What's your wish for 2008?

Felicity Wishes - Off Internet

I wish to be happy & continue to be true to myself.

Whats yours?

Would love to hear, post me your wish & remember it all year :-)

New Year....

....the door opens. We walk forward. Ahead lay deep riches. Swathes of green fields, red poppies. A butterfly delicately lands on an open flower. Its paper wings, white and translucent. Beautiful for only a day. Our life is short in the scope of existence. Brush of an innocent wing and we are gone. To leave an indelible mark. To be remembered. Giving our gifts of uniqueness to the world; to those close. A gift of love. We flow into the crimson pulsating heart of our breathing world. Sea blue, forest green and snow white.

Juliette Llewellyn
30.12.07

Wishing family, friends & Shifting Space visitors a Blwyddyn Newydd Dda! Welsh for a Happy New Year! May peace come our way in 2008. Juliette XX

Review of Seachd: The Inaccessible Pinnacle

"When is a subtitled film not a foreign language film? When it’s the first Gaelic feature to be made specifically for the cinema. And Seachd does indeed look fantastic on the big screen – New Zealand only wishes it looked this good in Lord Of The Rings. Visiting his dying grandfather, Angus (Coll MacDonald) flashes back to his childhood, the death of his parents on a mountaineering trip and the old man’s endless store of rich, mythical folktales. These timeless stories of poisoned lovers, magical flowers and water-horses seem to come out of the misty landscapes of Scotland itself. As Angus makes discoveries, the film continually surprises us with the range of its imagination and a unique structure that owes more to our oral storytelling tradition than Hollywood scriptwriting sessions."

Daily Record (4 STARS)

http://www.seachd.com/

Scottish Film - Victim of Union Dividend?

Beauty and the Beast

Prosperity Thoughts

You may know about a miracle that happened during the First World War on Christmas 1914. This miracle was a shining example of sanity in a mad and violent world. On this christmas slowly but surely all fighting steadily ceased along the front and a strange calm spread. Soon jovial voices called out from both sides requesting a temporary truce and then the sound of men singing carols and songs here and there rang out. In time the unthinkable happened, soldiers slowly emerged and gathered together in no-man's land laughing, joking and sharing gifts.

If such a miracle can happen on such a scale then imagine if such a thing can happen in your life. Today, wherever you experience conflict, disappointment, pain, suffering or upset, invite a miracle into your life. The real question is do you want it and are you willing to accept it.

Prosperity Bubbles - Steve Nobel

Nadolig Llawen! Or Happy Christmas!

Sam Rowley (United Kingdom)
Whooper repose

Nadolig Llawen!

Welsh: Happy Xmas! to all Shifting Space visitors. Thanks for coming here this year! Look forward to seeing you in 2008! Take care, Juliette XX

‘I’d spent a day at the London Wetland Centre taking photos of the wildfowl. None of my pictures were any good, but then I spotted a resting semi-captive whooper swan. The last rays of the winter sun lit up its feathers. I crouched down and focused on them. The swan opened its eyes and I took this shot just as it closed them again.’ The whooper swan in the UK is mainly a winter visitor from Iceland, roosting on protected areas of estuaries and wetlands. Drainage of wetland breeding sites, or large-scale habitat loss through hydropower schemes, may reduce their breeding range. Also climate change is improving opportunities for intensive farming in Iceland, which causes conflict between swans and agriculture.

Nikon Coolpix 8800; 1/138 sec at f5.8

Sam Rowley taken from Wildlife Photographer of The Year 2007

Harrods Xmas Windows 2007 London

Melissa Adams

Tracing Flight: It's that time of year again.

A very good idea:
Tracing Flight: It's that time of year again.

Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2007 Competition - images from...

Orsolya Haarberg (Hungary)
Ice, sea and snow sunset

‘Varanger Peninsula in Norway is the most dynamic place I know, where the tundra meets the ocean. When temperatures fall, in this case to -20°C, thick ice wraps around the sea. Here, the sea broke through the ice, just as a cloud of snow rolled in and the sun set, turning the sky from ice blue to deep plum.' Tundra is the name given to barren or treeless land in the Arctic region. It is a harsh environment, where primitive and well-adapted plants such as lichens and mosses grow. Some animals such as the ptarmigan and Arctic hare have also adapted to the low temperatures and drying winds, with thick insulating coats of feathers or fur.

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 18-70mm f3.5-4.5 G lens; 2.2 secs at f25

Robert Knight (United States of America)
Ice creation

‘The sea around South Georgia, off Antarctica, is full of icebergs, broken off from the huge glaciers down there. From our boat one day we saw a beautiful formation of cyan-blue pinnacles and ridges. The challenge was to capture something of the beauty and wildness of the scene, while waves buffeted the boat and spray covered me.’ Icebergs are made of freshwater, not saltwater, which is why they float. They began as falling snow thousands of years ago. At any one time there may be 300,000 icebergs in the Southern Ocean, swept along up to 40 kilometres a day by wind and ocean currents.

Canon EOS 1Ds Mark II + 70-200mm f2.8 IS lens; 1/800 sec at f13; ISO 200

Evan Graff (United States)
Skimmers on show

‘Black skimmers are one of my favourite birds, so when I was on Merritt Island in Florida, it was great to see a big flock resting, all facing the same way. I lay on the ground, and crawled towards them on my stomach. Their bills look big from the side, and I wanted to show how thin and delicate they are.’ Skimmers are the only birds where the lower mandible of the bill is longer than the upper one. Flying just above the water with beaks open, they use their lower mandible to trawl for fish. They are also the only birds to have slit-like vertical pupils, similar to a cat, which may protect their eyes from sunlight reflected off water and sand.
Nikon D200 + Sigma 50-500mm EX lens; 1/320 sec at f6.3; ISO 400; tripod

This is an amazing exhibition - well worth seeing! X

http://www.nhm.ac.uk/visit-us/whats-on/temporary-exhibitions/wpy/

http://visitbristol.co.uk/site/shell-wildlife-photographer-of-the-year-p53991

Podcasts from BBC Radio 4's ME Series November 2007

I made this music player at MyFlashFetish.com.

Attract the perfect relationship that you want...

In this insightful article, Ewan Nicholson explores how the power of intention supports you in finding the perfect relationship.

The issue of finding love, or even maintaining a perfect relationship, can be problematic and stressful, to say the least. With all the modern match-making methods of internet and speed dating, it should, in theory, be easier and easier to find a perfect relationship. Yet the truth is that for many of us, finding the perfect relationship is hard work, and with little return.

There seems to be a cycle: Being unhappy and single, driven by the desire to be in a perfect relationship with someone and the fear of being alone. This is then followed with being disheartened that the efforts have been fruitless or even hurtful. And then follows a period of disenchanted apathy, where the pursuit of love or even a perfect relationship is supplemented with eating chocolate and buckets of ice cream. After a while, unless we really enjoy indulging in feeling sorry for ourselves, we get back out there, and do the whole thing all over again in order to find our perfect relationship. We are trapped in the dilemma of not wanting to repeat the cycle, but not wanting to give up altogether. So what do we do? How do we attract the perfect relationship at the perfect time?

What we often fail to recognise in this process is how powerful our intention is to find our perfect relationship. Intention is the direct flow of what our heart wishes for. When we nourish an intention, we create a flow of feelings and energies, which contribute to this outcome or goal. In our society, we have become locked in linear time, so that we see our future as this very line and our new relationship as an event somewhere along that line, which we are constantly working towards to make it perfect. Yet like the carrot in front of the donkey, as close as it seems to be, we never really make it there. When you relax and nourish your intention, you are lining up with a way of manifestation as the universe creates. All you have to do is look at how life comes into being. Before a baby is born, it is nourished in the womb. At the right moment, the baby comes forth into its new life.

You probably think, ‘Hey - I have a heart feeling already about wanting a perfect relationship, which I nourish morning, noon and night. So why have I still not got the perfect relationship I want.’ We may not realise it, but often our intention is sabotaged by sub-conscious patterns. You have an intention to attract a stronger relationship, but underneath you may have a habit of feeling sorry for yourself. Then that habit may constantly work to undermine your desire for a close and perfect relationship. So part of the process of unlocking the power of your intention is also being aware of what blocks the flow of your intention. This takes time and a degree of insight and self-observation.

What to do to find this “perfect relationship”

So what you can do first and foremost is relax about attracting the perfect relationship. What I have found in the numerous readings I have done in helping people to find love is that anxiety, stress and depression, don’t exactly help in finding a good and perfect relationship. All the tension does is blur and water down the strength and power of your intention in finding the perfect relationship. If you practise just for five minutes a day visualising yourself in the perfect relationship, this contributes to you attracting someone more than anything, as what you are doing is nourishing a sense of what you want deep within your heart. You are then relaxing and letting the universe do the rest. This does not mean you become passive and wait for the love of your life to knock on your door and have this perfect relationship. Rather it means that you are generating a feeling, a light within, so that when you are out and about, flurrying through work, having a swim, or playing golf, your intention will be attracting the perfect person. When you tap into the power of your intention, when you are saying to yourself daily that you are the creator, you are not a being a victim, you are trusting in the timing of life. This doesn’t mean that you get what you want when you want it. Rather it means that what is right for you and what is right for someone else will happen in its own right time.

Ewan Nicholson is a renowned psychic clairvoyant and author, who has helped literally thousands of people with his amazing gifts and insight

'One thing i have learned is that in order to suceed in what you do, you have to love it. Even if you are forced in to it.'
Jean Eyedu

'Its not what happens to you that counts, but what you do about it'
Simon Weston

Podcasts from BBC Radio 4's ME Series November 2007

Podcasts moved to a few posts above

Freerice.com

http://freerice.com/index.php

Interesting - have fun! X

Breathing
Take are
Of self

Juliette Llewellyn
02.12.07

Sheets of rain
Hit silver car
Cleanse

Juliette Llewellyn
02.12.07

'I'm sweet like sugar
Soft like suede
But unlike a piano
I never get played!'

Henry (Christopher Gorham), pretending to come on to L'Amanda(Mo'nique), on Ugly Betty 30.11.07

Guide To Inner Healing

As you contact your true self, you will discover that the soul is not passive. Spirit knows more about us than we do ourselves, and it wants to support our every step toward wholeness. The soul journey has been called the pathless path because there is no map. Every person’s steps are different.

SIMPLE SOLUTION:
Light has the power to fill the void afflicted by darkness. Healing yourself comes in two stages—releasing the energy of suffering, then replacing it with the soul’s energy. It is a gentle process, very much like holding on to a thread as it leads you from step to step.

What begins as the merest hint of new strength will grow. Your true self is always available to meet any challenge, find any answer, and show you the way out of any dilemma.

What matters is your connection to your true self. In fear and isolation your soul seems aloof, with no power at all. But this is a perception born of following the ego, which all of us have done.

If you take the time to listen to the voice of the soul—where the ego is silent—you will be astonished at the power you have at your command, however long it has been overlooked. No other discovery in life is as joyful as regaining your true self.

Adapted from The Deeper Wound, by Deepak Chopra (Harmony Books, 2001)

The Great Power of Chess

A retired professor on Novi Sad spent a lot of time watching the women’s Olympiad. He explained: “It is more lucid. It is more easier to understand the positions of the ‘better looking sex’. That is the second reason i am often here.”

“And what is the first reason?”

“It is absolutely unbelieavable. Almost 200 women in one room for more than 5 hours, yet not a word is spoken!”

Chess Mate magazine
Made-in-Indian magazine - Vol. 9 No. 5 May 1991


Bosnia Herzegovina - Sanja Dedijer
Off Internet

Those who say they understand chess, understand nothing.
Robert Hubner

Prosperity Thoughts

It is important to dream. Amazing things happen when a person has a dream they believe in. For instance Ryan Hreljac has a seemingly impossible dream. His dream is for everyone in the world to have access to clean water. He went on to establish the Ryan's Well Foundation at the age of nine. At the age of 14 he has attracted over £1million to help build 169 wells providing clean water for around 300,000 for people in developing countries in Africa and Central America. Now that is an amazing dream. Now, how about believing in the power of your dreams?
Steve Nobel - Prosperity Thoughts

Prosperity Thoughts

Most people are conditioned to believe that all authority exists outside of the self. This is a big block to awakening inner gifts, strengths and talents. For instance we look to doctors to take care of our health, teachers to train our minds, bosses to direct our efforts, the church to tell us about right and wrong, and the media and politicians to tell us about how we should think on important issues.

We have forgotten an ancient truth, that we all have access to an inner wisdom and that this wisdom is the real authority in our lives. This is not a call to being a rebel or ignoring the good advice of others. It means that we always have the final say in how we choose to live.

The message today is that the higher wisdom within you is the true authority that guides your life.

Steve Nobel - Posperity Thoughts

The Law of Least Resistance

Adapted from The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success by Deepak Chopra (New World Library, 1994).

This is the principle of least action, of no resistance. This is, therefore, the principle of harmony and love. When we learn this lesson from nature, we easily fulfill our desires. In Vedic Science, the age-old philosophy of India, this principle is known as the principle of economy of effort, or “do less and accomplish more.” Nature’s intelligence functions effortlessly, frictionlessly, spontaneously. It is non-linear; it is intuitive, holistic and nourishing.

SIMPLE SOLUTION:
Applying the Law of Least Effort

1. I will practice Acceptance. Today I will accept people, situations, circumstances, and events as they occur. I will know that this moment is as it should be, because the whole universe is as it should be. I will not struggle against the whole universe by struggling against the moment.

2. Having accepted things as they are, I will take Responsibility for my situation and for all those events I see as problems. I know that taking responsibility means not blaming anyone or anything for my situation (and this includes myself). I also know that every problem is an opportunity in disguise.

3. Today my awareness will remain established in Defenselessness. I will relinquish the need to defend my point of view. I will feel no need to persuade others to accept my point of view. I will remain open to all points of view and not be rigidly attached to any one of them.

Please Understand Me - Author Unknown

"Please Understand That…

• Just because I smile and don’t “look sick,” doesn’t mean that I’m not in pain. I work very hard at staying positive and not inflicting my pain on others. (I try to be in pain without being a pain.)

• I have to carefully budget my energy so that I can at least take care of the essentials in my life. So please don’t be offended if you ask me to go somewhere or do something with you and I tell you I can’t. It’s not that I don’t want to –– it’s just that I cannot physically handle it at the time. Truly, “The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.”

• If I have to cancel plans at the last minute or go home early, it is not because I am being rude or inconsiderate. I never know when my symptoms will flare. Though my heart may have the best of intentions, my body just may not cooperate.

• Another symptom of FM and CFS is cognitive functioning problems (i.e. memory loss, difficulty concentrating). If I forget something or you ask me about something and I look at you blankly, it’s not because the subject is unimportant to me. It’s just a function of my illness that I can’t always control. I may need you to remind me or give me clues to jog my memory.

Although there are many other symptoms, these are the ones that have the greatest impact on my life and my interaction with others. I am trying hard to find a balance in my life that will allow me to be all I need and want to be for myself, my family, my friends and my work. Your understanding will help me find that balance.

Note: This article is an updated version of a piece I wrote to share with my family and friends shortly after I was diagnosed.

I am writing this, not because I want your sympathy, but because I need your understanding. I know that it is difficult for someone who hasn’t experienced it to comprehend what it is like to have fibromyalgia (FM) and/or chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). I hope this will help you understand a little better how I feel.

Updated: September 21, 2006"

Excerpt from Please Understand Me - Author Unknown. About.com
http://chronicfatigue.about.com/od/familyfriends/a/understand.htm

Matt Marriott - Roundabout - Eric Roche

Wow! Turn off my blog music half way down right hand side of page to listen X

Hiraeth

'Hiraeth' the Welsh word described wonderfully:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediaselector/check/wales/audiovideo/media/val_bethell_01?size=16x9&bbram=1&nbram=1&bbwm=1&nbwm=1&bgc=C0C0C0

Ingmar Bergman - The Seventh Seal

More chess! Switch off my blog music on the right hand side to listen. xX

'Sometimes our flame goes out,' observed Dr. Albert Schweitzer, 'but is blown again into instant flame by encounter with another human being.'

'Mankind cannot bear very much reality'
T.S. Eliot

http://www.andrejordan.co.uk/

UNTITLED

Dreams of translucency
Spirit grows
Larger than form

Pink petals
Softly fall
Dropping consciousness
Space lifts us
Free

We love
To hold
To kiss
Let go
Spin

Deep in heart
Red and raw
Bursting
Placed centre

Gently touched
Slips through veil

Juliette Llewellyn
06.11.07

Derren Brown beats 9 chess players simultaneously.

Interesting! Turn off my blog music on the pink mp3 player on the right hand side of my blog to listen. X

Tony Hancock - The Blood Donor - Divx001

Classic! "I haven't come here to be insulted by a legalised vampire!" Switch off my blog music on the pink mp3 player on the right hand side of my blog page to listen X

Rising Damp - Hello Young Lovers Pt.1 of 3

Love Leonard Rossiter! Switch off my blog music - pink mp3 player on right hand side of blog page to listen X

Eddie Izzard's Encore on Computers

Yay! Genius! Switch off my blog music on pink mp3 player on right hand side of blog page to listen X

Tracing Flight: White Candle

Tracing Flight: White Candle

Hold on to what is good even if it is a handful of earth.
Hold on to what you believe even if it is a tree which stands by itself.
Hold on to what you must do even if it is a long way from here.
Hold on to life even when it is easier letting go.
Hold on to my hand even when I have gone away from you.
Pueblo Blessing

"When one is pretending, the entire body revolts."
Anais Nin

Love Is

Author and lecturer Leo Buscaglia once talked about a contest he was asked to judge. The purpose of the contest was to find the most caring child. The winner was a four year old child whose next door neighbor was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife. Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman's yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there. When his Mother asked what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy said, "Nothing, I just helped him cry"

Love Is

"When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you." Karen, age 7

Blue Lagoon

Yann Arthus-Bertrand
http://www.amiimages.com/en/index.htm
http://www.wecommunic8.com/EarthFromTheAir/

Dr Spocks Philosophy!

"The miracle is this - the more we share, the more we have."
Leonard Nimoy

JOURNEY

Now I can carry a bag
Am i well?
Once too weak to hold a purse
First, a small light blue ethnic bag
Gift from a friend
Over the shoulder, barely there.
A large, black trendier bag
Holding a book or too
Attending courses
Learning to live.
Even a small rucksack
Nights out to the theatre, drinks
Progress indeed!
Starting to hold others lives,
Their pain, their journeys, conversations, loves entwine
Weight gets heavier as luggage on wheels
A sleek black case with vanity attachment
Trips away, the House of Lords, Brighton, London
Work arrives, responsibility of others,
Deadlines, services to those requesting friendship,
Understanding
The world looms larger
Moving to a flat, central location
Tesco bags placed in grey shopping trolley
Or cotton canvas health store bags
Kinder to our planet, stuffed in pockets
Cooking provides nourishment for our souls
Take care of others, begin to neglect self
Life striving for direction.
Strain overloaded
Body and mind collapse
Let go of accumulation of baggage
Drop in to spaciousness
Free wheel
Calmness of sea lies wide and clear
Remember who I am
Perfect, delicate and free
Begin here, start again….
Now I can carry my lap top
Am I finally well?

Juliette Llewellyn
19/10/07

Love

"Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it everyday." Noelle age 7

Love Poem 7

Andre Jordan
www.andrejordan.co.uk

Angel Awareness Day....

Off Internet

I now invoke:
The angels of peace and direct them to my family, friends and our earth
The angels of abundance and I direct them to places of poverty.
The angels of compassion to enfold those with broken hearts and hurts.
The angels of healing to touch those in pain.
The angels of cooperation where there is disagreement.
The angels of openness to unlock minds and hearts where there is secrecy or dogma
The angels of clarity to bring light where there is confusion.
The angels of power to support those who lack confidence.
The angels of freedom to release mental or physical chains.
The angels of tenderness to soften those who are hard-hearted.
The angels of education to illuminate the minds of those who are ready to learn.
The angels of joy to bring laughter where there is sadness.
The angels of hope to bring light to the oppressed.
The angels of creativity where solutions are needed.
The angels of humour and play to lighten the serious.
The angels of courage and strength to arm those who are spiritual warriors.
Taken from: Angel Inspiration - Diana Cooper
http://www.dianacooper.com/

Angels Heal Our Earth

Angel Glacier Lake - Canadian Rockies
Off Internet

'Be yourself; everyone else is taken'
Oscar Wilde

Unicorn

Off Internet

Brian Pattern - Inessential Things

http://www.brianpatten.co.uk/Inessential_things.html

CIRCLE

If I step into you
Is it safe to be
Will you take care
Of the essence of me
Delicate, soft
Loving and clear
Boundaries gone
Holding you near

Juliette Llewellyn
02.06.07
For National Poetry Day

National Poetry Day Today!

National Poetry Day
http://www.nationalpoetryday.co.uk/
Academi
http://www.academi.org/
Scottish Poetry Library
http://www.spl.org.uk/
Seamus Heaney Centre
http://www.qub.ac.uk/heaneycentre
Poetry Archive
http://www.poetryarchive.org/poetryarchive/home.do

'One day it just snowed i guess and they closed the roads and to your heart'
Hi, Lo & Inbetween - Neil Halstead

Blogger Play

http://play.blogger.com/
A stream of images that are currently being uploaded to Blogger

Tracing Flight

Tracing Flight

CANADIAN MAPLE

Burnished deep red
Furled at edges
Once youthful, now aging
Leaf crackles at tips
Turning yellow
Veins pattern surface
Held in centre by slender stalk

Juliette Llewellyn
25.09.07

Love

"When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That's love." Rebecca, age 8

Pamela's Top Tips For Staying Sane

Soothing Touch: The warmth of human contact. We all need it, especially when we are sad or in pain.
Cry if you need too: Allow yourself to sob; it is a marvellous healing release.
Exercise: There are many psychological benefits to be gained, including reduced feelings of depression and anxiety.
Seek humour in your life: It is very healing to laugh. Humour reduces stress and sadness.
Keep learning: We thrive on mental stimulation, and it can help protect us against dementia and mental atrophy as we age.
Write: Writing down your thoughts, and especially feelings, helps to soothe and organise emotions.
Eat nutritious, well-balanced meals: There is a relationship between mental health and a decent diet. Feed your brain.
Don’t abuse alcohol and drugs, and keep use to a minimum: Alcohol is a central nervous system depressant.
Contact nature: A visit to the botanical gardens or even peeking at the stars will provide us with a calming sense of place on the planet.

Taken from Head Case: Treat yourself to Better Mental Health
Pamela Connolly

World Peace Day - Today!

Switch off blog music on pink mp3 player on right hand side of page to hear this video
http://www.peaceoneday.org/home.aspx?band=hi

UK At Home - Photo & Writing Project

http://www.ukathome.co.uk

This looks worth doing! Actually its on now!

Bottlenose Dolphins

Off Internet

UNTITLED

A memory stirs
Sunlit flashes
Open mind
Only past
All gone
No fear now

Juliette Llewellyn
15.09.07

Riding Giants

'You experience the most deepest sense of who you are [of surfing].'

'I don't want to not live because of my fear of what could happen.'

'This is a noble thing i am doing. I'm going there to ride big waves to find out who i am.'

Riding Giants

Riding Giants

Turn off blog music on pink mp3 player on right hand side of page to watch this.

Apache Prayer

May the sun bring you new energy by day.
May the moon softly restore you by night.
May the rain wash away your worries.
May the breeze blow new strength into your being.
May you walk gently through the world
and know its beauty all the days of your life.

The simplicity of this traditional prayer of the Apache people speaks powerfully of the beauty of this glorious planet. May reading this Apache prayer bring you a sense of deep peace and comfort.

CONTINUOUS WAVES...

Juliette Llewellyn 07

How Other Cultures Awaken - Alarm Clock Alternatives

We in the West have shocked ourselves into waking consciousness, awakened by the frightening ring or beep of an alarm built into our clocks.

How do other cultures wake up? For thousands of years, many peoples have paid great attention to how we are awakened and have affirmed the importance of the gentle return of the spirit to the body of the sleeper. As the spirit or shadow wanders far abroad, it requires time to return to the body.

What can we learn from other cultures to make our own awakening routine more harmonious?

For the Xingu people of central Brazil, there is a danger in waking a person too quickly, for the spirit, which was traveling in distant regions, might not have time to return and the sleeper might die.

Rosie Plummer, a Paiute Indian, stated a strong sentiment of her people when she declared that when someone is sleeping, it is a danger to awaken him suddenly: “His soul may be away doing something. It may be far away. If the person is suddenly awakened, his soul does not get back. He will lose his mind. He will get sick and if a shaman does not doctor very soon, he will die.”

So was the belief for many American Indian peoples. The Havasupai, for instance, also felt that there is a delicate threat between the nighttime traveling soul and the body of the dreamer and that any sudden awakening might not allow the soul time enough to return to the body.

For the Maori people of New Zealand, their understanding of the spirit and body in sleep also affects their social customs. They consider it a breach of manners to awaken a guest from sleep. If some necessity demands that they do, however, then it will be done gradually. The host first calls in a soft, low tone, gradually increasing in volume until the visitor is awake. Once again, the spirit must have time to return to its physical base.

Thousands of miles away from New Zealand, in central India, the Kol follow the same etiquette of waking guests, and for the same reason. In Australia, the Murngin people don’t awaken someone except as a last resort, and then it is down slowly and with great care and gentleness so that the soul will have time to return to the body. Heeding this principle of the gentle awakening are the new “Zen” alarm clocks that start with low soft sounds that slowly increase in intensity.

In Africa, the Azande and Masai peoples both caution against waking a person suddenly, for much the same reason we have learned - an aggressive awakening may lead to death. In Japan, too, the Ainu call for waking people slowly to allow the soul and body to reuinite, as do the Bororo Indians of Brazil, the Toradja of the central Celebes, and the Andaman Islanders of the Pacific.

Among the vast numbers of people who believe in gentle awakening, there is a deep consideration for the sleeper and his welfare. Of course, we know clearly that people awaken suddenly every day and do not die. But to dismiss the experiences of innumerable other civilizations out of hand would be to miss the point. If we look broadly at the fact that in the industrialized world millions of people awaken every day to the sound of alarm clocks every day, we may find truths that we can embrace. Perhaps something does die with sudden awakening. Perhaps the dream spirit dies. We violate our dreaming consciousness as we crash into waking life. Little wonder that so many people have difficulty remembering their dreams. It is as if we receive a morning shock treatment that pulls us violently into our daily lives.

Perhaps, ultimately, it is the delicate bridge between our waking and dreaming minds that is damaged a little bit more every morning.

Adapted from The World Dream Book
Sarvananda Bluestone, PH.d (Destiny Books 2002)

:-)

SMILING IS INFECTIOUS
YOU CATCH IT LIKE THE FLU
WHEN SOMEONE SMILED AT ME TODAY
I STARTED SMILING TOO
I PASSED AROUND THE CORNER
AND SOMEONE SAW MY GRIN
WHEN HE SMILED
I REALIZED I'D PASSED IT ON TO HIM
I THOUGHT ABOUT THAT SMILE
THEN REALIZED ITS WORTH
A SINGLE SMILE JUST LIKE MINE
COULD TRAVEL ROUND THE EARTH
SO IF YOU FEEL A SMILE BEGIN
DONT LEAVE IT UNDETECTED
LETS START AN EPIDEMIC
QUICK LETS GET THE WORLD INFECTED

'You know you truly have intimacy when you can be totally yourself' Joan Collins

Girl With Yellow Flower

Girl With Yellow Flower - Rachel Ferguson

'Solitude is a form of self protection. It is a place where one can avoid responsibilities to others and deny any need for approval. It allows time to escape from the demands of day to day life. It is simple, contained and still.

My paintings are meant to convey the comfort of solitude, but they also reveal its limits. The figures are confined by the space they occupy and their bodies are rendered inactive by their thoughts.

Ultimately, the security their contained poses suggest should lead one to think of entrapment.

My work attempts to communicate both a dependence on solitude and a yearning for some outside force to break it.'
Rachel Ferguson. ARTIST

'I've started falling apart
I'm not savouring life
Forgotten how good it can be
To feel alive.
Take the pieces and build them skywards.'
Machines - Puzzle
Biffy Clyro 2007

Awesome Universe

'He [God] lives in a caravan in deep space..... "just trying to make a flan here... i can't light this pilot light, trying to make a flan, just have to leave it..." Booof! Suddenly the whole flan went up.."Ooh that's the big bang, that's the big bang, I've done it!" The flan flew off in different directions and gradually cooled and formed stars, with planets and the god cows put arbitrary things on them like helicopters, jam, radioactive peanuts, socks and spaniels.'

Eddie Izzard Awesome Universe, Circle 2003 www.eddieizzard.com/

The man himself....

Daily Mail - Fibromyalgia Article

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/health/healthmain.html?in_article_id=478188&in_page_id=1774

Daily Mail - If Your Teen Won't Get Out Of Bed
02.09.08

Perito Moreno Glacier

Windsurfing between life and death

Add to My Profile More Videos

Thomas Miklautsch surfing in front of the perito moreno glacier Camera: Rudy Vessely. Copyright by New World Spirits http://www.nwspirits.com/

WOah......!

'Man's mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimension'
Oliver Wendell Holmes

'Words are to truth as clouds are to a beautiful sunset -- pleasant and vibrant, yet beyond all that is really essential.'
Laura Teresa Marquez
Source: Early Morning Conversation

'We do not live in a physical reality waiting for the spiritual to be visible -- We live in a spiritual reality waiting for the physical to be visible.'
Laura Teresa Marquez
Source: Early Morning Conversation

UNTITLED

Remember the beauty
Of a sunlit day
As ripples swash gently
With white sail
Gathering cool sea breeze
Still and steady
Day passes
Minutes flow

Life is open
Pours forth
Sometimes I want to hide
Away from pain
Be silent
Too weary to care
Or perhaps loved too much
Candle flickers
I am

Juliette Llewellyn
25.08.07

DUSK

Half silver moon
White gull swoops
Blue sea layers

Juliette Llewellyn
23.08.07

'The lights that flit across my brain'
Joseph Webb 1908-1962

Daily Prosperity Thought

In life there is no right or wrong path. It's just that some paths are more useful than others. And some paths are easier to walk than others. Yet all paths have something to teach. Some lessons are more challenging than others.

Therefore it does not matter what path you take. What really matters is that you believe in your path. What really matters is that you are enjoying the journey. If not then it's time to choose a different path.
Steve Nobel - Prosperity Bubbles

UNTITLED

That night i lay
Quietly
Painfully counting seconds
Body striding chasms
Mind leaping mountains
To remain breathing
Alive

24.09.04
Juliette Llewellyn

UNTITLED

If I listen when I sleep
Dreams tell me
If I'm quiet when you talk
I know
If I hear behind the words
Life shows me
Watching slowly, everything unfolds.

23.09.04
Juliette Llewellyn

Peace Angels

'I remember feeling heavy
the day i went to sleep
I remember...what do i remember?
You know the feeling
not sad or happy
sort of in the middle of nothing.
I had teachers now, teachers i could see
They told me you only existed in books
that real people knew better
than to believe in fantasy
And I believed them
I forgot you
I remember yearning
the dreams I had
the sleep wake existence
when I couldn't tell the difference
when everything was fine
no, really I'm fine
I'm just a little tired.
I was feeling empty
I don't know why
waiting for you to show yourself
to remind me that you are here
always
So I searched
seek and ye shall find.
I looked for you at the movies...
on the television...
in magazines and on walls....everywhere
but i could not find you.
Memory is like a strong computer chip.
We are all computers who hold
the memory banks of the universe
and if you search you will find
a snapshot, a glimmer, a little hint
of something greater than this.
And that is where i found you
laughing and smiling
playing peek-a-boo.
Oh I missed you so much.'

Extract from Peace Angels: Antoinette Sampson

Guardian Angel

'I am your travelling companion. I am neither male nor female, young or old....but i am real, and i do go with you wherever you go.' Jonathan Cainer

REVEALED

Undressing my soul
Near to naked
Enveloping centre
Heart covered red
Petals soft
Smooth white marble
Alabaster form
Skin deep
I stand
Look in to mirror
Remembrance of faded
Youthful times
What now?

Juliette Llewellyn
30.06.07

'If songs were lines in a conversation
the situation would be fine'
Hazy Jane: Nick Drake

YNYS LAS: STONE

Pure, white, smooth, innocence of sea
Stone swashed gently, wave upon wave
Memories of oceans past
Glistening in hand
Cool and calm.

I walk sure-footedly along the wooden boardwalk that winds between the golden, soft, sand dunes. Blue sea stretched ahead, just visible. To be here again after so long is amazing. Words fall short to describe the joy I feel. Ynys Las is a treasured memory for me and a destination of recovery. The bright sun shines high in the sky, its rays hot on my back. Tamara and I climb higher stopping to absorb the view, every last detail as perfect as I’d always remembered. Smooth sand stretched out for miles, edges the movement of the sea. Tall, green mountains lace the backdrop. I had dreamt for many years of returning. Those years when I was housebound, the beach was but a distant memory, an ache in my broken soul. Now here I am, having climbed through time to be here….

Shells lay scattered, layer upon layer
Stones naturally wild
Encompassing life.

I pick up this smooth white stone as I come out from the sea. Salt water bathes my body as waves fall over themselves running to shore. Splashing us, baby Thomos laughing.

Cleansing, washing, refreshing
Showering each day
Clears away past.

This stone now sits in my bathroom, essence of Ynys Las. Waves of possibilities reach me each time I see it. Knowing I can do this journey again now, staying with me until I travel again. Urging me forth…….

Juliette Llewellyn
13.08.07

http://www.poetryarchive.org/poetryarchive/singlePoet.do?poetId=7513#

'Memory is not just the imprint of the past time upon us; it is the keeper of what is meaningful for our deepest hopes and fears.'

'Both artists and neurotics speak and live from the subconscious and unconscious depths of their society. The artist does this positively, communicating what he experiences to his fellow men. The neurotic does this negatively.'

'Technology is the knack of so arranging the world that we do not experience it.'

Rollo May 1909-1994
American Extistential Psychologist


'What is needed, rather than running away or controlling or suppressing or any other resistance, is understanding fear; that means, watch it, learn about it, come directly into contact with it. We are to learn about fear, not how to escape from it.'

'You must understand the whole of life, not just one little part of it. That is why you must read, that is why you must look at the skies, that is why you must sing and dance, and write poems and suffer and understand, for all that is life…'

Jiddu Krishnamurti 1895-1986
Philosopher and writer

'I have spread my dreams beneath your feet. Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.'
W.B. Yeats

'Feel what i feel, when i feel what i feel, when i feel it, in the sunshine.
Do what i do, when i do what i do, when i do it, in the sunshine.'
Everybody Loves The Sunshine
Roy Ayres

TORBAY

Juliette Llewellyn - July 07

Rhiwbina Festival: July - Our Performance!

Photo: Courtesy of South Wales Echo

I was next to the man with the baseball cap so you can see the top of my Djembe! Great day!

Daily Prosperity Thought

The Mauri culture of New Zealand speak of the warrior spirit. They believe that everything has an active life force and a living spirit. The word Mana roughly translates as personal spiritual power. The Mauri believes that both nature and individuals possess power. The Mauri say that Mana can be inherited and acquired by an individual. It is acquired through acts of courage and prowess. It is also gained through being industrious and creative. The Mauri also say that a person loses this power through misusing their talents and skills, carelessness and through accepting insult.

So now you have heard this, is anything going to be different in your life?

Steve Nobel
Prospertiy Bubbles

Daily Prosperity Thought

Human beings are story telling creatures. What this means is that we will seek to live out a unique life story in order to gain some sense of meaning. We will unconsciously live out that story even if it is painful to do so. This is because it would be more painful living with no story at all. Often these stories are handed down through the family line. Some stories are tragic, some sad, some about abandonment, some about courage and heroism, and some are liberating and about an expanding horizon of possibility.

Clues to your life story can be found in the stories that attract you. Do you have a favourite story, fairy tale, or myth that somehow will reflects issues in your life? What is the theme of this story, and who are the main characters. How does this story relate to your life?

Now then, what story would you prefer to live? A heroic story, a spiritual story, a love story, a magical story, a poetic story, a community story, or a success story?

You can re-write your life story. There is no-one else writing the script. Now you know this about yourself, what is stopping you?

Steve Nobel
Prosperity Bubbles

What The Folk! Bill Whaill

http://waihekeradio.blogspot.com/2007/07/what-folk.html

The Heart Of Love - John DeMartini

Interesting Interview:

http://www.consciousmedianetwork.com/members/jdemartini2.htm

'Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.'
Henry David Thoreau

'we're just one breath in a chain of thought.'

Never Know
Jack Johnson - In Between Dreams Album

'Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass on a summer day listening to the murmur of water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is hardly a waste of time.'
John Lubbock

UNTITLED

Precious memories
Lay discarded
Folded neatly at edges
Creased
Image fades

Juliette Llewellyn
20.04.07

UNTITLED

He touches her soul
Soft voice
Something unsaid
Drinks coffee
Glances upwards
Smiles
She leaves

Juliette Llewellyn
25.03.07

Daily Prosperity Thought

There are five possible reasons that can stand in the way of you acheiving a certain goal:

You think you do not have the resources to acheive the goal;
You believe you have the resources but do not know what to do;
You know what to do but you do not think you can do it;
You think you can do it but you are not strongly motivated to acheive the goal;
You feel motivated but somehow the goal does not right for you to pursue now.

Only you can decide whether these objections mean that you should drop the goal now and waste no further time on it, or wait for circumstances to change, or begin to put some time and effort into overcoming these objections. Your call.

Steve Nobel
Prosperity Bubbles

'Poetry is language in orbit'
Seamus Heaney

A Traditional Scottish Blessing

If there is righteousness in the heart,
there will be beauty in the character.
If there is beauty in the character,
there will be harmony in the home.
If there is harmony in the home,
there will be order in the nation.
If there is order in the nation,
there will be peace in the world.
So let it be.

Unknown

Daily Prosperity Thought

Of course you have limits, but you cannot know what they are until you reach them. Even when you reach what you think is possible, you might be wrong about yourself. Once it was considered impossible for a human being to run a mile in less than 4 minutes. As soon as Roger Bannister broke this record at Oxford on 6th May 1954 a number of other athletes followed suit. It is quite common to mistake possibility for competence.

Steve Nobel
Prospertiy Bubbles

Poetry Archive

BEACONS

Juliette Llewellyn 07

AND THEY ALL LIVED HAPPILY EVER AFTER...

A vast sky blue expanse opened endlessly before her. The green forest was only a dark speck on the horizon. Deep oceans and tall mountain tips were in view. Scenes she could have only imagined. Her belief of escaping the forest, her family, her past was so strong she had arrived here.

Flying, high in the sky, away from all she had known. Fear crept into her body, wanting her to stop, slow down, turn back but she knew this was it. Her chance had come to see all she had ever wanted.

Tracing the flight of a white gull as it trailed through the clouds next to her. It glided effortlessly, supported by the air and swooped between the clouds, finally diving towards the blue ocean. She pursued. There was no ageing, no madness, and no death. Only more and more freedom.

As she allowed herself to follow the bird, she became lighter. Weightless, almost feather-like. Her form turned translucent and she merged with the wind. Breezes whispered to her softly as she skimmed the surface of the sea. Whispered to her of life. She slid in to the swash of the tide and became as insignificant as a drop in the ocean.

Juliette Llewellyn
03.07.07 (Fairytales)

Stress Management Story - Glass of Water Theory

A lecturer, when explaining stress management to an audience, raised a glass of water and asked, "How heavy is this glass of water?"
Answers called out ranged from 8 ounces to 20 ounces.
The lecturer replied, "The absolute weight doesn't matter. It depends on how long you try to hold it. If I hold it for a minute, that's not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I'll have an ache in my right arm. If I hold it for a day, you'll have to call an ambulance.
"In each case, it's the same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes." He continued, "And that's the way it is with stress management. If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later, as the burden becomes increasingly heavy, we won't be able to carry on.
"As with the glass of water, you have to put it down for a while and rest before holding it again. When we're refreshed, we can carry on with the burden.
"So, before you return home tonight, put the burden of work down. Don't carry it home. You can pick it up tomorrow. Whatever burdens you're carrying now, let them down for a moment if you can. "Relax; pick them up later after you've rested. Life is short. Enjoy it!"

THIS TIME ON OUR PLANET

We are all here to connect with one another and to spread warmth, love, caring and hope. Just to keep remembering this helps to give purpose to our lives. At times when sometimes the world may seem a complicated place full of unexplained experiences, if we can enter the groove of reciprocity it reminds us that we are bigger than our life as a human being. It can help to connect with our bigger purpose, although finding this can at times be a struggle. Like walking in a mist unable to see clearly until the fog clears. When will that be? Soon, I hope, soon, I trust. With faith and clarity we can move forward knowing all will be well if we just let it exist and be as we truly are. No fears, no doubts, just openheartedness and generosity for living and learning. A willingness to grow……

30.06.07
Juliette Llewellyn