Oil companies have funded this ad in an attempt to win people over and to promote the use of the Canadian Tar Sands. I can not actually believe that they are trying to call the tar sands ethical and in the same breath they slam Arab Countries and their religious beliefs. Oil and ethical should not be placed in the same sentence.
You can also check out the article Adbusters has produced on this insane propaganda.
The entire premise of this blog hinges on emotion. The very act of being positive relates to feelings of positivity and is therefore inseparable from emotion. This awareness of ones ‘state of being’ has brought me closer to my emotions and places them somewhat in the spotlight, forcing me to take a look at them.
Now the topic of emotions is HUGE and many books have been written and will be written on this matter. But, my current interpretation on emotions (and I reserve the right to change my opinions) is that emotions are indicators, signposts, a way to measure how you are doing and if you are on the right path. Being able to access these emotions, or at least recognizing them when they appear is very beneficial to setting the path you desire.
Bringing positivity to the forefront during this project, obviously brings with it the negativity as you need to have both polarities for the other to exist. Positivity has no context without negativity. So when one attempt to remain positive, you tend to look at negative in order to choose the path. This brought me to a fork in the road, one path is doubt, the other is trust….
We harbour doubts and mistrusts to protect ourselves. We create suffering when there is no need. The bad stuff happens in ones head, but that is merely worry. For one need not protect himself, when one is surrounded by positivity and honesty. Have faith that humanity will provide only good and if ‘badness’ does occur then be it dealt with then, as that is enough to contend with. Extra undue worry, simply adds. It is merely mind clutter that wasteth time and emotion. TRUST.
~ Alan Churchill
Never disregard your emotions and never be your emotions, use them wisely.
Join me in turning Worry into Trust.
Near the very start of my Positive Change Project, in fact on Day 5 (posts on this blog start on day 7 as I initially started on twitter), I decided to pick up litter on the way home from work. I have in the past picked up random items from off the floor and placed them in the nearest bin, but never have I actually deliberately gone out with a bag to pick up a whole bunch of rubbish.
Anyway – this time I did. I recorded my little adventure in the hopes that it may inspire more people to do the same. I would almost like for it to start a craze. It would be so cool to see lots of videos crop up on the internet of people picking up garbage in their area. Even just seeing someone pick up garbage in the street encourages another, so every small action counts.
The other week I saw a member of the public pick up a couple of discarded coffee cups with their plastic lids from the gutter and place them in a nearby bin. It was so nice to see others doing this and just reinforces the fact that there are so many people out there that care.
I recorded the video over a month ago now and have been editing it here and there, but it has been on hold since I was planning on making some music to go with it and that process can be quite lengthy. As it turns out, something unfolded which has led me to attach some music to it that is far superior to any previous plans.
Mojave Yoga - Courtesy of Marnie Recker
Last week the local yoga studio hosted an event that involved an hour session of yoga followed by a small private unplugged mini concert by the local band Mojave. It was an ‘attend by donation’ night, the proceeds of which were to go to Still Pointe animal shelter, chosen by the Mojave Band. We all gathered around on the floor for a very intimate and amazing concert during which I learnt how amazing Paul and Lisa were. One of their songs sounded perfect for this video. Yesterday I asked if it was ok to use the music, to which I received a resounding YES. So I am happy to not only present you with my message of reducing waste, but to expose you to a fantastic band, the song to which relates very nicely to my message also.
I do not doubt that you will enjoy their music as much as I and therefore supply you with links as to where you can purchase it.
http://www.mojavemusic.ca/music/
I am currently working a job that involves some rather mundane physical labour. During this work, I am left alone with my thoughts, whilst (as it currently stands) I scrub algae from the bottom of a boat. This has both benefits and problems. One benefit, is that I am able to filter through some thoughts and file things, organize things in my head and generally do a bit of housekeeping of the mind. During this process I came up with todays positive change. But first, the problems with the job, just to set a bit of background.
"This is FUN!"
I ache, I get bored, I get cold, I injure myself, I spill chemicals over me, I get wet, I feel pain! So, this has lead me to complain a little bit, not only to other people but to myself, in my head, for much of the day. It’s been getting to me and I am fed up of it (the complaining that is). So, here enters my positive change. I currently have one week left of this particular job and it is my plan to not complain for the rest of my time in the job. Being British however, this could be a challenge. I started today whilst under the boat, each time a sigh of questioning frustration and exhaustion left my lungs, I would catch myself and smile. I even laughed a few times, laughing at how easy I become frustrated. Music helped me too, although when earbuds fall out whilst spraying bleach, suited up in rubber gloves, goggles and a face mask, in a crawl space the size of a glove-box, the task of re-fitting the audible light relief was cringeworthy. But no, no complaints. People have it way worse, I need to be grateful.
So hence the idea of no complaints was born. I need to give myself some ground rules here as I need to be clear how I can avoid complaining. Complaining is part of my culture, it’s also factored in to my humour delivery.
Complain – express dissatisfaction or annoyance about a state of affairs or an event
Ok, so all I have to is not express dissatisfaction – If I am dissatisfied with something, how can I make the dissatisfaction known without complaining? Surely I am not to just put up with a situation I don’t like? Maybe that’s exactly what I do.
I am going to stop complaining for the next week. I’ll let you know how it goes.
A great article from Tiny Buddha today…. (click the link to read the whole article)
Editor’s Note: This is a contribution by Emma Brooke
“What I am is good enough if I would only be it openly.” ~Carl Rogers
I used to spend an awful lot of time worrying about people liking me. Or what people thought of me. Or what they thought of the clothes I was wearing. Or whatever.
It’s taken me a long time to realize two things:
1. Most people really aren’t even taking notice of us. (They’re too worried about what other people think of them.)
2. Of the few who are noticing us, the people who are judging us harshly are not the people we want around us anyway.
Makes sense, right?…….
This is unbelievable. Last week i experienced a massive shift of energy inside and outside of me. It has clearly been something I have needed to do for many years now and finally I have been able to make the shift.
Whilst reading the Anatomy of the Spirit by Caroline Myss, I became tuned in to a part of my psyche or energy system that has been in a dark place for many years, in fact possibly for my entire life.
There has been a series of events over the last few years that has led me to understand that there was something I needed to work on, and now I finally have discovered it.
I have always been unable to remain friends with ex-girlfriends and have had issues with girlfriends being friends with their exes, I am just uncomfortable with it.
Having been told that I have a block of energy (which I believe now felt like more of a leak) around my 3rd chakra, I realized that I needed to work with self-esteem and confidence. I seem like a pretty confident person, but realized there must be a part of me that needs improvement.
Near the start of my current relationship, I explained to my girlfriend that I would not be able to be friends with her if we were to break up. (This is just usual behaviour for me. The reason behind which, I did not know until this moment)
My girlfriend is friends with a couple of her exes, she regards them more as friends than exes, however this still has bothered me. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that the main emotions involved in a situation like this, is that of jealousy and trust. I didn’t like the negative thoughts I have had in relation to this, so wanted to delve deeper into myself in an attempt to discover if my fears were justified, or if I could release these negative emotions.
I needed to understand that ‘the ex’ is not my enemy, but indeed my teacher in this exercise. The ex is showing me a reflection of a part of me; a shadow of my real character, a shadow containing my inability to continue a friendship with an ex. The 3rd Chakra deals with self esteem and I feel that lack of self-esteem is the very reason I can not remain friends with an ex. Thoughts such as “What if my ex’s new guy is better than me” – “Why has she chosen him over me?” – “What if my girlfriends ex has better qualities than I?” – “Is her ex trying to put me down to make himself look better?” – All are examples of a lack of self-esteem and the inability to accept what is and to just allow the freedom of choice and natural selection, without making up negative outcomes or stories in my head, or by doubting my own strengths.
It occurred to me in a very profound moment, that it was not a trust issue, but that I was infact jealous of my girlfriends exes’ ability to be friends with her. It was against my “beliefs”. Upon realizing that the reason I was jealous of him was because he was able to be this friend, suddenly made me see the simplicity of my problem – ‘Stop holding a belief that only serves you negative emotions and realize that I CAN be that friend.’ Suddenly understanding that my energies were being spent in a negative way; by feeding the lack of belief in myself, I felt a huge rush of energy into my body and an intense heat in my stomach and solar plexus. I soon began to laugh hysterically as I held that feeling and began to cry with laughter and relief. I had unplugged my energies from the negative stream of the need to be better than others, the fear of being second best or being put down by ‘the new boyfriend’ or ‘the current ex”. My entire body began to tingle right to the edges and my breath filled up, a weight lifted from me. It was very intense lasted for a good 5 or 10 minutes and made me smile all through. I now know that I could remain friends with my girlfriend; should she become an ex. I am happy that her exes can be friends with her, they have taught me a lesson I never thought I could learn. I am grateful for these teachers who you initially see as a threat. I now have no negative energies travelling between me and these newly regarded teachers. I feel recharged, replenished and cut off from the energy drain I was previously attached to.
I will love my girlfriend, be her mine, or someone else’s. I thank her for her guidance, acceptance and for her forever blossoming friendship, whatever form it holds.
Being completely over taken by this amazing experience, an inexplicable madness, the purest of all feelings, is a treat. It is pure unadulterated insights from somewhere much deeper than the mind. I have experienced this hilarious excitable knowing previously; for the first time in 2008 whilst reading the Power of Now. It is what I believe to be a snapshot of enlightenment. You feel like the ‘crazy person’ that walks down the street just laughing at absolutely nothing. It’s a relief. You are laughing at how ridiculous your previous situation was and how simple things can be. This is the only way I can describe it. The mind can always creep back in and try to convince you otherwise, but once you learn to receive the truth from a deeper source and trust this guidance, you understand which guidance is pure and which one is born of opinions, beliefs and conditioning from the external world.
Ironically, it takes a bit of work to keep things simple. Don’t give away your energies to others, you deserve it all for yourself. If you notice someone or something draining you of your power then I suggest you Take the Power Back. (I used to be a big fan of Rage against the Machine. After thinking about this post for a while this song came to me and I can certainly relate it to this experience). To benefit from those moments of deep insight I encourage people to really step outside themselves, to look at any situation with a fresh set of eyes, as if you were not you, understand that there are many angles from which to view things. Still time away from the external pressures of modern society can help with this, including well practiced yoga and mediation. Don’t let your thoughts run away with you, thoughts are a tool to use, not a definitive truth. Step outside your-self, you are more than a body and mind, ‘You’ are the awareness that experiences life through your body and mind (self). Treat your vessel with respect, listen to your body too, it contains many clues to your health and don’t put it through too much stress. Be good to yourself.
I would love to hear anyone’s comments on this post, please post any thoughts or feelings you have, thank you.
(on a side note – whilst hunting around for a cool picture to go with this post I found the one inserted above on a cool site that I thought I should direct you to – www.shantea.net)
Other reading – the straight way blog
A number of years back when I was about 20 years old, I was told by someone, that my Chakras were well-balanced. At that time, I knew nothing about chakras and although a little intrigued, I never followed up that comment. I just took it as a lesser understood compliment. A few months back I was introduced to a book “Eastern Body, Western Mind.” by Judith Anodea. I have not fully read this book as it was on loan from my beautiful other half and she needed it back. I was very sucked into it though and will continue it at some point.
In recent weeks, at the recommendation of others, I have explored my 3rd chakra and resonate with my need to “work on” this Chakra. Today I discovered an extract on the web from another book, “Anatomy of the Spirit” by Caroline Myss.
Sacred Truth through the 3rd Chakra.
The extract above really struck true with me today as I have been investigating these elements of intuition and am experiencing some change. I wanted to share this extract with you all as I found it very interesting and I hope you do to. It is a long piece, but worth the read. I have just ordered the book from Amazon so look forward to reading more of this book.
You can find more from Caroline Myss on her site - http://myss.com/
The Path is there for you. Take it.
Organizations do great things, (and I could name many of them) but people build up an immunity to them. They may look at what they are doing at first, but then it all becomes the same old message. “Join our organization and change the world!”. ”Give us money and we’ll change the world”. No, we don’t need to join a group or become part of a ‘movement’ we just need to make our own personal changes. Spread your own love and do what YOU know is right, you don’t need the backing of a big established group or corporation. I do not want to belittle the work of these amazing groups, because they are very valuable and I thank them for making a difference. I just want to say that no one should feel as if they ‘need’ to join any group to make a difference. You may feel compelled to join one of these groups or organizations and then another one pops up and you feel as if you should join that too. So many people are doing good these days, that getting in on the action can start to become a little overwhelming. Go ahead, join ‘em all, if you have the stamina and time, good for you. However, if like me, it becomes too much; just realise that anything you do in the direction of positivity and the greater good, and that you understand deep down to be true; will be good enough. When another great group shows its face, you want to join it, but feel that there is an overload of amazing information and it is impossible to take it all on. I suggest figuring out the theme you want to follow, read between the lines and then fine tune your own character to be the person you want to be. YOU know what the right thing to do is. If you need a bit of practical advice, then search for it, it’s out there. But then once you’ve figured it out, know that you have the right qualities and guidance from within to go for it alone! ”Be the change”, a phrase which has become heavily used these days.
Just do it yourself, lead by example and encourage people to do the same. We all have the power as individuals. The changes will naturally appear. Find your path and walk it, with head held high.
“Let yourself be silently drawn by the stronger pull of what you really love.” ~Rumi
The article below is very interesting and I wanted to take a moment to share it with you. Thanks to Tiny Buddha for the content.
An awesome video showcasing amazing art, with a very cool message.
Thanks to my friend Scott for sharing this video.
[vodpod id=Video.4815987&w=425&h=350&fv=%26rel%3D0%26border%3D0%26]
Check out all the ted stuff at – TED.com