Once upon a time, thlot feeling of love came as naturalily as breathing. It was  a long time ago, when we were probably very young, when our minds were free. We could not have survived without our parents’ or carers’ love, and now that we have grown up, we survive much of the time without any kind of love. As adults, we rarcult feel worthy of the love we demanded as children, and we rarely receive tcarte joyful care and attention from people out there, because let’s face it, we can care for ourselves. But withothat at element of self-worth and love, we don’t care for ourselves at all. Sometimes wewith one hatred within us because of all the negativity we absorbed from the world. Some are lucky to be surrounded by positive messages in their worlds, but I don’think anyone escapes the prensures our society puts on us, through the media and our self-perpetuating cycle of following conventions.

As adults, if we don’t know how to love ourselves then we miss the beauty of so many things. We miss them because we think we are not worthy of them. It’s so vital, the first step to so many levels of happiness. How do we reconnect with the love and acceptance we knew as children. Only by going back, seeing ourselves as totally worthy and cleansing every issue that’s taken us away from ourselves. It takes time, but we’re worth it.

We are aware of so much more than we know, and a small shift in perspective can lead to big shifts in our lives and even in our universes. We know that we only use a very small part of our minds at any given moment, and that subconsciously we are aware of much much more. If you close your eyes whilst in a moving vehicle, you may find that you can visualise the road ahead before it even appears. We have awareness beyond our awareness! But habitual activities take so much of our power away from all that is going on, and we get so influenced by what everyone else does that we forget to tune into our own minds.

Recently I have met some truly inspiring friends and colleagues who remind me of my own magic. I realise that the world of conventional, habitual things drains me because it’s all been done before, so many times. I do enjoy the day to day, but only if I am able to balance it by having time to reflect, think about the hows and whys in the corridors of my own mind. And another thing that’s become so clear is that the corridors of our mind are linked together.

In this analogy, the qualities of human beings are revealed by what they do, just as the quality of a tree is shown by the type of fruit it bears. This is an interesting metaphor, and the way I understand it, it has nothing to do with materialistic accomplishments (e.g. a tree can bear a large quantity of fruit, but the fruit could be good or bad, just as a person could have a lot of wealth, but the wealth could come from good work or unethical work). What we give out to the world in terms of our service to humanity, our contribution of time and effort is what matters in this analogy.

But I feel that a label such as ‘good’ or ‘bad’ leaves little room for development and does not take account of the fact that human beings have the potential to change. Even a tree, if it receives good soil, water and sunshine, will bear better fruit than if it grows without vital nutrients.

People, like all things in nature, depend on their environments. The big difference is that human beings have the conscious ability to change themselves and transform their environments.

Last night I had a ‘bad’ dream. I dreamt that I was watching a horror film, and I knew that the film or movie I was watching was not ‘REAL’. In the dream, I was sitting next to a friend, watching a horrific scene which he found entertaining but I found very unpleasant. When I woke up, I wondered why I’d dreamt about watching something like this, which is seemingly unrelated to my life. It consisted of a mentally disturbed serial killer who eventually gave himself up.

Eventually it occurred to me that this was a way for me to understand the ‘scenes’ reported by the media about what is going on in OUR world, like the reports about crimes, violence etc. If you believe in universal spiritual laws, you probably believe that reality as we know it is a projection of our collective imagination. I don’t feel the need to argue this idea through quantum physics, because you either agree with the view or you don’t. What I wanted to understand is: why are we creating a world which has these horrific elements? It was almost like trying to understand why people enjoy watching horror films. Watching and experiencing are different, though. I think we watch in order to understand things that are not in our experience, to have a feeling of catharsis. But why do we want to make these things a part of our world?

Then it occurred to me that, in a sense, we are making a film on the ‘world stage’ (sorry, Shakespeare, your descriptions are too perfect to change). The horrifying elements have come from our FEARS being realised and played out. Why are we fearful? Because we feel the world is UNKNOWN to us. In a gist, we’re not aligned with our true selves, and a myriad of inexplicable, sometimes horrific things have surfaced as a result of that.

But if we are film-makers on this stage, wouldn’t we want to create the MOST BEAUTIFUL PLAY IMAGINABLE? I think we would, but we just don’t know how. Maybe we think it’s GOD (or Godot) rather than we who has the power to write the world script. There are some limitations to what we perceive as our CAPACITY to change things right now. But I think a better reality is definitely possible. It’s time to retrace our steps back to the core issues of who we are so that we can let go of the fears that feed a horrified imagination and embrace the knowledge of a beautiful mind.

Last night as I was doing my evening meditation, I started thinking about relationships and whether anything in life is truly eternal. Is there anything that can never be lost? If so, what?

Straight away, all the things that WON’T last sprang to mind. The body will die. Possessions will be lost. People will change and eventually leave the world. Even memories will fade over time. When nothing can be relied on as constant, what is there left over?

Thinking about this strips away so much of what we have created around us: things, activities, possessions. All that is left as a constant within us is our own consciousness (the ‘I’ which experiences everything). There may be one other thing that’s always there but somehow not there: the passing of time. If all you had to really rely on as a constant in your life was TIME with YOU, would it be enough to make you happy? That’s the situation we are in, and instead of being limiting or lonely, it can be one of the most liberating things we experience: self-awareness and contentment with the self.

But how does this affect relationships? Surely we are not expected to live like hermits, not enjoying the company of our loved ones? I truly feel that deep, ‘real’ relationships are one of the most joyful aspects of life. Realising our own independence (emotional independence) from other people actually enriches our bonds. They, like us, are eternal and independent, so when we form a bond it is only out of love, free-will and joy, not neediness.

We create so many invisible ‘contracts’ with people. You do x,y,z for me and I’ll give you a,b,c in return. This kind of expectation makes relationships into business deals motivated by self-interest, and we begin to resent people or feel guilty within when contracts are not fulfilled (which is BOUND to happen at some point because no one can act like a robot according to our instructions at all times – relationships are not just limited to office hours, after all). Then we get into such a mess that we start feeling disharmony and the joy of life literally diminishes.

But if we come without any contracts, we realise that truly we are in a continuous relationship with no-one but ourselves (or, another way to see it is that we are in relationships with the WHOLE world in different ways at different times). In this way, expectations dissolve and we meet out of choice, love and joy.

Going within ourselves and seeing our emotional independence is not just good for the self; it helps all those we love.

I have realised over the past few years that the power of collective thought is not just a ‘concept’, but a living truth. People think it’s silly to talk about ideas without objective, scientific examples. There are plenty of examples for lots of things, but personal experience is the greatest revealer. Most things taking place on a physical level are the results of thoughts. When the thoughts are aligned to a higher plane of consciousness, they lead to actions of growth. Growth does not mean easy experiences; the greatest growth occurs through difficult experiences.

So, I’ve made a list of the things that give me greatest fulfilment:
1. Creativity
2. Inspiring human interactions
3. Letting go of old experiences

And then thought of activities I could do to practise more of these things. There are no set resolutions, and no guarantee that everything that happens will be ‘easy’, but my intention is to move towards the things that matter most.

We are born into a world of illusions. Everything is a construct of the mind. In this context, we are impressionable to both positive and negative energies. In fact, both the ‘good’ and the ‘bad’ are two sides of the same coin – the duality that is always in a state of movement and change. The world is made up of polar forces, so we can’t shield ourselves from dangers. But we can create a mind capable of dealing with duality, transcending duality and embracing wellness.

How does emotional healing work?
Some people are naturally resilient and able to thrive in chaos. Others get easily affected by afflictions. Understanding our own emotions, mental attitudes, judgements and conditionings can free us to live a life of vitality. We may not be able to always control our circumstances, but if we feel strong within, we can deal with a wider range of experiences, learning from them and even savouring them.

Emotional healing in most spiritual traditions focuses on a person’s energy fields, or chakras. There are seven chakras and each have a different function. We need to expunge and let go of the past (base chakra) if we are to have fresh, new experiences in life. We can enjoy sensual pleasures and use it for our creativity without becoming entangled and obsessed by sense objects if we have a balanced second chakra. The third chakra allows us to digest and embrace life’s experience. The fourth chakra is about loving without neediness and fear. The fifth chakra is self-expression and self-respect (also, forgiveness of the self and others is important in this), the sixth chakra is an awareness of how we are all connected. The highest chakra at the crown of the head is our connection to the Source (Uni-verse / God).

If we focus on each of these areas regularly, clearing our a mental rubbish, letting go of negative experiences, forgiving through understanding, having compassion through our inter-connectedness, then healing will naturally take place on an emotional level. Life will transform and serve us with beneficial experiences for further growth and learning.

Miracles are happening ALL THE TIME, but how often are we aware of these wonders? We unknowingly plunge into mundane, auto-pilot behaviour so many times, hence missing out on many synchronicities and magical encounters. Just being absorbed in thoughts of the past or the future robs us of our ability to see the miracles of life. Simple everyday existence is miraculous. The rainfall, sunlight, ability to connect, communicate, share, be solitary, read, walk, breathe, comprehend, laugh – it’s all miraculous…When we enjoy these things wholly, surrendering to the present moment, it opens the door for other chance encounters, for greater miracles.

To be open to miracles, we have to live in the present moment. We are here right now, and nothing else exists right now except this. Attitude is important. We have to see ourselves as worthy of the Universe’s love. When you think of limitations in your life, instead of feeling dejected, take heart in the fact that others out there have succeeded with those very limitations. Perspective can transform limitation into opportunity. There are opportunities for miracles just waiting to happen…