In a Cat’s eyes, All things belong to Cats.

Posted on October 4, 2018 by Rod's World

I am part of a year-long training program called Warriors of Love where we declare a life essence and bring it into being powerful. I chose Intimate Belonging, my friend suggested I read Braving The Wilderness by Brene Brown: Get it Here.

I really enjoy Brene’s take on life, so I have been doing that this week, what really spoke to me was the following:

4 PRACTICES OF TRUE BELONGING

“What emerged from the responses to these questions were four elements of true belonging. These elements are situated in the reality of the world we live in today. The theories that emerge from this methodology are based on how we engage with the world in our everyday lives; they’re not hypothetical. This means you can’t develop a theory of true belonging without addressing how our increasingly polarised world shapes our lives and our experiences of connection and true belonging. I didn’t intend to write a book about belonging set against a backdrop of political and ideological chaos. But that’s not my call to make. My job is to be true to the data.

As you take a look at each of the four elements, you can see that each is a daily practice and feels like a paradox. They’re going to challenge us:

People Are Hard to Hate Close Up. Move In.
Speak Truth to Bullshit. Be Civil.
Hold Hands. With Strangers.
Strong Back. Strong Front. Wild Heart.”

Imagine if we everyone did this every day in their lives, what a different place the planet would be. In fact, how have we looked at belonging over the decades, here are a few of my favourite takes at it, profoundly Brene influenced:

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1. Love and Belonging do not come out of a Mills and Boon episode, It comes from doing things that seem imperfect, that is vulnerable and real.

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2. One of my daily battles, between the intellectualism of my mind and the love I have in my heart for my community: Love Myself.

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3. Another Famous quoter named Brown. No relation, he was an African American baseball player born in the 1940’s.

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4. Not by someone named Brown, but the worlds most famous, Ms Anonymous, this is an excellent recipe for well being: We are all Connected.

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5. No change required, just genuinely being who you know you are.

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6. Who wired us to use our mind to feel a sense of belonging not our hearts, a lousy person: You’re Worth It.

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7. After 5 years of Mental Health episodes I woke up one day and made this decision, my life changed overnight.

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8. A prominent 20th-century Jewish rabbi who was raised in Germany expelled to Poland by the Nazis and fled to America, Heschel’s sister Esther was killed in a German bombing. His mother was murdered by the Nazis, and two other sisters, Gittel and Devorah, died in Nazi concentration camps. He never returned to Germany, Austria or Poland. He once wrote, “If I went to Poland or Germany, every stone, every tree would remind me of contempt, hatred, murder, of children killed, of mothers burned alive, of human beings asphyxiated.: No Tears Left to Cry.

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9. Self Love 101.

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10. Have to think about this one, I apparently have not felt it fully: Feels.

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11. Part of the four, Strong Back. Strong Front. Wild Heart.

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12. When we talk about these, get vulnerable, we realise that: We are all in This Together.

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13. If you feel like you belong where you are, why would there ever be a need for snobbery?

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14. Renee has ten questions in her about Renee on her website, they were asked by a garden gnome apparently. My personal favourite: If you could have a room full of any one thing, what would it be: The most delicious food from all over the world. Seriously. I travel to eat. It may seem shortsighted to you, but I swear I would be much happier than the jackass with a roomful of gold: We Belong.

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15. How far can we take belonging?

This box is a flub-up.

Aldo Leopold was an American author, philosopher, scientist, ecologist, forester, conservationist, and environmentalist. He was a professor at the University of Wisconsin and is best known for his book A Sand County Almanac (1949), which has sold more than two million copies. Leopold was influential in the development of modern environmental ethics and in the movement for wilderness conservation. His ethics of nature and wildlife preservation had a profound impact on the environmental movement, with his ecocentric or holistic ethics regarding land. He emphasised biodiversity and ecology and was a founder of the science of wildlife management. I think we forgot to take his advice.

Byron Katie has another great metaphor. She tells us that thinking the problem of belonging is “out there” is kinda like thinking the imperfect image on the movie screen is the problem. Nope. It’s the lint on the projector’s lens. Clean THAT off, and the movie screen of life is golden. “As you inquire into issues and turn judgments around, you come to see that every perceived problem appearing ‘out there’ is really nothing more than a misperception within your own thinking.”

A very bouncy playlist today. We begin with Hailee Steinfeld, then we do the connected dance. A positive number from Cimorelli, Arian Grande next, followed by Calvin Harris with a guest list of mega-stars. A boppy musical number from High School Musical, finishing up with an anthem from Pat Benatar: In a Cat’s eyes, All things belong to Cats.

Namaste until next time we meet, my dear friends:

namasteflower

Strength isn’t the ability to feel Strong!!

Posted on September 20, 2018 by Rod's World

How do you relate to the story of David and Goliath? “David has nothing to lose, and because he has nothing to lose, he has the freedom to thumb his nose at the rules set by others.” In his excellent book David and Goliath: Get it Here. Malcolm Gladwell writes

“It was not the privileged and the fortunate who took in the Jews in France. It was the marginal and the damaged, which should remind us that there are real limits to what evil and misfortune can accomplish. If you take away the gift of reading, you create the gift of listening. If you bomb a city, you leave behind death and destruction. But you create a community of remote misses. If you take away a mother or a father, you cause suffering and despair. But one time in ten, out of that despair rises an indomitable force. You see the giant and the shepherd in the Valley of Elah and your eye is drawn to the man with the sword and shield and the glittering armour. But so much of what is beautiful and valuable in the world comes from the shepherd, who has more strength and purpose than we ever imagine.”

So how has the world handled turning a weakness into strength, here’s what they have said:

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1. Feel those feeling, if you don’t they will keep coming back stronger and stronger until you have the strength to deal with them.

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2. Light and Shadow all rely on Love: California Love.

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3. Due to his father’s untimely death, J.C. Penney could not fulfil his dream to become a lawyer. Instead, he had to become a lowly store clerk, the rest is history.

4. You can choose how to relate to your perceived weaknesses:

5. Well done, You!!

6. Fear = Forever Enduring, Always Ready; Forgetting Everything is All Right; Fear Expressed Allows Relief: When You Believe.

7. Maya Angelou, one of my top ten.

8. One foot in front of another, no looking back. That’s how I became a marathoner from a 60 a day cigarette smoker in six months: No Looking Back.

9. Vulnerability = Brene Brown’s fabulous TED talk on the subject, Google It.

10. And from the other side of the world, here’s their say on it: When I am Overcome by Weakness.

11. Remember these questions from your job interviews?

12. The answer isn’t running away, it’s in turning to face them and overcoming the storm: Riders On the Storm.

13. Take a dose of courage daily and you will give strength to those areas of your life that may need some loving.

14. Another way of looking at doing what it takes: The Lion Sleeps Tonight.

15. We all have growth spurts in our life that allow us to do things after them we couldn’t do before.

David and Goliath.

It’s time to revisit our ideas of strength and weakness.

It’s time to see that underdogs and misfits have advantages in their disadvantages and that we can powerfully turn difficulties into opportunities.

Here’s to embracing ALL of who we are as we optimize, actualize and give our gifts to the world!

There are songs by three greats no longer with us in the playlist today. We begin with Tupac, then Hilary Duff doing some country, a Whitney Houston anthem follows, a great new singer Damita, from Syria Ghada Alatrash, then Jim and the Doors, finishing with a powerful performance by Ladysmith Black Mambazo and the Mint Juleps: Strength Isn’t the Ability to Feel Strong.

Namaste until next time, my dear friends:

namasteflower

I don’t want Life to imitate Art!!

Posted on September 17, 2018 by Rod's World

What obstacles do you have in your life and what do you do about them? Do you run from them, work out a way around them, or do what it takes to overcome them. In his insightful book ” The Obstacle is the Way: The timeless art of Turning Trials into Triumph.”: Get it Here. Ryan Holiday writes:

“WHAT IS PERCEPTION? It’s how we see and understand what occurs around us—and what we decide those events will mean. Our perception can be a source of strength or of great weakness. If we are emotional, subjective, and short-sighted, we only add to our troubles. To prevent becoming overwhelmed by the world around us, we must, as the ancients practised, learn how to limit our passions and their control over our lives. It takes skill and discipline to bat away the pests of bad perceptions, to separate reliable signals from deceptive ones, to filter out prejudice, expectation, and fear. But it’s worth it, for what’s left is the truth. While others are excited or afraid, we will remain calm and imperturbable. We will see things simply and straightforwardly, as they truly are—neither good nor bad. This will be an incredible advantage for us in the fight against obstacles.”

We ALWAYS have a choice as to how we respond to any given situation. Between stimulus and response, there’s always a choice. We want to choose wisely. How has society written about overcoming obstacles over the decades, let’s take a journey:

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1. Time to check in with that part of you that embodies your essence, your spirit, your angel guide, etc., etc…

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2. Love that description: The Fear and The Mess, you and your friends are here to handle that: 500 Miles.

3. Remembered more for his insightful quotes, American career politician Frank Clark points out that a life led without challenges will not take you far.

4. If you read any biography of the great ones, whichever century they came from, the major content is what they had to overcome that made it worth living for: You’ve Gotta Fight.

5. In 2014, Jordan became the first billionaire player in NBA history. He is the third-richest African-American, behind Robert F. Smith and Oprah Winfrey.

6. You can leave port and the sea will be flat as a tack, over the horizon are the thirteen-foot waves that make you a great sailor: Sailing.

7. An exercise, list the things you can now do you couldn’t a year ago.

8. You shall overcome, One Day: We Shall Overcome.

9. Garth Stein became famous for writing a book called The Art of Racing in the Rain, the novel follows the story of Enzo, a race car-obsessed dog who believes he will be reincarnated as a human. While his owner, race car driver Denny Swift, teaches him about the art of racing, most of Enzo’s ideas and knowledge— including the Mongolian legend that a dog who is prepared will be reincarnated in its next life as a human come from watching television.

10. Want radical responsibility in your life, take on more challenges: Don’t Give Up.

11. You, You or You, choose which one works for you.

12. Raised by his mother after his parents divorced at an early age, In 1989, Hawke made his breakthrough appearance in Peter Weir’s Dead Poets Society, playing one of the students taught by Robin Williams’s inspirational English teacher: Believe In Yourself.

13. Yes, they were meant to be there so you could learn the lesson.

14. Not 42, but an equally empowering distinction: Everybody.

15. When you’re happy and you know it, overcome your obstacles and turn them into a challenge.

Overcomes obstacles by declaring them as challenges, It’s a beautiful idea. Psychologists call it adversarial growth or post-traumatic growth. “That which doesn’t kill me makes me stronger” is not a cliché but fact.

The struggle against an obstacle inevitably propels the fighter to a new level of functioning. The extent of the struggle determines the extent of the growth. The obstacle is an advantage, not adversity. The enemy is any perception that prevents us from seeing this.”

Today’s playlist contains four songs that can rightly be called anthems due to their popularity back in the day, a gospel ditty, some spoken word and finishing with a love song. The Proclaimers, The Beastie Boys and Rod Stewart lead off with three of the anthems. Joan Baez slips in for some gospel then Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush remind us what not to do. Some spoken word by Eric Thomas culminating with pop diva Ingrid Michaelson makes for an enjoyable listening experience: I don’t want life to Imitate Art.

Namaste until next time, my dear friends

namasteflower

I Saw That – Karma!!

Posted on September 10, 2018 by Rod's World

Exceptionalism = Unusual ; not typical. Reading the Philosophers Notes for Dr Bob Rotella’s great book How Champions Think I was struck by the following statement:

“One of the concepts I struggle with when I work with people both inside and outside of sport is reality. … My job with such people is to get them to understand and believe that exceptional people create their own reality. The average person won’t set a goal unless he thinks, and people close to him think, that he has at least a fifty-fifty chance of reaching it. That’s what the average person considers a realistic goal. The average person takes account of all the information that’s out there saying he can’t do something. If let’s say, he thinks about committing himself to become the best basketball player he can be and getting a college scholarship, he’ll be aware of the fact that maybe one high school player in thirty gets a college scholarship. Since that seems to make the odds a lot worse than fifty-fifty, the average person is likely to give up on that goal before he even commits to trying to reach it, settling for mediocrity in high school and giving up the game thereafter.

The exceptional person, the person who does great things, doesn’t see things that way. The exceptional person has a vision—of great performances, of a great career, of a great something— and doesn’t care about what others might say or think. He ignores information that suggests his dream is unrealistic. He just sets about making that vision a reality. He sees things before others see them. He creates his own reality. Afterwards, other people may say to him, ‘We knew you could do it. We always sensed you were going to be one of the great ones.’ But that’s probably not what he heard in the beginning. In the beginning, he probably heard, ‘You have to be crazy to think you can do that.’”

Rotella says: Average people are “realistic.” Exceptional people CREATE their reality.

So how does society relate to exceptionalism, here are some of the things they say:

1. As part of exceptionalism, you must relate to the above koan, because you will not always win.

2. Aren’t we always looking for a sign from God to confirm what we already know, here it is: Gods Plan.

3. From The Monk who sold his Ferrari, luck has nothing to do with being exceptional, you need to put in the hard yards.

4. When you ran those ten extra laps when you were a kid, I can still hear my friends calling me crazy, I later became a marathoner: Crazy, Sexy, Wild.

5. More Ferrari moments.

6. We create a box early on in our life so people can recognise us, how do you expand it to fit in your amazing: Lose Yourself.

7. A new standard of imagination, they don’t teach that to you in schools.

8. Nothing to get in your way as you approach your greatness, they are all left behind: Go The Extra Mile.

9. Back to the 14th Century and the founder of the Jesuits for a quote that is still relevant today, the former deeds are what makes the difference.

10. Actress, model, dancer and humanitarian, Audrey Hepburn lived and walked the talk of the second interpretation of the above letters: La Vie En Rose.

11. Find the others who will say it about you, they are your keepers.

12. Because its Maya, and she was exceptional: Love Liberates.

13. Another word for Exceptionalism.

14. Nine to Five is not it: Nine to Five.

15. There is no right way for exceptionalism, you have to do what it takes.

Life is a precious (!!!) gift. We’re blessed with an opportunity to see just how good we can be at something we love doing. We get to have a ball for many years seeing how many beautiful things we can do with our lives. For each of us, this is unique. Get out there on the journey to what is your exceptional gift to give to humanity.

Today’s playlist wanders over the generations, something for the millennials and the grandparents. We begin with Drake and Inna for the younger at heart. Back to the beginning of rap with Eminem. Spoken word from Motivation 2016 comes next then from Grannies time Audrey Hepburn, is that French? We finish with two iconic women, Maya Angelou and Dolly Parton. Here’s the link: I saw that – Karma.

Namaste until next time, my dear friends:

namasteflower

Then we have the DNA!!

Posted on September 3, 2018 by Rod's World

“If you spend most of your life trying to be good at everything, you eliminate your chances of being great at anything. Unless your goal is to be mediocre at a lot of things, starting with what you are naturally good at is a matter of efficiency. Focusing on strengths is in many ways a basic time-allocation issue. Every hour you invest in an area where you have natural talent has a multiplying effect, whereas each hour you spend trying to remedy a weakness is like working against a gravitational force. Yet many people spend years or even decades working on weaknesses in hopes that doing so will make them well-rounded. Do everything you can to avoid falling into this trap. While well-roundedness may be helpful for acquiring the basic tools in any trade—such as reading, writing, and arithmetic—it loses value as you get closer to finding a career. At that point, what’s more, important and relevant is what sets you apart. If you want to be great at something in your lifetime, double down on your talents at every turn.”

Tom Rath wrote this in the highly potent Are you Fully Charged: Here is the link to It. I am great with words, it took me about 59 years to realise this and launch my blog, I am an Interculturalist. I now have written over 300 and have a worldwide audience. What are you avoiding being great at? Let’s see what the world says about it:

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1. Notice being mediocre doesn’t get a mention.

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2. I have recently been in contact with the Sceptics association, I find these people repugnant as if their thought patterns controlled the airwaves creativity would stop as nothing new comes out of what already exists: Your Spirit.

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3. I was part of a conversation about Perfectionism begets procrastination on the weekend. This quote points to the same thing.

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4. How many mistakes were made before the first effective light globe came along? P.S. it wasn’t Edison’s, google it if you like fact checking: Foolish.

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5. In 2009, Rogan launched his podcast The Joe Rogan Experience which has become one of the most popular podcasts available; in October 2015, it was downloaded 16 million times. Rogan also is an advocate for the legalization of cannabis, an avid hunter and part of the “Eat What You Kill” movement.

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6. Greatness also means that you will have to make decisions that will mean a lot of goodbyes having to occur to clear the space for the new hello’s that you require to move towards it: Hello Goodbye.

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7. John Hume is regarded as one of the most important figures in the recent political history of Ireland and one of the architects of the Northern Ireland peace process. He is a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, the Gandhi Peace Prize and the Martin Luther King Award, the only recipient of the three major peace awards. In 2010 he was named “Ireland’s Greatest” in a public poll by Irish national broadcaster RTÉ to find the greatest person in Ireland’s history.

8. It is never too late to be the greatest, in fact perhaps the later the better: We are the Champions.

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9. Zig Ziglar, one of the early doyens of the self-development movement has some simple advice for us.

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10. From being homeless on the streets of Detroit to having Lebron James credit him as the reason behind his championship-winning season. Eric Thomas is proof of doing what it takes to find your greatness: Born To Be Alive.

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11. On the way to greatness, the bills can be exorbitant.

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12. Baby, we were born to Run: Bruce.

13. Magic Johnson’s career achievements include three NBA MVP Awards, nine NBA Finals appearances, twelve All-Star games, and ten All-NBA First and Second Team nominations. He led the league in regular-season assists four times, and is the NBA’s all-time leader in average assists per game, at 11.2. Here is what greatness meant for him.

14. From being positive Bob Marley became a musical and philosophical legend: Natural Mystic.

15. Choose!!!

We’ll finish with some golden wisdom from Gary Vee:

Most people don’t jab—bring value—enough before pulling back for the right hook—going in for the sale. They’re less concerned with providing value than with making the sale, and it backfires every time. … You want to be tactical, but you have to practice the religion of providing value first. How many people put out stories, give free stuff, or engage with people? Probably quite a lot. Now, how many do that without any expectations in return? Very, very few. Be one of those few. When you have no expectations people can sense it, and funny enough, the absence of pressure or obligation actually makes them want to reciprocate.

Have a wonderful journey on your way to greatness, enjoy the bumps and curves.

The playlist today begins with a powerful number from Tasha Cobbs Leonard, followed by another R and B diva, Ashanti. We then return to the last century for The Beatles, Queen, Patrick Hernandez, Bruce Springsteen finishing off with Bob Marley: Then We Have The DNA.

Namaste until next time, my dear friends:

namasteflower

A Hero is Someone Who Understands

Posted on August 23, 2018 by Rod's World

We all tell stories, our lives are made up of them. From our childhood to the day we die there is a story for each day. But do we take radical responsibility for these stories? Clinton Callahan in his book Radiant Joy, Brilliant Love: Get it here, free postage worldwide. writes:

Human Beings are massively creative. We do not usually think of ourselves as creative. We allow that we might be a little creative at Christmas time when we wrap presents or decorate the house. But in every moment we are creating the stories that we tell to ourselves and to other people – the stories that give meaning to what happens in our lives. We do not tend to notice how vicariously we produce stories, because every three seconds the Box generates regenerates stories identical to what it created for us in the previous three seconds. That is how the Box keeps things the same: it ongoing creates the same stories.

There are two classes of stories that we can create about what happens. By far the most common story we create characterizes us a victim of the circumstances. That we were a victim seems completely inarguable. The inarguability comes from our habit of interpreting “the facts” to show how we were hurt, insulted, abandoned, betrayed, abused, neglected, etc., forcibly establishing ourselves as a victim of a low drama. Telling a victim story from the Parent or Child ego states creates an ordinary human relationship.

But we can take the exact same circumstances, the same incident, the same people involved, the same actions, and we could create a responsible story about being involved in these circumstances. Responsible stories place us “at cause” or “at cause” for the circumstances. Responsible stories come from the Adult responsible ego state and create an extraordinary human relationship.

How do we as people relate to being responsible, and what do we write about it, here are a few of my favourite sayings:

1. Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, known by his stage name Molière ( 15 January 1622 – 17 February 1673), was a French playwright, actor and poet, widely regarded as one of the greatest writers in the French language and universal literature. His extant works includes comedies, farces, tragicomedies, comédie-ballets, and more. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed at the Comédie-Française more often than those of any other playwright today.

2. I think if you are being responsible for your whole life the accountability and ownership will be a natural follow-on: The Power of Responsibility.

3. Simone moves it up a notch or two.

4. Joyce Meyer is an American Evangelist whose motto is Sharing Christ, Loving People. Her love includes lessons for them such as the one above: Song for the Asking.

5. As the name after suggests, plugging up your excuses allows those changes that you want to make to fulfil your dreams to start happening.

6. Clinton calls this getting feedback and shifting forward: Slow Down.

7. Yes, those poor me stories you are telling years later, they control you.

8. Wikipedia gives a choice of Ruth’s mother in law from the old testament or a WWE wrestling star for Naomi, my inner gremlin likes to think it could be the latter: My Boomerang Won’t Come Back.

9. From the man who is not your Guru, comes some fine words as to what responsibility can offer you.

10. You have charge of yourself and your reactions, be responsible for them on a daily basis: Changes.

11.

Eleanor Roosevelt
Roosevelt in 1933

1st Chair of the Presidential Commission on the Status of Women
In office January 20, 1961 – November 7, 1962
President	John F. Kennedy
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Esther Peterson
1st United States Representative to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights
In office 1947–1953
President	Harry S. Truman
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Mary Pillsbury Lord
1st Chair of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights
In office 1946–1952
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Charles Malik
First Lady of the United States
In role March 4, 1933 – April 12, 1945
President	Franklin D. Roosevelt
Preceded by	Lou Henry Hoover
Succeeded by	Bess Truman
First Lady of New York
In role January 1, 1929 – December 31, 1932
Governor	Franklin D. Roosevelt
Preceded by	Catherine Dunn
Succeeded by	Edith Altschul
Personal details
Born	Anna Eleanor Roosevelt October 11, 1884 New York City, U.S.
Died	November 7, 1962 (aged 78) New York City, U.S.
Cause of death	Cardiac failure complicated by tuberculosis
Resting place	Home of FDR National Historic Site, Hyde Park, New York
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Franklin D. Roosevelt (m. 1905; d. 1945)
Children	Anna Eleanor James Franklin Elliott Franklin Delano Jr. John Aspinwall
Parents	Elliott Bulloch Roosevelt Anna Rebecca Hall
Relatives	See Roosevelt family
Signature

Oops, cut and pasted a wee bit too much, Anna Eleanor Roosevelt was an American political figure, diplomat and activist. She served as the First Lady of the United States from March 1933 to April 1945 during her husband President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s four terms in office, making her the longest serving First Lady of the United States. Roosevelt served as United States Delegate to the United Nations General Assembly from 1945 to 1952. President Harry S. Truman later called her the “First Lady of the World” in tribute to her human rights achievements.

12.

Anne Lamott

Born	April 10, 1954 (age 64) San Francisco, California, United States
Occupation	Novelist, non-fiction writer, essayist, memoirist
Nationality	American
Genre	Drama, humor, literary fiction, Reviews

Oops, did it again, Anne Lamott (born April 10, 1954) is an American novelist and non-fiction writer. She is also a progressive political activist, public speaker, and writing teacher. Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, her nonfiction works are largely autobiographical. Marked by their self-deprecating humour and openness, Lamott’s writings cover such subjects as alcoholism, single-motherhood, depression, and Christianity: Definition of Prayer.

13. Start with self-love, then move on, it’s where the juice lies.

14. The man who gave me access to my Why, my purpose. Simon Sinek rocks: Start with Why.

15. More Self Love then the discovery of the juices in life.

We can live from new responsible stories by taking full responsibility for creating our past circumstances just exactly the way they went, so that you can learn all that you needed to learn to get exactly here at this moment, reading this blog.

The playlist contains some wisdom today. it begins with Sir Groovy 2007, two folkie tunes by Paul Simon and Nichole Nordeman. Two quirky numbers from Charlie Drake and Shrek. The wisdom follows from Anne Lamott and Simon Sinek. Here’s the video playlist: A Hero Is Someone Who Understands.

Namaste until next time, my dear friends:

The Power of Hope!!

Posted on August 20, 2018 by Rod's World

I haven’t written a political blog for a long time but I am reading the inspirational story of Kon Karapanagiotidis, CEO of the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre here in Melbourne, Australia. The ASRC, as it is known is a refugee centre which receives no government funding who assists refugees who have nowhere else to go as there are people placed on our streets with minimal or no funding at all due to the harsh immigration policies of our federal government towards asylum seekers. Today, they are the largest independent human rights organisation for refugees and people seeking asylum, delivering more services on the ground than any other independent asylum seeker organisation in the country. Our work on the frontline with people seeking asylum informs our practice and enables us to effectively advocate for, and alongside people with lived experience.

The Official title of the book is The Power of Hope or: How Community, Love and Compassion can change our World: Link to buy it. It is the amazing tale of how Kon, himself from a refugee family in Australia came to set up this amazing organisation that has helped thousands of refugees survive in a country that has made the words asylum seeker dirty words.

So what is the official definition of the term Asylum Seeker, here it is: a person who, from fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, social group, or political opinion, has crossed an international frontier into a country in which he or she hopes to be granted refugee status.

How does the world speak about these two words, let’s have a look:

1. There are those rare people who have existed on earth who can hold values as high as these, Martin Luther King was one of them.

2. Labels are used to make people forget this, especially by mainstream media and governments: Human.

3. There is not a choice between staying behind and taking a bullet and getting on a rickety boat to seek asylum.

4. Often a family has to decide which member of a family to send to seek asylum as they cannot afford the exorbitant rates that money grabbing people such as boat smugglers demand people to seek safety, how would you feel if you had to leave your daughter behind.: The Best Day.

5. There are people running our country who have this fear and shame in their policy decisions.

6. There is a particular minister, Peter Dutton, who is digging a very deep grave for the reputation of our country worldwide: Set Fire to The Rain.

7. The two largest words say it all really, Human Rights.

8. This statement from ancient Greece sums up how mainstream media reports asylum seeking in our country these days: Believe Me.

9. Especially if your destination was Australia by boat, it means 5 years in a detention centre, including your children.

10. Especially if they are a fascist right-wing government as holds sway in Australia regarding asylum seekers: Sitting On The Dock Of The Bay.

11. Considered the founder of modern nursing, Florence has captured truly where our government has taken the boat arrival discussion in our country.

12. Kon has transformed a lot of ordinary Australian into non-spectators regarding the human rights of the people who are besmirched as boat people by our mainstream media courtesy of the evil media magnate Rupert Murdoch: Get Up, Stand Up.

13. Had to sneak in the worst long-term refugee cruelty, seeing Israeli snipers deliberately shoot children brought tears to my eyes, and I do not cry.

14. And what can we do about it, this group of school children spent a night in this cage to show their solidarity and disgust for the situations on the islands where children are held on a long-term basis: Who I Am.

15. Warsan Shire is a 30-year-old British writer, poet, editor and teacher, who was born to Somali parents in Kenya, East Africa. In 2013 she was awarded the inaugural Brunel University African Poetry Prize, chosen from a shortlist of six candidates out of a total 655 entries. Her words “No one leaves home unless/home is the mouth of a shark”, from the poem “Conversations about Home (at a deportation centre)”, have been called “a rallying call for refugees and their advocates”.

So I will finish with Kon’s words on the back cover of his book: “I hope you take from this book the message that we all matter. That there is a place for all of us. That once we know our own voice, live the values close to our hearts and follow our dreams, we can be unstoppable. Hope is only exhausted if we forsake ourselves, otherwise, no one can take our hope from us. It is both our sanctuary and our destiny to live a life with love, belonging, connection and community.” Thank you Kon Karapanagiotidis, you rock!!

Two classics amongst the songs today, we begin with the fine voice of Rag N’ Bone Man, two pop divas follow, Taylor Swift and Adele. Then a rapper new to me, Fort Minor. The superb Otis Redding and Bob Marley finishing with the Disney interpretation of Natasha Bedingfield. Here’s the playlist: The Power of Hope.

Namaste until next time, my dear friends.

I Fall Too Fast, Crash Too Hard!!

Posted on August 9, 2018 by Rod's World

The title of the chapter on letting go in Marc and Angel Chernoff’s inspiring book, Getting Back To Happy: Their Website. is Letting Go: Surrender Attachments That Are Holding You Back.

In the chapter, they write the following: Limits illuminate beauty, and death is the ultimate limit – a reminder that we need to be aware of this beautiful person and appreciate this beautiful thing called life, Death is also a beginning, because while we have lost someone special, this ending, like the loss of any wonderful life situation, is a moment of reinvention. Although deeply sad, their passing forces us to reinvent our lives, and in this reinvention is an opportunity to experience beauty in new, unseen ways and places, And finally, death is an opportunity to celebrate a person’s life, and to be grateful for the beauty they showed us

Most of the time it’s tough, to be honest about what we really need and how our lives might benefit by letting go of some things If you have felt any of Marc and Angel’s list, maybe it’s time to reassess your situation.

Someone constantly expects you to be Someone You’re Not.
A Person’s actions don’t match their Words.
You have a habit of moping and feeling Sorry For Yourself.
You’re clutching Tight ti an Easy Street Mentality.
You truly dislike your Current Situation.
You catch yourself obsessing over and Living in the Past.

Letting Go is not giving up, it’s about surrendering obsessive attachments to specific people, outcomes, and situations. Where in your life could you do this on an ongoing basis?

Much has been said about Letting Go over time, here are a few of my favourites:

1. God, Buddha, Allah, we know what they are pointing to in this insightful quote.

2, It’s paramount that one of them is not yourself: I Was Here.

3, His Holiness rocks.

4. Vacate them from your space, so that there is room for those who are meant to be part of your tribe: Let It Go.

5. I have felt this situation in my life several times. Each time it had to happen for the better version of me to flourish.

6. They were experiences, not life sentences: Climb Every Mountain.

7. Let go of those things that you know are costing you power on an ongoing basis.

8. They say everyone we meet is either to teach us a lesson or to be taught one by them, remember the lessons: Let Go Of Attachment.

9. You can only be you, don’t try and be someone else for someone else, it won’t work.

10. If you are having difficulty with the latter, please reach out to others: Starting Over Again.

11. I love the imagery of this Meme. It hits home in a very powerful way.

12. In the end, the heart and soul are what has the final say over the often flawed logic of your mind: Heart and Soul.

13. If we bodily don’t do this, we die. What difference in our psychological world.

14. In my country, the voicemail number is 212. I don’t answer numbers that I do not know because of my past history with giving too often to charities who onsell your details, they don’t leave a voicemail: Living In The Past.

15, The past is the past, it will not change. Use your energy towards whats next on your agenda in life.

So how can we let go and live better? By realizing that there’s nothing to hold onto in the first place. Most of the things – situations, problems, worries, ideals, expectations etc. – we desperately try to grasp, as if they’re real, solid, everlasting fixtures in our lives, aren’t really there. Or, if they are there in some form, they’re changing, fluid, impermanent, or mostly created in our minds. Life gets significantly easier to deal with when we understand this.

We go further back than ever before in today’s Playlist. We begin with Beyonce and The Frozen Soundtrack then warp back to The Sound of Music. Some Spoken Word from Alan Watts and Co. then soulful Natalie Cole. Then there is our pre WW2 track by Bea Wain and Larry Clinton finishing up with the flute-driven Jethro Tull. Here’s the link to make for easy listening: I Fall Too Fast, Crash Too Hard.

Namaste until next time, my dear friends.

The Best Advice My Mother Ever Gave Me!!

Posted on July 30, 2018 by Rod's World

As we journey through our personal and professional lives, there will inevitably be periods of incredible frustration and despair. During these hard times, it will seem that we’ve lost everything and that nobody and nothing could possibly motivate us to move forward in the direction of our dreams.

But luckily we are all holding a backpack of support that comes in many forms – it can be a simple SMS or email from someone we listen to, an inspiring Facebook Meme, a book a friend recommends to us, a blog you come across such as this one, a helpful neighbour etc., etc., etc.

In Getting Back to Happy: link to the website. Marc and Angel Chernoff state that there are two opportunities when we are feeling discouraged and unmotivated:

1. To recognise and appreciate our backpack of support – our external sources of motivation – before a random guru (or someone with much more crooked intentions) has to steal it from us so that we can finally see what we have always taken for granted.

2. To be present and tap into our own hearts and minds – our internal sources of motivation – which have the power to push us back up on our feet and guide us down the road to our backpack of support, even when it appears to be lost forever.

What does the world say about support, here are 15 gems to enquire into it:

1. One of my musical friends is passing over to the other side and one of his closest buddies visited him for three hours recently. He wrote a post about it, that the most precious moments where when they went quiet together and just sat in the energy of their love for each other.

2. Not sure about having to remain consistent, doesn’t unconditionality allow for all states of play: Perfect.

3. For me, it’s my siblings. we have a deep love and respect for each other.

4. It’s time to let your self-judgements drop away and let your worthiness shine on: Shine on You Crazy Diamond.

5. The closer I get to this moment to moment the more joy is available to me on a daily basis.

6. I like the theory that mistakes occur to show us that we are going down the wrong track: Same Mistake.

7. Think Martin Luther King, Maya Angelou, Nelson Mandela, Wayne Dyer…etc, etc.

8. I just spent 5 days at the Expand Your Box training that investigates what you have recorded in your body and how they control your ability to express yourself at 100%. It was revealing and transformational: Jump In The Line.

9. A notion that is being supported more and more these days.

10. Let go of your gaseous nebula, it’s holding your transformation up: A Star Is Born.

11. The latter is not win: win it is winning happening on an ongoing basis.

12. From little things, big things grow: From Little Things, Big Things Grow.

13. I just love this image, I imagine myself as a 64-year-old replacing the child.

14. One of the difficult things to give away in life, absolute trust: Trust.

15. And a final word from Maya, actions not words is the best way of supporting yourself and your dreams.

No matter what your circumstances, you always have what it takes to take the next smallest step. As Epicurus so profoundly said. “Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for.”

Be mindful, be present. Keep going. One small step at a time.

The playlist for today contains a few quirky numbers: First two varieties of Pink, then James Blunt followed by an outtake from Beetlejuice featuring Harry Belafonte. Then two duets by Babara Streisand and Kris Christofferson and possibly my favourite Australian song by Paul Kelly and Missy Higgins. Pop Diva Christina Perri finishes it. Here’s the link for your visual and aural pleasure: The Best Advice my Mother Ever Gave Me.

Namaste until next time, my dear friends:

Headphones On, World Off!!

Posted on July 19, 2018 by Rod's World

I am reading Brene browns new book, Braving the Wilderness: Brene’s Website. Using my formulae of writing about what is on the page I open the book too, today we are discussing the rise of loneliness amongst our society. Sorting, or living and hanging around with people who hold the same beliefs as you have become more prevalent: in the American 2016 election 80 per cent of counties gave either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton a landslide victory. In 1980, 20 per cent of American reported they were lonely; the figure is double that now.

This seems counterproductive, sorting and loneliness. If we are living in a like-minded community, shouldn’t we naturally feel like we belong? In her book, Brene quotes neuroscience researcher John Cacioppo of the University of Chicago who has been studying loneliness for over 20 years. He defines loneliness as “perceived social isolation” and states we feel loneliness when we feel disconnected. At the heart of loneliness is the absence of meaningful social interactions —- an intimate relationship, friendships, family gatherings, or even community or workgroup connections.

So, what does society have to say about the state of loneliness? There were many negative quotes, but I have chosen to stay with the more positive aspects of loneliness:

1. Rocker philosopher Henry Rollins paints a beautiful scene with his words on the matter. How great is the term “A Special Burn”.

2. Can’t quite make out the name of who said this, but how many times have we curled up in life to our favourite tracks hoping that they will make the pain of loneliness go away: Perfect.

3. During my Mental Health crisis of six years, this thought was always in the background.

4. On this walk, you get to realise that it is you who has to make the final decision, alone or not: You’ll Never Walk Alone.

5. Two words – Self Love.

6. How we define a situation can clearly give it a different meaning: Solitude.

7. For those who have suffered the abuse, we wish didn’t exist on our planet.

8. Some people use escapism to get away from it: Time After Time.

9. There is someone I am hoping is thinking this at the moment.

10. John Steinbeck wrote this quote. He won the 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature” for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic humour and keen social perception.” He has been called “a giant of American letters,” and many of his works are considered classics of Western literature: Precious Things.

11. We assume that our life will remain the same, change is the reality.

12. Carl Jung knew that speaking up was the solution to loneliness. Time to make some requests: Don’t Speak.

13. I was not a hugger for 59 of my 64 years. They work.

14. Time to reach out when Satre’s prognosis is in place: Bad Company.

15. Find the Others.

Here are the final remarks from an interview between Bill Moyers and Maya Angelou:

Moyers: Do you belong anywhere?

Angelou: I haven’t yet.

Moyers: Do you belong to anyone?

Angelou: More and more. I mean. I belong to myself. I’m very proud of that. I am very concerned about how I look at Maya. I like Maya very much. I like the humour and courage very much. And when I find myself acting in a way that isn’t…that doesn’t please me—then I have to deal with that.

Today’s playlist begins with pop icon Ed Sheeran, then we fly back to the 1960’s with Jerry and the Pacemakers. Even further back to Billie Holliday. Then three fine female singers: Clare Danes, Bic Runga and No Doubt. One of the classic English rock bands Bad Company brings it to a close. Here’s the video playlist: Headphones On, World Off.

Namaste until next time, my dear friends.