From a shamanic viewpoint all emotion is rooted in, and coloured by, memory. Memory, of course, not only contains all that has happened to us in the past, but also all we have been told, all books read, films, plays, tv programes watched, songs listened to, etc. etc. etc. It would follow, then, that all emotion is tainted and reactions to events in the present are governed by the past. To distrust emotional stirrings instigated by current stimuli is healthy, and should strong emotion be evoked an endeavour to trace the corresponding memory (memories), to dissipate the charge, is a process of self discovery, a shedding and an enlightening.

There is a commonly held notion that our experiences of life, especially those that happen early, shape who we are, are instrumental in what we become. Not so!!! It is our attitudes to those experiences NOW that make us who we are!!

The pursuit of happiness is the projection of the past into the future, and happiness being relative and fleeting is a futile goal.

Only pure joy in the here and now has any reality and worth. The moment of power is always NOW!!!!