Spiritual Medicine for Relationship

Let there be spaces in your togetherness.
And let the winds of the heavens dance between you.
Love one another, but make not a bond of love:
Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.
Fill each other’s cup but drink not from one cup.
Give one another of your bread but not eat from the same loaf.
Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone,
Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music.
Give your hearts, but not into each other’s keeping.
For only the hand of life can contain your hearts.
And stand together yet not too near together:
For the pillars of the temple stand apart,
And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other’s shadow.

~The Prophet, Kahill Gibran

What have Alice been up to?

Ok it has been a while since I last posted what I have been up to. Well time sure has flown so quickly. Blink an eye and it has been months since I have kept up to date with my blog. I definitely have not been idle at all.

Well, this is a brief update. I am in a relationship with Phil :-) YooHoo!!!!, hit my 40th birthday, saw Pink's concert on the eve of my birthday, started my scuba diving course on my birthday and finally completed the course, so now I have the licence to thrill underwater!!. Been abseiling, hand gliding, goddess retreats, meditation, been in a plane with parachuters and filming them (that was awesome!)and still am drumming and belly dancing. :-) Life is fantastic and I am still having so much fun.

Me abseiling backwards

Me abseiling forward..that was fun and fast!

Me getting ready to do a sprint down the hill with the gliderYeah...I survived with minor scratches!!!

Me and Phil

PREM Bank

I am so proud of my little sister, Irene. She has been donating her excess breast milk to help preterm and ill hospitalised infants. This is a picture of her and her husband, Simon and Dr. Ben and Nurse Tracy at King Edward Memorial Hospital.

Attached is a letter from Dr. Ben in recognition of Irene's effort and the donation from Irene's work Alcoa.

Dear Julie and Rod,

Please find attached a photo of myself and our milk bank Nurse (Tracey Sedgwick) receiving the Alcoa Bravo Grant cheque from Irene Chai and her husband. The PREM Bank (Australia's first donor human milk bank) provides donated breast milk to preterm and ill hospitalised infants at King Edward Memorial and Princess Margaret Hospitals. Doctors looking after extremely preterm infants encourage and support all mothers to provide their own milk to their preterm baby as we know clinical outcomes are improved and artificial formula may be associated with significant clinical complications in these babies. However, as these baby's may be born up to 3 months early (at 23-24 weeks) weighing as little as 400g some mothers struggle to provide sufficient breastmilk to meet their baby's needs (these babies will not physically able to breastfeed for up to 2-3 months so mum will be initiating and maintaining her milk supply with a breast pump). For these babies, we now offer the option of pasteurised donor human milk (PDHM) which is provided by mothers, such as Irene, who are producing more milk than their own baby requires. The screening process we subjected Irene to was consistent with that for blood donation (questionaire and blood test) and all milk is heat treated and tested before being made available - with parental consent - to patients in our Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Now in our 3rd year of operation we provide donor milk 7 days per week and use 2-3 litres daily - on any day we may be feeding up to 20 babies in the NICU. Initially, a tiny 24 week old baby may only require 12mls of milk over a 24 hour period. This volume is gradually increased and we hope that supporting mothers with donor milk allows time for them to establish and increase their own supply.

We would like to thank Alcoa for providing the Bravo Grant which will enable the purchase of equipment to increase our processing capacity. More importantly, we would like to take the opportunity to thank Irene for her extremely generous donations which, over the course of her donation has helped many extremely preterm babies and their families.

Kind regards,
Ben
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Dr Ben Hartmann
PREM Bank Manager
Neonatology Clinical Care Unit
1st Floor Block A
King Edward Memorial Hospital
Bagot Rd
Subiaco 6008
Ph: 08 9340 1563
Fax: 08 9340 1266

A Spiritual Conspiracy

A Spiritual “Conspiracy”

On the surface of our world right now
There is war, violence, and craziness
And things may seem dark.

But calmly and quietly
At the same time
Something is happening underground.

An inner revolution is taking place
And certain individuals
Are being called to a higher light.

It is a silent revolution
From the inside out
From the ground up.

This is a global co-operation
That has sleeper cells in every nation.
It is a planetary Spiritual Conspiracy.

You won’t likely see us on T.V.
You won’t read about us in the newspaper.
You won’t hear from us on the radio. We don’t seek glory.
We don’t wear any uniform.
We come in all shapes and sizes, colors and styles.

We are in every country and culture of the world
In cities big and small, mountains and valleys
In farms and villages, tribes and remote islands.

Most of us work anonymously
Seeking not recognition of name
But profound transformation of life.
Working quietly behind the scenes

You could pass by one of us on the street
And not even notice.
We go undercover
Not concerned for who takes the final credit
But simply that the work gets done.

Many of us may seem to have normal jobs.
But behind the external storefront
Is where the deeper work takes a place.
With the individual and collective power
Of our minds and hearts
We spread passion, knowledge, and joy to all.
Some call us the Conscious Army
As together
We co-create a new world.

Our orders come from the Spiritual Intelligence Agency
Instructing us to drop soft, secret love bombs
when no one is looking. Poems ~ Hugs ~ Music
Photography ~Smiles ~Kind words
Movies ~ Meditation and prayer ~ Dance ~ Websites
Social activism ~ Blogs ~ Random acts of kindness…

We each express ourselves
In our own unique ways
With our own unique gifts and talents.
“Be the change you want to see in the world”
That is the motto that fills our hearts.

We know this is the path to profound transformation.
We know that quietly and humbly
Individually and collectively
We have the power of all the oceans combined.

At first glance our work is not even visible.
It is slow and meticulous
Like the formation of mountains.
And yet with our combined efforts
Entire tectonic plates
Are being shaped and moved for centuries to come.

Love is the religion we come to share
And you don’t need to be highly educated
Or have exceptional knowledge to understand it.

Love arises from the intelligence of the heart
Embedded in the timeless evolutionary pulse
Of all living beings.

Be the change you want to see in the world.
Nobody else can do it for you.
Yet don’t forget, we are all here supporting you.

We are now recruiting.
Perhaps you will join us
Or already have.
For in this spiritual conspiracy
All are welcome, and all are loved.
The door is always open.~

~Author Appropriately Unknown

Hillman Farm Skydiving

Lesley and I did a trip down to Hillman Farm Skydiving Adventure in Darkan for Lesley's long awaited tandem skydiving jump. Phil organised the booking and for us to meet his lovely skydiving family. The weekend was awesome and here is the video to show the highlights. Check out www.skydivingadventure.com.au

Siblings Portraits

The four are gathered together again for the famous 'Siblings Shots'. Since Pat now lives in Singapore, everytime he is back and when we are all together, we never let an opportunity miss out to take pictures.Pat, Irene, Alice & Kevin in the famous 'Sibling Shot'

The improper 'Sibling Shot' Part 1

The improper 'Sibling Shot' Part 2

As you can most definitely see that Kevin & I are the only ones that put our heart and soul in the improper shots, we gave it our 100%...what's wrong with the other two??? Bloody pikers!!!!!

Happy Chinese New Year & Australia Day 2009

This year, Chinese New Year and Australia Day fell on the 26th Jan 2009. Such a auspicious occassion. This morning we had a Rotary/St Bart Breakfast Fund Raising at Victoria Gardens down in East Perth. The weather was gorgeous and the atmosphere was joyful and everyone was well fed and had an excellent time. Doris and I made it to the foreshore to view the spectacular fireworks and finale to a fantastic day.

Chinese New Year Eve

The family are all together again for Chinese New Year Eve Dinner at mum and dad's. This year there are extra addition to the family, Pat and his wife and her family and the gorgeous Jasmyn. Extended family and friends were gathered together as well. Mum and Aunty Keng done an excellent job with the food preparation and as usual we ate so much and there were doggy bags to take away as well. Well done mum and aunty!!! The food was so yummy!!!

Dad teasing Mum whilst she is busily cooking

Gezzz...Uncle Pat..what big head/face you got!!!!

The terrible Geminis together again........

Yummo Food Galore!!!

Mum and Aunty Keng..well done with the preparation and keeping up with the traditions...Thank you.

The whole gang gathered for this special occassion

Jasmyn's First Christmas 2008

It was joy to see Jasmyn's with her Elmo on Christmas Day. The three generations of Grandmother, Godgrandmother, Mother and Godmother together with gorgeous Jasmyn's are memories to be cherish forever.

Merry Xmas Everyone!!!!