I just found myself in my local bank talking to one of the staff about The Alchemis, The secret, the laws of the universe, living your passion and most importantly the thing we all ’strive’ for happiness. Thank you so much Hiteshi (I hope I spelt your name right) for reminding me of that which is true. I think we have now moved into a very interesting time in the world, I have met so many people who have lost their jobs and have said that they really want to be doing something more creative and from their heart, is that we lost the ability to live from our heart and to have faith in life, have we been trying so far to control the world around to keep us ’safe’ and all that has done is caused us to feel empty and dry inside.
If you have ever spent any amount of time in a ‘3rd world’ country then, unless you had your eyes closed you will understand what is beautiful about their way of life, that I think most of us long for deep down even if we are not aware of it, their ability to be happy, regardless, happy with life and with the simplest thing. This week I have been writing my press release to send out to all the papers and magazines, to share my story, but as I have been writing it I have been asking myself what motivated me to create colourful eco bags, was it the colours of the country, was it the handloom fabric, was it the desire to make an income, was it to create a project to help women, to share my artistic ability, to inspire people to become eco friendly, yes to all of them, but there is one thing deeper than all of these things, a desire to capture and share that which is found everywhere you look in Sri Lanka, and which we are looking for in the west; happiness, simplicity, love of life, joy, all those thing that, no matter what we think do not come from money, and are wonderfully, beautify FREE! Money is just a tool to allow us to giving more of that which comes from your heart naturally.
Have we in the west built a cage for ourselves, looking down on those in developing countries as less than us, thinking we know the answers? Has our desire to create wealth led us to separate ourselves from our heart, quite possible, and of course this is not true of everyone. However my journey and experience of being able to see both side of our world, has led me to my conclusion that works for me. The opportunities available to us in the west can set us free, if we allow ourselves to live from our heart and to give our gifts to the world. In the east many of the people I have met have that beauty and simplicity in their nature that we so often loose when we move past our childhood, that wonderful freedom and connection to their true nature, but are so limited by financial means, and speaking to many of those people I know for sure that if they did have the financial means they would use it to make a difference to the lives of others. We do in the western world the access to the opportunities to make money, however many of us have lost connection to our true nature in the process of accumulating money, that beautiful simplicity, that we cannot see how to use that money to live a life that is based on happiness and fulfilment.
I don’t want to be ‘poor’ and full of dreams to give back to the world and make a difference but limited by my means, and I don’t want to be ‘rich’ and empty and disconnected to that which is truly in my heart. I want to live from my heart, with passion and integrity and to give to others and experience the joy of giving and sharing, and to have enough money to allow me to do exactly this. Money can add to this world in the most beautiful way when used as a tool for us to live from our hearts.
So to all those people who find themselves with no job, find the strength to ask yourself what you desire in you heart, and go for it. As for my bags if they spread a little sunshine and remind us that the things that we strive for are actually the things we already have inside of us, we just need to waken to our own inner happiness, then I have made a difference. http://www.bagsofcolour.com http://www.bethshepherd.com