by Tom Evans | Dec 23, 2022 | Chatting, Expanding
RIP Reuben
At the start of this year, we had to say goodbye to our labradoodle Reuben. At 15, his legs gave up on him and we did the thing that all dog owners dread. I was with him as we let him go and told him that we’d see him again soon.
He was a rescue dog who hadn‘t been treated that well. As a result, he was timid but very affectionate and, like all dogs, a little naughty from time to time. He moved silently and stole socks and underwear, attracted by the smell no doubt. He would always be a step or two behind on a walk, leaving the introduction to other dogs to one of his braver companions like Wellington or more latterly, Millie.
For the last 10 months, Millie has enjoyed being the sole centre of attention. We are planning a major house renovation next year and living in our motorhome for nine months or so. So having one, well trained dog seemed like a good idea.
The Universe and soul of Reuben obviously had other plans. My better half wasn’t seriously looking but had an alert out for small, black, male labradoodles. These are Millie’s favourites as she can boss them around.
When a dog reincarnates, as for humans, it knows its soul path and what it wants in life and what it wants to learn. So Reuben liked us and our home and wanted to come back to be brave and adventurous. He’d had enough of being mistreated and had much to give.
So, six months ago, he came back as the progeny of a female golden retriever and small male poodle. This would guarantee he would be the right size to be Millie’s companion again. He even came back with the name of Lucifer, the light shower and change bringer, to make a point. We thought Pickle was a safer name to shout as we walk him past the local church.
Welcome Pickle
His first homing wasn’t right so he managed to nudge the mind of his owner to put him up for rescue. He ended up in a caring home but his new doggie companion was nervous about living with such a ball of energy, so he was put up again for rehoming.
This time, he hit the jackpot. His owner from his previous life spotted him and within a few days, he ended up where he planned to be all along. Dogs know a thing or two.
He slotted straight in and relaxed straight away. He learned that a grumble from Millie was a nudge to back off. He worked out how to wrap his new owners around his paws and do his every bidding. He had come home and was looking forward to another life of adventure and experience.
by Tom Evans | Nov 25, 2022 | Chatting, Scribing
The Cycles of Life
So this week was the first moonth in many years that I missed publishing a blog on the New Moon. This is just a couple of days late.
There is no particular reason but that I forgot but that I forgot as external events overtook my usual rhythm of creative production.
I had to take a few days out last week at the funeral of an old friend from University. He had been dying for sometime and he very bravely and candidly wrote about it. Actually with the slightest nudge from me, he produced three books of philosophy and poetry in his last two years of life. They are linked from the images above, all thoughts from a dying tosser.
I had the honour of being able to read one out at his funeral and I share one with you here which is the only one I managed to get him to record.
So this mindfully short blog is dedicated to my good and old friend, Nick John Kyneston Bushell – may your light shine brightly from Above and may you come back down to the Below soon.
by Tom Evans | Mar 19, 2021 | Chatting
My guest on this podcast is Stephanie James – a psychotherapist, transformational life coach, presenter, radio show and podcast host, author and film maker, so somewhat of a polymath.
In this podcast, we chat about the nature, source and infectiousness (in a nice way) of a spark.
We start from where the word ‘spark’ came from in the first place and then find out what first ‘sparked’ Stephanie off.
Topics covered :
- The spark within us
- How sparks cascade
- The source of sparks
- How to rekindle a dampened spark
- The importance of grounding
- Book-ending your day
- Marinating a spark – in dream time
- Are sparks internal or external – or both?
- Using the breath to really ignite the spark
- The different forms that sparks appear in
- Embracing all forms of emotions – that then spark things off
- The 12 Lights of the Round Table
- The other side of the Surrender Point
- Awakening to a new way of being & the gift of another day
- When Sparks Ignite : the movie : watch the trailer below
Links from the Podcast
Stephanie’s web site
The Spark Book
When Sparks Ignite : The Film
by Tom Evans | Mar 2, 2021 | Chatting
In this delightful podcast, I am chatting to fellow Insight Timer meditation teacher and the progenitor of Peacebeams, Jane Murray.
Note that this podcast contains a meditation at the end, so pull over if you are driving.
Topics we chat about:
- The notion of a Peacebeam
- Combining kindfulness with mindfulness
-
The new currency of KinderPay
- Putting planetary resources on the balance sheet
- KinderPay working alongside traditional currencies
- The importance of forgiveness
- Leaving the legacy of a kinder world
- The interaction between love and gravity
Links from the podcast:
by Tom Evans | Jan 5, 2021 | Chatting
In this delightful podcast, I am chatting to the intuitive channel, healer and amazingly tuned-in soul who goes by the name of Suzanne Ross.
Topics we chat about:
- How there are no job titles quite yet for what Suzanne does
- The transition from the corporate world
- The magic of Sedona and Mount Shasta
- Walk in’s and merging of consciousness
- The dark night of the soul
- The Great Reset and bifurcation
- The Urantia Book
- Earth as a decimal planet
- Taking the 10 ascension steps
- What being ascended means in ‘real life’
- Creating vortices on Earth
- The twelve aspects and archetypes
- The Awakening of the Self
- Shifting into a new way of being and doing
Links from the podcast:
by Tom Evans | Jul 24, 2019 | Chatting
Now I should state that I am really not a fan of Formula 1. To me the prospect of watching paint dry is more compelling.
That said, I am a big fan of analogy and metaphor and the concept of taking a pit stop and changing tyres for a new road ahead seemed to be very fitting to this point in my path.
My pit stop has taken more than a few seconds though. This one has stretched from May right through to the beginning of August as two events unfolded. First, my editor has been going through my novel Soulwaves and the manuscript has now been batted back across the Pond and is in my hands. Second, we at last sold our house in Surrey and can now move full time into our new eco-home.
The observant will note that the timing of these two events cannot be coincidental … especially as it means I can retire, put my slippers on, watch day time TV and play golf when I want to (the eco-house happens to be on a golf course) …
… I could alternatively move up several gears !
Space and Time
An excellently detailed edit has given the novel a new depth and expansiveness. The space I have had away from it has given a new objectiveness. Authors often fear the suggestions of editors, perhaps because it reminds them of homework at school being marked. I have been relishing receiving the perspective of another human being and plan to take it all on board PLUS being I have a new found confidence to push the boat out still further.
So this new re-tyre-ment means that I can really devote myself full time to making the novel the best it can be. I have been fortunate to stumble across, by accident, someone who has made a cover I am really proud of. Now it’s time to make sure the inside of the book comes up to the same quality.
… as both space and time are themes I play with in the book, this only seems fitting.
What kind of tyres do I need?
Formula 1 teams bear a few factors in mind when selecting their tyres in a pit stop. They think about the conditions ahead, is the track wet or dry? They consider how many laps there are to go, and if they can possibly avoid yet another pit stop. They might not even fill the car entirely up with fuel to make it lighter.
For me, I know the road ahead and am fortunate that I am not in a race. The book has taken many years to form and if it comes out by the end of this year, I will have achieved more than I ever thought possible.
So the next few laps, probably until the end of August, will involve me editing the edits. For this I will need ‘wet’ tyres that help me stick to the track and not come off the rails. Going over five chapters a day is my aim.
Another pit stop will be then required, as I slip into a new gear. September will be the month of audiobook production – also the best proof read an author can do. If I cannot say a sentence out loud, the reader will not be able to read it ‘in loud’. This will need ‘dry’ tyres as it involves a lot of handle turning and consistency and the road is pretty straight and long, with no corners, just a beginning, some re-fuelling stops and an end.
October will be a time to pull in and hand the files over to the production team for publication. A new vehicle will be assembled with a whole range of new capabilities. This vehicle will have no wheels – it will be self-powered and able to levitate – much like the spacecrafts mentioned in the book.
Like the chariot in the Tarot, I will not be the driver, but the passenger, and will allow it to take me to new pastures in bounty-full lands. My hands will be off the wheel.
by Tom Evans | Mar 4, 2019 | Chatting
This time last year I was invited by Judith Morgan to reflect on how I did my business my way.
A year on, or another Sun orbit, I thought it worthwhile to reflect on how it all went.
You can read the first blog here …
Soulwave Update
A stroke for my father in law, the death of my mother in law and a hip replacement for my wife all conspired to delay the publication until my 62nd orbit. No more books are getting in the way. It will be out before I am 62!
See The Slowest Book I’ve Written for more and publication timings …
The Big Ü
The book came out as planned on the 8th August 2018 – a significant date for my wonderful co-author, Laurence Udell. It’s the first book I have published simultaneously in hardback, paperback, ebook and audiobook formats – with four brand new meditations from yours truly. It is already opening hearts and minds and will be spawning two other programmes – the Bigger Ü and the Biggest Ü. It has also lead to high-end mentoring as well as talks, keynotes and workshops in the corporate sector. It’s turned out to be not only a mind-opener but door opener too.
Is it a book, an audiobook or a movement?
Insight Timer
Around May 2018, I reached over 1 million meditations on the app … it’s currently at 1.6m and climbing. While still free, a significant event happened and my first 10 day course went live – The Art of Timefulness.
It’s just about to be joined by a second 30 day course – Mindfulness for Busy People. The result is that a steady income is now flowing which takes the pressure of having to take on billing work.
Getting the whole world meditating …
Projects X, Y & Z
You might thing that this lot is enough for most people but three other projects are coming along already. I can’t say too much about them but can just share that the next orbit of the Sun is already looking bright.
Project X – there is a new initiative bubbling on Insight Timer to make things grow still further.
Project Y – The Zone Show podcast has been dormant while I finish off the novel. Listen out for two new episodes this month as it’s just about to take off again, in a bigger and brighter way.
Project Z – just imagine that everything you had been working for was meant to be. Things are coming together in to a new phase.
by Tom Evans | Jan 31, 2019 | Chatting
This January, I did something that I had not done for a number of years. I started out by taking my foot off the gas. Partly ticking off something from the bucket list and partly winding up my 60th year with some fellow sexagenarian friends, I went to Northern Finland, saw the Northern Lights (on two evenings), went snowmobiling, husky sledding and Nordic walking (or is that Finnish walking?).
Anyhoo, the break combined nicely with completely forgetting about anything to do with what you might call “work”. Lo and behold, on return 2019 seems to be falling into some sort of shape – but importantly without any tight grip on the reins.
Key 7 of the Tarot, The Chariot is a good example of how this all works. The Charioteer (the self-aware mind), thinks he is driving the bus. The two beasts at the front (the unconscious mind) think they are pulling the whole show in the right direction. All the time of course, the road itself (the higher self) is what is dictating the path we follow. Therein lies the lesson. Let go of the reins and find out where you are really heading.
Sometimes this involves encountering a turning point or three – here’s what came to meet me on my return to marginally warmer climes.
Soulwave
I now have a much more relaxed, sensible and do-able publication plan for novel, which formed towards then end of last year. It’s now being actioned and is producing tangible results … and deeper more cohesive storyline.
This month I am spending one day each week going over what I’ve written and one day working on one of the remaining chapters.
The new plan on track as follows :
– to have the first draft written by March 21st
– to then record the audiobook version (best proof read ever)
– to publish the Kindle and audiobook versions by the 21st June
– to publish the print version by 21st September
– to use the 21st December as a tentative back stop should things go awry
Just for Today Nuggets of Mindfulness
Back in July 2018, we moved Just for Today messages from a freemium to contribution currency model. After a promising start, we flat-lined and didn’t quite hit our first target. This year the model will flip back.
So, in March we are having a month off to reflect and regroup. The plan is that, from April, the daily nuggets of mindfulness will revert back to being free and two new exciting and affordable tiers will be created.
A new seed project will also start germinating too!
Insight Timer
The wonderful people behind the app have changed their model for the better and opened even more doors for me to migrate my archive. I already have one 30 day course going live soon and a second will appear before the year is out. This latter course will share what I haven’t ever shared yet about the nature of thought.
See Insight Premium for more details
I hosted the Daily Insight on the 19th January, which was alot of fun and will be doing the next on the 8th March – and after that, one every two months.
I also took my meditations in a new direction this month. This We Know is the first of a series of philosophical meanderings in a guided visualisation. And here’s Siri creating the artwork live, while listening to the meditation.
To cap it all, they have just asked me to provide the Daily Insight for Christmas Day this year. Guess what? Its title will be The Turning Point.
p.s. Some amazing Big Ü news popped along too, and is forming nicely with no effort on my part, but that will have to wait for next month’s blog
by Tom Evans | Oct 29, 2018 | Chatting
© gabrielle cole
When blogs first came about, they were mainly designed to act as a chronological journal. Some still are but many, including this one, are repositories of articles, often categorised to make blogs easier to find.
Latterly whole web sites, again, including this one and all my other sites, are built on blog technology.
Right now, I am in transition, a kind of retirement but only insofar as I am ‘retiring’ from the old way I used to operate and transitioning into a new modus operandi. You could see this also as a transformation from chrysalis to butterfly.
The overarching philosophy I am adopting going forward is ‘an attitude of gratitude’. I am so grateful for all the blessings bestowed on me in life – amazing life partner, not one but two beautiful homes (one going or transitioning), an unexpected career trajectory from BBC TV engineer to author and meditation guide and also gratitude for good health, a sprinkling of wisdom and the ability to explain and share the unexplainable and what is then mostly unshared.
These are the new seeds. This blog will now become a monthly journal of what happens next.
The Trigger
In August, Louise had a new hip and two days before her op, her father had a major stroke. Looking after both, and caring for mum-in-law and Lou’s sister with learning difficulties has consumed the last few months and will occupy the foreseeable future.
So Lou’s decided it’s time to scale down her business and I’ve decided to alter the course of mine. The latter has been helped by three events this year:
1. Insight Timer creating a revenue source for teachers and guides whilst still being mostly free
2. A new found speaking career
3. A collaboration with Laurence Udell and the co-creation of the Big Ü
So as a result of all this, we are selling (or renting out) our Surrey house, moving into our new eco-lodge in Wiltshire and the in laws have already moved from the most ludicrously expensive care home in West London to one 5 minutes away from our Wiltshire pad.
The Cunning Plan
So this is what the trigger has triggered …
- The workflow for Just for Today’s on Patreon will simplify so it takes 25% of the time currently
- In Q1 2019, a new 30 day Insight Timer course will replace many of the standalone sets of meditations on my site
- Also, during the 1st half of 2019, all my current online courses will migrate to a new programme on the Big Ü portal
- In time, this will all form the building blocks to a philanthropic foundation
- And most importantly, I will start writing and creating a new opus.
- That is after my 17th book, Soulwave, the one that has taken the longest to write, is published in 2019
Related Links
Soulwave : The Slowest Book I’ve Written
The Big Ü
Insight Timer freebies
The Art of Timefulness on Insight Timer
