People are your Assignments!!

Posted on April 10, 2017 by Rod's World

You are always being guided, even when you don’t feel like it. It comes with being part of the human race, a unique human being. We are all in a large classroom called Earth and the people you choose to know and even those we do not give us our assignments in life. How often do you become frustrated with our political leaders even though we have never met them?

So who do we choose as our most personal assignments? Often it is our family, as they are in our lives the longest, even though it may be at some distance later in life. So let us take a journey through our assignments:

How many people have you met in your life, when you have thought, OMG, I am so glad I am nothing like them. They are there for that exact lesson

2. Joel Scott Osteen is an American preacher and televangelist. He is the Senior Pastor of Lakewood Church, in Houston, Texas. Osteen’s televised sermons are seen by over 7 million viewers weekly and over 20 million monthly in over 100 countries. He gives you some sage advice as how to handle fear as an assignment in this quote: Fear and Love.

3. Number ten is the only one you can read clearly, that’s enough.

4. Listening to your mind, trying to work out what others want to hear is not the assignment. Deep down in your soul is what you have to say: Shake It Off.

5. The old 24-hour formulae, we all have the same time in a day, so each of us has the chance to inspire others with our actions.

6. Self Love first is the prime assignment, hard to give it away if it is not part of our inner being: Stronger.

7. This is why the idea of war is corrupt as an assignment, we need to end it ASAP.

8. The second evangelist today, Myles Munroe is slightly more controversial for his stance against gay rights. He is also the author of over twenty philosophical and biblical books. I like this quote though: Ride on Time.

9. This falls in the category of don’t listen to people’s words, watch their actions. Dreams without actions are very shallow.

10. What if all mothers had told their children this, what a different world we would live in. Motherhood is a vital assignment: Imagine.

11. Sometimes assignments with each other can be frivolous, this is one of them, or is it?

12. I am finding it easier to recognize the latter these days, It’s worth the effort: Adventure of a Lifetime.

13. Confucius’s principles had a basis in common Chinese tradition and belief. He championed strong family loyalty, ancestor veneration, and respect of elders by their children and of husbands by their wives. He also recommended family as a basis for ideal government. He espoused the well-known principle “Do not do to others what you do not want to be done to yourself”, the Golden Rule.

14. Jean-Luc Godard once wrote, “Robert Bresson is French cinema, as Dostoyevsky is the Russian novel and Mozart is German music.” Two of his films were listed in Sight and Sounds 100 greatest film ever made: Invisible.

15. And here is your final assignment, remember it as often as you can.

Remember to work on at least one new assignment AKA personal relationship a week, it will transform your life!!

Namaste until next time, my dear friends.

When I am sad I eat Chocolate!!

Posted on April 6, 2017 by Rod's World

” I recognise my anger and I honour my reaction to the darkness. I know my true power lies in my capacity to be the light. I call on the energy and thoughts of love to pour through me and inspire me to take action from a place of true power “. This powerful prayer is from Gabby Bernstein’s The Universe Has Your Back, it comes from Step 2: Remember where your true power lies.

I think that what we have to offer the world comes from our remembrance of it. If we are eternally sad, that’s how the world occurs for us. Why not be curious in our remembrance of events. How they affected us, why they made us joyous or sad, we have examples of them all.

Let’s strap on our memories and go on the journey:

1. I remember a drive from San Fransisco to Los Angeles down the coast road on a foggy day. We picked up a hitchhiker going to his Narcotics Anyomous meeting. He was a local and took us to all the places people didn’t know about. The connectedness to the people and the area was remarkable.

2. This song was number one in our country for a lengthy period: Beautiful People.

3. Imagine if you walked the streets doing this, what a difference a day would make!!

4. There is that really bad 90’s Arnie movie End of days. I can remember moments for decades ago, and forget what I did last weekend: Moment of Clarity.

5. I was born in the 1950’s. Lots of truth to Brue lee’s statement. I remember the people I know and not many others who did not live a life worth remembering.

6. What memories live in your heart. then can be from your childhood or yesterday, they say time is a made up concept anyway: Memories of a song in my Heart.

7. My friend and I went on a cricket trip in the 80’s to Sydney, 1,000 kilometres away. He met our friend’s sister, fell in love and moved to Sydney three months later.

8. I have this vivid memory of Ken, the American Vietnam veteran who rescued us from the bush in New Zealand after our two-day hike in the mountains went bottoms up: I Remember You.

9. How often does this happen? Besties one day demoted to part of the pack six months later.

10. Is this the ultimate state of being? I use giving and receiving, better at the first, not so great at the second: Giving and Getting

11. People remember what you do, not what you say. A powerful memory.

12. Memories are made of this, but your future isn’t/ Fulfil your dreams: Follow The Sun.

13. Whilst writing this I received the phone call from one of my sisters I had been dreading. My beloved brother in law passed from cancer last night.

14.Lessing was awarded the 2007 Nobel Prize in Literature. In awarding the prize, the Swedish Academy described her as “that epicist of the female experience, who with scepticism, fire and visionary power has subjected a divided civilisation to scrutiny”. Lessing was the eleventh woman and the oldest person ever to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature: I remember when I was Young.

15. And this is the place our memories live.

So as the phone call shows, your memories can change instantly, hold onto the great ones.

Namaste until next time, my dear friends.

Nature is pleased with Simplicity!

Posted on April 3, 2017 by Rod's World

Sometimes we feel that we have just reconnected with a truth we’ve always known and that if we could just know more about it, our life would be delightful and rich. I call it reconnection with your soul. It takes letting go of many of the things that clutter our lives in the hectic busyness of the modern world.

How do you reconnect with those simple things that used to please you as a child? Let’s have a look at what the world has to say about it:

1. One way I find works is to reconnect and recommit to my core values, as Zig Ziglar, the iconic business coach says we can begin again and make a new ending.

2. I ran into a friend I had not seen for five years in a hat shop in Leningrad. What reconnection brownie points were taking place for this to happen: Fate.

3. From one of the world’s greatest philosophers, Master Unknown comes a beautiful quote about how and why we reconnect.

4. Throw out those judgments and the chance of reconnection being able to come to the fore is much more prevalent: Connection.

5. Laurie Colwin (June 14, 1944 – October 24, 1992) was an American writer who wrote five novels, three collections of short stories and two volumes of essays and recipes. She was known for her portrayals of New York society and her food columns in Gourmet magazine. This is great advice she is offering.

6. This quote is a recipe for reconnection with our souls, I think it is essential: One Human Race.

7. I have a special one of these, a mate I met at a retreat four years ago, Michael, you rock my soul.

8. Beautiful image for a beautiful practice: The Best of Me.

9. How did we survive with these relatively new words that have been added to our dictionaries? What’s a dictionary, is that spellcheck or google it?

10. Co-founder of the online sensation, The Huffington Post. Arianna points to the power of meditation and contemplation in reconnecting with our inner selves: Beautiful.

11. the opening lines from the all-time classic song, The Sounds of Silence. We need to reconnect with all of us for it to truly work out.

12. Go for it, email me the results to rod.williams13 @gmail.com: Never Grow Up.

13. How difficult is this living our distracted lives?

14. Wayne Walter Dyer (May 10, 1940 – August 29, 2015) was an American philosopher, self–help author, and a motivational speaker. His first book, Your Erroneous Zones (1976), is one of the best-selling books of all time, with an estimated 35 million copies sold to date: Make peace with your Ego.

15.And finally, remember to have a healthy relationship with this intrinsic part of your psyche.

It’s time you had an extraordinary relationship with your nature. Inner and outer, we need both.

Namaste until next time, my dear friends.

You all laugh because I’m Different!!

Posted on March 30, 2017 by Rod's World

To care about people who are fearful, angry, jealous, overpowered by addictions of all kinds, arrogant, proud, miserly,, selfish, mean, you name it – to have compassion and to care for these people means not to run from the pain of finding these things in ourselves. Instead of fending it off, we could open our hearts and allow ourselves to feel that pain, feel it as something that will soften and purify us and make us more loving and kind. These beautiful words by Buddhist nun, Pema Chodron to me are certainly against the grain of society which is thrown to medicate all these situations as quickly as possible. In my country Australia they spend $155 billion a year on health care, most of it is not preventive but after the fact.

How are things that are against the grain looked at by humanity, let’s take that journey:

1. How many people have seen that silly video of the single soul who starts dancing in the crowd? then another joins , and another until all of the crowd join in, Being against the grain means other grains/people get the opportunity to experience something they would never have started themselves.

2. Hendrix re invented guitar playing, Bob Marley re invented the Love Generation’s music and Miles took jazz to another level, they were all doing something right: See Dem Fake Leaders.

3. If the great inventors of our time had only attempted what they were taught where would our society be now. Get out there and make some mistakes.

4. When you are rubbing against the grain of sand, there will always be an effect. Try to remember this on a day to day basis: Against the Grain.

5. History is riddled with wars started by this act, what is more people had spoken out against the grain at the time.

6. Punk bands typically produced short or fast-paced songs, with hard-edged melodies and singing styles, stripped-down instrumentation, and often political, anti–establishment lyrics. Punk embraces a DIY ethic; many bands self-produce recordings and distribute them through informal channels: Rock and Roll High School.

7. Perhaps the best example of this is Japanese electrical goods and cars. After WW2 they copied America’s goods poorly, where are the companies they copied now. The roles are reversed, and dare we mention made in China.

8. They say when a child commences school that 60% of jobs they will do don’t exist. I would think that we need many people who don’t just hang about the institutionally recognised for the world to keep growing as this fact points out: Neverland.

9. One of my all time favourite cartoons is ban the business burqa. It depicts a city street full of men wearing the same coloured suit. How do we know their leadership abilities when none of them are willing to step out against this unspoken rule you have to wear a suit to be a leader.

10. I went to a coaching session by a friend of mine, Jeffrey Slayter last night. At the end he asked us what was my takeaway. I replied the soul knows much better than the mind what to say, train yourself in listening for your soul: Your Soul.

11. Danilo Tagle is a nuerogenetics professor. I think this makes him a very smart dude. He may be talking about what he does for a living, or perhaps about you?

12. Not one of your A list actors. but a man with ethics. Also a writer and producer, he has starred in some of my favourite quirky movies. Who can forget his dark comedic role as a professional assassin in Grosse Point Blank: Complicated.

13. Often you have to go against the grain when you are looking for your genius, it just doesn’t walk up to you and introduce itself.

14. Two Alberts in a row, he is a much quoted man who often found himself in places no one had seen before: On Your Own.

15. I went to my friend Emeli Paulo’s workshop on Tuesday night on connection. I feel like this has happened for me.

So if its true there are more grains of sand on one beach that there are human beings on the planet what are you going to do with your grain?

Namaste until next time, my dear friends

What a Miracle, What a Blessing!!

Posted on March 20, 2017 by Rod's World

Were you blessed with living in a house where gratitude was a given or was it a premises where put-downs and teasing were more the norms? In these houses, it was often expected that the children growing up were expected to display behaviors, emotions and thinking patterns that had never been modeled. Gratitude is held in high esteem by virtually everyone, at all times, in all places. From ancient religious scriptures through modern social science research, gratitude is advanced as a desirable human characteristic with the capacity for making life better for oneself and for others. Though gratitude is associated with pleasantness and highly desirable life outcomes, it is certainly not an easy or automatic response to life situations. Resentment and entitlement often seem to come naturally. Individual personality flaws such as neuroticism or narcissism make it difficult to recognize the positive contributions of others. The very fact that gratitude is a virtue suggests that it must be deliberately cultivated.

So how has gratitude been expressed over the centuries, let’s go on that journey:

1. Sara Avant Stover, a teacher of feminine spirituality and empowerment and a yoga and meditation instructor, bestselling author, and inspirational speaker, is the founder of The Way of the Happy Woman: a worldwide community based on the teachings and practices in her bestselling books, The Way of the Happy Woman and The Book of SHE. As the creator of the world’s first Women’s Yoga Teacher Training, the online program Reversing Our “Curse,” and The SHE School, Sara has taught tens of thousands of women worldwide. She has been featured in Yoga Journal, the Huffington Post, Newsweek, and Natural Health and on ABC, NBC, and CBS. Sara’s teachings, writings, programs, and communities support women of all ages to place the Heroine’s Journey at the heart of their lives. She teaches on feminine spirituality, lifestyle, healing, relationships, and more. Sara lives, hikes, writes, and dances with mystery in Boulder, Colorado. These thousands of women are very grateful for Sara’s teachings.

2. This beautiful image caught my eye immediately. it reminded me of the facebook group I am a member The Daily Gratitude Space of, where hundreds of people choose to place what they are grateful for over the airwaves: Grateful.

3. I write one thing a day I am grateful for in my Desire Map Planner by Danielle LaPorte. Just one thing a day sees this happen for me.

4. Why you should be grateful fro what you have at this time is that you have worked for it. That’s how to get things, doing the work: Royals.

5. From the greatest quoted philosopher Anonymous comes the above classic pointing to that you need to take the actions of gratitude first.

6. That’s the place gratitude hits home, in our hearts: Beautiful.

7. perform an act of gratitude a day to a stranger and you may just transform the planet.

8. Who is this for you? Your parents, your lover, your children, your boss, your bestie? Go on do it, and make the difference: Stand Up.

9. The author of several transformational books, the latest being The Universe has Your Back, Gabby Bernstein trains people to be grateful for their lives and do great things with them. Read her books and check her website at https://gabbybernstein.com/

10. We all have lots of stuff, but often in this consumer driven society we search of more and forget that what we have has made us what we are. Remember this act of gratitude and you will free your life up expedientially : That’s just the Way It Is.

11. There is a minimalist movement sweeping western society, here’s one thing they could take one.

12. They don’t need to hear that I really appreciate what they did for me. Not!!!!!!!Speak Up.

13. This makes my soul shudder, how beautiful.

14. From Little Things, Big Things Grow, really only one song for this: From Little Things.

15. Melody Beattie is one of America’s most beloved self-help authors and a household name in addiction and recovery circles. Her international bestselling book, Codependent No More, introduced the world to the term “codependency” in 1986. Millions of readers have trusted Melody’s words of wisdom and guidance because she knows firsthand what they’re going through.

In her lifetime, she has survived abandonment, kidnapping, sexual abuse, drug and alcohol addiction, divorce, and the death of a child. “Beattie understands being overboard, which helps her throw bestselling lifelines to those still adrift,” said Time Magazine. This beautiful quote is an example of the power of her work.

So, as you may have picked up, I believe in the power of daily gratitude. I hope from reading this you join our band of merry pranksters.

Namaste until next time, my dear friends.

It is What it Is!!

Posted on March 13, 2017 by Rod's World

They say when people break up there are three versions: Yours, Theirs and Reality as to what really happened. There are 7,000,000,000 versions of reality walking around the planet. Some are very similar as they label themselves as belonging to a religious or political belief system and this often takes away the act of thinking freely.

Life is what it is, some of it affects our reality more than other actions do. At the moment it seems to be terrorism or mass migration that is on the top of the list of what is wrong with reality. I don’t think these are new to the world as my country is a totally migratory country except for the indigenous First Australians.

What have they said about reality over the centuries, let’s go on that journey:

1. Who would have thought someone from the 18th centuries quote would be so relevant these days. As idealists, we get a little exasperated with tedious attention to prices over people, numbers over names, logic over love.

2. We form our reality and Jarod Kintz points out a practice that stains it: Inconsiderate.

3. In the great book the Fear Cure, Lissa Rankin points out there are two types of fear. one you should listen to because you are in danger and the other that are all those thinks you think will happen if you do something and never actually do.

4. Danish philosopher Soren Kieregaard was considered to be the first existentialist philosopher. Much of his philosophical work deals with the issues of how one lives as a “single individual”, giving priority to concrete human reality over abstract thinking and highlighting the importance of personal choice and commitment: Let It Go.

5. They say police often have trouble getting facts about what happens at a crime scene because of what is written in the above quote.

6. I wonder how many people live by this premise, I don’t think it’s a question they ask in the census: Made to Dream.

7. It took being shot for this remarkable young woman to be listened to. I think she will fulfill this reality.

8. Mainstream media seems to have forgotten this seeing the way they interpret life: I’ll Show You.

9. Andy tried many ways to change reality in the 1960’s. His works explored the relationship between artistic expression, celebrity culture, and advertising that flourished by the 1960s and utilize a variety of media, including painting, silk screening, photography, film, and sculpture. Some of his best-known works include the silkscreen paintings Campbell’s Soup Cans (1962) and Marilyn Diptych (1962), the experimental film Chelsea Girls (1966), and the multimedia events known as the Exploding Plastic Inevitable (1966-67).

10.In this world, nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes. Why do we resist the latter so ferociously: Rivers of Tears.

11. Management expert James O’Toole, in a 2005 issue of Compass, published by Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, claimed that Bennis developed “an interest in a then-nonexistent field that he would ultimately make his own — leadership — with the publication of his ‘Revisionist Theory of Leadership’ in Harvard Business Review in 1961.” O’Toole observed that Bennis challenged the prevailing wisdom by showing that humanistic, democratic-style leaders are better suited to dealing with the complexity and change that characterize the leadership environment.

12. How often do we fall for this, that what is said about us is the actual reality vs. what we are actually experiencing: Human.

13. It changes moment to moment, each one a new reality.

14. Or seemingly not in mainstream media. If we believed them we would think the whole world is at war or committing acts of terrorism or be dying in accidents: Don’t Lie.

15. They looked across the room and fell in love/lust. The reality struck when they tried a relationship.

So what is your reality? How do you arrive at it and when are you willing to change it?

Namaste until next time, my dear friends.

It Matters not how Straight the Gate!!

Posted on March 11, 2017 by Rod's World

Well, I lost my Thursday blog as I had to leave where I was writing it and it only saved the heading when I got to it again to finish it off. I have since lost the urge to write on that subject of patience. I read this quote and it speaks to how much that mattered.

How do we decide if something matters in our life? Do we flip a coin, ask others opinions, listen to our souls and hearts, attend a mastermind meeting. I’m sure we all have our own unique way of doing it. So let’s have a look at how it has mattered over the centuries:

1. Probably her most famous quote, Katharine Graham led the Washington Post through its most famous period, especially the uncovering of the Watergate scandal in the 1970’s which caused the impeachment of Richard Nixon, the President of the United States. Watergate is now the word used for any type of major scandal in that country adding a new word to their language.

2. Do you give without expecting anything in return, from your heart, not your head? This is a different type of giving that opens other people’s hearts as well: From the Heart.

3. You lose contact with a friend, a relative passes, you lose your job. The pain is almost unbearable. That’s when it matters.

4. Harry Potter offered much to our society over its seven volumes. Perhaps this is the most important lesson: It won’t be like this for Long.

5. In my Desire Map Planner by Danielle LaPorte which is subheaded What I will do to Feel the Way, I want to Feel there is a daily question about what are you going to stop doing. I had never thought of adding this to my daily routine. It opens so much space for what does matter to fill it in.

6. Why do people grow up and hurt each other? We come out as a bouncing baby. Judd Nelson, one of the 1990’s Hollywood Brat Pack, along with Emilio Estevez, Anthony Michael Hall, Rob Lowe, Andrew McCarthy, Demi Moore, Molly Ringwald, and Ally Sheedy asks a very relevant question that matters: Why is it So Hard.

7. Sometimes we lose direction in life and focus on what others are doing. It can make a difference but essentially it is what you do for yourself and with your time that matters.

8. Living at risk is jumping off the cliff and building your wings on the way down. When will you jump off the cliff and what for: Speak Now.

9. I once wrote the following statement on my Facebook page: We all have the same 24 hours as Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela and Mother Teresa. My brother went apeshit. How do you react?

10. Spreading what matters in life also spreads Positive vibrations. Only one song and one artist can be used in this situation: Positive Vibration.

11. Even if you have to forgive your father, your remembrance of him is what makes the relationship strong even after he has passed. My father was a beautifully kind gentleman.

12. If it touches your heart it will always be remembered as a special moment. You may even have smiled: Blue Skies.

13. They say that on their deathbeds the thing most people regret is they did not do more things in their life. They let their common sense talk them out of trying things. Don’t listen to it.

14. I also posted a picture of an 80-year-old yogi and of another 80-year -old on crutches and with a walker. Same sort of reaction as my brother: Always on my Mind.

15. There are no Francis Bailey’s famous enough for Wikipedia but this one must be leading an exemplary life to be included in Google Images, just not quite famous enough.

So how does it matter to you, when do you stand up, and with who?

Namaste until next time , my dear friends.

When You Get Lost, Celebrate!!

Posted on March 2, 2017 by Rod's World

When you get lost, celebrate. In every great journey, heroes lose their way sometimes, doubt their own power sometimes. Get lost, and find yourself. Find presence, the breath, the beating of the heart> Take the giant step of not knowing which step to take; a perfect step. Trust the doubting too. And your path will find you, moment to moment. Your true path cannot be lost, ever.

Jeff Foster: Reasons to Celebrate, Page 164 – 165: – The Way of Rest.

Do we remember to celebrate our lives, or do we through complaint in there to balance it out? How could we have a total celebratory life, how would that fit in with what the media expresses as daily life, war, death, and mayhem?

Luckily there are individuals who do not agree with this, here are some of their profound quotes about leading a celebratory life:

1. What we say and think creates our life, I have a practice of writing in the Facebook group Daily Gratitude Space. Join it has you look at simple things you can celebrate. https://www.facebook.com/groups/949499165128838/

2. One of America’s most respected authors, keynote lecturers and productivity consultants on high performance human achievement. 10 million audio programs sold in 14 languages, Denis Waitley is one of the most listened-to voices on personal and career success. He has helped a lot of people lead a good life: Good Life.

3. One way to ensure you are celebrating life is to have your attention be fully where you are, moment to moment. Not so easy to do!

4. Why is it that events that happen in our lives are better as memories. Refer to the point above: Memory.

5. Celebrations change in their focus as we travel down the journey of our lives. Where is yours focused on now?

6. I am one of the world’s worst photographers. My 89-year-old mum served in WW2 as a photographer and passed her skills on to her daughters. Ryan is considered the most important photographer in America, a celebration of life: Photograph.

7. Well, you can’t read many words on this quote. Laughter, a Hug, and Candles Burning BRIGHT. Sounds like a celebratory life to me.

8. As Oprah said love it and the universe will love you right back: Wake me up before you Go-Go!!

9. Josef Pieper was a German Catholic philosopher, at the forefront of the Neo–Thomistic wave in twentieth century Catholic philosophy. Among his most notable works are The Four Cardinal Virtues: Prudence, Justice, Fortitude, Temperance; Leisure: the Basis of Culture; The Philosophical Act and Guide to Thomas Aquinas (published in England as Introduction to Thomas Aquinas).

10. What would life be like if we celebrated all body forms, no anorexia probably? Fashion magazines have a lot to answer for: Your Body.

11. Music, Dance, Laughter, Meditation equals Celebration.

12. The dictionary of Jazz (Robert Laffont, Bouquins) defines him in the following way: A first-rate artist and intellectual, Archie Shepp has been at the head of the Avant- Garde Free Jazz movement and has been able to join the mainstream of Jazz, while remaining true to his aesthetic. He has developed a true poli-instrumentality: an alto player, he also plays soprano since 1969, piano since 1975 and more recently occasionally sings blues and standards: Lush Life.

13. Celebrate your life, It’s yours and you have no idea how everybody else is doing with theirs.

14. What entry in the history book are you leaving behind? What comes up when they google your name. It’s your celebration by life: Celebration!!

15. I had this said to me about Los Angeles by a 16-year-old girl in California in the 1990’s. Then she explained what she meant. I had not heard or thought of some of the things she talked about. They certainly know what celebrating is about in the Golden State.

So let’s remember to celebrate life, supposedly we only have one.

Namaste until nest time, my dear friends.

It fills the cup of Silence.

Posted on February 27, 2017 by Rod's World

My Chinese english student Ginny isn’t coming today, her husband is flying back home so she has to drive him to the airport so I am listening to music and writing todays blog. I thought music would be a great subject to write about. I have 40,000 tunes on my Itunes, I’m a bit addicted, always have been since a young age.

I have been a door-bitch for my musical friends for over 30 years, I love most types of music and support the theory most eras produce some talented people. At the moment Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds are playing on my iPhone. I saw him in the Birthday Party many years ago, always worth a listen.

How do you relate to music , does it pump you up, slow you down or both, let’s have a look what they say about it:

1. How did you choose your favourite songs? First Love, divorce, losing your virginity are often memorable times.

2. Thats why we part with our hard earned cash to go and see the greats. They combine words and silence that fills our heart with joy: That’s what I Like.

3. Your music rends to relief the pain, It’s your gateway to your soul.

4. Friedrich Nietsche is considered on of the great philosophers. At the age of 44 he had a complete breakdown and was cared for by his mother and then his sister until his death 11 years later: Without Music.

5. Backstreet Boy member has had an extraordinary life for 20 years thanks to his musical ability. He is very grateful for it.

6. Had to laugh at this one, probably true for me though: Life is like a Song.

7. What is your soul music, Mine is beautiful deep songs by female singer songwriters.

8. Have had many of these outbursts over my 62 years, the last was at a Safer Youssef, a mystical experience: Soupir Eternel.

9. I always thought that I couldn’t sing until I met my friend Kavisha Mazzella, an award winning singer songwriter and beautifully hearted soul and my choir leader, you can listen to her at http://www.kavisha.com.

10. There are so many songs that fill my dreams, what are yours: Dream a little Dream of Me.

11. Love an acronym, this is a powerful one.

12. I have made many a good friend I met at music gigs watching bands we both appreciated: Make you feel my Love.

13. Passion, Joy, Heartbreak, Power. All have their specific songs.

14. The Bard, taught at most western English speaking schools , you either loved or hated him. His words could make the earth shudder, didn’t know he discover earth music though: Earth Song.

15. I went to a funeral of a friends father. He had them play Smoke, Smoke that Cigarette as one of the tunes. He died from lung cancer. I haven’t chosen the music for mine yet, I may not have heard it yet.

Music is a constant part of our lives, some of it we love , other styles we hate. My big secret, I love pop divas, very uncool in the live music scene.

Namaste until next time, my dear friends.

We are a work in progress!!

Posted on February 23, 2017 by Rod's World

Disruptive Engagement – what does Brene Brown mean by that term: It’s quite long but worthwhile -To reignite creativity, innovation, and learning, leaders must re-humanize education and work. This means understanding how scarcity is affecting the way we lead and work, learning how to engage with vulnerability, and recognizing and combating shame. Make no mistake: honest conversations about vulnerability and shame are disruptive. The reason that we are not having these conversations in our organizations is that they shine the light in dark corners. Once there is language, awareness, and understanding, turning back is almost impossible and carries with it severe consequences. We all want to dare greatly. If you give us a glimpse into that possibility, we’ll hold on to it as our vision.

To me it is engagement through the community, accepting self-love and love of others and giving your identity up. The juice is from service to others. I put in engagement quotes to find pictures and got a whole lot of rings and vows of deep love so I changed it to committed engagement and these are what came up. Let’s journey:

1. Be responsible for your life, it’s your engagement and stand for what it is that creates the story that will be told after you have passed.

2. He really did look like an eccentric 60’s hippie philosopher. Alan Watts is quoted by humanists, community builders, and generally good people: Work and Play.

3. Doing Life – How do you do yours? Is it a joyous journey you wake up every morning screaming Yes!!!!!! Or is it a life of darkness?

4. Being silent is being busy if you planned it. I have many friends who have attended the 10-day Vispanna meditation retreat and said it was the hardest thing they had done and the best thing they had done all in the same breath: The Devil goes Down to Georgia.

5. How could you not choose this imagery and message, that’s why I said you need to give up your identity.

6. Engagement is a day to day adventure, make sure you do not wait to begin it: Alive.

7. Such a beautiful smile from a person who brings so much joy to the world. Can’t help but agree if you are fully engaged in loving your friends and family you are totally engaged in life.

8. Have you found a cause to sacrifice yourself into? They say it is the ultimate experience in your life. Parenthood is said to be this for many: Soul Sacrifice.

9. The Latter-day Saints base their religion on many hands engaged in a good cause> If you have ever been to Salt lake City you will never get lost as the first fifty streets around the temple are named Temple North, South , East and West.

10. I think it’s meant to be an anti-war slogan: The Universal Soldier.

11. Helen Keller definitely has the right to say this, I agree wholeheartedly.

12. Often people go and do self-development programs and get screamed out to go out and Do It Now, one big man being famous for it. Move at your own pace, its the only one you can: Piece of my Heart.

13. 7,000,000,000 unique folk battling a media who are trying to make you conform to fit a corrupted image of what it is to be human. Fight the good fight.