Now this is Magic (-;

My life has been unfolding in a very graceful, peaceful, magical way for some years now. It is simple, joyful, fulfilling and I feel blessed and grateful each day, each breath.

However lately, there has been such an upgrade of magic that I haven’t even been able to begin to recount it! Anyway, here is part of the bundle.

I wrote my first children’s story called So it’s Simples! / Afinal é Simples! (it’s bilingual - Portuguese and English) almost 6 years ago and asked several different people if they could illustrate it... 

Then I let it go, because no one who said yes could come up with Ivo's image - Ivo is the main character, a 5 year old child with an avid imagination, a very sweet heart and whose innocent outlook makes everything extremely simple. He goes through a very big challenge and is then lead to listen to his heart, which takes him to his Centre where he discovers his Essence, his Safe Space and many other treasures he didn’t realise were there… he of course discovers all this through his breath.

Well one day, last year, on the 23rd of April, World Book Day, I went to a book presentation I had been invited to, in the Christ Convent - the place where the Order of the Templar Knights was born - a very beautiful and relevant monument in the town I live in here in Portugal, in Tomar. It was a poetry book called Fluid Margin and a young man named João had illustrated it. It had been written by his music teacher, Ricardo Grácio. 

I sat right in front of João, of course not knowing at the time who he was or why he was there. As the poet presented and spoke, he eventually showed the illustration and presented João, his young music student whom he admired very deeply. As soon as I saw the drawings I knew this was the illustrator for So it's Simple! and at the end I went up to him and asked if he would like to read the story in order to feel whether he would like to illustrate it. 

He was 17 at the time, ending high school. He read it that very same day and immediately said yes. We established a deadline for the 15th of July which he fulfilled and a month ago we signed the contract with the Publisher. João is now at the Fine Arts Faculty taking a degree in Drawing and we now have this partnership for the book, which I felt just had to be so because the book would not be what it is without the illustrations, so it has now gone beyond being mine, or his, it has gained a life of its own.

Well this young man is a Master. I don’t know who he was before but of one thing I am sure: he is a Master. 

The book is to be launched on the 1st of February 2020 at Tomar’s Public Library and when we asked for the space the Municipality immediately offered to partner with us, so we didn’t have to pay for it and they still spread out invitations to all school children up to the age of 12 in the Municipality’s jurisdiction.

The book was to be ready on the 20th of January but it arrived at the Publisher’s a week earlier!

This allowed us to start making contacts with other Municipalities proposing that they buy it for the children in their area and so it is that on our very first meeting we sold over 200 books! And the book hasn’t even been launched yet!

Amazingly João, who seems to be shy, has turned out to be an excellent presenter which is just what we need, since we are presenting the book together with a Creative Writing, Drawing and Conscious Breath Workshop. 

So we managed to have not one but 2 pre-launch sessions this last weekend, one on Friday at an amazing school, with around fifty 12 year olds - 7th graders here in Portugal, in Porto, up in the north. This was our first experience presenting the book and the workshop to go with it and it was amazing! The funny thing is there aren’t that many schools with an experiential learning programme in place and we landed in just one of these schools! Both the children and the teachers loved it and of course we sold some books as well. 

We stayed in Porto at a Hostel called Yellow Hostel and the place was just perfect in all senses. When we arrived there were no parking spaces on the street so I drove round the block and found a place, the only one available. It turns out it was free and this was an all-paid area so finding this space was quite magical.

Then on Saturday the most amazing thing happened. We went to an English Teachers' Conference and I had only 20 minutes to present 3 different things (My new online Courses: Focus https://www.institutolindaschool.com/focus-snippet and Super Stress Relief Kit https://www.institutolindaschool.com/StressReliefKit, 

So we basically had just 10 minutes to introduce the book. As we arrived and I was hugging the organizer, the secretary hands her the phone. She goes into the Conference room. After a short while I see she is not on the phone anymore so I come up to her with a gift. 

She is having a panic attack because the lady presenting before my presentation is suddenly feeling under the weather and can't come. When she said she was panicking, I just said "take a deep breath and relax, all is well", so she looks at me and asks if I would fill the space in for her! Turns out we had the whole workshop prepared for the kids from the previous day so we had it all ready to deliver to the teachers.  We ended up having 1h15 min to present it all properly and get the teachers engaged in the workshop. It was an outstanding experience… with yet more books sold!

When we got back from lunch the lady who had been feeling ill was already there! She had apparently started throwing up in the morning and then lay down, fell asleep and woke up better.

Now go figure that one👀 😁

Just a few more magic instants related to this book:

We decided I would write the emails and João would take care of the promo video. We decided it would have some animation. João, however, has never done animation. That is no deterrent for him anyway and at no instance does he say he can’t do it. Well the following day he has to go to Uni to take care of some things. He meets this guy who is in the second year of his course and they start talking. He tells him all about the book and starts discussing the video issue. What is this guy now into? Precisely learning and practicing animation! So João hands him over the task and that’s it. Here’s the video, which I absolutely love 👏👏👏

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1G-LnVjWRLM and in English: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RiLQVjCrak

Last week on Wednesday we had an interview at the local radio / newspaper. I had got a lift to town in the morning and it had not been raining so I had no umbrella. But when I set off for the interview it was raining. I didn’t mind. Just put my hood over my head and walked on. Around 100 metres down the road I find my daughter’s ex high school class director coming out of her garage. We chatted for a while and I showed her the book. She suddenly asks me if I don’t want a lift since it’s raining. I initially refuse, but she insists and I say “ok, thank you very much”. I get in the car and she takes me right to the door and doesn’t let me leave without lending me her extra umbrella.

This very same day João was supposed to have brought 60 books with him from the Publisher in Lisbon. He would have had to do so by train. But it was not necessary since all of a sudden my mother tells me the day before that she is going to Lisbon to visit a friend who has cancer. The publisher’s wife happens to be going to a place right in front of that hospital that very same afternoon so the delivery is smooth and simple. The lady whom my mum went to visit that day finally passed away this Sunday, after some very painful weeks of avoiding letting go.

On Tuesday I decided to go to the Library just to confirm the time we will be arriving on Saturday for the presentation. It occurs to me to call first and check whether the director is there but I decide not to and trust she will be.

When I arrive, I ask the receptionist who says she isn’t there. Nevertheless, she goes and checks and actually she has just arrived!

On Wednesday we go for another interview for another radio station in a town nearby. Turns out it's going on on Saturday the 1st Feb in the morning, the launch is in the afternoon at 4 pm and it is going to be put ahead of another 4 which were already waiting in line... Our interviewer just said it made sense to pass this one on first :D And while we're there I ask whether we could use the studio to record the audiobook and bam! Starting the recordings today...

It's all so simple and effortless. A blessing to live and to watch💙💚💛💜💖

I could go on and on because the rate of magic happening has quadrupled, but I’ll share some more in another post.

Have you been experiencing your magic in HD also?

Setting everyone else free! / Libertar todos os outros!

We have been pretty well programmed to pre-conceive not only the world around us but people as well. 

We define them in our minds as being so and so and then we define our actions or inactions according to the idea we have of what they are going to think, say or do. 

Then we determine the outcome of our future interactions and live our lives based on this pre-determined landscape of tin soldiers we have lined up in order to make sense of life.

The thing is, that in doing so we prevent ourselves from experiencing each moment and allowing it to unfold in its own simple way. This complex web of pre-defined events seems to form a somehow protective layer of predictability and therefore “safety”.

Basically, either we get ourselves busy rearranging the future or rearranging the past and completely lose the now. 

And I say this also for very spiritual people, awakened humans who know they are not only their ego.

Each time we avoid being completely truthful, completely our not so “normal” self in accordance to what we think is expected of us, we are living fake lives and emprisoning not only ourselves but everyone else in the process.

This is probably why mankind has concocted this ridiculous idea of a God that controls everything, as if we were all puppets being moved to and fro at the Divine’s most convenient will. 

We, are the Gods who aspire to control everything and everyone!

Well if you’d like to feel free, really deeply free, I invite you to have a look at all of the ready-made ideas you carry around with you on a daily basis on how each other person you know is expected to act according to your cues. And then, in a bold move, throw it all down. Let all of these pre-arranged ideas crumble into the now, as if the little tin soldiers were turning into clay and breaking into minute pieces of dust, diluting completely in the alchemy of your consciousness.

Then, allow yourself to think, say or do exactly what your heart invites… Sit back as you do so, sit back in your Centre and observe yourself and others. 

You will be surprised how simple everything becomes and you will realise that in fact others are not the issue - you are.

Fomos bastante bem programados para pre-conceber não apenas o mundo à nossa volta mas também as pessoas.

Definimo-las na nossa mente como sendo de tal e tal forma e depois definimos as nossas ações e inações consoante a ideia que fazemos acerca do que vão pensar, dizer ou fazer. 

Depois, determinamos o resultado das nossas interações futuras e vivemos as nossas vidas com base no cenário pré-determinado de soldadinhos de chumbo que alinhámos para conseguir entender a vida.

O que se passa é que ao fazer tudo isto, impedimo-nos de experienciar cada momento, permitindo que se desenrole da sua forma mais simples. Esta teia complexa de eventos pre-definidos, parece formar uma camada de previsibilidade de certa forma protetora assemelhando-se por isso a “segurança”. 

Basicamente, ou nos atarefamos a rearrumar o futuro ou a rearrumar o passado e perdemos completamente o agora. 

E digo isto também para pessoas muito espirituais, seres humanos despertos que sabem que não são apenas o seu ego. 

De cada vez que evitamos ser completamente verdadeiros, completamente o nosso ser não tão “normal”, agindo de acordo com o que pensamos que é esperado de nós, estamos a viver vidas falsas e a aprisionar-nos não apenas a nós próprios mas a todos os outros também. 

É provavelmente por isto que a humanidade concebeu esta ideia ridícula de um Deus que controla tudo, como se fossemos marionetas movidas para trás e para diante consoante a vontade Divina mais conveniente. 

Somos nós os Deuses que aspiramos a controlar tudo e todos!

Bem, então se gostarias de te sentir livre, mesmo livre, profundamente livre, convido-te a olhar para todas as ideias pré-feitas que transportas contigo no dia-a-dia, sobre como é suposto que cada uma das outras pessoas com quem interages aja de acordo com as tuas deixas. E depois, de uma assentada só, num acto arrojado, deita tudo isso abaixo. Deixa que todas estas ideias pré-arranjadas se desmoronem no agora, como se os soldadinhos de chumbo se estivessem a transformar em barro e a desfazer-se em partículas minúsculas de pó, diluindo-se completamente na alquimia da tua consciência. 

Depois, permite-te pensar, dizer e fazer exatamente o que o teu coração convida… Recosta-se em ti, no teu Centro e observa-te a ti e aos outros.

Ficarás surpreendido com a simplicidade que nasce desta transformação e dar-te-ás conta que afinal o problema não são os outros - és tu e as tuas ideias. 

Experience / Experiência

Experience remains alive either locked in time and space or free, alchemized into pure consciousness.

Living in the flow of the Tao is allowing each experience to dissolve into no-thing-ness moment to moment, for it is in that void that it becomes available for existence to expand further and further.

Keeping experience locked in survival consciousness is a mere reproduction of finite awareness, creating the illusion of protection as each locked experience forms an armour around the Small Human Self, separating it from the rest of who he/she truly is.

Celebrating each now moment, with no expectation of what is to come and no attachment to what has just been, allows the Human to merge in complete Trust with its Divine nature, the whole of Existence itself. 

A experiência mantém-se viva quer trancada no espaço e no tempo, quer livre, alquimizada na pura consciência.

Viver no fluxo do Tao é permitir que cada experiência se dissolva no nada momento a momento, pois é nesse vazio que se torna disponível para a expansão contínua da existência.

Mantermos as nossas experiências trancadas no sistema de sobrevivência é uma mera reprodução de consciência finita, criando a ilusão de proteção, pois cada experiência presa forma uma armadura em torno do Pequeno Eu Humano, separando-o do resto de quem ele/ela realmente é. 

Celebrar cada momento do agora, sem expetativas do que está para vir e sem apego ao que já foi, permite ao Humano fundir-se em Confiança completa com a sua natureza Divina, a totalidade da Existência em si mesma. 

Whispers of Love / Sussurros de Amor

Aqui fica o meu presente para iniciar o 2020 com muita inspiração. Um e-book gratuito com 33 citações sábias.

Here is my gift to start 2020 with a lot of inspiration. A free e-book with 33 wise quotes.

https://book.designrr.co/?id=15448&token=814819818