Who’s in Your Tribe?

Posted on June 8, 2020 by Rod's World

I recently posted a meme which said you are God to them all or God to none. I did not go to the Black Lives Matter rally, it was not because I don’t think they have a valid point, but because I think it misses the point, racism that is. I believe that it is a much bigger conversation and lives in the realm of the evil of tribalism worldwide. Events such as the 11 million person genocide by King Leopold of Belgium in Africa, the colonising wars in Australia and New Zealand received little mention in history books because they are written by the victors.

So I have posed the question: Who’s in your tribe as the title of this blog. I can answer everybody from within my ethos of Love and Respect for All, Everyone Included, the crux of Interculturalism. What actions do we have to take to achieve the seemingly impossible world my ethos speaks of. Here are twenty mantras from my friend Marc Chernoff that may help:

1. The most beautiful thing is to see a person nearby smiling. And even more beautiful is knowing you are the reason behind it.

2. If you have the power to make someone happier today, do it. The world needs more of that.

3. Some people build lots of walls in their lives and not enough bridges. There’s no good reason to be one of them. Open yourself up. Take small chances on people.

4. Never stop doing little things for those around you. Sometimes those little things occupy the biggest part of their hearts.

5. Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of love – all which have the potential to turn a life around.

6. Be present. Be thoughtful. Compliment people. Magnify their strengths, not their weaknesses. This is how to make a real and lasting difference in your relationships, new and old.

7. We don’t always need advice. Sometimes all we need is a hand to hold, an ear to listen, and a heart to understand.

8. Today, just be 100 per cent present with those around you- be all there. That is enough.

9. There’s no such thing as “self-made” Someone else believed in you. Someone else encouraged you. Someone else invested in you. Someone else prayed for you. Someone else spoke life over you. Be that someone for others too.

10. It’s practically impossible to love our neighbour if we don’t know them, and yet that’s often the case. We live in such a hyper-connected world with such limited or nonexistent connection. Remember this: Relationships matter. Stories matter.

11. In human relationships, distance is not measured in kilometres but in affection. Two people can be next to each other yet kilometres apart.

12. Stay in touch with those who truly matter to you because it’s convenient, but because they’re are worth the extra effort.

13. The single greatest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place. Too often we don’t listen to understand, we listen to reply. Bring awareness to this. And listen for what’s truly behind the words.

14. Set an example. Treat everyone with love and respect, even those who are rude to you – not because they are always nice, but because you are. (And do your best to be thankful for the rude and difficult people too; they serve as great reminders on how not to be.)

15. Sometimes it is better to be kind than right.

16. People are much nicer when they’re happier, which says a lot about those who aren’t nice to you. Sad, but true.

17. The real test always comes when you don’t get what you expect from people. Will you react in anger? Or will calmness be your superpower?

18. The way we treat people we don’t understand is a report card on what we’ve learnt about love, compassion and kindness.

19. Be kinder than necessary. What goes around comes around. No one has made themselves strong by showing how small someone else is.

20. The best relationships are not just about the good times you share, they’re also about the obstacles you go through together and the fact that you still say”I Love You” in the end.

So we all live in communities, so what have we said about community spirit over the years, here are a few of my favourite quotes on the subject:

1. Do you know your communities vision, you can check it out on most council websites if you do not.

2. Gandhi’s freeing of India is the best example of this I know: From Little Things, Big Things Grow.

3. Martin’s wife said some cool things to.

4. How connected are you, how many people in your street names do you know?: In my Feelings.

5. Do you have people you really care for and would do anything for?

6. This one is an in your face take on community spirit: Just Stand Up.

7. And the others would answer…

8. In Melbourne, our community radio stations and local musicians compete in the Reclink Community Cup, it has very little to do with football and winning: My Immortal.

9. This one made me shudder.

10. Changes, of course, it can just be one song: Changes.

11. When you say I did it on my own, by myself hundreds of people sigh.

12. Another opportunity to feature the magnificent Maya Angelou: The Best Advice.

13. What is it that has you feel you belong?

14. What you give out you get back: Rain on Me.

15. And for our final lesson, its time to realise community makes you feel absolutely fabulous.

Since we all intellectually understand that we shouldn’t bypass or judge people too quickly, but sometimes still forget when we’re in the heat of a pressing moment, it would be a good practice to read this list several times a week until it has stuck.

Today’s playlist goes all over the place. We begin with Paul Kelly and Missy Higgins, yes that song, then Drake and over to an All-Star anthem. A group I am growing to like a lot, Evanescence is next. Then we finish with three legends: David Bowie, Maya Angelou and finish with Lady Gaga and Ariane Grande: Who’s in Your Tribe?

My wish is that our tribe is every other citizen on the planet, can this happen, I’m working on it: Love and Respect for All, Everyone Included.

Love and Respect for All, Everyone Included!!!

Posted on December 5, 2019 by Rod's World

Today I write about my Why: it’s expressed in the title of this blog. I write all of these blogs at the Darebin Intercultural Centre in Preston Australia a placed that healed me after six years of a mental health crisis that included six psych unit hospitalisations totalling a period of six and a half months, my advice, never let this happen to you.

In our brochure our ethos is explained, it is as follows “Where difference is acknowledged, explored, understood and celebrated. Darebin Intercultural Centre aims to foster respectful and constructive interracial, intercultural and interfaith relations between and amongst people who live, work or play in Darebin. The Centre is a dedicated space for Intercultural development, dialogue, engagement, participation and celebration.”

How did I end up here? After working for Centrelink, a government agency who deals with the unemployed, the disabled and the elderly, read the people who others want to forget exist for 14 years I ended up being dismissed never to work again after being Manager of the most chaotic Newstart section in Melbourne ending my career doing filing because I did not listen to what my heart and body were saying to me, which was, Get the Fuck out.

I spent about two years lying around my flat believing what they had said when I saw an ad in the local newspaper: Free Colombian film night. I was drawn to this as South America is one place that is on my bucket list. I fought against my social anxiety and went to the Darebin Intercultural Centre for the film.

When I arrived there was an incredibly diverse crowd of cultures just hanging out together being friends. It spoke to my heart and to this day I do not know what gave me the courage to ask the manager Inaam did they need any volunteers. I do not know why she replied yes, as they had never had any before.

Over the following five years I have done many things and at the moment being an English tutor three days a week, my dear old dad, if he was alive would be very proud because he always wanted me to follow in his footsteps as a teacher up until the day I was expelled at the end of Year 11 for non attendance as I hated the formal school system.

I feel that my friend Marc Chernoff’s list called 10 Actions That Always Bring Happiness speaks to my joy of being involved with the Centre:

1. Appreciate how much you have.

2. Focus on things that really matter.

3. Define your own meaning in life, and pursue it.

4. Embrace life’s challenges.

5. Find the balance that allows you to be who you truly are.

6. Love your body enough to take care of it.

7. Limit your time with negative people.

8. Treat others the way you want to be treated.

9. Set a good example.

10. Accept what is, and live for the possibilities that lie ahead.

I chose to learn about new cultures as the way of empowering my intercultural journey, but what does the planet say about it:

1. No words really needed.

2. Travel is a great way to discover new cultures. Be careful you may fall in love with one, and never leave: Greece – The Best Love Song.

3. You have to open your eyes to let love in.

4. Live your life to the full, A Ho: Loving Life.

5. In December there is something to celebrate every day, not just Christmas. My favourite is December 30th: National Bicarbonate of Soda Day.

6. This is why I love our Centre, I am always learning new ways of these things being expressed: Where Is The Love.

7. Vironika Tugaleva is an award-winning author, poet, spoken word artist, life coach, wanderer, visual artist, vocalist, and seeker of beauty in all its forms.

8. I don’t always agree with Ayn Rand but this hits home: Life is Worth Living.

9. Exercise your compassion for others and their diverse cultures and build up your wing strength.

10. Strange a right-wing conservative came up with this: I was Here.

11. From the most famous of philosophers, Ms Unknown comes this power quote on the beauty of Interculturalism.

12. Abdel-Fattah studied a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Law at the University of Melbourne. During this time, she was the Media Liaison Officer at the Islamic Council of Victoria, a role that afforded her the opportunity to write for newspapers and engage with media institutions about their representation of Muslims and Islam. She completed her PhD on Islamaphobia. Abdel-Fattah was a passionate human rights advocate and stood in the 1998 federal election as a member of the Unity Party (slogan: Say No to Pauline Hanson). I Don’t Like It.

13. Spiritualism explained really well.

14. From the man who refused to cut the Arts budget to fund a war, here is another on the importance of art and culture: Beasts of No Nation.

15, For our final lesson, what are we up to with our addiction to learning from Social media and not libraries.

If you want to empower others in your life. you need to start living the most empowered version of your self first, that is why finding your why in life is so important. You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream, I’m 65. Believe in what you want so much that it has no choice but to become your reality. And don’t ever compare yourself to anyone else; stay focused on your own journey and leave footprints behind. My blog has left footprints in 104 countries across the planet, I find this amazing.

I have fulfilled a dream today in the playlist, I got to include a Fela Kuti song. We begin with a love song to Greece, Our unknown artist at 57,000 likes is a fine voice from Lysa. The Black Eyed Peas do that song next. Back to modern times with Justin Bieber and Beyonce. Some Aussie edification with the satiricalness of Pauline Pantsdown and we complete with my dream track from Fela Kuti: Love and Respect for All, Everyone Included.

So this is the joyfulness and one of the loves of my life, The Darebin Intercultural Centre where I was gifted my Why one afternoon sitting at my desk: Love and Respect for All, Everyone Included. Until next time we meet, my dear friends.

If at First, you don’t Succeed, You’re Normal!!!

Posted on October 1, 2018 by Rod's World

In her excellent, book: Mindset, The New Psychology of Success – How We Can Learn to Fulfill Our Potential: Get it here. Carol Dweck, Stanford University psychologist in decades of research on achievement and success, has discovered a truly groundbreaking idea-the power of our mindset. Dweck explains why it’s not just our abilities and talent that bring us success-but whether we approach them with a fixed or growth mindset. The major difference between the two is as follows, Carol writes:

“The growth-minded athletes, CEOs, musicians, or scientists all loved what they did, whereas many of the fixed-minded ones did not. Many growth-minded people didn’t even plan to go to the top. They got there as a result of doing what they love. It’s ironic: The top is where the fixed-mindset people hunger to be, but it’s where many growth-minded people arrive as a by-product of their enthusiasm for what they do. This point is also crucial. In the fixed-mindset, everything is about the outcome. If you fail—or if you’re not the best—it’s all been wasted. The growth mindset allows people to value what they’re doing regardless of the outcome.”

“Is it ability or mindset? Was it Mozart’s musical ability or the fact that he worked till his hands were deformed? Was it Darwin’s scientific ability or the fact that he collected specimens non-stop from early childhood?”

“People with the growth mindset know that it takes time for potential to flower.” ~ Carol S. Dweck, PhD.

So how has the growth-minded mindset been viewed over the centuries, here are a few of my favourite sayings:

1. Out there on the edge, that is where we discover what we love to do. What it is that we really want to spend our time on.

2. What happens to the hundreds, even thousands of children’s mindset who were going to be astronauts when they grow up and that of the rare few that actually make it: How Far I’ll Go.

3. The yellow ones say it all.

4. As long as you really believe 100 per cent, another way of saying doing something you love: I Believe In Miracles.

5. First attempt in Learning, Forever Acquiring Important Lessons, First Action in Learning equals your flaws.

6. My group is called the Warriors of Love, brought together by my mentor Arion Light to spread Essence work around the globe: Essence.

7. Did you see that chance fly by? No sorry, it isn’t part of my growth mindset.

8. Definitely, from the land of the growth mindset, a challenge may not exist as a concept in Fixed Mindset land: Hey World, Don’t Give Up.

9. “Every child needs someone to be crazy about them.” These are the words of Salome Thomas-EL, award-winning teacher and principal, and nationally recognized educator. They shape his life-long commitment to answering the question, “How do we ensure that every child achieves their greatest potential?” This question lies at the heart of the national dialogue on education policy, the day in and day out work of school personnel, and the hopes of every parent. Central to this challenge is how we succeed with children who are facing the most serious barriers to success: poverty, violence, neglect, and low expectations.

10. It’s easier to master when it is truly doing what you love: #that Power.

11. Everything, your body is not deaf, like we think it is at times.

12. They have growth mindsets, they came out as someone’s bundle of joy just like the rest of us: Not Afraid.

13. From Carol, three amazing important W questions to ask yourself each day.

14. Beep, Stop-Go: I am not my Hair!!

15. Obstacles, challenges, mistakes, frustrations, etc. etc. , all part of life.

What is the danger of the fixed mindset? If you are stuck in this mindset it can get us in (a lot of!) trouble. Let’s take a quick look at the “growth mindset”: “In this mindset, the hand you’re dealt is just the starting point for development. The growth mindset is based on the belief that your basic qualities are things you can cultivate through your efforts. Although people may differ in every which way—in their initial talents and aptitudes, interests, or temperaments—everyone can change and grow through application and experience.”

Some rock rhythms in today’s playlist. It begins with a soundtrack hit from Alessia Cara, then Hot Chocolate have us believe in miracles. We then rock it out with Lucinda Williams and Michaele Frente. Then pop from this century with Will.I.Am, an Eminem anthem finishing with India.Arie: If at First, you don’t Succeed, You’re Normal

Namaste until next time, my dear friends.

Dig the well before you are Thirsty!!

Posted on February 1, 2018 by Rod's World

The title of this blog is an ancient Chinese Proverb, they are great with wisdom and go back a long way to people such as Lao Tzu and Confucious. In this time we call it being proactive. In his book Live your Passion Keith Abraham has come up with a list to help with this. Here it is:

1. Use a diary or a planner on a daily basis and group activities together – phone calls; trips to the shop; meetings.

2. Have a big clean out and get organised. Clean out your desk; your garage; your office and your wardrobe.

3. Look at things you can do to save minutes. Save 10 minutes each day = 36.4 hours per year.

4. Plan today; for tomorrow and list your daily goals down.

5. Before you say “Yes”, check your priorities and schedule.

6. Maintain a focus on the things that count for that day.

7. Complete the toughest task first, and everything else becomes easier.

How does the world look at being proactive, there are many versions of it and here are just a few:

1. Probably the more famous ship quote is “Ships in the harbour are safe, but that is not what ships are built for” Both about being proactive.

2. People will offer to help at times, but what about those days no one is around, these have to be your proactive days: Drive All Night.

3. We cannot live a productive life if it is based on a negative what if fear-based scenario. If it is from a what if, and you are finding the solutions before it happens that is a different matter.

4. Have your actions be daily little steps that fulfil your bucket list of life: Diamonds.

5. The king of being proactive and the author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Covey was heavily influenced by Peter Drucker and Carl Rogers. Another key influence on his thinking was his study of American self-help books that he did for his doctoral dissertation. A further influence on Covey was his Mormons beliefs. According to Clayton Christensen, The Seven Habits was a secular distillation of Mormon values.

6. Here is a more direct way of saying, be proactive in your life: The Greatest.

7. This takes daily practice, we don’t wake up this way every day.

8. Great list if I don’t say so myself: Be Prepared.

9. Plans are completed by the three percent of people who actually write their goals down on a daily basis and take action.

10. Will Rogers was the #1 radio personality, he was #1 at the movie box office, he was the nations #1 most sought-after public speaker, he was the #1 most read newspaper columnist, he wrote books, travelled the world and gave liberally to charities around the world. Will Rogers was beloved by all. He was also a Cherokee Indian so the fact he achieved these things is all the more remarkable given how American Indians were being treated at the time: Will Rogers.

11. We get to say, do you say yes or no?

12. I don’t know the exact origins but for many years now I have often said to colleagues that we have two eyes, two ears and one mouth, and that is the proportion in which we should use them. The management literature abounds with entreaties for us to listen better, to develop listening skills, to be reactive listeners, and to listen first before speaking. But have we learnt the lesson: If I were a Boy.

13. Is yours?

14. Don’t just eat breakfast, drive to work and home again, eat dinner and go to bed – be curious on a daily basis: Curiosity Killed The Cat.

15. From the world’s most prolific curly haired genius comes the definitive statement, that knowledge is not the be all and end all. Even though he knows a shitload, Albert knew that without imagination it was extremely limited.

So from Lao Tzu’s time to Stephen Covey, the message is still very much the same, by managing your priorities effectively you move from being out of control to being in control.

Music is from iconic 70’s Australia – Little River Band, pop divas Sia, Beyonce and Rihanna, uber-talented singer-songwriter Glan Hansard, Disneys the Lion King and James Blunt.

Namaste until next time, my dear friends

They may forget what you Said!!

Posted on January 18, 2018 by Rod's World

How many times do you have to repeat what you said to somebody? Human beings have a habit of waiting to reply, not listen when in conversation. This trait does not lead to powerful interactions that create the most useful actions in our day to day lives. So, is it the way we are educated so that we grow up thinking that we are meant to know the answers already versus a genuine curiosity in life.

When did education become about rort learning for each student being rated against each other in one or two exams instead of empowering them in what they are great at, let’s enquire into how society defines this:

1. How much of the math you learnt at school do you remember? A math major may say a lot, but the students focused on another calling would probably say ver little as they were not involved in it.

2. Way back in the olden days of the education system in my schooling, I remember having a piece of chalk thrown at me for asking a question that did not fir the cirriculum: Don’t ask me Questions.

3. And with the curing of this habit, we could do this in a relatively short time.

4. How would it be if we used this premise in dealing with each person in our lives, transformational methinks: You are my Sunshine.

5. Was she referring to her new compatriot in World leadership when she penned this. Only time will tell.

6. Rollo Reese May was an American existential psychologist and author of the influential book Love and Will (1969). He is often associated with humanistic psychology, existentialist philosophy and, alongside Viktor Frankl, was a major proponent of existential psychotherapy. These are all schools of thinking that champions communication over silence: Intimacy.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDkoknFMvfI

7. Just assuming that people are listening to you is a wide stretch of the permission they have given you, you need to earn their respect.

8. As Thomas says, take action, observation will only get you so far. Remember the classic quote, they do not remember you for what you said, but by your actions: The Hokey Pokey Song.

9. Engagement is just not in the physical, but also the etheral.

10. Bill Gates, Steve jobs and the Dot.com gurus are probably the greatest examples of this in recent history: Love.

11. Dale Harbison Carnegie spelled Carnagey until c. 1922; was an American writer and lecturer and the developer of famous courses in self-improvement, salesmanship, corporate training, public speaking, and interpersonal skills. Born into poverty on a farm in Missouri, he was the author of How to Win Friends and Influence People in 1936, a bestseller that remains popular today.

12. I think the question she is asking is how do you turn your students into the next leaders of the planet: Survivor.

13. If you get people’s attention, they are willing to believe it and grow from it.

14. To become the female leader of a muslim state, Benazir must have had remarkable skills at both of these things: Give Peace a Chance.

15. The Road Less Traveled, published in 1978, is Peck’s best-known work, and the one that made his reputation. It is, in short, a description of the attributes that make for a fulfilled human being, based largely on his experiences as a psychiatrist and a person. The book was broken up in four parts – Discipline, Love, Religion and Grace. The book took off only after Peck hit the lecture circuit and personally sought reviews in key publications. Later reprinted in paperback in 1980, The Road first made best-seller lists in 1984 – six years after its initial publication.

So from these interesting takes on engagement and listening to people when they speak, we can see that there are many diverse takes on actively engaging in life, so let’s get out there and do it.

The music today comes from Graham Parker, The Civil Wars, an obscure singer songwriter, Hannah Sutherland, Debbie Doo Kids TV, Lana Del Ray, Destinys Child and John Lennon. Enjoy this quite diverse offering.

Namaste until next time , my dear friends.

I’m going to see the World!!

Posted on November 6, 2017 by Rod's World

How do you see the world? Gabrielle Bernstein says you can change the way through the statement – When i lean on certainty and faith I change my mind about the World I See. What does she mean by this statement? Is it that when you believe in what you believe in you do not have to fall for what mainstream media is trying to push down your throat what you are meant to believe about what goes on day to day.

Let’s have a look at ways to do this, there are many:

1. Do you open up your creativity to see the many different ways that it permits you to relate to the extraordinary journey that our lives are.

2. I recently learnt that I had very western values about the Chinese culture when I became an English tutor for three Chinese mothers. I learnt as much each lesson about China as they did about the English language each lesson. It’s a great way to find out how sheltered how you see the world is: Curious.

3. I watched a documentary about Romania, the host was appearing on a fashion reality show as thousands of people were protesting on the streets because the government were trying to legitimise corruption.

4. How much do we owe to the photographers that travel the world and capture the images that make us go : I’ve never thought that way about that place. Alex Sattler is one of them: Photograph.

5. I Think Maya is giving permission to young women to listen to their hearts and not what the fashion magazines tell them is their role in life with this statement.

6. Dali and Picasso see the world very differently to a landscape or portrait artist. Yet each is revealing his soul on the canvas: Art for Arts Sake.

7. I was in Leningrad the year before the Berlin Wall came down and Communism ended in the Soviet Union, the people we meant said they loved Russia, but they just made a mistake 70 years ago, Now known as St. Petersburg, it is a beautiful city.

8. My sister takes thousands of photo’s when she travels the world, I don’t think one of them is of the local airport: Leaving on a Jet Plane.

9. You don’t need to leave your lounge room, to have these if you are , curious that is. Although I imagine that will not be the case.

10. Shaw’s expressed views were often contentious; he promoted eugenics and alphabet reform, and opposed vaccination and organised religion. He courted unpopularity by denouncing both sides in the First World War as equally culpable, He really meant keep yourself clean and bright: Windows of the World.

11. How would life be, if this statement was true for each of us every day.

12. The general theme of Rumi’s thought, like that of other mystic and Sufi poets of Persian literature, is that of tawhid — union with the Beloved, from whom he sees himself as being cut off and aloof. His longing and desire to attain it is evident in the following poem from his book the Masnavi:

I died to the mineral state and became a plant,
I died to the vegetable state and reached animality,
I died to the animal state and became a man,
Then what should I fear? I have never become less from dying.
At the next charge (forward) I will die to human nature,
So that I may lift up (my) head and wings (and soar) among the angels,
And I must (also) jump from the river of (the state of) the angel,
Everything perishes except His Face,
Once again I will become sacrificed from (the state of) the angel,
I will become that which cannot come into the imagination,
Then I will become non-existent; non-existence says to me (in tones) like an organ,
Truly, to Him is our return: Rumi, The Beloved.

13. So are our opinions of people, as this is what we see people doing.

14. The Chinese certainly have some quirky quotes, but they always hit home: Plant more Trees.

15. So, remember to be curious and question what you think you can see or are told about our beautiful planet, or the above statement may be true.

We have the opportunity each day to do something about the planet, is it because we do not have the faith and certainty that what we believe is worthwhile or is necessarily true. It’s time to stand up for it.

Namaste until next time, my dear friends.

Life is like Photography!!

Posted on June 15, 2017 by Rod's World

Crystals, Meditation, Flower essences, Essential oils, Sacred geometry, Mudras, Mantras, Incantations, Vision boards…

They are all metaphysical technologies, and like any technology, if you don’t know how to use it , your motherboard could get fried, Danielle LaPorte writes in her latest book White Hot Truth: Danielle’s website.

Trying to activate the Kundalini because you read a book somewhere is like starting to build a nuclear reactor in your home because you read how to do it on the internet – Sadhguru.

Danielle goes on to say Once you find your God/Goddess, He/She may turn your life inside out and you’ll be called to reorganize your plans, your mind, and your body. You will finally understand the “work” in “Light worker”.

So what do you hold to be your awareness level, let’s take a journey to the stars:

1. Eckhart Tolle talks about the power of the Now to exist in the silence of pure presence, seems to be another way of illustrating awareness.

2. My mentor Arion Light through his Activation work has us be in contact with our essence in our bodies not our mind. The awareness this provides is phenomenal: What is Activation?

3. A + C = R.

4. Babies lie in their cradles watching the world in awe because they are not yet aware that things are labelled, perhaps it is the purest form of awareness: Cats in the Cradle.

5. What does awareness give us, shitloads apparently

6. How well do you accept your life, I feel I spend a lot of time being unaware what is going on, it’s just a haze so acceptance could be a long way off: Suddenly I See.

7. Lao Tzu is one of my top ten. You can read one sentence and study it for the next week.

8. Be aware that self love is your greatest growth seed. Water it and you will transform: Born this Way.

9. They say the best way to learn something is to teach it, do you have the gonads to do that.

10. Heroism is always available. Through ordinary experience the ordinary man can become extraordinary: Heroes.

11. So is mine, I love Google Images, It’s part of my blogging necessities.

12. Another essential, Trust has to be included in living a truly aware life: Trust.

13. My friend Emeli’s life was transformed when Jim Stynes, head of the Reach Foundation asked her What are you going to do with your life when she was fighting with grief in an unsustainable way She now runs this: Collective Potential

14. A West African shaman by the name of Dr. Malidoma Patrice Somé has a different view of mental illness compared to that of people in the western world, where we focus on pathology and the idea that the behavior exhibited by those diagnosed with the condition is something that needs to stop.

Dr. Somé proposes that what we call depression, bipolar, psychosis and schizophrenia may perhaps be a remarkable transformation in consciousness and an inevitable step towards human development.

Dr. Somé and the Dagara people support the shamanic view that signals mental illness as “the birth of a healer.” They believe that this person has been selected as a medium for a message to the community. What Westerners view as “mental illness”, the Dagara people view as “good news from the other world.”: Healing Song.

15. Then, finally it’s your awareness that matters in the end, do the best you can for you.

Should we avoid esoteric practices and teachers altogether and take the path of total self-reliance? We can’t. And we shouldn’t-this is part of our awakening. What we should do, at many stops along the way, is recommit to our spiritual education. We should scrutinize every class, every sermon, every theory, with the respect our soul – and our greatest teachers deserve.

Namaste until next time, my dear friends.

Do you know who you Are?

Posted on May 22, 2017 by Rod's World

I am about to begin my journey as a Sacred Love Workshop leader. I came up with the concept on the dance floor at Mojo Dance one night when I looked around and noticed that most of the people would go home alone but that they were all beautiful people and deserved so much more. About half an hour later the term Sacred Love came to me, and the concept that we had stopped being vulnerable with each other and telling each other our sacred stories.

I am still reading Daring Greatly, up to the section on vulnerability, the true caring and feeding of our spirits. Lets open up the board on vulnerability:

1. Declaring herself as a poet and a woman in progress, Raquel Franco in her book of poetry Keep me Wild delves deeply into the bravery it takes to be vulnerable.

2. I had to choose carefully so I didn’t end up with 15 Brene Brown quotes on vulnerability, but I like the simplicity of this one: You are so Beautiful.

3. Considered an important figure in postmodern literature. Steven Poole of The Guardian praised Murakami as “among the world’s greatest living novelists” for his works and achievements. I love his cure.

4. How many years do we forget this for between the openness of our childhood to having it be OK again: Vulnerable.

5. I have a new friend tell me about her twin sisters death a month after I met her. I asked her why she had told me. She said that she felt she could trust me with anything.

6. In my Sacred Love workshop you will practice declaring you weaknesses and your strengths for each chakra: When you Believe.

7. We must never forget the shadow as well as the light, we need to go to both places to free our vulnerability.

8. Open your heart the whole way, the most courageous act a human being can partake in: Open Your Heart.

9. They say masked balls are the epitome of High Society. Myself, I reckon an unmasking ball would be a much more inviting evening.

10. I don’t understand these modern gurus who make you pay thousands of dollars to yell and scream for a weekend as a way to be empowered when the above is what connects people and turns you into a leader: Thank U.

11. In the classic relationship movie Who’s afraid of Virginia Woolf, this quote is lived out on the screen . It was nominated for 23 awards.

12. From Avatar, the classic scene: I see You, do you have the courage to say it to your loved ones and friends: I See You.

13. One of the great paradoxes of life, if we withhold our trust of others we never reach the plateau of Love and Joy.

14. I wonder what the tipping point is for reversing this situation for the planet, the Dalai Lama is working on it: Unconditionally.

15. Finally use all of it.

The quest is to know yourself first and then this will allow others to reveal themselves to you.

Namaste until next time, my dear friends.

People are your Assignments!!

Posted on April 10, 2017 by Rod's World

You are always being guided, even when you don’t feel like it. It comes with being part of the human race, a unique human being. We are all in a large classroom called Earth and the people you choose to know and even those we do not give us our assignments in life. How often do you become frustrated with our political leaders even though we have never met them?

So who do we choose as our most personal assignments? Often it is our family, as they are in our lives the longest, even though it may be at some distance later in life. So let us take a journey through our assignments:

How many people have you met in your life, when you have thought, OMG, I am so glad I am nothing like them. They are there for that exact lesson

2. Joel Scott Osteen is an American preacher and televangelist. He is the Senior Pastor of Lakewood Church, in Houston, Texas. Osteen’s televised sermons are seen by over 7 million viewers weekly and over 20 million monthly in over 100 countries. He gives you some sage advice as how to handle fear as an assignment in this quote: Fear and Love.

3. Number ten is the only one you can read clearly, that’s enough.

4. Listening to your mind, trying to work out what others want to hear is not the assignment. Deep down in your soul is what you have to say: Shake It Off.

5. The old 24-hour formulae, we all have the same time in a day, so each of us has the chance to inspire others with our actions.

6. Self Love first is the prime assignment, hard to give it away if it is not part of our inner being: Stronger.

7. This is why the idea of war is corrupt as an assignment, we need to end it ASAP.

8. The second evangelist today, Myles Munroe is slightly more controversial for his stance against gay rights. He is also the author of over twenty philosophical and biblical books. I like this quote though: Ride on Time.

9. This falls in the category of don’t listen to people’s words, watch their actions. Dreams without actions are very shallow.

10. What if all mothers had told their children this, what a different world we would live in. Motherhood is a vital assignment: Imagine.

11. Sometimes assignments with each other can be frivolous, this is one of them, or is it?

12. I am finding it easier to recognize the latter these days, It’s worth the effort: Adventure of a Lifetime.

13. Confucius’s principles had a basis in common Chinese tradition and belief. He championed strong family loyalty, ancestor veneration, and respect of elders by their children and of husbands by their wives. He also recommended family as a basis for ideal government. He espoused the well-known principle “Do not do to others what you do not want to be done to yourself”, the Golden Rule.

14. Jean-Luc Godard once wrote, “Robert Bresson is French cinema, as Dostoyevsky is the Russian novel and Mozart is German music.” Two of his films were listed in Sight and Sounds 100 greatest film ever made: Invisible.

15. And here is your final assignment, remember it as often as you can.

Remember to work on at least one new assignment AKA personal relationship a week, it will transform your life!!

Namaste until next time, my dear friends.

When I am sad I eat Chocolate!!

Posted on April 6, 2017 by Rod's World

” I recognise my anger and I honour my reaction to the darkness. I know my true power lies in my capacity to be the light. I call on the energy and thoughts of love to pour through me and inspire me to take action from a place of true power “. This powerful prayer is from Gabby Bernstein’s The Universe Has Your Back, it comes from Step 2: Remember where your true power lies.

I think that what we have to offer the world comes from our remembrance of it. If we are eternally sad, that’s how the world occurs for us. Why not be curious in our remembrance of events. How they affected us, why they made us joyous or sad, we have examples of them all.

Let’s strap on our memories and go on the journey:

1. I remember a drive from San Fransisco to Los Angeles down the coast road on a foggy day. We picked up a hitchhiker going to his Narcotics Anyomous meeting. He was a local and took us to all the places people didn’t know about. The connectedness to the people and the area was remarkable.

2. This song was number one in our country for a lengthy period: Beautiful People.

3. Imagine if you walked the streets doing this, what a difference a day would make!!

4. There is that really bad 90’s Arnie movie End of days. I can remember moments for decades ago, and forget what I did last weekend: Moment of Clarity.

5. I was born in the 1950’s. Lots of truth to Brue lee’s statement. I remember the people I know and not many others who did not live a life worth remembering.

6. What memories live in your heart. then can be from your childhood or yesterday, they say time is a made up concept anyway: Memories of a song in my Heart.

7. My friend and I went on a cricket trip in the 80’s to Sydney, 1,000 kilometres away. He met our friend’s sister, fell in love and moved to Sydney three months later.

8. I have this vivid memory of Ken, the American Vietnam veteran who rescued us from the bush in New Zealand after our two-day hike in the mountains went bottoms up: I Remember You.

9. How often does this happen? Besties one day demoted to part of the pack six months later.

10. Is this the ultimate state of being? I use giving and receiving, better at the first, not so great at the second: Giving and Getting

11. People remember what you do, not what you say. A powerful memory.

12. Memories are made of this, but your future isn’t/ Fulfil your dreams: Follow The Sun.

13. Whilst writing this I received the phone call from one of my sisters I had been dreading. My beloved brother in law passed from cancer last night.

14.Lessing was awarded the 2007 Nobel Prize in Literature. In awarding the prize, the Swedish Academy described her as “that epicist of the female experience, who with scepticism, fire and visionary power has subjected a divided civilisation to scrutiny”. Lessing was the eleventh woman and the oldest person ever to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature: I remember when I was Young.