Irresponsibility

I love these demotivational posters available at

http://www.despair.com/viewall.html 

Many a true word is spoken in jest;-)

Gratitude Diary and the Sacred Kingfisher

When I was down at Byron Bay in late 2010, I came across this diary (above) and decided that it was something I had to buy, and and get into the habit of filling out on a daily basis.
Well, I started off the year strong, filling out most of January, and some of February, but then I just started forgetting as life started to distract me, once more.
Then yesterday I picked the diary out of the books that I had buried it under, and started flicking through all the months that I had missed, and read all the little gems that were already written in the diary, while looking through all the great photography scattered throughout it.

Then I came across this picture of a Sacred Kingfisher (below), caught in a rather unflattering pose, in the April section of the diary.
The next page/day was April 1st (April Fool's Day) and the theme for April was Projection, hence the bird squirting out a "projection".

So maybe the Sacred Kingfisher is telling me that I've begun the Fool's journey ... that's if I haven't already?-)

What a foolish thing to do;-)

The page the bird was projecting to, had this paragraph about projection;

"Projection occurs when there has first been denial within yourself.

Projection is an act in which you psychically try to throw out of your ownership everything that you have judged as being despicable or unworthy of you, something you don't want.

And so you will project it.
You will throw it up and out, and let it land on whoever happens to be nearby."

"What a load of crap!" ... did I hear someone snicker?-)

June is about "Separation" and the paragraph reads;

Don't surrender your loneliness

So quickly.

Let it cut more deep.

Let it ferment and season you

As few human

Or even divine ingredients can.

Something missing in my heart tonight

Has made my eyes so soft,

My voice so tender,

My need for God

Absolutely clear.

The Subject Tonight is Love, 60 Wild & Sweet Poems of Hafiz

I'm going to try and keep up with my Gratitude Diary from now on, because I think it is a very good practice to focus on the things that I'm grateful for, rather than spend time magnifying the things that I'm not grateful for.

If you want to know more about this particular diary, here's a link where you can find out from the source, but remember that these are for Australia and may not apply to northern hemisphere conditions, so find out first if you are considering a purchase of one;

The Gratitude Diary

Here's a YouTube about how the diaries came about, by the author herself - Morthern Spears:

I'm grateful if you've read this far ... see it's not that hard;-)

888

My first number-plated car?-) CY-888

When I logged on this morning to my blog homepage, I was surprised to see this; 
Total PageViews 888 , I couldn't help but wonder what it meant as far as numerology and symbolism went.
So, I Googled   888   and found this page;

What dose 888 mean? 
Transcript below;

 "What dose [sic] 888 mean?

well i know 666 means evil and stuff like that but what dose [sic] 888 mean. 
i want to know..it's on my skateboard! "

"Best Answer - Chosen by Asker"

This is what I found:
"888 traditionally symbolizes the sacred number of Christ number 8 turned horizontally on it’s side symbolizes Infinity, Endless Life. 
It means all time, past, present and future, centered in the present moment of NOW. 
On the Highest Spiritual level all time is NOW. 
Everything that ever happened is occurring NOW and everything that ever will happen is happening NOW. 
We create our present from our past and our future from our present. 
It is Karma. 
So 888 is a Triply Karmic Day. Karmic to the third Power. 
This is a very powerful occurrence.
In the Chinese system 8 is the number of the Total Universe, Fortune. 
I predict many Chinese will be booking induced births on Aug, 8 2006 to have their children born with this lucky number.
A certain favorite writer, seer and radical visionary of mine Stuart Wilde, talks about Infinity as being at a 90 degree angle from our present sense of 3D reality. 
To me, 8 normally appearing vertically, then turned on its side at a 90 degree angle which creates Infinity extends this sense of multi-dimensionality even further. 
It amps it up to an even higher degree.
888, the number of the Holy Spirit, an endless cord, the ourobouros serpent eating it’s tail.  
The Infinity symbol appears in a number of traditional Tarot Trumps, the Magician # 1, and # 8 Strength/Justice.
From An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Traditional Symbols by J.C. Cooper
“Spiritually, eight is the goal of the initiate, having passed through the seven stages or heavens, and is thus, the number of Paradise regained; regeneration; resurrection; perfect rhythm; the eighth day created the new man of grace.
7 + 1 is the number of the octave and a new beginning it is solidarity as the first cube, and it denotes perfection by virtue of its six surfaces.
There are 8 winds, directions in space. The wheel of time has 8 spokes.
The octagon is the beginning of the transformation of the square into the circle and vice versa. Eight represents the pairs of opposites
Buddhist: 8 means completion, all possibilities, 8 symbols good augury
Christians: 8 symbolizes regeneration; rebirth.  
Eight beatitudes.
Egyptian: the number of Thoth, the great metaphysical teacher.
Hebrew: perfect intelligence, splendor, the digit value of IHVH, the “number of the Lord” The Temple was sanctified in eight days. 
Circumcision, the covenant with God for Hebrew males takes place on the 8th day of life.
Hermetic Tradition: The magic number of Hermes. 
In Hermetic theology there is one chief god Thoth/ Hermes, inventor of numbers and geometry, and eight minor gods.
Hindu: 8 x 8 is the order of the celestial world established on earth. Temples are built on the pattern of the Mandala, the 8 x 8 symbolism. 
There are eight regions of the world; suns; divisions of the day .
Islam: The throne which encompasses the world is supported by eight angels, corresponding to the eight divisions of space and the groups of letters in the Arabic Alphabet.
Platonic: Plato has eight spheres of different colors surrounding the luminous pillars of the heavens."
I find your question interesting because I recently got a tattoo of a chaos symbol on my wrist. This symbol looks like a compass except it has eight direction arrows instead of four. 
It's supposed to represent infinite possibilities and signifies that life can go in any direction. You should check out the Chaos Theory.
Something else that's interesting is numerology. 
In numerology, when you have a group of numbers, you add them together until they equal a single digit. 
For instance if you had 123 that equals 1 + 2 + 3 which equals 6. 
If you add 8 + 8 + 8 that equals 24. 
Then add 2 + 4. That equals 6. 
Six stands for reaction/flux and responsibility."

Chinese: wholeness, all possibilities, good luck, the Ba Kua has 8 trigrams and pairs of opposites, the Book of Changes 8 x 8 =64. 
The circumference of the Bag Kua symbolizes time and space. 
There are 8 delights of human existence."

1964 was the year of my birth,so 64 is another favourite of mine.

That's all very interesting,and lots of food for thought.
I'll have to take a ride down Route 888 and check out the scenery 
for myself;- ) 

I'm not endorsing internet gambling, by the way. 

I just like their slogan, as it applies to living your life.

As they say "If you are going to gamble - gamble responsibly !"

I'll drink to that;- )