My Definition Is This...

There is a process by which we collapse the infinite field of potential  into manifest, temporary 'realities' that we call the physical plane. This is the realm of the tangible, touchable, observable Universe. Yet in our attachment to the seemingly solid, created reality, we sometimes crystallize the illusion until such a point that we forget it is merely an illusion. Nothing is solid. Everything changes. We are the interpreters and creators of our individual realities and each of us is contributing to the collective experience of the whole.

We are constantly defining our reality, distinguishing between one form of energy and another through the use of labels, perceptions, ideas and beliefs. Through this definition, we get to experience different states of being, different places, people, hopes and dreams.

As humans, we seem to have developed a habit of holding on. We hold onto names. We hold onto labels. We hold onto definitions. We hold onto memories. We hold onto habits - good and bad. We hold onto to fears. We hold onto to other people's truths and opinions and in doing so, we begin to limit the scope of our own perceptions and abilities to experience unlimited magic and joy. Perhaps it is our fear of the unknown or perhaps we are just not yet aware of our power in defining and creating our own lives - relying on the limited information we have been fed from well-meaning parents, mass-media and educational systems that do not serve the expansion of the human spirit... yet.

We live in a field of pure potential. For every single moment of 'now' that we live, the next moment holds an infinite amount of scope for us. The future is unwritten. Anything could happen! We can experience the same thing a thousand times and each time it is different. Take sex for example... each time the air you breath is different. Each time the situation is different, the moment is different, the date, the hour... Each time the body you touch is different. New cells, new skin, new person perhaps! You are new, in each moment, you have never been there before. You have never kissed in that particular way. You think you have but it is subtly different than the last time. No two things in the Universe are the same yet we all arise from the same infinite field of potential.

The Universe that surrounds us, our immediate 'reality' has a tendency to respond to our expectations. It responds according to our definitions, perceptions and beliefs. We hear what we want to hear. We see what we expect to see. We read what we want to read, filtering out information that doesn't fit into our paradigm and taking on board information that does. A song or an idea that we have just heard starts popping up on the radio, on the TV, on our Facebook feed or an overheard conversation after never having heard it before. A person you just thought about rings you. A close friend blurts out exactly the same sentence as you at the same time. How much longer shall we call these coincidences?

Our Universe is matching us. It is reflecting us. It is reflecting our limitations. It is reflecting our fears. It reflects our insecurities and apathy. It also reflects our joy, our hopes and our dreams. Nature seems set to flower, blossom and promote life yet we seem focused on entropy and struggle - the fight for survival. Our beautiful bodies are naturally predisposed to heal and most of us think that our bodies stop at our skin. What if our whole perception is our body? What if our body extends into life itself, our mind, our thoughts, our emotions - all that we touch, all that we experience... Then surely, our body is trying to heal our perceptions too.

If bad things keep happening to us, then maybe our definitions of life have become too limited. Maybe we are holding onto a belief, pattern or behaviour that needs to be accepted and dissolved so that we can move onto more affirming, unlimited thoughts. Maybe the things that happen to us are related to the definitions we hold about life and ourselves. Maybe it is time to start transforming those hidden definitions - 'I am not worthy, I am not good enough, I am always unlucky, I am lonely'. These are powerful statements of being. They are powerful definitions but remember, life is unlimited. Anything can happen. We can just as easily hold other core beliefs instead such as 'I am unlimited, I am amazing, I am confident, I am joyful, I am loved'.

Yes, reality seems solid. It seems sometimes that there is no way out and that things are serious. These too are definitions. They are choices of perception. Sometimes it takes courage to begin to start looking towards the sun instead of always looking into the shadows. Sometimes it takes courage to look within and accept yourself. Sometimes, it takes courage to let go of what you know and try something different. The Universe is a wonderful place though. It is full of love and will support your direction... which ever way you turn.

Change what you can see and what you can see will change!

R.I.P.

Death is a strange old thing. We love to not talk about it yet we glorify it in movies. We make it acceptable in video games and invent a million ways to portray it on screen. A violent death is more acceptable to watch than a steamy bedroom romance. One scene creates life and one ends it but in their own ways, both subjects have become taboo over the course of history when, at various points they were celebrated, revered and respected. Why do our entrances and exits into life cause the modern human such pains to consider and talk about freely and openly? I think a healthy dose of frank exploration into our endings is in order, without morbidity, doom and gloom.

Death came to my family early in my childhood. My grandfather died when I was just 15. This impacted my life quite heavily as he was my surrogate father and the rock of maleness that I depended upon. I was the son he had never had. It was a special relationship. Having such an experience at such a young age got me thinking very early on about death and what it meant.

At first of course, there was denial, guilt, pain, grief and a very large dose of abandonment. Being just a teenager, I masked those feelings with drugs, sex, alcohol and music. It took me a long time to begin to talk about it - 2 years in fact. Before I had moved much further in my life, a few other family members decided their time was up and off they toddled. Perhaps the greatest shock to my system was during University when 3 friends died in three successive years.

After all this time, I have come to some conclusions. Some are based on direct experience and some are based on the experiences of others. Some are based on the intuitions of my heart and the things I have read. Some are based on my meditations, and some based on my study of yoga. You may find these ideas soothing, cathartic and full of hope. On the other hand, you may think I am a crackpot - good luck to you either way. Test any idea in your heart for validity. If it appeals and feels good, then take it on board for as long as you need to. If it does not resonate and feels bizarre, then you can let it go. We never need to hold onto things. I have let go of things I held to years ago because they no longer applied. Such is the way of consciousness. Be brave...

The human spirit is unlimited and has a soul. Actually, more accurately, it is the other way round. The soul is a grand being that manifests a human body in order to have experiences in material reality. The soul is pure consciousness and exists in a greater amount of dimensional reality than that which our current perception experiences. We are far bigger than 4D time and space. 

We are interconnected to all things through our soul. Our soul is part of a grand field of pure potential and love. This field is everywhere, connected to all time and space. There is only one moment. Within this field, we are 'born' and 'die' in countless lifetimes in order to experience the joy and bliss of living. Some call this process reincarnation yet it is more than the limited ideas we might have. We create our lives, awake or not, in order to express and remember our true nature. Our soul is dancing within a grand playground and when we die, we return fully to this multidimensional field that we never actually left. From this field arises an unlimited amount of phenomena, realities, galaxies, and laws of physics, defined and undefined, imagined and unimagined. Anything is possible!

Our soul exists in many dimensions - our lives contribute to the expansion and experience of the Universe. Each of us matters. Each of our lives matter. Every thought, word, experience and action matters and we are loved because we are love and we come from love. Love and bliss is the core of our being. Our soul loves our bodies and lives, our hopes and dreams, our pasts, futures and presents.

We choose our parents and the conditions of our birth and death before we incarnate into our human bodies. Our soul has an overview of our life from the unique vantage point it has and knows what kind of experience it wants next. It has desires just as we do and those desires are the life force which drive the Universe.  In fact, our desires in each lifetime are simply an extension of our soul's desires for we are inseparable. When we begin to listen to our heart's yearnings, we are acknowledging our soul's voice. What you love most is what you are here to be...

Our bodies and egos are the vehicle through which the soul drives in material reality. It is a rush and a ride. When we decide to incarnate, we agree to forget the true nature of who we are so that we may experience time and space. We are locked into an illusion of limitation and duality yet we are unlimited and can create our lives. We begin creating from the very moment we are born and have the ability to draw our natural qualities of love, gratitude, abundance, peace, unity  and compassion through us using such tools as attention and meditation.

When the soul incarnates into the body, it forgets that it is connected to all things. We begin to think we are individual when we are really just individuated clouds of energy within a grand sea of energy. We are connected by our breath, by our bodies, by our electromagnetic heart fields, by our atoms, molecules, the Earth, the stars! We are connected to the infinite field where all souls reside, where past and present lifetimes collide and all wisdom is held. We can access this field of wisdom and love at all times. No one is lost. No one is left out.

We can begin to remember who we are in our lives, honouring our soul voice, living with love, enjoying each moment and trusting that the field of pure potential will provide for us because it responds to our thoughts. Our emotions tell us where we are in relation to our soul voice and help to guide us back to our centre. We can begin to remember our unity and connection to the field. To all things. To each other. We can begin to remember that love, bliss and happiness is our true nature and resides within us. We can contact those who have gone before. Souls simply step in and out of material reality. Death is just an illusion.

In our current paradigm, we seem to often forget who we are, living in an illusion created by others, told to believe truths that do not resonate or apply to us. We give away our power, follow directions we do not like, hold onto emotions that feel terrible and edit ourselves into acceptable but diminutive versions of our true self in order to be approved by a society that has forgotten it's own unlimited potential. This hurts. The longer we keep ourselves in the darkness, the more unbearable it gets. We stay in downward spirals, negative loops and addictions and all the while the reality of life lies just on the other side of our hearts. Life seems hopeless, empty and pointless. We suffer and punish ourselves or others - not knowing that we had the power to shift ourselves.

Sometimes the pain becomes too much. Sometimes the pressure of holding onto the past or future becomes too much. Sometimes the focus of forgetting who we are is so unbearable we come to a point of choosing. The soul chooses - we choose. We let go and return to the field of love.

I like to think that R.I.P. means Release Internal Pressure as our soul explodes outwards from the limits and pressures of being in an illusory state of duality back into pure consciousness and bliss. There is nothing wrong with this. It is the default setting of love. The soul decides the ride is finished and we return home. Life is a journey. Death is just a transition. Sometimes we 'die' because the journey became unbearable and sometimes we die because we have stopped summoning forth life force. Sometimes there is no more desire for life and sometimes the answers to the questions we seek lie beyond the veil.

Yet R.I.P. is a state we can achieve without dying. We have the option to explore our emotions - to own them rather than to lay blame at others feet for our states and tantrums. We can choose to embrace our darkness rather than hide it. We can choose to begin focusing on things we love and things that work in our immediate reality. We can choose to begin to listen to our soul's voice and start doing something we really want to do. We can choose to forgive others. We can choose to play instead of be serious. We can choose to praise and compliment instead of judge and criticise. We can choose to look on the bright side. We can choose to let the laughter out...

We are safe. Our soul and our consciousness goes on forever. Who we are now will remain forever in the grand memory of our soul and the Universe. No one we have ever loved is lost. They are here, within the infinite field, loving and supporting us, talking to us in the wind, the words of a song, the call of a bird and the play of light on the water. Dare to dream and laugh at death!

Release Internal Pressure!

Source

The great lifter,
The eternal gifter,
The big respecter,
The trifecta,
The all-in-one,
The one-in-all,
The one that was,
The evermore,
The present moment,
The middle path,
The one that cries,
The one that laughs,
The high road up,
The low road down,
The formless void,
The regal crown,
The tattered rags,
The blowing flag,
The dog that wags,
The bodies that sag,
The inside-out,
The outside-in,
The eternal self,
The blissful grin...

Matt Rivers

You Can Go Your Own Way!

'Just be yourself'. How many of us heard that when we were growing up? Yet this tiny sentence reveals layers of metaphysical mystery as well as seemingly being at odds with the rest of the programming many of us absorbed as children and adults. I never really knew what it meant as a child and only recently have I begun to discover its true meaning. I wonder... How many of us are living the life of our dreams? How many of us are truly doing what we want to do, expressing ourselves in the way we want to, relishing life, feeling free, relaxed and healthy, blossoming and thriving?

There is a word that crops up in Indian philosophy - Dharma. Amongst its many layers of meanings and interpretations, it points to the idea of things being in their natural state. It refers to cosmic law and order, nature flourishing and supporting well-being. Applied to human consciousness, it can mean learning how to live in harmony with yourself, others and the Universe. Learning to discover ways to uncover your true self, your innate talents and how best to share them. 'Just be yourself' takes on a whole new meaning when we consider Dharma.

In The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success, Deepak Chopra says that the Law of Dharma brings together all the other laws. It gives us a reason to be alive. It helps us act with love and authenticity. It inspires us to move into the life of our dreams, full of motivation and inspiration, conscious of our actions, dancing through life with the minimum of effort, just as nature and the Universe intended.

I have just quit my job teaching yoga in Cyprus because it doesn't set my heart on fire. I love the job, but it is nothing compared to the feeling I get when I am writing or singing. I have often found myself doing jobs because I thought I had to. Working to pay rent, to buy food, to fulfill the voice of duty and obligation in my head. I never trusted my instincts when it came to my own desires. I always seemed to listen to another voice that said 'do something constructive, get a proper job, money doesn't grow on trees, don't be selfish'. We have an entire litany of limiting beliefs running through our heads that prevent us from acting upon our own desires. It has taken me years to learn to listen to myself and my heart. I now believe that true happiness and fulfillment comes when we discover our dharma and then act upon it.

In every day reality, it implies that whatever we find ourselves doing, whether it is a job that fails to set our hearts on fire, perhaps a relationship or a situation that seems stagnant, we have the choice to begin to acknowledge how we feel. Allowing ourselves the space to breathe. Taking at least five minutes for ourselves everyday. Maybe it is five minutes of meditation, maybe five minutes of exploring our desires and dreams. When we take a little time out and take responsibility for our feelings we can begin to transform them. We can clarify how we want to feel. We can work out which direction we want to go. Once we know that, we can begin walking the walk instead of talking the talk.

I am not suggesting that everyone quit their jobs, relationships and life immediately and tune in and drop out! I am suggesting that it is possible, from where we are standing, in the midst of our lives, to begin turning in the direction we want to go. If you dream of writing, make some time everyday and begin writing. 5-10 minutes is easy. Allow yourself to play. The same goes for art, music, sport, walking, sightseeing, adventure - whatever you want! If you want an adventurous life but cannot seem to work out how... just begin having mini adventures - now. Any step in the direction of your dreams will start you on the road. Of course, if you are thriving, full of joy, satisfied and happy then it can be said that you are already living your dharma - just keep going!

'Follow your bliss' is a much quoted phrase attributed to Joseph Campbell, an American writer and mystic. It holds the essence of Dharma within it and alludes to 'Just being yourself'. Our dreams are what make us unique and that brings magic and variety to the world. 

Nature loves to flourish and we sometimes forget that we too are nature. We hold ourselves back and allow others to make decisions for us, in politics, employment, love and education. Yet the Universe seems to support us when we let go of our limits and follow our bliss... 

Dharma is a natural law, one of harmony and balance, nature working through us and us working within nature. We are amazing and our dreams matter. They add to the diversity of the world. May we realise our true selves and our innate talents and have the courage to explore them and share them with others.

Love,

Matt

Blackbird

I hear blackbirds all the time - in the dead of night and at the crack of dawn. They punctuate my life experience so regularly that one may fear that they have become mundane and normal. Yet my heart leaps every time I hear one. My mind casts for the notes of a long fabled song as I rise with glee, hearing a message from the Universe, reminded that we are connected, present and happy.

I see them in gardens. They approach me often. In my time, I have sat and philosophised with the greats, Blacky, Yellow Beak, Blackbeard and Grey Feather. All so wise, so immersed in bliss, so ‘all-seeing’. Present and connected they have all had the same message for me, “Wake up and hear my song! You are alive! Rejoice dear child! We are one and you are you. Rejoice!”

I slowly subside back into my seat, my heart resumes its leisurely stroll and I am filled with a renewed sense of peace. What dreams may come as the Blackbird sings his song? What dreams may come?

Artwork by Mr. Doodle

A Plan For All Seasons - Summer

Summer has come! Arriving with a burst of flame and a flash of colour. Green grass beckons and the beach pulses with promise. The cool blue sea is lapping contentedly against the shore line as we bask in sunshine that seems to last forever, sending us into dreamy wonderment. Ah me!

It has taken me almost three years to write the next episode in this series. It all started in 2011 with an adventurous year breaking free of the bonds that had kept me tied to a damp, dark basement flat in Brighton. I had spent a year and a half lost, recovering from a broken heart. I had been desperately trying to apply the principles of the Universe onto my life, in a vain hope to create an experience full of joy and adventure, convinced (as I have been since I was little) that there must be something more. There must be something deeper and bigger that we are all missing...

After that summer I wrote about my adventures in A Plan for All Seasons -Spring. I hoped to complete the series by the end of the year but it never seemed the right time to comment. I wanted to reflect on the new insights I was having. I wanted to put together a series that grew with me. I wanted to open myself up to the flow of creativity that I had alluded to. Three years down the line - I realise that I have remained in that long spring of awakening for a lot longer than a season. My journey thus far, whilst extensive, has been an extended version of the same theme. Summer for me is only just dawning and that is just fine.

I have criss-crossed the world over the last few years, working and volunteering my way around India, Thailand, Vietnam, France, Spain, Greece and Poland. I travel with my partner, lover and fellow soul adventurer Paulina. Somehow, the way has always opened up for us... eventually. Just when we think we are going to run out of money or get stuck, an answer appears. Sometimes straight out of the blue.

The defining factor in our adventures has been an idea that I realised in the spring of 2011 - there is nothing that says I have to stay in any one place... I am free. With this in our hearts, we unplugged ourselves from the idea that we have to have a house and a steady job and security. We put our faith in answers appearing when we need them (which can be daunting), and ploughed forward into the world. We have found jobs all over the place - the occasional job on Gumtree, volunteering on WorkAway, and rigorous Internet searches. When we managed let go of our fear and stopped worrying, the next adventure appeared quickly and when we held tight to worry and stress, finding jobs was hard.

Of course, the last three years have not been without their challenges. As spring turned into eternal summer, there were the inevitable weeds to pull out of my garden. I discovered - at first to my horror - that even though I was beginning to harness the power of intention and attraction, there was much work to be done in dissolving limiting beliefs. BIG core beliefs such as 'I am not worthy', 'I am not good enough', 'I am ugly', and 'It is your fault!' all jostled for space in my head whilst I had to chase them and consider whether I really needed them in there. They are sneaky buggers too! Often hiding behind protective behaviors and beliefs.

When adventuring into consciousness and considering our unlimited potential as humans, we have to also consider the limiting illusions we have set up around us. We can often settle in comfort and mediocrity because we are scared of the unknown or are unaware of our own creative power in our lives. As my friend Jamie Catto illustrated in his workshop 'Transforming Shadows', we have a choice to embrace our dark side, become self-referring and dissolve the old emotions that seem to hold us in a reactionary state. We can choose to stop barking at the world around us and find out why we were barking in the first place! Woof! If you ever want to explore your dark side and begin to embrace your whole self, I thoroughly recommend his workshops.

So what has changed for me that may add a spot of light to the great human experience - or at least to mine...? To be brief - some letting go, some embracing, some ah ha moments and some new habits. I let go of some arguments, I embraced some of my dark sides (there are many), I realised that I am full of power and potential and the next moment is unwritten... And the biggest thing of all, I have begun looking into this present moment and searching for my joy instead of judging it. This is by no means easy - sometimes my angry pitbull surfaces, barking like mad, frothing at the mouth. So I try and breathe. I sooth myself. Every day is a practice. What is beautiful now? What can I thank myself for? How can I smile into my body a bit more? Who can I say something nice to and mean it?

My summer is gently unfolding and instead of trying to force the Universe to twist to my desperate needs I am relaxing into the present and working on my emotional health, moment to moment. Then, when I achieve that subtle moment of joy, somehow everything seems a bit brighter, and, as if by magic, an answer appears or a door opens. Sometimes, the door just leads to a room full of relief from the last moment and sometimes it leads to pastures new.

All I think I know is that each of us is totally full of unlimited potential and love. The more we relax and breathe and work on making each moment as good as we can, with the tools that we have, then the closer to joy we will get. The road seems long but our heart is right there, in the middle of our chests. Give it a rub and say hello!

I wish you all the best in whatever you do and whatever path you walk.

Matthew

Never Give Up...

I made a decision to sit and write on my birthday sometime last night. There was a familiar stirring within me, a call for expression, for illumination and for acknowledgement. I needed to mark this birthday somehow because for me it feels significant. Some birthdays come and go, gently breathed into and released again as we sail through the oceans of our lives, weathering the storms and calm waters of our unique moments. Some appear lost in sadness and time, sunk beneath the weight of events that constitute human experience. Some birthdays are planned in advance and embraced in an oncoming torrent of celebration and alcohol. To be frank, that was the kind I was expecting, having had so much experience with that craziness. I am surprised and refreshed by what today is offering me though.

Today feels though my ship has come home. It feels as though I have returned to port after a lifetime of ocean sailing, of storms and freak waves, squalls and ocean deserts. 36 years after the event - the launch of my magnificent yacht - I feel as if I have completed a journey of epic proportions. 4 cycles of 9 have been navigated. For me 9 is significant. My birth date adds up to 9 today and did when I was born. My age adds up to 9 today and 9 is my numerological life path number. In truth it only serves as a marker point really and yet, somehow feels like a home-coming.

Looking back on my journey so far, it could appear that I have suffered my fair share of set-backs, heart aches, mind-numbing griefs, unprocessed emotions, broken families, dysfunctional relationships, and relative levels of poverty but that is directly proportional to the amount of adventures I have had, the amount of love and support my family have given me, even when I couldn't or refused to see it, the pathways that have led me to the most conscious and beautiful relationship I have ever been in, the countries I have visited, the amazing network of friends I have, the beautiful people that I have met through my life and the sheer amount of wisdom, love and support I have received on a thousand levels, from a thousand sources.

You see, those storms have shaped my soul and are now providing great compost for my new ideas and dreams. I was Prospero in my own Tempest and I wouldn't change any of it for the world because it is all me. I have not one single regret in my life because I know that all of it was me and I wouldn't be here now, in this moment without it. Regardless of how I feel right now, I can only ever be in one place, in this moment and that is the only place I am ever going to be. There is not a heaven or bright place over the horizon, next week, next year, where everything is peachy. Everything can and at least for me, is peachy right now because I have chosen to embrace all that I am and everything that has ever happened to me.

So, on this morning in the wild olive groves and pine forests of my mountain hideaway, amid the bird song and mountain goats, I celebrate and embrace myself for the completion of another cycle. For all that I am, was and will be. I celebrate the contrast of life for without it we would not want to or be able to move forward.

More so... I write with passion, love, inspiration and hope in my heart that my words may touch and inspire someone to stand up and embrace all that they are as well. The good, the bad and the ugly for it is all relative and is all a part of who we are. I hope that we, as humans may claim all parts of ourselves as beautiful because we are magnificent, creative, gorgeous creatures, whatever form we come in.

As I embark upon a new cycle, I wish you all well and wish you the love and joy that hides in your heart.