http://journals.copperstrings.com/RSSFeed.aspx?Mode=4Journals for top postAttribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/http://journals.copperstrings.com/Images/logo.gifhttp://journals.copperstrings.com/RSSFeed.aspx?Mode=4SoulSoilSocietyTue, 10 Feb 2009 09:32:52 GMTAre you one of those folks who's too busy making ends meet to do anything truly effective about our collective plight? If you are, and whilst I honestly sympathise with your condition, I feel bound to alert you to the error of your way. Sure it's noble and right within our current 'my own little world' mindset, but I'm not sure your children and grandchildren will thank you for it in the long run. If the majority of us are subscribed to hell on a handcart living, where we quietly hope things will get better - you know, the creation of a fair and sustainable society and planet - how do we logically stand a chance of it ever happening? You've surely heard that definition of insanity atrributed to Einstein and Benjamin Franklin - "doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results"? Cleary, we don't stand a chance if good people - those who are bright enough to see that five planets into one won't go - do little more than change their brand of coffee and recycle the odd tin. I recognise that denial and despair are the almost inevitable two-step that confront anyone who sees what I'm saying, not as a guilt-trip, but as a heads up (ostrich joke). Faced by the dynamic duo of climate change and peak oil, who wouldn't want to run and hide, or at least turn and walk in the opposite direction as if nothing is wrong? But believe me, there is a positive and resourceful space beyond denial and despair and my guess is that the forty days and nights that earlier eco-pioneers have suffered, will be eased as more of us wake up and smell the true impact of coffee, rather than just switching brands at the retail equivalent of assisted suicide - the supermarket. It'll get easier as more break ranks from the 40-year industrialised plan of keeping one's head above water in the hope of a happy retirement (you can forget that anyway - the pension funds are empty). It seems that we are like sea creatures that close in a flash when troubled by the consequences of how we're living. Peak oil is a great example. David Korten says: "Without oil, much of the capital infrastructure underlying modern life becomes an unusable asset, including the infrastructure of suburbia, the global trading system and the industrial food production, processing and distribution system." That's enough to close your mind isn't it? And if you were to embrace the message, by auditing your current oil dependency, wouldn't that make you so scared, that you'd quickly return to business-as-usual, and hope that the government and scientists are working out the answer for you (please God)? Do you think your MP even knows what peak oil is? He's in his own little world too, with the same stupid bills to pay. What if you took the Jack Nicholson approach? In the movie, The Departed, when he's told someone is dying he responds: "We all are. Act accordingly." Thing is, it's not just that we are all dying (I'm not being morbid, all bodies die, remember); we're taking it a step further and are actually killing ourselves (OK, I'm being morbid a bit). But it's true right? Do you think being too busy paying bills is acting accordingly? Of course it isn't. Wake up, wise up and realise that the world our parents passed on to us in their oil-based ignorance, can be re-arranged for the benefit of those who'll inevitably get it from us. But it's down to YOU! PS If you are not too busy paying your bills to make a difference, please share your tips and tactics here... David Korten Life beyond denial and despairhttp://journals.copperstrings.com/Too-busy-paying-the-bills?utm_source=rsshttp://journals.copperstrings.com/Too-busy-paying-the-bills#comments?utm_source=rssTue, 10 Feb 2009 14:22:41 GMTDo you recognise that feeling of wanting so much more in your life – that amazing moment of asking yourself ‘Is this all there is?’ You probably wouldn’t be on this site if you didn’t have that sense anyway. I remember getting this notion that there had to be ‘more’, many, many years ago, in fact I was under ten years old at the time. My father was a great story teller and I loved bedtime, when he sat on the edge of my bed and made up the best stories. They weren’t always nice as he was prone to weaving themes of loss in to them but I loved them nonetheless. It was a paradox that this man who was so good at creating stories was also the man who told me I had too much imagination, and tried to squash my desire for the hidden magical land of Narnia to be a step through a wardrobe away. My life’s journey has been one of searching for my magical land. You can imagine how many workshops and seminars I’ve been on to find this place of magic and I have had glimpses too – some bigger than others. And yet I always maintained a feeling that I wasn’t quite good enough to ‘get’ the technique to make a real transformation. I have had many a partial transformation but pushing through to completion had been an unreachable milestone. This resulted in feelings of irritated frustration with myself and a consistent need for external validation. Armed with a clear understanding of our own sourceness I still felt this inner uncertainty and didn’t feel comfortable claiming my own power. What a refreshing change to discover the simplicity and effortlessness of Darren Eden’s magical work, using the hero’s journey as a base for transformation with symbology as a guide to our intuition. I have accessed my intuition for years and yet have rarely felt confident in basing my decisions upon it until an eight day residential training with Darren. I have at last come home to my inner knowing. I arrived back at my flat last night and started afresh this morning using my daily life as fodder for my intuitive exploration and my imagination is having an absolute ball. The concept that my imagination is my intuition has totally transformed my life. I even find spaces where the endless chatter of my mind quietens without effort. My hearts myth, my magical land of plenty and my wonderful imagination have combined together for me to see the possibilities available and I am riding a wave of exhilaration. What is becoming clearer is that we can choose to generate/create an exhilarating life at any moment, wherever we are and whatever we’re doing. A lot of this is perception and much of it is in what you choose next.You can find some of Darren Edens workshops on in.spired.us – The Awaking and the Initation as well as many other diverse exhilarating experiences. We’ve sourced workshops for you to help you build your business, explore your spirituality or sexuality or firewalking or learn to cook on a Turkish sailing experience! Please come and visit and let me know what you think. If any of you have experienced a workshop you feel is of value please let me know. I am looking for volunteers to help me find a wide range of workshops, seminars, courses, conferences, trainings, retreats all around the world. Your help will be much appreciated.http://journals.copperstrings.com/Living-an-Exhilarating-Life?utm_source=rsshttp://journals.copperstrings.com/Living-an-Exhilarating-Life#comments?utm_source=rssThu, 19 Feb 2009 19:09:52 GMTMy wife brought home this glossy magazine today. It was priced £2.50 on the cover but she didn't pay for it: it was thrust at her as she hurried past and, as she told me, it seemed easier to take it than not. Thumbing through it over a cup of tea, I saw why it was free: it was full of adverts. At a guess - I didn't actually count them! - I'd say about 60% of the magazine was advertising. At least that's what I thought. Reading several of the articles, it began to dawn on me that they were essentially adverts too, masquerading as journalism. I think it might work like this; a magazine is set up to approach people with lifestyle stuff to sell - oh, did I mention it was ''lifestyle''? Need I have? Then the journalist gets a freebie experience in exchange for a very favourable, partisan review. There's even a competition which if you happen not to win you can compensate by paying for the item and treating yourself anyway. What a cynic I am! I wouldn't have minded but the journalism was so lightweight the only thing I got out of it was a piece of dead tree. Two pounds fifty - on the cover - that's to make you feel you're quids up from the beginning - the fundamental hustle! Commercialism like this has no conscience; it wins because it knows people are dumb. Having no interest in taking up any of the offers therein, I turned my thoughts to the hypothetical. Which was better for body and soul? The two-course lunch, breakfast and tea (communally taken beside a cosy log fire), and life drawing class (a strapping young male if the adjacent drawing is anything to go by!) all for £60, or the three-day Thai juice and broth detox, with daily supplements and ''colonics'' at £90 a pop? For me, no contest - but you decide. After all, one man's meat is another man's poison. ~ the picture above is of a pot-bellied pig, local. He was in a garden next to a footpath I sometimes use. I honestly didn't know what else to upload that was appropriate.http://journals.copperstrings.com/Commercialism-Killed-A-Tree?utm_source=rsshttp://journals.copperstrings.com/Commercialism-Killed-A-Tree#comments?utm_source=rssSat, 21 Feb 2009 14:33:08 GMTSo long middle-aged men put the blame for their irritability in behavior squarely on their wives' nagging, and more often than not  got away with it.   Not any more.   Now researchers say it’s not just women who undergo menopause. Even men experience midlife crisis. The only difference is that men do not acknowledge that they, just like women, suffer effects from the loss of hormones as they age.   But, Northern California psychotherapist Jed Diamond has said that in men the effects show up as everything from irritable mood swings and flagging sex drive to loss of muscle strength and male identity.   Irritable Male Syndrome   Diamond has said that men's midlife crisis is just one aspect of male menopause, or andropause, as it is medically known.   Terming it  Irritable Male Syndrome, Diamond says while women go through hormonal changes that cause cessation of the menstrual period, resulting in the inability to reproduce, men don't lose their reproductive abilities. But some men do experience a decrease in testosterone levels with age.    Irritable Male Syndrome offers four key causes of male irritability. One is a decrease in testosterone. Men become angrier because they feel less "like themselves.''  Other than that, stress, biochemical changes in the brain and changes in male identity and male roles in society cause irritability.   Any middle-aged gentleman going through similar process can consult Jed Diamond, the author of The Irritable Male Syndrome: Managing the Four Key Causes of Aggression and Depression, at his online support system at MenAlive.comhttp://journals.copperstrings.com/Male-menopause-and-irritable-syndrome?utm_source=rsshttp://journals.copperstrings.com/Male-menopause-and-irritable-syndrome#comments?utm_source=rssWed, 26 Nov 2008 04:09:34 GMTAll I hear about in the news is that this or that study shows that this or that will give you cancer. Of course 6mths. later they say that the previous research was flawed in some way and now suddenly for instance having sex does not give you a lower change of getting cancer. It is the same way with new drugs that come into the market they say oh this will help you and then a year later come all the lawsuits. So here is my tip to you although I know that you are all smart enough to know this already. Tips 1. Live you life the way you want. Don't believe these crazy findings about certain things reducing your chance to get cancer. I have seen healthy people get cancer. I think it is genetics more than anything. 2. Wait till a new drug has been out on the market for at least a year before you let your doctor prescribe it for you, let everyone else test it out. lol 3. Ignore these tips if you want, think for yourself always. Here is a fun list I found about things that cause cancer: Things that cause cancerhttp://journals.copperstrings.com/This-will-give-you-Cancer!-At-Least-for-6-months-P?utm_source=rsshttp://journals.copperstrings.com/This-will-give-you-Cancer!-At-Least-for-6-months-P#comments?utm_source=rssWed, 15 Oct 2008 22:15:12 GMTFinding the perfect fitting dress is not always easy.  If you are over a size 14, the task can be rather frustrating.  Going into shops where all the nice dresses are in small sizes and all that is left for bigger sizes is muumuu style dresses can be enervating if not frustrating.  Clothes should enhance and not inhibit. Your clothes should make you look and feel good, and your personal style should not be compromised by your size.  Here you will find some good types on how to choose a dresse according to your body shape if you are a size 14+ You will also find advice on where to find some fashionable lovely dresses in plus sizes.http://journals.copperstrings.com/Dresses-for-plus-size-women?utm_source=rsshttp://journals.copperstrings.com/Dresses-for-plus-size-women#comments?utm_source=rssWed, 05 Nov 2008 18:16:00 GMT(As sent out to Kimberley Jones' LIGHT CIRCLE network  -  Visit www.lightcoaching.co.uk to join) Dear Light friends, I am happy to report that my recent trip to Cuba was ultimately an enjoyable one. I arrived in Cuba at the tail end of Hurricane Ike which was quite an experience. Once the dramatic storms left the coast of Cuba I was able to track the path of the hurricane on CNN as it tore its way through the global epicentre of the petrochemical industry in Southern Texas. As major American financial institutions collapsed by the hour it was very clear that change was upon us all.     So here we are in the middle of what the media is terming 'financial crisis' & the 'credit crunch'. It is undeniable that some people are being affected in a very real & distressing way. My concern is that our human survival needs can bring up enough fear as it is without the media doing its bit to whip up even more.     So how are you doing? How are you managing? Is it affecting you?     Whether you are being directly affected or not there is something valuable you can do which will actually help everyone & that is to focus on abundance & stay out of the fear zone.  Most peoples' buttons can get pushed when it comes to money & providing for a family, understandably so. These natural concerns can however become crippling fears that take us away from our higher selves if we don't know how to do the following:   Notice your thoughts, notice what you are focussing on & how you are speaking to others about this financial situation. Are you spreading hope or fear? Are you reading or watching all the fear-based reports in the media?   Try practicing the following reassuring statements:  "I..(name)..am now safe"  "I..(name)..am now provided for".  ...and stop watching the news!      Keep breathing low down in your body & relax into any fear you are already feeling. Notice how the fear feels when it comes up. Where is it in your body? What does it feel like? For example does it feel cold? Tight? Is it a small or a large feeling? Just notice what is there & gently breathe into any sensations allowing them to be there. The feelings sometimes get stronger just before they clear. It's OK to feel them, feelings are healings in progress! It is safe to feel what is there. Fear is just another energy created by thought. You are safe.     Spend as much time as possible daydreaming & visualising an abundant life for yourself & for others if you wish. Imagine a golden shower of wealth raining down over you from Source, flooding your energy fields with abundance. How does abundance FEEL to you? Focus on that feeling.       Notice 5 new things every day you are grateful for. Maybe start a daily 'gratitude journal' & write these things down. Such a simple process can have a transformational effect on your energy fields & your life.      I felt a lot of fear when entering Cuba which is of course natural. I am comfortable with my feelings but knew I did not want to spend my 2 weeks away for a family wedding full of fear energy that I knew I could move fairly easily. So I used some of the above tools to work through & clear the energy of that fear, some of which lingered even after we were all clearly safe & enjoying the sunshine. Daily exercise really helped to keep my energy flowing & so rinse the fear energy through. Be patient with yourself & know that while fear is natural, it is what the old power structures rely on stirring up in us in order to control people. Every little thing you can do to send ripples of hope, abundance, gratitude & positivity through your own consciousness & energy field will also register in the collective consciousness & energy field, having an effect on everyone.     Of course for many of us practical action is also required in the direction of cutting back or reviewing what is actually important or necessary. This is a sensible & grounded approach which can sit naturally alongside your inner work of focussing on hope & abundance. If this practical action involves significant change in your life then this too can be unsettling. That is OK, you are OK. Remember the above tools & remember you are safe.          THE BIGGER PICTURE   If you sat on a cosmic council of beings who had the job of watching over the evolution of humans & helping them wake up to their true nature & essence, what would be the one thing that you might say corrupts & distorts that nature more than anything else? What appears to be the worst thing humans crave & admire the most & which keeps them from waking up?     Undoubtedly if I sat on that cosmic council I would answer that the desire for power over others has corrupted more than anything else, a power that controls & removes power from others, a power that disconnects humans from their true, original source of power.     So on this council a decision has to be made. What is it that is currently central to this misuse of power going on on Earth? What is the one card that if nudged would bring the whole house of cards tumbling down?     Money.     I can imagine the council now: "Yes, let's seriously wobble the money system down there so humans have to start thinking creatively & cooperatively. They will have to reconnect with the earth below them & maybe grow their own food, help each other & reach out to each other. They will have to learn to appreciate what they already have & really value the little things. The financial fences that divide them will start to get a bit lower. It will be just the thing to get their attention & stir things up."     It is during the state of chaos that the most creative energy is available & the potential for transformation is at its greatest.     The unfolding of the bigger human picture is something we are all playing a part in & are affected by. My own personal journey of waking up, becoming more conscious & starting to step into my true nature has been a bumpy one. Anything I was over-attached to has been challenged, anything that kept me from my true power had to go or be seriously wobbled to get my attention & it is exactly the same for the bigger picture & the waking up process for the collective consciousness.     I speak from experience when I say that the outcome is eventually worth all the change & uncertainty. One of my teachers once said that pain at these times often comes as a result of resisting what is. I've never forgotten that & even when things look really bad & it really hurts I try to remember that I am safe & to let go, relaxing into what is.     You are safe & you are enough.     You have chosen to be here at a pivotal moment in the unfolding of human potential.     You are becoming who you came here to be. I am proud to share this journey with you.     Love & blessings,           Kimberley Jones www.lightcoaching.co.ukhttp://journals.copperstrings.com/A-Time-of-Change?utm_source=rsshttp://journals.copperstrings.com/A-Time-of-Change#comments?utm_source=rssThu, 06 Nov 2008 12:51:20 GMTKimberley Jones has talked about the involvement of fear in states of transition; I welcome this because it does seem that fear - or, as I prefer, phobia; that irrational, superstitious, crippling, disproportionate neurosis - inevitably creeps in to ruin our day. And, it’s true, afterwards in hindsight we often wonder what the fuss was about. ‘’Should have done it sooner!’’ How many of us have said that? Fear has almost become a commodity; it’s traded, fear for fear; it’s used to sell other commodities, buy this or you’ll be poorer, eat this or you’ll die! Ironically, it’s even used to cure people of fear. ‘’Aren’t you worried right now? You should be, everyone else is! Now come with me and I’ll help you out’’. So what do we do with this fear? There appears to be some confusion (or it might just be me). We have nothing to fear but fear itself!, said Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933 - a phrase which has since dropped into common consciousness. Who ain’t heard that? Actually, it was a part of an address which really went; ''So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself -- nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.'' And he was persuading the US economy out of The Great Depression. Significant, eh? Taken out of context, this truism we throw around like confetti at a wedding is funnily absurd. To fear fear! - then what hope is there? Be afraid, be very, very afraid. My suggestion to break that self-perpetuating cycle is to love fear. Go on, embrace it - feel those butterflies, the cold sweat, the hairs rises on your back. You’re only human. If you love it what harm can it do - it becomes impotent. ~ More telly I’m afraid. I probably watch way too much but I console my fear by working hard at life when I’m not watching. My friends in India will confirm that India has its own version of The Guinness Book of Records - The Limca Book of Records. In the final episode of Paul Merton in India, our host meets the World record holder for the most kicks to the groin. That’s 43 separate full-frontal assaults of the goods by some of India‘s most accomplished martial artists within 60 seconds. What was the previous recorded attempt?, asks Mr. Merton. There wasn’t one. Then why 43, why not settle for just two?!! Of course, I’m guessing, after two how much more painful can it get? The hardest part is facing that second toe - conquer the fear, hold the pain inside your head, he said. He wasn’t worried anymore - he even let Paul Merton attack him, with shoes on! ‘’Poor guy‘’, said Merton, ‘’he must have bollocks the size of watermelons.’’ Maybe that’s why he had to stop at 43 - he’d run out of space. ~ Franklin’s Address (Room 101, The White House, Washington DC, USA) Limca World Records (our drink may be soft, but our records are hard) Groin Kicking Record Breaker (men, you might want to look away now!)http://journals.copperstrings.com/Love-Fear%2c-It-Doesn't-Get-Any-Worse-After-That?utm_source=rsshttp://journals.copperstrings.com/Love-Fear%2c-It-Doesn't-Get-Any-Worse-After-That#comments?utm_source=rssTue, 11 Nov 2008 12:26:28 GMTSomeone recently called me ‘counter-intuitive’. Which I took as a complement, although I’m not sure that it was intended as such. And of course, one of the most inappropriate things to do when Connect is dedicating an edition to green money and ethical investment – on which I am specialist – would be to use this column to write about something completely different. So read on. . . It’s really because I recently ran the workshop Making Friends With Money and realised that I’d never written anything about it. I’ve been doing it since 1993 in locations all over the country. And it’s (if I say so myself) pretty damn’ good. But the name seems to frighten people off. Somebody at the last session apologised on the way in because she hadn’t brought a calculator. She assumed – as so many people seem to – that a relationship with money must be about accounting. As if. Do I look like an accountant? Do I write like one? Do I sound like one? Well, OK, I might do. But only occasionally. The thing is, accountancy and things of that nature are about treating money as though it’s physical. And of course, it isn’t. I mean yes, it has a manifestation in the form of notes and coins, but you aren’t really having a relationship with those. Anyway, anything that you might want to make friends with has to be something with which you can establish a rapport. Dented old bits of metal just don’t do it. So what are you having a relationship with when it comes to money? There is an oriental metaphor which I rather like. It suggests that there are basically two types of force in the universe: heaven energy and earth energy. Heaven energy is things like lightning – intrinsically shocking and unpredictable, which have no physical manifestation and therefore can’t be held, measured or divided. By contrast, earth energy takes the form of stuff like cucumbers. They are. . . well, dull. Useful, yes. Attractive in a way. But boring, banal. Commonplace and conventional. And they exist. So is money an earth energy or a heaven energy? The clue is in whether you can put it in a wheelbarrow. Yes, it has a physical manifestation, which is inherently mundane. But is that what money’s actually about? Is it really predictable? Can the underlying energy be grasped or analysed? Is it a life-force or just a piece of bunkum? Well, of course it’s an illusion. In this story, money is a heaven energy masquerading as an earth energy. Which it does very effectively. The result is that people assume that money can be dealt with on a humdrum level. With calculators, pencils and pieces of paper. With analytical tools and assumptions that if something has happened in the past, it will inevitably happen again in the future. It’s just a matter of when. Oh no. No no no no no. Money is a manifestation of the life force. And when you are looking to make friends with it, you’re not chatting up a doughnut. You’re not trying to be in relationship with a clod. You’re talking to the divine. And the issue there is that what gets in the way is us. It’s the practices which we have developed over the years to stay safe and predict the future. It’s the belief patterns and habits that we hang on to with all our might so that we know who we are. Yes, cucumbers. Let me give you an example from the workshop. You see, one of the things that human beings frequently do is to establish an underlying belief about ourselves or the world. It’s a classic piece of pattern recognition, something which allows us to feel perversely safe because we think we have recognised an absolute underlying truth about reality. A classic example is ‘there isn’t enough’. And this won’t just touch on money, it’ll manifest in every aspect of our lives. So there won’t be enough of anything. Enough time, enough love, enough food. . . So what happens is that we develop strategies to cope. Somebody who thinks there isn’t enough time will be habitually late. Or they’ll over-compensate and be habitually early. Or infuriatingly on time. Or simply not care. But all these are reactions to a fundamental, underlying belief. That there isn’t enough. The thing is that these become recognised as personality traits. Sometimes attractive, sometimes exasperating, but simply aspects of that person’s identity. And as human beings are rather conformist, we tend to reinforce things which others notice in us. So rather than recognising that we are someone who’s got a neurotic issue about time, we’ll often play up to this expectation and become ‘good old Jack who’s always late’. But with money, it’s much more of a survival issue. And counter-intuitively, this means that it’s easier to get at the underlying belief. Because it’s so important, it’s easier to change. It’s not just about identity, it’s about our deep, underlying truth. Not just cucumbers themselves, but the force that makes them wiggle and dance and gyrate in their own world. The energy that makes radishes boogie in the dark hours and hedgehogs travel down to the coast to tell each other jokes and slap their fists as planets bounce off each other in the night sky. You know, that dynamic. Yes, that one. Now it’s clear that an article like this will make some readers shudder at the idea of even contemplating a workshop like that. But not you, of course. The last one this year is scheduled for Totnes on 23rd November 2008 and the first one for next year is in Exeter on 1st February 2009. And we’re probably also running it in London, Newcastle, Paris and theIsle of Man.  It’s quite counter-intuitive. Come along. You might like it. _________________________________________________________________________________________ Robin Currie is an Independent Financial Adviser specialising in green, ethically-screened and environmentally-sensitive financial products. For an appointment call 01392-411630 or e-mail robin.currie@barchestergreen.co.uk.  You can also log on to the website www.barchestergreen.co.uk . Robin also runs the highly acclaimed workshop Making Friends With Money (www.makingfriendswithmoney.co.uk ) or call Sharn Kern (01392-346336)http://journals.copperstrings.com/The-Counter-intuitve-cucumber?utm_source=rsshttp://journals.copperstrings.com/The-Counter-intuitve-cucumber#comments?utm_source=rss