‘Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.’
– Martin Luther King Jr. –
On the 22/23rd July, the entire world experienced its third and final ‘SuperMoon‘ of this year, which is what you can see in my photo above. What always fascinates me about full moons, is the fact that the only reason we can see them fully, in the pitch black darkness of night, is because the sun’s light is shining upon it, to light it up. Without the sun and light, we would not be able to see the moon at all.
Last night Darren and I watched a great movie about witches (or castors as they are referred to in the film) called Beautiful Creatures. It’s about a castor (witch) who falls in love with a ‘mortal’ (human being without castor powers). Lena has had a curse laid on her, that means that when she turns 16 her fate will be decided for her and she will turn towards the light or the dark, without a choice. Many of the rest of her family, including her mother (played by the fantastic Emma Thompson) and her cousin have been forced to the dark side.
And in the months running up to her sweet 16th birthday Lena dedicates her time to reading up on how she can lift the curse.
The film is a fantastic metaphor for how the ego (dark side) and emotion can take over us sometimes, and eclipse the light. It also demonstrates that we are all capable of overcoming and transcending the dark side in order to allow our true nature to shine.
The light is our truth, the light is love, the light is loving kindness and compassion towards ourselves and others.
Of course we all have tricky days when the dark side appears. We all have times when we allow our emotions to get the better of us and cloud our judgement.
However, it is only when we choose the light and allow it to shine and illuminate us and all that surrounds us in life that we can live in truth and love. The dark cannot exist when you shine a light on it, and it is the same with our ego. It cannot exist when we follow our truth and live our lives from a place of love.
So, the thought for today is this, are you choosing the light in your life over the dark? And if not, could you start to shine your light a little more than you are at the moment? How would you need to change your thoughts, feelings and actions in order to bring more light to your life?
Glenda the Good Witch of the South, Oz the Great and Powerful
Darren and I watched Oz The Great and Powerful recently and there was one phrase that kept coming to me and being repeated over and over. Anything is possible.
It’s amazing how many blocks we put in our own way in life. How many limiting beliefs we have. How many times we can tell ourselves that we can’t do something.
I had a tonne of things standing in my way this time last year as I was starting my own business. I thought to myself, ‘I can’t start my own business, I’m not clever enough, I don’t know enough, I’m not experienced enough, I don’t have the capital, I don’t know the country, I’m on a working holiday visa.’ The list of limiting beliefs was endless.
However, one thing was true. I wanted to stay in Australia. In fact, two things were true. I wanted to stay in Australia and I wanted to run my own business. I didn’t want to work in the Corporate World any more. I wanted to be in control of my own destiny. I wanted to be at the helm of my own ship.
And so how did I overcome all of these limiting beliefs? Slowly but surely, just as Oz does in the film. When he first arrives in Oz and everyone tells him that he is the great and mighty Wizard, he doesn’t believe them. He knows himself to be just a simple illusionist. But, as the film continues, and the belief of the people living in Oz grows, he starts to believe that perhaps he can help them after all.
Brilliantly, he decides to help them, not based on who they think he is, but who he really is. Someone who can turn the impossible into the possible. Someone who can turn ideas, into reality.
And that is exactly what I did when I set up my business. I took an idea and made it a reality. And any limiting beliefs, any uncertainty, any nervousness, hesitation or anxiety that got in my way. I just looked each and every obstacle straight down the lens and told myself that it didn’t exist, it wasn’t real and that it wasn’t serving me or helping me to achieve my goal.
My goal was to make the seemingly impossible, possible. To set up my own business, sponsor myself and be one of the first people in Australia to do this. And just as Oz overcame his fears to become the Wizard of Oz, I overcame my fears to become the Good Witch of Thought Cloud. Well, maybe not a Good Witch, but a Thought Leader nonetheless.
And so, my questions to you today are these. What is it in your life that you’d like to achieve, but are being held back by your own limiting beliefs? What seemingly impossible thing would you like to make possible? What would you need to let go of to achieve this? Who would you need to become?
I’d love to read your thoughts on today’s post in the comments below. And I know that by sharing your thoughts and ideas, you might help or inspire other people who are perhaps thinking and feeling exactly the same way. Plus, sharing is caring.
Today’s photo – a picture of me at the Blue Mountains a couple of weekends ago with Darren and my little sister Nicola and her husband John who were visiting from New Zealand. We enjoyed torrential rain all day on the Saturday, but we crossed our fingers and hoped to manifest clear weather for the Sunday, which we did. We all got some great photos, including a magical photo of the Three Sisters with a rainbow at the foot of it.
Read Part Two of Anything is Possible tomorrow to see the photo and learn about how Darren and I have started to cultivate our friendships with our visiting cockatoos.
So I have been reading a lot of books, doing a lot of learning and reflecting and raising my level of consciousness over the last few months. I’ve also been educating myself in the way of The Law of Attraction, understanding the Power of the Universe, how our thoughts create our reality, that anything is possible and that we have the ability to create literally anything we truly desire.
So, how do you take all of this learning and apply it to your life in order to be able to manifest experiences that you would LOVE to have? Well, I have created a list of things that I believe (if followed correctly) mean that we can manifest anything we love.
The only limitation is how big you wish to dream and how creative and active your imagination is!
The important thing I find, before starting the process, is to start small and work up to bigger things. So for example, on Sunday I set an intention for Darren’s best friend Leanne and her boyfriend Adam to come over for dinner. Darren told me it was unlikely that they’d be free at such short notice, but I knew that I would love to see them both, share a delicious roast dinner together and catch up, so I decided that it would happen. And it did.
So, here are my 15 steps to manifesting.
1. Decide that you would LOVE to experience something. Importantly this must be something that you would LOVE. It cannot be something you want or need, because then your desire is coming from a place of ego.
2. Set the intention and ask the Universe, and be as specific as you can about the experience. Who will be involved, where will it take place and when.
3. Take immediate action to show the Universe that you would truly love to have this experience. E.g. Darren sent a text to Leanne straight away, and then I also gave her a call a little while later and left a message. The more action you take (without trying to control the situation), the more the Universe knows that you desire the experience you have set the intention for.
4. Take regular daily action relating to the intention you have set if it is something slightly bigger. For example, if you have set an intention to get a new job, or have a $1m business, the amount of action and the duration of time that you’ll need to take regular action is going to be greater than desiring someone to come over for dinner. The bigger the experience, the greater the action and the longer the duration of time you need to take it.
5. Write your daily gratitudes. This is one thing that I have found to be very important in the realm of manifesting. The Universe will only give you more of what you would love, if it knows that you are appreciative and grateful for everything that you have NOW. I have been writing gratitudes every morning when I wake up for the last 7 days and I have already seen a massive transformation in my power to manifest. The Universe wants to reward you for being grateful.
6. Be open to receiving. This is also another key part of manifesting. It is one thing to set an intention, but if you aren’t open to everything and everyone that the Universe sends your way, you won’t be able to manifest. Furthermore, the things and people who the Universe sends to you may be (on the surface) completely unrelated to what you are wanting to manifest. The important thing is to be open to receiving and trust that everything happens for a reason. All you need to do is receive and the Universe will continue to give you more of what you truly desire.
7. Be present. In order to notice the things and people who the Universe is sending to you, you need to be as present as you can, living in the moment. If you are stuck in your head in the past or the future, you won’t be aware or conscious of what the Universe is sending to you.
8. Be grateful in every moment that the Universe gives you something you have wished for. Don’t get complacent. Every time that you notice that the Universe has given you something you have asked for say Thank You and follow it with More Please. So you are letting it know you’re open to receive more.
9. Do good every day. The Universe loves to reward people who are paying things forward. Even if it’s something small like opening a door for someone, baking a cake for a neighbour, buying flowers for someone who is poorly. The Universe will reward every good deed you do, no matter how big or small.
10. Do what you love every day. This is where it’s very important for you to have a LOVE LIST. The Universe wants to reward people who are doing at least one thing they love every day. The more you are filling your life with the things you love, the Universe will give you more of the experiences you would love to have.
11. Believe that the experience will happen. The Universe can’t help people who don’t believe. You must believe with every ounce of your being, in your head and in your heart that what you truly desire to happen, will happen. If there is any ounce of doubt in you, you won’t be able to manifest. You need to visualise yourself experiencing what you wish you experience, in the exact place, with the exact people. The more thought and energy you put into this belief, the easier it is for the Universe to give you that experience.
12. Trust the Universe is there to help you. Anyone that is mistrusting of the Universe, others, themselves, won’t be open to receiving, won’t be rewarded and won’t be able to manifest. Trust is a very important component of manifesting.
13. Let go of your intention. Do not get attached to it any way shape or form. If you are attached to it, there is expectation and the Universe is much less likely to make your wish come true. If you are attached it becomes a want or a need from your ego. If you are detached, it is something that you would love, but that doesn’t define you or your happiness.
14. Go with the flow. The Universe loves it when we go with the flow. If we are flexible in our thoughts, feelings and behaviour, it makes it much easier for the Universe to help us experience things we’d love to experience. Very importantly, don’t try to control things. If you try to control what you’re trying to manifest, it will be very hard for the Universe to help you.
15. Enjoy every moment. It is very important when manifesting to live in the present. If you are in the past or the future, you are not present to the things and people who the Universe is sending you in order to help you manifest. If you’re not sure what this means, read my post on how to be present.
And most importantly, when you are wanting to manifest, the experience must be something that you would love to experience, include people you’d love to share the experience with and in a place you would love to be.
I also watched a great movie recently called Ruby Sparks that takes the idea of manifesting to a very literal level. A great film that I can highly recommend. It’s from the Directors of Little Miss Sunshine, and it features Steve Coogan, for any Alan Partridge fans out there.
‘With gratitude the Universe is eternally abundant.’
happythankyoumoreplease
Darren and I watched a fantastic film the other night called happythankyoumoreplease and it has inspired me to write a blog post on the importance of gratitude.
I’ve known this for quite some time, and the messages have been coming to me from all over the place about the importance of being grateful for all that you have in life, especially when we are wishing to manifest something that we would love to experience in our lives.
The first time the message came to me strongly was when I watched Shaun Anchor’s fantastic TED talk ‘The Happiness Advantage‘ where he says that it’s important to list at least three things you are grateful for every day.
Last week I went on a course about finances, and the lady running the course reminded us that in order for us to go with the flow of the energy of the Universe, we must first be grateful for all that we have, before it can send any more energy our way, especially in the form of money.
And so I decided to start (and most importantly, commit to) Daily Gratitudes.
Have an attitude of gratitude
So, the first thing I do when I wake up, before I meditate, shower, eat breakfast or touch my laptop or phone, is pick up a piece of paper and pen from my bedside table and make a list of everything that I am grateful for in my life.
Importantly, this is an exhaustive list. A list that I keep writing until I can’t think of anything else to write. A list that can sometimes include around 40 items (the longer the better!). I these are all things that I am genuinely, wholeheartedly and honestly grateful for.
Then I pop the list back on my bedside table and make a point of reading it again before I go to bed. This is so that before I drift off to sleep, I have filled me head and my subconscious with positive, grateful thoughts, that will then ensure I have a good, happy nights sleep and enjoy positive dreams.
And the film, well I won’t tell you too much about it, but I will say that there is a beautiful message in the film about the importance of saying thank you whenever something good happens, or someone does something nice for you. Followed by ‘More Please’, so that the Universe knows to give you more lovely things.
It’s written and directed by Josh Radnor or ‘How I Met Your Mother’ fame and I can highly recommend it as a feel good film. Oh, and it won an award at the Sundance Film Festival in 2010.
“Nonresistance, nonjudgement, and nonattachment are the three aspects of true freedom and enlightened living.”
Eckhart Tolle, A New Earth
Darren and I went to see The Great Gatsby on Monday night, and apart from it being a truly beautiful and very wonderful film with an awesome soundtrack, the story also delivers a very spiritual and metaphysical message.
It has taken a couple of days for the penny to drop and for me to process the true meaning of the story, but I joined all of the dots up today and wanted to share my learning’s with you.
At first, when I was watching it, I thought that it was a story about the power of manifesting. That Jay Gatsby had decided to take himself from a life of little and manifest money, property, friends, success and much more, just from deciding that he wanted a better life for himself. And, not knowing the story, I was convinced that it would have a happy ending with him achieving the cherry on the top by winning back the heart of his one true love, Daisy. Alas, that was not meant to be.
What I now know and understand is that Gatsby’s character, as with everyone else in the story, except for that of the narrator, Nick Carraway, is a representation of the ego. And that Carraway’s character is that of the silent observer, or indeed, consciousness.
In Eckhart Tolle’s book ‘A New Earth’ he talks about how there are three aspects of true freedom and enlightened living, and they are nonresistence, nonjudgement and nonattachment. And this is exactly what Carraway’s character represents in The Great Gatsby. When asked by Gatsby if he can invite his cousin Daisy over for tea, he kindly obliges. When invited over to Gatsby’s house for a party, he goes along. When invited over to dinner at Daisy and Tom’s house, he attends. Throughout the story, at no point does the character ever resist what is, nor does he judge the behaviour of others, neither is he ever attached to anything or anyone. All he does is constantly and silently observe. He is always there, aware of what is happening, but in the background, watching.
In F.Scott Fitzgerald’s book Nick notes,’ I’m inclined to reserve all judgements, a habit that has opened up many curious natures to me…. [although] the intimate revelations of…men or at least the terms in which they express them are usually plagiaristic and marred by obvious suppressions. Reserving judgements is a matter of infinite hope.’
In ‘A New Earth’ Tolle also talks about awareness and that it ‘implies that you are not only conscious of things (objects), but you are also conscious of being conscious. If you can sense an alert inner stillness in the background while things happen in the foreground – that’s it!’
He also talks about the conscious choice that we have in awakening. And that when we realise that we may at times, slip back into a dysfunctional state (for example caught up in our emotions, the past or the future, or indeed our ego, all of which get in the way of our true selves shining through) we are able to choose to step out of identification with thinking and emotion and enter the state of Presence. He says that in that moment you can ‘relinquish resistance, become still and alert, one with what is, within and without.’
And there is a quote in the Great Gatsby that mirrors this perfectly when Nick Carraway is at a party surrounded by people drinking and behaving carelessly (once again a representation of the collective ego), ‘I wanted to get out and walk eastward toward the park through the soft twilight, but each time I tried to go I became entangled in some wild, strident argument which pulled me back, as if with ropes, into my chair. Yet high over the city our line of yellow windows must have contributed their share of human secrecy to the casual watcher in the darkening streets, and I was him too, looking up and wondering. I was within and without, simultaneously enchanted and repelled by the inexhaustible variety of life.’
Furthermore, Gatsby is fixated and obsessed with the past. He is convinced that by recreating the past, he can win back the love and heart of Daisy and they can be together, just as they planned before he went away to war.
Unfortunately, his character doesn’t understand that you cannot repeat the past, because the past does not exist, as all we have is the present. And his crazed obsession with the past and creating a life of wealth to attract Daisy, is actually the thing that repels her from him in the end.
So I guess the thought for the day is, consciousness is a choice, just as it is a choice to become the watcher of your thoughts and how they manifest in others.
When we choose to stop judging ourself and others, allow ourselves not to get attached to things or people and allow everything to be as it is, we create a space for us to be present.
And, according to Eckhart Tolle, ‘the joy of Being, which is the only true happiness, cannot come to you through any form, possession, achievement, person, or event – through anything that happens. That joy cannot come to you – ever. It emanates from the formless dimension within you, from consciousness itself and this is one with who you are.’
“Our life is shaped by our mind; we become what we think. Suffering follows an evil thought as the wheels of a cart follow the oxen that draws it.
Our life is shaped by our mind; we become what we think. Joy follows a pure thought like a shadow that never leaves.”
– Buddha –
It’s a pretty simple one today. It’s very easy to fill our heads with bad things, worry, sadness, fear, anxiety, nervousness, anger, pain and hatred, especially as a result of watching or reading the news everyday or scanning our day for all the bad things happening in the world and around us.
It is equally as easy to fill our heads with peace, love, joy, happiness, warmth, kindness, compassion and empathy. Essentially it boils down to what we want to think and feel in every moment.
I choose to look for the silver linings, to have a glass that is not only half full, but overflowing with water, and I choose to see love in as many things and people as possible. So much so, I tattooed it onto my body as a constant reminder.
You can watch this fantastic clip from ‘What the Bleep Do We (K)now!?’ about an experiment that was done with water, and what affects its molecular structure. The question posed at the end of the clip asks ‘If thoughts do that to water, imagine what our thoughts can do to us’.
So I guess the question for today is, what would you like to be, and are you thinking the right thoughts in order to achieve that in your life?
A human being is part of a whole, called by us the Universe, a part limited in time and space.
He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness.
This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us.
Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circles of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.
– Albert Einstein, 1921 –
Last night I watched I Heart Huckabees for the first time ever and it blew my mind.
To be honest, I had been putting it off for a while, because I knew it would bake my noodle, but I’m glad I finally got around to watching it (JFDI).
It is not only an existential film about metaphysics, the meaning of life, being and everything and nothing, but it is also a film that connects the dots. And it’s a film that makes you think.
It’s a seemingly complex film, and it took me a while to get my head around it, but there are a few conclusions that I drew from it.
We are all connected.
And importantly, when we realise this, and understand that we are all one, by loving and being compassionate to ourselves, we are in turn being loving and compassionate to others.
There are some fantastic quotes that I have found by the Dalai Lama that really help to articulate some of the key themes and messages from the movie:
“When you think everything is someone else’s fault, you will suffer a lot. When you realise that everything springs only from yourself, you will learn both peace and joy.”
“If you don’t love yourself, you cannot love others. You will not be able to love others. If you have no compassion for yourself then you are not able of developing compassion for others.”
“Happiness is not ready-made. It comes from your own actions.”
“Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries, without them, humanity cannot survive.”
There isn’t much more that I feel I can write about the film, without just recommending that you watch it if you’re curious to find out and understand how we are all connected. It’s pretty awesome. Lots of love to you all. x x x
“If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading.”
– Lao Tzu –
Every day we have the opportunity to change something in our lives, no matter what it is.
Steve Jobs said in his Stanford address that every day he would look in the mirror and ask himself one question, ‘If today were the last day or my life, would I want to do, what I’m about to do today?’ and whenever the answer was no for too many days in a row, he knew he needed to change something. And it’s the same in Groundhog Day. Bill Murray’s character is given the same day over and over until he realises that he needs to make changes.
So, the question is, if today was your last day on earth, would you want to do what you’re about to do?
Would you be spending time with the people you want to spend time with? Would you want to do what you’re about to do? Are you where you would want to be? And if the answer is no, then you need to make a change.
And it doesn’t matter how big or small that change is. It could be starting a hobby that you’ve been meaning to start. It could be going to that yoga session that you’ve been putting off. It could be going for a run. It could be cooking a certain meal, that is your absolute favourite, but for whatever reason you’ve not cooked for ages. It could be picking the phone up and calling that one person that you’ve meant to call for a while, but haven’t, because you just haven’t got around to it, or you’re worried they might not want to speak to you. It could be going for a walk with a friend. It could be starting to look for a new job, because you know you’re happy with the one you’re in. According to Deloitte’s Shift Index, 80% of people hate their job.
Or it could be something bigger and more profound. It could be handing your notice in. It could be telling someone who you’ve been dating for a while that you love them. It could be asking someone who you’ve been dating for a while if they’ll marry you. It could be deciding to have a family.
It doesn’t matter what the change you make is, the fact of the matter is that every day is a gift. Every day is an opportunity to make a change in your life. So take it.
Kat Kinnie's Blog 