Category Archives: Food for Thought

Interesting and thought-provoking spiritual concepts and ideas…

Why Are You Seeing Dragonflies?

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“When you pay attention, you prop the door of your soul ajar to welcome the unexpected and the uncontrolled… . You can’t access your interior landscape by banging down a closed door; you can pencil it in as an appointment on your calendar. Paying attention is a habit forming mind-set that comes with repetition and with intention. You give yourself permissiong to “do nothing.” You create quiet spaces. You open a door.”
― Cindy Crosby, Chasing Dragonflies: A Natural, Cultural, and Personal History

I’ve been paying a lot of attention to the beautiful red, blue and golden dragonflies that inhabit my garden and they sure have opened doors in my imagination! I watch them on their daily routine as they dip gracefully — drinking water from our small pond, basking on a branch with their magical, glittering wings turned to catch the warmth of the Karoo sun, and flying curiously about my person, possibly wondering what this blonde Goliath is.

If you want proof of God, just take a close look at a dragonfly. Now there’s Intelligent Design for you. They are one of the most stunning creatures to behold with their intricate, delicate wings that shimmer gold and pearlescent silver, their brightly coloured bodies and their robust fragility (they remind a bit of poppies, in that sense).

I’ve taken to painting them in all their majesty (see picture to your left and above in the header).

Animal Spirit Totems

Many cultures around the world believe that seeing certain creatures can represent different messages from spirit.

Here are some interesting traits that seeing the magical dragonfly may represent:

  1. Agility and Adaption – being able to quickly adjust to change.
  2. Transformation – surrendering to the new.
  3. Self-realization – embarking on a journey to inner wisdom and insight.
  4. Good Luck and Abundance – pointing you in the direction of always getting what you need when you need it.

So, if you have been seeing dragonflies everywhere, you can now apply the above to your situation and see if anything rights true to you.

  • Are you going through any life-changing situations?
  • Are you stepping into your divine right to be abundant?
  • Are you able to “think quick” on your feet?

The dragonfly could very well be your animal totem for the moment. Let me know your experiences with seeing dragonflies and what they mean to you in the comment box below.

If you’d like to keep dragonflies close to home, in fact, cuddle up with them at night, then I have these rather fetching art deco-style cushions at my store sporting my latest artworks – add that bit of magic and good fortune to your home decor!

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Use These 4 Potent Affirmations To Fast-Track Your Desires!

The Remarkable Science of Earthing and Why You Need to Do This Daily!

How to Tame the ‘Monkey Mind’

Cherie Roe Dirksen

Cherie is a self-empowerment author, multi-media artist and musician living in Barrydale, South Africa. She has weekly blogs at her site www.cherieroedirksen.com where she discusses practical and insightful perspectives on taking responsibility for your life and following your bliss.

Follow her on Facebook HERE. Follow her on Pinterest HERE. Follow her on LinkedIn HERE. Follow her on YouTube HERE.

Why We Need to Preserve Earth And Our Humanity

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“We are humanity and we are totally and utterly dependent on the Earth.”

Don’t you feel like a lot of people are losing their connection to the Earth (and to reality)?

Of course, it’s understandable in our current climate; we have lost loved ones, we are faced with division every day, financial stress, emotional strain, the toughest decisions, inhumane lockdowns, relentless talking heads punting fear, the breaking of the Nuremburg Code — I don’t need to remind you, I’m sure.

With all that is going on, we need to, now more than ever, ground ourselves and be more present in nature. Spend more time staring at a tree than your device. Spend more time listening to bird song than listening to iTunes. Spend more time contemplating a glorious sunset than your next post.

Meta-Fascistbook: Name Changes and Game Changers

And now, trumpets sound and angels sing, Mark Suckerberg wants us to join him in the ‘Metaverse’. The Metaverse reminds me of Nero fiddling while Rome burned.

No thanks. Talk about Mark of the Beast!

“They Tried to Bury Us, They Didn’t Know We Were Seeds” ~ Dinos Christianopoulos

We are humanity and we are totally and utterly dependent on the Earth. We don’t need more distractions and fake realities, we need to get down and dirty, with our hands and feet in the soil of our very real planet who needs our help and our attention — ALL of our attention — because we ARE the Earth. We are made of the Earth.

We need the trees for oxygen, we need the soil to grow food, we need the flora and fauna to sustain us (whether chosen for fuel or for clothing), we need to work in symbiance with nature to truly be happy.

Let’s Weigh In

On one hand we’ve got “Mark of the Beast” and his Meta-whatsit, luring us into an AI world of bullshit and triviality while our planet needs our love and attention. And on the other hand, we have the Earth, to whom withouteth we cannot liveth. No-brainer, eh?

I’m sure Mark’s Metaverse, as lame as it looks now, will — in a few years — be like the holodeck in Star Trek. I’m sure it’ll be very tempting indeed to escape reality and get sucked into Suckerberg’s world of machinastic cyber frivolity.

But, please, let’s not forget that we are flesh and blood and our humanity is on the line. The more we get duped into staying glued to our devices and the more we are welded to our social media feeds, the more we take a step away from what is real, what makes us truly happy and what sustains us. And I think most of us can agree that this is found in the wilderness, it’s at the seaside, it’s in a jungle, it’s waiting for us in the garden or park, it’s beckoning to us in a forest, it’s outside just waiting for you to say, ‘hello’.

I’ll Be Happy When I’m Rich, Famous and Thin

Money, although useful, doesn’t make us happy. Having ‘stuff’ can be cool for a while, but soon loses it’s thrill. Fame certainly ain’t all it’s cracked up to be (just ask any celeb who, and there are many if you look, have had their hand caught in the cookie jar or whose hypocrisy has back-fired). And, of course, trying to fit the societal ideal of ‘perfect’ certainly keeps you at arms bay of ever being happy — in fact, it can make you darn right miserable.

People search for happiness when, really, it’s right underneath their noses.

Happiness Is…

Happiness is sustainable if you know where to look. Happiness is sustainable if you remember to connect with nature. Just the act of staring at ‘green’ has a soothing, calming effect.

Read this article by Christi Wharton to learn more about the colour green: The Psychology of Design: The Color Green

The Great Resignation

If we can take just one positive thing from this pandemic, it’s that a lot of people woke up.

They woke up to how much time they’re missing out on with their family and loved ones. They woke up to how much is taken for-granted. They woke up to how much wool is being pulled over their eyes. They woke up to how much time is wasted sitting in traffic on their way to work. They woke up to how much time is wasted at work, especially working at a job you do not care for. The Great Resignation is upon us!

If you don’t know about this latest phenomenon is, please read the article below:

What is ‘The Great Resignation’? An expert explains.

I bet the powers that were didn’t see that one coming! Which reminds me of a line from a Greek poem:

“They Tried to Bury Us, They Didn’t Know We Were Seeds” ~ Dinos Christianopoulos

We can even go a step further and say, not only did they bury us but they shat on us and then wept with laughter…and we all know what happens with seeds, manure and water!

New Ways of Expressing My Love for the Land

I’ve been dreaming of creating something new with my art. Something that explores a diverse range of styles and mediums. My desire was realized when I came up with my new series called, “KAROO ELEMENTS.”

This one is the first painting I did called, “If These Rocks Could Talk.” Click on the picture to take you to my store where you can get prints and products with this design.

KAROO ELEMENTS takes physical pieces of slate (shale), pods, quartz, tin, bark and other fascinating things I pick up on my hikes in Barrydale, Klein Karoo in South Africa, and merges it into an authentically telluric landscape.

I want you to smell the hot, baking air, experience the nutty aroma of the Acacia trees, touch the slate and quartz crystal that’s been around for thousands of years. Come take a walk with me every time you glance at this piece.

My hope is that this new series of art, that takes physical aspects of the landscape, keeps the channel of love, appreciation and fascination of nature wide open. May we never give up our awe for nature and our love for our beautiful planet.

May we never resign our humanity.

“Unity in Diversity”

Here is a picture of some of the artworks in my new series, they are currently on display at the Karoo Art Hotel in Barrydale. Don’t forget to follow my blog to receive new updates.

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Is Assumption Destroying Your Relationship?

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One of the Most Poignant Taboos

I would like to delve into the ‘spiritual taboos‘ – maybe you’ve heard of them, maybe you haven’t.  Either way, they are significant enough to address (or re-address as the case may be).

These are concepts put across through the masterful words and teachings, derived from Toltec wisdom, of Don Miguel Ruiz. 

He sweetened them up by calling them the ‘4 Agreements’ whereas I have used the word ‘taboo’ as a mere marketing ploy to attract your attention.  As shameful as that is, I did it with the noblest of intentions.  We need to hear this – over and over if that be the case.

“To ‘sin’ is to go against your self or to ‘miss the mark’.”

Before we start with these tantalizing taboos, I want to address what it means to sin.  To ‘sin’ is to go against your self or to ‘miss the mark’.  So, go easy on yourself if you see that you have been performing or have been lured into the web of some of these sticky concepts.

Guidelines Along Your Path 

You are on a path to enlightenment (consciously or unconsciously — preferably the former) and when you embark on such a journey you need a basis of comparison.

We have chosen this particular journey into the realms of the soul, so acknowledge your choices and correct them if it suits you.  These guidelines are merely a way to steer you to counter balance your integrity if you do ‘miss the mark’.

The key is to be aware at all times and to realign when you need to.  Oh and did I forget to say FORGIVE yourself if you slip?  These taboos are difficult to master but they can be mastered.  When the seed has been planted as to what they are, it will be up to you – consciously or, sometimes, unconsciously – to water them into fruition.

Assumption — A Deal Breaker!

In this article we are going to address the one spiritual taboo called ‘assumption’.  It is a much overlooked and yet one of the most predominantly adopted characteristic of modern-day society.

“A more lighthearted look at this word sees the word ‘ass’ ‘u’ and ‘me’…”

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To assume is to not be in full command of truth or fact.  When we assume something we try to interpret, through sometimes limited knowledge or resources, what the truth might be.  We then run with this perceived outcome, sometimes even starting to believe it to be factual without proof.  It sounds ridiculous doesn’t it?  It is.

A more lighthearted look at this word sees the word ‘ass’ ‘u’ and ‘me’.  How succinct, seeing as assuming does normally make an ass out of one or both parties.

Alas, all humour aside, it is something we do too frequently without much thought of the consequences of our minds presumptuous actions.  This is not only dangerous but it is a detrimental factor in limiting us in relationships and with life in general.

Our minds are powerful, this is something most of us know and are starting to quantumly comprehend, so when you mentally construct a truth and play it out over and over in your mind you can either

(a) entirely convince yourself of it’s truth or

(b) bring that scenario into play in reality – in other words, give form to your thought (Law of Attraction).

“When we assume we are potentially shutting a door to further knowledge or clarification.”

Assumptions cloud our discernment and play on our fears.  When we assume we are potentially shutting a door to further knowledge or clarification.

Assumption at Work

Let’s say you assume your husband is having an affair because he has lipstick on his collar.  You do not confront him, fearing the truth to be what you imagine.  You start to treat him differently, as if you are positive that his activities are dubious.  He has no idea why you are acting this way.

Cold shoulders and snide remarks rule the roost.  This could go on for days, weeks or even, God forbid, turn into years of total distrust if it goes unconfronted.  There could be so many reasons and outcomes to this situation but let’s take a look at just three potentials:

  1.  He was having an affair
  2. A lady bumped into him whilst he was travelling in a lift leaving a trace of her lipstick on the side of his collar
  3.  If the latter was the case – you could have irreparably alienated your husband and driven him into the arms of another through your assumptions and unfounded suspicions.   So in this case, you have actually given form or materialized the original fear based on an assumption that was not the truth.  You have forced the undesired outcome.

“Any situation can be resolved.  You never choose any experience in this life without there being a solution.  The only thing standing in your way is your perception of what you want the outcome to look like. “

Don’t assume.  You will undoubtedly pay the consequences.

Always ask.  Communication is one of the keys to living in your integrity.  Always steer yourself towards the light of truth, no matter how hard the truth may be.  Burying the truth will always lead to more pain eventually.

Any situation can be resolved.

You never choose any experience in this life without there being a solution.  The only thing standing in your way is your perception of what you want the outcome to look like.  Sometimes only time can tell whether something serves us or not.

Assumption can lead to a lot of unwarranted unhappiness.  Ever heard of ‘stewing in your own juices’?  Don’t do it!  Rather get to the core of the situation – the source, the truth.

What’s the Alternative then? 

An exercise to try out would be to identify and stop yourself when you are assuming something (big or small).  See if there are any alternatives to your assumptions.  In other words, we often tend to gravitate towards being more negative with our assumptions.

An example would be:

Your friend hasn’t called you in ages, she normally phones you regularly.  You assume she no longer likes you or you have said something to offend her when in fact there may be several reasons for her lack of communication – none of them even involve you!

“You form ideas based on it (assumption) and then your neural pathways fix and that idea becomes your ‘reality’.”

So, try to either get the facts or quell the desire to reach an assumed conclusion.  When you go into this more deeply you will begin to unravel a lot of ‘baggage’ that your mind sets up through the act of assumption.  You form ideas based on it and then your neural pathways fix and that idea becomes your ‘reality’.

Harmful ‘Petty’ Assumptions

Let’s say that you see your neighbour shouting at his children.  You assume that he has anger issues and that he is a bad father.

The truth of the matter may be that you have just caught him on an incredibly stressful day –  he could be father of the year for all you know – but there you have made a mental construct, not through years of getting to know him, but through a momentary reaction that has now tainted your view of his personality and parental skills.

You may even do further damage and air your opinions about him to others leading to an even greater adverse effect on his reputation based on your unfounded assumptions.

“If you can just come to the realization that you are assuming you can begin to change it…” 

Now, how often do we do this?  If you can just come to the realization that you are assuming – become conscious of this behavioral pattern in yourself – you can begin to change it and in doing so you can save yourself a lot of anguish that, more often than not, leads to so much heartache and misunderstanding.

What stories of assumption can you identify with and tell us about?  Are there any you are making now and don’t know how to stop?  Share your experiences and feel free to ask any questions.

If you liked this article and you want to start really anchoring a new positive future, you may consider starting a gratitude journal. Every day write something you are grateful for, no matter how big or small. You’ll see your life start to change when you focus on the positive!

Get your gratitude journal today (click on this link or the picture below) for yourself or for someone you know who’s starting out on a self-empowerment path and could use a bit of motivation!

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These gratitude journals can be purchased lined or blank (depending on whether you prefer drawing what you’re grateful for or writing it). They are 13.2cm x 18.6cm – a handy pocket-sized journal!

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Simulation Life on Earth: How to Play the Game

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Let me play devils advocate and say that we’re in a matrix or holographic universe. You can liken this to being in a computer game.

If you’ve ever engaged in a computer game, you know that you’re playing a game.

The only problem with our collective perceived reality is that we’ve forgotten we’re in the ‘game’.

Quiet time quote by cherie roe dirksenWhen you’re immersed in a computer game, you’re physical body is the ‘player’ and can be likened to the higher mind (or HQ). Your avatar body (the dude/dudette in the game) is like your physical body in the matrix taking commands from the ‘player’ of the game (or HQ in the spirit realm).

Your physical body in the game conceives of your moves ‘cause it has the ‘birds eye view’. Your avatar body within the game responds to the prompts from the physical body.

I think our HQ — in so called ‘reality’ — can see what’s ahead as it sits on the mountain (or in the etheric plane) and views the quickest route to any destination.

We, in the physical plane, only get to see what’s dead ahead  or in our peripherals and therefore can’t conceive (the job of HQ) of how we will get somewhere.

When the HQ sends down its ‘command’, we receive the prompt and take action through perceiving and playing the game.

We need quiet time — or meditation/nature time — because this is when the higher self can communicate the plan to you.

Volunteer or Victim?

How to Play the Game of

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I think we volunteered to play this game of life. Through forgetting we are the players immersed in this virtual reality, we became ‘victims’.

There’s a BBC cult classic comedy called ‘Red Dwarf’ that I absolutely love. There are many didactic and philosophical moments to this series.

One of the best episodes was when they were playing a game called ‘Better Than Life’. They were wired up to the console and the computer read their deepest desires and then produced their realities from that.

Out of the four characters playing the game, one had his subconscious mind sabotage his happiness at every point. He could be likened to the majority of humanity. He believed deep down that he didn’t deserve ‘good things’ so his psyche would initially give him what he wanted but then would take it away in the most heinous and gruesomely inventive ways.

The game played out his every horror while the others were in their own personal heavens.

In conclusion, don’t you think it’s time to stop letting the game play you? Instead, you need to start playing the game!

If you liked this article and you want to start programming your game with positivity, you may want to consider starting a gratitude journal. Every day write something you are grateful for, no matter how big or small. You’ll see your life start to change when you focus on the positive!

Get your gratitude journal today (click on this link or the picture below) for yourself or for someone you know who’s starting out on a self-empowerment path and could use a bit of motivation!

png_20220114_171548_0000

These gratitude journals can be purchased lined or blank (depending on whether you prefer drawing what you’re grateful for or writing it). They are 13.2cm x 18.6cm – a handy pocket-sized journal!

Read related articles: Why You Should Ask Only Once and The Scary Truth About Our Subconscious Programming

Cherie Roe Dirksen is a self-empowerment author/columnist, multi-media artist and musician from South Africa.

To date, she has published 3 self-help and motivational books and brings out weekly inspirational blogs at her site www.cherieroedirksen.com. Get stuck into finding your passion, purpose and joy by downloading some of those books gratis when you click HERE.

Her ambition is to help you to connect with your innate gift of creativity and living the life you came here to experience by taking responsibility for your actions and becoming the co-creator of your reality. You can follow Cherie on Facebook (The Art of Empowerment — for article updates). She has an official art Facebook page (Cherie Roe Dirksen – for new art updates). You can also check out her Facebook band page at Templeton Universe.

This article (How to Play the Game) was originally written for and published by Conscious Life News and is published here under a Creative Commons license with attribution to the author Cherie Roe Dirksen and ConsciousLifeNews.com. It may be re-posted freely with proper attribution, author bio, and this Copyright/Creative Commons.

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8 Life Strategies That Playing Chess Has Taught Me

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Being a Rookie

Chess is a game that I love to play with my husband.  He is such an enviable strategist. When I first started playing with him, I felt like a complete fool every time he snookered my king and got me into check-mate.

What playing chess taught me about life

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When I let my pride take the back seat, I discovered a remarkable game that I could undeniably learn from whilst enjoying some quiet, reflective, quality time with my partner.

I found it a relaxing pursuit with red-hot moments of intensive brain-stretching — a great way to quantize your thinking.  It not only takes the grey matter for a stroll around the yard but also teaches you valuable lessons in forethought, planning, awareness and defense tactics.

Has Anyone Seen the Bishop?

I started to see more spiritual truths in chess the more we played; in fact it was beginning to be a remarkable representation of life!

It aroused me to apply these teaching to my own life situations and, if not why not, to other people’s life circumstances too.  A lot of people are already either inadvertently or deliberately playing chess with their situations and relationships.

It opened my eyes and taught me that there is usually either a way to slip out of trouble or to catch yourself and your opponent by surprise with your brilliant and calm maneuvering capabilities.

Be Your Own Knight in Shining Armor

Just when things start to look hopeless, you view your game from a different angle or perspective and you move to the side and allow danger to pass.  What a great allegory for life!

Here are some of the life strategies chess has permitted me to comprehend:

  • Multi-layers — there is always more than meets the eye in any given situation.
  • Patience — slow and steady wins the race.
  • Side-Stepping — there is usually either an evasive move or a counter-action you can take when in the face of danger.  Don’t lose hope.
  • Shifting Views — when things are looking dire for you, all you may need is a shift in perspective that can open up new doorways.
  • Positive Outlook — always try to stay optimistic and you will habitually figure out a good move to make.
  • Acknowledgments — congratulate your opponent on good moves — you can learn from them too.  Don’t let your pride get in the way of wisdom.
  • Grace — be a good loser because you never really lose in life, you just start a new game and learn from the previous one. So hone in on your skills by learning from your mistakes — nothing is ever in vain.  Be a gracious winner too, there is no room for friends in your life if your big head is taking up all the space!
  • Always Have Fun — enjoy the process, the game of chess (life) is exciting, invigorating and challenging — all of which keep you feeling alive, vibrant, polished and motivated.

Metaphors and Metamorphosis — from Pawns to Kings

I love painting life experience with intriguing metaphors and feel even more elated when such an analogy becomes a bald-faced truth.

Chess quoteWhen we can become the observers of life’s smaller things, like an innocent fixture of chess, and transform it into a fresh perspective of life, it changes us.  We start looking all over for these spiritual growth sign-posts and we usually find them in the strangest of places.

Chess is the ultimate sport of existence and even though I know the strategies have been used in more negative life experiences, such as war and devious corporate obliteration, it can also be used to your advantage in co-creating your reality.

Give yourself a game plan and be flexible enough to discern inherent dangers whilst on track, this way you will be able to metaphorically duck and dive bullets (just like Neo in The Matrix movie).  Be cunning and graceful and you will never be caught off guard.  When you are, don’t give up, learn from it and reload your experience as ammunition for the next round.

There is never failure, only feedback.

Original article written by Cherie Roe Dirksen for Positively Positive

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6 Impossible Things To Do Every Day

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“Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.” — Alice in Wonderland (Lewis Carroll)

6 Impossible Things to do Every Day

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Go Easy on the Mundane

Life can be wonderful when you’re a dreamer. Life can be even more wonderful when you are a dreamer and a doer!

Nothing trips us up more that boredom or monotony. As the saying goes, ‘boring is as boring does’. But, lucky for us, we live in a world full of unmapped, unexplored and unchartered territory — both physically and metaphysically.

What a cause for celebration!

Ready For Expanded Thinking?

“After all, the word ‘impossible’ only really spells out ‘I’m Possible’.”

You’ve probably realized by now that you are the one creating your life experience by what you’re feeling and doing in this NOW moment. Your past does not define you but your present shapes your future.

If your life is not exciting you, you’re the one forgetting to inject the zest.

So why not start the day, as Lewis Carroll so aptly suggested, by thinking of 6 (even 1 will do!) impossible things you could do to explode the old and catalyze the new. After all, the word ‘impossible’ only really spells out ‘I’m Possible’.

Let me suggest some starting points:

  1. Start Small. Imagine something you want that you’re likely to be able to achieve today. This could be anything from doing that chore that’s been irritating you to exploring a new path whilst taking the dogs for a walk. Why is this going to help you? Because tackling household/garden jobs that you put off give you an immense sense of satisfaction when you finally do them — it incites you to do more tomorrow. Trying new things like taking a walk where you’ve never ventured before is breaking routine and while routine can be a good thing in some areas of your life it can also kill adventure.
  2. Think Big. Is there something you’ve always wanted to do but never got around to? Do you think you’re too old to play the piano? Or too overweight to water ski? Or maybe you think you’re too poor to travel? Think again! It’s those ‘I’m Possible’ dreams that light a fire under the derriere and bring back sensational living! Where there’s a will there’s a way, so start off by finding a picture of your desire and pin it to your vision board (you know, that thing you have up somewhere in your house to remind you of what you want to manifest. Don’t have one yet? There’s your other I’m Possible task!) and start taking action along with looking out for synchronicities (don’t know what that is? READ HERE). Impossible is sure to follow!
  3. Visualize. Like I said in point no. 2 — get your vision board started and watch the impossible happen! There’s nothing like walking into your office (or whatever room applies here) and seeing all those pretty pictures of things to keep aligning yourself to. We think we know what we want but, back in reality, there are so many thoughts coursing through our brain that we tend to ‘backseat’ our dreams in lieu of daily matters. Then we forget the things (big or small) that mean something to us. Don’t let your dreams escape you! Every time you think of something you would like to experience — pin it! I walked into a fabulous spa the other day and took one of their brochures. Why? Because even though I wasn’t in town to get a massage that day, it’s something I would love to experience — so, it’s now firmly pinned to my vision board. If I didn’t do that, I would’ve eventually disregarded wanting a sensational 2 hour treatment and would’ve also probably forgotten about the spa itself nevermind it’s location. Now I won’t ’cause I see it every day and smile when I think of going there for my special treat.
  4. Alice in Wonderland QuoteA Pat on the Back. Stop every day to think of the wonderful things you have accomplished thus far in your life. We very seldom stop to let things sink in. It could be the fact that you raised an awesome child (it probably felt impossible when you first looked into his/her eyes as a newborn) or you finally conquered a fear and boarded a plane one day and went overseas for the first time (which may have sparked many other trips). Some things may seem old hat to some and incredible feats to others — don’t underestimate what you’ve accomplished. Even the little things shape our lives. Give yourself some kudos and then keep doing more impossible things!
  5. Burn the Box! You’ve heard of thinking outside the box — which is the Impossible Club’s credo — but burning the box is more potent. In fact, the box never existed in the first place, Schrodinger! Stretch your mind to the infinite possibility of all realities in all directions of space and time. Try lucid dreaming and cruise the universe — let your impossible imagination run riot. The universe is expanding and creating the most beautiful work of art with all its nebulae, solar systems, whirling galaxies and neutron star collisions just to name a few. Expand your mind to take it all in and then apply it to your life. How can you be creatively expansive? How can you use your divine talents to smear this life experience with explosive colour, fizzing verve and sparkling tenacity? Baby, you’re a firework! Thanks Ms. Perry, how right you are.
  6. Rest. Doing relentlessly impossible things all day requires that you need a balance of good R&R. But don’t stop your imagination from thinking of impossible ways to relax. You can dream up a wild bath-time relaxation routine that involves submarines, rubber ducks and lavender oil or you could take some time out to shut those weary little eyes and have a night full of dreaming up new ways to be a super nova!

And remember — you’re the only one who can make the impossible possible.

“Door: Why it’s simply impassible! Alice: Why, don’t you mean impossible? Door: No, I do mean impassible. (chuckles) Nothing’s impossible!” — Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking Glass (Lewis Carroll)

“The Alice books belong to a branch of literature that speaks deeply and clearly to the human psyche–stories of the journey.” ― Stephanie Lovett Stoffel, The Art of Alice in Wonderland

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Original article written by Cherie Roe Dirksen for Conscious Life New (CLN) – click here and join their growing community!

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What You Can Do to Help in Chaos

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Why ‘Heart Talk’ is SO Important

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  • Ever spoken to someone who isn’t really listening?
  • Ever started a conversation and you can just sense your partner is more interested in saying what he/she wants to say without regard to your input?

We’ve all been there.

It’s not a great feeling to waste your breath and effort when you just know it’s falling upon deaf ears or when you’re just not being ‘heard’. Sometimes we feel like we’re in the firing range of someone’s motor-mouth and you’re being spoken ‘at’ and not ‘to’!

Wits End Meets Heart Opening

I’m afraid I’m losing my patience with people who are talking to me with their ‘heads’.

What do I mean?

You’re being spoken at by a person who is only interested in getting their logical perspective across irrespective of what their heart is trying to express. It’s kind of a heart bypass that shoots straight to the thought process.

When we communicate with our hearts we first open a space for dialogue to begin. A dialogue that is receptive as well as giving — where you give a person a chance to speak and they reciprocate.

Read related article: Neurological Indicators Show That Your Heart Is Your True Center of Consciousness

How Do I Begin Heart Dialogue?

Firstly, you need to drop into your heart space (where your physical heart resides).

Your heart emits a frequency that can be measured (in fact, its electromagnetic field is 500 times stronger than that of the brain) and when 2 or more people are communicating through this frequency, you will have a better chance of clear, pure, flowing, integral dialogue.

“Sometimes the heart sees what is invisible to the eye” — H. Jackson Brown, Jnr

Your quality of conversation is going to be better because you are not only conversing with language and emotion but with feeling too. The other person is going to connect with your field and be ‘in tune’, so to speak, with you. So, it’s more likely that any deception will be picked up by that innate part of you that can hone in on these things.

Read related article: The Heart has it’s Own ‘Brain’ and Consciousness

Secondly, when you communicate from your heart, you open yourself up to a more truthful, no-bullsh*t kind of conversation (you know — the ones worth having!).

Your words will flow with more ease and fluidity.

When you trust that what needs to be said will be said, you have no need to rush your words. Have you noticed how most spiritual teachers speak very slowly and with great distinctness? You will, most likely, be guided to say what needs to be said without having to beat around the bush, flounder or hog the floor unnecessarily.

Straight From the Horses Mouth

I was having a conversation the other day and what would have taken me half an hour to explain just drifted calmly out of my mouth in about 3 sentences. They were succinct, truthful and to the point. No waffling.

It was great!

I haven’t been particularly loquacious these past few months and have been feeling very foggy and scrambled in the head of late (ditsy blonde that I am!) but more frequently I am finding the right words at the right time.

Either that or I end up grinning like a Cheshire cat or expressing myself through interpretive dance.

I’m really rooting for full-on telepathic communication in the not-so-distant future. Truth be told, I’ve already begun to experience this kind of connection and I can’t wait for it to go mainstream!

I hope you will start to have more meaningful, inspiring tête-à-têtes in your NOW moments.

  • What’s your take on heart versus head communication?
  • Have you tried it? If so, spill the beans in the comment box below 🙂

Related article: How to Use Your Heart Wisdom

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The Most Insanely Creative Gifts You Can Give Anyone! And Saves on Therapy Bills Too…

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Do You Feel Worthless? 2 Reasons Why You Need to Love YOU

How Weird, Little Synchronicities Can Actually Be the Bomb!

4 Reasons to Eat Humble Pie and Starve the Ego

Gracefully Receiving is Just as Important as Giving

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The Law of Giving and Receiving

“Giving opens the way for receiving.” — Florence Scovel Shinn

Deepak Chopra wrote a book that changed my outlook on life. I stumbled upon it very early on in my quest for spiritual truth — it’s called The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success.

Now I know most of you have probably read it or heard of it (if you haven’t yet put eyeballs to paper/kindle yet I strongly urge you to do so) but I wanted to briefly recap on Law no. 2, seeing it is the season of giving and receiving.

Deepak states that the flow of life is the harmony of interaction between all elements and forces that make up the field of existence. Because our mind and body are in constant flux (as is the universe), stopping the circulation of vital energy would be tantamount to stopping the flowing of our blood.

No blood flow = blood clot. Now, you don’t want to be a clot, do you?

Girl-with-the-Flowers-by-Cherie-Roe-Dirksen-680x392His conclusion was that in order to keep this vital chi force from stagnating we must learn to give and receive. So whatever you are wanting to manifest in life — be it good company, money, affluence, love, joy, etc — that is what we must give out into the world.

 

Related post: Deepak Chopra: The Seven Principles of Manifesting Your Desires

Easier Said Than Done?

A lot of people have no problem giving — it is the receiving part that most shudder at.

Perhaps we were taught that receiving was impolite and we should graciously decline offerings of any sort. Or,  maybe some think that if someone is trying to give us something it appears that we are lacking in some way. Therefore we shun the gift so as not to look needy or ‘down and out’.

This is an ego trap.

When you block someone from giving, you are stopping that vital energetic exchange from circulating. How would you feel if your gifts weren’t received?

It gives most of us great joy to be able to give, so why stop that joy from others? Allow other people to give to you or you may be hampering their ability to be in the universal flow.

Don’t be blood-clotting anybody, you hear?!

How Do I Start Today to Bring the Flow into My Life?

According to the book (7 Spiritual Laws of Success), when you come into contact with anyone, you give them something. This doesn’t have to be material things, it could be a blessing, a flower, a sincere compliment, etc. You’ll find that sometimes the most powerful gestures of giving are non-material (you can occasionally throw in something of a material nature too though).

“Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love.” — Lao Tzu

SUBSCRIBE icon 1Think about it — giving the gift of your undivided attention or heart-felt affection and caring are priceless gifts and they won’t break the bank!

Related article: 9 Reasons You Need To Be Giving and Receiving Hugs Everyday

In a Roasted Nutshell…

Don’t underestimate the power of giving as you will receive it back ten fold! Just keep that flow going and be aware every time you feel you want to decline a gift or gesture — try remember to allow for others to give as well.

The art used in this blog can be found HERE.

Other articles you may enjoy:

Why You Should Turn Disappointment into Opportunity

How to Create Opportunity

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Comfort Zones: Embracing the Beauty of Awkward and Uncomfortable


You can now hear Cherie Roe Dirksen on Big Indie Giant radio as she reads out select articles on air.

She also gives weekly news headline updates taken directly from the Conscious Life News site, so be sure to tune in.

 

 

 

Cherie Roe Dirksen is a self-empowerment author/columnist/radio presenter, multi-media artist and musician from South Africa.

To date, she has published 3 self-help and motivational books and brings out weekly inspirational blogs at her site www.cherieroedirksen.com. Get stuck into finding your passion, purpose and joy by downloading some of those books gratis when you click HERE.

Her ambition is to help you to connect with your innate gift of creativity and living the life you came here to experience by taking responsibility for your actions and becoming the co-creator of your reality. You can follow Cherie on Facebook (The Art of Empowerment — for article updates). She has an official art Facebook page (Cherie Roe Dirksen – for new art updates). You can also check out her Facebook band page at Templeton Universe.

This article (Gracefully Receiving is Just as Important as Giving) is published here under a Creative Commons license with attribution to the author Cherie Roe Dirksen and ConsciousLifeNews.com. It may be re-posted freely with proper attribution, author bio, and this Copyright/Creative Commons statement.

 

Self-Empowerment Books by Cherie Roe Dirksen:

              

 

 

 

 

It’s Time to Go Beyond Belief — Here’s How…

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Stepping out of the matrix (our perceived reality) and becoming the ‘watcher’ brings a whole new dimension to life on this plane of existence. When we can observe ourselves in the game of life, we can start to transcend the limitations of belief, purpose and meaning altogether.

how you can easily transmute chaos (1)

Don’t forget to pin it!

Belief, purpose and meaning all hold limitation and keep us locked in details – tethered to the ‘fine print’ and keeping us from experiencing true joy as we constantly try to justify, improve or ‘work on’ ourselves and our lives instead of being happy….like as in ‘right now’.

Playing with belief, purpose and meaning can be gratifying but will only lead you to a certain point in your evolution of consciousness. There is no judgment in having fun with these concepts if that is truly what you are doing – more often than not, we aren’t having fun with them and I think they can be rendered completely redundant.

Cinematic Triumphs

Think back to the Matrix movies – when a person was freed from the matrix, they were able to see that their reality was a construct within which one could manipulate and control circumstances to their advantage. This was clearly demonstrated in the famous scenes of the characters dodging bullets in the most precarious ways, jumping large distances from one building to another and so on and so forth.

As fantastic as this seems, they were still operating in a matrix – a confined reality with rules and regulations.

Saviors in the System

Limitation through Belief QuoteThen came Neo – the chosen one – who transcended the whole matrix program and instead of dodging bullets defied them by seeing through the illusion. The illusion, of course, was that the bullets weren’t real. Why dodge something that doesn’t exist? Neo was merely using the law of least effort and quite rightly so.

Think of the SIMS computer game – there may come a time when one of those characters reaches sentience and realizes that their whole life is merely an illusion

Neo didn’t need to work within the construct of the program referred to as the matrix –  he went beyond it to realize that it was an illusion and that he was infinite possibility in that reality (he even managed to come to this realization out of the program). He therefore did not limit himself to any belief within the matrix.

Banning Belief

Belief, after all, is just limitation through judging one thing as good and another as bad.

For example: I believe to see that life is fair. If I see life as being unfair I am in a negative framework, if I see it as being fair I am in a positive framework (both are polarized and put you in a box). The ‘Neo’ way is to see that life just is. It is impartial. Judging anything as good or bad is just keeping you tethered to the system. Your natural preference system will guide you to choosing what works best for you without judgment.

Aligning with Source 

Neo embodied the premise that he was connected with Source and that he had only to think his will into creation and it became so. Without judgments. Ergo without limitation or any kind of belief structure.

It’s the  knowing that the Universe or Creation has your back and everything is as it should be – your only job is to keep expressing joy and love and you will constantly ascend to abundant new heights without even trying. Your inner radar is always wanting to point you to the highest vibration, it’s your natural magnetic north.

Your job is to allow it to do Its job without your constant interference.

Ponder for a moment: are your beliefs holding you back? Are your thoughts aligned with your heart (innate) or your head (ego).

SUBSCRIBE icon 1For example: Heart may be urging you to play the piano again and compose beautiful music whilst head is saying, ‘I need to make money from this – how am I going to do that? Maybe I should make a CD and charge $10 then if I sell 100 000 I will finally be happy and rich’. If you let heart win, then you will let go of trying to control the gift and there’ll be no anxiety or high expectations only joy, satisfaction and contentment (which will inevitably bring you into a higher frequency and you will manifest abundance without limitation) as you become fully immersed in the moment in expressing your creativity. Head wants to control how you manifest wealth and it will drive you crazy for the rest of your life as it whines on and on about how you need to manipulate the process. It will keep telling you you need more and you’ll never be satisfied.

One path leads to joy and the other leads to frustration.

The law of attraction is simple cause and effect – you keep on thinking and feeling a certain way and you will cause an effect in your reality (everything you have in your life is a manifestation of the LOA). Using the LOA to effect your life in a more positive manner is a great tool (it’s like those training wheels on a bicycle) but it can also only get you so far before we use it as a belief system and put ourselves (and the LOA) very neatly into another box.

In my most humble opinion, if you want to take the LOA to a new level we are going to have to stop ‘using’ it and simply ‘be’ it. Transcend all the tools and training wheels and start to get that we ARE the law of attraction – we are infinite possibility.

Be like Neo and let it all go so you can rocket and soar above the clouds.

The Trickster - 40cm x 40cm x 2.5cmThe art used in this article is called ‘The Trickster’ and was part of my solo exhibition called ’42’ (you can download the FREE book of art and poems HERE). 

Click on the picture of the painting to your right to take you to my gallery at Saatchi Art. The original painting (as of the date of article publication) is still available for $270 (which includes worldwide shipping).

‘The Trickster’ by Cherie Roe Dirksen

Acrylic and Mixed Media on Stretched Canvas

40cm x 40cm x 2cm

$270 (incl. worldwide shipping)

Other articles you may enjoy:

how you can easily transmute chaos   how to nicely say 'no'   How to meditate

CRD

Cherie Roe Dirksen is a self-empowerment author/columnist, multi-media artist and musician from South Africa.

To date, she has published 3 self-help and motivational books and brings out weekly inspirational blogs at her site www.cherieroedirksen.com. Get stuck into finding your passion, purpose and joy by downloading some of those books gratis when you click HERE.

Her ambition is to help you to connect with your innate gift of creativity and living the life you came here to experience by taking responsibility for your thoughts, actions and becoming the co-creator of your reality. You can follow Cherie on Facebook (The Art of Empowerment — for article updates). She also has an official art Facebook page (Cherie Roe Dirksen – for new art updates) and her band’s Facebook page is Templeton Universe.

This article was originally written for and published by Conscious Life News and is published here under a Creative Commons license with attribution to the author Cherie Roe Dirksen and ConsciousLifeNews.com. It may be re-posted freely with proper attribution, author bio, and this Copyright/Creative Commons.

7 Things Every Teenager Should Know About Life

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I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be.~Douglas Adams

Don’t you sometimes wish you could hijack the DeLorean from ‘Back to the Future’ and go back in time to give the younger you some meaningful and helpful lessons in life (never mind a sharp upper cuff)?

Well, you’re here now — older and wiser with experience under your belt — and the pipeline dream of procuring time machines probably just isn’t going to happen.

The brighter side is that we can enlighten future generations of the deeper meanings behind some really profound truths.

Here’s a list of things I wish I knew when I was a little know-it-all:

1. Thoughts Create Things

7 things teenagers should know PINYes, if only I knew about the Law of Attraction at 16 years of age — all the mischief I could have wrought. Well, maybe it was for the best.  Seriously though, how cool would it have been to know — back then — that your thoughts are prerequisite to actually manifesting whatever you want in your life!?!

2. You Can Do or Be Anything

Yup, some of you may have had hippie parents telling you this but for some of us it just wasn’t the case.  You needed good grades and to get a job that pays well — you know, the 9-5 job and the white picket fence deal?

My parents, God bless them, probably were only handing down what they believed to be precious information that they had learned from their parents. ‘Get a steady job that pays the bills, there is no money to be made in mucking about with paint or playing the guitar’.  Oh, how wrong they were!  The sky is the limit with your dreams — go for it, guns blazing into the setting sun shouting ‘Yeehaw!’.

3. You Always have a Choice

Responsible Choices QuoteLife is all about choices, we make them to get in and out of trouble (scrap trouble — challenges is a better word).  You never set yourself up with anything you can’t get yourself out of — within reason, of course.  So, a message for mini-me would have been:  Try to view things from a different perspective, there is always a solution to a problem if you are quiet enough to hear the inner wisdom that is always inherent.  Life doesn’t just randomly happen to you if you take responsibility for your choices.

4. To Forgive is Divine

If only I had known back then that to hold a grudge means extra baggage for you.  This can even, in some cases, manifest as physical weight. Forgiving, contrary to the saying, doesn’t always mean you forget — if the lesson taught you anything, don’t make yourself vulnerable or open to certain situations again. Always be mindful of your lessons but learn how to forgive and walk away too.

5. Taking Things Personally is Disempowering

Everyone is entitled to their opinion and tastes but there is no ‘blanket’ rule over what is the truth as there are almost 8 billion different perspectives on earth right now.

I was told, in my younger years, not to listen to peoples opinions of me, especially if they caused me any distress. I didn’t truly get that when I am insulted I am actually agreeing with what has been flung on my doorstep.  If only I learned to dodge those landmines sooner, I would have a lot less BS to scrape off my boots later on down the line!

6. Conforming is Boring

SUBSCRIBE icon 1I wish I could seriously implant this into the brains of the youth of today, it’s just that important — especially with the crap that’s being pumped at them through social media!  Don’t try to be who you are not (and please don’t try to mimic a Kardashian).  Everyone wants an original not a copy.  Duh!  Thinking out of the box is not even an option — burn the box!  No more boxes, boxes are for things not ideas or people (just ask Schrodinger’s cat).

7. Being Weird is just so Damn Cool

Well, this one just flows so nicely from being a non-conformist.  It’s just completely stimulating being different.  I mean, come on, look at all those Barbie’s and Ken’s out there — yeah, it’s a nice bit of eye-candy, but really?  For real?

Nah, I prefer someone with a bit more kick, vooma and soul — even if the facial features are slightly askew, hell, isn’t that what makes people intriguing?  Give me a David Bowie or a Thom Yorke any day — talent is my sexiness barometer.

So, little Cherie from the past, this is what I would have loved to have been able to time travel to tell you about.

Mother Teresa Quote

Other articles you may enjoy:

How to Get Things Done and Make a Huge Difference in Your Life (Especially if You’re a Procrastinator)

How To Sink Your Teeth Into Molding Your Reality

How to Hold Your Equilibrium

Why You Should Always Try Your Patience

Your Solar Plexus: First Impressions are Usually Right

 

 

Self-Empowerment Books by Cherie Roe Dirksen:

New Divine You Cover        Book Cover CARPE DIEM OR BUST

Table Books of Art and Inspirational Teachings by Cherie Roe Dirksen:

Creative Expression

 

How to Play the Game

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Let me play devils advocate and say that we’re in a matrix or holographic universe. You can liken this to being in a computer game.

If you’ve ever engaged in a computer game, you know that you’re playing a game.

The only problem with our collective perceived reality is that we’ve forgotten we’re in the ‘game’.

When you’re immersed in a computer game, you’re physical body is the ‘player’ and can be likened to the higher mind (or HQ). Your avatar body (the dude/dudette in the game) is like your physical body in the matrix taking commands from the ‘player’ of the game (or HQ in the spirit realm).

Your physical body in the game conceives of your moves ‘cause it has the ‘birds eye view’. Your avatar body within the game responds to the prompts from the physical body.

I think our HQ — in so called ‘reality’ — can see what’s ahead as it sits on the mountain (or in the etheric plane) and views the quickest route to any destination.

sub buttonWe, in the physical plane, only get to see what’s dead ahead  or in our peripherals and therefore can’t conceive (the job of HQ) of how we will get somewhere.

When the HQ sends down its ‘command’, we receive the prompt and take action through perceiving and playing the game.

We need quiet time — or meditation/nature time — because this is when the higher self can communicate the plan to you.

Volunteer or Victim?

I think we volunteered to play this game of life. Through forgetting we are the players immersed in this virtual reality, we became ‘victims’.

There’s a BBC cult classic comedy called ‘Red Dwarf’ that I absolutely love. There are many didactic and philosophical moments to this series.

One of the best episodes was when they were playing a game called ‘Better Than Life’. They were wired up to the console and the computer read their deepest desires and then produced their realities from that.

Out of the four characters playing the game, one had his subconscious mind sabotage his happiness at every point. He could be likened to the majority of humanity. He believed deep down that he didn’t deserve ‘good things’ so his psyche would initially give him what he wanted but then would take it away in the most heinous and gruesomely inventive ways.

The game played out his every horror while the others were in their own personal heavens.

In conclusion, don’t you think it’s time to stop letting the game play you? Instead, you need to start playing the game!

Read related articles: Why You Should Ask Only Once and The Scary Truth About Our Subconscious Programming

Cherie Roe Dirksen is a self-empowerment author/columnist, multi-media artist and musician from South Africa.

To date, she has published 3 self-help and motivational books and brings out weekly inspirational blogs at her site www.cherieroedirksen.com. Get stuck into finding your passion, purpose and joy by downloading some of those books gratis when you click HERE.

Her ambition is to help you to connect with your innate gift of creativity and living the life you came here to experience by taking responsibility for your actions and becoming the co-creator of your reality. You can follow Cherie on Facebook (The Art of Empowerment — for article updates). She has an official art Facebook page (Cherie Roe Dirksen – for new art updates). You can also check out her Facebook band page at Templeton Universe.

Cherie posts a new article on CLN every Thursday. To view her articles, click HERE.

This article (How to Play the Game) was originally written for and published by Conscious Life News and is published here under a Creative Commons license with attribution to the author Cherie Roe Dirksen and ConsciousLifeNews.com. It may be re-posted freely with proper attribution, author bio, and this Copyright/Creative Commons.

Other articles you may enjoy:

2 Damn Good Reasons Why You Need to Love Yourself!

5 Super Easy Exercises to Creating a Positive Life!

5 Golden Nuggets I Would’ve Wanted to Know as a Youth

 

 

 

 

2 Damn Good Reasons Why You Need to Love Yourself!

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Self Love Mirror Image

What’s the Deal with Self Love?

“Self-love is the source of all our other loves.” — Pierre Corneille

Healthy self love is not narcissistic or egotistical — let’s just get that out the way first off.  Some people immediately associate self love with selfishness or egotism — it is neither.

To love yourself is as important as breathing — without it your cup is empty and you can’t truly love or give of yourself if you’re an empty vessel, now can you?

Related Article: What You Need to Throw Out When You Decide to Choose Fulfillment

Meet Jane…

Jane is a vibrant and gifted woman. Jane is also a people pleaser. She spent over 10  years in a dead end relationship with John because she didn’t want to leave him.

Why?

She didn’t want to hurt his feelings.

Wow.

When I questioned Jane about why she hadn’t thought of her own happiness in this equation, she said that she ‘didn’t matter’. She went on to say that she has tried to placate all the people in her life because she wants to ‘keep the peace’ and not ‘rock the boat’.

Jane also divulged that when she was younger she was taught to be selfless and giving and that if she didn’t adhere to these principles she wouldn’t go to heaven.

“I think the most important thing in life is self-love, because if you don’t have self-love, and respect for everything about your own body, your own soul, your own capsule, then how can you have an authentic relationship with anyone else?” — Shailene Woodley

So as we started unraveling the complicated tapestry of Jane’s self worth and self love issues, we started getting towards the crux: Jane believed that God wanted her to be self-sacrificing otherwise she wasn’t worthy of His/Her love.

What complete and utter balderdash!

Thing is, a lot of people still believe this to be true and I think it’s the complete opposite. You are a worthy and lovable creation of the creator and deserve as much love and respect as every other beautiful being.

You’ve got to get with the divine program and start turning that love dial to full tilt on the inside!

Related Article: Self Love: The Importance of Consciously Valuing You

Unscrambling the Concept of Self-Sacrifice

Here’s why I don’t think it’s healthy to be self-sacrificing:

  • SUBSCRIBE icon 1When you have regard for other peoples feelings that is great — it’s called empathy/compassion/tact/kindness — nothing wrong with those traits. But when you do this with no regard for yourself you are, in fact, going against your own principles. Why? Because you are a person too…duh! Did you ever stop to think that you — a shard of the divine in carnation — are doing an injustice to a human being (your very own self!)?
  • When you decide to be in ‘service to others’ instead of ‘service to self’ (this is where egotism and narcissism reign supreme) it is a most noble and amazing thing but you need to be included in that service. It is completely contradictory to abuse your own rights and feelings in order to help others. In fact, you cannot truly give of yourself if you have no self love or sense of self worth.

If you need a bit of help with getting over societal conditioning and not giving a damn about what other people think of you so you can clear a path to self love, give this article a once over: 8 Tips on How to Stop Caring What Other People Think of You

Conclusion: if we all learned to love ourselves more we’d have world peace. Give it a shot.

If you liked this article, you may consider starting a gratitude journal. Every day write something you are grateful for, no matter how big or small. You’ll see your life start to change when you focus on the positive!

Get your gratitude journal today (click on this link or the picture below) for yourself or for someone you know who’s starting out on a self-empowerment path and could use a bit of motivation!

png_20220114_171548_0000

These gratitude journals can be purchased lined or blank (depending on whether you prefer drawing what you’re grateful for or writing it). They are 13.2cm x 18.6cm – a handy pocket-sized journal!

Other articles you may find interesting:

Simply BE in Gratitude

Remember: You Can Alchemize Anything!

How Long Are You Going to Stay Stuck in the Funk?

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There are 3 main definitions of funk:

  1. A foul smell or odor,
  2. A type of music that combines elements of rhythm and blues with soul, percussive vocals, strong bass and heavy down-beats,
  3. A state of great fear, panic or fluster. A depressed, sad or sorry state of mind.

I’m going to be discussing the latter form of funk.

Funky Town

Any musician would give their eye teeth (what a strange old saying) to get a good dose of the funk — the kind that separates the wheat from the chaff in the music industry. The Red Hot Chili Peppers are doused with the funk and have had a long and lucrative career because of its incredible mass appeal.

However, when life throws us a curve ball and we get stuck in the quagmire of that smelly, crappy kind of funk — that just ‘aint worth singing about.

Thing is we all have a choice.

Bad Taste in Your Mouth? Suck on a Mint

We all have our moment in the sun…and in the shade. When the cloud of despair rains down, there’s no judgment in having a pity party. For a while that is (some people’s ‘while’ lasts a bit longer than others. In fact, some folks’ ‘while’ turns into ‘wile’ and they try to pull others down into their stratagem ’cause they don’t want to shovel out. Misery enjoys company, don’t you know?).

Problem is, many people get stuck at the Mad Hatters Time (and Tea) Guzzling Pity Party for a lifetime not realizing that at any time one can get their Alice on and leave the table to join the path of great adventure again.

Funk, Flunk or Flank

Getting stuck in a funk has its ups too, you know. Nothing happens to you without good reason (here’s where I get pelted with tomatoes ’cause I know everyone loves a cliché). Read more here: Plot Twist! 3 Things You Desperately Need to Know About Game Changes

If you’re brave enough to mine your downs, you’re going to shovel out of the funk ditch without flunking out on life. Even if you flank out of it by fringing around the border of the funk, you’ll make it through to the other side.

Seeing that this article is heading more for a play on words than any philosophical feat (and I’m not to sure where it’s going), let me end on this:

At any given point (you’re never too old, too late, too weary, too ‘far gone’ or whatever other excuse you can conjure up), you can make another choice and completely change direction in your life. Don’t let your circumstances define who you are — only let your choices do that.

Related article: Comfort Zones: The Beauty of Awkward and Uncomfortable

CRDCherie Roe Dirksen is a self-empowerment author, multi-media artist and musician from South Africa.

To date, she has published 3 self-help and motivational books and brings out weekly inspirational blogs at her site www.cherieroedirksen.com. Get stuck into finding your passion, purpose and joy by downloading some of those books gratis when you click HERE.

Her ambition is to help you to connect with your innate gift of creativity and living the life you came here to experience by taking responsibility for your actions and becoming the co-creator of your reality. You can follow Cherie on Facebook (The Art of Empowerment — for article updates). She also has just recently launched her official art Facebook page (Cherie Roe Dirksen – for new art updates).

Cherie posts a new article on CLN every Thursday. To view her articles, click HERE.

This article (How Long Are You Going to Stay Stuck in the Funk?) was originally written for and published by Conscious Life News and is published here under a Creative Commons license with attribution to the author Cherie Roe Dirksen and ConsciousLifeNews.com. It may be re-posted freely with proper attribution, author bio, and this Copyright/Creative Commons statement.

Other articles you may enjoy:

Lyme Disease: What They’re Not Telling You

A ‘Must See’ Guide to Feeling Good

Supercharge Your Life Today by Switching Off!

If You Love Trees, You Simply Can’t Miss Out on This New Painting!

 

 

Lyme Disease: What They’re Not Telling You

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What the…?

A friend of mine was recently diagnosed with Lyme disease and she shared a documentary called, ‘Under Our Skin‘ (which I will embed for you to watch at the end of this post). I just had to share it with you all as I was totally gobsmacked after sitting through, what I have to call, a reality check — yup, one of those ‘every human being needs to watch‘ type-things.

It didn’t make it any better that I’m currently rereading Stephen King’s, The Stand (about a runaway strain of the flu that brought down humanity and brought on the biblical Apocalypse).

All jokes aside, I had heard of Lyme disease but wasn’t really clued up about it and was totally unaware of the whole controversy surrounding chronic Lyme disease and the treatment thereof (amounting to the level of ‘conspiracy theory’, I might add!) .

You can read more about this conditions overview and clinical trials at the NHS (UK) site here: Lyme disease.

What is it?

In a nutshell, it is a bacterial infection spread by infected ticks to humans. If detected in its early stages, it can be treated quite effectively but if it is left undiagnosed, it can lead to chronic Lyme disease, which can only be managed at the moment (and to great financial cost and physical suffering).

The sad thing is, not enough research is being done or deemed necessary as to whether it can be spread as a STD or if it is passed on to the unborn fetus in the womb (although the documentary I’m about to share is pretty convincing that it is).

The Unbelievable Divide

For those of you who don’t know, there is a split in the medical field over chronic Lyme disease — some doctors deny it even exists whilst others try their best to treat patients suffering with this debilitating illness. Treatment is hard to come by in certain countries and some doctors even brush the disease off as being psychosomatic.

The doctors who are ballsy enough to treat the conditions are often sued and lose their license to practice medicine (paper trail leading back to frustrated medical insurance companies who aren’t too happy about paying for long term treatments).

Read related article: New Administration Renders Government Scientists Terrified to Speak to the Press

The most common symptoms (although the list is as long as your arm!) are:

  • extreme pain and swollen joints,
  • nervous system conditions such as numbness, pain in limbs, memory loss and paralysis of facial muscles,
  • heart problems,
  • sensitivity to light, migraines, stiff neck due to inflammation of the membranes surrounding the spine and brain

As I said, the list is long, and can also include rashes and shaking. There are reasons to believe that this bacteria could indeed be linked to MS, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer, fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (to name a few common biggies).

Related article: What You Need To Know About Lyme Disease: A Natural Approach To Healing

But don’t take my word for it, please watch the documentary below — it’s a real eye-opener! And please share it with family and friends so we can all have a broader range of compassion for the souls who are dealing with this or have a loved one who is. Thank you.

CRDCherie Roe Dirksen is a self-empowerment author, multi-media artist and musician from South Africa.

To date, she has published 3 self-help and motivational books and brings out weekly inspirational blogs at her site www.cherieroedirksen.com. Get stuck into finding your passion, purpose and joy by downloading some of those books gratis when you click HERE.

Her ambition is to help you to connect with your innate gift of creativity and living the life you came here to experience by taking responsibility for your actions and becoming the co-creator of your reality. You can follow Cherie on Facebook (The Art of Empowerment — for article updates). She also has just recently launched her official art Facebook page (Cherie Roe Dirksen – for new art updates).

Cherie posts a new article on CLN every Thursday. To view her articles, click HERE.

This article (Lyme Disease: What They’re Not Telling You) was originally written for and published by Conscious Life News and is published here under a Creative Commons license with attribution to the author Cherie Roe Dirksen and ConsciousLifeNews.com. It may be re-posted freely with proper attribution, author bio, and this Copyright/Creative Commons statement.

Other articles you may enjoy:

A ‘Must See’ Guide to Feeling Good

Supercharge Your Life Today by Switching Off!

5 Things I Would’ve Told ‘Mini Me’

2 Things People in Relationships Forget About that Lead to Disaster

LOA – Aligning with How You Are Feeling

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loa-aligning-to-how-you-are-feeling

Don’t Believe in the Law of Attraction?

I happen to believe — 100% — in the power of the LOA (I’ll be divulging, in more detail, about why I believe so vehemently in next week’s blog).

I believe in the LOA as much as I believe in the force of gravity. Some people say the LOA isn’t fair. Well, neither is the law of gravity if you’ve just been pushed out of a 10 story building.

But it’s one of the laws that govern the universe whether you like it or not. Problem is, if you don’t believe in it, so shall that be according to the law. If you believe that we are victims of circumstance, then that is what you will create.

We are all self-fulfilling prophecies.

Related article: Are You Not Winning the Lottery Using the Law of Attraction?

Frustrations Over Injustice

I saw a question the other day that went something along the lines of ‘Why do starving children not manifest full bellies when, surely, all they are thinking about is food?’

The way I understand the LOA is that to merely think of something isn’t enough. You need to think, verbally affirm and FEEL it.

How can these poor children possibly feel full when their bodies are telling them they are starving?

The only feeling they are able to emit — in that dreadful position — is lack. When you are thinking of what you want but feeling the lack of it (and they have very little option to feel anything but) that is all you will be attracting.

It’s not fair but, that’s how I understand the LOA works — it is impartial just as gravity is impartial.

What Can We Do?

If the starving child got a good meal and was taught to anchor that feeling of having a full belly and keep emitting that thought pattern — then the LOA should respond by giving that child more food (or the sensation of being full or satiated).

Unfortunately, that child may never get the opportunity, however, I also believe in the power of our thoughts (or prayers/mantras/affirmations or whatever you feel comfortable calling it).

What you can do, besides physically going to help or supporting a charity that benefits a cause you feel drawn to, is pray/affirm or meditate on all the children in the world having full, content bellies.  Try and ground the affirmation by feeling that it is the truth — try to stay in that space for as long as possible.

Related article: 5 Limiting Beliefs That Keep Us From Mastering The Law of Attraction

You Can Help No Matter Where You Are

Same goes for animal abuse or anything else that vexes you about the world we live in — if you feel helpless then that sends out a negative vibration into the ether and, in my opinion, compounds the problem.

You can’t put out a fire by adding gasoline.

sub buttonTry to catch yourself every time you slip into despair over something that seems insurmountable and turn it around by sending out a positive affirmation (preferably verbally) or meditating on your positive mantra for at least 3 minutes.

Even if you don’t believe this will make a difference, you have to admit — it’s worth a try. If everyone did this it would expedite a positive energetic shift. If people were speaking and thinking good thoughts, we would be living in a different world.

Besides, what skin off your nose would it be to try something new? Do you really think naysaying or bitching is going to solve anything? Why not try something different then? I think it’s worth a shot.

“Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”  — Albert Einstein

Just remember, it is not going to work if you are saying one thing and feeling the opposite. There is immense power in your thoughts and words.

Read the next part below, where I explore the believability factor:

LOA: Are You an Accident Waiting to Happen?

CRDCherie Roe Dirksen is a self-empowerment author, multi-media artist and musician from South Africa.

To date, she has published 3 self-help and motivational books and brings out weekly inspirational blogs at her site www.cherieroedirksen.com. Get stuck into finding your passion, purpose and joy by downloading some of those books gratis when you click HERE.

Her ambition is to help you to connect with your innate gift of creativity and living the life you came here to experience by taking responsibility for your actions and becoming the co-creator of your reality. You can follow Cherie on Facebook (The Art of Empowerment — for article updates). She also has just recently launched her official art Facebook page (Cherie Roe Dirksen – for new art updates).

Cherie posts a new article on CLN every Thursday. To view her articles, click HERE.

This article (LOA – Aligning with How You Are Feeling) was originally written for and published byConscious Life News and is published here under a Creative Commons license with attribution to the author Cherie Roe Dirksen and ConsciousLifeNews.com. It may be re-posted freely with proper attribution, author bio, and this Copyright/Creative Commons statement.

Other articles you may enjoy:

4 Effective Ways to Say ‘No’

Gardening Your Way to Zen

The Impartial Law: Trump vs LOA

 

Going Beyond Normal: Manifesting the Truly Bizarre

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Wildlife Header

The World’s a Menagerie

“Joy and elation are the quickest tools to getting those dreams and desires fleshed out.”

The most frequent question I think any South African gets asked, when visiting a foreign country, would be, ‘Do you really get lions prowling the streets?’ — To which the more common reply is a contentious, ‘no.’

As a South African resident, you rarely see wild beasts strolling down the highway — you may occasionally get a baboon raiding your fridge for last night’s lasagna (if you’ve left a door or window open), but nothing like a giraffe talking a stroll through Cape Town botanical gardens at high tea.

Most well-traveled global citizens would already know that despite South Africa being a third world country, it does indeed have cities, freeways and fences (yes, I was also once asked if we have roads, I mean really! And just for a bit of comic relief — I was even thrown this question by an Indian lady with a British accent on the London underground, ‘If you’re from South Africa, why aren’t you black?’ to which my response was, ‘my parents are.’  It kept her quiet and mentally incapacitated for the rest of the journey).  Suffice it to say, it’s not all untamed bushveld here in the deep South.

I’m going to turn tail a bit here and share my recent experiences in actually manifesting the reality of the wild world I’ve so vehemently denied exists. My efforts above where to set the stage for the more common perspective of life in the RSA but what I’m going to say now is going to blow all that out of the water.

Let Your Mind Go Wild

If you still don’t think we create our reality then please do read on…

One of my favorite holidays was going on safari — there was nothing more magical, in my opinion, than watching a rhinoceros peacefully grazing to the backdrop of an African sunset or witnessing a pride of lions playing with their cubs under a starlit sky.

Point: I love seeing animals in the wild.

I just finished reading Douglas Adams’ book, ‘The Salmon of Doubt’, where his main character read his horoscope for the day and it entailed meeting a rhinoceros named Desmond — a possible stretch of the astrological imagination of any prediction addict living in the ‘real’ world but not terribly far from what I’m about to tell you…

Pachyderm Road Trip

My husband and I were on the road to our closest mall (a mere 2 hour drive away), I was gazing nonchalantly out of the window at the passing flora wishing to see something more exciting — I sh*t you not — like an elephant or something (let me stress again, this is not as common as you think).

You guessed it, not only five minutes later my hubby almost went careening off the road as I let out an excited high-pitched squawk — there was an elephant standing about 10 meters off the side of the road (behind a fence) eating his breakfast. I never had the chance to catch his handle but if I were to hazard a guess, he looked like a ‘Brian’.

It was one of those moments where you had to pinch yourself.

To put this into perspective: I have lived in South Africa for 41 years now and have never just casually seen an elephant on the side of the road — only in game reserves.

I told him (my husband, not the elephant) what I was just thinking and he thought it was rather incredible. I made a mental note to say it out loud next time to be even more credible.

At least he witnessed the elephant for himself. A while back we were traveling to our local mountain pass, on our monthly spring water collection, when I saw a flock of zebras (also not common), unfortunately, he never witnessed them as he had his eyes on the road.

Stripes ‘n Snakes

Every time we pass the spot where the said zebras were, I keep my eyes open for them as I really want him to see them for himself.

Last week I lucked out completely! As we were nearing the spot I said, ‘I wish I could see those zebras again’. We passed the spot but, alas, no striped horses to be found. On our journey back they were actually leaning over the fence on the side of the road in clear sight!

This time my husband saw them and was really taken aback.

I’m not going to bore you further about the escaped lion from a nearby nature reserve being seen on the mountains in my village or my almost daily encounters with reptiles that ought to be hibernating in the winter (every time I venture out into my garden I think of snakes despite the warnings from my husband not to…that’s like telling someone to not think of a monkey wearing a pink tutu) — no, I’m going to get to the point.

You Manifest All the Time

sub buttonLet’s face it, it’s a bit tricky to keep on thinking about all those goodies and goals you want to materialize in your life.

Our minds tend to wander and daydream and we start manifesting the weirdest things (good, bad and middle of the road…or even side of the road, in my case). Next time you witness or are involved in something a bit out of the ordinary — check in with yourself and try to remember what you were thinking in the build up to that moment.

However, manifesting the weird things can be a complete blessing. Not only is it really nice to see a bit of wildlife (in my case) — ain’t nature great and all that stuff — but it shows us that anything is possible if we play with the idea long enough and bring in a matching vibration.

Maybe our belief factor is more attuned to conjuring a wolf (or a monkey in a tutu) than it is a monetary windfall. However, seeing that wolf (or monkey in a tutu) gives us confirmation that we are able to do anything if we believe it enough and that sure is enough for me to keep believing in my own manifesting prowess and to keep working on it.

There’s no one blanket fix to solve everyone’s believability chip but we can start trying to whip up interesting and unusual things (let’s try move past the parking fairy and onto the more spectacular — maybe along the tracks of a rhino named Desmond or possibly an elephant named Brian?) to show us how we take baby steps to claiming our power.

Be light-hearted and have a good laugh along the way, it quickens up the process and injects joy into your journey. Joy and elation are the quickest tools to getting those dreams and desires fleshed out.

Related articles:

How We Create Reality: The Infinite Power Behind Ideas

Listen to This to Unlock Your Money Manifesting Prowess

CRDCherie Roe Dirksen is a self-empowerment author, multi-media artist and musician from South Africa.

To date, she has published 3 self-help and motivational books and brings out weekly inspirational blogs at her site www.cherieroedirksen.com. Get stuck into finding your passion, purpose and joy by downloading some of those books gratis when you clickHERE.

Her ambition is to help you to connect with your innate gift of creativity and living the life you came here to experience by taking responsibility for your actions and becoming the co-creator of your reality. You can follow Cherie onFacebook (The Art of Empowerment — for article updates). She also has just recently launched her official art Facebook page (Cherie Roe Dirksen – for new art updates).

Cherie posts a new article on CLN every Thursday. To view her articles, click HERE.

This article (Going Beyond Normal: Manifesting the Truly Bizarre) was originally written for and published by Conscious Life News and is published here under a Creative Commons license with attribution to the author Cherie Roe Dirksen and ConsciousLifeNews.com. It may be re-posted freely with proper attribution, author bio, and this Copyright/Creative Commons statement.

Other articles you may enjoy:

10 Hilariously True Life Quotes That’ll Make You Chuckle

Could Depression and Suicide be Linked to this Parasite? 1 in 3 People Affected!

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New Concepts: What Does a Bach Masterpiece Look and Feel Like? (Video Included)

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What Music Looks Like Header

“It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge” — Albert Einstein

Channeling Music into Emotive Art

Before I launch into my Bach revelation, I want to give you a little bit of background about where I’m coming from: I embarked on an auditory and visual journey in 2012. I decided to try to combine my love for music with art and subliminally paint to inspiring composers/musicians to see what would emerge onto my canvas.

Related article: 3 Ways to Tap Into the Matrix of All Possibility

I wanted to explore this realm of sound and discover why some of us are drawn to certain types of music.

I’d enter a meditative state — trying to blank out my mind with no preconceived ideas — put on the music and let it rip! What transpired since then has morphed into one of the most exciting, mind-bending trips of my life — my Rock Art Series!

 You can take a peek at that HERE (each painting in the series — so far — has a start to finish photographic journal along with a written account of the emotions that arose whilst listening and painting to the music).

In a nutshell, the Rock Art Series was a project I started to probe the bands and musicians who made a huge impact on me — even from childhood. I started off my early life in a rock band as a bass guitarist and was hugely influenced by 70’s rock and the 90’s grunge period. But why?

  • Why was I drawn to their music?
  • Was there more to their music that met the ear?
  • Why did it seem to resonate with me and a handful of peeps but did not seem to impress others?

I set out to do 10 paintings (one for every band/artist). I am currently on painting no. 9 and am still as captivated by this process as the day I started the first painting.

Now, I want to take it a step further…

Air on a Heart (G) String

I want to mine the sacred sound field of classical music. There must be a plethora of hidden meanings and deeper understandings waiting to be excavated in just this one specific genre.

I started this new project off to ‘Air on a G String‘ by Bach. It was the first piece that sprang to mind as it literally creeps into my heart and starts tugging on my tear strings!

What a Feeling!

Below, you will find a video where I talk about what came up for me in this classical masterpiece AND I whip out my whiteboard and draw for you — live — to the music (okay, I’ve sped it up a little cause it took me almost an hour to complete and I thought you wouldn’t want to sit through that whole process! It’s now a neat and tidy 1:30 minutes…very palatable, darling) 😉

I have posted the end result picture beneath the video for you to download and splash with your creative genius — so dust off those coloring in pencils, crayons and pens (or just go and steal them from your kids room) and let that inner child out to play! Pop on some Bach and see what emotions arise in you (don’t forget to leave your comments in the box below).

Just to give you a little teaser, the key words/emotions that came up were:

  • Remembrance
  • Divine connection
  • Divine Flow
  • We are all connected
  • Sorrow of seeming ‘separation’
  • Joy — ‘all is well’

But before I give the entire game away, let’s take a look at the video:

Here’s the picture for you to download and color in (and if you haven’t heard of color therapy yet, read this: Colour Therapy: Taking on Modern Day Stress the Creative Way):

Bach - Air on a G String Color Therapy by Cherie Roe Dirksen

I hope you enjoy adding your unique touch to this picture. Please feel free to share your finished creation on my Facebook wall (@The Art of Empowerment) — I’d love to see them!

Finished AD 2If color therapy is something you are interested in, then — as I mentioned in the video — I am offering a brand new service where you will receive one coloring picture a day straight to your inbox — you can CLICK HERE to read up more about that.

Do stay tuned! I will be exploring some more classical composers in the weeks to come. I also encourage you to add your suggestions of music to explore in the comment box below.

Cherie-Roe-Dirksen_172x200Cherie Roe Dirksen is a self-empowerment author and multi-media artist from South Africa.

To date, she has published 3 self-help and motivational books and brings out weekly inspirational blogs at her site www.cherieroedirksen.com. Get stuck into finding your passion, purpose and joy by downloading some of those books gratis when you click HERE.

Her ambition is to help you to connect with your innate gift of creativity and living the life you came here to experience by taking responsibility for your actions and becoming the co-creator of your reality. You can also follow Cherie on Facebook (The Art of Empowerment).

Cherie posts a new article on CLN every Thursday. To view her articles, click HERE.

This article was written by Cherie Roe Dirksen for Conscious Life News.

How to Lose Friends and Generally Alienate People

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Boat on a Lake

Green-Eyed Monsters Are Not Purely Sci-Fi

Allow me to ignite this article with a bang-on quote by Robert A. Heinlein:

“A competent and self-confident person is incapable of jealousy in anything. Jealousy is invariably a symptom of neurotic insecurity.”

Let’s just bask in that wisdom for a second. Aaah…can’t you just feel the truth of that seeping into your bones?

Common Jealousy — Get Yourself a Shovel!

Boy meets girl, boy goes out with girl, boy sees girl getting other boy attention and *bang* — the green-eyed monster rears its ugly, nobbled head.

Boy becomes possessive over girl, boy doesn’t want girl to so much as look at other boys, boy is digging grave.

But what would make this boy decide to excavate his own resting place? Eventually (if girl has any self-esteem) he will lose girl and alienate friends/people in the vicinity of the jealousy boxing ring.

I’ve seen it happen time and time again. The thing is as simple as Robert said in that deliciously succinct opening quote: Insecurity.

A person who is truly okay with who they are — and has a decent amount of self love (Read related article: Do You Feel Worthless? 2 Reasons Why You Need to Love YOU), self respect and dignity — is secure from within (their green-eyed ghoul has turned into a lovable pup!).

Coping Strategies

Therefore when you encounter someone with jealousy issues, try not to get your back up — have a little compassion for where they’re at. It is a reflection of extreme low self-esteem and insecurity within themselves that makes them act out in such a manner.

However, in saying that, it is also not healthy to remain in a relationship/friendship or situation where someone is showing signs of jealousy. It’s not acceptable behavior and the person should either take responsibility for their emotions or you should walk away.

It’s alright to gently point out to the person that their behavior is not appropriate and if they can’t sort it out they should think of taking a break to meditate or seek counseling about their lack of self esteem.

Sometimes the jealous person may indeed be on the receiving end of a partner who is not worthy of their love and trust. That is why jealous people tend to have worth issues because no self-respecting person would remain in any kind of relationship if it didn’t serve them to do so.

Hidden Jealousy — Cloak and Daggers!

I was treated to a character recently — let’s call him Barry for convenience — who, after many various encounters, I realized was neurotically insecure.

The way Barry chose to voice his jealousy was through insulting every man, woman and child who had the misfortune to cross his path.

For all intents and purposes, he was quite charming and nice but soon after 10 minutes of banter Barry would pass a flippant, neatly packaged, gob-smacking insult to a passing stranger — very passive aggressive, darling!

This would inevitably make me feel uncomfortable and I would ask him if such behavior was necessary to which he always had some kind of justification.

Now this is not typical jealousy aimed at one person, Barry was just generally in contempt with the world!

His jealousy was boundless. It soon became apparent that he was envious of certain traits in others — be it their youth, money, relationships, status — it didn’t matter! Barry was on the warpath! And jealousy was the fuel to launch his arsenal of verbal insults.

His cover story was that he spoke ‘the truth’. So, basically, if someone did not meet his standard of beauty/intelligence/morals, etc. he would let them know because it is alright to do so (in his mind).

Here’s where we run into a problem. We currently have over 7.3 billion versions of the truth on the planet as I type this!

Everyone has their own version of what true is and that’s okay! Life would be pretty baa-baa-boring if we all thought the same and became neat and tidy sheeple.

Back to Barry (and any other characters out there that need to hear this):

You need to ask yourself 3 questions when you open your mouth to speak the ‘truth’:

  • It may be true but is it necessary?
  • It may be true but is it kind?
  • It may be true but am I only saying it to make myself feel better (and therefore making a total prat out of myself)?

You see, I think Barry is on a constant insult loop because of his own insecurities. He has to constantly put other people down in order for him to feel slightly better (which doesn’t last long anyway!).

Find out what's at the root of jealousy...click on picture

Don’t forget to pin this article 🙂

Any self-respecting person doesn’t need to put others down — they have accepted who they are and feel good about themselves, there is no need to be unkind. Hurting others doesn’t even cross their minds. They are impeccable with their word because they know about the smoky mirror! (Read more about that here: 4 Reasons to Entice You to Quit Drama).

Endings and Beginnings

So, above are two examples of how to lose friends and alienate people. If you’re the jealous type, I beg you to work on your own self-esteem and self-love — it will strengthen your foundation and ability to make lasting relationships without fear of losing the ones you love.

Learn to love yourself — people are attracted to confidence and respect (you don’t have to be a super model to be attractive, you just have to be your authentic self).

And for those of you who are on the receiving end of a green-eyed monster — run (or e-mail this article to them and then run)! I hear Italy is nice this time of year.

Related article: 8 Tips on How to Stop Caring What Other People Think of You

This article was written by Cherie Roe Dirksen for Conscious Life News

Other articles you may enjoy:

3 Quotes on the Green-Eyed Monster That Will Change How You See Jealousy Forever!

6 Impossible Things To Do Every Day

What You Can Do to Help in Chaos

The Most Insanely Creative Gifts You Can Give Anyone! And Saves on Therapy Bills Too…

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What You Can Do to Help in Chaos

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Misery and Mercy by Cherie Roe Dirksen

Prints available

Dining on a Rancid Take-Out Menu?

As society and the media pumps out more pandemonium, bedlam, jiggery-pokery and mayhem for our global dining-room table consumption, one wonders just how much more one can take?

The ways we cope and react are numerous. One can spontaneously break out into interpretive dance (as mentioned in my recent ‘heart talk’ article, which you may find interesting — READ HERE), churn out a few Shakespearian sonnets, join one’s local Hare Krishna movement or go and make like an ostrich (only to name a few saucy coping-mechanisms!).

Dust Off Your Head — You’re Needed!

It’s no small wonder that my close group of friends (and officially me too after last night) are all having the same dreams — unfortunately, that of the ‘end of days’ scenario with those four epic horsemen!

I mean WTF(udge)? The battle for middle earth has begun (Tolkien was way ahead of his time)!

Can you feel it? Yeah, I know a lot of you will say that people have been predicting the apocalypse since the dawn of mankind and naught has happened yet but, seriously, there is something up of late. And I know it’s not just me who’s feeling it.

Has the battle betwixt good and evil reached a climactic pinnacle? If so, whose side will fall?

Okay, this is where you come in…

What Can I Do?

In the throes of mass panic, fear, galvanization and all the rest of it, you can be that still presence.

There are 2 things you can adopt when you feel you’re in the middle of something chaotic:

  1. Be Aware — drop into your heart space (read more about ‘Heart Wisdom’ HERE). Instead of spontaneously bursting out into reaction, take a knee (even if it has to be a quick one!). Centre yourself and see things for what they are. If you can react from your heart instead of sweeping fear or anger, you are opening a space for resolve or balance even if you can’t see it yet.
  2. Be Calm — energy compounds energy. If you react with more chaotic, aggressive, panic-stricken energy you are not helping, you are adding fuel to the fire. If you can act with calm, balanced, centered energy you may just be able to dissolve some of the chaos and be the watering can to those licking flames.

Chaos PinNow, if you’re able to use the above-mentioned traits, you will be in a space where you can be of more help than if you were to become erruptively reactive. When you are reactive without these 2 attributes you will more likely cause more chaos than help to bring about any kind of reconciliation or balance.

Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing erroneous about taking action in a situation — just be equipped with a calm awareness firmly tucked under your coping-strategy belt.

Your ability to remain calm and aware will be key to bringing about a new consciousness movement.

Original article written by Cherie Roe Dirksen for Conscious Life News (CLN). Click here to view their awesome site and see why almost 700 000 readers tune into what they have to say daily.

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Self Love Mirror Image

What’s the Deal with Self Love?

“Self-love is the source of all our other loves.” — Pierre Corneille

Healthy self love is not narcissistic or egotistical — let’s just get that out the way first off. Some people immediately associate self love with selfishness or egotism — it is neither.

To love yourself is as important as breathing — without it your cup is empty and you can’t truly love or give of yourself if you’re an empty vessel, now can you?

Read related article: What You Need to Throw Out When You Decide to Choose Fulfillment

Meet Jane…

Jane is a vibrant and gifted woman. Jane is also a people pleaser. She spent over 10 years in a dead end relationship with John because she didn’t want to leave him.

Why?

She didn’t want to hurt his feelings.

Wow.

When I questioned Jane about why she hadn’t thought of her own happiness in this equation, she said that she ‘didn’t matter’. She went on to say that she has tried to placate all the people in her life because she wants to ‘keep the peace’ and not ‘rock the boat’.

Jane also divulged that when she was younger she was taught to be selfless and giving and that if she didn’t adhere to these principles she wouldn’t go to heaven.

“I think the most important thing in life is self-love, because if you don’t have self-love, and respect for everything about your own body, your own soul, your own capsule, then how can you have an authentic relationship with anyone else?” — Shailene Woodley

So as we started unraveling the complicated tapestry of Jane’s self worth and self love issues, we started getting towards the crux: Jane believed that God wanted her to be self-sacrificing otherwise she wasn’t worthy of His/Her love.

What complete and utter balderdash!

Thing is, a lot of people still believe this to be true and I think it’s the complete opposite. You are a worthy and lovable creation of the creator and deserve as much love and respect as every other beautiful being.

You’ve got to get with the divine program and start turning that love dial to full tilt on the inside!

Read related article: Self Love: The Importance of Consciously Valuing You

Unscrambling the Concept of Self-Sacrifice

Here’s why I don’t think it’s healthy to be self-sacrificing:

  • 2 Good Reasons
    Don’t forget to ‘Pin’ this article 🙂

    When you have regard for other peoples feelings that is great — it’s called empathy/ compassion/tact/kindness — nothing wrong with those traits. But when you do this with no regard for yourself you are, in fact, going against your own principles. Why? Because you are a person too…duh! Did you ever stop to think that you — a shard of the divine in carnation — are doing an injustice to a human being (your very own self!)?

  • When you decide to be in ‘service to others’ instead of ‘service to self’ (this is where egotism and narcissism reign supreme) it is a most noble and amazing thing but you need to be included in that service. It is completely contradictory to abuse your own rights and feelings in order to help others. In fact, you cannot truly give of yourself if you have no self love or sense of self worth.

If you need a bit of help with getting over societal conditioning and not giving a damn about what other people think of you so you can clear a path to self love, give this article a once over: 8 Tips on How to Stop Caring What Other People Think of You

Conclusion: if we all learned to love ourselves more we’d have world peace. Give it a shot.

Original article written by Cherie Roe Dirksen for Conscious Life News (CLN) — click here to visit their awesome site and find out why over 600 000 readers tune n daily!

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How to Better Understand Your Yin/Yang Energy

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From a Distance Header by Cherie Roe Dirksen

I saw on my Facebook feed one early morn, that Venus and Mars are doing a little dance in the morning sky together in my neck of the woods.

On 1st September (which is our Spring Day in the Southern Hemisphere), they were apparently at an exact degree in Leo and appear as one united star.

It feels like a perfect metaphor for the union of the divine feminine and masculine.

The yin and yang energy (and the merging of the two) has felt very poignant over the past couple of weeks and seems to be culminating into a collaborative peak.

But before we get all in a tizz over this titillating sexual energy (as in the ‘universal energy’ and not necessarily just ‘sex’ — although that would be nice too, let’s face it!) — let’s have a simplified look at what these beautiful, dichotomous energies bring to the planetary table:

Sacred Feminine Traits — Looking Within:

The female (yin) vibration encapsulates the ‘being’ energy and yields:

  • Receptivity
  • Unconditional Love
  • Nurturing
  • Kindness
  • Compassion
  • Intuition
  • Creativity
  • Flow
  • Sensitivity
  • Tenderness

Divine Masculine Traits — Looking Without:

The male (yang) vibration imparts the ‘doing’ energy and brings:

  • Security
  • Action
  • Stability
  • Strength (inner and outer)
  • Courage
  • Expansion
  • Safety/Protection
  • Support (emotional and physical)
  • Responsibility
  • Logic
  • Confidence

Marrying the Yin/Yang — ‘I Do’

Whether you are male or female, gay or straight (or anything in between) — you can encapsulate the above-mentioned traits.

The waltz between male and female is a beautiful one and our interdependence is sacred and should not be seen as a weakness but an amazing, God-given strength.

Our ability to work together to weave a reality full of love, life and laughter is a massive blessing that we should all strive to claim.

We simply could not exist without each other.

When we can learn to embrace our characteristics and use them to better discover ourselves, each other and our world —we will step into an adventure beyond belief.

Drop all the stereotypical archetypes and societal labels and step into a world full of wonder as you redefine what being ‘man’ or ‘woman’ means to you. Now imagine all the fun you are going to have playing around with these lively energies!

Original article written by Cherie Roe Dirksen for Conscious Life News (CLN) – Click here to visit their awesome site.

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What Could Tumbling Through the Void Possibly Do For Us?

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Been in a Funk Lately?

Sometimes we get stuck in a place where nothing seems to be happening. Either we lose our mojo or we try so hard but nothing seems to give back. This is the dreaded ‘void’ and it can cause quite a fluster when we seem to be trapped in it.

I’m pretty verbal about how I’m feeling and have no compunction to truly state what I’ve been going through — this usually results in me finding out I’m not the only one going through something. So, recent conversations with random friends, family and acquaintances all point towards a common experience of this void (the place where not much is happening) — it seems to be where a lot of us are hanging out of late.

Who Brought the Life Jackets?

It’s especially frustrating when we have great ideas but have no energy, no takers, no inclination, no time or no funding to implement such grand plans.

It can indeed seem that we are floating down Diarrhea Creek with no paddle.

The good news is that when we find ourselves in the void there’s probably a damn fine reason for it.

What You Waiting For?

Voids can be great times for:

  • Reflection —  do some inner work, see if there are cobwebs that need dusting on the inside.
  • Reattunement — should you be singing to a different tune, is it time to start anew altogether?
  • Recalibrating — adjusting, checking and realigning your objectives.

If you’ve got all these ducks in a row and you’ve even taken action to see new prospects come to fruition and still nothing is happening — be a sitting duck!

What? Am I Quacking Up?

What I mean is to be still and at peace in the void — don’t strain against it, wish you weren’t in it or panic for fear of never getting out of it.

The void can also be interpreted as the place of creation — the ultimate matrix or womb. Watch for synchronicities and opportunities — be fully aware of what you want to see happen and how the universe tries to make it possible.

Related Article: Are You Experiencing Synchronicity?

I was watching a lecture by Gregg Braden and he said that when we can be in this space without judgment or fear, we allow an opening for spirit (who doesn’t want to see you void of anything) to fill our void in the best way possible. When we try to fill the void in our angst, we can further delay the true path of our soul.

So, have patience if you find yourself in the void and trust that you will soon be guided to your higher calling.

Original article written by Cherie Roe Dirksen for Conscious Life News

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Taking Breathing For Granted

Breath — it is the first thing we do when we experience this life and the last thing we do when we make our grand exit. As physical beings, it is our life – we cannot function without it. And yet we take it so for granted.

“Did you know that your quality of breath can determine your quality of life?”

In meditation, it is our bridge between the noise of our minds and the accessible silence. It can be our pathway to stillness and present moment awareness.

The Triad by Cherie Roe Dirksen (2)

Did you know that your quality of breath can determine your quality of life?

Breathing correctly boosts the brain (it has even been shown to spark brain growth — especially in the elderly), invigorates the body and helps us to find clarity (especially when we find ourselves under stress or anxiety).

Controlled breathing can even lower blood pressure and heart rate.

Did you know that:

  • Oxygen is important to blood cells because oxygen is needed to make energy for our body.
  • You don’t get blood cell oxygenation from food — you breathe in O2 and it is picked up by the red blood cells in the lungs and taken through the body to all the cells via hemoglobin.

But Don’t We Breathe Naturally?

Most of us are on auto-pilot with our breaths — they are shallow and we don’t usually pay much attention to the inhalation/exhalation process.

Be honest with yourself — how often do you take a deep, belly-filled breath?

I know you’ve just done it now 😉 But think about it — it’s not that often, right?

Try to consciously breathe, even if it is every hour. As mentioned above, deep breathing will help your body by infusing your cells with oxygen, bringing vitality and balance to your system.

Shallow breathing restricts oxygen to the brain causing fatigue and lethargy so — whenever you can — put your attention on your breath.

Try this exercise:

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Breathe in to the count of eight – really fill your lungs and let your stomach expand to the extent that you look pregnant. Hold that breath to the count of eight and then release it slowly to the count of eight.

Do this 3 times as many times a day as you can, especially in the morning, when you awaken, and just before sleep.

It will give you an added kick to the day and induce restful sleep at night.

Using Mindful Breathing to Begin Therapeutic Meditation

To those of you who are old-hat with meditating — you can skip this part. For those who are new to meditation and want to try it out…it may benefit you to read on.

When you engage in mindful breathing (find somewhere quiet to sit or lie down, close your eyes and put your attention on inhalation and exhalation) you form a bridge to the ‘still’ place in your mind.

With time and practice, you will be able to cross that bridge a little easier every time you engage in meditation and breathwork.

Don’t judge yourself or get upset if your mind just won’t shut up – this is normal and takes a lot of practice to get to the point where you can achieve full stillness without all the fluff and ‘white noise’.

Sometimes my mind just won’t let go of a song or tune when I am trying to meditate (especially when it thinks it’s being funny and starts up with ‘The Sounds of Silence’) and I just let that be – it usually dissipates in the end. Just persist with the mindful breathing and go with the flow of where your consciousness wants to take you.

“This is the journey into the mind and it can be a wonderfully calming experience…”

Mindful breathing techniques in meditation can be really awesome as you begin to sense the vibrations and different frequencies in the ether and all around you. It might come in the form of flashing or bright coloured lights or a vortex or wormhole. Sometimes it just remains dark or ‘spotty’ – a bit like the night sky.

Stay with this and see where it takes you. This is the journey into the mind and it can be a wonderfully calming experience.

Enjoy using your nasal passages and lungs to enliven and revitalize your body and soothe your soul!

Original article written by Cherie Roe Dirksen for Conscious Life News (CLN) — click here to view their awesome site and discover why almost 600k readers tune in there daily!

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The Swing by Cherie Roe Dirksen

“Fill your bowl to the brim and it will spill. Keep sharpening your knife and it will blunt.”
― Lao Tzu, Te Tao Ching

We live at a break-neck, fast-paced, mind-reeling, brain-fogging speed — where everything was supposed to be done yesterday!

Sound familiar to you?

Coping in this age is quite a balancing act — one needs to be a trapeze artist just to see yourself through the day.

Blow-Outs and Tears!

I found myself burnt-out and close to the edge of insanity last week, where just about anything was triggering my tears, anxieties and frustrations. After I had bawled my eyes out and taken myself to the point of exhaustion, I began to reflect.

  • Why had I not noticed the signs of my burn-out?
  • What could I have done for myself to prevent this?

There was no simple, blanket answer but there was one thing I knew for sure — I simply wasn’t taking care of myself.

I was giving myself no time for meditation, reflection, sitting in my garden or any kind of ‘zenning’ out whatsoever. It was just go, go, go…

Universal Signs and Course Alterations

When we are spinning off our axis, the Universe usually grounds us somehow in an attempt to make us stop, drop and reflect (take a knee!). Sometimes it comes as a severe blow (emotionally or physically), illness, headaches, accidents or nervous breakdowns.

So, if you wanted to make a perfect recipe for disaster, try these steps (or maybe you’ll opt for their counterpart):

  • Don’t make time for yourself — or maybe try pampering yourself every day with a long, hot soak in the tub or an hour of reading on the sofa. Sometimes (and especially if we have families that keep us on our toes) we need some ‘alone’ time — just a bit of space to call our own for an hour or so. Try ask a partner or friend to help out if you need a little time-out.
  • Don’t go outdoors, just keep on sitting behind that desk/computer screen — or perhaps go for a half hour walk in the park or sit on the beach listening to the waves crash. Even if you just sit in your garden — get some good ‘ol Earth therapy. Listen to the birds singing or the wind blowing. Walk bare-feet on the grass.
  • Don’t listen to your innate — or perhaps pay attention to your gut feeling. What is it that you feel you should be doing in this moment? If it stresses you out to think of doing it because you don’t have time — be honest with yourself: Do you truthfully not have time — not even 10 minutes? Or can you spare a little time for yourself in order to save a meltdown moment?
  • Don’t take time to organize your day — or think about prioritizing your schedule first thing over your morning cuppa so you have a game-plan for the rest of the day. This can make you feel organized and in control which can greatly reduce stress.
  • Don’t cut yourself any slack — or what about accepting that you can’t be or do everything today? Let a roll-over happen if it must. Assess what you can do tomorrow instead of stressing yourself out to finish now. Sometimes we set unattainable goals for ourselves and then sweat bullets trying to carry out our own orders. If it’s other peoples orders that are driving you to drink — see if you can call a meeting to discuss reality (as in what is fairly and reasonably achievable in a given time).
  • Don’t talk about your problems to others — or swallow your pride and seek out a kind and attentive ear of a friend, family member or colleague. Sometimes we just need someone to listen without giving advice. When we start to verbally unpack our mind clutter, it can lead us to insights to possible solutions.
  • Don’t laugh, dance or listen to music!  Any of these would mean instant alleviation of stress. So, only use these tools if you want to feel better.

Okay — I’ll confess — this blurb has been a definite personal pep talk. But,hey, if it has helped you in any way — I’m delighted! 🙂

And remember that old proverb…a stitch in time saves nine!

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Art by Cherie Roe Dirksen

For those of you who don’t know what synchronicity is, please READ THIS.

Meaningful Coincidences

“Synchronicity hints at the unified world behind the illusory veil of the material universe” — Roger S. Jones

Synchronous moments usually mark major game changes in our individual timelines.

It could be that moment when you bump into a friend you haven’t seen in years that you just had a dream about.  You get talking and she’s the very person you need to collaborate with.  You both go on to start an amazing and successful online enterprise.

When you look back at that point in time, you just know that synchronicity bought you together and your dream was a breadcrumb leading you to success. That kind of synchronous moment is a no-brainer — it was Kismet!

Synchronicities are awesome markers and can change your life forever if you don’t brush them off as meaningless.

Seemingly Meaningless Coincidences

Okay, so what about those itty bitty synchronicities? You know the ones…

You trip over your son’s toy T-Rex in the morning.  You walk into the supermarket and there’s a big Barney the Dinosaur cut-out as you head in.  The soccer mom who’s carpooling today comes to the door wearing a Marc Bolan T-Rex t-shirt and you start to think you’re going crazy.

What do dinosaurs have to do with your life right now?

Should you be looking more deeply into prehistory?  What is the universe trying to tell you?

That your arms are too short?

Tuning into the Radio

I’ve got an amusing personal ‘mini-synch’ story to share with you: I was packaging a painting for a client earlier this week. I decided to put on a bit of Radiohead (who doesn’t like a bit of Brit rock to make the workload more tolerable?).

So, there I was jiving and gyrating about my studio whilst cutting up board and getting packaging tape in my hair.

I got to my laptop screen to get my clients address (which I hadn’t seen yet) and to my utter amazement…he stayed in a place called ‘Radiokop’.  Which, yes — you guessed it — directly translated means ‘Radiohead’ in Afrikaans.

I wasn’t even aware that such a suburb existed in Johannesburg but there it was, as bold as brass, and staring at me from my computer screen! I even did a Google search to make sure that there really was place called ‘Radiokop’ and…of course there was!

Okay, so what do I do with this bit of fun but useless information?

Does it mean I’m going to get a visit from Thom Yorke?  I don’t think so…I mean I wouldn’t mind — don’t get me wrong — but I don’t think that’s what it means.

What’s Really Going On?

In my most humble opinion (and I have given this topic some strenuous thought), I don’t think anything happens in our lives for no reason.

These little synchronicities could very well be indicators that we are on path.

Think of it like dialing into your best life — the life your over-soul or higher self came here to express and experience. The closer you get to tuning into your appropriate channel the more life will spit out these weird little markers.

They’re not to be taken too literally, I think they are just there to let us know we’re in the timeline we’re supposed to be in — a tiny wink from the Universe.

When we diverge off this ‘preferred’ timeline, I think our propensity for the wee synchronicities will become less…a little like the white noise interference when we are dialing out of a station. But the more we try to stay tuned in, the more these coincidences will light the way for us.

Just a thought.

What do you think? Balderdash or believable?

Please feel free to share this article on Pinterest below:

Meaningful Coincidence by Cherie Roe Dirksen

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Are You Just Flat Out Broken by the LOA?

It can be darn right frustrating watching people around you manifesting their hearts desires and there you are feeling like you couldn’t conjure a pig in a poke!

What’s wrong with your Law of Attraction prowess?

You’re so sick and tired of hearing that you bring about that which you think about most because you’ve been drawing sweat-beads trying to manifest that $4 million bank account and it just ain’t happening.

What are you doing wrong?

Shooting Too High and Taking the Fall

I’ve had my feelers out, listening to how friends use the LOA to attract a better life. I’ve got to say I’m a bit taken aback. A lot of the aforementioned peeps are straining to go large or go home…and they’re ending up taking the long and frustrating road home.

No wonder!

Here’s what I think is going horribly wrong:

  • Instead of trying to manifest a bar of chocolate, they’re trying to get a ticket to Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory.
  • In lieu of attracting a long lost friend to make contact, they’re trying to procure a relationship with the hot guy from ‘Supernatural’.
  • Despite their amazing efforts to get in shape — and they’re really looking good and making steady progress — they’re feeling shortchanged because they don’t have a bod like J-Lo yet.

In my opinion, the one factor that is going awry is the target is set too high and the patience to manifest such a trophy is way too low.

I totally advocate going for your dreams no matter how intimidating but I also believe in a steady progression of knock-down goals.

It seems like a lot of people are missing the groundwork — then when nothing is coming to fruition, hands are thrown in the air and it is declared that this new-age hippy sh*t doesn’t work.

No…it does work — you just need to hone down on your skill to use this magnificent force of free universal energy.

Those seeds are indeed fertilized and are growing beneath the soil — you may just need to tune your patience, work on your faith and brush up on your affirmation/visualization/feeling expertise. The best way to do this is to start small.No on e wants to hear this but it is actually the fastest track to success.

Trying to manifest a million dollar bank account when you’re sitting in the red is going to exhaust you. So try manifesting $100, then $400, then $600…then progressively increase the amount.

Getting a Self Worth Work-Out

Some people CAN manifest big, it’s not that you CAN’T. It just may be that you’re self belief muscles need some training. As my mother used to remind me, Rome wasn’t built in a day.

Give yourself bite-sized goals to achieve. Each time you vanquish the small hill, it makes the big mountain more and more conquerable (is that even a word?). Now you’re starting to build and flex those worth and belief muscles to the max. Eventually, you’ll be able to take the LOA training wheels off and go full tilt!

But until then, you’ve got to eat the elephant one bite at a time (what a ghastly saying! But it sure purveys the point).

Going from Zero to Hero

Okay, so what’s worth checking in on are these points:

  1. Start small. Manifest things daily that are achievable and remarkable. In other words, you want a beautiful garden so your first thought is to manifest a new palatial home with grounds to match when all you need to do is try initially attract a rose bush (palatial mansion may take in excess of 10-20 years to manifest, rose bush may take a day — you do the math!). If your neighbor then leans over the fence and offers you a gorgeous little cutting of her iceberg roses, you’ll not only be pleasantly surprised because the world works in remarkable ways but you’ll be toning those believability biceps. Slow and steady wins the race. This is how you think and manifest outside the box.
  2. Water! You’ve got to nourish your dreams. Keep them well fertilized and fed. Affirm your desires daily and don’t let impatience or despair creep in and ruin your flower bed! If you’re feeling like you’re not manifesting — check in with yourself. Are your goals realistic? What can you do to enhance your desires (like meditate on them or create a vision board, set an even smaller more achievable goal, etc)?
  3. Trim Back. You future project what you’re thinking NOW. Keep realigning your thoughts to nurture your dreams and not bring about existential drought. Stop reiterating the same old sob story about your life/finances/weight/relationships/’fill in the blank’. Create new exciting versions of the life you’re rewiring to step into.

Happy manifesting!

This article was written by Cherie Roe Dirksen for Conscious Life News — come join the community of over 500k! Click here…

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Are You Secretly Opposed to Nirvana?

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Raw by Cherie Roe Dirksen

I’m a huge fan of grunge rock band, Nirvana, and could never be opposed to Kurt, Krist or Dave’s inciting, excitable and rebellious music that was the soundtrack of my youth — so now that that’s out the way…this article is actually about the state of Nirvana.

Smells Like Heaven

Nirvana (in Hinduism and Buddhism) is the highest level of enlightenment, a state of perfect peace and bliss — what most would call ‘heaven’.

It is the space in which our suffering and desires go away and are replaced with unity consciousness, happiness and tranquility.

It sounds good enough to eat!  But let’s get real…everyone has their own personal version of heaven, surely?

A Little More Lithium. Sir/Madam?

Nirvana is a Sanskrit word meaning ‘extinction/disappearance’ as in from the individual state to the universal state.  A-ha! Now we’re cracking that jagged little pill!

It is said to break the reincarnation cycle. Okay, am I sensing your ears perked up just then? Nirvana is starting to look very appetizing again! I mean, who doesn’t want to break the reincarnation/karma cycle? Unless, of course, you’re a masochist or have a propensity for dualistic roller-coaster rides.

But transcending desire?  Becoming one with everything?  Doesn’t that mean to lose ones very identity/personality?  I, for one, have to be honest here — I don’t want to lose my individuality!

I think our individual traits and nuances make life rather exciting. But is that my ego or spirit talking?

Come As You Are

I’ve spent the last 40 years honing and shaping who I am and now I’ve got to let it go?  Dust in the wind?

Just the word individuality says ‘in divided duality’ — clearly not a state of ‘oneness’…or is it?

What if we’ve been misinterpreting nirvana and it is not something that only monks can achieve if they’ve relinquished all and meditated for 50  years (which, let’s face it, only puts us off further because most of the human race wouldn’t even think to attempt that)?

We each have the freewill, of course, to do whatever we please on our various paths and if meditating for a lifetime gets you going, then kudos to you.

But for those of us who feel slightly lacking in the discipline department, what about us?  Are we condemned?

Polly Wants a Cracker

If we are smokers, drinkers, partiers, sugar junkies, caffeine addicts — are we going to be treading the karmic wheel for another thousand years?

I totally advocate a healthy body and a balance in all we do and put into our sacred vessels — but look at all those things listed above. They’re all ‘physical’, aren’t we more than our material bodies?

You can be ‘Perfect Pollyanna’ and do yoga, pilates, run the extra mile, eat raw, cut out dairy and sugar, only drink mineral water gathered from a well by vestal virgins in Toronto and meditate 12 hours a day on the top of Mount Shasta and still not achieve nirvana if you don’t truly ‘get it’.

We have a mind/body/spirit connection and this particular trinity is integral to unveiling nirvana.

Milking It

Okay, so let’s backtrack a little…earlier I said that some people might want to come back for another life-time because they have a fondness for duality and roller-coaster rides.

Most humans enjoy a little thrill — hence the success of most amusement parks — shrieking in excitement as our guts try to shimmy on up our throats, we delight in being yanked back and forth, up and down (or, at least, some of us do).

Now here’s the big BUT…

…but what if we were meant to be thrilled, delighted and thrown into constant enjoyment? What if nirvana is what WE make of it — the joy we define as our own (as long as we hurt none in the process).

And here is the juicy part….

In Full Bloom

What if ‘spirit’ wants to be excited and not just the ‘human’? If ‘hu’ means God and man means ‘man’ (the divine within), isn’t God just out to have a good time with this amazing creation — the uni/multiverse?

Isn’t that what this whole ‘separation’ of the One was all about — God got bored?

So when your purpose becomes joy and you are respecting other peoples freewill and harming none — you can say that you are positively in nirvana.  You are experiencing a connection with your fellow man/life forms (because you respect all life as emanating from the One which is ultimately you) whilst being a beautiful, expressive, creative individual little sausage!

We’re All Heart-Shaped Boxes On a Plain

Could it be that we can mould and shape our experience of nirvana to accommodate our own sacrosanct free will? We must define ‘happy’ for ourselves because it is multi-faceted (one box doesn’t tick all) — simple yet complicated — just like God…just like us.

It’s like an infinity symbol (figure of 8) — seemingly in duality (as there are two circles) but ultimately connected as one.

Perhaps there is no blanket state of nirvana? All this blood, sweat and tears we shed to achieve enlightenment is defined by whom? Gurus, leaders, saints, masters? But it should be defined by you.

Who is the ‘I Am’ presence within you?  That is what you need to figure out — that is the way to your personal state of nirvana

About a Girl, a Boy and Creation in General

Nirvana

Don’t forget to pin this article 😀

We are already one with each other — it is only an illusion that we were ever separate.

We are quantum — we can be everywhere at any time, we can be everything at any time.

We are duality and we are one, we are anything we think we can be and we are the nothingness in between…and we are powerful beyond measure!

Don’t be opposed to nirvana, you are nirvana…remember (reinstate that membership — you are already part of the whole).

So, all that is left is to fire up the stereo, pump up the volume and listen to ‘Nevermind‘….

Other articles you may enjoy:

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The Defector Recipe: JFK, Muse and YOU!

Why (Hu)gh Jackman Has Got Nothing to Do With This

Ready to Give Up? Why You Should Soldier On!

Ready to Give Up? Why You Should Soldier On!

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Monotone Rainbow by Cherie Roe DriksenWhen the Going Gets Tough

Life get’s hairy — let’s face it.

“Perseverance, secret of all triumphs” — Victor Hugo

Let me paint a metaphorical picture:  You’re standing at the checkout, waiting to pay.  You’re going to make a beautiful meal when you get home and you’re salivating at the very thought of those steamed baby potatoes with melted butter and parsley, the carrots Julliene with coriander and the roasted butternut with creamy mushroom sauce.  Then disaster strikes!

Your card is declined just as you’re about to whisk your shopping away and head off to culinary heaven.

You go home and eat baked beans on toast.

Take That Shovel and…

We’ve all been there.  At some point or another along life’s many twisted and adventurous paths — we all come face to face with the discomfort of a bump in the road (to put it ever so mildly!).

You’ve basically got 3 choices when you hit these hurdles. You go get the shovel out the boot of your car.

Now you’re standing along the roadside staring at the bump, shovel in hand, and you can either:

  1. Shovel more sand and grit onto the bump — make it good and high (and more difficult to overcome)!
  2. Give up and toss that spade aside, or….
  3. Level that bump!

I know you’re all savvy and can probably see where I’m going with this, but let’s get more specific anyway, why don’t we?

Shovels Aside, Show Me the Gold

Now the key to success is very unlikely in excessively piling more dirt and gravel to the hurdle. It’s probably not the wisest thing to throw in the towel and declare defeat either…no! You show that bump who’s boss!

  1. Making things worse by playing the ‘poor me’ card (shoveling more sand on the bump) — we can all fall victim to feeling sorry for ourselves when life gets us down.  It’s okay to have a little pity party rounded off with a tub of Ben and Jerry’s.  However, inevitably you are the master co-creator of your experience and you’re going to need to pick yourself up off the floor and work on a game-plan to get out of the quagmire!  The sooner you get out of victim mode the quicker you can bypass the obstacle and glean all the lessons it came to teach you.
  2. Packing it all in (tossing the spade aside) — it’s easy to give up and wave your white flag of surrender. But perhaps you have not yet fully tested your balls out — they may be stronger than you think (yes, you read right and feel free to reprimand my verbal conduct in the comment section below)? Have you ever thought about why you came to planet Earth — the playground of all things dualistic and difficult?  Are you giving up on a dream, goal or ideal? Is your surrender empowering or disempowering? How about standing strong, head held high and facing those demons straight up? What have you got to lose? What have you got to gain? Are you in your truth and integrity? If yes, you walk on, sunshine! Climb right over that bump and show the world that you’ve got what it takes to overcome diversity (and some pretty impressive gonads).
  3. Riding the waves with grace and ease (leveling that bump!) — I’m not going to give you any clichés about lemons resulting in margaritas or soft drinks but what I will say is that when those waves hit and it looks like you may drown, try not to panic (when in doubt of drowning, try floating on your back — metaphorically speaking, ‘go with the flow’ or see where the universe is trying to take you).  Instead, see that wave for what it is, what it can possibly show/teach you and why it came at that particular moment. There is gold to be mined in any situation and your job is to dig until you find your treasure — don’t leave any stone unturned. The best way I know to do this is with patience, understanding, compassion (for yourself and for others — hell, we’re all on this floating globe on the outskirts of the Milky Way, navigating the daily grind of existential interference) and a lust to understand the workings of the universe and why we’re all on this pick ‘n mix planet. There are lessons in everything and, if I may be so bold as to suggest, your job may be to cross the bridge so that you can look back, when you’re on the other side of your dilemma, and say ‘Ah, is that why that happened?! I’m sure glad I stuck with the program’

Let’s finish with that metaphorical painting I started earlier: So, a week after the baked beans on toast incident, you’re back at your local grocers when the checkout lady casually tells you about the food poisoning scandal they had with that dodgy new brand of creamy mushroom sauce.  Boy, do you think your lucky now!

As Winnie the Pooh so eloquently put it (with a little help from A.A. Milne):

“You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.”

Other articles you may enjoy:

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3 Essentials You Need To Do When You’re On Fire!

2 Things You Can’t Thrive Without

3 Essentials You Need To Do When You’re On Fire!

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Moonlit Woods by Cherie Roe Dirksen 1

You’re on fire. You need a game plan to douse the flames. What do you do?

Stop. Drop. Roll.

Now let’s take this principle and put it into practice when we are emotionally fired up and have no idea how to quell those licking flames.

Playing With Fire

What do you do when you feel like you’re climbing the walls, ripping your hair out, at your wit’s end or, plain and simply, just stuck for a solution to an insurmountable problem?

Well, I find these 3 techniques helpful:

  1. Stop — take a breath! Propel yourself out of your environment to get some space from that emotional fireball that’s about to engulf you. This could mean anything from a weekend break somewhere (if you’re able) to sitting in your garden or taking a walk in nature —  you just need to bump yourself out of your comfort zone.  Give yourself some breathing room to…
  2. Drop — take a knee! Give yourself time to integrate, reflect and get some clarity as to why you’re in this ‘pickle’. Ask yourself the vital questions — why is this happening, what’s in it for me, am I attracting this on some unconscious level, what can I do to learn from this experience and possibly grow? Be brutally honest with yourself and go into every dark corner for the answers! If you don’t, you are the one who will suffer. No short cuts and no fudging!
  3. Roll — go with the flow! When you can roll with the punches, see the bigger picture of a situation and accept what seemingly cannot be changed, you’re stepping into a field of infinite possibility. Acceptance is offering no resistance so there is no pushing energy — you are then left with the void of what you have made space for to start manifesting a new track. Now you can begin the process of alchemizing it (either emotionally or physically or possibly even both). Alchemy is just transforming something into something else. Try to go into a meditational space where you can clearly visualize and feel what you want the outcome to be (bearing in mind that no-ones free will is infringed or compromised — which just means that you are working from your heart space for the good of not only yourself but for those around you).

Putting Out The Fire Of Frustration

The stop, drop and roll system will help you to take a look outside the box and gain a better understanding of your emotions and the situation you may be finding yourself in.

When we can reconcile our feelings and look at our lives from an outsiders perspective, we can objectively find a better way to move forward.

Once we find the path we want to take it only takes some alchemy to reboot our destination.  Hold onto that final outcome in your thoughts and in your heart (feeling it as the only possible outcome and not focusing all our energy on what we don’t want to play out).

Other articles you may enjoy:

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What You Need to Throw Out When You Decide to Choose Fulfillment

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The Importance of Being Earnest

2 Things You Can’t Thrive Without

The Importance of Being Earnest

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Sisters of Joy by Cherie Roe Dirksen

What a drab word — ‘earnest’ — but hang on a minute…is it really?

When one hears the word ‘earnest’ it conjures feelings of great seriousness — being diligent, sincere and fervent.  Stiff upper lip old chap!

Take a Walk on the Wilde Side!

Now let’s look at the funky and ferocious side of this delectable word — it also means:

  • wholehearted
  • passionate
  • purposeful
  • zealous
  • enthusiastic

Not such a lackluster word, eh?  In fact, it’s a word we should live up to every day.

Now, I’m no idiot — not everyone falls out of bed as perky as a Pyrenees.  So how does one evoke such earnest behavior?

Give Your Thumbs a Break

By switching off that iPad, turning off the smartphone, unplugging the television and getting that butt out the door, you could pave the way to more earnest characteristics!

Don’t get me wrong, I love the internet — that old information highway, social networking delight — but you’ve got to have balance or you’re going to stagnate.

Trouble is, inertia can slowly creep in without you even noticing it until you’re the opposite of earnest — apathetic…trivial…dare I say, frigid? *Shudder*

But wait — there is hope…

Where New Ideas Form

Go experience the great outdoors, meet new and diverse people — old and young alike.  Everyone has a story to tell, motivation to give, wisdom to impart, knowledge to share and enthusiasm to spread and when these types of people get together A-bombs go off (well, not literally…but you get the drift)!

Since my move to the country, I have met the most interesting people from 16 year olds to 80 year olds — I love ’em all and would hang out with them in a heartbeat. Every one of them has a rich blend of reality to weave and fresh ideas to bring to the global table.

Make time to hang out with your friends (you know — the real flesh and blood ones).  There’s nothing more exhilarating than hanging out with your tribe.  Don’t have a tribe?  Go find them!  And they’re not usually the ones hanging out in bars either (although it’s not unheard of).

Mingle and get to know your community — you’ll be surprised where your tribe is actually hiding out.

Kick Bunbury to the Curb

In earnest eagerness to exit this essay, I want you to stop bunburying — yes, you read right!  ‘Bunburying’ — a legitimate English word coined by Oscar Wilde in his book ‘The Importance of Being Ernest’ (after Bunbury, the fictitious invalid friend of Algernon whose supposed illness is used as an excuse to avoid social engagements) and a word I’m going to throw around a lot more in polite conversation.

Get out there and socially engage with Wilde enthusiasm.  I encourage you — my dear readers — to make merry, emblazon your passions, engage in zealous pursuits, live wholeheartedly, sow your seeds of vim and vigor and entice people to do the same with your ardent fervor!

Let’s hope it’s catchy — you might start a wave of industriously, impassioned and potently purposeful living!

And I say all this to you in earnest whilst closing my Oxford dictionary.

Other articles that may tickle your fancy:

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What You Need to Throw Out When You Decide to Choose Fulfillment

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The Lovers Bench by Cherie Roe Dirksen

“Happiness is an inside job” — William Arthur Ward

“Be happy with what you have and are, be generous with both, and you won’t have to hunt for happiness” — William E. Gladstone

The one thing most humans have in common is the desire to be happy. Although most people seek it as either a future event or something that has passed, never to be recaptured.

Happiness or fulfillment is not something we should really be striving for in some up-and-coming event — it’s something we’ve got to grab right now.

We’re bogged down with the false sense of happiness through attainment — the idea that money and things can buy our bliss.

“Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed.  Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace, and gratitude.” — Denis Waitley  

Let’s take a look at some of the prime aspects that I think are worth kicking to the curb in the pursuit of happiness:

  1. Negative Self Talk — You simply cannot thrive on a negative inner dialogue.  Masaru Emoto fluidly demonstrated the effects of positive, indifferent and negative emotion on water (see more HERE).  We are made up of approximately 55-65% water (depending on your age and sex), so can you imagine what negative thoughts are doing to your body?  If you’ve got nothing nice to say to yourself, say nothing at all.  Stop yourself when you notice the negative gremlins popping up.  Ask yourself if there’s something more encouraging to affirm. For example, say you’re thinking ‘I’m such a loser’.  You can redirect that to, ‘I try my best’, or, ‘There are some things I get right’.
  2. Self Loathing — There is no space for anything but self love if you want a fulfilling existence.  The type of self love I’m referring to is anything but selfish or narcissistic — it’s necessary.  You can’t expect other people to love you if you don’t have love, honour and respect for your self.  This kind of love is cultivated from an innate knowing that you are a complete and divine piece of universal energy (or God/the Force/fill in the blank here). It doesn’t need to rehash the past or beat itself over the head a million times for past mistakes or inadequacies — it is the wholeness of self realization (your ‘I Am’ presence). For more on this topic, please read ‘3 Crucial Steps to Self Acceptance’.
  3. Fear —  There are things much more important than fear and we’ve got to wake up and walk through the fear to get to them. Fear is a grand threshold guardian — you can either sit at the gate, dig your heels in and go no further or you can cock your hat as you pass on through. As Jim Morrison so eloquently put it, ‘Expose yourself to your deepest fear; after that, fear has no power, and the fear of freedom shrinks and vanishes. You are free.’  Try to see fear as the rumblings of an earthquake that is about to shake you out of your comfort zone into an infinity of possibility.  When you walk through your fears there is only space left to be — when you are in this state, happiness or fulfillment is all that is left to experience.
  4. Service to Self — The greatest amount of happiness is achieved when we are not only seeing to our own joy but when we are helping others to find their well of happiness — service to others.  Throw out the need to trample on others in indulgence of your own whims.  We’re all in this life together — we should work in symbiosis with each other.  What affects one affects us all.

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, ‘Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?’ Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”   — Marianne Williamson

And in parting, here are some beautiful words from John Lennon that wrap this up nicely:

“There are two basic motivating forces: fear and love. When we are afraid, we pull back from life. When we are in love, we open to all that life has to offer with passion, excitement, and acceptance. We need to learn to love ourselves first, in all our glory and our imperfections. If we cannot love ourselves, we cannot fully open to our ability to love others or our potential to create. Evolution and all hopes for a better world rest in the fearlessness and open-hearted vision of people who embrace life.”   

Other articles you may enjoy:

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Ever Wanted to Fly?

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inshot_20240405_161711095

Becoming the Butterfly – The Activation

My good friend, Tracy Russell — a transformational coach and facilitator, has a wealth of wisdom to share with you.

She is the founder of ‘The Wild Hearted Revolution’  and creatix of ‘The Emergent Imaginal Model’ which provides the context for her coaching and leadership programs for youth and adults.

I’ve asked her to do a 4 part blog series — which will begin today and carry on for the month of February — to highlight the key aspects of her insightful and revolutionary module.

So, come journey with us as we unravel how to become the butterfly and awaken to a greater you —  to soar on those newfound wings of freedom that you will have at the end of this series!

“It’s the caterpillar’s job to resist the butterfly and the butterfly’s job to become stronger because of the opposition to its advance.”

 Let the interview commence:

Cherie:  I see you have used the cycle of the butterfly as an allegory for your work — what’s the inspiration behind this?

Tracy:  Butterflies have long-held a fascination for most people. They represent t joy, freedom, creativity and change. Most importantly their seemingly magical metamorphosis symbolizes a necessary transformation and soul evolution for us as individuals and as a collective.

The complete metamorphic cycle (which 88% of all Insects, and most amphibians undergo) has often been used as a metaphor for change. Change that we as humans tend to resist, yet if we learn to embrace it, rather than fight it, we get to discover what the caterpillar discovered… her true self and infinite potential which was always there waiting to be uncovered.

EmergentImaginal Model-1

Cherie:  That is a very powerful interpretation.  You mentioned to me that you’ve uncovered more in-depth and incredibly synchronous information about the cycle of the Monarch Butterfly and how it so beautifully relates to our own personal growth and enlightenment — can you elaborate on that for us?

Tracy:  Sure, I’ll illustrate this through the cycle of the Monarch Butterfly. The egg is usually laid on the Milkweed plant, which remains the larva’s staple diet during her juvenile years. She goes through her life consuming the same bitter food in her familiar environment… it’s predictable, it’s comfortable. Her sight is limited, and she can only in see black and white. She blends into her environment, plays it safe and goes about her job of consumption and survival.

Interestingly the word larva comes from the latin word larva, meaning ghost or mask. Whilst trying to fit in and wear various masks that are socially acceptable the caterpillar creates more layers of disconnection from her innate truth. She goes through 5 layers of molting and grows up to 30 000 times her size in just two weeks.

imaginal-haltere fruit fly

An Imaginal Disc

Yet within this oblivious caterpillar are what are scientifically called Imaginal discs. These cells contain the entire blueprint of the butterfly, the full potential of this juvenile.

Tired of her life on the milkweed she feels a deep yearning for more meaning growing inside, her imaginal discs are awakening. Her old life just no longer fits and she knows it’s time to go within and find her gold. Interestingly the word Chrysalis comes from the Latin word Khrysos meaning Gold.

She spins some silk and attaches herself to the underside of a leaf hanging upside down in a letter J and prepares for the 6th and final shedding.

Yet letting go of that last layer isn’t easy, it involves trust and commitment to stay connected to the leaf and the process.  In order to become who she really is, she needs to let go who she thought she was.

As these imaginal discs start activating, the old cells of the instar see these new ‘higher frequency’ cells as a threat and start attacking them, basically eating itself from the inside out as the discs form larger and larger clusters and take over.

This stage is met with fears and doubts as you enter the unknown. The old you wants to remain small, irresponsible and keep hiding behind the mask.

original_butterfly

Imaginal Disc of the Wing

Being who you truly are, showing up fully and vulnerably, honouring your values, your unique gifts and strengths and living from the power of your heart requires courage and persistence. It means putting your quest for truth above all else and blazing your own trail. 

After two weeks in the Chrysalis, the butterfly has found the treasure of who she is, reclaimed her power and now has to break through the final barriers of resistance to share the gift of who she is with the world.

Cherie:  That is truly amazing and a perfect metaphor for us!  Can you elaborate succinctly the caterpillar’s journey to become the butterfly so we can see it more clearly? 

Tracy:  She’s gone from survival to thrival, sipping on the sweet nectar of life.  Her vision was black and white and now encompasses a full spectrum of light, including ultraviolet. She’s lighter, more radiant, fearless and free.

The Monarch Butterfly Emerging

The Monarch Butterfly Emerging

Cherie:  How do we know if becoming the butterfly is what we truly want?  What are the signs to look for that we are having a personal awakening or urge to break free of our cocoons?

Tracy: You may be feeling a restlessness within, a desire for more meaning and fulfillment. You may be asking ‘Is this really it?’, ‘What is my purpose?’, ‘Why am I here?’ You’ll feel a yearning for something greater, yet not necessarily sure what that even is or how to make it your reality.

Simply put, your purpose is to set your inner butterfly free. To be who you really are beyond the layers of domestication and conditioning and share your uniqueness with the world. You don’t have to know what that is or how that will come about. You just have to commit to the journey, trust the unfolding and be in action of your dreams.  Living into your potential involves going beyond the known (I’ll be explaining in a later blog how to create in the unknown).

Metaphorically your imaginal discs are activating and you’ll feel that inner battle going on between your heart’s desire and your old conditioning (not to mention the demands of the outside world.) You’ll feel the surge of fears and doubts and in each moment you get to ask yourself “What am I giving my power to? My doubts or my truth?” (Either way you’ll be right!)

Cherie:  How do we discern the difference between our doubts and our truth?

Tracy: Yes that’s always the tricky part. What I’ve learned is the truth isn’t something that’s necessarily rational. It’s a feeling, a knowing, an intuition, a tingle in your body, like you’re remembering something that feels like home – It’s expansive and liberating. Your fears and doubts are contractive and pinch you off from your joy. They’re there to show you what needs to be transmuted and let go of in order to live more fully into your truth.

Cherie:  How do you think the butterfly cycle relates to where we are right now in this auspicious epoch of time?

Tracy: The time has come on our planet where the imaginal discs are activating, within ourselves and within our planet. Those who awaken to their butterflies within become the imaginal discs of our planet.

The more and more we start clumping together, the more we threaten the old caterpillar way of survival, consumption, competition and destruction and assist humanity and our planet in birthing a new world of compassion, beauty, freedom and abundance. I call this the rEVOLUTION and it starts with each one of us taking our power back from our own inner dictator.

Cherie:  Wow!  Now that is something I think we can all relate to. Most of us feel a change is afoot (in fact a necessity) and the key is to know that each one of us can make a difference and it’s our responsibility to create the change we seek.

Thank you, Tracy, for this illuminating interview.

In the follow-up blogs (next one is out in a week — so stay tuned!), Tracy will be expanding on her model and taking this evolutionary process deeper to explore the integration of:

  • Our super- and subconscious / light and shadow
  • Our masculine and feminine principles,
  • And how to live into our most authentic and powerful lives.

Exciting stuff, you don’t want to miss out on, I can assure you!

UPDATE:  You can read the second blog here: Do You Know the Difference Between Your Superconscious and Subconscious Mind?

More about Tracy:

Tracy Russell Profile PicTracy Russell is transformational coach, facilitator, writer and speaker guiding adults and young adults to their hearts, inner nature, authentic power and potential so that they may share their unique expression with the
world and be the rEVOLUTION that’s needed. She’s a truth-detective, edge-walker, nature-lover, fear-slayer, heart-activist and Wild Hearted Woman in training. She lives in Cape Town, South Africa where you’ll find her either up a rock face, somewhere in nature, dancing or hanging out with her beloved, spirited daughter… when she’s not doing the work she loves of course.

Find her on Facebook HERE

Visit her Site HERE

UPDATE: Tracy made her transition in March 2024. She is truly flying high now in the great beyond. She will be remembered with love and great appreciation for all the wisdom she left us with.

16 Imperative Choices For Healthy Living — How Many Are You Already Doing?

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Look after my Heart by Cherie Roe Dirksen

Sick of Getting Sick?

“Don’t live to eat — eat to live.  Don’t let any thing come between you, your ideal body and an ecstatic life.”

Is it just me or is sickness and disease on the rise?

Just in my circle of friends and acquaintances, 20 year olds are being diagnosed with cancer and healthy 50 year olds having fatal aneurysms!  Never mind the tragic amount of other illnesses and disease doing their rounds and incapacitating people.

I went into town the other day (and, believe me, it’s a small town) and in no less than 45 minutes, heard of 4 people who have been hospitalized in the past week — all suffering with different afflictions and all pretty young.

What the hell is going on?

Healthy Living No-Brainers

I was listening to a talk show last night and the doctor being interviewed was speaking about the imperative nature of healthy living, especially nutrition.

“You may say today that you don’t give a shit about what you’re putting into your body but let me tell you — the day your body starts packing up is the day that you’ll bloody eat those words!”

She stressed how the western diet is atrocious and how something  very drastic needs to be done.

The things she was addressing seemed like a no-brainer to me until people started calling in and I was shocked to discover that most of the listeners were hearing these things for the first time.

Quit Bugging Me!

One example was a caller saying that a friend of his was growing her own vegetable garden and she didn’t use any pesticides on it — he thought she was doing it for religious reasons.

The doctor said something that was smack on the button (and I’m paraphrasing):  “If I made you a beautiful, fresh salad and then sprayed Raid all over it — would you eat it?”

The caller said no and the doctor said that this is exactly why his friend is growing without chemical sprays.

Keep Your Finger on Your Pulse!

Well, I was inspired to whip up a quick blog checklist.

Life changes are necessary and, as the good doctor said, if you want to stay alive and healthy, some of these so-called ‘sacrifices’ are detrimental.  And I put sacrifices in inverted commas because they only seem that way until you get used to them and they become part of your daily practice.

Hell, you may (and probably will) come to love some of these healthy habits — especially the way they make you feel.

“You may have the healthiest diet and the fittest body, but if you are holding onto resentment or anger, you could be a breeding ground for dis-ease.”

Let’s keep it simple and to the point (some of these things may push your buttons but try to keep an open mind at the very least).

As with anything you read or hear, use your discernment — these are all suggestions:

  1. Drink Water — 10 glasses a day and make sure it’s pure, clean water and not tap water that is over-chlorinated and contains fluoride (yes, fluoride isn’t good for you — READ MORE HERE).  Coffee and alcohol actually dehydrate you, so don’t think that you’re drinking water in your beer or caffeine fix.  It’s especially dangerous as the first sign of dehydration is thirst and when you drink other things it satiates the thirst but doesn’t help the initial problem of dehydration.  Dehydration is only solved when you drink WATER!!!!  Don’t kid yourself otherwise (and totally stay away from the flavoured water!  It’s full of sugar).
  2. MSG, Preservatives, Artificial Colouring and Sweeteners BEWARE!!!  Rule no.1 — just stay 10 miles away from any of the aforementioned things.  They are found in about 80% of products at the store but you can actually survive without them.  Quick tips:  Instead of buying crisps eat non-GMO popcorn or lightly salted crisps (they usually don’t have the MSG) and make yourself a groovy avo dip to accompany and satisfy those taste buds.  Instead of getting packaged soups and stocks (which are loaded with MSG) you can buy vegetable stock powders (look in the health section of your supermarket).  Look for alternatives!  Your great-grandmother didn’t have all this crap in her diet and neither should you.  READ MORE about the dangers of MSG HERE, food colouring info HERE, preservative info HERE and Sweeteners HERE.
  3. Cut back on the Sugar (then cut it out) — You can do it!  Yes, I know — what about the ice-cream cravings in summer or that one indiscretion after a meal out?  It’s better to ‘treat’ yourself every now and again than to have a larder full of sugary shite and kid yourself it’s okay!  Seriously, sugar is a major carcinogen.  What is a carcinogen?  A substance capable of causing cancer in living tissue.  Be informed!  I sometimes have a nice gooey dessert but it’s seldom and at home I don’t keep the stuff at all.  Stevia is a great supplement and it’s natural.  Honey in moderation also is a great alternative.  I have been making my own chocolate (cause I’m a choc-o-holic) and it’s completely satiating and de-fricking-licious!  Here is a recipe for mouth-watering choccies that you can make from scratch:  CLICK HERE.
  4. Meat-Free — As a vegetarian, this is a controversial subject and I’m sure many of you have your heckles aimed at me.  I believe we are healthier not eating meat but many will disagree — that is your choice to make and I certainly refrain from judging anyone on this point.  There is loads of information out there about the dangers of meat consumption — READ HERE for one.  Thing is, if you can’t give it up entirely, try at least to incorporate 3-4 meals a week that are meat-free.  And when you do buy meat, please buy it responsibly by supporting your local organic/free-range farmers — do it for them, yourself and for the animals.  You are what you eat, so make sure the animal was pampered as much as possible and not treated appallingly in some over-crowded factory farm.
  5. Exercise and Movement — Most people shudder at the ‘e’ word but come on!  We need to move our bodies and build up a sweat every day.  Find something fun to do — it doesn’t have to be all grind at the gym, you know.  READ HERE for 25 fun alternatives.
  6. Lactose Leery —  Yip, my favourite — not!  I love my dairy, especially milk.  Although I still smuggle a piece of cheese every now and then, I have cut out most dairy.  I supplement rice milk powder in my hot drinks and smoothies it’s actually quite yummy, so I’m not really missing the cows milk much.  Here is an article about the dangers of dairy CLICK HERE.
  7. Organic, Fresh, Raw — You guessed it!  Eat as much organic, raw fruit and veg as you can — especially the green leafy kind.  The more alkaline your body (as in at least 51% alkaline) the less your changes of getting cancer.  Why?  Cancer cannot survive in a body that is predominantly alkaline.  Do yourself a favour and check this chart out — CLICK HERE.  Better still, start your own edible patch — after all, the word on the street is that revolution starts one veg garden at a time!
  8. GMO Wary — Frankenfoods should be setting off alarm bells in your head.  If you’re still not sure why, then you can  READ MORE HERE.
  9. Cut Back on Carbs — Yeah, carbs are delicious but here is some food for thought about these sticky starches:  10 Dangers of Carbohydrates by Dr. Dana Myatt.
  10. State of Mind — You simply cannot thrive on stress, anxiety, anger, fear, regret or other negative emotions.  You can experience them but know that it too shall pass.  If you find yourself harbouring ill-feelings, especially the inability to let go or forgive, you need to explore those emotions and release them in any way you can.  You may have the healthiest diet and the fittest body, but if you are holding onto resentment or anger, you could be a breeding ground for dis-ease.  You’ve got to shovel through your muck and turn them into compost for future growth.  Remember to water that compost with copious doses of healthy self-love!
  11. State of Heart — Listen to your heart and trust your gut instincts.  We all have the natural ability to gauge situations and using our heart-sense will help steer us in the direction of healthy choices for joyful living.  The best thing we can do for ourselves is engage in complete awareness and to take responsibility for our actions.  The ability to drop into our heart centers for guidance will make for a more switched on humanity.
  12. Get Dirty — Right, bear with me here…has she lost her mind, you might ask?  Perhaps, but there is something truly magical to be gained in working with you hands and/or feet in the dirt.  Get into the garden and connect with your planet.  Feel the earth beneath your feet.  Play in the mud.  It’s actually got a name and it’s called ‘earthing’.  For more about this glorious practice and the many ways you will benefit from it — CLICK HERE and HERE.
  13. Smoke and Drug-Free Zone — The less chemicals we pump into our body the better.  Enough said! Still not convinced?  Okay, READ MORE and HERE.
  14. Medicinal Laughter — l mean, seriously — who doesn’t like a good belly wobble?  But did you know that giggles and guffaws come with some seriously wicked benefits?  Like reducing the risk of strokes and heart attacks!  READ MORE HERE.
  15. Get Plenty of Sex!  Just when you thought I’d suck all the joy out of life with this list, I go and totally redeem myself! So, if you are of consensual age and understand what a true and loving relationship built on a deep sense of trust, integrity and openness is then this is the kind of intimacy I’m talking about. Sex has a number of proven benefits for your health but I’d like to reiterate that sex is a sacred union and should not be engaged in flippantly.  READ MORE about the benefits of the side-ways tango HERE.
  16. Candid Coffee and Caffeine — Interesting that I stuck this one at the end…not really.  I LOVE coffee but I know that it affects me badly.  I still sneak in a cup or two every week (*slap on the hand* ) but I am totally aware of what it does to my body (severe lower back pain due to the detoxification of the adrenal glands on top of the kidneys).  You can READ MORE about it HERE.  I know, it’s a real bummer and believe you me, I’ve tried so hard to debunk that coffee is bad for you but, alas, to no avail — got to tell it like it is.  When I went through my coffee detox I climbed the walls with my eyelashes for 8 days — the pain was that bad!  Coffee is toxic and make no mistake, it’s a drug.

Will doing all these things above guarantee a disease-free body?  I can’t answer that.  The only thing I can guarantee is that you will regret not trying.  It’s more difficult to live with ‘what if’s’ than knowing you tried your best to look after yourself.

Rome wasn’t built in a day and don’t completely overwhelm yourself trying to adopt these life changes.

Start slowly and steadily by choosing one thing from the above list to incorporate every week and see how your life and body starts to change.

Attitude vs No-Tolerance Bullshit-o-meter

You may say today that you don’t give a shit about what you’re putting into your body but let me tell you — the day your body starts packing up is the day that you will bloody eat those words!

Get real and start treating your body like the divine temple it is.

If, after reading this article, you ask (and, yes, I can read your mind):

  • What’s the point in living if you can’t eat sugar, fast food and alcohol? 

My answer has to be that you are sorely missing the point of life.

Life is for grand adventures, loving relationships, meaningful encounters, creative expansion and joyful explorations — if you are only living for your next oral fix then you’re kind of missing the game entirely.

Don’t live to eat — eat to live.  Don’t let any thing come between you, your ideal body and an ecstatic life.  Besides there is much to be enjoyed by eating healthfully — you’ve just got to give it a chance.

Disclaimer:  This article is not intended to provide, and does not constitute, medical or other professional advice. The content Cherie Roe Dirksen provides is designed to support, not replace, medical or psychiatric treatment. If you believe you may have a condition, please seek qualified professional care.

Original article written by CHERIE ROE DIRKSEN for CONSCIOUS LIFE NEWS (CLN) – CLICK HERE and join over 350 000 other readers!

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‘Origins’ — Free Movie Premiere to Help You Thrive!

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Origins logo

“The world is becoming more toxic… and modern technology can’t fix it. But human history can.” — Origins

I stumbled upon this movie as I was surfing the net from my pillow this morning — at the time I was still blurry eyed and in the throes of waking up.  I bookmarked it to view at a later stage.

After returning from my local organic farmers market ladened with fresh, scrumptious produce and sampling the most succulently red, raw beetroot — it triggered a memory that this movie (which primarily is rooted in our consumption of ‘frankenfood’) was still stored in my iPad.

As I am a sucker for synchronicity, I decided that now was the time to watch it.

He Who Hesitates….Well, You Know

I sat down to consume this documentary and, boy, did I get a fire lit under my derriere!

I particularly loved the opening scenes which whisks you off to the tip of South Africa (Cape Point) which is where I hail from — my ‘origins’.

But apart from the sentimentality of home, the beautiful cinematography and careful construction, research and — dare I say — palatability of this doccie galvanized me to want to share it with you as soon as possible.

What Are You Going to Get From it?

Here’s a few key aspects that are covered to whet your appetite:

  • Our primal origins and symbiotic relationship to the earth
  • How we have lost our connection to mother nature and how to get it back
  • How we can still live in a technological age but with a more responsible approach
  • Discover why antibiotics (which literally translates as ‘against life’) are weakening our immune systems
  • What you can do now to improve your well-bring and life and see results within 3 days
  • Why you need to take responsibility for your health and vitality instead of leaving it in the hands of greedy corporations
  • Why food is medicine and we need to invest in better nourishment for ourselves and future generations

Well, I hope you’re hungry for more.  Please click on the link below to watch this movie (1hr 41mins), after all, it is the weekend and you deserve some inspirational downtime.

Please note:  It is free to watch during the preview window which started on 13 November 2014, so, I suggest you curl up on the sofa today and devour!  After the no-charge period, I believe it will be available to purchase on DVD through well.org.

Origins movie

 Original article written by Cherie Roe Dirksen for Conscious Life News

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7 Genius Epiphanies to Reset Your Life to

Help Me to Pick the Cream of the Crop

3 ‘Dark’ Lessons Darth Vader Can Teach Us!

Your Chance to Own an Original of Your Choosing

Seriously, Did You Really Need to Say That?

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Words quote

“Be Impeccable With Your Word. Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love.” — Miguel Angel Ruiz

Sometimes we can blurb things without thinking.  However, when we make these slips we can do some serious damage.

Words are powerful and we hold the power to use them to impact negatively or positively on another.

Here are a few pointers to clarify if you should speak your mind or not:

  • What you are about to say might be the truth but is it necessary?  We sometimes feel that we should speak the truth, no matter what, but sometimes that is not the case.  Besides, whose truth is it anyway?  Try to ascertain if this particular truth is essential to the persons growth or safety and not just your ‘IMHO’ — if not, put a sock in it if it’s going to hurt them!
  • Is what you are saying necessary or are you just trying to be clever or right?  It’s difficult to try to bite your tongue and not give into making yourself right or fighting a point to the bitter end.  See if you can stop yourself if you can sense an argument brewing over a difference of opinion.  If you are trying to show off your incredible IQ, don’t.  If it’s for pure show-off purposes then I assure you, no-one likes a smartass.  Best to zip it.
  • Do you know — that split second before the words roll off your tongue — that you are about to hurt the person/s you are speaking to?  If the answer is ‘yes’, then no matter how much you feel justified to say it…think twice.  Just remember that if you intentionally are trying to cause someone pain it will visit you back (and some believe that it will be as much as 10 fold — or as little as 3 — but, shucks, who needs that?) in some way.

Try to see if you can identify unnecessary criticisms or remarks when you are interacting with your fellow human — no matter if they are friend, foe, colleague, family, partner, etc.

Next step — see if you can be impeccable with your word instead of blurting out your opinions.

Good luck!

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Do You Believe in Magic?

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Shining a Light on Sensuality and Sexuality

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The Chase by Cherie Roe Dirksen

A while back I wrote about merging your feminine and masculine attributes and addressing your shadow self.  You can read those blogs here:

I was approached by author Michael Hallett, after he read what I had to say about the above-mentioned articles, and we started discussing issues of sexuality that we both felt needed to be addressed in society — after all, sex should no longer be a taboo subject.

Healthy Sexual Attitudes

In fact, we should be opening dialogues all over the globe looking at and re-examining our belief structures with regards to sex and our own sense of sexuality.

Sexuality and sensuality are gifts that have been severely abused but that doesn’t mean we can’t heal our perceptions.  We can reclaim our divine sexual power and reinstate a healthy respect for our bodies and the bliss we can evoke in them through loving relationship (both with ourselves and with our partners).

We each have a responsibility to heal our own sexual wounds, no matter what shape or form they come in.  It is detrimental to not hand these wounds down to our children — we need to break the link in the chain now before more harm can be inflicted.

The global closet is teaming with skeletons and we can’t fit one more femur in there without dem bones collapsing on us!  Now, onto bones of a different type…

Porn Addiction — A Dirty and Avoidable Topic

It’s hard to be open-minded when it comes to porn — a highly emotive and generally frowned at subject of discussion.  We would rather sweep this kind of stuff under a heavy rug and never peak at it again.

However, I was seriously blown away by Michael Hallett’s book (that he kindly sent me after our discussions) Porn Addiction 101 — a brave, insightfully thought-provoking and well-researched publication that had me hooked from start to finish.

He admits, in the book, to his battle with porn addiction and takes the reader through a journey of his own personal self-discovery and healing.

It was such a powerful read and something that I feel is badly in need of discussing that I want to introduce you to some of the astute highlights from his book.

“Once I queried my previously unassailable conviction that my addiction was an unwelcome character flaw, a disgusting habit, a shameful craving, everything changed.  As they say, ‘don’t shoot the messenger’. 

What was the message?  The message, loud and clear, was that I did not believe that I deserved an open, joyous and fulfilling sex life.  My craving for sexual images was a futile, treadmill attempt to find outside of myself what I did not believe I deserved or could ever have from within.  The message asked me to value myself, and in particular my sexuality…to be unashamed of myself…to love myself in my entirety.” — Excerpt from Pornography Addiction 101 by Michael Hallett

Partner Advice, the Compassion Factor and Rock ‘n Roll

This book is not only for the person who wants to overcome his/her addiction but also for the partners and other people who are affected by this destructive obsession.

Michael offers the partners of pornography-users a looking glass, window of opportunity to address their own sexual fears by encouraging conscious and open dialogue — to look at their own sexual wounds and encourage a new and healthier relationship (whether or not they move on to other partnerships).

The book offers the reader compassion and a real sense of understanding.

Michael also takes you through an interesting look at societal sexual history, which I found to be not only captivating and interesting but enlightening too,

“Music became a primary means for expressing socially illicit emotions, through jazz in the 1920’s and later through rock ‘n roll — the term itself derives from negro slang for having sex.” — Excerpt from Pornography Addiction 101 by Michael Hallett

Towards the end of the book, Mike says:

“Today I have complete control of my responses to sexualized images.  I have no adult filters on my computer.  I don’t need to avoid films or TV with sex scenes.  Even if I were chained up in a cinema with my eyelids pinned open like Malcolm McDowell in The Clockwork Orange and bombarded with bed adverts and/or hardcore porn, I wouldn’t lapse into my former emotionally disempowered porn binges because I have understood, accepted and healed the underlying impulses” — Excerpt from Pornography Addiction 101 by Michael Hallett

Good for you, Michael, in your courageous attempt to shine a light on this socially taboo subject!

Pornography Addiction 101 Book Review:

“Having developed men’s health many years ago in my region in Australia I find that Michael’s book is most timely. It is very much needed in the world we have created today where sexuality is a subject which is both taboo and fraught with misinformation and distortion. An area where research is often overlooked. Michael is obviously a deep thinker and this combined with his rollicking writing style makes for an easy and entertaining read without losing the wonderful depth of meaning he offers us. I suggest it is an essential read for all adults and especially men.”
—Joan Morgan McCarthy, author of “Peace and Harmony: Re-envisioning Sexuality Education”

For more information about Michael Hallett, you can visit his site www.michaelhhallett.com (‘Exposing Humanity’s Invisible Shame’).

His book, Pornography Addiction 101, can be purchased on Amazon HERE.

Lastly, I would like to encourage you to watch this amazingly refreshing and impactful video by Sheila Kelly called ‘Let’s Get Naked’ — I promise that you won’t regret it:

3 ‘Dark’ Lessons Darth Vader Can Teach Us!

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Dancing in the Void by Cherie Roe Dirksen HEADER

The Geek That I Am

I’m a Star Wars junkie.  I grew up on it and even had my very own personal Luke Skywalker figurine.

As I entered my adulthood I never grew out of my lust for sci-fi.  When I jetted into my 20’s George Lucas brought out the prequels to this trilogy and I was back in exo-politics heaven again.

Thankfully, my husband is also a total Star Wars fundi (a South African word for ‘expert’), so we have sci-fi marathons on the couch together and totally geek-out.  We just recently had one of our back-to-backs and it got me thinking.

Poking About the Dark Bits

So, in the movie, the ‘Dark Side’ is still part of The Force (God/Source/Universal Energy Field or whatever else you want to call it) but it is the negative scale of emotions — giving into anger, fear, betrayal, vengeance, etc.

Those emotions spiral us down a path that leads to great suffering and pain.

So what can we get out of our darker side?

  • Fumbling in the Dark — We all experience great loss and sorrow but to linger in the past does not serve us (nor did it serve Anakin Skywalker who later became Darth Vader).  The good news is that life’s hardships often make for life’s most important lessons and elevating stepping stones to self-realization.
  • Peering into the Dark — It’s okay to face our dark half and experience our darker emotions.  We all have to face the dichotomous nature of self at some point.  The key is to accept our selves, be in a place of non-judgment (especially when we face our shadow self — read more about that HERE) and rather adopt an attitude of compassion and understanding.  Know that we all have our moments but what defines our character is how we act upon them (unfortunately ‘ol Darth took the path to destruction).
  • I’m Not Afraid of the Dark — Then the ultimate lesson we can take from Darth Vader is acceptance of what is — not being afraid of the cycles of life and death and acknowledging the eternal nature of spirit.  This is something that Vader the young could not adapt to, especially when facing the death of a loved one.  His rage, fear and anger overtook him — everything seemed so ‘unfair’.  Vengeance was all he sought and the fear of loss (caused by unprecedented attachment) clouded his vision. At the very end of his life his own son showed him that love, compassion and forgiveness was the only path to true freedom.

Yoh!  Thanks George Lucas for bringing us this silver-screen gem.

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3 Factors in Every Human Awakening

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Escapism by Cherie Roe Dirksen HEADER

“Spiritual Alchemy is a journey which flows in three parts: awakening (seeing the truth); activating (cleansing and purifying); and anchoring (integration of all the wisdom and lessons which came before, so that you can step fully into your authentic self).” — Eleftheria Kakambouras

A Course in Magic

I recently had the honour of completing a 6 week course with holistic therapist and empowerment facilitator, Eleftheria Kakambouras (click HERE to find out more about her).

This powerful and magical journey took the group through claiming our inner God/Goddesses, beautiful guided meditations that got us in touch with our authentic selves and cleared past life and lineage blockages, healing the wounded self, merging with our sacred masculine and divine feminine aspects and paved the way for prosperity through using our innate wisdom to tune into thriving.

The Triple A’s of Awakening

I love Eleftheria’s statement (as quoted at the beginning of this blog) about the spiritual journey flowing in three parts.

“The more real you get the more unreal the world gets.” — John Lennon

Let’s take a closer look at that:

  1. Awakening — Seeing the truth.  Many of us have had our eyes pried wide open during our awakening.  It’s not an easy experience seeing the world for what it is — an illusion (dreamt up and applied, usually by indoctrination or subliminal programming, to the masses by external forces).  It takes guts and courage to move past the anger and feelings of resentment that flood us when we realize we have been misled and lied to.  The beauty, however, lies in the world of magic beyond the veil of the illusion.  The mysterious path of truth that leads us to the Tao (the ‘Whole’ or Creator Force — whatever you want to call it).
  2. Activation —  Cleansing and Purifying.  This part of the journey is getting stuck into peeling back the layers of the onion (us)…or should we say peeling the artichoke to get to that juicy little heart.  We have to release and let go of what no longer serves us.  This transformational process can take us months or, more often than not, years (sometimes even lifetimes) but because we seem to be in the quickening energy (an accelerated epoch of planetary evolution), it’s taking quicker than previous lifetimes.
  3. Anchoring — Integrating the wisdom and lessons which came before.  Once we have cut back the ‘dead’ bits of our past and have ditched the excess baggage, we can step into the phase of acceptance and responsibility.  Everything that has happened to us on our souls sojourn has a lesson, a tasty little tit-bit for us to take and learn from.  When we get to this part, we can look back and glean the pearls of wisdom that our past offered us, take responsibility for the parts we’ve played and move into a new timeline of responsible and joyful co-creation.

We truly live in remarkable times.

Even though, when we look at the news especially, it may seem that we are nowhere near bringing about Heaven on Earth — there is something innate that tells us to stay on track because our seeds are growing and we are raising the vibration of this glorious planet.

Keep with the program — your very presence on this Earth has made a world of difference!

Just In

If you fancy a retreat coupled with a stunning vacation hot-spot, Eleftheria is planning an intimate group getaway in Crete this October!  You can read more about that HERE.

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Reality Check: Disempowering Facebook Quotes that Lead to Waiting for ‘Soul Mate’ Reunions

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Reality Check HeaderLast week I told you I was taking strides out of my comfort zone and pulling carrots from my derriere (you can read it HERE — Do You Believe in Magic?), well, here’s the first ‘episode’ of Reali-Tea Check!

I’m hoping to make it a regular feature here, so do stay tuned and remember to SIGN UP or follow the blog (in the sidebar).

I’m going to be digging into a facebook quote that was doing the rounds this week and why, if taken the wrong way (I’m not too sure if there’s a ‘right’ way but maybe you can chime in with your take on it), it could be very disempowering.

Enjoy!


Don’t forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel.

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Why You Should Start Loving Money Today!

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Beach Fun by Cherie Roe Dirksen

How About Singing a New Tune?

Love is an amplifier — when you feel love it’s the most powerful energetic vibration in the universe (IMHO).

When you feel lack it brings more lack.  Ergo, shouldn’t we start packing up all our preconceived and deep-seated feelings that money is the root of all evil?  How about we start declaring that we LOVE money.

Did you feel a shudder just then?  It’s difficult for a lot of us to say that we love money!

It’s especially hard when you’re on a ‘spiritual’ path — aren’t you supposed to renounce money?

Why think that?

Money is a Tool — Nothing More, Nothing Less

Money is our current form of energy exchange.  It is a useful tool to get what we need.

The only ‘evil’ is what you do with the money.  We need to start getting VERY clear about why we want the green stuff.

If it’s to impress someone outside of yourself or gain some sort of prestige, you’re going to hit a wall.

Here’s a quick guide to check in to see if you’re wanting money for the right or wrong reasons (I use the terms ‘right and wrong’ very loosely as they are only perspectives — but I think you’ll know what I mean):

  • To want money to prove to your friends/parents that you’re successful — not so good reason (you’ll be out of alignment when you seek fulfillment outside of yourself).
  • To want money to travel the world and experience different cultures, etc — good reason (you’re doing it for yourself).

It can sometimes take the slightest of tweaks to align yourself with your true desires.

If you’ve always wanted money to buy a house and find that deep down inside you’ve wanted this desperately to impress your parents, well, try to align your new desire for a house to satisfy your needs (i.e. I want a house so that I can plant a sustainable garden and/or feel like I’m part of a community).

Manifestation, as far as I’m concerned, needs to be in line with your spirit (i.e. your specific journey).

Letting Go of Brainwashing

If you’ve had blocks regarding money now is the time to chuck ’em out the window!

Money isn’t to blame, you are.  Harsh, yup…but for those of us who have money blockages, we need a cold bucket of water dumped on our heads now to snap us out of this cycle.

There is a fear of success, did you know that?

Why would you fear success/wealth?

  • You may fear the tax man. Being rich means a lot of taxation and paperwork, right?
  • You may fear what people think of you if you were loaded (how do you view the rich — with loathing? Contempt? ‘Oh, he’s such an arrogant bastard, rich son of a b**tch’…bingo!  You are going to subconsciously worry about mirroring these beliefs and not want people to say those things behind your back).
  • You may fear the wrong type of attention you’ll get when you’ve got a fat bank balance (you know, the vultures come a-hovering).
  • You may fear that people will then only like you for what you’re worth or what they can get out of you. There is a fear of being taken advantage of.
  • You may fear that you’ll go off the deep end and wind up sipping cocktails, snorting coke and dancing with loose naked men/women on yachts and totally neglect your spiritual path.
  • You fear that money truly is from the devil and all it will bring is material, superficial pleasures that will lead to pain.

I’m here to tell you…bullshit.

You can actually be a really nice person and be rich…lol.  There are plenty of them in the world.

Dissecting the Nonsense We Tell Ourselves

If you can’t tell a genuine friend from a blood sucker by now, money is the least of your problems and growing a backbone may need to take top priority.

If you fear inland revenue, you’re always going to — whether you’re rich or poor.  Bonus is, if you’re rich you can hire an accountant.  So, don’t use that excuse as an obstruction.

If you fear what other people think, then you need to read this article and give yourself a kick up the arse: 9 Truths to Stop You  From Caring What Other People Think

If you really think money is from the devil, you may want to navigate to another site at this point.  People created money and it was actually a rather splendid idea — it solved a lot of problems that bartering alone couldn’t solve.

If you fear what you may do if you are rich (as in getting jacked up with too much honey and funny business) I think you’d know by now what kind of person you are.  You’re not going to suddenly change your tune if you get money and if you do, well, then there is a massive lesson in it for you that you had to obviously experience.

Just don’t let the ‘what if’s’ be your crutch.

Energy Exchanges and Changes

However, the true test is to not become attached to money.  If another system comes along that works better than money, great!  Just don’t see money as the enemy cause the only person you end up hurting is yourself.

Your perception of money could be the very thing holding you back from your wealth.

Declare every morning without guilt, shame or any other crappy little negative nuance, “I LOVE money”.  Remember to mean it!

If you feel constricted in your solar plexus (stomach area) or anywhere else you need to deeply go into why you feel anxious about declaring your love for loot. Be honest with yourself — there’s a lot at stake.

When I first tried declaring ‘I love money’ I felt really agitated in my solar plexus and I went on to discover that I felt a lot of fear around success (most of the above list was ticked!).

Then I got clear about it and realized it was all nonsense and stuff that I could chuck out quite easily.

Money isn’t the problem — people are.  Money can be a great tool for both good and evil.  The choice is yours.

Trust yourself to be a human being who wants the best for all humanity — abundance is our true birthright.  Start believing it!

By the way, ‘I love money’ can be used for anything you want to manifest.  For example:  ‘I love being healthy’.  Use the word ‘love’ as your new amplifier and trust in divine flow.

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Other blogs you may enjoy:

What Freddy Mercury Can Teach Us About Detachment

How to Use the Void to Manifest

9 Great Reasons for Getting Creative (No Artistic Experience Needed)

5 Easy Steps to Meditating (No Lotus Position Required)

7 Ways to Tame the Ego and Become Instantly Likeable

Why We May Be Feeling Disenchanted

The Universe is Abundant, Why Aren’t You?

 

Self-Empowerment Books by Cherie Roe Dirksen:

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Table Books of Art and Inspirational Teachings by Cherie Roe Dirksen:

Creative Expression        Art Portfolio

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Why We May Be Feeling Disenchanted

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The Forest by Cherie Roe Dirksen

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road

My previous blog was about manifesting in the void (you can read it HERE), however, little did I know how vast, deep and probing this chasm was going to be.

This past week has shown me the strangest and most captivating metaphors through synchronicity and the enlightening banter of my noble tribe.  The penny dropped and I finally had my ‘a-ha’ moment today.

Two days ago I went on a downer and the key-word that kept on popping into my mind was ‘disenchanted’.  I felt utterly disenchanted.

What does that word mean?

Well, in a nutshell — disillusioned.  But wait a moment — there’s much more.

Enchantment implies magic.  I felt really upset because in this new paradigm we are supposed to be bringing magic back!  You know the drill, the Hogwarts feeling (infinite possibility) as opposed to the muggle world (3D, linear, patriarchal).

Some of us were merrily skipping down this yellow brick road to visit the land of Oz but now it feels like we’ve lost our ruby shoes!

The Never-Ending Story Begins

Let’s take a trip back in time.  Do you remember a movie called The Never-Ending Story?  If not, I’ll try to be succinct:

It was about a boy reading a fairy-tale book which was very real.  In fact, in the end he became co-creator of the story and it’s land, Fantasia.

The books magical kingdom was being consumed by ‘The Nothing’ (sounds a bit like the void, doesn’t it?  Perhaps even ‘dark matter’ — the creative space between space).

In the end, despite all the attempts by the heroes and heroines of the story, Fantasia was completely obliterated into nothingness.  It became void.

The boy and the Empress of Fantasia were the only ones left in the darkness of this empty space.  He was upset that he couldn’t save Fantasia but she assured him that he had.

He was confused because all he remembered was its destruction.  She told him that in this dark space of the void he had only but to think up a new Fantasia in order for it to appear once more — even more lush and beautiful than before.  And the more wishes he made for this new fantasy world to manifest into reality, the more amazing it would be (creating in the void/new paradigm energy).

Bingo!

Mourning the Passing of the Old World We Knew

I think this is where we are — in that void of infinite creation possibility.

However, we have had to turn around and look at the old paradigm and literally say our goodbyes.

We are now capable of stepping fully into the void/new manifestation zone and we are now having to fine-tune our desires, hopes and wishes for this new world to appear.

Nonetheless, saying farewell is never easy

It can be a very gut and/or heart-wrenching experience.

The old energy is what most of us grew up in — all the dreams and illusions of that paradigm are what we are familiar with.  Change and stepping out into the unfamiliar can be daunting but there is an electric anticipation sparking in the ether — can you feel it?

Star Trekking Across the Universe — See You on the Bridge, Captain!

We are all about to boldly go where no man has gone before.

But we know we have to shed that ‘old paradigm’ skin and there are also things we can’t take with us into Zion.

So the energy of late has been all about detaching from the material world and ego, confronting our fears, standing in our power and working through our karma to be able to take that leap of faith into the new world.

Put on your hiking boots ’cause we’ve got a bridge to cross!

 

Other blogs by Cherie Roe Dirksen you may enjoy:

It’s About Time This Blog Was Written!

How to Use the Void to Manifest

5 Ways to Tune into a HD Quality Life

10 Reasons Why I Don’t Care Anymore and Neither Should You

Green Boutique Zazzle Logo2014 — The Year to Sculpt Your Life!

Why You Should Strive to be a Nobody

3 Crucial Steps to Self Acceptance

Feel Like a Rug Has Been Pulled Out From Underneath?

Warning: 4 Reasons Why You Should Avoid Venus Fly-Traps

 

Self-Empowerment Books by Cherie Roe Dirksen:

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Table Books of Art and Inspirational Teachings by Cherie Roe Dirksen:

Creative Expression        Art Portfolio

 

The Universe is Abundant, Why Aren’t You?

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The Cosmic Blueprint by Cherie Roe Dirksen

Click on the picture to download and use as a desktop wallpaper reminder or feel free to share on your social networks! Let’s all start getting clear on the world we’re trying to create.

The painting used in the above quotation is called ‘The Painters Universe’ and can be purchased as prints — JUST CLICK HERE.

Other blogs by Cherie Roe Dirksen you may enjoy:

Creative Expression Brought to Life on Youtube (Watch for Free)

It’s About Time This Blog Was Written!

2 Quick Little Pep-Me-Ups

5 Ways to Tune into a HD Quality Life

Green Boutique Zazzle Logo

Why You Should Strive to be a Nobody

3 Crucial Steps to Self Acceptance

Feel Like a Rug Has Been Pulled Out From Underneath?

 

Self-Empowerment Books by Cherie Roe Dirksen:

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Table Books of Art and Inspirational Teachings by Cherie Roe Dirksen:

Creative Expression        Art Portfolio

 

How to Use the Void to Manifest

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Bluebirds by Cherie Roe Dirksen

New Energy, New World

You may have noticed that the Mayan ‘end of the world’ calendar has come and gone (21/12/2012). We are now supposedly in ‘Year 2’ of this advanced and illustrious new age/paradigm/Earth.

Can you feel it?

Or are you feeling more like you’re stuck in a void with endless karma and drama being flung at your feet?

The Roots are Strong

The good news is that we are in a new energy and in order for the new to emerge the old has to die — and it’s dying hard!  What does that mean?  Well, in a nutshell, old energy is going down kicking and screaming.

It may look like the negative, base, ‘Mad Max’ war-ridden world is winning but it’s roots are rotten.  Smoke and mirrors are being used to prop up these decaying, useless ways.

The new shoots are still young but their roots are strong and fixed in integrity and love.  We have created another realm — it just needs our full attention now to manifest itself.  It’s going to happen one soul at a time — cheesy but true.

‘Okay, so what does this mean practically for me today?’, I hear you ask.

Understanding the Wind Down to Wind You Up!

When an old system winds down we get thrust into clearing out and preparing for the new — something like moving house.  You usually end up throwing stuff out, cleaning your butt off and scaling down dramatically — this is a great metaphor for when we shift into a new paradigm.

You have to get rid of the old baggage to step into a new world.  So a lot of you will have found yourself doing copious amounts of emotional, karmic, mental and physical clearing the last few years.

So, when the end of 2012 hit us we were at the bottom end of winding down…then came the void of 2013.  Boy!  Did any of you feel at a loose end the WHOLE year?  Well, I sure did.

We overcame!  Now we’re almost half way through 2014 — the promised year of manifestation.  However, some people are still stuck in the void energy.

The definition of void is empty space.  This is good news!  Here you can create anything you want — even more void…as in ‘avoidance’ or a void dance!  So use the void wisely.

The void/darkness is the gateway to all mystery and manifestation — the door to understanding this universe we’ve created.

Using the Void

In the Tao Te Ching you can use the Tao any way you want — it is empty but inexhaustible.

What is the Tao?   In Chinese philosophy, it is the absolute principle underlying the universe.  It is a combination of yin and yang and signifies the way that is in harmony with the natural order.

Is it hard to use the void?  No.

Here’s what to do:

  • Align with your thoughts.  Thoughts create everything in the universe.  What are you thinking about the most?  Be completely honest with yourself.  Can you see how you are consciously or, as the case may be, even unconsciously bringing about manifestations in your life that are aligning with what you think about? Okay, most of you probably know this point by now — it’s ‘old school’ stuff but it’s of primary importance and here’s why:  Manifesting has become increasingly more instantaneous!  Holy crap, my hombre!  Hold onto your hats…
  • Manifest wisely.  Instant manifestation can be dangerous for some and great for others.  This is why getting clear with what your mind is harping on about is of the utmost significance now.  We’re in a potent manifesting energy, where you are going to have things pop up with much more speed than before — good or bad.
  • Use the void as your clean slate.  What does this mean?  Get clear today, hell, even right now, on what you want to see unfold in the next 6 – 12 months.  Be specific, write it down, read it out every morning and take action where you can — then detach from the outcome and watch out for synchronicities that will point you in the right direction (read more about that HERE).  Most people don’t even know what they want to manifest so they just leave it to fate.  Wake up call!  Fate is you unconsciously manifesting whatever you’re thinking about the most!  So you can become a conscious co-creator of your reality or you can subject your life to your random and vague inner dialogue.

Are You Manifesting More Void?

The biggest trouble I’m seeing at the moment is people who say that nothing is manifesting in their life.  Wrong!  If this is you, you are manifesting too but you are in the void and therefore you are manifesting more ‘void’ when you say or think that ‘nothing is happening’.

Take a look at that phrase, ‘nothing is happening’.  So be it — your wish is the Tao’s command!

Get it?  I hope so — happy manifesting!

Original article written by Cherie Roe Dirksen for Lightworkers World.

Other articles by Cherie Roe Dirksen you may enjoy:

2014 — The Year to Sculpt Your Life!

Why We May Be Feeling Disenchanted

5 Ways to Tune into a HD Quality Life

Green Boutique Zazzle Logo

Why You Should Strive to be a Nobody

3 Crucial Steps to Self Acceptance

Feel Like a Rug Has Been Pulled Out From Underneath?

The Universe is Abundant, Why Aren’t You?

 

Self-Empowerment Books by Cherie Roe Dirksen:

untitled            

Table Books of Art and Inspirational Teachings by Cherie Roe Dirksen:

Creative Expression        Art Portfolio

 

 

 

Celebrate This Earth Day By Playing The (God)dess Game

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Earth day is celebrated on the 22nd April (this Tuesday) — events are held worldwide to demonstrate support for environmental protection.  

The first Earth Day celebration was way back in 1970.

Having Good ‘ol Gaia Fun

The online magazine, Butterfly You, is running a self-assessment game to discover the Goddess Within You (men, please don’t feel excluded — you too can participate by embracing your yin energy and traits, get your inner hippy on!).

So be a sport and amuse yourself this Earth Day by tapping into your divine elemental traits.

Find your Fabulousity!

What type of Goddess are you? Find your fabulousity in the Earth Day Issue of the Butterfly You! Magazine. Read at http://mariamar.com/butterflyUThe issue has been designed as an inspiring, fun, self-assessment game that connects you to Earth Mother.

Find out:

  •  Are you a (God)dess of the Earth, Flowers, Waters, Earth, Fire or Air?
  •  How does your fabulousity show up in your emotions, creativity, heart, body, mind or spirituality?
  • What is the essence of your Fabulousity?
  • What do you need to watch for?
  • What is the flip side of your Fabulousity?
  • What must you do to honor your Fabulousity?

Join me and 4 other experts who embody these elements:

  • ·Anne Gudrun — Representing Flowers
  • ·Susan Schanerman — Representing Fire
  •  Cynthia Segal — Representing Sky
  • ·Maria Mar — Representing Water
  •  Cherie Roe Dirksen — Representing Earth

Enjoy the beautiful art of some of these Goddesses — who are visual artists too — and get their gifts by clicking HERE (to read the online mag).

Embracing the Planet

Everyone honours Earth Day in their own special way.  We all have a connection to Mother Earth and express that bond uniquely.

  • What will you be doing this Earth Day to show you care?  Please comment in the box below (‘Have your say…’).
  • Do you have an event on that day that you would like to share or any other information relating to Earth Day celebrations?  Please feel free to share below.

 

Other articles you may enjoy:

The Tree of Life — Can You Relate?

Here’s Your Crown — You Are Sovereign!

How to Artfully Get into Your Element

Heaven on Mother Earth…

Why You Need Hibiscus Between the Sheets!

The Fine Balancing Art of Yin and Yang

Anchoring the New Energy…

What on Earth is a ‘Chaoskampf Demiurge’? You Seriously Need to Know This!

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Catch up on last weeks Rock Art Series Painting no. 6 reveal HERE.

2010_10150014Now you’ve seen the painting, how did I get to the title and what led me to paint the very odd scene depicting pond-scum, moon goddesses, a phoenix and a serpent — just to name a few?!

Battling the Chaos

Chaoskampf is German for the struggle against chaos — demiurge means ‘god’.

What in the blazes is this painting about?

Come stumble down the rabbit-hole with me on this, the most outlandish rock art adventure yet!

The Emotions Whilst Painting

Chaoskampf Demiurge lr

‘Chaoskampf Demiurge’ by Cherie Roe Dirksen — Rock Art Painting no. 6 (Templeton)

Now, if you’ve just joined this Rock Art journey, let me fill you in on it a bit:  I paint to the music of the selected artist (in this case, Templeton) and paint whatever comes to me in the process (a kind of meditative, ‘mindless’ painting).

I jotted down, on the side of the canvas stretcher, the emotions being stirred whilst I put paint and various bits of other matter to canvas.  It went something like this:

  • Strength
  • Powerful
  • Humble
  • Life by Design
  • Life by Desire
  • Fire/Flame/Phoenix
  • Sea of Emotion
  • Passion
  • Passivity

A lot of these emotions seem dichotomous.  Thing is, I think this painting is essentially about dichotomy and the duality of life — especially the ‘light’ and the ‘dark’. This seems to represent the power struggle of two opposing sides.

Breaking it Down and Dipping into Legend

2So, we have a bevy of beautiful, wistful goddesses bathing in moonlight on the upper left hand side of the painting — a very poignant display of femininity.

We have a pond (no, it’s not a ‘cosmic’ scene as such — I checked in with spirit right at the end and was told this upper part of the painting is water.  I therefore did a blue glass paint wash over it, so in the flesh, it looks more fluid) — the water is imbued with binary code (like in the Matrix), infinity symbols (8) and what looks like giant eyeballs.

1The ‘eyeballs’ feel to me like clusters of cells — the start of life — especially as the serpent of chaos seems to be electrifying it into existence.  Alternatively, the serpent could be giving ‘shock treatment’ to the organism, inducing a perpetual state of amnesia to its true state of divinity.  Hmmm…

Speaking of the little green dude — the serpent, I am quite convinced is our very own Apophis (read more about Apophis — Serpent of Chaos — HERE). He could also be a quantum representation of our dear (sarcasm) Brotherhood of the Serpent (BOTS) — the theorized oppressors of our very existence on this planet.

4In the bottom right-hand corner we have half of what looks like a vortex/void with balls of light/essence of life-forms/spirit being shot out of its center.

Finally, we have a great ruddy phoenix in the middle!  What a surprise that was for me…this painting looks like a lethal cocktail!  Feathers everywhere!

The Rise of the Phoenix

The Phoenix is a mythological creature that lives a long time and is reborn from its own ashes in a cyclical death and rebirth loop.

It is considered ‘the Royal bird’ and is also associated with the sun (in Egypt the bird god, Bennu is linked with being a phoenix). You can read more about the phoenix HERE.

Could the position of this bird in the painting be humankinds hope?  The ability of the pure gold nature of the human spirit rising up to reclaim its sovereignty and put order to chaos?

A Jewish Extraction

I found this excerpt from a site called monstropedia.org — rather interestingly, it states:

“In Jewish legend, the phoenix’s name is Milcham. According to tradition, after Eve ate the forbidden fruit, she became jealous of the immortality and purity of the other creatures in the garden. Eventually, she persuaded all the animals except the phoenix to share in her fallen state by eating from the forbidden tree. God rewarded the phoenix by setting him up in a walled city where he could live in great peace for 1000 years. At the end of every 1000-year period, the bird is consumed by fire and reborn from an egg found in its ashes. One variation of this Jewish legend states that at the end of each 1000-year period, the phoenix’s body becomes small and featherless like a baby’s and then he grows up all over again. In any case, the Angel of Death may never touch him.”

The Meaning and Beginning…

So, I think this picture is about our rise against chaos.

The human spirit must be victorious over our ‘invisible’ oppressors and all the illusions they have woven into the fabric of our matrix.

We are standing on the precipice — we must start to own our lives, take responsibility, realize our own divinity and power and take flight.  *Squawk!*

Stick it to the man, people!  We control our destinies and we are sovereign over our existence.  We create our lives, hell, we created the multiverses!!!  Get with the program and claim your divine rights!  Pull yourself out of the ashes and rise — make your stand.

Honouring the Legend

Copy of DSCF2989I give much thanks to the awesome musical and cosmic talents of Templeton — without which I would not have been able to probe into the depths of these mysterious legends.

I have often spoken to him about where he gets his musical inspiration from and he tells me that most of it is channeled.  He explained ‘it’s like getting downloads from the universe in the packages and forms of songs — melodies and lyrics’.

To sample more tasty tunes and get up to speed on information of this delicious man, please visit www.templetonuniverse.com.

You can hear his songs at Soundcloud by following this link: LISTEN HERE FOR FREE

Or you can view and listen to this talent by watching the YouTube videos below:




Listen to the whole ‘Headspace’ album here:

Templeton’s Amazon album downloads below:

Twist Headspace

Boy On Bike Templeton

CLICK HERE TO VIEW ALL THE ROCK ART PAINTINGS SO FAR AND/OR TO BUY PRINTS

Here are the Rock Art blogs in order of release:

10 Bands, 10 Paintings…Let the Rock Art Begin!

The Grand Band Reveal is Today!

Radiohead — A Teaser Pictorial ‘Rock Art’ Peek

What Radiohead Looks Like Through The End of My Brush

Song Playlist — Radiohead Albums That Made The Art

Rock Art Series — The Beatles

What The Beatles Look Like From the End of my Paintbrush

Rock Art Series Painting no. 3 — Jeff Buckley ‘Raw’

How I Got ‘Raw’ With Jeff Buckley

‘Dancing in the Void’ — Pink Floyd Rock Art Painting No.4 Photographs

Painting Pink Floyd — Soldiering Through the Minefield of Emotion

‘Dangerous Love’ — Skunk Anansie Rock Art Painting No. 5

A Sneak Pictorial Peek at Painting no. 6 in the Rock Art Series

How to See Divinity in Living Colour

Can We Really Live Without Money? The Answer May Surprise You…

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Nature Banner by Cherie Roe DirksenBalls to Capitalism!

I’ve been really doing a lot of ‘couch pondering’ (where you just sit on the couch staring at the ceiling for hours…thinking) about that wretched topic — money.  God, how I love having it and, boy, how I despise the need for it.

What a stinking dichotomy!

I work for myself and, as many of you who do the same may know, it’s great and liberating to be on your own schedule but it sure has its lows — mainly financial.  By the time the end of the month starts rearing its bill-paying head, I have worked myself into a froth over the hows and whens of imminent account deductions.

Why can’t we all just have a gazillion dollars in the bank and live our lives the way we were meant to — in joy and creative splendor?!

Wishful Thinking or Reality?

I suppose one has to take another look at abundance and wealth to pop this little blister of a conundrum.

Is it really all about money?

Now don’t just yell out ‘YES!’.  What if we could really create abundance without the price tag?

When I set my intentions for this year (this article was written in 2014) and created my list of 7 things I wanted (read about how you can start your own list here:  2014 — The Year to Sculpt Your Life!) — I managed to procure 3 things on the list without spending a dime.

It was through people’s generosity and thoughtfulness that I was able to manifest a few luxury items I would have otherwise thought I could only obtain through ‘buying’.

It made me think.

Sustainable Living is Thriving!

I am also in the process of moving from the city into the countryside.  We are doing this because (a) property is SO much cheaper out there and (b) we want to start growing our own food and need land, etc with the possibility of a few rain-water tanks and solar panels.

Just making this move will cut our bills in half — I’m being deadly serious!  I simply can’t wait for the off, as I’m sure you can well imagine.

But not only will this help us to economize but it will also allow us to reduce our carbon footprint and consumerism.  I strangely enough, have a feeling of immense abundance when I look at it that way.  It doesn’t involve abundance money can buy but wealth of spirit and a heart-centered gratification.

Instead of the typical scenario of society telling us that wealth is in accumulating more and more, the truth is that cutting down and needing less provides more abundance in your life — just not in that stereotypical way.

Get your head out of your bank account and into the breeze of that freshly mown lawn!

Do You Need Something?

If you do need something — be it a new dining room suite or tin of apricots — set your intention and put it out there.  How?

  • By talking to other people about what you want (not hounding them for hand-outs but simply mentioning it if it’s appropriate to do so — you never know who you might be talking to),
  • writing your desires down on paper and reading them out to yourself every day,
  • letting go of how you are going to get it, just know that it will happen in its own way,
  • be vigilant and on the look-out for any synchronicities (read more on synchronicity here: Why Synchronicity Can Change Your Life) or signs that may bring you closer to your desire,
  • practice gratitude and
  • give where you can (generosity tends to have a boomerang effect).

Solving the Need for Money — What is the Answer?

Do these suggestions solve the need to live without money?  No, but it’s a start.

The more you put these things into practice, the more you will start seeing how we, as a more heart-centered community, can pull together and get what we all want with little or no money passing hands.

It can happen through:

  • Bartering
  • Generosity
  • Donation
  • Service/Expertise Swapping
  • Thinking Out of the Box

Make sure you are open to receive as well as to give.

Can We Live Without Dosh?

Even though we can do a lot for ourselves without money — there is still a lot of things we do need money for in order to live in modern society.  Just having no internet access alone would bring my foundations crumbling down.

I don’t have all the answers as to how we can live with less money but I do know that if we all pull together and brainstorm ways, a moneyless society could be possible in the near future.

The answer is out there, waiting for us to catch up with it.

4 Things to Get You Started

For now, all the advice I can offer you if you are having financial woes, is to put your intentions out there and think of ways you can experience abundance without money.

There are loads of things you can do or experience to make you feel extremely wealthy.

Here are a few tips:

  • Make a gratitude list of things you have (the roof over your head, your health, a full belly, the love of your cat/dog or the warm bed you sleep in at night).
  • Go be in nature — when you give yourself time and space to relax and sit on some grass or walk on the beach, you will feel the abundance of the Earth.  Lack is only a by-product of what our current society dictates to us that we must have.  Nature has everything we need and to reconnect with the wealth of the planet is a very grounding activity.  This is your planet!  You were born here and you are a citizen of the globe — your abundance lies all around you and not only in coins, printed paper or digital numbers.
  • Call on the never-ending supply of love that is all around you.  You are loved, no matter who you are.  Never forget that.  If you are reading this and thinking, ‘no-one loves me’ then you are wrong — I love you and I’m not the only one.  Feel the love that is yours to tap into whenever you are feeling low and alone.
  • Keep reminding yourself of what you would be doing right now if money was not an issue or required.  Whatever that is, focus on it and set your intention to live that way.

Please let me know if you are having any success trying to live with little or no money.  What is your take on this topic?  Leave your comments below.

UPDATE: I have since made my move to the country and I’m loving it! I still use the above principles and I not only manifest money but also ways to get the things I want and need without money. Try it — it really works! Just to name a few things I recently manifested:

  • A friend in the village dropped off a huge bag of organic produce for me!
  • My neighbour really loved one of my paintings but couldn’t afford it so we did an exchange — my painting for her mountain bike she didn’t use. Yay!!!

Things happen in mysterious ways, so keep your eyes peeled for opportunity!

Available as Posters – CLICK HERE

You may also enjoy:

2 Quick Little Pep-Me-Ups

10 Reasons Why I Don’t Care Anymore and Neither Should You

3 Ways to Alchemize Chaos

8 Motivating Tips on Writing and Self-Publishing Your Own Book

2014 — The Year to Sculpt Your Life!

The 44 Second Example to Feeling Better

Why Synchronicity Can Change Your Life

Why You Should Strive to be a Nobody

10 Reasons Why I Don’t Care Anymore and Neither Should You

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Elegance by Cherie Roe Dirksen BannerCan You Relate to These Questions?

There has been too much coincidence of people experiencing these symptoms for me to ignore this any longer.  Let me jump right in the deep end:

  • Are you feeling a great amount of detachment lately from things that would normally bother you regarding your career, home life, worries or life in general?
  • Do you have a ‘devil-may-care’ attitude all of a sudden (as in ‘I don’t give a hoot’ or you couldn’t be asked to bat an eyelid)?
  • Are you struggling to get going this year?  Like you’re stuck in neutral?
  • Do you try to shift gears and get things done but more stuff is piling up and you just don’t have the vooma to carry on?
  • Do you feel that nothing is worth the effort anymore and it’s time to throw in the towel?
  • Do you feel like you’re trying to fit a round into a square?  Things just aren’t fitting anymore and there you are huffing and puffing trying to make it fit!
  • Have you been asking yourself, ‘What’s wrong with me?’

You’ve just stumbled upon a major quagmire that has got most of us quasi-global citizens in it’s lethargic grip.

“What is it, what’s going on?”  I hear you cry!  

I’m not 100% sure but I’m going to give it a shot filtering it through my own realizations of late.  We are experiencing a death and rebirth of our selves.

Goodbye Old Me and Hello New Who?

I’ve gone through the above questions like an old computer trying to scour for an answer to a rather outdated formula.  What have I come up with?  Here it goes:

  • I don’t care what people think of me (their opinions are none of my business)
  • I don’t care what other’s expect of me (I’m doing my best!)
  • I don’t care if I die tomorrow (acceptance rather than denial)
  • I don’t care about my career or where I thought I was heading just a few months ago (it’s not really that important in the greater scheme of things)
  • I don’t care if I end up under a bridge (bridges can be quite nice actually)
  • I don’t care if this world is or isn’t experiencing a shift of paradigm (such hype!)
  • I don’t care if everything I believe to be true isn’t (ooh, there’s a big one!)
  • I don’t care that I don’t care (this is where I stick my tongue out)
  • I don’t care….well, yes, I’m sure you get the picture now…

But the crux is, I think I just died to my former self.  Who am I?  No, just rather — I AM.

It feels like my mind, spirit and body have had a rather cleansing enema.  The moment I started detaching from what I wanted to manifest I, you guessed it, started to manifest all those things at a rapid pace.

I suppose you could call it your very own eternal sunshine of the spotless mind so you can start with a clean slate to create this dream life you’ve always wanted.

Why It’s Necessary to Experience Your Own Death (Metaphorically Speaking)

In my humble opinion, I think one has to truly and utterly — with every fiber of your body — die to your old way of thinking/operating/being to open up to the new paradigm that is practically kicking down your door to be let in.

This entails detaching from past auto-responsive behaviours to make way for new neural connections that will allow you to react in a way that is grounded, balanced and coming from your heart and not your head.

Detaching from the expectations and opinions of others about you — there is no more need to defend yourself, your career (or lack of) choices, your partner (or lack of) choices, your beliefs (or lack of…lol), your version of reality (or illusion) or anything else you may have felt defensive about in the past.

IT DOESN’T MATTER ANYMORE AND YOU HAVE NO NEED TO DEFEND IT.

Phew!  What a bloody relief!!!

What Needs To Stay and What Will Depart

Those who will love and respect you enough to let you be will remain in your life and those who will not be able to bear not being able to manipulate you anymore will leave (albeit kicking and screaming).

Be the still presence and just watch how things unfold.  Don’t give in to external demands (not unless you’ve made peace with what is being asked of you) — just be silent, bask in the stillness. Eventually what needs to fall away will.

Where there is no two opposing energies feeding a situation, the energy will move on.

Walk the Talk and Dance the Tango

Now is the time to stop talking about what you know or believe and to LIVE it.  Show others by example (how cool would that be?) and not by rabbiting on about it (unless someone asks you for your opinion).  Dance like no-ones watching — even if it is down the aisles at your local supermarket.

Be the change you want to see (thanks, Gandhi) and live for joy and upliftment for yourself and those around you.  If someone or something tries to drag you down — alchemize them/it.  What does that mean?

Keeping You in Suspenders (a Phrase my Father Would Say in Lieu of ‘Suspense’)

How to alchemize a situation?  Ah, that’s for next weeks blog.

For now, be kind to yourself if you are going through this death/rebirth stage.  Drink plenty of water, eat wholesome foods, meditate, do yoga/go for a walk, be in nature (ground yourself!) and keep setting your intentions to feel bliss every day.

UPDATE:  Read ‘3 Ways to Flow Through Chaotic Times’ HERE

Elegance by Cherie Roe Dirksen

Today’s blog picture is called ‘Elegance’ and is available as prints, etc — just click here to take you to the store.

Other articles you may enjoy:

What Popped Up in a Guided Meditation About 2014…and How it Coincided With Plato

2014 — The Year to Sculpt Your Life!

8 Motivating Tips on Writing and Self-Publishing Your Own Book

Destress with Free Colour Therapy for You and Your Family

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What Popped Up in a Guided Meditation and How it Coincided With Plato

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Manifesting What You Do and Don’t Want Well, this year showed up with a tremendous thump on the head (thanks to inland revenue — need I say more?) followed by some truly spectacular fireworks and major realizations! The good and the bad have been a-knocking at my door, testing my patience and resolve.  How have the first few weeks of this year been for you? To sum it all up:  This year is going to be about manifesting big time!  Trouble is, if you’re thoughts aren’t in alignment with what you want, you’re also going to create what you don’t want with extreme haste (as I found out a week ago when I faced ‘external authority’). That’s why I urge you to sit down and draw up 7 things you wish to make happen this year.  Read the blog HERE. My Tribe and the Guided Meditation Now, I want to share something uber personal with you.  I got together with my tribe of 4 fantastic femme’s last week for a guided meditation and goal setting orientation for the year. It was an eye-opening experience.  But I didn’t truly ‘get’ it until I stumbled upon an animated 8 minute video illustrating a theory that Plato had (I’ll show you at the end of this blog — please do yourself a favour and watch it.  You are going to be amazed!). It totally coincided with what my higher self was showing me in my meditation. I’m going to try to be short and to the point and I’m going to show you the actual drawings I did whilst having the vision (so it’s going to be a bit rough). Totems, Temples and the Source At first, in our guided meditation, we were taken by our animal totems to a temple:

  • My totem was an owl who flew out ahead of me as my guide.

    Sun Illustration 1

    Illustration 1 – the Sun/Source

  • I got to the temple and sat down on a bench.  I looked up and saw a door and went to look through it.  
  • There I saw a lake with reflections of trees in it.  I turned to my left and saw the sun/source — a brilliant white light surrounded by swirly whirly’s (see illustration 1).
  • I turned to the right and saw tree silhouettes turn into a circle (a kind of mandala — see illustration 2) and then the trees morphed into human figures (for those of you who know my art — it was very much like what I paint…see picture at the top of the blog), the branches entwining to make hearts and DNA.  I got the feeling that the tree’s represented our higher selves and the spirit realm wanting to express love and unity in our 3D reality/the dream/game of life being shown to us in the ‘higher’ realm of communication.

    Tree Circle Illustration 2

    Illustration 2 – Circle of Trees

  • In the center of the circle was water and the reflections of the trees.  It sometimes shifted into the sun in the middle as well.
  • I got the impression that the water was reflecting back to us what we are creating through feeling/emotion and that the trees were actually our ‘higher selves’ or the spirit realm conducting the creations in the pool of water (our 3D reality).
  • The keywords with this vision were about love, reaching out (or ‘branching out’, as the case may be), water reflections (our 3D experience being mirrored back to us in the spirit realm and vice versa), strong unity connection (the roots of the trees were entwined as a collective experience).

The 2014 Focus What I got from this guided meditation was to:

  1. Ground Yourself Daily — Feel connected to the earth and nature (i.e. be grounded BIG TIME!).
  2. Get Creative — Express that soul connection through creativity as often as you can.

When I tapped into the crux of what my soul was trying to convey, I got this message:

“Show what cannot be spoken.”

Now this is all great, but how does this affect you?  And where is Plato in all of this?

Well, here is the video I want you to watch:

I was introduced to this video through an article on a site called ‘2012 The Big Picture’ — You can read the article here. After seeing this video, I got the bigger picture of the message behind the visualization I received in my meditation.  Don’t you just LOVE how synchronicity works!!! 😀 UPDATE:  I have completed the painting I saw in this meditation — you can read the blog about it HERE:  The Tree of Life — Can You Relate?

Today’s blog picture is called ‘The Soulworks Project’ and is available as cards and prints – click here.
If you want to commission something similar, please contact me at cheriedirksen@yahoo.com

 Other articles you may enjoy: Why Synchronicity Can Change Your Life 5 Ways to Tune into a HD Quality Life The 44 Second Example to Feeling Better 2014 — The Year to Sculpt Your Life!

8 Motivating Tips on Writing and Self-Publishing Your Own Book

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8 Pointers You Need to Know When Self-Publishing Your Book

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You’re probably familiar with the saying, ‘everyone’s got a book in them’ but the real question is:  how do you start taking those first steps and begin furiously tapping away at your keyboard with zesty enthusiasm?

You Could Be Holding Your Book Within 6 Short Months!

You may be surprised to learn that it is not such a gargantuan and overwhelming task — with the proper guidance and motivation, you too can be the proud author of a spanking new publication.

In fact, it is an absolute thrill to write when your heart is sunk firm into the project.  Think of the final joy of holding your book in hand and getting to press your nose deep into the spine of those crisp, new pages of your hot-off-the-press manuscript.  Heck, even I’m excited for you!

So what lies between you and that imminent caress of your books glaringly glossy cover?

Below you’ll find a list of the 8 most commonly asked questions I get about writing and publishing a book and some surprising answers:

Why Do You Want To Write a Book?

I write self-help books because I have a passion to help people and if writing about my life experiences and how I’ve overcome certain obstacles can help someone else — I am more than happy.

The writing process also helps me to put certain things into perspective on the chosen topic — i.e. writing about your experiences helps you to gain a certain amount of clarity or slant on what you have lived through.

There’s also  the fact that putting pen to paper (or, in most cases, fingers to keys) can be wholesomely therapeutic.

If there is one thing I can’t stress enough, it is to write about your experiences — what you actually know about…which brings me to ask this question:

What Experience Do You Have?

Readers are like bloodhounds and can out an author that doesn’t write from experience, wisdom and passion — there must be integrity in this process.

Even if you are writing fiction — imagination is a wonderful thing but putting structure to your fantasy requires that you know a thing or to about life and living, so get out there and soak up the vibes!

Do your research — there’s never been a better time to be a writer than in this magnificent technological age where Google provides so much information at the touch of a button.

For all you more ‘mature’ folks out there — do you remember when research meant going to the library or, even better, a trip to the state archives?  Boy, have times changed!

No matter what you write about, I feel your true motivation should always stem from the love of what you do and that you either have a message or a deep fervor for what you’re penning about.

Is Money Your Motivation?

Never write for the money.  I have got 2 books out now and I am only starting to make money from them (not enough, as of yet, to pay my bills — I do a lot of other things to keep myself afloat which is something you should think about before quitting your day job).

This is not to say that you can’t make money from writing, just that it is not a very glamorous career.  It is a lot of hard work, promotion and dedication.

I’m sure there are a trickle of overnight success stories but they are few and far between.  Most authors need to have a day or part-time job, guest write for other sites to get their name and message out there and keep up daily appearances on social networking sites to sustain momentum and remind people that they are still there.

This is not a path for the lazy or faint-of-heart.  You’ve got to believe in yourself and believe in what you do — inevitably that’s all that counts and if you only sell 1 book in your career, that should bring a smile to your face.

I think to date, I have distributed and sold just over 200 books.

It’s not nearly enough to make me a best-seller (believe it or not, having a ‘best-seller’ in South Africa apparently only requires the sale of 2000 copies due to the market now being swamped with books in this wonderful new digital age of self-publishing — but, as you can see, even at this rather low rate, I’m still a far cry away from attaining the best-seller status).

However, I’m a die-hard and ever the optimist — I’m going to keep on getting my book out there if it kills me (well, not really but the statement does add to the dramatic effect!).

Never give up on a dream!

What Can You Gain From Other Writers/Bloggers?

Learning from others beats going it alone.  There is a massive writing community out there so go be a social cyber-butterfly!

There is a guy called Jeff Goins who blogs about his writing career — I would go and study his page because he is very informative and you can learn a hell of a lot from him: goinswriter.com.

Which brings me to the next thing.  If you truly want to write, start out with a blog — that is how you will build your readership who will later want to buy your book.

Your site is your livelihood in most writers cases.

Do some research on this by yourself and you will see that a lot of people go the blogging route in order to build a reputation and a subscription list of potential readers (I find this site extremely helpful:  www.copyblogger.com— they will help you to get a successful website/blog going).

Where Do I Find Motivation To Start My Book?

With regards to getting started with writing, the story either comes or it doesn’t — i.e. you will know when a story hits you, I find you can’t force something that is not there or people will pick up on that (remember those bloodhounds are on your tail!).

So, like I said before, go out into the world and mingle with people, have adventures and live, that way you’ll have loads of inspiration to write.

How Much Writing a Day Should I Do?

When you find something that you do want to write about, dedicate at least 2 hours a day to writing.

Without a regular schedule your book will be left on the back-burner, so stick to a writing regime.  I did this with my first book — 2hrs a day, 5 days a week and finished my book within about 5 months.

The second book was a compilation of all my articles that I blogged about, so blogging has its rewards!

How Long Should My Book Be?

How long is a piece of string?  As long as it has to be, I suppose.

Some people write shorter books or short stories and some people write trilogies — so that’s up to you.  My books have been between 180 and 220 pages (roughly 50 000 — 60 000 words).

How Do I Publish My Book?

Finally and best of all, publishing your book is super easy!

With sites like ‘Createspace‘ (Amazon’s sister site for self-published authors) and another really great site called Lulu.com (and many more) you can do it all yourself at no cost.

Yes, you read right — it’s FREE!

They provide you with templates and most of them even allocate the ISBN number for you (that bar-code at the back of a book which is a unique identifying number) and all you do is upload it once your book is finished and they take care of the rest.

You can even publish eBooks (or Kindle if you’re going through Amazon) gratis through these sites.

They even offer services like editing your book/cover design, formatting, etc for a small fee.

They are a print-on-demand service, so once your book is uploaded, you can start selling straight away to the entire globe!

There are absolutely no hidden costs (at the printing of this article, at least) and you get royalties on your book.  However, most of these sites will only pay you out on a quarterly basis or when you have reached $100 threshold.

What Are Printing Costs If You Want To Do It Yourself?

If you do want a batch of your own books, then I have just got my second book printed (November 2013) by a local company (I’m from South Africa, for those who don’t know) that charged me around R4 500 (roughly $450) for 100 books.  That included the ISBN number.

So that way, there is an outlay but I tried to presell copies before I got it printed and managed to cover more than half of the cost.

Write Your Book Because It’s Your Passion And You Will Be Rewarded

Write because you love it and not because of the green stuff — that way you won’t be disappointed and if you do make the best-seller list, then that is just an awesome bonus!!!

I hope this helps you to start your writing career.  There is a ton of information out there on the net.  Not one day goes by when I haven’t read at least 2 articles about my trade, so be informed and you’ll do well.

Good luck!

  • Have you written a book? Please share your insights below.
  • Got another question that wasn’t covered here?
  • Did this article help you?

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Books by this author that you may enjoy:

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Other articles you may enjoy:

Creative Expression Brought to Life on Youtube (Watch for Free)

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Why You Need Hibiscus Between the Sheets!

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Flower Power — 6 Ways This Amazing Flower Could Help Even Your Sex Life

“Flowers always make people better, happier, and more helpful; they are sunshine, food and medicine for the soul.” ~ Luther Burbank 


We’re all captivated by the beauty, aroma, intricate workings, sacred geometry, fragility, texture and vast array of colour that flowers provide.

Flowers, like music, can transport us beyond the reach of words.  Ergo, they have strong spiritual connotations.  Flowers can be seen as natures ever-evolving little prayers, the enlightenment of plants or our instant communion with the divine.

A good friend of mine was drawn recently to the hibiscus and forwarded me some very interesting information about this specific flower that I wanted to share with you all today.

The Comeback of Female Sexual Energy

“Hibiscus is symbolic of femininity, sexuality and warmth, and new creation. It reminds us of the joy, happiness, and overall the blessing of welcoming a new life into this world.” ~ 
Spiritual Meanings of Flowers: An Alphabetical Guide

The Hibiscus is known to help women to reclaim their sexuality, vitality and authenticity and has aided many women who have been sexually traumatized (through the use of Hibiscus essence).

Red Hibiscus by Cherie Roe Dirksen lr

It also helps women to overcome all that stereotypical, degrading imagery that the media pumps out at us which leads us to feeling a combination of inadequacy, shame, belittlement and a sense of being objectified.

Hibiscus essence also helps to promote a steady flow of loving kindness throughout the body and soul — an important trait of the feminine aspect of sexuality.

“Red Hibiscus, I greet your flame,
Hi’iaka, I call your name,
Teach me your sacred song and dance.
My soul full of passion, you enhance.”

~ Power of Flowers

(click here to buy this flower essence.  Please note: I am in no way affiliated with ‘Power of Flowers’ website, this information/product/service is solely for your discretion) 

Men, You Can Get Your Groove on Too!

Gents, I haven’t forgotten you — the Hibiscus’s essence can also help you out in the sexual department as it energizes the first and second chakra — meaning that it will ground you, make you feel safe and it will balance your desire towards sex and relationship.

Conjuring Imagery of Penises and Vaginas

Oh, I do love to sensationalize my headlines (naughty, naughty!).  I just had to add before I conclude this article, that when I think of the Hibiscus I immediately conjure up both male and female genitals in my mental imagery.

The stamen looks like a penis and the flower petals are symbolic of the vagina — what a perfect balance of the sexes in this amazing flower?!

It reminds me of that highly charged animated scene from Pink Floyd’s ‘The Wall‘ video, when those two flowers are mating.  If you haven’t seen it or can’t cast your mind back that far, I have found the clip on YouTube for you to watch (aren’t I a kind aunty?)

The 6 Properties of Hibiscus Essence

The Hibiscus essence, in a nutshell, serves to:

  • Energize first and second chakras
  • Assist in healing reproductive ailments/infertility
  • Helps with frigidity or lack of feeling
  • Offer solace for long-held scars of sexual trauma
  • Stimulates sexuality and passion
  • Helps to release creativity within the internal divine matrix (the womb)

“God writes the Gospel not in the Bible alone, but also on trees, and in the flowers and clouds and stars.” ~ Martin Luther 

‘Red Hibiscus’ is available as prints, posters and greeting cards – click on the picture to take you to the store.

If you enjoyed this article, you may also enjoy this site:

BLOSSOM LIKE A FLOWER

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How Suppressing Your Shadow Self Can Destroy You

The Insidious Rape of Mankind and the Imminent Solution

Why Rejection Can Be Our Saviour

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