By Grace I Am Saved.

If you haven't been sleeping under a rock lately, you will no doubt have noted how it's become ever so trendy to conform to LOVE and spiritual awakening and embrace that we are all god and that if you just put up some goals on a transformation board then the universe will hand it over to you. Just like any spoiled brat, we sit there and feel like we deserve this and that and here and now, and more and more.

And throw in some vegan cupcakes on top of that and you have LA.

I want to share my thoughts on this, because I believe that what we embrace as awakening as a form of love for all and tolerance for everything and everyone can pave the way for more darkness  - like a wolf wrapped in sheep's clothing.

Love is not tolerance for all. Love is not acceptance of everything.
Love is confrontation when something is not right. And we as humans have a very narrow mind and do not see clearly what is good and what is bad. If the truth is subjective, then we can spend into eternity discussing every case - because some of us will always be able to argue for why a certain behavior actually stems from love.

Love is not tolerance - ignorance is tolerance of everything, and when we tolerate everything, we stand for nothing. Love stands for something, love can be unconditional, yet it is still confrontational. Love is not acceptance of everything - and deep down we know, because that feeling of guilt we get, where do you think that comes from? Guilt simply does not make sense without a wrong and a right. Guilt does not make sense without a God.

The fact is, if you talk long enough with anyone who is embracing many of these spiritual concepts that are going rampant, you'll notice a deep profound longing to be whole again. And that their behaviors do not match that of a loving being - rather that of a deeply narcissistic being, trying to find fulfilment within themselves - in vain. It's not news that many yogis and gurus go absolutely bonkers, and go off on sexual escapades, as they cannot control the energy that is released within them during their practice, and they are still very much a slave to hedonism.

The paradox being that these are the exact same teachers, that we take advice from on how to become more mindful. People who proclaim that god is within us, and we are all we need.

This is absolutely crap. No one has ever found healing in their own solitude. Rather they go out of their mind with insanity, drugs (and yes, mushrooms count too), fanatical religious eating behaviors etc. All while proclaiming that love is everywhere, and god is in the stones and you and me, but please - let's not refer to the bible or pray, because that might offend someone, so let's just without names, thank whatever it is we believe in - let's pray to the rocks who cannot feel, the rain who cannot answer - but let's keep god out of this.

If I were God, I'd get pretty offended. As in: what, here we are thanking the sun and the trees and the bees and thanking you and thanking me - for what, I really don't know. It's not like we created anything - most of us have messed up so much, that we need grace and we need to let go of our attachment to our obsession with what we are so that we can follow our calling in life.

We are not god -  we are anything but. Fact is, we are only saved by grace.

And we are alone until we find God - that's why the God void within us was created in the first place. Certainly not so that we can dance around high on mushrooms and pretend that we are God and perfect beings. Actions speak louder than words - and if we were perfect beings, we would have a clean record. I don't know about you, but I have a lot of grace to accept in my life - and I could not stand on my own, that I know.

The feeling of being alone, even when we are in a committed relationship, have kids etc. only exist when we have not accepted God into our lives.

Because we are all alone without God - and through his Grace we are, indeed, saved.
And thank God for that.

I am certainly not thanking Tony Robbins, Buddha or Bank of America for that, just saying. Even though I am sure they are caring organizations, they don't know me nor you. And they can't do anything after darkness falls.

Savoring the flavor of Fall - Sweden.

Sweden October 2012
Glimpses of fall and gathering apples for cider making.
From GypsyTalesTM

Who Do You Want To Be Today?

Fields of flowers, Venice, California June 2012 from Gypsy TalesTM

"We are all here for some special reason.
Stop being a prisoner of your past.
Become the architect of your future."

Robin Sharma

The Great Challenge of Life by Jim Rohn

"Here's the great challenge of life - You can have more than you've got because you can become more than you are.
I have found that income seldom will exceed your own personal development. Once in a while income takes a lucky jump, but unless you grow out to where it is, it will go back to where you are.
Somebody once said if you took all the money in the world and divided it among everyone equally; it would soon be back in the same pockets. However, you can have more because you can become more. You see, here is how the other side of the coin reads - unless you change how you are, you will always have what you've got.
The marketing plan won't do it. It's a good plan but it won't work without you. You've got to work it. It is the human effort that counts. If you could send a sales manual out to recruit - wouldn't that be lovely? The major thing that makes the difference is what YOU do.
In order to have more, you need to become more. The guy says "If I had a good job I would really pour it on, but I have this lousy job so I just goof off." If that is your philosophy, you are destined to stay there.
Some people say if I had a lot of money I would be really generous, but I don't have much so I'm not generous. See, you've got to change that philosophy or you will never have "the lots of money." Unless YOU change, IT won't change.
Amazingly, however, when we throw out our blame list and start becoming more ourselves - the difference is everything else will begin to change around us."

Jim Rohn
1930-2009, Author and Speaker

The misconception of getting even.

So many times I hear this, "I need to get even with x, y and z to make things right, to feel better...". Really? You absolutely NEED to get even...? Why? Why do you think that you need to get even? Do you really think it will make you feel better to hurt someone just because they hurt you? Why do you think they hurt you in the first place? Because they are ALREADY hurting!
Who are you to decide the right amount of pain to inflict on someone else to make something right? Do you heal pain with pain? How do you make things "right" by hurting someone else?
That just doesn't make any logical sense. 

Every time you get even with someone, you step further away from happiness. 

Don't ever try to make "things right" by getting even; you only end up hurting yourself. 

Just let go and get over yourself. There are more important things to life.

"The only people you should get even with are those who have helped you."

Napoleon Hill 1883-1970, Author

La Jolla, SoCal June 2012 pictures from Gypsy TalesTM

The purpose of life is not to win.

"The purpose of life is to grow and to share. When you come to look back on all that you have done in life, you will get more satisfaction from the pleasure you have brought into other people's lives than you will from the time that you outdid and defeated them."

Harold Kushner

Rabbi and Author

I LOVE this!
Just like what you eat is key in determining whether your genotype will turn into your phenotype; environment is a key factor in bringing up the best (or worst) traits in you; and that is also one of the reasons I've spent a lot of my youth on gypsy traveling; to figure out which environment supports my own core values and gives me that sense of bliss so I can be creative.

Now how would that make YOU feel better, come on now:
you'd still be stuck in your own misery at the end of the day.

For me, there is no place like California - there is a playfulness in the air and a dynamic environment to think outside the box and get inspired by others instead of just participating in a rat-race where it's all about walking all over other people, aiming to make them look bad, so you look better.

The thing is, this sort of behavior prevents you from evolving and reaching excellence that is soul-deep, not to mention it brings deep unhappiness. The more you can appreciate the brilliance of others, the more you will be able to succeed and grow as a human being - getting inspired by others' success instead of being eaten up by envy.


Regardless of how much empathy you may have, it is close to inhuman to not run with the herd, making it all the more important to choose your environment carefully, because sooner or later you will tend to blend in as this requires the least struggle - even if it makes you engage in things that don't match your core beliefs. You are human and we tend to give in to instant gratification and temptation - so rather than waiting for your breaking point, remove yourself, if you find that you have to struggle to remain balanced in the environment you are in.

When you are around people who are passionate about what they do, and they have a reason for their acts that go deeper than shallow vanity, there is an amazing air of creativity and sharing that inspires you to be better as others around you excel - and that is amazing.

Shine.

Southern charm of Charleston, South Carolina from GypsyTales™

Sunshine fills my hair
There's dreams in the air
Magic everywhere

No need to hide
No need to worry
You can go higher

Let's kill tomorrow
Embrace today
Play forever under the stars

With every step you get a lil closer
Seduced by the light
Every moment lasts forever

Throw it all
Out the window
Watch it fly away

Escape the storms
Kiss the rain
Come tumbling down

There are no boundaries
Climb every mountain
You can go higher

Love is...

"Love is the ability and willingness to allow those that you care for to be what they choose for themselves without any insistence that they satisfy you."

Wayne Dyer

Author and Speaker

Not to forget that resolutions only last when they stem from a loving relationship
with yourself (and others). 

Any change driven by hatred is bound to fail...

The Power of You.

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

- Marianne Williamson

Traveling through the Sahara, Morocco, from Gypsy TalesTM

When the night has come and the land is dark...

My favourite place: Watching the sun set at Laguna Beach, California

No, I won't be afraid.

It's amazing how many of our troubles are all in our imagination. We have so much (if you are able to read this in English, and thus have access to a laptop... then yes, consider yourself privileged), yet many of us just can't figure out how to be satisfied... and that the more we pick up the pace on life's treadmill, the faster we go... the less we savour the moment.

And right now is all we will ever have.


There is something about certain songs that just resonate with your very being and everything you aim to be and wish for in life.
I remember standing at a Whole Foods late one night mindlessly grabbing some yogurts when this song came on and I began humming to it as did the guy next to me. How awesome is that? Standing in a supermarket late at night and people actually begin to sing because a song comes on!

This is probably my favourite song - so simple, and yet exactly therin lies its strength.

Manche Menschen wissen nicht

wie wichtig es ist, dass sie einfach da sind.
Manche Menschen wissen nicht,
wie gut es tut, sie nur zu sehen.
Manche Menschen wissen nicht,
wie tröstlich ihr gütiges Lächeln wirkt.
Manche Menschen wissen nicht,
wie wohltuend ihre Nähe ist.
Manche Menschen wissen nicht,
wie viel ärmer wie ohne sie wären.
Manche Menschen wissen nicht,
dass sie eine Geschenk des Hilmmels send.
Sie wüssten es,
würden wir es ihnen sagen.  

German poem by Paul Celan, poet and translator (1920-1970)

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Stairway to heaven, Playa Santiago, La Gomera, from Gypsy tales™