Sharing the lessons - An Introduction

Stop for a second and ponder this question.

Who, out of the people that appeared in your life, would you like to thank for providing direction, understanding and meaning through word or action?

Before you move on think about this for a few seconds

Now you’ve had a little time to ponder I’d like to welcome you all to my new series of articles entitled ‘Sharing the lessons’ which started out as a 1,000 word post and is developing into a 10,000 plus ongoing ‘living’ epic, which I hope will never be finished.

The initial idea was to give thanks and recognition to a few people for guiding me here to a creative outlet and Community which I love dearly. At the same time acting as a milestone or tribal marker to celebrate my transformation into the new me living my mission of ‘being the change’.

So I sat down and typed out a bullet-pointed list starting with all the people you’d expect – Mother, Father, Gran, Grandad, Partner, Children, Best friends, Uncles, Aunts and Cousins. But while I was working through this list other people began to spring to mind – chance meetings, friends of friends, neighbours, people I’d watched from the window, people I’d seen in the street. This I visualised as a collection of nodes connected by threads – the threads of my spirit connecting with everyone that has acted as a Guide, Guru or Teacher in some way.

When I see the threads unfolding what I'm actually writing is a 'Guide to becoming Damian' and while writing each story and extracting the lessons I’m actually revealing nuggets from the stories of these people that I didn't know were there. Their stories make great reading and act as a 'Blueprint for BEing the Change' too. I hope you enjoy them and accept that everything I’m sharing is the whole Truth, nothing added or embellished to make for better reading.

To ‘Be the Change’ I go through a constant process of reviewing my life and dismantling what I find there. I discard the traits that do not serve my purpose and create the space for the good in me to grow. I compare myself to what I see as good in others and make it my goal to at least match their commitment. Some may say that I’m being to hard on myself but how can I hope to make progress if I don’t push myself – if you wish to strengthen muscles you need to exercise, there’s no quick fix.

Through these stories I’m embarking on a very vulnerable stage of my journey – I’m not only giving you these stories in the hope of guidance – I’m also opening myself wide open. Anger, frustration, violence, over-confidence and arrogance have featured strongly in my past and by meeting key people I’ve learnt than none of them serve me in my constant struggle to be a good person. I guess my whole life has been a struggle for Peace – Peace in myself and Peace in my environment.

I came from a rough area and learnt to be ‘street wise’. Knowing when to talk your way out of a situation and when to throw a punch were either side of a very fine line – running was never an option. I developed a good sense of humour and strong negotiation skills but what I also developed at an early age was the ability to extend my senses and ‘feel’ a situation. Tension could be measured to almost microscopic levels, weaknesses and strengths in other people became instantly apparent and an uncanny ‘spider-sense’ warned me when I was walking into areas with potential danger. In all honesty that sense is tingling a little now but earlier tonight my good friend Slade replied to a comment on his site by saying “Go post something that scares you just a little bit -- but something you hope will be well-received. Best buzz in the world.”

So mote it be.

But that’s just the start and now that I’m inspired I intend to take this a few steps further. I’m not only going to work my way through my list but I’m going to track down the people that are still on this side of the veil and ask them to share THEIR list. I want to work through the connections and unlock the lessons that passed on the magic for them to pass it on to me. Spiritual Genealogy that follows the Spirit-lines not the blood-lines. Genetics may give you the foundations on which the structure is built but it’s the people you meet that provide the interior design of who you are today.

Just imagine the alterations you can make when you’ve unravelled and mapped out the design of what makes YOU.

There’s another step I’d like to take – this time it involves YOU. By finding your way here and by reading this far you’ve already become a part of this story, some of ME has now become YOU. Just as sure as if we were junkies sharing a needle our essences have been forever mixed – but in this case purely for the better, for the Higher Good.

I’m asking for you to share a story. A story of someone who had an effect on you and who you now wish to thank or exorcise – you see it works both ways. You learn from both good and bad - but never indifference. Share your story, bare your Soul, release the pain or invoke the magic of the good – YOUR Choice. This is the Evolution of the meme and the future of the ‘tag’ – lets release it and see where it finds a home.

Guidance

1. 
   
   Post your story on your site, leave it in a comment here or if you don’t have a site contact me and I’ll include you in my ‘Guest Authors’ AND ‘Sharing the Lessons’ Series (2 for 1 offer) by publishing your story on here.
   


2. 
   
   If you do choose to publish on your own Blog or Site could you please include a link back to this article and share some 'Link Love' in recognition for the inspiration.
   


3. 
   
   Pass it forward – let others know about this challenge in whatever way you feel is best. ‘Tread Your Path' your way, don’t let anyone else tell you different.
   


4. 
   
   BE the change – or otherwise nothing will change.
   
   

Much Love,

Damian

Unearthing Lost Treasures

I enjoyed another episode of Lost Treasures on Granada TV tonight – I was really looking forward to this episode as the presenter, Mark Olly, is a good friend of mine and he is very excited about the possible discovery of the main Druid Sanctuary in the UK. The circular site was SO clear in the snow that I had goose-bumps at the thought of the ‘Lost Treasures’ that may be there just waiting to be discovered. Keep an eye out for the episode that covers Dunham Massey and the Templar Knights as Mr Olly assures me that my name appears in the credits for the help and advice I gave him to re-enact the Templar funeral – fame at last – LOL – that’ll look good on the CV.

I’ve been having a reading frenzy for the last week or so and I’m currently surrounded by half read books on some of my favourite subjects – Druidry, Pythagoras, Channelling, Crystals, Tarot, Shamanism, etc – but I’ve dropped them all while I devour ‘The Power of Now’ by Eckhart Tolle – what a wonderfully inspiring read. I was recommended this book by Slade some time ago but had such a backlog of books I wanted to buy that this had slipped totally from my list – or so I thought.

Last Thursday I went for a walk around a local Mill that has one floor full of market stalls. I’ve passed this place hundreds of times but had never even thought about having a look around before but as the idea had ‘popped’ into my mind and I had an afternoon free I made my way over and browsed amongst the stalls. There were some wonderful gems hidden among the bric-a-brac and I spent a good hour talking to a retired couple who had left behind teaching careers to run a small business which revolved around their love of all things Celtic and a passion for Megalithic Standing Stones – I’m sure there will be a future article there when I return to learn more and develop my new friendships.

I also found a large book shop tucked away at one end of the mill floor and was totally unable to walk past without having a browse inside. The owner was incredibly passionate about his books and was very happy to show me around enquiring what subjects I was particularly interested in and directing me to the ‘Paranormal’ section in response to my answer. There were mounds of books lumped together under this catch-all heading – Druids, Wicca, Demonology, Tarot, Freemasonry (?) and even a whole selection of X-files annuals – I’m sure even Mark Olly would have found some ‘Lost Treasures’ hidden amongst them!

But as I moved a pile of dusty paperbacks to one side to see what was hiding behind my eye was immediately drawn to a small purple and blue paperback which seemed to have an energy all of its own. I reached out and picked it up to see what weird and wonderful subjects it may contain and was suddenly hit by a rush of déjà vu – it was ‘The Power of Now’ at a reduced price too – so I scooped it up along with a detailed book on Palmistry for my partner, Tara, paid for my purchases and scurried back to the car. I was so intrigued that I read the first two chapters sat right there in my car, in the mill car park.

The story continues when I decided to check Technorati to see if anyone had sent me any link love while my head has been buried in my book and I was very happily surprised and deeply honoured to find that Adam @ Adams Peace had included me in his ‘Providing Value’ post alongside other Authors that I totally respect and are on my own ‘must read’ list. Adam has returned to his writing roots and offers the opportunity for anyone to submit a question about Peace ‘in any of its forms’.

I couldn’t resist this opportunity to and asked “As we (the human race) appear to be accelerating towards a point of Spiritual Growth or Ascension, what do you see as the greatest hurdle and why?” Adam’s response is both beautiful and wonderfully enlightening and can be found within his article ‘Path to Ascendancy’ which I highly recommend as your next ‘blog hop’.

I’m so excited about the hard work that Authors such as Adam are putting into developing these thoughts and ideas and I’m taking this opportunity to offer ‘be the change – tread the path’ to a number of Guest Authors over the next few weeks with the subject of ‘Being the Change’. If anyone would like to take part please leave a comment and I’ll be in touch to discuss the opportunity of shedding Light on further ‘Lost Treasures’.

Take care, exciting times are ahead,

Damian

Re-tuning your life - the music in you

I’ve been enjoying a fantastic journey these past few weeks since the ‘connections’ started and I’ve been receiving messages that are opening up the world and Spirit for me in ways I’d never have dreamed.

On this point I want to say a big THANK YOU to Debs of ‘Deb_Inside’ and Slade of ‘Shift Your Spirits’ for the two surprise dedications I received this week for being the unknowing Shepherd in our Community. It was a great HONOUR to receive such mentions, wrapped in Love and Light, from two excellent Authors and dear friends that are a total inspiration to me – thanks guys.

These ‘messages’, or ‘hints’ as I prefer to call them, haven’t come in the expected way but more as feelings that I should send an e-mail to someone, that I need to visit a friend or even that I should just Surrender and go with the flow - like a branch on the shoulders of a great stream.

I’ll explain all of these ‘hints’ as they develop and flourish but in this post I have been ‘urged’ (this is what happens when a ‘hint’ grows stronger) to pass on this analogy which I have entitled ‘Re-tuning your life – the music in you’.

The basis of this is that we all have the ability to retune our lives like you would a piano. Taking each ‘string’ at a time and refining its vibration, with patience and skill until they all come together to create your personal Life Harmony. Once you’ve perfected you own Life Harmony you may always be destined to be a Soloist but there is always opportunity to form a duet, trio or a whole Symphony Orchestra with the rest of the Spiritual World.

A strange concept to come from me as I have NO musical background at all – and nothing but a passing interest of having one at a future juncture either. So let’s start typing and see where this leads – I’d never considered this process as Automatic Writing until a friend, Eleanor, pointed it out to me yesterday – but it works for me no matter what it is called.

The cause and effect of Vibration

Music is created by creating well-tuned sounds that transmit energy in the form of VIBRATIONS. This energy can affect you in very profound and subtle ways – the same way that I explained about the power of the WORD in another article. This reminds me of a key-ring I was bought by someone who loved me which said ‘Where words fail, Music begins’.

Music can excite you, drag you down and help you shed tears, fill you with energy, empower anger and aggression, as well as soothing and assisting stillness - this all happens by the music, and the specific frequencies that constitute it, reacting with the particles in You to create a feeling that is individual to only you.

This explains why certain groups of people favour a variety of styles, artists or genre’s. What stirs the soul of one person will serve to aggravate someone else. The blends of styles react only to you and therefore each CD collection will emphasise the personality and Spirit of its owner.

This can also be seen in Colour, and in its perfected form of Art. Many people say they don’t appreciate or understand some forms of Art but it is simply that the colours used in that certain piece, constructed in that manner, aren’t in accord with the vibrations of the energy within.

When you break it all down we, and the world around us, are all made from different forms of particles that are in constant movement. These particles have the ability to set in motion catastrophic events but choose instead to respect the space they have been given and to provide order to their host. This they do without thought to create harmony and balance in their hosts and their wider influence in the universe.

If you can take a moment to step back and see the forces at work in the World and in your Life you may better be enable to understand and adapt. So take a moment to re-tune some aspect of your life and create a wonderful Harmony that will resonate and inspire your fellow creatures and the Spirit that flows through them and is shared by all things.

Take care and listen to the ‘hints’.

Damian

Writing for Positivity - Receiving from Giving

Woo Hoo – another milestone reached – Blog number Twenty.

I’ve never done any creative writing before and when I started this Blog I had no idea where it would lead or if my ramblings would find a connection with anyone else. I still feel that I’m finding my feet and each day brings new discoveries in the Blogosphere and I’ve spent whole days just following the connections from one Author (I hate the word Blogger) to another and the gems of information that people are offering up for viewing are an inspiration in themselves.

I’ve already met some excellent people through this endeavour and know that there are many more just waiting at the end of the next ‘click’. I know I’m probably preaching to the converted and that many of those who take the time to read these articles are Authors themselves. This creates such a vibrant, supportive and colourful community that I’d recommend having a go to anyone – there really is a piece of web just waiting to receive your love and nurture.

It’s so instant too – no sooner than you have an idea, you can give it life and post it on your site for a passer-by to pick up and love. This also has the additional benefit of clearing your mind and opening it up for further inspiration.

On a spiritual and developmental point I have become much more open to the world in the hope of finding further material to write about. I have begun to take a real interest in other people’s stories waiting for that nugget of creativity that will lead to more interesting reading for my audience.

I have found myself becoming more organised and energetic. The thrill of seeing a comment in my inbox waiting for approval seems sad but is the sign that someone has taken the time to offer me encouragement and approval without any request for something in return. This could be such a competitive medium but in the whole it isn’t – many people offer praise, help and support for nothing more than the enjoyment of seeing a fellow Human succeed.

If you get drawn in with page rankings and league tables you’re completely missing the point. The enjoyment is in the creation more than the result and the expanding of the mind by flexing the grey matter in hope of entertaining others is my idea of a worthwhile activity.

I’ve found myself again through writing and all the interests and fun things I always enjoyed doing are once again appealing. I’ve started reading the Tarot again, finding much more of note in each card and trusting even more in my intuition to feed my descriptions and explanations of the spread as a whole.

Crystals are reclaiming their space in my home too. A large piece of Rose Quartz is close by while I write this, an Amethyst bed is charging on the window-ledge and my pocket rattles with a few tumble stones. The kids love this and have been pestering me for some ‘magic stones’ of their own rather than chocolate eggs this Easter.

The Bamboo is flourishing on the mantle-piece bringing us luck and abundance. There are a selection of Incense Sticks available depending on the mood and a friend who came to visit commented how much more calmer and happy the house felt.

Ideas and inspiration in all elements of my life are coming to me much more easily and the impetus is focused on the creation of concepts and plans. I’ve always been an ideas person but I had previously looked too closely at the pitfalls and barriers whereas now I see possibilities and promise.

The best way to sum it up is that Blogging has brought more Positivity into my life and acted as a filter for the Negativity in me.

I can’t wait to see where the next twenty posts will lead me and I hope you’ll tag along for the journey – it wouldn’t be the same without you.

Take care, keep smiling, search for truth, be the change.

Damian

The Magic in Money - The Magic in Me

Money has always been a problem for me and I’ll do anything to avoid dealing with it. So I was mortified when Slade from ‘Shift Your Spirits’ tagged me to respond to his latest assignment as follows.

“Here’s Your Assignment:
I want to hear about YOUR Money Makeover.
Read
about Morgana’s
Exercise and consider the following in your story:
Who’s the Old Money?
Who’s the New Money?
What’s THE one thing — the overarching Message —
your New Money advises you to do to invite Meaningful Abundance into your life?
Writing it down will help you to manifest the change you wish to see.”

Just how could he do this to me? Reading his articles had been the initial inspiration for the setting up of ‘Be the change – tread the Path’ and here he is throwing this barrier in my personal path. How dare he make me face up to the ‘dark side’, you’d think he was promoting Personal Development wouldn’t you!!!!

Well that’s EXACTLY what he is doing and very astutely too. You can always trust Slade to open up those proverbial cracks in your pseudo suit of armour and throw in an irritation of Light. I really do feel in writing this that the time has come to face up to my greatest spectre and boy can you see how much I’m trying to write about ANYTHING but the ‘subject that shall not show its face’.

I’ve always felt that in the past I would have been one of those guys who lived up a pole thinking all day. Others would have dealt with the more mundane things in life and I would have happily let them! It’s a real shame that this wasn’t offered to me by the Careers Officer as I would have accepted immediately.

So no more avoiding the inevitable, here I go, I’ve been well and truly cornered. Time to face up to MONEY!

Who’s the Old Money?

I’ve always pictured Money as a sneaky, scruffy, mischievous, spoil-sport who has decided that its mission in life is ‘to make things difficult for me’. It dogs my every step as I attempt to better myself and the world around me.

It lurks around every corner just waiting for the chance to slip the comedy banana-skin under my foot and then slinks back into the shadows giggling with self important glee when I stumble.

It is the cloud that comes with every silver-lining, the mat that is pulled from under your feet when you arrive at the door of happiness, the penance for daring to hope or dream and the Judas at my celebration banquet.

Money to me has always been an opponent, never a friend. It has never come along when my morale has been low and said “here let me shoulder your burden, sit down, rest awhile – the drinks are on me!”

My Money has always been the one who gets a ‘quick dig in’ when I’ve been knocked to the ground, I can see him now in my minds eye with that scornful sneer drawing back his foot for another kick in the guts.

Never quite the archetypal bully, too much of a coward for that. Not wanting to take the limelight but preferring to feed off another’s misery and pain. Gathering up the shards of a shattered aspiration that too easily slipped through the fingers. Fingers that are too clumsy to reach for the stars and not used to getting that close to touching the rainbow.

But I can see now that it is not Money who is the Opponent but myself – I don’t see myself as being anything of real worth. Never took the time before to see the good that I am, the potential I have realised and the change I am being.

I have never realised that I am a commodity before. My very being is a marketable service that is the best I have to offer. My transferable skill is myself, my and my true potential waiting straining to be unleashed.

Who’s the New Money?

The new Money is me. I am the source of all my dreams and aspirations and I hold it in my hands to make them real. Every choice I make affects my future, every second a myriad of potential paths patiently waiting to be chosen and their secrets unveiled.

I am the Magician in the world of Tarot - Skilful, self-confident, a powerful magus with the infinite as a halo floating above my head. Raising my wand to heaven, pointing my finger to Earth, I call on all powers; magically, before me, all the possibilities laid out, all the directions I can take.

The cool, airy Sword of intellect and communication, the fiery Wand of spirituality and ambition, the overflowing Chalice of Love and emotions, the solid Pentacle of work, possessions and body. With these tools, I can create anything, make anything of his life.

I must grab myself by the shoulders and give myself a good hard shake. Clear out the cobwebs and don’t be ashamed to sell myself. I deserve it – I am a great Father, I help others, I am kind, I care about the World, I have morals, I have good manners, I am thoughtful, I love, I praise, I protect, I nurture and most of all I try.

And while I do these things I WILL attract abundance into my life. I will attract MONEY into my life – there I’ve said it!

What’s THE one thing — the overarching Message — your New Money advises you to do to invite Meaningful Abundance into your life?

Having gone through the above process it is clear now that all this time I have been using Money as a mirror to restrict myself. I must embrace the Magician and in doing so embrace myself.

Many times I have read or been told that to make any progress I must learn to accept myself first, and in many areas of my life this has been a process that has been clearly laid out. But I have never thought of applying this to the material aspects of my life – until now.

Many thanks to Slade for making me face up to my fears and gleaming light from a place that until now seemed to only contain more shadows.

This process has been worthwhile to me and an essential stage in my journey. Therefore I would like to take this opportunity to lead others to the trough of enlightenment, let’s see if they choose to drink!

Just a quick reminder to you all - you need to link back to Slade's original tag at Your Meaningful Money Makeover in your article.

‘Tag – You’re it’

Kara-Leah - K L Masina

Aaron - Today is That Day

Sania - Sania Wyatt

Kevin - Creative Power of Thought

Sham - Enhance Life

Stefanie - ch.aoti.ca

Tracy - Dharma Blogger

Alex – Blog about Money online

Ilker - the Thinking Blog

Take care and thanks for sharing this part of my journey with me. If you’ve enjoyed it why not help me get started by leaving a donation.

(I would never have DREAMED of adding that before).

Damian

Become an Active Citizen and Be the change (a tag)

I’ve never been one for sitting back and letting others do the work for me and I am always happy to assist in another persons cause if they don’t feel they have the strength to do it themselves. As you can see from the title of this blog my aim has always been to take positive action and not just think about the negatives that arise in life.

My view is that every challenge that comes our way is an opportunity to develop, expanding our minds and learning new skills. Each barrier that is placed in our way is sent to awaken inner strengths and promote personal evolution.

To this end I am an advocate of the ‘Active Citizenship’ agenda and I feel that this is essential to achieving positive change in the world. I hope the following will inspire you to take up the gauntlet and do something positive in the name of the Light this week. If you do, let me know, I’d really like to hear about it.

Read on, I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised that you already fit the criteria of an ‘Active Citizen’………..

The Advisory Group on Citizenship's 1998 report states that one of the main aims of Citizenship education is "for people to think of themselves as active citizens, willing, able and equipped to have an influence in public life"

Across Europe and the United States, there is clear evidence of declining engagement in traditional democratic processes, with governments, companies and other organisations considered to be remote, and insufficiently accountable to their stakeholders. Yet, it is also widely believed that globalisation calls for new, and more devolved kinds of political and social structure, in which individual citizens will play a more active part.

This suggests that people need to be re-engaged as “active citizens”, and enabled to take informed decisions about their lives, communities and workplaces. However, many people are both disengaged and lack the skills, knowledge or understanding to do so. This is particularly true for people with little formal education and most at risk of social exclusion on other grounds.

Governments have sought to address the issue through citizenship education programmes within formal schooling, but this can only have an impact in the long term and the benefits have yet to be demonstrated. Little research has been conducted about how individuals learn to become such active citizens, the role of formal schooling in this, and the potential role of lifelong learning including less formal mode of learning.

The project considered “active citizenship” as the active engagement in collective activity in one of four areas or “domains” - the state/formal politics, the workplace, civil society and the private domain.

The following are key areas that you can promote to encourage participation and real change: -
· Decision-making – this is being increasingly devolved in organisations of all kinds. This is because there is a belief that large centralised systems are increasingly difficult to manage and plan. There is also a need to ensure democratic legitimacy for decisions and actions.

· Relationships – there is no simple standard model of what an active citizen is, nor any single process for developing citizenship. The sense of citizenship is embedded in each individual’s unique life history and formed through relationships with others, individually and in groups.

· Belonging – active citizens have a strong sense of their place and responsibility in the world and are driven by a sense of commitment to other people, rooted in notions of justice and care.

· Influence – the reasons for becoming an active citizen are formed early in life through the family and the community, at least as much as, or even more than, in school.

· Engagement – active citizens engage with the state when they wish to do so and on their own terms. They are driven by personal ethical values and many are resistant to the competitive cultures of traditional political processes and parties.

· Learning – active citizens usually learn their citizenship skills through trying to solve a problem or to fulfil a mission, rather than by setting out to “learn to be good citizens”. Learning, and citizenship emerge as a consequence of this primary motivation. Learning therefore has to be embedded in those processes.

· Transferable skills – the skills and knowledge that active citizens develop in one area (political, work, civil or private) are frequently transferred into the other areas.

· Social champions – Active citizens are notably energetic people and typically are active in several spheres.

· Resource – Lifelong learning has become a major focus of policy attention for governments, private sector organisations and social movements, but the learning of citizenship in the area of civil society is still usually under-resourced by comparison with the workplace.

· Gender – this is a significant factor in determining how and where people engage as citizens, conditioned particularly by expectations of gender roles, by social and political structures, and by the low value typically placed on citizenship in the private domain. This is unfortunate since the home and early upbringing are critical in creating the predisposition to be active citizens.

· Diversity – other important areas of difference, including ethnicity, disability and sexuality, interact with gender to create complex patterns of inclusion and exclusion. In addressing this it is important to ensure we seek to give individuals the ability to analyse critically how institutions and cultures affect individuals in different ways.

· Re-engagement – active citizens appear in general to be more highly educated than their peers. There is therefore a danger that citizenship becomes yet another area of exclusion for those who have previously been less successful in education, and who are already more prone to exclusion. However, those who become active despite low levels of initial education often re-engage with formal education as a result.

If not us, who? If not now, when?

How we develop this is open to your own creativity and abilities but we, as internet authors, are in an ideal and unique position to tap into the zeitgeist and use it to encourage more people to ‘get involved’ and change things for the better. By way of reaching out to our contacts and communities the possibilities are far-reaching and highly achievable.

Therefore inspired by Slade of 'Shift Your Spirits' who has included me in a very interesting tag entitled Your Meaningful Money Makeover I’m not going to leave this simply as a lone article floating in cyberspace and have decided to transform it into a ‘tag’ – but with a difference!

The title of this tag will be “Within the spirit of positive change and the higher good – be the change! Become an Active Citizen this week and then tell the world about it on your site telling us what you did. Then link back to this article and leave a comment so we can all see the positive change in action”.

I will start the ball rolling by including the following people who continue to inspire me personally and I know will come up with some excellent ideas. If you'd like to 'tag' along please join in, expand the community and make a difference.

So over too.........

Slade - Shift Your Spirits

Jeff - Druidjournal.net

Adam - Adams Peace

Kara-Leah - K L Masina

Aaron - Today is That Day

Sania - Sania Wyatt

Kevin - Creative Power of Thought

Sham - Enhance Life

Stefanie - ch.aoti.ca

Tracy - Dharma Blogger

Take care and BE the change.

Damian

Note: For more information check out http://www.citizen.org.uk/ (I borrowed the pic from there too!)

Hitting Self-destruct

Although I’m content with the progress I’ve made in much of my life there is one area where I’m still bogged down in a rut and can’t seem to make any progress on – my career. The job I have neither inspires me, challenges me nor provides enough by way of financial incentive.

Money is very tight and the strain is beginning to show and it is affecting most of my life in very negative ways. The strain put on my relationship is immense and the spare cash for doing things with the kids is virtually non-existent.

‘You don’t need to have money to have fun with the children’ I hear you cry, but YOU try explaining to your children why they can’t have an ice-cream next time you arw in the park. YOU try looking into the face of your child and saying ‘NO’ when they ask to go to the Cinema.

Sorry to impart the negative today but I feel that I need to offload and I’m hoping by doing this I can tap into my creativity, my Awen. I’m looking for inspiration in my writing and by placing myself wide-open to you all.

I’m not looking for someone to do it all for me, I wouldn’t let them – things happen for a reason and I learn by finding ways to overcome them. This is my journey and barriers will be placed in my way for me to adapt and overcome them.

I’ve tried to re-write my CV and placed it on job boards but only receive the ‘we invite you to take part in our new opportunity’ junk mail. I’ve spent hours pouring through the newspaper and job sites only to end up feeling disheartened and tired.

The major problem is that I simply don’t know what it is I would like to do, what career and environment would satisfy me, how can I make a difference to other people and still pay the bills, what is my purpose?

I guess this is the crux of the problem – why am I here and how do I reconcile that with providing for my family? The great question that litters Personal Development sites throughout the Net.

Now I’ve read the theory, I’ve tried the meditation, I’ve attempted Manifesting, I’ve endeavoured to reach my Higher Self and still nothing comes.

‘Have patience and persevere’ I here you say, but while I spend all my time doing these things life is passing me by, the clocks still tickking and the bills are stacking up. My relationship is breaking down and I’m close to reaching for my old friend - ‘the self-destruct button’.

Walking in the dark

This is a process that I’ve gone through a couple of times in my life and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. I throw caution to the wind and go totally off-rail in the search of the real ME, casting off all attempts to be something I’m not – to be understanding when all I can see are my problems, to be upbeat when I’m hurting inside, to be hopeful when all I can see are the dark clouds gathering.

I chase self gratification with glee, look for quick fixes, follow false idols, cast off all that is Light and look into the void for meaning. This I do with one glimmer of hope – that I will see all that I may lose, that is dear to me, that I love through new eyes.

It is only when you walk in the dark places of life that you can clearly see yourself and all of your component parts. Stripped down down to your base level - just flesh and bone, hunger instict and desire. The foundations of your very Self that everything else relies upon to grow and develop.

It is not easy for me to be simply thankful for all that I have. I need to take it right to the edge and see in vivid colour what it is I may lose. Then it is much easier to see what baggage I have amassed and to shed it. To cherish what I have in my life that is pure and good - and to fight for it with renewed passion.

But I no longer need to do this as I am a Father. The process is much easier now as I need do no more than look into my child’s eyes and see that their hopes and dreams are tied to me in a way that no-one else can ever be.

They rely on me to direct them along their paths until the time is right for them to walk alone. But they will always know that they can return to me when they are weary and the obstacles become too great. They will always have a place on my path.

I will struggle and fight for them, I will overcome, I will persevere and I will provide the best start in life I can for them.

They are my world, they are my inspiration and they always will be.

Take care and thanks for listening - I really needed that!

Damian

The Light is evolving along with us

I’ve spoken to many spiritualists that say they have lost their ability to connect with their energy and others that say that the intensity has increased. This seems to be happening more so in the last year indicating that the energy we tap into is evolving.

My feelings are that as we are all part of the Light and we ourselves are having new ideas or building on the concepts of others that Spirit is absorbing that energy and is in a constant state of flux.

This is our purpose in life - to experience all there is to feel and to report back to source on our death for our wisdom to be absorbed in to the One. Each soul is a tiny speck of energy that breaks away from the group consciousness, manifests on earth as you and me and then returns when our time is up to file the report.

If this is so then why are long established practitioners losing their contact? Quite simple, they have reached a point where they have stagnated and have stood still while the Light has moved on. They need to find new sources of inspiration and open up to new thoughts and activities.

We are all at times victims to this process as we find a comfortable way of doing something and then failing to look at this process to see if it can be done differently or improved.

What I am seeing is a change of approach to spirituality as it becomes more mainstream to search for your own belief structure and follow your own path. A move away from the rituals and arcane arts of the past with a more workable integration into the way we live our lives.

Anchor to the past, exist in the present and have hope in the future.

But having said this we must not move too far away from our ancestors established structures as that too would lead us to lose our way. There is much to be found in every religion and organised society that values integrity, morals and truth amongst their pursuits.

Grounding yourself in your culture and ancestry is equally as important as reaching for the heavens and in the pursuit of mystery. Without your feet firmly on the ground you’ll end up flat on your face.

If you are new to your path their can be no greater recommendation than that of browsing through your local book store on subjects such as Druidry, Kabbalah, Christianity, Hinduism, Pagan, Wiccan, Zen, etc and adopting some (or all) into your own ethos towards your higher self and life purpose.

Take the time to talk to others and actually listen to their responses. Everyone has ideas about why we are here and what our purpose may be its just that nobody has taken the time to ask them.

As Spirit flows through all of us then this is a vastly untapped resource and a sure-fire way of increasing global awareness and understanding. If you take the time to discuss this subject with just one person I can guarantee that they will go on to ask at least three more, and so on and so on. Take pride in yourself for instilling the spark in another and step back and watch it grow.

Make it your mission today to awaken the thirst for wisdom in someone else. Do this in person, in internet chat rooms, on forums, wherever. The answers will never be found by one person alone but together we can develop a group consciousness and work through it together. Let me know what responses you uncover, I’m really interested to know.

Assist your evolution and take care.

Damian

Note: Image reproduced from http://xkcd.com/

Is there a cure for the Human race?

There have been five mass extinctions during the history of the Earth but none caused by any of the life-forms that call it home. If we are not careful the human race could be in the unenviable position of being the first.

We are now on the threshold of creating a negative transformation of our world by the activities of the so-called higher species of our planet.

There is an urgent need to cultivate alternative technologies or processes to allow the Earth time to heal. The scale of this challenge is huge but this needs to be looked at in the context of what will happen if we do nothing.

In comparison to the dinosaurs that reigned for 160 million years. We are on course of becoming the instrument of our own extinction in around a quarter of a million years.

If we continue to devastate our environment and destabilize the conditions that sustain life on this planet one possible theory is that we are a virus.

Wikipedia describes a virus as - “A virus is a microscopic particle

(ranging in size from 20 - 300 nm) that can infect the cells of a biological organism. Viruses can replicate themselves only by infecting a host cell. They therefore cannot reproduce on their own. At the most basic level, viruses consist of genetic material contained within a protective protein coat called a capsid.”

A virus moves from cell to cell stripping it of all the nutrients and then moving on to a healthy cell when there is no more left to drain. Are you seeing the comparison?
Is the quest for travel to other planets merely encoded information that is preparing our move to the next cell?

The only way that we can avert this process is to learn to evolve to a state that can co-exist with our host cell – feeding it as well as feeding from it. Entering into a mutual agreement of sustainability and assuring our future together.

A change in human consciousness

Is this the process that many of us are already going through as we experience the change of consciousness that is apparent in every city and town as well as on our TV screens.

Just take a look at the number of alternative, spiritual or ethical shops that are now becoming commonplace as more and more people feel a call to be more responsible while at the same time searching for the answers to questions that direct them along their own path.

So too has the media adapted to the age of Aquarius by developing viewing that is aimed at this shift in perception. Buffy, Charmed, Angel, Most Haunted, TAPS, Haunted Homes, Medium, Supernatural – the list is growing by the week.

Alongside these fictional works the factual channels have programmes covering the search for Bigfoot, crop circles, UFO’s, Ghosts – you name it.

As a 36 year old I remember the days that I had to search high and low for anything on the more ‘strange’ subjects that I craved knowledge. Now everywhere I look there are whole sections dedicated to subjects that range from aura reading to cryptozoology.

It has always been the nature of the human race to see ourselves as the BIG I AM and to look onward and upward. What a shock it would be to many if it was proved that we are nothing but a parasite existing on a planet that is a miniscule element of a much greater entity.

So next time you have a cold be careful where you put that tissue it may contain whole universes and complex civilisations.

Take care of yourselves and the Earth

Damian

Do you reap or do you sow?

Ever wonder why pop stars and actors turn to self-destruction when they have gone past their peak? Have you noticed that there are some people who crave to be the centre of attention no matter what the cost? Are there others you know that make you feel drained by being in their presence, while others fill you with hope, creativity and inspiration?

The simple answer is that this is due to the transference of energy and different people’s approaches to harvesting the light. In some ways this no different to the process that plants use to gather sunlight.

As we are nourished by the food we eat, the liquid we drink and the air we breath; we also need to replenish and recycle the energy required to revitalise our spirit.

The most pure way this can be done is by the selfless act of giving – unconsciously (or consciously now that you know!) directing some of the energy from within yourself towards another human being with whom you have developed a connection.

Other ways are through the inspiration of life, gathering the energy stored in the earth and the ether. Think how refreshed you feel when you see a beautiful view, experience a tender moment, achieving inner peace from meditation and contemplation.

Crystal users and scientists have known this secret for a long time and the crystal is one the earth’s best forms of natural energy cell and transmitter. The computer you are sat at now contains crystals that enable it to work.

To enable it to continue in its most pure state the energy needs to be constantly flowing or it simply dissipates back into the earth. Those people who simply reap without sowing light act as blockages meaning that the energy returns to the earth to be recharged and purified.

The downside to this is that some people become hooked on receiving energy and produce tolerances. Like a drug they need to find more and more ways of draining it in larger amounts.

The Cult of Celebrity

Look at Pop stars and other celebrities who stand on a stage basking in the adoration of their fans moving to bigger and bigger venues in the quest for more. Only for them to lose their creative inspiration, reach their peak and eventually burning out. Once they have reached burnout they crave something that is missing and often turn to drugs or in extreme circumstances suicide.

What is happening here is that their fans are freely sending energy through their adoration and they themselves are feeling good for taking part in the process. The real victim is the subject of their attention who feels an immense rush, a charge of spiritual electricity running through their very being which, with no channel for escape quickly dissipates.

They simply need to understand that the best way of gaining that energy rush is by passing on theirs to others and creating a space for the harvesting of new sources. This has been achieved by very few who constantly review their creative work, re-align and re-invent. Many others turn to other forms of spiritual nourishment, mostly eastern paths of consciousness.

This then gives different meaning to the phrase ‘do you see the glass as half empty or do you see it as half full?’ The truth is it doesn’t really matter as long as the glass is constantly being emptied to enable it to be refilled.

Thanks for sharing in my energy today.

Take care

Damian

Education or conditioning?

Are you a questioner? Was school a frustrating time for you? Were you unable to accept that because the sky was blue and the grass green that this was the end of the discussion?

Me too, I always wanted to know why the grass was green and if what I was seeing as green was somebody else’s red. Each answer I received merely acted as a catalyst for further questions. I really should track down my Teachers and apologise :)

The system doesn’t allow for the nurturing environment that real Learning needs for it to flourish – this is where those of you who are parents (or become parents) come in. It is your role to develop and encourage the questioner in your children thus sowing the seeds of sustainable development and an early thirst for seeking knowledge and self-discovered wisdom.

School and the formalised education system is one of the biggest barriers to personal and spiritual development. Many of our most deep rooted hang-ups, fears and phobias are as a direct result of our negative experiences of the educational institution.

To move forward it is necessary to return to these experiences and explore each as a potential crossroads that still needs to be investigated. These may be where you developed personal flaws that are now manifesting as a block in your current awakening and many of these may be due to the accepted views of our current society.

The foundations of society are based on the educational system and as the current western society is itself founded on Christianity and the indoctrination of roman occupation this leaves little room for the development of alternative thinking.

Perception of time

To demonstrate this point let’s take a look at the accepted method of recording time first proposed by Dennis the Short in the 6th Century - the calendar. This pivots on an accepted point in time which is the presumed birth of Christ. Everything before his birth is denoted as BC (Before Christ) and everything after AD (Anno Domini – in the year of the Lord). This has become universally accepted but in theory is not politically correct.

If you had been born on the 1st January 2000 this would be 2451544.5 in the Julian calendar, 24 Tevet 5760 in the Hebrew calendar, 12.19.6.15.0 in the Mayan calendar long count and 24 Ramadan 1420 (1420-9-24) in the Hijra (Islamic Calendar).

Many of these alternatives have been around a long time before Christianity came into force and have an equal claim to being the correct method of recording time.

I’d like to clarify here that I hold no animosity towards the Christian faith (or any other for that matter) but wish to demonstrate the definitions that were in place long before you were born and now act to outline the way you perceive the world.

To be consciously aware of these classifications and then reach beyond these confines is a thoroughly cathartic experience. Think about what other areas there are that you take for granted as being ‘the way it is’ explore them and let me know.

Always remember that this is a journey we tread alone but often we join a fellow traveller along the path for mutual benefit.

Take care, thanks for walking with me for a while.

Damian

Note - If you’d like to see your own details the work has already been done for you – check out the Birthday Calculator at http://www.paulsadowski.com/BirthDay.asp as one example but I’m sure there are many others available on the Net.