The chakra. I am intrigued and seduced by it and I think it is because it has its origins in ancient India, the island of mysticism and the Kamasutra. And because harnessing its power can get you what you want – it can even get you very rich.

It is fascinating to imagine the chakra – as whorls of (colorful) energy from the base of the spine to the crown of the head (chakra, after all, means wheel or “turning”) – from the ovaries/prostate (Base or Root Chakra), the spinal cord (Sacral Chakra), the navel (Solar Plexus Chakra), the heart (Heart Chakra), the throat and neck area (Throat Chakra), the pineal gland (Brow or Third Eye Chakra) and the top of the head (Crown Chakra).

It first flirted with my consciousness when I read Dr. Tuesday Lobsang Rampa’s book, The Third Eye. Now, he is an interesting man. During his first life as a lama in Tibet , a hole was drilled into his forehead to enhance his third eye chakra and this allowed him “to see people as they are and not as they pretend to be”.

It was quite disturbing.

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I was young and found myself in an acting workshop – my first – given by my school organization. Someone was telling me – me – to beg, steal, or borrow. But I could no longer make out the face behind the booming, drill sergeant’s voice.

But I can still hear it now, still see the room with faces both young, and afraid and shell-shocked, still smell the woodsy smell of the dried palm that enveloped the walls of our little theatre stage, still feel the sting of the first slap that I delivered in a scene, still feel the delicious words that rolled out of my mouth and the thunderous applause at the closing of the imaginary curtain.

I am not sure I got the principle, though, although I remember that it was repeated often – too often, in fact. But even then, I was not sure that I could do it. Begging seems too desperate. And stealing – how can anything be justified by that?

Free is wonderful.

So I spend about 5 minutes of my time everyday signing up for free stuff. I do not even have to look for offer of the free stuff, it comes in my e-mail box every day. And all I need is time in my hands (and for most free stuff offers, a US address).

See the picture on the left? I got all of those for free. Included there is a big can of milk, baby magazines, lotions, creams, diapers, shampoos, conditioners. And coupons, lots of coupons. I am not sure I will be able to use everything, but the feeling of free is good.

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“When I enrolled in Maven Secrets, I did not know what I was getting into. I only thought I would learn about blogging, get to know the man behind all those amazing features in Our Awesome Planet and, yes, dabble a little bit in internet marketing. I did not know that it will lead to my re-examination of my life, that it will change my life, transfer me from the confines of my glass penthouse to vibrant, more exciting possibilities. Let this serve as a warning and a warm welcome to those who will follow this unbeaten path.”

The above was my testimony for MavenSecrets when I attended its pilot class more than a year ago. But its echoes reverberate to the life I know today.

MavenSecrets is an internet marketing program. But it was also a way out – because like what it did to Anton Diaz, its founder (and to my other classmates), it strengthened my desire to leave the rat race and go after things that I am passionate about – like family and doing the things I could not find the time to do, the more important things that give life its flesh and its color.

Through having multiple passive income streams.

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I will make an unusual statement: in some countries, it is easier to give.

First, a backgrounder.

In the US, we held some garage sales. It is easy. You just gather the things you do not use out of the closet (or the garage), put a price to it, set it up at your garage (or yard, for a yard sale) announce it over the internet or advertise in some local newspaper (for free), show up on the day with some loose change, preferably psyched up to deal with penny pinchers (who want your memorabilia for a song) and wait. At the end of the day, you will have earned some cash, freed a part of your garage (or closet), and found homes for the stuff you would not miss anyway.

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It is amazing how much people accumulate for half a lifetime.

Take us, for example. We have moved from house to house no fewer than 5 times (once, overseas). And there were things and possessions that already got left behind – pictures (of friends, old boyfriends – on second thought…), documents that were once deemed important (thesis), favorite clothes (where’s that bridesmaid’s gown? Or my Victoria Secret lingerie that were wedding presents?), favorite jewelry (mom used to have dangling earring made of rhinestones that I loved looking at but maybe it is fake – where did it go?) that sometimes it pains me to think of what had become of them. And yet, looking at the cavernous heap that I have to sort through now, I am certain that I am left with a whole lot more than I can deal with (or want).

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I irritate my husband with one habit.

I get myself invited to open houses – of summer houses – and I drag him with me.

For some reason, summer houses appeal to me. I tried to enter an exclusive one once and I was turned away (not a member, no invitation from a member, no appointment to go in – how was I supposed to know it was that exclusive?). And maybe that is where the appeal lies – it is so hard to get in (well, okay, that one time, but memories of experiences sometimes stick around longer than they are wanted).

Hard to get in but also hard to keep one. But that is another story.

Summer houses in exclusive enclaves. They are the playground of the rich, and when you own one, it means you have earned the right to squander money away – and squander you will because although you paid an arm and a leg for it, it is a place where you will stay maybe only 1 or 2 months in a year.

But like I said, I like them. So yesterday, we went again to another one – in Anvaya Cove which is off the coast of Bataan, very near Subic Bay.

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I had my first brush with Feng Shui during my first trip to Hongkong.
We were taking the cursory city tour and the tour guide very carefully pointed out the building in the distance with a hole through it. She said that a Feng Shui expert was consulted when it was built and she said that there was a dragon that lives in the mountain behind the building. To keep him happy, there should be a hole in the center of the building so that he can easily go in and out whenever he wanted. It became the site of the former Repulse Bay Hotel and known as Repulse Bay’s famed “building with a hole”.

I was fascinated. A dragon!

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