My Childhood World Travels Taught Me The Heart of Connection
My life has been a really interesting one, I grew up overseas in Egypt and Saudi Arabia and from this experience I came to understand about the connection to people. We had the wonderful opportunity from our Father who took us all around the world to live with other communities. In the middle of an Oasis our car broke down 7 years old and my Father went to the village and asked could we have water and welcomed to the village – never seen white people, sitting there with all those children and – just knowing what human connection is – not knowing someone but giving ourselves to them. Our parents played a huge role in that.
This has planted the seed, how has it grown and how have you developed it? From there came back to Australia and how blessed to experience these cultures and to connect with these people. These moments that developed over the years and I want to work with people one day, help people. At school, I felt this disconnection at school and didn’t fit in. I had I seen and experienced things in ways that were so different. I felt it wasn’t teaching from the heart but teaching us from the mind. They were not teaching from a heart level and sometimes if a teacher doesn’t understand the heart connection of child then there is so much learning that can be missed.
Growing Up I Knew I wanted to Help People
Working with children as children and women’s counsellor in my private practice called Ignite your Light. Work within schools in Melbourne and Geelong and have my own practice on my property Ignite your Light Counselling – quite a young age knew I wanted to help children develop that real connection to self and each other and I love it.
In this journey how have you learned to connect with yourself? From a young age, I felt connected to self. It was due to Mum (Scottish) being very religious and do believe in Jesus but as a teenager, I didn’t want to have a particular religion. My Father was an Egyptian and he taught us about the Muslim religion, I studied theology. I found Buddhism, although not a Buddhist it gave me a connection to self. Learning about Buddhas and his connection to others but finding himself. I learned so much through Buddhism, however, I felt I already had it-it was almost like a little reminder.
Have you been here before from a past life? Absolutely, as a young child, it might sound weird but I felt I was an animal before. From a rabbit to a snake. I’ve been in medieval times there were certain smells that would trigger that felt sense. I did feel that way and been here quite a few times before and some people you can talk to about it and other you can’t.
The Sense of Connection in my Body is Heart
Where in your body in you feel that connection to self? For me, the connection has always in the heart. When I meet someone I open my heart first and it opens my mind. I am accepting of every person and from the heart. I feel their energy from the heart and I can like someone instantly takes a lot to not to like someone – that connection is pure energy.
How vast is that openness of your heart? It limitless it doesn’t have to be someone I know it can be a connection with the perfect stranger. Even on the street or in the hall in a school I can’t imagine not acknowledging them with my eyes. Just a hi or hello. People are rushed I cannot resonate with that – it is a tiny little moment to connect someone that can make that day– so not aware in each moment it’s so special.
The exchange of energy in connection is profound
What happens to you in those moments? An exchange of energy I suppose, which depends on the other person’s energy as well. I worked in palliative care. I am talking about as a pivotal moment of connection really resonated with myself. My father was in palliative care and passed over. I felt I would work in it and give back. Many years later I found work in palliative care. Working with people when they were at end of life, it felt not like work felt but as a gift. Talk about energy I bring that back to the street and felt the more pivotal moment of being. There may only be a few days or weeks left to share that energy with the person was just so profound.
I read a book at 14 years of age by Elizabeth Kuber-Ross and here I was in her role and that’s when I really understood that profound connection. I brought reiki and art therapy into care all this hippie stuff that is the connection when you give them human touch.
The connection is giving my authentic energy of love
When giving authentic energy they feel it they know it, they sense it – that’s why children just love it they know when your authentic.
What happens to your mind when you’re in that penultimate connection? Love, I feel connected to source, I feel there is something higher than us, someone said in palliative care they said are you an angel not your feeling something is making me feel it’s– something through me I think I feel that love and compassion for someone so deep centred, like it’s always in me – feel just so blessed and grateful to be experiencing.
How do you experience when there is a disconnection? Have you moved from your heart to your mind? Do you recognise your disconnect? The only time I disconnect when I come across a person whose energy it’s either a feeling of when they don’t like the positive vibe, they don’t like the light. Only a few times encountered it and threw me off balance with my monkey mind.
People are not always aligned to the giving of love
It’s a feeling of why people don’t understand why you give and why you love so deeply they think I’ve got an ulterior motive.
Why you love so deeply thinking you have an alter motive giving my attention to brought all Bollywood stuff and Indian food and pictures and Indian music and one of the nurses said what is all this rubbish what are you trying to get out of this? That throws me off. My heart wants to make it special for this human being and when someone doesn’t understand where my heart is coming from.
Is that a rejection of your heart? A doubt of my intention and when someone doubts my intention, I don’t get angry it just kind of squashes my light a little and they don’t understand who I am. I then realise not everyone going to understand who you are.
What does your light do for your shadow or darkness – like Buddha would make a cup of tea for Maya? How does your light be there for your Maya? How do I deal with those situations? I kind of do a bit of refuge first think clearly what is maybe something about this person is not understanding my intention but do I really have to prove to someone else what my intention is? I step back and just allow the person to think that and try not to judge the person and keep being kind to them. Make them a cup of tea and I feel this will be more beneficial to the patient.
People may not be used to receiving love and light
How to receive love can be hard for some people if they do not use to light energy? Could they feel a threat or It’s out of the box, I’m not use to this light energy, I am so use to this energy and not sure which way to go?
You’ve said it exactly I’ve actually been told that. When I have a conversation with the person and they ask why do you bother, what are you getting out of it? I don’t think what I am getting out of it thinking about how it making the other person feel. I can always talk about my intention and they understand me. I don’t understand the darkness. If someone does something special for someone that fantastic and really proud of you, good idea and lets do something for someone else.
When completely opposite you that sought of the yin and yang and got to understand their point of view. I am wondering when the energy of love your source and your channelling that source of love, the energy of love, does nothing else matters? That’s right nothing else matters – nothing else matters but that moment that when you do this act of kindness – the person feels that authentic care, you recognise in them that you are seeing that beauty in them and giving them the love and I don’t want anything back and they sense it’s authentic.
Authentic love and vulnerability
Authentic, what does it do for the vulnerability that can be in our hearts? Sometimes I do feel vulnerable. A vulnerability is just the attachment and when feeling that love it is an attachment and wants that attachment. Felt that sometimes with some of the patients. The sense of it’s not fair and attachment that she is such a beautiful soul and go back to source look this is her journey, stop clinging and wanting something that is not in your control. Does that tap into our need and how do we observe our need? Do I dissolve in the source? Do I immerse this in the source?
The beautiful family connection is a gift of love
How do these connections generate and how do you manifest this source to others? I have two teenagers and very lucky with a close knit family and extended family. Close to parents, cousins and Aunties and Uncles very close. We talk about it and the deep sense of love and compassion for people. We naturally something that reaches out do it on a day to day basis. Without thinking it is natural whenever I connect with a child or a teenager at school, I am just giving my authentic self, it’s not a thought process any more.
Reaching out with your heart I connected to a heartfelt energy? Very blessed to have that family? With others in the family does it make it easier if it’s part of the families conditioning? I think so. Having two teenagers and working with teenagers and our teenagers have expressed they love our connection they love the heartfelt connection with our kids and each other. That outreaches to other teenagers. When giving authentic self they start seeing how they can be and they understand they can be like that with other teenagers and instead of reaching out for drugs and alcohol you’re opening them up how the connect to themselves on a deeper level without the need to dull them.
The Authentic Self is Connected to Soul
As you are talking about authentic self – how connected is that to Soul or are they one or the same thing? How deep does it go? Does it go beyond the Soul – For me what I feel, it’s definitely connected to the source, definitely a feeling of connection to Jesus, for me God is love for me. I do a have sense and experiences in my feelings in my soul a connection with Christ. I suppose I do pray, not in a church just pray for goodness.
When you pray, does your sense of self-dissolve? The sense of I or me dissolve – it’s not me. I would never say it’s me giving you sometimes in Reiki sessions I say a pray, Lord help me, help them. It’s not me. Hold my heart and say a little, help me help them Marley is a vehicle for helping a child get through this moment. I just feel blessed when it happens. Is it like a channel? I don’t hear any voices but energy channel. Like the energetic channel.
Total Love Energy Connection & Babies Sense it through their Eyes
Do you describe it as a love energy? Total love energy – total love and total compassion energy and when I think about it-it can makes me want to cry. The love I can feel for a child it’s not my own child is quite profound. Literally in a shopping centre and a baby looking at me and we are talking without words, the child can sense you. It is magical. It is like the concept of the ‘divine child’ – the emotion – is that emotion of deep love or joy – deep love.
Thinking about a little baby with her mum to the staff room and look around and connected our eyes I could the little baby feel her energy drawing me – As you feel the energy is there a knowing between the two of you? Totally, exactly, Mark total knowing our little souls having a dance an energetic connection. Eyes locked on each other. I wonder if we don’t realize how much more little children see without us realizing. They are connecting more to us than we are to them.
The love and light are they one and the same thing? I think they are. For me love is light. Yes, they are. I am the sun. I am the light as a young girl my father would sing you are my sunshine he would say be that light, everyone one is we can all be the light we can all be the darkness. Bring that light to everybody.
Light to darkness is that the evolution of our healing?
Marley’s Message for the Heart of Connection
Is there a message you like to share with listeners on how to connect to the love and light? I get asked a lot in counselling sessions. I don’t feel connected to myself or my child feel disconnected. It is about looking within, instead of looking without and what is it – you can connect to yourself you are your hero, you are your own light your own light can affect so many people. Take the time to sit with yourself could be in meditation or sitting in nature – Who am I? Who is Mark, who is Marley to the core of you? Who are you? Not what I am. How would you describe try to connect to self in peace, in a natural environment and is in a calm space? Just sit and be and listen to the noises, feel the sun, feel the energy of the surroundings and the answers come to you clearly if you sit with peace. Is that embody themselves in their bodies?
Embody – get out of the mind, clearing the mind with the visual of a hand sweeping across the third eye like a wave and come back to the heart. What making me feel at this moment? My motto is, moment by moment, day by day, what am I feeling in this moment to make me think this way.