Dear Yogis,
RECESSION – a nasty word, but IT IS STILL ONLY A WORD, which propels people into a downward spiral. We may be having one or not, but when enough people believe we are, it will happen.
I am old enough to remember the last recession. Paul Keating called it “the recession that we had to have”. He thought that Australia was becoming a “banana republic”, and unbeknownst to him at the time, in the wash up after the recession we almost were. It didn’t fix things. Some people lost everything, however, Paul Keating and those around him mostly made money (lots and lots of it) – some people in the know did, as they always do.
For myself, I was in New York, and everything Australia was crumbling. I came home but could not side step a problem I couldn’t properly understand as I had not experienced it before. Success even in that economic climate was (as it always is) about knowledge – how to manage your life in a sliding economy. How to keep on keeping on.
This time I am doing things differently. You have decided that Yoga is a luxury you can’t afford, and if you can’t afford it, you will stay home, and I could sit here alone, waiting for you in a big, heated, empty room. I will still be here when you come back – in the meanwhile I am going to just do a little side step into Art, like I did last time. Last time it was a BIG step into BIG art, this time into cards and miniatures – no Picassos, no Caravaggio’s. Last time my decisions were interesting, but not quite a “fit”, this time with experience I am doing miniatures and cards. Cards are great – I love them and others love them too. Right now I am doing “UP-THE-CREEK” Cards – all about pollution and the environment. Just wait and see.
You can have a Recession or not, it is up to you – or you can do things differently.
After the Ash Wednesday fires, people who understood money made heaps, they bought houses and land going for a song that previously were unaffordable. I am sure you have seen the blossoming of FOR SALE signs happening now – being sold by people who themselves believe and act like they are “in recession”. Back-in-the-day I had opportunities, but I didn’t recognise them… friends tried to show me, but I didn’t understand. I didn’t lose everything forever, but it took much longer to recover. Even in the Great Depression, even in New York, in a country going down the gurgler, people with imagination made money. I met a lady who had a walk-up dress shop, not on the ground floor, no “walk-past” trade, unbelievably she made money. People around her closed their doors, and she put down a red carpet to hers. After the country recovered she was way ahead….
HOW ARE YOU GOING TO MANAGE THE ECONOMY? Are you going to hide away, or are you going to look around for opportunities to thrive. Courage, Patience, and positivity will always win. What you think will come to pass. This is a time to be self-sufficient. To grow your own, to forage, to trust herbals, to make do and mend. Not have have less but to do MORE. To teach your children how to stand on their own two feet.
Now we have Etsy, EBay and the Web. We can make things and sell them all over the world, teach all over the world…. think differently, do differently. Buy a business, start a business? This is a new opportunity for you – make the most of it – IT TOO WILL CHANGE, count on it!
NEWS: NO STUDIO YOGA UNTIL MONDAY THE 8TH JULY . TEACHER TRAINING TODAY (SUNDAY) AT 2.30
Namaste – jahne
