Poetry and other arts Lorna Cameron

cards

2012-02-05T09:41:00.000-08:00

These cards were made using watercolours.

2012-02-05T09:27:00.000-08:00

Cards notebooks and gift tags

2012-02-05T09:04:00.000-08:00

These cards, gift tags and note books I made using a printed photo glued onto cardboard. The note books have multi coloured interior pages.

Self with the worth

2012-02-02T07:23:00.000-08:00

Self with the worth

Bricks and mortar
Iron in blood
Ripples in water
Fire without wood?

Train with a track
Cannon and ball
Front of the back
Large without small?

Door with a lock
Wish in a well
Legs that can walk
Heaven without hell?

Drum with a rhythm
Note with a song
Light through a prism
Right without wrong?

Dream with a vision
Salt of the earth
Woman on a mission
Self with the worth!

© Lorna Cameron

Flourish

2012-02-02T06:53:00.000-08:00

Flourish

If we treated every moment like it was a precious gem of treasured inheritance

No power would defeat us

If we embraced our loved ones heart in the deepest purest chamber

The Angels wings will carry the tainted twisted burden

And bury it forever with the demons desire to destroy

Nothing other than beauty will flourish

We will triumph over adversity

With our hearts desire to love forever

As the Angels light soothes our psyche

Peace, Love and light.

© Lorna Cameron

Wiccan rule of three

2012-02-02T06:48:00.000-08:00

Wiccan rule of three!

I once killed a moth

And it came back to haunt me

With THREE of its pals

They did nothing but taunt me!

I decided there could only be one saving grace

That the next moth that fell in the bath I would save

And so that’s exactly what I did

So that scary invader, could dry out and live!

© Lorna Cameron

kaleidoscope of hope

2012-02-02T06:28:00.000-08:00

kaleidoscope of hope

Looking out the window, kaleidoscope of hope

Feeling, wanting, needing, infinite faith evoked

Raconteur and philosophers, the homeless and the blind

Nurturing all those secrets in that solitary mind

Everyone is shouting, screaming with no voice

Numbed out minds, hearts of stone, searching for that vice

Every saints a sinner, if pushed that step too far

The devils there to tempt you, not mirror who you are!

Consciousness meets grandeur, frolics, friends and lust

Desiring all that ever was, wisdoms not the curse!

The love of those role models, the goodness that we find

Versus bitter gene pools, twisted dysfunctional life

Armed for final battle, legions of worthy cells

The war will not be over, ‘till we truly love ourselves

Truth above that knowledge, whilst accepting all the flaws

The mighty proactive, will surely win the war

If you know the destiny, trust your instincts not your mind

Harvesting the rainbows gold, with graciousness inside

Victory now so imminent, justice tells no lies

The fruits of all your labour will shine from wealthy eyes!

© Lorna Cameron

What would life be

2012-02-02T06:09:00.000-08:00

What would life be

What would life be
Without dance and a song
No family or friends
Or wild parties ‘till dawn?

What would life be
Without flowers and rain
Great oceans that wash
Away sadness and pain?

What would life be
Without kindness and joy
Great food, red wine
Where, when and why?

Life can be crazy
Life can be calm
When in a frenzy
Don’t be alarmed

The mountains seem higher
The closer we get
Keep fuelling the fire
Until the ball’s in the net!

© Lorna Cameron

Bitter sweet

2012-02-02T05:16:00.000-08:00

Bitter sweet

It’s all that I wished for and more
At best formidable, for sure!
And everything I’d dreamed of before
Can’t believe it’s here at my door

Stitching up the gaps of the past
Cascading the rapids on fortunes raft
Learning curves of murdered truth
The innocent blame naivety of youth

The guilty tend to close their eyes
Convenient how the unconscious one lies
Rebellious nature, fruitless heart
Don’t mean a thing when you’re back at the start

And in the beginning when there was no end
When everything’s possible and fragile hearts mend
Utilising resources, reflections of loss
It’s the heart of the matter that matters the most

True happiness can’t be achieved all alone
And risks not worthwhile in the comfort zone
Comfort weaves its threads of contentment
Through molecules of madness and insane interventions

As nature becomes nurture and visa versa
And execution proceeds mass hysteria
Barren lands will bear fruits in abundance
With utopian societies developing their sun dance!

© Lorna Cameron

You see it in their eyes

2012-02-02T05:12:00.000-08:00

You see it in their eyes

The moon that times the tide
That echos from behind
The wind that steers the storm
So glad that we’ve been born

The sun that brought us here
Through darkness and through fear
Connecting with the light
Embracing shadows of the night

Troubled though they were
As if they didn’t care
Enlightened, so they say
On immoral hats they pray!

The sanctions of the law
Where justice has no place
You see it in their eyes
Those times are written on their face

Logic tells us not to
Experience much the same
Instinct gathers no evidence
Passion ignites the flame

If all we heard was true
And toxins always pure
There’d be no fool amongst us
Those hearts would bleed no more

Of all the things possessed
The truth is plain to see
The art of your desire
Will surely set you free!

© Lorna Cameron

Divides

2012-02-02T04:57:00.000-08:00

Divides

Divides created by beauocracy!
Mountains created by moles!
Rivers dammed by greedology!
Pretentiousness gives birth to fools gold!

Politicians rule the democracy!
Human rights abolished each day!
There’s rage at all the hypocracy
But bitterness will lead you astray!

Lorna Cameron

Justice versus the Law

2012-02-02T04:29:00.000-08:00

Justice versus the law

The law tells us to follow a certain procedure
Whether that procedure is JUST or not is another story

The law needs to make money
And yet justice would save it!
The law tells us to go against human nature
Justice states the opposite!
The law protects the criminal
Justice protects the victim!
The law speaks with its DATA eyes
Like the medic who speaks the DATA remedy!
Justice speaks from the law of nature
The law is written in stone
Justice is the workings of our home!
The law needs witnesses, evidence
Justice has cut us wide open…
Witness your evidence!

We come to claim our right to freedom!
Freedom is not bound by your chains!
We come from the true source of creation!
Your morals and values are a nonsensical claim!
We come riding on the wings of angels!
Your demonical vessel target of our aim!

We will not be downtrodden by this system of robots!
NOT let your laws tyrannize our justice!
NOT be mutilated by years of corruption!
NOT be blasted by murderous venom!

So propagate rumours of condemnation!
Your puerile alibi of defamation!
Fiery arrows won’t penetrate OUR nation!
Justice WILL be our salvation!

by Lorna Cameron

Nostalgia

2012-01-29T08:33:00.000-08:00

Nostalgia

Like dewdrops on petals
Cold earth underfoot
We get all that we wish for
With the right intent

Like Pegasus wings
And rest when we’re weary
Adventure did spring
From the depths of my dreary

Like rainbow sherbet
Simple pleasures of youth
Nostalgia brings joy
With old friends and new

by Lorna Cameron

Unspoken

2012-01-29T08:23:00.000-08:00

Waking up fresh in the morning
Gracing the waters edge
Reminds me of something unspoken
The memories soothing my head

Lighting the candle of glory
Stepping out head held up high
Dealing with truth in your own way
Touching the infinite sky

Come to the island of vision
Sail in the seas of your dreams
Climb the mountains of freedom
Free yourself, fly with great ease!

by Lorna Cameron

In the country

2012-01-29T07:23:00.000-08:00

In the country it’s plain to see
That life is much better, than living on the street

The pheasants that daunder across the farm lane
Oblivious of time and car wheels that await them!

In wintertime it’s much colder than cold!
Though sunset and sunrise a joy to behold

Horses as neighbours a beautiful sight
Frogs and bats visit late at night

Butterflies and bees, in abundance, add colour
Though spiders are bigger and midgies a bother!

The peace and tranquility is a treat to be savoured
But the mice in your bedroom can give you the shivers!

From the birthing of lambs, to the deer that prance close
The smell of pure air and the friendliest of folks

The stars that are brighter and the moon that’s so bold
In the country with loved ones, my mountain of gold.

by Lorna Cameron

Duty or Beyond

2012-01-29T07:06:00.001-08:00

Duty or beyond?

A doctor who smiles?
With sparkly eyes
I don’t know her name
But what a surprise!

Hospital in two weeks
Scan in three Days!
This Lady is good!
With potential to amaze

Research, I say?
She laughs at my joke
I will put right those wrongs
On a more serious note!

That doctor fell ill
Not long after that
Twelve months in bed
Not feeling less crap!

Then one fine day
A letter appeared
The research I’d asked for
I’ve now been accepted!

Lorna Cameron

Listen

2012-01-29T06:47:00.000-08:00

Listen

Day by day

Month by month

Year by year

I lie here

In agony

Alone

It seems

Doctors, nurses, OT’s, physios, consultants

They come and they go

Some are just slow

And some plainly don’t know

Their comments, assumptions

Made me question

MY REALITY

MY INSTINCTS!

For years they led me to believe

That black was the new EVERYTHING!

MY FURY

Could ENGULF me

COLOUR is my EVERYTHING!

IT was always PLAIN to SEE

Lorna Cameron

Prayer - The last Resort

2012-01-29T06:42:00.000-08:00

Prayer - The last Resort?

Everyone looks worried

Thirty two symptoms

I can hardly see them

I’m not sure who they are

I can’t move

They say it’s not cancer

I refused the morphine

My brain is dead

ENOUGH!

Please God help me to get better

Please send all the angels you can

To heal, guide, support and protect us

I can’t bear to see their worried little faces

They are becoming ill too!

I’m not sure how long I can hold on

So I’m thinking that this is an

EMERGENCY!

Thank you, Thank you for everything

Silence

2012-01-29T06:40:00.000-08:00

There is such beauty In silence …

…The
Stillness of being

by Lorna Cameron

The bones of it!

2012-01-29T06:26:00.000-08:00

The bones of it!

When something feels bad
That’s supposed to feel good
When right feels wrong
And nothing works like it should

When words are jumbled
And nights are long
Be patient and humble
As dusk will meet dawn

When people are angry
And crowds are a bore
Seek solitary confinement
To find out the score!

by Lorna Cameron

Latest Creations

2010-04-14T17:07:00.000-07:00

Here are a small selection of some of the creations I made in the latter half of last year, there are plenty more which I will share soon, as it's taking ages to upload on the blog tonight! I'll also post the news of the latest exhibitions and successes we've had!

Wall mounts made with reusable materials, slate, shells and stone from Aberdour beach...Beachcombing is great one of my favourite hobbies.

Mirror made with recycled materials sandstone gravel, stone and shells from Aberdour Beach.

Double mirror made from recycled materials, sand, stones and shells from Aberdour beach.

Aberdour Beach photos

2010-03-02T15:29:00.000-08:00

I love Aberdour Beach, it will become so obvious why, over time.... I promise not to bombard you with the 1000's of photos! It's taking a lot of restraint....A lot!

Have a beautiful day!

Winter Wonderland photos

2010-02-25T17:32:00.000-08:00

The last nine months have been brilliant! Apart from me getting swine flu! Lots of new opportunities and masses of creativity, which I will be sharing with you over the next month. I have thousands of photos from my new camera, lovin' it. Life is really busy and I'm happier than I've ever been.... "Creative Change" is a wonderful thing!

Here are some of the photos I took of our Scottish winter wonderland.

Fish pond

2009-08-03T16:41:00.000-07:00

Wolfram Alpha

2009-05-15T12:10:00.000-07:00

This is exciting...link on side bar!

2009-05-15T11:51:00.001-07:00

Abraham Hicks Angels

2009-03-14T17:10:00.001-07:00

Our wholesome homemade meals slideshow

2009-03-09T17:54:00.001-07:00

I've always had a passion for food...taste, colours, textures, aroma, vitamin content. I started encouraging my boys whilst in their highchair to be involved in the preparation of meals and also to experiment with cuisine and foods from various cultures. As a result not only do all three boys eat a very varied and well balanced diet but they have also developed a keen interest in making up their own recipes, presenting meals and serving in ways that appeal to the eye. I believe a wholesome diet preferably organic is the backbone to good health. So my hope is that whatever toxins we are exposed to throughout life whether it be environmentally, socially or any other which way...the vertebrae which forms this particular backbone will be one of our most important and solid allies. As a great friend says "It's the belly that keeps the back up!" Useful links on side bar where you can find out about how to balance your diet and interesting information on vitamin and mineral contents.

Here are some of the photos of our recipes for our Groovy gang rainbow recipe book. The concept behind this recipe book is to encourage children to eat a good variety of wholesome foods...involve them in a fun way with preparation...it also includes many ways to encourage toddlers to experiment with food...labour and energy saving tips...whist using as much local organic produce possible on a tight budget!

Our book will be available to buy as a paper back and e-book as soon as we have finalized all the writings and everything else with the self publishing company....Thought I'd give you a sneak preview....I will provide links for purchasing when everything is finalized.

P.S Occassionally some of the images are presenting themselves twice on this slide show, don't know why, doesn't seem to happen every time but bear with it as eventually you should see 50 seperate images!

Sushi night and preparing the vegtable patch

2009-03-09T11:55:00.001-07:00

Thought we'd have a go at making sushi for ourselves, couldn't get wasabi paste without lots of horrible E numbers in it, so just used horseradish instead this time....have learned not to spread it onto the nori sheets and next time need to make sure I have a much sharper knife to slice with.... will also remember not to wet the edge of the Nori sheets too much!!! Was a good night and they tasted delicious, had a laugh too as we were inclined to fill the nori a little too full as though they were fajitas.... wooops if at first you don't succeed try...try...again!

Have added more recent images to the art page dated 14-03-09 for sketches, water colours and pastels too.

I had a vegetable garden years ago when we had a massive garden it was so nice, the taste, smell of the earth preparing fresh veg just lifted out of the soil. We had leeks, potatoes, lettuce, cabbage, carrots, spring onion, peas, tomatoes, strawberries and chives along with all the various herbs. My organic veg box has not been such good quality so decided to grow our own again, had wanted to wait until we had a bigger garden but can't wait any longer...Dean started preparing the ground last week and Craig has drawn out the plans and bought the seeds....Cmmmon SUN!!!

Nutrition...remedies, ideas.

2009-03-03T15:42:00.000-08:00

James Wong uses food to create natural beauty products and remedies, something I love doing myself with essential oils and foods...

Below are two recipes from the first of six programmes by James Wong....WELL worth watching! "Grow your own Drugs" programme and link details below.

Sleep remedy

Ingredients:

3-4 handfuls of hops
(can be bought from garden centres, online or better still grow your own)

3-4 handfuls of lavender
(much cheaper to grow your own...straight into the ground or in pots)

Method:
Sew up the sides of a square of breathable material and fill with hops and lavender. leave beside your pillow or at the side of your bed.

James Wong used this remedy on the programme with a few people who had some massive problems with insomnia and they all experienced profound positive changes with their sleep pattern!

Cold remedy Chicken soup to boost the immune system

Ingredients:

2 litres of organic chicken or veg stock
2 onions
approx 4 inches of ginger
2 chili's
12 shitake mushrooms
3 chicken thighs
Couple of handfuls of Goji berries (Used in TCM..Can be grown in pots or bought dried from health food stores)
10 cloves of garlic

Method:

Bring to boil then Simmer stock for 1 1/2 hrs with Chopped onions, grated or finely sliced ginger, chilies, mushrooms sliced or whole and chicken thighs.....add gogi berries and chopped garlic in the last half hour....break up the chicken thighs remove skin and bones and serve.

James Wong tries out more of his home-made remedies.

Ethnobotanist and gardener James Wong turns the spotlight on flowers this week, as he continues to explore plant-based natural remedies and beauty treatments.

He reveals the historical use of some well-known flowers to relieve the symptoms of three common minor ailments. Using elderflowers, James shows how to makes lozenges which could soothe a sore throat; with marigold flowers, he makes a gel for acne; and he makes a cream for eczema from violas.

People with each of these ailments, who are keen to try out a more natural approach to their health problems, can try out James's remedies.

BBC TWO Monday 9 March 2009Next week, James reveals more about the fascinating properties of trees.

Grow Your Own Drugs Ep 2/6
Monday 9 March
8.30-9.00pm BBC TWO
www.bbc.co.uk/growyourowndrugs

Autumn at Beatrix Potter gardens slideshow

2009-02-22T16:56:00.001-08:00

As a child Beatrix and her family enjoyed long summer holidays in the Birnam area of Perthshire. Staying in the countryside, away from the more formal life they led in London, Beatrix and her young brother, Bertram, were able to study the local wildlife. It was from Eastwood, Dunkeld, in 1893 that Beatrix wrote the now famous picture letter to Noel Moore which was later to become The Tale of Peter Rabbit. The following day she wrote a letter to Noel’s brother, Eric, about a frog called Jeremy Fisher. People she had met there on holiday inspired the loveable characters of Mrs. Tiggy-winkle and Mr. Jeremy Fisher.

Beatrix Potter is renowned not only as an author and illustrator, but also as an eminent scientist. During her time in the Birnam area she met and formed a special friendship with Charles McIntosh - the Perthshire Naturalist - sharing a mutual interest in fungi and wildlife.

The Birnam Institute houses a wonderful exhibition telling the tale of this 'Fascinating Acquaintance', and the nearby Beatrix Potter Garden magically recreates the lovely countryside which so impressed the young Beatrix Potter and features flowers, fungi and characters associated with her relationship with the area. Footpaths lead past the houses of Mr. Tod and Mrs. Tiggy-winkle , alongside the stream and pond where Mr. Jeremy Fisher lives and 'Peter Rabbit's burrow'.

The Birnam Institute, Exhibition Centre and Garden, Station Road, Birnam, Perthshire.

Below is a slide show of our day at the Beatrix Potter Gardens....I have warm memories of many an evening snuggled up reading the tales of Jemima Puddleduck and all her friends and their adventures to my kids when they were smaller...We have strolled these gardens a number of times but it is all especially beautiful in the autumn....Dunkeld with its architecture, art, scenery and scrumptious dining experience is beautiful all year round.

Link for art exhibition sculptural ceramics at Ivy cottage venue.. by Shona Leitch is on side bar. There were a number of galleries featuring local art throughout this week in October 2008 with many local artists also exhibiting at certain times in their own homes.

Sketches, pastels and water colours by Lorna Cameron

2009-02-14T19:06:00.000-08:00

Some more recent paintings inspired by nature and dance....What I'm working on from now on is creating more depth and movement in paintings named after my favourite dances....

The Offering
Storm Brewing
Serenity
Mamboleo
Arboreum

Rhumba

Waltz

Below......Apart from all the ZZZzzzz this is what I've been doing whilst in bed recovering....Yes even though I covered it with a large towel my bed covers did end up with paint on them and glue and clay! .Happy Valentines day!

November Art exhibition at gallery 8

2009-02-13T15:56:00.000-08:00

It would seem I've been neglecting my blog over the last few months....Just had a lot to deal with that's all...So reflecting back to November...I have some photos of our art exhibition to share and over the next while I will be sharing more adventures, creations and discoveries...Some of the photos are a little out of focus which is unfortunate as it makes it harder to see the finer detail or true vibrancy of colour.

The art exhibition was at Gallery 8 in Aberdour(web addy link in side bar). Lewis very kindly cleared the gallery of all his work and gave us the whole studio for five days free of charge. We exhibited work from the clients of re-create Special needs group and some of our own work....Half of the proceeds went back into the re-create account to sustain future development. We all designed tshirts and I decided to try my hand at some canvas painting using gouache, water colours and acrylics, I was delighted to find out that I love to paint...For now it seems most relaxing for me to paint abstractly and it was more of an experiment than anything...as I had bumped into an old school pal of mine at an art exhibition and she wondered had I done anything with my art as apparently I was very good at it at secondary school...I have no recollection of this at all and was pleasantly surprised when I sold two canvases, a t-shirt and a poetry book!

Last year half of my poetry frames went to new homes, which was encouraging considering I spent the best part of the year struggling with ill health amongst other things. Now having overcome obstacles, a fresher perspective is shinning through creatively as I am beginning to feel more like myself again....Looking forward to many more developments as I pace my creative self alongside my commitments.

Sheila's work...Sheila is a textile artist and photographer, she also runs the re-create workshops.

Ali's work and she is wearing the t-shirt she designed.

Ali's other T-shirt design

Gillians Masterpiece

Arthur's masterpieces...Arthur paints and weaves using only his head which has a helmet and copper pipe attached in which he inserts either a paintbrush or a fork for weaving...Fantastic! He sold most t-shirts and his achievements were recorded in a local art and poetry book.

Dora's weaving, which wasn't quite finished in time for the exhibition

My creations

My son Craig playing his guitar and some of the guests who attended the preview night.

The best speech so far

2008-11-08T17:34:00.000-08:00

Obamas victory has lit up spirits worldwide.

His speech was by far the best I've ever heard, did post the video but someone removed it huh!.....Wow what a confident, passionate, articulate, wise, compassionate, genuinely powerful man.....I have never been so moved by a speech in my life and the expressions of relief and joy in America sent ripples worldwide. This man is the whole worlds Gem of humanity and unity.....and the fact that he is extremely handsome only matters slightly!!!

I'm reading one of his many books at the moment...I read it in the evening and my son is engrossed with it at other times of the day as part of his modern studies project. "Dreams from my father" is an exceptionally beautiful and emotional memoir peppered with the most original metaphors. Barack retraces the migration of his mother's family from Kansas to Hawaii, then to his childhood home in Indonesia. He speaks bluntly of the racism he encountered and of his ambivalence towards his father. The story reveals his remarkable determination of spirit overcoming many obstacles, unquestionable courage and literary genius.

Transitions

2008-11-08T07:13:00.000-08:00

Respect

2008-10-14T16:08:00.000-07:00

WHAT DOES THE WORLD SEE IN OUR EYES?

ARE WE THE SAME TODAY, AS YESTERDAY?
DO WE STAND FOR RESPECT, AND HONOR?

IS OUR CHARACTER STRONG?
OR DOES OUR EYES CHANGE WITH OUR HUNGERS?
DO WE BECOME A PAINTED FACE?
AND STAND FOR WHATEVER IS COMFORTABLE.

A LESSON ON RESPECT, CHARACTER, & HONOR

When we show our respect for other living things, they respond with respect for us.

Arapaho Proverb

Respectfulness is the concern for a harmonious relationship with your family, friends and all other people in a society, respect should be a natural response of politeness which can not be demanded. The true identification of respectfulness values others for who they REPRESENT, with a concern NOT to look down onto other people. Respect for ourselves guides our morals; respect for others guides our manners. Respect yourself if you would have others respect you. There is no respect for others without humility in one's self. They cannot take away our self-respect if we do not give it to them. We must build a new world, a far better world - one in which the eternal dignity of man is respected. When men and women are able to respect and accept their differences then love has a chance to blossom.

Reputation is what men and women think of us; character is what God and angels know of us. A person reveals his character by nothing so clearly as the joke he resents. The best index to a person's character is (a) how he treats people who can't do him any good, and (b) how he treats people who can't fight back. Our character is what we do when we think no one is looking. Our own heart, and not other men's opinions, forms our true honor. Reputation is what the world thinks a man is; character is what he really is. Reputation is the shell a man discards when he leaves life for immortality. His character he takes with him.

You must take personal responsibility. You cannot change the circumstances, the seasons, or the wind, but you can change yourself. That is something you have charge of. We all have ability. The difference is how we use it. We must not, in trying to think about how we can make a big difference, ignore the small daily differences we can make which, over time, add up to big differences that we often cannot foresee. To put the world right in order, we must first put the nation in order; to put the nation in order, we must first put the family in order; to put the family in order, we must first cultivate our personal life; we must first set our hearts right.

To know what is right and not do it is the worst cowardice.

Upon the conduct of each depends the fate of all.

Our attitude toward life determines life's attitude towards us. There are two primary choices in life; to accept conditions as they exist, or accept the responsibility for changing them. Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from yesterday. I believe that we are solely responsible for our choices, and we have to accept the consequences of every deed, word, and thought throughout our lifetime. Heaven on earth is a choice you must make, not a place we must find.

WANT TO FLY LIKE AN EAGLE? YOU HAVE TO BE THE EAGLE!

Humankind has not woven the web of life we are but one thread within it. whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together All things connect. ...

Chief Seattle

WHEN YOU OFFER THE GIFT OF FRIENDSHIP, AND LOVE TO OTHERS, INCLUDE A NEW GIFT, CALLED RESPECT. FOR WITHOUT RESPECT, THERE IS NO LOVE, AND FRIENDSHIP BECOMES TAINTED. UNREAL, LIKE THE PAINTED FACES.

WALK IN BALANCE, WITH HONOR, LOVE, AND RESPECT FOR ALL.

Bookhabit Poetry Competition

2008-10-13T07:47:00.000-07:00

Hi Lorna

I thought the readers of your website might be interested in our competition and was hoping you could post details on your site.

Bookhabit.com, in association with the New Zealand Poetry Society, are staging an international poetry competition that celebrates written and performance poetry.

US$2600 in prizes

Free Entry

Written, audio and video submissions received

All categories, ages and countries.

The competition began on 22 September 2008 and entries must be submitted online before 2 November. Each week 100 poems advance to the second round, so don't wait until the closing date to submit your entries.

Full entry details are at www.bookhabit.com/competition

Kind regards

Clare

Clare Tanner

Email: clare@bookhabit.com
www.bookhabit.com

Bookhabit Poetry Competition

Law of attraction

2008-10-09T16:10:00.000-07:00

Law of Attraction says, "That which is like unto itself is drawn."

Once you activate a vibration within you, Law of Attraction begins responding to that vibration, and you're off and running—whether it's something wanted or unwanted.

Law of Attraction, and when it is said to you, "Ask, and it is given," there is no more powerful statement that is at the basis of what makes things happen.

Everything is valid and everything is truthful, because Law of Attraction lets everything be.

Within the seed of your desire is everything necessary for it to blossom to fulfillment, and Law of Attraction is the engine that does the work.

If you will relax and allow Law of Attraction to do the organization, the managing, then you can spend your time doing the things that please you

Reflections

2008-10-08T14:31:00.000-07:00

Don Nicolson Brand New Day

2008-10-06T04:03:00.000-07:00

Check out Dons website ...www.myspace.com/donseventy7.... I love his voice...lyrics and melodies. He's also such a sweet guy.

I met Don and some other great musicians a few weeks ago at an art exhibition we were invited to at continental style cafe Poppies. What a wonderful evening and again so lovely to connect with more altruistic souls!

Aside from the culinary delights dished up by Marcin and his sister Gosha (originally from Poland) are encouraging social enterprise for artists, promoting creativity and exhibiting Art from www.thepoppiescafe.co.uk... soon to be transformed into bistro. My friend Marcin has such enthusiasm and plenty exciting ideas for development. It was a cosy evening as we huddled together with Saxophonist, keyboard player, guys with assorted djembis and bongos belting out the beats and rhythms from primal depths. Initially there was a Mediterranean feel to the atmosphere then branching out with African beats and rhythms.

The whole evening was food for the soul from start to finish as we all sat round singing then dancing inspired by the ambience of wider community spirit, more than half of the guests were guys from various pockets of Europe and beyond. I was in my element socializing with such kindred spirits where time and inhibitions are left behind, as music is so much a part of everyones being.

Tribute music

2008-10-03T16:38:00.000-07:00

Yaaay I just got a letter today from forward press, to say I got another poem published in a book called 'THE ART OF LIFE' anchor books. I'm just about ready to go to the publishers now with my novel.... More creations on the horizon as we've been given the opportunity to do another art exhibition, with the special needs groups creations and our own work. We have been given a lot of gallery space for second week in November...So it's going to be a exciting time now experimenting with other mediums and some fresh ideas.

Amazing macro photography

2008-09-28T16:34:00.000-07:00

Here's some of my favourites.... my son sometimes logs into this blog with his friends at school....so amongst all the beautiful flowers here's some fab shots of beasties... bugs...insects and amphibians for you all! xx

This is inspirational, informative scan art from Milliande is brill!!

There's no words to describe how beautiful these are... awesome medicine for the heart x

Flowers and their meaning

2008-09-28T15:08:00.000-07:00

Flowers and meanings have been the subject of conversation for as long as humankind has taken the time to behold the beauty enfolded in each petal.

Symbolism is endless in flowers and meanings range from protection, to love, to warnings, to wealth.

As flowers are the actual reproductive systems of plants, most generally flower meanings deal with:

* Love
* Birth
* Unity
* Growth
* Connection

Over the ages humans have devised symbolic languages of flowers, which became popularized in the Victorian era. In the 1600's, Lady Mary Wortley was pivotal in bringing flowers and meanings to the public attention. Prior to her research and observations the symbolism of flowers was quite esoteric.

Floral symbolism varies according to the type of flower, how it is arranged, how many flowers in the arrangements, and combinations of flowers. Effectually, a floral bouquet as a gift could have endless symbolic meanings. Only someone savvy in the language of flowers and meanings would be able to crack the secret code.

Further, the Victorian era wasn’t the only phase of intense floral discovery. Deeper meanings of flowers were used and interpreted by:

* Native American Indians
* Ancient Egyptians
* Ancient Greeks
* Ancient Celts
* Japanese
* Chinese

and many more cultures around the world.

In the end, whether you are a Wortley devotee, or ascribe to the Chinese symbolism of flowers, keep in mind they are always a symbol of generosity and love when they are given away.

Take the time to share a deeper symbolic meaning and give some flowers to someone you know today. Below are a few flowers and meanings to get you started:

Amaryllis Flower Meanings
Symbolic of success won after a struggle. These were often given in recognition of a job well done – particularly in scholastics, writing, and artistic endeavors. Give the poet in your life a bunch of amaryllis and you are encouraging his/her creative muse. You are also recognizing his/her achievements in the arts.

Apple Blossom Meanings
Intoxicating by their very nature, apple blossoms are symbolic of heady love, peace, sensuality, and fertility. Apple blossoms (and trees) were honored by the ancient Celts as a symbol of love, and they would decorate their bedchambers with these blossoms to entice amorous nights.

Camellia Flower Meanings
With its delicate soft, round petals and gentle curves the camellia is considered a symbol of desire, passion, and refinement. It indicates a deep longing in the heart for your beloved. It is also a symbol of perfection and excellence. Give camellia’s to your sweetheart. Better yet, give some of these lovely flowers as a secret admirer!

Daffodil Flowers and Meanings
Daffodil’s have meanings of faith, honesty, truth, forgiveness, and forthrightness. They are ever vigilant in returning each spring, and with their return we are reminded that their beauty is capable of following on the shirttails of even the harshest winters (or tribulations). Give daffodils to someone when as a token of forgiveness or give them away as a token of appreciation for their honesty.

Dahlia Flower Meanings
Dahlia’s are spicy flowers, and their meanings range from a sign of warning, to change, to travel, to even a portent of betrayal. The varied symbolic meanings of the dahlia make this flower a wild card. Give to that unique, eclectic person whom you wish to compliment his/her wild side. Combine them with slender flowers like irises or tulips for a striking visual display as well as a combined symbolic message that says “temper your adventures with a kind heart.”

Lily Flowers and Meanings
Lilies are the flowers of the spiritually advanced. They are also the totem flowers of mothers (especially new ones), fertility and nurturing. Lilies are also appropriate flowers to present during weddings as they are symbolic of unions, partnerships, and long lasting relationships. Give lilies to new mothers and brides-to-be; share the symbolism of these beautiful blossoms with them, and watch their faces light up with delight.

Pansy Flower Meanings
Pansies have long been flowers of remembrance. Indeed, they have often been placed upon memorial markers and stones to honor and remember those who are no longer on the physical plane. They are also a symbol of togetherness and union, and perhaps this is why they are so appropriate for remembering those who have passed from our lives. Their beauty is the perfect testimony to the love we have shared with others in the past. Keep pansies around you when you wish to remember the fond memories and kindnesses of loved ones who have passed from this earth.

Rose Flower Meanings
Rose meanings vary according to color. On the whole, however, roses are symbolic of deep love, concentration, intelligence, balance, and passion. They are also sometimes seen as a message for healing, revitalization, rejuvenation and courage. Roses are very complex in their features, and so therefore have complex meanings. More than just Valentine’s Day favorites, roses bear the mark of honor, devotion and intense commitment on many levels. Give roses only when you are serious about your intentions.

Sunflower Meanings
The way they move their massive heads to meet the sun make them a flower of spiritual attainment, flexibility, and opportunity. They are also symbolic of good luck, wealth and ambition. Give sunflowers away to someone who is working toward a goal and needs a big break in their lives. They are also an excellent housewarming gift as the receiver embraces new opportunities in the form of hearth and home.

Tulip Flowers and Meanings Tulips are also voracious sun seekers (like the sunflower) and will sway their heads in crazy contortions seeking out the best angle for light. This makes them a symbol of opportunity, adjustment, advancement, and aspiration. They are commonly thought to represent attainment of spiritual awareness too. Because they are from bulbs, and return every year (like the daffodil) tulips are symbolic of resurrection and determination.

Soothing sounds and visions of nature

2008-09-27T20:06:00.001-07:00

So glad to have the sound on my computer fixed after all these months.......Couldn't sleep tonight so went to beach in Japan instead!!!

Beautiful nature...fantastic photography!

Mountain stream ahhh

Then there's the botanic gardens...I love this one too!

Tranquil Panpipes...Mmmm...yawn...here we go....Zzzz

Vitamin wheel

2008-09-26T06:03:00.001-07:00

Inspirational Lotus pond

2008-09-25T11:06:00.001-07:00

healing teas

2008-09-24T15:36:00.001-07:00

I've been drinking a few mugs of herbal tea each day for around nine years, started with rooibos which you could only get by mail order at that time, although my favourite is green tea, with lemon, lotus or jasmine. When I started drinking them you could only get them in health food stores but nowadays there's much more selection and they are widely available. I prefer the tea leaves to bags. I also love fruit teas although have never found as nice a one as the gorgeous cherry, blackberry, strawberry and blueberry fruit tea a friend brought me back from Germany, as the dried fruit swells in the boiling water this tea just bursts with flavour. It was nicely presented in a beautifully decorated Japanese tin. When the kids or I are bothered with symptoms such as a sore stomach fennel, aloe vera or peppermint works to ease the pain. Valerian or chamomile when I can't sleep....Echinacea with ginger and honey when any of us have a cold... I Usually have around 15 or more selection in my cupboard....Below are some more ideas and benefits>>>>>>

World Earth - politics

2008-09-18T17:02:00.000-07:00

Maybe it's the computers, maybe Nibiru or God, but for what ever reason a mass awakening that has never been seen before is happening. We have possibilities now that were not open to Humans 5 years ago. The evil being exposed no longer holds a veil over our eyes and we can look out into the darkness to see a lot of other lights coming on. Our flickers are beginning to combine into a shine and it will become easier for those remaining in the dark to see us. If Bush hadn't been so bad maybe it wouldn't have been as easy to see the darkside. If the lies being told and sold weren't so blatant, maybe you could excuse one for following them. It appears now that things are black and white, not grey like the 70s & 80s so I feel comfortable with believing this is a good vs evil thing of Biblical proportions. The fact that the evil is so big, so prevalent and so interwoven makes it obvious that it is beyond human means of reconciliation. It seems that God's endgame is just about to wrap up. You are either for Love and Life or you are with the terrorists. Everybody gets their chance to make a final decision in 6.5 billion little dramas. So what options are left for those awakened spirits that Love and seek the Family of Man? Well, here we are. We are split up into thousands of little groups around the world with no physical means of countering a death and deception machine. Maybe we weren't meant to. Maybe we just had to get that seal of "In God We Trust" stamped in our heads and then just hold our ground until the last one is done and all the events synchronize at the end of the experiment. So yes Bush should hang but so should about a million others that we've never heard of. I'm no hangman and I couldn't even find it in me to physically punish anyone of them. Lets stop worrying about "Them" and what "They" might do and concentrate on "Us" and what "We" can create to replace the old ways. If we are here to build a new world then that's what we should do. We are the creators and we Love Life, we are not destroyers and punishers. This sets us apart from the other race and it is our reflection of our Creator. We need a new system of living together based on Love and enjoining all of Mankind so lets create it here and now and get the remainder of the world involved in getting together and making something good that all our children will be proud of.

http://WorldEarth.org

A UK recession and economic competence
Posted on 04 September 2008 by Frustrated Voter

For the past eleven years we have heard nothing else but, how Gordon Brown was going to put an end to “boom and bust”, how he was an iron chancellor, and how New Labour were beyond reproach in terms of economic competence. How does this correlate with a UK recession that, by all accounts, only those outside government could see coming?

How could so many British people be so naive as to believe that a government that increased taxes and borrowing during a period of significant growth and wealth creation could sustain this? Why did we allow a government to dupe us in terms of its true financial position, with the off-balance sheet PFI initiatives that leave us owing some £170bn, which must be paid off between now and 2032? Government pension deficits of £790bn and so on? All of this on top of the “official” debt figure of a tad under £500bn.

Gordon Brown and his government have been caught out in the lie that has become the legacy of their time in office. They have left this country vulnerable, with high taxes, high debt, long term financial commitment and, above all, lacking leadership. New Labour has become synonymous with spin and its ability to consistently dupe the public and manipulate the press. Inevitably, we will all have to pay for their incompetence. Tony Blair was a prime architect and whilst he may be basking in the fruits of his former position of PM, giving lectures and writing books, he shares responsibility with Gordon Brown. Alistair Darling is just cannot fodder, he knows it, we know it, he is just the fall guy for Gordon Brown.

True leaders show their ability it times of crisis, not the good times and as this government moves from crisis to crisis, relying on a sticking plaster to fix things, it is just going to get worse. True leaders know when their time is up and those with integrity and pride, will step aside and let someone else in. However, there are two large problems here, firstly, a new leader of the Labour Party will not make any difference, given they are clearly a spent force, who have substituted the so called Tory sleaze, with a programme of lies and inept ministers. The second problem is where do we go from here?

David Cameron’s conservative party has still not told us what it is they stand for, what their policies are and what they are about. Yes, Cameron has come up with some quaint new soundbites, such as a ‘broken society’, but so far, it is just rhetoric. This is not backed up by new ideas, proposals, policies or answers. So we still have no idea what they would do if they were in government, so why would the electorate entertain such a party? We could simply be going from the frying pan, into the fire. As for the LibDems, well do we know who they are? Clegg says some sensible things, but this is a party that a year or so ago proposed higher taxes, how many governments have been voted in with a promise of higher taxes? Vince Cable is very knowledgeable, but the party sidelined him, because they felt he was too old, so what does that say about them?

The future does not look so bright! There is no obvious choice, unless Cameron can start to convince us that his party has original ideas and, above all, people that are capable of delivering on them. The main parties have 550 or so MP’s between them, but how many of us could name more than 10 or 20? What does that say about the way the political party’s are run. Even if we can name them, how many would we trust, if any, to lead us through this mess and do we know what they stand for?

As we enter this uncertain time, perhaps it is also a period for reflection, we need to consider whether our political system is truly representative. For example, how many ordinary people have a realistic opportunity to get elected as an MP, if they are not already aligned with one of the principal parties? The Labour and the Conservative party select their candidates based on many things, which often includes, but is not limited to, race, gender and loyalty. Why shouldn’t they advertise to get the best candidate? Yes this is simplistic, but the best ideas often are, surely the electorate is entitled to the best man or woman for the job, not those that are already part of the ‘club’ that is party politics right now?

Over the past 11 years, we have witnessed an obsession with government control, from the 4.2m CCTV cameras, through to the right to detain for up to 42 days without charge. We have been told that we must have ID cards to help protect us from the threat of terrorism, yet the government are trying to include so much biometric data that it is difficult to comprehend the true justification. It is claimed that the UK government and its agencies have more access to our private details than virtually any other country including Russia and China. This obsession with state control is worrying in isolation, but when this is coupled with a dishonest government, self-obsessed ministers, weak members of parliament and a virtually non-existent alternative party, we must start to worry.

There is no sense in kidding ourselves that we have choice or that we live in a democracy, if our choice of ‘elected’ representative is limited to the whim of party leaders. This country was quick to criticise China for primarily limiting their choice to existing members of National Peoples Congress. What is the difference, surely it is only scale?

We need change in this country, we need to review our whole political system and above all, we need to look at the way much of the news media sets the agenda.

www.power-to-the-people.co.uk

This is a report taken from citizen journalism at Latest.com.

Liberal Democrat party leader Nick Clegg has accused British Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown of "complacency" in dealing with what he has described as the "mental health crisis" in the National Health Service.

Speaking during prime minister's questions at the House of Commons, Clegg said that one-in-four people faced mental health problems, and that millions have to wait for three years to get help.

He asked Brown to acknowledge "that we now have a two-tier health system in which millions of mental health patients are being left behind".

The prime minister said the government had increased spending on mental health by 31 per cent in real terms in the last 10 years.

This had funded 60 per cent more consultant psychiatrists and 20 per cent more mental health nurses, he said.

He added: "That is only possible because of the investment we have made in the National Health Service, which is far beyond what many of the other parties offered or promised at any election.

"That is why there are 80,000 more nurses, that is why we're doing a billion more operations and that is why today this party, and I believe the whole House should be proud of 60 years of success of the National Health Service.

"I am proud it was a Labour government that created it. I hope it will have the support of all parties in this House."

Clegg accused Brown of "confusing a list with an answer, confusing a review with action".

"There is a mental health crisis in this country today," he said.

And he pointed to comments from the president of Royal College of Psychiatrists who said that mental health wards are "unacceptable, uninhabitable and dangerous".

"There is no excuse for the prime minister's complacency," Clegg said. "He once again relies on a promise made in a review. But when will he act to introduce a maximum waiting time and equal rights for all mental health patients?"

Brown said that government policy aimed to increase the levels of care in community, adding that "real investment" in adult mental health had increased by £1.2bn, with over £5.1bn spent on adult mental health last year compared to £3bn in 2001.

"Yes we want to do more, but we can only do more if we invest more in the National Health Service as a whole," he said.

"That is our commitment. It's not clear it's the commitment of all parties in this House."

This was a report taken from citizen journalism at Latest.com.

quote:
"Some day the medical profession will wake up and realize that unresolved emotional issues are the main cause of 85% of all illnesses. When they do, EFT will be one of their primary healing tools .... as it is for me."

- Eric Robins, MD -

We need a whole person system change - By Lorna Cameron

Many wise people are campaigning for change which is great and there are minor shifts. However it's no wonder morale around us is low as what we need is major shifts!

Throughout all of this economic and social mayhem some of us still try to find solutions that enrich our own lives and others, a lot of the time having to drown out the screaming to find respite in that place of peace, satisfied for a while to have found a haven within that plaintive existence that surrounds us. Working in the best way we can to reach in and out to encourage positive change.

Are we reassured when we have to visit the doctor, who's crying in the reception area, trying to wipe away the frustration before her next patient who requires the drug to keep the emotions in check for a while?

Do we feel safe when we are forced to visit benefit offices where inevitably people are shouting and fighting, frustrated because they are running late for their methadone appointment at the chemist. Do we trust that our private details remain that way when files get lost or details are missed because many staff are depressed, angry, tired or incompetent, either because they are being harassed by the claimant, bullied by the over stressed manager, or they're scrambling about with the small print in a social security system which evolves at such a rate even the sharpest of minds are beset with bluntness? How are the dynamics in balance within a system so detrimental that those with integrity are being tarred with same brush as those abusing the system.

Are we comforted when we send our kids to the school where certain teachers are taking their frustrations out on the kids and visa versa! Taking aside recent strikes,... Is our kids education affected even further by the many great teachers who are burnt out with the crisis and are falling sick much more often as a result. If we have to go that step further we're even lucky to be able to talk with the same head of education twice in the same term as they're changing jobs so rapidly.

Do we feel safe in our streets where many kids now know only destruction, because they are so angry at their parents, who are also angry or numb amongst other things? Does Gordon Brown think it's going to help becoming santa and providing low income families with computers, How will this resolve things? All the people on low incomes I know already have a computer, and of course computers can teach us a lot, but can kids type in the word nurture, love, hope and family interaction? Isn't a great leader supposed to a great teacher and student also.

Don't we all feel sad when we see and hear kids as young as four trying to form family union with their peers looking for some sort of acceptance and guidance because no one is ever home? Nursery places for two year olds, so the kids can bond and spend more time with the nursery teacher, that will help the economy! Again I'm saddened by what is being taught here.

Do we feel protected by the policeman/woman whos pile of paperwork takes so much time that crimes are being brushed under the carpet as there's just not enough time!

Are we considered human beings in the solicitors office, or when we are forced into court for a crime that someone else committed within a legal system that holds no real protection and justice plays no part in.

I wonder if politicians would perhaps see and feel differently about things if they actually camped out here on the streets and really saw what was going on and had to use the services they are claiming that are changing so much for the better. I wonder if they could sleep at night with people screaming in their street. Is the remedy really earplugs and shutters? Is there any real alliance? Sure all those bureaucrats in their offices love penning statistics that tell us there is, of course you listen to the people who visit your office with their hypothesis, read the reports, provide us with the data, go visit hospitals and community centres for a couple of hours after your business lunch. But are they up for the challenge of actually living here where hyenas are screaming and kids are being ripped apart! Do they really know how many peoples human rights are being infringed?

The statistics of development in all of these services that Gordon Brown keeps comfort feeding us with gives me no emotional nourishment at all! I see little or no improvement in this community or in wider circles of society I've connected with. Occasional little buds of fruition with certain services that we have to rely on, but nothing to shout home about. The statistics available by the media seem so much like fiction it's hard to know what medium to trust anymore! Apparently the government is aware of how many people are being prescribed anti depressants. I wonder how many of these people actually take them? How many people has the health minister come into contact with that hide them away in a drawer. I wonder if he's aware of what number sell their prescription drugs on in order to get cash for other more effective drugs! Statistics are as reliable and honest as the people or computers that provide them!

Addiction is epidemic. Some of us know why addiction of any sort arises and I think that most people who do know would agree it stems from some sort of trauma, but there are still plenty who haven't crossed that threshold yet and aren't aware. Revelation of dysfunction and the effects within families, exposes the toxins that inevitably leak out to the rest of society. How can we cut back the pressure and stress and really work in alliance to encourage a proactive way of life for everyone. Integrate some sort of system where every individual can actually access, give and receive that support.

So what do we do to satisfy ourselves and get the support we need. We all get together in our small groups, loving, supporting and comforting ourselves in the best way we can, everyone is suffering to some extent and many broken people profoundly affected by "this broken down system". Its become a world where where dysfunction, violence and abuse is considered acceptable by many! Still the wise compassionate ones find ways to create our own little pockets of safety and security within this tainted world of anger and fear, trying to shield our kids from some of it and racking our brain-hearts to find a solution to help them/us deal with the latest manipulation!

It seems to me that propaganda and continually picking up the pieces generates attrition. Wouldn't it be a better idea to target more of the the root cause..
Focus more on educating, guiding youngsters and teenagers more about the responsibility of having children and more importantly their parents about the responsibility of parenthood.

How much effort does it take to enhance a child's quality of life with love, respect, discipline, support, understanding, communication, relationship, nurturing and bonding. Many adults just don't seem to know much about it, perhaps because they haven't been shown it themselves

What about using the media to highlight and educate about the extremes of what happens to families who are living with abuse, dysfunction, passiveness. There are plenty of buildings, churches, community centres, health centres and schools that could accommodate groups outwith business hours. People just need encouragement to cross the threshold. A safe environment where support groups and families could meet "Family development meetings" rather than asbos! The kids I've come into contact with that have them hold their asbo up like a sheriffs badge, just another way to get attention, they don't mind negative attention they are used to it. How counter productive is it for children to be inspired by the Jamie Olivers of this world or Super nanny when some parents don't even recognise that there are issues present they could support their families with.

Why not raise awareness of the benefits of being within a loving, safe, respectful, wholesome environment. Raise the questions about whether it is the responsibility of the teachers, government, NHS staff, carers, social workers, police, childminders, nurseries to parent children or is it the parents responsibly. How abuse, cruelty dysfunction is the crumbling vertebrae that forms the backbone of health problems. What about we stop brushing under the carpet the fact that the way peoples bodies react to emotional trauma and stress is with psychological, physical and Physiological symptoms. Of course there are leopards that will resist changing their spots, but more collective consciousness is necessary to reach inward and prioritise.

It's so encouraging to note how much is achieved when vulnerable individuals are able to work in the community alongside people who have "been there" and come out the other side and heartwarming how much random acts of kindness, compassion and also awareness acts as a catalyst for improving self worth, self esteem and confidence.

Individuals who are unemployed could get paid to use certain skills for the benefit of the community, everyone has at least one skill that could help another person or the environment. This makes much more sense to me than handing out the latest benefit labelled "INCOME MAXIMISER." Finding ways to help people learn more about budgeting and priorities. I for one find it concerning when I hear of people not being able to afford nourishing, wholesome food for their children, because they are on a low income or receiving government assistance. With imagination and good planning it is achievable.

This is written from my experience from what I have seen, situations I've been involved with and what I've heard. Based on this I know experiences for many are getting worse. People's health in all walks of our society are being affected, not just poverty stricken areas. And at this rate of decline the velocity of destruction is a very worrying prospect, as the repercussions affecting humanity will also mame future generations of our civilisation.

Cut down NHS waiting lists by more people in power simply advocating whole person
...nurturing...love...respect...morals...values...discipline...consistency...nourishment
A foundation that will make massive strides to healing the whole earth, enabling us all to flourish and future generations!

Taken from the manuscript of my novel "Behind Closed doors."
©Lorna Cameron

Don Nicolson Brand New Day

2008-09-18T05:38:00.000-07:00

www.myspace.com/donseventy7....Check out his website. I love his voice, lyrics and melodies. He's also such a sweet guy.

I met Don and some other great musicians a few weeks ago at an art exhibition our friends invited us to at a continental style bistro, what a wonderful evening! Marcin and his sister Gosha from Poland are encouraging social enterprise for local artists promoting their creativity with exhibiting their work from their bistro and via their website. The evening was a great success, a real continental feel to the night as we all sat round singing, inspired by the ambiance of community spirit, more than half of the guests were guys from different corners of Europe and beyond. I was in my element in such a relaxed atmosphere with kindred spirits with plenty singing and dancing enhancing the evening further. Huddled together in the corner of the room with the Saxophonist, keyboard player and the guys belting out the beats and rythmns with assorted djembis and bongos, felt like the lovely relaxed atmosphere found when on holiday with a group where instruments and music are so much of a part of everyones being that inhibitions and time are left behind.

The Harley Davidson Facts

2008-09-17T04:27:00.000-07:00

The Harley-Davidson Facts

The inventor of the Harley-Davidson motorcycle, Arthur Davidson , died and went to heaven.

At the gates, St. Peter told Arthur. 'Since you've been such a good man and your motorcycles have changed the world, your reward is, you can hang out with anyone you want to in heaven.'

Arthur thought about it for a minute and then said, ' I want to hang out with God.'

St. Peter took Arthur to the Throne Room, and introduced him to God.

God recognized Arthur and commented, 'Okay, so you were the one who invented the Harley-Davidson motorcycle? '

Arthur said, 'Yeah, that's me...'

God commented: 'Well, what's the big deal in inventing something that's pretty unstable, makes noise and pollution and can't run without a road?'

Arthur was a bit embarrassed, but finally spoke, 'Excuse me, but aren't you the inventor of woman?'

God said, 'Ah, yes.'

'Well,' said Arthur, 'professional to professional, you have some major design flaws in your invention !

1. There's too much inconsistency in the front-end suspension

2. It chatters constantly at high speeds

3. Most rear ends are too soft and wobble about too much

4. The intake is placed way too close to the exhaust

5. The maintenance costs are outrageous!!!!

'Hmmmmm, you may have some good points there,' replied God, 'hold on.'

God went to his Celestial supercomputer, typed in a few words and waited for the results.

The computer printed out a slip of paper and God read it.

'Well, it may be true that my invention is flawed,' God said to Arthur,

'but according to these numbers, more men are riding my invention than yours'.

Queen of Sheba

2008-09-16T14:59:00.000-07:00

Arts and healing connections I've made throughout this time have have had an enormous impact with my recovery from a horrible illness. To integrate the fruits of those developmental stages is liberating....my earnest embrace whilst cultivating my true potential.

Lorna

Mozart

2008-09-11T17:58:00.000-07:00

Mozart

How could I even begin to paint a picture of you?
Should I sketch the history of your life?
That of your family
Of your hardship
Your handicap
Your rebellion
of suppression
Your Insight
Your energy
Your sweetness
Your chivalry
Your rawness
Your intent
Your passion
Your weakness
Your strength
Your humour
Your love
Your hate
Your misguided fate
Your icing on the cake
Your dance
the trance.
And meek
So discreet!
How nice
So precise
A soldier
The Knight
Trepidation
Humiliation
Your feather touch
How it means so much
To this soul
To feel, and be
you touched, and felt
Oh, how we melt
And dance, and know
And how you grew
as we grow
In such a short space
How we feel your grace
No need to ask why
composition guides us to that sky
Those notes that sing
unfolding those wings
The genius that you are
Always, and by far
That primal voice
Outcasts society's noise

By Lorna Cameron

Poem for One leaf One link Book

2008-09-07T17:40:00.000-07:00

This is the poem and photo I submitted for "One leaf one Link Book" a celebration of community spirit, which gets published this month. I've already seen the other entries great poems and unique photos... the book launch event is on 10th October when we will all get presented with this lovely book.

Creations from inspiration at Aberdour beach

2008-08-28T15:46:00.000-07:00

Aberdour beach jewels were the catalyst that inspired me to make these booklets, they're made out of recycled paper. The fruits...oranges, lemons and limes I drained then dried in ramekins over the heater from the remnants of my cold/flu medicine, along with cloves, cinnamon and ginger then made the rest into pot pourri.... Mmmmm aaahh what a gorgeous aroma! Incorporated into each booklet are four poems that I've written over the last couple of years, there's about forty altogether, although some I wouldn't show here as they are too personal/private!

Also pictured is a storage box I made with recycled stuff, hand painted material for interior. The box is held up by a candle frog my son brought me back from his school trip to Holland, Belgium and Germany.

I understand

2008-08-25T20:44:00.000-07:00

I understand how scarlet differs from crimson because I know that the smell of an orange is not the smell of a grapefruit...without colour or its equivalent, life to me would be dark, barren a vast blackness...Therefore, I habitually think of things as coloured and resonance. Habit accounts for part. The souls sense accounts for another part. The brain with its five sensed construction asserts its right and accounts for the rest. The unity of the world demands that colour be kept in it whether I have cognizance of it or not. Rather than be shut out, I take part in it by discussing it, happy in the happiness of those near me who gaze at the lovely hues of the sun set or rainbows.

Helen Keller

'The world I live in' 1908. Miss Helen Keller who was blind and deaf, writes of colour.

"OH Kitty how nice it would be if we could only get through into the Looking glass house! I'm sure it's got oh!! such beautiful things in it! Let's pretend there's a way of getting through into it somehow Kitty....Let's pretend the glass has gone all soft like gauze, so that we can get through....Why, it's turning to a mist now, I declare! It'll be easy enough to get through."

Lewis Caroll described an analogous shift in Alice's adventures in Through the looking glass.

"The development of an observer can allow a person considerable access to observing different identity states, but a person himself who has not developed the observer function very well may never notice the many transitions from one identity state to another."

Charles T. Tart
'Altered states of consciousness 1977.

I'm so excited I just got photoshop today and some real practical help with my computer, my friend spent five hours cleaning it all up and he fixed it so its all working so much better, also got some tips on technicalities that will make life easier for me.

I got some beautiful freesia too, so hard to find some that actually have some scent these days...Alas these ones smell gorgeous, strong enough to fragrance my whole bedroom.

Love your shadows

2008-08-23T18:41:00.001-07:00

Love your shadows

"There is that part of ourselves that feels ugly, deformed, unacceptable. That part, above all, we must learn to cherish, embrace, and call by name."

Macrina Wiederkehr

Each of us has characteristics we define as ‘good’ and those we define as ‘bad.’ The parts of ourselves that we continually reject want to be acknowledged and loved. Until we honour these aspects, they will continue to assert themselves. They will do whatever they can to get our attention.

What aspects of yourself do you reject?

Take a few moments to open to the parts of yourself that you do not love. See each one honestly for what it is. Explore the wounds and the motives that gave rise to its condition. Love a wounded part of yourself and it will heal.

"...self-contempt never inspires lasting change."

Jane R. Hirschmann and Carol H. Munter

"The first step toward change is acceptance. Once you accept yourself, you open the door to change. That's all you have to do. Change is not something you do, it's something you allow."

Will Garcia

I had been looking through my book again about the power of the subconscious and had come across "The argumentative method" which had stemmed from the work of Dr. Phineas Parkhurst Quimby a pioneer in mental and spiritual healing. Dr. Quimby would use this method convincing himself and his patients that sickness is due to false beliefs, groundless fears and negative patterns formed in the subconscious mind, and that the basis of all healing is to argue it all out in the courtroom of your mind convincing yourself the disease or ailment is due to distorted, twisted patterns that have taken form in the body. Continuing to build up all the evidence about the disease being a shadow of the mind and mustering up all the healing power within to argue it all through enables you to find your favourable verdict, bringing forth liberation by spiritual understanding and faith.

"I HAVE DONE THIS SO MANY TIMES AND RECOGNISED THE POWER NEGATIVE THOUGHTS CAN HAVE ON THE BODY, BUT STRUGGLED AT TIMES ABOUT HOW TO ACTUALLY BRIDGE THE GAPS OF UNDERSTANDING IN ORDER TO RENDER A VERDICT IN THAT COURTROOM OF THE MIND. WHEN I BECAME FULLY CONSCIOUS OF THE VERDICT AFTER REALISING WHAT THAT LACK OF BELIEF WAS ALL ABOUT THEN THE TRUE ANSWERS STOPPED SLIPPING IN AND OUT OF CONSCIOUSNESS...

....SO ALL THE EXPERIENCES THAT WERE THE CULPRITS HOLDING THE WHOLE PROCESS BACK EVENTUALLY HAVE BECOME POWERLESS....IT WAS SOMETHING WHICH HAPPENED THIS WEEKEND, MY FEELINGS ABOUT IT AND REACTION TO IT THAT POSED THE QUESTIONS THAT ENABLED ME TO BECOME COMPLETELY AWARE OF THE REASONS WHY I HATED MY RIGHT ARM SO MUCH AND ALSO WHY MY LEFT ARM WOULD REACT IN SYMPATHY. THAT EXPLAINES ABOUT THE SEIZURES AND WHY MY IMAGINATION HASN'T GATHERED THE CREATIVE MOMENTUM I KNEW IT HAD...IT HAS BEEN IN A LITTLE BOX DYING TO BREAK OUT! NO WONDER I KEPT GETTING SO FRUSTRATED......phew and whoooohooo...Finally the missing piece!!!!!"

显示一个新的月亮

2008-08-19T09:58:00.000-07:00

显示一个新的月亮

夏夜
卓有成效的视线
启示和
整个夜晚
其时，黎明
收获中国交响
显示一个新的月亮

由洛娜

Moiras art exhibition in aid of ME research

2008-08-17T14:37:00.000-07:00

Here are some of the photos from our art exhibition organised by Moira in her garage, as part of Aberdour festival weekend, which is a wonderful fun-filled weekend of activities from morning 'till night and a gathering of all clans of all ages in the the community. Moira is my friends twin sister who is a very special woman but unfortunately is having to deal with a severe form of ME.... 50% of all sales went to ME research. All artwork here has been done by individuals who have health problems and find expression through art eases some of that pain. The forth and fifth photos are artwork by clients of 'Re-create' special needs group, and we were all especially delighted for Arthur who sold his first piece of art. Arthur's piece which is hanging from the ceiling in photo four was painted using only his head....the brush gets attached to a copper pipe on his specially fitted helmet, and we watch in awe as Arthur paints his masterpiece. Arthur's only form of communication is by eye contact and he uses this method to choose his colours etc....

Make time to Play

2008-08-14T17:37:00.000-07:00

Make time to play

"If we fail to nourish our souls, they wither, and without soul, life ceases to have meaning.... The creative process shrivels in the absence of continual dialogue with the soul. And creativity is what makes life worth living."

Marion Woodman

Stress, fear, negativity, too much to do and doing things for others at the expense of our own needs -- these all stifle our innate creativity. Relaxation, fun, meditation, and going after our dreams all get the creative juices flowing. Soul is always creative, always fresh and new.

How can you create more space in your life to allow the soul’s energy out to play?

"I learned... that inspiration does not come like a bolt, nor is it kinetic, energetic, striving, but it comes to us slowly and quietly and all the time, though we must regularly and every day give it a little chance to start flowing, prime it with a little solitude and idleness."

Brenda Ueland

"I lived in solitude in the country and noticed how the monotony of quiet life stimulates the creative mind."

Albert Einstein

Look for the gifts

2008-08-10T11:14:00.000-07:00

Look for the gifts

"In school you get the lesson and then take the test ... In life you take the test and then get the lesson."

Unknown Source

"When it is dark enough, you can see the stars."

Charles Beard

How is a problem in your life really an opportunity?

Problems invite us to go inside to recognize a bigger picture of ourselves and of life. This bigger picture brings meaning to what is unfolding. When you feel trapped in a problem, see if you can shift your perspective. Ask yourself, “What is my soul inviting me to learn from this situation?” The answer will always revolve around a quality or value, like gratitude, freedom, compassion, love, will, humour or acceptance. The answer will also always promote union rather than separation.

As soon as we find the meaning in our challenge, our resistance to it melts away. Often, awareness of the lesson is all that is needed to resolve the problem. If not, the awareness brings us courage and ways to work through it.

"The period of greatest gain in knowledge and experience is the most difficult period in one’s life."

Dalai Lama

"Out of clutter, find Simplicity. From discord, find Harmony. In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity."

Albert Einstein

Poem Loves Place by Dora Aitkenhead

2008-08-10T10:04:00.000-07:00

This poem was written by Dora one of my aromatherapy clients who we also provide outreach to for art and writing. Dora is what some would call profoundly disabled although it is indeed quite apparent she has many abilities and to coin a phrase one of my best friends quoted "We all have special Needs" don't we just!...Dora's given me permission to post this and it is the first of many of her poems I'm sure. Hopefully when we sort out the voice activated computer for her that will open up a whole new world for Dora and she'll be able to make many other connections too.

Loves Place

In your heart
I see a light
Like a Rose
A star, oh so bright.

In your eyes
I see a flowing light
Like a waterfall
Not cold, my silver and gold.

My heart speaks
Of stories untold
intertwining silver and gold
As my wings unfold

Freedom comes to my soul
My secrets will soon be told
The spirit of the eagle unleashed
Then I can be whole.

By Dora Aitkenhead

Brick by brick

2008-08-10T02:07:00.000-07:00

I have been given some wonderful news.... yesterday I got a phone call from a lady who wants to publish another one of my poems in a book. I have also been given the opportunity to do the illustration for it. The best news is that it's my poem "Honest and True", and this one has a universal message. This happiness is not because I am going to be receiving lots of cash for this publication..... I am happy and proud of the fact that someone else thinks my poem will help others. I'm also grateful to receive a free copy of this book as it will give me the opportunity to see other peoples work and in some way feel what they've experienced. Of course we can never truly feel what another person feels no matter how intuitive we are, or how our energies merge, it's easier when our truth is parallel with their truth. Words and pictures are powerful forms of communication and can reach even the darkest of places, shining that great spirit of light over the shadow balancing our day with night. Through sharing our creativity, we can relate... while bonding with hearts and minds we help to build bridges, every day.... brick by brick in the best way we can to bring an end to all the destruction demolishing the body of this world, isn't that what we all want?

I also received another beautiful gift this week from my friends aunt, the lady who helped soothe my heart on the phone one day by letting me hear her play "moonriver" on the piano. Since then aunt Anna has gone on to compile two cd's and is working on her 3rd all at the grand age of 92...what a wonderful sound!

Aberdour diamonds are a girls best friend

2008-08-07T17:13:00.000-07:00

Here is my idea of diamonds, my favourite jewels! The treasures the kids and I found at Aberdour beach, okay so what that I was the only person jumping up and down singing "Look what I found!" Anyway this was my best shopping trip to date. I love beach-combing and have never found such an array of beautiful shells and pebbles. I place them out on trays, blankets e.t.c to admire the colours, shapes and textures and think about what I can create with them. I had a friend pop round with some of her recycled paper and have used some of these treasure as embellishments for poetry books. I will also use some for mirrors and cards. Originally I made the booklets for the writing group as inspiration for them to make their own booklet for their poems. I've made 12 so far and will post them when I've added the final touches.

"I think that whenever soul is present, it’s because what you’re doing, whom you’re with, where you are, evokes love without your thinking about it. You are totally absorbed in the place or person or event, without ego and without judgment."

Jean Shinoda Bolen

Poem Sometimes by Lorna Cameron

2008-08-06T16:53:00.000-07:00

Sometimes when in trouble
our minds are scrambled with confusion
We reach for a safe haven
Only to find it's no solution

Sometimes when we're broken
in search of a safe place for our head
We rest in the place most dangerous
inviting much more than loose threads!

Sometimes in rebellion
or when we see another's assumption
We throw out a great big red flag
Which some may call dysfunction!

Sometimes when we know that
there's no smoke without a fire
We make the right decision
As burning, holds no desire.

By Lorna Cameron

Labels limit us

2008-08-04T16:07:00.000-07:00

Labels limit us

"When I let go of what I am,
I become what I might be."

Lao Tzu

How do you define yourself, to yourself and others? Are you first and foremost a husband/wife? A mother/father? A bus driver, dentist, musician ? A Christian, Moslem, Jew? A nag, joker, dreamer?

Be aware that any label puts limits on you. Today, experience how it feels to let go of the labels to rest in ‘I am.’ Feel the freedom, the spaciousness, the infinite potential of simply being.

"With every breath, the possibility of a new aspect of self arises."

Wayne Muller

"As long as I am this or that, I am not all things."

Meister Eckhart

We each of 3 purposes - The personality's, the Soul's and Spirits's. It is never too late to be who you were meant to be. Align with your life purpose and watch your life change.

WWW.Higherawareness.com

I Got sunshine

2008-08-03T16:34:00.000-07:00

Today in about 11 hours I've got some big Erin BroK deal to deal with. So tonight need tp focus on sunshine so i've played "My Girl" by the temptations around 100 times, somehow it always helps my dad used to sing this to me.... a lot...a very long time ago...Thanks dad, always remember the good times xxxx

One of my favourite Beatles tracks...

Aberdour Beach

2008-07-31T16:58:00.000-07:00

What is consciousness? by Andrew Schneider

2008-07-29T17:23:00.000-07:00

What is consciousness?

One of the most difficult issues of life to define and understand is consciousness. Yet it is a word that is used everyday and people don’t think much about it. Self-help books and personal growth courses often use the terminology of consciousness but frequently don’t really understand what it is all about. Most confuse consciousness with awareness. They are similar ideas but in some ways opposite each other.

Clarity about consciousness is all important. If we cannot properly name something we do not know it. And not knowing it, we have no influence over it. I wish to share with you a few basic insights about consciousness.

We are entering a period of human growth and development where consciousness needs to be a priority focus for each of us if we are to live a meaningful and purposeful life. Meaning and purpose are the primary fruits of consciousness development.

Consciousness is what makes something what it is. It is what defines a person as to who they are. It is the essence of a thing which reveals both its universal truth and its unique individual characteristics. Consciousness is the soul of any reality, it is its essence.

Everyone and everything has an essence or a soul and everyone and everything has consciousness. Each person or thing is unique as individuals. But we are all part of something greater as well. It is consciousness or soul which links us to our greater, universal nature, sometimes called the Divine.

When you have consciousness you are using your heart, your intuition, or your faculties of knowing that transcend the mind. Heart, intuition and these other faculties exist in the realm of soul. So when you know with consciousness you are not separate from what you know. You merge with it. You identify with it as you experience it. It moves you in a way that you experience it as a part of your greater self.

When you have awareness you are using your mind to know something in an objective way. You know something about something. You possess or have knowledge, but as the one who knows you are separate from the thing you know. Awareness happens as a mental reflex whenever the mind is exposed to something, The only choice involved is what we want to pay attention to, or the extent to which we want to learn more about something.

You could call consciousness ‘soul knowing’. The beauty of soul knowing is that soul is not separate from what it knows or contacts. It sees itself in the other. In knowing it fully we touch its essence, and in doing so we love what we know. As soul beings we are essentially love. And through this knowing with soul we grow and expand our sense of who we are as soul beings. We find peace and harmony in our relationships with those people and situations that we approach with this consciousness.

Can we change our consciousness?

We cannot change who we are, but we can shift our identity from being the personality to being the soul. This is a shift from identifying oneself as one’s self-image to identifying with one’s essence. In truth, we really ARE the essence, the soul. And we HAVE the self-image or personality.

To say that we ARE the personality is tantamount to saying that we are our sensations, our emotions, and our thoughts – which we are not. We do not HAVE a soul. We ARE soul and HAVE a personality.

In ages past, people did not speak of changing consciousness. It was not relevant. Consciousness is identity. In the past, people were their personality. And still today, the majority of people identify with their personality as who they are. However, there are more and more people able to disidentify from their personality and identify with their essence, the soul.

In many ways, these two levels of self, of ‘I,’ are opposites. It requires an extremely radical shift in perspectives to make the change from identifying with the personality to identify with the soul. One must re-evaluate all previous ways of understanding, of thinking, of acting, and of being motivated.

The change in consciousness from personality identity to soul consciousness can only occur when a person is ready. Readiness is determined by:

Having sufficient experience from which one has learned a great deal about oneself.
Being willing and able to face the subconscious realities that one has previously repressed.

Having built up a strong ego, so one is able to withstand the vicissitudes of life.
Being independent and responsible for one’s own well-being. Taking responsibility for the consequences of one’s choices.

Can you help someone else change consciousness?

Changing consciousness is not a matter of a desire that can be fulfilled. Instead, it’s a growth process that occurs from within. You cannot make a flower bloom – it will bloom when it gets to that particular stage of unfoldment. But just as the flower needs nourishing and support to get to that stage, so too every person needs nurturing and support to move through the stages of unfoldment.

We can assist people to fulfill their needs. If a person is dependent, we can help them to become more independent by supporting them to recognize and meet their own needs. We cannot help people take responsibility for their choices, which is part of the process of becoming independent, but we can encourage them to take responsibility.

If a person is independent, and is ready to move on to soul growth, we can assist them to understand what those stages of growth involve. We can also invite them to participate in group activities that are soul-based. This might involve group meditation or service of some kind. We can also exemplify through our living the qualities of soul consciousness, which then creates a resonance within others.

Every step of the soul journey necessitates a free and conscious choice for GREATER INCLUSIVENESS. And therefore, there is a letting go or sacrificing of something personal that might inhibit one from being more inclusive. This would be some thoughts, ideas, attitudes, or behaviors that are exclusive, separative, self-centered or judgmental.

No one can help another to make such shifts of perspective. We cannot force such shifts in ourselves, either. One arrives at that stage when the choice is a natural step based on the loving, intelligent unfoldment of heart and mind.

The step toward inclusiveness is inspired and supported by the soul within rather than based solely on personality efforts. When the personality releases its blocks to soul expression, the choice is simply a consciousness assent to the life and impulse of the soul within.

How long does it take to shift in consciousness?

This is a personality-based question that really has no answer in terms of length of time. It takes as long as one lives. Change is a fundamental reality of life in time and space. Change is occurring constantly, but often we don’t recognize it as it may be quite subtle.

The personality is also always trying to keep things the same. Often changes are occurring but we are unconsciously living as if they were not. When this happens, we tend to be out of step with what is happening in our life and in our psyche. As a result something does not work, things go awry and we are not content.

Sometimes the changes that are going on within us and around us are not the changes we want or like. This is because we do not understand them. And this is why they exist.

There are basically two causes for the changes we experience.

1. One cause is the necessity of subconscious, repressed content to surface into consciousness. These are frequently what we would consider to be negative things – something that exists within us that we are not aware of. It is something that we reject and do not own as ours, something for which we have not taken responsibility.

Because we are not aware of some aspect of ourselves and it wants to come into our consciousness, it is therefore causing many things to occur. We usually become aware of it by projecting it onto people or situations outside of ourselves so that we have the opportunity to see it.

It is a fact of psychological life that whatever is unconscious must in time become conscious. So there is always something from the psyche’s shadows seeking the light of awareness. If we do not pay attention to it, it will then get our attention through negative expression of symptoms.

In the Soul Journey, we explore hidden content deliberately so that it no longer controls us, and so that new pathways for soul development and expression can be created.

2. The other cause of the changes we experience is the soul’s activity within us. The soul is constantly emanating its presence in the endless forms of love, intelligence and power. It is the soul’s power or pressure that triggers the subconscious content to surface, because if there is something blocking the soul’s expression within the subconscious then a pathway for expression in conscious life must be cleared. The principle involved is that the soul can only express itself through the path of least resistance. Removing the subconscious blocks that are selfish, ignorant and fearful eliminates specific resistance to the soul’s expression.

When there is no or little resistance within us, the soul will express itself based on our awareness of need within ourselves or around us. The changes we experience through soul expression at those times are greater integration between personality and soul. We inevitably then experience aspects of Beauty, Truth or Goodness. We become more the true Self that we are.

Developing Soul Consciousness and Overcoming Challenges

In his book, Care of the Soul, Thomas Moore says that the greatest illness of modern times is ‘loss of soul.’ I do not think that we have lost soul, but simply have not yet discovered it, and therefore live in a soulless way.

The new consciousness on the planet today demands that we no longer neglect this vital aspect of who we are. Ignoring this reality has dire consequences, as Moore points out: “When soul is neglected, it doesn’t just go away; it appears symptomatically in obsessions, addictions, violence, and loss of meaning. Our temptation is to isolate these symptoms or to try to eradicate them one by one; but the root problem is that we have lost our wisdom about the soul, even our interest in it.”

Becoming soul-conscious or expanding consciousness is not a choice. It is a deep and natural urge within all of us that is being emphasized by the needs in the world today. The only choice is whether or not we will cooperate or resist the expansion of consciousness once it begins happening. And consciousness expands in all aspects of life where we have gained sufficient awareness and learning.

When we resist this movement of soul within we become ill, we have accidents, we are unhappy, we have money problems, emotional pain is experienced, relationships don’t work well. In general, our life sends us signals to which we must pay attention. Through developing soul consciousness, we learn what these signals are, how to interpret them, and then what to do about them. The Soul Journey will assist you with this.

The evidence of the drive for expanded consciousness, or soul, is found in everyone’s deep yearning to be free. The liberation we want is the release from duality – the very stuff that the challenges of life are made of. But we cannot find this freedom unless we deal effectively with the challenges.

All challenges that we experience are initiated by the soul, even though it can appear that the challenges come from other people, the world around us, society, circumstances and situations. What is the nature of these challenges? What is their purpose? How can we master them?

(Andrew’s e-book ‘Water into Wine’ identifies the basic 9 challenges of life, shows us their purpose, and gives us the understanding we need to master them.)

As we master our challenges, we gain in wisdom and develop the power, love and intelligence that is characteristic of soul consciousness. When we incorporate the mastery into our identity, we transform and experience greater liberation.

To find out more about the Soul Journey and other consciousness related materials of Andrew Schneider, please visit http://www.thesouljourney.com

What's Right or left

2008-07-26T10:24:00.000-07:00

What's Right or left!

Filled with joy from the moments
days of dance, song.
Remembering the joy that's been had
if I can
when I can.
knowing it's not me
but off course ME
Again I smile
a hopeful smile
through the tears and pain
that remain

Sitting up once more, slowly
silently
Willing myself to go on
to create, to nurture
the heart of my family
all that family.
Grieving
the ones we have lost
Where is their heart?
I'm not sure at all.
Maybe I shouldn't compare
as they are not I or us.

Three soldiers left to fight the rest.
Many guards, unique their dress
Do we have to fight?
To struggle long and hard
so far into the night
every night.
How many crossings
rivers, seas
mountains to climb?

A friend who asks what do you want?
My friend it's what I need
a want I will not demand.
He's deaf and blind
so what does he see?
The luxury of what I want was many seeds
Preparing the soil
tending the weeds
Still aspiring to the same, but my
how all has changed

Knowing we are all connected
Enjoying new family
ones who care
for more than themselves, like I.
Not afraid to feel
to touch
to say
or to bask
in the sun with I love you
And how much I miss you
The you that was
each and every day

Every beautiful sight and feeling
shared with you silently
every step of the way.
Although you may not of heard
or felt
but know, I knew
although comprehension few.
The times when prayer
is all we have left
and Love and Hope
the treasures we share
invisible
to the naked eye
but naked
to you and I.

by Lorna Cameron

We shall not ceace from exploration

2008-07-19T18:11:00.000-07:00

We shall not ceace from exploration
and the end of all our exploring
shall be to arrive where we have started
and to know the place for the first time

Play It Again Sam

2008-07-19T17:06:00.000-07:00

Play It Again Sam

An expression commonly used when asking for a repeat performance or recap of something THAT HAS BEEN SAID. The Sam in question is the pianist in the 1942 film classic Casablanca....Starring Humfrey Bogart and Ingrid Berman, with Dooley Wilson taking the part of Sam. It refers to a scene in the film where the Bogart character Rick Blaine supposedly asks the pianist to play 'As Time Goes BY' once more. However the line does not appear in the film. What Rick Blaine does say is 'If she can stand it, I can!'...Play it. There is also dialogue between the Ingrid Bergman character and the pianist on the same subject....'Play it once more Sam'...Play as time goes by. It is though that the popular misquotation of the line comes from its use as the title of a Woody Allen film of 1972.

Pandora's Box

2008-07-19T16:58:00.000-07:00

PANDORA'S BOX

According to Greek Mythology Pandora was the first human woman "All Gifts". The father of the Gods Zeus ordered her creation as a punishment for man have been given the gift of fire. Pandora brought with her from Olympus a box which contained all the evils of the world, and when she finally opened the casket all the ills escaped! Leaving HOPE alone at the bottom. 'Pandora's Box' as a colloquial expression is used to describe either serious of disasters or something that appears to be beneficial but turns out to be the complete opposite.

Human kind

2008-07-17T03:04:00.000-07:00

For tens of thousands of years cultures developed in close attunement with the elemental energies of the cosmos. The chinese recognized five primal elements Fire, earth, metal, water and wood....Native Americans included sacred sound while the Greeks identified the four energies of Earth, air water and fire. These weren't simply ideas or metaphors. Their power was experienced as real. Rivers, mountains, fire, lightning and hurricanes all spoke of the grandeur of the universe and the importance of living in right relation with these elemental forces. To stay in touch with this power, it was common to celebrate or pray to these basic elements of life.

My Words are tied in one
with the great mountains
with the great rocks
with the great trees
I am one with my body
And My heart

And now for this exquisite poem see if it moves your heart and touches you as deeply as it did I. I don't even have to look at the words now and my eyes glisten in response to my hearts call.

Hear, O humankind, the prayer of my heart

For are we not one, have we not one desire
to heal our mother earth and bind her wounds
to hear again from dark forests and flashing rivers
the varied ever changing song of creation?

Oh humankind are we not all brothers and sisters
are we not the grandchildren of the great mystery?
Do we not all want to love and be loved, to work
and to play, to sing and dance together?

But we live with fear. Fear that is hate
Fear that is mistrust, envy, greed, vanity,
Fear that is ambition, competition, aggression
Fear that is lonliness, anger, biterness, cruelty....
..and Yet fear is only twisted LOVE...love turned back on itself
love that was denied, love that was rejected..and LOVE

Love is life....creation, seed and leaf and blossom
and fruit and seed, love is growth
and search and reach and touch and dance.
Love is nurture and succor and feed and pleasure

Love is pleasuring ourselves, pleasuring each other
Love is life believing in itself...

...And LIFE...
Life is the sacred mystery singing to itself, dancing
to its drum, telling tales, improvising, playing
and WE are all that spirit, our stories all
but one cosmic story that we are love indeed
that perfect love in me seeks the love in you
and if our eyes could ever meet without fear
we would recongnise each other and rejoice,
for love is life believing in itself!

WOW!!!
MANITONGQUAT

Research on ME/CFS

2008-07-15T12:40:00.000-07:00

Research update on ME/CFS

What is ME/CFS?

Myalgic encephalomyelitis/encephalopathy (ME) is characterised by a range of neurological symptoms and signs, muscle pain with intense physical and mental exhaustion, relapses and specific cognitive disabilities.

During the 1990s the term chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) came into vogue. Since there was no specific diagnostic test for ME, and since post exercise 'fatigue' was one of it's prominent symptoms, people with ME began to be diagnosed with 'CFS'. At present, efforts are being made to elucidate the diagnostic confusion, and meanwhile the term ME/CFS is used.

ME/CFS affects 120,000 to 240,000 people in the UK and is classified by the world health organisation as a neurological illness (ICD 10:G93.3). Most people with ME/CFS are unable to work to full capacity, some house or bed bound. Little support is available to their families and carers. The cause of the illness is unknown, and no cure or universally effective treatment has yet been found.

A report to the chief medical officer of England in 2002 states..."ME/CFS is a genuine illness and imposes a substantial burden on the health of the UK population, Improvement of health and social care for people affected by the condition is AN URGENT CHALLENGE!

PATIENTS WITH CFS HAVE ALTERATIONS IN GENE EXPRESSION

Dr Johnathan Kerr and others have analysed gene expression in blood cells using microarray. Genes showing differential expression were further analysed using Tagman real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR).

15 Genes were upregulated in patients with CFS compared to normal blood donors and 1 was downregulated. The genes affected suggest T cell activation and peturbation of neuronal and mitochondrial function. Some of the genes affected suggest links to organophosphate exposure and viral infection.

-- Journal of Clinical Pathology, 2005.
according to Dr Shepherd of the MEA, "This is an important new UK study. It drives another nail into the flawed theory that graded exercise works for everybody with ME because their muscle weakness is solely due to inactivity".

BLOOD CIRCULATION IS ABNORMAL IN PEOPLE WITH ME

Dr Vance Spence and colleagues at Dundee University have been carrying out a series of experiments on blood vessels.They have been measuring skin blood flow in the forearm through laser Doppler imaging and have now published four papers with their results. The first paper showed that the blood flow in people with CFS is sensitive to a chemical transmitter called acetylcholine (Ach)which makes blood vessels dilate. This is unusual because all other diseases studied so far show a blunted response to ACh. The second study showed people with primary fibromyalgia didn't show this sensitivity. The third study looked at why the blood vessels in people with CFS were sensitive to ACh. It found that when ACh was applied it took longer for the blood flow to return to normal in people with CFS. This suggests that there may be a problem with the mechanisms in the body that break down ACh. The fourth study showed that peole with Gulf War syndrome and agricultural workers exposed to pesticides did not have this sensitivity. This shows that although there are many clinical similarities between these illnesses, they are different.

If there are problems with blood circulation as Dr Spence suggests this could account for the symptoms of faintness and low blood pressure many people with ME experience.
This research has been funded by MERGE, a very worthwhile national charity that funds ME research. See our links for more information or to give donations.

EXERCISE LOWERS PAIN THRESHOLD IN ME

Research by Dr Chaudhuri and neurological and physics colleagues at the University of Glasgow has shown that patients with ME are more sensitive to pain after exercise. This contrasted with healthy people in the study who were less sensitive to pain following exercise. Their pain threshold had become higher but the pain threshold of people with ME had become lower. Pain was measured in the skin web between thumb and index finger.

INCREASED CELL DEATH IN M.E.

Dr Gwen Kennedy and colleagues at Ninewells Medical School, Dundee, have shown evidence of increased programmed cell death in ME/CFS patients. Neutrophils are 50-60% of the circulating white blood cells. Damaged neutrophils are removed by a process called apoptosis. Dr Kennedy showed increased neutrophil apoptosis in patients with ME. This suggests a persisting or reactivating viral infection or toxic state. In its August 2004 edition, the British Medical Journal referred to this research and concluded, "Evidence is emerging that people with CFS have a detectable immunological abnormality." ME expert, Ellen Goudsmit says, "This is such an important paper. Show this report to any disbelieving doctor and watch their face!" Dr Kennedy is a MERGE research fellow. See our link for more information on MERGE.

BREAKTHROUGH IN GENE RESEARCH

The CFS Foundation has carried out a very important study on gene expresiion in the blood of patients with ME. Gene expression describes the behaviour of genes when attacked by infection or other disturbance. Some genes become very active while others shut down. The overactive genes produce chemicals which cause the symptoms of the illness.

The study analysed 9,522 genes. The genes of patients with ME showed problems in the immune system, in neurological function and in mitochondrial metabolism. Mitochondria are like batteries in cells.

The team will go on to examine all the genes in the human genome and to compare the genes of people with ME to people with other diseases in order to identify changes that are found only in ME. They will then aim to develop diagnostic tests and drug therapies. The blood of some patients will be sampled at monthly intervals over nine months to see the possible relationship between gene activity and the coming and going of symptoms.

New hope for chronic fatigue syndrome patients

9 May 2008

This research gives people hope that they have not had before

Sue Waddle, ME Research UK
Key facts

* Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is also known as myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME).
* Seven subtypes of CFS were identified in the study. Type three (the mildest of all the types), type five (linked to stomach complaints and the most severe muscle weakness) and seven (the type with the most severe symptoms including pain, swollen glands, sore throat and headaches) were found only in women and subtype two - characterised by extreme tiredness after exercise as well as joint and muscle pains - was found predominantly in men.

* The 'New Horizons 2008: International Conference on ME/CFS Biomedical Research' has been organised by ME Research UK (www.meresearch.org.uk) and the Irish ME Trust (www.imet.ie) to highlight the latest advances in identifying the biological origins of the disease.

Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) might be split into a number of distinct genetic types in the future, according to new research presented at a conference in Cambridge. It's hoped the research will eventually pave the way for new diagnostic tests and treatments for the illness, which affects about one in 200 people in the UK.

The new research involved a genetic analysis of 55 patients with CFS and 75 healthy blood donors. There were 88 genetic differences in CFS patients - and this enabled the condition to be divided into seven subtypes (each separated by a specific genetic pattern). Each subtype has a different severity and combination of symptoms.

Lead researcher, Dr Jonathan Kerr of St George's University of London believes viruses can trigger chronic fatigue syndrome. He told the health information team: "Our research holds the potential to allow us to narrow down the subtype of CFS - and the type of infection that has caused it - so you can then treat it with the appropriate medicine."

He said a blood test to distinguish between the subtypes is "in the pipeline". Dr Kerr also stressed that further research is needed to develop these findings.

Sue Waddle, representative of ME Research UK, told the health information team that CFS has traditionally been viewed as a psychological illness in the medical profession, which has led to frustration in patients.

"Doctors get quite frightened by illnesses that they don't understand," said Sue Waddle. "If this research increases understanding of the condition then doctors will be more confident in dealing with patients, so hopefully we can move away from the psychological aspects and concentrate on the biological."

Sue Waddle explained that to date there hasn't been a proper diagnosis and therefore no treatments for the condition. "There is now real hope for treatments in the not too distant future - this research gives people hope that they have not had before."

Funding is urgently needed for this important research. Please send donations to the CFS Foundation, 2 The Briiars, Sarratt, Rickmansworth, Herts WD3 6AU.

Healing the whole

2008-07-15T12:08:00.000-07:00

When we get out of the glass bottle of our ego,
and when we escape like squirrels turning in the
cages of our personality
and get into the forests again
we shall shiver with cold and fright
but things will happen to us
so that we don't know ourselves

Cool, unlying life will rush in,
and passion will make our bodies taut with power
we shall stamp our feet with new power
and old things will fall down
we shall laugh
and institutions will curl up like burnt paper.

D.H Lawrence

You do not have to be good
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves

Tell me about dispair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whowever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.

Mary Oliver

Seaside by Lorna Cameron

2008-07-06T17:25:00.000-07:00

Lunch, seaweed art, shell shopping, reflecting and of course embracing our July elements....Surprisingly!! Windy, cold, rainy day at Tentsmuir which is my favourite Scottish beach so far as it has great forest with cycle paths, picnic area and the icing on the cake... sand and sea...Tingly skin and rosy cheeks, always good too! Toby's first time at the beach....I love this dog, he is a treasure.

Too old to make sand castles? Lads C'mon! You what? Huh!! Okay Jelly fish hunting it is then. So there were six jellyfish to be found all different colours...I've just posted the purple one below.

Unfortunately the rain marked my camera lens in these, and I've just sussed out today that I have to change the date on my camera each time I take photos otherwise it keeps imprinting all different dates from 2003....wierd! A rather sombre poem, very unusual for me after a day at sea.

No maybe

Maybe in anticipation
I found joy, at one time
A thought of what, maybe
No more does the moon change the tide
Or the sea air aid the senses
Flowers have no scent
Bees have no direction.
The trees void of leaves
and sky of armageddon
There is no maybe!

Lorna Cameron

Hello

2008-07-06T17:11:00.000-07:00

Hello

Shakespeare

2008-07-05T10:17:00.000-07:00

From Shakespeare's Macbeth, 1605:

LADY MACBETH
We fail!
But screw your courage to the sticking-place,
And we'll not fail.

Meaning

Be steadfast and of good courage.

This quotation from Julius Caesar is one of Shakespeare's best-known lines. Mark Antony delivers a eulogy in honour of the recently murdered Julius Caesar:

Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears;
I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.
The evil that men do lives after them;
The good is oft interred with their bones;
So let it be with Caesar.

Caesar had been assassinated by a group of conspirators led by Brutus. Brutus had previously delivered a speech in which he claimed that the murder had been done in the name of freedom. In a clever speech, Antony turned the mob against Brutus and the other assassins.

From Shakespeare's Hamlet, 1603. Horatio describes to Hamlet the appearance of his father's ghost:

Hamlet: What, look'd he frowningly?

Horatio: A countenance more in sorrow than in anger.

From Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, 1594:

JULIET:
'Tis but thy name that is my enemy;
Thou art thyself, though not a Montague.
What's Montague? it is nor hand, nor foot,
Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part
Belonging to a man. O, be some other name!
What's in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet;
So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call'd,
Retain that dear perfection which he owes
Without that title. Romeo, doff thy name,
And for that name which is no part of thee
Take all myself.

Meaning

What matters is what something is, not what it is called.

From Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, 1601:

DUKE ORSINO:

If music be the food of love, play on;
Give me excess of it, that, surfeiting,
The appetite may sicken, and so die.
That strain again! it had a dying fall:
O, it came o'er my ear like the sweet sound,
That breathes upon a bank of violets,
Stealing and giving odour! Enough; no more:
'Tis not so sweet now as it was before.
O spirit of love! how quick and fresh art thou,
That, notwithstanding thy capacity
Receiveth as the sea, nought enters there,
Of what validity and pitch soe'er,
But falls into abatement and low price,
Even in a minute: so full of shapes is fancy
That it alone is high fantastical.

From Shakespeare's Hamlet, 1603:

What a piece of work is a man! how noble in reason!
how infinite in faculty! in form and moving how
express and admirable! in action how like an angel!
in apprehension how like a god! the beauty of the
world! the paragon of animals! And yet, to me,
what is this quintessence of dust? man delights not
me: no, nor woman neither, though by your smiling
you seem to say so.

This line derives from Shakespeare's Hamlet, 1600:

LORD POLONIUS

'Though this be madness, yet there is method in 't. Will you walk out of the air, my lord?'

To be, or not to be, that is the question

To be or not to be is probably the best-known line from all drama or literature. Certainly, if anyone is asked to quote a line of Shakespeare this is the one that first comes to mind for most people. It is, of course, from Shakespeare's play Hamlet, 1603 (Shakespeare's actual title is - The tragedie of Hamlet, prince of Denmarke):

HAMLET:

To be, or not to be: that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them? To die: to sleep;
No more; and by a sleep to say we end
The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to, 'tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish'd. To die, to sleep;
To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub;
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause: there's the respect
That makes calamity of so long life;
For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,
The oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely,
The pangs of despised love, the law's delay,
The insolence of office and the spurns
That patient merit of the unworthy takes,
When he himself might his quietus make
With a bare bodkin? who would fardels bear,
To grunt and sweat under a weary life,
But that the dread of something after death,
The undiscover'd country from whose bourn
No traveller returns, puzzles the will
And makes us rather bear those ills we have
Than fly to others that we know not of?
Thus conscience does make cowards of us all;
And thus the native hue of resolution
Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought,
And enterprises of great pith and moment
With this regard their currents turn awry,
And lose the name of action.--Soft you now!
The fair Ophelia! Nymph, in thy orisons
Be all my sins remember'd.

I love the extent of exploration shakespeare's mind and heart go to, the granduer of dialouge and the passion that drives his work.

Lorna Cameron

Olive branch

2008-07-04T20:10:00.001-07:00

“To laugh often and much

To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children

To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends

To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others

To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition

To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived
This is to have succeeded.”

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Alfred Vogel and Jan De Vries

2008-07-04T17:37:00.000-07:00

Alfred Vogel grew up in Aesch in Basel (Switzerland) and even in early childhood became familiar with medicinal plants and their mode of action through his father and his grandparents. Phytotherapy and the desire to help his fellow men became his life’s work, which he pursued passionately into old age.

Phytotherapist, Nutritional Adviser and Commentator

* Alfred Vogel managed a herb and health store in Basel at the age of 21.
* Almost immediately he began to advise his customers on the power of Nature as well as on healthy nutrition and lifestyle through lectures and his own publications.
* He began to prepare remedies himself and to sell them to his customers.
* Even then Alfred Vogel was convinced that a life in harmony with Nature means eating as naturally and as healthily as possible.
* In the 1930s he relocated from Basel to Teufen in Appenzell.
* Here he further developed his skills as a herb gatherer and improved the remedies he made for himself.
* In Teufen he made the crucial discovery that the mode of action of fresh plants was fundamentally better than that of dried ones.
* From then on Alfred Vogel manufactured his herbal remedies from freshly harvested plants whenever possible.
* In 1963, at an age when others think of retirement, he founded Bioforce AG in Switzerland.
* Today Bioforce AG is one of the most prominent manufacturers of herbal remedies in many European countries, Canada, USA and Australia.

Researcher and World Traveller

Throughout his life Alfred Vogel was a passionate traveller. Being a Phytotherapist and naturopath, he was full of curiosity: all plants and herbs of the Earth were of interest to him. He took every opportunity to visit foreign countries and cultures:

* From the 1950s, Alfred Vogel travelled in numerous countries on all continents.
* His special interest lay in primitive peoples with a close relationship with Nature.
* His experiences with the people of the prairie and the primeval forest showed him that the skilful management and support of Nature can often do more than the alleged skill of man.
* For example, when he was with the Native American Sioux in the USA he discovered the immune active plant Echinacea purpurea (purple coneflower), which became the symbol for the A.Vogel brand.

In 1923, Alfred Vogel established a health store in Basel, Switzerland to share the healing power of herbs, about which he had learned from his parents and grandparents, with all those who crossed his threshold. His greatest desire was to help people stay healthy and so he asked them to examine their lifestyles and diet, rather than simply seek a remedy when something ailed.

For those who could not get better by these changes alone, he worked patiently to create suitable herbal medicines which would bring the benefit of the whole fresh plant to those who sought his aid, painstakingly developing his own unique range of fresh herb tinctures. Having moved in the early 1930s to Teufen in the Appenzell region of Switzerland, where he was able to practice as a naturopath, he cultivated his extensive gardens there, always following his precept of working in harmony with nature. His plants were grown and cared for without the use of any artificial fertilisers or insecticides, hand sown, hand weeded and hand harvested to ensure the gentlest of environments for his herbs.

His reputation grew during the 1940s and his tireless work continued, learning about and working with many native European plants.

Realising that native peoples throughout the world had accumulated knowledge about plants native to their homelands, in the 1950s he began to travel extensively seeking further answers to his patients’ problems – answers which still work for us today.
One country Vogel visited was the USA from where he returned with Echinacea purpurea seeds which he painstakingly cultivated at his home in Teufen and in the Alpine region of the Engadine.

In November 1962 he wrote about his work with these plants.

“I have now raised Echinacea in the Engadine and have acclimatised it slowly, because it has gradually to become accustomed to the long, hard winter. In Teufen too, I have an Echinacea plantation which I have raised from seed. Five years ago, I tried my luck in Engadine with about one hundred plants. About fifty withstood the first winter and developed in a mediocre way because they did not come into bloom before the cold weather once again set in. For three years the plants fought against the cold weather until finally, in the fourth year, the strongest amongst them managed to produce a few flowers. At the time I increased the plants by dividing them so as to raise the annual production. At the beginning of September, in the fifth year, almost 90% of the plantation came into flower so assuring me that they had become accustomed to the climate as well as to the cultivation period.”

A.Vogel and Black Elk“Echinacea purpurea has been treasured by the Native Americans for centuries, not simply for its beauty but because of its exceptional healing powers. When we consult a medicine man about an inflamed, slow healing wound or a malignant boil, he gathers the Echinacea leaves, crushes them and applies them to the affected area. We are also invited to eat it to obtain quick healing both internally and externally.”

A few years ago I was at a conference, the main speaker was Jan De Vries. Jan spoke of many constructive healing experiences through his work at his clinics, personally and also of bioforce. He then spent the rest of his time answering questions from the audience. I was quite near the front of the crowd and had been working up the courage to ask him something about dealing with a chronic condition which has now spanned more than nine years of my life. As always I was determined to beat this chronic condition which has been interspersed with very severe relapse and periods of remission and even more frightening at times been life threatening. As the evening progressed and more questions were answered the eagerness to ask Jan of what in his experience he had found helpful for people with my condition dissolved, as I really didn't know where to start.... remembering the last time I'd spoken to a doctor about the symptoms and healing avenues I'd explored it had taken two and a half hours, and at that it was only the tip of the iceberg. As I sat there taking in all the positive energy, I realised I could not possibly put my hand up and expect Jan de Vries to deliver a two minute prescription "the cure" I'd been seeking for the complex issues and symptoms that I was dealing with, especially as I was sitting there at that moment in time looking and feeling very healthy.

Afterwards as tea was provided I had a nice conversation with a few people I knew and a couple I didn't. I then searched through the many books and read the tincture remedies that were displayed on a side table. Equipped with my purchase (tincture and copy of "The Nature Doctor" by Alfred Vogel) I felt an air of excitement passing through me as I made my way out of the room.

One of the guys from my philosophy class that I'd had missed that evening in order to go to the talk had kindly offered me a lift home, telling me just to wait on him if the talk finished before they were. Parking my butt on a armchair in one of the corridors of the hotel outside our philosophy class boardroom, awaiting my lift home I was eagerly thumbing my way through this wonderful new book, when Jan walked by heading up to his hotel room. I nodded my head and he about turned and came over to where I was sat. "I'm impressed to see you already soaking up the contents of Dr. Vogels book." he said as he signed the cherished book. I continued to have an interesting conversation with him for a few minutes 'till my pal appeared.

The moral of the story...."Sometimes you just aren't supposed to put your hand up. So a big thumbs up for the bright sparks we see through the fog."

Dr. Vogels book (www.mainstreampublishing.com) has supported my family and I through many an illness.

Dear Dr. Vogel although you are no longer here in body your spirit and remarkable knowledge live on as your work continues to be invaluable to those of us who are considered "too complex" and therefore basically ignored by many mainstream professionals. I smile every time I look at your kind face and am eternally grateful for your advice and wise words. The encouragement, support, natural, homeopathic remedies, lifestyle and nutritional guidance offered in your book are exceptional and have lightened the load in what has been an extremely challenging, confusing and frightening decade for my family and I.

Lorna Cameron

"To live according to the principles of nature is much more than a technique. It requires respect and sympathy for creation." by Dr. Alfred Vogel.

The A.Vogel Helpline
Open Monday to Saturday
8.30 - 5pm
Call them on 0845 608 5858

For lots more information on Alfred Vogel or Jan de Vries click on links at top right side bar.

One Candle

2008-07-04T06:52:00.000-07:00

'One candle can light many others' -
just don't burn yourself out too soon!

The sea has got power, but the tides are governed by the pull of the moon!
Life is a Like a Mirror - Essenes (Jewish ascetics)

What You don't like in others you aren't comfortable with in yourself! Herman Hesse
- As Above, So Below - As Within, so Without - Hermes

Every year I live I am more convinced that the waste of life lies in the love we have not given, the powers we have not used, the selfish prudence that will risk nothing, and which shirking pain, misses happiness as well. No one ever yet was the poorer in the long run for having once in a lifetime 'let out all the length of all the reins'.

Mary Cholmondeley

· Life is what you make it; you are a co-creator of your own reality: you are where you are now because you chose to learn these lessons

· you get what you need, not necessarily what your ego desires

· Your reality is based on your word, thought and deed

· your life experiences become what you focus on - you attract situations that symbolize internal relationships. Therefore be aware of and dissolve negative thoughts / subconscious blocks - Chi follows Yi eg. if you are violent & aggressive - then you will attract these situations and project your reality onto outside events

· What you resist will persist - resistance causes friction

· Life is about learning, without learning there is no progress or evolution; experience is a great way to learn - learn about SELF - mind, fears, beliefs, patterns etc. The body dies, the level of consciousness doesn't -it continues to the next life - until it ultimately merges with its maker.

· Do what you are inspired to do; strive for happiness in work and play but with respect to others (those who cross your path, our planet) - avoid being selfish or arrogant

· Love what you do or do what you love, preferably helping others, for the benefit of others

· Treat others how you want to be treated - we are all equal - we are all the same inside (we all have bones, organs, muscles etc,) - let's start acting that way and start sharing and harmonizing with our neighbors (including poor & developing world) -integrating and transcending our differences

· don't do unto others that you don't want done unto you - (in fact you can't - what goes around comes around - Law of Karma) (you are one with others)

· Be aware of and minimize fear, worry, doubt, anger, hate and all other negative thought and emotions. You're only harming yourself!

· Practice non- judgment and communing with nature - stop and smell the roses!! watch the sunset

· Become a silent observer / witness, detached from the outcome - surrender to the Flow of Life; 'JUST WATCH' - passive awareness

· Grow spiritually, leading to a grander version of yourself, however don't get into the spiritual ego trap

· Be spiritually discerning instead of judging

· Have preferences instead of desires

· There is no right and wrong only consequences

· Belief is restricting whereas knowing is empowering (Dr. W. Dyer)

· Be a love finder not a fault finder!

· Forgive and accept self and others!

· Love self, 'Love all, Serve all!' Sai Baba

· We are One, I Am That I Am

· Know that you are worthy of love, happiness, health, prosperity and abundance

· ' Two simple rules for life: Know thyself, take nothing in excess.' Socrates

· Be aware that on the journey you will uncover many parts of yourself that you didn't know existed and /or tried to hide from self and others.

· Be aware that you may change friends or your friends may change too!

· Be aware of the pace of your learning,

· Be balanced and integrated in your approach - mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual levels

· Be aware of negative ego, fears, desires, greed, jealousy - 'know it all' ego

· Be aware of ignorance, delusion, greed, changeability, gullibility, anger / hatred / ill-will, jealousy,

· Be aware that change is inevitable - so resistance is futile

· Be aware of timing - timing is everything

· Be aware your day to day responsibilities & necessities - but try to gradually cut these down

· Be aware that there are no guarantees, and this is a pathless path - teachings are only a map - not the territory - finger pointing to the moon, not the moon itself.

· Be aware of cults, giving away personal power, blind faith - faith without reason/ experience

· Be a student not a follower

· Don't believe anything - Experience it for yourself. Knowing is more powerful than belief

· And don't be attached to the trappings, psychic powers, increased power & charisma

· Be aware that you are probably reading this page for a reason - the time maybe right for another boost to your life!

· Be aware it is worth it! (but no guarantee)

· BE AWARE OF AWARENESS!!! Be aware when you lose your rag/ centre/ balance.

· JUST BE, BE RELAXED & ALERT- Rest in the 'clear & knowing state', rest in 'mere experience', abide in pure luminosity - true nature of mind.

www.Sortlifeout.co.uk

Poem No deseo by Lorna Cameron

2008-06-30T06:02:00.000-07:00

. Me aburren, entre enfermedad y pozo. Sobre todo enfermedad pero en el pozo de las partes positivas que mí estaba más, de todas formas necesito ejercitar mi cerebro,
y entonces el cuerpo debe seguir, entonces con las porciones de esperanza mi corazón. Para aliviar mi aburrimiento entre snoozes, pensé que intentaría escribir un poema español, pero probablemente solamente una línea o dos al día….Aquí es cómo va .....

No deseo

Puede esperar, no hay afán.
Rosa miraba en el espejo
del cuarto de baño.
ruborización como ella pensó
en las memorias
Además en el pensamiento del secreto

No más de corazón renching, ella gritó
Todavía sangrando, de cuál ha sido
Demasiado a menudo
poco respeto para ella parece
¿mirando su relection él vería algo
diferente quizás?

uno de los aspectos más
novedosos de este plan
Insufla un tono gótico a esta historia
nada novedoso
pero tratada come si fuera nueva.
él, un libro repleto de buenas intenciones!

By Lorna Cameron.

How where Why When by Lorna Cameron

2008-06-30T05:13:00.000-07:00

Song Lyrics By Lorna Cameron

How...Where...why...when

Verse one

How can you be so familiar
yet so distant
How can you be so kind
yet so cruel

Chorus (x2)

Where do you get to
Why do you go
Where do you go to
When will you show?

Verse two

Why do you have to hide there
in the shadows
Why do you act as though
you do not know

Chorus(x2)
Where do you get to
Why do you go
Where do you go to
When will you show?

Verse Three

I wish to God you'd come
to some conclusion
Stop playing with my heart
Like it's yours

Verse Four

Curcumstancial isn't
What the map said
Souls desire in essence
is the goal.

Chorus

Where do I get to
Why do I go
Where do I go to
How do I know?

By Lorna Cameron

Nelson Mandelas 90th Birthday

2008-06-28T11:24:00.001-07:00

LONDON, England (CNN) -- A glittering line-up is by no means a guarantee of a great night as previous charity gigs have proved -- but when that show has the Nelson Mandela factor, nothing it seems can go wrong. Amy Winehouse made the date despite a health scare.

Thousands flocked to London's Hyde Park -- and many more tuned in to watch on TV around the world -- as South Africa's former president celebrated his 90th birthday with a five-hour concert featuring dozens of singers, celebrities and sportsmen.

Though there were acts to please almost everyone, performances from safe indie guitar band Razorlight, candy pop stars Sugababes plus ageing rockers Simple Minds and Queen were never expected to produce the raw energy of a top class music festival.

And with leaden storm clouds gathering over the treetops, the whole event threatened to be a wash out even before performers hammered home the concert's serious messages about tackling HIV-AIDS.

But there was no doubting the electricity as Hollywood star Will Smith strode out onto the stage hand-in-hand with wife Jada Pinkett Smith and declared with enough force to keep the rain at bay: "The party begins now!"

Razorlight delivered a solid opening, followed by a dance performance and then the stunning sounds of the Soweto Gospel Choir, the night's first South African act.

After British singer Leona Lewis roused the crowd with her hit "Bleeding Love," the music was halted for a series of birthday wishes videos from stars including actor Morgan Freeman, singer Sheryl Crow and David and Victoria Beckham, whose appearance prompted some uncharitable jeering from the audience.

The tributes kept coming. Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton gave a moving speech about Mandela as he introduced the Sugababes, while later on Annie Lennox tugged heartstrings with the story of a young girl fighting a remarkable battle against AIDS.

Then Will Smith, who earlier got the crowd singing the theme tune to his career-making "Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" sitcom, was back -- this time to lead a rendition of "Happy Birthday" as Mandela himself took to the stage.

Visibly frail and needing a walking stick and the support of wife Graca to make it to the microphone, Mandela was nevertheless a commanding presence, his distinctive voice rising to a powerful crescendo as he appealed for the world to inherit his struggle against HIV-AIDS.

With photographs of Mandela through the ages flashing on giant screens either side of the stage and celebrity endorsements pouring in thick and fast, the concert could easily have descended into over-orchestrated sentimentally.

But, testament to Mandela's inspirational spirit, it effortlessly rose above the mawkishness as the great man basked in a palpable wave of admiration.

As Mandela made his exit the crowd, now resolutely in festive mood, eagerly joined in with Eddy Grant's reprise of his 80s anti-apartheid hit "Gimme Hope Johanna," before the arrival of hotly anticipated singer Amy Winehouse, whose recent hospitalization had placed a question mark over her attendance.

A nervous hush descended as a befuddled-looking Winehouse tottered onto stage, looking like she might flee at any second. But as the band struck up, she produced terrific wild-eyed renditions of her hits "Rehab" and "Valerie," that whetted appetites for the finale she would sing later.

With the concert in full swing, no one seemed churlish enough to question why Queen, a band that broke an unofficial musicians' anti-apartheid boycott by performing in South Africa's Sun City in the 1980s, were among the lead acts.

And so it was to deafening cheers that Queen, Winehouse and many of the day's other stars, returned for the closing song -- a rendition of "Free Nelson Mandela" a campaign anthem.

Kings Of Leon

2008-06-27T15:55:00.000-07:00

Kings of Leon performing live at the "Festival Internacional de Benicàssim", on July 22, 2007. Kings of Leon also played at Glastonbury 2008....Fab!!!

Background information

Origin Tennessee, USA
Genre(s) Southern Rock Garage rock revival
Alternative rock
Years active 2000–present
Label(s) Sony BMG/RCA
Website Official website
Members
Nathan Followill
Caleb Followill
Jared Followill
Matthew Followill

Kings of Leon are a rock band made up of the three Followill brothers (Caleb, Nathan, and Jared), and their cousin (Matthew Followill), based in Mt. Juliet, Tennessee, United States. Their influences include Southern rock, garage rock, Hard rock, country and blues.

History

The group's name is derived from Nathan, Caleb, and Jared's father and grandfather, both named Leon.[1] Jared and Caleb were born in Tennessee, while Nathan and Matthew were born in Oklahoma. Matthew is a cousin to Nathan, Caleb and Jared. The brothers spent much of their youth travelling around the SSCS with their father, a traveling United Pentecostal Church preacher and their mother, who taught them when they were not in school. According to Rolling Stone magazine, "While Leon preached at churches and tent revivals throughout the Deep South, the boys attended and were occasionally enlisted to bang on some drums. They were home-schooled or enrolled in small parochial schools. Except for a five-year stretch when they settled in Jackson, Tennessee, the Followills spent their childhoods driving through the South, camping for a week or two wherever Leon was scheduled to preach."

Although it was rumored their father, Leon, was defrocked, in an article for Q Magazine in July 2007 Leon himself was quoted as saying "I was not defrocked, I was forced to resign." After various jobs, the brothers moved to Nashville in 1998. They formed a band in 2000 with their cousin Matthew. Their music is influenced by their religious upbringing and Jack Daniels. Brothers Nathan and Caleb originally sang country music and later moved to playing rock and roll. They worked for a brief period of time with label and management group Pistol Creek Productions. They spent their time with this label mainly singing at rodeos. They also were members of the West Tennessee Mass Choir for a short time.[2] Nathan, the eldest of the brothers, graduated from Christian Life Academy (a private school that is now defunct) in Henderson, TN. Caleb dropped out mid-senior year to pursue country music.

Upon signing with RCA, they were introduced to Nashville-based song-writer/producer Angelo Petraglia, who had previously worked with artists such as Brooks & Dunn, Trisha Yearwood and Martina McBride. Petraglia would prove very important to the band, moving them in a more rock-oriented direction and co-writing many of their songs. "I turned those guys on to the Rolling Stones and a lot of the older raw rock-and-roll stuff," he said.

In an interview Caleb Followill cited The Rolling Stones, Neil Young and Bob Dylan as some of the band's early influences. Caleb also stated though that "...because of the way we [the band members] grew up, we were really sheltered from music and we didn't know that much...", going on to say that the significant musical influences have only been in very recent years.[3]

Career

Holy Roller Novocaine and Youth and Young Manhood

Holy Roller Novocaine and Youth and Young Manhood
Kings of Leon's first release, The Holy Roller Novocaine EP came out in 2003. Four of its five songs would later be released on Youth and Young Manhood, with the songs "California Waiting" and "Wasted Time" being remade. The EP also contained the B-side "Wicker Chair". All the songs were co-written by Petraglia.

Their debut album Youth and Young Manhood propelled them to relative stardom, particularly outside the United States, where they were dubbed one of the driving forces behind the so-called "new rock revolution" by the European press. Their stakes only rose when they were chosen by popular rock bands The Strokes and U2 to tour with them. According to Jared, the title of the album was taken from their father's Bible. All songs were again co-written by Petraglia, who also contributed guitar and co-produced the album with Ethan Johns. The songs "Molly's Chambers", "Red Morning Light", and "Holy Roller Novocaine" were used in various video games, movies, and TV advertisements. "Holy Roller Novocaine" was used in the film "Stuck on You"[citation needed], and Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby[citation needed]. The first single, "Molly's Chambers" became a minor hit overseas.

Aha Shake Heartbreak

Aha Shake Heartbreak
The band's second album Aha Shake Heartbreak was released in the United Kingdom in October 2004 and in the United States in February 2005. Building on the southern-infused garage rock of their first album, the album was released to widespread acclaim and broadened the band's domestic and international audience. "The Bucket", "Four Kicks", and "King of the Rodeo" were all released as singles, with the "The Bucket" rising into the Top 20 in Britain. "Taper Jean Girl" was used in the 2007 thriller movie, "Disturbia". The band also garnered accolades from several of their rock peers, including Isaac Brock of Modest Mouse, Bryan Adams, Noel Gallagher of Oasis, Kelly Jones of Stereophonics, Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam, and Bob Dylan. The band toured with Pearl Jam and Bob Dylan for much of 2005 and 2006.

Because of the Times

In March 2006, it was announced by NME that Kings of Leon were back in the studio, working on their third album. Drummer Nathan Followill told NME.COM: "Man, we're sitting on a bunch of songs right now that we wish we could let the world hear!". The band's third album was titled Because of the Times, which may be a reference to a large UPC ministers conference of the same name held in Alexandria, Louisiana that the brothers often attended.

The album was released on April 2, 2007 in the UK, and a day later in the US to virtually universal praise. NME said that the album "cemented Kings of Leon as one of the great American bands of our time" and Entertainment Weekly called Because of the Times "an epic wide-screen movie of a CD and the band's best to date."[4] Another reviewer described Because of the Times as, "an accomplished album of unbelievable beauty and familiar, loveable grit. Kings of Leon is maturing wonderfully and with patience, not forcing anything musically or lyrically that doesn’t sound natural."[5]

After this album was released, Ed O'Brien of Radiohead admitted he was a fan, adding them to a list of Radiohead's favorite acts. He said, "I don't get jealous when I see other bands, but when I see them I think, 'Man, I'd love to be in that band'. They're young...they remind me of... the Bunnymen or something like that. They're growing, they're evolving... They're amazing players, the drummer, he's amazing. They're all great but he's really special."[6]

The album debuted at #1 in the UK and Ireland and entered the US charts at #25, selling approximately 70,000 copies in its first week of release. The album was preceded by the single "On Call", which became a hit in Britain. The album showed a clear evolution from the band's previous work, as the band's trademark dirty, southern-fried swagger was replaced with a more mature, polished sound. This, however, did not stop the album from becoming arguably the band's most successful commercial and critical release. Other singles from the album were "Fans" and "Charmer."

Only by the Night (Upcoming 4th Album)

In early 2008, frontman Caleb Followil confirmed to UK magazine NME that the band is working on tracks for the fourth album. In an interview Jared (bass) said the next album will "rock harder", and that they are "ready to tackle their southern roots...again." Recording began in February 08, when the band completed its 2007 tour.

They are currently finishing their recording sessions in Nashville, Tennessee and the album is scheduled to be released on 22nd September 2008.

In the June 2008 issue of Rolling Stone Magazine, Caleb discussed how he believes his pain medication (which he took after a fistfight with brother Nathan) inspired him to write some of the "most beautiful" songs, so much that he's claimed he is "proud track-by-track."

The band have already debuted two new songs entitled "Crawl" and "Cold Desert", both of which can be found on youtube.

On June 23rd, NME.com added on their website confimed details about the 4th album. "Kings of Leon have revealed the details of their highly anticipated forthcoming album. 'Only by the Night' - the band's fourth studio album - is due out on September 22. The Followill clan have been working on the follow-up to 2007's 'Because of the Times' in Nashville's Blackbird Studios. The band co-produced the album with Angelo Petraglia and Jacquire King".

Members

Caleb Followill (born Anthony Caleb Followill, January 14, 1982) — (rhythm guitar/lead vocals)
Matthew Followill (born Cameron Matthew Followill, September 10, 1984, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma) — (lead guitar)
Jared Followill (born Michael Jared Followill, November 20, 1986, in Memphis, Tennessee) — (bass guitar/backup vocals)
Nathan Followill (born Ivan Nathaniel Followill, June 26, 1979 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma) — (drums/percussion/backup vocals)

Poem Swells transition to pallor by Lorna Cameron

2008-06-23T15:56:00.000-07:00

His intentions be as honourable
as his words
Circumstantial, evidence has past
Seeing the reality
Of what has come to pass
is no more, the door.
A window of opportunity
Chance, a good nights sleep
Suffering no more, less
the Thorny stab of bleak
Retroactive chamber, heaving
reflections with meaning.
Mercury rises, how to cope?
With his words of revoke.
Perhaps in atonement
The answer is given
As the father echos
"For my dear, have YOU sinned?"
as swells transition to pallor
no sooner than heart touches head.

by Lorna Cameron

You Make my Day

2008-06-22T17:21:00.000-07:00

Thanks my friend
you made my day
as somehow you knew
just the right thing to say.

Stress by Lorna Cameron

2008-06-22T16:43:00.000-07:00

What is Stress?

How it can affect us?

Ways of dealing with the affects

by Lorna Cameron

Stress can be defined as the body’s way of coping with the environment around us. ‘An adaptive response to any demand put upon a person’. ‘Sigmund Freud’ sums it up in one sentence “Stress is the price one has to pay for being civilised”. It depends very much on the individuals’ perception of what a stressful situation is, as to how that person’s body reacts. Many people would see bereavement, moving house, owing large debts and getting divorced as very stressful, however others may find they can adjust reasonably easily to these situations. Some people seem to be stressed out over situations like being stuck in a traffic jam, whereas others would view this as a minor disruption, and would take a deep breath and keep calm, knowing that they cannot change the situation by worrying. If it requires adjustments either in your life or that of your loved ones then there is usually a certain degree of stress involved. Although a certain amount of stress is actually good for us, our emotional response and the ability we have to ‘rise to the occasion and rebalance ourselves ‘ are in some people quite remarkable in their efforts to shake of the demands of the outside world. However, prolonged and severe stress can be very harmful physically and emotionally.

THE PHYSIOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF STRESS

Stress causes a combination of responses in the body, such as an increase in your heartbeat, breathing becomes faster, and you breathe using the upper part of your thorax (causing hyperventilation), your blood pressure may go up, palms of hands become sweaty, your muscles will tense up, increased need to empty your bladder or bowels, the hairs on your skin may stand up, and you may suddenly start shivering or shaking. These physiological responses would be a sign of a normal reaction to a stressful situation and provided that the stress is a short term (acute) type then our body’s “fight or flight” response comes into action, for instance – If a car is speeding towards you at an incredible rate it would be described as acute stress and your “fight or flight” response would be the reaction to save your life. On the other hand, if your are constantly faced with unemployment, bereavement, illness, money worries, bad relationship problems e.t.c., then it becomes much more harmful and stress takes a chronic form.

As mentioned before occasional stress is normal, and once you have dealt with the situation and the stress goes away then your body should heal and return to normal. Chronic stress however is much more damaging. As stresses accumulate over time, eventually the body becomes inefficient at handling even the smallest of stresses. Your heart, lungs and circulatory system are influenced by the increased heart rate. Blood flow may increase 300 to 400 %. The brain, heart, lungs, vessels and muscles become so chronically over or under activated that they become damaged. According to Dr. Pearsall’s book “The Hearts Code” – ‘It is this sort of stress which may worsen or trigger heart disease, strokes, susceptibility to infection, sleep disturbances, sexual and reproductive dysfunction, memory and learning dysfunction, digestive problems, weight problems, diabetes, muscular pain and skin disorders’. It also affects your brain by releasing powerful chemical messengers called neurotransmitters, such as dopamine, norepinephrine and epinephrine (also called adrenaline). “ Research has shown that prolonged stress can produce actual tissue change and organ dysfunction. With the new MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) techniques, scientists are able to prove visibly that chronic stress can shrink an area of the brain called the hypothalamus. Researchers have found that the brains of war veterans, as well as the victims of childhood sexual abuse, have a marked reduction in the size of their hypothalamus”. The hypothalamus regulates the internal environment through the autonomic system. For example it controls heartbeat, body temperature and water balance, it also controls glandular secretions of the pituitary gland. Shrinkage of the thymus, spleen and lymphatics, which are all involved in the body’s immune system, can lead to immune deficiency. Psychoneuroimmunology is the study of the effects of stress and other psychological factors on the immune system, and there is increasing evidence that stress increases the chances of someone becoming ill. Either directly by reducing the body’s ability to fight illness, or indirectly, by leading the stressed individual to adopt an unhealthy lifestyle, i.e. alcohol, drugs, smoking, and eating unhealthy foods.

Physically - with the initial onset of stress and we experience the dry mouth, heart racing, shaking and sweating, we are at this point in the ‘alarm reaction’, when the sympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system is activated. If the chemicals released by this system are not utilised then that’s when they can cause harm to the body. The next stage is ‘resistance’ the body begins to cope with the increased sympathetic activity by releasing hormones and chemicals to counteract the effects of this activity. When ‘exhaustion’ occurs after the other responses, then the body’s resources become depleted and illness sets in. In the beginning this might show up as lethargy, taking longer to do a job, increased memory lapses and accidents, getting agitated and anxious about relatively minor situations, low self esteem and morale, headaches and sore muscles are to name but a few. When we experience the physical signs and they are starting to affect our lives then it is time to sit back and examine, reflect, relax and revalue our life, as these warnings should be taken seriously.

Psychologically – “Extensive multidisciplinary studies have presented unequivocal evidence that our psychological responses to stress and our perceptions of stress considerably effect our susceptibility to disease. In active relationship, the immune, Neuroendocrine, and nervous systems respond to the brain and psyche. “Virtually all illnesses, from the flu to cancer, are influenced for good or bad by our thoughts and feelings”, states R. Lloyd, (1990) “Healing Brain”. We have all witnessed individuals who seem to worry endlessly about situations that are outwith their control. Working mums have to deal with a lot of stress when it comes to juggling their career and childcare arrangements. Stay at home mums have just as stressful a time trying to meet the demands of their little ones, their husbands, housework e.t.c, and will find little or no time to relax and find time for themselves. A lot of people have very demanding jobs and will find it very difficult to relax and unwind, as they are constantly worrying or thinking of their work even when they are not there.

It is true to say that we cannot control every stressful situation that comes our way, however we can deal with things to the best of our ability, and if that is not enough then we have to find a constructive way of dealing with the effects that stress has upon us, there are numerous ways of doing this –

METHODS OF REDUCING STRESS IN BOTH CLIENT AND THERAPIST

When we consider all the different forms of stress control or reduction, and put them into action, then we have a concrete platform on which we can learn to alleviate ailments and discourage disease and illness.

Firstly by getting enough sleep (six to eight hours each day). This means that our bodies have a chance to renew cells and restore our nervous system.

Breathing deeply is one of the most effective ways to relax, as stress is particularly associated with shallow breathing. This in turn leads to more tension and anxiety. And unless this kind of breathing is replaced by deep, diaphragmatic breathing, using the abdominal muscles, then it is almost impossible to relax physically or mentally. A good way of doing this is by sitting or lying down, making sure you are completely comfortable, placing the flat palm of your hand on your stomach, underneath your ribcage, and inhaling as much as you can, counting up to eight, then exhale slowly counting to eight again. Concentrating completely on your breathing calms the emotions and energises the mind. It also activates the parasympathetic nervous system, which in turn reduces stress and creates a sense of calmness and control.

Meditation is a very good way of relieving stress. This involves using the breathing technique as mentioned before. Then using visualisation to encourage peaceful thoughts and emotions to emerge. For instance imagining that you are relaxing on a sun drenched beach, and concentrating on each and every muscle group, firstly by tensing the muscles then relaxing them, and working your way up your body step by step, completely concentrating on your breathing and being conscious of each and every muscle as you tense and release. Imagining that as you breathe in you are inhaling positive energy, and as you breathe out you are exhaling negative energy. Meditation is quite an individual method, and everyone will have their own pictures that conjure up peaceful images. Whichever method used it is important to be as comfortable as possible and to be in a very quiet and warm environment.

Exercise – Apart from the obvious benefit (keeping trim and in shape) exercise gives improved heart, lung and circulation function, more flexible joints and stronger muscles and bones. The appearance of skin and hair will improve and sleep will be of a better quality. Stress levels will be reduced and tempers will become sweeter. Walking in the country where the air is clean and fresh, taking in all the wonderful sights that nature has to offer, trees, flowers, squirrels, birds. Focusing on the positive aspects of our environment can bring very refreshing thoughts. Swimming is one of the greatest forms of exercise and a superb stress buster, imagine with every stroke you take that you are releasing all your negative energy into the pool. Cycling is also very good for releasing anger or frustration as is banging away on drums.

Diet is equally important, making sure you have at least eight glasses of water a day. Plenty fruit and vegetables (at least Five portions a day). And by eating a balanced diet including carbohydrates, you can increase levels of serotonin, the chemical known for its calming and soothing properties, other serotonin inducing foods include- whole grains, fruit juices, popcorn, leafy green vegetables, carrots and potatoes. Good wholesome food really is the fuel that runs the engine.

Yoga is a very affective way of dealing with tension. There are many different types of yoga, the main emphasise is on stretching and breathing. Going to a class has the added benefit of meeting new people and working within a group.

Having a strong support network of family and friends that you can talk to. Releasing tension by talking it out, we’ve all heard the saying “ A problem shared is a problem halved”.

Many people believe that prayer has a very powerful effect, and that to have some sort of spiritual belief has a profound effect – According to Dr. Larry Dossey “ Prayer based healings are one of the best kept secrets in medical science, research into the value of prayer on the effects of stress and illness are astounding”.

And lastly treating others as you would expect to be treated yourself, with love respect and honesty. Dealing with problems as they arise. A positive mental attitude about life, as there is always something positive to be found in a bad situation if we take the time to look and think about what is going on around us. There are always people worst of than ourselves!

“Peace is about…. Releasing, embracing, meditating, being peaceful, mindful, joyful, creating rituals, giving thanks, slowing down, centring, knowing that all is well, transcending the petty, climbing the ladder to success, feeling safe and having patience” ‘Susan Jeffers’(p.108) “The Little Book Of Peace” Hodder & Stoughton.

Healing Touch: “Human Beings are rather like elastic bands in that they can only stretch so far before they snap” say’s massage therapist ‘Bernie Rowan’. A good massage assists the mind/body mechanisms to produce endorphins – the body’s very own stress relievers. It is very important to make clients feel as relaxed as possible before and after treatment. Human touch is soothing in itself, and combined with stress relieving oils, a kind and caring approach, a tranquil and warm treatment room, we have a very good chance of creating a feeling of well-being and relaxation within our clients and ourselves. As therapists we have to be aware of how our attitudes and responses can reflect on the treatment. Therefore focusing on positive feelings, breathing exercises, sympathetic listening, tone of voice, open body language and relaxing music, are all essential to ensure feelings of – Peace, relaxation, client comfort, positivity. Which in turn should promote feelings of self-confidence in your client and yourself, as a satisfied client makes the therapy worthwhile. Also being confident that the treatment works will reduce inhibitions of future treatments for the client. The first step to relieving pain in muscles is by letting go and relaxing these muscles. The goal should be to limit the amount of stress and keep it under control. This requires a definite personal commitment, but the rewards should prove well worthwhile!

by Lorna Cameron

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Dossey, L . 1995 “Healing Happens” Utne Reader, no. 71 (Sept/Oct).

Pearsall, P. 1998. “The Hearts Code” New York. Random House.

Jeffers. S. 2001. “The Little Book Of Peace” Hodder & Stoughton (Glasgow).

Mader, S. 2003 “Human Biology” McGraw – Hill

Purcheon, N. 1995. “Bodycraft” Blitz Editions (Hong Kong).

Simmons, R. 1997. “stress” Element Books ( U.S.A).

REFERENCES:

http://family doctor.org. (How to Cope With Life’s challenges).

“The Dance Between Joy And Pain” Dr Mansukh Patel & Rita Goswami.(July 2002)

Natural Health Magazine (November 2003).

Oak Tree

2008-06-22T11:12:00.000-07:00

The fruit of the spirit is love, peace, patients, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

Galatians 5:22-23

Patients, kindness, joy, happiness, wisdom and understanding are qualities that never grow old. Cultivate them, express them and remain young in body and mind.

Jessica

2008-06-22T06:06:00.000-07:00

unique

2008-06-21T17:15:00.000-07:00

“And remember always that you are unique.
And all that you have to do is let people see that you are.”

Milton H. Erikson

Ara Pacis

2008-06-17T02:56:00.000-07:00

Ara Pacis

The Ara Pacis Augustae (Latin, "Altar of Augustan Peace"; commonly shortened to Ara Pacis) is an altar to Peace, envisioned as a Roman goddess. It was commissioned by the Roman Senate on 4 July 13 BC to honor the triumphal return from Hispania and Gaul of the Roman emperor Augustus, and was consecrated on 30 January 9 BC by the Senate to celebrate the peace established in the Empire after Augustus's victories The altar was meant to be a vision of the Roman civil religion. It sought to portray the peace and fertile prosperity enjoyed as a result of the Pax Augusta (Latin, "Augustan peace") brought about by the military supremacy of the Roman empire, and a visual reminder of the Julio-Claudian dynasty that was bringing it about.

Rosa mermaid mirror by Lorna Cameron

2008-06-16T11:13:00.000-07:00

I made this mirror recycling unwanted items from around the home. The mermaid was sculpted from a memory.

Conversation With The Dalai Lama

2008-06-15T15:56:00.000-07:00

Conversation With The Dalai Lama
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A group of travelers met with the Dalai Lama, in India, for several days. Their meetings focused on dialoguing what they believed were the 5 most important questions to be considered as we move into the new millennium.

How do we address the widening gap between rich and poor?
How do we protect the earth?
How do we educate our children?
How do we help Tibet and other oppressed countries/peoples?
How do we bring spirituality - deep caring for each other - through all disciplines?

The Dalai Lama said all the questions fall under the last one. If we have true compassion, our children will be educated, we will care for the earth, and for those who "have not".

He asked the group: "Do you think loving on the planet is increasing or staying the same?"

His own response was, "My experience leads me to believe that love IS increasing."

He shared a practice with the group that will increase Loving and Compassion in the world, and asked everyone attending to go home and share it with as many people as possible.

The Practice:

1. Spend 5 minutes at the beginning of each day remembering we all want the same thing, (to be happy and loved), and we are all connected.
2. Spend 5 minutes of each day cherishing yourself and others. Let go of judgments. Breathe in cherishing yourself, and breathe out cherishing others. If the faces of people you are having difficulty with appear, cherish them as well.
3. During the day extend that attitude to everyone you meet - we are all the same, and I cherish myself and you. Do it with the grocery store clerk, a client, your family, co-workers, everyone.
4. Stay in the practice, no matter what happens.

Union and communion with your soul

2008-06-15T15:30:00.000-07:00

Union and Communion with Your Soul
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Step 1.

Sit quietly in a comfortable upright position, with your feet flat on the floor, your spine easily erect, and your chest expanded. Breathe. Quiet your mind of its daily chatter. Listen to your Heart beat and surrender to your gentle breathing. Now enter into the Serene Center of your Being within your Heart. Remain quietly within the Serene Center of your Being within your Heart.

If you are constantly moving from this place of serene quiet back into your mind with its endless tapes, thoughts, and chatter, it would be appropriate for you to do an "elevator exercise". The purpose of this "elevator exercise" is to assist your surrender into the quiet peace of your Serene Center.

Close your eyes. In your mind, see the elevator doors. They are open. Step inside the elevator, and see the heart-shaped button. Push the heart-shaped button and ride the elevator down until it gently comes to its complete stop. The doors will open, and you will find yourself deep within the Serene Center of your Being within your Heart.

Once you are able to maintain your Consciousness within the Serene Center of your Being within your Heart, you are ready for the next Step.

Step 2.

See the doorway which is the entrance into the Inner Planes. In order to enter into the Inner Planes you will need to leave all your egoic energy behind. Remember the six functions of the ego are: Judgment/Criticism, Control/Manipulation, Protection/Defense...all are fear-based. Fear is the withholding of Love from yourself and usually another.

Pass through the doorway into the Inner Planes.
Once you have entered into the Inner Planes, your Soul is awaiting you. Your Soul is whole and complete. Your Soul is absolute Love. Your Soul is nurturing, supporting, loving Consciousness. You will experience your Soul as Loving Presence. You will then enter into union and communion with your Soul.

Step 3.

Thus far, you have entered into the Serene Center of your Being within your Heart; you have entered the doorway into the Inner Planes; you have known union and communion with your Soul and have experienced Divine Consciousness. Yet, as you bring this Divine Consciousness into the mind, (your mental body), guess who is waiting there? Your ego!

The ego is wily and crafty. It seeks power, and feeds upon our needs, wants, and desires. Its only purpose is to catapult us into all the negative thoughts, feelings, words, and actions that 'run' our daily lives. The ego 'runs' us 24 hours a day, unceasingly. It is tireless, relentless. The ego is an expert at both covert and overt forms of: Judgment/Criticism, Control/Manipulation, Protection/Defense, all fear-based. This is all it knows. The ego is fully resident in all four of our lower bodies: i.e. our spiritual, mental, emotional, and physical bodies.

Your ego will take this Divine Consciousness and play with it, manipulate it, disguise it, to make it its own. Guess who is waiting in your Spiritual body, your Emotional body, and your Physical body? Your ego!

In order to bring this Divine Energy through clearly, without manipulation from your ego, you must do the following:

a.) Unceasingly enter into the Serene Center of your Being within your Heart throughout the day and night.
b.) Be relentless in your practice of entering into the Inner Planes and being with your Soul.
c.) Continue "The Work" of removing the veils within all four of your lower bodies that have been created by the ego to manipulate the Divine Energy. (These veils include all your unfinished Mommy/Daddy business, negative reactivity, and the "No" of the Collective Consciousness.)
By doing the above steps, you can begin to bring Divine Energy through from Soul, without any changes at all.

Step 4.

Our Soul is actively communicating with us every moment of our waking and sleeping states. Through our union and communion with Soul, we know states of creativity, enthusiasm, spontaneity, love, joy, and peace, (to name a few). Our Soul will speak to us any time we choose to enter into the Serene Center of our Being within our Hearts, and enter the doorway into the Inner Planes.

By having the patience and persistence to practice your Truth of referencing your Soul unceasingly, you will be referencing your Soul in every single decision throughout the day. Your Soul will actively bring to you many Divine Set-Ups. Your Soul will guide you perfectly. You will receive from Soul that which is appropriate for you. Your Soul will reveal to you the Truth of your Being. Remember, we are Spiritual Beings having a human experience.

Soul communicates through the Language of Light. The Language of Light is primarily expressed through images and symbols. When you are communicating with your Soul, you will receive many images and symbols. Once you see these images and symbols clearly, ask your Soul to give you the meaning behind these images and symbols. It is this meaning behind the symbols that brings you into direct alignment with Divine Consciousness.

Remember, your Soul is:
Love/Isness/Neutrality/ Impersonal/the 'Big Picture'.

The soul and psychology by Aristotle

2008-06-15T14:11:00.000-07:00

The Soul and Psychology

Soul is defined by Aristotle as the perfect expression or realization of a natural body. From this definition it follows that there is a close connection between psychological states, and physiological processes. Body and soul are unified in the same way that wax and an impression stamped on it are unified. Metaphysicians before Aristotle discussed the soul abstractly without any regard to the bodily environment; this, Aristotle believes, was a mistake. At the same time, Aristotle regards the soul or mind not as the product of the physiological conditions of the body, but as the truth of the body -- the substance in which only the bodily conditions gain their real meaning.

The soul manifests its activity in certain "faculties" or "parts" which correspond with the stages of biological development, and are the faculties of nutrition (peculiar to plants), that of movement (peculiar to animals), and that of reason (peculiar to humans). These faculties resemble mathematical figures in which the higher includes the lower, and must be understood not as like actual physical parts, but like such aspects as convex and concave which we distinguish in the same line. The mind remains throughout a unity: and it is absurd to speak of it, as Plato did, as desiring with one part and feeling anger with another. Sense perception is a faculty of receiving the forms of outward objects independently of the matter of which they are composed, just as the wax takes on the figure of the seal without the gold or other metal of which the seal is composed. As the subject of impression, perception involves a movement and a kind of qualitative change; but perception is not merely a passive or receptive affection. It in turn acts, and, distinguishing between the qualities of outward things, becomes "a movement of the soul through the medium of the body."

The objects of the senses may be either (1) special, (such as color is the special object of sight, and sound of hearing), (2) common, or apprehended by several senses in combination (such as motion or figure), or (3) incidental or inferential (such as when from the immediate sensation of white we come to know a person or object which is white). There are five special senses. Of these, touch is the must rudimentary, hearing the most instructive, and sight the most ennobling. The organ in these senses never acts directly , but is affected by some medium such as air. Even touch, which seems to act by actual contact, probably involves some vehicle of communication. For Aristotle, the heart is the common or central sense organ. It recognizes the common qualities which are involved in all particular objects of sensation. It is, first, the sense which brings us a consciousness of sensation. Secondly, in one act before the mind, it holds up the objects of our knowledge and enables us to distinguish between the reports of different senses.

Aristotle defines the imagination as "the movement which results upon an actual sensation." In other words, it is the process by which an impression of the senses is pictured and retained before the mind, and is accordingly the basis of memory. The representative pictures which it provides form the materials of reason. Illusions and dreams are both alike due to an excitement in the organ of sense similar to that which would be caused by the actual presence of the sensible phenomenon. Memory is defined as the permanent possession of the sensuous picture as a copy which represents the object of which it is a picture. Recollection, or the calling back to mind the residue of memory, depends on the laws which regulate the association of our ideas. We trace the associations by starting with the thought of the object present to us, then considering what is similar, contrary or contiguous.

Reason is the source of the first principles of knowledge. Reason is opposed to the sense insofar as sensations are restricted and individual, and thought is free and universal. Also, while the senses deals with the concrete and material aspect of phenomena, reason deals with the abstract and ideal aspects. But while reason is in itself the source of general ideas, it is so only potentially. For, it arrives at them only by a process of development in which it gradually clothes sense in thought, and unifies and interprets sense-presentations. This work of reason in thinking beings suggests the question: How can immaterial thought come to receive material things? It is only possible in virtue of some community between thought and things. Aristotle recognizes an active reason which makes objects of thought. This is distinguished from passive reason which receives, combines and compares the objects of thought. Active reason makes the world intelligible, and bestows on the materials of knowledge those ideas or categories which make them accessible to thought. This is just as the sun communicates to material objects that light, without which color would be invisible, and sight would have no object. Hence reason is the constant support of an intelligible world. While assigning reason to the soul of humans, Aristotle describes it as coming from without, and almost seems to identify it with God as the eternal and omnipresent thinker. Even in humans, in short, reason realizes something of the essential characteristic of absolute thought -- the unity of thought as subject with thought as object.

Aristotle (384-322 BCE):

Evan Almighty

2008-06-03T14:50:00.000-07:00

Watched Evan Almighty tonight, and I'm voting it best film of my year so far. My son recommended it to me, as he is, apart from me of course, the best judge of what I'd like or not. He is by far the most considerate person I know.... with a vast knowledge of movies, actors, presenters, plots etc...So thanks son "You made my day with this one, again!"

EVAN ALMIGHTY....Universal pictures and Spyglass entertainment, presented in association with Relativity media a Shady Acres/Barber Burnbaum production.

Directed by Tom Shadyac... Starring...One of my very best lead actors ever Morgan Freeman who plays God, Steve Carell who plays (modern day Noah) junior congressman Evan Baxter, Lauren Graham, John Goodman, Jimmy Bennet, John Michael Higgins, Wanda Sykes, Jonah Hill, Molly Shannon, Ed Helms, Rachael Harris, Brian Howe etc.

This movie is an Epic comedy about a modern day Noah and his arch.

Evan is a high powered Junior congress man, but also a control freak and dictator. He wants to change the world, but his idea of that change is that everyone should think, act and do everything exactly the way he does and says. He has a wonderful family whom he provides for very well with material items. In his attempt to create a better environment and more opportunities for him and his family he moves them all away from their friends to Virginia and what he deems as a better place . But he is an arrogant man, and has forgotten about matters of the heart. The power he feels from his success has over inflated his ego. One day he rather unexpectantly comes face to face with God who is also keen to change the ways of the world and decides to teach Evan some lessons.

Evan Almighty is a hilarious film, peppered with some real insight into what is really important in life. I thoroughly enjoyed the marvellous acting,dialogue, storyline/plot and moral value of this movie. A pinnacle moment for me in particular and one that I can completely relate to, was these words of wisdom from Morgan Freeman, which went something like this... "When you pray to God asking for patience, courage etc.. Do you think he just gives you these enhancements you've asked for or does he give you the opportunities to be courageous, patient etc?"

I was also captured by the almighty extras bonus track, which featured the usual outtakes etc... extremely funny! Especially informative on how they built the ark. The production team were determined to minimise the special effects features, ensuring that the film was as real as possible, therefore all animals were real and Evans Ark. Obviously there were certain implications in causing a real flood in Washington DC, so was also interesting watching the computer generation of that. They then went a step further with their environmentally cautious approach and sound information about energy reduction.

So "Evan Almighty" a big thumbs up from me. And Morgan Freeman if your ever reading this "Can I adopt you as my new dad?"

Lorna Cameron

Autumn Heart

2008-06-02T16:29:00.000-07:00

I made this for a mate of mine a while ago, but unfortunately it was a case of 'return to sender' as he was off to icy lands to explore pastures new, so it now has a warm place in my home.

Paul McCartney

2008-06-02T16:02:00.000-07:00

I took some time out to go to this with a few friends, we were blessed with some last minute tickets...It was a fantastic night...the only dampner was that we had to walk for ages till we got to the end of the queue, then stand in that queue for hours and missed two of the Zutons songs... as they only had one turnstyle open at Anfield for some reason, which was very bad organisation. We also had restricted viewing, but fortunately two of our friends who were seated in a different section from us and were able to see the full set and video it, so we were able to see a bit more before going off for our meal. He promises to email me the video, so I'll look forward to that. One musician friend is fanatical about the beatles and took us on a guided tour of all the famous Beatles landmarks, quite an experience and he was a well informed and enthusiastic tour guide.

Good fun visiting Mathew Street and "The Cavern", and some great architecture on our way down to The Mersey.

The Press Association
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Sir Paul McCartney plays live at Anfield Stadium, Liverpool
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McCartney at Liverpool culture gig

Sir Paul McCartney took to the stage in Liverpool to mark the city's Capital of Culture Year.

The 65-year-old began his set at Liverpool FC's Anfield Stadium with Hippy Hippy Shake, followed by Jet and Drive My Car.

Dressed in a black, sixties-style suit, the former Beatle said to the crowd: "Thank you for coming tonight - in the city of culture -at the centre of the universe."

The show, called Liverpool Sound, was opened by The Zutons, with a set list including Valerie and Why Won't You Give Me Your Love.

The audience were then treated to the Kaiser Chiefs, whose songs included Ruby and The Angry Mob.

Lead singer Ricky Wilson joked with the crowd of Paul McCartney fans: "Now a new song, though I realise they'll all be new to some of you."

Comedian Peter Kay welcomed Paul McCartney onto the stage, saying "It's my duty to reveal that Britain has got talent."

All 45,000 tickets to the Capital of Culture 2008 showpiece event were sold out, and the audience filled the Anfield pitch and three stands, including the Kop.

Last of May what a lovely start to this day

2008-05-30T21:41:00.000-07:00

Been up all night, fed the birds at 4:30, worth waiting for this sunrise...the view from my bed.