What is home?

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

What does home mean to you?

Everybody probably derive over time a different connection of what home means to them. I think even the avid traveller is yearning for a place called home, even if it is a temporary home. From the earliest of times even nomad’s had a place to return to after the hunt, whether it is a cave or some other type of temporary dwelling.

If I take a quick overview then home is a place, often physical, where you feel at ease, you feel that you belong. You have the right to be there in that little place that you are intimately familiar with. Home, big or small, is a place shaped around who you are and how you prefer life to be. Whether this space is ordered or chaotic does not matter, what does matter is that it is your space. No wonder we often get into conflict with people at our homes, even though we love them, they still to some degree impart themselves onto how we live and what we do. The more we can do what we want, the more a place feel at home.

When you visit a friend or family and they say: “Make yourself at home” then it is an invitation for you to do what you want to do. At a home their is some warmth. The most beautiful warmth is probably when you have people as part of your home, that welcomes you and accepts you for who you are. They do not want to change you but live with ease with who you are and with who they are themselves. At home you receive not just warmth but you are nurtured with warmth and safety. A place that does not foster a feeling of safety is simply not a home.

Home does not have to be luxurious nor impressive. The sense of welcome, the ability to relax, the feeling of safety and being connected with loved ones are the key components that makes a home.

In my ideal world home is a place structured along the lines of feng shui where every corner is a creative exploration of meaning. I do not know of any other art that place such significane to every aspect of the physical layout. Even if we do not have much money to spend on our homes, we can apply the principles of feng shui and bring more meaning into life. All it takes is to understand the flow of energy, of yin and yang and how different objects and spaces relates to those objects. The ideal home should be a space not just for safety but one that promote health and happiness. In this regards having access to sunshine will definitely be a very positive environment. My ideal home has big open windows with a place that is dedicated to spiritual practice.

When home is a place of connection, a place of living and a place of relaxing from the tensions of the world then it also becomes a temple for our spiritual practice of worship. My home is my temple and my temple is my home. If you can not be receptive to the divine in you home then that home is still only a home on a physical level. A spiritual home is geared to motivate you to sit in quiet and become filled with an awe for the eternal.

However we look at home. Home is not an attachment nor something we cling to for it is in itself temporary. Being a Stoic even if we have the ideal home, we must know that what we call home can be taken from us through circumstances. That home is not a place but a space we create around ourselves. If a disaster strike and you have develop virtue within yourself and you have a relationship with your own soul, then home is where you are and where you find yourself.

When you have a healthy and balanced root chakra the physical space does not matter. You are simply present in the moment wherever you are. In that presence as a creative being you are continually in a process of shaping your environment, making where you go part of what you call home. Ultimately home is a presence of being established in space time.

Other related blog posts:

1. Raise the vibrations in your home
2. Home is where the heart lies
3. Creating your space.

Reorganising my smart phone

People say my cell phone is stuck to my hand. I am not addicted to the web or social media but I do find a cell phone a great tool that is versataile and available for use. I organise my cell phone apps different from most people. Like everything else my method of organisation is based on intent and designed to optimise meaning. For some time I used the feng shui’s nine compartments to organise my life. It worked well until my internal storage became almost full and overnight something happened and it lost its organisations. I switched my phone on and it was like a different world with apps being strewn accross my screen in a totally unorganised manner. I decied to redo my method of categorization and since I am currently still busy working through “Your Zodiac soul” I decided to use the Zodiac as my means of organisation but to also keep it to my intent.

The method worked actually well and I can now be reminded how the diffferent Zodiac signs are manifesting in my life and I can now access each app with intent. I know most people would like to access an app with one click but for me it is with a second click where the first is designed to remind me that I engage with my cell phone in a purposeful manner. I like the new organisation and it says something about how I see each of the zodiac signs.

Aries – I play	Taurus – I have	Gemini – I communicate	Cancer – I heal
Leo – I read	Virgo – I account	Libra – I write	Scorpio – I create
Sagittarius – I discover	Capricorn – I plan	Aquarius – I know	Pices – I divine

• Aries – Initiating fire: Contains my game apps and fun apps, it connects me with my inner child and allows me to just have fun.
• Taurus – Fixed earth: Contains my apps like dropbox where I store files and images
• Gemini – Mutuable air: Contains social media and communication apps eg email, facebook, whatsapp
• Cancer – Initiating water: Contains apps for meditation, Reiki etc.
• Leo – Fixed fire: Contains apps like my kindle reader where I am developing and honing my leadership skills.
• Virgo – Mutuable earth: Contains my financial aps like banking etc.
• Libra – Initiating air: Contains my apps like wordpress where I am sharing and creating ideas and thoughts through contemplation and thought
• Scorpio – Fixed water: Contains my apps for editing voice, video and images to give expression to my creativity
• Sagittarius – Mutuable fire: Contains my travel apps like google maps but also my browser for these are my gateways to discovering the world.
• Capricorn – Initiating earth: Contains my planning apps and life tracking apps like habits and goals.
• Aquarius – Fixed air: Contains apps that imparts some level of knowledge that is already incoded into some format
• Pisces – Mutuable water: Contains my apps of divination eg Tarot, runes and I ching which I sometimes consult for ideas of how to move creatively forward in my life.

Loose talk

In what way do I engage in too much loose talk? What do I gossip and complain about?

In the army I learned during the a personel officer training to communicate shortly, accurately and comprehensively. Be to the point, be accurate and cover every angle needed. It is a lesson that stayed well with me throughout my life and it is possibly the most valuable lesson I learned while I was in the army.

As a toastmaster I have learned to condensed my speaking and how to convey a clear message with intent. And as a Stoic not to speak without a particular intent. A Rosicrucian principle is if you can not say something constructive about somebody then rather be silent. Consequently I do not easily engage in loose talk and would try to avoidit if I can. Like with worry, loose talk is a means of wasting energy. There is a social value to it to engage with people and to learn to know other people but we need to be thoughtful and considerate in our communication with others. Sometimes people are getting even more upset when we refuse to join them in such loose talk or gossip. Often potential friendships are lost as a result but those who remain friends are friends that one can trust when it really matters.

I would think that I am fairly disciplined when it comes to avoiding gossip and to refrain from complaining. I am more likely to look for something constructive that can be said or to put my effort into something creative that can actually accomplish an actual solution.

Praying too hard

Photo by sergio omassi on Pexels.com

What do I worry about; in what way am I praying too hard for what I don’t really want?

I can understand the logic that people when they worry actually manifest that worry stronger in their lives because that is where they fixate their consciousness.  Reiki’s first principle to recite in the morning is “Just for today I will not worry” and the practice of the 5 Reiki principles has been a very useful practice for me so far. Stoicism also taught me to focus on what is within my control. Again another very simple idea but also a very powerful one to work with.  These practices trained my mind not to focus for too long on the worries I have nor to allow them to steal my daily vitality to live life fully. Of course a person must take some issues seriously and it is not good to be like an ostritch with its head in the sand.  Action must be taken when the time is right. But to worry has not solved any problem and will not solve any problem. I have long argued that the opposite side of tension is creativity. Worry and anxiety robs us of our creativity. When we focus our attention not to worry but to become creative then a whole set of new possibilities opens up for us to work with.

My greatest worry point is whenever I have some debt that must be paid. As long as I can avoid being in debt I have very few worries. This might result in me attaching to a scarcity attitude or a risk adverse attitude when it come to managing money.   I am less willing to take a risk to achieve something when money is limited or seen as a big amount of money.

The other money related worry is that if I do survive beyond a functional phase of life where I can no longer generate an income. Will I be able to survive? This might even be due to my overall money management skills.  This worry has shortened my life expectancy and has a negative impact on my long term planning.  I live maybe sometimes too much in the now and disengage from the virtue of being prudent in my actions by making provision for a future of no earnings.

The last worry I have already blogged about is my worry to leave a meaningful legacy to humanity when I die.  It seems to be a question many men, in particular, ask when they hit their mid life. I have always wondered if I will be able to leave a legacy that is meaningful. How long will my life have a positive resonance after I died and how many people will I have effected positively…that is the question.  The positive of this worry is that I have engineered my life to expand in several areas and I continually seek leadership positions where I can make a difference. But an honest look at my life reveal a mundane and almost insignificant impact of my life on the life of others.  The negative effect is that I am often overly critical of myself and I am often not acknowledging my own value in the process.

We need to be aware of the thinking that consumes our cognitive capacity. It is easy to be so obsessed with an idea that we that we waste much energy and time that can never be recovered. The key is to be aware not just of the things we tend to worry about but also to develop strategies to deal with those worries and an understanding of the negative impact some of those worries can have on our lives.

Language patterns we use.

Photo by Gratisography on Pexels.com

What language patterns do I get stuck in? Notice any stock phrases that you use repeatedly?

I have consciously trained myself to inlcude the three magic words potential, opportunit, and possibility in my vocablary and widely adviced people as a simple practice to incorporate these words of power into their vocabulary. I can say with confidence that this had been my practice and if you read my blogs and hear me speak I often use these words that describe the unseen and yet is loaded with energy. Here is a short summary of the meaning these words have for me.

• Potential is the latency that is dormant in any situation whether it is a good or bad time
• Opportunity is the window that opens up in time when it is the right time to act.
• Possibility is the degree of certainty we have of realising an intent within a given moment or context.

Another favourite phrase in my vocabulary is momentum. That is the things already happening in the world around us, patterns and processes we, or somebody else has already started that is still continuing with energy behind it.

Having taken a positive approach generally to life I am always looking for the positive in any situation no matter how bad it is. So a phrase I often use is: “At least”, like in “at least the glass is half full”. This phrase is one that says no matter how bad things are there must be a silver lining behind every cloud.

I tend to use the phrase “I am listening” when I am communicating and somebody is very upset or passionate about a topic. I do not want to break the flow of their recourse but I also want to let them know I am listening. This is maybe a stock phrase but very effective to allow somebody to finish speaking without wondering if your mind is focused on what you are actually saying.

I use the phrase “It sounds like” often to verify what a person said without commiting to it.  It might be irritating for other people.  It sounds like is often a “too save” means of speaking because I leave the door open to be wrong. I am not saying what is said…I say what it sounded like.

It is a very interesting practice to focus time to find the words and phrases we normally use and also to start to shape those phrases to that which helps us to achieve more.