underway.

1. Visionaries do not keep going to their 9 to 5 job, they work on having what they want to do as their living and get out as soon as they can.

2. The 70’s produced some classic songs, Chicago’s Only the Beginning was one of them Classic 70’s Rock. This moment, this time is life is the right time to start living your vision.

3. First rule in Visionary 101, check out the five people you spend the most time with. If they are not part of your vision team, time to move them on.

4. Your Vision doesn’t live in your arms and your legs., it resides in your heart and soul. Of course you have to take care of your physical body but it is your love for the Vision that with have it Fulfilled.

5. Roy H. Williams, author of the Wizard of Ads trilogy points out that starting on your vision doesn’t cost anything, the same as happiness, Play on.

6. Here’s Anthony, How do you move you vision forward, Ask questions. Any person you met could be the one who will have you fulfil your visions. Judgements don’t achieve anything.

7. Inward my friends. A vision that is not in your heart is merely a dream that has no place to awaken.

8. Does your vision provide benefit for others. Purpose in Life achieves little if it does not include others.

9. Nicholas James “Nick” Vujicic; born 4 December 1982) is an Australian Christian Evangelist and motivational speaker born with Phocomelia, a rare disorder characterised by the absence of all four limbs. As a child, he struggled mentally and emotionally as well as physically, but eventually came to terms with his disability. He presents motivational speeches worldwide which focus on life with a disability and finding hope and meaning in life. Living his Vision is what Mick does.

10. The same as number two, Begin. An opportunity for the classic Australian singer to display her wares on her version of Its only the Beginning – Deborah’s masterful performance.

11. Lead the march to fulfilling your vision by living your life like it exists now and all that needs to fall away is the circumstances. Have your life be a personal example of the vision.

12. Vishen Liakani is C.E.O. of Mindvalley, one of the leading on line education companies on the net. He is known for creating leaders in his company and providing ongoing leadership training, heres a link to his website – Vishens website.

13. Spock points to one thing you need in your armour to fulfil on your vision, no ego to bruise, whatever happens in your life is a gift, good, bad or horrendous, everything is an opportunity to learn.

14. Similar to the five people you spend your time with, your Vision ain’y going to happen if you aren’t bringing it. If you stop delivering, get off the seat and move on.

15. We cross the ocean to the plains of America for our final quote. Crazy Horse, victor at the Battle of Little Big Horn, fought the military for years and was stabbed by a guard three months after surrendering. He was considered one of the great Indian leaders and was honoured with a stamp by the U.S. postal service in 1982.

I hope you find some of these quotes and my insights useful in your vision seeking in life. Namaste until Thursday my dear friends.

Where do you get Yours?

Posted on December 17, 2015 by Rod's World

I recently started my new small business, Rod has a way with Words. I started with a rush, dedicating hours to it, getting cards made, a webpage up, made bids for contracts but it has suddenly stopped lighting my life up.

I was speaking to my business mentor Arion, yes even startups need one about this in my usual clinical mind driven manner, when he asked me what was the Essence behind my vision for it. I do work with Arion via the Activation School, Creative Mastery for Life and with Danielle LaPorte via the Desire Map Process Your core desired feeling for a Luscious Life.

So after a healthy battle with my mind fighting me getting in touch with the Essence that I had come up with I was able to be in the presence of being Valued. For each project we have in our lives if we do not have an Essence or a feeling why we are doing what we do it quickly become day to day drudgery.

So where do you get your value from. It may be in Bliss, Ecstasy , Power or any other of the many feelings that empower us in our lives, we each have a different version of it. I have chosen 15 quotes as to what being valued means to me, here we go :

1. Don’t ever forget your value, find the people who cheer when you enter the room because they see it in spades. They are your keepers.

2. Bob Dylan had a world wide hit with I want You Bobs Hit, can you imagine it selling so well if it was title I Value You?

3. Steve Maraboli is known as the worlds most quoted man. He directs us towards placing value on ourselves that you should step up to on a daily basis.

4. Armies do not lead themselves, they need people who value the cause they are fighting for. Be it Joan of Arc, or William Wallace We Few Men, it is the great leaders that have triumphed in life.

5. Famous American Naive artist Grandma Moses who began painting in earnest at the ripe old age of 78 knows the Value of looking at the moments in life that satisfy not degenerate the value of your blessed life.

6. What you did with your time is what you will value your life for, your family , your friends who will attend your funeral and say I remember the value they were in my life.

7. Up to the age of 50 I was physically fit and then my mental health issues began. Hospitalised 5 times in 8 years I learnt the hard way the value of personal freedom, I lost it for over a six month period. I do not recommend having this occur in your life.

8. As I mentioned in the quote above about time, its not about the money exchanged it’s about the Essence of the actions people take, done from their passion they are giving you their everything.

9. My friend Emeli Paulo, founder of Collective Potential is currently doing 30 Days of Real videos on Facebook, I think they are called Vlogs. Em’s FB Page. She would love this quote. She values getting real as much as I do people being valued.

10. Author of my all time favourite quote ; Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has. Margaret Mead was a cultural Icon back in the days of the hippy movement. Her words and wisdom still live on.

11. Known as the leader of the French romantic school of art in the 1800’s Eugene knew way back then it wasn’t about the work that was being done, it was the purity of the essence behind it.

12. Love and Respect for All, Everyone Included the ethos I created for my FB page Interculturalism. Join up and help transform the world.

13. Time for some directness, living in that you are Valued does not include this practice. Time to let go.

14. Negative Feedback is about them not you, replace them with people who have you walk the talk and live inside your values and praise you for doing it, A Ho!!

15. D. H. Lawrence, the man I simply call Lawrence. I have watched David lean’s classic film about 20 times over the years. When you live from your Essence or Core Desired Feeling this state is obtainable whenever you wish to enter it.

So what is Yours? I wish you the best in locating it, it will transform your life. Namaste until next Monday, my dear friends.

How to Kill a Cat, Not really!

Posted on September 21, 2015 by Rod's World

Curiosity starts with the itch to explore, the greatest explorers are the newborn. A 1964 study showed that babies as young as two months old, when presented with different patterns , will show a marked preference for the unfamiliar ones This attraction to everything knew and novel is known as diversive curiosity.

In adults diversive curiosity manifests itself as a restless desire for the new and the next. The modern world seems designed to fulfill our desire for this type of curiosity. Diversive curiosity is essential to an exploring mind; it opens our eyes to the new and the undiscovered, encouraging us to seek out new experiences and meet new people. But unless it’s allowed to deepen it can become a futile waste of time Unfettered curiosity is wonderful, unchannelled curiosity is not. When diversive curiosity is entrained – when it is transformed into a quest for knowledge and understanding – it nourishes us. This deeper, more disciplined and effortful type of curiosity is called epistemic curiosity.

Which type of curiosity do you mainly dwell in. Here are the 15 quotes I have chosen to have a look at this area of life which creates interest for us.

1. I have hair similar to Albert at the moment , slightly wild and woolly. No specialtalents that I have a piece of paper for, although people say I am a great wordsmith. I am definitely passionately curious about all areas of life as I hope you are too.

2. Walt Disney, creator of the iconic Mickey Mouse series of cartoons came up with this slice of wisdom when asked how did he keep on coming up with such new and exciting concepts. He did not accept that it could not be done in an era before the Internet, Facebook and PC graphic software.

3. My friend Michele’s company is called Within Without. She is a curious creator who inspires people to live the life they love. This quote reminds me of her passion for breaking through that which is accepted to be the norm, here is a link to her webpage : Within Without

4. Curiosity, the incurable dis ease that we receive when we enter this journey called life. That is slowly treated as an illness that much be put in its place so that you can grow up. I shout out to it being incurable just squashed by a mundane education system.

5. I went to The U.S.S.R. the year before the Berlin Wall came down to run the Moscow Peace Marathon. We also went to Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia. We did not know that the sun fell from the sky and darkness prevailed immediately at 5 p.m. We were stuck on the other side of the city from where we were staying so we could have panicked. Instead our curiosity took us into the place we recognized, Bar – it sold coffee and Ice-cream as there were not establishments for locals to go and have a drink. We meet two students home on holidays from Uni and they became life long friends and showed us the underground club scene which was thriving.

6. Modern day best selling Author Nancy B. Brewer remindsus that curiosity can take us to places that we need to be careful in. There are rumors of dead cats in some locations.

7. Good to Great, how does one get there. Unleashing your curiosity is one way James C. Collins, the American business analyst and lecturer suggests that control won’t cut it.

8. More and more people are catching in on the Secret, someone even wrote a book about it that being curious has to offer. Your creativity will blossom the more you let your curiosity out to play.

9. What do we put on our gravestones, I like this cut at it. A bit more inspiring than love from the children.

10. How we live our lives is what people remember about us not what we owned or what we did, but how we made them feel. A noble death is said to have been had when people only have good things to say.

11. Thomas Stearns Eliott, or T.S. to his friends and the rest of the world, died in the swinging 60’s. he penned two of my favourite quotes, the one above and You are the Music while the Music lasts. its never to far and keep the music playing is my motto.

12. Author of a Top ten business blog Edgy Conversations Dan Waldschmidt is pursued widely for his outlook on running businesses , he said the above about what part curiosity plays in being successful.

13. Back to the dead cats, it isn’t always Roses and Champagne when you let your curiosity run free. There may be a modicum of trouble as well, but what sort of life is a life without a little of it now and then.

14. The 1982 Nobel Prize winner for Chemistry also said some pretty cool things about how we relate to nature. That we should not think it is our playground to do what we want with it without thinking about the consequences was one of them, to always remain curious as to the effect we were having on it.

15. Eleanor Roosevelt does not hold her role as First lady to be her greatest achievement. This lies with helping write the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights when she was appointed chair of the Human Rights Commission after her husbands death. Eleanor was a fine example of some one who lived a life of curiosity and achieved much from doing this.

Here’s to the curious and the discoveries they have given us that have improved our lives.

Namaste until next time my dear friends.

Who seeks Asylum?

Posted on November 10, 2014 by Rod's World

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

Seeking international protection

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

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

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

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

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

Our Pledge to Asylum Seekers

Welcome!

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

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

The Pledge is as follows

To those who come from desperation and despair,

To those who have endured violence and unrest.

To those who have no place of safety,

Who come to our shores seeking sanctuary:

You are Welcome here.

We pledge to the mothers and to the fathers,

We pledge to the children and pregnant women,

We pledge to those tortured, broken and dispossessed,

We will acknowledge you with kindness and compassion:

You are Welcome here.

We pledge as part of the human family:

We pledge as members of a global community:

We pledge as people who have sought and found

A peace and safety such as you seek,

You are welcome here.

As the children and grandchildren of displaced persons,

We will not shirk our responsibilities.

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

We will insist on change to the current system.

You are welcome here.

If you dream of your children living in safety,

Of sharing the hard works and the rewards:

If you long to contribute to a caring and just society

And subscribe to a ‘fair go for all’,

You are welcome here.

Bring respect fellowship and goodwill.

Bring your heart, your courage and your aspirations.

We are fair honest, open-minded and generous,

We greet you in friendship

And you are welcome here.

Signed ___________________

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

Namaste until next time my friend

Fire In the Belly!!

Posted on November 4, 2014 by Rod's World

What do 105 men do at a weekend mens empowerment event for 3 and a half days. I went along after having attended a total of three mens empowerment circles with an attendance of 4 people at each. having created all the worst case scenario’s of woad wearing rituals and group screamings I enrolled because everything that frightened me about it were the reasons I should attend.

My friend from a previous retreat Michael also enrolled and we drove down together to Grantville Lodge http://uccamping.org.au/grantville-lodge/ to a magnificent view of Westernport Bay on the friday afternoon of the Cup long weekend. We found our sleeping places and settled in , Michael found out an old friend of his was in our cabin and I chatted to another of the participants who had had much more experience with men’s groups than I and his reassurances that it would cover all shades of grey helped me greatly.

We then had dinner and this was followed by the opening ceremony where an incredibly moving fire ceremony took place with the lighting of the event fire that would burn all weekend until the completion of the event. We then were split into our tribal groups, each named after a volcano, our’s was Corvo; http://www.volcanodiscovery.com/corvo-volcano.html , it seems this is in the Azores. I was with three of the presenters and a person who volunteered at Men events as a leader. Our group leader was a wild man who didn’t fancy wearing shoes. We had an hour to get to know each other so shared some of our stories at this first meeting.

They had announced the following days workshops at dinner and at 6.00 a.m. next day was Mandance and I am a dancer so I attended. The atmosphere was extraordinary with only male energy present and the presence of testerone was high, men have 4 times the testerone levels of women. I am frightened of barechested caveman like behaviour so this was confronting for me but as it went on I got to see it was all within the passion to dance as we were sacredly held through an ecstatic wave to reach a state of trance to gain inner peace.

Workshops during the day were to open the heart space through physical movement and groups that included quite a bit of role playing to allow this to happen. The first I attended was on a technique called Life Mechanics that allowed you to see where you spent time in the negative where it was just as easy to be positive.

followed by the life freeing talk on Procrastination and Distraction, Playing with our Power that had me see how easily I get distracted in life and what it costs me big time – http://www.davidnaylor.net.au/ . I finished the day with Non Voilent Communication a technique I had had a bit to do with several years ago, It all came back to me with the I statements taking responsibility and how you felt and making requests to resolve issues. http://www.nvcaustralia.com/index.php?action=trainer&id=68.

I forgot to mention that during this event I had a raging viral infection and slept through the Saturday night ceremony Heart Space. I asked my friend Michael on the drive home what it was like and he said it gave credibility to the statement from Avatar I See you and was one of the more special things he had been through.

Day two, I didn’t wake up until 6.40 so missed the 6.00 session and went to breakfast provided by the wonderful Sun Hyland and his team http://www.newearthcatering.com followed by a session on the dangers of porn by one of my Tribal group, it was confronting to see the role of it in our society, http://manenough.com.au/events/man-enough-november-workshop-2/ . There had also been drumming and juggling sessions during the day but my body was still not up to it. There was a session on the work of Byron Katie so I attended that, I love the work of Byron Katie and the four simple but empowering questions Is that true?, Can you absolutely know thats true, how do you feel when holding the story and Who would I be without this story can change your life if you stick to the script. http://www.thework.com/thework-4questions.php . The last workshop I did for the day was Financial Sabotage, an inquiry into how we sabotage ourselves and what would be possible if we stopped doing so .

We then moved to the cabaret, a celebration of men’s talent, lots of singer songwriters, comedians but the highlight was the interpretive dance by our 92 year old elder, he gave us a Ted talk of his wisdom at each break, if only we all could be so lithe at the age of 92. My friend Michael said to me this should end soon, its one o’clock. I didn’t believe him because it had been such great entertainment, but it was.

To the final day when we said goodbye to our Tribal group whom I had fallen deeply in Love and Respect with, we had an hour and a half to complete and team Corvo embraced each other and declared themselves inside a group hug, we were gifted a final breakthrough in this session by one team member it was humbling and empowering that we trusted each other that much in such a short time. We then had lunch and came to the closing ceremony where the group thanked the committee for organising it, the group leaders for being a stand for us all, Sun and his team for the great service and then a crazy hand slap to everybody chaos ruled but it was beautiful. About 20 inspired men stood forward to organise next years event including my friend Michael, i’m sure he will be great.

The main thing I got out of this event that it is OK to be a conscious man in 2014 in Melbourne Australia because there is plenty of other brothers out there and we will transform how men relate in society. Thank you Menergy 2014 http://www.menergy.org.au/wp/

Namaste until next time, my friends