Month: November 2024

Chaos?

Confusion?

Resentment?

We’ve all felt them, yet you and I know how damaging they are.

I confess I’ve been out of action for a while and, in my usual style, I’ve felt very guilty about it. Guilt plagues my mind. It’s actually a great thing to be setting to work on in the final weeks of 2024.

You, at some point, have to realise it’s your life if you’re going to take charge of it.

It’s something I’ve found tremendously difficult to put myself first in anything and I credit deciding to leave London and return to my Up North home village as perhaps the first thing I’ve done for myself, despite the objections.

If you do anything for yourself, it’s likely to rouse the whole spectrum of opinions and feelings in others and the best thing to do is to suck it up, accept that you’re never going to please anyone, any of the time and start making self-determined decisions for yourself.

And I’m not talking about scraping the skin off anyone’s nose deliberately.

We talk about ‘on purpose’ with the negative implication of intentional malice but what about ‘on purpose’ as a tool for liberation? A tool for empowerment and making things simpler? Give that a good ponder my friend. This isn’t a dress rehearsal, this is it.

Seeing yourself, understanding yourself and building yourself are opportunities you can invest in over and over and over again and they have nothing but upside.

Will everyone support you? Of course not but here’s the real question….

Will YOU support you?

Blow, Gabriel, Blow! You might have heard of the Cole Porter song, if not, look it up, it’s a cracker!

But blow, blow, blow!

See me, see me, see me!

Everyone wants a hero and candidates for the ballot are only too please to steal everyone’s attention.

But, as an Englishman, it’s all rather vulgar.

Don’t get me wrong, I desire riches too, wealth, freedom, options and opportunity, absolutely but I want to do it in private. 

We equate fortune with fame for some reason.

Not me, sophistication, decency and pot loads of dosh – that’s my aspiration.

A million and one choices, with your head about to explode? Don’t worry, you’re not the only one.

I heard a great phrase recently (paraphrasing), like a seed, you may think you’re in the dark but, in fact, you’ve been planted. In time, your purpose will reveal itself when you reach the light.

Enlightening thought or, as my father, sister and I remarked – another interesting fact.

Doesn’t the world feel ever so unstable? Drop that thought. The world is as it is, your mind confuses and complicates matters. That’s what personal responsibility is all about.

When I recently moved back to where I spent my childhood, I did it to create a sense of being grounded, of rootedness. It sort of worked, mostly because the country is better for me than the city. Of course, there are some ghosts here, some resentments, some traumas.

Nothing is quite as perfect as it should be for a perfectionist like me.

But what I do wish for myself and for you is that you get rooted in your thinking, in your focus, in your aspirations – not just material aspirations (though I am not one of those possessions don’t matter people) but also your spiritual and emotional aspirations.

Being rooted means expansion, from a point of belonging, your roots spread and you have wide and vast influence.

Never underestimate the power you have.

The other day I got a lovely message from someone who has been watching my short video clips I post (in this case) on Instagram. A very charming man going through major changes in his life. He said what I had related had help him cast off demons in his life.

It was very touching.

It might not seem you’re having that much impact but by doing work on the daily, you can actually make a big change – to yourself and to others.

Now, I’ve taken a major jolt recently and I haven’t been recording said videos for a few days but I am getting back to them.

Circumstances may sometimes feel really bleak and dark. 

They’re not. You can handle it.

We want to complicate when things could be simpler.

I live under a near constant level of guilt that I could and should be doing more. It’s actually rather debilitating, ironically!

We also want to plan to the nth degree and leave no room for spontaneity.

As I experience more, the more I realise we don’t know anything. We think we do but we really don’t.

If a rule’s a rule, we all would follow it and we don’t.

There are so many people.

There are so many things.

There are so many possibilities.

There are so many anxieties and worries.

We’re human, believe it or not.

I can’t give you answers.

In fact, I can’t even give you hope.

What I can give you is this – you are definitely more capable than you realise.

So, The Trump won. Yippee.

I’m not here to rain on anyone’s parade but once you see the pantomime of it all, I can’t help but laugh.

We’re always looking for an answer outside of ourselves to make things better.

And those that we pedestalise as the saviours, they’re in perfect understanding of the games they’re playing. They’re not stupid. They’re also not the answer.

Since the announcement of Trump being back in office, has your life changed? Are you in a materially better position? Do you believe he’s responsible for a momentary change in your mental health?

No, you do see that right?

They’re clowns in nice suits (and often not nice suits) and they’re laughing at you. They’re hiding their lies in plain sight.

The point of the charade is not getting the person in office you want, it’s to see that it makes no difference.

When things seem impossible or hopeless, I do have a habit of closing myself off from the world.

I know it’s not healthy to shut absolutely everything out but it’s a cocooning method.

I describe these hard times as emotional epilepsy. All cylinders firing, every synapse a fireworks display.

But here’s the thing.

Keep moving.

Do little things, do big things, keep yourself out in the world as much as you can.

Hopeless is an idea, not a state.

Heard this before, yes?

Is it you saying it or other people?

In successful relationships, there will be a balance, otherwise, do you really have a voice?

Freedom matters above all else. It requires honesty, honesty to admit whether things are working or not.

I’ve learnt to trust my instincts on these things, even when it’s painful.

Life’s about living authentically.

What do you want?

Things could be quite simple, you know?

Agreement, disagreement, open to suggestion. 

I’ll confess, I’ve become rather intolerant and impatient with people in the last few years because things feel like really hard work and aren’t enjoyable to organise.

I definitely think people are overloaded, both mentally and emotionally. 

There is so much choice.

We’re more disconnected despite social media.

We have a predominance of voices who believe they have all the answers to life.

Tedious.

I’m on my own again and I am going to spend my time of learning to appreciate the stuff I’ve already done, to work on my projects uninterrupted and peacefully.

Maybe that sounds bleak to you but if you learn to enjoy your own company and get your own head and body together, that’s where the magic happens and you can welcome the blessings into your life when they arise.

Perennial phrase – it’s your life.