moemoeā

Dreams hold the essence of our potential. They are our future shown to us in the night but only to be forgotten when we awake. There has been thousands of words, seminars and teachings written and expressed over the reasons we dream, why we should follow our dreams, if you should take to studying what you dream or perhaps venture out onto a dream time journey into another civilization to find your dream world. There are also many forms of dreaming and just as many ways to remembering what you dream and how to record them. I wish not to talk about a known method but of "Moemoeà" the maori verb meaning to have a dream or a vision.

Often when we dream during our sleeping hours what we dream of doing or being is not really very clear to us. Yet if we follow the symbols and whispers given to achieving the unknown goals shown which often lie dormant deep within ourselves; just waiting to be brought to life, then perhaps dreams do really come true.  Do you need to get someone to translate then your dreams for you to reach that pot of gold?

Daydreams are the seeing of today’s reality from another perspective in the now. It shows us that time is but an illusion and focusing on only one solution is not the way to being open to more than one answer.  Do you search for the index to them in scared texts then?

Dreaming of change, dreaming of wanting something different, dreaming of a better future is the inner wish for living a life worth something. Should you find the key to the door to your dream world and future on a psychiatric couch then?

Dreams are the expression of our inner world being manifested in the future. When they become real they are then being lived in the present. To find these dreams do you need to extract yourself from modern society?

Daring to dream and then doing something with them requires nothing but a smidgen of courage in following through your own desires, hopes and wishes for working on yourself. For allowing that which you visualize to become more than just a pipe dream. For knowing and understanding that every thought, be it conscious or not, is the beginning of reality not yet placed into solid form. It is the start of having an awakened dream. A dream that is plausible. A dream, which you, can set into motion. A dream, which can be given further, if you yourself are not able to bring it about. A dream, which has an immense hidden potential.

What is important to remember about dreams are they are a single persons vision. If they become a shared vision it is because that one person was able to communicate the power held within that dream. This cannot always be something that is viewed as healthy, good or even helpful to mankind. I would term this form of dream more a nightmare. We have often through history seen the destruction created, of one woman or mans dream gone extremely wrong, on a large plain. Yet the opposite also applies in the passionate expression of a single dream of hope becoming the catalyst for immense positive change on a universal scale. For the nightmare was shattered into fragments of stardust upon which we could then take a wish into a better future!

Dreams stir a centuries old feeling of growing beyond that which we are into something magnificent. All encompassing. The expansion of ourselves, on a grander version, of that which we are now. That is good so, for it makes us test our limits and step beyond them. It also keeps us awake to challenging ourselves. What we need to do though is take time to dream. Sadly it seems we have forgotten this.

We have through the social media, through institutions and various establishments began to lose the knowledge of being not only able to dream but also being self-responsible for dreaming. That is why I asked above, if by the various forms of dreaming, you need outside help to knowing what you dream, understanding it and taking action. I believe not. Dreams are not to be feared.  They are to be treasured and held tenderly with care. You need just to understand we as humans have always had hope for reaching beyond that which we know. We have a curiosity to see and experience other ways of living. We desire a higher level of existence for ourselves as part of our natural evolutionary evolvement in surviving extinction. So dreaming is a way of searching for solutions. Reaching out to working through various scenarios. Solving obstacles that seem unsolvable. It is the reason we dare to dream.

To dream is to expand that which you are. To dream is to hope for more than you have in today’s world. To dream is to give yourself the ability to change, develop and grow into a better version of that which you are today.

Dreaming allows space for you to live in the present moment with the happiness of knowing there is nowhere better to be than here now, for it is taking you into a glorious future.

Your Korus

Footnote: the photo above is of a homemade sign which was held up by a young boy, along the road side during the UK Ironman race this year in 2013, where the dream of becoming an Ironman became reality for the many woman and men competing that day! 

Breathing in the seasons

Hidden deep within each and every one of us runs something very steady and sure, feeding our very core being. It can be felt often when we are in danger or experience immense fear, as a caring and firm presence, that gives us clarity. It can also be embraced when we look for it as I do when practicing Qigong Yangsheng. It sometimes is hard to speak of it as it has no beginning and no end. It is like water that flows around stone, cuts through uneven ground under the earth or between tree roots – it can be everywhere present. It is part of our life force. A powerful source of immense energy that does not only start at our birth or end at our death but is an evolving essence. It is also what binds us over time. A treasured gift indeed, is our natural breath.

So how does one find your own personal natural breath, which runs like a silk thread binding all your various roles you undertake in life, into one smooth flow without hyperventilating in the process? 

For me the start of understanding my natural breath is in knowing there is no need for a playing of roles with the accompanying masks, voices and gasps for air. It begins by simply going with the flow of Mother Nature. Walking in time with the seasons and taking a guiding hand from her is the simplest and least uncomplicated why of finding your own rhythm and balance of breathing within life.  She provides us with a beautiful motion of change that occurs in this “go with the flow” process that is inspiring. It requires very little to re-learn. A keen sense of observation and a willingness to slow down, take a step, with a slight pause between taking the next.  That is it. Perhaps also the ability to move within various landscapes can be helpful but it is not necessary in today’s world of multi-media that can provide those without seasonal experiences, an instant impression. 

Let us look at a few ways Mother Nature gives us the instruction book to being and shining in whichever role we are undertaking, as our own true glorious selves without a chop and changing of masks and with relaxing, flowing breathes.

In spring she awakens the frozen earth with a soft, warm sigh that slowly seeps over the hard, cold landscape. It is a caress. A gentle touch in the form of a reminder of what one was before. It continues further with the gentle warmth of the sun that melts the rigid forms the natural elements have taken on – frozen ponds crack and cackle, as the ice begins to splinter. The hardened bark expands to allow the sap to flow through its wooden veins. The clods of earth receive the spring showers, by breaking up and going back down into the ground instead of staying hardened together in clumps.

We can see these changes as also a way of taking time with ourselves in a gentle and slow manner when we have become frozen to allowing our breath to reach our toes. Letting it get caught up in the process of being stuck in our throats and causing us to feel strangulated and restricted. Instead when we are in a role that requires us to give the person over from us our support (a young child, an invalid or elderly person) we to could think more of Mother Natures gentler approach to awakening that which has been dormant for so long. Therefore we are the both the teacher and the pupil. Giving space in our flow of breath for those we interact with to take a step forward and allowing us to walk beside them, is the lesson from spring.

In summer she brings out her full power in the form of burning heat, whirl winds and thunder storms. The electricity that is generated during the months of propagation and birth of new life can be intense. The months of spring laid the foundations for what now is being birthed. Colour, power and movement are her main elements in which she dresses herself. There is an explosion of passion that catches our breath, makes us gasp at the wonder of all we see. What seemed long gone is suddenly to be rediscovered or has taken on another form and we experience new sensations that cause the pace of life to surge forward.

We ourselves are at times caught out of breath like in summer when parenting and being challenged by new and fascinating situations (such as in our work environment, new relationships or while on holiday) that can bring with them a sense of unbalance and uncontrolled pace. Our breathing is haphazard and/or short. Our heart rate runs on another track of speed and we are flushed by the passion it arouses, within ourselves as well as all around us. Mother nature has shown us this is a normal result of breathing life into form. We should breath into the roots of the hairs on our head knowing this is a moment, which will not come again in the exact way we live it now. It is to be felt as if it burns into our skin yet taking snatching breaths at the sensations cause only dizziness and we past out before seeing the spectacular finish. Let the senses marvel at what we see, feel, taste, smell by feeling your breath wash over you like a cool cloth keeping a slight moisture upon the skin, so it can breath with ease no matter how high the temperatures rise.

Autumn comes with a cold bite to it. Mother Nature shows her snappy edge by placing a slivery coating over the blades of grass breathing deeply her clarity of purpose over everything she sees. She knows that the passion that has been building up needs to slow down abruptly. She brings the frost and cool winds to clear our heads and make us reach for extra layers to protect us against her cut. She sorts out what is not needed for the coming months and disregards it leaving it to change form, taking on a new usage. She also gives hope in late flushes of warmth or colourful rainbows over multi-coloured tree tops so as to let us gently down from our heighted summer rush.

Our breath as in the autumn months needs to be able to at times settle. We take in air that at first seems to have no place to go then we realize we perhaps had been holding on to it, without allowing it to find its way through our system. We are teachers, healers, carers and yet we have forgotten but for a moment to allow ourselves to acknowledge that which we are giving. Perhaps we are students and have forgotten that to learn or re-learn requires reflection and pausing within ourselves so as to allow that which we learn/teach to settle. Our breath has to go under, through or over areas that have long been without nourishment. Like the autumn showers and thunderstorms we need to accept the hesitant, short gasps as natural and a way to a more soothing process, of breathing life into a new form.

Winter is bitter, hard, cold, icy and without mercy. Mother nature has a task and she goes head-on into it without taking care often of what stands in her way.  The timetable has been set and she needs to wipe the landscape clean of anything that cannot survive above ground when the ice and snow hits. Her breath freezes and preserves that which will be reborn again but until then it has to allow no chance for damage or rotting. It is a clinical, clear-cut breath that can often be frightening and fearful.

When we are angered or scared we have the same short, hardened breathing of winter. There is no mercy as we push out our breathes in cold, spiteful shots. Each breath pierces with deadly accuracy the stranger we “shot daggers at” or the friend we “cut to ribbons” with our hard, jabbing words. We shred that which is not wanted with shot burst of breath. The intake of gasped air when scared or sensing fear of something can cause the whole body to ready itself for a flight or attack action. They are unconsciously short but full packages of air containing life saving pellets of power. Clear, cold, calculated compressed energy capsules. This type of air causes us to be out of balance for a long time after. It takes or robs you literally of your life force and cannot be controlled. It can only be acknowledged which helps you retain your balance afterwards more rapidly. It is the breath of life that literally is the thread between living and dying. It is that which can in the end save you.

So within this small comparison between Mother Nature in her seasonal rhythms and our own breathing and how we can guide our breathes; by realizing it has different mannerisms that relate to the different roles and situations these faces require of us, perhaps a new idea lies for you. These few examples are given to help you see that with a keen observation of the seasons you can breath in the essence of being here and now, without a strenuous effort. Just like Mother Nature slides from one season into another, so to can you breath with easy through every stage and phase of your life.

Each breath taken with care is the natural expression of the face that you wear.

Your Korus

What facade have you over your face?

What facade are you presenting to the world now - mother, daughter, wife, lover, healer, business owner, friend or teacher. Are you living these roles always with the same inner essence, even if the task undertaken requires another face? Or does your mask bring forth another personality, another set of reactions to the actions you undertake? I can honestly say by me what you see is what you get. This maybe wasn’t always the case though but as time passes and I learnt to like then love whom I was inside and out, there is only one person who steps forward when called upon no matter what the role - me. Can you say the same?

Often when we place on our work clothes for business another role slips over our shoulders. My Dad, who worked in the hospitality business, always said to me “Korus lets throw on our glad rags and go perform on the restaurant stage!” For years as I helped out in his business during the school holiday time, I always thought I must do a type of theatrical performance when I served guests in the al-a-carte restaurant or function centre.  I felt as if I was a hidden director, giving out subtle signals to the guests for their cue to say “oh” or “ah” by the meal service or allowing them to be more than they were by exaggerating their understanding on a specific topic such as wine. Only later when running my own business, did it really dawn on me what he actually meant: those whom came to me wanted entertaining in the sense of an escape from their every day being or existence. I was that key to allowing them to step into another world, which felt as if “all was possible”, or could be made to seem so for a few hours. A dining experience gave the guests an escape, away into another play with varying scenes in contrast, to the every day run of the mill activities lived. Should that be the norm though? Why can you not be you, with all the bumps, lumps and corners that make up the person who lives a varied life? Can I not allow you, by my presence, to breath deeply and shine on your merits during your evening out. There is something much more intriguing for me when I am confronted with an honest, complex person who gives you the feeling you are worth your weight in gold than one who is only after where you have your gold deposited - in your wallet.

Reminds me of a song I love, in which the singer asks her different male companions from various lands;  “Honestly should I do it in these shoes?” as if another nationality requires another style. I mean here I am in my aging covering, having lived what some people would never even experience in half a life time yet should I perform or place on another “skin” just to suit you when we met? Heck no.  This is it. No replay now. Perhaps you might not feel comfortable with me yet I would rather step forward, as the grandest version of the person I am, than a minor image of the person you feel I should be. 

How do you be just you wearing the intriguing face of a person I want to love? Through your own breathing. When I say, I breathe in life, with deep breaths just as I am, I really am speaking literally.  I can take life to face value because I literally breathe it in. I cover nothing up. We have a responsibility to ourselves to try and reach the levels desired within our dreams as we live our lives in the here and now.  It can maybe cause you pain. It can maybe bring about a result you do not at first expect. It can perhaps challenge you on levels you have never had to deal with.  That is the key to understanding how to being you. It is possible to look in the mirror and love the eyes staring back at you and if you think not, then you have only one person to blame - yourself. You hold your breath at taking the chance to giving the most deserving person - you, all the love in the world.

I stood before a moment of being “non-existent” this year when literally the breath of life was being squeezed out of me. I experienced this because I was true to myself and showed my own face to help another get moving within their thought process; therefore I feel I have the right to say this.  We blame to often others for our handling of a situation or the after math. When we should really be taking the mask of the victim down and acknowledging we all play a role in a scenario that can evolve.  Sadly though we would rather give our strength away in keeping a “poor me mask” on than take hold of the “mask of empowerment”. Perhaps we feel we can help release a misunderstanding as I did and this then revolves into an uncontrolled situation. Whatever the reason I must acknowledge the face I display to the outside world is that which I am judged by. If it is my true self then I have to accept perhaps the reaction I receive is well off the mark I would expect. This is no blotch on my part. I am playing only a mirror role for the person who stands over from me. They can perhaps not accept the face of truth. It does not mean I should not be true to myself.

Instead I breathe deeply and know that it heals all wounds. Hold your breath within and you block that which should be. Give too much air out in sharp, short bursts then you are not utilizing your energy in a profitable manner. If you feel dizzy from inhaling quickly then you want to run away from your present situation.  Breathe unevenly then you cannot yet accept where you are in your life situation. Perhaps you hold onto your breath hoping an unpleasant situation dissolves itself.  

If you inhale inwardly slow deep, soothing breathes in an even rhythm that shows me you are a connoisseur of living life with the true mask of you in the present moment. You are aware of yourself as the one and only face whom stands up to take responsibility for whatever you undertake.

A brave soul is one whom likes to step forward upon the road they are travelling, even if the ground is not smooth and easy going, for they know it is in the experience which you are having, that the treasures are being gathered for the memories of tomorrow. 

To understand yourself and be open and strong enough within your own skin, to live how you see and experience life is not possible for many today perhaps, yet it is the desired winning post to be strived for in the future. How often do we only want to throw away the mask worn, which we feel is needed to perform the role required, so that we can "live the life we strive for"! May those of us whom can and are, totally comfortable in the skin we have, be the examples for those trying to get out of the false coverings they have taken on, on how to live a true and honest life as the person who is meant to shine in your own glorious set of “Emperors clothes” (birthday suit)!

Look at your own face and see all the roles loving presented to the world in a unique single mask of beauty – I can see you and I love what I see!

Your Korus 

Jump into life now

Simmering on the stove now is a Green Tomato Chutney; the most exotic recipe that I inherited from my beloved nana which I just love cooking in the late summer. It takes patience to make.  To require that I wait until the last of the season’s tomatoes have ripened and the frost is dancing over the late summer blades of grass before I dare say it – my tomato plants have out lived their life and it is time to gather, the abundant last batch. The green ones whom will never see red!


Usually I collect rather a weak gram count but some years, as in this one, I have two kilos worth of perfect green fleshy tomatoes that have gathered a flavour that is only enhanced when made into a spicy sweet/sour chutney. And so the fun begins …


The procedure requires that I slice and dice onions and tomatoes up, to be left for twenty-four hours with a sprinkling of salt over them, before adding the required herbs and chilies then simmering all slowly for over a period of several hours. There are traditions to be followed here, on various levels. The recipe comes from my Grandmother. The procedure takes time. It can only be done at the end of the season. The tomatoes must be green. Also I really need to remember the power of the chilly. I always forget this and fiddle around on my face afterwards causing a very pronounced long lasting “burn”! 

When ever I wondered if I could vary the recipe my Nana would say to me; “I have given you the way to put it together, you need only to savour the art of doing it; realizing what it is your undertaking then the result will be mouth watering, no matter what the slight changes you make might be.” Such wise wisdom loving told to me in these words.

So as I cut, mix and stir my green tomato chutney in my kitchen today, I reflect on how my Nana not only gave me a delicious recipe but also the foundation for today’s whisper: “If I learn to care for, wait and appreciate that which I am given I will have the most fabulous result at the end. I need only let time flow in its natural rhythms for all to fit into place.” 

Green tomato chutney, life and living it to the fullest here I come.

Your Korus