Indifference is costing us the Planet!!

Posted on February 8, 2016 by Rod's World

The opposite of love is not hate, it’s indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness, it’s indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it’s indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, it’s indifference.

I have always been a volunteer, my 88 year old mum Edna trained us to be involved in the community, she was a Brown Owl and involved in the local church all through our childhood. Mine has mainly been activism, environmentalism and Interculturalism being my latest passions.

Dr Suess’s character The Lorax , was heard to utter “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, Nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”

So what does the world have to say about activism and why is there so littl eof it to counter mainstream media’s charge toward destruction.

Here are 15 quotes that may provide the answer. Let’s have a look

1. Ross Perot, America’s voice that states truths and the answer to the Greens party in Australia, points out it is not words that make the difference in activism its the actions.

2. One of the youngest winners of the Nobel Peace Prize at 16, Malala Yousafzai survived being shot in the head to being the best known activist for women’s education on the planet.

3. Jamaica: home of Zombies and Devils, their best known import Bob Marley, chose his activism to be Is this Love.

4. Ricky Gervais is one of the planets best known atheists as well as a great actor and comedian. He is very active in pointing out the benefits of atheism compared to the craziness of the religions that seem to control the planet.

5. Alice Walker is one of my heroines, Alice become a civil right activists in the 60’s after meeting Martin Luther King Jr. , turning to writing she released the iconic The Color Purple which the famous line I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don’t notice it. comes from. At 81 she is still an activist for human rights and all living beings.

6. My friend Jeffrey Slayter says we are all going Sane in an Insane World, he provides a lot of information to help us do this Info for your Sanity., John Lennon agrees with him about the insanity.

7. Another great African American Female activist Audrey Lorde accuses the human race that their silence will not protect them when the shit hits the fan.

8. Samuel Clemens better known as Mark Twain was credited with writing the Great American Novel, The adventures of Huckleberry Finn was not astray from pointing out that you can not hide from the wrongs of the world by shutting your eyes to them.

9. Its interesting that in mainstream media you do not read much about our famous female activists of the world. Winona LaDuke is a Native American of Ojibwe ancestry who has fought for Tribal Lands since the 80’s. The point she makes in this quote shows the ridiculousness of our world at the moment.

10. Malala declared herself a feminist after hearing Emma Watson famous speech on gender equality We are Equal. Direct and to the point Malala states that we will not succeed in our Activism while there is no gender equality.

11. Probably the greatest activist who used Love and non violence to get what he was seeking this man freed a nation without firing a shot in anger.

12. I love Arundhati Roy, brave and outspoken. This quote on why activism is an act of courage in the face of the attempt by the mainstream to silence them and not listen.

13. This should be taught in All schools, must more useful than Maths.

14. Comes a time, a song by Neil Young The Song. states that we drift through the world then something happens and we choose to stand up for what we believe in as Martin Luther Kings quote is referring to.

15. This quote by Arundhati is the quote I use on my public Facebook group called Interculturalism. This is where people come to join together to actively spread the ethos of Love and Respect for All Everyone Included. It is growing slowly but everybody is welcome to join and contribute.

Activism is one of the things that will save us from what they are setting up. Be active in whatever area in life you choose, but be Active.

Namaste until Thursday, my dear friends

Go back to where you came From!!

Posted on February 4, 2016 by Rod's World

My country made a sad decision today, it legalised the right to keep children who were born in this country in prison camps on remote islands where known cases of child abuses take place because their parents are supposedly illegal refugees.

What does this word refugee mean, the definition of it is quite clear:

According to the United Nations Convention relating to the Status of Refugees [PDF], as amended by its 1967 Protocol (the Refugee Convention), a refugee is a person who is:

outside their own country and
has a well-founded fear of persecution due to his/ her race, religion, nationality, member of a particular social group or political opinion, and is
unable or unwilling to return.

Yet we in our own country use terms like border protection and lock up children for up to a period of over 12 months, I call this inhumane and not meeting the above guidelines.

What has been said about refugees over the ages, have we improved the way we deal with them. There are many famous refugees, I had no clue Freddy Mercury was one, fleeing after the 1964 Zanzibar revolution.

Here are Fifteen quotes I have chosen to look at more useful ways to deal with refugees.

1. I work in a place who dealt with the first wave of Asylum Seekers in Australia, many of them Iranian. I will give an examples changing his name. Ali worked as an airport Manager, his younger brother was accused of political dissent. Ali was called in by the police and tortured for two weeks and on release told next time he would not leave alive. He fled the country, leaving everything behind the following day. It took him 9 months to get to Australia, and yes he came by boat.

2. Name calling by the media, used to demean not empower or open people’s hearts to these people who have suffered unimaginable atrocities that people who live in area of war do. The only way I can relate to the effects of it are when I was in Leningrad and our guide said to imagine what happened here in a 2 year period kill 1 in 5 of the people you know and that is what occurred here.

3. I saw the drone shots Russia took of the cities of Syria, as this quotes states refugees often have no choice, there is nothing to go back to. We are just very lucky to have never experienced this in our country.

4. Probably the worlds most famous refugee is Einstein. A German Jew, his work was discredited by the Nazi Party. He was one of the lucky one who got out early in 1932 and went out to make some of the most significant scientific discoveries of the modern era.

5. Tonn Benn served in the British parliament for 47 years as was seen as being the most left wing member of his party. He did not hold back in stating what he saw as the dangers of his right wing opponents, this is one of his most famous quotes.

6. Famous for We turned back the boats and Team Australia sometimes our politicians forget and let their heart slip out, this was one such occasion.

7. Go back home, to what?

8. I love the poster of two earth’s , one with all the flags over it and the other as it actually is , One planet. Then no one would be illegal.

9. They say that the strength of your team is measured by your weakest link, what does that say about planet earth and its treatment of our refugees.

10. This picture speaks to the UN convention relating to the status of Refugees, designed to do exactly what it says. Delivery, Comfort and Mercy.

11. “Refugees are people like anyone else, like you and me. They led ordinary lives before becoming displaced, and their biggest dream is to be able to live normally again. On this World Refugee Day, the 20th June let us recall our common humanity, celebrate tolerance and diversity and open our hearts to refugees everywhere.”

Ban Ki-moon, Secretary of The UN pointing out with there is no such thing as Us and Them.

12. Taken from the glorious song by Leonard Cohen Anthem. to me means that we give love as though like we have lost our country and are stateless, a pure love of mercy.

13. This is being questioned with the current refugee crisis sweeping Europe. perhaps they need to send the political leaders on a holiday to Syria for a week or two and it would be put in perspective.

14. This poem was written by a Somali refugee commenting on what happened to his country and how he thought before the war and after the war when he became one.

15. A sign that says it all, not needing the political or economic commentary, just the humane one. Please when commenting on they should go back home, remember this, especially in our country where a great majority of our immigrants were refugees.

I had to stop halfway through writing this, we had a U.N. Interfaith Harmony Week event, the ethos if this week is Love of God, and Love of the Neighbour. They has youth speakers from six different faiths, aged from 12 to 20 they all spoke of love and compassion. This gives me great hope for the future of refugees.

Namaste until next Monday my dear friends.

Is Adversity Awesome?

Posted on February 1, 2016 by Rod's World

This is a great question, do we want adversity in our lives or do we want them to chug along with very few bumps in the road. I confess that I tried the latter and kept ending up in psych. units because I did not handle the former very well.

The first time was when they were going to shut down the office I worked in where we had created a special relationship with our clients and I didn’t want to lose it so I clandestinely fought it with the community and union so that they kept it partially open in a smaller site around the corner. The stress of doing this saw me start a journey were I was dismissed and put on a pension never to work again with another two admissions during the two year period.

So what can dealing better with adversity offer us? There are many quotes from famous characters in history to unknowns on the subject and it was a difficult task choosing the fifteen most relevant, but here are my favourite ones. Lets have a look :

1. One of the great tests of adversity is who stays along for the ride when the going gets tough. I know that when in deep depression I was not an easy person to stay with but there were certain friends who stayed through me trying to tell them to go away because I was not worth knowing.

2. Adversity is put in our lives to test our resolve, how we get through them increases our Strength in life, helps us get through those moments in life that truly test our ability to break on through to a stronger person.

3. Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī, also known as Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Balkhī, Mawlānā/Mevlânâ, Mevlevî/Mawlawī, and more popularly simply as Rumi, was a 13th-century Persian poet, jurist, Islamic scholar, theologian, and Sufi mystic. Rumi’s influence transcends national borders and ethnic divisions: Iranians, Tajiks, Turks, Greeks, Pashtuns, other Central Asian Muslims, and the Muslims of South Asia have greatly appreciated his spiritual legacy for the past seven centuries. His poems have been widely translated into many of the world’s languages and transposed into various formats. Rumi has been described as the “most popular poet” and the “best selling poet” in the United States. I spoke to an Iranian friend who did not know who Rumi was but knew Mawlawi well. He says it simply but it is profound.

4. In my friends Arion’s work The Activation Program we work on an aspect of life called Renewal where we look at what controls us being more effective and look to accept this, in doing so this allows it to no longer control us, like having it blow the adversity away.

5. American author and bloggist Randi J. Fine points out that even though adversity is happening to us it is occurring for a reason, what is happening is exactly what is meant to at that moment to move us through life. You could even say from reading her site she is suggesting Don’t worry be Happy.

6. A lot of my friends lead workshops and seminars in the conscious movement and personal development areas. If you were to hear their stories as how they got there you would definitely agree that they are shining the light for other, living proof of the wounded healer stories.

7. here is one of the great natural examples of what can be created by overcoming adversity. Considered the most sough after gemstone who realises that it began its life as a piece of charcoal.

8. Discussing his quote we all think of Frank Herbert as a Science Fiction writer of note, best known for the novel Dune and its five sequels. Though he became famous for science fiction, he was also a newspaper journalist, photographer, short story writer, book reviewer, ecological consultant and lecturer. He had adversity covered in all directions.

9. It is a little known fact that many millionaires go broke several times in their life. But due to the fact they can handle great wealth they can also handle great adversity so have the ability to return to their former status.

10. John A. Passaro grew up as a wrestler and points out that is were he learnt to be a better person not in his Science and Math and English classes. Perhaps this is what Pink Floyd meant when they sang We don’t need no Education.

11. If we lived our whole lives between the lines, in the safe zone, how much meaning would there be in our lives, I often here people referring to the Nanny State these days, that everything is so controlled people don’t know what to do when they are challenged in life.

12. Climatic disasters are what this quote reminds me of. It brings out the best in people because at the heart of it, we all want to make a difference with others and these occurrences are when we are needed to do it most.

13. When we look at our politicians and how many of them have to resign due to corruption this quote from Abraham Lincoln hits home. It seems to bring out the worst of behaviour in some people who seek to be elected to make a difference. As JOhn Lennon sang Power to the People.

14. Walter Elias “Walt” Disney was an American entrepreneur, cartoonist, animator, voice actor, and film producer. He was a prominent figure within the American animation industry and throughout the world, and is regarded as a cultural icon, known for his influence and contributions to entertainment during the Twentieth century. Flowers grow in deserts and mountains , areas we do not expect them to.

15. Roads keeps us well under control, discoveries do not come from staying on the road, but trying out the adversity of the Unknown, not many life changing inventions were made driving the car down the road.

I have learnt to deal with adversity much better these days, I do not recommend waiting 58 years as I did, many of these spent trying to fix myself.

Namaste until Thursday, my dear friends.

Are you Interested?

Posted on January 25, 2016 by Rod's World

I have lived in Preston, Victoria, Australia for four years now and find it a much more communal area than the suburb I previously lived in. Perhaps this is because of the local council who are committed to each of the 153 different cultures who make up its population and the Darebin Intercultural Centre that was sent up to ensure this happened. link to information on DIC.

What makes a great community, It is defined in meaning two distinct things

community

kəˈmjuːnɪti/

noun

1.

a group of people living in the same place or having a particular characteristic in common.

“Montreal’s Italian community”

synonyms: group, section, body, company, set, circle, clique, coterie, ring, band,faction;
2.

the condition of sharing or having certain attitudes and interests in common.

“the sense of community that organized religion can provide”

I have belonged to many different communities over my life: The football playing community, the singing community, the self development community and the Northside living community being some of them.

What has society said about Community over the centuries. The 15 quotes I have chosen say different things about it, lets have a look :

1. Author of the outstanding book Love and Will Rollo May states that Communication is an essential part of Community as it leads to us understanding each other not judging from made up opinions.

2, This beautiful poster suggests many ways to build a sense of community. If these are in place I suggest you would be part of a vibrant one.

3. When you become a genuine part of a community there is something you give to it, your heart. One touched in your heart you realise that this is what fulfils you th emost in your life.

4. Marianne Williamson, known for her quote from her best selling book A Return To Love: Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate, Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we’re liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others. This quote is often incorrectly credited to Nelson Mandela. Another powerful pointer to th epower of community from Marianne.

5. Synergy is another benefit of strong communities. Synergy is the interaction of elements that when combined produce a total effect that is greater than the sum of the individual elements, contributions, etc. You need less to achieve much more.

6. In your Face community, Love and Respect for all, Everyone Included – the ethos of my public FB group Interculturalism, a space to join and share your examples of Community that includes everyone.

7. Always look out for people who are in your community who are not partaking of what is available in belonging to it. Always give them the choice but don’t assume they don’t want to be.

8. I agree with Mahatma, when I am not partaking in a Community I feel a little lost as I did for the first year of living in Preston, but after discovering The Intercultural centre and its activities I became part of that beautiful gift one gives, Of Service.

9. Love this image and quote from Henrik Ibsen, father of the school of Realism. In a community anyone can step forward and lead, they tend to have less bureaucracy than other structures.

10 A gaggle of words that come out of Community. Things that you obtain, assets, a sense of wellness, support of others and events to attend and meet the others from your community.

11. I am listening to Mitch Albom’s book the Five people you meet in Heaven, a book about Ernie who dies where he learns that heaven is not a lush Garden of Eden, but a place where your earthly life is explained to you by five people. These people may have been loved ones or distant strangers. Yet each of them changed your path forever. Its fascinating and points out the importance of creating purpose and meaning in your life through community service.

12. David Bowie worked on this his whole love, from Ziggy Stardust to the Thin White Duke, he was all about including everyone in his fan group AKA his community. Here is one of his finest songs in relationship to Community: Heroes.

13. Jasmine Guy is an actress who pointed out that Community is not as easy as it used to be when we were part of a tribe living in a Village, but it is still is so worthwhile.

14. Maria Montessori was an Italian physician, educator, and innovator, acclaimed for her educational method that builds on the way children naturally learn. She created schools where the whole school was a community not broken up into separate classes.

15. And finally something to remember, that our bodies are a community as well, made up of millions of Star Seeds and Cells.

So have a think about what communities you say you belong to and those you would like to, I guarantee that it will open your heart more for you and by being of Service you will live a healthier life.

Namaste until next Thursday, my dear friends.

Did you Get It!

Posted on January 18, 2016 by Rod's World

I have started listening to Podcasts on the recommendation of my Anam Cara Emeli. I listened to a fascinating one about fulfilling your purpose by getting your message out there. This made me think did most people know what the Message they had to give in life was.

I have done several modalities to set up my message for the year and live from my Core Desired Feelings of . These are from Danielle LaPortes brilliant process The Desire Map. From the others my Word for 2016 is Sacredness and my Essence is Sacred Love, more about those in a later Blog.

I have chosen 15 diverse quotes, covering Love, Social Media and Purpose. No Oprah but there is Mother Teresa. Lets begin our journey.

1. This is describing the essence of Sacred Love, where you or someone say I Love You, and you don’t really have to say it again because they you or they hear it for the rest of you life this time in. Its to do with revealing your Sacred Stories.

2. Google didn’t find Aditya, but their message is Inspiring in its words and intention, don’t mess round delivering yours.

3. Its good to have a dream, I have a favourite image which is of a Unicorn and it says don’t let them kill your day dream. But to fulfil that daydream you also require the actions of Doing stuff.

4. Dennis S. Brown is a motivational speaker who grew up in a three room “Shot Gun” house in Central Louisiana is known as Mr Attitude. His ability to relate to transforming your message through real life events he has experienced draw people to him in the thousands.

5. Luke Rinehart wrote a book called The Dice Man back in 1971 where he shook a dice before making any decision. It is a fascinating read as to me the message is that we make decisions on much more shallow fears and judgements than this in our lives.

6. Throw in a bit of weird, a bit of not normal, Yes even some insanity to get that Message out there if you want it to be heard.

7. Probably not many people on Earth are quoted more than His Holiness, The Dalai Lama. When spreading you Message , if you want it to be joyful and easy look in the mirror and there is the person responsible for it happening.

8. There will always be critics, mainstream media makes a living from it, imagine if they reported the great messages that existed around the World instead, it would transform.

9. Parenting 101, give your used things to your next sibling or the family down the street who are not as well off as you. Thinking about it later and having judgements about it doesn’t get that Message out there.

10. I get to tell one of my sacred stories, about how I broke up a friendship via SMS because she said that it was a valid way to communicate and would not agree to meeting face to face. I told her it was a crap way and have not heard from her since after I said to her that I was not the negative person she talked about and that negative people did not send three things I love about you for 5 months each and every day.

11. Time for a song, Little Anthony from 1960. Tears on My Pillow, Tears may be necessary to move to the next level of getting your message out there. It isn’t always a cakewalk.

12. Penn Fraser Jillette is an American magician, juggler, comedian, musician, inventor, actor, and best-selling author known for his work with fellow magician Teller in the team Penn & Teller. He is also known for his advocacy of atheism, scientific scepticism , libertarianism and free-market capitalism . The Message is the Message, we often forget this as it becomes more difficult.

13. Mother Teresa is much loved and much maligned, there appears to be no middle ground with her. She got her Message out powerfully to the World about the slums of India. As she states, you need to light the flame daily for it to keep burning, same with your message.

14. There are roughly 6,500 spoken languages in the world today. However, about 2,000 of those languages have fewer than 1,000 speakers. The most popular language in the world is Mandarin Chinese. There are 1,213,000,000 people in the world that speak that language. How about if we wrote our message in every language, that certainly would make a difference.

15. Finally a bit of humour about getting your message out there. Make sure it is real for you. if its not why will other people listen to it.

Each of us have a message to bring to the planet and its people, it would seem that the messages being spoken the loudest are those of war, corruption and Terrorism. Do not worry, it is the last cries of a time that has seen its day. We are entering the Age of Aquarius. Peace and Love and Human Connection.

Namaste until Thursday, my dear friends.

Stand by your?

Posted on October 26, 2015 by Rod's World

I made one of the toughest decisions in a long time the other day. I told the woman I thought could be my soul-mate to go away. I had sent her an SMS message daily , that’s the way she liked to communicate, for the past five months what I liked or loved about her.

Yet she continually reminded me that I was being negative towards her and seemed to store them in a negativity database to bring out when she felt like. The last time she did it was during a conversation where she contacted me saying she had been sad and teary and thanking me for my latest SMS.

I offered to stop what I was doing and come and see her. It went through this weird process which ended up in her messaging she was not sure whether she wanted to see me due to my negativity. This is why I do not like communicating by SMS, it is totally impersonal and can be misconstrued by both parties.

I have chosen 15 quotes about breaking up, one of the things I used to consider the hardest thing to do. Here they are.

1. It takes you to get to that point where you know your rights are being abused before you say enough is enough, do it and hope they get the message .

2. My heart has been hurting since I did it, The last thing I wrote was that PS I still love you, but self love has to come first.

3. It takes something to do this, you argue with yourself remembering the good times, and I will miss them so much. But I have grown as a person over the last six months and know what I want in my life

4. The she’ll be right syndrome. The horses head on the meal table Say it like the image you prefer but you have to go all the way down in your relationships to come out the other side.

5. Not at this point yet, far to soon and my heart is still hurting. But I can relate to the concept, it seems it will open space for me.

6. I told her that I would change my life to see her more often because I did think of her a lot when doing things wishing I was that she was there. Now I won’t have to, shame really.

7. I’m not sure if this is true for me at the moment, they say you should fight cat and dog for those you love.

8. I didn’t realising it was hurting me until the last time, I had always apologised for doing it, then realised I wasn’t the person she was referring to, so got the lesson.

9. In my heart I don’t want to do this, but my anxiety level says something else, that for my health I need to or have it dramatically change.

10. This is a nice way of putting it, perhaps they should put it on all government forms.

11. I thought I was satisfied with where I was at, my truth had other ideas and said stand up for yourself.

12. Self explanatory, this is the silly humorous quote in case I got a little too serious.

13. Was I asleep, it didn’t feel like it. Will discover this over the next few weeks.

14. I suppose it happens in all friendships, that there is a honeymoon period. When you are not contacted for several days you realise that its over.

15. What would it be like if you had an unbreakable heart, I think it would have to be made of plastic. Meanwhile we journey down the Yellow brick road of Relationships.

I am getting sadder and sadder as I write this , yet I stand for my decision to have the right not to be criticized on an ongoing basis.

Namaste until next time my dear friends

He ain’t heavy, he’s my brother!!

Posted on October 22, 2015 by Rod's World

Just got back from my second Menergy, last year I had the worst flu I had had in 10 years and could barely walk and slept through the main ceremony, here is the article I wrote about it Menergy with the flu.

Since I have been back a lot of people have asked me how it was, the majority of them women, with one saying last night she was considering a sex change so she could attend Menergy next year. I an still integrating the experience because it was so jammed packed so I have extracted 15 Brotherhood quotes to comment on what I think I got from the weekend.

Wikipedia defines Brotherhood as follows

Brother, a male sibling
Brotherhood (Order of the Arrow), a membership level in the Boy Scouts of America honor society..
Fraternity or Brotherhood, a male social organization

I think a few of the 165 men who attended may have been boy scouts here, me being one of them , but I don’t remember the brotherhood level.

1. Martin Luther King was a powerful spokesperson for the power of brotherhood and I think the Heart Space ceremony on the Saturday Night speaks to what he is referring to. can’t reveal anymore about it, come along next year and experience it yourself.

2. Arne Rubenstein, champion of supporting boys to become good men donated twenty books and information about his Rites of Passage work as he unfortunately could not attend but supports the work of Menergy. better men makes for better family relationships.

3. The gathering allowed men to be vulnerable with each other, and as the trust grew the sharing got deeper which they could take back to their relationships.

4. American journalist Heywood Broun was famous for having penned this quote that it is in the art of community building that leads to a happy life. menergy is living proof of this.

5. From 19 to 87 years of age, 165 men who had never gathered before and will never gather again came from their neighborhoods to create a beautiful sense of what LBJ is pointing to here, Brotherhood.

6. When we gathered around the welcoming fire at 4.30 am in the morning and you looked around at the different states the men were in, from tiredness to ecstatic joy I got a sense that the power of circles would become normal in the not to distant future.

7. Googling Darrel Mitchell brought up information about Daryl Mitchell, the African American actor who was paralyzed half way through his career after a road accident. With the support of his friends Denzel Washington and Chris Tucker he has remained an actor. Support like this was extended to those who found some workshops or processes confronting.

8. Aldous Huxley, author of a Brave new World stated that a brotherhood was only as powerful as the love and justice each man showed to each other. using this as a measurement Menergy will continue to grow from strength to strength.

9. Menergy has this as one of its principles, from the inclusion of the local indigenous brothers at the opening ceremony to the spread of different nationalities I’m sure this will spread more and more as Menergy becomes the event for conscious men of all nations to attend.

10. All these words speak to me as what occurred over the weekend, none less important than the other.

11. As we grow up and leave our sporting and scholastic days and enter our adult duties we sometimes forget the bonds we created earlier in our youth. it takes something to keep friendships your whole life. Menergy is a way of reversing this practice.

12. The closing ceremony always goes over time, because yes you do create some sort of brotherhood in 4 days. Deep, loving support for all the men who you have gone through a no bull shit period of time with.

13. Leading Civil Rights lawyer Clarence Darrow also stated that You can only protect your liberties in this world by protecting the other man’s freedom. You can only be free if I am free. We were placed in smaller tribal groups of 5 or 6where we went deep with each other and shared with each other what our freedoms were.

14. Poetry was featured at the cabaret, Poet Edward Markham stands for that conscious brotherhood is the great missing link in our societies journey towards better relationships between men and women and children.

15. And finally the locale, Licola is in a beautiful valley on a pristine river, how could you not include all living creatures in your brotherhood.

That’s my experience of the inspiration that is Menergy, see you all my good btorhers there next year.

Namaste until next time my dear friends

Forgive and Forget, Is it that Easy?

Posted on October 19, 2015 by Rod's World

I was recently talking to a friend outside her house discussing what publicity I could help with for an event she was involved with to receive a discounted ticket when I recieved an SMS from my bestest friend asking me if I was off the airwaves.

I SMS’d her back and explained what I was doing or at least I thought I did. I then received another SMS asking where we still going out that night. I sent one back saying that going out with her was my main priority. The reply I received was not what I expected, It was that she had not felt that way for a long time and felt I was being negative to her.

After the initial shock of receiving such a reply I realise that we needed to discuss the difficulties we had been having in catching up and forgive each other and re- establish our friendship to what it had been when we first started going out with each other.

Wikipedia defines Forgiveness as follow –

Forgiveness – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia//

Forgiveness is the intentional and voluntary process by which a victim undergoes a change in feelings and attitude regarding an offense, lets go of negative emotions such as vengefulness, with an increased ability to wish the offender well.^[1]^[2] Forgiveness is different from condoning (failing to see the action as wrong and in need of forgiveness), excusing (not holding the offender as responsible for the action), pardoning (granted by a representative of society, such as a judge), forgetting (removing awareness of the offense from consciousness), and reconciliation (restoration of a relationship).^[1]

In certain contexts, forgiveness is a legal term for absolving or giving up all claims on account of debt, loan, obligation or other claims.^[3]^[4]

As a psychological concept and virtue, the benefits of forgiveness have been explored in religious thought, the social sciences and medicine. Forgiveness may be considered simply in terms of the person who forgives^[5] including forgiving themselves, in terms of the person forgiven or in terms of the relationship between the forgiver and the person forgiven. In most contexts, forgiveness is granted without any expectation of restorative justice, and without any response on the part of the offender (for example, one may forgive a person who is incommunicado or dead). In practical terms, it may be necessary for the offender to offer some form of acknowledgment, an apology, or even just ask for forgiveness, in order for the wronged person to believe himself able to forgive.^[1]

I have chosen quotes from across the Ages to see what our society has to say about it, Here we go –

1. In our love relationships we will always come across things that make us arc up. This enables us to practice the noble art of forgiveness on a daily basis to restore the deep state of Love that we committed too when choosing those particular people to fulfil these roles in our life.

2. When we are ruminating on the past and blaming others or being the victim of circumstances in our lives, it is valuable to realise tht we cannot change events as they occurred but we can drastically lessen the effect they will have on our future by uttering the words, silently or out Loud, I foryou you, me , them etc. etc.

3. Lissa Rankin, Author of the ground breaking book The Fear Cure points to that a major percentage of disease is caused by False Fears. On reading the books I discovered that a lot of these fears come from things and events where you have not forgiven ,even to the point of Heart Attacks, here is the link to her page about it – The Fear Cure .

4. Self Forgiveness is an important part of Self Love, a state that is required to allow other Love into your life. Be courageous in admitting that even you make mistakes.

5. Holding on to interactions and events that play on your minds days and years later is very bad for your mental health research shows. Converting these from a bitter experience to a valuable lesson will free you from the debilitating illnesses that often follow the practice of blame and shame.

6. Every Tuesday the local Council come and collect the rubbish I have been unable to recycle. If is was as easy to clear the mind of holding of things from the past that clutter up our lives.

7. The vow goes I will love and cherish, whether in Good Fortune or adversity. Its not always plain sailing on the good ship Matrimony. Moments of forgiving occur every single day as we journey down this sacred path.

8. How long have you sentenced yourself to. I had one shadow belief that was from the age of four. It only took to the tender age of 60 to realise what it was costing me, the world looked very different after letting this one go. I suppose there was no internet and Facebook when I took it on.

9. World Peace Day is 21st September, It is dedicated to world peace, and specifically the absence of war and violence, there have been a total of 26 days of peace since 1945, the end of World War 2, the War to End all Wars. Oops got that one a little eschewed.

10. Be in the Now, Moment to moment, Discipline – all words that point to what is needed to live in the state of the dignity of True Forgiveness.

11. Any you an anyone or a butterfly? Butterflies have beautiful colours and character and fly lightly in the wind because they are not carrying their past burdens around with them.

12. Two steps forward, three steps back doesn’t get much done. When you grant yourself and others the precious gift of forgiveness you free your feet from work-boots to the latest Nike runners and you have the ability to Just Do It!!

13. Promises, Promises was a minor hit for the band Naked Eyes in the eighties. What they sung in the 80’s. Its about how much value we place on them. When you forgive it better be of a reasonably high level.

14. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, a fantasy about a man who grew younger not older. He grew smaller the longer his life went on, do you by holding on to those grudges?

15. Finally, the words you use in your life is what gives you your power. In Australia we are known for saying sorry for the simplest of things. So when you have cut someone deep those words have little effect, Try on Will you forgive me?

We had a frank and moving discussion that night when we went out and restored the relationship to nearer what it had been. I didn’t sat please forgive me. I will next time I see her.

Namaste until next time , my dear friends

Whatever gets you through the Night.

Posted on September 14, 2015 by Rod's World

Tonight my friend Emeli Paulo is leading a RAW session on Addiction : What’s Yours. I have been thinking about this and I think my friends may feel it is posting positivity on my Facebook page Positivity HQ, but I believe this to be a sacred calling to counter the evil mainstream media is spreading across the planet.

So I thought long and hard, not Sex, not Alcohol , I gave up drinking on my 40th Anniversary of doing that, not gambling, I see that as a waste and came across Music. I have 23,000 songs and lectures on my Itunes library, I am subscribed to both My Music and Spotify and have Mixcloud, Souncloud and Bandcamp accounts. 23,000 songs is 77.6 days of music to put it in perspective.

So what do we get from our love of Music. Here are the 15 thoughts I have put together that our sages, musicians and people of note have contributed to the matter.

1. What does this truly mean. To me it is in those moments when a chill goes up your spine. Years ago I worked on the door for my friend Kerri Simpson and I knew when she was on, She always sang Summertime and when it sent chills up my spine the effect would last for hours.

2. When first contact is made they will bring many new and exciting things with them. But one thing they will certainly bring is their music. Even Klingon’s had music in Star trek, admittedly it was hard to appreciate but they loved it as we do our favourite style.

3. Billy Thorpe’s Somewhere over the Rainbow doesn’t make me think what a great song, there are many finer versions. But what it does make me remember is the night at the Myer Music Bowl that I and 200,000 other people sang it along with him.

4. Among my 23,000 tracks I have quite a bit of meditation music. I listen to it primarily when I am travelling on public transport. I lowered my Carbon Footprint to an Electric Bike, a pushbike and Public transport several years ago. It takes me to a place of genuine bliss while journeying through the chaos of a major cities thoroughfares.

5. There are so many styles of music that one can listen to, It seems there are new ones being developed every year. I am not a huge fan of Death metal, Pagan Rock and such genres. More for me tunes that have a positive message.

6. We Live on our own part of the World, so in the other parts of the world our indigenous music is captured by the title World Music. This gives you many opportunities to learn and listen to the magic of other cultures as these year Five students did.

7. Here’s an image you will find hard to get out of your head. A naked 61 year old man bopping around his apartment’s kitchen to GodsKitchen doof.

8. Back to ancient Greece. Plato and his mates sitting around listening to an inspired bouzouki performance. He turns to them and says …….

9. Another cute memory, A hot 40 degree Celsius day in St. Arnaud primary school. Our class is singing the Yellow Rose of Texas, half way through we hear the class next door joining in. The power of music is irrepressible.

10. It is often said by people that a particular song touches their heart. In doing so these words give you access to precious moments of healing that enliven your human experience.

11. Nature plays music to us all the time, sometimes it is powerful in the form of destructive winds, sometimes almost silent like an early morning sunrise over the mountains. We cannot write such superb songs, just give it our best shot.

12. Eckhart Tolle speak of the inner stillness that music can conquer. I have seen this many times in my music listening career. The most memorable being when I went to my friend Alicia’s Melancholia event two years ago. A young musician named Dan Parsons did one of his original songs and you could have heard a pin drop. It was outstanding music.

13. What came first, the horse or the cart. Darwin one of the great naturalists discovered that music came before speech. I believe this to be true because Nature has always provided it from the beginning of time.

14. I had to get the comment of one musician in the list. Levon Helm from The Band points to the healing side of music. It has been used in shamanic ceremonies for thousands of years, It has never been seen to fail.

15. And for our last insight, we cross to one of history’s greatest minds. The best way to crack a case of the Sad’s is to go inner and drench it with the music that inspires you.

I am including links to some of my favourite inspiring music so that you can appreciate them as well The Voice of an Angel, Goddess Songs, Indigenous Bliss, Ben sings of Love, Australia’s Heart and Soul, The Outlaw Women from Down Under, Lilith – Wild and Alive

Here’s to our love of music, Namaste until next time my dear friends

The Kindness of Strangers.

Posted on September 10, 2015 by Rod's World

I just watched an inspiring TED talk by Kon Karapanagiotidus from the Asylum Seekers Resource Centre in Melbourne on what would be possible if we were kind to the people seeking refuge instead of locking families up in gulag like facilities on remote islands. here is the link : A Kind Alternative.

My friend Kavisha Mazzella has written a beautiful song about Kindness to Strangers, here is the link Kavisha’s beautiful Anthem. Both this and Kon’s talk point to another way besides the hate mongering that seems to be driving mainstream media these days.

So once again I have resourced 15 powerful quotes on what a difference kindness can make. here we go:

1. I used to work in a federal agency who paid the unemployed. I was walking through the main mall of Melbourne one day when a young man came up to me and hugged me. He said you probably don’t remember me but you saved my life. We started a weekly payment scheme in our office ILO fortnightly payment and doing this allowed this person to stop committing crime to feed his then drug habit. He was happily married with two children and meant what he said to me.

2. I watched Wayne Dyer’s film The Shift last night, in it there is a scene where a homeless man and a millionaire are speaking. The millionaire has lost his wallet and is stuck. The homeless man offers him his last coins and transforms the millionaires life through his act of kindness.

3. How much kindness should you offer. There is no official measure for how much you should put in your Loving cup. But the recipe works better if you add just a little bit more.

4. His Holiness AKA Tenzin Gyatso, the person on our planet that is most known for his kindness doesn’t want temples, mosques or churches to worship in. He wants humanity to show each other Kindness.

5. We often see righteousness being displayed as news on our TV screens and in the print media. What people who are finding it hard is the beating of another’s heart that is saying it will be O.K.

6. The speeches of Martin Luther King Jr. inspired millions. A simple man who committed himself to create a kinder world for his people. He never let the hatred that was poured upon his goods works lower his stand that human beings were by nature full of kindness.

7. Its also quite advantageous for your health to have boundaries, one of the people who needs kindness hangs out in your body.

8. My koan in life is Love and Respect for all : Everyone Included. I am a blogger and I hope my words give people confidence. I always come from what would fulfill it and I have declared this my Year of Love.

9 . The Buddha passed on many suggestions for how to live an enlightened life, here is his offering on kindness.

10. As i mentioned above we never know the difference our simple acts such as smiling at someone, offering a ride or home to a friend for the night can make. Don’t underestimate the difference, they can transform a life.

11. As a teenager I used to battle my mum and dad about this, after all we were rebellious teenagers, you did not do what your parents suggested. Luckily they had taught me well enough before this that when I came out of my cranky phase I saw the value of it.

12. The gift of saying thank you and excuse me take a millisecond. But in the heart of the person you say them to, they resonate for eons.

13. So what are acts of Kindness, this list contains many things we can do for ourselves and others to make the world a better place.

14. Never regret any act of Kindness that you take part in, be it by yourself or with others. They are treasures that empower our planet as well as our own hearts.

15. For the last one , I will let Charlie Brown have the final word. Yes everyone understands Kindness, even if they seem incredibly distant from it at the moment.

Well, I am so thankful my friends Kavisha and Kon contributed to me and inspired me to write this blog through their words and song. Namaste until we meet again my friends.