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What are some of the most difficult questions in life?

By Life, ThinkingNo Comments

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Here are some of the most difficult questions in life, along with my current partial answers to them. None of these complex questions have simple answers. If you have a better answer than the one I have, or would like to share your answer to these questions, please leave a comment below.

Who am I?

Who I am is fluid rather than fixed and changes constantly. It encompasses my thoughts, feelings, intentions, actions, omissions, behaviours and my soul. Who I am changes as quickly as each encompassed element can change.

What is consciousness?

Consciousness is a result of billions of neurons in the brain firing electrical signals to other neurons. Our body allows us to sense the world (through taste, sight, touch, smell, sound and psychic intuition) and then create thoughts and feelings based on the now, memory and past experiences, dreams and hopes for the future.

What’s the meaning of life?

I have no idea what the meaning of life is. But I’ve got a feeling that it’s different for every life. I do know that you should decide on the purpose or ideally purposes of your life.

Purposes may include: dedication to family/friends, goals/achievements of your own, contribution to the wellbeing of others, learning/studying/growth, to create or destroy, to consume and enjoy, to travel, to adventure and experience, to improve humanity, to love, the list goes on and on.

Where does creativity come from?

Perhaps the question should read: what inspires creativity? A large number of things can inspire creativity, including: nature, research, other people’s creative works (art, music, literature, sculpture, etc.), curiosity, questions, past experiences, daily life, failures, logic/illogic, other people’s ideas, emotions, procrastination, through play, again the list goes on and on.

Does God exist?

Pagans are polytheistic, meaning that they worship many Gods and Goddesses. I personally believe that these Gods and Goddesses represent humanistic aspects of a Divine Energy.

This Divine Energy is infinitely complex and incomprehensible by the limited human mind. This Divine Energy is within everything that ever was, is and will ever be. It is timeless, interconnects everything and keeps the universe in balance through constant creation, change and destruction.

Why do bad things happen to good people?

We all have a sense of fair play. When we see bad things happen to good people, we notice it as it feels unfair. We notice it more because the person is a good person. But life events are simply what they are.

Sometimes bad things appear at random and sometimes they are methodological. They can be difficult to accept and it is normal to feel a sense of injustice and unfairness.

Reframing your thoughts to acknowledge that bad things happen regardless of whether a person is good or not is a way to balance your thinking. It is also useful in breaking the association between behaviours (being a good person) and negative life events (the bad things).

What happens after we die?

The cells, tissues and organs in your body die (necrosis). Your body decays until the point that only your skeleton is left (skeletonisation).

But when most people ask this question, they are referring to what happens to the soul after death. Well most believe in heaven or an afterlife of some sort. Others believe in reincarnation (being reborn as another person, animal or plant).

I personally believe in both an afterlife and reincarnation. I think that your soul is energy and is released from your body on your death. It travels to another plane of existence (the astral plane).

The astral plane is like an afterlife but not like a traditional version of heaven. You are reunited with other souls that you have known (possibly over several lifetimes and the times in-between). You have the choice of if and when (although there is no concept of time in this place) you want to be reincarnated.

The purpose of being reincarnated is so that you can grow as a soul, but also so you can do some of the things that only physical entities can do (such as enjoy food, music, dance, sex).

What is love?

Poets, Writers, Musicians and Artists have all been exploring what love is and how it is expressed since humans were first able to feel and think. I think any type of love starts with vulnerability, connection and intimacy. From there it grows into trust, warmth and attachment.

For me there are different types of love:

  • Love shared with friends. Familiarity, shared interests, shared values and loyalty.
  • Love shared with family. Familiarity, growing together, mutual respect and unconditional acceptance.
  • Love shared with a lover. Romance, possibility, comfort, sensuality and sex. (I should note here that I am single.)
  • Unexpressed love. Fantasy, a crush, desire and longing.

Have I met Mr/Mrs Right?

How the heck should I know? But I would ask yourself: Does he/she make you laugh? Can you tell them anything? Does he/she build you up and support you? Does he/she add something to your life? Does he/she have their own life, with their own friends, dreams and ambitions? What do your friends and family honestly think about them and you as a couple?

Hopefully answering these questions will give you more insight.

Can love last a lifetime?

Yes. As long as both partners continue to grow independently as well as growing together. And as long as they continue to love one another. I believe love can last, not just a lifetime, but into the afterlife and beyond.

Write soon,

Antony

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1 Life Lesson I’ve Learned for Every Year of My Adult Life

By ThinkingNo Comments

Life is about growth through learning and experience. So here’s 1 lesson life has taught me for every year of my adult live:

Age 18 – The importance of good and lifelong friendships. What makes a good friend including care, kindness, a sense of humour and loyalty.

Age 19 – The importance of having joy in my life. Creating opportunities for joy, seeking it out and chasing it are all essential activities for me.

Madame Tussaunds Blackpool on a thrown

Me on a thrown

Antony-Simpson-Writer

Me

Age 20 – That I’m never going to please everyone. Not everyone will like me or get me. That doesn’t mean I should stop trying. If I can make somebody laugh with a funny story or a joke, I’m going to do it. The smile or laughter is always worth it for me.

I just accept that not everyone is going to be pleased with what I do or don’t do. As long as I am happy with my intentions, actions and omissions, that’s good enough for me.

Age 21 – A diagnosis of a chronic illness (in my case type 1 diabetes) starts with grief. I mourned the loss of my working pancreas and cursed my faulty immune system.

Age 22 – Independence is extremely important to me. Getting my driving licence and being smothered in a relationship both helped me to realise this.

Age 23 – In the outside world many people are far to happy to psychologically tear strips off you. So inside your home should feel safe, full of compassion and be filled with a feeling of care. How I felt at home when I was younger and buying my own apartment helped me to realise this.

Age 24 – Sometimes I just have to do certain things, otherwise I’d always wonder What if?

Heartbreak sometimes heals with the passage of time. A lot of time. More than days, weeks or months. Years. Sometimes even longer than that.

Sometimes the heart doesn’t heal at all, it just scabs over like a scraped knee. Ready for you to pick at it or for something to come along and reopen the wound.

Age 25 – Not everyone gets to live a full and long life. This feels unfair. Life is precious.

The shock of an unexpected death is a thousand times worse than the grief of the loss. It is spiritually, mentally and emotionally exhausting. The disbelief that comes from the shock can last years and make it impossible to grief.

Age 26 – There’s something magic about new babies and they smell totally awesome.

Age 27 – The past is a nice place to visit, the future is a nice place to imagine, but you shouldn’t live in either of them. Live in the present.

Age 28 – The extreme highs and lows of mood I’ve had since my teenage years are not normal. Most people have a pretty stable mood.

Mood stabiliser and antidepressant medications saved more than just my mind, they saved my life.

Age 29 – Travel broadens my mind, fills my heart with goodness and strengthens my soul. If you have the opportunity to travel do. I learned this through visiting India, which has a special place in my heart.

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Me with the Taj Mahal in the background (2).

Age 30 – Creativity enriches every aspect of myself. Stories (written, films, etc.) ignite my imagination and develop my empathy. Art and sculptures help me appreciate the beauty that the creators saw in the world around them or in their mind. Music helps me to feel and gives me the opportunity to dance.

To create something, whatever it is, is a learning process. Sometimes creative projects go well, other times not. But I always learn things from them. The process of creating something makes me feel alive and all lit up – even if it’s just a blog post like this one.

To share something I’ve created with the world makes me super-anxious. But when somebody tells me that my creative project has had some sort emotional resonance with them it becomes a privilege.

soulmates-cover-page

Soulmates (Short Story)

The Finished Product: My homemade candles look great (1).

The Finished Product: Just 1 of the 22 completed (unlit).

The Good Teen (Short Story)

Age 31 – When you do something you love for a job, it doesn’t feel like work. It feels like a vocation and a passion.

Write soon,

Antony

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Having problems with Communication or Money right now? Mercury Retrograde might be to blame

By Life, Money / Finances, Paganism, ThinkingNo Comments
mercury-planet-NASA

Photo of the planet Mercury, Image From & Copyright © NASA, 2011.

Having problems with Communication or Money right now? Mercury Retrograde might be to blame.

In astrology, Mercury Retrograde is when Mercury appears to travel backwards through the twelve signs of the zodiac. Mercury is travelling so slow, it looks like it is travelling backwards, but this is merely an optical illusion. This is called a retrograde motion.

As the planet Mercury is associated with communication, money, travel, technology, logic, writing and memory, all these things are adversely affected during a Mercury Retrograde.

When is Mercury Retrograde? Here are the dates for the next few years:

2017 2018 2019 2020
  • 1st to 9th January.
  • 9th April to 3rd May.
  • 13th August to 5th September.
  • 3rd to 23rd December.
  • 22nd March to 15th April.
  • 26th July to 18th August.
  • 16th November to 6th December.
  • 5th to 28th March.
  • 7th to 31st July.
  • 31st October to 20th November.
  • 18th February to 9th March.
  • 17th June to 12th July.
  • 13th October to 3rd November.
According to The Old Farmer’s Almanac.
According to Astrology Zone.

What should you do during Mercury Retrograde? Here’s some great advice for during Mercury Retrograde:

So, when Mercury is retrograde, remain flexible, allow time for extra travel, and avoid signing contracts. Review projects and plans at these times, but wait until Mercury is direct again to make any final decisions.

About a week or two before Mercury retrogrades, finish any tasks or projects at hand. You can’t stop your life, but plan ahead, have back-up plans, and be prepared for angrier people and miscommunication.

Some people blame Mercury retrograde for “bad” things that happen in their lives. Instead, take this time to sit back and review where you put your energy in your life.

(From: The Old Farmer’s Almanac, Last accessed: Thursday 13th April 2017.)

If you’d like a good guide to astrology, The Astrology Bible by Judy Hall is great resource.

Blog soon,

Antony



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Money: 5 Ways to Save Yourself a Small Fortune

By Money / Finances, ThinkingNo Comments
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Image Copyright © Sye Watts/Antony Simpson, 2014.

We could all do with saving a little money here and there. Here are five great ways to save yourself a small fortune:

5. Buy less coffee.
We all like a Starbucks or a Costa. If you’re a regular customer at a coffee shop, try to reduce your visits. One less cup equals a few pounds of savings. These savings will quickly add up over the month.

I have a need for coffee, especially first thing in the morning. If you’re like me, consider investing in a thermal flask and making time during your morning routine to fill it with coffee before you leave the house.

4. Take lunch to work, rather than buying it.
You can easily spend a fiver a day on lunch at work. For a fraction of the price you can buy the ingredients at the supermarket, then make and take your own lunch to work.

To make it easy on myself, every Sunday evening, I make the lunches for the entire work week and pop them in the fridge. Each morning before I leave for work I pop my lunch into my bag.

3. Give up smoking and/or alcohol.
The average cost of a packet of cigarettes is £8.74. The average cost of a litre of vodka is £15. Cutting these vices out, or even just cutting down will save you a load of money.

2. When buying something, ask yourself: Do I really need this?
We are all guilty of impulse purchases. We are all guilty of buying things to make ourselves feel better when we are having a bad day. By asking yourself: Do I really need this? Every time you’re about to buy something, it will reduce the amount of impulse purchases you make. How much money you save by asking yourself this, depends on what you pick up to buy.

But asking myself this question has saved me literally thousands of pounds. It’s stopped me buying high-priced items that I didn’t really need, such as: new cars, new mobile phones and new computers.

1. Shop around for everything.
Shop around for everything and by this I mean everything. Every area of expenditure: household bills, insurances, travel, food, clothes, credit, gifts, etc.

The difference in prices can be phenomenal. You can literally save hundreds or thousands of pounds per year by shopping around for the best deals.

How else can you save yourself a small fortune? If you’ve got ideas, please leave a comment below.

Blog soon,

Antony



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