My great teacher – the wise old soul that is my still young daughter – recently helped set me right, yet again. I’ve recently become embroiled in a situation that seems unfair. It seems that I will be denied something that I feel I deserve and have a right to receive and I was railing about this great injustice, singing the ‘woe is me’ song loudly.
She let me vent for a moment, then she punctured my self-pity with this gem: Read the rest of this entry »
Tatum O’Neal was on Oprah yesterday (here in Australia) and I just had to write about it. She was telling of her recent headline-making arrest for possession of cocaine. Some months ago she said on a previous Oprah show that she was attending a twelve step program to help her beat her addictions and this latest arrest broke a ten month period of abstinence.
My heart goes out to her. She spoke of the deep-seated unworthiness she feels, even going so far as to admit that she has trouble feeling she has a right to be here. It was shocking to hear that regardless of what I could see as her physical beauty, her remarkable talents and gifts, and her three beautiful children, she still cannot muster the love of self we all need to hold our own space in the world. Read the rest of this entry »
How do you feel when you hear blokes urge their mates and colleagues on by calling them “a big girl’ when they fail to achieve a certain – usually physical – target. Or when someone who expresses their true feelings or opinions and it is met with a joshing ”you’re so gay!”
We have all said something like this. We know no malice is intended. As my friend said, he says things like this because it is a sort of shorthand. We all know what is meant, without having to say more. Read the rest of this entry »
There is a new song on the radio about the desire to be rich and famous. The song is about becoming famous enough to be on the Oprah show, and the general craving for acknowledgment and recognition. The final line of the chorus is “I want to be a billionaire, real frickin’ bad” suggesting that all our dreams turn on enormous amounts of money.
Robert Ohotto, a world famous astrologer and author, points to the increasing number of young people who genuinely believe that it’s in their stars to be a star. In fact, he argues, this desire does not arise from a genuine love of acting or singing, but rather a deep-seated desire to be ‘recognised’ on a grand scale. Read the rest of this entry »
I am finally back in my home town. After twelve weeks in the land of the free and the brave I have now been thrust unceremoniously into the land of the cold, the wet and the grey. Undeterred by the low temperatures however, I walked my daughter into the city yesterday, a bright and cheerful mecca for this city of incorrigible coffee drinkers.
On my way home I came upon a small cluster of abortion protestors. This surprised me; it is something one expects more from where I just came, than where I come from. Read the rest of this entry »
The road inland from Santa Cruz, where I’m staying, is a winding highway through a mountain range. I’m getting to know both the road, and the habits of the local drivers, well.
I’ve noticed, that unlike many Australian drivers, they don’t get angry at the slow drivers in the fast lane. They don’t flash their lights, blast their horns, or ride their tails. They just quickly and quietly change lanes, go around them and then overtake. They don’t make a fuss, but nor do they let these obstacles hold them back or distract them. Read the rest of this entry »
I met up yesterday with an old friend who I haven’t seen for 10 years. We used to live in Singapore together. We would spend our time with our kids round the pool, chatting and enjoying being with people from a whole range of different countries but funnily enough, all having the same problems.
That’s because most of our problems stem from our relationships. Our relationships are the thorn in all our sides. Read the rest of this entry »
I just went to see The Karate Kid last night. It was a beautiful story of one child’s journey into spirit. He thought he was mastering kung fu as a form of self-defence, but he soon realised that was just the beginning of what he was really learning.
The boy’s kung fu teacher was a maintenance man in the apartment complex where the boy lived, and seemed to be of only modest background and education – an unlikely person, in many people’s minds, to be the conduit for such profound wisdom. But as the teacher told his young student, if you think only with your eyes, you are easily fooled! Read the rest of this entry »
It is not often you come across a truly profound idea but recently I read this passage in a book called The End of Your World by Adyashanti and it has stayed with me since. It deals with what it really means when we tell the ‘truth’ :
“To tell what is true within ourselves is not to tell what we think; it is not to tell our opinion. It is not to dump the garbage can of our mind onto somebody else. All of that is illusion, distortion, projection…Truth is not telling our beliefs about things. That is not truth. Those are ways we actually hide from truth.’ Read the rest of this entry »
I recently watched a public television documentary about the experiences of gay men and women coming out to their parents. It was both heartbreaking and heartwarming.
So many tears shed because of the fear of being rejected by the people they love most in the world, at an age – usually late teens – when they need that love and acceptance most, as they are launching themselves out into the world. Read the rest of this entry »