heheheheh...!

it's...

JACARANDER TIME IN SYDNEY!; Filling the air with purple sweetness, pooling the streets with lilac. Blossom intermittently release down on you with delicate floppiness.

Natural, interactive art instillations.

Meaning of Life??

photo by Oli

Intimacy is a lifelong journey.

It's about delving deeper and deeper into the reservoir of yourself and allowing what you discover to show; To show and be seen by another.

And intimacy takes time and time is all we have, so does that mean intimacy/love = meaning of life??

Be in Nature

North Bondi cave terrace

At 18 years old when I moved into the city from idyllic Arcadia, I felt thirsty for natural environments just to be in.

Exploring our harbour city, I found many.

Take advantage of secluded spots to sunbake or discover walks in beautiful natural places.

minute by minute..

...adds up to a day, day by day turns into a life.

It's in each moment that we live. Right now you are in the most important time of your life. Not when you're 'dreams come true', not when you find the 'love of your life'. It's right now that matters most.

So what are you doing?, dumb question Kate, you're reading my blog. But when you're done reading it, maybe you'll make a cup of tea. Make that tea with grace and care, pause and sip it with reverence -  appreciate the moment. Maybe you're off to work - in which case be 100% present, focused and alert, do the best job you can.

To live well each moment rather than just exist, never complain. To complain is to negate hope and faith - two of the most intrinsic ingredients in a happy life. Divaldo Pereira, one of the leading mediums and spiritualist speakers of our times says most stridently

"Do not complain!, nor list to ingratitude. The ungrateful person knows that he is so. When sorrowful, he punishes himself and when unhappy, he torments himself".

Face and accept what is, right now, live now, minute by minute you will manifest a reverential life - glorious in it's simplicity and joy.

I desire a lap pool of my own, by hey a blow-up in a back-yard is total fun too!

when you feel down, look up

This morning discussing sickness with one of my lovely fellow yogis, I said my response is to pull the roller-door down and disappear 'til it's over. She said that wasn't her way because our minds play tricks on us especially when we're sick, telling us we're not that great and our life is crap.

And I thought "she's right". We're more vulnerable when we're not in tip-top shape and we can slip easily into a self-made quagmire of suffering. It made me question how often do I do that?

In his latest book, "Shigeaki Hinohara, 100 Years Old." says 
"We can endure any sufferings if we always have an attitude to walk looking up".

That line is like another my dear friend Simon told me one time,
"When you feel down, look up"

Literally.

Having control of our minds is everything. And control of our minds towards suffering is The most important skill to strive for.

I'm striving. Attemping to do a better job of being myself helps everyone around me. We are all part of this beautiful puzzle called life, we can all fit together if we try. 

a morning to be proud of

organic brekky feast

awoke naturally, no alarm arhh. slept sweetly, often the way when i don't eat much the night before

got up, made coffee, flicked through 'The Chemical Maze - shopping companion' by Bill Stratham - my god the things that are in food! and my double god!!, what they do to us!!!

popped on trakkys, toe-shoes and Olis T, and slipped out to Rushcutters for a walk and qwik stretch

7am people and dogs Everywhere

i bare foot walk 11 times round the oval, there's nobody else on it except a guy i knew from back in the Bondi days walking the other way. we say hi, and smile, and laugh, laugh again, round and round we pass each other

then i practise my new yoga+shaolin moves over by water, bloody 'Ivana' barked nearly the whole time

back at home Oli is stretching with 30 mins before he leaves for work

i storm the kitchen and whip up an organic brekky feast:

*Whole Lemon Drink (liver cleanse, immuno boost)
green juice (kale, cucumber, kiwi, apple, ginger)
last nights stir-fry chicken mince, bean sprouts and brocoli
2 thai-style fried eggs for Oli

except for the beansprouts, completely organic (including coffee with soymilk earlier)

a morning to be proud of, hence this blog

*email me for more info on Whole Lemon Drink, reccommended by Natropathic wizard Peter De Ruyter

El Alamein Memorial Fountain

Hovering elegantly between the bruisey old Cross and primped, pampered Potts Point, newly refurbished, Australias most lovely fountain is resplendant!

best car on the road

the by-line for this blog is 'grace & beauty in all marvellous manifestations' after all

i don't often go silly over cars, but this beauty begged a swoon

while taking these photos a passer-by said

"that car there, that car's got what you call emotion in it"

and boy he is right!

Morning Sunshine!

have a great day

Tuesday 5th June @ Woollahra

 
Venus Transit - Guided Energy Process

Opening to Higher Love, Passion & Joy

Receive this process via recording...

Contact Frank if you would like to receive this process via a downloadable recording rather than attend in person (Cost: $30)

Attend in person:
Where: Holdsworth Street  Community Centre,

64 Holdsworth St, Woollahra

(enter through playground) 

Time:  7.00 - 8.00pm
Bring: A yoga mat & blanket if you wish to lie down, water.

Cost: $30

More info: faboffa@gmail.com

self compassion

 VOGUE AUSTRALIA 1987

that makes me 19 in this pic. i have a weirdy feeling looking at this little person; my heart moves towards her. 

i think it's good to look back over past images of yourself. i find it helps me gain perspective on who i am now and to better understand who i was then. it's so bizzare to know that this human i am looking at is a completely - on a molecular level, different person to me. nothing in her physical makeup is the same as me now. 

we run around so worried about getting old, about the changes that happen. it's so funny to think that it is THE only definite thing in our existance - we change, completely, every 3-6 weeks our entire anatomical being has regenerated new cells and we are different.

so get used to it!

look with kind eyes at the you's that have been. let them tell you your story and remember yourself. gratefully accept the exquistely youthful, innocent gifts your past you's share. it will heal your heart and expand your self compassion.

sun meditation

imagine you are sitting or lying in the sun
feel warmth on your skin
let go of any fear of getting sunburnt and welcome sunshine onto you
absorb it, draw it in as if you are a big human sponge, suck sunlight into every part of you
fill yourself up with light

why...?

cause i said so

"A new idea is first condemned as ridiculous and then dismissed as trivial, until finally, it becomes what everybody knows"
- William James

i love him!

so big he didn't fit into frame - belongs in a castle somewhere...

lead by example

we all know that we can't change people. even when our intention is good, when all we want for our loved ones is to be their best - ultimately it's up to them to desire change and to find it all out for themselves

as the great Mahatma Gandhi says 

"We must be the change we wish to see in the world"

we must lead by example; we must parent well - opening our minds and hearts to infinite and extrordinary ways to positively live (we must aunty and uncle just as well!)

we must share our good fortune and be of service to the power of good. 

we must be good listeners as friends go through their self-discovery process

we must strive to be happy and learn to thrive

for it's all in our hands

as the little hand said to the big hand 

"I'll follow your lead"

can't hug money

on monday i caught up with a dear girlfriend and her young family

conversations roamed from this to that and at one moment we were talking about how great it would be to win this weeks 70 mil Lotto

riffing on what we'd do with it all that cash, my warm hearted girlfriend sincerely pointed out that money wasn't everything

her genius 5 year old son agreed saying

"you can't hug it"

wake up!

people around me seem to be waking up

every day someone tells me how they've just realized what a wonderful life they're having, or even if it's raining, what a beautiful day it is. i'm getting how thankful they are for the many gifts they're experiencing and how suddenly they're seeing the signs of what's really going on.

how we see the world at large is how we experience our own little lives.

if we're having a crap time then so too is the world around us - we'll happily go along with nightly bad news if our mind-set is dull and hopeless.

we are a group expression

in the words of MOOJI
"The human being is an expression of consciousness, a display of consciousness"

open your eyes to really see what's in front of them

see the actions of others and if they're doing crappy things that are purely self profiting and bring pain to others - let these stinkers know - wake them up!

but see also the beauty of life for it is all around us every second

hey hottie!

change of season here in Aus

(warm to cool), means a slight adjustment in what goes in and on you - the double whammy does it for me - inside & out.

switch to eating more yummy soups to heat up up your insides, and Black Sesame oil - used like as moisturizer after a shower - for your outside.

Black Sesame oil is also tasty in cooking, but when absorbed through your skin - hydrates, nourishes and warms you up.

so you're left being your hot lil' self!

*checkout Meikas arwsome primal food dish above

put a sock on it!

for the ultimate leg stretch - use a sock or stockings to help you

relax your shoulders

relax your jaw

stretch out through the balls of your feet, not your heels

lengthen through both legs

pause at least 2 minutes on each side

mums hot-cross bums

check em out! hot and delicious

english is not the-love-of-my-lifes first language. sometimes he gets things mixed up. i never correct him it's too cute

on saturday i scoffed two bums in swift succession and followed-up with a third a little later on!

breathe relax

sit comfortably, on a chair or in a simple cross-leg position

close your eyes and allow your jaw to relax

concentrate on your natural breathing rhythm for a few moments

then turn all of your attention to your in-breath, count how long they are, for another few moments

now breathe out with emphasis, leave off counting your in-breaths, just focus on breathing out

all external impressions will fall away, simultaneously relaxation occurs

finally you are nothing but breathing - you are breathed. your breathing, left to itself and no longer consciously noticed, has found it's own rhythm

Myself Today & Olivier

mixed medium on hardboard

204cm x 165cm

love love Oliviers newest creation

books i read

quietly and sympathetic a mum of a baby and three other kids kids (the eldest 14) tells her facinating story of the 2 years in 1981 she lived with her new husband in the remote highlands of Papua New Guinea.

it's a trip to say the very least; so transporting, the reader feels damp from the mists and the never ending rain.

an amazing insight into a time and place.

i couldn't put it down

success

'grasshoppers empower us to move forward'

says Scott Alexander King in his marvellous magical book Animal Dreaming

'they inspire us to take giant leaps of faith when it comes to our progression and personal growth'

helping us to

'find the inner strength to realise levels of sucess never before thought possible'

Yay! i love that

Scott Alexander goes on to tell us that

'in Aboriginal mythology, Grasshopper Dreaming charges us with emotional strength and energy to get any job done'

sucess on 'the new earth' is about acknowledging your good-making gifts and bringing them forward, contributing your bit to the immense tapestry being woven called life

Go grasshopper!

"Body follows where consciousness goes."

it has been said we are spiritual beings having a physical experience and that we are homo sapien evolving into homo noeticus

consciousness researcher John White says

'the form of human being we are becoming is a primate of a very different order than the human as we know it today'

He calls it Homo noeticus—the next step in human evolution. Homo noeticus is the term used to describe a multi sensed being with a guiding divine consciousness. a human who intrinsically understands that their actions effect the world around them; thinking holistically rather than in a self-centred way. John states

"Body follows where consciousness goes."

five million years ago our progenitors stood upright in the center of the African plain. Neanderthal came along three hundred thousand years ago; Cro-Magnon, thirty-five to forty thousand years ago; And Homo sapiens sapiens, modern man, ten thousand years ago. what's next?

i believe we are changing, i see the transformation happening before my very eyes. join me on this journey. it sounds way cooler and so much more fun than the world as we know it.

how green is your thumb?

tending to a garden is like self cultivation

plants respond to patience and care
you must be mindful of weeds especialy noxious ones and deadwood needs pruning to allow new growth
many plants are symbiotic like nasturtiums and tomatoes
and all need water
i've never met an ugly plant, each has their individual thing going on

my favourite garden is wild loved

a rare find

this beauty sits at the end of Loftus street down near Circular Quay. the plaque says something about commemorating the first fleet something-something, which i didn't finish reading cause all that early settler thing makes me sad and angry

for me 'intwine' (i've renamed it) symbolizes boldly though delicately, a balance of all that is. and like all good art, it inspires a reaction. looking at it makes me feel harmonious. its sensuous form asks to be touched. this sculpture is about Love, right?

books i read - purchased from Potts Point Sunday market

deceptive and hip - chick-lit not!

in Girls Of Riyadh, Rajaa Alsanea effortlessly expresses the life and times of young women in modern day upper middle class Saudi Arabia

profound and subversive

books i read - purchased from North Rocks Sunday market

an exquisitely honest foray into life on Montreals redlight streets as told by a 12 year old girl called Baby

Heather O'Neill's enchanting observations provide a sweet tone for her bittersweet story

fresh, compassionate, tragic yet hopeful

*my mums pavs

are the best in the world

she makes them for all special get-togethers, they're awesome

she's awesome. my mum is a master culinary creative - works of art are whipped up in her kitchen. she has her favourites *see pavlova above, that take their rightful pride of place, but there's her colourful and tasty sweet potato, pumpkin and dried tomato salad, her generous meatballs, her cheesecakes with their gorgeous biscuity base, her stewed apple and rhubarb that's fresh and yum for breakfast, her better-than-store-made jams and marmalades which she shares around instantly upon making. her scones are an introduction to a whole new world, her hot-cross buns are without peer and her single perfect meringues transform a humble kids party to a place more genteel!

and that's not a 100th of the magical masterpieces she has cooked and created along the way! thanks mum!! XX (and keep it up!) hehehe

in the bag

some days i feel like santa as i heave my pink sack onto my back. don't you ever feel this way?

it has gym gear: shorts, a singlet, toe shoes and a qwik-dry towel, plus a book and a mag for the stint on the stationary bike; my swimmers, cause it pays to always have them with you in summer in sydney + sun-screen, a sarong and my cap. ever close is my trusty bottle of water and the daily essentials: sunnies and their case, wallet, keys and...a small packet of tissues.

after reading back over what i've just written, complaining about a heavy bag, i'm a bit embarrassed - i can ride a bike (abeit stationary, my knee's still crap), i can read, i can swim, i have clean water to drink, i have money, so what if i've get the sniffles sometimes.

when is a palm tree not a palm tree?

when it's a street light!

ain'it true ain'it true

perfectly discribes oli and my feelings about being back at the grind after spending the last month in Phuket in a waking dream

every one of us is on an individual journey here on earth, yes i'm getting all hippy on you

pause for a moment and think how differently your life rolls along to your sisters’, or your best friends’. your parents’ experience is completely different to yours and your kids see the world differently again - see?

we’re all on some sort of field trip. most of us with general goal in mind. whatever group we belong to has an overall navigational map.

i wear a tibetan symbol on a chain around my neck. i have a personal goal that requires faith and discipline - that’s just my thing (i’ll give YOU hippy!), and i have no right to expect that it’s yours.

it's not for me to figure the weirds and whys people do the things they do - and life is not a competition, there’s no real wrong or right, just a series of motions, producing one outcome or another, leading to where we don’t know.

all i can espouse, teach or learn is up to me.

greetings from phuket