What is it to be fully and positively human?

Introduction to – ‘1000 WAYS OF CELEBRATING THE HUMAN SPIRIT’

NB – All newest posts are below this fixed  ‘Intro’.  Use SEARCH for the subjects you are interested in.

.‘Animated’ racehorse by photographer Eadweard Muybridge -  Source WikiPedia

Celebrating the human spirit is positive, and anyway it is better to light a candle than curse the darkness.

In celebrating the human spirit we can also enjoy humour that is made possible from our foolish ways. Humour is a balm and gives us experience and healing that’s a bit like art or true spirituality.

What matters is whether we are fair, kind, creative, truth-telling and wise. Personally I don’t care whether a person is an atheist or religious.  What good things they produce is what matters.

Why 1000 ways?  Well there are many paths to the top of a mountain, but only one summit.

We either believe in a unitive force behind the universe, of which we are all one infinitesimal part, or we believe that chaos reigns supreme.  It doesn’t matter what we believe – what matters is what we do with what we believe.

We are what we think.  All that we are arises with our thoughts.  With our thoughts, we make our world.  (Buddha)

4th July 2009

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See HERE for ‘My other sites and their connections!‘

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INTRODUCTION:

“The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.” – Aristotle, in The Metaphysics.

Celebrating the good things about the human spirit is positive – at the very least it is better to light a candle than curse the darkness!

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I have found no better representation of my combined interests – Art: Science: Education: Photography etc – than Muybridge’s magnificent horse ‘animation’  .    I reflect on it HERE.

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In celebrating the human spirit we can also enjoy humour, made possible from our ‘foolish ways’. Humour is a balm that gives us experience and healing that’s a bit like art, or true spirituality, or carnivals.  Why does you work?  It release stress – and makes us whole again.

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What matters most is whether we are fair, kind, creative, truth-telling and wise.  Such virtues define the depth of our humanity, regardless of belief systems.

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Personally therefore I don’t care whether a person is an atheist or a religionist.  What ‘good things’ each person produces is what matters.  Regrettably many religions and belief systems don’t lead to light and love because they are corrupted with hypocrisy, manipulation and fundamentalism and a host of such curses.  The best of religion is however love and light – you’ll find it beneath the dung-heap of man-made distortions!

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Why 1000 ways?  Well there are many paths to the top of a mountain – but only one summit.

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We either believe in a unitive force behind the universe, of which we are all one infinitesimal part, or we believe that chaos reigns supreme.  It doesn’t matter what we believe – what matters is what we do with what we believe.

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WHAT ARE WE?

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“We are what we think.  All that we are arises with our thoughts.  With our thoughts, we make our world”. – Buddha

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We are a manifestation of energy – or if you prefer we are each a large bunch of atoms through which the life-force flows.

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See HERE for ‘My sites and their connections!’

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Updated 20th Aug 2009 – NB – All the newest posts are below this continuously evolving ‘Introduction’

Creative influence of other photographers – does it matter? William Eggleston and a London pub.

Echoes of other photographers in our own photographs – do they matter, do they only matter for would-be professional, and not for us amateurs?

The first photograph below is a well-known image by William Eggleston.  I saw a great exhibition of his work at the Hayward in London.  I went round very fast  – twice – to gather up the spirit of his work.

The feeling from that great set of photographs stays with me like a tune – but I couldn’t put it in to words.  (One element or theme in his work is about the presence of those that were there but now are absent – rather like the painter Edward Hopper.)

This photograph can, on the face of it, be hardly less memorable.  But it did stick as have many of his photographs – stickabilty of images in our minds is one criterion of great photographs, given the million images we see every day.

Some years later I found myself in a London pub near the Saatchi gallery staring at the wall and ceiling.

Some bits were more interesting in the sense they demanded greater emphasis – the wires for example, but the deep red ceiling held sway in my consciousness.

Taking photographs teaches us how to see.  Taking photographs that echo the resonances of master photographers helps in the reading as well as the taking of photographs.

Everything you always wanted to know about sax but were afraid to ask.

Today is National Saxophone Day. In recognition, here are a few saxophone facts:

The saxophone was invented by Adolphe Sax, He was born this day in 1814

via to55er.wordpress.com

Click on link to read the other interesting things about the saxaphone!

Binky in her ‘Alternate Reality’ says some very important things about photography as creative connection

“I guess every girl goes through a photography phase. You know, horses… taking pictures of your feet.” – Scarlett Johannson as Charlotte in Lost in Translation.

I’m not a photographer, and I’m not good with the camera either. It’s one of those things I just don’t have the talent for.

But I do love photography.

I’m not great with art. I don’t know how to judge a painting, it’s all too confusing for me. I’m not really into sculptures either, unless the really obviously beautiful ones, like Michaelangelo’s David.

But I am always drawn to photography.

via alternatebinkyality.wordpress.com

Click on link to see all the stuff that Blinky has said so far

The call of the heart, the right-brain, the longing for at-one-ment – by Adam Kayce

The Urgent Call

It lies within you, thirsting.

Like a baby bird chirping desperately for its mother’s return to the nest to bring the food that will keep it alive, there is a yearning that lives within you, and it calls incessantly. It can be satiated with the smallest of moments, and it has a camel’s resistance to thirst, but if you ignore it too long, it will shrivel and die.

And as it does, color will fade from your world. Meaning will ebb away, enjoyment will wither, and you’ll sit around trying to remember a time in your life when richness existed. You’ll get dry, stiff… and when you hardly recognize the crusty you that you’ve become, you’ll chalk it up to being busy. Or being a parent. Or being a professional. Or getting older.

But it has nothing to do with any of those things.

The Urgent Call is your spirit’s need for connection. Like the migrating herds of the plains of Africa, who travel thousands of miles every year in search of life-giving food and water, your spirit has an essential drive to feel its connection to all around it. It’s the reason we seek community. It’s the reason we search for purpose and meaning in life. It’s the reason we feel better when we’re on a spiritual path, and it’s the reason that it doesn’t really matter what path that ends up being.

What matters is that you connect.
What matters is the Urgent Call gets listened to.
It doesn’t matter how your Urgent Call gets fulfilled, only that it does.

Mind Schmind

Oh, sure, your rational mind wants to be right, it wants everything to make logical sense, and it wants reasoning to explain your beliefs. And those things are fine… for the mind. But the Call doesn’t need those things (which is why it’s doubted and ridiculed so often); the Call just needs connection.

The evidence for this is that this post makes sense to you. Logically? Reasonably? Heck no. Your left brain probably doesn’t have a clue in hell what I’m talking about, and it’s going a little nutso trying to figure out where this is going, matching patterns and looking for a logical conclusion. In fact, it’s probably liking this little explanation, because it can understand it. “Ahh,” it says, “I’m feeling much more comfortable now that you’re speaking my language.”

via adamkayce.com

click on link to read full article

Steps you can take right now to get Fair Voting for England/UK

Dear Reader

Among the general atmosphere of dry rot in Westminster, "change" can be considered a bad word. But when it comes to obstinacy against electoral reform, not all MPs are created equal.

Some are worse than others. And we've identified 13 MPs who are the very worst – making up a rogues' gallery of resistance to the change we so urgently need.

Help us name and shame them now. Write to these MPs and demand to know why, despite the crisis in our democracy caused by the expenses scandal, they won't allow voters to have a say on a fairer voting system:

http://www.voteforachange.co.uk/RoguesGallery

 

Because comfort with voters' disenfranchisement is a bipartisan affair, politicians from both side of the house are members of our gallery.

On the Labour side, we've got Jack Straw, Ed Balls, and Peter Mandelson – who said in 2000 that the first-past-the-post system for electing MPs was "unfair and effectively disenfranchised millions of people." (Over the ensuing nine years, he's apparently decided that mass disenfranchisement suits him and his party just fine.)

And on the Conservative side, we've got party chair Eric Pickles, George Osbourne, and David Cameron – who wants to be the "Change Candidate." But not to the point where he'll actually support the sort of change that counts.

These MPs have the power to restore faith in our democracy following the expense crisis and give voters a voice again. But they haven't. And they won't, unless we expose them :

http://www.voteforachange.co.uk/RoguesGallery

 

It only takes a couple of minutes to name and shame – and believe me, it's good for the soul. Hope you'll join me in writing to these MPs today.

Thanks,

Willie Sullivan

Top 10 Ghostwritten Books by Scott Laming – on ABE books

No matter where you go on the planet you will find tales of the supernatural. Spirits, spooks and spectres are everywhere.  However, there is one reclusive mythical creature that particularly sparks fear in literary hearts – the ghostwriter.

They are the hired guns of the publishing world, paid to produce and then melt away unseen. Words for cash – no questions asked. The work is never-ending – there are the high profile celebrities who have not picked up a book since primary school but now need an autobiography and the estates of dead authors, like V.C. Andrews and Robert Ludlum, who wish to keep the novels coming.

Some ghostwriters have a place in history. Carolyn Keene is as fictional as the teen sleuth that she was supposed to have created, Nancy Drew.  In reality, Carolyn was a pseudonym for a series of ghostwriters who wrote book after book based on a template and an expected style.

James Patterson admits he is simply more proficient at dreaming up plots than crafting sentence after sentence.  He often credits his ghostwriters as “co-authors” on his covers.  Peter de Jonge is one author who used to ‘ghost’ for Patterson but has now published his novel, Shadows Still Remain.

Many ghostwriters sign non-disclosure agreements to ensure they stay in the shadows, but often the identity of the true author emerges. John F. Kennedy’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book Profiles in Courage was actually ghost-written by his speechwriter Theodore Sorenson.  This was denied for years but Sorenson admitted to writing large sections of the book in his 2009 autobiography, Counselor.

You might be surprised to see who else has been a ghostwriter.

via abebooks.co.uk

UK – check out how bad crime is in your area

via maps.police.uk

Click on link to find out about crime in your area

SunWALK a human-centred studies model as the foundation for managing, teaching and parenting

via authorstream.com

Go on – guess how many mobile phone deals are there to choose from?

To find the best mobile contract for you we compare 1,217,652 deals for the way you use your mobile phone.

via billmonitor.com

Click on link to find out more

Are the Tories in a Pickle over Fair Voting?

PictureTeri Pengilley at the Independent

Message from the VoteForaChange campaign (Demand support for Fair Voting from your MP)

What’s wrong with Pickles’ politics? –

07/10/2009

Tory chairman Eric Pickles addressed the Conservative conference with a rallying cry for "fair votes". If only he'd really meant it – but of course, he didn't.

Apparently Pickles' idea of fair votes means a boundary review – one that would help the Tories, naturally. But even without this constituency carve up, the Conservatives' share of seats will be wildly more than their share of votes. Re-arranging the seats is about as useful in this Parliament as it would be on the Titanic.

Pickles doesn't want fairness – he just wants to re-allocate the unfairness. And even worse, he thinks that he and his fellow politicians should get to make that choice. The Tories' plans will be passed through a House of Commons that even they now admit is unfairly elected, and an unelected House of Lords that even they want to abolish.

They're happy to spend this week discussing a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty – but not to give us a say on the most fundamental question of our democracy: our votes.

If Pickles thinks that fair votes just means a helpful boundary change for the Tories, let him make his case. Not just to the Conservative Party conference or Tory MPs – but to the people. In a referendum. And then let us decide.

But politicians like Pickles won't give up that power unless we make them. That's why we need you to sign up now – before Pickles gets to decide for us:

http://voteforachange.co.uk/referendum

What does the UK Food Standards Agency say we should eat to be well?

via eatwell.gov.uk

The UK Food Standards Agency ‘Eat Well Plate’

Click through to see their advice

Is this the best site ever for Healing With Foods?

Healing With Foods

Food is the source of nutrition and energy to support the health of our body. Although not always considered an important part of many of the common diseases we see in our society today this section of our website helps you to understand how incorporating the World’s Healthiest Foods as a regular part of your diet can help prevent or reduce the severity of the various diseases discussed.

via whfoods.com

Click through link

Get healthy – here is a list of the World’s Healthiest Foods

home – who we are – what’s new – getting started – community –

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The George Mateljan Foundation, a not-for-profit foundation with no commercial interests, is a new force for change to help make a healthier you and a healthier world.

The World’s Healthiest Foods

129 foods that can serve as the basis of your Healthiest Way of Eating. Links to the articles about these foods can be found below.

Of course, there are many other nutritious foods other than those that we have included on our list that we feel are wonderful, health-promoting foods; if there are other whole foods – such as fruits, vegetables, nuts/seeds, whole grains, etc – that you like, by all means enjoy them. Just because a food is not on our list doesn’t mean that we don’t think that it can be included in a diet geared towards the Healthiest Way of Eating as long as it is a whole, natural, nutrient-rich food.

To find out why some of your favorite nutritious foods are not included in our list, read The Criteria Used to Select the World’s Healthiest Foods.

via whfoods.com

Click on link to read all about the top 100 plus a great deal more

BECKHAM’s BEARDS: scratch, scratch or mmm mmm – Tamara Abraham in the Daily Mail untangles this growth area!

Hirsute hero: David Beckham

Whether they are trying to prove their manliness, their style credentials, or it is just sheer laziness, there appears to be a rash of stubble among England’s football stars.

No less than seven footballers have been sporting beards of late, ranging from young Theo Walcott’s barely-there facial hair, to Michael Owen’s carefully groomed stubble.

Naturally it is David Beckham who appears to have set the trend (Posh wouldn’t have it any other way) – if only judging by the length of his beard. The newly hirsute 34-year-old showed off his new facial hair during Wednesday night’s match against Belarus.

Whether the patchy result is intentional, or a stylist has carefully shaved around his cheekbones and chin is anyone’s guess, but his look has clearly inspired his fellow players, with varying degrees of success.

Peter Crouch’s smattering of bristles is unlikely to have found favour with girlfriend Abbey Clancy, while a heavily bearded David James is rivalling Beckham for the heaviest facial hair.

Joe Cole and Michael Owen have both got ‘designer’ stubble of the perfect length -we’re sure it took far more effort than they’ll ever let on. Theo Walcott and Ben Foster also appear to be in the early stages of achieving the trend.

But the football fraternity are not the first famous faces to try facial hair. Indeed the A-list have long been using beards as a means of masking their faces from the paparazzi.

Taking it on the chin: David James has a beard to rival Beckham’s, while Peter Crouch’s stubble is unlikely to find favour with girlfriend Abbey Clancy

Designer stubble: Joe Cole (left) and Michael Owen have both achieved the perfect length for facial hair

Many of Hollywood’s most handsome faces have even used a beard in an attempt to shake of their ‘pretty boy’ tag – why else would Brad Pitt grow that awful beard? And whatever happened to the beautiful Joaquin Phoenix?

via dailymail.co.uk

Are you for or against such hairiness?

Click on the link to see this extensive article

Want to see the best photography of eagles?

via akphotograph.com

Click on link to see all 26

Stanislav Odyagailo – does anyone know of any other photographers like this? – i.e. surrealist

For more pictures in this series click HERE

Cna yuo raed tihs?

fi yuo cna raed tihs, yuo hvae a sgtrane mnid too. Cna yuo raed tihs? Olny 55 plepoe out of 100 can.

i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno’t mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghi t pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!

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Cna smoenoe tlel em waht tihs syas?

Which films are truly spiritually up-lifting? – Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat have a very interesting list – 2007-2008

The Most Spiritually Literate Films of 2008

By Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat

The Ten Most Spiritually Literate Films
The Ten Most Spiritually Literate
Foreign Language Films
The Five Most Spiritually Literate Animated Films
The Ten Most Spiritually Literate Documentaries
Ten More Spiritually Literate Films

via spiritualityandpractice.com

Secretary general of UN releases report criticizing human rights abuses in Iran

15 October 2009

UNITED NATIONS — UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon yesterday expressed strong criticism of Iran's human rights record, voicing concern about the use of excessive force after Iran's presidential election, the harassment of women's rights activists, the ongoing execution of juveniles, and the continued persecution of minorities, including Baha'is.

In a 19-page report written specifically to address a request made last December from the UN General Assembly about human rights in Iran, Mr. Ban said there have been "negative developments" in the area of civil and political rights since 2008.

The year saw "an increase in human rights violations targeting women, university students, teachers, workers and other activist groups, particularly in the aftermath of the elections," Mr. Ban said.

"Members of various ethnic and minority groups faced harassment, violence and, in some cases, persecution," he added, noting that "a pattern of concern arises with respect to the protection of minorities, including the Baha'i community, the Arab minority in Khuzestan, the Nematollahi Sufi Muslim community, the Kurdish community, the Sunni community, the Baluchi community, and the Azeri-Turk community."

The report made specific mention of seven imprisoned Baha'i leaders who were arrested in the spring of 2008 and have since been held in Evin prison, noting that the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has written to Iran "on numerous occasions to express concern and seek clarification" about the status of the seven.

Mr. Ban also noted that during the year reports "continued to be received about members of the Baha'i community being subjected to arbitrary detention, confiscation of property and denial of employment, government benefits, and access to higher education."

Full article and PDF download HERE

Are you interested in near-death experiences?

Near Death Experience Research Foundation

NDERF Is the largest NDE Website in the world with over 1800 full-text published NDE accounts

via nderf.org