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Showing posts with the label Creative Evolution

Why Learn Tarot?

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Quite simply, tarot is a mirror in which to view yourself objectively. The elemental and archetypal symbols conveyed by the tarot, mirror different dimensions of our lives. They are also a teaching tool, to convey esoteric principles that have been known to mystical scholars for thousands of years. They mirror great cosmic cycles that govern life on Earth, as well as personal cycles of growth and renewal – enjoyed and endured by each of us.  Old-time tarologists weren't spruiking personal growth. Their knowledge of the cycles of life was viewed in a more limited way – as fortune telling. But they still conveyed something mystical to ordinary minds.  These days, a wide variety of people use tarot in a number of ways: Reflecting on daily events Drawing a card at the end of each day can help you to reflect on the day's events, as well as tackle any problem solving required. They are the mirror into which you can clearly see what is dominating your thoughts. Those thoughts will app

Poem: The Dissolution of the Dance

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Music warmed my heart from birth Born half-sized, and boxed. I heard it play, maybe a nurse And to its beat I rocked. It held me earthed until the time Someone came to claim me. Soothed to sleep by song and rhyme I rocked out where they laid me. Quickened by the radio I learnt to dance alone. Moving in staccato I felt myself at home. Music was a blanket Dancing was a hug. When I could make a racket It made my heart thud. I danced with belly dancers Then I learnt to teach. I leapt all night with ravers The goals I set were reached. Dancing was my joy The beating of my heart. My soul’s ecstatic toy My vocation and my art. But now I halt – with trepidation Aches, and grabs, and bites. Patella, in disintegration A new knee-cap in sight. The dancer flops upon the edge Of cavernous despair. In the next life , is her pledge While writer holds her by her hair. Change is how things come to be It breaks us into parts. And in my soul I’ve always known The word would be my art. My restless, pacing

Memoir, Voice, and Knowing Thyself.

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I must pause a moment, from editing my memoir, to reflect on the art of memoir itself. I'm in the fourth year of active focus on my memoir. But of course, fragments of it have existed for many more years than that. I wrote, had professionally edited, and self-published, my first two books in the space of five years; yet the third book has dawdled. At times, I didn't touch it for months. I wonder why it's dragged its feet so much? When I ponder this question, I find myself looking at the self-reflection aspect of memoir. Not just that; it's the articulation of self into an organised line. For that to occur, a clear concept of self must be attained.  My sense of self was fragmented by trauma; which means that in order to finish the memoir, I needed to heal.  Coupled with that, for eight years, my home life was plagued with triggers that stole countless writing days from me. During this time I was also teaching dance, which – although it funded my writing education – was m

Re-branding my Writerly Life in Hues of Blue

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Life has shifted vibration this year. Most major shifts of my life are marked by a) moving house, and b) the appearance of a new colour on the palette of my home. During my years as a dance teacher, red was the dominant colour in my life. Its energy, vitality and grounding essence infused my life with strength and physical focus.  But the alchemy of time and moving house transformed my spirit, leaving me over-stimulated by my environment. I needed to be infused with finer vibrations. So I subdued the energy of my home by stripping back the colour, eliminating things that shouted too loudly, replacing them with softer hues; accessorising with blues. There are mystical reasons why a writer can benefit from being surrounded by the blue vibration. The human communication centres or throat chakra, known as Dimension Five in my books , resonate at the same frequency as the colour of sky-blue. Our third-eye chakra, known as Dimension Six in my books, resonates with the colour indigo. So vario

What am I doing here, on this blog?

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This week, I've been contemplating what I want to do with this blog. Moving house naturally invokes the process of life review. Mostly, I'm pleased with the writer's life I have built for myself; and will be carrying it forward into my new home. But it seems like good time to review this blog. The main energy I wish to invoke into my new life is that of ease and peace. So this blog needs to reflect that. It's a place where everything needs to come together into something cohesive. Something that makes sense. Something that reflects all that I do and plan to do in a way that makes it easy for people to find. My energy can be spread so thin sometimes that it disappears into a tendril without solidity. It means that I skim over the top of too many tasks, and discover things later than I could. Like the comments section on this blog. I knew it was there, but I had never incorporated its management into my regular work habits. Today, as I procrastinated starting this blog po

Psychic Development Initiation Poem - Immediate Awakening!

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An excerpt from book The Love of the Universe . Read it slowly, feeling the meaning of each word with each of your senses.  The power isn't in the words, but how you use them; let them settle—opening your mind towards extraordinary sensing.  Remember to practice your new craft, so that it grows stronger. An eg: With eyes closed, practice reaching into a bag of M&Ms, pick one and guess what colour you might have in your hand.  The results might surprise you, but if you are too sceptical, the activation of your left brain will distract from the right hemisphere. So please approach this exercise with an open, relaxed mind.  Page 206: Psychic Development Contemplation Poem  'See with your mind Hear with your mind Feel and touch with mind.  Feel with your hands See with your hands Hear and receive with hands. Hear with your ears Feel with your ears See and imagine with ears. See with your eyes hear with your eyes Feel and perceive with eyes. Listen with your skin Sense with your

Making Your Life Anew, With New Moon Energy

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New Moon is my favourite time of year, not just because it's always near my birthday, but because it's when I give my imagination space to soar into new possibilities. Each new moon inspires my mind to gently plant the seeds of growth that I intend nurturing for the coming year. Gently is the keyword, because for many people, new moon isn't the most energising of lunar phases. The light is low to remind you to rest, like the moonlight rests out of sight. As you rest, the mind is free to mull over what you wish to bring into your life.  "What do you hope to bring into your life?" What do you hope to bring into your life? Find the date on the chart below that corresponds with your sun sign, and prepare yourself to withdraw from the world at that time and visualise your plans come to being. If you keep written business plans or lists of personal goals, the new moon in your sign is the best time to review them. This is not the time to march out into the world and move

My Medicine Box - Finding Resilience in Challenge

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Anyone who read my very first blog post on this site back in 2014, will know that I had some trouble adapting to apartment life. Readers may have wondered whether I would be able to sustain it. Well, I did—for a while. In fact, I lasted seven years—a lot longer than I thought I would.  Seven is a mystical number that expresses the energy of learning through experience. This kind of learning isn't always comfortable, and often involves sacrifice. It took time for me to grow comfortable with the idea of relinquishing the family home, and all the stuff I'd accumulated. I grieved for my big house, even though I knew intuitively that I was moving forward. As I reduced my physical load to a density that my new apartment could hold, my spirit expanded. I felt free enough from domestic distractions to be able to focus on my creative work, and my healing from PTSD; which I felt were inextricably linked.  But when I realised how noisy my new home was, I wondered if I could focus. Relucta

A Hopeful Spring Equinox of Peace and Planning

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The world has grown noisier since Melbourne's long lockdown began. It shouldn't—the roads are generally more quiet. But major railway construction is taking place a few blocks away, diverting traffic up my street; bringing more noise into my world. Another growth opportunity—yay! Sensitivity to noise is one of my more visible anxiety symptoms. It's visible by my posts on social media, by my hands over my ears as loud cars drive by, and by the 'conversations' I've had with my neighbour over their distressed dog. Otherwise, I keep these signs to myself; mostly anyway. Social sensitivity is another. I take on people's stuff too much and allow it to affect my sense of peace. Not as much as I used to—I'm more aware now! But enough that social interactions can sometimes leave me overstimulated or exhausted. So the social isolation of being in lockdown isn't as unpleasant as it could be. And besides—people are pretty passionate at the moment! I'm replen

I've Hired a Digital Manager

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Is anyone else experiencing an acceleration of time? Maybe it's just middle-age catching up with me, but this year seems to have marched by quicker than most.  Back in May, my last blog post actually, I decided to take a break from memoir writing. Now, here we are in July—and I've only just started again. Has it really been five months? At least I'm working again, and I've recruited a 'manager.' I'm not talking about a human manager. Instead I've recruited the services of Apple Reminders, and Google Tasks. I should add that they're not paying me. I just like their apps. In the past, I'd resisted the urge toward evolving from my paper diary to a slightly less visual form; where appointments and tasks get tucked away inside a phone app—never to be tapped on again! But Apple upgraded their app, and I upgraded too. So my simple three lists for: shopping, books and movies, has grown somewhat. I now maintain seventeen task lists, some with subtasks. I

Memoir Midpoint Brain-Freeze - Acceptance and the Creative Process

For two years, I've been toiling away at my third book — a memoir. I have a long draft that I'm wrangling, shaving, plucking and cutting into a series of hopefully sensible, temporally correct chapters. This isn't my first 'rodeo,' so when I got to chapter thirty-three — and froze — I had a pretty good idea what was going on: I was caught in knots at the mid-point. Events swirled around me, from my own memory — yet I could no longer pin these snakes down onto the page in lines that aligned in time.  So I realised it was time to stop. There's no resisting it. You know what they say: if you have to force it, it's probably s#@t. So the remedy is: acceptance. Go with it. The creative process is a moody beast that must be fed and nourished correctly. It eats brain food, and is picky. One day it likes to eat memoir, swearing it wants to eat memoir every single day. Then suddenly, without warning, the brain wants to eat an episode of Big Bang Theory; or a copy of t

7 Ways to Action The Law of Attraction, In Consideration of All

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There's a stereotypical practitioner of the Law of Attraction: hippie types, sitting in lotus pose, visualising their dreams into being. But there's a lot of action in the power of attraction.  First, let's summarise what is meant by the Law of Attraction. You may have read the book or seen the movie The Secret . Although none of the ideas were new, the author of The Secret, Rhonda Byrne, popularised the ideas; so that The Secret became a commonly known piece of work. She taught us that what we think, specifically our beliefs around our own potentials, impact our ability to manifest those potentials. It means that if we think we can't do something, we probably won't be able to do it. It also means that if we can maintain hope and focus, we can create the best chance of bringing our potentials into being. Some of us, including those with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), can find it difficult to maintain a persistent positive attitude. The world is teeming with

Solstice - A Festival For Everyone

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No matter where you are on Earth, no matter what your political views or religion, your gender or your economic status, you are influenced by the changing of the seasons. Specifically, the solstice, which occurs twice each year, between December the 20th and 23rd, and June 20th and 22nd. Our brains are able to measure the lengthening and shortening of the days, making necessary changes to metabolic function to match the needs of the season. That's why we're usually more hungry in winter, when we need extra energy stores to stay warm. If, like me, you are living in the southern hemisphere, you are approaching the summer solstice. The days stretch to their longest point, as the sun reaches its peak for the year. We are experiencing more active hours each day than we did during the dark of the winter. If you are living in the northern hemisphere, you are approaching the winter solstice. The nights grow long, the sun having waned to its lowest point in the sky. The number of active