Constructing Fear!!

Posted on July 21, 2016 by Rod's World

Recently in our country there has been a politician elected who bases her policies on fear and hate, her name is Pauline Hanson and she calls her party One Nation, one nation if you happen to be of white Anglo Saxon descent. She received over 500,000 votes so she is not alone.

Following up on this a mainstream journalist called for the banning of Muslim immigration because she was afraid for her children to walk the street due to terrorism, two people have been killed by terrorists in our country, and yes they were Muslim.

A Muslim journalist replied to her call, here is the video Destruction or Construction. At the end he called for the following, “You might just be angrily tweeting at someone who said something outrageous. What I’m suggesting is while it feels good to choose destruction, right now I think we need to try construction.”

Construction or Constructive thought in place of fear and loathing would create a very different world to what is being created via mainstream media worldwide. I recently watched a mainstream news broadcast and the first six reports were about death, so I turned it off as I would prefer ignorance to this being pumped into my thought patterns.

There are many opinions on constructive thought throughout the annals of time, lets go on a journey:

1. We need to spread this through classrooms, Love and Courage before the eschewed values of the media barons get hold of our children’s minds.

2. As does hate never decrease, you cannot solve hatred with more hatred or fear, it requires love and Happiness. Pharrell William’s Happy.

3. American Speaker, Poet, Lyricist and Author Sydney Madwed was told by his second grade teacher that his voice and the songs he was making up did not fit in so he could not sing with his class. It took him to the age of 57 to rediscover his talent for poetry.

4. It is often how constructive criticism is that allows us to grow from it, imagine if we had an entire Constructive Summer.

5. Michael Leunig, one of Australia’s living legends and greatest cartoonists uses a duck as his image of calmness. Here is the link to his gallery, be inspired Michael’s magic.

6. Henry Ford, inventor of the first mass assembly line changed the conversation towards cars, here’s a classic tune about one of his iconic models : Mustang Sally.

7. What can be done in the name of pleasing people, taking away their fears.

8. In what Waleed did in his video he was questioning that fear and hate only becomes more fear and hate. He was willing to question this paradigm. Question It.

9. We are seeing the danger worldwide of the former of this modalities being the mainstream methodology. Perhaps this should be displayed in every government institution that exists on the planet.

10. If we learn to listen in these situations we would be On Top of the World

11. Audrey Hepburn , 4 May 1929 – 20 January 1993 was a British actress. Recognised as a film and fashion icon, Hepburn was active during Hollywood’s Golden Age. She was ranked by the American Film Institute as the third-greatest female screen legend in the Golden Age of Hollywood and was inducted into the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame. Audrey did not believe her greatest talents were her looks, but her positive, constructive attitude.

12. In their song Aussie Rockers Rose Tattoo speaks to this quote We can’t be Beaten.

13. From the great philosopher Author Unknown comes a piece of magic about where fear and loathing come from.

14. Fundamentally Fear is a choice, Jim Carrey says there is only two moods, Fear and Love. Bruce lee, film star and karate master goes for the latter : Positive Vibration.

15. That little inner voice with those harsh words that have constructed our worlds, I called them your sacred stories that you do not want people to know about you, ever. What if we could tell them with out any attachments, how different life would be.

I wish to believe the stories that what is happening on out planet is the old ways fighting for their survival against the coming of the new age of Atlantis. Our future may depend on it.

Namaste until next time, my dear friends.

Love and Respect for All, Everyone Included.

Posted on July 14, 2016 by Rod's World

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

13. As Homer would say Doh!! YMCA.

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

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

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

Namaste until next time my dear friends.

Where we Wrong?

Posted on June 30, 2016 by Rod's World

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Namaste until next time , my dear friends.

Taking it All In.

Posted on June 13, 2016 by Rod's World

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Namaste until next time, my dear friends.

Love and Respect for All, Everyone Included

Posted on June 9, 2016 by Rod's World

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Racism is a form of cowardice.

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

14. No words needed here.

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

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

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

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

Namaste until next time, my dear friends.

Namaste2

Are you telling a great Story?

Posted on June 6, 2016 by Rod's World

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Namaste until next time my dear friends.

Gratitude, Kindness Given!!

Posted on May 26, 2016 by Rod's World

Is it a two way thing or something that is ultra personal? I have found from participating in a new Facebook group that it appears to be more of a two way thing: Daily Gratitude Space. The over 600 members of this group post a diverse range of things they are grateful for, from their family and friends, their favourite foods and such simple things as a sunny day or a walk in the bush.

People comment on each others postings and are often moved to put down what it reminds them of, a two way street. How does the world hold the power of gratitude, in the 15 quotes chosen there is a range from nearly no words to quite a lot. Lets begin the journey.

1. You can be happy about being an utter bastard, but I can’t imagine it lasting that long. If you give your daily thanks to others it increases more and more in your life.

2. John Fitzgerald “Jack” Kennedy, commonly referred to by his initials JFK, was an American politician who served as the 35th President of the United States from January 1961 until his assassination in November 1963. The Cuban Missile Crisis, The Bay of Pigs Invasion, the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, the establishment of the Peace Corps, developments in the Space Race, the building of the Berlin Wall, the Trade Expansion Act to lower tariffs, the Civil Rights Movement, the “New Frontier” domestic program, and abolition of the federal death penalty in the District of Columbia all took place during his presidency. Kennedy also avoided any significant increase in the American presence in Vietnam, refusing to commit combat troops and keeping the level of others, mostly military advisors, to only 16,000, compared to the 536,000 troops committed by his successor, Lyndon Johnson, by 1968. I’m sure the thousands of troops he did not send to Vietnam were grateful that he lived by his in his short life.

3. A beautiful Mind-map of things we could be possibly grateful for on a daily basis.

4. I posted a quote that said focus on your opportunities not your problems. I got a reply from a friend who said she enjoy talking about her problems with friends. I am studying a modality that states everything is a gift. I don’t know how she would have reacted to that.

5. This is the simplest two word act of gratitude. I was known for not saying it in my mental health period, I’m getting better every day.

6. This song that includes dozens of people from around the world expresses the power of Gratitude to me : Grateful, A Love Song to the World.

7. I like the webpage this comes from – http://www.GratitudeHabitat.com. I’m sure its worth a visit to get more to be grateful for.

8. Perhaps the thing we should be most grateful for, something we just assume will happen naturally. Think of the people you know who have passed unexpectedly, don’t take this for granted.

9. Denis E. Waitley, is an American motivational speaker, writer and consultant. He has been recognized as the best-selling author of the audio series, The Psychology of Winning and books such as “Seeds of Greatness” and “The Winner’s Edge”. Waitley has been inducted into the International Speakers’ Hall of Fame. The yellow writing at the end made me think of another of my favourite gratitude songs : Big Yellow Taxi.

10. Cute animal photo and quote of the day, Aaw!!

11. Want a struggle free life, stop complaining so much.

12. There are many words that can be mentioned when discussing and discovering the world of gratitude, here are the English Ones.

13. Enough Said!!

14. Gertrude Stein was an American novelist, poet, playwright and art collector. Born in the Allegheny West neighbourhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and raised in Oakland, California, Stein moved to Paris in 1903, and made France her home for the remainder of her life. She hosted a Paris salon, where the leading figures in modernism in literature and art would meet, such as Pablo Picasso, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Sinclair Lewis, Ezra Pound, and Henri Matisse.

15. And for the last comment, we go to the queen of Gratitude, Oprah Winfrey. If you concentrate on what you don’t have ………, says it all really.

I am learning to be grateful more and more these days as I travel further down the annals of time, realising that life is not about what you own but what you feel within which is accessible through simple acts of daily gratitude.

Namaste until next time, dear friends.

What’s that Aroma?

Posted on May 19, 2016 by Rod's World

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Namaste until next Monday my dear friends.

It’s Your Home.

Posted on May 16, 2016 by Rod's World

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

9. Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803 – April 27, 1882), known professionally as Waldo Emerson, was an American essayist, lecturer, and poet who led the Transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century. He was seen as a champion of individualism and a prescient critic of the countervailing pressures of society, and he disseminated his thoughts through dozens of published essays and more than 1,500 public lectures across the United States. All our journeys are individual , there are 7 billion of them, never forget this.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Namaste until Thursday my dear friends.

Where is your Heart?

Posted on May 9, 2016 by Rod's World

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Namaste until Thursday , my dear friends.