Change

I have been listening mainly to one song for the last two, three weeks.  I listen to the radio in my car in Istanbul and in Fethiye there is a CD that I have been listening to for the whole of last year.   However, in the last three weeks regardless of which city or town I was in, there was only one song for me.  Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah.”

This happens to me sometimes. I seem to find comfort in the words, sounds or the frequencies of one particular song that I keep playing over and over again.  I listened to various versions of this song and Jeff Buckley’s is the one I keep listening to.

And I cannot help but think and wonder why I did not go to the concerts that Leonard Cohen gave in İstanbul in the last few years.  I knew about the concerts.  I knew his songs, but for some reason I had not listened to “Hallelujah” up until a month ago.  Then I heard three different versions of this song one after the other by coincidence.  “Hallelujah” changed Leonard Cohen for me.  That song made me feel what Cohen is all about. Especially through Jeff Buckley’s voice.

I remember that I had a similar but more intense experience about 8 years ago. I kept listening to one song over and over  for two or three weeks right after my Dad passed away.  I kept listening to the same song. Again over and over.  And I also painted. I painted with the same set of tones of blue, listening to the same song, until I could not anymore. Then first the colours, then my music changed.

There are many ways to heal ourselves. There are many techniques.  Sometimes all we need is the frequency of a song washing our body and soul.

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A friend of mine posed a question a few days ago. His question was “Why do we change if we ever do?” His follow up question was “Do we ever realize and admit that we are wrong, and how often do we do that?”  With these simple questions in a group discussion I found myself looking back.  Surely I did change my life of forty something years. Why did I change when I did? Not only where I live, what I do for a living changed, but also what I believe in, my inner world also changed quite dramatically.

What made me change the most? The main reason was probably pain.  The pain of the not so pleasant experiences of my life.  I changed because the way I was did not work for me. I also changed because of my regrets of the pain that I caused in other people’s lives.  It is not easy to accept that we could be the reason for the sadness and disappointment in other people’s lives.

And what made me change even more drastically was seeing people whom I have hurt - mostly unknowingly, but who did not seem to have any resentment or anger for me.  The people who let themselves be hurt by me until I discovered what I am doing. They taught me the most.

I am listening to “Hallelujah” again tonight. I realize that two days ago, as I was listening to the same song from my laptop computer in my living room in Arnavutköy in İstanbul, it was difficult to hear the music.  The sound of the traffic at the Bosphorus, the sounds of the boats, the sounds of the big city, the hum had made it difficult to hear, even with my windows closed.  And I had thought that the sound system of my computer was not good enough.  I had thought the recording was probably not good enough as well.  Two nights later in Fethiye, suddenly the same music from the same computer is almost too loud.  Hallelujah.

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Living in two cities simultaneously makes me continuously aware of differences. In the weather, in sounds and colours, in relationships, in friendships, in what is meaningful. The list goes on.  So much is different between Fethiye and İstanbul, and so much is different in my lives there.  I travel at least once a week; sometimes I find myself in airplanes five or six times in one week.  I am not exactly in the position of the famous CEO who gave his most permanent address as 3D, his favourite and most common spot in the plane.  But routines are almost non-existent in my life.  Something is always changing. But, when life is constantly changing, what happens to me?  Does this allow me to change, does this make me change or resist change?

I found some of the answers to those questions in NLP.  Not all, but surely some. Those of you who are familiar with NLP Neuro-Linguistic Programming and meta models/meta programs will remember who all of us have different sets of inherent inner rules or rather codes that we seem to use as we steer our lives. Some of feel safer and happier when things are continuously chancing and someone of would rather have the same dish at the same restaurant at the same time of every week.  There is no right or wrong way of being.  And once we discover the thinking and belief system that we use to operate, then we can start to use our mind to create new programs, to ways to respond and act.  Hopely to make our lives happier and more satisfying.

I would like to share about NLP in the coming weeks.  If used with proper caution and understanding, NLP can be very effective in discovering the true positive power of our minds.

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Finally I will end by sharing some quotes from a tiny yellow pocket book that I received as a gift.  “The Little Book of Confidence” by Susan Jeffers.  Some are more easy said then done; however, maybe the power of these words do make it easier. Here are some of her suggestions:

-          The Higher Self:  Inside you is a place filled with joy, creativity, intuition, peace, power, love and all good things.  I call it the Higher Self.  Whenever in this place, your confidence soars and all seems right with the world.

-          The Lower Self:  Inside you is also a place filled with self-doubt, fear, anger, helplessness, scarcity and all negative things.  This is the Lower Self.  Whenever in this place, your confidence disappears, and all seems wrong with the world.

-          Lower-Self Thinking is a Habit:  Yes, Lower-Self thinking is only a habit.  The good news is that habits can be broken. By practicing a Higher-Self way of thinking, your fear diminishes and your confidence rises.

-          Become a Higher-Self Thinker:  Your task is set before you... It is to take the steps necessary to become a Higher-Self thinker.  Many of these steps are embodied in this little book of confidence. (ZK: Of course I will not be sharing all of Susan Jeffers’ suggestions here, but doesn’t even just focusing on love, peace, love and our positive experiences make us enjoy life more? Isn’t self-acceptance is one of the measures of inner happiness?)

-          Say ‘Yes’ To It All:  Real positive thinking is saying YES even to the fear and pain – realizing you will always get to the other side. And when you reach the other side, you notice your confidence has grown enormously.

-          You Can Handle It All: As you continue pushing through fear and doing it anyway, you learn to trust your ability to handle whatever life may hand you. Trust me on this one!

...

Thank you Susan.

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I wish all you joyful days in March. Best wishes,

Zeynep

Quote of the Week:

“As you teach so will you learn. If that is true, and it is true indeed, do not forget that what you teach is teaching you.”               

                                                                                                              From Course in Miracles

Affirmation of the Week:

“Everything that happens in my life is for the best.”

The Party's Over

Have you ever read or listened to Richard Heinberg? If yes, you probably know what I am about to tell you. If your answer is no, it is time. For even if the party may be still on, it will really be over quite soon.

...

This October and the first week of November I was in the UK. With only two days in London, I spent this time up in Scotland in the Findhorn Ecovillage by the Findhorn Bay. It is a forty or fifty minute ride from Inverness airport. I was in Findhorn to attend a training of trainers by Gaia Education titled “Design for Sustainability - Ecovillage Design Programme”. It was quite an amazing training with participants from all around the world. Literally all around the world, from Burma/Myanmar to Argentina, from Canada to Australia, from Mexico to Japan… And there I was from Turkey.

It was my second time in Findhorn. Last summer I was there to attend a training to be a facilitator of the Transformation Game. The focus of that training was on personal growth, personal healing and empowerment. This game which is also available in Turkish is one of the best personal development tools that I have seen over the years.

Well, last summer I thought I had been to Findhorn. This October I realized that although Findhorn is essentially a spiritual community and offers many opportunities for personal growth and empowerment, it is also a very important place for sustainability awareness in the western world. It is a centre working hard to create awareness about climate change and peak oil.

Findhorn Ecovillage has the lowest ecological footprint measured in the western world. Their footprint is about one half of the footprint of the UK. Findhorn’s footprint includes the national factors for health services, infrastructure, and all government related activities, which needs to be included in the official calculations and definitely increases their footprint.

In the east countries and the global south as well as in Turkey especially in rural areas and in smaller rural towns, sustainability is still a way of life. People have not forgotten everything. Not yet. Our ecological footprint in Turkey is lower than many of the countries Europe and Northern America. Our villagers are still self sufficient in many aspects. However, it is also a way of life that we are forgetting fast. It is a way of living that we need to keep it alive, that we need to learn from, in order to survive when the party is over.

What is this party all about?

I have a lot of things to say, and I am finding it hard to decide where to start.

Have you heard of 350? When I was in Findhorn on October 24^th, there was an interesting event that took place. It was about 350. People gathered in the Universall Hall in Findhorn to sing and dance to connect to Mother Earth and to the people all around the world who are concerned about the future that awaits us all. Actually many interesting events took place all around the word. On that day in 181 countries about 5200 events were organised to rally for cutting CO₂ emissions.

In short 350 is the number of particles of CO₂ in the atmosphere [350ppm (parts per million)] which is thought to be a safe limit for humanity, in order to stop climate change, to prevent the melting of the arctic ice and all of its ripple effects. In December this year in Copenhagen a very important event will take place and it could be a historical event for the world, for the existence of human life on this planet. It is the UN Climate Change Conference COP 15 Copenhagen. This could be a historical time when we humans start to take responsibility for what we have caused on this planet, our home in the last few centuries with industrialization, our inconsiderate use of world’s natural resources especially fossil fuels.

The current level of CO₂ in the air is over 387 ppm. We are over the limit that is considered safe by scientists. We are in quite dangerous waters. There is a very urgent need to cut carbon emissions all around the world. We are all sharing the same planet, the same atmosphere, the same seas and oceans. There is no private salvation. All governments need to come together and work together to find a way to radically reduce the use of fossil fuel energy resources. Countries need to find ways to use carbon free energy sources. There is no other way. We all need to reconsider our way of living which has turned into consuming Earth without consideration and respect for it, for all other forms of life. And especially in the western world. In big cities in Turkey we are modelling ways of behaving that has brought this trouble to the world. We are copying so called western countries which are waking up to the dangers waiting at the door.

For more detailed information about 350, I would like to recommend checking out the website www.350.org. This web site is quite up to date about what 350 really is.

Life on Earth will change as we know it. There is no doubt about it. Especially climate change and peak oil will change the way we live. We will wake up, voluntarily or through the waves of change. At this moment in human history, we are at a very critical point. It is a point where although difficult it is possible to make a change. Difficult, but possible. Yet, it is not a light decision. And I cannot help but think that so many of us are not aware of the changes that are about to happen.

There are things that governments need to do. By being aware citizens we can affect our governments to take this threat seriously. And we can do more. In hundreds of cities, towns and neighbourhoods around the world people are gathering together to find ways to bring resilience to their communities. In Findhorn I had the privilege some of these people who have started such initiatives in their towns. They are working together to organise their lives to make it les dependent of oil and are re-skilling themselves to prepare for both climate changes and expected increased oil prices.

As I listen to them, I realize that in Fethiye, people are already doing, have been doing what these people are trying to remember, are trying to learn again. They are learning about producing their own food through organic farming methods. They are supporting local producers, shops and products. They are relearning the skills their mothers, fathers, grandparents used to know to build their homes, to fix appliances, to sew, to knit, to cook, to make preserves and many more.

I do realize that I did paint a dark picture. My intention is not bring hopelessness or despair. Having seen Findhorn and what Findhorn Foundation has been trying to do to create sustainable settlements, to be a model or rather a laboratory for sustainable settlements, I have great hope. I have great belief in what humans can achieve once they are aware of the need to change and act with the will to change using proper tools and methods. We will need to change. If we change consciously and proactively, we can create a sustainable life that is fun and joyful.

Fossil fuels do not bring about health, joy and happiness perse. We created systems and life structures using fossil fuels. True. We thought that was the way. We lost track that we were using world’s precious resources as if there was an indefinite supply. We forgot. We got drunk with abundant energy. We thought it would last forever. Using fossil fuels is a method. We can change that. We can use these historic times to make life better, and reconsider what the words good and better mean to us.

This has been a very long beginning to what I would like to continue to talk about in the coming weeks. For the next two weeks I would like to invite to read about climate change, peak oil and 350. Until we meet again…

With lots of love,

Zeynep.