Everyone Has Oceans to Fly!!

Posted on May 23, 2019 by Rod's World

How do you know the difference between your preferences and your boundaries? I am doing this amazing online public speaking course called RISE with Fleassy Malay, it is the top 5 courses I have ever done, and I have done a lot over the years: Enter Fleassy’s World. and she points out that we often mix the two up, preferences become boundaries and boundaries become preferences. How do they differ, let’s look at their definitions:

Preference is defined as:

the fact that you like something or someone more than another thing or person:

Her preference is for comfort rather than stylish clothes.

I have a preference for sweet food over spicy.

Choosing furniture is largely a matter of personal preference.

It would be wrong to discriminate against a candidate because of their sexual preference (= the sex of the people they are sexually attracted to).

an advantage that is given to a person or a group of people:

We give preference to those who have worked with us for a long time.

Special preferences were offered initially to encourage investment.

Boundaries are defined as:

Like physical boundaries, emotional boundaries define separateness. Your emotional boundaries are the property lines that separate your thoughts and feelings from those of other people.

To me, preferences live in the realms of the examples above and boundaries are those gut feelings that much our stomach churn when we know they are not being respected or people have just walked through them.

So what does our society have to say about boundaries, there were some quite different expressions of it when I looked.

1. Unlimited giving is a surefire recipe for health problems to emerge.

2. Remember the age-old formulae: You are the result of the five people you spend the most time with, choose wisely: Get Up, Stand Up.

3. Lamott has described why she writes: I try to write the books I would love to come upon, that are honest, concerned with real lives, human hearts, spiritual transformation, families, secrets, wonder, craziness—and that can make me laugh. When I am reading a book like this, I feel rich and profoundly relieved to be in the presence of someone who will share the truth with me, and throw the lights on a little, and I try to write these kinds of books. Books, for me, are medicine.

4. You may lose some of your peeps when you put them in place, and who they are may surprise you: Brene’s take on it.

5. Boundaries bring out people’s real nature.

6. Have clarity when you set them, and then stand by them as if you are defending your child’s life: No Need to Argue.

7. Boundaries actually increase your ability to give over time.

8. You have to wake up with you in the morning, so make sure the respect is there: Respect.

9. Teach the people in your life, or they will make it up how they relate to you.

10. If how you relate to people crosses more than the one on one relationship you have some work to do: Crossing Boundaries.

11. Today’s boundaries are how you live your life.

12. Don’t accept an invitation if it crosses your boundaries, as said above no is a complete sentence: Ball and Chain.

13. But always remember there are times your boundaries need to be fluid.

14. Brene: Boundaries equals being courageous: Perfect.

15. Our final lesson comes from the great Persian poet, Rumi. Have boundaries but remember to remain curious.

As we travel along our timeline some preferences may become boundaries and boundaries preferences. that is the joy of being human, each moment is a new experience allowing us to chose to grow or diminish. It’s up to Us, Because We Can, It’s our Time.

The Playlist honours some extremely powerful divas today. We begin with the only male, Bob Marley. The spoken word is next from Brene Brown. The sultry voice of the lead singer of The Cranberries is next followed by the powerful vocals of Aretha Franklin. Then a mini discovery in Mina AlAli. One of the great performances from the ’60s is next by Janis Joplin and we close with Pink: Everyone Has Oceans To Fly.

I don’t really like the other types of boundaries, I am fighting them as hard as possible to ensconce my world paradigm of Love and Respect for All, Everybody Included. Until next we meet, my dear friends.

My Story Matters because I Matter!!

Posted on May 16, 2019 by Rod's World

Have you seen it, I’ve watched it five times, etc. etc.. I’m talking about the latest Netflix sensation, Brene Brown’s special The Call to Courage. I’ve watched it once but have viewed everything on Youtube several times over the years. The title of this blog is one of her quotes, and when her last book Dare to Lead was released I pre-ordered it three times by mistake, my two friends I gifted it to were rapt.

I have read every book she has written at least twice because she is a great writer and makes it easy to receive many aha moments per page. Let’s list them:

The Gifts of Imperfection.
Daring Greatly.
I Thought It Was Just Me: But It Isn’t.
Rising Strong.
Rising Strong As A Spiritual Practice.
The Gifts of Imperfect Parenting.
The Power of Vulnerability.
Braving The Wilderness.
Connections Curriculum – 12 Sessions.
Dare To Lead – Brave Work.
Women and Shame, Reaching Out.

Oops, I have not read them all after seeing the list, two to go. I put Brene Brown quotes in Ecosia Images, I use Ecosia search engine ILO Google because of the fact they plant a tree for each click, and there were hundreds, it’s like all of her words are a quote that can transform your life. These are the ones I have chosen, It’s time for some Brene bliss:

1. These days of the online world, they are called Trolls.

2. And the booby prize is …: Perfectionist Complex.

3. Don’t forget the little things, remember to stop and smell the Roses.

4. If you only do what you know what you feel safe doing, the word boring comes to mind. Time to step up to mistake land: Another Lifetime.

5. Happy, Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy, Joy.

6. My marketing mentor laughed at me when I said I could do research for everybody. Andrew said, what about working with people you like working with, find the others: They must deserve It.

7. We are not Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, at the base of it all, we are all human.

8. Shadow and Light travel together, attempting to ignore the shadow is pure bullshit, the pain will remain and return tenfold until you are willing to deal with it: Growing Pains.

9. For me, it lives in the realm of what we don’t know we don’t know.

10. Kur-it. This is why my English students often stare at me with strange looks when I pronounce words for them: Reach Out.

11. Repeat after me, I am Enough. Repeat after me, I am Enough, etc. etc…

12. And at the base of it all, there is Love: Love Myself.

13. How do you respond when a beloved shares their life with you?

14. To be totally balanced in our bodies, we need to feel it all: Comfortably Numb.

15. And fro Brene’s final lesson, it’s a long one and a doozy. If all you get is the aha moment from this one then Brene has done her job.

My top three: Daring Greatly, Rising Strong and Dare to Lead. It is also worth checking out her website, her free resources are awesome: Access to all Things Brene.

The playlist begins with two newbies to me, Jubyphonic and Nao. The spoken word has of course to be Brene, that’s next. Pop diva Alessia Cara follows and then we go way back to The Four Tops. Then my favourite Self Love song from Hailee Steinfeld and Pink Floyd close the set: My Story Matters Because I Matter.

So that’s my love letter to Brene Brown. She would be a fan of my lifetime paradigm: Love and Respect for All: Everybody Included. Until next time we meet, my dear friends.

Be So Good They Can’t Ignore You.

Posted on May 13, 2019 by Rod's World

I crew on three drug and alcohol-free dances within our community so ever rarely come across toxic drug and alcohol abuse spaces. I attended one on Saturday night as I had been invited by a DJ friend of mine, Mickey Space to attend his birthday gathering at a place called Horse Bazaar. It was like a return to my dark secret past. This was the venue my wildest girlfriend and I used to attend to dance after taking Acid or Ecstasy over a two year period every Saturday night 15 years ago. I never thought I would return there.

Mickey plays great music, so I was enjoying the dance when this rather drunken, amazingly beautiful young women, most of them are young when you are 64, came up to me and said, “You are too transparent, you’re not allowed to be that transparent, it’s unfair.” I told her I was a Dancing Eros sister, an ISTA graduate and a Warrior of Love. I sat her down and showed her the Dancing Eros homepage, and said look it up when you are sober: Access to Dancing Eros.

What would life be like if we were all as transparent with each other as I was that scared the bejesus out of this young woman? I am an empath so often feel the effect we have on each other. Unfortunately, I feel the pain people think they are hiding that they don’t want people to see so often have to leave events early. What has society said about transparency over the decades? Here are the most relevant I could find:

1. This is one gift if you think of it as one you receive as you become more and more transparent.

2. Simply, His Holiness rocks: Dalai Lama’s Guide To Happiness

3. All you do is confuse others when you continually change directions.

4. Wikipedia thinks Himanshu is either an Indian Bollywood actor or a New York rapper, I’m not sure about that, but I really like the intent of this quote: There is So Much Magnificence.

5. I have discovered I have worn a lot of masks over the years: Shyness, Judgemental, Alcohol and Drug Abuse, it takes committing yourself to a journey to remove them.

6. Some words: Brene Brown, vulnerability, it’s worth it: Embracing Vulnerability.

7. Not greatly relevant, but I like it.

8. How often in our lives don’t we do this for the sake of keeping the peace: Honest.

9. Transparency may lead you here.

10. I think if you are living a transparent life, that the other two would just fall in place: I’m Your Man.

11. When I am writing a note to the woman I wish to be my beloved I write the following: Remember to Breathe next time we meet, my beloved. From your beloved, if that is what you have chosen. I am still waiting for a reply.

12. It’s all in the eyes. They say they do not lie as they are the gateway to the soul: Bette Davis Eyes.

13. Does this go along with Home is Where the Heart Is. Maybe.

14. This may be a fallout out if people are on different journeys towards transparency: So Am I.

15. And our final lesson comes from Bono, who points out powerfully the cost of not telling the truth.

There were quite a few definitions of what transparency means, this was my favourite: the quality of being done in an open way without secrets.

In tribute to being in Rise – Speaker Training the playlist contains two spoken word tracks. We begin with His Holiness, The Dalai Lama, then two of my favourites Deva and Miten. Then the current Netflix craze, Brene Brown. Then one of the many rappers around at the moment, Future. Two legends follow in Leonard Cohen and Kim Carnes, completing with Ava Max: Be So Good They Can’t Ignore You.

What I am transparent about is spreading the paradigm Love and Respect for All, Everybody Included. The more people I can have see this as a possibility, the merrier. Until we meet again, my dear friends.

Intimacy is Into Me See!!

Posted on May 6, 2019 by Rod's World

What is true intimacy? This is a question and a state of play I have been exploring for the last three years. Admittedly I am coming from a very low base. I have found one of the things that most gets in my way is when I come from I think I know what intimacy is. All those memes, books and audios on finding your true soulmate have begun to confuse me, how she should look, how old she should be, what sexual predications she prefers, does she have or want children, etc., etc. etc.

I make chai at a dance called Mojo, The Dance of Connection, It is a truly sacred place where most of the angst that society attaches to intimacy disappears over the duration of the night. One night I looked out over the dancefloor late into the night, and a sense of sadness came across me because I realised that over 50 per cent of these beautiful souls would go home alone. The expression Sacred Love Letters passed through me. I had no idea what that meant.

Over the next two weeks, I had many thoughts to what it could mean. This is what I came up with. Here we go: As we get older we are trained to not share our intimate moments, being told that it is not safe to reveal our greatest secrets. What does this lead to: Three facts, the divorce rate, average length of relationships 18 to 25: six months and the proliferation of dating apps with their dick picture postings.

So this workshop idea came through, its called The Sacred Love Stories workshop and the premise is that for each chakra you tell your, “If they ever knew that about me, they would never talk to me again story as well as your: Yes I actually did this, and I am not boasting story”. The premise is in doing it with people you might not know as well as your intimate beloved people there will be not as much as a charge and it will move you down the path to doing it with your beloveds.

I have not had the gonads to actually run it yet, but have a list of people I have to contact when I do. Its very close.

So what does society say about intimacy? There are lots of beautiful quotes on the subject, here are some of my favourites:

1. I recently discovered that the person I hold in my heart does not feel the same way, surprisingly, in letting her go, I had the most erotic dance with her I have ever had in my life on Saturday night.

2. Would you get an A-plus or an F: Hold My Hand.

3. This is what I did the first night I put the women I mentioned in my heart.

4. So who of my readers have heard of the 70’s group the Seekers: A World of our Own.

5. Can’t read the authors name, but more Eye Gazing.

6. Kiara was born in Barquisimeto, Venezuela. She took her first steps into the entertainment world when she joined her school choir but, because of her distinctive, powerful voice, the rest of the members didn’t feel she blended in well and wasn’t allowed to stay in their musical ensemble. Seven best selling albums later, she sort of proved them wrong: Liberame.

7. Jim Carrey, Fear and Love, Google It.

8. Mazlo missed this one: All of Me.

9. One day we meet the one we never get over and then we know why all the others did not work out.

10. You look across the room, and their weird says, Thank god I finally found you, game over: Sweet but Psycho.

11. I love the saying it’s easy to get a kiss, not that hard to have sex, but finding the one who touches your heart and warms your soul, that’s hard shit.

12. Rollo Reese May was an American existential psychologist and author of the influential book Love and Will (1969). He is often associated with humanistic psychology, existentialist philosophy and, alongside Viktor Frankl, was a major proponent of existential psychotherapy: Hope.

13. Sometimes its not about the jiggy thing.

14. Break down the wall that prevents you from having intimacy in your life: The Mystical Power of Intimate Relationships.

15. And for our final lesson, a reminder that the intimacy must begin with ourselves.

So my breakthrough has come by being curious about it and checking with my heart, and not the memories in my head of my past failures. Would you like to be added to the Workshop waiting list? I promise it will happen this year.

Today’s playlist covers 5 decades and three countries. It begins with the County superstar, Jess Glynne. Then a blast from the past, the most popular 70’s Aussie band, The Seekers. We cross the ocean to Venezuela to hear Kiara. The smooth John Legend follows, then the quirky Ava Max. Pop diva Natasha Bedingfield sings a song of Hope and we finish with some spoken word from Marianne Williamson:Intimacy Into me See

As well as intimacy in my life I also wish for the community paradigm to be Love and Respect for All, Everybody Included. Until we meet again my dear friends.

If you Haven’t grown up by 50, You Don’t Have To!!

Posted on April 30, 2019 by Rod's World

Birthdays, we have one every year, I have had 64 of them, something I did not expect to happen in my earlier wild, lost years. We are sort of given a list we are meant to fulfil by our parents: The partner, the kids, the house etc. etc. – I have failed dismally in adding a tick next to these particular things. Instead, I have my conscious community of friends, wild adventures like attending Confest, dancing regularly every week and making chai for two of the dances.

I am at that time in my life that I hear and read about aging gracefully, Fuck That – Its time to party and experience and provide all the things that our community offers and needs us to share our gifts with them. I was having such a conversation with two amazing women at a friends birthday who had broken the mould as well. On our journeys, we tend to find each other over time, firstly we must make some mistakes on the way but our passion and purpose finally get us there.

What does society say about aging with passion, here are a few of my favourite things:

1. Taken to the extreme in one of my all-time favourite movies, Scarface.

2. Especially if you suffered the same fate as the author of this quote, they shot him: My Baby Shot Me Down.

3. This looks like a good read, great title.

4. Fever means something different to those with passion in their bones: Fever.

5. Takes something to get here, but Fuck, Yes.

6. Marie Dressler was a Canadian-American stage and screen actress, comedian, and early silent film and Depression-era film star. Successful on stage in vaudeville and comic operas, she was also successful in film. In 1914, she was in the first full-length film comedy. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress in 1931. A career that rose and fell only to rise again because she did not buy the I am too old bullshit: Fly Me To The Moon.

7. Who wants to keep making those stupid societal errors anyway.

8. And they all came to celebrate my friend Jules at Naked for Satan on Sunday: That’s What Friends are For.

9. Hail the enthusiastic ones.

10. In 1970, after stepping down as NOW’s first president, Friedan organized the nationwide Women’s Strike for Equality on August 26, the 50th anniversary of the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution granting women the right to vote. The national strike was successful beyond expectations in broadening the feminist movement; the march led by Friedan in New York City alone attracted over 50,000 people. Betty was 49 at the time: I Feel Shitty

11. Birthday today, time to break the rules.

12. Not just a presidents wife, one rocking mama: Hello.

13. Pick your favourite.

14. If you do this properly, dementia will never be a thing: In My Life.

15. For the final lesson, the first words are cut off, they are not really needed.

There are many ways to live ones live, your soul knows what is best for you.

Jules, the playlist is for you, Seven amazing female divas. Nancy Sinatra begins the journey followed by Peggy Lee. Dianne Krall and Dionne Warwick produce two absolute classics followed by the quirky Jane Friedman who you will not have heard of. The letter A features in the last two tracks with Adele and Allison Crowe. Jules, I expect to hear some of these at your next gig with Austin: If you Haven’t grown up by 50, You Don’t Have To!!

My life is dedicated to Love and Respect For All, Everybody Included no matter what your age, Until next time, my dear friends.

Freedom is a State of Mind!!

Posted on April 18, 2019 by Rod's World

Going off the grid for 5 days from 6AM tomorrow morning, off to Confest for the first time in 30 years with two of my friends who are Confest virgins. A little about the festival: ConFest (Conference/Festival) is a gathering of people wishing to share talents, skills, ideas, concerns and philosophies in a caring fun loving and tolerant atmosphere. The presentation of workshops, demonstrations, entertainments and the maintenance of site facilities are all performed by volunteers, monetary payment is neither accepted nor made.

At ConFest, people often set up villages with differing themes. ConFest is a clothing optional space, this means ConFesters can wear, or not wear anything they chose. Everywhere at ConFest is clothes optional. Don’t be surprised to have a naked ticket collector when you arrive at the ConFest gate. Clothing can range from nothing to body paint, a coat of mud, a sheet, a fairy costume, even a ball gown or dinner suit. At ConFest, clothing is not gendered specific. There is just one simple rule, respect other ConFester’s choices. A long-running and very popular ConFest tradition is the communal artist’s studio. Activities include body and sign painting, life drawing, clay work, organic art, photography etc. Artists, models and workshop facilitators are always welcome.

I am looking forward to returning, last time I went it was around 1,000 people, it is now over 6,000. How do 6,000 people express their own individual shades of freedom? Then, how does society comment on personal freedom, let’s have a look:

1. I love that saying, there is only climbing.

2. Its all in the air: The Air that I Breathe.

3. Thucydides has been called the father of the school of political realism, which views the political behaviour of individuals and the subsequent outcomes of relations between states as ultimately mediated by and constructed upon the emotions of fear and self-interest.

4. You got to fight for the right to…: You’ve got to Fight…

5. Mail, Key, Bike, etc. etc. etc.

6. There are rules that you are not meant to follow in your life, they are your bullshit rules: Nkosi Sikilel iAfrika.

7. The next step after freedom.

8. I . have met many of these fine people in the past six years of my healing journey, far too many to mention, you know who you are, Thank you: Love Street.

9. It travels hand in hand with integrity.

10. Nothing, Nada, No way, Fuck Off: No Way, Get Fucked, Fuck Off.

11. One word – Rumi!!

12. It may be known as Nirvana: Come as You Are.

13. Ask, expect. depend: Cry Freedom.

14. The curly haired eccentric one knows how to say it: Believe.

15. And our final lesson, two words: Fuck Yes.

What workshops will I do, they go all day supposedly. I will do ones that touch my heart.

Today’s playlist is great. A classic from The Hollies, The Beastie Boys next imploring you to …, A stirring National Anthem is thrown in next. Three of my faves from different eras, The Doors, The Angels from OZ, finishing with Nirvana. Mumford and Sons close it out with a plea to our senses: Freedom is a State of Mind.

Freedom to me would be the world living from Love and Respect for All, Everyone Included. Until we meet again on the other side, my dear friends.

A Relationship Is Like A House!!

Posted on April 12, 2019 by Rod's World

Shit, I forgot to do my Thursday blog, sorry if you rely on it for your morning coffee break but I been having such a great time lately it slipped my mind. This morning I am feeling joyful after attending my friend Cat’s awesome graduation for the process she created called the Cor Method. Here’s the link, travel to Melbourne for eight weeks, it’s worth it: Link To A New Life.

I have been to both graduations and often find myself moved to tears by the amount of heart the participants reveal to their families and friends. From singing to dancing to spoken word each is creative in their own way, all speaking from the heart.

So what has the people of planet Earth said about opening one’s heart to the people in your life, let’s have a look:

1. Many of the participants spoke of the negative stuff their mind was saying to them, but then their hearts took over, superb!!

2. I prefer the former, hate has never resolved anything for me: Love and Hate.

3. Gangaji currently writes and tours as a teacher. She holds that the truth of who you are is already free and at peace, which can be realized simply by ending one’s search.

4. The course definitely allows more space for this: Love Myself.

5. Maya loves the Cor Process too.

6. Lots of famous people know the power that is contained in the heart: So Much Magnificence.

7. Having revealed their hearts to the people they love, the participants need not worry about the former.

8. You could palpably feel the hearts cracking open last night: Hallelujah.

9. When you reveal all of what is in your heart some of this may happen.

10. The eyes have it every time, for me: Bette Davis Eyes.

11. How old is your Inner Child and does She/He still enjoy play?

12. You know where it is hanging out, Go there: Yogi B Truth Hurtz.

13. And how could I leave out the Persian poets?

14. Why Cat is such a heroine in having created this bundle of transformation work: Always Look On The Bright Side of Life.

15. The final lesson for today, Is a life without mistakes a real life?

I must acknowledge how I got to know Cat was through her delightful partner Ryan McRobb, through many connections. They give me hope as to what a joyful relationship could be like.

Today’s playlist has some long live tracks, I prefer live tracks to those from the studio, it’s more real. Using 7 artists in each blog and having done over 450 blogs you discover new artists all the time, we begin with one of them, Michael Kiwanuka, then one of my standard songs about self-love by Hailee Steinfeld. Then two great live tracks by Deva and Miten and Jeff Buckley. For a song about eyes, there is only one choice, Kim Carnes. The heart has to have some Bollywood so Vassan is next, and for some silliness, we complete with Eric Idle: A Relationship is Like A House.

In my heart lies the expression: Love and Respect for All, Everyone Included. Come for holidays in Melbourne and do the next course, we have some ace B and B’s here. Till we meet again, my dear friends.

We Make A Life By What We Give!!

Posted on April 1, 2019 by Rod's World

What am I feeling? I am feeling pride in the 200 men I spent a day with at the Island of Men who had gathered to take a stand for we were in it together to become better men for each other, our families and friends, lovers and children. The day consisted of ceremonies and about twenty workshops on a wide range of subjects that could achieve the stated intention. The following poem was written by my mentor Arion about the day, it sums up what happened pretty damn well. Here is a link to his work: Living As Essence.

Men. When you take off your mask.
You break my heart, in every way.
You share wisdom beyond your years
And unbearable trauma under that smile

Men, when you take off the mask
You show me bone-deep loneliness
No longer covered by the effort of living
And you break my heart, again

Men, when your mask falls away
I see tender beauty
And breathtaking kindness
That shatters all I knew, as you

Men, without masks
I love you, I see you
I see the depth of your feeling
And the burden of keeping it down

Men free from masks
I see your tears and tenderness
And your ache to love and be loved
I see your true power stirring

Let celebrate all that is behind that mask
In you, me and all of us
Let’s start a rebellion
Where we wear the masks no more

Let us cry in each other’s arms
Then build a new world, together
A world that bows to tenderness
In every living thing

Let us break our hearts together
In our beauty and our pain
I love you, I love me
Let’s take this love, to the world.

So what has the world said about the power of community, here are a few of my favourites:

1. We attended a magnificent event and are setting up structures so that we can fulfil the third stanza.

2. There will be Shadow and Light moments on our journeys, but as it says when it’s hard, We’re In This Together: Let’s Stick Together.

3. But due to all of us, the vulnerability of men and the power that can create will not be a secret much longer.

4. And Yes, some of this happened: Bette Davis Eyes.

5. And heaps of Bro Love, which I define as being truly seen by another man, of whatever age.

6. I’m guessing this is not the Paul Ryan from the Tea Party in the States, great ethos though: I’m an Individual.

7. Mark Hyman, MD, believes that we all deserve a life of vitality and that we have the potential to create it for ourselves. That’s why he is dedicated to tackling the root causes of chronic disease by harnessing the power of Functional Medicine to transform healthcare. Dr Hyman and his team work every day to empower people, organizations, and communities to heal their bodies and minds, and improve our social and economic resilience.

8. Those African dudes know how to keep our intention simple: How Far I’ll Go.

9. Gentleman, make some noise!!

10. We Wee’d in nature on the island. it really gets you in contact with the power of the wellness offered by communing with the land: Oh, Well.

11. And didn’t they share this so beautifully in the Heartspace process?

12. A philosophical doctrine or approach to life that emphasizes social unity and generosity of spirit: Ubuntu.

13. Even Rumi’s on our side.

14. Here is my favourite movement creator, here are some of his words: I Have A Dream.

15. And for our final lesson, Men of the Island remember the power of the snowflake.

There is so much great stuff happening across the communities of the world to have its heart space be transformed. It was an honour to attend one of them on Sunday.

There is a playlist, it has one of Australia’s greatest silly songs amongst other classics. We begin with Bryan Ferry them move to Kim Carnes. Who remembers Jacko then a musical tune from Moana. One of the great early Fleetwood Mac numbers follows then a world music number from World Edition. We finish with the wisdom of Martin Luther King: We Make A Life By What We Give.

If you really knew me, you would know in my heart there lives the statement: Love and Respect For All, Everybody Included. Until we meet again, my dear friends.

I Decide My Vibe!!

Posted on March 28, 2019 by Rod's World

What am I feeling today, a little bit of fear as to what it will take me to break through my always knowing about how to perform in a relationship and ask my new friend if it can be more than a friendship, we can all relate to the just friends scenario, it has devastated me at different times in my life.

I feel something in my heart that has not been there for a long time, yet I feel almost frozen to do anything about it. It’s a, we work together situation and is it politically correct in these days of #metoo to pursue it further. Fuck, it hurts my heart.

So, what have we, as a community said about moving to the next level in relationships, let’s open our hearts up and find out:

1. So true, being numb and frozen clearly does not work.

2. Which floor do you require? My lift operator in my heart to self: Level Up.

3. The exact advice my friend Phoenix gave me in an Expand The Box exercise we were in last night when I tried to find the answer in my head, not my heart.

4. Focus on what’s in your heart, not your head: Listen to Your Heart.

5. Are you an Id flyer?

6. Oops, this gets in: Same Old Shit.

7. This will help break through the numbness.

8. Shag pile carpet or facing reality, choose: Uncomfortable

9. Is that a goddess picture, maybe?

10. How do you get from point A to point B: More Than Friends.

11. Another way of saying what Phoenix pointed out that I needed to do for it to have any chance.

12. I believe in the starseed theory, that the universe is listening to our spoken and unspoken requests and tries to answer them: Across The Universe.

13. I’m sure my millennial nephews would understand what he is saying, I’m not so sure.

14. Language, it can make you quite sad at times: Computer Games.

15. And for our final lesson, Rod, fucking remember this and get out of your head.

When you are not researching possibility as your source but entering the world of feelings I notice that my blogs have become much shorter. How many words do I have blocked in the frozen parts of my body, we shall see over time.

The Playlist has a classic death metal fuck you track amongst it today. We begin with Ciara, travel back to Roxette. Cross the political correct boundary with Macz, then rock out with Halestorm. Jason Mraz and Meghan Trainor ask each other a relationship question. Rufus Wainwright redefines a Beatles song and we finish with an Oz classic from Mi-Sex: I Decide My Vibe.

Relationships must come from Love and Respect for All, Everyone Included, Peace out to next time, my dear friends.

Not on my watch, Anymore!!

Posted on March 18, 2019 by Rod's World

I wrote the following in my Facebook news feed two days after New Zealand:

I am sitting in Preston Town Hall at the Multicultural fair, cultural diversity Festival 2019. There are hijab’s and henna painted hands everywhere, so many different cultures. Firstly I went to the Preston Mosque, ironically the day after NZ they had already invited their neighbours so they could meet and enjoy a meal together. I was privileged to hear the Imaan give his welcome speech and his communities comment on NZ. I firstly had spent an hour having my hand shaken by both Muslim men and women thanking me for being there, I did not know if it is cool to walk around a mosque with tears flowing from your eyes so I sort of controlled it. The Imaan spoke of common humanity, then of a noble death, where you are looked after in the afterlife. He quoted the Koran where it says if you kill an innocent human being you kill the spirit of the human race. I made a promise to myself at that moment I will do everything in my power that this will never happen again on my watch.

I picked up my friend and extraordinary poet Ari Amal’s beautiful tome: The Details and the Infinite when I got home and opened it to the following poem, it spoke to my heart, here is her webpage link: Find out about Ari.

May All The Blossoms Within You Unfurl

It only takes one brave bud

To start a revolution

So to the buds in you that are yearning to burst open

These words are for you:

Darling ones

Spring has come

It is time to become

All that you are

So lift your face to the sun

& laugh with the sky

For even your fragrance is a Gift

To those who happen by

It only takes one brave bud

To start a revolution

So tell me,

Who amongst you will inspire

the Fiesta?

I don’t think the human being who committed the heinous act in Christchurch had read it, who amongst us will do what it takes to transform the world into the majestic place it could be. What have we written about it, let’s take a look:

1. One of the bravest acts a human being , can commit in their lifetime, be themselves in the face of the crap society throws at them not to be.

2. Can’t read their name, but I have enjoyed the revolution, my artistic friends have created for the past 45 years: Art for Art’s Sake.

3. “Nisker’s book (Essential Crazy Wisdom) is twenty-three times more liberating than the Bible, the Torah, and the Koran combined. It may be crazy to say such a thing but it is also wise.” — Tom Robbins, author.

4. From the Black Panthers, if you don’t know who they are, google it. It’s not about the people, it’s about their stand: The Revolution Will Not Be Televised.

5. Begin one today.

6. No Isaac Newton here, grow some: Formation.

7. Donald Trump, Scott Morrison and other far-right world leaders, Jacinda and us mob, we are coming for you.

8. Dorothy got this answer to a question, I don’t accept it: Que Sera Sera.

9. A revolution of desire has given us today’s world, pick again.

10. Will it be yours, what area in your life will it be: Stir It Up.

11. He, Joseph Stalin may have got carried away with his zeal but I get his point, just don’t go over the top like Uncle Joe did.

12. When I read George’s books, I decided Tyrion Lannister was one of the great characters in literature. Not just fantasy literature – literature! A brilliant, caustic, horny, drunken, self-flagellating mess of a man. And there was only one choice to play him.”: Never Forget You.

13. And, Go!!

14. If you are decluttering your house to do this, stop it: Smooth Operator.

15. And finally to my Mojo crew, Awakening Women for Men brothers, Warrior of Love travellers, Dancing Eros sisters in male bodies, Expand the Box and Possibility Lab cronies, my ISTA family and my siblings Hugo, Ruthie and Jann, two words, Fuck Yes!!

I think writing this has helped the sadness I feel in my gut for what happened in New Zealand, time to grow some and go.

I like today’s playlist, it has some of music’s icons and one of my favourite spoken word jazz tracks: 10cc with a classic head it off, Gill Scott-Heron then some diva pop from Beyonce. Then we go way back to Dorothy Day. The certified legend Bob Marley follows, next is new to me but not ten million people, The Noisettes, and we finish with the always sensual Sade: Not on my Watch, Anymore.

Do I really have to say it, We need Love and Respect for All, Everybody Included or we all may not wake up one day because we thought everything was OK and someone will prove that wasn’t true in an ultimate way.

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