I need nothing!

Wouldn't it be nice to say, "I never need to work" ? Wouldn't it be great to admit that, "I never need money to live"? We CAN say these things but often we are too busy convincing ourselves that although it may be nice not to have to work till we retire, we still NEED money to live in society. This is a conditioned belief that we are more than capable of letting go of. Why do I need anything at all if I truly have faith that everything is going to work out fine? If I know I will always be ok (even without paper money) then why would I attempt to control and need things? I need nothing. We have convinced ourselves that we need money to live, which is a complete lack of faith in God (ourselves). As long as we believe that we cannot live without something we will continue to lack responsibility for our own well-being. As long as we continue to believe that we must have money to be happy or to survive we will continue to put our faith in a dollar bill instead of ourselves. This rat race will continue until we truly let go of needing or desiring anything. I am aware of the effects that this mentality of "I gotta have more" has on Me, let alone the majority of the general population. When I want something, I am not satisfied until I get it. When I get it, I am still in the mindset of being "in need", and so I am naturally in a state of discontent (always wanting more). It is one big viscious cycle that keeps going until we decide to stop and say "I'm done".....I need nothing.....you could take it all away and I would still be here and happy with my own existance.

"Tree Girl"

This wonderful story is about appreciating the eternal moment here and now and knowing that we need nothing in order to Be. The story was written by my beautiful brother Michael. Thanks buddy!


Gabriella: **Asleep on park bench**

NC:**Walks past bench, but slows down and walks back to the bench**

NC: Wake up." *Nudges Gabriella* "C'mon wake up.

Gabriella: *Wakes up* Why hello. Oh sorry do you want to sit? Or do you need something? *Sits up and moves over*

NC: No, I'm just wondering why your here.

Gabriella: What do you mean?

NC: I mean why don't you go out and try to be successful in life and get a job?

Gabriella: I don't need wealth and royalty to be successful and happy.
In fact, all I need is right here where I am right now. Everything is just how I want it to be, just perfect.

NC: It doesn't seem like everything is perfect for you. You are homeless and probably don't have much of anything.

Gabriella: I know I don't seem to have much, I don't have the fancy clothes, the nice warm house, the delicious dinners, or the option to go to school, but what I do have I am very grateful for. I'm grateful for the gift of life and everything around me. This park, those trees, even this bench, it is all home to me. I focus on what I have instead of what I lack.

NC: Still, how can this grubby park be home to you? I can't imagine living this way. I dress a certain way and look how I want because that is who I am. I just dyed and cut my hair like this because I believe it suits who
I' am as a person. The piercing also helped me express who I' am, don't you agree?

Gabriella: Who you are doesn't come from how we look or the material things we own, in fact it comes from inside. Who you are is actually built from your beliefs such as; what turning points you may have encountered in the past, and the people that have come impacted you in a certain way. It has nothing to do with your physical appearance. You do not seem to be comfortable with your 'self' right now and so you seem to only want to operate when hidden behind the 'mask' that you wear that covers your true identity.

NC: I AM too comfortable with my self! At least I have a clean pair of clothing, in this system you need to look and act a certain way to not stand out and I believe that I fit in just perfect.

Gabriella: No, that is not the point. You do not need to 'fit' in, because every single individual is unique in our own ways. The only person you can be is your self.

NC: Standing out of the group will not do me any good in pursuing the dreams I wish to follow. My appearance is important because it is me, my self, who I' am and who I will be in the future. Can you see who you are in the future?

Gabriella: As for myself, I do not live in the future nor the past, because the only time you can live is now. If I were to constantly dwell on the past, I would never be sane. So I tend to live in the moment and be accepting of what I have gone through in my past. Accepting things that come into your life is a very helpful thing to know how to do, because I accepted how it is, not how I expect it to be.

NC: Yeah right, how was your past horrible enough to drive you insane?

Gabriella: War, massacre, death, and everything terrible came into my life when I turned fifteen. In result of the war in Guatemala, my whole villages along with many other Catons were completely destroyed leaving everyone dead. I found my own family killed in front of my burning house. I also had to witness this happen, watching the women get raped, and even little kids being killed. I fled and some how kept alive, finally arriving at a refugee camp across the Mexican boarder where I could be kept safe. From then on I was grateful for anything that came into my life and this helped me get away from the pain and depression of past. I believe an attitude of gratitude may have saved me from being miserable.

NC: Uh wow. I would never have expected that from you. I do not understand how you are still such happy individual. Maybe you are partially right about appearance not being everything that defines an individual, but I still believe that shaving lines in my head and having it colored made me more unique and more myself. I know that I would be miserable if I were in your position. How do you keep a positive outlook on life?

Gabriella: In this moment, there is nothing wrong so I have nothing to be down about. Also in my culture in Guatemala, it was tradition to be taught some form of self-dependency and also taking responsibility at younger ages.
Also any of the negative things that brought pain to me were great lessons that taught me many things so I would learn from it and move on with my life. I never feel lonely out here either, because ever since I was a little kid I have felt connected to the environment around me. I loved climbing trees and being in the nature which always gave me a sense comfort.

NC: That is quite amazing, so in this society you really do not need a lot to survive as your self. I believed that I needed to change how I looked to be a different person when it is what is inside I would have to change. You know what? I think your right; this look on me just doesn't define whom I really am inside. I'll work on it and just be who I 'am. Thank you very much for teaching that to me. Now I better run or else I'll be late for school. See you around.

Gabriella: Remember to just be your self because that is the only person you can truly be. I'll see you around.

Faith

What does it mean to be truly faithful? To me, it means surrendering to the unknown (Myself). Through my experiences I have faith in myself when I know, despite all odds that everything is going to be ok. Despite my doubts, I must admit that I am constantly plunging into the unknown. I never know what’s going to happen next because everything is always changing. Yes, to be faithful I must release my doubts and fears, but everyday I practice this and it becomes easier; this is something I must admit to myself. I have nothing to fear. The only way I can describe how I experience faith in my day to day life is to tell you what I’ve been experiencing lately. So here is my story……

Two years ago, my wonderful boyfriend and I decided to leave the city in which we were living at the time. We both agreed that it was time for a change; the city pace seemed to be increasing as the days went by and everything was becoming ridiculously expensive. In the two weeks before we left, we got rid of almost everything. I have lived in the city my whole life and this process was tough, and yet liberating at the same time. I decided to let go of most of my prized material possessions. As you can probably imagine, this was a big step for the material human I had become. Sometimes, I’ll admit, that I feel bad for feeling regret over letting these things go. It’s silly really, I mean, these are material things, they come and go. Anyways, after almost everything was gone, we were ready to hit the road with our rental car and our two survival backpacks. We decided that we would go back to basics and leave the ‘system’ behind us as much as we possibly could. Admittedly, this was a huge leap of faith on both our part. Besides camping once and a while on family trips I had not had any long term ‘bush’ experience. However, we both had the willingness to learn and experience so off we went. We didn’t even know where we were headed (except that we were headed toward Vancouver). We figured we had come this far in letting go, we might as well put our full trust in God at this point. As we travelled along, I noticed that certain messages were appearing in my reality (no coincidence). Keeping faith in Myself I decided to follow my instincts and travel where I was supposed to go. As the messages continued, I noticed that we were being directed to a specific location; a place called Tofino. This particular location name was consistently being mentioned whether it was from people or advertisements along the way. As I continued to pay close attention to my reality, I noticed that thoughts in my ‘head’ were being answered immediately in my perceived ‘outer’ reality. So, needless to say, my boyfriend and I ended up in Tofino B.C. We soon set up camp in the majestic-like rainforest right beside the ocean and later on, we built our own little (and I mean little) cabin/shed. It even had a metal barrel (that we found) which we used as a wood burning stove. It was cozy…..and at times very damp! The ocean was a 5 min walk away where we would take long walks or go pick mussels off the rocks for dinner. It was a very simple way of life. As far as money, we didn’t use a lot. We ran completely out of coin a few months into our trip and had to rely on our own creativity to make money if we needed it to buy anything. We started picking bottles and brought them into town with our dolly…..I even baby-sat for a while, but for the majority of the 6 months we were out there we didn’t work. We relaxed and talked about life, God, and the Universe. Making the choice to not work was a big leap of faith for me because I desperately believed my whole life that if I wasn’t working, I wouldn’t be able to survive. Trust me, you can survive without money! The traditional Native way of life is a perfect example of this…….they never needed money, and they were very close and happy with each other. Not only were they taught by their elders from day one how to be self-sufficient, but they helped each other survive. Being in the rainforest and living with the bare necessities, I began to appreciate everything a lot more. I realized that I didn’t need anything at all. We have left the rainforest and now we are living in an apartment in a small town; I feel spoiled just to be able to have a bath! My boyfriend and I were working for a little while but our ‘boss’ was not worth working for and frankly we were both tired of working for other people so we quit. We have decided to take yet another leap of faith and start doing what we love to do instead of working for a living. A day after quitting our jobs I found out that I was pregnant! Ever since then my boyfriend has been on the computer non stop doing what he loves to do (his writing). He has published several articles onto his blog…..and it’s really exciting to see new people coming to his site each day. I’m really glad that he has found such an amazing outlet to express himself on because frankly, he has many brilliant things to communicate to the world. I admire his determination in doing this. He would really like to be able to have a family and not work and I wish for the same thing…..I have heard of quite a few people who have decided to make a living by writing on blogs and they do it quite well. A few of them eventual write e-books or do what ever they choose. As for me, I have started to sell things on e-bay (which I really enjoy)….I am also doing writings of my own (as you can see) and generally just enjoying each moment as it comes. I am happy doing what I enjoy and I am always open to new ideas. I’m glad that I could write this little blurb about Me and my adventures…perhaps you could tell me about yours? Talk to you soon,

Your friend,

God

Peace V.S War

I really find it funny (and honestly down right ignorant) that our nations hold onto the idea that we must fight for our freedom. This is the most contradicting belief I have ever come across! Now, I realize that this is a contradiction that I have created (to understand anything I must take responsibility), so lets discuss this….

How do our nations find peace if we are fighting?
How do we join hands with our brothers and sisters in unity if we keep getting up in arms (literally)?

The only way to peace, harmony and freedom is through PEACE, HARMONY AND FREEDOM. It is not achieved by going and shooting people. This is the simplest reasoning I am aware of, but apparently there is a part of me that refuses to see this because there is a part of me that continues to fight for my peace….which, by the way, is impossible. As long as I am in conflict with myself, I am not finding my peace within. By finding peace with myself and who I have always been (The One), I realize that nothing has or ever will be separate from Me (unless of course I willing choose to see the perspective that I am separate from the world)). If we really want to get down to it, it is the fear of ourselves that cause us to fear others (and thus go to war). We can justify all we like, saying that “Well, those people are terrorists and must be wiped out). Go ahead and say all you like about these so-called “bad-people”, but when it comes down to it, I AM everything and I AM those “other people”. If I have an issue with anything (lets say people I’ve labelled “terrorists”), I really have an issue with a part of me that I refuse to accept. That issue can only be resolved by Me and Me alone. Going to war is only keeping me in denial. If I am fighting the so-called terrorists, I have become the terrorist myself and therefore I have become the very thing I have an issue with (which doesn’t make much sense if what I really want is peace). If I want to stop the terrorists, I have to stop being the terrorist. If what I really want to achieve is peace, then I have to BE PEACEFUL.
When nations fight, we are not at peace; we are at war. Instead of remembering the bloody wars we have endured on Remembrance Day, why don’t we do our forefathers a favour and start remembering the peace that they were attempting to achieve? Why don’t we find that peace in our hearts and start acting like the truly grateful and giving creatures we have always been? I think this is what they would want us to do. If anything, most of them had to learn the hard way that you cannot fight for freedom; freedom comes from within and must be shown in everything we do together. We are all One, and we can act like it too. Join hands with your brothers and sisters today and everyday and remember the beautiful peace you have always had together…..that is true remembrance.