Tag Archives: environment

When Language Ends, What Then?

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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

Finding the Now!!

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TheNow

There are so many schools of thought how to be in the Now emanating across the airwaves these days one does not really know who to believe or where to begin to find the most useful amongst them. I have tried many of them over my sixty years so I thought I would pass on a few I have found useful.

1. Calm Abiding Meditation

“There are many stages in mental development, but as soon as we are able to maintain the mind in a calm state, at that very moment there is joy and peace. This is reflected in the body becoming relaxed, and then the mind becomes more relaxed. As the mind calms down, the hidden enlightened qualities emerge more and more.”

—Venerable Khenpo Rinpoche

This statement sums up pretty much what you can achieve in the daily practice of Calm Abiding meditation, a practice I did for 7 years, and which I have recently taken up again after a break of 5 years. I trained to become a meditation Teacher during those 7 years and look forward to using those skills again after my practice is established again.

2. Hatha Yoga

Hatha yoga describes the physical practice of yoga. In fact, sometimes the name Hatha is used interchangeably with “yoga.” The slow pace and simple breathing exercises make it a great place to learn basic poses and become comfortable on the mat. My breath cycle improved from 9 seconds to 44 while I was doing Yoga and only gave it up when I discovered the beauty of Tai Chi.

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3. Tai Chi

Developed originally in China as a self-defense strategy, or martial art, tai chi—the “supreme ultimate fist”—is practiced in modern times primarily as a gentle exercise technique. Described as “meditation in motion,” tai chi consists of a standing person performing a series of postures or bodily movements in a slow and graceful manner, with each movement flowing without pause to the next. According to Chinese legend, the technique was created by a Taoist monk who was inspired as he watched a crane and a snake do battle. Impressed by the ‘snake’s ability to subtly and swiftly avoid the bird’s thrusts, he devised a series of self-defense techniques that do not involve meeting the opponent’s force with force, but rather stress evading the blow; causing the opponent’s own momentum to work against him. I do the Beijing  24 practice daily and am learning he Bamboo practice. I Also do a warm up called Qigong

4. Qigong

Qigong, literally: “Life Energy Cultivation” is a practice of aligning body, breath, and mind for health, meditation, and martial arts training. With roots in Chinese medicine and Philosophy and martial arts, qigong is traditionally viewed as a practice to cultivate and balance qi (chi) or what has been translated as “life energy”.[1]

According to Daoist, Buddhist, and Confucian philosophy, respectively, qigong allows access to higher realms of awareness, awakens one’s “true nature”, and helps develop human potential. This noble practice has helped me regain my well being and is my current practice.

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5. 5 Rhythms Dance

5Rhythms is a movement meditation practice devised by Gabrielle Roth in the late 1970s. It draws from indigenous and world traditions using tenets of shamanistic ecstatic, mystical and eastern philosophy. Fundamental to the practice is the idea that everything is energy, and moves in waves, patterns and rhythms.

Gabrielle describes the practice as a soul journey, and says that by moving the body, releasing the heart, and freeing the mind, one can connect to the essence of the soul, the source of inspiration in which an individual has unlimited possibility and potential.

Getting back to this has allowed me to free my body and be much more present in the Now of my body.

6. Philosophers Notes

Brian Johnson made mega dollars in the I.T. industry then went to Bali and read all the great books. His gift to the world is he can summarise them beautifully.

PhilosophersNotes are like healthy, energizing snacks for the mind, heart and soul! This is such a superb idea, and Brian has such a natural, infectiously appealing way of making it relevant to just about everybody. For avid personal-development aficionados, Philosophers Notes serve as a sampler plate of the very best reads out there, making it easier to decide which new books to crack open next, and which classics deserve a fresh look.

I did one of these for about 60 days in a row then read the books that really touched my heart. They say the day you die is the day you stop learning, in our busy world this is an excellent way to get to access the best quickly. Here’s a link if you are interested https://www.entheos.com/philosophersnotes 5r

7. Communing with Nature

We forget that Gaia has been gifted  to remind us that we are all part of the greater plan. A weekend away from the chaos of the city in a forest , or near a beach or river restores our sense of Now. Leaving your phone, computer and work behind for this period has us focus on things like trees, animals and the fresh air that these places are filled with.

8. Growing and Cooking my own Food

Supermarkets are not even 100 years old, how did humans get their food prior to the existence of what is now the major supplier of Food for the human race. We grew our own and prepared and cooked it ourselves or brought it from our local producers. The joy of  planting you own vegetables and having your own chickens is immeasurable and making your own meals from fresh, non toxic produce bought from a local farmers market is so good for your health.

Well, I hope this has helped you a little, Namaste until next time my Friends.

Namaste

May the Animals be Blessed.

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puppies Today I remember the animals of the world, our cohabitants of this precious planet. I recognise their vulnerability, as well as the harm we sometimes do to them. May careless, even cruel behaviour towards animals be forever removed from the earth. May my heart be open to ways I can be of service to them. May the relationship between humans and animals be lifted to its highest place. Dear Gaia, Please bless the animals. Protect Them From the actions of those with cold hearts. May we be proper stewards Of these precious creations in our midst. Amen. I love this prayer by Marianne Williamson to the other inhabitants of our planet although I changed one word, I cannot bring myself to use the word God, it is far to damaged in my estimation to be used to represent the spirit that is mightier than the human race, I much prefer Gaia, the spirit of the planet that does not relate to any power seeking religion. I spent last weekend volunteering at World Vegan Day in Melbourne Australia, my friends call me the worlds greatest volunteer. I was highly impressed by the  number of young  people who have journeyed down the path to Veganism. What is Veganism, Wikipedia defines it as follows

  1. Veganism /ˈviːɡənɪzəm/ is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal products, particularly in diet, as well as following an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of sentient animals. A follower of veganism is known as a vegan.
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    I used a picture of Beagles to begin this blog as there is a group in Victoria that specifically operates to rescue them from abandonment or cruelty http://www.beaglerescuevic.org/aboutus.html, and they are damn cute.
    There were many other organisations that defended the rights of animals around the world and I was drawn to the Tiger Protection booth and was amazed to find out that there are only 3,200 tigers in the wild, as articles say it is ironical it is the Chinese Year of the tiger when mankind is rapidly removing this noble creature from the planet. The link to this article does not hold out much hope for them in 12 years when the next Year of the Tiger rolls around. http://www.treehugger.com/natural-sciences/all-worlds-tigers-extinct-in-15-20-years-without-better-conservation-efforts.html.
    I chose to become Vegan due to the fact I did not want the energy of a living creature in my body not due to animal cruelty but the talk I heard by Philip Wollen pointed to why we need to give up eating meat and fish, we are literally killing the planet for the sake of our daily steak. Philip is a philanthropist who used to be head of Citibank in Australia and who had a turn around in his life and now funds project worldwide to prevent animal  cruelty and extinction. He has the ability to speak to people who can make a difference in a huge way. here is a link to a blog with one of his speeches http://livelearnloveeat.com/2012/12/16/philip-wollen-animals-should-be-off-the-menu/. He also funds Kindness House in Victoria where he allows groups dedicated to animals such as Vegetarian Victoria space for minimal rent so they can do their work to defend our fellow creatures.
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    It takes 25 times as much energy to produce one kilogram of beef as it does a kilogram of vegetables. If the developing nations keep changing their dietary habits to be carnivores we will need two planets at least to produce the energy required, we don’t have two planets, we have a profoundly wounded one. The children born today will not have fish to eat in the year 2050 according to an influential report released by scientists in the U.K. recently, this is sad but not as sad as the effect this will have on the oceans as fish are the life blood of the oceans. A friend of mine who is a solo ocean crossing sailor said the things he noticed in two journeys ten years apart was the silence of the seas, no fish no birds, he was profoundly worried for the future of our oceans and was speaking from experience.
    There are people worldwide who do not mistreat animals, heres a list of some of them http://list25.com/25-animal-saviors-who-will-restore-your-faith-in-humanity/  So are Vegans and vegetarians the saviours of the planet in the future, they are a growing number worldwide as the benefits of a meat free diets become apparent and it is recommended by more and more health professionals to battle the ever increasing battle with obesity and diabetes that has become an epidemic worldwide, here are some stats on vegetarians and vegans worldwide http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vegetarianism_by_country. 
    Namaste until next time my friends
    Namaste

Is there Hope?

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Why is this picture of runners in black and white, because it relates to a time in my past I was a member of Worldrunners, a running group who ran to spread the message of ending world hunger back in the early 90’s. When I joined the group I smoked 40 cigarettes a day and had not run for approximated 15 years since I left school. They were going to Moscow to run the Moscow Peace marathon, yes the 42 Kilometre jobbo, If one is going to put their foot in why not go the whole way.

I was at a party about a month later and I looked at the cigarette I was smoking put it out and declared that this will be the last smoke I ever have, on that day I gave up cigarettes and dope, i didn’t realise I was giving up the second but it was an added benefit. I thought it would be a good idea to run the melbourne marathon as I did not want to go all that way and appear like a dick not being able to do it. This meant I had to train through melbourne’s winter and back then it used to rain in Melbourne. I had a training partner named Gemma and when I didn’t answer the door two days in a row at 6 a.m. because it was pouring with rain she reamed me and we did the training it took to run from Frankston to Melbourme, every time I drive it i still shake my head that I used to be able to run that far. I ran it a second time when we got back into a headwind and driving rain just to prove marathon runners are a little bit crazy.

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So off to Moscow we headed six months later not knowing a great deal about the country besides the fact that it was run by communists, this was the year before the wall came down. We nearly didn’t make the connecting flight in Narita Japan because the Toyko to Moscow flight was considered a domestic flight and we were waiting in International, a kind JAL official walked us through the lines that make Tullamarine’s look like it takes 5 minutes to check in. We arrived safely at Moscow to be told by our guide not to exchange too much money, the reason for this being he had a friend who gave you a better deal, the black market and Moscow mafia was rampant back then and I have heard it is still quite prominent to this day.

We had a few days to assimilate into Moscow lifestyle and visited the touristy sights the highlight being Gorky park where hundreds of circus performers did acrobatics all through the park. Come the day of the race we go down to the starting line to find out they were saying they did not have the Australian contingents entries. Linda, a wild Texan woman, part of the Worldrunners organisers would have none of this and we got to run. Moscow is a beautiful city with some amazing building and we set off along the river, being handed water by real life soldiers at the water stops. 35K in my knee decides to start popping out, and these two burly gentlemen says you can not come this far and not finish and carried me between them to the finish line, I gave one of them my runners as they were heaps better than what they were wearing and I had a spare pair.

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We then went on our 30 days tour  of the region, first stop was Tbilsi, capital of he federation Of Georgia. Tbisli is Georgian for warmth as it is located on a lot of hot springs and we all went  off to experience the local fare which ended in us meeting our guide for the next few days as when we came out it was pitch black and the only  place we could find that we recognised was Bar, they sold coffee and ice-cream as sale of alcohol to the public was banned. The two highlights of Tbilsi were the speech that a Georgian poet gave, we could not understand a word but were all in tears at the end and the underground clubs our new friend took us to. Georgian brandy is famous worldwide and they may not sell it but people certainly knew were to get it.

Next stop was Kiev, capital of Ukraine, they have a great tradition of having dancing in the public parks and we went there three nights in a row and danced with the locals, so much fun. We couldn’t work out why no body was swimming in  the river until someone told us Kiev was downstream from Chernoybl, site of one of the worlds great nuclear disasters a few years before. e ran into the Australian youth rowing team in a park one day, its a small world. With the trouble between Russia and the Ukraine these days we were advised back then it was not wise to call Georgians or Ukrainians Russians, not much seems to have changed

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Off to Leningrad, know known as St. Petersburg, this is where the two most memorable events of the trip occurred. We visited the Summer Palace, my main memory of this is not the half mile long stretch of solid gold statues that the Nazi’s pinched but the fountain  of a duck, a dog, a hunter and the assistant blowing the horn with the cages that the people making the appropriates noise lived in. We were looking for Alex, a gold medallist athlete we had met in Moscow who ran an Athletic club and instead of finding him the hotel sent us to the ministry of sport. Linda, previously mentioned was not fussed at all and told them why we were there. We got a phone call telling us that we would be running down Nevetsky prospect the main thoroughfare at 5 pm that Friday. They had arranged to all. so the Minister for Sport, the mayor and about 20 people ran with us, the Australian Ambassador back in Moscow would not believe us until we showed him Photos, those things people used prior to smart phones.

The other thing that happened was the highlight of the trip for me. We had met Sergei, Lydia and Michael Jackson in a cafe, they wan’t to improve their English and worked out we were nor from Russia by our garish clothing. Lydia invited us to her place for dinner, spending precious money on the black market to buy us Western food so we felt at home, her toilet had been on the waiting list to fix the leak fir 10 months. We were due to catch the Leningrad to Moscow midnight express and Sergei was giving us a lift. We took off but seemed to be going the wrong way as we were going deeper and deeper into the High rise units that made up most of the accommodation in Leningrad. Sergei drove us to one of these unit blocks and gestured for us to wait. He came down 5 minutes later with his fiancee whom he said that he wanted her to meet us as she had given up hope and we proved that it still existed. It was getting awfully close to midnight and we arrived at the railway station 5 minutes after midnight. Miraculously the train was still there, good old Linda has convinced them to wait. AS the soldiers and officials approached the three of us Sergei stepped in and explained what had happened. We all got our photos taken with the Engine driver and the head of security in front of the train

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The Berlin Wall came down the following year and we received a letter from Ivan, A Georgian teacher who slept on the verandah of his parent house with his wife and small child and who had organised a 2,000 people Worldrunners run the following year that he felt that actions like ours in coming to Russia had helped it happen. I don’t know if this was true but it was worth going to give lena, Sergei’s fiancee hope again.

namaste to next time, my friends

Namaste

Do you Mean to Kill Them?

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alby

My carbon footprint in getting around is fairly low, Walking , Pushbike and Public Transport. I used to ride a motor bike for a few years but had an accident whilst drunk driving and lost my license for two years and never got it back.

On my journey around our fair city of Melbourne I cannot but notice the laziness of the general public in disposing of rubbish. It is discarded everywhere but in the receptacles provided it would seem. Cigarette packets and cigarette butts , junk food containers and alcohol bottles seem to make up the majority of it pointing towards a certain kind of person being the main contributor to this malaise.

And what does this have to do with the cutie in the picture above, she is an albatross who lives on Midway Island. Fleetwood Mac in the 60’s wrote a magnificent instrumental about these birds https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAefTj7GXwQ, they have survived happily on the Island for many years or have they. Where is Midway Island you ask, heres a map to give you an idea.

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It s in the middle of the pacific island thousand and thousands of kilometres from the nearest land but this cute picture does not tell the harrowing tale of what is occurring on Midway Island these days. I attended the Sustainable Living Festival last year with my friend Kavisha and happened to be in BMW edge when there was a speaker by the name of Chris Jordan set down to speak. I forget the name of his talk but after being transfixed by the content not the subject matter. Chris is an American photographer with an interest in Environmental issues and had been producing a documentary about the albatrosses on Midway Island for the past few years.

Why he has been doing this is because we have been killing them with plastic. Adult albatrosses have been feeding their young with plastic gleaned from the ocean all those kilometres away and they are dying in their thousands. Here is a link to Chris sharing about the documentary https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-M9t2fm__K0. The only way the plastic gets in the ocean is because we as a race are too lazy to carry our rubbish with us to the nearest bin or to our homes to dispose of it in our own bins and it is washed into the ocean. Next time you are tempted to throw something away because there is no where to put it think of this image.

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On my way walking to work or the market I have begun picking up rubbish as I come to it on the footpath knowing it will always be there because we are unthinking when it comes to the costs of dropping rubbish. I hope this little rant makes a few of you think.

Namaste until next time, my friends

Namaste

Surviving Earth

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earthearthearthearth

Will the earth survive the human race? Of course it will, the earth is millions of years old and we have been here for nano seconds of that time. The question that is more relevant is will the human race survive earth? In the time since agriculture and capitalism joined and took over from growing your own food we have seen the need for four earths for humanity to survive in the amount of energy that it uses, I was not going crazy just showing you how many planets we need and its growing expediently, the world population has grown from 2 billion 120 years ago to 7.5 billion and is expected to grow to 10 billion by 2050.

We have the technology to end the use of Fossil fuels as our main energy suppliers but do not have the where with all to do it as the major energy companies spend millions of dollars to fight any reasonable campaigns that eschew this. 98% of scientific evidence points to the need to end the damage that fossil fuels are causing but the companies that make billions of dollars from its use drag out the 2% who are guns for sale and their cronies in the capitalist ideology driven governments around the world buy into it, an example is the extreme policies of the current Australian government in approving more and more coal mines in the name of job creation.

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There is currently an argument going on in the city I live in Melbourne, Australia about building a 6.5 kilometre link road that will cost 5 billion dollars. Up to a third of space in cities around the world is taken  up by roads and car parks and building more freeways has never resolved the issue of grid lock it has just added more localities for it to occur. I pass over a freeway on my way to work and cannot help be frustrated by the fact that most cars are single occupancy. I can remember the carpooling that went on amongst kids parents when taking them to various sporting events as they grew up, why can this not be legislated as compulsory if governments are serious about providing solutions for the traffic chaos on our roads. Its probably to much like community building for them and the afore mentioned oil companies would not want their profits cut. How much public transport infrastructure can you build for 5 billion dollars, quite a lot I would think.

A solution to the fossil fuel conundrum is the use of alternative fuelled vehicles that are becoming more prevalent with the electric driven vehicle being the most prevalent. The ones being released are top end of the market but a talk I was at last night there was mention of being able to convert for as little as $7,000. The emission from cars is only 7% of the total of emissions on the planet so this helps but I believe we must focus on solar power to generate household energy use which is up to 50% in western countries.

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I cannot understand how new houses are allowed to be built without solar panels being a required part of the construction. Australia has gone from 30,000 to 1 million users with a 20 year period. I remember reading an article recently about a state in America who made it compulsory to be connected to the grid, obviously this is influence from the fossil fuel companies fighting their last desperate battles against the march towards alternative energy, which when is becoming cheaper, is clean, efficient and in the end after several years free.

I watched the excellent documentary Surviving Earth http://www.survivingearthmovie.com/  last night at CERES environmental park, a living example of what is possible if like minded people take action together http://www.ceres.org.au/ and what inspired me most about it was the use of Bindi Irwin as one of the spokes persons. Bindi stated that she had grown up knowing that her generation could make a difference , quite different to the time when children were not expected to have opinions, sit there and be quite and do what they were told to do. I believe this generation will take the actions that are required to save the planet. In the film it also talked about having a new generation of political leaders, I see this as a definite requirement.

Namaste to next time, my friends.

Namaste

My Free Organic Tea Towel

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organic box

I get my food from a food co-op CERES fair food http://www.ceresfairfood.org.au/ and they gave me a free tea towel because I sent them a thank you message the other day.

They have a fabulous ethos, sourcing their goods based on miles traveled so that they have the least carbon footprint effect on the planet. They produce a lot of their own goods on the farm at CERES environment park http://www.ceres.org.au/ a not for profit educational site on 4 acres of land on the banks of the beautiful Merri Creek in Melbourne, Australia. You can buy boxes from $27.00 to $72.00 depending on the size of your household and they have specialist intolerant boxes as well. I buy a juicers box as I have a fresh juice every morning and a Mixed basic Box that costs just over $60 and they last me the week at least.

They also help create community by setting up a group of Food Hosts for people to pick up their boxes from, many a friendship has been made at these drop off spots. You can also have them delivered to your door for the measly amount of $6.75 anywhere in Melbourne, a city of nearly 4 million people.

The service now has over 800 customers but my history goes back to their foundation days when 20 to 30 CERES staff got together and created the idea of starting a food co-op to get organic goods at a cheaper cost, we used to volunteer on box filling duty and pick them up from the CERES stables. That was about 10 years ago and my, how it has grown. I dropped out when I lost contact with CERES about 5 years ago and rejoined, its free when I took up eating a healthy diet again about two years ago.

They also have a guarantee that food will be delivered which I was very grateful for because one week someone needed my delivery more than me and took it, it was replaced next day. They also donated food for a Christmas event we hold at the place I volunteer for disadvantaged people in the Darebin area on Christmas Day https://www.facebook.com/DarebinInterculturalCentre.

Chris, the manager and Elenore, the marketing person do a sterling job and focus on providing employment for refugees and that is why I write and acknowledge their great work on a regular basis. If you are thinking of supporting an organisation who cares about your health and providing produce at a reasonable price you cannot go past CERES fair food

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What is Community?

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I attended an amazing community event yesterday – Rewilding the Urban Soul – a campfire conversation. It was led by two women who had had two life altering experiences and written books about them: Maya Ward walked the length of the major artery in Melbourne, Australia, The Yarra River and Claire Dunn, who spent a year living off the grid. Maya’s book is https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Comfort-of-Water-A-River-Pilgrimage/129867517114277 and Claire’s https://www.facebook.com/myyearwithoutmatches

They had originally organised it for a site that seated at about 40 people at https://www.facebook.com/CERES.Environment.Park?fref=ts but had to move it as the Facebook attendees got to over 200, about 150 turned up. They were hugely different quests but both had a similar theme: that we have lost touch with the land and had got stuck in our daily routines however noble they were. Maya had spent years organising events at Ceres environmental Park and Claire had worked as an environmental activist for over a decade.

I am fascinated by the wisdom of Indigenous people and their contact with the land , they do not own it as we think  we do  , they are part of it. At most of the events I attend in my local area Welcome to Country is given at the beginning of the event. This is a special ceremony that welcomes you to the land and gives respect to the land and the wisdom of the elders for the local indigenous tribe the Wurrundjeri, who have been custodians of the land for 40,000 years.

Clare was asked a questions about whether she used local indigenous methods as part of her survival skills over the year. Clare replied that she had wherever possible but that there was so little reference material for native housing that she had had to experiment using her own experiences before she came up with a practical home after two months but that she tried to use indigenous practices from around the world such as starting fires without matches for all other things. Clare was a part of a group of six people who were close in proximity to each other for the period of the twelve months.

People were more interested in the inner journey rather than the outer journey but both Maya and Clare returned the conversation to the fact that the inner transformation had come from the physical actions of in Maya’s case, walking for 22 days and Clare, in being with the land for 12 months. I asked Maya a question after the event that they often said that as humans we do not listen, but are just waiting fir the right of reply. Maya replied that yes, thats what it was all about. Another person asked Clare was she afraid of dying during the period.

So how do we get this remarkable sense of community with the land and all its creatures, including us human beings? Attending events like this one helps as people get to share their dreams and actions about being able to live like this. Take off your shoes and get contact with the land on a regular basis and feel the energy of mother earth. Have technology free days or weeks, talk to your neighbours and workmates, do not assume they do not have similar dreams.

I have brought Clare’s book and will report on it later, Namaste until next time, dear friends.