​ ‘MAN’ VERSUS ‘THE REST’.
Ever since the world was created, in perfect balance and harmony, with all its creations working together to make it so, MAN, the ‘so-called’ intelligent being, has worked very hard, through selfishness and greed, to ignore this balance of nature, which has now reached a stage, where he has just about destroyed any chance of survival the way we know it today.
Survival maybe yes, but how?
In the process of being greedy, ‘the rest’ of nature has suffered immensely and by now there are thousands of different species of flora and fauna that have already completely disappeared from mother Earth; species that were/are needed to keep this balance in perfect order. This has been achieved by destroying their habitat through mining, creating grazing land for cattle, tree felling and urban developments the world over. Human rape is punishable by law, but the raping of Mother Earth has been allowed to go on unpunished.
Man was very happy, living a natural, nomadic life, using the local and natural food sources of plant life and even animal life provided for him, roaming around and following the climatic conditions, such as some native tribes still do today, utilising the local building materials. Indeed, I underline ‘local’, as today, these materials have to be taken where man lives, another massive draw on Mother Nature, as transport is used to carry these materials many thousands of kilometers. Man did not need money to survive and was self- sufficient. Trading was done with nature’s treasures, treasures man found in the ocean as shells, on the ground as crystals and beads made from seeds etc.
Animals, like the bison, deer, fish and many bird species are still migrating on an annual basis to survive in the wild, where man these days is generally happy to be stuck in a small house with thousands of others around him, like sardines in a tin and go to the supermarket for survival. The average person would not have a clue, as how to survive in the wild anymore.
This brings forth the dilemma, where foods and goods have to be brought in from outlying areas to cities and towns, in trucks and via rail, burning fossil fuels and these roads and railway lines are all taking up valuable lands, which had to be cleared from trees and other necessary vegetation, to keep man alive.
At times, shipping is used to bring in survival foods and goods from overseas, something which is contra to natural living, as we no longer consume what is in season, something which is important.
Clearing of lands alone, has enormous negative consequences to many small animals, birds and plants, depending on the canopy of the trees, which are not considered. Removing trees, is automatically going to heat up the land and also rainfall is reduced dramatically, something that is totally ignored.
The developers are even actively engaged in killing animals, such as white ants for instance, to make their job easier, again without thinking the whole thing through thoroughly. White ants or otherwise called termites, are a very important ‘spoke in the wheel’ of cleaning debris, in the same way as the ordinary ants, flies, earth worms and many other beetle species like the dung beetle for instance.
It is a pity that not many people take notice of nature in the raw, by going outside and open their eyes and ears.
While I am writing this section, my neighbour had some ‘rough-necks’ (definitely NOT gardeners) come in and trim a small, but very leafy tree in front of her unit. When I set and relax, I see hundreds of little birds coming and going all day and I know there are nests in there.  This should have been trimmed at another time of the year, not during the time that birds are nesting, but that is what I am saying; no one takes notice of nature. Again, no thinking!
Also watching the amazing nature programs on TV, shown us by Sir David Attenborough and many others. There is where we can learn to appreciate the value of every creation and its place in our existence.
If you happen to leave some food scraps out overnight on your kitchen bench, you will find that the ants will find them and will try to clean them up. Even fruit skins, are an attraction to the fruit flies, who will come from almost nowhere. This must make you think and realise, that these tiny creatures are very clever in finding food and also, that they are there for the health of your family.
Apart from cleaning up our planet, a lot of the beetles, flies, mosquitoes, butterflies etc. are not often mentioned in the act of pollination of flowers.
Bees are always in the foreground when we talk about pollination and there are many species of them, (about 250 bee species in Australia alone), but the above insects are also doing a marvellous job just the same. We just cannot do without them, but man does not consider them. We are not taught about the value of these animals in school, where instead, a lot of useless information is passed on to children.
When these creatures come into your home, our first reaction is: “KILL”! That is what we have been educated to do, but as you now realise, they come to your rescue.
Various plant species are attractive to butterflies for instance and once these plants are destroyed, the butterfly species will die-out.
So forgotten are the nocturnal animals.
This is the reason for this blog.
Street lighting, car lights at night, fully lit buildings in the cities and during the so-called ‘festive season’, many people go all out, to decorate their homes with thousands of lights and have these lights glowing and flashing all night long.
Fireworks on New Year’s eve and also at other times during the year, do disturb birds and many marsupials from having a sleep and some nocturnal animals from feeding and doing their designated jobs of keeping the balance of nature.
Fireworks cause a lot of excessive noise, flashing lights and toxic smoke, something animals cannot deal with. This is just another case of not thinking any further than for what you want and not considering nature.
Fireworks, would be the most destructive to all wild and domestic animals alike. You know how your dog and cat go absolutely berserk, when they hear these massive ‘bangs’! Locking away your pet in the bathroom or garage, is NOT going to help them much. Their hearing is so much more acute compared to ours and to them these explosions must sound like cannons going off in the house.
Your pet can be looked after SOMEWHAT, but the wild animals in the district are totally unprotected from these man-made, un-natural and destructive noises and flashes of lights.
Next. Man has become a night-owl and spends a lot of his time awake, where nature teaches us, that we should sleep during the dark hours of the day. That is the reason why night-and-day were created in the first place. The fact that we have invented artificial light, does not mean that we should be awake after dark, or there-abouts. It is totally against nature’s laws.
Medically speaking it is well known, that we should have at least 8 hours sleep per night, EVERY NIGHT. There is no way you can save-up sleep and keep it in reserve for another day. Sleeping MUST be done daily. Just count your sleeping hours and you will find that most of you will be well short of that target. Sleeping has an amazing effect on healing and building your immune system, to protect you from diseases.
Another reason for ‘day-and-night’ is that certain prgans work at their peak at certain designated hours and once this is interfered with, these organs are not doing their job. IT IS THE BODY CLOCK, which is disturbed, so we must as far as possible, retain our day-night routine. A large percentage of people have travelled by jet plane to Europe or the USA. They arrive there and suffer from what we call today JET-LAG.
Jet-lag is nothing more, than the system being out of sync with its normal day-night routine.
The ‘Australian Bush Flower remedies’ have a combination made up, to counteract this phenomenon and it is well worth considering, next time you fly a long distance. Most health food stores can supply you with this combination called:” Travel Essence”.
People who cannot go to sleep once they lie down, often have a problem ‘turning off’ their brain. It takes a bit of exercising to get this working, by consciously thinking and maybe even saying to yourself: “I must now go to sleep and tomorrow will be another day, which will take care of itself.” Repeat this sentence a few times and you will find it works.
Another reason for not being able to fall asleep is that we generally eat our main meal TOO LATE in the evening and do not allow time, for our food to digest. When you lie down with full stomach, you cannot fall asleep.
If you go to sleep at 10 pm. you should eat at 6 pm. or very close to it, especially if your meal contains animal proteins like fish, chicken, pork and red meat.
A typical ‘trady’ who starts work at 7 am. and sleeps 8 hours, should be in bed at 10 pm. at the latest, giving him/her time to have breakfast and travel-time to the job, where he/she works.
A school child, depending on age, should be in bed well before 10 pm.
Just recently I had an accident and dislocated a vertebra in my lower back. It was very serious stuff. The pain was excruciating and there was little anyone could do. I did not go to a doctor, as I realised that he would give me painkillers to take, as I do not believe in these modern toxic chemicals. Touching the area was just too painful. As an Osteopath myself, I realised that it needed time and rest, so I went to bed and stayed there for 6 weeks, yes 6 weeks solid and only got up to get a drink or a bit to eat, which in itself was absolute agony, every time I needed to change position, such as sit up and get out of bed.
It worked well. My back is now normal again.
As figures show us, diseases and all sorts of discomforts, are nearly all due to a POOR IMMUNE SYSTEM. My personal record shows that to be true. For that reason, I make sure that I consume the right foods which keep my system strong and PREVENT diseases to happen.
I do not have a doctor! I have not taken ANY medications ever! I have not even had a cold or the flu for over 60 years AND people think I am about 60 to 65 years of age, not 90.
I won’t go into what so many people do at night, as that has been covered well and truly before, but I go to bed and have a good night’s sleep, of at least 9 hours.
Young people need even more sleep to be well and alert during the day; even for growth alone. However, so many of them are roaming the streets till the early hours of the morning. (and usually are up to: ‘no-good’).
I have mentioned killing in another paper called: “Thou shalt not kill.”  Killing is destroying the balance of nature. Nature will naturally take care of an over-abundance of a living species. This is the way it was designed, but man should not kill anything, be it flora or fauna just for financial gain, except of course if you are in the business of supplying food to the market place, you have to kill the plant you are selling to be eaten; you must kill the animal for the same purpose.
Living without killing, except for food, has become very difficult, as we are so used to clearing these ‘obstacles’ out of the way, one way or another and often with artificial means, using poisonous chemicals, which do not just kill the first ‘offender’ (that is what we could call it), but these nasty chemicals go so much further and do more harm along the way, for which there is no safeguard. Once the results are realised, it is often too late to do something positive about it. The average household uses quite a few poisonous chemicals on a daily basis. It is so sad to see the number of these products on supermarket shelves.
Some attractive gadgets are sold and hung on the wall or are standing on a sideboard, to continually spray toxic material into your BREATHING AIR, so you won’t have to spray yourself and all that is taken care off 24/7.
GET IT! Thinking is needed all the time.
Another article I have written, by the name of: “Thinking”, should make you realise, that so often we jump into a situation, where, if we had given it some decent thought, we would not have gone there; like getting these above gadgets.
Drink-driving comes to mind also. Losing your driver’s licence for some people means NO JOB. Can you afford that? Did you give any thought to getting over the limit, before you picked up your glass of alcohol? But losing your licence is only a punishment. You should also remember, that driving under the influence may kill other people, as well as yourself, because you are not completely in control of your car, especially in special circumstances, when you need to react correctly and quickly.
Time is at an essence and so often we rush around not planning our venture fully. I mentioned a case, where a young airline steward arrived at a hotel overseas and ran into the swimming pool area and dived into the pool, still fully clothed, to find out there was no water in the pool. Not pretty! Show-off! Mad-man! Idiot!
Further consideration must be given to the way a lot of people burn fossil fuels. How many people ever think about the amount of fuel that is burned in a plane during a flight from Australia to Europe for instance? (I have done some figures in the past about the massive amount of fuel that is used. You will come across them, when you browse my website. It is BIG!)
Burning fossil fuels (coal for heating or gas for cooking) for immediate use, also using electricity in general, is something that is bad enough, but sometimes necessary, till other ways are installed to replace them, something the authorities are working on; Solar and wind for instance, but unfortunately this is not happening fast enough. The people in charge, like governments and alike, were warned many years ago, to do something about the use of electric power, created by fossil fuels; coal and oil. They did not think it to be of any consequence to hurry up and change the policies, mainly because it would affect big businesses, from whom governments collect a lot of money in taxes. However, it is a very serious business and the world is suffering badly. Some people think that we might have left it too late and that the world is over-heating at a very fast rate. RECORDS ARE BROKEN YEAR AFTER YEAR.
Indeed, the world has gone through a number of climatic changes over thousands of years in the past,
but this time, the heating is being accelerated by mans’ greed of over-using fossil fuels and other means, known to you already.
Can you imagine what will happen to countries, who rely on oil for their economy, when all cars will run on electricity? I suppose that oil will have some use for a while longer, as planes will still need fuel to fly, but one day they too will fly on alternate fuel.
Now, it is realised how serious the situation is and they, the governments, are all running scared and worry IF it is too late or not, to save the planet. There are many meetings of governments every year. They are looking at migrating man to other possible venues, like Mars or wherever, but that is so ignorant. Living on Earth is where people belong and all creation is geared for man to fit in and live there.  I wish man came to its senses and saw the problem they are creating.
Thinking of polluting mother Earth? What about all the space-junk that is flying around in an orbit around our world now? Millions of pieces, some small, but others large, which will one day come back to earth and hopefully burn-up before they reach the ground.
Mars, the Moon some other planets, which were chosen to be explored, all have remnants of space rocketry on them now, even before we reach our future destination. The first job would be to clean them, before habitation. Where are we going to store that junk anyway?
They must be joking? Get your act together and be sensible and make our beautiful world liveable again. Money spent on space research would go a long way into cleaning our planet.
The luxuries of driving a car, flying overseas and other events, should be considered more seriously by most of us. It is something we should all consider and maybe do something about. Going to the corner shop to get a bottle of milk or a loaf of bread in the car, is sacrilege.
Seeing Australia, by taking an extended holiday, the way the grey nomads are doing it, who sell up their home and ‘live on the road’, is a beautiful way of living and a considerate way of saving on fossil fuels in general. Is this man’s destiny: the nomadic lifestyle? Are we thinking of living off the land again and using local foods and materials?,
It is however very different to the way the original nomads were doing it, but that is the modern way; call it progress.
Yes, we still drive a lot of fuel driven cars, but this lifestyle of living on the road, is slowing down the frequency we use the car, especially as these people settle in a chosen place, stay for a while and follow the warmer weather and seek cooling off in the waters of the areas they visit.
Modern caravans are equipped with solar panels, supplying them with power for their cooking, heating, aircon and lights, so no mains power is required.
Not everyone wants to see the sights in overseas countries, as they are quite happy to see a lot of these sights via the media. I know it is not the same as being there in person and experiencing the real traditional ways of others, but you get a pretty good idea, what it is all about. I have my personal experience of this, having seen a lot of the world, being a flight attendant for 10 years, but I know too, that you cannot see it all anyway.
We have some people, who go to overseas countries, like Thailand and Indonesia (Bali) and make a real mess of themselves by drinking alcohol, chasing girls/boys and being out and about most of the night and in the process, they are so often robbed of their wallets and passports.
DO YOU HAVE TO FLY IN A PLANE TO GO TO A PLACE AND ENGAGE IN THE ABOVE-MENTIONED ACTIVITIES, SOMETIMES ON AN ANNUAL BASIS? A lot of this stupidity can be achieved at home. People go to these places, because they are cheap. However, flying there is not! Ah well, whatever you want to do, but you have contributed to more pollution again, without thinking and maybe you don’t care, because you are selfish.
Once there, one must remember that you are in a foreign country, with its own rules and regulations on drinking, but especially on drugs and the fines are often years of jail-time. Most visitors to these countries would not get on a motor scooter at home, but use them freely when overseas and so many accidents are happening. Thinking is needed again!
I have really enjoyed the time I spent going around Australia for 6 years after I retired, travelling in my caravan, stopping for weeks, sometimes months in a place and meeting the local people and seeing the sights and then moving on to another nearby location to do some more of the same.
I was even asked to do house-sitting for 8 months in Mareeba. I was not driving every day, that is for sure and as a grey nomad, I had the time to just ‘hang around’ and enjoy myself, watering the gardens and mulching the fruit trees. I found time to do some repair work on my caravan and helped another friend, installing solar panels on her van, as I was allowed to use the workshop.
I liked Mareeba and that is why I have come back to live here now.
I carried a pushbike, which was used extensively, especially going shopping.
A lot of younger people with a family are now travelling as well. I have met them everywhere and loved the company of their children, who were home-schooled.
A little girl, about 3, came to my caravan some afternoons and knocked on the door saying: “Shanti, I am hungry.” Upon which I replied: “Come in and we will have some afternoon tea.” Having a cup of nut milk and a biscuit, she would very politely thank me for that and go home, just a few meters away really. I knew the people well and they were aware of her movements, but I really enjoyed her honesty and company.
These children were somehow different and more mature, the way they saw the world and its balances, the love around them and the sharing of everything by observing the smallest animals and learn their ways of survival. These people appreciate the presence of all creation and put value on their existence, realising that we MUST keep that balance.
In many places in the outback there is no TV reception, so the family were dependent on one another for entertainment. Playing board games during the early evening hours and doing stuff outside during the day, especially exploring the waterways, caves, mountains etc.
I thought I knew it all, when I left my home and started to travel. But oh boy, have I learned a lot since then. Something I have learned and really realise, is that we are never too old to learn. There is something new on the horizon every day.
Further, about the drawing off and using of the Earth’s resources.
My article on ‘Consumerism’, goes deeply into the massive OVER-USE of the Earth’s valuable resources, such as coal, oil, minerals, ores, timber etc.
It is estimated that we have already used over 70% of all the available resources forever available by now and mankind hopes to live on for a lot longer?
Think about this seriously! What are the next generations going to use to survive when the resources are depleted? The world’s population is estimated to increase by 50% in the next 40 years, so more and more resources are needed for people to survive, but it won’t be available any more.
This is not possible you say. Are we destined to go back to nature and live the simple life again as our forefathers did?
You can read these sentences fairly quickly, but are you taking it in? Are you thinking about your grand- children, how they are going to deal with that?
So, let me ask you: “What are you going to do?”
Are you going to help the slowing down of this RAPING by reducing CONSUMERISM? Buying less new goods and using the things you have for a longer time; driving less, by walking to the nearby corner store; get a push bike and make that your exercise machine; take the family walking and show them NATURE instead of watching rubbish on TV; plant a few trees, to help nature restore that imbalance; switching off power points at night; using the light switches to turn lights off when not in a room; turning the air conditioner down/up a few degrees and go outside in the evenings observing nature in your own ‘back-yard’ so to speak? The stars are ever-so fascinating, especially if you are living in a darkened area. There is so much we can do and nothing we do to help Mother Nature is too small to make a difference, please remember that!
So many people know streets, parks and all sorts of places in foreign countries better, than they know their own suburb. Something is not right here.
That is what I mean. Slow down, learn from the beginning and share this knowledge with others, especially your children.
Be aware that children from the very day they are born, start to learn from everything they see, hear or feel and experience. The first 7 years of a child’s life, are the most important years of them all. They learn about half of all their life’s knowledge; AND THAT IS A FACT.
The first few years are years of learning and feeling confidant.
Above I wrote about a little 3-year-old girl, who came to visit me some afternoons for a cup of milk and a biscuit, travelling with her father, mother and 3 older children around Australia in a caravan. She had never been on a bicycle. This particular day, her older brother decided it was time she got on a small bike. He put her on the bike at the top of a very gentle hill and sent her off down-hill, slowly moving along without paddling. He walked beside her and gave her instructions, which she followed and when she reached the bottom, she started to paddle and was riding the bike by herself; for the first time and made it work.
She had enough common sense and trust in her brother, that she was fine riding her bike, without training wheels mind you. These nomadic children have far more trust in their family, as they are so close ALL THE TIME. They live together 24/7 and rely upon each other for total support. A city child would not have that confidence and would need a lot of persuasion, to get on a 2-wheel bike.
I found this very interesting indeed.
Damming of rivers. This has never been a good idea. Water needs to flow to be healthy. Today’s water, the most important element in our lives, besides the air we breathe, is polluted to the hilt. Water is held in dams and does not move and stagnates. Local councils add chemicals to it, TO MAKE IT SAFE TO DRINK, but that is not really true. A lot of these chemicals are also poisonous and should not be ingested.
Today, people realise this and are buying water in the supermarket. This is quite ridiculous indeed, water the most needed element for health, something that was readily available in nature and costs nothing, is now a big supermarket line. Where are we going folks?
When I was travelling, it was always nice to stop for a while besides a fast-flowing river or creek, especially in mountain areas like the Snowy Mountains and a lot of places in Tasmania. I would always empty my water containers and refill them with real, natural water. The taste was so beautiful and not just the taste, the alkalinity was always higher. In other words, the Ph. reading was always around Ph. 8.0, instead of other waters, being around Ph. 6.0 or below.
Read all about alkaline water in my earlier books. The amazing value of alkaline water and general health. VERY IMPORTANT TO DRINK ALKALINE WATER, NOT JUST FILTERED WATER OR SPRING WATER. (and eat alkaline foods as well).
The water from fast flowing rivers or creeks is usually more mineralised as well, so there is another reason to drink that.
Something close to my heart. When we are celebrating, we often allow our pets some food stuffs, that are not recommended for them at all. I know that you mean well, but Animals are not people; they don’t know about celebrations.
Firstly, if you want your pet to have a good time when you are celebrating, give that pet another cuddle, a run around the block or some extra pats during the day, but DO NOT FEED THEM HUMAN FOOD, especially sweets and very especially ‘chocolates’. Chocolate can kill your dog.
You are NOT doing them any favours bringing them into your human parties. They are probably happier being left alone somewhere, instead of being in the crowd, which is rowdy and noisy. Just think about that.
Consideration. What is the difference between today, tomorrow, a birthday, Christmas day, Mothers’ day, Fathers’ day, Valentine’s day as far as loving our family, parents and friends is concerned?
Surely, we love them no less on normal everyday days? So, if that is the case, let them know, by reminding them often, ANY TIME, by giving them an extra cuddle, bunch if flowers or just a reminder by saying: “I love you”.
Giving is not necessarily a deed of presenting your loved one with a present. As mentioned, a reminder of your love to them, by giving them a hug, a kiss or whatever is so very special and precious.
PS. I have written a lot of articles so far and it may seem to you, that I don’t like entertaining, as I write about the use of alcohol, drugs, tobacco in particular, but also the way we behave with children present, who learn from a very young age to follow the parents and friends.
But, how wrong you are. I just love fun and live for a peaceful life with like-minded people, who appreciate me, as I appreciate them. I had the greatest Boxing Day ever last week. Great company, healthy, homegrown food, fresh water, coconut water and kombucha to drink lots of laughter and talks and much love flowing between us.  Everyone was happy!
I have never taken to eating take-away foods, (sorry, wrong, I had one McMuffin in my life and only one coca cola; that was enough). I will not take part in drinking alcohol and abusing my body knowingly. That is sin, as far as I am concerned. I have lived 90 years without ‘having a doctor’, taking ANY drugs as mentioned above and still look after myself on a daily basis.
I enjoy the company of my very special friends a lot and love them for being in my life.
It is a pity, that so many cultural festivals are not as popular as they were once, as they were always the centre of entertaining in any community, with dancing, dressing up and lots of singing of appropriate songs of these cultures. Here in Mareeba, there are a number of special days, held by various cultures during the year. We have a very varied cultural community and I have been to them in the past, looking forward to joining them again soon.
A lot of our neighbours are alternately minded, grow their own foods and share them at markets held in various suburbs in the area. There are a lot of natural healers in town to choose from as well.
As I watched the local news on TV tonight (New year’s- Day), all I saw was people going crazy, making loud noises and the police had to subdue some of them, because of their behaviour. Most of them were drunk of course and became a public nuisance. That is entertainment today. That is called fun!
For the majority of people today it is, but thank goodness there are still people, who believe in the simple lifestyle of being there for one-another, giving support when needed and celebrating in a natural and healthy manner.
May God bless you all and whoever you are, I love you just the same, Shanti.
Take great care!

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