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

Posted on July 13, 2021 by Rod's World

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

5. Music can give you all of it.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Till we meet again my dear friends.

Your Contribution is a gift to the Community!!!

Posted on July 5, 2021 by Rod's World

Several years ago I fell in love with a social enterprise in my home city of Melbourne called Lentil as Anything, a chain of restaurants run on a pay as you feel philosophy. The title of this blog is part of their ethos. A question for you: do you walk around thinking my contribution is a gift to the community or more like thinking I don’t really make much of a contribution. What is it that shifts you from the latter to the former.

When life pushes you over, stand up and push back even harder. When there is a fork in the road, make the ones your future self with thank you for. Today, start:

1.Choosing you.

2. Appreciating what you have.

3. Believing in yourself and your dreams.

4. Being Positive.

5. Taking Action

6. Letting Go.

7. Picking Yourself Back Up.

8. Ignoring Negative People.

9. Staying in touch with close friends and family.

10. Making Time for Fun.

11. Spread Love and Kindness.

12. Being the Change you want to see in the World.

I can imagine this is a battle that has gone on between our consciousnesses for a very long time, Let’s have a look at what people of note have said about it over the years:

1.I think this depends on who you ask?

2. Mr I am not your Guru who appears to be worshiped by his followers as a guru :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9lNbNGbo24

3. Reading his history Arthur Ashe, tennis player extraordinaire was a remarkable African American in a time at best they were called negro if not worse.

4. In history the first wise people were not remembered for what they achieved but what they contributed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMLChxRHnWM

5. The first female high school principal in the U.S.A., Ethel founded AARP, an elder activist organization which with membership of 28 million making its magazine and bulletin the two largest readerships in the USA.

6. Gautama Buddha chips in from 2,400 years ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzrCRDGctNE

7. I do not believe we have studied this one very well.

8. One of 15 surviving sailors on the battleship Arizona at Pearl Harbour, his book The Strangest Secret is considered one of the greatest motivational books of all time: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpYeekQkAdc&list=PL3DDj3bwnjI1ywrjlCUY_9SX4OQgHr5KJ

9. The best remembered wife of a POTUS, Eleanor Roosevelt never began to die until she did.

10. And they left a word out of this quote, HER: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLYqTZKEpvs

11. Live long and Prosper was made famous by Leonard Nimoy’s character Spock in his 50 year acting career.

12. No levels of government are contributing to their community if they have laws that do this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpfpqsSALuY

13. Makes sense to me, but does it happen?

14. Another deep question to answer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtZrPDjyffI

15 And the most famous POTUS with a very obtuse question to finish.

This collection of quotes shows that we have thought about contribution being a gift for a long time as a human race, I think we will for a long time in the future and perhaps even resolve the issue.

Today’s playlist goes all over the place, contributions of spoken word, the 80’s, the East and a very education video on black music. We begin with none of these, firstly is Gang Starr, then followed by Marianne Williamson. My unknown is next the Isha Foundation. My favourite Black Eyed Peas song leads us to Darryl Hall and John Oates. The penultimate song is Massive Attack and we finish with Music is Black History: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJlQ3F9bKYrtUz0w9taVPwST5DJcBuhWd

I believe my contribution that is a gift to the community is my ethos: Love and respect for All, Everybody Included and my two Facebook Groups: Interculturalism: https://www.facebook.com/groups/Interulturalism and Thriving People – People who wish to make a difference to humanity: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1126100227764949 to allow anyone across the planet join our merry little clan. Until we neet again, my dear friends.

Give someone a Smile!!

Posted on April 1, 2021 by Rod's World

I’ve gone back to getting my subjects for my blogs off my kitchen wall. The title for this one comes from my We build Tribes chart. The purpose is to build a purpose-driven community, I actually have two: They are Interculturalism: https://www.facebook.com/groups/Interulturalism and Thriving People – People who wish to make a difference to Humankind: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1126100227764949. Both have the ethos of Love and Respect for All, Everyone Included at their core.

Each community has the following behind it:

10,000 people woke up this morning shedding private tears because they need a solution to their problem. You have that solution, go find them.
No other individual was placed upon this earth to do what you were uniquely born to do. Be you and the world will transform.
We live in an abundant world, allow that abundance to flow through you and you will never be without it.
Build a tribe that changes the very fabric of society, That is what you were born to do.
Whatever your goal, dream or desire is, It’s yours for the taking. Never accept you can’t.
Be consumed with a vision for tomorrow, go there in your own life and people will follow.
In a world of increasing isolation, be the campfire that attracts friends, laughter and authentic moments of transformation.
No-one ever got lucky, true success flows from consistency and persistency. Never, ever give up.
It’s going to be hard, It’s going to be tough. Remember, when you quit, No one wins.
Be their leader, be their servant, be their guide. But whatever you do. Make sure you “be”.
Don’t ever love others to the detriment of loving yourself. There is no one more important than you.
Rest, love, allow yourself to be loved. For as much as you feel the world rests on your shoulders, it doesn’t.
Support one another, cherish one another, inspire one another. We can make an even greater impact when we do so together.
Give someone a smile, give them money, give them a moment – when you have the capacity to do so… give.
With money comes influence, impact and opportunity – freedom comes when we cease fearing the pursuit of money & we embrace it.

So what has society said about communities – lets walk down that path:

1. Read that word, everyone, all 7 billion of us.

2. And her partner was Martin Luther King Junior, hear him speak: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixfwGLxRJU8

3. Do you know what your community cares about?

4. Author of the Courage to Create, this quote speaks profoundly of the power of communication: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nN6VR92V70M

5. We all know a community needs more than one colour.

6. Another religious guru facing abuse allegations. Bill Hybels has a lot to reconcile: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-6zYv9hCow

7. From little things , big things grow.

8. My purpose to make my communities safe places: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHvTWvKIPHo

9. How many friendships I have made simply asking would you like to go for a coffee?

**10. Give someone a smile, give them money, give them a moment – when you have the capacity to do so… give**: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8QV6ffjIYU

11. Ubuntu is a Nguni Bantu term meaning “humanity”. It is sometimes translated as “I am because … Language.

12. Very profound, Marianne: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxGLPVvNjvY

13. Boom!!!

14. And my favourite dance crew are the Desert Dwellers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAuAcC6-5ds

15. This one touches my soul.

I have had faith in intentional communities to transform out planet, it will take something but to me has always been possible.

Today’s playlist is truly eclectic. We begin with Martin Luther King’s most famous speech. Then one of my favourite pop divas, Taylor Swift. An Aussie legend follows, Lee Morgan. Then another of my favourite spoken word giants, Maya Angelou. Back to the 60s or 70s with Bread. Ava Max is the penultimate track, then we finish my favourite dance crew, The Desert Dwellers: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJlQ3F9bKYrsTT_-LiPDrKqshrgpwBoPh

So I will complete with my ethos one more time: Love and Respect for All, Everyone Included. Until we meet afain my dear friends.

How do you break the Ice?

Posted on March 26, 2021 by Rod's World

After a failed relationship which was my first in ten years I have become hesitant to dip my toes in the water again. But even with this hesitancy the opportunity has risen again and a wondrous women has appeared in my sights. I have wanted to kiss her almost from the moment I saw her across the room and attending a community dinner with her after the event we were at reinforced why I would want to do this.

I see the people from this event once or twice a month so if I want more to happen the hesitancy will have to go away. She kissed me goodbye last time we met and I have been flustered by this ever since. All the stories that raise their ugly heads have arisen since then.My friend Angel suggested a few things to do to move on from this:

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

So what has the human race said about this dilemma over the centuries, let’s have a look:

1. Morgan Harper Nichols is an American Christian musician, songwriter, mixed-media artist, and writer, whose work is centred around the question “how can we create connection?”.

2. That this woman would walk up to me and kiss me was totally unexpected, I did not think she knew I existed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tq72aBL7GLY

3. They say the feeling between fear and excitement is only in what you choose to call it.

4. The period of Catherine the Great’s rule, the Catherinian Era, is considered a Golden Age of Russia. The Manifesto on Freedom of the Nobility, issued during the short reign of Peter III and confirmed by Catherine, freed Russian nobles from compulsory military or state service. Construction of many mansions of the nobility, in the classical style endorsed by the empress, changed the face of the country. She enthusiastically supported the ideals of the Enlightenment and is often included in the ranks of the enlightened despots. As a patron of the arts, she presided over the age of the Russian Enlightenment, including the establishment of the Smolny Institute for Noble Maidens, the first state-financed higher education institution for women in Europe.

5. Preferring Waldo to Ralph , Emerson was considered the 19th Centuries preeminent philosopher.

6. While Moore dealt with alcoholism and health issues throughout her life which make this statement by her ring true, it’s her work with television that will forever be remembered. And she amassed quite a hefty fortune thanks to her work. According to Celebrity Net Worth, Moore died with a net worth of $60 million: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSbnvgF-vOk

7. From a beautiful Coastal town in Australia, Lupytha is an aspiring young philosopher of this century.

8. If its not scary, it does not require bravery: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_FPN-bttVQ

9. Now from what Neil has stated he knows how to be really scared.

10. More wisdom from Waldo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zz-DJr1Qs54

11. Boom!!!

12. It seems to be in this case, or is it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=be0rGkKxSGU

13. Not all those thoughts, especially the what if ones.

14. And we had to let Brene have a say on this subject: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYFRcK4hDes

15. And for our final lesson today, Mary Tyler Moore offers us a beauty.

Family and lovers are not always blood. They’re the people in your life who appreciate having you in theirs – the ones who encourage you to improve in healthy and exciting ways, and who not only embrace who you are know but also who you want to be. These people – your real people – are the ones who truly matter.

Today’s playlist has a bit of cabaret in it: We begin with songstress Bernadette Peters, then an Olympic song by Boney M. One of America’s sweethearts Mary Tyler Moore is next before we access our three rock entries, David Bowie, The Cranberries and P.I.L. We complete with some sage advice from Brene Brown, Enjoy this diverse playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJlQ3F9bKYrscdcrz4k2Uhkp9ArVfJ4Na

Wouldn’t it be beautiful if we were able to express how we felt to each and every person, to show Love and Respect for All, Everyone Included. This is the ethos of my two Facebook Groups, Thriving People – People who wish to make a difference to Humanity: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1126100227764949 and Interculturalism: https://www.facebook.com/groups/Interulturalism. By clicking on the links you can join our merry bands of adventurers.

Until we meet again, my dear friends.

What Interculturalism could provide?

Posted on February 23, 2021 by Rod's World

I have started watching Al Jazeera News broadcasts because I was sick of the mindless photo opportunities our Prime Minister down here in Australia, nicknamed as Scotty from marketing uses main stream media in our country for. Today I say an item where the Italian ambassador for the Republic of Congo had been ambushed and killed on a country road and it made me think would these people have done that if they knew why the ambassador was in their country, fundamentally to provide aid in the name of doing good deeds between the two countries.

Then I thought about as to why had I named my blog I am an Interculturalist all those years ago. The definition of Interculturalism goes as follows: Interculturalism refers to support for cross-cultural dialogue and challenging self-segregation tendencies within cultures. … It is based on the recognition of both differences and similarities between cultures. It has addressed the risk of the creation of absolute relativism within post modernity and in multiculturalism. Cross-cultural dialogue is what drew me to the Darebin Intercultural Centre after attending a Colombian film night at which there were about twenty cultures hanging out and being friends, all I can say is that I was hooked from that night.

So what does society say is the value of living an intercultural life, Let’s have a look:

1. Terminal Uniqueness sounds like it would get in the way a lot.

2. Ruth Benedict was a interculturalist of the early 19th Century, She studied the relationships between personality, art, language and culture, insisting that no trait existed in isolation or self-sufficiency, a theory which she championed in her 1934 book Patterns of Culture: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkgkThdzX-8

3. Such a beautiful quote!!

4. Many races, One planet: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8xnsvDdPu0&list=PLxRZFM2I_PNdIcCrvc6p-SPzKUvsSe4jX&index=4

5. And we take the best of each country.

6. And they can come from any walk of life: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66Qkf2Jm6pc

7. Do you have to understand them all, not really.

8. How do you cook your chicken?: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YewVugPHon4

9. Just 7 billion of us.

10. We have all seen that meme, seems they drew imaginary lines on the planet: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PDdCmJ84LI

11. Do you?

12. Some of the things that Interculturalism can solve: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaHbiUvXlhM

13. This is what Interculturalism battles with each and every day.

14. Its not all in the words: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8AOAap6_k4

15. And we finish with some fine words from Maya Angelou.

Life is full of positive experiences. Notice them. Life your life to the fullest potential by reveling in the beauty of these experiences, and letting them inspire you to be the most positive version of you. Living a positive life is all about creating positive habits to help you focus on what truly matters. Interculturalism is this for me. Here are some simple ideas to help you life this life:

Wake up every morning with the idea that something wonderful is possible today.
Celebrate your existence.
Appreciate life’s perfect moments.
Embrace life’s challenges.
Become addicted to constant and never-ending self-improvement.
Live and breathe the truth.
Fill your own bucket.
Help the people around you smile.
Spend time with positive people.

I have included two of Australia’s musical secrets in the playlist today: We commence with John Lennon, then follow with one of Australia’s best, Murray Kyle. Back to the last century for Dionne Warwick and Friends, Culture Club and Bob Marley. The penultimate track is a band I spent a lot of time watching in my youth in Melbourne – I’m Talking and we finish with Womack and Womack with that song: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJlQ3F9bKYrtVIdAvmWWOGAUdwvsPovnM

So I have created a Facebook group called Interculturalism which has the ethos of Love and Respect for All, Everyone Included, Here is the link to join it and share your examples of it: https://www.facebook.com/groups/Interulturalism Until we meet again my dear friends.

With a Little Help for my Friends!!!

Posted on February 15, 2021 by Rod's World

Lockdown number three in my hometown of Melbourne, Australia, bummer. Only 5 days this time, but the dreaded stage four: 5 kilometres and four reasons to leave your home. Even for that short period of time it severely effected two musician friends of mine earnings, they had to cancel their main income making events for the month. When contacted bt them I offered the first to keep the money and send me a download and the second I gave a donation to because she sent us a download for being on her dance crew.

These people keep our hearts open and alive and I am so willing to support them when life gets in their way as this five day hiatus has. I have been a Patreon contributor for over two years for two other friends and Amanda fucking Palmer. This is an excellent way of contributing to people who use these funds to do the work they need to do in the manner that allows them to be most creative. So over time how has the world looked at creativity, lets take a walk down that path:

Musicians impress me in the fact that they are willing to do this for days.

2. There has been no one like you on this planet before: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIj4ojGFdDY

3. Maya knows best.

4. Rain and art, two useful cleansers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGB59HuKu-I

5. Being good is enemy number one – Pablo.

6. Being emotive brings out your creativity: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vjPBrBU-TM&list=PL9A6W9rJ8TCvgGp2wo8IXenyGHqw-v_B7

7. Creativity is a unique form of breath-work.

8. Pablo was as much a philosopher as an artist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kc2iLAubras

9. Why would you need one if your life is art?

10. An essential part of your daily diet: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPUmE-tne5U

11. Art is made up of all colours, or not.

12. He nearly did with that mustache: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6T97kHjKiY

13. A fun creativity list to live life from, Yummy!!

14. Lailah Gifty Akita is enthusiastic inspirational writer, born in Accra, Ghana. She is the author of ‘The Alphabet of Success’ , ‘ Think Great,Be Great; Beautiful Quotes Volume 1 and ‘The Wings of Hope:Survivor’. She is passionate about empowering the mind of young people to fulfill greatest mission: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76RTRjj7Jmw

15. It is in the eye of the beholder.

So we have the opportunity to be creative day to day, here is a list of questions to ask yourself each Sunday as to how you went:

What did I learn last week?
What was my greatest accomplishment over the past week?
Which moment from last week was the most memorable and why?
What’s the number one thing I need to accomplish this week?
What can I do right now to make the week less stressful?
What have I struggled with in the past that might also affect the coming week?
What was last weeks biggest time sink?
Am I carrying any excess baggage into the upcoming week that can be dropped?
What have I been avoiding that needs to get done?
What opportunities are still on the table?
is there anyone I’ve been meaning to talk to?
Is there anyone that deserves a big thankyou?
How can I help someone else this coming week?
What are my top three goals for the next three years?
Have any of my recent actions moved me closer to my goals?
What’s the next step for each goal?
What am I looking forward to during the coming week?
What are my fears?
What am I most grateful for?
If I knew I had only one week to live, who would I spend my time with?

Take thirty minutes every Sunday and give yourself the gift of self-reflection.

Today’s playlist is not a playlist, it is seven songs because YouTube is playing up: We begin with a new pop diva to me named Lenka. We then go back in time to 10CC. Sia is great next, then two bands, Modern Lovers and Katrina and the Waves. We finish with two international numbers by Mecano and Kuami Eugene.

So we have many opportunities in our lives to give to others, to me give and you will receive helping my world ethos of Love and Respect for All, Everyone Included spread to the other 46 countries it has not been read in. Here is the link to join our Facebook group – Thriving People: People who wish to make a difference to Humankind: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1126100227764949

Until we meet again, my dear friends.

Whats that ringing in my Ear?

Posted on February 8, 2021 by Rod's World

In my younger days I was involved in the rhythm and blues seen in Melbourne, Australia. First as a door bitch with my soul friend Katie then as a sound technician when our regular one failed to show up and the band says I had heard them enough to know what they sounded like. So I spent quite a few years listening to loud rock music.

Move forward to this COVID year and a ringing began in my right ear recently, off to my doctor of seven years, Kirsten and I shared my musical history with her. Kirsten sent me to the Audiology Clinic because it is unusual to have tinnitus, which she thought it sounded like in only one ear. The audiology test began and ceased quickly, as here is the gross bit. I was asked when I had cleaned out my ears as they could not see my eardrums. I replied do Mexican Indian wax candles count, if not probably over 50 years ago.

That is why I have been pouring ear solution in my ears for the past two to three weeks so that I can have it extracted without damaging my ears on Wednesday. This has made me ponder whether doing the thing you love without thinking of the health consequences are worth it. My love of Music says yes it was, and fingers crossed they will be able to fix them. I’m going to have a look at what society has said about loving rock and roll and why we would put our selves in such sensory danger:

1. Not quite there yet, why I created my ethos Love and Respect for All, Everybody Included.

2. The music come with the dance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gj0Rz-uP4Mk

3. Back in the day songs were more like poetry.

4. From a fledgling industry to a multi billion one in less than a century, remarkable: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujNeHIo7oTE

5. Can’t quite make out the name but I am sure there were more than one rock and roller wished this sort of fame.

6. From one of the “27” club comes a powerful rock and roll stand: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTWKbfoikeg

7. So many of them took away or had taken away the growth factor.

8. The man who wrote in the dark side, I loved him: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGorjBVag0I

9. Known for the odd, strange comment, I saw Bowie at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

10. And not everybody made it as a front person, Darlene being an example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIhAWJUwepA

11. Pete Townsend of The Who speaks on the power of dance.

12. You didn’t have to think that the world was rosy all the time according to one of the family: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1tj2zJ2Wvg&list=PL2wCCiky2eR3GGTe1St_olblEC50Zq9Hf

13. The Man in Black says all you need to say about JC.

14. Bruce has done this for over 30 years: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrpXArn3hII

15. All those nights of bands advertised at 8.30 who started at 11pm. Must have been a method to get people to drink and fall in love with each other and the music.

Writing this has gotten me in touch what a wonderful time those years spent in grotty inner suburban pubs were, times I would not go with out in my life and all the other times I have partaken in since that are so important for my happiness. Regarding happiness, here are a few questions that look in that arena:

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

Today’s playlist comes from the classic era of Rock and Roll, firstly we have Elvis, then we go across the ocean to U2. Then back on the plane for the balance of tracks: Nirvana leads into the darkness of Leonard Cohen, The music softens with Darlene Love. The penultimate track is from the Gunners and we end with the Boss, Bruce Springsteen: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJlQ3F9bKYrtdd6hbes1745OUxehykhhF

So I’m off to the audiologist Wednesday with fingers crossed that the trust my doctor has in them will come to fruition but have really enjoyed listening to the Rock and Roll music of my past writing this blog. As Jimi said: When the Power of Love overcomes the Love of Power we will not know peace I will keep spreading my ethos of Love and Respect for All, Everybody Included via my Facebook Croup Thriving People – People who wish to make a difference to humankind, here’s the link to join: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1126100227764949. Until we meet again, my dear friends.

Cacao is a different journey each time!!!

Posted on February 1, 2021 by Rod's World

I thought I knew what a cacao ceremony was up until last Sunday, you drank cacao and did a dance ceremony, that is how the ones I had been to had gone for years. Well was I in for a surprise. I entered the room it was to be held in and it was set up in a powerful ceremonial circle and for some reason I realised that we were not going to be dancing today. We went through a powerful ceremony were we were given our cocoa and then spoke what we would like to get out of the ceremony. Audrey then spoke about some of the travels that had lead her to leading cacao journey’s and the history and the benefits of cacao.

Audrey explains cacao as follows:

Theobroma

Cacao

Cacao is the pure form of Chocolate, before it is processed, before anything else is added; just the beans baby!

The pure Cacao carries a bunch of healthy goodies and is also a beautiful plant medicine and ally.

Cacao is a powerful super food, and its superpower is beyond just providing the body with nutrients like Magnesium, Zinc, Calcium and Iron. (not to mention the serotonin, anandamide, theobromine and phenethylamine).

Its potency goes beyond the mind. This is the invitation of Cacao as a Medicine: to take us out of the head for a moment, to sink deeper into the body and the heart.

Whether in ceremony, meditation, dance or sharing circles, Cacao allows us to be true to our hearts, tune into what is going on inside and tune out some of the busy-ness that surrounds.

So what is available as you take a ceremony, meditative experience, dance or sharing circle, what has happened over the centuries:

1. What Western countries do to the cacao bean to make chocolate is criminal.

2. Nearly two days after our cacao meditation I am still feeling the internal vitality that entered my body: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdt0SOqPJcg

3. Cacao has a few things going for it.

4. It opens up your emotional channels, I normally fall asleep at ceremonies but the power of the cacao kept me vital all night: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7x6CMzCr8U&list=PLRgiHT80cDrPR8ljqlhoCUqhu6qLN3ds6&index=1

5. From their poetry you can see why the Mayans hold Cacao ceremonies sacred.

I think number 4 relates to Cacao: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_m3lrCWgzQk

**7. If it is in a pure form, cacao and water – heated.**

8. I love find your heart, and you will find your way: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdOV6qDwOP4

9. And what a magnificent space holder it is.

10. As with all spiritual journey’s, We were the benefit of Audrey finding a great teacher: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXeoNX7DSc8

11. It works on your heart space a lot, Cacao is very healing in multiple ways.

12. It takes you on a journey, even maybe the one you want to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WS3Lkc6Gzlk

13. They kept appearing so much in my searches that I thought I better put one Maya quote in.

14. And they are offering us the gift of Cacao again: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpYeekQkAdc&list=PLN1ZRe34eLgAh3i__0A2GTl130e2sPxoh&index=7

15. And given what we are shown on Main Stream media I thank god for this.

Cacao is a great tool, but there are a few things you can do to support it:

Appreciate what you have
Focus on things that truly matter
Define your own meaning of life, and pursue it
Embrace life’s challenges
Find the balance that allows you to be who you truly are
Love your body enough to take care of it
Limit your time with negative people
Treat others the way you want to be treated
Set a good example
Accept what is, and live for the possibilities that lie ahead

In selecting music for today’s playlist I discovered that Mayan meditations can go for hours, but I did find a longish shorter one. We go way back to The Beach Boys to begin with. Then pop diva time with Kelly Clarkson. Acoustic Nirvana provide the Mayan track followed by Fearless Soul. Back to the 70s for Jethro Tull. The penultimate number is by Kermit the Frog and we complete with The Black Eyed Peas: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJlQ3F9bKYrvqbzIWuth43gouJUMh6MMM

So I write these blogs with the intention to spread my ethos of Interculturalism: Love and Respect for All, Everybody Included around the world and to get people to sign up to my Facebook group: Thriving People – People who wish to make a difference to humankind. I think a million people taking this on will transform the planet, here’s the link to join: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1126100227764949.

If you would like some more info. re Cacao and Cacao ceremonies here is the link to Ausrey’s webpage: https://www.lovebeancacao.com/about Until next time,, my dear friends.

What is your weirdness?

Posted on January 25, 2021 by Rod's World

I have a friend in America who runs after midnight nearly every night,it was a habit he picked up from being a competitive athlete in his college days. He was doing it one night when an elderly lady , wearing a Grateful Dead T-shirt and smoking a joint and strumming a guitar confronted him as to why he had such a weird habit of running at such a late hour. She said she saw hundreds of runners during the day and the early evening but Brian, was the only runner she saw after midnight. She said she knew she was a little bit weird but Brian didn’t look the sort. So they exchanged their stories as to how they had picked up their strange if not weird habits.

It made me think as to what was my weirdest habit at 66. What I came up with is being known as the chaistro in the Conscious Dance scene in Melbourne , Australia. Several years ago I received a message from my friend Jules that she had a slight emergency and that she had no one to make her chai for Mojo – The dance of Connection. I had made two cups of chai in my life up to that stage but said I would give it a go. Back then I asked our friend Google and the recipe I found sufficed. Two other friends who ran dances asked me later if I would do it for them. One changed my recipe when she asked me graciously “You are not using caffeinated tea in the chai and serving it to my dancers at 10 p.m. are you. Amazingly I had met the co-owner of Rainbow Chai online the week before and Nicole makes one of the best caffeine free chai mixes in the country. This is now my standard base for Rodster’s famous Chai.

So what had construed weird behaviours over the centuries, lets have a look:

Both words start with W – Amazing!!!

2. Anagrams speak the truth in this case: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIWALAgvz2U

3. If you have ever read Jabberwocky or The Hunting of the Snark you will know why Lewis Carroll was known as the masterpieces of literary nonsense aka weirdness.

4. One of the worlds most misunderstood muso’s. A creative genius: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUq_T_Bhau8&list=PL8WvZFiJpAr0gGNicUfEnMcs0E5DRMwTX

5. Don’t bring out the Weird lines until they really, truly love you.

6. That’s what often attracts them in the first place: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzZn31gd_Jc

Of course one must believe in Unicorns.

8. I love the honesty here of a vice POTUS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1f8S5u01E0Y

9. It takes something to get to this stage.

10 This made me think of Wednesday Addams: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3jnymeJof4

11. And Hunter was one of the true professionals at weirdness.

12. Dick Francis, went from being a jockey to an international author selling 60 millions books with seemingly no formal education: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1F0lBnsnkE

13. Got to love that grin, Frightening.

**14. Have you found your mutual weirdness yet?:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=roPQ_M3yJTA

15.How many of us achieve what we say we are going to become as a child. We probably would have thought, why would you become that weird pastime.

So let’s finish with some questions that your weirdness may have been asking you:

If you had a friend who spoke to you the same way that you sometimes speak to yourself, how LONG would you allow that person to be your friend?
Why are you You?
In one sentence, what do you WISH for your future self?
What’s something you have that EVERYONE wants.
What’s something NOBODY could ever steal from you?
What has the little VOICE in your head been saying to you lately?
What makes you FEEL incomplete?
What else would you SEE about yourself if you removed the thought that’s been troubling you?
What’s something NEW you recently learned about yourself?
What PROMISE to yourself do you still need to fulfill?

More dancing in the playlist today and possibly a track that needs to go to the censorship board. A newbie to me, Yungblud begins the tracks followed by Frank Zappa. Two of the pop divas next, Kylie and Pink. The dance tracks are by Wednesday Addams and some Old time Movie stars. We finish with Nelly Furtado https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJlQ3F9bKYrv0WhiXr4fFwRaTpLypQcmh

Thinking about weirdness writing this, ropes and being tied up came to mind but that’s for another blog. We are all weird in one way or another but if we Love and Respect for All, Everybody Included – the ethos of my new 1,000,000 member Facebook group – Thriving People – People who wish to make a difference to Humankind: Here’s the link to join – https://www.facebook.com/groups/1126100227764949 you call learn more about the world’s weirdness. Until we meet again, my dear friends.

You can dance if you want to!!!

Posted on January 19, 2021 by Rod's World

I must admit we are lucky in Melbourne, Australia to have basically come out of Lockdown because we put in the hard yards of Stage 3 and Stage 4 for a period of 7 months. Can you imagine not being able to go more than 5km for months on an end, we did that and it worked The second wave began and we ended it whereas other places with the same number of cases have gone from hundreds to thousands in the same time frame

Now we are out there is a follow up crisis, now that we can go out I and other people I know are hesitant to do so on a regular basis so I reached out to the one thing I know my body loves, Conscious Dance. The first dance I attended I had to eave because it became a Contact Improvise demonstration not a dance, the two are totally different to me and it had become false advertising that it was a dance. The one I found to replace it is called Open Floor and as it is summer here the first dance was in Park-lands. I have since returned to one of my old stomping grounds at Rosina Auditorium on a Wednesday night.

I also make used to make chai for three dances, two of them clashed last Saturday so I chose the one I had been doing the longest, Mojo Dance – The dance of connection. So what have communities said about the healing power of dance over the generations, lets have a look:

1. 194 countries planet wide, each with their own language. 1 dancing soul.

2. Dance gets you out of your head and into your heart: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tz6_AUsLQ8g

3. Because they are getting in touch with their Angel spirits.

4. This magic show is priceless time and time again: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdpjXLbxDq4

5. Lyall Watson wrote the iconic book Supernature and is credited with the 100th monkey effect. He spent a lot of his life studying the many different cultures on the planet.

6. Some forms of dance are competitive, not Conscious dance though: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICjyAe9S54c

7. The ultimate exercise workout.

8. It’s the journey not the particular steps you take on the way: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXOAnVI3boM

9. Your choice of dance mantra.

10. From the African dances I have attended I can believe there are 31 core values: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWSYCp-46h8&list=PLme-1fWBofIw1jJy5v-2LEv2jervh7WBC

11. My body is a bit too old to create that move.

12. We put on our invisibility cloaks and disappear into the magical void: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93DWZtavaoU

13. Have you tried it?

14. Alvin Ailey (January 5, 1931 – December 1, 1989), a.k.a. Alvin Ailey Jr., was an African-American dancer, director, choreographer, and activist who founded the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater(AAADT). He created AAADT and its affiliated Ailey School as havens for nurturing black artists and expressing the universality of the African-American experience through dance. His work fused theatre, modern dance, ballet, and jazz with black vernacular, creating hope-fueled choreography that continues to spread global awareness of black life in America: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n30NKg4Boqs

15. Here or hear the music, it doesn’t matter, I am insane.

Dancing is not something to postpone for the future, it is something you design in the present, starting today:

Appreciate what you have.
Focus on things that really matter.
Define your own meaning of life , and pursue it.
Embrace life’s challenges.
Find the balance that allows toy to be who you truly are.
Love your body enough to take care of it.
Limit your time with negative people.
Treat others the way you want to be treated.
Set a good example
Accept what is, and live for the possibilities that lie ahead.

In the playlist I thought I would give you a taste of what Conscious Dancers dance to. On most play lists Desert Dwellers will appear. Followed up by Shaman’s Dream. Moby crossed over into popular music as well. Then a short festival set by DJ Drop G. Off to Africa for Psquare, the penultimate track is Basher Toe and we finish with a dance routine choreographed by Alvin Ailey: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJlQ3F9bKYrvCZsxOmI3PAvbn-8YB2eqS

As one of the quotes says, dance is the music of the soul, if we take it on the ethos Love and Respect for All, Everybody Included has a chance. My new Facebook group, Thriving People – People who wish to make a difference to Humanity uses this as its premise, here is the link to join us if you wish: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1126100227764949, Until we meet again, my dear friends.