By SM Scott
Love is … a poem
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Integrity breeds trust – writing with discernment
We are bombarded with so many ideas these days that sometimes you don’t know what to think. We live in a time when choice is rampant. Enthusiasm can sometimes override common sense as marketing gurus and politicians know just the right buttons to push.
We are told sometimes you have to believe before you can see: “Beliefs are limiting”. In the face of quantum theory it seems almost anything is possible and time-honoured ideas are being challenged. The food pyramid has been turned on its head. Economic models need re-modelling to consider factors such as air and water quality, lifestyle and mental health impacts, which had previously been left out of the equation.
Statistics can be made to say different things depending on your perspective. So who’s words can you trust?
Conversely, in this age of instant communication, are you sharing with integrity? Can your words be trusted? What is your goal as a writer?
Writing consistently with integrity, sharing ideas of what is true for you breeds a sense of authenticity, trust and respect among your readers.
In the age of political correctness no one whats to be seen as judgmental. But there is a serious need for discernment, while also not taking oneself too seriously. Our truths can change.
“How does it FEEL”
Some years ago when I was editing a spiritual magazine I was caught up in the dilemma of what to publish and what not to. Some of the articles that came across my desk got me so worked up – but being “judgmental” was the big evil of the day. I sought advice from a source I trusted, one that I felt had great integrity.
The response was: “Go with the truth as you feel it. To be judgmental is simply to say ‘this is right and this is wrong’. To be discerning is to say, ‘well this is really a lot of nonsense, but that is alright because it is someone else’s sovereign right to be really stupid if they want’.”
I asked: “How do you KNOW what’s the truth?”
“How does it FEEL,” he replied.
I thought of one contributor with a bit of a following who had some ‘out-there’ ideas, “It doesn’t feel good,” I admitted.
“So go with the feeling, and if it does not feel good then leave it alone. Alright? You know, there is a lot of stupidity about. And you know all of this New Age business, all of this great race for enlightenment, is all very well – but you know, it is about being sensible too. Again one does not preclude the other, you see,” he explained.
“But how do I know I’m right?” I pleaded.
“Go with the feeling. It is people’s own learning to read and judge for themselves. You do what you want. You do not have to pander to other people’s stupidity. And being stupid is alright. There is nothing ‘wrong’ with it,” he said.
“If it is that you only produce that which ‘feels’ like wisdom then you are being of benefit to people. If your truth changes tomorrow, that is alright. Then tomorrow you do it different.”
“Is that not forcing your truth on others?” I asked.
“They do not have to read your magazine!” was the hearty reply.
I laughed. It was so true. We all have the choice of what to “put in our pie” as Esther Hicks’ Abraham would say.
I have several authors in whom I have faith to give me direction when I am feeling confused. The book Seth Speaks – The Eternal Validity of the Soul by Jane Roberts is one such book. In fact I have the whole Seth collection; as well as Conversations with Seth by Susan M. Watkins, who was among the ESP group who met to hear Seth’s words in the early 1970s.
So who do you turn to when facing the tough questions?
The Winds of Change – a poem
As I carried my cup of tea onto the terrace this morning I was greeted by a brown hawk in flight, barely three metres away from me at eye level. My heart lifted, I called out to others to come and see. No one came.
It circled around a nearby tree and came back for another pass, wingtips rippling in the strong easterly wind. Elation flooded me. What a gift – so close. It circled one more time and disappeared over the treetops into the east. Spirit has sent me a message – it’s time to listen and look for clues.
Sitting there thinking how lucky I was I remembered a poem I wrote in 1994:
The Winds of Change
The winds of change blow strong
Stirring your emotions
One moment calm, yet stifling and hot
You are in the depths of despair and exhaustion;
Nothing is fun.
Next they whip up fiercely
Blowing away the cobwebs;
Invigorating, sweeping your emotions along with them.
In the cool of night they blow strongest
Voicing their mighty power.
Yet you are safe inside – calm within the storm.
To stand outside is inspiring;
The wintry winds hold promise of a fruitful spring.
Speak to me, oh wind, of what is my destiny!
– SM Scott
When life gets too much
When life gets you down take comfort in the thought that this too will pass- Picture credit: Jon Eckert
A young girl in our beautiful valley has taken her own life. What makes a 13-year-old feel their predicament is so hopeless? Why didn’t she talk to someone who could help?
Could this tragedy have been prevented?
It seems farmers are also killing themselves at the rate of one every four weeks in Queensland, politicians say. They see no future what with overwhelming debts, drought and death all around them. But we always have choice, even when we don’t know it.
We are losing too many individuals – be they young or older – and whatever talents and creativity they may have enriched our world with. Is it overwhelm? Hopelessness?
I have my bad days but when I do I think “This too shall pass” (an old Persian saying about the inevitable nature of change).
And you know what – it always does.
Take heart and reach for hope any way you can.
Out of the darkness
There are hidden treasures in the great grasslands of north-west Queensland and not all of them are gold and sapphires, as I discover on a drive along the Savannah Way
Undara lava tubes were created as rivers of hot lava flowed across the land some 190,000 years ago.
Unexpected warmth emanates from the cavernous tunnel before us. Its source is not the river of hot molten lava that formed this high semi-circular “tube” – that cooled about 190,000 years ago. Hardy bushes now grow in the tumble of rocks at its entrance.
It comes in waves as if the cave is breathing.
Behind us the temperature is dropping as the sun sinks towards the dry savannah horizon. We wait patiently, eyes keenly peeled for any sign of movement. But the warmth endures as the sun sets over the savannah behind us, glowing deep orange.
Sunset over the western Queensland savannah at Undara Volcanic Park
A faint odour wafts from inside the cave, hinting at what’s lurking inside. I try not to breathe too deeply or make any sudden moves. Voices are hushed as we all focus on the darker depths of the lava tube.
Minutes pass. There’s a rush of air past my shoulder. I duck as movement flits past my face.
These are the scouts, checking if it is time yet. The light is dimming and the flash of wings comes more often, disappearing back into the cave’s depths. My eyes adjust with the fading light.
Before long there is a swirl of 20 or so tiny creatures circling in the cave entrance only metres in front of me, building up confidence to venture past. A 5cm fur-ball zips past me into the cool dusk air – followed by another and another. As if on cue, hundreds of resident horseshoe and bent-wing microbats dart for the surface en masse.
Out of the darkness there’s a rush of wings
The sheer numbers make them easy prey for pythons which strike from the bushes crowding the cave entrance.
The snakes are more prevalent during the warm summer months – when bat numbers also swell with the breeding season.
A python strikes (look closely for the bat wing as it swallows its prey).
But the call of nature is strong and they continue to run the gauntlet to freedom and food. Finely tuned sonar ensures the bats don’t collide with each other or the humans vying to get a photograph but it is impossible not to duck as they whiz past.
Measuring only 5cm long and with a 10cm wingspan, thousands of the insectivorous microbats emerge from this particular lava tube at Undara every night. The creatures need to eat their own body weight in insects before the sun returns at dawn and play a vital role in the web of life on the savannah.
Our Savannah Guide Ivor Davies says the bat population can swell to a million during the summer breeding season, taking up to 90 minutes to vacate their daytime abode. During winter there can be a steady stream of creatures for 20 minutes or more. The effect is mesmerising.
This is the excitement of the Sunset Wildlife Tour at Undara Experience, a national park-based tourist facility some 275km southwest of Cairns on the Savannah Way, in north Queensland.
The lava tubes are among the longest in the world – more than 90km long – formed as an estimated 23 cubic kilometres of molten lava flowed in rivers from a single volcano across the McBride Volcanic Province. It is one of the longest lava flows from a single volcano in modern geological time, spreading more than 160km to the north-west.
For more details go to: Undara Experience, Undara Volcanic National Park; Ph 1800 990 992; www.undara.com.au
This is just one of the natural wonders of the north-western Queensland section of the Savannah Way, a 3699km trans-national drive from tropical Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef to the remote pearling town of Broome, in Western Australia.
Dreaming of Dolphins – a plight interwoven
Last night I dreamed of dolphins. I followed a concrete pathway down a steep bank to an abandoned wooden structure which used to be a watery abattoir where dolphins were killed. The water’s surface was littered with light debris which I couldn’t really identify, perhaps leaves but with a sense of pollution about it which left me feeling sad. However then I brightened up as a pod of dolphins appeared in the water. I was amazed and overjoyed that they could come back to this place of such negativity and still be so friendly and playful. I watched the dolphins for ages, admiring their sleek forms and playfulness, overjoyed at the feelings they inspired in myself. There were baby dolphins there as well and I was able to touch them and have them gather around me until the caretaker of the place told me it was time to leave. A sadness overcame me as I knew I had to go. What would happen to these dolphins now? What was their fate amid this pollution?
Upon waking I had several thoughts. There was the feeling of joy the dolphins inspired which made me question: “Where is the joy in my daily life?” What can I do to feel like that more often.
Then there was the memory of the annual Japanese dolphin slaughter – was this what the dream was also symbolic of? If you haven’t heard the story check out the Sixty Minutes’ segment aired Feb 23 called The Killing Cove at http://sixtyminutes.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=8804712
Dolphins are not just another animal. They are sentient beings, so intelligent and so inspiring, they deserve to be treated so much better than to be slaughtered like fish for food that many people would be loathe to eat or just to steal their young for the profit of the aquarium trade.
There was another layer to my dream I believe that spoke of the compassion and willingness of dolphins to return to that place of killing (an abattoir in the dream; the Killing Cove in Japan) and endure that negativity so that we humans can feel their joy again and reconnect with our playfulness.
I was fortunate enough to interact with a wild dolphin at Monkey Mia in Western Australia many years ago (pictured above) and the memory of it is a real treasure in my heart. I hope other people can experience that joy and wonder in future years as well.
Mother Nature is so accommodating at times, sending us a gardener with loads of muscle to help out with the pruning and lawn trimming this morning. Once the tropical monsoon arrives it’s a constant battle to control the rampant growth. Check out the big guns on this guy!
Flyboarding out of a rut
Rise above it all with Flyboard Cairns – Ironman meets King Neptune. Picture courtesy of Flyboard Cairns
Sometimes life gets so mundane we can’t see our way out of the rut of our daily routine – when you can only see what needs doing rather than what you feel like doing.
When I find myself in this state I know that drastic action is required. Another time this happened I signed up for the Minjin swing – being winched several storeys high up a metal tower and freefalling for several seconds before the swing kicked in and shot me out across the treetops at Kuranda markets. It was such an adrenalin-rush my knees were knocking so much afterwards I could barely stand. Great fun.
So this time I was sitting around feeling swamped by all the weeds that had overtaken my garden when I thought of Richard Branson. Now that’s a man with a sense of adventure. I can’t imagine he even lets the word “boredom” into his vocabulary. He’s a superman of extreme action!
Now by the Law of Attraction, what you think you draw to you. And what you think about with emotion comes even faster. So, as it happens, the last time I felt really excited was watching a TV segment about this great new sport of Flyboarding. It looked fantastic – the presenter hovering above the water like a superhero with white water jets streaming out below his feet like some rocket exhaust.
It was a case of Marvel Comics’ Ironman meets King Neptune – or science-fiction meets reality.
So a few days after musing over “what would Richard Branson be doing now” I was offered the chance to go Flyboarding. I didn’t even know Flyboard Cairns existed at that stage. With a mix of trepidation and anticipation I agreed to do it.
After all, when the Universe brings you what you ask for it is only polite to go with it.
Watching YouTube footage of the pros jetting 15m high did little to quell the fears of friends and family who know my mind often gets carried away with things my body is less capable of. But I knew I needed this. Balance and flexibility could be an issue – so I trotted off to an osteopath to ensure my spine could snake as much as the young bucks and beach babes on the flyboardcairns.com.au website – fat chance really.
Palm Cove with Double Island in the distance
Come 9am Saturday and it is a sightly-overcast day at the beautiful spa-spangled Palm Cove, about 30 minutes’ drive north of Cairns. The gentle blue-green swell of the Coral Sea is enticing. I make a mental note of an advertising board offering discount massages outside one of the hotels – may be needed after I’ve finished.
As I rock up to their beachfront setup opposite The Reef House resort, Flyboard Cairns director/instructor Luke Kanowski assures me it this brave new extreme sport looks a lot harder than it is. Fellow director Chris De Santo says it generally only takes 10 minutes of instruction to be standing up out of the water and 15 minutes to learn to manoeuvre on the Flyboard. There are no weight restrictions (big relief) and about 20 per cent of their clients are aged 55-70 (out go my preconceived ideas that this is just for the young guns).
After squeezing myself into a full-body wetsuit and helmet, safety briefing over, and I join Chris at the jet-ski to get strapped into my jet-boots. Facing into the waves, the jet-ski powers up and the exhaust water quickly fills the 20m hose connecting us. As it exits the two metal pipes on either side of the Flyboard I start to move forward. The feeling is weird – effortless. Alternatively bending one knee or the other effectively controls your direction. We head for the safety of deeper water. I practice circling the jet-ski. Tilting my toes upwards and miraculously I rise up out of the water like some sea serpent. Nerves kick in as I get higher, losing balance and falling into the sea. Chris assures me that from the beach it would appear that’s what I meant to do. Yeah, right. We practice dolphin dives and work up to hovering. I make it up to 1.5m above the water. It feels more like 4m. I come crashing down on my side – my humpback whale breaching impersonation.
Up, up and away
Getting my balance
Beginners can usually get up to 1-2m high, Chris says, up to 4m for those with nerve and balance. With extended repetition it is possible to hover up to 5-8m, he says, with pros reaching 15m and top speeds of 20km/h.
“It is more about style and aerial stunts,” Chris says, which excites these pioneering sportsmen the most.
“It is so new, we don’t know what we can do,” Luke says, likening it to the advances in skateboarding tricks since the 1970s. “We don’t know what is possible”.
Flyboard Cairns instructor Luke in action at Palm Cove
With that in mind, the guys are hoping to attract flyboarders for a North Queensland competition in 2014, with the aim of taking a team to national and world competitions at the Gold Coast and in Qatar at the end of 2014.
So far the tricks include backflips, dolphin dives and variations such as the twister/tornado and corkscrew. It takes “twisting by the pool” to a whole new level.
Thank you to Chris and Luke for blasting me out of a rut. And I didn’t even need the massage afterwards. Highly recommended.
For more info: check out www.flyboardcairns.com.au
(Flyboard session provided courtesy of Flyboard Cairns.)
Spirit encounters or just plain spooky
Spirit encounter at Bakerville café?? Or just a speedy waitress. Picture credit: Sheree Scott
Halloween is nearly upon us.
It is that time of the year when the veils between the realms of spirit and matter are thought to be at their thinnest – the time different cultures have determined when wandering spirits more easily make themselves known to the living and seek to leave the Earthly plane for the next stage in their evolution.
It has been my experience that spirits (be that ghosts/entities/energy imprints or thoughts forms) don’t just wait for Halloween (also called All Hallows Eve). They can make themselves known at just about any time. It may be they’re curious, ready for a change or just find someone they resonate with.
The truth is there are subtle vibrations coming to us all the time from the unknown or unseen reality, what people might consider the world of spirit. I’ve been on organised ghost tours of The Rocks in Sydney and Port Arthur in Tasmania – which certainly have their challenges for the “energy sensitive” but I’ve had far more spirit encounters in other “ordinary” places too numerous to mention.
One recent place I visited – whole-heartedly expecting to sense spirits – was Herberton Historical Village, about 90 minutes’ drive inland from Cairns in North Queensland. There are so many buildings and artefacts here from the 1800s onwards that you would well expect to sense a few echoes from the past. Well they were more like shouts. I did make the mistake of entering an old police lock-up building and tuning into the energy first up, followed by the adjoining gun display. The small 2x3m timber structure would have been a hell-hole in the tropical heat and the guns were certainly charged with emotion considering the lawless pioneering and gold mining days. I couldn’t get out quick enough.
What ensued was an increasingly oppressive heaviness around my head which developed into a shocking headache, aided probably by dehydration as I continued exploring the extensive outdoor museum.
Don
’t be put off, this is a great collection of everyday memorabilia and a wonderful time capsule of the 1900s, back into the 1800s. Just make sure you’re prepared – and don’t visit the jail lock-up first. There’s plenty of good vibes: an old movie projector from 1929; Daisy the 1923 T-Model Ford; a working steam engine built in 1886 from the Ravenshoe Saw Mill; a miner’s cottage, pharmacy, fire engine, sewing machines and radio/music room, the Tin Pannikin Pub and real classrooms from the former Herberton School.
At the other end of the village museum is a café set out in the original Bakerville Hotel. My timing was perfect here to snap a “ghostly encounter” photo (top photo) – the woman in the picture wasn’t a real ghost, just a very quick waitress who glided into the picture at just the right time. I thought it was impressive.
Piano in the Bakerville café has character
They do have a piano here that does play itself which is rather spooky – it’s called the Pianola.
Across a swing bridge is a truck and tractor graveyard which is a work in progress, and a place to sit and relax – the Bushie’s Pioneer Camp where you can get billy tea and damper or camp oven stew straight off the fire.
So if you want to go hunting spooks for Halloween – put Herberton Historical Village on your to-do list. You won’t be disappointed.
Can’t get to my spooky stomping ground in North Queensland? I know one book that might get you looking closer to home. In Where Spirits Dwell, real-life spooks in suburbia become almost second nature.
Book Review: Where Spirits Dwell by Karina Machado (publisher Hachette Australia) 
Whether you believe in ghosts or not, journalist Karina Machado has gathered enough anecdotal evidence to show unexplained or paranormal events can happen to the most normal of people. I find something irresistible about a good ghost story and Where Spirits Dwell has them popping up all over the place. Definitely one to read in daylight hours, there’s the spine-tingling cases of a dark presence in the bedroom, where even a dog is scratching to get out of the house, to a dead girl who ate ant poison haunting a young family in Normanton in Australia’s remote north – possibly to stop history repeating. There are infamous Australian haunted houses like The Abbey in Sydney, that stay in the dreams of past inhabitants, and cases of a loving mother on the other side who just want to care for someone else’s youngsters. Behind the facade of many Sydney homes, Machado finds tales of the bizarre and touching, weaving a descriptive tale of various experiences for a broad introduction to what might well happen to you. There is an intimacy created by snippets of Machado’s own experiences and general musings, which are more for believers and the curious than rigid sceptics.
Prepare to believe. And give yourself a salt scrub under the shower if it all gets too much, and leave a small tray of rock salt beside your bed for the night (remember to flush it down the toilet the next day).
It works for me.
Dolphin wisdom to release stress
Dolphins to me are the epitome of playfulness and with so many people apparently struggling with different situations in their life at the moment (Danni Minogue on X-Factor re: death of a loved one) I thought it might be timely to share some of the lessons Onni the Dolphin shares in The Quest of Jesse Greene.
Read on to find out how Onni tells Jesse how to breathe and flow with his emotional stress.
Excerpt:
Wrapped up in his thoughts, Jesse was startled as a fin sliced through the water towards him. He scrambled to his feet, desperate to get out of the water and beyond the reach of any hungry jaws. His heart was racing as he back-peddled up the beach – not taking his eyes off the ominous fin carving through the turquoise calm. The silent menace moved ever closer on the rolling swell. A larger wave picked up speed and sent the creature streaking straight towards Jesse, the dark shape beneath the water turning side-on in the shallows as it stopped before him, a beady eye turned up to the surface.
Instead of the jaws of death, Jesse was facing the toothy grin of a bottle-nosed dolphin accompanied by a cheerful burst of clicks and whistles. The dolphin was laughing at him.
“Hee, hee, hee, I had you going there,” the dolphin joked, in an excited, high-pitched voice. “You need to learn to breathe more. Breathe like Dolphin and you won’t be so easily scared.”
… “Breathe like Dolphin,” he said, rolling over slightly to show Jesse the small hole on the top of his head. It opened and closed with each breath in an effortless, calm rhythm – te puuhhh kihh, te puuhhh kihh, te puuhhh kihh – even the sound was relaxing.
“Take deep breaths and hold. Then let it out in a burst,” Onni continued. This time the air rushed out all at once, making Jesse jump in surprise. Onni let out another burst of infectious dolphin laughter.
“The air brings life-force to your cells. Hold your breath to allow it to absorb into your body, then exhale in a burst, like you are spitting out the old stuff – you can even spit out the tiredness in your body, any thoughts and fears that are worrying you.”
Jesse gave it a go. There had been so much to worry about recently that it wasn’t hard to find those thoughts that he wanted to let go of… His chest felt ready to burst, there were so many thoughts to gather up. Finally he could hold it no longer and it all came out with a massive PUUHHHH. His head was spinning.
“Not so much at once,” Onni laughed. “You looked ready to burst.”
… “You’ve got to learn to enjoy life, have fun and play,” Onni encouraged. Dolphins are well known for having fun – surfing on the bow waves of ships, leaping out of the water and somersaulting for no apparent reason other than the joy of it. Onni swam a few circles around Jesse and lifted his sleek grey body vertically out of the water using his powerful tail, giving a few cheeky clicks at the same time.
The dolphin’s playful attitude was infectious and Jesse laughed along with him.
“To feel the water flow over your body is to feel alive,” the dolphin said, rolling a few times in the waves. “You know, water is like your emotions. You need to let them wash over you rather than knock you around. Whether they are stormy seas or a period of calm, do not be afraid. Just do what is needed at the time. It is all good fun in the end. Learn to swim in the emotions of it all – and remember to breathe when it all gets too much.”
(Copyright – From The Quest of Jesse Greene by SM Scott.)
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