Let Go of Your Mind and Then Be Mindful!!

Posted on August 13, 2019 by Rod's World

I have been missing for a while, firstly a cold then a very painful knee that had me sitting very still for about a week. I returned to life by attending a Waking the Warrior workshop run by my friend and mentor Arion Light, if you are interested in Warrior of Love work here is the link to WOL land: Warriors of Love.

We travelled a journey that began in the Immature male, I could list the characteristics but give my readers enough intelligence to work them out for themselves. Starting here was to exemplify what hanging around there a lot costs you. We then moved onto the Mature Feminine, that part of our life that is often known as our intuition. Picking up the gifts from here allows us to move through the area our identity that you can hang out in for days and days, that of the immature feminine. As we are empowered by the mature feminine we learn to not hang around here as long and move on to that area of life that completes our Warriors of Love, the mature masculine, that enables you to get those things done you have wished to your whole life.

So are the distinctions Feminine energy and Masculine energy new to the planet, I went on a search via Google to see what had been produced, here are some of my favourites:

1. From Sai Baba land we get this very succinct definition.

2. I like how they have balanced the two energies in this meme: Balance

3. Kundalini was first mentioned during the 3rd to 9th centuries BCE in India, so the concept has been around for a very long time.

4. Author of 18 books over a 40 year period Shakti Gawain is considered an expert on vibrational energies: Dance of the Sacred Union.

5. This is the cost of the Immature male being dominant I was talking about.

6. All contained within the one vessel, yours truly: All I Want.

7. To acknowledge all four areas exist and keep moving between them.

8. Immature, Mature, Toxic, Divine: whatever words work for you: Human.

9. I liked the image, the quotes good too.

10. Another oldie from the Buddha. This is one of the takeaways I got from the workshop, thanks Arion: Focus.

11. Love the logic of this one.

12. It’s very hard to be somewhere else than where you are: Whenever, Where-ever.

13. I thought this was a great reminder not to become am immature, mature junkie.

14. All is needed, the immature, the mature, the toxic, the divine: Light My Fire.

15. And for our final lesson on the feminine and masculine is the addition of a powerful tool, that of the art of hugging the two together and passing on a gift to another so they can see the possibilities they may have missed.

I forgot to mention the four areas were drawn on top of your tree of life so that having power in them increased the power of your roots and branches in life. Funnily the workshop took place at a beautiful retreat centre called Vines and Branches.

Today’s playlist contains a song that has a mere 200 plays and one that has over 500.000.000 plays. Have a guess before you listen. We begin with two relative unknowns to me, Timaya and Anu Sophia Ra El. Then Kodaline followed by the deep tones of Rag and Bone Man. Two pop divas belt their songs out next, Ariana Grande and Shakira. We complete with The Doors: Let Go of Your Mind and Then Be Mindful!!

It’s not about being balanced 100% of the time but the journey. Add some Love and Respect for All, Everyone Included and who knows where the planet could end up. Until next time we meet, my dear friends.

Can Your Inner Child Come Out And Play?

Posted on August 1, 2019 by Rod's World

I came in contact with my five-year-old inner child in a session with my mentor on Wednesday, I was researching how to define the influence your inner child can have on you when I came across a beautiful article from LonerWolf, they define it as:

No matter how big or small, almost all of us experienced some kind of trauma as children. These traumas could vary from having your favourite stuffed toy thrown in the trash, to being abandoned by your best childhood friend, to being physically or emotionally abused by your parents.

Inner child work is a vital component of inner work because it reconnects us with a wounded element of ourselves: the child within. When we reconnect with this fragmented part of ourselves, we can begin to discover the root of many of our fears, phobias, insecurities and sabotaging life patterns. This is where true healing happens!

Inner child work is the process of contacting, understanding, embracing and healing your inner child. Your inner child represents your first original self that entered into this world; it contains your capacity to experience wonder, joy, innocence, sensitivity and playfulness.

Why this came up is I explained that after talking to a woman who I wish to speak to more than anyone in the known world at the moment for twenty minutes the dread and anxiety of What if she finds out what I’m really like took over and it became all too difficult, and it ceased rather quickly.

We had a conversation around who did I become, and it was the little 5-year-old who felt unworthy of being loved due to some decisions about the parenting he thought he had been offered by his maternal parents. Sixty years later, they are probably not true, so we did a process so that my internal parents took over my body.

So how has society discussed the inner child, When we deny and snuff out the voice of the child within we accumulate heavy psychological baggage. This unexplored and unresolved baggage causes us to experience problems such as mental illnesses, physical ailments and relationship dysfunction. Here are some ways:

1. From my fellow Aussie, Trudy: this is one powerful way my mentor suggested I help heal my five-year-old.

2. I also love the quote on her home page as being a powerful way to improve: “Time spent amongst trees is never wasted time.” – Katrina Mayer: You Are Loved.

3. A combination of ‘Its time to grow up education from your parents and the rigidity of the school system, methinks’.

4. This ode is for the inner feminine child we all have in us, I’m sure there is one for the inner masculine as well: Into My Arms.

5. Especially between our adult self and our inner child.

6. That naff saying just let it go has never really worked for me: Changes.

7. Hard to read, but a profoundly beautiful ethos,

8. The 20-minute exercise in rewriting the parents of my inner child has had a profound effect on me, Who would believe so much change could occur in such a short time: Absolute Beginners.

9. The wire cage installation from Burning Man has become a worldwide interpretation of what our inner children seek, and that is a connection with others.

10. I just liked this image: MotherLove.

11. A powerful statement from Jung and an image that really displays how much our inner child influences us.

12. Wise words from one of my top ten philosophers, Thich Nhat Hahn: Peace Be With You.

13. Diane also states: We’re spiritual beings having a human experience and everything we need is inside. When you connect with that inner guidance, you can hear the whispers of your intuition — your Wise Self — guiding you to your best life. Often it is your inner child.

14. Carl Jung did quite a bit of work on our inner child, I think so should we: Over The Rainbow.

15. And for our final lesson, a message from your own inner child, I’m going to skip with mine this week.

Here are 4 of the most powerful ways to perform inner child work:

Speak to your Inner Child.
Look at Pictures of Yourself as a Child.
Recreate What You Loved to do as a Child.
Make an Inner Journey.

For a moment I thought I was doing an all-male playlist again, but the last two songs prevented this. We begin with a newbie for me, Matthew Mole, then the most brilliant of songs by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. Two Bowie numbers follow, and Queen ends our male contribution. The penultimate number is by Shaina Noll, and we finish with a superb version of a classic song by Eva Cassidy: Can Your Inner Child Come Out and Play?

Through inner child work, you can learn to grieve, heal and resolve any sources of trauma you’ve been unconsciously holding on to for years. This can liberate you and allow you to live a life of real adulthood, emotional balance and wellbeing. Doing this has definitely got me closer to Love and Respect for All, Everybody Included because it includes me. Until we meet again, my dear friends.

Gandalf and Yoda Go Out On a Coffee Date!!!

Posted on July 30, 2019 by Rod's World

I went to a men’s workshop on the weekend called Isle of Men with 160 of my brothers who are interested in becoming better men for themselves, their partners, their children their lovers, their parents, their siblings, in fact, everybody in their lives. There are strict confidentiality clauses that mean we cannot mention who is there without their direct permission, so today I am writing about what we looked deeply into, the four male archetypes of Warrior, Lover, Magician and King but specifically The Magician as what I discovered about myself rocked my soul.

Carl Jung understood archetypes as universal, archaic patterns and images that derive from the collective unconscious and are the psychic counterpart of instinct. They have inherited potentials which are actualised when they enter consciousness as images or manifest in behaviour on interaction with the outside world. They are autonomous and hidden forms which are transformed once they enter consciousness and are given particular expression by individuals and their cultures. In Jungian psychology, archetypes are highly developed elements of the collective unconscious. The existence of archetypes can only be inferred indirectly from stories, art, myths, religions, or dreams.

Before we move on, let’s be clear about something. Archetypes aren’t personality types. Jung didn’t think you could classify a person as a specific archetype. A man can’t take a test to tell him that he’s a “Shadow.” Instead, the archetypes are simply patterns of behaviour and thought, or “energies” that can be found in all people in varying degrees.

I am in a program called Warriors of Love so had some understanding of the psyche of the warrior archetype and have been on a journey recently with my lover archetype over the last year so was grateful for the insights I received, but when we got to the magician archetype the skill of the facilitator to use stories, art and myths was so much next level it shook me out of my hubris as to what is possible in one’s creative life.

The Magician archetype is summed up by Robert L. Moore,

Moore is probably most widely known as the senior author, with Douglas Gillette, of a series of five books on the in-depth structure of the male psyche, drawing on the account of the archetypal level of the human psyche developed by C. G. Jung.

King, Warrior, Magician, Lover: Rediscovering the Archetypes of the Mature Masculine is an introductory overview of four key sources of energy at the archetypal level of the human psyche.
The King Within: Accessing the King in the Male Psyche centres on the most important and most difficult source of energy for men to access.
The Warrior Within: Accessing the Knight in the Male Psyche centres on the source of energy that boys and men usually learn how to access relatively early in life, but it takes time and effort to learn how to access the optimally mature form of this source of energy in the human psyche.
The Magician Within: Accessing the Shaman in the Male Psyche centers on another form of energy that boys and men usually learn how to access at a relatively early age, but, once again, it takes time and effort to learn how to access the optimally mature form of this source of energy in the human psyche.
The Lover Within: Accessing the Lover in the Male Psyche centres on a very tricky source of energy in the human psyche.

as “All knowledge that takes special training to acquire is the province of the Magician energy. Whether you are an apprentice training to become a master electrician and unravelling the mysteries of high voltage; or a medical student, grinding away night and day, studying the secrets of the human body and using available technologies to help your patients; or a would-be stockbroker or a student of high finance; or a trainee in one of the psychoanalytic schools, you are in exactly the same position as the apprentice shaman or witch doctor in tribal societies. You are spending large amounts of time, energy, and money in order to be initiated into rarefied realms of secret power. You are undergoing an ordeal testing your capacities to become a master of this power. And, as is true in all initiations, there is no guarantee of success.”

It is in the last words of his description “there is no guarantee of success” that shook my soul so greatly. He weaved his magic on the crowd, reading and changing the content of his presentation as to what he felt would empower the gathered men moment to moment. I had forgotten I used to have this ability too.

So what has been spoken about the magician archetype over the centuries? Here are some of the most powerful things I could find:

1. What is in the Magician toolbox you are given at the beginning of your training, an ample sprinkling of pixie dust.

2. Envy and Competition, the two great destroyers of a child’s inner creativity: Jealous Guy.

3. Definition of righteousness

1: acting in accord with divine or moral law: free from guilt or sin

2a: morally right or justifiable a righteous decision

b: arising from an outraged sense of justice or morality righteous indignation

4. Danielle says to live your life from your Core Desired Feelings, and master them as you do in your magician archetype: Don’t Believe a Word.

5. During the Magician process, the facilitator created moments of the purest joy for the participants.

6. Ben Okri OBE FRSL is a Nigerian poet and novelist. Okri is considered one of the foremost African authors in the post-modern and post-colonial traditions and has been compared favourably to authors such as Salman Rushdie and Gabriel García Márquez: Look Away.

7. After Sunday, I do have to agree with this statement.

8. I don’t think any of the men arrived there thinking we would take part in a classic mosh pit, we did: Mosh Pit.

9. A trick in all magicians toolkits, the ability to walk through doors.

10. Escher was possibly the greatest at this. Maurits Cornelis Escher was a Dutch graphic artist who made mathematically-inspired woodcuts, lithographs, and mezzotints. Despite wide popular interest, Escher was for long somewhat neglected in the art world, even in his native Netherlands. He was 70 before a retrospective exhibition was held. In the twenty-first century, he became more widely appreciated, with exhibitions across the world: Its Magic.

11. I included this just to remind you of the power of mandalas.

12. Thank You, mystery facilitator: Touching My Soul.

13. I definitely had this done for me on Sunday.

14. Outside the ordinary rules of life, Yes Please: Shout.

15. And our final lesson from Johny Carson, that we all have the magician in us at the start, some of us just forget it.

There are two main roles that the energy of the Magician flow through—the initiate and the initiator. Or in other words, the mentee and the mentor.

As we just discussed, Magician energy drives us to obtain hidden knowledge. But contrary to the popular adage about professional magicians—that they never reveal their tricks—a man truly animated by the mature Magician archetype is eager to turn around and share what he has learned with others. He desires to elevate the serious and earnest seeker to his level.

This is why the lack of magician energy in modern culture is really at the heart of the issues many men are having today. There is a lack of mature men who have made a rite-of-passage themselves available to initiate other men into the “secret knowledge” of manhood. Dads and granddads, uncles and cousins, used to teach their sons and other young men how to act, dress, and behave like a man. But a lot of men have grown up without such a mentor these days and thus feel lost, directionless, and adrift. Its time we stopped this.

Today’s playlist is all masculine. We begin with one of my all-time favourite tunes by Donny Hathaway. Then two of the four rock bands, Thin Lizzy and Big Country. Flosstradamus provides a rap tune next, then some magic from Pilot. The penultimate tune is by Axel Rudi Pell and we finish with Tears for Fears: Gandalf and Yoda Go Out On a Coffee Date.

On Sunday I saw what the possibility of Love and Respect for All, Everybody Included being the major theme can provide. Until next time we meet, my dear friends. If you enjoyed this, don’t forget to sign up to receive an email reminder when each blog is written.

It Can Struggle, But the Bond Cannot Be Broken!!!

Posted on July 25, 2019 by Rod's World

Today, I am writing about how I often feel when I am in the presence of love directed towards me. What do you think the first line of the above quote I chose for the title of this blog was? It was about a version of love never failing the test. Yes, it was Unconditional Love, and through the experience of my identity, I know I have struggled with this over the years. Researching this I came across a great article on the matter: called Soulmates and Unconditional Love in a journal called PyschCentral by Darlene Lancer, here are the guts of it:

Are you searching for a soulmate or unconditional love? Your quest can set you on an impossible journey to find an ideal partner. The problem is twofold: People and relationships can never achieve perfection. Often unconditional and conditional love are confused.

Usually, we yearn for unconditional love because we didn’t receive it in childhood and fail to give it to ourselves. Of all relationships, parental love, particularly maternal love, is the most enduring form of unconditional love. (In prior generations, paternal love was thought of as conditional.) But in fact, most parents withdraw their love when they’re overstressed or when their children misbehave. To a child, even timeouts can feel like emotional abandonment. Thus, rightly or wrongly, most parents at times only love their children conditionally.

Is Unconditional Love Possible?

Unlike romantic love, unconditional love does not seek pleasure or gratification. Unconditional love is more a state of receptivity and allowing, which arises from our own “basic goodness,” says Trungpa Rimpoche. It’s the total acceptance of someone — powerful energy emanating from the heart.

Love that is unconditional transcends time, place, behaviour, and worldly concerns. We don’t decide who we love, and sometimes don’t know why. The motives and reasons of the heart are unfathomable, writes Carson McCullers:

The most outlandish people can be the stimulus for love. . . The preacher may love a fallen woman. The beloved may be treacherous, greasy-headed, and given to evil habits. Yes, and the lover may see this as clearly as anyone else — but that does not affect the evolution of his love one whit. ~ The Ballad of the Sad Café (2005), p. 26

McCullers explains that most of us prefer to love than be loved:

. . . the value and quality of any love is determined solely by the lover himself. It is for this reason that most of us would rather love than be loved. Almost everyone wants to be the lover. And the curt truth is that, in a deep secret way, the state of being beloved is intolerable to many. ~ ibid

Ideally, the giving and receiving of unconditional love is a unitary experience. Couples experience this most frequently when falling in love. It also happens when someone fearlessly opens up to us in an intimate setting. It’s a being-to-being recognition of that which is unconditional in each of us, our humanity, as if to lovingly say, “Namaste,” meaning: “The God (or divine consciousness) within me salutes the God within you.” When we delight in another’s being-ness, boundaries may dissolve in what feels like a spiritual experience. This allows energy to flow into places of resistance that surround our heart and can be deeply healing. It can happen during moments of vulnerability during therapy.

Yet, inevitably, these occurrences don’t last, and we return to our ordinary ego state — our conditioned self. We all have our preferences, idiosyncrasies, and particular tastes and needs, which have been conditioned by our upbringing, religion, society, and experiences. We also have limits about what we will and won’t accept in a relationship. When we love conditionally, it’s because we approve of our partner’s beliefs, needs, desires, and lifestyle. They match up with ours and give us comfort, companionship, and pleasure.

We’re fortunate to meet someone we can love conditionally and, at times, unconditionally. The combination of both forms of love in one relationship makes our attraction intense. It’s the closest we come to finding a soulmate.

How has humanity related to unconditional love over the decades, here are some ways they have taken a cut at it:

1. Rev. Melony McGant aka Miss Mellie Rainbow is a storyteller, thought-leader, humanist, poet, & compassionate communications professional with more than 30 years experience in helping people find love. How my Essence must be flowing I feel for love of another to be present.

2. As said in this quote it is a daily journey towards it: We Need Love.

3. There are no Google entries for Akashwani, there should be just because of this quote.

4. Oops, they got it wrong: Skin.

5. The King Dick Gregory is talking about is Martin Luther King Jnr.

During the turbulent 1960s, Gregory became a pioneer in stand-up comedy for his “no-holds-barred” sets, in which he mocked bigotry and racism. He performed primarily to black audiences at segregated clubs until 1961, when he became the first black comedian to successfully cross over to white audiences, appearing on television and putting out comedy record albums.

Gregory was at the forefront of political activism in the 1960s, when he protested the Vietnam War and racial injustice. He was arrested multiple times and went on many hunger strikes. He later became a speaker and author, primarily promoting spirituality.

6. You must have the strength in all situations, even the shitty ones: The Greatest Love of All.

7. The scientific explanation of why love is not based on looks.

8. Dedicated, Caring, Disciplined, Wise, Precise, Power-full, Committed and Cheeky are words often used to describe Tanya Curtis. She is the Founder and Managing Director of Fabic Behaviour Specialist Centre and Co-Founder and Managing Director of Sunlight Ink Publishing. Tanya is also an award-winning Business Woman, Behaviour Specialist, Teacher, Course Writer, Presenter, Author, DVD Presenter, App Creator, Product Developer, Mentor and Student Supervisor: Who You Are.

9. Bliss in Love equals acceptance of both the Shadow and the Light.

10. The times I have fallen in love have always been in spite of all the stories I tell myself why it won’t work out: Sing for My Life.

11. I think the two words at the bottom, self-acceptance sum it up pretty damn well!!

12. I can hardly see without my glasses at times, but I do see and agree with this: Superficial Love.

13. If the future Buddha says it, I’m in.

14. All or None: Love ‘Em All

15. And for the final lesson, a four-word mantra you must never forget in the game of love.

Opening the Heart

Unconditional love isn’t a high ideal we need to achieve. Actually, striving after it removes us from the experience. It’s always present as the unconditioned part of us — our “pure, primordial presence,” writes Buddhist psychologist John Welwood. He believes that we can glimpse it through mindfulness meditation. By observing our breath, we become more present and can appreciate our basic goodness. In mediation and in therapy, we find those places we choose to hide from ourselves and others.

Relationships can provide a path to opening the frozen places in our hearts. Love can melt a closed heart. However, maintaining that openness demands courage. The struggle for intimacy challenges us to continually reveal ourselves. Just when we’re tempted to judge, attack, or withdraw, we open to our hurt and that of our partner. In doing so, we discover what we’re hiding, and triggers from our past yield opportunities to heal and embrace more of ourselves.

The playlist today is chock full of pop divas singing about love. The only male starts off, John Legend doing one of his soulful numbers, then six divas: We begin with Rihanna, go back a few decades to Whitney Houston. Then hang around this century with Jessie J., Sia, Ruth B. and finish with K. Michelle: It Can Struggle but the Bond Cannot Be Broken.

if you wish to read my blog on a regular basis remember to sign up on the list with your email address. Love is a great subject for Love and Respect for All Everybody Included to manifest through. Until next time we meet, my dear friends.

Someone Asked If I Knew You?

Posted on July 23, 2019 by Rod's World

As I said in my last blog I turned 65 last week, on Sunday I attended a memorial service for a friend who will not. He was just 42 and one of the most vibrant people on the planet. He was a DJ, an environmentalist, a teacher and a beautiful man. He was taken by the big C, a condition that does not listen to reason.

In the weeks before his passing rumours spread of him passing and people began to write eulogies. He had not, so I began listening to his MixCloud sets. I was listening to one of these when posts began appearing from his nearest and dearest that he had actually passed. At this moment I received a download from him. It was just four words: Get On With It. You cannot assume you will be here to fulfil your passions and dreams next year, Get on with It.

Today an article from my friends Marc and Angel Chernoff titled 25 Things You Should Never Stop Doing for Yourself came through my news feed, I thought they were relevant:

Never stop stretching and improving yourself.
Never stop listening to your own inner voice.
Never stop walking comfortably in your own shoes.
Never stop working through your fears.
Never stop being a little unrealistic.
Never stop doing what needs to be done.
Never stop embracing your struggles.
Never stop being willing to make mistakes.
Never stop getting back up.
Never stop making the best of it.
Never stop ignoring the naysayers.
Never stop taking small steps forward.
Never stop giving yourself a chance to soar to new heights.
Never stop smiling.
Never stop thinking positive.
Never stop laughing at yourself and your life situations.
Never stop appreciating the life you’re living right now.
Never stop indulging in life’s little daily joys.
Never stop spreading your kindness.
Never stop giving what you can.
Never stop giving your important relationships a fair chance.
Never stop doing little things for your own happiness.
Never stop opening your mind to new perspectives.
Never stop evolving.
Never stop writing your own story, your own way.

My friend did most of these, especially number 21, never stop giving your important relationships a chance. So how does society give friendships a chance, here are a selection of that is said about them:

Several hundred people attended the memorial for my friend. quite a few travelled from interstate, I think this supports the above statement.

2. Through a lengthy friendship, all these and more situations arise: Black Coffee.

3. When the physical sails off, we have the memories in our heart.

4. As you get older and they pull down the structures of your past, it is the people that you remember who were there with you: That’s What Friends Are For.

5. I met one of my dearest friends pretending to be a tree at a party in a flat in Carlton in the ’70s when we swayed into each other too vigorously.

6. The people who you can sit with next to a river for hours and not a word needs to be spoken, Fuck Yes: Down by the River.

7. They’re the ones wearing the I’m with them tee shirts.

8. Ama Ata Aidoo, née Christina Ama Aidoo (born 23 March 1942) is a Ghanaian author, poet, playwright and academic. She was the Minister of Education under the Jerry Rawlings administration. In 2000, she established the Mbaasem Foundation to promote and support the work of African women writers because she realised it was important that all people received an education, not just the elite, She has portrayed the role of African women in contemporary society. She has opined that the idea of nationalism has been deployed by recent leaders as a means of keeping people oppressed. She has criticized those literate Africans who profess to love their country but are seduced away by the benefits of the developed world. She believes in a distinctly African identity, which she views from a female perspective: I am Woman.

9. I think we are best at this as children.

10. What does the F stand for: It Ain’t What You Do.

11. There are 51 meanings for the acronym BFF, this could be for two of them: Best Friends Forever or Best Fan Forever.

12. My friend was so good at this. Written in the 1930s or 1940s, still so relevant today: Humble and Kind.

13. Until they are not if you have the thought I wonder how they are, time to reach out.

14. From her Matched Trilogy of teenage novels comes this beautiful quote by author Ally Condie: Tangled Up In You.

15. And we finish our lesson for today with the eating of buns.

We ended the ceremony with a drumming ceremony in a circle, as it lifted in energy, I could imagine our friend saying fuck this, and jumping into the middle and dancing his heart out. Farewell from the physical world, our dear friend, the eternal will hold you well as will our hearts.

The playlist for today is not really representative of the music our friend loved, but maybe it is as he loved all music. It begins with All Saints. Then drops back a century to Dionne Warwick, a long guitar solo by Neil Young, Helen Reddy and Bananarama. The penultimate track goes country by Tim Mcgraw as does the final number from Aaron Lewis: Someone Asked If I Knew You.

It took me two days to write this, it normally takes two hours. My friend lived Love and Respect for All, Everyone Included. We will miss you, dear friend.

Until we meet again my dear friends, I love you.

People Think About What They Don’t Want!!

Posted on July 20, 2019 by Rod's World

It’s a bit of a celebration today, on Wednesday I reached the old official retirement/pension age of 65 in Australia. Our right-wing government wanted to make it seventy before the backlash became too much when it reached 68. This is also my 450th blog. What did I do on my retirement day, I went to an event called Awakening Attraction, this is the blurb for it:

There is nothing that enlivens relationships more than the potency of ‘chemistry’ – the charge, the tension and the excitement of impassioned desire.

It is this magnetism, this enchantment, this allure that is the elixir of relating and it weaves certain magic through our romantic interactions.

Without it, we may still have great ‘friendships’ or ‘partnerships’ but we will be missing out on the ‘juice’!!

Attraction has often been considered as an elusive ‘Je ne se quo’, but what if attraction was not a mystery but rather something you could understand, cultivate and play within a healthy way to bring out the best in those around you? What if you could ignite the spark of attraction and keep the flame alive in relationships?

During this interactive special evening event for men and women where we will be navigating all things ATTRACTION.

The topic we will be exploring on the night…
– When it comes to intimate relationship what is your ATTRACTION STYLE?
– Understanding the effect you have (or don’t have) on others.
– What do you WANT to attract and what are you actually attracting?
– How you ignite the spark of attraction
– How you keep the flame burning deeper in a long term relationship.

I have done the feeder program for this night called Awakening Women for Men, a transformational experience that alters how you listen to your own inner feminine, your mother, mine has passed, your sisters if you have them, your lovers and your female friends and the sister program is Awakening Men for Woman. The ethos of these programs is

We believe that at our human core our greatest longing is to be seen, felt and heard by those we love.

Awakening Connections is a new paradigm of relating that empowers people to come into deeper wholeness, love and truth.

We know a world exists where humans feel enlivened within themselves which in turn creates an opening for healthy, sexy and inspired relationships.

Relationships with self and others are the most challenging emotional experiences we face, asking us to continually evolve and grow.

We give people the ability to really step into and navigate the challenges we face and turn them into gold.

Awakening Connections celebrates the journey of relationship through embracing both its ecstatic potential as well as the gritty, real and raw nature of the human experience.

It’s time to create extraordinary relationships, are you ready?

So how has society looked at attraction over the years, here are some of my favourite ways!!!

1. This calls out to my heartspace.

2. In the real field of attractiveness, you do not have to live by the rules that there are only certain desires that are OK: I Feel Good.

3. But only with consent, we do not read it right every time.

4. Are you great at receiving your desires, it is something I am working on after years of listening to the reasons why I couldn’t in my head: Waiting for Love.

5. Body Butter, not something taught in standard high school sex education classes.

6. Talking about what is present in the actual moment, not saying what you think they want to hear, now that is expansive: Titanium.

7. Do you match your desires, I am about a 5 out of 10, always working on becoming stronger at it.

8. And once you begin to awaken your conscious self, your lifeforce does not allow you to go back: Set Fire To The Rain.

9. Magnets are built to attract to and stick to what are the right frequencies, listen to your magnetic power.

10. Fear prevents you from approaching what you desire and what you are attracted to, there is that classic saying have your fear and do it anyway. Over to You: Anyway.

11. Fuck Yes!!

12. Awakening occurs at the moment, you can do it millions of time in your life, especially around attraction: Changes.

13. Red or Blue, which are you attracted too?

14. Remember in this attraction game that you have unique strengths and skills, may you find the one, or even two or three that honours them: The Way.

15. And from the most famous of philosophers Ms Unknown comes the final lesson when awakening attraction.

A week or so after doing Awakening Women for Men a dear friend of mine asked me what did I learn about women from the course, it felt like she was checking to see what secrets Alley, Shaney and Jarrod had given away. Here is my answer: I said there was too much, it will take a lifetime to take it all in, but imagine I had never met you and I walked into the room and saw you and went: we must end up as lovers. I ask you out informing you that I broke up with Janice three months ago. I would know when I am placing my projections of being with Janice on our relationship, allowing it to be new and fresh and full of love and curiosity. She smiled and said that is beautiful.

The playlist for today speaks to the awakening of attraction. We begin with the Sex Machine James Brown. then we move forward to this century with Avicii. David Guetta duets with Sia next. Adele and Martina McBride follow. @Pac does the penultimate number, finishing with Ariana Grande.

Honouring your attractions is needed if we are to live from Love and Respect for All, Everybody Included. I sincerely believe that there is at least one awakened soul out there for us. Until next time, my dear friends.

A Strong Soul Shines After Every Storm!!

Posted on July 15, 2019 by Rod's World

I enjoyed the shamanic power of Kailash Kokopelli twice over the weekend. Kailash has been running Sound Healings and Cacao ceremonies around the world since the 1990s. The Link to Kalaish’s World. the first event was a short healing at an Ecstatic Dance experience and the second one at this joyous event called The Alchemy of Joy which was a full-blown experience. The event was organised by a true lover of community spirit named Ivanna. I arrived with my pillow and lay down on the ground and was instantly offered a yoga mat so I didn’t get cold from the floor and the cherubic soul who offered it to me said to make sure I did not miss out on the free springwater, chai and soup.

Kailash offered us all his knowledge and experience about cacao ceremonies and how important it is to bless all the directions before consuming it. We then sang heart songs for about an hour to open our heart for the Sound Healing, they were beautiful and definitely opened my heartspace prior to the main ceremony.

I am a known snorer and have been woken up many a time for the said crime of disturbing others during Sound Healings, Kailash set up the intention so powerfully that there was no way I felt like entering the snoring state but went on a profound journey with my soul.

This has made me ask how does humanity relate to the soul across our different cultures, here are some of the ways:

1. I love Mandi’s about details on her webpage:

HI.

I’m Mandi.

I used to be a U.S. Naval Officer. Now I am a hippy artist and body positive activist living in New Zealand.

This website is where I house my personal work. The work that bubbles up from the muse and me kind of just have to make it. I make it for myself. and as a way of looking deeper at something that has caught my eye or tripped up my imagination. I make it for the people of the world as a way of begging us to see past the superficial and to get down to the real meaty raw good stuff of our soul.

2. How does one turn off that ever-consistent chatterbox: The Instrument to Heal Is The Soul.

3. The beautiful sounds of the dual didgeridoos, the oldest wind instrument in the world sent healing vibes throughout the hall.

4. Sha has an M.D. and a degree in traditional Chinese medicine. He is also a grandmaster of Tai Chi, was the lead acupuncturist for the World Health Organization, has been named Qigong Master of the Year and in 2006 was awarded the Martin Luther King Jr. Commemorative Commission Award for his humanitarian efforts. He teaches his patients that chanting mantras in Mandarin Chinese can heal their ailments. He has also claimed to be able to replace organs using a technique he describes as a “soul software download”, and practices what he refers to as “soul healings”.

Sha’s practices have been deemed controversial in the west and their effectiveness has been called into question. An ophthalmologist who examined patients treated by Sha reported that none of their conditions was helped by his methods. He claims to treat cancer with “downloads”. A clear case of Eastern versus Western spiritual philosophies: The Voice Within.

5. From Little Things/Steps, big things grow.

6. On your tippy toes: Beautiful.

7. And what would a discussion of healing the soul be without some Rumi?

8. Each time I leave my city limits I am reminded of the power of nature: Colour of The Wind.

9. Forgiveness is the ultimate form of healing and release.

10. Socrates was a classical Greek (Athenian) philosopher credited as one of the founders of Western philosophy, and as being the first moral philosopher of the Western ethical tradition of thought. An enigmatic figure, he made no writings and is known chiefly through the accounts of classical writers writing after his lifetime: The Philosophy of Socrates.

11. Indigenous wisdom is barely understood these days.

12. All beautiful side effects: I’ve Got the Music In Me.

13. Don’t forget that the inner work is the important type required.

14. It seems that being your true self is magical and stuff these days: You Can Do Magic.

15. And a final message from your soul after it has been healed.

So keep listening and singing those heart songs, your soul is listening.

The playlist today has two spoken word pieces, the first is from Carolyn Myss, the next two tunes are from Christine Aguilera, then some indigenous wisdom from Pocahontas. Socrates is next. Kiki dee does the penultimate tune and we finish with America: A Strong Soul Shines After Every Storm

I think the more we have of these events across the planet the sooner the ethos of Love and Respect for All, Everybody Included will be able to rise. Until next we meet. my dear friends:

You Were Born An Original Work Of Art!!

Posted on July 4, 2019 by Rod's World

I am a Warrior of Love, It’s a 12-month long training program that allows you to live your life from Essence/Lifeforce instead of the identity we have built up over our lifetime. this is the link to my mentors’ school: Living as Essence.

My Essence is Unlimited Intimacy, recently as I search for it I have entered the shadowland where it does not exist in my life. My identity has taken me to many dark places over time as my solution is to wish it would go away, definitely not to spend time hanging out with it which is what Arion, my mentor sees as the way into healing and that I also intrinsically know is the way.

I write daily love memes and original Inner Pilot Light prose on my Facebook Newsfeed and have been given two opportunities recently to receive intimacy from two women I rather fancy as possible partners. The first put a heart on a love meme that spoke about being authentically loved. My reaction was to go into deep shadow thoughts about why would she do that and construct a maze around any possibility… I took this to my weekly session and did some work on sitting with the possibility versus rejecting it without any evidence as to it being a possibility. This morning I wrote the following

Dearest Rod,

You try SO hard to be perfect. But how do you think life will be better if you’re perfect?

Don’t you realize that your imperfections make you adorable? Just think what a beast you’d be if you were some Stepford person?

Freckles decorate a face.

Scars suggest a life well risked.

Mistakes make you relatable.

And holes in your jeans give others a place to sneak in tickles.

Relax your perfectionism, darling, and celebrate your glorious imperfections.

I sure do,

Your Inner Pilot Light.

About 10 minutes later a heart emoji appeared underneath it, this time I thanked the person and wished her well on her overseas travel, a slightly different reaction from an entirely different space. Who knows what will happen in either case but it appears shadow work frees up possibilities.

So what have our philosophers and society said about hanging out in shadowland over the centuries? Here is what Jung and his cohorts have said:

1. Shadow and Light, they travel together. Sometimes we forget this.

2. They travel together to remind us that we have a choice moment to moment: So Small.

Walt Whitman
Walt Whitman, 1887
Born	Walter Whitman May 31, 1819 West Hills, New York, U.S.
Died	March 26, 1892 (aged 72) Camden, New Jersey, U.S.

Signature

Walt Whitman was an American poet, essayist, and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among the most influential poets in the American canon, often called the father of free verse.

4. I think this 17th Century poet, critic, philosopher and theologian is pointing to our building up the strength of our stories as being the truth as we get older: Faded.

5. That smudgy name is the renowned Brene Brown. What if we were not afraid of our fears, but saw all opportunities as joyful?

6. I would definitely agree with this, on my three-month silent meditation retreat I spent the first two months quietening my mind and all the ways it thought I was doing it wrong: Bette Davis Eyes.

7. For one with such fame not much is known of his health issues. He produced the majority of his work from the age of 34 to 44. In 1889 at age 44, he suffered a collapse and afterwards, a complete loss of his mental faculties. He lived his remaining years in the care of his mother until her death in 1897 and then with his sister Elisabeth Förster–Nietzsche. Nietzsche died in 1900.

8. How we label our shadows sometimes, good sense: Pablo Picasso.

9. To dismantle them you must enter them.

10. Which included her shadow and her light: Song for Frida Kahlo.

11. Marcel Proust, was a French novelist, critic, and essayist best known for his monumental novel À la recherche du temps perdu (In Search of Lost Time; earlier rendered as Remembrance of Things Past), published in seven parts between 1913 and 1927. He is considered by critics and writers to be one of the most influential authors of the 20th century. He died seven years before the final volume was published.

12. How many of us are willing to do this: Waiting For The Sun.

13. From a champion of the shadowland of both types, drugs and alcohol, comes a summation after playing in the field for a long time, myself, it was forty years.

14. Shadows of beauty and mystery, not many people I know relate to them this way, perhaps my fellow Warriors of Love: Busy Being Blue.

15. And for our final lesson today we receive our lesson from the Godfather of darkness, Carl Jung.

I am practising sitting with my shadow world and not creating chaos by resisting it, perhaps other miracles will appear in my life as I continue down this path.

Today’s playlist is loaded with ballads. We begin with Carrie Underwood, then a newbie to me, Alan Walker. That song by Kim Carnes follows. Then two obscure bands in The Modern Lovers and TinPan Orange before we move on to the iconic Doors. K. D. Lang finishes this fine collection: You Were Born An Original Work of Art.

I know that I am closer to Love and Respect for All, Everybody Included when my Essence of Unlimited Intimacy is present in my life, I thank the Warriors of Love for creating a space for me to practise in. Until next time we meet, my dear friends.

Incredible Things Can Be Done Simply!!

Posted on June 24, 2019 by Rod's World

Had a busy solstice weekend, crewed on Dancing Freedom Friday night, then Winter Solstice Chanting Meditation on Saturday but have chosen to reflect on the event I attended on Sunday that my friends Robbie, Maz and Paul ran called Own Your Desires. Here is the blurb for it:

Do you ever feel attracted to someone but fear rejection? Is it challenging approaching people you are attracted to? Do you struggle to ask for what you really want? We have all had these experiences….as human beings, we have hopes, needs, dreams and desires. This is a journey in exploring and resolving these situations in a safe, experiential space. This is an opportunity to dive deeper into these thoughts and emotions. A chance to unravel old habits and ways of being. There will be exercises and practices for you to discover and develop communications skills, a reframing of limiting beliefs and empowering you to own your desires.

What will this experiential journey give you?
-Freeing yourself from false expectations and imagination.
-Freedom and power to approach people and own your desires.
-Building courage and learning how to express how you truly feel.
-Developing self-awareness and harnessing your truth.
-Empowering yourself to express your affection for another.
-The opportunity to share your true self with another.

At 64 I was the elder of the group which had quite an age spread, the exercises were short and sharp experiences in asking for what you desired with time building up in each experience. There were also sessions were people could share their experiences. Confidentiality does not allow me to share anyone’s but my own.

I noticed I had judgements on what each person would be willing to do and was often surprised when this did not turn out to be the result of the request. Out, damn judgements.

Given this, how has society related to desires over the centuries, here are a few takes at it:

Coventry Kersey Dighton Patmore was an 18th Century English poet and critic best known for The Angel in the House, his narrative poem about the Victorian ideal of a happy marriage. I think desires in the 21st Century may be a little different.

2. One distinction was to align your mind, your heart and your sex, all essential areas of your soul, methinks: Everybody Dance.

3. Desire versus Love, an eternal conversation!!!

4. Breath was an important part of the process, Dan Brule is a breathwork master who makes the following statement: Our Breathing is the only system in the body that is both completely automatic and also under our control. That is not an accident of nature, not a coincidence. That is an opportunity, an invitation, to take part in our own nature – our own evolution: Breathin

5. The long and windy road of placing your dreams and desires in the hands of others.

6. It looks like a scene from Marry Poppins so, that word: Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

7. How often do we leave our desires out so that our lives appear organized without ripples on the water?

8. Do you purposefully bring your desires to life on a daily basis, you belong with these people if you do: Love Shack.

9. As I found out I probably fit in the latter group when it comes to my desires.

10. Grateful for both the Yes’s and the No’s, need to work on the latter: Kind and Generous.

11. A bucket is just another word, as are To-do lists, both can prevent you from actually living in the moment.

12. From the man who gave us the bliss distinction, here is another classic that points to why we may not be fulfilling all our desires: Staying Alive.

13. It’s in the tax area our desires live.

14. As Tantra came from India I had to include one image of a wise Indian guru or it would just not seem right: Slave To The Rhythm.

15. And Oprah points out in our final lesson, that desires should excite you at first as it is that, that will keep you focussed.

I feel sated after the experience and acknowledge that Robbie, Maz and Paul delivered full value with love and compassion, they worked well as a facilitation team, I will be back.

Today’s playlist contains some musical royalty: We begin with funksters Chic, then shoot forward to pop diva, Ariana Grande. Then that word and song from Mary Poppins followed by a jump around track by the B-52’s. The superb voice of Natalie Merchant is next, then pop royalty The Bee Gees. We finish with the always sultry Grace Jones: Incredible Things Can Be Done Simply!!

My major desire is that the world lives from this paradigm: Love and Respect for All, Everybody Included. Until next time we meet, my dear friends.

Leaving With A Lighter Load!!

Posted on June 17, 2019 by Rod's World

My friend Emma invited me to her partner David’s choir Gloriana’s performance of Path of Miracles on Sunday: Here’s another Choir doing some of it… The music was as evocative and haunting as my friends who have braved the Camino say the courage it takes to complete it requires. What inspires people to walk 700 kilometres when they have never done anything like that in their lives before? My friend Marc says it was a major event in his life, divorce proceedings, my other friends Kavisha and Andy that it was a journey of faith. So what has the Camino community said about it over the years, here are a few sayings they came up with:

1. Both of them said it was when they stopped listening to the logical no answers from their mind and what was possible in their hearts that saw them arrive in Spain.

2. You could possibly get lost walking 700 kilometres in the fields of Spain. But all the people I have spoken to about it, say what they learnt about themselves is what had them complete it: Find Your Way Back.

3. Norman Vincent Peale (May 31, 1898 – December 24, 1993) was an American minister and author known for his work in popularizing the concept of positive thinking, especially through his best-selling book The Power of Positive Thinking. I don’t know if he ever walked The Camino but this would be a useful tattoo to have done before you commenced your trek, I think.

4. And it continues well after finishing if the looks on my friends’ faces apres arriving back from Spain were anything to go by: Shiny Happy People.

5. This is one of my favourite all-time quotes, I can see how it would relate to The Camino as blisters miraculously appeared on your feet.

6. This is a post by a younger Camino trekker: I am 21, will be 22 when I walk. I think it’s great being around older people, 30 or 70 years old. They have a different view of their country than someone in their teens/the early twenties(when it comes to telling stories it makes them more interesting) They will be able to share more experiences and their stories with you than most 18-year-olds would be. I know what you’re saying, but I wouldn’t be worried about it. You might not have much in common with a 60-year-old or even a 30-year-old but I think that’s part of the journey, to understand one another, appreciate our differences, and to share this one magical experience with people all over the world of all ages of all backgrounds of all classes. I think it’s good to feel out of place once in a while.: Roam.

7. By the worlds greatest quote writer, Ms Unknown, comes this mighty insightful offering.

8. Deciding to walk the Camino, is that when you give up all your I can’t do it stories: Walk a Mile In My Shoes.

9. http://www.womenoftheway2011.com is a wonderful website dedicated to a brilliant doco that was made and information for our sisters who take the journey.

10. I’m sure you would get a lot of time each day to ponder this as you stroll through the Spanish countryside: Long Way Home.

11. Grace is from Canada, she has a Pinterest site called Discover Ideas about No Way.

12. And it is not only written about in one language: El Camino.

13. Am I off to The Camino, Maybe?

14. Janette has written a free book of poems about the Camino called: Camino Quotes and Poems – The Meaning of The Journey, it’s downloadable, word magic: Listen To Your Heart.

15. Google won’t give me the exact answer if Tom Petty actually walked The Camino, but this quote from him appears all over it. A worthy lesson to finish on.

So these are some of the things and reasons that have had people walk and comment on the sacred journey that is known as El Camino de Santiago (The Way of St. James). Music, poetry and quotes, all point towards the transformational experience it seems to be.

Today’s playlist is mainly made up of Rock groups. We begin in the ’80s with Jefferson Starship, REM and the B52’s follow. Back even further to Joe South before returning to our current time with Garth Emery. Our Intercultural offering is The Gypsy Kings and we finish with Roxette: Leaving With A Lighter Load.

From the 21 years old’s offering I sense that El Camino de Santiago fits right in with my world paradigm of Love and Respect for All, Everybody Included. Until next time we meet, my dear friends.