Curiosity & Consciousness.

"The great paradox of consciousness is that it constitutes both our entire experience of reality and our blindfold to reality as it really is. Forever trapped within it, we mistake our concepts of things for the things themselves, our theories for the universe, continually seeing the world not as it is but as we are. The supreme frontier of human freedom may be the ability to accept that something exists beyond understanding, that understanding is a machination of the mind and not a mirror of the world — that the world simply is, and our consciousness is a participant in its being but not a creator of it." 

~ Maria Popova

by Evelyn Underhill

"The attitude which it involves is an attitude of complete humility and of receptiveness; without criticism, without clever analysis of the thing seen. When you look thus, you surrender your I-hood; see things at last as the artist does, for their sake, not for your own. 

The fundamental unity that is in you reaches out to the unity that is in them: and you achieve the “Simple Vision” of the poet and the mystic — that synthetic and undistorted apprehension of things which is the antithesis of the single vision of practical men. 

The doors of perception are cleansed, and everything appears as it is. The disfiguring results of hate, rivalry, prejudice, vanish away. Into that silent place to which recollection has brought you, new music, new colour, new light, are poured from the outward world. 

The conscious love which achieves this vision may, indeed must, fluctuate… But the will which that love has enkindled can hold attention in the right direction. It can refuse to relapse to unreal and egotistic correspondences; and continue, even in darkness, and in the suffering which such darkness brings to the awakened spirit, its appointed task, cutting a way into new levels of Reality."

Complement Evelyn Underhill’s wholly revelatory Practical Mysticism with the poetic physicist Alan Lightman on transcendence for the science-spirited, then revisit Emerson on nature, transcendence, and how we become our most authentic selves.

The Atom and the Doctrine of Identity: 

Quantum Pioneer Erwin Schrödinger on Bridging Eastern Philosophy and Western Science to Illuminate Consciousness

“The over-all number of minds is just one.”

👇 More Brilliant Universal Reading 👇

For more highlights from The Universe in Verse, 

Savor NASA astrophysicist Natalie Batalha reading Edna St. Vincent Millay, 

Hedwig and the Angry Inch creator John Cameron Mitchell reading Walt Whitman, 

Actor and activist America Ferrera reading Denise Levertov, 

Poet Tracy K. Smith reading her ode to the Hubble Space Telescope, 

Astrophysicist Janna Levin reading Maya Angelou, 

Poet Marie Howe reading her stirring tribute to Stephen Hawking, 

Elizabeth Bishop on why everyone should experience at least one long period of solitude in life.

Practical Mysticism 

A Little Book for Normal People 

(Aziloth Books)

By: Evelyn Underhill

Create

Know who you are

Know what you DON’T  want

Know what you deserve and

Do not settle for less! 

Ever so simple To Be. 

Thank you life lovers 

How Many Different Ways Can I Say, "I Love You" Life!

 

Johny · 4 Non Blondes - What's Going On

To Protect Another's Solitude Is As Essential As Oxygen 

Nothing Is Excluded In ONE Universe! 

Discerningly Choose What Feels Aligned & Kind For Your Body, Soul and Mind 

In Each and Every Moment 

Pay Attention Be Astonished, Tell About It

It Is All Ok!!! 

and Please, 

Choose THE REAL YOU, 

First

#selfcare #selflove #communeINcommunity

I Love You, 

Life. 

🙏

Reason? 

There Is Never A Reason, 

If It Is Real...

The original version of this song stopped me in the back yard man cave in 1989,

literally the deck building tools went down and I danced my freekin' ass off...

No reason, just had to be done, right there, right then. 

The Neighbours still ask, when were The White Coats arriving... 

Have Not Stopped

Music & Movement Is Life

Thanks Bob and Agnes for your 24/7/365 gift

Thank You Claudia, we met dancing as The Flow 

Joy and Fun and Laughter

we "Tripped The Light Fantastic" for many many years. 

Thank You Family and Home Town Fellow Balters* & Shakers

Thank You For The Magic of Music, 

since The Year Dot.

I Remain Forever Grateful, 

for every re mixed, re imagined, re invented version of life

ever since.

Let's Go & Mix More Awesome ShiFt Up!

A #Sunrise #Nature #Solitude #Music #thatswhatsgoingon #itisallok #danceonesarseoff

*BALTER“(v.)...to dance artlessly without particular skill or grace, but usually with enjoyment.

More than just a name, BALTER is the sense of enjoyment you get from doing something you love, 

just for the thrill of it, no reasons ever needed.

Grief Grows and Deepens as A Love Without Reason Remains

Simple Direct Inclusive.

 Thank you for asking! 

That’s the post

That’s all, 🤣🤣🤣

True Nature Where Nothing Is Excluded In One Universe.

 Relax, nothing is under control...

"Already captured, mesmerised by the Truth, as a captive of the universe, to get to know its secret, we don’t have to do a thing. Just one word introduces us. Used correctly ‘I’ explodes the human mystery. The same first name of everyone, ‘I’ is the universal password, the PIN code that unlocks and reveals our eternal human secret.

Self-knowledge ATMA VIDYA आत्मा विद्या (Light on Self – Light on ‘I’) no longer hidden in taboo and orthodoxy brilliantly explodes our mystery. Pointing out the Truth of the human being that has remained sanathana ever fresh throughout the ages and generations, studying Self-knowledge exposes man’s hidden treasure and destiny." via John and Rachel @Yogaco

From Love, Not For Love

From The Wholeness, Not The Fragments

Who Am I...? 

Really?

and then there is the whole inclusion of #FutureNow👇

Former @CFTC Chair @timmassad will be among witnesses - along with #Hedera Head of Global Policy @nilminirubin & other industry experts - at "The Future of #DigitalAssets: Identifying the Regulatory Gaps in Spot Market Regulation" hearing at 2PM ET today.https://t.co/JOfE5fDfeW

— Hedera (@hedera) April 27, 2023

Asking Better Regulatory Questions To Keep ShiFt Real... 

via Coindesk

"The House Subcommittee on Commodity Markets, Digital Assets, and Rural Development has provided the witness list for Thursday's hearing examining regulatory holes in crypto spot market regulations. The panel notably includes former Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chair Timothy Massad, who is currently a research fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School and director, M-RCBG Digital Assets Policy Project. Other witnesses include Purvi Maniar, general counsel at institutional crypto trading platform FalconX, and Nilmini Rubin, head of global policy at decentralized proof-of-stake ledger Hedera. Rounding out the panel are Daniel Davis, partner at law firm Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP, as well as its co-chair, Financial Markets and Regulation and Joseph Hall, partner at law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP. The hearing is set to begin Thursday at 2 p.m. ET."

You Can't Buy Character. You Can't Fake Quality.

Good character evolves over the course of our life experiences. Each bump in the road tests our character, measures how well we choose, gauges the degree to which we live out our ethics and morality, and shows what we’re made of. 

The choices we make at these moments—to bravely face the truth rather than trying to hide from it, to let tears reveal our sorrow instead of choking them back to pretend indifference, to turn away from cruel words and not return them—reveal the person we really are. 

These micro-choices altogether comprise the big choice of who we want to be, the person we present to the world. Strong character, resilience, authenticity, and genuine self-esteem go hand in hand.

Good character is about a collection of positive traits, and it evolves—choice by choice—over the course of someone's life experiences. Here's why that matters, by @JMAndriote https://t.co/vnlsmjMweE

— Psychology Today (@PsychToday) April 27, 2023

I Come Only From Love and With Thanks, Please Let Me Adore You.

Please let me adore you.

Please let me cherish you. 

It is a tender and life giving experience to be cherished.

To be cherished is to be held lovingly and with high regard.

To be nurtured and uplifted.

To be protected and cared for.

To be consistent and show up, For Your Self, especially when life gets challenging. 

We most often define this word "cherished" as being an experience we give or receive in relationship to others. 

Humans, especially many women, are hard wired to be The Carer, The Giver, The Peace Keeper. 

What would it look/feel/be like to come to know the definition of to be cherished as something we experience with ourselves?

Cherish and Adore and Be Tenderly connected to our own True Nature. First. 

What would it mean to give ourselves the holy gift of cherishing the very breath and beauty of our becoming? First. 

What does it mean to be vulnerable and intimate with our self? First. 

Before ANY others.   

Cherished and adored as an experience of celebrating the magic of self-love. First. 

It is a way of honoring, with absolute transparent and direct conscious intention, the vast journey you have been on in your relationship to self. 

Who Am I?

Really? 

Cherished is a unique and nourishing way of being you offer yourself firstly (then as a gift to a loved one) who is also ready and able to surrender and receive.

Who Am I?

Really?

Are you truly ready and open to receive such an experience of the utmost holding and witnessing?

Are you able to deeply surrender to your own True Nature and allow your self to come completely undone? 

Are you able to drop any remaining dis integrated ego defenses of drama and chaos and hiding behind fake smiles and attention seeking insecurity and blaming and shaming and finger pointing to then let go of everything that is NOT the real authentic you? 

Who Am I?

Really? 

Do you even know who you are? 

Beyond and buried beneath all those mostly unconscious terms and conditions imposed since birth? 

Once stripped bare, 

(cleansed of all that we are not; Mummy wounds, Daddy wounds, Sibling wounds etc etc etc) 

Once returned to our pristine, whole, state of Being an unadulterated Being, 

Once we return to that pure and simple state of surrender to The True Self

Are you THEN able to tenderly hold that intimate space for your authentic self? 

First?

If we are unable to hold space (internal stress free and dis ease free, of course) for our True Self, first, 

Then we are unable to have the capacity to share (and hold space) authentically with another. 

Self care is self love and self discipline mixed with truth and adoration and a willingness to First Love You. 

Despite what you may have been otherwise conditioned to believe. 

As a child. As an adolescent. Now possibly still hanging on to as an adult? 

Still hiding behind a dis integrated ego, By those inherited expectations. 

Still far from The Inner Wholeness of Home, blocked By those same unconscious "terms & conditions" 

You always come first in every way and in all life's many tender and moving moments. 

It is NOT selfish to prioritize your own needs first, despite what a mostly western capitalistic society tells and sells and teaches. The western world is Always On 24/7, Always Serving, Always looking to give to the point of depletion, then spend that hard won "energy" (aka currency/money) to upgrade and buy and get ahead and keep doing whatever it takes, takes takes, never content or satisfied or fully rested, then unable to appreciate or Be in The One Moment, missing the simplicity, always chasing, striving, selling, telling, yelling, creating stress and friction and burn out. 

Instead, learn to cherish. And adore. And Love. Your TRUE self. 

First. 

Without the insincere veils and hiding behind fake smiles and laughter. 

Hiding the pain or hurt or lack of self knowledge. (which is simply knowing YOU are enough, right now)

The nature we surrender to is true. 

The nature we adore is true. 

The nature we re learn is our own. 

Who Am I? Really? 

Please, let me adore you as much as I allow my whole true self to adore me. 

From wholeness, from totality, from an overflowing enough. 

From Love, Not For Love. 

First Love You (F.L.Y.) 

I Am Enough. You are as well. Right now. 

You already ARE that presence,100%. 

It is NOT a choice. It is not a path, It is not a journey. 

(that's just The BS we are re sold to keep us believing we are less than enough, however...)

You already are that. 

There is NO enlightenment or darkness (for you already are) 

There is NO special introspection or pedestal needed (for you already are)

There is NO compete, challenge, win at life (for you already are) 

Once YOU realize, Who Am I?

Really?  

The One Key that fits The Universal Lock. 

Wholeness is Simple AND Easy, once we realize and accept The Great Cosmic Joke... 

We are The One We Have Been Looking For

We cherish and adore our tender and sincere and unveiled FLY... First Love You. Let It All Hang out...

Who Am I? Really? 

Our Own True Unadulterated, Pure and Simple Whole Nature. 

Our Own True Nature, now without The Inherited Terms & Conditions... 

Our Own True Nature without the mummy and daddy and sibling wounds and veils and other BS. 

Our Own True Nature, NOW with a wholly re integrated ego. 

Our Own True Nature NOT lost in living, wasted, checked out & escaping via all The Cracks & Leaks. 

Our Own True Nature Possibly hiding right there at The Tip of Your Very Intellectual Knows... 

Our Own True Nature always comes first, in case of reality, put your own oxygen mask on FIRST, 

No Thing More is Needed. 

Breathe, inhale, pause, exhale, pause. 

Repeat as often as needed... 

That's life as we know it. 

Especially The Pause. Notice It, cherish it, adore it, open heartedly and consciously. 

Simple, cyclical, consistent, conscious, one moment to the next, 

each breath adored and cherished

Atma Vidya unlocks The One who we all are. 

Ready whenever you are. 

"In Our Softening"

"I Care If You Listen"

"Freedom ~ Liberation ~ Moksha ~ Wholeness ~ Flow ~ Viveka"

by ANNE GOLDBERG-BALDWIN

Anne H. Goldberg-Baldwin, D.M.A. (she/her) blurs the definitions of music and dance as a composer, choreographer, performer, and educator. She is Assistant Professor of Composition at Berklee College of Music and is currently pursuing an M.F.A. in Dance at the University of the Arts.

 

About Anne

"In Our Softening, the sophomore piano album by Sophia Subbayya Vastek, is a journey that moves beyond the realm of the piano and into a place of healing and contemplation. After a time of grief, Vastek found herself drawn back to music and healing through an unassuming, old upright piano. Once housed in a desecrated church that had become the home of a hate group, the piano weathered many years of neglect and even a large crack in its soundboard. The church was eventually sold to a good friend of Vastek’s, and the piano made its way to her. To her surprise, the felt on the hammers had softened over the years, the opposite of a piano’s normal aging process.

This upright’s history reveals itself through the tender, exquisite sounds that intertwine and permeate the entire album. With the expertise of Vastek’s husband, sound engineer Sam Torres, the listener gets to experience the fullness of the piano’s sounds: small clicks and mechanisms permeate the recording and add to the upright’s inviting warmth.

The opening of the album, “The Seas that Made Us” evokes an ebb and flow of movement, and eventually a moto perpetuo that introduces the upright piano as a character in the story of this album. It becomes evident that the piano has more to offer than merely the tones of the notes — rather, the unique production sounds become an almost analog electronic track that completes the texture of the piece. The result is an intimate communion with the innermost workings of the piano, its story, and Vastek’s story.

These stories intermingle in tracks such as the titular “In Our Softening,” and those dedicated to family members such as “K.B.,” “Tatuś,” and “My Mother’s Hands.” The piano’s softening over time becomes a metaphor for Vastek’s contemplative way of holding space for each of these family members. The mellow chords lack most of the attack that would be present in other pianos, and it is difficult to imagine these pieces on any other instrument, almost as if they were “site-specific” pieces, or more accurately, “piano-specific” pieces. The muffled tones imbue a poignancy that transcends the chordal patterns that Vastek uses to access an atmosphere beyond the earthly.

“Lost Histories” tangles with the past, its melodies alluding to scales found in many folk traditions. Vastek utilizes the unique voice of the piano and its dampened timbres to build extramusical meaning behind these sounds, which fade quickly or almost seem to come from a distance in their hushed quality. The opening exudes a longing to know the past, a subject that permeated Vastek’s first album, Histories. As the piece progresses, it speaks and stutters in a flurry of rhythmic propulsions, with many of the mechanisms in the piano overshadowing the actual tones of the piano strings.

Sophia Subbayya Vastek–Photo by Kiki Vassilakis

“In this Life” opens with a haunting minor melody in octaves, which would seem commonplace on most pianos, but the upright’s out-of-tune nature brings the listener to an otherworldly dimension. Vastek artfully leaves space for the strings to mute, warble, and bend in such a way that the listener might believe the sound is electronically manipulated.

“After Stardust” brings the album to a close with a soundscape that imagines celestial expanses with an undertone of optimism. Through its contemplative arpeggios and ethereal melodies, Vastek captures the essence of finding hope and rebirth after darkness: a story of her own and of this piano.

IOur Softening is a journey into the deep inward spaces of Vastek and the upright, and there is an earnest quality to the beautiful imperfections the piano brings to each piece. Vastek artfully creates a space that is vulnerable, exquisitely performed, and sensitive to both her own healing and that of the upright." 

by Anne Goldberg-Baldwin @ "I Care If You Listen"

“Let it go” is the mantra of the self-avoidant, feigning resolution because they lack the courage or the preparedness to face their feelings. Let’s not play that game.

“If you want to live a more spiritual life, live a more human life. Be more truly, fiercely, heartfully human.”

Jeff Brown

Author, Teacher, Enrealment Activist & Grounded Spiritualist

"Five Strategies to Deal with a Compulsive Attention-Seeker

Stop letting attention-seekers rob you of your 

authentic self and inner peace."

by Andrea F. Polard Psy.D.

A Unified Theory of Happiness

"Receiving incessant attention can cause huge problems for both the demanding person and the community. The demanding person might grow increasingly dependent on external attention and develop a shallow and unstable sense of self. Usually, this causes anxiety, depression, and an angry demand for more and more attention.

Most incessant attention-seekers suffer from nagging insecurity and must get their “fix” of attention to feel the resemblance of inner peace. 

While he or she might look vibrant, there is a great deal of suffering in “wanting more.” 

True happiness is the absence of wanting more and an openness to the world as it unfolds.

Meanwhile, the environment of an attention-seeker becomes barraged with demands; 

everybody gets exhausted and charged with emotions. 

As drama and ceaseless chaos unfolds, everybody becomes unhappy.

The most compulsive attention-seekers suffer from the behavioral patterns of a Histrionic Personality Disorder and truly inflame family, friends, teachers, therapists, or even a wider community.

The word “histrionic” means theatrical and is derived from the Latin word histriōnicus—“of actors.”

 (This is different from being an overly, out-of-control emotional, commonly known as hysterical. “Hystera “is a Greek word and means “womb.” It was believed that only females could suffer from it, a misconception debunked by both experts and just about anybody who has paid attention to what’s unfolding on social media.)

According to the DSM-V1, people with histrionic personality disorder are at least 18 years old and suffer from a pattern of excessive emotionality and attention-seeking behavior. 

They have at least five of the following symptoms:

1. Is uncomfortable in situations in which he or she is not the center of attention.
2. Interaction with others is often characterized by inappropriate sexually seductive or provocative behavior.
3. Displays rapidly shifting and shallow expression of emotions.
4. Consistently uses physical appearance to draw attention to self.
5. Has a style of speech that is excessively impressionistic and lacking in detail.
6. Shows self-dramatization, theatricality, and exaggerated expression of emotion.
7. Is suggestible, i.e., easily influenced by others or circumstances.
8. Considers relationships to be more intimate than they actually are.

Thank goodness for theater and for a person who acts as ‘the life of a party.’ 

We learn from acted-out scenarios; they can move us to become better people. 

And we love to be entertained, especially during dull and dreadful times.

However, when we find ourselves on the stage of real life with histrionic people and begin to act out roles for which we never consciously signed up, we are being robbed of our sanity.

Histrionic people have a talent for splitting people. 

Suddenly, one parent is favored over the other, only to switch roles the next day. 

Sometimes horrific accusations are made. 

Should a histrionic person find him or herself in a treatment center, the therapists might begin to fight with each other as tension builds.

A group that is influenced by a histrionic person might begin to feel divided into desired and undesired people, with the histrionic person getting most of the attention as a hero or victim while the group is divided up into favorites and scapegoats.

In short, dysfunction around a histrionic has the potential to spread, terribly burdening families, draining groups of energy, and pitting persons against persons.

What is there to do?

First, accept that excessive attention-seeking cannot easily get fixed as no patterns of habits are ever altered without tremendous effort and support.

Second, please pay attention to those family or group members who are generally overlooked. We must listen to the exhausted, depleted, sad, and possibly agitated others and offer compassionate support. 

People must realize that they were split and have played roles instead of being who they really are. 

If you are a parent of someone with histrionic traits, make sure you practice extreme self-care and also look after the less demanding kids. In any group, we must learn to listen to each other as we find distance from the drama in which we were unwittingly part.

Furthermore, there are five strategies that can help the histrionic person scale down the demands:

Remove the positive reinforcement for attention-seeking behavior. 

As hard as it may be, do not engage when drama is initiated. 

Try to stay emotionally neutral and pay attention to your own mind so that you won’t become triggered. 

If you find yourself getting angry, remove yourself from the situation, doubt that anger is what you want to be, and return to a kinder equilibrium. 

If possible, remove the platform for the attention-seeking behavior, such as the phone.

Teach how to calm the mind. 

You might want to consult with a psychotherapist who uses mindfulness training as well as anger management. Read about inner tranquility.

Explain to the attention-seeking person before they get angry that you will give him or her attention only when the anger is under control.

Normalize attention-seeking behavior while role-modeling appropriate behavior. 

Do not shame him or her. Show the attention-seeker how to advocate for him or herself without going overboard.

Go deeper. If needed, ask for psychotherapeutic help as the attention-seeker needs to understand his or her motives. 

Pose questions like these: 

1. Instead of trying to get validation from others, what could you do or feel? 
2. How do people get a sense of self-worth? 
3. How can we find peace within ourselves? 
4. What does attention mean for you: becoming alive, feeling worthy, feeling important? 

Help develop an intellectual interest in the drama, which creates a distance to the immediate experience of it.

Help the attention-seeker connect with and develop his or her strengths to pursue a higher goal. 

Often the attention-seeker yearns only to be popular, famous, or admired. 

Help him or her apply the identified strengths for a higher goal. 

Find out what could be fulfilling other than longing for the spotlight.

As always, happiness arises when we live a balanced life and avoid the extremes of receiving neither too little nor too much attention. 

Happiness will only come about when we learn to rest in ourselves, meaning, when we sense a connection with existence that flows in and out of our consciousness."

© 2021 Andrea F. Polard, PsyD. All Rights Reserved.

Self Care Comes First. 

Your True Self Comes First, Always.

and Who Am I? 

Really...? 

"It’s not about “letting it go.” It’s about letting it in. It’s about letting it deep. It’s about letting it through. It’s about being true to your feelings. It’s about giving your experiences the attention they deserve. And that may take a moment, or it may take years. The trick is not to shame your need to hold on to what has yet to be resolved. 

“Let it go” is the mantra of the self-avoidant, feigning resolution because they lack the courage or the preparedness to face their feelings. Let’s not play that game.

Let’s let things in and through, until they are fully and truly ready to shift. Let’s let it grow into the transformation at its heart. We write our story by fully living it. Not by “letting it go” before its time." JEFF BROWN

इष्टम् ISHTAM Yoga Trilogy 

 Atma Vidya | Yoga Vidya | Kriya Vidya

Unceded Worimi Country 2428 · F O R E S T S N O W

SEAL, Rocks The Light

One Love Brings Peace

Bob Marley · One Love / People Get Ready (Medley)

ONE LOVE ~ "Let's Get Together and Feel Ok" ~ ONE LOVE

Bob Marley & The Wailers · One Love / People Get Ready (Medley)

Bob Marley · Bob Marley

One Creature In Creation.

 

TRUE NATURE : WHOLENESS IS PERFECTION :
ONE CREATURE IN CREATION

As ANZAC Day dawn services take place across the world, the Opera House would like to remember and honour those who have served our nation.

Lest We Forget.

On ANZAC Day 2020, a lone bugler played the last post on the Opera House Monumental Steps.

📸 Daniel Boud. pic.twitter.com/YO6lHiCaML

— Sydney Opera House (@SydOperaHouse) April 24, 2023

"Lest We Forget"

 The Frontier Wars

'For the Australian War Memorial to include meaningful exhibits about the wars that were fought on this land would be a powerful act of truth-telling in service of the nation.' #AnzacDay2023 #VoiceToParliament https://t.co/ypSY96imsJ

— Michelle Arrow (@MichelleArrow1) April 23, 2023

"The recent media rounds of the new chair of the Australian War Memorial Council, Kim Beazley, appear to presage a major shift in the institution’s attitude to the frontier wars. Beazley explained it is “enormously important” that the current $550 million renovation of the war memorial provides significant coverage of violent conflict between settler and Indigenous Australians. 

He elaborated:

We must give the Aboriginal population the dignity of resistance.

Beazley’s attitude, which complements that of Veterans’ Affairs Minister Matt Keogh, signals that the Australian War Memorial is not impervious to the changed political landscape. Yet there remains resistance to Beazley’s vision on a war memorial council composed of Coalition government appointees and ex officio military officers, and among conservatives more generally." 

"Dadirri"

The Australian War Memorial is a morally charged national space that 

promotes a powerful national origin story. 

National character finds its purest expression in Anzac, we are told.

The story of frontier warfare is another powerful – and arguably alternative – foundation story.

 It tells us Australia was built on 

invasion, dispossession and violence, 

and that the nation can only ever approach 

authenticity and wholeness 

once it gives a proper recognition to this reality.

As we prepare to head to a referendum later this year to vote on the proposal for

 an Indigenous Voice to Parliament, it is worth remembering that the Voice 

is the proposed first stage in a three-step process: Voice, Treaty, Truth.

For the Australian War Memorial to include meaningful exhibits 

about the wars that were fought on this land would be a 

powerful act of truth-telling in service of the nation.

I Can, I May, I Am... Home.

I accept it all. 

One, an all inclusive Universe, must

Accept It all. 

"One" means;

No Thing is excluded. 

In ONE Universe. 

Of course, 

I accept IT all, as One, 

but that does NOT mean I agree 

To It All. 

My acceptance of 

"It is what it is" 

simply meets One present moment reality as it is, 

which is real. 

My acceptance of "reality", 

as It Is Now, 

Here Now, 

In Front, beside and behind me, 

all around me, 360 degrees of creation, in The One Universe. 

(whether I can see "it", choose to see "it" am aware of "it", OR NOT, 

"IT" is still happening, right now, as The One Reality) 

I may Be WHOLLY aware, 

I may choose to Be aware, 

I may ignore or even have selective deafness. 

I discerningly choose what I may interact with or respond to or tell to get fucked (assholes only, relax) 

I accept The totality, 

I accept The ABSOLUTE WHOLENESS of The One Universe. 

All is One, All is included, There is only One Universe, 

My acceptance of ONE however, 

DOES NOT Mean I AGREE with it. 

Sure unconscious assholes exist, even they are included in The One, 

I 100% accept that 100% assholes exist. 

Ignore them if you can. Ignore them by choice. Accept but not agree. 

Just because I ignore them though, 

by discerning choice and aligned priority, (aka "boundaries")

does not mean the One's I accept but DO NOT agree with leave The Universe. 

EVERYTHING remains in the One Universe. 

EVERYTHING is included in The One Universe. 

EVERYTHING (yes even the drugged out lush losers) ARE included as One. 

Unconscious Assholes are present in the ONE universe, they exist, 

just like all creatures. 

Just because the unconscious asshole (and any and all creatures BTW!) exists 

and are accepted and are included in The One Universe

BUT that does NOT mean I AGREE with them. 

NO NO NO, 

of course I accept that all creatures exist, 

the leeches, the maggots, the fleas and flies ALL creation's creatures exist 

(yes, even ewe sheep... following, assholes, yes, even you...) are ALL included. 

Otherwise IT IS NOT THE ONE UNIVERSE. 

No Thing Is EXCLUDED, all creation's creatures, 

we are ONE, 

humans, mosquitoes, birds, rapists, trees, lice, maggots and even 

people pleasing perfectionist 

assholes, 

yep, you guessed it,

ARE ALL INCLUDED

otherwise it is NOT the universe. 

Of course

This ONE Creation ("The Universe") 

DOES NOT rely or depend on ME seeing, hearing or even believing ANYTHING. 

The universe is NOT dependent on me at all. But we ONES are all included. 

One Creation AND One Creature in THAT Universal Creation

simply just CHOOSE and then simply go on and do it's thing... 

whatever THEY choose To Be 

(or not To Be)

all breathing (no choice), 

inhale, pause, 

exhale, pause, 

(Pay Attention To and notice "The Pause" for that is where INFINITE choice lives)

Those breathing creatures MAY be 

any or all of the following at any given ONE moment in time, 

"biting, killing, raping, shitting, stealing, lying, helping, serving, farting, breeding, laughing crying, grieving, dying, etc etc etc"

creatures CHOOSE their behaviours, and responses AND reactions, 

some consciously, some unconsciously, 

some heavily conditioned, others completely unconditional, 

whatevs mudda duckers... 

ONE creature in ONE creation and we all make MOMENT to MOMENT choices.

(Even NOT choosing, is a CHOICE)

Creatures of Creation simply do all of these things. 

And all those creatures and their choices are included, if there is really only ONE universe. 

I Accept it. 

If there is really only ONE inclusive Universe. That is. 

Of course, as a discerningly astute and rather old farting erudite mudda ducker him SELF, 

I certainly accept these creatures ALL exist, BUT, I do NOT agree to them all, at all.

Those people pleasing over servers without boundaries? Accepted, But No Thanks. 

Those perfectionists who think their farts DON'T stink? Accepted, Butt No Thanks.

Those try hards trying hard to Keep The (artificial) Peace and remaining compliant silent? 

Accepted, But No Thanks.

Those rapists, raping and killing Mother Earth. Accepted. But, No thanks. 

Those adolescent still mug lair parents, at age 40 plus, inter generationally, unconsciously, passing on wounds and terms and conditions and possibly fucking up Their Own Children?  

Accepted, But (A BIG) No Thanks. 

See The Repeating Pattern? 

"Accepted, But, NO THANKS!"

I do. 

Clearly now. 

Wasn't always The Case. 

Discerning Boundaries Baby!

The difference between a wishy washy loudly energetic dis integrated ego projecting tell tale triangualating insipid gossiping soft cock lost in living who has NFI about who they 

who they are 

WHOLLY TOTALLY ALL INCLUSIVE ABSOLUTELY REALLY are... 

without any remaining unconscious inter generational "inherited terms & conditions", 

of course...

(BUT totally accepted, of course...) 

BUT NO THANKS! 

Each and Every One is totally 100% included in The One Universe. (no entry ticket needed) 

Otherwise IT is NOT The universe. 

So everyone already IS part of that universal consciousness. 

Simply By Being Conceived and Then Born. 

But we as conscious discerning Beings as we then go on and live our lives, 

get to choose, 

from moment to moment, (all that REALLY exists) 

that is ONE Creature In The ONE Creation 

The ONE Reality of Present Moment Awareness.

Really couldn't BE any simpler NOW, could it...? 

The hardest thing to Be Really One, 

is to Be simple. 

drop anything, like inherited "terms & conditions",

that PREVENTS you Being Your Own Simple Unadulterated Self. 

all the layers of inherited protective armour you may still Be insecurely (unconsciously?) hiding beneath. 

once we realize we are carrying those expectations still, we can choose to discard or keep, 

Let any no longer serving fake false facades go. When YOU are ready, of course. 

Take Off The Made Up Make Up, The Mask Up, fer crisis sake. When ready and realized. Of course. 

Take off the lush loose lippy of gossip and assumed rumours and cease the cock tales... If YOU choose. 

Take off the small bullshit stories you tell and share a Bout your fake SELF. Why box your SELF in? 

Take off all those artificial bits and bobs to mask the True Beauty, which is already, YOU. 

Stop the dis integrated dis eased dis associated lost in living ego running The Show, when YOU realize. 

Take off that spiritual bypass, artificial ascension, new cage off with the woo woo pixies, get lost in living or off my face wasted time and wasted brain cells and wasted energy that is regularly holding you back from living a real whole authentic life. 

Once YOU realize and then re integrate any covered over patterns that MAY be causing stress. 

Like mummy and daddy and sibling wounds (aka unconscious inherited "terms & conditions...") 

That internal stress may be still causing dis ease and is so unreal. It is NOT who you are. 

So Why do that to your self? 

all those masking artificial wounded chiron "terms & conditions" you hang onto and were exposed to as a baby and child and adolescent growing up and are now still possibly stuck in an "adult" holding pattern like an addicted loopy loopy jet going round and around in endless circles unable to land due to the F in Fog...  get off The Grass, maybe, get off The Bottle, maybe, get off The Patterns, maybe. 

instead, clear Your Own Runway of Life, (go in and work on clearing that holding inner space, NOW) 

instead light up a wide receptive landing place that is safe and clear and long and wide and patient and gentle and puts you back on the ground 100%. 

You are your own Captain, learn First Love You, 

re learn what wholeness feels like, 

re learn what no dis ease feels like, 

re learn what love without "terms & conditions" feels like

re learn what a pure and simple, unadulterated, re turn to love and wholeness feels like, 

Once FLY (First Love You) you may touch down on all that you choose and love and like. 

If the jet matches the cleared runway, it can choose to land. Simple, safely, easy, every time. 

If an expansive, whole, full, joyous Jet CANNOT land safely on a restrictive or unreceptive or fogged in runway, it simply travels on to another more suitable clear and clean landing strip where it can safely come in for an aligned and kind landing. Life's like that... 

Then a Jet and A Runway have supported each other. They may swap roles next flight. Just for fun. 

Maybe you both wanna be jets at The Exact Same Time. 

Or Both Runways? 

That obviously causes NO LIFT OFF, we have a problem flight control... 

One needs to be Jet, One needs to be runway. One is NOT more important than the other. 

although The Jet may erroneously believe it is The High Flying Joy Boy, The Special One... 

The Trapped in Ego Top Gun of The Speedy Exotic Better Higher Special Traveler of The Universe, 

hot sum news for you arrogant joy boy asshole,

who ga gunna call To Land... when you are over your joy boy ego antics? 

who ya gunna call to get grounded, get safely back on Mudda Ducking Earth, 

yep, you got it Major Tom To Ground Control...

You are going to communicate clearly with 

The Home Base, The Safe Place, The Well Prepared and Simple Unpretending Landing Strip,  

That rock solid and well lit and safe and wide and RECEPTIVE runway...

Just lying there all wonderful doing it's unassuming thing... 

It is Not Called a Safe Landing and a Gentle Touch Down for nothing... 

that Runway Landing Strip matters, BIG TIME! 

so off the Jets roam on the next mission, the next wild geese flight, the seasonal migration, the flight paths researched to some safe degree, checked and re checked and THEN still allowing for uncertainty, change and unexpected weather as the route progresses. 

To FLY freely with minimal stress means To Be BOTH planned and spontaneous, both yin and yang, both jet and runway. 

It really does pay to re integrate BOTH ends of the same ONE spectrum and spiral... 

That is to FLY (First Love You) Through Life. 

And of course, 

all those free fly birdies and their safe tree branches are also ONE creature IN one creation. 

those fine feathered jets intuitively know what type of tree they wanna land on and nest in, and if the bough breaks, they trust their own wings... To Still FLY, life's like that

So buckle up, no terms & conditions on Your Ticket To now FLY freely, FLY wholly, FLY with ease and grace, 

Welcome aboard Mudda Duckers

please stow your carry on loose baggage appropriately, 

without trying hard to hide it... (just NO carry on, drama, chaos or other in flight BS, OK?)

safety belts on, no smoking, relax, trust, eyes open or shut, het comfortable, take off, cubicle occupied, an in flight meal, possibly one sip, take a crap maybe and a Mile High If Needed... 

BUT if you or the fuselage start smoking, you are doing it soooo wrong... heat fine, smoke not. 

so fellow FLYers, all you fellow fine flying mudda duckers...

all included in This One FLY United Flight, called Universe, 

Quack Quack Quack, Flap Those Wings, Enjoy Your Flight and Please Come Back! 

No Terms & Conditions on The Entry Ticket, of a whole life, of course, 

FLY, Seasonally, 

FLY cyclically adjusted, (it is all ok, be scared, be safe, be nervous, be anxious, be chillaxed)  

FLY absolutely 100% as YOUR TRUE SELF

DO NOT TRY TO HIDE WHAT YOU ARE FEELING (it is all Ok)

don't get wasted on free grog to hide your in flight FLY fear..

don't babble on to the neighbour (who wants to silently chillax) to hide your FLY high anxiety

don't over stink the flight with stress and worry and telling the Trained Pilot what to do in YOUR made up mind... 

relax, nothing (on this ONE flight) is under control... once you are on board, once strapped in, once that big external door shuts tight and YOU take off... that is... 

turbulence, weather, delays, stop overs, shitty food choices, smelly toilets, crying babies, cranky old farts or flight staff, crap wi fi or no internet or in flight entertainment...  

buckle up butter cup and maybe if unhappy, choose a different airline next time, 

less budget, better taste...less haste, more discernment, next flight time, or not... 

nothing YOU can do about it DURING THE FLIGHT anyway... so take the chill pill and surrender... 

You got this! I know you can handle it! Nothing lasts forever! This too shall pass! 

This plight This flight This One really shitty yoga class... same same no different... learn and unlearn

having a safe home, a receptive landing strip to return home to at anytime helps, of course, 

wherever I close My Eyes I Am...

Home... 

return to your Breath, often, in flight, in times of stress and worry and fright and (possibly) shitty in flight assholes telling you to get in, sit down, buckle up, shut up and hang on... take off...get over it... touch down.. is that all? I didn't feel a thing...I was expecting MORE out of THAT flight...wow, that was smooth, I liked your touch down piloting cockpit skills...didn't feel a thing...so happy/sorry you feel that way...collect YOUR own baggage...taxi! 

and whatever else happens 

Home is what YOU create and YOU choose and YOU accept in life

close your eyes RIGHT NOW and ask Am I Home? 

What ever else 

Remain true, 

BE YOU, 

Of Course... 

Tokenistic, Shallow, Pathetically Dumb As Well Used Dishwater! Everyday Is Earthday... or Should Be!

Every Day is Earth Day, Sunshine! 

 

True Nature Heals

The Healing Tree

By Indira Naidoo

I watched you

Lost in grief

Head of stone and cloud,

Steps faltering

I watched and ached

Long before you ever noticed me

I craved to cradle you

Safe in my limbs

To draw you into me

Let my sap mingle with your tears

With the patience of a lover

I waited

Until one day

You limped into my shade

Parched, inconsolable, a broken shell

I showed you how sadness could hold you together

It didn’t have to be your undoing

I can’t fix what has been shattered in you

But I can hold you still

In this noisy world.

Indira Naidoo is one of Australia’s most popular broadcasters. During her 30-year award-winning journalistic career, Ms Naidoo has hosted and reported for some of the country’s most distinguished news and current affair programs. Her first book, the best-selling The Edible Balcony, published in 2011, about growing food in small spaces, has been launched in London, Hong Kong and New York and her second book, The Edible City - about community gardening - was published in 2015. Her latest best-selling book is The Space Between The Stars about the healing powers of nature. She currently hosts ABC Radio Evenings which airs nationally to an average nightly audience of 1 million listeners.

Wait. But Why?

It's easy to be principled in the yellow zone,
when your tribe is behaving admirably.
A person's true colors are tested only
when yellow isn't an option—
when their team and principles are in conflict.

Tribal loyalty and principles
can't both be sacred—
you have to choose one.

ABOUT THE BOOK

"Hi, I’m Tim. I write the blog Wait But Why, where I write about all kinds of things. But in the middle of 2016, I started thinking about a new topic: why my society sucked. As technology soared ahead, it seemed like we were going backwards in wisdom. Tribalism was flaring up everywhere, mass shaming campaigns were roaring back into fashion, politicians were increasingly clown-like, public discourse had become a battle of one-dimensional narratives. I decided to write about it, which plunged me into a rabbit hole like no other. Six years later, I emerged with this book. The book introduces a new framework for thinking about our complex political environment. With dozens of new terms and concepts and 303 drawings, it’s a toolbox for understanding our societies, our group dynamics, and our own minds."

Daughter's, "Stereo Mind Game" is Awesome New Music

Daughter - Stereo Mind Game

4AD
A much needed return from Daughter. Forever finding the most soulful side of folk, the trio expand on their controlled electronics, melding breathy vocals with ruminative lyrics to a bewitching effect.

Daughter · Stereo Mind Game 

Daughter's seven year hiatus has come to an end. Their reunion signals that their time apart has readied them to make music more impassioned than ever. Written and recorded across Devon, Bristol, London, California and Washington, the well travelled trio manage to occupy all spaces of place and mind with Stereo Mind Game, their trademark atmospheric and innovative folk rock, evoking memory, romance and connection. Running through the record is a new collaborative style with a 12-piece ensemble, a choir and voice notes from family and friends - the first time Tonra's vocals have been accompanied.

this is soo good https://t.co/HiodSLZwFn

— ☮💚🎨 (@bklynmike3) 18 באפריל 2023

Daughter's 'Stereo Mind Game' is @RoughTrade's Album of the Month, don't sleep on it!https://t.co/QJDtr53TId

cc. @ohdaughter pic.twitter.com/n8CXbQQJH3

— 4AD (@4AD_Official) 12 באפריל 2023

Australian Writing and Writers: Podcast @ "The Garret"

The Garret: 

Writers & the publishing industry

The Garret is a podcast for lovers of books and storytelling. 

Always about Australian writers and their craft, 

in 2023 The Garret expanded focus and also interviews industry figures 

about what gets published (and why). 

The Garret is educational in outlook. 

A defining feature of The Garret is our transcripts. 

Each interview is published with a complete transcript 

(so you don’t have to write anything down while you listen). 

The Garret is a labour of love on behalf of all emerging writers. 

It does not operate for revenue or profit. 

If you would like to support The Garret, 

simply subscribe wherever you listen to your podcasts 

and join the conversation on Instagram or Twitter. 

You can also follow our host Astrid Edwards at astridedwards.com.

Louisa Lim 

is an award-winning journalist, podcaster and author. 

"Indelible City: 

Dispossession and Defiance in Hong Kong (2022)"

 was shortlisted for the Stella Prize, 

as well as the Walkley Book Award 

and the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award.

Her previous book, 

"The People’s Republic of Amnesia: 

Tiananmen Revisited (2014)" 

was shortlisted for the Orwell Prize for political writing.

Louisa is a Senior Lecturer in Audiovisual Journalism 

at the University of Melbourne. 

She previously spent a decade in China as a correspondent for the BBC and NPR, 

and her work can also be read in the 

New York Times, the Guardian and the Washington Post.

_________________________________________________

We kick off with interviews with the six writers shortlisted for The Stella Prize;

 

Sarah Holland-Batt 

Edwina Preston 

Debra Dank 

Louisa Lim 

Adriane Howell 

Eloise Grills