(Photo: En route to Peru) As we travel and explore the world, we often hear that “the journey is more important than the destination.” It does not take a full-time globe-trotter to understand that the events and encounters that unfold along the way define the beauty and meaningfulness of an experience more than the next place we are going to. Indeed, it is what allows us to be Present in the here and now instead of speculating and projecting on things that have not happened yet and in fact, may never happen at all. Meanwhile, we also swiftly realise that expectations may generate disappointment and that the true essence of the lessons we have to learn resides in letting go of where we may or may not end up. I am not saying that it is something easy to do though. Interestingly enough, the geographical aspect of a voyage merely becomes a tool in order to grow on the spiritual level. After all, personal growth and health is something that everyone has to deal with in their existence whether we are aware of it or not, and regardless of how many countries we visit or overland borders we cross. Yet, it is also undeniable that travelling sets our intention to make a change as it gives us more opportunities to explore the inner world that all of us possess within the borders of our physical body, since it is a mirror of the entire outer universe that surrounds us. We have to grasp that it is only motion that allows us to channel energy and give birth to the synchronicity we are meant to manifest. Because this is how it works in this universe, as it is always a tricky concept to maintain the energy balance between taking action and letting things come to us. On the other hand, we have to understand that everything is already perfectly balanced as it is and we solely go back to this equilibrium with time and dedication. Travelling assists us in connecting the dots between our human and spiritual experiences for one cannot go without the other. Travelling can give us more tools to free our mind from delusion and suffering, and this is what I have been striving for in the last seven years of my long journey overland around the globe. Seven is a magic number; seven chakras, seven colours of the light spectrum, seven continents, seven wonders of the world (even though I believe that there are so many others out there). Seven years spent exploring the antipodes of the mind in all its possible ways. It could not be a more wonderful synchronicity to celebrate my seventh anniversary of my quest in Peru, a country with which my soul has felt immediately connected at the most profound level. In fact, our travelling experience is sometimes so deep and intense that we can hardly express it with human words and it matters not. The people who truly love us will always try to understand us and even if they do not, we have to accept that exploring our inner world through outer travel may lead to places (both literally and figuratively) where we learn so much that some part of our heart will remain there forever and never come back. However, it is also when we reach such a stage of consciousness and awareness that we no longer need to be understood by others, for we realise that we already have all the Answers inside. Then, we no longer have to “find” a balance as we barely go back to the perfect balance we all already have within us in the first place and that we have somehow "lost" along the way on different degrees and levels. And this is also when we eventually figure out that we are not alone in this spiritual journey regardless of the massive differences that we all face on the unique path of our very own human experience. (Photo: Crow pose, yoga practice & balance work in California, October 2018) (Photo: Eclipse holistic gathering in La Punta-Montañita, July 2019) It was not easy to leave La Punta-Montañita and Ecuador, and all the beautiful souls that I met there after three months spent on site. I really felt part of a cosmic family and was loved for what I truly am, so that I could express all my passion and gratitude reciprocally. But it was time to go, which is not incompatible with my purest intention to see them again someday, as well as all the other wonderful souls that I have already met in this life. In fact, departing has always been the hardest part of my long journey around the world; first having to leave my blood-family and former groups of close “friends” for I was no longer feeling in tune with them (and with my societal environment as a whole) and I was clearly being judged for it. We could no longer assist and support each other in our respective evolution so it was time to close the chapter and start a new one. Some may see it as fleeing but I see it as finally living, for I have broken down my limitations and transcended myself through the process. Indeed, we can try our best to assist others but we cannot take responsibility for them, and I therefore made the sacrifice to leave everything behind and leave towards the Unknown. On my way, I have run into so many reminiscences and beautiful experiences of feeling part of another type of family. And the more I have not expected it to happen, the more it has of course. One may think that I have been arriving and departing so much in my life that I must be quite used to it by now, but it is only true on the practical and organisational level. Emotionally speaking, it is never easy to do because life teaches us that we really do not know if we are going to see someone again on this physical plane. Yet, being open-minded teaches us that we eventually always do since physical separation is an illusion, and even if we may not see someone again on the physical level in the present existence, we surely do on a deeper plane of consciousness. Travelling on the geographical level is meant to be shared and so is true happiness. This is the natural stage that takes place when we finally learn the lesson(s) we first have to learn on our own. And we all do at some point before becoming unconditionally complete. It does not mean that we cannot be alone again sometimes for it is fundamental to learn how to sustain our private space and creativity in the meantime. It is important to re-attune and re-centre ourselves at times. It is also a great reminder of what we really want to manifest in our existence, as it is OK to have doubts sometimes in our human experience. The problem is not the distraction, the problem is not to be aware of it. Having doubts does not mean that we are losing our unconditional faith, it means that we are human and real in our intention, as long as it does not come to judging our condition. It actually takes courage to share emotions and passions with others when we actually do not do it in a selfish and exclusive way. A relationship does not need to be labelled or judged. If we think about it, love is immanent and omnipotent, so everything is a relationship (including with ourselves) and every single human connection is different from one another. This is the reason why we cannot love others if we do not love ourselves in the first place. Or else, we cannot be complete with others if we are not complete with ourselves. This is what I started realising and manifesting in 2015 after hitting the road mostly on my own beforehand. It was obviously no coincidence that it first took place in Alaska as I was hiking Into the Wild to the Magic Bus, where Chris McCandless had had the same realisation and died twenty-three years before my coming. For my part, I was “lucky” enough to be able to cross the Teklanika River on my way back and to keep living on this physical plane in order to manifest this concept for the time I would be given. (Photo: At the Magic Bus of Into the Wild, Alaska, July 2015) (Photo: Thomas and I playing with gravity in Lobitos -on timer-, Peru, August 2019) As I left the Pacific coast of Ecuador in mid August, I only drove 200 kilometres on my own before I picked up Thomas, an old French friend of mine that I had not seen for ten years. We had met in Nice, France, in 2008, as we worked in the same school as general educators for a year, before I became a full-time English teacher in another high-school. It was just before I moved to Amsterdam for one year and then delved into the present journey from September 2012 onward. Tom and I had hardly ever been in touch in the meantime and yet, we had always followed and respected each other's respective course of evolution a lot because we have put an enormous amount of passion and faith in doing things very differently. At least, according to a certain form of "normality". As I was briefly organising our three-week trip together, I was somehow guided to tell Thomas that he would arrive in Guayaquil (South Ecuador) and would go back to France from Lima (capital city of Peru), roughly 2000 kilometres further South. Yet, I actually left most of the content of the voyage up to the Universe and to the synchronicity that we would manifest together along the way. Thomas and I drove through the Peruvian border with Randy (my van), spent a couple of days at the beach in the North and had a few very meaningful encounters in the meantime. From there, it became quite clear that we were meant to experience a balance of the refreshing Pacific Ocean, the fascinating Andes and the soulful Amazon forest (the three adjectives could be put in any order really) as part of the equation of our epic trip in Peru together. It did not take me much time to fall in love with this country. Interestingly enough, I had naturally dropped all expectations about Peru because of just having heard too many things about it. On the one hand, I was utterly convinced that Peru could easily become an overly-touristy experience to my taste and on the other, it is a huge country that could offer deserted, wild stretches of free land where it would be easy to get “lost” and to enjoy the most genuine time ever with locals, especially while travelling overland with a van. And it is obviously the latter that was meant to take place in my experience. I have felt truly grateful to connect with local people on the way in the most authentic way. Indeed, I found my approach with Ecuadorian folks rather insipid during the four months spent in the in-between-hemispheres country, as aside from very few exceptions, the beauty of my adventures on site mostly resided in the unexpected encounters of soulful travellers and expats. In Peru, I have immersed myself in a profound resonance with locals and their captivating culture from the very day I crossed the border, which is the first time it happened since I had left my beloved Mexico one year and a half before. Of course, there have been some mesmerising human connections on the way such as in El Salvador and Colombia, but Peru is very special because it relates to its ancestral, sacred culture on a much deeper layer of consciousness than its neighbouring countries. Like Iran or Mexico, it is a country that has been heavily oppressed by the West (or the North, depending on whether one takes a literal or figurative approach of the matter) and its people have grown very strong and aware through this process. One can feel it in their eyes and smile, which are the gates of the soul, and this is what I have been striving for through my long overland voyage. Thomas had delved into the “spiritual” world not so long before coming to visit me, so he had expressed his excitement to go with the flow of my own experience for this section of the road together. Consequently, we had set the intention to remain open to the possibility of sharing an Ayahuasca experience in Peru as part of our respective evolution. We were surely on the same energy frequency level as we met in Guayaquil and it did not take long for us to follow the signs. Five days after leaving Lobitos and the beach, we ended up in the city of Pucallpa, nested in the Amazon jungle, after 2000 kilometres of an unexpected, intense journey across the Andes. It was more and more obvious that the sacred medicine was calling at us as everything and everyone turned into bewitching synchronicity on our way through every single place we went to and folks we ran into. Tom and I eventually spent an entire week in the Amazon forest, not so far away from the blaze of the massive fires that had been sadly ravaging it in Brazil and Bolivia for the previous three weeks, in the most uncomfortable, dodgy media silence. And it truly meant something special to me given that our kids may not even have the opportunity to witness its intrinsic beauty for themselves due to the carelessness and greed of our distorted Western culture. (Image: Fire spots in the Amazon forest from space, September 2019) (Photo: Sunset by the Pacific Ocean with Thomas and Randy -my van-) (Photo: Crossing of the Amazon forest in Peru, August 2019) It would take too many pages to properly transcribe my Ayahuasca experience here (which I have actually done in my journal and I may express in a book someday), so I will only give you some glimpses of it for now. Amazingly enough, after considerably exploring the world of psychedelic substances and sacred medicines for the last 12 years (since my first LSD experience in Australia in 2007), it took me 8 years from the moment I found out about Ayahuasca and started studying the sacred vine and DMT (Dimethyltryptamine, its active component), until I was eventually “allowed” to sip the ancestral beverage in the Amazon forest in Peru. Indeed, it takes patience to meet the “right” Maestros and when we do, there is no reason to find others, for everything comes to us in perfect time anyway. It could not have been more meant to be for Thomas and I stayed in a small village called San Francisco. We arrived there pretty much at the same period of the year when I used to land in San Francisco (California) during the four previous years. Funnily enough, I decided that I would not go back to the USA this year in order to focus on both my outer and inner journey, and ended up in San Francisco in Peru instead. It could not have been a better place to do Ayahuasca as I have always believed that sacred substances are much more potent as a spiritual “tool” when taken in their natural environment. Mother Ayahuasca could be considered as an exception because its process is a lot about the inner journey and yet, the setting still remains an essential part of the experience, especially when it comes to the emotional and karmic integration that occurs before and after the ceremonies. Some people may think that it is a wonderful idea to export the sacred medicine to foreign countries in order to spread awareness to as many individuals as possible in order to heal the collective consciousness. But it still depends on the intention that is set with it. For my part, I am rather sceptical about the genuineness of the intention of these shamans who charge massive amounts of money to participate in ceremonies abroad. Furthermore, bringing Ayahuasca (or other sacred medicines) directly to the people just seems to be part of the constant frenzy and trendiness of the consumer society. People need more and more things right here, right now, without showing any dedication, passion and patience, and they are completely assisted through the process, which I believe, brings very little spiritual reward. Thomas and I did three Ayahuasca ceremonies in the jungle in a week (at Niwe Rao Xobo community, which I highly recommend). Comparisons are odious, especially when it comes to sacred medicines. Indeed, I cannot really say whether the strongest experiences that I have had on peyote or psilocybin mushrooms were more intense than Ayahuasca, but a sure thing is that the latter was tremendously life-changing for me. In fact, I have never really fancied taking psychedelic substances in a big group and the Ayahuasca ceremonies in themselves were just very different from everything that I had tried before. The most outstanding part was definitely the integration of the personal work that naturally took place on the emotional level before and after the rituals. Again, it is fundamental to understand that most of our daily life is ruled by subconscious psychological processes that are deeply buried within us whether it comes to an emotional or karmic approach, which is what the sacred plant is usually working on. It takes an enormous amount of courage to show up at the temple for the simple reason that one never knows what is going to happen, as each and every ceremony is utterly different from one another. It takes a huge deal of unconditional faith to drink Ayahuasca because even though DMT is naturally present in every single living organism and also secreted by the pineal gland in the centre of our brain, the latter occurs only through two specific events; when we dream and when we die on the physical level. Yet, one cannot “die” in an Ayahuasca experience and it is “only” our ego that may do so, which is why the mind is usually very present since it projects itself through the ego. And it inexorably fears that we may eventually be able to completely let go of it as we surrender to the power of the medicine. It takes a lot of humble dedication to be willing to heal ourselves for reasons we are not even aware of in the first place, and it goes way beyond the disagreeable part of the purging process, which is probably the easiest part of the whole Ayahuasca experience (relatively). Actually, letting go of the subconscious control of the purging (and of our buried emotions by the same occasion) is usually what activates the “visions”. They are then accompanied and guided by the Icaros (shamans' chants in the Shipibo culture) during the ceremony (that usually lasts for 3 or 4 hours). Many people never have visions (which can be related to just anything depending on our intention) and I felt blessed and grateful not only that I could have them but also that I could “leave” my physical body during my second ceremony and explore deeper layers of consciousness within me as a mirror of the entire universe outside of me. After all, what is infinite in the macro-cosmos is as infinite as what belongs to the micro-cosmos. As above, so below. Meanwhile, I was surrounded by a colourful, fractal world that felt more real than the physical plane we live in. I journeyed for what felt like a thousand years through the veins of creation in the midst of utter timelessness and spacelessness. I have not been through “hell” like many people describe their own Ayahuasca experience; maybe because I have been unconditionally trusting the medicine and the Maestros, and I have been able to let go of my resistances through the process. I know I still have a lot to learn though. We all do until our last breath. Mother Ayahuasca is surely the most intelligent entity that I have ever encountered in my present existence. Overall, She is the Universe and all Its possible quantum possibilities as a whole. She is the one who decides whether She wants to work with someone depending on the authenticity and purity of their intention. She is the one who is going to beckon at one and eventually let one go. The process starts long before one even starts thinking of it and lasts long after one leaves the temple where the ceremonies take place. (photo: With my Ayahuasca Maestros Damian & Lila in San Francisco, Peru, September 2019 -Credits: Tom La Ruffa- Editing: myself) (Photo: Crossing of the Andes at 4,800 metres above sea-level, Peru, September 2019) After the Amazon jungle, Thomas and I left Mother Ayahuasca behind on the physical level but it has kept pursuing me ever since. I am very aware that everything is interconnected and that all the events and encounters that have occurred ever since are intimately correlated with Its infinite love and wisdom, and will ever be. It has now been more than two weeks since the Ayahuasca ceremonies in the Amazon jungle and I can feel that I am still channelling this form of universal, infinite intelligence. Every single thought can be turned into stunning creativity while having all the necessary answers in the meantime. And it makes complete sense when we integrate the idea that we all already have all the Answers within us in the first place. Thomas and I managed to make it to Lima on (perfect) time as we finally arrived in the Peruvian capital city on the very day he had to fly out back to France, after driving exactly 3,000 kilometres from Guayaquil and South Ecuador in the meantime. The last section of the journey was actually much smoother than the five days that we had taken to get to the Amazon jungle because we could not have been more guided and protected through the process. This is not incompatible with the fact that we also were extremely tired of both the trip and the week spent in the jungle. Meanwhile, we crossed the Andes a second time in Peru (my fourth time after crossing the Cordillera once in Colombia and once in Ecuador) as we went up to 4,800 metres above sea-level with Randy (my van) and drove for a while on the high plateau that stretches all the way to the Atacama Desert in Chile, many thousands of kilometres to the South. Meanwhile, we saw some of the most inspiring landscapes that reminded me a lot of Tibet and the Himalayas, also when it came to gazing at some of the most mind-blowing night skies, which one can only enjoy at such surreal altitude levels, where the atmosphere is so thin and the air so pure that one may feel like touching the heavens. (Photo: The Milky Way in the Amazon jungle, long exposure 30" -on timer-, Peru, September 2019) (Photo: Crossing the Andes for the 4th time in a year, Peru, September 2019) (Photo: I drove 3,800 km in a month -including 3,000 km with Thomas- since I left La Punta-Montañita and Ecuador in August 2019) Thomas left Lima and Peru back to France early September and for my part, I stayed in Lima for a few days in order to rest and take the time to shift cycles. I now was to keep going on my own for a while. The idea was to connect with local communities and hostels where I could do some volunteering as a yoga teacher and also be able to offer my services (and generate a little money) as a holistic physiotherapist. My conviction is to keep putting all the pieces of the gigantic galactic puzzle together that is life, and to share some “tools” with my fellow beings by giving some astrology, emotional education or holistic therapy courses like I did during my stay in Ecuador. Indeed, I can merely carry on learning and teaching in the meantime for one cannot go without the other. We are all guides and teachers to one another whether we are aware of it or not. Mother Aya has clearly confirmed that I am meant to assist and heal others as much as I must assist and heal myself through the process. So I should better accept and manifest this path in one way or the other, but surely through the way of sharing my passions. I now remember that on the way from Pucallpa (and the Amazon jungle) to Lima, I told Tom that I felt as if something were about to happen and change the course of my journey. The example I took at that very moment is that “I may actually go North instead of going South.” In fact, I said that as an allegory of what may or may not take place, past, present and future together, but I did not realise that it would be so close to being the truth. I am definitely heading South through the overall course of my overland journey, as the idea is to get to Southern Chile and Patagonia by the beginning of the next calendar year (for the austral summer), before slowly but surely driving back up towards Brazil in 2020. I first thought that settling down in the Cusco area (and especially in the Valley of the Incas) for a couple of months would be very suitable and appealing before heading to Bolivia in November. Yet, I have recently decided to renew my passport in Lima (I will not have many options after that) so I have to go back to the city at some stage and do not want to get to far away from it. After sending a bunch of messages to some communities and hostels online, I have followed the signs and spontaneously drove 600 kilometres back up North along the Pacific coast (a relatively short distance in my experience) in order to settle down in a small town called Huanchaco, which is famous for its chilled-out surfing atmosphere and breathtaking archaeological splendours. As I arrived last week from Lima, I felt quite tired from the three-week trip with Thomas and the intense week in the jungle that was affiliated to it. Yet, I also felt so in tune with my essence that I managed to find two lovely hostels in which I could work as well as an apartment in less than 24 hours. I am now working as a yoga teacher in a small, charming hostel called Mandala, just a few metres away from the beach and the Pacific Ocean, and a bit further from the delectable sunset that lights up the whole scene almost on a daily basis. But it is just a matter of perspective after all, as always. I have set the intention to keep writing my first book about the beginning of my long journey around the world overland as well as about the many emotions, convictions and concepts that it has generated along the way. I am even more immensely grateful than usual about how things have turned out since I left Ecuador one month ago. I feel unconditionally blessed and privileged to be alive and awakened in the present incarnation. What is more, I have never been so conscious that every single experience and detail in life is already perfect as it is regardless of how we judge it, hence of how we judge ourselves. The geographical aspect on our quest is just a tool. I keep on learning how to be fully Present. I keep learning how to let go of letting go. How to love and forgive unconditionally. Yet, I do not forget, as I keep learning my lessons and exploring the mission my soul has come back for. I have never felt so Alive and ready to delve even more into the magic of both the spiritual and human experience. We are both infinite Light and Darkness. We somehow have to accept it for one cannot go without the other. It is up to us to choose between unity or duality nonetheless. I have made my choice. What is yours?
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Over the last few days, when the very random Nepali power cuts schedule allowed me to do so, I scrolled through my Facebook news feed and was eagerly submerged by an Ocean of Love and Compassion, due to the new-year frenetic behaviours and new resolutions. Therefore, I realised that if people could somehow think and act this way all the time, we would be obviously living in a very different world. Moreover, I've always been fascinated about the global assumption that people have to wait for January 1st to make new resolutions. We are so alienated by our cherished Gregorian calendar that we don't seem to realise that we can (and actually should) make new resolutions anytime we feel like it. In my opinion, this approach is applicable to all the main events that we are taught and told to observe throughout the year, such as Valentine's day, birthday celebrations or Christmas. Why would we have to await a special day to celebrate someone or something, to share our love or to offer presents? In fact, we seem to set boundaries to our behaviour all the time, and quite paradoxically and inexplicably, we tend to emphasise these behavioural patterns when it comes to doing "good" things to others...or to ourselves. It somehow sounds like a masochistic approach because we forget that boundaries are conventions imposed by our direct and indirect environment, and that we can easily overcome them if we truly want to. Furthermore, we forget that we can make new resolutions every single day, as long as they are relevant to us, and not to our neighbour, because of the very uniqueness of each personality type (also set by our environment and by our past and present respective experiences). We could even go further into this analysis by saying that we should probably start making specific new resolutions every day, if we truly wish to improve ourselves as well as the world we're going to give to our Children. Resolutions can be fun, original and creative and don't have to be a burden. Actually, we should make new resolutions whenever we feel ready to assume them, and not before or after...or because surrounding people make new resolutions! Here is a list of 10 suggestions of resolutions that we can make to enhance our lives, in the short or longer term. There is no particular order among them apart from the fact that you should probably set your goals prior to doing anything else!. I guarantee you that you might be very positively surprised by their direct and indirect effects they’ll have on you! 1) Set realistic goals Setting realistic goals is a fundamental first step in order to improve our lives. Of course we all have dreams, but they need to be achievable at some stage. Some believe that dreams must remain dreams but I totally disagree with this statement. Then of course, dreams are quite often mistaken for goals, or vice-versa, but the terminology should be the same; setting goals that are reachable, not too high but still better too high than too low. Consequently, by prioritizing (another very important concept) and then achieving some of your goals (or “dreams”), you’ll enhance your self-confidence and move on and forward by setting some more goals…all the way towards the ones that you might have thought as unreachable at some point! However, setting “realistic” goals doesn’t mean they have to seem “rational” to your environment. Everything will be fine in the end as long as you listen to your Heart. If you feel ready for doing something, go for it regardless of what society or your fellow people think of it and of how they will judge you. It takes sometimes a tremendous effort to reach a goal but it is always well worth it as the journey is even more important than the destination. Don’t forget that, as Marx Twain said; when looking back in 20 years’ time, you will more regret the things you didn’t do than the ones you did! 2)Add a "Fun for Me" activity to your weekly schedule More than setting realistic goals, start something new that you’ve always wanted to do and you never got the “time” or opportunity to give it a go. It might be playing an instrument, painting, learning a new language, doing sports, yoga or meditation. Something that makes you feel good, and that balances and slows down your body and mind. We tend to accept the procrastination of these potential activities because we think we don’t have the proper time or we’re too tired after a long day at work. Well, if you have a look at your weekly timetable, you’ll see that you have plenty of free slots and “time wasters”. Regarding the latter, TV is definitely one of them (See resolution 7). There are many techniques and strategies that can help you save time for yourself without omitting to enjoy the moment of course (see resolution 10). 3)Start cooking and enjoy it In my opinion, the whole concept of cooking has been neglected for a long time and this is very much connected with the negative impact that the current societal and economic model has on us. We've put it in the same category as cleaning or doing the washing-up. Cooking is a fantastic approach to select and control what you eat. When you purchase your fruits and vegetables at the local market, you are less likely to eat pesticides and GMOs, and it is always a great pleasure to honour and consume fresh products coming directly from local and sustainable farms. We are oblivious to the humane values of the concept and then try to make it special every now and then, when we come to realise that it actually gathers people and allows us to have a good time with our friends or family...or even sometimes with complete “strangers”. Meanwhile, the good old freshly homemade food jars on the shelves or in the fridge have been replaced by frozen readymade items, in order to save as much time as we can, so that we can brainwash ourselves by watching TV or playing video games. In these modern days of collapsing economy and increasing smoke screen of pseudo-technological entertainment, we tend to scrupulously forget that eating is one of the things we do the most in our lives after sleeping. We seem to blindly ignore the fact that “what we eat is what we are” and to unwarily assume that working and therefore making more money is more important than what we do approximately 3 times a day all our life. I guess that travelling without money like I have done is one of the rare exceptions to the rule, and the other one is probably the monks and yogis who can feed from photons for years, but not everyone has yet reached this type of spiritual enlightenment. In a more rational and scientific analysis, it is assumed that what we eat is building our cells and therefore our body. Considering that it is our vehicle for this lifetime, I think that it is quite well worth showing a minimum of respect to it, by ingesting freshly made meals, using organic products, instead of industrial processed food, despite of the fact that it might take a bit more time and money. It should not be just an option but an irreplaceable priority, and working more hours in order to gain more purchasing power, because of some distorted economic conjuncture, is definitely not an excuse. We have to urge the need of getting back to our natural true selves in order to embrace the paradigm shift that we are currently experiencing and eating healthy is namely one of its key elements. 4)Explore the World “Exploring the world” has necessarily something to do with geographical aspects but it doesn’t mean travelling the world on such a broad scale. Nevertheless, if you can make it this way, go for it. The present concept is relative to the fact of being in touch and harmony with what we truly need, our very own essence, which is Nature and People. If you think about it, we always refer to our best moments in terms of places and people, but eventually it is all about the folks we meet on our Way. Meeting new people is a fundamental aspect of our well-being and we often tend to forget about it. Indeed, if you are at your dream place surrounding by assholes, you won’t be able to enjoy it that much, although the opposite concept can be very true. Furthermore, our society tends to induce “sedentarism”, whereas our soul is nomadic, and that’s something we have to deal with on a permanent basis. Nevertheless, meeting new people and cultures expand our open-mindedness and awareness towards to the world. So don’t fear the Unknown. Your mind is craving stability whereas your soul is striving for Freedom. If you do hear little voices in your head, it is because both “entities” are arguing all the time. Always listen to the one that seems the more “irrational” to the eyes of society. And don’t forget, if you travel far enough, you’ll meet Yourself. It doesn’t have to be far in geographical terms as the exploration process is usually more internal than external, or in other words, more inwards than outwards. 5)Question Everything Why? Simply because most of our behavioural and psychological patterns are based on our assumptions and Knowledge...or Ignorance. What if reincarnation was scientifically provable through quantum physics? What if the Darwinian Theory of Evolution was completely wrong? What if the whole Big-Bang Theory was completely wrong? What if the information written in our history books was irrelevant and erroneous, and if the Truth was hidden for us not to “wake up” to our real and infinite potential? Would we behave differently if we could assume all this as being True? Probably yes. Would the world thus be a better place filled with Love and Compassion? Probably yes too. Thinking and reading critically is something that we tend to forget. Yes, human beings are strange creatures often struck by amnesia. Most people think that “criticizing” is “wrong”, because when they do so, they usually have no background and relevant information with regards to the discussed topic. No, questioning conventional assumptions and beliefs is not “wrong”, as if it were, we would probably be still living in a pre-Copernican geocentric system, in which the Earth is flat as well as the centre of the Universe. In fact, we’ve been moving “forward” in terms of technological and knowledgeable advancements thanks to geniuses who challenged the established institutions and proved them Wrong throughout history. From primary school to University, we are most of the time taught and told WHAT to think and not HOW to think. In addition to that, we are being brainwashed to the point of assuming that even thinking critically is wrong. No, we do have to question everything but we should do it in a very open-minded way if we want to open new Doors of Perception. Be Artistic & Creative Being artistic and creative is a fundamental aspect of our inner peace and balance despite of the fact that most people tend to procrastinate or even eliminate it from their lives. Art is everywhere and can be considered as a Universal language, beyond our perception of time, beliefs and assumptions. There is an energitical resonance in our creativity. People and entire civilizations have been creative since time immemorial and this is no coincidence. For instance, the Ying and the Yang, in Chinese mythology, is the ultimate concept of female and male energy. In modern day’s neuroscience, it is proven that the left hemisphere of the brain represents our male energy (the rational and greedy mind), whereas the right hemisphere represents the female energy (creativity and spiritual awareness). However, people often confuse the energy frequency with the gender (or sex) of a human being. It has very little to compare. You can be a man with a lot of female energy or a woman with a lot of male energy. I believe that it is the female energy which is one of the key-elements we need to incorporate in our lives in order to heal the world, and that is including our creative side. So whether it is through music, drawing, photography, painting, cooking or writing, don’t hesitate to exhibit your arty side! Stop watching TV TV is a Time Void. It doesn’t mean that everything on TV is “bad” (even though 95% is, my opinion), but it does devour your time as well as a whole atmosphere around you without even noticing it. The media and most of the channels are owned by governments and corporations, therefore irrelevant if we want to obtain credible information. So if you want some relevant and objective information, go to the internet and take some time to do your own research (see resolution 5). What is more, the whole advertising system should be banned. Commercials are just infantile and degrading to what human beings truly are. Have you ever noticed how TV absorbs and kills the whole atmosphere of a place as soon as it is turned on, regardless of the context and of the rubbish that is broadcast on it? You don’t need a TV, unless you REALLY want to watch a film or documentary on a bigger screen…which leads us to the next resolution. Stop consuming Do you REALLY need the new IPhone 5 or is it just a new “toy” to impress your friends? Do you REALLY need a fancy car or is it because you want to show off your increasing societal status ? Our whole consumer society is based on a concept named “planned obsolescence”, which means the goods you constantly buy are designed to fail. We live in an era where modern day’s technology should be able to design things that last forever (even in terms of clothing). It just doesn’t. Because if it did so, it wouldn’t generate any profit, in an “economy” that permanently and exponentially needs to grow…and to collapse at some stage for it cannot grow anymore (see resolution 9 and resolution 5 again). The more you buy, the more you participate in this system. If you stop buying and consuming, the whole system will collapse sooner than later. Also, you will broadly contribute to the extinction of poverty, which is an avoidable but necessary concept in our current societal model. Since 50% of the worldwide population live with less than 2 dollars a day, and that one innocent child dies from hunger every single second, you should maybe think twice before buying new “toys” you don’t really need. For the bravest ones, you can even start cropping your vegetables and produce your own energy. Then, if you get to the point of sharing whatever you produce with your surroundings, you’ll be actually triggering the birth of a very interactive and fruitful local community! In the short term, at both an individual and collective level, this will help to shift towards a more rewarding and fair societal model for everyone. Stop worrying about money Most people work all their lives, 5 days a week at least, in order to make money, to save money, to consume money, to squander money, and so on. Indeed, we have to find a way to survive amongst the permanent horrors of this world. However, when you ask people whether they know how money is created and how it circulates, they go blank. By doing your own study (what I tend to call “necessary personal homework”), you will discover that 97% of the money supply of the planet doesn’t really exist and is created out of thin air. Therefore, by generating more loans and mortgages, you tend to encourage this obsolete economic model to rob you even more via the concept of interests. Moreover, the global debts cannot be repaid simply because money is a debt in itself, as soon as it comes out of the Federal Reserves. Due to this fact, the more money you inject into the system to compensate the debts, the more debts you will create, and so forth until you reach the ceiling and you have to go back down again…violently. I believe that if a majority of people were fully aware of this absurdity, there would be a revolution before tomorrow morning. What can we do at our humble individual level?
Enjoy the Moment In our sick Western society, we have a huge tendency to worry about time passing by. People often get stuck with their past and project themselves incessantly into the future.
As a result, by doing so, we forget to enjoy the only thing that truly exist, which is the Now. Of course, our past experiences forge our sense of “self” in the present but there is a difference between referring to them in order to enhance the present moment or to feel stuck with them. Also, there is a difference between emitting some possibilities or ideas about the future (see resolutions 1 & 2) and expecting too much of them, therefore leading us to disappointment. Whether we want it or not, our past is definitely ended and our future doesn’t exist, hence is pure speculation. Of course, if you work on a regular basis, you are more likely to go to work tomorrow or the day after, but this concept is not relevant in the long run. So start fully enjoying and accepting each moment for what it is and you’ll realise that you feel more satisfied about your life. People who feel miserable want to feel so, often to attract attention on them, and are “chronophages”, as they tend to feed on your time and energy. Get rid of them ASAP if you have any of these specimens around you. As the Buddha said; “Happiness occurs when what you think, say and do are in harmony.” Consequently, if you start thinking positively, it is very likely that what you do will incarnate positivity in your life as well! |
Nicolas GennaJourney around the world overland since 2012. Categories
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