A year of living openly
/Imagine the beauty of doing a talk and then being told afterwards by the organiser that their grandmother was in attendance and due to her age, they were only able to come to one talk and yours was the one. I felt honoured and humbled at this beautiful happening.
Keynote Speech, Mindful Mann, Isle Of Man
Our cultures venerate the elderly and rightly so and I have said that I feel regardless of whatever insights we may have had or whatever we have achieved. They are further down this path of life than we are. To sit in their
company is to receive from them. Whether it is verbally or just by their being. It is a great blessing and I feel sitting more with our elders can not only benefit us individually but society as a whole.
What was beautiful in this instance was at the end of the talk, she turned to her grandson and said
“I understand what he is saying”
What an honour to receive such a compliment and I hope that life gives me the opportunity to meet this incredible lady in person. Mike my friend and Mindful Mann, you were incredible.
Until the next time.
Eliminating The Barriers To Love, Mindful Mann 2019 on YouTube
We complain about how the young are inattentive now. Not listening and constantly glued to their phones and to social media. We reminisce about the good old days and how the young of today have it so easy in comparison to ourselves and yet we never take time to look over to the other side and see what is going on with them.
Conscious Corner, Hyde Park Book Club, Leeds
I recently got the opportunity to peer over the fence so to speak and what I saw filled me with such joy. I was invited to speak at the Conscious Corner in Leeds. So, on a beautiful summers night I was in the room with about thirty-five or so final year students from the University of Leeds. Now back in my day at that age my chief concern was that party and what girl and yet in this room were sat some incredibly intelligent young people.
Who asked me such wonderful questions about the nature of realisation, that my heart sang with joy. I listened as they shared their hopes and fears and I realised that many of us have so got our young so wrong.
We hear terms like self-entitled and generation snowflake and yet they suffer from loneliness and so many pressures. Even more so in this picture-perfect social media world, in which they are expected to be perfect at every instant. Yes, we can say oh poor them sarcastically but is that really the way forward and shouldn’t we instead engage them in conversation. I left that talk filled with hope that the young of today that we, so underestimate are in fact working hard to make a better world. They have many pressures we didn’t in our day, and it is important for ourselves to acknowledge that and start that conversation. We can teach the young a lot and conversely, they can teach us a lot too.
Let’s acknowledge the other and realise that although we may appear different. We are still different manifestations of the one reality. Michael and the Conscious Corner, thank you for an incredible event in which I learnt more than I taught.
Awaken, Wishaw
“I’m just a single mother from Wishaw” to which I replied, “that’s exactly why you need to do this”.
There was a release as the single mother breathed deeply and in that instant life changed.
Life moved us both on and then out of the blue I received a message from her. I had been in her
thoughts and she wanted me to come and speak at her centre in Wishaw called Awaken. I hastily
agreed to come along not giving it much thought as I was travelling and didn’t give it a second thought.
I entered what I can only describe as a home from home. The centre was beautiful and what I loved was the care and level of attention to detail. It truly reflected its keeper and as the room filled up, I wondered if those assembled would understand what I spoke of. I had no need to worry. The talk although simple was powerful and I found that those assembled exhibited a depth of understanding I had yet to see in many so-called spiritual seekers. The talk moved at the pace it was needed at and at the end as I left the centre, I said goodbye. Not knowing when I would return but content that this simplest and elegant of talks had changed me forever.
I recorded a YouTube video about my experiences at the centre entitled Coming Together and I for one am so interested to see what becomes of this oasis of peace and calm.
The conclusion of this story is that I had met the woman from Wishaw when I first started speaking and don’t remember ever using her name. Her memory of me was of a hooded up young aggressive speaker. More prone to fits of swearing then taking the time to answer a question. As I left, I realised he was no more and nor was she.
There was no Woman from Wishaw or Zak from Govanhill but instead Caroline and Zahir. Two friends going
through life singing their respective songs as only they can. My blessings and love to you, my friend
Caroline and I look forward to when life brings us back together. Awaken is an incredible place and I
am so proud of what you have achieved. To your continued success.
Ljubljana, Slovenia
The Balkans has a real place in my heart. I suppose I like it due to it being a meeting ground of cultures. So, as you can imagine I was more than excited to be returning to Slovenia for a weekend retreat. The organisers had found an incredible venue and I was staying in central Ljubljana giving me ample opportunity to explore this wonderful city. I was a little unsure who would be there and indeed if the last Slovenian weekend would impact this one.
I was to have all my questions answered fully. Imagine a weekend retreat which keeps getting better. From meeting an incredible group of students, to having the most incredible conversations with your host, to trying out local food and generally immersing yourself in the local culture in ways most of us never get a chance to
do when we travel abroad.
The weekend had the most profound impact upon me, and I see its continued influence on my work on a moment by moment basis. Thank you to all my friends in the Balkans and in particular to Dijana, Karmen, Helena, Nenad and Matjaz.
Time and distance are just an illusion for those who live in the heart.
