Excerpt
-
DIANA -
THE VOICE OF CHANGE
“I knew something profound was
coming my way.”
DIANA, PRINCESS OF WALES
INTRODUCTION
This is a book that is a
call to action for women everywhere. Its begins and ends with love, urging the
soul within each woman to rise up, to be a force for change, just as Diana had
found her mission as a culture-shaper, twenty odd years ago. Diana’s firm
desire was that through her example, the women of the world would find their
own authentic voice to fulfill their unique purpose, whilst expressing
liberation and love through each aspect of life. Diana believed that wherever
tyranny was held it would be freed by grace, that wherever cruelty existed it
would be freed by love, and that wherever the voice of oppression existed it
would be freed by the voice of the kindness. In this Diana was a trailblazer!
Diana’s story is now fit
for retelling, yet through a new perspective. For although Diana embodied the
zeitgeist of the 1980-90’s as a major voice of change, her spirit also led the
way to the social upheaval of today. In the wake of her universal and
inspirational appeal, she is part of what is happening right now, through
movements such as the #METOOCAMPAIGN, #WHYDIDN’TIREPORT, the charity of Sentebale
which was founded by Prince Harry to support the wellbeing of young people affected by
HIV in Lesotho and Botswana, and the constitutional revolution of a Black
American actress divorcee, marrying Prince Harry purely for love.
Diana gave credence to a
new form of authenticity, inclusivity, charity and transparency. Diana embodied
a crucible of human virtues that can be viewed as the essential securities that
balance us in times of monumental change. Through the peerless virtue – love is
all there is - Diana gave permission for formal behavior to be reinvented, for
emotional aloofness to be made transparent, for starched stuffiness to be given
a human face, for emotional expression to be given its rightful place, and for
dismissive criticism to be turned into care. Indeed, viewing Diana’s life
through the lens of the last twenty-one years, one sees what a truly
extraordinary story hers was, and how it impinges on today. Each climax and
nadir appears to have been crafted by a sage-writer of an ancient Greek drama.
Through the latter part of
1995 to her untimely death in 1997, I took a giant intake of breath, and became
the voice, presentation and life coach to the Princess of Wales. My role was
defined to enhance her vocal presence in the world, and although Diana was the
most celebrated woman, it was essential for Diana to build her voice craft,
confidence, persona, passion, persuasion, and physical presence. Yet we decided
that my role would be held within the very soul of discretion. Therefore, no one
knew, until now that is, as the times have radically changed, and the women of
the world are aroused. Women everywhere are awakening to claim their
sovereignty, desiring to be liberated from the specter of masculine supremacy,
yearning to create gender equality, desiring to evolve emotional transparency,
genuinely demanding moral honesty - all the attributes that Diana became a
figurehead of.
Now it is time for my out
breath to take place, so that I may inform how I helped Diana bring forth her
force as the ‘voice of change’. Many sociologists, psychologists, and feminists
have noted that Diana helped to give rise to a major social tipping point,
which released an archetypal resonance into all our lives. It was through her
unique persona that a mighty force resonated into the body of the collective,
as she brought her own astonishing beauty, candid wit, intuitive wisdom,
heartfelt compassion, brilliant fun, desire for fairness, and alluring grace to
the fore. These natural qualities grew during her public existence, and it
seemed increased exponentially at her demise.
When I was initially
requested to consult the Princess, the Martin Bashir Panorama interview had
just been broadcast drawing 22.8 million viewers. Frankly I had huge
reservations about becoming involved, much of which was based on not wishing to
be part of the ‘circus’ that surrounded dear Diana. The notoriety that moved
alongside the Princess’s public existence was crazy, and I was keenly aware of
the fact that a number of her leading advisors, therapists, and consultants,
had treacherously sold their indiscretions to the tabloids, for vast personal
profit. This produced an understandable sense of betrayal in Diana - a wound
that appeared like a deep gash – and so I insisted that our consultations be
underscored by complete confidentiality, and fortunately Diana agreed to this.
Of
course, to be asked to fulfill such as role was such an honor, and the moment I
met Diana, I also met a deep love, and it is with the absolute conviction of
this love that I write my account twenty odd years after Diana’s death. These
twenty years have seen the changing fortunes of our world occur to such a point
where socio-political chaos illuminates the need for her presence right now.
This book is a dedication to her love, so my writing does not include
ridiculous disclosures, discredits about Diana, hearsays that trifle her life,
or expositions of her innermost secrets. Rather it is to address the very
essence of who and what Diana was, so that we may all understand the true
significance of her importance, and heal the lamentation of her passing which
still scores the hearts and souls of many. My wish is to reinterpret her glory,
to take example from her unique experience and empower the women of the world,
particularly at this time of monumental change. For the roles played by the
women of the world are vastly changing, transforming so radically, that I
believe we need to celebrate the enormity of what Diana gave us, the gift that provides
reason for what her extraordinary life, and death were about?
Was her life a cipher by which the role of women today could be re-perceived? Was
her death a ritual killing or an archetypal sacrifice? Will Diana’s memory ever
fade? Was her position in the royal family significant to their lives at a time
when the Monarchy was seen to be unnecessary? Will the vital qualities of her
being, her compassion, kindness and frank immediacy, assist the people of the
world to uplift themselves into a position of even greater maturity? Will
Diana’s presence be further realized through love, recognizing that love is the
only significant factor in all our lives? Will Diana become the figurehead of a
new world order? What contribution can the life of Diana provide within our
lives, in this seething world of Trump and Brexit. All these questions, and
many others are the substance of my account.
Perhaps, this is a great point in your reading, to ask yourself what you wish
this book to provide you with, because although Diana evidently had immense
value as a social icon, she was a lady of the people, and her emphasis was
truly to compassionately help anyone in difficulty. So, questions you might
want to ask are:
How will this book benefit me, and what will I gain by reading it?
What key skills do I want to encounter as I read?
How
will the exercises in the book make me feel?
My
desire is to enchant, uplift, inspire, reassure and genuinely help you towards
transcendence. Within the book there are many strategic exercises, glowing affirmations,
and relaxing meditations that Diana directly experienced, which I also want to
gift you, to encourage your own journey towards empowerment and enlightenment,
just as they helped the Princess. Diana wanted the amazing allure that she
possessed to also be yours, so the empowerment exercises and points of
transformation that Diana used which helped her to develop the confidence that
produced her allure, are here, and will become a project called DIANA’S HEART
PATH. Therefore in many ways you are a vessel by which the efficacy of this
work will have affect. All that is addressed within the book is approached in
casual and endearing terms just as Diana would have, so that there is nothing starchy
or distant or superior about the work, but rather it provides a host of
possibilities based on the self-love that will not only help you, but will
bring you abundant riches!
If
you are searching for a purpose this work will gently lead you to a more than
satisfactory conclusion, the fulfillment of your dream. If you are hurting,
this work will help you heal. If you feel disorientated or lost, this work will
lead you home. If you are feeling confused about your values, this work will
give you new definitions. If you feel dismayed by the world’s current
disfunctionality, his work will appear like a lighthouse in the ocean of
bewilderment. Just read on and feel Diana’s love permeating your being, moving
you into a vastly better place than when you first began to search these pages
for Diana’s sweetness!
Diana
wanted you to feel that you are loved, that you are comforted, that you are
reassured, and that when you feel this love, you will also find your purpose is
to love in like measure? Diana believed that if we are filled with love, a
power arises within us to create a life of infinite possibility. And Diana
showed by example that within your being is a love that can direct you to think
and feel in ways that reflect and attract all the love that you want. This type
of thinking and feeling is called ENLIGHTENMENT, and this state of being
defines a choice that is available to you in any moment.
Diana
journeyed into the pit of despair for some time, just as you might possibly
have done, and then climbed into a new way of being that allowed her light to
shine more powerfully, with a self-love that encouraged many to do the same.
Diana stopped thinking of herself as a random piece of flotsam and jetsam
living within a cruel universe that didn’t care about her. She turned all the
limiting beliefs that once held her prisoner into a creation of pure wonder.
For she found that, if she believed herself to be the effect of a loving world,
her light shone in a special way, like a beacon of compassion that bringing
miracles about. Whereas if she thought ‘victim thoughts’ she fell foul to
challenging situations which debilitated her, and brought the demons of fear,
denial, and shame to the fore.
ENLIGHTENMENT
is the answer to every horrible situation in your life. If you can readjust
your thinking to realize this, within every situation that appears to have
control over you, within every experience that gives rise to the feeling that
you are merely the effect of an angry cause, you will see that actually the
Divine lives within you, and there is no force that the Divine cannot manage.
There are no mortal situations where you are powerless.
Pause,
detach, feel stillness and note that whenever your essence is obscured by the
cantankerous nature of the world, you may also think another thought, and so
remember that the Divinity in the Universe gave birth to you. The Universe is
similarly designed to uplift you, moving you back into a state of natural
innocence, wonder and freedom. When this is remembered and truly felt, the
world appears to be abundant!
Diana
began to believe that she was an expression of Divine perfection, and that the
majesty of the universe, was an implicit force organized and aligned by the
intelligence of the Divine for her, for you, for me. She felt that from
spiritual substance arose all material manifestation, and that this is was a
distinguishing, objective principle of the Universe. Just consider for a moment
that the law of gravity isn’t just a belief, but also a truth. Can you see that
this is true whether you believe it or not? So you see Diana realized that all
spiritual virtues or laws are a modus operandi to help us live our
consciousness out loud through lives that can bring about great creative
goodness. One of the truly significant contemporary teachers of these
principles is Marianne Williamson, and Diana loved to read the superb A RETURN
TO LOVE that was written by this modern sage.
Diana loved this famous teaching composed by Marianne:
“Our deepest fear is not that we are
inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our
light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to
be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is
nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure
around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make
manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's
in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other
people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our
presence automatically liberates others.”
We
live in such turbulent times that it is easy to feel our internal value system
become askew. Its easy to feel dislodged, with all our values barracking
against each other, arguing about which way we should view right and wrong,
good or bad, just and unjust, fair or rude. Often we abandon our own value
system under the weight of the rules the world gives us. Then a gulf emerges
between what feels right within and what is real without. The elements of
affection and sharing used at home become distorted by the uncaring nature of
the world. The common good we feel within our family, or with intimate friends,
that safety and comfort is replaced by a rapacious desire to personally
succeed. This egocentric behavior drives us to elbow people out of the way,
rather than to step aside in grace. Then sooner or later we are rushing,
competing our way to the finishing line, and just like the horizon, this
finishing line keeps moving further and further away.
I
write this during one of the most crucial weeks of gender evaluation in the
twenty-first century, the week of the FORDS vs. KAVANAUGH Senate Judiciary
Committee Hearing in the USA. When Dr. Christine Blasey Ford faced the Senate Committee on
Sept. 27, she raised her right hand and swore to tell the truth, the whole
truth and nothing but the truth. From this moment it was clear that an
unassuming psychology professor, and mother of two, was about to change the
course of current events in real time.
Unfortunately, the victim
of that sexual assault held by the cruel hands of Brett Kavanaugh 36 years ago,
was side-railed by the Senate Committee, even though their belief in her
veracity was well stated. From the opening of Dr Ford’s statement: “I’m here
today not because I want to be, I’m actually terrified, but I felt it my civic
duty!” the American public watched and through polls voted that 84% of her
statement was true.
When the hearing reached its ghastly
completion, Dr Ford had done more than prove herself as a credible witness. For
millions of women and men around the Globe who sat pinned to their tablets or
TV’s, she had outshone Kavanaugh as the leading protagonist in the whole
complex narrative. Women from around the world began calling into C-SPAN, CNN
and FOX NEWS to tell their own decades-old stories of harassment and rape. The
hash tags #METOO and #WhyIDidntReport exploded on social media,
as a hugely supportive cry for those who had never become public about the sexual
assault they had also been the victims of. People globally from Albuquerque to
Zanzibar watched this testimony, some gathered in disbelieving unity around
tablets and smart phones, some with horror in their minds, some with empathic
hands held over their hearts, and most with mouths agape as in shock they
listened.
Just as Diana had been shocked when she
finally faced the incredulity of how her husband had been unfaithful to here.
Its true this wasn’t a physical assault as in the case of Dr Ford, but mounted
to be a huge psychological wounding, persistently driven home by many of Prince
Charles supporters, and of course the Media. As the Royal Household saw her as ‘loony’ she also received personal
wounding from the daily tabloids who at that time of writing dismissed Diana
with: “Do we need this heroine of the people for the people?” Conversely, the
answer that came back from the people was: “Yes, Diana has a love and
compassion that will bring about the democratization of the monarchy.” The
purpose of the institution of monarchy was to symbolize the enduring spirit of
the nation, yet this it no longer did, and so change was in the air!
No one in history has been
so universally adored as Diana, Princess of Wales. Never before has a public
figure so deeply affected the lives of the people of the world as Diana did.
Not even the most celebrated screen actress or celebrity icon has been
photographed as much as Diana. The Queen of everybody’s heart was captivating,
inspiring, alluring, charismatic, and through an innate power, influenced even
the most diehard cynic with her warmth, beauty, limitless love, and kindness.
It was as though she had touched everyone’s soul with her radiance and charm,
melting men’s bones with her grace. Amongst strong men she would walk, with
Presidents and Prime Ministers she would talk, and many could make little sense
of what was happening to them. Wherever Diana moved, a wave of grace passed
through everybody, shifting all into richer contact with his or her inner
essence or higher self.
Yet within the heart of
British Royal Family Diana experienced grave opposition. For she established a
new way of being that contradicted the rigid protocols of tradition, the social
rubrics that had existed for over a hundred years with the Royal enclave, where
feelings were withheld and never personalized. Instead, Diana’s way was to
overtly express the way she felt, and after developing the courage of her first
ten years of royal service confessed: “I
do things differently, for I rule from the heart, not from the head.” This
observation became her lode-stone, her brand signature, her usp, and she
encouraged us all to open our hearts, even through to the point of death.
Diana openly showed her
vulnerability in public, met people face on, warmly and lovingly held hands,
all of which was considered totally inappropriate by the Windsor’s. For they
did what they had always done, they appeared aloof to the collective feeling of
the people, they withheld their emotions, and took distance hiding behind the
royal veneer. In counterpoise, as Diana attended engagements, her astonishing
blue eyes brimmed with kindness, and wooed the crowds, a behavior that was
disdained by the family she had married into. Then they began to criticize her
giving birth to her statement, “There is
no better way to dismantle a personality than to isolate it!” and this they
did out of embarrassment.
It’s uplifting to reflect
on the courage and daring Diana possessed as a change-maker. She spoke the
truth as she felt it, she was endearing as she sensed someone’s frailty, she
loved where love was absent, and just as the royal family disparaged her
fragility, turning a necessity into a virtue Diana used the negativity to aid
the search for her own voice, to receive even more composite strength from the
people who cared about her, and for whom she cared. Her vocal timbre was
unmistakably the call of the heart, pregnant with emotional truth, yearning for
the magic of synergy, searching for kindness in the eyes of those before her,
and rich with a desire to make empathic connection.
Alone as a public figure,
Diana introduced us to the ‘voice of change’ as the voice of the heart,
balancing out the excesses of the cerebral mind, rigid with its own controls.
The voice of change Diana believed holds sparkling authenticity in the waves of
its resonance. The voice of change speaks with passionate truth, as the most
powerful tool we humans possess. The voice of change does not hide from fear,
humiliation, embarrassment, or subterfuge. The voice of change lives joyously,
freely, empowering our identity into creation. The voice of change speaks,
shouts, cries-out with a gusto that evolves courage and determination, finding
all of its breath-ways to express personal sovereignty. The voice of change
sounds our world into existence. The voice of change does not mumble or murmur,
it resonates with a force that arises from deep inside, accumulated through
years of plummeting the deep pools of our consciousness, and expressing the
conviction that lies therein – a truth which is most credible, most raw, most
vital, and most beautiful - about who we are, and how our soul breathes.
The voice of change is
fully owned by the speaker, physically resonating from their core, clarified by
distinct diction, reverberating its primal sound, honed by the beauty of its
physical capacity, and crafted by the majesty of its mental clarity. The voice
of change is shaped by bare survival, identifying and then resolving pain,
ignominy, strife, abuse, denial, guilt, shame, injustice, betrayal, and hatred.
The voice of change allows the soul of the speaker to shape the destiny of
their message, and thus claims a position of unique brilliance. The voice of
change has only one clear quest - that the pathway of destiny be laid with
silver and gold - leading the individual to an open heart, and a creative
excellence that is filled with the loving force of the Universe!
The voice of change is the
only constant that we have. For in truth, when change occurs, it signifies that
we are fully alive, moving forward, spiriting ourselves into creation, aligning
our soul’s destiny, dynamically engaged, moving to the beat of our hearts,
breathing to the steadiness of our footfall, walking with courageous gravity
along the red path of life.
This book explains how
Diana opened her voice to its rich potential, so that she could amplify her
promise to augment world change. Through its witness, so too will you find
exercises that will expand your voice. I promise the book is packed full of
useful tips, and ways of being, that stimulate personal presence, persuasive
magnetism, gracious charisma, and creative excellence. Also, and of paramount
value, the book provides a means by which the horrors of life can be alchemical
transformed, so that ‘the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune’, and the
multitude of pains that we accrue as we move through life, are fully transmuted.
All of the major processes I used with Diana to elicit freedom are here for you
to use. These have become known as DIANA’S MEDITATIONS, for they were
experienced first hand by the Princess, right up to her untimely death in the
summer of 1997.
Before we go there let’s
remember what preceded our knowledge of her tragic death - the Wedding. This
was an incredibly significant event in everybody’s life, not just in Diana’s,
because the life of the nation was powerfully affected. So too, around the
world, people became engrossed in the spectacle. This lifted the British into a
defining moment of their history, whilst the citizens of the world felt a new
form of hope and idealism being born. Those who watched the ceremony in St
Paul’s Cathedral on that sunny day, saw a series of extraordinary moments,
described by the Archbishop of Canterbury, as “the stuff of which fairy tales are made, which tells a truth by which
the world is shaped, indicating that we are not just victims. A marriage that
has both a private face and a public duty, and where so many hopes are placed!”
By way of illustration,
during one heart-pulsing instant within the wedding ceremony at St. Paul’s
Cathedral on July 29th 1981, a whoop of joy broke loose from the
vast field of thousands of spectator’s, which sounded rather like a ‘medieval
accolade’ as it filled the air, and whilst the royal couple haltingly plighted
their troth. The sheer force of the eagerly expectant audience placed huge
impact on the ceremony, forcing a dramatic transition to occur in the
vicissitudes of the Royal Family. Indeed, the ripples not only affected the
core institution of the monarchy, but also moved through the collective
consciousness - a force that subsequently transformed most people into
believing we were entering a fairy tale world of a “Once upon a Time”
mythological status.
When such universal
mechanisms are awakened, otherworldly energies stir, and Diana intuitively
became aware of her destiny by these forces, in that she felt herself to be
something much more than merely Charles’s Queen. Diana shared with friends that
she felt predestined for another role, an occupation more compassionate or
humanitarian in nature. Somehow she knew deep in her soul, that the future
would be defined by her vocation, and not just by the media display of her.
Then, after the trials and
tribulations of aggravating bulimia, unremitting insomnia, and gut wrenching
disempowerment, she met and gained her power, yet by a raw twist of fate was
also brought to her untimely death. Through tears we all sensed that Diana
Spencer had truly ascended, as a perfectly imperfect human being, to become a
star of vast luminosity. The Queen of Everybody’s Hearts had transcended into
heaven surfing waves of love as people wept out their adoration of her, in awe
of all that she had represented in their lives. It seemed that this star, which
once shone so brightly, needed to fall, in order for a powerful shift to take
place within the ‘collective consciousness’. And as Charles Spencer pointed out
in his Westminster Abbey funeral panegyric: “It is a point to remember that of all the ironies about Diana, perhaps
the greatest was this - a girl given the name of the ancient goddess of hunting
was, in the end, the most hunted person of the modern age.”
What we saw her death
transforming the people of the world, from a ‘literal’ state of being into a
‘metaphysical’ vibration, the consequences brought forth a vastly new
perception. At her passing, millions of people, shocked and bruised to the core
wept openly, demonstrating the largest global public grieving ever witnessed.
This emotional outpouring brought the citizens of the world to their knees,
whilst unusual phenomena occurred in Europe’s major cities. For example, there
was a pronounced flower shortage as millions of bouquets, exuding love,
admiration, awe, and compassion were laid before the stately gates of
Kensington Palace, and other places of significant interest - locations like
the site of Diana’s death, the gates of Althorp, her family’s ancestral seat, Buckingham
Palace, Churches and Temples all over the world - places which hitherto became
ritualized shrines to her memory.
In Kensington Gardens
candles burned around virtually every tree, with flowers, Teddy Bears, Queen of
Hearts Cards, hand painted pictures, love poems, declarations, citations of
peace, compassionate outpourings, photographs, and paintings. Love flags
fluttered in the trees and bushes, or were attached to ornamental railings of
Kensington Palace. Fields of blooms were laid like a vast lawn of woe before
the Palace gates. Huge fan shapes of Lilies and Roses decorated the ground
wherever you walked, as people poured out their grief at the tragedy of her
death, and maybe for the passing of their own Mother. Yet, at the same time
each token blest her on her flight to paradise, whilst Diana became a newly
ascended Angel.
As the public outpouring
took place, the demand for news outbid the stocks of paper on which the news
was printed. Television viewer statistics soared into stratospheric
proportions, and during the funeral day itself a mass of 3.5 billion people
watched their Television screens, recording this day as the saddest September 6th
in history. These TV viewing figures were in excess of half the World’s
population - which in 1997 registered at 5.84 billion people.
Diana the People’s
Princess, who had become the Queen of Everybody’s Hearts, was now an Angel of
luminescent being. The instrument of her unique love, the tenderness of her
heartfelt compassion, the definition of her role as a shrewd Ambassador for
Peace, all and more were now details that elevated our consciousness as we
reviewed her life. A life that had been given to those who suffered,
particularly with regard to alleviating the pain of the sick, by liberating the
crucial predicament of Aids and HIV sufferers, the plight of the Homeless, the
devastation of Leprosy, and the random destruction of Landmine usage. When Diana made the decision to shake the hands of the
Aids patients she met, without gloves, she also shook the world into a new
reality.
It is this reality that
moves us forward now. Each of us has our own part to play, and nothing is
expected or required of us that we don't already have to give. As Diana showed,
we are all needed, we all have our own gifts and qualities, we all know what
our destinies can be, if we just give ourselves time to be still and think. But
what she also emphasized was that it would be our hearts that would define that
specific calling.
Some of you will educate,
some will learn. Some of you will be politically active, and some will make
tea. Some of you will be compassionate to the poor, and some with legislate
social change. Some of you will make babies, and some will create significant
projects, and just as Diana would anonymously visit people in hospital when she
heard their cry, so will some of you sit with those who are lonely, unwell, or
lost, and give comfort. As Diana said: “I
can’t be indifferent to those who suffer or need care. I can’t ignore social
unfairness or injustice. I can't turn a blind eye to the homeless. We must
believe that our voices and actions will change the world, and then find a way
of speaking forth about the change that is needed – this is our moral
imperative!”
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