My husband and I were having a conversation tonight about the news and the increasing amount of violence that is happening in the world, which has always been the case, and is increasingly becoming the case in Australia.  He was saying how over suburbia he is and how he just wanted to go out into the country where it was simple and peaceful and away from all of this drama and hatred.

While I totally agree with him that I would like to live in the country, there is a strong part of me that doesn't want to turn my back on where the world is upto either.  More and more as I enter into this field of personal development, I am inspired and driven beyond anything I have ever done, to do my bit to help humanity change the way we look at each other.

I have recently moved from Melbourne from QLD and I can't help but notice how different it is from where I've come from.  People down here are so money driven and social butterflies, always looking for the next activity to provide some stimulation (or distraction).  There is a work hard to earn money attitude and then maybe we can go on a holiday and kick back for a couple of week in a year, if we can afford it.  There seems to be a competition for who earns the most money, wears the best fashion, looks the best, is the smartest, or anything that any majority of a group deems as a standard.

But let's strip all that back.  Take away the stimulation, the money, the clothes and let's all stand side by side, naked without our possessions or our distractions and take a real good look at one another.  Who are you that is my friend?  What are your dreams, your goals, your desires?  What are you inner most thoughts and feelings about yourself and this life you are living?    Tell me who you are without all these..things and let me really love you for who you are, not this mask you present to me that covers up who you really are.

I don't want to love you because of how much you earn, or who your husband is.  I don't want to love what country you've come from or for the many labels that you put on yourself and present to the world.  I want to connect with the real you, the one who loves and laughs and cries and hurts, just like me. I want to see you as you really are, a human being with emotions, fears, hopes and dreams, just like anybody else.

You see, there is a very strong part of me that sees this disconnection from other people in various forms, like judgementalism, victimisation, bullying, violence, deliberate pushing each other down so you can look better, and there's a part of me that is so saddened by all this, and part of me that is inspired to get out there and start talking to people.  Start "BE{ing} the Change that I wish to see in the world" (Ghandi), start teaching people how to love each other for who they are and look past the masks that they are being shown.

I want to help people strip away the pretentiousness of their lives and feel, really feel what life can offer you.  I want to teach people to let go of hate, blame, and anger towards others and see how conflict is just a difference in beliefs and that there is no right and wrong way to live.  We are all the same, it is just our beliefs that we feel defines us and allows us to separate ourselves from one another.  But when you take a step back from these labels and beliefs that we define ourselves with, take off our expensive or ratty clothes, take off our makeup, take away our beautiful house or cardboard box that we live in, and stand side by side, we are no different from the person next to us.  Get to know him or her, like really get to know them and you will find that they have the same emotions and needs. 

Touch, love, acceptance, belonging, affection, appreciation, respect, learning, experiencing, teaching and connectedness.  Strip away the facade and this is ultimately what all of us are seeking.  You, your husband, your children, your friends, your neighbours, your teachers, strangers in the street, the Aussies, the Chinese, The Iraqi, the Middle Eastern, Africans, Americans, everybody.  Separate the human from the behaviour and start to see what they are trying to achieve.  It is all in the name of one of these that we are all seeking.

If we all stopped hating the behaviour that we see and starting loving the human being behind that behaviour that is just trying to get one or more of these things, then we can teach them, through our love how to redirect their efforts to obtain these things.  Sending out more hate when we see hate, only contributes more to the hate in this world.  Understanding, compassion, love and time is the only way that we are going to change this world that we are in.

That is what I feel when I see violence and nastiness on TV.  How can I reach more people and love them, connect with them and help them to feel good about themselve and learn to love others, so that they can spread that message to those around them.  Now is not the time to turn our backs on this situation and live where we can't see it.  Now is the time to fight for change, not by fighting back, but by stripping back the layers.  Understand why people do things and teach them another way.  Because you will find, that ALL undesirable behaviours has its essence in trying to achieve a higher self-worth, and we are all beautiful exactly the way we are......all of you!  See if you can start practicing really understanding the people around you, especially the ones that you find the most difficult.  What is that they are trying to achieve and maybe help them to achieve that, instead of hating them for it.  After all, you are seeking it too, are you not?

Good night.