When Language Ends, What Then?


I had been ruminating on what to write my blog about this week, but after spending a particularly creative day at my friend Emeli’s business Collective Potential the thought ballon went off so here they are , 15 perspectives on creativity, some quite famous , others virtually unknown.

The great inventors, artists and musicians were often considered flakey in their own time and most definitely did not fit in and many died penniless as their recognition came years later. What do we say about this area, creativity , that has changed our planet time and time again over the ages.

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1. Henry Matisse painted beautiful flowers, he also penned one of the greatest quotes about creativity, simply three words, Creativity takes Courage. When we get to our fear factor that is where creativity kicks in, in that area we have not been before, the Unknown.

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2. Remember as a child when you trashed your mum’s kitchen making your first cake, flour and cake mix and dirty bowls everywhere. One of our first major acts of creativity and it definitely was not tidy. Guess what, creativity rarely is.

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3. Sylvia Plath’s poems were often considered on the dark side, but they always seemed to strike a cord with the reader. On creativity she pointed to the danger of trying to be creative when you were visiting the realm of self doubt. Do something to get out of this state before journeying down its path.

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4. Some say Love is the drug, creative types know that the boredom of a life without creativity is the drug that feeds their adrenaline glands.

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5. Four years old, playing knights and dragons with our imaginary friendly dragon, other kids come along and join in the game until everybody in the playground is taking part. Creativity, pass it on.

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6. Author of the 9 Intense Experiences, Brian Vaszily points to the fact that creativity is actually showing other people their blind spots, something new and exciting that they can add to their daily life.

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7. The M word, Edison made a million of these before he came across the right formulae for the light globe. Yes on your creative path you are going to make many mistakes. In fact if you are not you are not being creative.

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8. Einstein, motley hair, eccentric as hell. But he always had that cheeky grin that one wears when you are being totally creative, much fun.

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9. Let it go , Let it Out , Let it all Unravel. Let it free and It will be a path on which to travel. Michael Leunig’s beautiful ode to letting go, this is the world of creativity, go there.

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10. Do we call them goals those things we attain to and that are not in existence yet, but in the world to be. I use Danielle LaPorte’s Core Desired Feelings from the Desire Map technology to relate to this area of my life. Mine are Peace, Bliss, Love, H.O.P.E. – Helping other people evolve and Abundance. Living out of these is much more fulfilling than any To Do list.

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11. My friend Jules is wild and juvenile and one of the most creative people I know. His imagination is unfettered. He is often accused of not growing up. I think he should be given an Order of Australia for his contribution to the creativity of the planet.

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12. Our minds often get blocked up with the grunge of our everyday lives, there are methods such as meditation, Yoga and my favourite Tai Chi to help clear them and allow some space for creativity to replace it.

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13. Oh those times in our lives when it felt like everything was floating around torn asunder, not connected at all. A perfect opportunity to use your creative juices to restore some sense to it all.

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14. We all have the same number of hours in the day as luminaries like Martin Luther King Jr., Gandhi, Beethoven, Sir Richard Branson and my friend Emeli Paolo of Collective Potential. The difference in what they achieved and are going to achieve, go Emeli is that they knew and know that you cannot change the world by being like it, you have to do something radically different.

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15. Fonzie in the classic 60’s TV show Happy Days couldn’t say the word sorry. In the world of Creativity you had better be able to be with being wrong, because you will be many times, that’s why it’s called creativity after all.

Another 15 vignettes pondered and written Namaste until next time my friends.

Namaste

Can they see Angels?


We often see our children talking to their imaginary friends or staring into space like they can see something that is invisible to the rest of us. What is it that is taken from us as we age that seems to bring so much joy to the innocence and joy of child’s play.

Over the centuries people have pondered this question and written great tomes about it, her are 15 of the more popular ones that may help explain the mystery.

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1. As the newest arrivals on our planet babies are checking out all aspects that are available. They have to learn what is real or not, you cannot tell them this because they do not have language yet to understand what you are saying to them. What is it they see that holds them in such rapture for hours on end.

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2. The imagination that children develop is like that of a great painter creating an exquisite image on a blank canvas, so many wondrous unexplainable things that they form into their daily child’s play.

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3. Plato is considered one of the great thinkers of the ancient world, but he had something to say on the power of living life as play, learn from the children.

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4. We need to work to make a living, but what if our work felt like play, joyful and exciting each day. Make play each day your priority.

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5. Remember when you were young, a line from a very kitschy 70 or 80’s pop song. We have the opportunity to do this moment to moment, but how many of us take it to return to the totalled expressed joy of childhood?

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6. Do you remember the first time you were dropped off at kindergarten? Lots of your fellow conspirators of play had to be dragged kicking screaming and crying into that monolithic building. They all knew the serious work was the play not the formal learning.

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7. I remember trashing my mothers kitchen several times with cooking utensils and flour. I could never work out why I never got into trouble, I think Love is the word that explains it best.

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8. Even famous people like Martin Luther King junior valued time with his children in the heady days of transforming the civil rights of people. Here he is laying back with his children partaking in some Child’s play.

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9. The innocence of a child, especially a newborn baby sometimes bring tears to my eyes. it is this vulnerability that we spend so much money and time on trying to attain again as we have learnt to become more cynical as we age.

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10. Carl Orrf was one of the most influential composers of the last century, his Carmen Baruna is sublime. But as important as his music was to him he equally believed in educating children in play. here is what he had to say on the subject.

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11. Joy, freedom, contentment, inner and outer rest, peace with the world: these are a few of a child’s favourite things as they are participating in that heavenly state known as Child’s play.

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12. Past , Present and Future, babies and young children have one of these distinctions. Now, Now, Now. Eckhart Tolle has made a fortune getting us back to this point. We once had it so it is obtainable again.

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13. Sporting parents, we all have horror stories from growing up watching fellow children being forced to fulfil their parents lost dreams. Its great to know that there are sporting icons who don’t believe in this barbaric practice that has scarred many a child.

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14. One of Rumi’s great parables, that retaining your joy of playing with children is what gives you great insight into the world.

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15 Just one final reminder from our babies and children on how to enjoy life to the full, be in the present, don’t worry about what has gone in the past and we can’t be certain of our future, be in the NOW.

Another 15 beautiful insights into what is possible from that wondrous period of our life known as Child’s Play. Hopefully this will help you return there, even if just for a moment.

So Namaste to you my dear friends, until next time

Namaste

Live More Awesome, Jamgrass Music Festival, People Matter.


What do these three statements have in common? They are the stickers on my music folder that contains the songs I sing at the Moons a Balloon, the community choir that I am a member of led by the inspirational Kavisha Mazzella. We are a Mental Fellowship of Victoria initiative so a lot of our members are in different stage of recovery from the dark times we have had in our lives.

When I was recently in The Melbourne Clinic for 28 days my friends in the choir offered to come and sing me some songs, I was nowhere near being in the space for them to do it but the offer made my heart shudder, that they would consider giving up their time to come and care for me was illuminating to say the least.

What songs do we sing? We have several standards, Tell Me Why by the ever awesome Neil Young, Somewhere over the Rainbow because its a beautiful song, The Moons A Balloon written by the choir when the chirpy Alicia Egan replaced Kavisha for a few weeks while she was off learning a new Tai Chi movement, but thats another story. My Island Home, a song by Christine Anu that should be Australia’s national anthem and Geckoe Song , one of Kavisha’s tunes, by the way did I mention that I have followed Kavisha and Her musical journey for over 20 years and once paid her $50 to sing my favourite song at a benefit at CERES environmental park in Brunswick. She is to me the worlds greatest singer songwriter and has the voice of an angel because Kaviisha is one.

But my favourite moments are when we sing the rounds Like Eagle Flying, another tune by Kavisha, Here are the words, when this song is sung in different harmonies you are moved to tears by its simplicity and power:

As I walk this Country, As I walk this land, I feel you watching over me

As I walk this Country, As I walk this land, I feel your spirit healing me

Eagle flying , Eagle Flying, Keeper of our Dreams

Another favourite is There is so much Magnificence by Peter Maken, simple words, awesome beauty.

Thers is so much magnificence here beside the ocean, waves are rolling in…Waves are rolling in…

Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia,

Ahhh Lehhh Luhhhh Yaaaaaa

Ahhh Lehhh Luhhhh Yaaaaaa

Often Basil brings his nieces along and its OK to have a cry if its tough out there on the roads of life because we are a family and we love each other, Thanks Kavisha for making our lives more worthwhile by having the choir be on fire.

Namaste till next time my friends

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What colour pencil do you prefer?


All of my friends and I as children spent lots of time drawing with pencils and paper and we all had a favourite colour. I drew a  lot of purple things, purple whales, purple fairies, purple cars, etc. etc. They don’t let you wear purple in the office environment so as I grew up and became an adult my love of the colour purple and I grew apart.

They say each colour has it own significance so I will list them for you, purple first of course.

Purple – 

Purple is the color of good judgment. It is the color of people seeking spiritual fulfillment. It is said if you surround yourself with purple you will have peace of mind. Purple is a good color to use in meditation.

Purple has been used to symbolize magic and mystery, as well as royalty. Being the combination of red and blue, the warmest and coolest colors, purple is believed to be the ideal color. Most children love the color purple. Purple is the color most favored by artists. Thursday’s color is purple.

Violet is the color of purpose. Violet is associated with the Crown chakra (This links individual and universal).

Violet Energy

Violet is a combination of blue and red. Red is a focusing, dynamic and active energy while blue is cooling, calming and expansive. Violet brings a new dynamic to the expansion of blue and the activity of red. Red brings practicality to the undirected expansiveness of the blue, and allows more creative energy to emerge. For this reason, violet is associated with imagination and inspiration.

Violet is an important energy for those who use blue and indigo skills in the psychic field. The red in violet offers a grounding effect.

Put some violet in your life when you want:

  • to use your imagination to its fullest
  • to re-balance your life
  • to remove obstacles
  • to calm overactivity or to energize from depression

Red

Red is the warmest of all colors. Red is the color most chosen by extroverts and one of the top picks of males. On the negative side red can mean temper or anger. In China, red is the color of prosperity and joy. Brides wear red and front doors are often painted red. Red is Tuesday’s color. Red roses symbolize passionate love. Ruby rings should be worn on the left hand. Red is the color of Mars. This planet is known as the God of War.

Red Energy

Red is associated with fiery heat and warmth. It can also mean danger (burning).

Red is the color of blood, and as such has strong symbolism as life and vitality. It brings focus to the essence of life and living with emphasis on survival. Red is also the color of passion and lust.

Put some red in your life when you want:

  • increased enthusiasm and interest
  • more energy
  • action and confidence to go after your dreams
  • protection from fears and anxieties

Pink –

Pink is the color of universal love. Pink is a quiet color. Lovers of beauty favor pink. A pink carnation means “I will never forget you”.

Pink Energy

Pink is a combination of red and white. The quality of energy in pink is determined by how much red is present. White is the potential for fullness, while red helps you to achieve that potential. Pink combines these energies. Shades of deep pink, such as magenta, are effective in neutralizing disorder and violence. Some prisons use limited deep pink tones to diffuse aggressive behaviour.

Pink provides feelings of caring, tenderness, self-worth and love, acceptance.

Put some pink in your life when you want:

  • calm feelings
  • to neutralize disorder
  • relaxation
  • acceptance, contentment

Brown – 

People who prefer brown are often conventional and orderly. The negative meaning of brown can be a repressed personality or a lazy person. Brown is the color of the earth and is associated with the material side of life.

Brown Energy

Brown can mix into many surroundings. It is a mixture of red, blue and yellow and has many shades and tones – each producing a different effect. Brown can be a stabilizing color. The red in brown gives it practical energy while the yellow and blue add mental focus energies. Too much brown can make a dull effect. Brown gives a feeling of solidity, and allows one to stay in the background, unnoticed.

Some shades of brown create a warm, comfortable feeling of wholesomeness, naturalness and dependability.

Put some brown in your life when you want:

  • a solid wholesome feeling
  • to blend with the background
  • a connection with natural earth and the stability this brings
  • orderliness and convention

Orange is a power color. It is one of the healing colors. It is said to increase the craving for food. It also stimulates enthusiasm and creativity. Orange means vitality with endurance. People who like orange are usually thoughtful and sincere. Lady luck’s color is orange. I have been told that if a change of any kind is need in life, just burn an orange candle for 7 nights.

Orange Energy

While red is associated with fiery heat, orange is associated with the benign warmth of the sun. A dynamic color to be sure, orange offers a more thoughtful control than explosive red. Curiosity is a driving characteristic of orange, and with it comes exploration of new things.

Put some orange in your life when you want:

  • to spice things up when you feel time is dragging
  • to become more involved in something
  • to increase creativity
  • relief from things becoming too serious

Gold – 

It is no surprise that gold symbolizes wealth used wisely, but it is also the symbol of good health. People who favor the color gold are optimistic.

Gold Energy

The tibetan Buddhist believes in 5 sacred stones: the crystal for light, turquoise for infinity of sea and sky, coral for life and form, gold for the golden ray of the sun, silver for the light of the moon. Gold is intimately linked with Divinity and those gods associated with the Sun. It symbolizes wealth and success.

Put some gold in your life when you want:

  • increased personal power
  • relaxation and enjoyment of life
  • good health
  • success

Yellow –

The shade of yellow determines the meaning. Pure, bright and sunny yellow is the easiest color to see. People who are blind to other colors can usually see yellow. Yellow is full of creative and intellectual energy. Always use yellow note pads.

Yellow symbolizes wisdom. Yellow means joy and happiness. People of high intellect favor yellow. Yellow daffodils are a symbol of unrequited love. Sunday’s color is yellow-gold.

Yellow Energy

Like the energy of a bright sunny day, yellow brings clarity and awareness. The shade of yellow determines its effect: Yellow-green can mean deceit, and creates a disoriented feeling. Orange-yellow imparts a sense of establishment. Clean light yellow clears the mind, making it active and alert.

Put some yellow in your life when you want:

  • clarity for decision-making
  • relief from ‘burnout’, panic, nervousness, exhaustion
  • sharper memory and concentration skills
  • protection from lethargy and depression during dull weather

Green – 

Green is the color of nature, fertility, life. Grass green is the most restful color. Green symbolizes self-respect and well being. Green is the color of balance. It also means learning, growth and harmony. Green is a safe color, if you don’t know what color to use anywhere use green.

Green is favored by well balanced people. Green symbolizes the master healer and the life force. It often symbolizes money. It was believed green was healing for the eyes. Egyptians wore green eyeliner. Green eyeshades are still used. You should eat raw green foods for good health. Friday is the day of green. Green jade is a sacred stone of Asia.

Green Energy

Green contains the powerful energies of nature, growth, desire to expand or increase. Balance and a sense of order are found in the color green. Change and transformation is necessary for growth, and so this ability to sustain changes is also a part of the energy of green.

Put some green in your life when you want:

  • a new state of balance
  • feel a need for change or growth
  • freedom to pursue new ideas
  • protection from fears and anxieties connected with the demands of others

Blue –

Blue is the coolest color – the color of the sky, ocean, sleep, twilight. The ancient Egyptians used lapis lazuli to represent heaven. Blue symbolizes the Virgin Mary. A pure blue is the color of inspiration, sincerity and spirituality. Blue is often the chosen color by conservative people. Blue is the calming color. That makes it a wonderful color to use in the home, especially for babies. Blue is so soothing that is a good choice for pajamas. Dark blue is the color of truth and moderation. A blue iris means your friendship is very important to me. Wednesday’s color is blue. Blue gemstones to wear to feel calm are blue sapphire and blue topaz. Lapis lazuli and azurite are said to heighten psychic power.

Turquoise is the symbol of youth, both the color and the gemstone. This color has a soothing affect. Turquoise is the color of communication. It contains the growth quality of green with the blue quality of communication. Turquoise has long been used in amulets to provide protection, health, confidence and strength.

Aqua is the color of high ideals.

Blue Energy

Blue gives a feeling of distance. Artists use it to to show perspective. This is a good way to understand the energy of the color blue – it allows us to look beyond and increase our perspective outward. It contains a cool vibration that is helpful to communication.

The vibration if blue can be used to open energy flow where it is blocked. Using blue to relax will encourage feelings of communication and peace.

Put some blue in your life when you want:

  • calm and relaxation to counteract chaos or agitation
  • to open the flow of communication
  • to broaden your perspective in learning new information
  • solitude and peace

Indigo –

Indigo is the color of the deep midnight sky. It can have a negative effect when used during a depressed state, because it will deepen the mood. Indigo symbolizes a mystical borderland of wisdom, self-mastery and spiritual realization. While blue is the color of communication with others, indigo turns the blue inward, to increase personal thought, profound insights, and instant understandings. While blue can be fast, Indigo is almost instantaneous. Inventors use indigo skills for inspirations that seem to ‘come out of the blue’.

Put some indigo in your life when you want:

  • to focus on personal issues
  • to develop intuition
  • to step outside of everyday life for a new and interesting way of viewing a problem
  • solitude and inner communication

White –

Indigo is the color of the deep midnight sky. It can have a negative effect when used during a depressed state, because it will deepen the mood. Indigo symbolizes a mystical borderland of wisdom, self-mastery and spiritual realization. While blue is the color of communication with others, indigo turns the blue inward, to increase personal thought, profound insights, and instant understandings. While blue can be fast, Indigo is almost instantaneous. Inventors use indigo skills for inspirations that seem to ‘come out of the blue’.

Put some indigo in your life when you want:

  • to focus on personal issues
  • to develop intuition
  • to step outside of everyday life for a new and interesting way of viewing a problem
  • solitude and inner communication

White –

White is the color of purity. Brides wear white in many countries, because white symbolizes a virgin. White means kindness. In some cultures white is worn at funerals. White is Monday’s color. White daisies are a symbol of loyal love.

White Energy

Strictly speaking, white is not a color, but the manifestation of the presence of all color – the complete energy of light. It stands for wholeness and completion. In many cultures it represents openness and truth. White has a cold quality. It can provide clarity as its energy is complete.

White has purification vibrations and can be used to clear blocks from your path.

It holds the potential to move toward every other color and this makes it a good choice for new beginnings, and development in any direction.

Put some white in your life when you want:

  • to clear clutter and obstacles away
  • to start a fresh beginning
  • to bring about mental clarity
  • purification of thoughts or actions

Black – 

Black is the most misunderstood color. A black tie dinner is very formal and elegant. Women can wear that “must have little black dress” to the black tie dinner. Yet the bad guys wear black hats. Black symbolizes death in some cultures. Native Americans thought black was good because it was the color of soil, which gives life. Saturday’s color is black.

Black Energy

Black is not a color, strictly speaking. It is the absence of all color. When people speak of opposites, it is usually in terms of black and white. Black, and its opposite white, represent polarities. Black absorbs all aspects of light. While white reveals, black conceals. It has come to mean hidden, fearful or bad experience. It is linked to the unknown or the unseen.

In times of fear and uncertainty black contains the energy of the threatening unknown. In a positive state, black is seen as a restful emptiness into which anything may emerge and disappear once again. It is also mysterious, providing a sense of potential and possibility.

Put some black in your life when you want:

  • to become inconspicuous
  • to open the door to mystery
  • to prepare for the unknown
  • a restful emptiness

Grey – 

Grey is the color of sorrow. People who favor grey can be the lone wolf type or narrow-minded. Grey with more silver in it can be a very active color.

Native Americans associate grey with friendship. Grey is the symbol for security, maturity and dependability. It connotes responsibility and conservative practicality.

Grey Energy

Grey is the true neutral color. Its energy imparts void, emptiness, lack of movement, emotion, warmth and identifying characteristics. Because of this, grey can be restful. It has a detached and isolated feeling. Grey can have a cooling effect when placed next to other more vibrant colors. It has a stabilizing effect, making vibrant colors stand out while muting their vibration.

Put some grey in your life when you want:

  • to emphasize your willingness to comply
  • a neutral, non-invasive feeling
  • to reduce the intense energy of another color
  • to feel detached or isolated

Thanks to Emily Gems http://crystal-cure.com/color.html for the information re colours, since leaving government service I have returned to my love of the colour purple and the shortest pencil in my pencil case is my purple pencil, Yay!!!

Namaste until next time  my friends.

Colours