The Forty Pilgrims Project - Camino Caminito!

Day 1 and 2

Wednesday and the start of the Forty Pilgrims project. Somewhere in Northern Spain, my old friend Simon has begun his Camino de Santiago, a simple mission to put one foot in front of the other as he carves out a journey on foot, over 900km of trails, roads and pathways. He is heading for Santiago, and further yet to Finisterre, the ‘End of the World’. He carries with him 40 prayers, one for each day, one for each pilgrim that is energetically walking with him. He is supported by 12 guides, energetically supporting him, as indeed, does his circle of friends, family and unseen imps.

For me, here in Southern Spain, I am marking the beginning of his adventure, and the beginning of a forty day support network by walking my own Camino. It is short. Just 10km. Not much compared to the long walk. But mine holds challenges of its own. I am walking the Caminito Del Rey, a notorious daredevil pathway, just half an hour from my mountain home in Andalucía. The Caminito Del Rey was once known as the most dangerous pathway in the world. It was closed in 2000 due to numerous fatalities on the route. A crumbling pathway, stapled to a sheer cliff, running down a gorge into a glorious valley and back into another sheer gorge posed quite a lot of challenges for me. Fortunately, it has just been refurbished and opened in March this year to the masses. At least I wouldn’t be clinging to the sides for dear life…

My morning meditation was brief as I connected to Simon and his journey. I recited the prayer he had written for the guides for the first time and could feel, with delicate perception, the energy of the 53 people upon this adventure. It is a curious thing intuition. But I have found it possible, when you silence your mind and open your heart, to pick up signals and information from the depths of your being; the bit that is more connected to everything than the gibbering idiot that runs amok in the top paddock!

At this point, I am excited and full of love for the new circle of people I am about to connect with. I am also a little scared of the fact that I am on my way to a grand challenge for myself. It was my intention to reach the highest part of the trail and recite the guide’s prayer, offering my support to Simon and the group.

The day was full of promise, and even though we had a forecast of unseasonal rain, the weather was perfect and our walk through the gorge was full of joy. I felt supported and safe, even though I have previously had a rather large dose of vertigo and fear of large spaces beneath me. This was different. I felt the support and safety of the group and my own guides. True to my plan, at the highest point, a vertiginous bridge that crosses the gorge 100m above the river, I read the prayer. I connected back into the circle and crossed the bridge. I even stopped for a photo midway.

In my interview with Simon, we talked of many things. We are old friends and don’t see each other much. But he is a poet and I am a writer and musician. We have a lot in common. I have been on a grand adventure myself, travelling the world and such, but have always felt fear in the face of certain things relating to me. Most of them are creative fears which result in ingenious procrastinations of the highest degree. That is not to say that I don’t get things done. In many ways, I am living a charmed life. I am playing a grand game of manifesting and experimenting but most of it has related to me giving things to other people and forgetting about myself.

Sometimes, even though we might be surrounded by fantastic things, if we keep missing the mark of where our soul focus is at, where our true north and our hearts desires lie, then it doesn’t matter which paradise we find ourselves in, it won’t be enough.

This notion leads me to this. Our soul loves challenges; it is what gives life its zest. It loves to move through them, and move onto new challenges. Sometimes though, we get stuck on one challenge and we hit up against it so much that we become numb to it and forget it was ever there, naming it just life. Yet life can be so much more. That is just a moment. Our heart will continue to have desires. The potential for them to be met is always present.

For a long time I had a big old fear of heights yet yesterday I conquered it - it did not even seem to be there. It got me thinking, where did that fear live and where did it go? The night I got back, I started a yoga practice again. I figured, if Simon can put one foot in front of the other over 900km and forty days then I can manage 5-10 minutes of yoga every morning and night. I realised that what fears and dreams need is action. Fears need to be hugged. Dreams need to be stepped toward. We have dreams a plenty and we don’t need to work toward them all at once, we don’t need to fight them or forget them or think they are impossible. We do need to do something though. Acknowledge our fears and then step forward into our dreams.

Today has been a rather productive day for me having begun writing this journal series about The Forty Pilgrims Project. I have been faced with the usual challenges of my day to day work life and I keep coming back to my heart. I keep looking at life just a little differently than I did yesterday. I am already more motivated, having stepped into being part of this circle, crossing a wobbly bridge, creating more and marking my day with joys lived rather than frowns endured.

Every now and again, I check into that energetic circle of 53, silently offering up a prayer to Simon, wondering if that was him asking for a bit of support and energy. And yeah, I did manage 5 more minutes of yoga this morning.

Love, love, love...
 

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'The Forty Pilgrims Project' series is a blog inspired by a journey. Simon Welsh, poet, writer and new paradigm adventurer is walking the Camino de Santiago - a simple mission to put one foot in front of the other. Carving out a journey over 1000km of trails, roads and pathways, he is heading for Santiago, and further yet to Finisterre, the ‘End of the World’. He carries with him 40 prayers, one for each day, one for each pilgrim that is energetically walking with him. He is supported by 12 guides, energetically supporting him from afar. 

This is my journal of his 'Forty Pilgrims Project' - an observation from the outside, as one of his guides and friends. An exploration of my own journey by his side, as we connect in the quantum field.

Matt is a singer/songwriter, musician, poet and writer of words. He is exploring the forests of consciousness, time and space, and surfing the waves of thought, love and being. Getting lost and wiping out are adventures in themselves!

The Forty Pilgrims Project - Introduction

Yesterday began the start of The Forty Pilgrims Project, a collective creation in the realms of time and space. It involves my old friend Simon Welsh walking the Camino de Santiago for forty days, clocking in over 900km on foot.

I read about his venture some four weeks before and was compelled to take an interest. His idea is to take on board a spiritual journey of sorts. A vision quest and a clearing, a pilgrimage of quantum proportions; not just for himself but for others too. He is wrestling with some demons and dancing with angels. Some I have no time for, some I have met and some I have probably yet to meet. 

As he embarks on this quest, he is taking with him the prayers and intentions of forty pilgrims. He bears their weight, if it can be said as so. To assist him in this odyssey he has called upon twelve guides – we could call them spiritual guides, energetic support, light warriors – yet in reality, they are human beings, offering their strength, love, compassion, energy and most likely, healing, reiki or some such other long-distance magic. In any case, we are all connected amid the quantum field so can easily offer him support, love and daisies.

I am one of his guides. I was compelled to add my focus and strength that I have been gathering over the last few years. This is not to brag that I am magnificent, but to affirm that I am, indeed part of a magnificent continuum of energy of which we are all magnificent within. Once we can focus upon that part of ourselves, we begin to realise this magnificence and can use it for the benefit of others. It is this role then, that I chose to offer Simon, and in joining into the collective, I add my energy to a grand circle of 53 – one courageous walker, poet and visionary, forty pilgrims with dreams and intentions bound up in his pack, and twelve spiritual guides supporting his energy, holding intentions and making conscious changes as the footsteps and days go by.

Simon, as far as I know, interviewed all forty of the pilgrims and wrote a specific poetic portrait for each of them. Within this portrait is held issues, hopes, intentions, and energy needed for transmuting into new paradigms for each of the pilgrims. They are not physically walking with Simon. That is his undertaking, and his journey into his own unknown. He is the physical anchor and catalyst for helping himself, the pilgrims and guides to manifest and make changes within their lives; the eye of the storm so to speak. Each day he will focus on one pilgrim, walking an average of 25km, reading their prayer somewhere along the way. At the end of 40 days, on day 41, he plans to reach Finisterre, ‘The End of The World’, where he shall read his own prayer and burn his clothes, shoes and words in shamanic ceremonial offering. Hopefully he won’t burn all his clothes as I am sure he'll want to come back! 

The twelve spiritual guides are primarily there to assist Simon in gathering his strength, offering support and adding to the circle. Again, as far as I know, we were all interviewed and I identified a key issue within my life that I would like changed and added it into the circle of creation that is carried within Simon’s reality bomb backpack! I am sure each of the other guides has gone through some such process. I told Simon what I would be sharing with him and the circle in terms of support, giving him free access to my channels of reiki, violet flames, munay-ki, white fire, rescue flames, heart and violet flame chakras and diamond seed chakras.

Whilst this all sounds a little woo-woo and out there, there are some fundamental quantum happenings going on here. I believe that we live upon a quantum field of pure love, potential and possibility, and that reality as we know it is co-created out of this field by us, by our imaginations, thoughts, words and actions. It all comes back to thought and being. There are layers and layers of amazing reality interwoven into us. Layers of light, matter, emotion, thought, atoms, molecules, quarks, bosons and auras, chakras, energy, and creative possibility.

As we wake up to ourselves, we begin to see the effect that we have upon our reality; that we are not random fluctuations living in a random universe, but that we are meaningful and purposeful focal points of Universal consciousness, creating pure experience out of pure potential using mechanisms such as thought, perception, genetic memory, imagination, generational patterns and influences such as parents, school, television and newspapers.

We are vast beings of thought, capable of projecting our imaginations from the dawn of time into the vastness of Space and beyond. We are composed of a history of all our lifetimes and all our connections to life. We are beings of Earth and beings of the stars. We are children of nature and of love. We are locked into a duality, the yin yang of existence. The up-down, left-right, black-white, mine-yours, virgin-whore, hero-cad, happy-sad see-saw that we call life on Earth.

We have the choice to live by default, on a seemingly out of control roller coaster, that is terrifying and exciting, with no way of getting off, subject to the chaotic storms of life, subject to horrors, fantasies, hopes, and disasters. We have a choice to feel powerless. We have a choice to feel helpless. Of course, when we are here, we often don’t think this is a choice.

We have the choice to stop and take stock. To start questioning our reality. To start asking questions about why things are the way they are. We have a choice to delve deeper into the reality of nature and the darkness that resides within us and thus 'without' us. We have a choice to try and discover the nature of that darkness, whether to embrace it or fight it. We have a choice to see the darkness outside of ourselves, the darkness that dwells in plain sight, in economic systems, politics, corporations, education and society. We can see the poverty, disease and pollution in our midst and wonder where it comes from. We have a choice to wonder whether there is a link between our own inner darkness and that which we see laid out upon the green grass of the quantum field.

We have a choice to explore, to experiment, to play with our thoughts and emotions. We have a choice to wake up to ourselves… slowly realising that we are not so powerless after all. We have the choice to stand up and claim our creations. We have a choice to search for silver linings and see beauty and majesty within it all. The process begins with self-love, expands into compassion and maybe has no end…

So that is where we are in humanity… in three places. Once upon a time we were only at the first stage. Now people are bridging all three ideas. The darkness, the awakening, and the empowerment. It would be trite of me to try and lump all our experiences into such small boxes because humanity is vast as are our collective experiences. We all count and we all matter. All our dreams expand the Universe as we step into joy. All things benefit from more smiles in the world.

Here we are then, upon the threshold of a dream. A new cycle of experience. A paradigm shift so vast, people are rapidly awakening all over the world, slowing piercing the veils of illusion that have long hung over humanity. We are awakening to our true potential and power and The Forty Pilgrims Project marks one facet of this grand experience. The circle of 53 touches not just the 53 people directly involved, but the people Simon meets along the way. It touches our loved ones, our friends and family. It touches the people we tell and the people that are affected by our own internal changes. It touches all who witness the new smiles we create within us and others. As we transmute our own barriers and realise our own potential, it will inspire yet more to seek their own awakening. A light in a room of darkness is a source of light none the less. Our beautiful planet, society and individual communities all have the potential to change through elevated thinking, compassion, love and dreams made manifest. This is the power of thought, spirit, love and transformation and maybe the point of existence itself. Hmmm… ahhh…

This is a journal of one of the twelve. An account of the journey from outside the focal point. A documentation of the changes, insights and connections made throughout the forty days of Simon’s quest. It may be personal to me, or I may be led outside of my own experience as I meet and converse with other pilgrims and guides, my social network, community and of course, Simon himself. Above all, I hope it to be an honest portrait of self-inquiry and a joyful adventure into the biggest co-creative experience I have ever embarked upon. Happy travels dear friends. Happy, happy travels.

Love, love, love...

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'The Forty Pilgrims Project' series is a blog inspired by a journey. Simon Welsh, poet, writer and new paradigm adventurer is walking the Camino de Santiago - a simple mission to put one foot in front of the other. Carving out a journey over 1000km of trails, roads and pathways, he is heading for Santiago, and further yet to Finisterre, the ‘End of the World’. He carries with him 40 prayers, one for each day, one for each pilgrim that is energetically walking with him. He is supported by 12 guides, energetically supporting him from afar. 

This is my journal of his 'Forty Pilgrims Project' - an observation from the outside, as one of his guides and friends. An exploration of my own journey by his side, as we connect in the quantum field.

Matt is a singer/songwriter, musician, poet and writer of words. He is exploring the forests of consciousness, time and space, and surfing the waves of thought, love and being. Getting lost and wiping out are adventures in themselves!

The Answer is You

Anger, sadness, bitterness, dejection, disappointment... such have been the emotions reflected around social media networks after the news that the Conservative Party won the UK elections this week. A new government for 2015 and people seem thoroughly fed up. As if they have no control over their life, thoughts and decisions...

But that is not true surely? Let us look on the bright side. This gives us a new direction to look in. It gives us new ideas because now we know what we don't like. How about moving away from the idea that what we need is government? The government is not a savior. The government stands as a bastion to a patriarchal system that has long since seen the masses as peasants (stay with me) that need to be controlled (think religion and laws). Evolved it has, more cunning it is, but still, it does not hold the needs and well-being of the planet and all the species upon it as its modus operandi (which really is a no-brainer). Harsh but true perhaps...
 
The thing is, humans do not need governing. Nor do forests, seas, deserts, animals, bees or birds. Get that... nothing in nature needs governing. It governs itself through its own self-balancing system. Our bodies and the extension of them into nature are homeostatic. We are stewards and guests on this planet. Interconnected, united and one. A simple look at life and your existence will prove that. It is the governing, economic system and corrupt power systems that create the divisions that create the bullshit we see... humanity in and of itself is a beautiful thing that can and will self-regulate itself given half the chance. Grand societies need services that are public, not a bullshit patriarchal system that dictates a stream of irrelevant laws that increasingly bow to corporate demands before environmental, natural and human concerns.

The government (and monarchy) have traditionally been fear-mongers rather than truth givers. Besides which, no one votes on the House of Lords, the European Parliament, boards of directors and corporate lobbyists. These are the game changers in politics. I am not saying your vote doesn't count but I am saying change can happen another way.

The tide can turn but it must turn through the idea that each of us, as individuals are self-governing. We are all the best experts at what is best for ourselves. No-one else can tell you that. Imagine a world where we each empowered our self, and began to listen to the kind, loving voice at the heart of ourselves instead of the endless litany of voices that tries to convince us what best to do next.

We live too much in our heads... the voices of others are powerful and the voice of our own fearful mind is often the loudest. I reckon, once we start listening to the deeper truth of our self, a truth we all have inside us... a direction to what we love, what we have a passion for, what excites and inspires us, then the government we need, that is a balanced, non-patriarchal, servant of society and the planet will arise. Perhaps it is already happening. I think it already exists, in our hearts. But the power lies in you... It lies in us, not in government. What world do we want to live in?

Let us not bow to fear, media and propaganda. We have to be strong, focus on the world we want, trust in our hearts and human spirit. We are kind, compassionate, creative, inspirational beings. Yes we are! Individuals change the world. We are the power within our lives. Take heart. Really. Take your power back. I believe in a world of love, unity, peace and opportunity.

I wish you all the best in seeing and discovering your passion and power and heart.

Love, always.

I Dig Your Garden?

Talk is cheap or so the old idiom goes. We are living in a world that is full to the brim with access to information, experiences, methods and improvements yet it is easy to get lost in the maze of chatter and opinion. After all the procrastination there comes a time when a bit of action is called for, even if the action is one of just being.

Life seems to be full and complex recently. Whilst the internet is a wonder, connecting us to untold sources of inspiration, it can also slam us up against trolls, conspiracy, blame, negativity, scorn, derision and misplaced anger. It brings us even more comment and analysis than we have ever had need for. It subjects us (if we choose it) to a torrent of social networking, links, distractions, passive aggression, ideas and yet another way to chop your watermelons (apparently I have been doing it WRONG my whole life!)

There are more ways to discover yourself spiritually, politically, creatively, socially, mentally, emotionally and romantically than there are stars in the sky! At least more than the visible ones you can see from the light polluted vantage point of a suburban terraced house. With so much anger, opinion, truth, religion and conspiracy going on it is hard to know what to believe and what to choose from the infinite styles of cooking, yoga, answers, one-true gods, top-ten lists, and annoyingly long lists of nouns!

In this world of talk and words, there is a danger of getting lost in verbose clouds of nebulous nothingness, forgetting that we need to, at some point, tear ourselves away from the computer screen and get on with a bit of living. French philosopher Voltaire wrapped it up quite neatly in the last line of his 1759 satire Candide:

 “Cela est bien dit mais il faut cultiver notre jardin – That is well said but we need to cultivate our gardens”.

In the usual manner of timeless genius, the sentiment goes a long way and has a multitude of meanings and depth. The book sees the main character Candide taken from an optimistic idyll into the harsh realities of life. Candide is slowly worn down through a series of trials as Voltaire takes a sarcastic stab at myriad aspects of his contemporary European culture. Throughout the story, Candide’s tutor remains eternally optimistic leading Candide to eventually surmise, through all of their adventures and mishaps that even though the world can be a harsh place, each of us still has to get up in the morning and live our lives regardless of empty platitudes and rhetoric.

Candide is subjected to a torrent of horrors, ideas and solutions yet somehow sees through it all to the other side. Perhaps all of this talk and challenge is really an illusion. Perhaps talk is cheap. What counts is that we have to live our daily lives, more so, we each have to tend our own gardens and that takes love, time and commitment. This may not be exactly what Voltaire was getting at but it suits me.

The whole of humanity is rolling around on the floor at the moment. Change is in the air (as it always is) but this is something bigger. Some of us are waking up to our spiritual selves at long last. Some of us are being shown what seems to be an endless series of atrocities coming to light - from manufactured terrorism to fracking, starvation and banker’s bonuses, there always seems to be another thing to get angry at or worried about. Some of us have loud voices. Some of us are just pootling along, happy in our world. Some of us just can’t get going. Some are sad, some depressed, homeless or ill.

Yet in all this we are still united by our daily lives. We all have to live day to day. We are all individuals bound by the unity of existence. Each of us has something to be, do and see. In a world full of ‘right’ and ‘wrong’, we can only do the best we can in any given moment and there is no sense in beating ourselves up for doing that, or for doing less. There is even less sense in beating anyone else up, for what do we know about what anyone else is capable of in any given moment?

Grand sweeping solutions and truths about life rarely work. We are too individual and each of us is making it up as we go along. In Development Theory there are two models of change that are often debated. The first, ‘trickle-down’ development relies on big business and big investment to bring social and economic change to a country. Grand plans will create new jobs and everyone will benefit as the money trickles down from the top. We’ve all heard that one before. Multi-national corporations as agents of love, compassion and good conscience…? Perhaps, one day.

The other side of the coin is called grassroots or ‘bottom-up’ development. This is where people let go of the idea of a government or outside force riding along in shining armour and start up their own initiatives instead. Groups of people coming together, not to protest or complain, but to create solutions. Groups of people taking their power back and relying on themselves as the answer. Groups of global meditators and healers, positive media, local businesses that sell ‘out-of-date’ supermarket produce, small charities that provide books or bikes to Africa or other much needed areas of the world, individuals who feed the homeless, volunteers of all shapes and sizes helping those in need… the list is endless.

Great social change doesn’t come in the form of yet another reform. It doesn’t come in a suit, a flashy smile and a snazzy plan. It happens when people get up and tend their gardens. Each of us makes a difference. Each of us matters. YOU are important. If we can get out of the habit of arguing, justifying, moaning and blaming then we might just remember that we need to sort out our own backyards. There may well be some weeds growing there, the plants may need watering, you may need to fix some pig damage. Do what you can. Don’t worry about it. Do your best given the moment you have been given, whatever that is. Your garden may be in your own head, it may be your hopes and dreams, it may be your neighbourhood or society. It may even be your own garden! Just remember, gardens grow best with love and tenderness. Lighten up. Take it easy. Let go of judging yourself or your fruits, they grow in their own time.

What is important is knowing that you have power over yourself. You are the one in control of you. You are the one choosing your thoughts, choosing what you read and what you look at. You are the one choosing what feels right or wrong for you. Your tiny actions make a difference. First to yourself, then to the people you interact with. By taking small actions in the field of your own existence and perception, spiritually, mentally and practically, moment by moment, you can shift how you see life.

Action can be anything. It can be sitting and listening to the sound of your breath. It could be taking a walk in the woods and connecting to the life around you. It could be choosing not to read anymore harrowing news items, it could mean listening to your own body, your hopes, your dreams, it could mean picking up a pen and writing, it could mean going on that holiday you promised yourself five years ago, it could mean volunteering for a local charity once a month, it could mean saying hello to your neighbour, smiling at the checkout guy, letting someone out in the traffic, choosing a thought that feels better than the last one you just had, finding a silver lining in that argument, uncomfortable emotion or situation, stretching your body, taking your spiritual practice into every moment, loving yourself…

Remember this, you are free, deeply free within yourself. You get to choose what is right for you. Your garden is whatever you choose it to be and it will grow best with love and appreciation.

Stop telling yourself it is raining and go get yourself an umbrella… then marvel at the miracle of water from the clouds feeding your garden!

With love,

Matt Rivers

18^th December

5 Minute Poems - The Beloved Meditation Tree

This tiny little poem was written earlier this summer when I was working in Cyprus. There was a little spot overlooking the sea, underneath a tree where we taught yoga and meditation classes. I found a passion for teaching or inspiring awareness rather than aloof and hard to reach spiritual practices. That tree definitely taught me to just be, rather than trying hard to be somewhere else!

The Beloved Meditation Tree

Buddha had his Bodhi,
Osho had a Rolls,
Yogis need a place to sit,
To gaze upon the world.

Matt Rivers
27th June 2014

You Are Allowed

You are allowed to dream, create and be whatever you want. You may not be encouraged to or taught how that works but nevertheless, you are allowed. There is no power on this Earth that really tells you what you should do. There is no force stopping you from physically, mentally or emotionally following your bliss.

You are not required to find a steady job, get married, buy a house, settle down, pay your bills, vote, walk on the pavement, watch TV, pay taxes, go to school, pay your pension, take pills, go to the dentist, read newspapers, retire, feel up, feel down, feel happy, feel sad, be big or be small.

All these things are just habits and constructs that we have created out of pure potential. They are all things we have agreed upon as we have moved through evolution. Yet much more is possible. That is not to negate what we already have. It is not to negate these experiences either. They are vital for contributing to who we are now and our history has brought us to this point - therefore it has been of the greatest value. Yet you are allowed to be more. You are allowed to follow your dreams. You are allowed to express your heart and the fullness of yourself in ways you may not have previously imagined or allowed yourself to.

Let us get this straight first. I am not talking about doing crazy things that you think might bring you happiness because of a void or emptiness inside. I am not talking about making judgements and decisions for others either. That path leads to addiction, oppression, violence, dictatorship and righteousness. I am talking about facing the darkness with open arms and hearing what is has to say first. Then hearing what your heart has to say. Sometimes that heart voice is distant and hard to hear because of the filters we have layered around ourselves.

Sometimes the filters we hear are the ones of our childhood and schooling that told us to be limited and small beings. Sometimes the voices are of well-meaning parents who also didn’t know they were allowed to be whoever they wanted to be. Sometimes we are way too worried about what others will think of us. Sometimes it is the voice of corporations informing us of our imminent happiness once we own their products – highlighting our dissatisfaction until we do! Perhaps it is governments and politicians foisting their rhetoric upon us, trying to convince us that there is something to fear. Perhaps we have been faced with an endless series of problems and disasters, or have just witnessed enough suffering on the planet and cannot see a way forward for humanity or ourselves anymore.

The thing is though, the only thing that holds us back from exploring and expressing ourselves in any way we want to is ourselves. Only we hold the key to our hearts. Only we have the power to open that door within ourselves. It starts with allowing ourselves to dream. Allowing ourselves to find our passions – however big or small they may be. It starts with letting everyone else of the hook and taking the courage to look inside for the answers.

In any given moment we have a choice. We have the choice to react as we have always done. To live the same drama, the same moment, the same year. We can choose to watch the same things, despair at the same tragedy, read the same papers and continue going to the same jobs, doing the same things we do not want to do. Feeling feelings over and over that we wish we could get rid of. Repeating the same mistakes when we thought we knew better.

Or we can take a moment to listen to our hearts. Take the time to breathe and find a space to feel what our body is feeling in any given moment. Instead of responding to outer circumstances with knee-jerk reactions – stop and pause. Begin to watch yourself… Notice your body, your feelings, your breath, your thoughts. Just watch and observe. You are in control. You get to choose. What will you do next… Tell yourself - I am allowed to dream, create and be whatever I want.

What is the future of this thought? What could we do individually and as a species? Would we decide to react differently? Would we see if there was another way? Would we decide to take a more loving approach? We would decide to see things from another point of view? Would we be honest and tell ourselves that the last thing we want is to create an argument – with others or with ourselves? Would we turn off the TV and pick up the paint brush? Would we start dancing in the middle of the shopping mall when we heard our favourite song? Would we start taking small baby steps towards our dreams? Would we pack up our belongings and go travelling? Would we have the courage to talk to that gorgeous shop helper? What would happen if bit by bit, we stopped listening to the voices that tell us no, and started listening and taking actions on the inner voice that tells us yes? Would we start seeing loving supportive hands reaching out to help us in our quests? Would we start reaching out to help others…?

Know this… you are allowed to dream, create and be whatever you want. You are free. The choice is yours.

 

Matt is a singer/songwriter, writer of words and fiction, poet and yoga teacher. If you are interested in the writing process and writing from the heart, he will be running 'Soul Writing' workshops and teaching yoga with his partner at their summer retreat in Spain in May 2015. Check the website 'Yoging the World' for full details.

5 Minute Poems - The Beginning

I am starting a series of blog posts entitled '5 Minute Poems'. This in itself is pretty self-explanatory. Each post features the title of the poem, the poem it took me 5 minutes or less to write and sometimes a photo that was the seed of the poem. Since around about May of this year (2014) I have been writing and posting these 5 minute poems on Instagram.

All of my inspiration comes spontaneously. I love the world around me. I love nature, animals, flowers, clouds, weather, water, rust, dust, sunshine and art. I take a picture, play around with it a little in various photo editors. Sometimes I keep it clean, no filter necessary. Once it is ready to post on Instagram, I tune into poem writing mode and see what flows out. A lot of the time I have been in the middle of working, gardening, travelling, socialising or some other activity and have little time to spend longer writing.

It is a spontaneous flow of words inspired by the magic of the present moment. What will reveal itself? What is waiting in our hearts to be expressed in art, colour, sounds, words and movement? What is there just beyond the chatter of the mind?

The world is an amazing place. It is a paradise but sometimes it takes a long road, some hard work and a bit of living to start seeing it so. Sometimes, all you have to do is listen and open your ears... or heart. Once we begin to open our eyes to the magic, we begin to understand our place within it. We begin to see that we too are nature, not separate from it. We can see the beauty and the magic of life.

So to start off the series, I thought it apt to write one called 'The Beginning'. Over the next few months I will be looking back at previous Instagram poems as well as dropping in brand new works.

I hope it inspires you to take some photos, make some art, write some words or just enjoy nature. Much love.



The Beginning

He flows from his chair
Where he's sat for all his life,
The fire has been burning low,
He should build it up tonight.

But something else is burning him,
A memory buried deep,
A dream once strong that faded
In the twilight of his sleep.

But here it is, that song of old
Beckoning him forth.
Come write your heart upon the page
Discover your true north.

The time is now, it's not too late,
If you can hear the call,
Just take that step, begin at last
Break down your ancient walls.

Matt Rivers
10th December 2014



Matt is a singer/songwriter, writer of words and fiction, poet and yoga teacher. If you are interested in the writing process and writing from the heart, he will be running 'Soul Writing' workshops and teaching yoga with his partner at their summer retreat in Spain in May 2015. Check the website 'Yoging the World' for full details.