“A Moment That Changed My Life”
Kate O’Reilly
Photographer & School Director
I always wanted to make a living from a creative art, and a moment that changed my life is when I did. I decided to become a serious photographer, constantly in search of the magic of life and people.
Photography for me now is quite a revelational experience when what I am looking for is achieved. We all have cameras, we all take photographs – but what are we searching for?
As Ansel Adams once said, “The photograph comes from within.”
Photography for me is pure magic and a very powerful tool for self expression.
My mentor, Colin Beard, a true master of photography, taught me these things. We opened up a photography school together and now we help others to realise their creative talents through this medium.
www.photolearning.com.au
Eoin Lynch
Producer
10 years ago I was in Bali, surfing. I had surfed before, but never waves that big. It didn’t take long for me to realise that what I was doing was very stupid. I felt a wave behind me, started paddling and the next thing I knew I was in the water being tossed around like a doll in a washing machine. When I did make it to the surface, another wave came crashing down on top of me. The whole process happened 6 times, and each time I became more and more exhausted. My body was heavy and I couldn’t move my limbs so I simply and calmly began to sink. At this point, a 15 year old Balinese surfer jumped off his board, pulled me up to the surface and out of the surf, onto the beach.
I have since learnt that, utterly exhausted or not, you can always find the strength. The key is to be aware of the things that make life worth living.
www.lynchcreative.ie
Igor Olivier Ezendam
Overtone Artist & Teacher
Listening to the radio one night in the late 80’s and hearing a vocal group, David Hykes and his Harmonic Choir, playing at the Amsterdam Melkveg. It was their first album, “Hearing Solar Winds.” They sounded like an airplane taking off, when suddenly one guy leapt out, into the stratosphere, with no parachute. It was a mind-blowing first encounter with overtone singing.
I can remember grabbing an audio-cassette of classical music that belonged to my mother and pressing REC. Not caring about any repercussions, just wanting to capture this amazing sound.
I would listen to the tape for many years to come. This introduction to harmonics started me practising and practising, working on my own vocal voyage. 20 years later, I am now a professional overtone artist. I teach, make recordings and give solo concerts of overtone singing with didgeridoo, percussion and string instruments providing a world musical experience.
www.feelingsound.com
Zara Petrova
Project Coordinator
I have been living in Ireland for a few years now. My friends in Bulgaria were a very important part of my life and I really missed them even though my life here was great. For a little while I didn’t know how to deal with the way I felt… until I got to talk to a friend in Ireland who changed my perspective on my problems.
She had more to be unhappy about than I did. However, she is one of the most positive people I know. It was then when I realised that only I am responsible for my own happiness. Since then, I started making much more effort and I considerably improved my social life. I also keep in touch with my friends in Bulgaria and visit them as often as I can.
I am now much happier with my life as I know that it is Me who can make Me happy.
Konstantin Nikolov
Freelance Animator
Have you noticed that sometimes things happen to us at exactly the right moment? Like a door that opens quite rarely, but this time you managed to walk through it at the exact time it opened, and that changed your life in some mysterious way.
My greatest change so far happened to me following this pattern. It was a very special book that chose to come into my life at the moment when I needed it most. The book is called “The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho, and its messages brought the magic back into my life.
It helped me remember that miracles only need us to believe in them to happen, and that the uncertainty of life is only the blank page of limitless possibility. That happened nearly seven years ago and it was the push I needed to start chasing my dreams and to be where I am today.
Mari Kennedy
Yoga Teacher & Transformational Coach
When I was 28, my boyfriend at the time handed me a cassette tape and said “You need this – its Yoga.” Then he told me to lie on the ground, to “listen and follow.” As I lay there laughing at the thought of needing yoga, a haunting, kind of annoying but vaguely soothing voice suggested I “become aware of my breath .” Of course, I didn’t get to the end of the tape that night – I had too much to do, and its slowness agitated me.
Months later, I found myself voluntarily on the ground following that haunting voice. And so began my relationship with a 4,000 year old tradition that has held me, opened me and lead me home to myself. That moment of Grace offered me a practice that has transformed my life and shown me that our natural state is limitless freedom and overflowing wellbeing, and that changes everything.
www.transformationalspace.com
