We interrupt the Ayahuasca Experience to bring you a very simple, but important message:

The more you say no to what you don’t want in life,

The more the universe says yes to what you do want.

Don’t buy into the fear that you can’t have what you are dreaming of.

You are worthy, no matter the extravagance of your desires.

Just believe that anything is possible and work with a gentle intention.

This is where it pays to be gullible.

It came up in a discussion with a friend recently, where I examined how in school, we would laugh at one another for being “gullible” – calling one another naive and stupid. But I sense that this is really just a program put in place to set limits upon our reality. I say be gullible. If you want to let magic into your life, you can’t be afraid of appearing a fool. Anything can happen but you have to first allow the possibility to exist in your mind. Fantasise and familiarise yourself with your dreams. Know there is very little difference between your imagination, reality and the dream world. Use this knowledge to your advantage. There are always exceptions to rules, and that exception can be you. All you need to do is believe that what you want is possible and that you deserve it.

Now go, play, create. That is your life purpose after all, and remember: you’re making this all up.

My body is a blank canvas.

Language is the paint and my mind is the artist.

Animals, plants and objects may be art but language is not their medium.

They are more like sculptures, as my words have no effect on them.

In contrast, language has the power to influence my own form dramatically.

I am who I think I am (or perhaps even more accurately at times, who I fear I am) as my words and actions manifest my thoughts.

In lieu of this, I’ve been thinking about how my own self-doubt is the only thing that separates me from those who I feel inferior to, or inspired by.

Sadly, I tend to augment my own self-doubt with the language I use to define my perspective.

It has been said that life mimics art just as art mimics life. In every moment, conscious or dreaming, we’re telling ourselves a story, and the stories we tell ourselves develop our character. In short, we’re writing our reality and it all starts with the language we use.

Delving a little deeper, I’ve observed how commonly we refer to ourselves in the third person when speaking of our own thoughts and feelings (I’m doing it right now in fact).

It’s a curious thing…

In NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming), psychologists explain the importance of using “I statements” when expressing oneself. That is, using I instead of we. For example, I should say: “I’ve observed how I commonly refer to myself in the third person when speaking of my own thoughts and feelings”.

I statements force the speaker to take responsibility for their own perspective rather than attempting to suppress and disguise it as a collective issue or agreement. This negligence of responsibility inhibits real change in the name of fearless self-development as we program ourselves to think that our issues are not really ours (when they are). After all, change starts with the individual.

Granted, there are collective issues and agreements that pervade our reality, where it is entirely acceptable to speak in third. However, let us consider how speaking in third person limits the human experience.

When I take responsibility for myself through conscious speech (using I statements) I liberate my being as I validate my own personal point of view. In contrast, when speaking in third person, I neglect to own my thoughts and feelings, sending the sub-conscious message that its not really my problem, and, more destructively, that I do not have the right to feel these things as an individual.

Using I statements also prevents the speaker from imposing their reality on to the listener. I’m sure you’ve heard people describing their own unique experiences with travel, yoga, skydiving, Entheogens, or whatever else, as if their experience was definitive. They might say: “You’ll love it, it’s so amazing, when you get there, this happens and then this happens and it feels like this…” etc.

This is my issue with religious fanatics as texts such as the Bible are really just stories of other people’s experiences with source. By passing them on with the seriousness that we do, we prevent one another from being present and experiencing our own sacred stories of life, source and reality.

Sure there is truth and wisdom in each story – but rather than taking them on as gospel, its important to recognise that there is no definitive guide to life’s mystery outside of one’s own mind.

Personally, I think story telling is a good, natural and beautiful aspect of being human. However, to be responsible speakers and storytellers we need to be clear (for our own sake and others) that our personal experiences are uniquely ours. We may find others who have similar experiences, but that is still no cause to attempt to portray them as a definitive example of what it means to be alive and kicking.

Now, I realise I am being somewhat hypocritical with the tense I have written part of this article in. Granted, third person is a hard habit to break and I am still exploring how to incorporate it into my writing. However, “babies learn to crawl before they learn to walk” and so I am still working on it as I invite you to join me.

It’s been said that there are only two true emotions we humans can ever really express. That is, FEAR and LOVE.

All other feelings are just variations on these common themes.

Happiness, joy, pleasure and peace? That’s love baby.

Hate, depression, guilt and anger? That’s fear my friend.

Fear is a common programming in society’s crusade for control and order. It is after all, a very powerful motivator that often drives us to react on impulse.

Most of all, we tend to fear the unknown and so we base our choices on past instances; favoring the maintenance of the world as we know it, over the possibility of something else and perhaps far greater.

In this way, we tend to adopt the coping mechanisms of our parents, teachers, peers etc. without much awareness.

In essence, fear drives the power of domination – thebelief in the great myth* of the jungle – “kill or be killed; eat or be eaten”.

In contrast, love has but one law: “Do no harm”.

Love is connection / Fear is separation.

Love is communion / Fear is isolation.

We can share and communicate love, but it is our fear that is inexpressible…

Because fear is our own personal illusion, while love is our common reality.

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*I call this a myth because the actual law of the wild is “take what you need and leave the rest alone” but that’s another story, for another day.

I was fascinated to learn about the two kinds of power that penetrate our reality.

Domination is the one you are probably most familiar with – It’s the most present of the two in our current society after all. That is; power over others.

Superiority & inferiority.

Inequality…Separation.

Beneath the belief in the power of domination lies the concept of limitation; that “the more I have, the less you get”. In other words, it drives the lack mentality so entrenched in our culture through perpetuated greed.

There is another kind of power however; the power of dominion.

This kind of power celebrates power with others.  It has no hierarchical structure. It recognizes that abundance and non-suffering is the birthright of all that roam this planet, and that by claiming one’s own personal power, we by no means inhibit another’s ability to be great…

Instead we inspire them to be the best they can be.

The power of dominion is about cooperation rather than competition. If I have something you desire, all you have to is tell me, and I can tell you how to get some for yourself.

Yes, this kind of power that fosters abundance.

True alchemy lies in being able to recognise the possibilities that lie before us. To feel limitless opportunities existing, beyond time and space; just waiting to be expressed.

Understanding this, a true alchemist learns to consciously direct their energy – with gratitude – towards the most desirable outcome. This is the art of manifestation.

They are patient, taking the time to listen to their environment; to interpret life’s symbolism and to connect with the collective consciousness.

The have learnt to surrender to the now, to see beyond the illusion of “reality” and to adapt to the present situation – no matter the experience.

They see the space between the clutter and fear not its influence.

They do not dread pain, nor seek to avoid or dissolve it. Instead, they hold space for it, recognising that without pain, there would be no experience and no reference point for rapture.

And so, with non-attatchment they walk forward secure. Knowing that there is enough and that they are enough – just as they are.

“Two people in the same location experiencing chaotic events can have vastly different emotional responses.

While one person might be paralyzed with fear, anger, and resentment, the other person might experience the moment as humorous.

He or she “gets” the cosmic joke, which is the sudden and unexpected realization that the reality everyone experiences as “real” is nothing more than the fabrication of their own minds.

When chaotic events disturb the status quo, a doorway briefly appears, an opportunity if you will, to jump upward in consciousness, to wake up from the dream spell.

But waking up from the collective dream only occurs if you are prepared to step across the threshold.”

- The Hathors >> Read more about this here.

The thing I feared most happened. Now I laugh; it’s not so bad.

As humans we fear as we seek to avoid pain and suffering.

But pain is a powerful teacher, and suffering is optional.

In any given moment, we are faced with multiple possibilities of interpreting the present situation.

No-one and no-thing has the power to make our lives “good” or “bad” and we alone are responsible for our own happiness.

“I begin to see that I live torn between two realities. On the one hand, there is the reality of my existence on the earth, which limits me in time and space, with all its threats and opportunities for satisfaction. On the other hand, there is a reality of being that is beyond this existence, a reality for which I have nostalgia.”

– The Reality of Being by Madame Jeanne de Salzmann

I escaped.
Went to the country.
Just me and my K9
Quiet…nature…space

I faced my fears
Of spiders and snakes
Of the world after dark
The sounds of creatures of the night
My fears of the unkown

I filled my pockets with ma-ca-dam-bia nuts
Beat my drum,
Danced barefoot in the forest…
Naked.

Read books,
Pondered life
Remembered:
There’s no need to
be
or do
ANYTHING.

Each night I created fire
“Man’s first magic”

Upon the damp grass,
Listening to music
I lay beneath the stary sky
In wonder and amusement

Thismorning I explored the outback like I was the only person alive…
Just me and the wind.
And so many butterflies…

The take home message
gifted by my island

Is that nothing really matters.

We give meaning to all the objects and experiences we come into contact with.
Much more meaning than any object or event truly deserves.

We label, categorize and justify, creating our reality.
But we are not objects.
Lest we forget.

We are consciousness

The space between objects.

The breath between thought.

The realized present moment.

Now.

We can’t define ourselves,
Hard as we try.
Nor should we.

“Words reduce reality to something the human mind can grasp, which isn’t very much.

As Buddhists say: the finger pointing to the moon is not the moon.

Likewise: “Thought [and word] can at best point to the truth, but it never is the truth.”

- A New Earth, Eckhart Tolle

1. Stop saying “just”. Value yourself and your experiences. You are more than ‘just a secretary’ or ‘just a student’. You are incredible and have the potential to be and do anything. Believe in yourself. You deserve it.
2. Use adjectives sparingly (sometimes they get in the way of the truth).
3. Understand that you don’t have to ‘do’ or ‘be’ anything. You have complete freedom and complete responsibility for your own experience. What do you want? Chase it with passion. Be relentless. Be liberated.
4. If it feels right at the time, then it’s fine. Life is meant to be lived. There is no ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ way to live it. But consider what you want on all three dimensions – mind, body and soul.
5. Recognize the creative powerful being that you are and own it. Heck, you can manifest the weather!
6. Nothing matters. Laugh.
7. You are everything – the good and the bad, the pretty and the ugly. The aim is to choose the most magnificent aspects on offer and make them a part of your reality – that is the highest choice.
8. Learn to say “No”. “Maybe later” is not the same. You are not being respectful of yourself or others when you neglect to say “No” firmly when you mean to. Learn to say it charmingly. Learn to be comfortable with it.
9. Speak to and treat others as equal souls, for they too are human like you.
10. Be honest.