flow

sometimes I do not know what I will write

and I needn't worry

as words flow from me

like water from a stream

turning off my head

is opening up my heart

and right now it's filled with so much

compassion that I cry.

I sob because the ones we love leave us

be it only from the physical plane

as love is eternal and so are all beings

whether they are bugs, beast or humans.

So for the tears and the sorrow

It's mostly because I feel so much love

that I don't know what to do with:

so much energy wells up in me

Blessed are we who dare to love

Who dare to cry with the acceptance of that light

It takes courage to shine, to be who we are

Loving ourselves is something we tend to forget

Being able to receive the love

from others is opening that door for ourselves,

allowing the possibility of pain in as well as the love,

as really it's the endless joy we know it all really to be.

the power of money?

As I read earlier today here: "Money can buy anything except meaning." And as Occupy Wallstreet has gone global (yup there are Occupy's growing wide and far like mushrooms) I'd say many people seek to redefine "meaning" in the broadest sense. What is it all about. Really about.

[Official Statement from Occupy Wall Street - this statement was voted on and approved by the general assembly of protesters at Liberty Square: Declaration of the Occupation of New York City]

"As we gather together in solidarity to express a feeling of mass injustice, we must not lose sight of what brought us together. We write so that all people who feel wronged by the corporate forces of the world can know that we are your allies.

As one people, united, we acknowledge the reality: that the future of the human race requires the cooperation of its members; that our system must protect our rights, and upon corruption of that system, it is up to the individuals to protect their own rights, and those of their neighbors; that a democratic government derives its just power from the people, but corporations do not seek consent to extract wealth from the people and the Earth; and that no true democracy is attainable when the process is determined by economic power. We come to you at a time when corporations, which place profit over people, self-interest over justice, and oppression over equality, run our governments. We have peaceably assembled here, as is our right, to let these facts be known.

They have taken our houses through an illegal foreclosure process, despite not having the original mortgage.

They have taken bailouts from taxpayers with impunity, and continue to give Executives exorbitant bonuses.

They have perpetuated inequality and discrimination in the workplace based on age, the color of one’s skin, sex, gender identity and sexual orientation.

They have poisoned the food supply through negligence, and undermined the farming system through monopolization.

They have profited off of the torture, confinement, and cruel treatment of countless nonhuman animals, and actively hide these practices.

They have continuously sought to strip employees of the right to negotiate for better pay and safer working conditions.

They have held students hostage with tens of thousands of dollars of debt on education, which is itself a human right.

They have consistently outsourced labor and used that outsourcing as leverage to cut workers’ healthcare and pay.

They have influenced the courts to achieve the same rights as people, with none of the culpability or responsibility.

They have spent millions of dollars on legal teams that look for ways to get them out of contracts in regards to health insurance.

They have sold our privacy as a commodity.

They have used the military and police force to prevent freedom of the press.

They have deliberately declined to recall faulty products endangering lives in pursuit of profit.

They determine economic policy, despite the catastrophic failures their policies have produced and continue to produce.

They have donated large sums of money to politicians supposed to be regulating them.

They continue to block alternate forms of energy to keep us dependent on oil.

They continue to block generic forms of medicine that could save people’s lives in order to protect investments that have already turned a substantive profit.

They have purposely covered up oil spills, accidents, faulty bookkeeping, and inactive ingredients in pursuit of profit.

They purposefully keep people misinformed and fearful through their control of the media.

They have accepted private contracts to murder prisoners even when presented with serious doubts about their guilt.

They have perpetuated colonialism at home and abroad.

They have participated in the torture and murder of innocent civilians overseas.

They continue to create weapons of mass destruction in order to receive government contracts.*

To the people of the world,

We, the New York City General Assembly occupying Wall Street in Liberty Square, urge you to assert your power.

Exercise your right to peaceably assemble; occupy public space; create a process to address the problems we face, and generate solutions accessible to everyone.

To all communities that take action and form groups in the spirit of direct democracy, we offer support, documentation, and all of the resources at our disposal.

Join us and make your voices heard!

*These grievances are not all-inclusive."

why we matter

We can choose to be un-involved

to stay quiet to not say a peep, not let out a whimper

Because we choose to or because we fear to

How about expressing that which is in your hearts?

How about supporting your voice?

It is perfectly fine to make some noise

if you wish to. If this makes you feel better.

The time is now to make that stand

Not in your back garden or on the front lawn

but a-midst others in society

to find those that feel like you do

who beat the same drum of the heart

Raise that flag! Be brave and sober

Think clear and with purpose

Because that's why you are here now

To discover where you stand

what you think

and ultimately: who you are

What is your purpose here?

Are you going to stand idly by?

or are you going to look after your fellow man?

We do not live to be quiet

we do not live to be complacent

We live to discover who we are

we live to discover how big 

our hearts truly are.

We can express that which is the other

and tell the story

and increase the field of knowing

and the field of belonging

so we can come home

and be home

at last.

Photo by The Guardian, covering the "Occupy Wall Street" story in New York - 19 September 2011: link here.

the hum of love

Maybe we can move

both intentional and unintentional

by simply stating who we are

the definition itself radiating

that what we feel and embody

always telling all

Even without words 

enough can be shared

to build bridges,

mend bruises

fix problems

to sail the seven seas

When we start to remember

that we are more then

the sum of our parts

more then our body

more then our minds

more then the clubs we belong to

That the center of us is our hearts

and that of others too

then there is no need to explain

no need for science play

no room for debates

just the connection

the holding of hand

the caressing of hearts

the soothing of us

A tone of silence

a hum of love

a pulse of life

love spreading

like ever before

around and in us

a galaxy filled with

the booming vibration of all

Instead of thinking about it

Feel it inside of you

Look within and around

It is all the same

Have you noticed?

Can you hear it pulsing in your ears

drumming in your heart?

love

Seeking something is giving that something

First and foremost

If you find it too hard to open up

try appreciating it

and from a speck it'll become a seed in the wind

it will start growing and

Blowing a gale

and coming back to you

Unfolding 

Dancing

Being

In you.

moving us

My truth is not yours

and yet it is part of us all

My life is not lived

Yet it has already been past and in the future.

My choices are my own

yet they are also inseparably yours. 

I figure out who I am

By learning what we're not

Do I not say what I mean?

All of us talk vibrationally.

It's energy that speaks.

The key is to actually pay attention.

Can you feel it?

Moving you?

gentleness

There is much to be said about softness in this oftentimes world of harshness. The way I keep reading in the media about how there are battles to be won, companies to be bought and problems to be overcome. At night I wake up grinding my teeth and wondering why my face has that determined steely set feel to it. Relaxxx I tell myself.
Then the dog died. Glen aka Manny Moo was getting onto 15. His eyesight had long left him seeing fuzzy shapes and his hearing was a lot to be left desired. He could walk but with a wobble and at times he would get caught walking into a bit of sand and would keel over or flop down. Thus it was when I found myself writing a letter to him in the evening, a few hours after I had found him lying so still in his kennel.

Dear Mennie (Dutch for Manny)

On all acounts you appeared to be a normal dog..
You didn't have a dashing appearance, if anything you were pretty scruffy looking.
Yet we loved you straight away and you came with the farm we were buying. How cool!
You rounded up the neighbours sheep when they went on an escapade, because you knew what to do. Naturally we hadn't a clue being farmlet newbies and you understood that perfectly.

Over the years your favorite activity was to find sunlight and then bask in it on the lawn. You loved me brushing your coat. It made you feel like a guy with a tophat being so nicely groomed. And if you could have a rummage in the grass and roll around in it well nothing could beat that. I will always remember you smiling, and it was quite something to behold.

We looked after you and you learned to trust humans again, be it always a bit careful. If anyone put their arm up high you would duck down by instinct. We told you that you didn't have to. We gave you cuddles. I talked to you until even you had enough of it after a while. As time went on you knew the routine by heart of bikkie twice a day instead of once. You never understood what a ball was for though, so we decided to give it to the goats to muck around with. (Not that they did.)

Mennie you were very special to us. You were gentle and you were kind. I will miss you yet I know it was simply time, and I'm glad you died in your own home instead of on the vets table in a clinic. You deserved to live at home for as long as you wanted to. I hope you will like the tree we will pick out for you. Please see us from time to time, but if you don't then that's prefectly fine. An awesome place like heaven can be very distracting I'm sure!

Talk to you later Mennie. Take care and have fun!
Lots of love,
Mirjam (and Nico of course but he's less girly about these sort of things as you know.)

interplay

Light is not just particles or a beam

It is that which lives and breathes

It is all around

Because it is everything.

So it is in you.

Even when something is so small, like a speck,

it still matters as it vibrates into being.

All those amassed beings mold together.

And sing. And also resonate.

It is a most wondrous thing. Can you see it?

The more you discover

the more you appreciate

The more you understand

The more you live "through" it.

It means being an angel.

To be part of ''that'' and to also let it just be... "that".

Worlds move, change, shine,

occasionally collide.

It's all moving.

It's all alive.

It's all light.

So we are all literally the same thing,

as we're made of the same essentials,

whether we're big or small.

Now do you understand?

It's all beautiful.

And we're all part of the same party.

Marcus

all in a name?

What's in a name we often ask? Or... a title?

I was reading Nicole's blog post today: about her discovery that she is in fact not a hand-bag designer. To her this was a very important discovery. To others it is probably not that important. Then I remembered reading this leaflet in the car long before I got to work and came across Nicole's blog post. The said leaflet informed me on the different design streams within the local Polytech. I was reading about product design... yes familiar.... fashion design.... not my field... interior design.... yes work in that one.... communication design.... huh? This lovely umbrella of Communication Design covered the whole spectrum of what I have been doing for many years, excluding the activity of goat herding - somehow that is not part of their curriculum. Interesting to read though. I thought: ah! now I can do away with all the summing up of what it is I do, this umbrella would suit me fine.

Sometimes I observe that we have the tendency to either make things unnecessarily complicated, too interesting then it really is or simply too darn wordy. Being concise has benefits. People get a quicker grasp on what it is we do. Of course the questions is: do we wish to be labelled? Does it matter? And: we are often labelled whether we agree with it or not! Do we make enough time to explore more about a person we meet? Look past the label or title enough?

Just recently I met this lovely couple through my work. They live only 10 minutes away from where our farm is and they needed a solution for their interior. A few years ago they helped us with our highland cattle as we had been shifting them from our farm to the neighbors. Then last Saturday I finally discovered what it actually was what the husband does for a profession. He hunts Moose. In New Zealand. With a bunch of cameras. In a very dense large stretched out area called Southland. Apparently he is quite well known throughout New Zealand and I hadn't had a clue, because I hadn't heard about any of it before. His work is controversial and many New Zealanders think that his work and theories are a bunch of crock (as they say here) because no one has seen a live Moose since the 50s. The fact that Ken is relatively famous is not interesting, but the funny fact that it took me a few conversations to finally clue in on the fact that of course there was a lot more to these lovely people then met the eye, as my main priority had been to help them with their interior.

A title or name can be useful, but being labelled can have negative connotations as Ken has found from time to time. Either we choose or accept the label we like/are given or we decide to just play the part we want to ourselves regardless of it. It's not so much what we're called, it's what we do that makes a difference. It's what stories we share ourselves.

More about the topic of labeling here (excellent post)

the Christmas Cheer

It's Christmas time.... (well very very almost) A time of sharing, togetherness, reflection and joy. All of us have a different way of looking at Christmas and that makes the world interesting...


Find below some vids that I consider to be part of the Christmas feeling in some way: some frivolity, some seriousness, sharing the warm fuzzies around. Thank you for reading my posts and I wish you a fabulous New Year: that it may bring you all the best for the future.












Have a great holiday!

Christmas spirit

The count down has begun! Lalalalalala oh tannebaum.....



What am I doing? Sharing the Christmas spirit! I have started a fundraiser for Les to enable him to receive funds to get his heating fixed as he is experiencing the winter cold in the US.... So far I have received the twitter support from 6 twitter stars. Let me know if you are excited too to show your Christmas support! Donate 1 item (digital or not) that we can sell off. As a Christmas Spirit Supporter you will be mentioned on the RES (cue) LES website.

And for now; think the lotus...feel the lotus... drive the lotus..... :D

The Pondering Wonderings

Yes I’m a confessed ponderer. It can drive my husband nuts. He doesn’t always follow what I’m articulating. This is not a new thing as many people seem to get halted in their tracks trying to figure out what the blazes I’m on about. This I have accepted as a fact of life. I am more patient with my clients; as after all, it would be prudent for them to understand me and vice versa. How could I make a living otherwise? So does this mean I’m either intelligent, thinking faster than the average person, or I’m I just plain nutty? You be the judge.

I’ve been known to make up words. You will find them quite often amidst the wordy spread on this blog. You better get used to it or go back to reading a newspaper; magazine or whatever takes your fancy. It’s ‘Mirjam’ lingo yes sirree.

The pondering wonderings habit runs in the family. All of us, included my dear husband, are used to my father’s incredibly fast change of tack mid story. We can follow his jumps, bounds and leaps as years of training do that to a person. Possibly I’ve been infected with the genetic zig zag technique. If a stranger visits the household or a business relation we end up translating dad’s enthusiastic tales.

Bottom line: I am used to thinking fast and outside the square. I’m not one for the usual route as detours can make life interesting or fieldtrips makes a mundane day change into a glorious one. The Pondering Wonderings continue. Watch the space... at least you’re pre warned.

Vacation?

“Instead of wondering when your next vacation is, maybe you ought to set up a life you don’t need to escape from.”
(Seth Godin, in his latest book ‘Tribes, We need you to lead us.’)

People have the tendency to not make themselves responsible for their own lives. “No my boss made me work overtime and I hate what I do anyway so it all sucks” “My husband wants me to lose weight and that’s why I come to the pool every day to swim” “He never listens to me and I don’t feel happy in our relationship”. See what I mean?

Yes it’s human to have a good whine to someone else and say boohoo my life is so boring, tough, hard, difficult, lonely, unsuccessful, stressful, unsatisfying or un-fun (if you feel that way, that is). Problem is that IT DOESN”T MAKE YOU FEEL BETTER to say these things to other people. Have you realized that?

I was feeling tired last week and had a whinge to my poor mum on the phone. It was so annoying! Basically I wanted a cuddle and for someone to say all right you lovely get of your bottom and get on with it. This is enough and you don't want to act this way. It’s fine to realize I had landed in the old trap again of wanting to achieve too much but the side effects are that it gives me the frusty dusties. So I decided to snap out of it before I had a chance to get the fever of the poor-me-disease. It’s no fun for people around me and it doesn’t get us anywhere EVER.

Right, here’s the recipe for battling boohoo-ness:

a) Give yourself a hug or ask your partner to provide you with a cuddle. (Take it easy on yourself)
b) Find out why you are feeling down, depressed, tired, disappointed, angry etc. Talk about it or write it down. Don’t take it out on others, find a boxing ball instead.
c) Start a diary; write things down often to get it out. That or see a therapist/counselor regularly. (I write this blog and find that helpful, if it’s very personal I write it in my own diary)
d) Start exercising, it gets the stress beasties out of your body and it’s good for the brain. Eat well to compensate for energy loss until you build up more stamina.
e) Team up with a good friend to establish your goals and follow up every week on progress. Share.
f) Don’t desire to do too much (I do and by crikey I’m a hard learner…) and nip perfectionism in the bud. It’s a right killer.
g) Don’t do ANYTHING someone else wants you to unless you want to do it also. Motivation goes down the gurgler if you persist and it causes resentment.
h) Practice your sense of humor. Remember to LAUGH. (Once we were funny, hang on how did it go again?)
i) Take up a weekly hobby or sport that makes you very happy. I absolutely LOVE dancing.
j) See friends and hang out. Enjoy dinners and playing with their kids.
k) Allow yourself to be lazy at times (this I find very hard, sleep in? Like WHEN?)
l) Stick to your new plan! Yeehaaaaaaa. = victory.

The truth is this:
Being grateful creates happiness. Appreciate what IS there, let go of how you think it SHOULD be. And: be patient, things will fall into place. Hang the frust dusty jacket or give it to charity.

magic frequencies

Having brainwaves is a good thing. It means the pink blob is working, ticking along and humming on its magic frequencies, making popping noises when ideas start tumbling over each other and resulting in a waterfall (like chocolate pouring out of the huge container in the chocolate Cadbury Factory here in Dunedin). It can be overwhelming and it can be very Eureka. It can taste delicious too.

For me, I had been pondering how to resolve a situation involving my own dear business, Quality Living ltd. I have a group of wonderful people I’d like to continue to work with, I have got myself and my limitations time wise, and I have my financials that are in pretty good nick but have yet to evolve to come even close to compare to Buffets empire. (There's time still.) As I’m continuing to work on my business plan and tinkering along filling it out I wonder and ponder. A practical and sensible idea has entered my head and I will go and see a business consultant to discuss this with tomorrow. I realized that I can’t be everything and do everything. Everyone has their expertise and mine is seeing things others don’t and getting these ideas underway and into motion. Being creative helps too. I have a knack for picking up on gaps in the market, trends, how certain things will pan out and so on.

There’s more to life than making money though, for me it’s about passion and keeping my eye on the ball is important. Growth is a motivator through experience and bringing people together who can share that. It’s about learning, not accumulation. You can’t take material things with you when you die but heck I decided I can have fun in the meantime. Money is energy and a means to and end, not a goal in itself.

Last year I felt I was trying to learn to mountain climb but couldn’t see the whole mountain from where I was and I hadn’t all the necessary gear. It would be a bonus if I found someone who’s climbed a rock face before but I will make do without him or her if it so happens. I’m not afraid of trying new things or to fall on my face. Playing safe doesn't get you anywhere. I’m not stopping my enterprise because it’s daunting. I’ve concluded I’m better doing what I do best and to learn that which I think I can get my head around and consult the ones who are experts in areas I'm not. Keeping taking steps is the best way. I am not yet a hard core businesswoman who knows the whole nine yards. I probably will be quite knowledgeable by the time I’m 40. I’m not wanting to become this straight haired business biach anyway, with bright red lipstick and stilettos to kill. I'd laugh at myself too much looking like that. If you take yourself too seriously then live starts to lose its shine.

The more I think about it, the more sense it makes to do what I intend to do. I found that it no longer matters what opinions others may have. I do my homework, draw the conclusions and keep building. Those who will understand what I'm doing and support me will definitely benefit from it. So we all win the end of the day and the main thing is that I know I've done all I possibly can. And it will be quite a bit.

Wedding anniversary

9/1/2008 - 9/1/2009

I see my Love
with new eyes, bless him.
I forgive myself as does he.
We carefully take of
the wrappings
of old and lovingly
rub on a new layer of cuddles.
Warm tender nights.
We gaze at the stars
discuss
possibilities for the future.
We laugh so hard we cry.