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https://discipledave.wordpress.com/2017/02/27/eighth-day-living-the-sanctified-life/ | 2018-07-23T00:10:50 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-30/segments/1531676594675.66/warc/CC-MAIN-20180722233159-20180723013159-00579.warc.gz | 0.96512 | 2,778 | CC-MAIN-2018-30 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2018-30__0__26771648 | en | Sin is indeed troubling. Whether we consider sin as a nature that sets us in opposition to God’s holy nature, or as acts that are detestable to a righteously vengeful God, or as that which God has sacrificed his own Son to overcome, sin is counter to God’s nature, his demands, his work, and his love.
As God’s baptized children, we dare not treat sin with a caviler attitude that in some gospel reductionist fashion supposes that sin does not matter, or that God’s holy law doesn’t apply to us. Willfully persisting in sin, or refusing to identify and confess sin in our life is at odds with our new nature in Christ, and is really at odds with the person and work of Christ who bled and died to overcome sin.
This is easier said than done, for it is often hard to know what to do…or even to know how active and intentional of a role I ought to play in my sanctified life.
Stuck in the Conflict
We are stuck in the tension that is succinctly summarized as simul justi et pecator, simultaneously saint and sinner. As one such conflicted creature, I along with Paul in Romans 7 say “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!”
Yes, it must be the work of God through Jesus that delivers us—both from the eternal punishment that we deserve, and from this temporal struggle of our old Adam continually waging war on our new nature in Christ.
What to do?
What then should I do? Confess. Receive absolution. Remember my baptism. Receive the Lord’s Supper. Pray. Study scripture. Fellowship with others in the body of the church. Love my neighbor. Yes, absolutely, I gladly do all of these things, and embrace the necessity and efficacy of doing so.
But what then should I do? Is re-asking this question an indication that I don’t trust God to accomplish his will through the means he provides? Would it be better to ignore my ongoing condition of simul justi et pecator, perhaps pretending either that sin does not matter, or that I don’t sin? Or is this whole line of thought simply the narcissistic curving in on one’s self that our human nature seems to crave?
Or to put this another way, what ought my outlook be as I live out my life in Christ? What is sanctification all about? What is my role in sanctified living, and in particular, what is the role of my volition? Am I to actively struggle against my sinful nature, or am I to passively trust that the Holy Spirit will do his thing and accomplish his will in me?
There are many different ways we can answer this line of questions, and many different errors we can fall into in trying to embrace a single succinct answer. Alas, both-and is not conducive to the kind of focus we crave for the doing that lies before us in our temporal lives.
Is the Christian life “do”, or is it “be”? If both, is it “Do, be, do, be, do”, or is It “Be, do, be, do, be”? Does our doing flow from being, or does our being flow from doing? Here too, there are many godly answers to these questions, and many opportunities for error as well. Being and doing are both essential to the human experience, and are both integral parts of our sanctified lives. More than that, doing and being are interrelated and intertwined in a way that makes causation difficult if not impossible to determine.
How then can I find clarity as to the steps that I ought to take when I get out of bed in the morning? The urgency of our vocations provides us with practical answers to this: I can simply work at all the things that my callings set before me to do. This is good, but is not completely satisfying. This still does not address the “do, be” versus “be, do” question. This still does not give me direction as to the role of my volition in the mortification of my flesh and the pursuit of (or the passive waiting for) my sanctified life in Christ.
Spiritual disciplines could be of value, but they can also teeter on the brink of pietism and monasticism. Instilling urgency in the form of spiritual habits can, like the urgency of our vocations, keep us busy in the undertaking of godly work. But chasing after even godly busyness may be little more than a distraction from answering the question of what is my outlook on my sanctified life in Christ.
I think that Jesus gave us the answer to the question of sanctified living. His answer can break the recursive pondering of “do/be” “be/do”, and can end the breakneck pursuit of vocational and spiritual urgency for the sake of distraction. Jesus’ answer can fill us with his peace, while granting us joyful desire to labor in service to his kingdom and our neighbor.
What is Jesus’ answer of which I speak? Jesus gives us his answer is in the parable of the prodigal son. More precisely, it is after the end of the story: the morning after. His answer is his illustration of the restored prodigal waking up to new life on the next day, the eighth day.
The Restored Prodigal
Saved from death, hunger and shame, the restored prodigal is back. He is back in his father’s house, under his father’s care. But beyond that, he is back in his role of trusted son: he has the father’s ring on his finger, and empowered to do the work of the father’s business.
Consider what it is like to wake up as the restored prodigal the morning after the homecoming feast! The past lies behind. I am back. Now what?
There are many wrong answers to this question:
- I could begin packing my bags and demanding money to head back out into riotous living, heedless of my restoration.
- I could invite the whores and dubious friends I have encountered in my wanderings to come over to dad’s house for a raging party.
- I could go further aggravate my brother by flaunting what I got away with.
- I could sit around and do nothing but eat and drink leftovers from last night’s fatted calf celebration.
- I could lord my position over the father’s servants, and impose upon them to make me comfortable in my idleness.
- I could say to my father, “Dad, thanks for your help. I’ll prove myself to you and show you I’m not just a screw-up.”, which might sound good at first, but in reality, denies both the fact that I am a screw-up, and that dad has already restored me and has nothing for me to prove.
- I could say to my father, “Thanks, Dad. Don’t worry: I’ll repay you for everything.”, which is both hubris and a denigration of the father’s sacrifice for my restoration. I can’t ever repay him—nor does the father want me to try to do so.
…and so on. There are many, many bad things that I as the restored prodigal could set out to do.
Eighth Day Living
Instead, I as the restored prodigal on the morning after, on the 8th day, can begin my work as the father’s restored son. I can work diligently at the father’s business at hand—making sound decisions with the authority of the ring the father gave me. I can be a good steward of the father’s resources, and work confidently and compassionately to use them to accomplish the father’s will.
I have freedom—not to be wicked, not to be idle, and not to pridefully self-promote, but rather to live and work diligently, without worry or want. I am free to use the skills and gifts and experience that I have to do the father’s will, without looking back over my shoulder to be burdened once again by my past wicked and wasteful living.
I am not prideful, but I am confident in my standing in the father’s household and in my role in the father’s business. I trust that I am in my rightful place—not because of my merit, but because of the father’s declaration.
I have no desire to leave the father’s house, or to squander his assets, or to be idle. I want only to be and do (or do and be) what I am: the father’s beloved son, with full standing within the household.
When viewed from this angle, do/be, be/do, volition, causation, willful sinning, legalism, moralism, pietism and monasticism all melt away. I am who I am—the restored prodigal, the beloved son of the father, with nothing to prove and nothing to repay.
What do restored prodigals do, and what is their motivation? Exactly the same thing as good sons living faithfully in the father’s household…for that is what we are.
Will I err, or even shirk my responsibilities at times, or at times willfully pursue my lusts instead of the father’s will? Unfortunately, yes I will. But now such failings—such sin—is not part of an effort to run away from the father’s house. Such sin does not endanger expulsion from the father’s house, but neither is it something that is acceptable to the father—or to me as his restored son.
Yes, I will use my volition, my wisdom, my experience, and everything at my disposal to avoid sinful failings—because sinful failings have no place in the father’s house. My motivation is neither fear of the father’s wrath, nor arrogant self-justifying pride. I just want to live in the father’s house, under his continual care, faithfully living as that which he declared me to be: his beloved, fully-restored son.
And as further comfort, I know that the providence of the father, the security of his house, and the accomplishment of his will are eternal certainties that not even my sinful failings can thwart.
This approach to eighth-day living of our sanctified lives in Christ helps avoid many errors that may otherwise ensnare us:
- Hedonistic antinomianism
- Selfish idleness
- Prideful self-righteousness
- Dishonest perfectionism
- Purpose-driven restlessness
- Third-use denial
- Gospel reductionism
- Worldly social justice
- Meaningless busyness
…and many more
That is to say, that these errors are best overcome not by the strivings of either scholasticism or pietism, but are instead overcome or even rendered absurd by simply living on this eighth day as the restored prodigal in the father’s house.
Eighth Day Stewardship
Some years ago Microsoft ran a successful ad campaign with a slogan of “Where do you want to go today?”, implying that Microsoft would be able to help get you there. As a restored prodigal living in the father’s house, I can ask myself this same question.
No, I am not going to leave the father’s house. But in terms of my actions and focus, what is it that I want to do today, on this eighth day? What needs to be done? What specific resources are at my disposal? What are my callings? What would a good son do in this situation?
There is great abundance in the father’s house, and he has given me charge over many gifts. There is great freedom for me to pursue what I want to pursue, and to “go” where I want to “go” today.
In thinking about where I will go today, my motivation is not selfish gain, or wickedness, or sloth. But rather, in view of my specific context and my brothers around me, what can I do as a good son today? The father’s house will stand—with or without my efforts—but I want to do whatever I can as a good son to accomplish the father’s purposes. I want to live as a good steward of all he has placed in my care.
As I begin my day, it is not about me or my need to prove myself to the father. Rather, it is all about the father’s work, and what he has entrusted to me as his restored son. And so now I go…to faithfully live out the sanctified life he has given me on this and every eighth day, living ever under his graceful and abundant providence. | philosophy |
https://latitudes.online/artists/beau_disundi | 2024-03-03T18:44:25 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-10/segments/1707947476397.24/warc/CC-MAIN-20240303174631-20240303204631-00188.warc.gz | 0.961121 | 347 | CC-MAIN-2024-10 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2024-10__0__169455708 | en | Beau Disundi obtained his degree in interior design from the Kinshasa Academy of Fine Arts in 2016. During his studies, Disundi questioned his identity and how other cultures influence his own, which gave rise to his artistic practice. His explorations, in particular of cultural roots in Belgium, led him to the guiding principle of not only relating the history of the Congo, but of all peoples influenced or dominated by external cultures. “We no longer belong to a single time or place. We straddle different times and places” – Beau Disundi. Beau Disundi's works perform artistic and literary means of expression to create forms that go beyond these disciplines, blurring the boundaries between sculpture, architecture, and image. Through his creations, Beau Disundi refers to subjects that inhabit multicultural spaces.
His work reveals multiple co-existing spaces, inviting the world to travel within them in order to experience other points of view. From a complementary perspective, Disundi’s work aims to convey the perception of a person in this liminal space. A person prey to acculturation and alienation. Achieving this representation enables the artist to deconstruct and step back from the confusion of identity that reigns in these spaces. So, to better understand his experience, Disundi materializes the links between his identity, historical events and global dynamics. What happens when two diametrically opposed points of view become homogeneous? How does a living being evolving in space A, while adapting to culture B, perceive the world? All these questions have led Disundi to the concept of troubled identity and appropriation, reflected in the vagueness and gaps that he creates in his work. | philosophy |
http://www.prophecyfilm.com/inspirational-quotes/ | 2022-01-23T22:01:35 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-05/segments/1642320304309.59/warc/CC-MAIN-20220123202547-20220123232547-00182.warc.gz | 0.952816 | 2,128 | CC-MAIN-2022-05 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2022-05__0__69749050 | en | Inspirational Quotes, Motivational Quotes, Inspirational Quotes About Life
The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.
They can because they think they can.
Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude.
Keep steadily before you the fact that all true success depends at last upon yourself.
The surest way not to fail is to determine to succeed.
Success is sweet: the sweeter if long delayed and attained through manifold struggles and defeats.
The greatest results in life are usually attained by simple means and the exercise of ordinary qualities. These may for the most part be summed in these two: faith in God and perseverance.
The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack in will.
Everyone has a fair turn to be as great as he pleases.
Success does not consist in never making blunders, but in never making the same one a second time.
If you wish success in life, make perseverance your bosom friend, experience your wise counselor, caution your elder brother, and hope your guardian genius.
Impatience never commanded success.
The talent of success is nothing more than doing what you can do, well.
Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.
You cannot dream yourself into a character; you must hammer and forge yourself one.
Reputation is what men and women think of us; character is what God and angels know of us.
Nothing of character is really permanent but virtue and personal worth.
A good name will shine forever.
A good character is like a plant, delicate in its nature, and by no means rapid in its growth. It will not shoot up in a night like the gourd of the prophet; but, like that gourd, it can perish in a night. (cf. Jonah 4)
Sow an act, and you reap a habit; sow a habit, and you reap a character (good or bad); sow a character, and you reap a destiny (Heaven or Hell).
Our character is but the stamp on our souls of the free choices of good and evil we have made through life.
Character is a diamond that scratches every other stone.
Men best show their character in trifles, where they are not on their guard. It is in the simplest habits, that we often see the boundless egotism which pays no regard to the feelings of others and denies nothing to itself.
Character is, for the most part, simply habit become fixed.
Character is higher than intellect. A great soul will be strong to live, as well as strong to think.
Such as are thy habitual thoughts, such also will be the character of thy mind; for the soul is dyed by the thoughts.
A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds.
In everything the ends well defined are the secret of durable success.
Winning isn't everything, but wanting to win is.
Failures do what is tension relieving,
while winners do what is goal achieving.
Goals are the fuel in the furnace of achievement.
The great and glorious masterpiece of man is to know how to live to purpose.
Every ceiling, when reached, becomes a floor, upon which one walks as a matter of course and prescriptive right.
If you don't know where you are going, you'll end up someplace else.
The virtue lies in the struggle, not in the prize.
To reach a port, we must sail—Sail, not tie at anchor—Sail, not drift.
Who aims at excellence will be above mediocrity; who aims at mediocrity will be far short of it.
Nature and wisdom never are at strife.
It is easier to be wise for others than for ourselves.
Experience teach us more than books.
The middle course is the best.
No man was ever wise by chance.
By associating with wise people you will become wise yourself.
Of all parts of wisdom the practice is the best.
The more a man knows, the more he forgives.
A loving heart is the truest wisdom.
One who understands much displays a greater simplicity of character than one who understands little.
every thorn, delightful wisdom grows,
In every rill a sweet instruction flows.
man of wisdom is never of two minds;
the man of benevolence never worries;
the man of courage is never afraid.
The searching-out and thorough investigation of truth ought to be the primary study of man.
Know thyself means this, that you get acquainted with what you know, and what you can do.
know thyself: in great concerns or small,
Be this thy care, for this, my friend, is all.
soon the faults of others learn
A few their virtues, too, find out;
But is there one—I have a doubt—
Who can his own defects discern?
Collect as precious pearls the words of the wise and virtuous.
If we do not plant knowledge when young, it will give us no shade when we are old.
If you have an hour, will you not improve that hour, instead of idling it away?
He that will not reflect is a ruined man.
Be not afraid of growing slowly; be afraid only of standing still.
God ever works with those who work with will.
God never helps the man who will not act.
In learning to know other things, and other minds, we become more intimately acquainted with ourselves, and are to ourselves better worth knowing.
We are either progressing or retrograding all the while; there is no such thing as remaining stationary in this life.
To conquer oneself is the best and noblest victory; to be vanquished by one's own nature is the worst and most ignoble defeat.
wants to be somebody;
but they can't face the consequences.
Heed the still small voice that so seldom leads us wrong, and never into folly.
Your real influence is measured by your treatment of yourself.
Energy and persistence conquer all things.
A man who finds no satisfaction in God will seek for it in vain elsewhere.
Fear less, hope more, eat less, chew more, whine less, breathe more, talk less, think more, hate less, love more, and good things will be yours.
Make it thy business to know thyself, which is the most difficult lesson in the world.
A good deed is never lost: he who sows courtesy reaps friendship; and he who plants kindness gathers love. Saint Basil
Charity, good behaviour, amiable speech, unselfishness — these by the chief sage have been declared the elements of kindness.
Kind words are the music of the world.
We are far more liable to catch the vices than the virtues of our associates.
courteous to all, but intimate with few;
and let those be well-tried before you give them your confidence.
Never lose a chance of saying a kind word.
The soul of conversation is sympathy.
Every man is a volume if you know how to read him.
A good word is an easy obligation; but not to speak ill requires only our silence; which costs us nothing.
It feels to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed.
I failed my way to success.
Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we oft might win, by fearing to attempt.
Failure is blindness to the strategic element in events; success is readiness for instant action when the opportune moment arrives.
They fail, and they alone, who have not striven.
We learn wisdom from failure much more than success. We often discover what we will do, by finding out what we will not do.
I was never afraid of failure, for I would sooner fail than not be among the best.
It is foolish to fear what you cannot avoid.
Never let the fear of striking out get in your way.
One who fears failure limits his activities. Failure is only the opportunity to more intelligently begin again.
Little minds are tamed and subdued by misfortunes; but great minds rise above them.
Our greatest glory consist not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.
Experience teaches slowly, and at the cost of mistakes.
It is the want of diligence, rather than the want of means, that causes most failures.
There is no failure except in no longer trying.
There is no impossibility to him who stands prepared to conquer every hazard. The fearful are the failing.
Disappointments are to the soul what thunderstorms are to the air.
Failure teaches success.
Don't waste your life in doubts and fears: spend yourself on the work before you, well assured that the right performance of this hour's duties will be the best preparation for the hours or ages that follow it. All by the grace of God.
It is not work that kills men, it is worry. Work is healthy; you can hardly put more on a man than he can bear. But worry is rust upon the blade. It is not movement that destroys the machinery, but friction.
just, and fear not.
Let all the ends thou aim'st at be thy God's and truth's.
Never let life's hardships disturb you ... no one can avoid problems, not even saints or sages.
Ask yourself this question: "Will this matter a year from now?"
Do not anticipate trouble, or worry about what may never happen. Keep in the sunlight.
The mind that is anxious about future events is miserable.
Present fears are less than horrible imaginings.
Let us be of good cheer, remembering that the misfortunes hardest to bear are those that seldom happen.
How much pain have cost us the evils that have never happened. | philosophy |
https://www.sanramonvalleyrotary.com/about-rotary/the-four-way-test | 2024-04-14T18:32:36 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296816893.19/warc/CC-MAIN-20240414161724-20240414191724-00001.warc.gz | 0.973186 | 220 | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2024-18__0__142086084 | en | One of the most widely printed and quoted statements of business ethics in the world is the Rotary Four-Way Test. It was created by Rotarian Herbert J. Taylor in 1932 when he was asked to take charge of a company that was facing bankruptcy. Taylor looked for a way to save the struggling company mired in depression-caused financial difficulties. He drew up a 24-word code of ethics for all employees to follow in their business and professional lives. The Four-Way Test became the guide for sales, production, advertising and all relations with dealers and customers, and the survival of the company is credited to this simple philosophy.
Herb Taylor became president of Rotary International in 1954-55. The Four-Way Test was adopted by Rotary in 1943 and has been translated into more than one hundred languages and published in thousands of ways. In English it reads:
Of the things we think, say or do:
Is it the Truth?
Is it Fair to all concerned?
Will it build goodwill and better friendships?
Will it be beneficial to all concerned? | philosophy |
http://www.thehuskylovingteacher.com/2015/06/teaching-with-intention.html | 2017-04-29T07:18:42 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-17/segments/1492917123318.85/warc/CC-MAIN-20170423031203-00638-ip-10-145-167-34.ec2.internal.warc.gz | 0.97922 | 629 | CC-MAIN-2017-17 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2017-17__0__210451770 | en | Just in case you haven't heard, Greg from The Kindergarten Smorgasboard has gathered a great group of teacher bloggers to hold a book study with the title, Teaching with Intention. I am honored to be hosting Chapter Two with Latoya from Flying into First Grade and Amanda from The Primary Gal.
For this chapter, I will be asking two guiding questions that I would love to engage with you in!
The focus of chapter two is our teaching beliefs. Debbie describes her process of defining her six philosophies of teaching, and then goes on to describe how we can name our own after much reflection and discussion with colleagues.
Debbie Miller starts the chapter by recalling a visit she had to another classroom in early April one year. Her experience in the classroom allowed her to see that this teacher had a set vision for her students even before her teaching began in September.
This struck me because as Debbie says, "When we know what we want for our kids in March, April, and May, we can set about getting them there starting in September." How true! A teacher has to have some kid of road map for where the students must end, even if there are unexpected pit stops or turns that need to be made.
In chapter two, Debbie Miller lists her 6 classroom beliefs. She also notes that it took her almost a year to define these beliefs, which makes this guiding question more of a reflection tool and something to keep in your mind for your future teaching practice.
Out of Debbie's beliefs, this one related to me the most, and was my favorite:
"We cannot underestimate the power of our influence - what we choose to say and do in the classroom profoundly affects the ways children view their teacher, themselves, and each other."
While keeping in mind that it took Debbie a good amount of time to define her beliefs, I would like to try and define one for you as we are going along today! Although, it is one of my goals to develop my own list of beliefs within the next school year.
Here is my first chiseled out belief:
1. Learning will begin when students feel trusted, valued, and understand their environment to be one of a classroom family where mistakes can happen, and growth is expected.
It's important to know that Debbie writes that after she developed her six beliefs, she closely looked at everything she did in the classroom to analyze if her actions matched her beliefs. She writes that if she found herself saying she believed one thing, and actually did another in the classroom, she realized she needed to either change her practice, or tweek her belief to match her authentic teaching self.
I found Debbie's beliefs so inspiring and true to my teaching ideologies, that I printed them out on cards that I can post by my desk in my classroom. I find it helpful to remind myself from time to time what it is that I believe about teaching and to reflect on how it is that I can better myself as a teacher.
You can grab a FREE set of these cards HERE. I hope you enjoyed reading my interpretation of chapter two! | philosophy |
https://www.edenschool.org.uk/smsc/ | 2024-04-13T00:57:12 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296816465.91/warc/CC-MAIN-20240412225756-20240413015756-00081.warc.gz | 0.937682 | 670 | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2024-18__0__136093975 | en | Students’ social development involves students acquiring an understanding of the responsibilities and rights of being members of families and communities (local, national and global), and an ability to relate to others and to work with others for the common good.
They have opportunities to:
- display a sense of belonging and an increasing willingness to participate.
- make an active contribution to the democratic process in each of their communities .
- develop an understanding of their individual and group identity.
- learn about service in the school and wider community.
- begin to understand the place they have within society and the role they need to play.
- understand the changing nature of society and how this is an opportunity not a threat.
- develop their compassion for others in society.
- take initiative on wider social issues and establish ways they can help on an individual, local, national and global scale.
Students’ moral development involves students acquiring an understanding of the difference between right and wrong and of moral conflict, a concern for others and the will to do what is right.
They have opportunities to :
- reflect on the consequences of their actions and learn how to forgive themselves and others, attitudes they need in order to make responsible moral decisions and act on them.
- recognise the unique value of each individual.
- recognise the challenge of life today and the role they play in it.
- listen and respond appropriately to the views of others.
- gain the confidence to cope with setbacks and learn from mistakes.
- take initiative and act responsibly with consideration for others.
- distinguish between right and wrong.
- show respect for the environment.
- make informed and independent judgments.
Student’s cultural development involves pupils acquiring an understanding of cultural traditions and ability to appreciate and respond to a variety of aesthetic experiences. They acquire a respect for their own culture and that of others, an interest in others’ ways of doing things and curiosity about differences.
They have opportunities to:
- recognise the value and richness of cultural diversity in Britain, and how these influence individuals and society.
- recognise world faiths and beliefs and the impact they have on our culture.
- develop an understanding of Britain’s local, national, European, and global dimensions.
- broaden perspectives on different communities and cultures which exist within the local area.
- interact with different cultures and lifestyles and explore their advantages and disadvantages.
Students’ spiritual development involves the growth of their sense of self, their unique potential, their understanding of their strengths and weaknesses, and their willingness to achieve. As their curiosity about themselves and their place in the world increases, they try to answer for themselves some of life’s fundamental questions.
They are able to:
- foster their own inner lives and non-material wellbeing.
- sustain their self-esteem in their learning experience.
- develop their capacity for critical and independent thought.
- foster their emotional life and express their feelings.
- experience moments of stillness and reflection.
- discuss their beliefs, feelings, values and responses to personal experiences.
- form and maintain worthwhile and satisfying relationships.
- reflect on, consider and celebrate the wonders and mysteries of life. | philosophy |
https://www.integralyogaeurope.org/lotus-india | 2021-04-12T00:28:35 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-17/segments/1618038065903.7/warc/CC-MAIN-20210411233715-20210412023715-00197.warc.gz | 0.949557 | 500 | CC-MAIN-2021-17 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2021-17__0__272416679 | en | LOTUS Comes to India
It was also Swami Satchidananda’s dream to see a LOTUS built in his Motherland of India and he spoke about this often as he traveled the globe. The spirit of reverence for all faiths is a foundational tenet of Hinduism, whose original name was Sanatana Dharma, meaning “eternal truth.” While modern times have seen strife among the believers of the different religions throughout India, Swami Satchidananda hoped that building LOTUS in India would be a reminder of the Vedic proclamation, Ekam Sat Vipraha Bahuda Vadanti: There is One Truth though sages call it by different names.
The project will go forward under the supervision of Sri K. Ramasamy (President of the Integral Yoga Institute of Coimbatore and Managing Director of Swami Satchidananda’s school, Satchidananda Jothi Nikethan in Mettupalayam) who spearheads all of Sri Gurudev’s service in South India.
LOTUS project spans generations, cultures and nations. This will be a temple dedicated to every soul’s unique journey to God. LOTUS reminds us that, while God is approached by a variety of paths and represented through a variety of forms, the truth behind all of them is the same. LOTUS will be a permanent monument to interfaith peace and harmony.
A seed has been planted. We welcome your participation to help this blossom into a magnificent LOTUS, a shrine to the Universal Light and an offering to the glorious feet of the Lord.
The bhoomi puja (foundation laying ceremony) for LOTUS India took place on November 26, 2012 at Satchidananda Alayam (the birthplace of Swami Satchidananda in Chettipalayam, South India). The function was presided over by Sri K. Ramaswamy and was blessed by Swami Anubhavanandaji and Swami Maruthachalam, as well as clergy of various faiths during the Light of Truth Universal Service. The construction was completed during the Centennial Year of Sri Swami Satchidananda in 2014.
"Once the mind is trained and the supreme non-attachment comes in, even for a second, you experience such joy that you will no longer wish to taste other things".
- Sri Swami Satchidananda | philosophy |
http://notthroughappearances.blogspot.com/2011/03/room-of-ones-own.html | 2019-01-22T21:00:58 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-04/segments/1547583874494.65/warc/CC-MAIN-20190122202547-20190122224547-00318.warc.gz | 0.96787 | 1,115 | CC-MAIN-2019-04 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2019-04__0__128484898 | en | The Room - 2003
Directed by Tommy Wiseau
Perhaps The Room isn’t a success in quite the way you envisioned. The movie is highly lauded in some circles, but with mock applause and snickering and not with a sense of tragedy and purgation, which is what I think you wanted. At the risk of being presumptuous, I take it The Room is something close to an autobiography. I take it you wanted The Room to destroy the one who broke your heart. The Room has the unmistakable tone of a spiritual confession, as if you were blanching your soul so you could end your suffering and perhaps transfer your suffering to others. I’m not saying the movie provides the same state of grace as anything written by St. Teresa of Avila or St. John of the Cross, but if nominations come up for secular sainthood my ballot gets your name on it.
Tommy, The Room is the one film I can show to everybody I know and not have them hate me for it. Everyone understands it. They stick with it until the end. That’s a very rare quality in a movie. In fact, I don’t know of any other movie that has such a universal quality. Avatar may be the highest grossing movie of all time, but I know at least twenty people who found it as simplistic and hackneyed as I did. What you’ve done with a fraction of the budget and an atom of the technical talent is amazing and gives me hope for the future of filmmaking.
People say The Room is poorly written and badly acted, but don’t believe them when they say it, Tommy. And even if I tell you the same thing, don’t believe me when I say it either. People say it to hurt you because The Room has hurt them. The Room doesn’t just cut to the bone, it cuts through the marrow. The Room could cut through a three-hundred year old oak tree and expose its hidden life and reveal the events it didn’t want to reveal. That’s the real reason why people love The Room, Tommy, because it is a private exhibition made public, and we love confessions and we love gossip because we’re too timid to make a confession ourselves. We’re really without depth and breadth, and when something towers above us, Tommy, we wonder how something could possibly get so high.
But that doesn’t mean The Room doesn’t provide a healthy amount of laughter, Tommy. Much of it is warranted and some of it less so. Why this is so I don’t really know. Perhaps the laughter has its roots in a form of uncomfortable recognition. Who of us hasn’t done or said something stupid that one regrets? The Room is full of misogynistic asides which sneak in through a literary sleight of hand: they are the hidden lines of a man who has truly been hurt and betrayed. If I had written them I would have edited them out, not because they were really bad but because they would reveal too much, and my ego would never let itself go that unprotected, not even in the guise of a fictional character. Don’t regret any of the lines you have written because people laugh at them, Tommy. They laugh simply to protect themselves.
Forgive me for saying this, Tommy, but I’m not entirely certain The Room has anything to say about the nature of love. No matter how many times I see it I’m never convinced that anybody in the movie really loves another person. I don’t think you intended this. I don’t think you intended to make a movie where the characters seemed devoid of love. I do, however, think The Room at least offers a glimpse into the nature of jealousy and obsession. It’s a strange ambiguity, Tommy. The events in The Room are driven to destruction because of a love that mutates into some sort of multi-tentacled hentai monster that sticks itself inside everything and clutches everything everywhere. Love may be buried somewhere deep inside its dark heart. Or maybe I’m just blind to the innards of love. Maybe I’ve been hurt bad enough and been sad long enough not to see that love is laying in wait for me, but that’s a big maybe, Tommy.
If I have one regret about The Room, Tommy, it’s that you won’t be able to make a movie like it ever again. I don’t know what fame is like, but they say once you’ve had it you can never be the same person again. In a different age, when it was easier to go unnoticed, perhaps you would have been given the chance to make another film, with your directorial innocence still uncorrupted. It’s all impossible now. The Room was an event that can never be replicated.
And so I ask you, Tommy, where can you possibly go from here? Do you make another film as if The Room never happened or do you make something self-conscious like Fellini’s 8 ½ and react to the success of The Room? The next step won’t be easy.
Tommy, I wish the world would have left you alone so you could remain alone and make innocent movies. | philosophy |
https://localinfonow.com/improve-yourself-improve-the-world/ | 2020-04-02T06:59:30 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-16/segments/1585370506673.7/warc/CC-MAIN-20200402045741-20200402075741-00392.warc.gz | 0.96214 | 608 | CC-MAIN-2020-16 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2020-16__0__130736041 | en | Here it is again. A fresh start. New resolutions, or last January’s retreads. A year-long resolution can seem like an unwelcome debt–like a car payment or a mortgage.
About 4,000 years ago the ancient Babylonians made New Year’s promises to their gods to pay debts and return borrowed objects. If they kept their promises, they received godly favor in the coming year. If not, well, one can only imagine. Displeasing the gods probably carries stiffer penalties than displeasing oneself.
In a more recent era, Benjamin Franklin created a list of 13 virtues which he strove to incorporate into his daily life, and though he admitted to never achieving full mastery, he credited the simple pursuit of them with his happiness and successes.
Franklin posted these virtues on a chart against which he measured his success for each day. Thus, it became his life journey rather than a few short-lived resolutions he might discard within the next weeks.
He found that such moral goals achieve success in the striving for them, even when not fully actualized. Through their practice, one becomes more conscious of his/her behavior and thought tendencies each day and can make corrections accordingly. A person becomes what he/she wishes to see manifested in their own experience—if you would have more kindness, be kind.
Franklin sought to embody temperance (in food and drink), silence (speak only to benefit), order, resolution (perform what you ought), frugality, industry (be productive), sincerity, justice (wrong no one), moderation, cleanliness, tranquility (don’t sweat the small stuff),
chastity, and humility. One could also add to this list qualities like patience, charity, honesty, gratitude.
No one would deny that following Franklin’s course is a tall order. How does anyone remember to abide by all these virtues at any given time every day? Franklin would focus on one virtue until, over time, he felt he had a handle on it. Then he would move on to the next.
Another way might begin with focusing on a different virtue each day:
Just for today I will find something I can admire about my boss/spouse/that nasty clerk. Just for today I will curb my tongue. On this day I will not be selfish. Today I will fulfill my promises. Today I will not roll my eyes. Just for today I will forgive idiot drivers. Today I will hold the door for someone, let another driver in ahead of me, thank those who also do the same for me.
It also helps to remember that others are fighting their own demons.
As Franklin discovered, eventually these traits begin to take over how one lives and thinks. Just one virtue a day practiced can make the world kinder by that much.
Wishing you a New Year of joy and peace, and at least 13 virtues circling back on you every day to enrich your life. | philosophy |
https://yogicendoflife.org/integral-yoga/ | 2023-12-08T16:46:51 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100762.64/warc/CC-MAIN-20231208144732-20231208174732-00496.warc.gz | 0.910822 | 1,131 | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2023-50__0__222024212 | en | Swami Satchidananda explained: “The complete definition of Yoga is the serenity of mind. That’s all, in a few simple words. Equanimity of mind is Yoga: samatvam yoga ucchyate, says the Bhagavad Gita. That means equanimity is called Yoga. And there is also another sacred text that talks more about Yoga: The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. It begins with this definition: yoga chitta vritti nirodhah. That means to control the modifications, the restlessness, of the mind and to keep it serene. That is Yoga.”
When the mind is serene, then we experience our natural state of inner peace that is always there hidden behind the various movements within the mind.
What is Integral Yoga?
Integral Yoga, as taught by Sri Swami Satchidananda, offers a synthesis of six branches of classical Yoga: Hatha, Raja, Bhakti, Karma, Jnana, and Japa. These Yogas address all levels of the individual: physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual in order to bring about one’s complete and harmonious development. The Integral Yoga system enables you to integrate Yoga into every aspect of life, bringing about the opportunity for personal transformation and spiritual realization. It blends nondual Yoga theory with practice, and focuses on inner peace for the individual—through the six branches of Yoga—and world peace by fostering interfaith understanding and harmony, and leading service-oriented lives.
Founded in 1966, there are currently 23 Integral Yoga centers on six of the seven continents and over 20,000 Integral Yoga teachers and therapists worldwide.
THE SIX BRANCHES OF INTEGRAL YOGA
To keep the body flexible, strong, healthy, and to prepare for meditation, we practice asanas (postures), pranayama (breathing practices), Yoga Nidra (guided deep relaxation), mudras (energy seals), bandhas (energy locks), kriyas (cleansing practices), and yogic diet.
A foundation for spiritual growth through the integration of ethical principles, with
the regular practice of concentration and meditation. It helps cultivate a well-disciplined mind, senses in alignment with our spiritual goals, pure heart, and dedicated life. The eight limbs of Raja Yoga, delineated in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, provide a methodical approach to spiritual practice.
To open and nourish the spiritual heart we have the practices of kirtan (chanting), puja (worship), and prayers. Through pure love, faith, and constant remembrance of the Divine—however we conceive of this—we can rise above the illusion of a separate self and experience union with the spirit that dwells within everything.
When we engage in our activities with a focused mind and loving intention we become pure channels of selfless service. When the heart and mind are trained to act for the well-being of all, without attachment to the outcome or personal reward, we can more fully experience the inner peace and joy that is our essence-nature
This path of wisdom includes self-analysis and systematic discrimination between Unity Consciousness and the ever-changing forms of creation. When we begin to identify less with the body, mind, and ego, we gain greater access to our inner wisdom and realize our essence-nature as the pure Light of Consciousness.
With so many approaches to meditation today, Sri Swami Satchidananda recommended mantra japa (mantra repetition) as one of the easiest and most effective forms of practice in this busy age in which we live. The concentrated repetition of a mantra, a specific sound vibration representing an aspect of the Divine, leads to an awareness of and attunement to this cosmic vibration.
In Integral Yoga, we honor our Guru, our lineage, and the classical Yoga teachings thus connecting with the principle of Guru-tattva and respecting the ancient tradition of Yoga. This principle points to the transmission of the teachings and practices coming through this Guru, lineage and tradition. Guru-tattva is that self-illuminating power of consciousness that manifests as all that teaches us.
The Integral Yoga system was synthesized by Sri Swami Satchidananda from his spiritual roots in the Tamil Saiva Yoga Siddhar tradition, the Yoga Sutras, the Bhagavad Gita and the nondual Yoga teachings of his Guru, Sri Swami Sivananda Saraswati.
Students of Integral Yoga who receive mantra diksha (initiation) receive the bija mantra that comes from the Saiva Yoga tradition. Integral Yoga monastics are part of the Paramahamsa Order of Sannyas (Dasnami Sampradaya) founded by Adi Shankaracharya (8th century CE). Sri Swami Satchidananda was initiated into the Saraswati branch of this Sampradaya by his Guru, Sri Swami Sivananda in 1949.
Explore Integral Yoga® – Informational eBook
In honor of Integral Yoga’s 50th anniversary, a new publication titled Explore Integral Yoga offers a comprehensive overview of this organization founded by Sri Swami Satchidananda in 1966. This elegant, full color magazine showcases Integral Yoga teachings, programs, and services. It also includes a timeline of Integral Yoga milestones over the past 50 years. | philosophy |
https://momma2joseandsquishy.wordpress.com/2011/03/ | 2018-07-19T21:15:52 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-30/segments/1531676591296.46/warc/CC-MAIN-20180719203515-20180719223515-00471.warc.gz | 0.989442 | 1,282 | CC-MAIN-2018-30 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2018-30__0__19487745 | en | I unknowingly started a firestorm this evening on my Facebook by posting what I thought was a perfectly innocent picture of Jose at dance class. He was wearing leg warmers because it was chilly at dance and I suppose that – combined with the fact that he was at ballet – was enough that some were worried for Jose’s mental stability and future sexuality. I don’t really want to re-hash the whole thing here, but we (friends/family) ended up having a (fairly) healthy debate about the topic – 44 comments total. I had no idea that some of the people in my life (on both sides of the issue) held such strong views about right and wrong! To me, it’s really a non-issue. If Jose likes to wear leg warmers, play dress up with “girl” clothes, or sit on the couch and do my hair, great! If he’d rather crash his trucks, wrestle with his nephews, or laugh a big belly laugh EVERY TIME his brother toots, more power to him! (Although the last one does get on my nerves… 😉 😀 )
At any rate, I wanted copy my response to the whole thing here, not only for posterity (lol!), but also simply because as his mother, I think it bears repeating. So here goes:
I just want to say that I appreciate and understand the comments from both sides of my family. I personally don’t believe there is anything wrong with a 4 1/2 year old being a little creative, whether or not it is in public. He likes dance and tumbling, and this was the class we could afford that the City of Phoenix offered. He actually really wanted to be in gymnastics, but they didn’t have that available, so this was the next best thing.
I do believe, as the Bible states, that the ACT of homosexuality is a sin – I would think that anyone who claimed to know me at all would know that. However, I also believe that in this fallen and broken world, there are things beyond our control – including genetics – that have mutated and changed beyond God’s original purpose. This is to mean that I truly believe some people are born feeling as though they are in the wrong body. However, I also believe that this is something through which they can glorify God by remaining celibate and dedicating their life to God’s kingdom work – however much that may seem like it would suck.
THAT BEING SAID! Do I think Jose is gay? Really, no. If you saw how he behaves in class vs. how the girls behave, you’d see that despite his “metrosexual” tendencies, he is definitely a “boy” in the societal sense. And he loves doing all sorts of things that “boys” like to do. In fact, as I write this, he is rolling a truck across the room as hard as he can and cackling when it crashes into stuff.
I honestly don’t think that letting him play with dolls or wear his leg warmers if he wants to is going to do him any harm. In fact, it might do him some good! He goes around all day trying to emulate his father, who (by the way) does all of the following BECAUSE HE ENJOYS IT: writes poetry and songs, leaves “lovey-dovey” notes for me in the morning, gardens, cooks, does housecleaning to relieve stress, etc. etc. etc.
And honestly, considering all of the detrimental things that are typically attributed to men being men (beating the crap out of each other for fun, getting drunk and carousing, watching porn and going to strip clubs, etc.) I think I would quite prefer if Jose grew up to be like his father rather than like what most people would consider the ideal for a “man.”
I just don’t understand why things have to be such a big deal when he is as young as he is, and I don’t think that “That’s not a boy thing!” is a good enough excuse to break Jose’s heart. After this all started, I asked him what he would have done if I had told him he couldn’t wear his leg warmers tonight, and he said, “I would have been very upset. I would have cried.” And that, right there, is why what others think about him means so much less to me than what his little heart truly cares about.
Yeah, that’s the only part that worries me – how other kids will treat/respond to him. And I am still weighing the decision (as my mom did before me) of telling him the cold hard truth up front and possibly causing him to build an impenitrable wall around himself or letting him be who he wants to be and having a million little heartbreaks along the way that may eventually lead to that same wall being built. Either way, it really sucks.
But for now, since the kids he’s been around all love him and not a single one has made fun of him (in fact, he’s pretty much the most popular kid in school right now – something I NEVER managed to achieve, lol!) I will just continue to let him be himself.
So that’s all for tonight. I’ve posted the infamous picture below so you can judge for yourself.
P.S. The title of this post is in reference to this book: http://www.myprincessboy.com/index.asp
Obviously, the boy this book was based on is much more “into” things that are considered to be only for girls than Jose is. And I think in Jose’s case, his interest in dressing “girly” is more likely to simply be something that lends itself to instilling a decent fashion sense in him when he is older, but when Jose read the book, it made him smile. And that was good enough for me. | philosophy |
https://www.sekisuidiagnostics.com/about-us/mission-values/ | 2021-06-13T18:24:38 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-25/segments/1623487610196.46/warc/CC-MAIN-20210613161945-20210613191945-00411.warc.gz | 0.932462 | 235 | CC-MAIN-2021-25 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2021-25__0__90342338 | en | Our mission is to provide intelligent solutions to enhance life with science and improve the health of all people.
We are Customer Driven
We are committed to our internal and external customers. Our dedication to quality and extraordinary service builds trust. We proactively meet customer needs through our flexibility, responsiveness and open communication.
We value People & Teamwork
We enjoy what we do and believe our people are key to our success. We value each other by respectfully listening, encouraging development and recognizing accomplishments. We understand the importance of working as a team to achieve our goals.
We are Innovative
We are driven by a pursuit for innovation. We openly embrace continuous improvement and persistently challenge our processes to deliver new and creative solutions for our customers.
We are Responsible
We’re proud of what we do. We are accountable for our actions and take ownership of our goals. We demonstrate integrity and strive to do what’s right. We support a safe and environmentally friendly culture.
We embrace Diversity
We promote an inclusive culture that values all and cultivates the strengths of diverse backgrounds and experiences. We strive to create an environment where everyone can succeed. | philosophy |
http://www.poornachandran.com/learn-to-say-no-to-unimportant-things/ | 2019-04-22T06:43:48 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-18/segments/1555578544449.50/warc/CC-MAIN-20190422055611-20190422081611-00231.warc.gz | 0.959892 | 603 | CC-MAIN-2019-18 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2019-18__0__141788981 | en | Learning how to say no allows you to focus on the more important goals in your life!
If you learn to say no to a lot more things in life, you can focus on the things that truly matter to your own life.
The things that are necessary for you to perform in order to accomplish the goals you’ve set for yourself.
Don’t just say yes to everything that comes on your path. Think about it for a second, think about whether it is better to say yes or to focus on your own goals.
2. Learning how to say no makes you stick to the right paths in life
Because when you make a habit of saying no to things that are not in line with those goals, you are a lot more likely to become successful.
As stated earlier, many people will just say yes to anything that crosses their path.
An invitation to a party is a lot easier to accept when you’re bored rather than pushing yourself to read a book.
But that book is most likely going to change you as a person. It’s going to give you better insights in the field you want to improve in.
By saying no to the invitation and investing your time into reading, you get into the habit of constantly sticking to your goal.
If you already deep down believe that you should read that book, don’t let yourself procrastinate reading it just because something else comes up. Your future-self will love you for doing that.
3. Learning how to say no makes you develop other great habits in life
Most people have a hard time putting great habits in their life.
See, just knowing how to say no isn’t the only habit that takes less than 10 minutes.
But saying no is something that is going to save you so much time! It’s going to allow you to have so much extra free time to develop even more great habits!
Odds are that you are not putting the best habits in your life because you just don’t have the time to do it.
You skip meditating because you don’t have time. You skip working out because you don’t have time. You don’t study or read a book because you don’t have time.
Do you want more time in your life? Stop saying yes to the things that don’t matter. That don’t bring you closer to your goal but rather take you far away from it.
We all have 10 minutes a day to meditate. And if you don’t, skip the things that don’t matter and free up 10 minutes.
Start saying no because it will get you into a position where you can invest a lot more time in achieving your goals. And that’s the best investment you can ever make!
Help the future you to be who you want to be today! | philosophy |
https://otterbein.libguides.com/stoicism/thought | 2024-04-24T00:32:25 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296818835.29/warc/CC-MAIN-20240423223805-20240424013805-00771.warc.gz | 0.966816 | 3,262 | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2024-18__0__23951280 | en | The term “Stoicism” derives from the Greek word “stoa,” referring to a colonnade, such as those built outside or inside temples, around dwelling-houses, gymnasia, and market-places. They were also set up separately as ornaments of the streets and open places. The simplest form is that of a roofed colonnade, with a wall on one side, which was often decorated with paintings. Thus in the market-place at Athens the stoa poikile (Painted Colonnade) was decorated with Polygnotus’s representations of the destruction of Troy, the fight of the Athenians with the Amazons, and the battles of Marathon and Oenoe. Zeno of Citium taught in the stoa poikile in Athens, and his adherents accordingly obtained the name of Stoics. Zeno was followed by Cleanthes, and then by Chrysippus, as leaders of the school. The school attracted many adherents, and flourished for centuries, not only in Greece, but later in Rome, where the most thoughtful writers, such as Marcus Aurelius, Seneca, and Epictetus, counted themselves among its followers.
We know little for certain as to what share particular Stoics, Zeno, Cleanthes, or Chrysippus, had in the formation of the doctrines of the school, but after Chryssipus the main lines of the doctrine were complete. The Stoic doctrine is divided into three parts: logic, physics, and ethics. Stoicism is essentially a system of ethics which, however, is guided by a logic as theory of method, and rests upon physics as foundation. Briefly, their notion of morality is stern, involving a life in accordance with nature and controlled by virtue. It is an ascetic system, teaching perfect indifference (apathea) to everything external, for nothing external could be either good or evil. Hence to the Stoics both pain and pleasure, poverty and riches, sickness and health, were supposed to be equally unimportant.
Source : Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
The Stoic ethical teaching is based upon two principles already developed in their physics; first, that the universe is governed by absolute law, which admits of no exceptions; and second, that the essential nature of humans is reason. Both are summed up in the famous Stoic maxim, “Live according to nature.” For this maxim has two aspects. It means, in the first place, that men should conform themselves to nature in the wider sense, that is, to the laws of the universe, and secondly, that they should conform their actions to nature in the narrower sense, to their own essential nature, reason. These two expressions mean, for the Stoics, the same thing. For the universe is governed not only by law, but by the law of reason, and we, in following our own rational nature, are ipso facto conforming ourselves to the laws of the larger world. In a sense, of course, there is no possibility of our disobeying the laws of nature, for we, like all else in the world, act of necessity. And it might be asked, what is the use of exhorting a person to obey the laws of the universe, when, as part of the great mechanism of the world, we cannot by any possibility do anything else? It is not to be supposed that a genuine solution of this difficulty is to be found in Stoic philosophy. They urged, however, that, though we will in any case do as the necessity of the world compels us, it is given to us alone, not merely to obey the law, but to assent to our own obedience, to follow the law consciously and deliberately, as only a rational being can.
Virtue, then, is the life according to reason. Morality is simply rational action. It is the universal reason which is to govern our lives, not the caprice and self-will of the individual. The wise man consciously subordinates his life to the life of the whole universe, and recognizes himself as a cog in the great machine. Now the definition of morality as the life according to reason is not a principle peculiar to the Stoics. Both Plato and Aristotle taught the same. In fact, it is the basis of every ethic to found morality upon reason, and not upon the particular foibles, feelings, or intuitions, of the individual self. But what was peculiar to the Stoics was the narrow and one- sided interpretation which they gave to this principle. Aristotle had taught that the essential nature of humans is reason, and that morality consists in following this, his essential nature. But he recognized that the passions and appetites have their place in the human organism. He did not demand their suppression, but merely their control by reason. But the Stoics looked upon the passions as essentially irrational, and demanded their complete extirpation. They envisaged life as a battle against the passions, in which the latter had to be completely annihilated. Hence their ethical views end in a rigorous and unbalanced asceticism.
Aristotle, in his broad and moderate way, though he believed virtue alone to possess intrinsic value, yet allowed to external goods and circumstances a place in the scheme of life. The Stoics asserted that virtue alone is good, vice alone evil, and that all else is absolutely indifferent. Poverty, sickness, pain, and death, are not evils. Riches, health, pleasure, and life, are not goods. A person may commit suicide, for in destroying his life he destroys nothing of value. Above all, pleasure is not a good. One ought not to seek pleasure. Virtue is the only happiness. And people must be virtuous, not for the sake of pleasure, but for the sake of duty. And since virtue alone is good, vice alone evil, there followed the further paradox that all virtues are equally good, and all vices equally evil. There are no degrees.
Virtue is founded upon reason, and so upon knowledge. Hence the importance of science, physics, and logic, which are valued not for themselves, but because they are the foundations of morality. The prime virtue, and the root of all other virtues, is therefore wisdom. The wise man is synonymous with the good man. From the root-virtue, wisdom, spring the four cardinal virtues: insight, bravery, self-control, and justice. But since all virtues have one root, those who possess wisdom possess all virtue, and those who lack it lack all. A person is either wholly virtuous, or wholly vicious. The world is divided into wise and foolish people, the former perfectly good, the latter absolutely evil. There is nothing between the two. There is no such thing as a gradual transition from one to the other. Conversion must be instantaneous. the wise person is perfect, has all happiness, freedom, riches, beauty. They alone are the perfect kings, politicians, poets, prophets, orators, critics, and physicians. The fool has all vice, all misery, all ugliness, all poverty. And every person is one or the other. Asked where such a wise person was to be found, the Stoics pointed doubtfully at Socrates and Diogenes the Cynic. The number of the wise, they thought, is small, and is continually growing smaller. The world, which they painted in the blackest colors as a sea of vice and misery, grows steadily worse.
The similarities between Cynicism and Stoic ethics are apparent. However, the Stoics modified and softened the harsh outlines of Cynicism. To do this meant inconsistency, though. It meant that they first laid down harsh principles, and then proceeded to tone them down, to explain them away, to admit exceptions. Such inconsistency the Stoics accepted with their habitual cheerfulness. This process of toning down their first harsh utterances took place mainly in three ways. First, they modified their principle of the complete suppression of the passions. Since this is impossible, and, if possible, could only lead to immovable inactivity, they admitted that the wise person might exhibit certain mild and rational emotions. Thus, the roots of the passions might be found in the wise person, though they would never be allowed to grow. In the second place, they modified their principle that all else, save virtue and vice, is indifferent. Such a view is unreal, and out of accord with life. Hence the Stoics, with a masterly disregard of consistency, stuck to the principle, and yet declared that among things indifferent some are preferable to others. If the wise person has the choice between health and sickness, health is preferable. Indifferent things were thus divided into three classes: those to be preferred, those to be avoided, and those which are absolutely indifferent.
In the third place, the Stoics toned down the principle that people are either wholly good, or wholly evil. The famous heroes and politicians of history, though fools, are yet polluted with the common vices of humankind less than others. Moreover, what were the Stoics to say about themselves? Were they wise men or fools? They hesitated to claim perfection, to put themselves on a level with Socrates and Diogenes. Yet they could not bring themselves to admit that there was no difference between themselves and the common herd. They were “proficients,” and, if not absolutely wise, approximated to wisdom.
Source : Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Stoic logic is, in all essentials, the logic of Aristotle. To this, however, they added a theory, peculiar to themselves, of the origin of knowledge and the criterion of truth. All knowledge, they said, enters the mind through the senses. The mind is a blank slate, upon which sense-impressions are inscribed. It may have a certain activity of its own, but this activity is confined exclusively to materials supplied by the physical organs of sense. This theory stands, of course, in sheer opposition to the idealism of Plato, for whom the mind alone was the source of knowledge, the senses being the sources of all illusion and error. The Stoics denied the metaphysical reality of concepts. Concepts are merely ideas in the mind, abstracted from particulars, and have no reality outside consciousness.
Since all knowledge is a knowledge of sense-objects, truth is simply the correspondence of our impressions to things. How are we to know whether our ideas are correct copies of things? How do we distinguish between reality and imagination, dreams, or illusions? What is the criterion of truth? It cannot lie in concepts, since they are of our own making. Nothing is true save sense impressions, and therefore the criterion of truth must lie in sensation itself. It cannot be in thought, but must be in feeling. Real objects, said the Stoics, produce in us an intense feeling, or conviction, of their reality. The strength and vividness of the image distinguish these real perceptions from a dream or fancy. Hence the sole criterion of truth is this striking conviction, whereby the real forces itself upon our consciousness, and will not be denied. There is, thus, no universally grounded criterion of truth. It is based, not on reason, but on feeling.
Source : Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
The fundamental proposition of the Stoic physics is that “nothing incorporeal exists.” This materialism coheres with the sense-impression orientation of their doctrine of knowledge. Plato placed knowledge in thought, and reality, therefore, in the ideal form. The Stoics, however, place knowledge in physical sensation, and reality — what is known by the senses — is matter. All things, they said, even the soul, even God himself, are material and nothing more than material. This belief they based upon two main considerations. Firstly, the unity of the world demands it. The world is one, and must issue from one principle. We must have a monism. The idealism of Plato resolved itself into a futile struggle involving a dualism between matter and thought. Since the gulf cannot be bridged from the side of ideal realm of the forms, we must take our stand on matter, and reduce mind to it. Secondly, body and soul, God and the world, are pairs which act and react upon one another. The body, for example, produces thoughts (sense impressions) in the soul, the soul produces movements in the body. This would be impossible if both were not of the same substance. The corporeal cannot act on the incorporeal, nor the incorporeal on the corporeal. There is no point of contact. Hence all must be equally corporeal.
All things being material, what is the original kind of matter, or stuff, out of which the world is made? The Stoics turned to Heraclitus for an answer. Fire (logos) is the primordial kind of being, and all things are composed of fire. With this materialism the Stoics combined pantheism. The primal fire is God. God is related to the world exactly as the soul to the body. The human soul is likewise fire, and comes from the divine fire. It permeates and penetrates the entire body, and, in order that its interpenetration might be regarded as complete, the Stoics denied the impenetrability of matter. Just as the soul-fire permeates the whole body, so God, the primal fire, pervades the entire world.
But in spite of this materialism, the Stoics declared that God is absolute reason. This is not a return to idealism, and does not imply the incorporeality of God. For reason, like all else, is material. It means simply that the divine fire is a rational element. Since God is reason, it follows that the world is governed by reason, and this means two things. It means, firstly, that there is purpose in the world, and therefore, order, harmony, beauty, and design. Secondly, since reason is law as opposed to the lawless, it means that the universe is subject to the absolute sway of law, is governed by the rigorous necessity of cause and effect. Hence the individual is not free. There can be no true freedom of the will in a world governed by necessity. We may, without harm, say that we choose to do this or that, and that our acts are voluntary. But such phrases merely mean that we assent to what we do. What we do is none the less governed by causes, and therefore by necessity.
The world-process is circular. God changes the fiery substance of himself first into air, then water, then earth. So the world arises. But it will be ended by a conflagration in which all things will return into the primal fire. Thereafter, at a pre-ordained time, God will again transmute himself into a world. It follows from the law of necessity that the course taken by this second, and every subsequent, world, will be identical in every way with the course taken by the first world. The process goes on for ever, and nothing new ever happens. The history of each successive world is the same as that of all the others down to the minutest details.
The human soul is part of the divine fire, and proceeds into humans from God. Hence it is a rational soul, and this is a point of cardinal importance in connection with the Stoic ethics. But the soul of each individual does not come direct from God. The divine fire was breathed into the first man, and thereafter passed from parent to child in the act of procreation. After death, all souls ( according to some scholars) or only the souls of the good (according to other scholars) continue in individual existence until the general conflagration in which they, and all else, return to God.
Source : Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy | philosophy |
https://www.foundationsoft.com/u-in-gratitude/ | 2021-01-19T01:31:16 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-04/segments/1610703517559.41/warc/CC-MAIN-20210119011203-20210119041203-00570.warc.gz | 0.959371 | 241 | CC-MAIN-2021-04 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2021-04__0__231154771 | en | Given the season, I’d like to start this letter by encouraging you to remember yourself when you count your blessings. A thank you to “you,” so to speak. Because I think it’s important to give yourself credit where credit is due. And recognizing your own accomplishments puts you in a prime position to appreciate the contributions of everyone else.
Though it may seem cliché, the old adage that you have to love yourself before you can love others rings true. Acknowledging your own successes and the good that’s come from your hard work enables you to see the value in the work of others. It also makes your gratitude towards them all the more sincere.
For example, I can step back and accept that I did a lot to get Foundation to where it is today. I can also look at each employee that’s come in after me and gratefully acknowledge the unique changes and improvements they brought. And now with 300 employees, 5,000 clients, multiple professional partners and more, I have a lot to be thankful for.
So be thankful this month — just make sure you include yourself in the process.
— Fred Ode | philosophy |
https://emilyblessinger.com/motherhood-enjoying-every-moment | 2024-04-22T19:25:24 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296818337.62/warc/CC-MAIN-20240422175900-20240422205900-00332.warc.gz | 0.981329 | 544 | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2024-18__0__90720118 | en | Motherhood - "enjoying every moment"
How often have you heard someone say to a new mother "enjoy every moment"? I have to admit I have not only received this piece of advice, but also been one to dole it out in an attempt to connect with a new mom. However, over the past couple of years as I have worked with new moms in the perinatal mental health field, I have realized how much that phrase can be damaging.
Usually when a mom is looking back on the days when her children were smaller, she tends to view the experience through rose tinted glasses. It is quite a wonder to see how biology works in that way to ensure the survival of our species. It seems that this phrase of "enjoy every moment" comes out of that nostalgia of longing to return to that time period when your children were small and cuddly. However, we know that if you asked any of those moms to go back and relive that time in their life on a never ending loop (like something from the movie Groundhog Day) they would likely choose to decline the offer. But the reality is, that for most moms who are in the thick of the "4th trimester", surviving on low quality, fractured sleep, with little to no personal time or space, that their life can truly feel like a never ending cycle of the same thing every day.
It can be so challenging for mothers who are in the thick of it during those early days to be able to see the light at the end of the tunnel. So what might it mean to a mother in this position to hear that she should be "enjoying every moment"? Could it cause her to think that she is doing something wrong if she is not enjoying this time? What might she think of herself with regards to feeling like her emotions are valid and normal? Might she imagine that she must be doing something wrong if she is not, in fact, "enjoying every moment"?
As a society, why do we feel so uncomfortable admitting that being a mom to a helpless human being who is dependent on you for their every need might be challenging? How can we change the dialogue and allow all mother's space to feel all of their feelings? Perhaps it might mean asking a mom how she is feeling and actually waiting for an answer more than "Im doing ok". Perhaps it might mean sharing some of the vulnerable and challenging memories from that time in your life so she doesn't feel so alone. What would it be like to support and validate each other along the way like the more experienced tour guide who points out the loose rocks and acts as a cheerleader along the way? | philosophy |
http://greenpartynb.ca/en/party/new-party-new-beginning | 2017-04-24T13:20:14 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-17/segments/1492917119361.6/warc/CC-MAIN-20170423031159-00022-ip-10-145-167-34.ec2.internal.warc.gz | 0.963629 | 316 | CC-MAIN-2017-17 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2017-17__0__103697515 | en | The New Brunswick Green Party represents a new way of thinking and a new politics. We believe that we have to redesign our economy to serve our communities, and to protect and restore our environment. Too often communities and the environment are made to serve the economy, often with terrible consequences for our people and our planet. We think it should be the other way around - the economy should be organized to serve communities and enhance, not destroy the environment.
New Party – New Beginning
It is a cruel fraud to pretend that expanding the economy will cure our social ills. We believe we must tackle poverty, inequality and injustice directly, head-on and wilfully. The current system is responsible for many of these problems and we won't solve them using the same thinking that created them in the first place.
We believe in a new politics built on public engagement and participation. Our electoral system needs to be redesigned so that citizens can engage in the democratic process in a meaningful way. And democratic decision-making needs to reach into our communities and our regions.
We will never have a healthy democracy as long as our newspapers are owned by the largest group of business interests in the province. The Green Party firmly believes that we must have alternatives to the Irving-owned media if we are to build a healthy democracy in New Brunswick.
The Green Party of New Brunswick is guided by its principles. Imagine, a political party with principles. The old politics is just about winning the next election. The Green Party is about the next generation. This is a new beginning for politics in our province. | philosophy |
https://learnlooklocate.com/inspiration/incredible-change/ | 2023-11-28T20:04:53 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679099942.90/warc/CC-MAIN-20231128183116-20231128213116-00303.warc.gz | 0.990243 | 729 | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2023-50__0__152388814 | en | I was in denial for a really long time. I refused to accept my reality. I refused to accept that I was a cancer patient. I questioned everything. Confronting my own death changed how I viewed myself. Suddenly I was vulnerable and uncertain about my future. My time was now filled up with doctor’s appointments and managing the side effects of treatment. I was no longer a teacher, but a student trying to soak up every bit of information I could to make me feel more in control.
I had so many feelings that were difficult to navigate at first. My body had gone through so many changes in such a short amount of time, (hair loss, losing my breasts, losing my ovaries and lymphedema) that it traumatized me. I didn’t recognize who I was when I looked in the mirror. This made me sad and angry. I felt like I didn’t have a say over what happened to me and that I had no control over what was being done to my body. It was the ultimate violation.
But cancer wasn’t the only thing wearing me down. I too was wreaking havoc on myself. My days were filled with “shoulds”. “We should be on our honeymoon right now.” We should be starting a family right now”. “I should be cancer free right now”. I was looking at what everyone else had and torturing myself for not having it. Self blame and shame made a home in my head like an unwelcome house guest. There were so many changes happening physically, mentally and emotionally that I struggled to find a fulcrum on which to rest.
So I did what I do best, research. I tried to learn everything I could about cancer, and how to live a fulfilling life, not in spite of it, but because of it. I read about mindfulness and how the body and the mind should work together in achieving wellness. I read how every thought affects every cell in the body and the many variants of this idea. I thought there must be something to it if so many scientists, doctors and clinicians were on board with this theory and I was determined to ease my suffering in any way I could. The first step was to accept the unacceptable, which seemed like a daunting task. If I were to ever move on with my life, I had to accept the fact that I was a woman living with stage IV cancer.
Denial was a coping mechanism for me that clearly wasn’t working. I had to accept what was REAL, even if I didn’t like it. I had to accept the fact that some things are out of my control. Control is an illusion, yet real at the same time. Having a sense of control is like walking a tightrope. To keep balanced you are constantly adjusting your position, changing your pace and speed, and most importantly, never looking back. For me, I had to stop looking back. What was done was done. I stopped thinking about what I lost, and focused on what I have. I gave myself permission to feel all my emotions, good and bad. I gave my body and mind time and space to heal. I expressed gratitude for the people who supported me and helped me get to where I am now. I focus on the things I can control and pay no attention to the things I can’t. It is definitely a process, but the closer I am towards acceptance, the closer I am towards a newer, better, and healed version of me. | philosophy |
https://totalsynergy.com/margins-architecture-and-profit/ | 2021-09-22T11:45:21 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-39/segments/1631780057347.80/warc/CC-MAIN-20210922102402-20210922132402-00700.warc.gz | 0.924769 | 204 | CC-MAIN-2021-39 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2021-39__0__18460009 | en | [This is the introduction from an article we wrote for Australian Design Review in 2015. Click below to read the full article.]
“Issue 138 of Architectural Review Asia Pacific explores the theme of margins. In Michael Holt’s editorial introduction he says: “Architects must take ownership of the economic and political forces impacting on the practice, [to] be more in tune and establish new ways of procuring and producing architecture”.
Though perhaps not intended for such literal interpretation, the economic and political ramifications of profit in practice can’t be ignored. In fact, it’s arguable the practice of architecture can’t survive without profit.
In many ways, then, profit is the defining margin for architecture as a practice. So what does profit mean to Australian architects? How is profit — margin — brought to the centre of the architectural profession without disrupting the intent of the design process? How does profit in itself protect the integrity of architecture and design?” | philosophy |
https://cug.edu.gh/about/overview | 2024-04-14T10:36:19 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296816879.25/warc/CC-MAIN-20240414095752-20240414125752-00540.warc.gz | 0.947252 | 1,124 | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2024-18__0__78970285 | en | The Catholic University of Ghana, formally recognized as the Catholic University College of Ghana, holds a distinctive position in the landscape of higher education in Ghana. Established in 2002 by the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference, it serves as a testament to the Catholic Church's dedication to delivering comprehensive and value-based education in Africa.
Educational Philosophy and Mission:
Central to the university's philosophy is its commitment to the Catholic ethos, emphasizing the holistic development of individuals. This approach extends beyond academic learning to include moral and spiritual growth. The university's mission is to foster an educational environment that not only imparts academic knowledge and skills but also instills in students strong ethical values and social responsibility. This unique philosophy is aimed at nurturing students to become successful professionals, conscientious leaders, and active contributors to society.
Academically, the Catholic University of Ghana offers a diverse range of programs. These include undergraduate and postgraduate courses in fields like Business Administration, Economics, Public Health, Religious Studies, and Information Technology. Known for its high academic standards and experienced faculty, the university fosters an environment that encourages critical thinking, creativity, and innovation. The curriculum is regularly updated to align with global trends and job market demands, ensuring that graduates are well-equipped for their professional lives.
Campus Life and Facilities:
The university’s campus is equipped with modern facilities that contribute to a conducive learning and personal growth environment. It boasts well-stocked libraries, advanced computer labs, comfortable lecture halls, and recreational spaces. Additionally, residential facilities provide students with a safe and nurturing living environment. These facilities play a crucial role in ensuring that students have access to all necessary resources for a well-rounded educational experience.
Community Engagement and Social Responsibility:
Emphasizing community service and social justice, the university encourages its students to participate in various outreach programs and development projects. This focus on community engagement aids in fostering a sense of social responsibility among students, while also providing them with practical experience in addressing real-world challenges. Collaborations with local communities, NGOs, and government agencies are common, underlining the university's commitment to societal development.
Global Connections and Collaborations:
The Catholic University of Ghana is not just limited to its local impact; it maintains numerous partnerships and collaborations with international academic institutions and organizations. These global connections facilitate academic exchange programs, joint research initiatives, and cultural exchanges, enriching the students' educational experience and providing them with a global perspective.
Contribution to Society:
The role of the Catholic University of Ghana in shaping future leaders is significant. Its alumni are known for their contributions in various sectors, both within Ghana and internationally. The university’s commitment to producing graduates who are academically proficient, as well as morally and ethically sound, positions it as a key contributor to the socio-economic development of the region. The Catholic University of Ghana stands as a testament to quality education, moral integrity, and social responsibility. Its comprehensive approach to education, coupled with its commitment to community service and global engagement, makes it a distinguished and respected institution in Ghana's higher education sector.
The mission of the Catholic University of Ghana, Fiapre, is multifaceted and deeply rooted in the principles of academic and moral excellence. It is dedicated to cultivating an academic environment where excellence is not just a goal but a standard. This commitment extends beyond mere academic achievements to encompass the moral and ethical development of its students. The institution focuses on nurturing the complete personal development of its students, ensuring that they are well-rounded individuals ready to contribute positively to society. Additionally, a significant aspect of this mission is to instill in students a strong sense of commitment to serving others. This service-oriented approach is designed to prepare students to be not just leaders in their professional fields but also compassionate individuals who are ready to make a difference in their communities and beyond.
The vision of the Catholic University of Ghana is to be a unique and distinguished institution, recognized for its substantial contributions to national development through academic and technical excellence. The university aspires to be an academic haven that is renowned for producing graduates who are not only experts in their respective fields but also individuals with a real practical ability. These graduates are envisioned to carry a moral vision of life, deeply influenced by their education and experiences at the university. Furthermore, the university aims to instill in its students a profound religious motivation for service, ensuring that they are prepared to apply their skills and knowledge in various spheres of life. The ultimate vision is to create leaders who are technically proficient, morally sound, and highly motivated to serve society in various capacities.
The overarching goal of the Catholic University of Ghana is to establish itself as a bastion of academic and technical excellence. The university is committed to providing a holistic education, encompassing not only academic learning but also personal development. It places a strong emphasis on discipline and moral excellence, ensuring that its students are well-equipped to face the challenges of the real world with integrity and ethical fortitude. Another critical aspect of the university's goal is to foster a deep-rooted commitment to service among its students. This commitment is seen as essential for the development of individuals who are not just academically accomplished but also socially responsible and eager to contribute positively to their communities and the wider world. The university strives to be more than just an educational institution; it aims to be a home where academic excellence, personal growth, moral integrity, and a commitment to service are seamlessly integrated to produce exemplary citizens and leaders. | philosophy |
https://www.favoredwhispers.com/blogs/wonderful-life/being-you-is-the-beauty | 2020-10-31T03:33:59 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-45/segments/1603107912807.78/warc/CC-MAIN-20201031032847-20201031062847-00714.warc.gz | 0.959545 | 474 | CC-MAIN-2020-45 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2020-45__0__158912793 | en | BeYouTiful is a play on words that reflects your true beauty when you embrace your authentic self. Take a deep breath and an assessment of how you are different from others – I bet you will find wonderful things you have to offer the world. And, if you get overwhelmed, remember to leave all comparisons behind because everyone truly has their own beauty.
It is a great reminder to constantly focus on your unique talents and motivate yourself to be you. It is so easy to get caught up in the beauty of others and forget how special you are in this era of social media where many people embellish their lives to make them feel better about themselves.
Being you is not always easy. There are outside influences, bullying, criticisms and other negative actions that can play games with how we think about ourselves. This can be especially hard if you fall into the people pleaser category. You will never be able to please everyone and why would you want to? One of the hardest things to do is step back and take an inventory of people who know the real you and the ones you act differently around. Not only is acting exhausting, but it can steer you away from the best version of yourself. Sure, you may lose some people in your life, but being surrounded by people who accept you unconditionally returns unlimited rewards including a boost in confidence, self-esteem, motivation, and a desire to spread positive energy. Being vulnerable by being yourself eliminates a great deal of negative feelings that can simply just bring you down.
There is no need to “redefine” yourself, rather “reveal” yourself. Gather feedback from those that love you and ask them what they think your best traits are. Those traits are what make you beautiful! I know your instinct is to do
whatever it takes to win the approval of everyone, but it eventually takes a toll on your mental, physical and spiritual health.
Transitioning back to authenticity can be hard, but the best outcomes take work. So go out there and share your BeYouTiful self with the world – don’t fit in…stand out!
“You help to make each day a special day by just you being yourself. There’s nobody else in the whole world who’s exactly like you.”
~ Fred Rodgers | philosophy |
https://redcsur.net/2020/06/03/campaign-normality-was-the-problem/ | 2023-09-21T16:35:29 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-40/segments/1695233506028.36/warc/CC-MAIN-20230921141907-20230921171907-00783.warc.gz | 0.922251 | 982 | CC-MAIN-2023-40 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2023-40__0__7266069 | en | The context of the global pandemic has amplified all the inequalities that feed the capital accumulation system: gender inequalities (more violence in closed-door households, more care workload for women without schools or senior centers, more harassment on online channels…); the inequalities of border regimes; inequalities in the international division of labor, among many others. At the same time, all public goods have been eroded, as shown by the state of health systems around the world. That was and it is our normality.
Faced with this situation, governments in different parts of the world promote in a variety of ways a kind of return to normality based on the coercion of bodies, on restrictions, on the continuity of impoverishment processes and on necropolitical logics.
That is why we make an internationalist call to give body, words, breath to #NormalityWastheProblem proposing, from the specific perspectives we inhabit, reflections, questions and answers, in the form of words, audiovisual clips, photos, collages,sounds …
The campaign begins on June 3 on social networks and runs throughout the month of June. Until June 30, contributions can be sent to: [email protected]
Or upload them directly here:https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1C8HyScMdxBkIByu-5hkQmA4ZUgiOhsYl?usp=sharing
And they will be published here https://www.instagram.com/normalitywastheproblem/
NORMALITY WAS THE PROBLEM
Virologists have spent these last few months bent over their microscopes as they labour to identify the origin, vectors of contagion and ways to combat Covid-19. They are not there yet. But they can at least claim to have resolved many of the urgent questions and most pressing needs.
Meanwhile, activists and militants, the impoverished working classes and other unquiet critics of the status quo have been scrutinising the implacable effects of a better known but equally vaccine-less virus: capitalism.
As the pandemic has tightened its grip, it has thrown into stark relief the simmering inequalities that feed the accumulation of capital. Indeed, it has intensified them to an intolerable degree: inequalities of gender (a surge in violence behind closed doors, a ramped-up burden of care for women as schools and old people’s centres shut down, more online harassment, etc.); inequalities of frontier regimes (illegal migrants are shut out from emergency support measures); inequalities in the international division of labour (countries confront the same virus with vastly differing resources in terms of healthcare systems, material conditions of their population, etc.). And many more.
This situation, which we used to call normality, has revealed itself in its dystopian reality.
So, while governments talk about a return to normality or a new normality, we – those of us who seek an emancipatory change to this monstrous normalised reality – are throwing our thoughts, bodies and energy into forging new paradigms, alliances and practices that map the way to new horizons.
But how to translate this urgent desire into specific, down-to-earth, locally relevant measures? How can we vaccinate ourselves against capitalism on the eve of an economic crisis deeper than 2008? At a time when the forces of the far right are eager to seize on the discontent stoked by the pandemic’s material cost?
How can we avoid a return to the dangerous promises that the nation state will save us and instead forge new alliances and new forms of international cooperation?
How can we short-circuit the spaces where capital accumulation squeezes out the resources we have to live on? How can we rescue from rampant marketisationour homes, neighbourhoods, cities, towns, water, air, public spaces and natural and urban environments?
How can we protect social assets (educational systems, cultural institutions, social security systems, healthcare) and create other new goods, under common management, which can overcome the dangers afflicting “public” sectors that are increasingly falling into the claws of financial elites.
How can we break away from a financialised economy centred on accumulation and instead develop a social organisation based on the needs and desires of a decent, independent and free life?
This campaign invites everyone to put forward (in words, video, photographs, collage, sound, etc.), each from our own corners of the world and from the reality we live and see, more questions and more answers to meet the colossal challenge of our collective global demand: | philosophy |
https://www.lifechurchmaine.org/post/2018/03/13/a-limitless-life | 2021-03-09T07:21:56 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-10/segments/1614178389472.95/warc/CC-MAIN-20210309061538-20210309091538-00468.warc.gz | 0.971009 | 554 | CC-MAIN-2021-10 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2021-10__0__80629250 | en | A limitless life?
The Unlikely title of Nick’s book is “Life without Limits”, here’s the first sentence on the flap of the book. “Born without arms or legs, Nick Vujicic overcame his disability to live an independent, rich, fulfilling life, becoming a model for anyone seeking true happiness.”
From his introduction
Often we feel life is unfair. Hard times and tough circumstances can trigger self-doubt and despair. I understand that well. But the Bible says, "Consider it pure joy, whenever you face trials of any kinds." That is a lesson I struggled many years to learn. I eventually figured it out, and through my experiences I can help you see that most of the hardships we face provide us with opportunities to discover who we are meant to be and what we can share of our gifts to benefit others.
Nick is living an amazingly happy life. He says “Suffering is universal and often unbelievably cruel, but even in the worst of slums and after the most horrible tragedies, I have been heartened to see people not only surviving but thriving. Joy was certainly not what I expected to find in a place called "Garbage City," the worst slum at the edge of Cairo, Egypt….
“How can such impoverished children laugh? How can prisoners sing with joy? They rise above by accepting that certain events are beyond their control and beyond their understanding too, and then focusing instead on what they can understand and control. My parents did just that. They moved forward by deciding to trust in God's Word that "all things work for the good of those who love God, who are called according to His purpose."
“Life without limits”. With such a title, is Nick teaching us that by positive thinking he can become the next Olympic sprint champion or anything else that crosses his mind? Does he actually have no limits? Nick’s wisdom is helpful precisely because he doesn’t embrace goofy “I can do anything I set my mind to” thinking. He has found his joy exactly where God planted it. The same place we all need to look for it – squarely within our limits. We don’t even get off the ground until we realize that we, even with our limits, are not a mistake.
The gap between “I can do ANYTHING God calls me to.” & “I can do ANYTHING I want to” is the same gap that separates God & Satan’s plans for your life.
You are not a mistake and the sooner you start rejoicing in God's limits - the sooner you'll find a limitless life. | philosophy |
https://www.gayandgray.net/post/hide-and-seek | 2023-09-21T19:51:37 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-40/segments/1695233506029.42/warc/CC-MAIN-20230921174008-20230921204008-00456.warc.gz | 0.959316 | 380 | CC-MAIN-2023-40 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2023-40__0__284185319 | en | Children love playing games and games are important. Playing games is one of the ways children learn to interact with others, problem solve and engage with the world around them.
One of the games children begin playing at the earliest age is “hide and seek”. One child runs off to hide, and after a short period of time, another child will try to find him or her.
If you observe the kids closely you will discover that the real joy of the game isn’t in the hiding, but in being discovered. You see, the kids don’t want to hide so well that they are never discovered. Pay close attention and you will see that the thrill of being found is what causes their faces to light up and the giggling to begin. They are really disappointed if no one ever finds them.
Kind of sounds like adult life doesn’t it?
Many of us, most of us at some point, play the adult version of hide and seek. We run off, not physically, but emotionally, and hide. We secretly hope that someone will find us . . . that we will be discovered as we hide under a bed or in a dark closet. If no one ever finds us we remain under that bed or in that closet.
We never experience the joy of being discovered and, interestingly, we become more skilled at the ‘hiding’ part of the game. We never realize the joy of being found (or the relief of being found out).
But wait! There’s more to consider . . .
If we are so good at the ‘hiding’ part of the game, might we actually be denying others the opportunity to know the real, authentic and wonderful version of ourselves?
So much we can learn from children . . . it’s just a thought . . . | philosophy |
https://www.bardofthesouth.com/ten-important-words-for-college-students/ | 2017-06-22T20:29:04 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-26/segments/1498128319902.52/warc/CC-MAIN-20170622201826-20170622221826-00077.warc.gz | 0.913877 | 296 | CC-MAIN-2017-26 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2017-26__0__132699985 | en | Here’s a list of words I stress when teaching my college students. It should be obvious that many journalists, businesses, artists and employees also need them.
Important Words for My College Students
1. discipline – training, instruction, or correction that develops self-control, character or efficiency.
2. objectivity – not influenced by personal feelings or opinions in considering, discussing, or representing facts.
3. ethics – moral principles that govern a person’s behavior or the conducting of an activity.
4. work ethic – belief that hard work is intrinsically virtuous or worthy of reward. A person with strong work ethics is driven to do one’s best, to be reliable, to be honest and fair with one’s employer and the society her or she serves.
5. integrity – doing the right thing in a reliable way, being honest and fair.
6. research – the systematic investigation into and study of materials and sources in order to establish facts and reach new conclusions.
7. sacred cow – an idea, custom, or institution held, especially unreasonably, to be above criticism. College should be the place where sacred cows come to die.
8. schedule – a plan for carrying out a process or procedure, giving lists of intended events and times.
9. serendipity – the unexpected discovery.
10. epiphany – A lightbulb moment, a sudden understanding or insight. | philosophy |
http://sherylscript.blogspot.com/ | 2014-04-18T08:02:24 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1397609533121.28/warc/CC-MAIN-20140416005213-00059-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | 0.979727 | 582 | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2014-15__0__99627620 | en | "To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible." ― St. Thomas Aquinas
Four years ago I experienced an amazing event. It's a matter of healing and faith. I can only describe what happened, and leave the conclusion to the reader.
About 17 years ago I began to lose function in my left hand. This greatly effected my playing the piano. As the years progressed, pain accompanied the loss of action, and my right hand experienced the same loss and pain. The type of pain was never consistent. I eventually lost strength and the ability to hold things. Teaching the piano was coming to an end. I couldn't imagine life without music, let alone my livelihood.
My family had witnessed my loss. I remember getting strange looks when I accompanied my dad. I couldn't hide my wrong notes as he sang. I used CDs and DVDs to aid in teaching my advanced students at the piano. At dinner my sons ran to catch their meal if I yelled, "Help!" They did not like it when I dropped the dish full of food.
In late 2009 I announced that I would retire in May, 2010.
Totally unrelated to this ongoing matter, something else was brewing. The economy was bad, and Christmas approached. Money was tight. I tried to think of how I could put something out of nothing under the Christmas Tree for my young boys. Something simple. I recognized I was not a creative person, but I refused to give up.
And I prayed. Not necessarily for presents, but for my family. I found myself praying the rosary. Now to some, that may be an old prayer for old ladies or an outdated set of worry beads. Oh well. I decided to pray because it certainly couldn't hurt. This particular day in December I ended up praying all four sets of the rosary (20 decades). I was stuck in the car all day, and I had plenty of time.
That night I felt such peace--indescribable. Peace, nonetheless.
I liked that peace, so I dared to repeat the 20 decades of the rosary a few days later. The peace returned that night. Thus, a habit formed.
A month later, I met with a friend who was a priest. He noticed I couldn't hold my coffee mug, and I briefly explained my incapability of doing so. He offered to bless my hands. I accepted, but with the thought, "It couldn't hurt." I was not expecting any great results.
|I played for my niece's wedding Feb, 2014|
The story doesn't end there. The summer of 2010 I found myself being offered a job as a pianist at our local church. Four years later, I have full strength, no pain, and play more music than ever. | philosophy |
http://www.teenwolfwiki.com/Heart_of_Darkness | 2023-09-22T02:11:43 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-40/segments/1695233506320.28/warc/CC-MAIN-20230922002008-20230922032008-00516.warc.gz | 0.978158 | 465 | CC-MAIN-2023-40 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2023-40__0__283149018 | en | A novel by Joseph Conrad. Heart of Darkness and its influence appears a few times in Season 3. One of the most salient aspects of the novel is the narrative frame in which it was told. Stiles apparently retains this information, because he uses it when listening to Peter talk about Derek in 3x08 - Visionary. He understands that a story transforms as it moves from one narrator to another, so the story of Paige, when told by Derek, might be a quite different one.
The title becomes a phrase that Dr. Deaton uses to describe what will happen to Scott, Stiles, and Allison if they sacrifice themselves to the nemeton in place of their parents. They will have "a darkness around their hearts."
Heart of Darkness was a study on the nature of evil, a theme carried very strongly through Season 3. Who is evil? What makes them so?
Jennifer Blake is evil by the accounts of the people she has murdered. However, she claims her actions were to defeat an even greater foe. She characterizes her actions as bad but necessary, therefore not evil.
Deucalion wasn't always the man he became. He used to be peaceful and reasonable, but wrongs done to him twisted him into someone who seeks power and vengeance. So evil is contractible? Like a disease? Something he caught from Gerard Argent on the day he was blinded. Like Kurtz in the novel, Deucalion becomes consumed by his greed, only he lusts after power instead of money. His darkness corrupts other, turning once good werewolves into traitors and murderers who fall for the greed of the path he has chosen. The ivory traders in the book traded their morals for profit; Deucalion makes a similar trade.
Take also Peter's manipulation of Derek into causing Paige's death. Were there ulterior motives to his manipulations that render his actions anything other than pure evil? And Derek killing Paige to end her suffering: where does this fall on the scale of right and wrong?
Heart of Darkness provides no answers to these questions, but the allusion opens up questions about the story being told in 3A in terms of stories as tales told by individuals and not records of truth and evil as a concept that lives, or doesn't, in the human heart. | philosophy |
http://www.thisisbeauty.org/about | 2020-01-28T16:06:24 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-05/segments/1579251779833.86/warc/CC-MAIN-20200128153713-20200128183713-00544.warc.gz | 0.939627 | 373 | CC-MAIN-2020-05 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2020-05__0__86134952 | en | Welcome to This is Beauty, a new campaign by The Body Positive that brings this message to life.
Through videos, photographs, poems, and stories, our gallery invites individuals to participate in the radical reimagining of what beauty is, where it can be found, and how each of us can welcome it into our lives.
This is Beauty opposes the messages about beauty we are offered, such as the belief that there is a finite amount of beauty in the world, that beauty is only for the very young, slender, and sculpted bodies found on magazine covers, or that beauty is something bestowed upon us by an “expert.”
Inhabiting our own beauty gives us a generous confidence that allows us to rest in knowing that we are fundamentally okay. From this place we can see the beauty in others without the distraction of competitive comparisons. Expressing our beauty doesn’t make us conceited and separate from others. Instead, this creative experience of beauty allows us to connect to others on a more intimate level.
In the process of viewing and listening to the varied stories of beauty represented by the people in the art pieces, we hope that everyone will have the opportunity to think, “What is my own beauty?” By opening up this vision of possibility we can become free from the paralysis caused by body hatred, and can take the necessary steps to live fully, resist destructive messages from the world, and pursue attuned self-care independent of socially defined ideas about beauty, health, and identity.
A dynamic presentation of diverse declarations of beauty, This is Beauty is not only a home for empowering self-expression, but a source of inspiration and support for those on their journey towards a life of self-love and self-celebration.
Learn more about The Body Positive's mission and programs here. | philosophy |
http://laceosphere.blogspot.com/p/lines.html | 2018-06-23T00:39:10 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-26/segments/1529267864848.47/warc/CC-MAIN-20180623000334-20180623020334-00151.warc.gz | 0.94884 | 269 | CC-MAIN-2018-26 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2018-26__0__107850878 | en | “You may not see it now,” said the Princess of Pure Reason, looking knowingly at Milo’s puzzled face, “but whatever we learn has a purpose and whatever we do affects everything and everyone else, if even in the tiniest way. Why, when a housefly flaps his wings, a breeze goes round the world; when a speck of dust falls to the ground, the entire planet weighs a little more; and when you stamp your foot, the earth moves slightly off its course. Whenever you laugh, gladness spreads like the ripples in a pond; and whenever you’re sad, no one anywhere can be really happy. And it’s much the same thing with knowledge, for whenever you learn something new, the whole world becomes that much richer.”
“And remember, also,” added the Princess of Sweet Rhyme, “that many places you would like to see are just off the map and many things you want to know are just out of sight or a little beyond your reach. But someday you’ll reach them all, for what you learn today, for no reason at all, will help you discover all the wonderful secrets of tomorrow.”
-from the Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster. | philosophy |
http://www.writetowellness.com/workshops/ | 2019-07-23T15:39:35 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-30/segments/1563195529480.89/warc/CC-MAIN-20190723151547-20190723173547-00088.warc.gz | 0.967489 | 177 | CC-MAIN-2019-30 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2019-30__0__83418628 | en | ‘The way she weaves together very complex healing issues into simple exercises, drawing on the work of Carl Jung and others, makes the workshop super accessible and yet deeply insightful. I loved the emphasis on becoming conscious of limiting patterns that hold us back, and transforming our perceptions through the liberating power of creativity and intuition.
Her manner is full of compassion and wisdom. I felt really safe to explore anything that came up for me. She holds space well without judgement or being overbearing. The exercises were also a lovely way to connect with the other participants, as we shared a lot throughout (if we wanted). It was a much deeper way to connect than most conversations. My gratitude goes out to Belinda for all the years of dedication and heart she has clearly put into this work. Thank you for your professionalism and your open heartedness. This work works!!’Rachel | philosophy |
https://www.kindset.com/inspiration-builder/2018/7/26/meet-big-jules | 2019-09-21T13:21:30 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-39/segments/1568514574501.78/warc/CC-MAIN-20190921125334-20190921151334-00209.warc.gz | 0.979317 | 1,341 | CC-MAIN-2019-39 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2019-39__0__199634767 | en | Meet Big Jules
The moment I was introduced to Julie I knew I wanted to be her friend. She’s absolutely darling, adores everything French, has the most incredible sense of humor, is an excellent conversationalist, loves peanut M&Ms, and is all-around FUN. I was especially drawn to her thoughtfulness and genuine care for others. Julie's smallest gifts of kindness seem second nature to her. However, if you are the recipient, they make you feel more than special; they make you feel seen and loved.
What I admire most about Julie is her amazing relationship with her daughters, Lauren and Sarah (who affectionately call her “Jules”). They look forward to being with her all the time and in any capacity. The mother/daughter trio is the greatest of friends and their adoration for each other is so special to watch. As a mom of teens, I'm constantly learning from Julie and try to mirror her compassionate and encouraging ways.
When I told Lauren and Sarah that I wanted to write an article about Julie and her ability to make kindness such an ordinary yet extraordinary part of her life, they were giddy with excitement. We secretly met when Julie had other appointments and concocted a plan for the interview. It was especially perfect that her birthday (today - July 28th!) was just around the corner and could serve as my very first blog entry.
I’m so thankful that Lauren and Sarah are willing to share a little bit of Jules with the rest of us. After you read this, you will want Julie to be your mom, too - or at least be fortunate enough to call her a friend.
Happy Birthday, Jules!!
Q. How do you think your mom has shaped your kindset?
Lauren: Watching my mom practice compassion with family, friends, and strangers over the years has shown me the importance of showing love towards others and allowed me to form my own philosophy on kindness. Without her influence, I would have a completely different attitude on life and I would not be the person I am today.
Sarah: Since I was young, my mom has always been one of my greatest role models because of her generosity and compassion for others that she shows on a daily basis. In everything she does, she demonstrates a genuine care for everyone around her that I admire so much. She has made me realize that it is the little things that matter, that a powerful act of kindness can be something so small.
Q. I love watching your relationship with your mom. It's such a great balance of being a friend but yet still being a parent. What do you most appreciate about your relationship with your mom?
Lauren: I could not be blessed with a better mom than Jules. Somehow, we just grow closer and closer as the years go on, and I can truly call her my best friend in life. I appreciate everything when it comes to our relationship, but most importantly, she is great at keeping us grounded, reminding us what is important in life, and is always here for us no matter the situation. One of her best qualities is that she is an amazing listener and I really do feel like I can tell her anything!
Sarah: I think the one thing that really stands out to me is how honest and genuine our relationship is. I think it is so important to have a balance of being friends with your parents, but still acknowledging the importance of the parent-child relationship. I see my relationship with my mom as the perfect balance of this. I love spending time with her and genuinely having fun, but I also know that she is there for me when I need advice or just need my mom! I appreciate so much how I can always be myself around her without worrying about being perfect, but still be encouraged to try new things and challenge myself.
Q. You’ve told me how much your friends enjoy being around Jules. Why do you think that is?
Lauren: Not only is Jules is really great at making everyone feel welcome, included and cared about, but she has the best sense of humor and is incredibly fun-loving. We spend so much time hanging out with her that our friends end up spending a ton of time with her as well. Because of Jules’ ability to be so loving with our close friends, I think some of them think of her as another mother figure in their lives and a friend!
Q. Now that you are older, what are the moments you most cherish with your mom?
Sarah: My mom and I have done some really special things together like traveling to Rwanda, and sharing a weekend of our 15th and 50th birthdays, but the moments I value most are the casual, everyday ones. One thing that I cherish deeply is my mom picking me up from school every day. It is one of the main reasons that I don’t want to start driving myself! If I have had a great day or terrible day, she is always there with the same smile on her face, ready to hear whatever I have to say. Some of the best and most memorable times are just the two of us driving home, stuck in traffic on Montlake! I know that I can always count on her at the end of the day no matter what. I can’t think back to any soccer tournaments, ice skating lessons or school performances that my mom hasn’t been there in the front row encouraging me every step of the way.
Lauren: My favorite things that we get to do together are cook in our kitchen, have dance parties to One Direction and Madonna (what else?!), and hang out with Ziggy (our cute dog)… really, not many of our favorite activities have changed since Sarah and I were little! That is, with the exception of our latest activity being going to SoulCycle together, which we have definitely bonded over too!
Q. What do you want people to know most about your mom?
Sarah: What I want people to know most about my mom is how great of a mom, friend, and person she is to everyone around her. She inspires me everyday because of the constant love and encouragement that I get from her. Through her, I have learned how to be the most authentic, best version of myself without being afraid to make any mistakes along the way. Whenever I think about having kids in the future, I picture my mom and hope to one day be half as amazing of a mom that she is to my sister and I (and Ziggy)! | philosophy |
https://www.myuna.ca/our-foundational-principles/ | 2024-04-15T06:23:43 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296816942.33/warc/CC-MAIN-20240415045222-20240415075222-00138.warc.gz | 0.911968 | 145 | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2024-18__0__163427010 | en | Our Foundational Principles
At the UNA, we stand by three Foundational Principles that guide the work that we do in all of our community centres and recreation services.
We believe in nurturing our community’s motivation, confidence, knowledge and understanding of the value of engaging in physical and wellness activities by providing access to a wide range of programs and events.
We aim to deliver a high-quality experience for our community members through instructors and program content that inspire happiness, passion and creativity.
We strive to create a safe and inclusive environment that is conducive to building community, strengthening connections and cultivating a sense of belonging. | philosophy |
https://fairfieldmethodistsec.moe.edu.sg/cca/overview | 2018-12-14T14:33:35 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-51/segments/1544376825916.52/warc/CC-MAIN-20181214140721-20181214162221-00191.warc.gz | 0.916175 | 467 | CC-MAIN-2018-51 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2018-51__0__170386339 | en | Character and Citizenship Education Framework
At the heart of our Character and Citizenship Education framework John Maxwell’s theory of leadership based on the idea that “Leadership Is Influence”. Influential leadership can be demonstrated through moral and performance character and active citizenry, which are based on Christian principles. We believe that every teacher is a CCE teacher who reinforces what he or she teaches with positive role-modelling and strong teacher-student relationship.
The CCE framework also adopts Prof Thomas Lickona’s theory of Moral Knowing, Moral Feeling, Moral Action or better known as “Head, Heart, Hands” approach in engaging the whole child. The co-curricular programmes incorporate this learner-centric approach to support students’ learning. It aims to impart knowledge, inculcate values and motivate students to take the right actions.
Student Leadership Framework
As we believe that all Fairsians can be leaders, we have adopted a two-tier model for student leadership training. Developing the four Fairsian Outcomes through our Fairfield curriculum forms the foundation for leadership for the general student body. The basic leadership training programme is conducted through platforms such as the Lifeskills curriculum, WHEEL week, CCA and the National Youth Achievement Award.
Students who are appointed to leadership positions such as Student Councillors, CCA Leaders and Class Committee members undergo the Advanced Student Leadership Training programme, consisting of modules such as “Transformational Leadership” and “How to be an Effective Leader”. Likewise, identified by their interests in promoting health and environmental awareness, the Health Ambassadors and Environmental/NE Ambassadors are given platforms for exposure to public speaking to share health tips and environmental issues and in leading relevant projects at the school and community level.
CCA Talk for Parents for Sec 1s 2018.pdf
FMSS LEAPS 2.0 slides (Parents).pptx
ITE ABA Briefing Slides - For Schools (final).pdf
ITE EAE Briefing Slides 2018 - for students(final).pdf
ITE EAE factsheet for students 2018.pdf
NYAA 2018 New Criteria.pdf
NYAA Enrolment form 2018.pdf
NYAA Award Booklet Template (Sample).pdf | philosophy |
http://www.tracyyoung.info/blog/?page_id=9 | 2017-04-30T22:30:36 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-17/segments/1492917125881.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20170423031205-00129-ip-10-145-167-34.ec2.internal.warc.gz | 0.986168 | 4,183 | CC-MAIN-2017-17 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2017-17__0__20947217 | en | Love at First Sight
Love at first sight is psychologically unfashionable, regarded as pathology, or worse a breach of taste. But it happens, and here is what happened to me:
I was working one fall at a foundering magazine, and to relieve the boredom born of unrelenting anxiety, I often left the office, sometimes at lunch hour, occasionally in the middle of a long afternoon, to stroll about the neighborhood, a dull stretch of midtown gridwork whose sole attraction was a fancy cat store, a hole-in-the-wall, actually, where the surroundings were as dingy as the cats were elegant. I had no intention of buying a cat, having long since pronounced myself an unfit owner, but I found the presence of these animals soothing, the way some people are calmed by spending a half-hour in the pew of an empty church.
One November afternoon, the kind of day when the sky is an ominous almost white, I wandered in, and out of the comer of my left eye caught a glimpse of something huddled in the back of a cage. It had a small, rather pointed head, two sharp green eyes, huge, bat-like ears, luminous gray fur, and a Dickensian air; it looked, in truth, more like a rat than a cat. Instead of being repelled, I was riveted.
“What is this?” I asked the proprietress, without daring to take my eyes off it.
“A Russian Blue,” she said. “And you don’t want one.”
A none-too-savory-looking character herself (she would have been at home in a P.D. James novel) she went on to explain that Russian Blues are very difficult and tried to turn my attention to a Siamese across the narrow room.
“Just let me hold him,” I said, and the woman, muttering, opened the cage and lifted a miserable thirteen-week-old male cat out of his paper scraps.
I took him, as gently as I could, and held him against my shoulder, scarcely breathing myself. Finally I heard the faintest purr-not so much a purr as a sigh, of resignation perhaps. I promptly fell in love.
“Your name is Cole,” I whispered into the down of his neck. The name had popped unbidden into my mind. I don’t know why-except for the obvious fact of his color, and possibly because the smooth, disdainful shape of his skull reminded me of an old photo of a pomaded Mr. Porter.
In ‘Concerning the Birth of Love,’ a chapter of his book, On Love, the great 19th century French writer (and skirt chaser), Stendhal, describes the progression of love from coup de foudre to obsession as akin to “crystallization,” the process by which the love object becomes endowed with laudable qualities, just as a bare bough tossed into a salt mine becomes encrusted with “scintillating diamonds” until the original branch is no longer recognizable. Stendhal also notes that crystallization occurs when the infatuation is not immediately consummated, which is a lovely 19th century notion.
I left the cat store, sans cat, trudged back to work, and finally went home that evening to entertained myself with thoughts of Cole, a delicious torture that I indulged in over the next week or so. It wasn’t a long time by Stendhal’s standards, but I felt possessed, although I have no idea any more what I thought would happen if I brought this fantastic creature home. Something. I just knew that I had to have him, no matter what he cost (the cats in this hovel were very expensive), and that I would risk the ridicule of friends who brought in strays or purchased cats from Bide-A-Wee.
And so it happened that I returned to the cat store (feeling less like a potential pet owner than a criminal, or an insane person) and told the owner that I didn’t care what the cat was supposed to be like, that he liked me (he had purred) and I liked him, and here was a blank check, would she please fill in the amount and not tell me on the remote possibility that seeing the figures would derail me from what I now regarded as destiny. Criminally insane.
There are any number of explanations for why I fell so precipitously in love with Cole. According to Stendhal, love at first sight depends on the element of surprise after a long, fallow stretch of boredom. And I was bored. But I tend to believe that this thunderclap had some more mystical, albeit slightly skewed, significance.
At the same time that I was chewing my nails at my boring job, I was also working on a piece of fiction that I eventually finished and sent off to The New Yorker, as I had been doing with poems, stories and “filler” items ever since grammar school, and collecting in return an impressive stack of tidy printed rejection slips. What was unusual this time was that I was utterly convinced—as convinced as I had been that Cole was the cat for me—that I had finally struck the perfect New Yorker note, a conviction only enhanced by the fact that the magazine had kept the piece an auspicious length of time.
When I finally heard from The New Yorker, it was not a form rejection: it was a handwritten letter from one of the editors who was extremely nice and quite encouraging. I was not disappointed, and I quickly wrote back, thanking the editor for his kind words, but adding that I had been so convinced that the piece would be accepted that I had gone out and spent the money I would have been paid for a Russian Blue cat. “Please advise.”
I never received a reply.
Now, if you think that the moral of this story is that you can’t believe in magic, you’re wrong. It takes faith to fall in love, and faith to send stories to The New Yorker, and faith (though some may call it madness) to spend money you haven’t yet earned. What matters is the leap—not where you land.
In Cinderella and Her Sisters: The Envied and the Envying, Ann and Barry Ulanov compare Cinderella, the young girl who “In spite of all difficulties…remains convinced that her wish will be fulfilled,” to Kierkegaard’s Knight of Faith. Cinderella, with her childish innocence, purity of heart, and acceptance of the absurd—of reality—wins her prince, whereas Kierkegaard, who broke his own engagement, can only console himself with resignation, wondering, as he does in Fear and Trembling, “Why has he been denied this final act of daring?”
It was not, the Ulanovs explain, that Kierkegaard lacked the reasoning power to understand what was wrong, but that he would have been better off had he at least temporarily lost his reason.
Envy, according to the Ulanovs, is admiration gone sour, emulation diverted into contempt. And, if I am reading them correctly, the spiritual cure is love. Part of love is surrendering to that temporary loss of reason that allows love to take root, and part is appreciating the differences between me and another enough to love us both.
Cats, it would seem, are the perfect teachers for such a lesson. For one thing, they are admirable, worshiped throughout history. And they are enviable, if only because they are always well dressed. This may be why people who fail to appreciate cats speak of them with such contempt, as men and women often do of each other when they are perplexed. “An admirer,” Kierkegaard writes, “who feels he cannot be happy by surrendering himself elects to become envious of that which he admires. So he speaks another language.” When they don’t inspire contempt, cats, like love, inspire clichés, our most frequent response to the ineffable.
For the longest time, I was confused about what cats had to teach me. Despite my initial passion for Cole, I assumed that I wanted him to teach me how to live (so self-contained and graceful was he that he seemed more highly evolved), not how to love. And I was typical of the spiritually ambitious. If one cat were an education, I reasoned, two would hasten my enlightenment. I bought another cat.
My new guru was a tiny, bird-like Abyssinian that I named Kizzie (I was watching Roots at the time, and my beautiful kitten reminded me of Leslie Uggams). Cole, who became for a time Kunte Cole, was not amused. The cat who had been my psychic pet became my nemesis. He stopped sleeping on my bed (on my chest!) and retired every night to his lonely outpost on the living-room sofa. If he was sitting on my lap and Kizzie jumped up, he hissed and ran away. If I brushed him, he stretched out and purred for the first five strokes and on the sixth, inexplicably snarled and ambled away, swinging his slender hips in annoyance. For hours at a time he roosted on top of the refrigerator, looking, with his aquiline nose and protruding tongue, like a malevolent gargoyle. When, after leaving him with my sister for two weeks, I went to retrieve him, he refused to come down off the kitchen cabinet; when I picked him up, he tore flesh from my forearms.
Psychic pet, indeed! Knowing friends joked that Cole was the nasty part of me. In a sense they were right. Like any polarized couple—the introvert and the extrovert, the compulsively neat and the slob, the addict and the enabler—Cole and I had created our own system of valences. As I had done in so many relationships with a “difficult” partner, the kind to which I was most attracted, I was able to disown my worst parts but experience them through Cole. By attempting to control Cole, I was able to forget that I needed to domesticate myself.
What was going on here, as much as this might tax the imagination, was a serious relationship, and one that seemed more and more complex. Before I decided to get Kizzie, I had worried that Cole would grow up to be a neurotic only child. Then, I’m ashamed to admit, I began to feel the honeymoon was over, and thought that a new cat would again bring me the thrill of romance. It seems odd that I could have had maternal feelings and adulterous feelings at the same time, not to mention that I could have had them about a pet. But Cole was certainly responding like a displaced sibling and a jealous lover. And you don’t have to read too many pop-psychology books to begin to believe, as I do, that when it comes right down to it, there is a certain primitive level on which all relationships exhibit the same spectrum of emotions. No doubt, this kind of thinking keeps cat therapists in business. And, after several years, I did engage such a person, only half in jest.
The cat shrink arrived with a small packet of catnip and a lot of Freudian baggage: while she tantalized Cole with the catnip, she grilled me about my love affairs and living arrangements; finally she announced that Cole was suffering from “low self-esteem,” which did nothing to ease my mind. Eventually I was worried enough to take him to the vet, a deft surgeon with a gruff bedside manner who was none too fond of Cole. (The cat didn’t have a chart-he had a record.) I asked her if she thought, by any chance, he had a brain tumor. “Nope,” she said, laughing. “He’s just a prick. “
I laughed, too. “Prick” was certainly a happier diagnosis than a brain tumor, and much more dignified than “low self-esteem.” How often wish that my own couple’s therapy had been abbreviated by such practical wisdom! On the other hand I had to admit that Cole was a prick to me, specifically, and that needed to look at what I was doing to provoke him.
“There is a kind of psychic intrusiveness that animals respond to,” said Vicki Hearne, the author of Adam’s Task, “They are extremely sensitive to incongruities between what you’re thinking and what your body’s doing. “
Vicki Hearne was a poet and an animal trainer. I had been amazed by her book, an unsettling combination of horse sense and philosophical flash, and found her to be, in the flesh, a simultaneously daunting and simpatico figure. I was very anxious to hear what she had to say about my cats, Cole in particular. What she said, after meeting them, was: “Who’s supposed to be the trouble?” Cole, whom I had described as a hellion, was rubbing and rolling seductively in front of her, presenting himself as an angel.
He had pulled this sort of stunt before-once, when a group of friends were sitting around burbling about how enchanting Kizzie was. (And she was promiscuously friendly.) Anyway, she was doing all sorts of entertaining things while Cole sat in the doorway, watching “What’s with him?” someone said. “Doesn’t he like to play?” Cole then strode into the room, grasped a little rawhide chew stick between his front paws, and began conducting, in perfect time, to the Mahler on the stereo.
Not only, I realized, was Cole as perverse as any two-year-old kid or beleaguered mate, but he was sensitive to the kind of psychic intrusiveness that Vicki Hearne was talking about. What, after all, could be more intrusive than a vet with a thermometer, unless it was a person who insisted on seeing him as a problem and whispered words of love when she brought home a new cat’? Cole and I couldn’t sit down and talk things through, but clearly something akin to a conversation had to take place. I had been doing all the talking; now I had to listen.
Ironically enough, the real cat therapist ended up being… a cat. Raisin joined the household several years after Kizzie. She was a luscious sable Burmese with huge yellow eyes. I thought her quite diabolical-looking, but she turned out to be a sweetheart, proving that even though I went instinctively for the same type, my own therapy was working, however subliminally.
Raisin taught me how to brush her. She did this by refusing to stand still and submit to pleasure. Instead, she would slink back and forth beneath the brush as I held it, presenting her head, her back, her tail, and then slithering around and coming back for another stroke. I suppose I could have grabbed her and said, “Hold still,” the way my mother brushed my hair when I was a kid. But I was beginning to understand that “I know how to brush you” translates all too easily into “I know how to love you, ” and that this latter assumption is what thwarts most relationships, including mine Cole. For Cole, five strokes were enough—enough pleasure, enough intimacy—and six was too much.
It was not surprising, then, that Raisin also taught Cole about love. What happened was this: I went away, leaving the cats in the care of a friend, and when I returned, Cole, who hadn’t given Raisin the time of day until then, was in the throes of what could only be called a romance. He slept curled alongside of her, played with her, adored her. I can only surmise that Raisin, who had had patiently instructed me, had similarly refused to take Cole’s prickliness personally. She had just been there, like Cinderella sitting in her ashes, “utterly undefended except by her good heart. “
When well-intentioned people become curious about my relationships with my cats, the first question they ask, if they are at all willing to be impressed, is: “Do they come when you call them?” I am always tempted to ask: “Do you?” Or even: “Do I?’
Yes, my cats come when I call them. And so do I, when they call me. Just as a new mother learns to distinguish her baby’s cries, over the years I have come to recognize that various mews, gurgles, and trills mean “hello,” “pet me,” “I’m starving,” “buzz off.” There is something, it seems to me, inherently conversant about cats; they are so willing to participate in what’s going on between us and them that only a boor would refuse to be charmed. (“SCAT!” says the man in Robert Mankoff’s New Yorker cartoon. “REDEEP DE PLOYJOY HEY BOB AREBOP 00 BOP SHEBAM, “ replies the cat.)
More to the point, my cats and I have been able to discard the fantasy of a common language without despairing of the possibility of a shared dialogue. And it is this latter notion that can be instructive.
Once I was visiting a couple I know. The man, who’d had a tough week at the office, was reading and pointing out amusing paragraphs as he came across them. The woman, who had had a tough week at her office, was sharing her innermost thoughts with me. Both of them felt estranged from each other, and each had a very different idea of what would enable them to feel close. That they spoke different languages was clear. What perhaps eluded them—as well as those who teach gorillas sign language or applaud male feminists—was the idea that they didn’t need to speak the same language to be connected. I would be a fool if I needed my cats to answer me in English in order to feel love. Yet why am I, like that couple, just such a fool when it comes to my lovers?
People have difficulty distinguishing what they need from what they think they need, and what most people think they need is sameness, a kind of merging that might assuage the painful truth of Lily Tomlin’s quip: “Remember, we’re all in this alone.” Lacking existential faith, we cling to what we know, which is ourselves, and foist it on each other, creating something familiar enough to love. “The treacherous imagination, “ writes Philip Roth in The Counterlife, “is everybody’s maker…We are all each other’s authors. “
Like men and women, or Person A and Person B, animals and humans are different. And if my cats and I achieve an enviable intimacy, it may be because our differences are more obvious and easier to accept. What cats have to teach us is that we can forget our expectations and indulge instead our capacity for delight. We can look behind the veil of our imagined needs and respond to what is right in front of us. Or else the cat—how admirable he is!—will simply walk away, disappearing around the corner until all you can see is his tale. | philosophy |
https://www.thebluesville.com/biophilic-tapestry/ | 2023-12-09T11:42:50 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100909.82/warc/CC-MAIN-20231209103523-20231209133523-00872.warc.gz | 0.910892 | 215 | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2023-50__0__197791912 | en | Biophilic Tapestry ia an artisitic exploration and homage to the deep-rooted connection between humanity and nature. Inspired by the philosophy of Biophilia, which emphasize the innate affinity humans have for the natural world, this collection aims to revive this intrinsic bond.
Through the language of fashion “Biophilic Tapestry” masterfully weaves together sustainable materials, classic-organic shapes, and earthy tones to craft a visual masterpiece that mirror the biophilic experience. Each garment and design element serves as a thread meticulously woven into a tapestry, symbolizing the interdependence of life on earth.
Garments embody the fluidity of nature, allowing wearers to embrace their own connection with the environment. Biophilic Tapestry beckons wearers to reconnect with nature, immersing themselves in its allure while actively contributing to its safeguarding. As the threads of this collection interwine, they weave a textile story, underscoring our collective importance as essential threads in the tapestry of life. | philosophy |
http://thesteadydrip.blogspot.jp/2017/05/the-outhouse-theology-by-samuel-orrin.html | 2018-05-22T04:02:34 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-22/segments/1526794864624.7/warc/CC-MAIN-20180522034402-20180522054402-00383.warc.gz | 0.979142 | 1,907 | CC-MAIN-2018-22 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2018-22__0__123158830 | en | Sunday, May 21, 2017
The Outhouse Theology by Samuel Orrin Sewell
The Outhouse Theology
by Samuel Orrin Sewell
Now let’s talk about this thing called religion. Here’s my theory, I want to warn you that I am an Iowa farm boy. My nickname on all of the forums that I visit on the internet is Aristotle the Hun. Aristotle the Hun was a name given to me by a friend of mine more than 30 years ago who realized that for all my intellect I was still an Iowa farm boy. He saw this dichotomy of my being; slightly crude, probably too straight forward, not at all concerned with diplomacy and yet backed up by this monster brain, so he called me Aristotle the Hun. The minute he gave me this title I knew it fit and I’ve accepted it and used it for a lot of purposes since then. I’m telling you this to brace you for what is coming next.
An outhouse may be a necessary structure, particularly where I came from in northern Iowa, we did not have indoor plumbing. We were one of the better families in town because we had a three-holer; also because we had a big family, the three-holer was a necessity. Here’s the basis of my Outhouse Theology. In summation there is a parallel between organized religion and an Iowa outhouse as they are both necessary and useful but not the best available.
The foundation of all religious truth could be called “The Jewel of Great Price”. The Jewel of Great Price is a direct connection to the Divine that happens to us human beings. I call it a jewel that because, not only is it so valuable that you can’t say how much it’s worth, but it’s also multi-faceted.
You know that old story about the blind men and the elephant. Basically four blind men come across an elephant and the first blind man touches the side of the elephant and says, “It’s a wall.” Another man gets hold of one of the legs and says, “No, it’s a tree.” The third gets hold of the tail and says, “What’s the matter with you guys, it’s a rope.” The last one grabs the trunk and says, “Watch out it’s a huge snake.”
They were also experiencing the same thing but their senses were telling them different things depending on what “facet” of the elephant they experienced.
Here’s another example. You know the mirrored orb in the ceiling of a ballroom that flashes light in every direction? I call it a “truth ball.” That could be a metaphor for my many-faceted jewel. There are so many facets, and the light is so brilliant, that when the flash strikes one facet of the Jewel of Great Price, the intensity of the reflection can blind you to the awareness that there are any other facets. We are blinded by the light!
We Jews, Christians, Hindus, Buddhists and Muslims, we’re all looking at this truth ball, this Jewel of Great Price, and we think that the facet we see is the only possible way to interpret the meaning . Because that single facet is so magnificent we exclude anyone else’s perception of the same thing, much as the blind men thought everybody else was wrong about the nature of the elephant they were touching. But if that were not bad enough, we’re blinded by the magnificence of the one aspect of the jewel which we are observing. Sometimes the fanatical adherence that is the result of seeing only one facet of the truth ball causes human beings to kill each other who see a different interpretation of the light.
So, here is what happens when we see one of those facets: “I’m going to write a story about this,” which becomes Scripture. “I’m going to build a shrine,” which eventually becomes a temple or a church. And so we have the Scriptures and we have the building. Now the relative value of the building where the Jewel of Great Price is housed is like the value of an outhouse with a Jewel of Great Price buried underneath it.
However, if you think that the church serves no purpose, look what it does. It is a landmark. Underneath every one of those metaphorical outhouses there is buried a Jewel of Great Price.
I was once at a garage sale with my darling wife. (That’s how dedicated a husband I am.) The lady holding the garage sale had her dog there. She had put the loop on the dog’s leash underneath the leg of a card table. The dog, of course, kept being interested in the people and was constantly tugging on his leash and in essence tugging the table. As the table would move along the driveway things would fall off the table. The frustrated woman, without thinking, would point and she’d say, “Go back over there.” Now, did the dog once ever look where she was pointing? No. The dog looked at her pointed finger, confused, wondering, “What is my master wanting me to do?” There is this hand pointing, but the poor dog doesn’t know to look where the hand is pointing.
We human beings are very much that way with our churches. Why do you think there is a steeple? So the church can point away from itself. Yet, dog like, we look at the church building and not what it is pointing toward. Any church that is not pointing away from itself, any religious institution that is not pointing to the Jewel of Great Price, as opposed to their own clergy, their own dogma, or their own traditions, is doing a disservice to the cause they claim to serve. Just like that dog who can’t see where the hand is pointing. Essentially all good religion points away from itself to that Sacred Core Essence, which is the many-faceted Jewel of Great Price.
Now you may have to endure some very uncomfortable experiences, digging through the dogma to get to the Jewel of Great Price, but don’t put the church down. Granted it’s not worth anywhere near what it covers up and hides from humanity, but it does mark the location as to where this Jewel of Great Price is buried.
So don’t look to the church to sustain you. Don’t look to the church and expect to see one of those facets that blind you. Your goal in being a member of the church is to serve to your fellow parishioners and the community at large.\
The church is a human institution which obscures the Jewel of Great Price, but which also marks its location. So what we are faced with is that all of the world religions in essence obscure what it is they’re about. In other words, the very thing they want you to pay attention to is obscured by the traditions, dogma and even the building where the church exists. As C S Lewis said “Your God is too small.”
MUDDITES A FABLE
Once upon a time, long ago and far away, on the outskirts of a crowd gathered to hear a great teacher speak, two men fell into conversation with each other. “I can’t hear what he is saying, but I know that he is a miracle worker, and that the hand of God is upon him,” said the first man. The second man responded enthusiastically, “I know you speak the truth, for I once was blind, but now I see. He cured my blindness!” The first man exclaimed, “Really!” and launched into a detailed explanation of how he too had been cured of blindness by the same holy man. Both men were excited and animated in telling their versions of how they had been cured of blindness.
It soon became obvious that the men were in disagreement about the nature of the miracle worker’s technique. One man insisted that his blindness had been cured when the holy man gathered some soil from the ground which was mixed with saliva and formed into some sort of mud pack, and then placed upon the man’s eyes. The other man was equally adamant that no mud had been used at all, and that the miracle had occurred when the holy man placed his hands on him and simply declared him healed. Thus began the first theological split in Christianity, between the Muddites and the Non-muddites.
The two men gathered about them those who agreed with their particular version and the two groups began to say terrible things about each other. Both groups were convinced that God was on their side and that Satan inspired the other group. Soon there were suspicious plots, dirty tricks, political power plays, and on one occasion an actual fist fight. Many of the people who claim to follow Jesus have been living that way ever since.
The moral to the story:
Love cures blindness. Dogma can cause blindness.
Posted by Sam and Bunny Sewell at 6:38 PM | philosophy |
http://alifeoflight.com/desiderata-poem-pdf-download/ | 2017-10-23T04:25:03 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-43/segments/1508187825575.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20171023035656-20171023055656-00166.warc.gz | 0.954607 | 721 | CC-MAIN-2017-43 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2017-43__0__301635228 | en | One of the things the internet is good for is to read amazing writing. Writing that speaks to your soul. Writing that makes you think. Writing that you remember how you felt reading it even a month or a year later.
One of those pieces of writing that has stood the test of time is the Desiderata poem.
Although a lot of people think this was written as a prayer, the truth is the Desiderata text was first written as a prose poem by Max Ehrmann. It became popular at first around the time of the second World War when Mr. Ehrmann sent copies of the poem to a chaplain serving the American troops during the war.
The words to the Desiderata start off with the very famous, “Go placidly amid the noise and haste . . .” those words are often the only words some people know of the poem, so they will search for things like “the go placidly poem” on the internet.
But there is so much more to the text of the writing itself. So many more ideas that join together to create a feeling of quiet strength and belongingness with the entire world.
And one of the things most often searched for online is a downloadable printable PDF version of the entire poem. So we decided to create one.
We used some amazing photographs and combined those with the words of the poem itself to create a beautiful version of this classic piece of 20th century literature.
Here is the text of the poem used in the illustrated version.
Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible without surrender be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs; for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals; and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Especially, do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is as perennial as the grass.
Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness. Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.
Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be, and whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul. With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful. Strive to be happy. Max Ehrmann, 1927
Enjoy this poem, it is astounding. | philosophy |
https://superindianews.com/entertainment/malaika-arora-says-i-will-get-married-again-shares-her-realistic-take-on-love-and-relationships-bollywood-news/ | 2024-04-23T21:19:34 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296818740.13/warc/CC-MAIN-20240423192952-20240423222952-00799.warc.gz | 0.968471 | 808 | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2024-18__0__58991173 | en | Bollywood actress and fitness enthusiast Malaika Arora has recently opened up about her thoughts on love and the possibility of getting married again. MA, who has been in a relationship with actor Arjun Kapoor for over two years now, spoke candidly about her views on love and relationships in a recent interview. Malaika, who was previously married to actor-producer Arbaaz Khan, said that she still believes in the institution of marriage and would consider getting married again.
Malaika Arora says, “I will get married again”; shares her realistic take on love and relationships
It all happened during her interaction with Brides Today. When the portal asked Malaika if she wants to get married again, she responded by saying, “Of course, I have thought about it. People think that I might be cynical about getting married again, but that’s far from true. I believe in the institution, I believe in love and companionship…All of it. I can’t answer when I will get married again, because I believe in leaving some aspects of one’s life as a surprise and not planning too much. Planning things constantly sucks the joy out of life.”
As the conversation progressed further, the ‘Chaiyya Chaiyya’ fame actress shed some light on her idea of “a perfect relationship”. She explained, “I believe that we romanticise the whole idea of love, because, growing up, that is what we have seen in films or read in books. I am a realist and I know that there’s no such thing as the ‘perfect’ relationship—you need to work on it. If you are able to connect with someone and be yourself, then that relationship is worth staying in.”
The 49-year-old actress then added, “To be honest, ideal relationships don’t exist. I believe every relationship is flawed and has its ups and downs…You just have to take the good with the bad and make it work. When I was 18 years old, I thought that I would make my relationship work for the rest of my life, but little did I know that people can sometimes grow apart. It isn’t fair to me or my partner if we can’t be ourselves and be honest about our feelings. It’s not easy, but I think certain things need to be done sometimes.”
Besides this, the actress-turned-entrepreneur also spoke about what is Malaika like when she is in love. While calling herself “someone who revels and thrives in love,” Malaika said, “A lot of people say that love doesn’t last forever, but I believe it is eternal. Being a hardcore romantic, I believe that when there’s love, you can overcome and conquer any hurdle.”
She concluded by saying, “I adapt beautifully in a relationship, and it is important for me to grow together with my partner. Changing in love is not an essential part of being in it. While you make adjustments and sacrifices, you are not supposed to change yourself…In fact, you must retain the parts of yourself that you recognise.”
Also Read: BH Style Icons 2023: Arjun Kapoor and Malaika Arora’s romantic moment goes viral, garners 13 million views and 51,000 hours of watchtime on Instagram
BOLLYWOOD NEWS – LIVE UPDATES
Catch us for latest Bollywood News, New Bollywood Movies update, Box office collection, New Movies Release , Bollywood News Hindi, Entertainment News, Bollywood Live News Today & Upcoming Movies 2023 and stay updated with latest hindi movies only on Bollywood Hungama. | philosophy |
http://tambreyps.wa.edu.au/our-school/vision/ | 2022-05-20T07:10:56 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-21/segments/1652662531762.30/warc/CC-MAIN-20220520061824-20220520091824-00292.warc.gz | 0.932108 | 181 | CC-MAIN-2022-21 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2022-21__0__230626243 | en | We are a dynamic, innovative and inclusive community that inspires lifelong learning and achievement for all.
- Providing quality teaching is evidence based, with high impact and low variation
- Effective literacy and numeracy skills are critical to successful learning
- The health and well being of all staff and students is vital
- Positive partnerships must exist between school, home and the wider community
- Everyone is capable of achieving great things
- Learning is a lifelong journey
- Diversity and inclusivity are to be valued and celebrated and; The standard you walk past is the standard you accept.
With excellence I start my day, and do the best I can
As Tambrey kids we try our best,
We use our four stars for success.
We care for others and show respect,
And we are proud to say
We are from TAMBREY | philosophy |
http://rightwriterright.blogspot.com/2018/03/inspiration-from-improv.html | 2019-04-19T17:23:12 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-18/segments/1555578527865.32/warc/CC-MAIN-20190419161226-20190419183226-00310.warc.gz | 0.982377 | 877 | CC-MAIN-2019-18 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2019-18__0__87862622 | en | This week's workshop was Inspiration From Improv. I first read about the connection between theatre and writing many years ago, which is why even though I knew it would take me out of my comfort zone I thought I’d give the workshop a try. Or maybe because I knew it would take me out of my comfort zone.
At any rate, though for the most part I enjoyed the class, I can safely say I suck at actual improv. We weren’t just writing, we also did some physical improv during class. From movement to tableaus to enacting headliners, I was definitely out of my comfort zone. LOL
The first thing we did was circle the table, pretending to move through various landscapes. When we sat down again we were asked to write a brief piece describing one of those landscapes. I chose what it would be like to walk on the moon.
My feet are heavy as I lift them up and set them down, small puffs of dust rising with each weighted step. Too small. Had I been somewhere with more gravity I would be trying to kick up as much dust as possible, just for fun. But there’s no atmosphere on the moon. No matter how hard I step it makes little difference. I can’t even hear my own footsteps. There’s no sound at all, save for that of my own breathing inside my sealed suit. The dust is grey. Everything is grey, here on the moon. An unrelenting grey stretching out to the horizon in one direction and to the equally grey mountains in another. Even the domes we live in are grey - the clothing, the furnishings...How I long for a bit of colour.
Later we were asked to do a monologue. I’m not sure if mine qualifies as a monologue, it seems more to me to be a first person narrative, but maybe that’s what a monologue is. I chose for my speaker my character on the moon.
Life Under the Dome
I always thought the moon was the epitome of romance - moonlit strolls, dancing by the light of the moon, all the poems and songs written about it. But when John first came up with the idea of applying to be colonists on the moon, I thought he was kidding. It was the moon, for crying out loud. Then he showed me the application forms and I was seized by the fear he’d be accepted and I wouldn’t be. After all, he was an astrophysicist while I was just an engineer. But they wanted couples, fertile couples, so I was given a pass, even though I barely squeaked through the training. Crazy, right? After that, things moved very quickly and the next thing I knew I was saying goodbye to my friends and family and giving away all my books and collections. No room for unnecessary items under the dome, you know. But not all the training in the world could have prepared me for the reality of my new life - the cramped quarters, the bland food, the unrelenting grey. I tried to make the best of it, I really did. We were just the first wave after all, and really, what choice did I have? We were here. Forever. There was no going home. John told me things would get better, to give it a chance. But it turned out he was wrong. Things didn’t get better, they were never going to get better. And the thing was, he wasn’t just lying to me, he was lying to himself and the psychologists too. Far from being a romantic adventure, the moon was desolate and depressing. So depressing that one day, without warning, John walked out onto the grey plains and broke the seal holding his helmet to his suit. This was all his idea, and he left me! I feel so angry and betrayed. And don’t think for a minute I haven’t seen the pitying glances of the others. The couples who no matter what have each other while I have no one. Nothing. I carry on my life, alone, putting in my time. I stare out at that unrelenting grey and wonder how soon I’ll be able to follow in John’s footsteps. | philosophy |
http://masonsjewellers.com.au/507550/masons-studio-jewellers-cubing-the-sphere.htm | 2022-08-14T16:42:33 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572043.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20220814143522-20220814173522-00356.warc.gz | 0.947468 | 383 | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2022-33__0__110867675 | en | SQUARING THE CIRCLE
'Squaring the Circle' has been a major preoccupation in Phill's work over the years. The expression is a symbolic shorthand for the resolution of duality. In other words, finding a middle way, beyond extremes.
There has been a long historical quest for addressing the interplay of opposites. It underpinned much mediaeval architecture and decorative motif. For example, it manifested in the quatrefoil (and the trefoil), which is evident in Gothic Cathedrals in everything from the cross-section of columns, through to tracery in stained glass windows.
Before the Middle Ages, the juxtaposition of the square and circle was well established, and is well exemplified by the floor of the Pantheon, which is a checkerboard of alternating circles and squares in two colours of marble.
Fig. showing the floor plan of the Pantheon
Later, in the Rennaissance, the square penetrating the circle was a fovourite motif, being realised even in the plans of fountains.
Throughout all these periods, one common ecclesiastical motif has been the dome atop the cube, whether it be the basilica or the mosque.
In the East, the Chinese were also preoccupied with resolving the difference between Heaven, represented by the circle, and Earth, represented by the square, evidenced by the long tradition of the Pi (or Bi) disc.
In Japan, many Zen adepts over the centuries chose to depict 'circle, triangle, square', with famous brush paintings by artists such as Sengai (1750-1838) being almost cliches now in the West.
As alluded to above, in the example of the dome on the cube, the logical extension of 'squaring the circle' in Phill's work, is 'cubing the sphere'. | philosophy |
https://www.stmarysblackburn.ac.uk/the-college/mission-vision-values/ | 2020-07-12T02:40:42 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-29/segments/1593657129517.82/warc/CC-MAIN-20200712015556-20200712045556-00202.warc.gz | 0.907084 | 373 | CC-MAIN-2020-29 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2020-29__0__126233542 | en | St Mary’s College is a Roman Catholic College operating under the trusteeship of the Marist Fathers.
We base our philosophy on the true Christian values proclaimed in the gospel and seek to provide a challenging, high quality, education whereby all members of the College community can grow as balanced individuals, morally, intellectually and spiritually.
To be the first choice provider of outstanding education to learners across Pennine Lancashire.
The Governors, staff and students of St Mary’s College value:
- The Marist heritage of the College with its long-established focus on service, duty and justice, with the example of Mary, mother of Jesus, as our role model.
- The importance of each individual as the focus of all the College’s endeavours, regardless of race, colour or religious background.
- The spiritual background of each person, and the importance of providing opportunities to pursue the faith journey.
- The provision of a safe, happy and harmonious environment built on respect, tolerance and understanding
- Outstanding academic rigour, providing consistently excellent teaching and learning, and the raising of aspirations of each learner, enabling our students to reach their full potential irrespective of their academic ability.
- The provision of outstanding academic and pastoral support for learners.
- The commitment to nurture learners who are independent, motivated, principled and open-minded, through the provision of study and enrichment opportunities and facilities which develop creativity, imagination and integrity.
- The opportunity to develop skills that will enable learners to contribute to the economic regeneration of Pennine Lancashire.
- The opportunity to encourage and equip each member of the College family to make a positive contribution to society at a local, national or international level.
- The preparation of each individual for the next step in their career, whether continuing in education or employment. | philosophy |
https://www.hrsuccess.com.au/eblog/doing-the-right-thing?tmpl=component&print=1&format=print | 2021-06-22T04:14:54 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-25/segments/1623488507640.82/warc/CC-MAIN-20210622033023-20210622063023-00239.warc.gz | 0.968586 | 507 | CC-MAIN-2021-25 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2021-25__0__177452785 | en | I was intrigued by a recent story out of the USA that the nation's second-largest drugstore had announced that it will later this year stop selling cigarettes and other tobacco products in its 7,600 stores.
The move is likely to cost the company US$2 billion annually. In announcing the decision, CVS/Caremark's CEO said "Ending the sale of cigarettes and tobacco products at CVS/pharmacy is simply the right thing to do for the good of our customers and our company…. The sale of tobacco products is inconsistent with our purpose – helping people on their path to better health."
While few of us will ever be making decisions of the scale involved in this case, the story brought to my mind the challenge that sometimes prevails in business between "doing the right thing" and doing what is profitable or otherwise in our self-interest.
I have over the years seen several examples of clients grappling with ethical challenges. Often in my experience, and as is suggested in the quote of CVS/Caremark's CEO, "doing the right thing" can come down to ensuring the decision is made within the context of the core purpose of the business. That is, reminding yourself at times such as these just what it is you/your business stands for.
Of course, this in turn highlights the importance of articulating a clear purpose and/or set of values that can guide the behaviour of leaders and others within the business. This is precisely why "Clear Vision and Strategy" is one of the foundation stones of our 8 Elements to Success Through People© Model.
Perhaps not by coincidence, the other foundation stone of the 8 Elements model is "Effective Leadership", which needless to say at times such as these requires courage and strength. Clearly, it can't be easy explaining to shareholders that you have signed off on a decision that will likely cost the business US$2b annually! That said, it's a decision that needed to be taken to remain true to the core purpose of the company.
I can't help but also think of the powerful cultural signal sent to staff and other stakeholders as a result of this decision: Our core purpose is critical, it's what we stand for and we won't let anything get in the way of achieving that purpose.
Whatever the scale of your business, and whatever moral dilemma you might face from time to time, you and your team will be well-served by having a clearly articulated and effectively communicated core purpose and values to guide you. | philosophy |
https://etchedintin.wordpress.com/2011/10/29/full-fat-frappuccinos/ | 2018-03-20T02:12:24 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-13/segments/1521257647251.74/warc/CC-MAIN-20180320013620-20180320033620-00509.warc.gz | 0.946625 | 294 | CC-MAIN-2018-13 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2018-13__0__67579793 | en | Why is a fat person in leggings with a venti frappuccino regarded with pity (if not scorn), while her skinny counterpart is ‘a fashionista’?
No, Starbucks Barista, my dress size does not suggest that my frap should be fat-free.
Yes, I’m sure I want fries with that.
And yes, I’ll rock skintight pants if I want to.
I’m sick of being judged for the curve of my hips, the roundness of my stomach, the fullness of my chin. My body is built this way. Sure, I could diet obsessively, exercise ceaselessly, engage in fervent self-loathing. In fact, I’ve done all of that before. But the majority of people who lose weight gain it all back and self-loathing does absolutely no one any good. I would know.
So here’s a radical idea: instead of focusing on my eating habits, my clothing or my frame, consider this: there’s something to that adage, “don’t judge a book by its cover”.
And if you really want to look at peoples’ bodies, feast on this: people come in all different shapes and sizes. Each and every one of them is beautiful, from the tiny to the rotund and everywhere in between. | philosophy |
https://shorinji-kempo.com.ua/en/about-shorinji-kempo/what-is-shorinji-kempo/ | 2022-06-28T15:27:40 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-27/segments/1656103556871.29/warc/CC-MAIN-20220628142305-20220628172305-00723.warc.gz | 0.966928 | 278 | CC-MAIN-2022-27 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2022-27__0__275871153 | en | Founded in Japan in 1947 by Doshin So, Shorinji Kempo is a way of nurturing people. It is a unique
combination of philosophy, mastery of techniques, and an educational system.
While developing themselves, students also support each other, learning teachings on how to live
happily together and techniques that strengthen them and allow them to grow with their fellow partners. These techniques and teachings are intertwined and are taught in combination through Shorinji Kempo’s educational system.
Shorinji Kempo consists of “Teaching,” which encourages you to help each other and live happily with others, while developing your body and mind, and “Techniques,” with which you begin to become aware of your personal development and help other kenshi develop.
Teaching and techniques are not isolated from each other but work as synergy, forming a single “Educational system”.
A person at birth has the ability to grow in any way. Shorinji Kempo teaches people who, being confident in this opportunity, continue to improve and act in such a way as to build a rich society, both material and spiritual, working in collaboration with others.
The three main principles of Shorinji Kempo:
- physical health
- spiritual growth | philosophy |
http://www.flixxfest.org/2018-closing-film.html | 2019-04-25T17:42:28 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-18/segments/1555578732961.78/warc/CC-MAIN-20190425173951-20190425195951-00323.warc.gz | 0.957334 | 696 | CC-MAIN-2019-18 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2019-18__0__121833583 | en | The Push expedition trekked across the final degree of latitude of our planet, roughly 85+ miles, in under -40+ degree temperatures, for nearly two straight weeks - all with Grant Korgan pushing solely with his arms in a custom sit ski, built for the most inhospitable place on earth.
On January 17, 2012, Grant and his guides reached the bottom of our world on the 100th anniversary, to the day, of when Captain Robert Falcon Scott's Terra Nova expedition arrived at the earth's most remote spot, the geographic South Pole.
Grant Korgan had it all, lost it in a tragic accident, and rose up to become the first spinal cord injured athlete to ski to the South Pole. Facing brutal elements, demanding topography, minus -40+ degree conditions, failing gear, hypothermia, frostbite, mental challenges and extreme exhaustion, the physical limitations were just the beginning of the challenges Grant and his team faced along THE PUSH journey.
Director - Grant Korgan, Brian Niles
Grant Korgan is a Pioneer of Possibility. Through his world-record setting expeditions and adventures, executing on his high-performance mindset principles, and being a true purveyor of positivity, Grant has innovated a new way of thinking to overcome challenge by harnessing the unlimited power of change.
A nano-scientist by trade and an athlete by passion, Grant’s propensity to pursue adventure, seek positivity and explore the limits of what is possible, has always taken him well beyond the glass ceilings of life. In 2010 a new chapter began, and Grant’s approach to overcoming the challenge of losing the feeling and movement in over half his body would be no different. On January 17th 2012 Grant became the first person with a spinal cord injury to push himself to Antarctica’s geographic South Pole, showcasing that “regardless of ability (or perceived disability), we have the power to push beyond our limitations and live a truly Unbreakable life.”
Korgan chronicles his injury and road to recovery in Two Feet Back, the first in a series of autobiographies, aimed toward reminding us all, “that regardless of ability (or perceived dis-ability), every single one of us has the power to come to the awareness that you can achieve everything you desire in this life”.
Empowering people to ignite their greatness is Grant’s passion. Through his motivational presentations, Grant coaches and inspires his audience to utilize his Formula For Living a Purpose-Filled Life, his High-Performance Mindsets, and the techniques of how to efficiently and effectively choose positivity, utilize perspective, optimize change and turn attitude into action.
Driven by the love he shares with his wife Shawna, his genuine mission to propel others to live their highest performing selves, and having the volition to drive his body to the limit; Grant continues to live an unbreakable life. Moving from paralysis to becoming the first spinal cord injured athlete to ski to Antarctica’s geographic South Pole, to now walking in a set of canes and most recently setting new world-records paddling the circumference of Lake Tahoe, Grant lives by the motto, “It’s human to fall down; the magic happens when we get back up.”
To learn more, please visit: www.grantkorgan.com | philosophy |
https://www.livingvowzen.org | 2023-11-30T06:32:11 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100172.28/warc/CC-MAIN-20231130062948-20231130092948-00019.warc.gz | 0.981681 | 349 | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2023-50__0__76576133 | en | Inclusion: Living Vow Zen welcomes people of any cultural and religious background, race, socio-economic class, education, sexual orientation, gender identity, physical ability, and age.
Mission: According to mythology, the one who would become Buddha reflected that, if he were to practice diligently, he could free himself from suffering in his own lifetime. But rather than practice for his liberation alone, he decided that it would be better to delay his liberation and to train for many lifetimes, so that he could guide others across the river of suffering to the farther shore.
In his final incarnation, Shakyamuni Buddha was born into nobility and great wealth, but he again renounced that place of comfort when he saw that others in the world were suffering. Once more he vowed to attain enlightenment so that he might conquer suffering not only for himself but for all beings.
Upon awakening, Buddha was true to his vow. He returned to his sangha that he might share with them his teachings. Because of his generosity, Buddha’s awakening reverberates to this day, and it is in the spirit of his living vow that we practice not only for our own awakening, but to alleviate suffering in the world.
Those of us in Living Vow Zen aim to embody the Mahayana Way by cultivating compassion and wisdom and alleviating suffering in the world. The Four Bodhisattva Vows are a guiding light in our practice:
Beings are numberless; I vow to free them.
Delusions are inexhaustible; I vow to end them.
Dharma gates are boundless; I vow to enter them.
The Buddha Way is unsurpassable; I vow to embody it. | philosophy |
https://www.ohiocountylibrary.org/news/new-peoples-university-on-human-rights-starts-tuesday-october-30./5853 | 2024-04-14T18:20:25 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296816893.19/warc/CC-MAIN-20240414161724-20240414191724-00285.warc.gz | 0.942321 | 2,368 | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2024-18__0__126449590 | en | In order to explore the sources, achievements, extensions, deviations, critiques, and challenges of what we collectively call "Human Rights," the Ohio County Public Library, in partnership with the Wheeling Academy of Law and Science (WALS) Foundation, has invited a diverse array of scholars from the fields of philosophy, history, sociology, law, science, technology, and communications to present different perspectives on the development of Human Rights from the ancient to the modern worlds, while also comparing American and international views. This new People's University series will conclude with a look at the challenge of sentient non-humans, including Animal Rights and Artificial Intelligence. Classes will meet at 7 pm in the library's auditorium beginning Tuesday, October 30.
The concept of human rights as we commonly think of it develops out of a long tradition of Western philosophical thought and does not come without inherent tensions and, perhaps, outright contradictions. We will explore the philosophical sources of the strains of political thought that, together, produce our shared idea of human rights - as well as many of the consequences that could or have followed from them.
Instructor: Dr. Darin McGinnis is associate professor of philosophy at Wheeling Jesuit University. His past work has dealt with the possibilities of understanding diverse theories of historical interpretation from the 19th and 20th Centuries. He presents and publishes on topics including the sources of social critique as well as figures such as Friedrich Nietzsche, Paul Ricoeur, and Pierre Klossowski.
In the eighteenth century, visions of universal freedom and calls for human rights reverberated throughout the Atlantic World, as people, texts, and ideas traveled. In this talk, we will explore how new ideas of natural rights and equal rights associated with the Enlightenment were formulated, shared, and spread. We will examine what it meant for the American and French revolutionaries to identify and codify human rights, and consider how their claims about the universal nature of human rights remain with us today.
Instructor: Dr. Elizabeth Andrews Bond is assistant professor of history at Ohio State University. She publishes and teaches on the cultural history of the Enlightenment, the French Revolution, and the history of media from the fifteenth century to the present. Her current book project explores how new media in the eighteenth century made it possible for readers to envision a society where change was possible and their voices mattered.
The U.S. Constitution, the oldest written constitution still in effect today, established the U.S. government as one of limited powers and set forth significant human rights that further curb that government. Those achievements, while radical for their day, were themselves incomplete, imperfect, and inadequate to protect all people of this new nation. We will explore the virtues and shortcomings of this document from a values perspective to shed light on inherent tensions that continue to unfold to this very day.
Instructor: Dr. Anne Marie Lofaso is the Arthur B. Hodges Professor of Law at West Virginia University College of Law, where she teaches Labor and Employment Law, Jurisprudence, and Comparative and International Work Law. Her scholarship focuses on human rights in the workplace. Dr. Lofaso is a research scholar for the NYU Law Center for Labor and an active research associate for the Oxford Human Rights Hub Blog for which she writes and coordinates additional blogs discussing U.S. human rights issues. She is a member of the West Virginia State Advisory Committee to the United States Commission on Civil Rights and formerly a Commissioner for the City of Morgantown Human Rights Commission.
This session introduces participants to the social movement perspective on human rights. We explore three questions. In what ways have the working-class movement, the civil rights movement, the women's movement, and the LGBTQ movement in the US invoked the discourse on human rights? To what degree have these movements shaped the human rights culture of the US? To what extent has the human rights culture of the US assimilated insights from the Global South and the UN system?
Instructor: Dr. Mark Frezzo is associate professor of sociology at the University of Mississippi. In The Sociology of Human Rights (Polity Press, 2014) and other publications, Frezzo explores theoretical and substantive issues in the areas of human rights, social movements, and development. His current research includes a book-in-progress, Cosmopolitanism and Social Science (Routledge 2019). He has taught a range of courses at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. He has served in leadership roles for the Science and Human Rights Coalition of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Human Rights Section of the American Sociological Association, and the Thematic Group on Human Rights and Global Justice of the International Sociological Association.
In the twentieth century, liberal democracy came under assault from revolutionary ideas of both the left and the right. Communism and fascism offered radically alternative conceptions of society and human rights, and posed existential threats to the political order that had developed in Europe since the French Revolution. We will explore the development and meaning of these two ideologies and critically dissect the related concept of totalitarianism. We will also apply this historical lens to present-day challenges to liberal democracy.
Instructor: Dr. Joshua Arthurs is Associate Professor of History at West Virginia University and a Fellow of the American Academy in Rome. He is a cultural and social historian of twentieth-century Italy and Europe, with a focus on fascism and the far right; everyday life in war and dictatorship; and the politics of memory. His publications include Excavating Modernity: The Roman Past in Fascist Italy (Cornell University Press, 2012) and the edited volume The Politics of Everyday Life in Fascist Italy: Outside the State? (Palgrave MacMillan, 2017).
This presentation will explore the emergence of the modern human rights framework in the wake of WWII and the Holocaust, beginning with the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the UN General Assembly in 1948. We will also learn about other significant human rights agreements that have been made in the intervening years, including the Covenant on Economic, Cultural, and Social Rights and the Additional Protocols to the Geneva Conventions. Using health care as a case study, we will then delve into debates about exactly which rights all human beings possess and explore the challenges of realizing and enforcing human rights in the 21st century. We will end by discussing the challenges and opportunities of doing human rights work in the current political climate and whether the human rights framework can offer us a way to address some of the problems our country currently faces.
Instructor: Dr. Jay D. Aronson is the founder and director of the Center for Human Rights Science at Carnegie Mellon University. He is also Professor of Science, Technology, and Society in the History Department there. Aronson’s research and teaching focus on the interactions of science, technology, law, media, and human rights in a variety of contexts. He is currently engaged in a long-term project on the use of video evidence in human rights investigations. Previously, Aronson spent nearly a decade examining the ethical, political, and social dimensions of post-conflict and post-disaster identification of the missing and disappeared in collaboration with a team of anthropologists, bioethicists, and forensic scientists. His wrote Who Owns the Dead? The Science and Politics of Death at Ground Zero (Harvard University Press, 2016). Aronson received his Ph.D. in the History of Science and Technology from the University of Minnesota and was both a pre- and postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.
There is an enormous amount of confusion about the meaning of "animal rights." In this presentation, Professor Francione will discuss the concept of rights and how it applies in the context of our relationship with nonhuman animals. He will present an argument that, if we accept that animals have moral value and are not just things, we are committed to according animals one right--the right not to be used as property. Our recognition of this one right would have significant consequences in terms of our animal use but, in certain respects, these consequences flow from what most of us already claim to believe concerning the moral status of animals.
Instructor: Gary L. Francione is Board of Governors Distinguished Professor of Law and Nicholas deB. Katzenbach Scholar of Law and Philosophy at Rutgers University School of Law in New Jersey. He is also an Honorary Professor (Philosophy) at the University of East Anglia in Norwich (UK). Professor Francione pioneered the field of animal law in the 1980s and, in his 1995 book, Animals, Property, and the Law, he discussed how the status of animals as property means that the interests of animals will never be regarded as morally significant and the standard of animal welfare will always be very low. He has written a number of books and articles on animal rights, the problems with animal welfare, and veganism. He served as Law Clerk to Justice Sandra Day O'Connor of the United States Supreme Court. His most recent book, co-authored with Anna E. Charlton, is Animal Rights: The Abolitionist Approach (2015).
We are in the midst of a robot invasion, as devices of different configurations and capabilities slowly but surely take up increasingly important positions in everyday society—self-driving vehicles, decision-making systems, and social robots of various forms and functions. The question concerning the social status of these artifacts has been largely overlooked. We will consider what has been previously regarded as unthinkable: whether and to what extent robots and other artifacts of our own making can and should have any claim to moral and legal standing, including the philosophical distinction (developed by David Hume) between “is” and “ought” in order to evaluate and analyze the different arguments regarding the question of robot rights.
Instructor: Dr. David J. Gunkel is Distinguished Teaching Professor of Communication Technology at Northern Illinois University and the author of The Machine Question: Critical Perspectives on AI, Robots, and Of Remixology: Ethics and Aesthetics after Remix, both published by the MIT Press, and other books. Gunkel is an award-winning educator, scholar and author, specializing in the study of information and communication technology with a focus on ethics. Formally educated in philosophy and media studies, his teaching and research synthesize the hype of high-technology with the rigor and insight of contemporary critical analysis. He is the author of over 50 scholarly journal articles and book chapters, has written and published 7 influential books, lectured and delivered award-winning papers throughout North and South America and Europe, and is co-editor of the Indiana University Press series in Digital Game Studies. His teaching has been recognized with numerous awards, including NIU's Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching and the prestigious Presidential Teaching Professor. His new book, Robot Rights, is due Nov. 6 from The MIT Press.
In keeping with the mission of public libraries as sanctuaries of free learning for all people, the Ohio County Public Library created The People’s University, a free program for adults who wish to continue their education in the liberal arts. The People’s University features courses—taught by experts in each subject—that enable patrons to pursue their goal of lifelong learning in classic subjects such as history, science, philosophy, and literature.
All People's University - Human Rights classes are free and open to the public. Patrons may attend as many classes as they wish. There are no tests or other requirements. An RSVP is requested but not required. Please email the library, call us at 304-232-0244, or visit the Reference Desk. | philosophy |
https://learningenglishgrammar.wordpress.com/vocabulary/words-to-describe-people/ | 2017-04-26T04:01:05 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-17/segments/1492917121153.91/warc/CC-MAIN-20170423031201-00592-ip-10-145-167-34.ec2.internal.warc.gz | 0.938396 | 442 | CC-MAIN-2017-17 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2017-17__0__64054834 | en | Words to describe people
Words to describe people.
1. Decent – socially acceptable or good
A decent man honors his word and holds on to his principles.
2. Respectable – good character, behavior and appearance.
We have elected a respectable man to be the chairperson of our committee.
3. Righteous – behave in a way that is morally correct.
A righteous person does something because he knows it is morally right.
4. Noble – brave and not selfish
John is a noble man who always sacrifices his time to help the sick and needy.
5. Just – fair
He is a just man who respects the wishes of others.
6. Considerate – kind and helpful
Amy is a considerate neighbour who always parks properly on the driveway.
7. Humble – not proud or not believing u’re important.
The humble manager attributed his success to his dedicated team.
8. Straightforward – don’t hide opinion
Sometimes she offends people because she is straightforward, and speaks her mind.
9. Forthright – too honest and direct in behavior.
He is a forthright leader whose opinions are highly respected.
10. Forbearing – patient & forgiving.
Because of his forbearing nature, Adam smiled and remained calm even though he was unjustly accused.
11. Steadfast – strongly & without stopping.
We must remain strong and steadfast when we go through a crisis.
12. Tolerant – accept others bad behavior or custom.
A mixed marriage can survive if both parties are tolerant of different cultural beliefs and practices.
13. Resilient – easy to recover from bad experience.
She is a tough and resilient woman because she has endured much suffering.
14. Persevering – continue with determination
A persevering person does not give up easily.
15. Stoical – not complain or show feeling when something bad happen.
The stoical writer who survived as a prisoner of war was reduced to half her size.
16. Calm – peaceful & quiet.
In any emergency it is important to remain calm and level-headed. | philosophy |
http://willgervais.com/home | 2019-10-14T13:17:37 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-43/segments/1570986653247.25/warc/CC-MAIN-20191014124230-20191014151730-00341.warc.gz | 0.937446 | 311 | CC-MAIN-2019-43 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2019-43__0__172681877 | en | Hi, I’m Will Gervais.
Soft-g-silent-s. Jer-Vay. Here’s what I do.
Why do people believe or disbelieve in God(s) and, psychologically speaking, what does that (dis)belief do for them?
Religion is an apparent cross-cultural universal, yet also highly variable across societies and the individuals within them. As an evolutionary and cultural psychologist, I view the scientific study of religion as a core topic in the study of human nature. And, given high degrees of variability in religious belief, I view the scientific study of atheism and nonbelief as central to the scientific study of religion. Broadly, my research seeks to answer three interrelated questions:
What factors that influence and predict degrees of religious belief and disbelief?
What is the perceived relationship between religious (dis)belief and morality?
How prevalent is religious disbelief worldwide?
General Research Philosophy
Science is about not only the topics one studies, but also about how one studies them. I’ve made a deliberate decision to prioritize the empirical quality of my research. To minimize both false positives and false negatives, I employ large samples and powerful designs. To address generalizability, I supplement research from university samples with more diverse and representative samples. Additionally, as a commitment to research transparency, my materials and data for all work are made freely available. I view my continued growth as a researcher as at least as important as any studies I have published. | philosophy |
https://www.learninmontana.com/mission-and-philosophy/ | 2019-12-12T13:02:21 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-51/segments/1575540543850.90/warc/CC-MAIN-20191212130009-20191212154009-00181.warc.gz | 0.930983 | 569 | CC-MAIN-2019-51 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2019-51__0__28347873 | en | To facilitate individualized learning opportunities that honor neurodiversity, encourage social collaboration, and foster compassion.
“Do not train a child to learn by force or harshness; but direct them to it by what amuses their minds, so that you may be better able to discover with accuracy the peculiar bent of the genius of each.”
An Integrative Experience
Learning is a self-propelled process. We are creative, inquisitive, and powerful individuals who crave autonomous exploration and group collaboration. At LEARN, we believe in fostering these skills through play-based and project-based opportunities that are focused around the needs and interests of the individual. We facilitate whole-person growth by encouraging healthy risk-taking, thoughtful self-reflection, and dynamic group engagement.
When we explore diverse environments and develop a strong sense of self, we develop compassion, self-worth, and imagination – all critical tools necessary for creative problem solving.
“A mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be kindled.”
The Pillars on Which We Stand
We believe in the ability of learners to self-manage and self-advocate. We value the essential qualities of these two skill areas, and we know they are vital for cultivating a sustainable lifescape academically, personally, and professionally. Approaching education with observations and requests rather than evaluations and demands, we facilitate opportunities for individuals to decide for themselves what they experience, what they need, and what their intentions are. Uncovering these understandings (in collaboration with facilitators, mentors, and teachers) becomes a gateway for accessing intrinsic motivation and joyful willingness.
As 21st century learners, we need platforms that foster practice in collaboration, creative problem-solving, self-regulation, adaptability, stewardship, and more. These skills are gained through diverse experiences and interactions, and the process looks unique for all of us.
We are designed to LEARN. Its innateness is evident in the babbles of baby speak. It’s seen in the toddler trying to walk. It’s in the questions we ask, and the answers we seek. It’s in our endless quest to discover the oceans, travel through space, and finally understand physics. We peer over ledges, we peek around corners, we live inquisitively. LEARN is a culture for keeping this spark alive. It’s for feeding possibility and cultivating awareness so that in whatever we pursue – whatever we put energy into – it’s alive with our willingness and ability to learn.
“We shall not cease from exploration and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.” | philosophy |
http://www.jacquelinemisaye.com/why-i-act | 2019-10-22T18:58:45 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-43/segments/1570987823061.83/warc/CC-MAIN-20191022182744-20191022210244-00388.warc.gz | 0.957527 | 115 | CC-MAIN-2019-43 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2019-43__0__195865659 | en | Why I Act
I LOVE the craft of acting so much. Stories can take us outside of ourselves, they can give us hope and perspective, they can make us believe in magic and love. They can save us from loneliness. Every time I walk on stage or in front of the camera, I feel intensely alive as I surrender myself to the larger power- the story. A story that, if I am very lucky, will move someone, the same way I have been so moved by so many pieces of art. That is why I act. And will never stop. | philosophy |
http://www.globaltaekwondomartialarts.com/ | 2017-03-30T06:34:05 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-13/segments/1490218193284.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20170322212953-00509-ip-10-233-31-227.ec2.internal.warc.gz | 0.937346 | 229 | CC-MAIN-2017-13 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2017-13__0__80441339 | en | GTMA is the provincial governing body representing the Global TaeKwon-Do Federation in the province of Saskatchewan
What is TaeKwon-Do?
TaeKwon-Do is a version of unarmed combat designed for self-defense, and more. It is the scientific and ultimate use of the body gained through intensive physical and mental training.
TaeKwon-Do was designed on the fundamentals of kinetic and potential energy due to velocity and gravity respectively. Applying these principles together and correctly along with the theory of power this martial art creates unequal power and technique.
Though TaeKwon-Do is a martial art, its discipline, technique and mental training are the fundamentals for building a strong sense of justice, fortitude and humility. It is the mental conditioning that seperates the true practitioner from the sensationalist content with mastering only the fighting aspects. This is one of the reasons that TaeKwon-Do is called an art of self-defense. It also implies a way of life, particularly by instiling a concept of self-imposed discipline and an ideal of noble moral rearmament. | philosophy |
http://www.scionav.com/artist/1396/Lisa-Schulte | 2013-05-20T05:55:28 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698411148/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100011-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | 0.973448 | 435 | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2013-20__0__16291527 | en | Neon is a unique and remarkable medium. It does not operate at a 2D or even 3D level. It is multi-dimensional alchemy. It is light extracted from air – and manifested into form. One could say that working in neon is akin to bringing sky to touch ground – harnessing the spiritual to the earth.
I have been blessed to work in this multi-dimensional medium for thirty years, creating works of light for others and expressing myself. Light, in one form or another, has been the only way I know how to express myself.I have always felt that light tells a story: it fills in the blanks, reveals the dimensions, and communicates feelings, but at some point in my work, something was missing for me in each piece I created. I had changed- and my world went dark - neon no longer filled in the blanks or communicated my feelings. My story was gone. It was if someone had turned the light switch off.
These neon pieces have evolved out of my personal struggle to move from darkness back into the light and to recreate my voice as an artist. Augustus Hare said, "Light when suddenly let in, dazzles and hurts and almost blinds us; but this soon passes away and it seems to become the only element we can exist in." This is absolutely true for me. Light -- dazzling, soft, dappled, and dripping from every surface and in every person, finally found its way back to me. Neon--extracted from the air, abundantly found in the universe, yet elusive on earth, is giving new vibrancy to my life, my art, and self again. To bend light, manipulate it, control it, and make it beautiful, when you once had the fear that it would never return to you, is truly a gift. My inspiration comes from the world around me and the transformative quality of light in and on land, sky, sea, and city. In the rightlight, seen from a certain angle, everything becomes extraordinary. I feel extraordinarily lucky to be able to devote myself to this work that brings illumination into a world truly in need of it. | philosophy |
http://historical-nonfiction.com/?filter=format&value=Quotes | 2019-03-20T09:22:09 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-13/segments/1552912202324.5/warc/CC-MAIN-20190320085116-20190320111116-00105.warc.gz | 0.973086 | 681 | CC-MAIN-2019-13 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2019-13__0__73186606 | en | "There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there always has been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that ‘my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.'"
Isaac Asimov, Newsweek, January 21st, 1980
"Anyone who holds a true opinion without understanding is like a blind man on the right road."
Plato, in "The Republic," 380 BCE
"I shall be an autocrat: that's my trade. And the good Lord will forgive me: that's his."
Catherine the Great, who ruled as empress of Russia from 1762 to 1796.
"The brain is like a muscle. When it is in use we feel very good. Understanding is joyous."
Carl Sagan, American scientist
"One's life has value so long as one attributes value to the life of others, by means of love, friendship, indignation and compassion."
Simone-Lucie-Ernestine-Marie Bertrand de Beauvoir, commonly known as Simone de Beauvoir. She did not consider herself a philosopher. Yet her ideas had great influence on feminist existentialism and feminist theory, and today de Beauvoir is considered one of the major philosophers of the 20th century.
"The life of a good book is far longer than the life of a man. Its author dies, and his generation dies, and his successors are born and die; the world he knew disappears, and new orders which he could not foresee are established on its ruins; law, religion, science, commerce, society, all are transformed into shapes which would astound him; but his book continues to live. Long after he and his epoch are dead, the book speaks with his voice."
Gilbert Highet, on Juvenal. Highet (1906 – 1978) was a Scottish-American classicist, academic, writer, intellectual, critic and literary historian. Juvenal (1st century - 2nd century CE) was a Roman poet who published at least five books of verses. They lived 1,800 years apart, proving the truth of Highet's quote.
"It never ceases to amaze me: we all love ourselves more than other people, but care more about their opinion than our own."
Marcus Aurelius, Roman emperor from 161 to 180 CE. His nickname is "the Philosopher"
"We study the injustices of history for the same reason that we study genocide, and for the same reason that psychologists study the minds of murderers and rapists... to understand how those evil things came about."
Jared Diamond, American geographer, historian, and author. You probably know him for his best-seller "Guns, Germs, and Steel."
"Man fears time, but time fears the pyramid."
an Arabic-Egyptian saying. It is unclear who or when it was first said, but it dates at least to the 1800s, and it probably much older.
"History never says goodbye. History says, 'See you later.'"
Eduardo Galeano (1940 - 2015), a Uruguayan journalist, writer and novelist. He was particularly famous for writing about soccer/football. | philosophy |
http://onechicchickpea.blogspot.com/2012/02/so-many-celebrations.html | 2018-06-18T05:16:16 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-26/segments/1529267860089.11/warc/CC-MAIN-20180618051104-20180618071104-00120.warc.gz | 0.971175 | 412 | CC-MAIN-2018-26 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2018-26__0__112686559 | en | Today marks a very important occasion in our family calendar - my parent's 32nd wedding anniversary!
|February 9th, 1980|
My parents have taught me so many beneficial things throughout my life, and watching their marriage over the past (nearly) 25 years of my life has allowed me valuable insight into how love blooms and grows throughout our life span.
Things are not always perfect, in fact who would want them to be? There will be areas of pressure build up, and things will go wrong, but if you remember that the greatest bond between you is love, then you can survive these things. Seams of pressure build coal into diamonds, and diamonds are forever.
You are in it together, and as long as you have each other nothing else matters.
Remember to value the small things that other's do for you - because while grand gestures and diamond rings are fabulous, at the end of the day making the bed and mowing the lawn are just as valuable expressions of love everyday.
My parents have stood side by side through many storms in their 32 years and their love now is even more beautiful with its patina of time and care. There are worn in comfy spots that show in the smiles on their faces, and rituals that still transport them back to when they were only newly weds.
Perhaps the moment that I see the years fall away the most is when my Dad gathers Mum into his arms for a waltz every time 'Three Times a Lady' by Lionel Richie plays on the radio. The smile on her face, and the mist of happy tears in her eyes turn Mum back into a blushing bride dancing with her husband at their wedding, and Dad back into a young man who was so happy to start a life with his lady.
Congratulations Mum and Dad, here is to 32 years more of happiness, health and love.
'Three things will last forever--faith, hope, and love--and the greatest of these is love'
(1 Corinthians 13:13) | philosophy |
https://modametiers.com/2021/02/09/inside-the-mind-of-monsieur-christian-dior/ | 2024-02-29T02:24:05 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-10/segments/1707947474775.80/warc/CC-MAIN-20240229003536-20240229033536-00065.warc.gz | 0.969354 | 766 | CC-MAIN-2024-10 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2024-10__0__65052806 | en | One of the most valuable books I have had the chance of recently reading is “Christian Dior Talking About Fashion” by Elie Rabourdin and Alice Chavane, published in 1954. My husband gifted this book’s first edition to me for my birthday, and I have re-read it several times since. There are some valuable insights into the mind of Christian Dior himself, and what I found interesting is that his valuable advice rings true today.
On dream and inspiration:
The seasons determine the rhythm of nature; the new dresses must bloom just as naturally as the blossoms on the apple tree, but unlike what happens in nature, we have to think of winter when it’s still spring, and of summer just when it is starting to get cold. But this soon becomes second nature to us. For fashion comes from a dream and the dream is an escape from reality.
Works of art can be inspirational to a designer. They don’t really help me find a silhouette but they satisfy me and give me confidence. I like to find their echo in what I do. Everything created by human hands expresses something – above all the personality of the creator.
On fashion as business:
We have to take every precaution to avoid being copied, because a fashion house is not only a world of fantasy; above all it is a business. It has to manage and keep accounts. Behind all the frills and furbelows are figures that talk.
It is a good thing that as long as inspiration rules the design studio, mathematical figures have to rule the establishment.
A collection made without a preconceived plan would end in disorder and lose all contact with real life. I distrust too much freedom and I am afraid of lawlessness, which is often sterile. A painter may risk only his canvas and his beefsteak, but I am going to be risking the livelihood of 900 people if I made an unbalanced collection….
The idea of a designer who twists and tears yards of fabric for his own pleasure is a legend…I have to strike a balance between my own imagination and successful financial projection. I owe something to the workers and embroiderers. I have a great establishment to keep up. I have young people to encourage, and embroiderers whose work I cannot give up. And the laces, brocades, and prints!
Behind all of them are workers, industries, whole cities that rely on the designer.
On collaborators and suppliers:
The dress designer must find collaborators capable of patient, painstaking research and full of energy. For example, one day during a journey through Switzerland I said to Mme Brossin de Mere, “How I should like you to be able to make a material like those roofs!” (The scalloped slate roofs of St. Gallen).
Three months later she brought to me marvelous embroidered organdie reproducing the roofs, which I had liked so much.
Another time, when we were both recalling the spring, alive with the flight of insects, brilliant with gay colour, those variegated fabrics inspired by butterfly wings resulted from the conversation…. Remember that this collaboration happens but occasionally. Most fabrics spring naturally from the inventiveness of a technician who knows how to foresee what I want or how to challenge me. Fabric not only expresses a designer’s dreams but also stimulates his own ideas. It can be the beginning of an inspiration. Many a dress of mine is born of the fabric alone.
I think of my profession as a battle against the mediocre and demoralizing elements of the times. It is always easy to lose heart. My simple duty is not to give in, to set an example, to create in spite of everything. | philosophy |
http://www.amandaconquers.com/blog/after-30-days-without-social-media | 2019-10-24T04:38:56 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-43/segments/1570987841291.79/warc/CC-MAIN-20191024040131-20191024063631-00335.warc.gz | 0.963539 | 1,596 | CC-MAIN-2019-43 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2019-43__0__30304230 | en | If you caught my last post, you know I was struggling with phone addiction and all the social media noise.
This isn’t the first time I’ve taken a break, but it is the first time I laid it all down as though I might not pick it back up again. I was willing to leave it all if that's what was best for my family, myself, and my relationship with Jesus Christ.
I wanted to give you an update since it seemed to strike a chord with so many of you.
My biggest takeaway from this past month is simple: There is so much more joy in being a mom and a wife when you are fully present.
It's not that I didn't enjoy being a wife or mom before. It's that when you set aside distractions and allow one thing to take up all the space in your two hands, when you hold it, look at it, feel the weight of it--you see the gift it's been all along.
I’m not sure I can put into words how sweet our homeschool time has been this past month. I don’t want to turn this into a homeschooling post, but guys, we now start our days with a hymn, a catechism, a short devotion, scripture memory, family prayer, a historical document to memorize, nursery rhymes, poetry, a picture book, a chapter book, and narrations. We then rotate between our science curriculum, nature study, or time with a classic artist and composer before we start on our core subjects. We start our days dwelling on truth and beauty for a solid hour and a half. I didn’t know I could enjoy homeschooling this much or that the sum of so many little things strung together could change me from the inside out. I believe it's impacting my kids. I know it's impacting me.
I don’t mean this as a brag. My entire point is that if you told me last year it was possible to have a homeschool day start like this I would have laughed and thought, Good for that over-achiever mom. That’s simply a dream that sounds great in theory and impossible in execution—at least for me.
Turns out, when you put your distractions down, it’s actually possible to be the kind of mom you want to be.
It seems like we can pull against the demands of motherhood and marriage. It’s how we end up locking ourselves in our bathroom for a mere five minutes of peace and a little time scrolling Instagram. (Not that there is anything wrong with this. Please don't read that. I am a firm believer in timeouts—we all need a chance to regroup and take a deep breath, amen.) But we can end up living in a way where we are constantly wanting to escape and only living half-present. It’s survival mode, really. Survival mode certainly has a time and a place, but it’s not where we are meant to live our whole life.
Something happens when you surrender yourself to the season you are living in, giving yourself to it, instead of trying to escape it. It’s a seed buried in good soil—not sitting shallow amongst the rocks where it can easily be picked off. By the grace of God, that seed buried in good soil is going to thrive.
“The one on whom seed was sown on the good soil, this is the man who hears the word and understands it; who indeed bears fruit” (Matt 13:23)
I can't help but question myself: how often do I try to lean on my own understanding? How often do I try to do what I want, when I want, and how I want instead of simple whole-heart, full-trust obedience to God, His Word, and His timing?
Before starting this detox, I had shared my struggles with a friend. She shared the wisdom her own pastor had once shared with her: The right thing at the wrong time is still the wrong thing.
That applies to pursuing the good dreams in your heart in the wrong season. It also applies to flipping through your phone when the time of day calls for something different.
When we give ourselves fully to whatever God has purposed for us in the season we are living (not the season we wish we were in), we find His joy.
That said, I know I am meant to write. Not a lot. But some. Out of the overflow. Honest to goodness, I am a better wife and mother and overall human being when I get the chance to write stuff down and edit it a few times a month. Truly, for me, it’s worship, obedience, and leaning on the Lord. It’s right and good for us to spend time in the things that bring us joy. It’s right and good for a mother—even (especially?) a homeschooling mother—to have a thing outside her husband and kids she can give herself to and that pours right back into her.
So in trying to move forward and learn from my mistakes, here’s where I am drawing my boundaries:
(I share this not because I think my boundaries should be your boundaries, but because this topic seemed to really resonate with some of you, some even asking where to draw the line. Maybe this could start a good and needed conversation? I share this for accountability, transparency, and because it might help you think through where you need to draw your own boundaries.)
- Everything is staying off my phone. I personally really struggle here and found myself still picking up my phone and scrolling through it, checking the news (from the search bar I left on my phone) or the weather instead of just being present.
- I will be keeping up with my Facebook page during set hours. This will be early morning after my devotions if there’s still time before the start of my homeschool day and then a few afternoons a week. On my husband’s days off, he’ll get my afternoons and evenings unless he gives me time to work and write. I am excited to have a place to connect with you all where so many of you seem to be. I think there is a way to turn off one’s newsfeed, so hopefully it will mean less mindless scrolling, less noise for this easily over-stimulated HSP, and more time spent intentionally connecting. (Edited to add: You can turn off your Facebook newsfeed with a Chrome extension called Kill Your Newsfeed.)
- I will be staying away from Instagram for the time being. Instagram is my favorite because of its simple and visual layout, but you can’t post on Instagram without using your phone. I don’t feel so strong at things like self-control and discipline right now. I will revisit this after the first of the year, but for now I still need to work on developing the habit of not picking up my phone (well, unless it’s ringing.)
- On a more personal note, I am keeping all games off my phone for the time being. I am adding back voxer with boundaries. I am apart of a writing/blogging group that meets there and those girls are such dear friends and I miss them. I will be turning off voxer's notifications and checking in only once or twice a week. And if I find it creeping into my whole day, I will simply have to step away for good.
Do you need boundaries for social media and phone usage? Where do you think those boundaries need to be for you? I’d love to hear your thoughts! | philosophy |
https://thelincolnshiremummy.com/2021/07/20/explaining-racism-to-innocent-minds/ | 2023-03-21T11:55:42 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-14/segments/1679296943695.23/warc/CC-MAIN-20230321095704-20230321125704-00286.warc.gz | 0.972646 | 479 | CC-MAIN-2023-14 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2023-14__0__282967365 | en | I’ve struggled to work out a way to discuss racism with the boys this week following the final. It’s really hard to make them understand something when they have no idea people can have such horrible thoughts about another human being. I know it’s vital to talk about to try and change the narrative though.
Their lovely take on the world through innocent eyes isn’t something I massively want to burst just yet. Wilf casually during his game the other week said “but bad guys don’t really exist.” It’s a naivity I know is dangerous to keep forever but equally, it’s not something I want their little minds pondering too hard right now. They have never seen or heard racism and learn about different cultures from a young age at their incredibly nurturing school.
I know it would truly break their hearts to think of their friends at school being bullied for the colour of their skin. Why would that even be a thing? They would question it hard and quite frankly I don’t really have all the answers. I don’t have the right to have all the answers as a white woman living in rural Lincolnshire.
So as we are definitely not born racist, it makes me really sad and uncomfortable to think about the age that shift in mentality kicks in. Often shaped by a parent or guardian’s warped view of the world that goes back generations. Excuses given for it being a different world back then or a cultural difference leading to their hurtful views and comments.
So for now, rightly or wrongly, I’m not going to talk too hard about the poor lads who missed the penalties and why their skin colour was ever mentioned beyond a little explanation. It’s important instead to continue to learn about different countries and cultures, their different and similar ways of living, their religions and their incredible heritage so we can celebrate how diverse and amazing the world actually is. By doing that, I hope they will continue to see the world with its beautiful array of colour and diversity, appreciate we don’t all grow up the same but have a true understanding that every single life matters and we are all human. Then when they are mature enough, we can dig deeper and see if we can play our part in changing the world for the better. | philosophy |
http://www.dorisegan.com/2011/07/18/thoughts-when-i-read-the-taliban-zombies-and-james-tiptree/ | 2024-02-22T18:12:30 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-10/segments/1707947473824.13/warc/CC-MAIN-20240222161802-20240222191802-00259.warc.gz | 0.965468 | 1,564 | CC-MAIN-2024-10 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2024-10__0__127275182 | en | I’ve been reading The Dressmaker of Khair Khana by Gayle Lemmon, a nonfiction book about a young Afghan woman who starts a dressmaking business under the Taliban. The story begins as the Taliban are rumored to be approaching Kabul; we meet Kamila as she’s getting her diploma — which is about to become a worthless piece of paper — and stay with her through her new firsts. The first time she looks out a window and sees a woman beaten, knowing intervention would be pointless; the first time she must go to the market accompanied by her younger brother, navigating with difficulty in a chadri with a small, obstructed view of the world. When her parents are forced to leave the city, Kamila must find a way to support her sisters without leaving her home. Though she’s never sewn in her life, she decides to start a dressmaking business — a business that eventually takes over their house and provides a living for a number of families in the neighborhood.
It’s an interesting book in all the ways you might imagine; the things that people living under a tyranny can do to help each other, or not; the braveries and the turnings-away; the small dignities and the things that must be let go. The ways that human beings are always more than the sum of their society’s rules. The view from the ground when the shelling started.
All that aside, however, I was struck by how much it reminded me of a certain type of science fiction story — and particularly, of “The Screwfly Solution” by James Tiptree. “Screwfly” is the story of a biological instinct gone wrong. Gradually, in a wave starting out in the tropics, the urge to mate is replaced in human males with an urge to kill. Women (and, of course, some men) begin being violently murdered. No one knows what’s happening or why, though all sorts of useless committees meet and the outbreak of “femicide” is deplored. One of the viewpoint characters, a male scientist, returns from an extended stay in the tropics to find a United States that is quietly, eerily different. The hotel he’s in seems normal, but when he goes outside he sees that it’s mostly men on the street. There’s a small group of young women in baggy clothing, subdued and walking quickly; the only lone woman nearby struggles to catch up to them, though she doesn’t seem to know them; and wordlessly, they accept her.
At the end, one of the few remaining women realizes the human race has been “treated” by aliens, as we might treat a colony of pests. A simple biological fix to interfere with our reproductive cycle, and the species will end itself, leaving the world untouched and available.
The concept itself is mechanical; the glory is in the execution. The quotation at the beginning of the story is from Schopenhauer: “All man’s religion and metaphysics is the language of his glands.” The tyranny of instinct (specifically, sexual instinct) and our enslavement to it is one of Tiptree’s themes (“A Momentary Taste of Being,” “Your Haploid Heart,” “Love Is The Plan, The Plan Is Death,” “And I Awoke and Found Me Here On the Cold Hill’s Side”) and she delineates with painful clarity how beautiful, how compelling, instinct seems when we succumb to it. “Painful” clarity because she was clearly not someone who privileged the “natural” or took refuge in the idea that instinct was given us by a merciful God to show us the path. On the contrary, God’s will may just be the pretty embroidery we create around what we’re already drawn to do by our self-interested DNA. She ran a cold-eyed, investigative stare over the whole process, with a logic that leaves you more uncomfortable when you finish one of her stories than when you picked it up.*
In “The Screwfly Solution,” new religions spring up built around misogyny; women are the dirty, wrong, evil part of the human race that God wants gone. When a young soldier has this explained to him — by the person who killed the woman who was with him — he’s deeply moved, and later says, “It’s like he was my father; I can’t explain it better than that.” You have to think it must also feel right and good when the female preying mantis snaps the head off her mate — that if mantises were intelligent, that would probably be a sacred moment. Because if something feels deeply meaningful, it must be deeply meaningful, right? Ha, ha, human race. Not in Tiptreeland.
(By the way, one of Tiptree’s other major themes is the need for kindness. Of course there’s a need for it, in the universe as she presents it. Whenever I re-read her, I’m struck by how the two authors I consider most insightful are so completely different. Surely I can’t think both Tiptree and Austen are right about the world? And yet I do.)
But back to Khair Khana. I wasn’t reminded of “Screwfly” simply from the Taliban’s misogyny. It was the transformation of the familiar world — the same sort of thing that gives, say, zombie movies their power. The idea that you could be walking peacefully down the street in front of your house, and suddenly a group of apparently normal people will rush toward you and try to chomp out your intestines — or rush toward you with nightsticks and begin shouting abuse because you spoke too loudly or your clothes rustled when you walked. (Indeed, this was one of the hallmarks of the Taliban’s religious police– they were unpredictable. It wasn’t enough to wear a chadri or be accompanied by a male relative or refrain from addressing men. There was no moment of safety.)
When Kamila walks the streets of Kabul, she wears baggy clothes under her chadri. She goes carefully. She makes sure to have her younger brother with her when she can, and to have a story ready. To take the back streets. To not engage notice.
It’s a new world. And it happened quickly. Just like in zombie movies.
I remember when “Screwfly Solution” was published, and the author was accused of being a paranoid feminist with an ax to grind. I thought, “You’re missing the point of the story! It’s not a prediction. It’s not about villains, either.” And it’s still not a prediction, but I never thought that a couple of decades later I’d find eerie similarities. That damned Tiptree was just too good in working out details.
So: The Dressmaker of Khair Khana. I’d feel better if it were science fiction.
* And if you find this view of life as disquieting as I do, you may also enjoy this story by Seth Fried.
This site has a mirror at tightropegirl.livejournal.com, and most discussion takes place there. | philosophy |
https://www.golfforum.com/threads/why-do-i-play-golf.2615/page-10 | 2020-12-02T12:34:31 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-50/segments/1606141708017.73/warc/CC-MAIN-20201202113815-20201202143815-00192.warc.gz | 0.952765 | 222 | CC-MAIN-2020-50 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2020-50__0__73780131 | en | I like the philosophy of enjoying the game, nothing to stress about win or lose! and the beauty of the journey of the game and control scenarios. I do really love the game!I play golf because in a lot of ways it emulates life. With all the successes and failures, trials and tribulations, ups and downs, along the way, it is the journey that is the important thing, and not the destination. It is how I deal with it, and not the outcome.
I play golf for the beauty of the surroundings, the manicured grass, the raked bunkers, the stately trees, the bushes and bramble, the wild life that I run across.
I play golf because of the people I meet, the grizzled old war veteran, the young college student, the mother of 3 young kids, the harried businessman, the retired schoolteacher, and all walks of life in between.
I taught my wife this magnificent game so she could know the joy I get from it, and we could share many quality hours together. And we do! | philosophy |
https://wiki.imperian.com/Circles_of_Knowledge | 2023-10-01T05:03:43 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-40/segments/1695233510781.66/warc/CC-MAIN-20231001041719-20231001071719-00291.warc.gz | 0.890763 | 356 | CC-MAIN-2023-40 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2023-40__0__198605890 | en | Circles of Knowledge
The three Circles of Knowledge represent separate factions in Aetherius that are predominantly defined by their attitudes and aptitudes towards the use of Magick.
- Anti-Magick characters oppose and prohibit all uses and forms of Magick, preferring natural or divine powers
- Demonic characters summon and wield the powers of dark Magick which has combined with energies from the Demon plane
- Magick characters study and wield the powers of light or neutral Magick which is untouched by Demonic energy
This Circle represents a philosophy that seeks natural and spiritual purity in all things, emphasising an awareness of the inherent strengths and weaknesses within us all. It rejects the dangerously chaotic and destructive magicks released by the moons of Aetherius, opposing any who seek to wield forbidden powers for their own selfish ends and instead aims to forge self-reliant communities that draw on their fierce independence to survive.
This Circle represents a philosophy that embraces the transformative energies that now infuse all living things under the three Moons, respecting the advancement of mortal knowledge and mastery in manipulating these eldritch flows of power. It seeks ever deeper understanding of Magick and its manifold expression so that the lives of all inhabitants of Aetherius, great and small, may reach their fullest potential.
This Circle represents a philosophy that recognises the inherent struggle between the shadows and the light that rages within all things, and proudly chooses not to cower from the darkness. Instead, it seeks deeper understanding of the evils that plague Aetherius so that they might be bent by mortal will. Having piercing the shadowy veil that conceals an alien world of horrific delight, it teaches fiendish command of the great and terrible magicks of the Demon plane. | philosophy |
https://www.geheya.com/about-us/company-profilt/ | 2023-06-08T02:34:31 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-23/segments/1685224654031.92/warc/CC-MAIN-20230608003500-20230608033500-00038.warc.gz | 0.932153 | 159 | CC-MAIN-2023-23 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2023-23__0__269851650 | en | High QualityWe have always been adhering to the philosophy that quality is the foundation of our company. What we expect is long-term cooperation, rather than a one-time business. Our goal is to provide every customer with high quality products.
As a production trade all-in-one enterprise, we take online orders and then arrange production directly, which eliminates cumbersome intermediate processes and guarantees one-to-one delivery. Our competitive price achieves mutual benefit and win-win results.
Every salesperson will carefully answer all questions related with the product, display products by all means and provide online services throughout the whole process. We can provide customized services to bring customers satisfactory purchasing experiences. | philosophy |
https://www.willdanielsmusic.com/philosophy | 2020-05-28T23:49:27 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-24/segments/1590347401004.26/warc/CC-MAIN-20200528232803-20200529022803-00011.warc.gz | 0.958497 | 2,040 | CC-MAIN-2020-24 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2020-24__0__64158719 | en | Will Daniels Piano Studio
Philosophy of Music and Teaching
The following is a summary of my Christian-theological philosophy of music and teaching.
(To skip past the theological portion, click here.)
As music is within the realm of God’s reign, existing within God’s creation, music declares the glory of God. All of creation is saturated with God’s self-revelation to his creatures, and that includes music. The student of music ought to recognize the voice of God telling forth His eternal power and divine nature through the patterns of musical experience. Every thought about music that lacks such a recognition or cognizance of God’s self-revelation is erroneous and undermines the process of learning. To lack recognition of God’s self-revelation in music is to lack the key to understanding its very substance as the creation of God. Such a lack of understanding negates veritas — that is, truth — which is the very heart of education.
Goals and aspirations
One of the hallmarks of musical excellence is skillfulness. Skillfulness is an ability — developed over time through training — to consistently achieve a desired end. The vocation of a teacher is to aid in this process. This raises the question: what should the desired end be? A teacher and student usually have different ideas about the outcome of the student’s training. While a student may want to be a Rock Star, their teacher may prefer them to be an accomplished Classical pianist. We may debate how the teacher’s and student’s goals should be reconciled, but we must start and end that debate with God’s revealed will for us. If the student desires to be a Rock Star, they are well advised to examine that desire. If the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever, then a right desire is one that truly leads to God’s glory and one’s enjoyment of Him forever. What is often the case is that our earthly goals — such as being a Rock Star or an accomplished Classical pianist — are simply cases of setting our minds on things that are on earth, not on things that are above (Colossians 3:2). This is because our natural mind desires these earthly things for themselves, and not necessarily because they reveal God’s glory. Our natural mind glorifies creation over the Creator, exchanging the truth about God for a lie (Romans 1:25).
Scripture and true learning
We cannot truly understand anything in creation without God’s special revelation in the Scriptures. True learning is only possible when the student is taught alongside and through the Scriptures. The student of music ought to desire the worship of God to be the end that their musical training achieves. Knowledge of the Scriptures, therefore, is necessary for true musical education to take place. This is because without knowledge of the Scriptures the student can only have vague and futile notions of what the proper worship of God entails.
Thanksgiving, joy, and worship
Proper worship of God entails continually thanking God for all things. The Apostle Paul brings music in close connection with thanksgiving in Ephesians 5:19-20, “…addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ…” Music exists to multiply our thanksgiving to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Music is inherently joyful and satisfying to our souls. Thus, we ought to enjoy music with thankfulness in our hearts to the glory of God. Furthermore, the joy and satisfaction that we experience in music aids us in our meditation on the joy and satisfaction that we have more perfectly in Christ. The teacher and the student are to strive together in “[seeking] the things that are above, where Christ is…” (Colossians 3:1). We now see how music can direct our minds away from earthly goals (Rock Star or Classical pianist) towards Christ who is in Heaven: by producing thanksgiving in our hearts.
Paul sheds more light on how music may have a worthy end: “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things” (Philippians 4:8). So, it is not wrong for the student and teacher to strive to develop praiseworthy musical skill. Musical training has the potential to produce a skill in the student that is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent, and praiseworthy. Paul exhorts us to think about these things. These attributes belong to God’s nature. When we see these attributes displayed in the skill of a student, they declare the glory of God and produce thanksgiving in our hearts.
With the above foundations, I consider it my vocation as a teacher to find the best methods for directing students toward greater skillfulness to the end of displaying God’s glory and multiplying thanksgiving and enjoyment of God through music. I expect that this end will be hindered or facilitated to the degree that the student is also trained in knowledge of the Scriptures, although I do not consider that to be preeminently my responsibility as their music teacher. However, as I guide students to greater skillfulness in the worship of God with music, I must discuss with the student the importance of that goal and how music may be employed to that end. This would of course require the application and reminder of Scripture in the context of piano lessons when appropriate.
A lifelong process
The pursuit of musical excellence is a long and arduous process, but not because it is inherently difficult and should be avoided. Music has endless room for increasing levels of mastery and creative evolution. That is why the study of music is generally a lifelong endeavor. I believe that it is simply because the pursuit of music takes place over the course of one’s life that it also takes on all the contours of one’s life, including difficult seasons as well as easy ones.
I endeavor to help each student establish a resilient course of study which can withstand the rocky contours of life. A regular habit of practice is effective in providing this quality of resilience. I always find that my students are happiest when they have diligently practiced throughout the week. They also tend to enjoy their piece only after they have played through it several times throughout the week, even if they did not care for the piece when I assigned it. I expect my students to trust that what I assign to them is for their joy even when it seems burdensome. I also expect them to persevere through difficult periods with a trusting attitude, continuing to diligently consider my instruction. Daily attention to musical study must be sustained year after year to maintain momentum and strength of character.
Diversity, World music, and open-mindedness
For the sake of human unity, the music student ought to have a global awareness and appreciation of diverse cultures and styles of music. Not only does this resolve unnecessary tension and distaste for other cultures and styles of music, but it also maximizes the richness of musical experience of the glory of God. Just as certain ideas are more adequately expressed in some languages than others, musical expressions are more vividly realized in some styles than others. I encourage my students to be open-minded with music. Open-mindedness with music will also encourage open-mindedness, patience, and humility toward others.
Classical training and more
Although I encourage a global appreciation for music, I consider the backbone of study for my students to be the Classical tradition. The advantage of Classical music and piano technique is that it has been refined and developed over three centuries by a wide civilization of people. Jazz has also developed a comparably sophisticated and rich tradition, having existed for over a century now. Jazz, therefore, is a significant secondary influence in the musical training I provide, and a possible field of study for my students.
I seek to prepare students for the highest degree of excellence and skill in music so that they may be prepared for conservatory training and a professional career in music if they are willing. I know that many students will not have this aspiration, nor do I believe that they should. I love to help those who only aspire to play some simple songs on the piano for sheer enjoyment. I teach them in hope that their enjoyment produces thankfulness to God. But even they must train consistently to a certain degree; otherwise, their attempts at music will always be frustrating.
Not only must the student train their fingers, they must train their ears. I strongly encourage listening to copious amounts of music that is complex, poetic, stylistically diverse, thought-provoking, and enjoyable. Mature musicians do not begin a piece with their fingers, but with a clear conception in their minds of the sound that they desire to make. This conception of music is primarily trained through exposure to music. The student’s concept of music is further refined and nourished by studying music theory and analysis, understanding historical context, and attempting to recreate music through improvisation, composition, and other forms of experimentation and exploration.
Joy to the glory of God in Christ
My desire is for musical study to be a source of joy for the student. I have found for myself that music reaches this highest aim the more I see the glory of God in Christ illuminated through and alongside music making. That is my aim for the student as well. My goal in teaching students is to provide them with the ability to play any type of music in any context, knowing that God’s glory will be declared anywhere. My hope for the student is that everywhere they make and study music, they will enjoy God and be reminded of His glory in Christ. | philosophy |
https://www.moocowproductions.org/2012/02/28/feeling-old-but-i-think-its-worth-it/ | 2023-11-29T11:23:22 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100081.47/warc/CC-MAIN-20231129105306-20231129135306-00246.warc.gz | 0.96423 | 491 | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2023-50__0__255920895 | en | Last Saturday the digital copies of my original VHS tapes of all my High School plays arrived and I spent some time this morning checking them out. It’s a digital mountain of memories and, on the downside, it makes me feel old. Turning 30, which will happen in 2 days is also something I have had somewhat of a time managing.
I REALLY miss those plays and it’s something that is hard for me to get back or relive. Or sure, there is community theatre – I always wanted, and still do, to eventually get into that. And I think, one of these days, I will. But by then I’ll be the old guy that plays all the old guy roles :) and it still won’t feel exactly like it felt back then. That was a special time and I’m so glad I was able to play a part in all of those.
But I don’t have a time machine so I can’t go back and, even if I did, I couldn’t relive those memories directly. You can’t change the past, but on the upside, the future looks pretty neat. One of the things we talked about doing for our next Victim Cache, album, for instance, is live shows. We even talked about some theatre-like components and if we can swing that, it will be pretty awesome!
I think the favorite thing Mrs. Houghton, my High School Theatre teacher ever taught us was the heartbeat. It’s a theme of life, really. Life gives us the good and bad and, much like the beat of a heart on an EKG, it’s better than a flatline. To that end, though I can’t relive my High School plays, and in some ways that haunts me, I’m glad for that. Mrs. Houghton was wrong on one point those. While I do have the good memories of all those plays, I still do indeed remember the bad. But I don’t mind. As a said, those experiences shaped me, by no small margin, to who I am today and I’m extremely glad for that. At the end of the day, I at least have these memories, and now digitized video, to look back on and that’s pretty cool! | philosophy |
http://therosarylady.blogspot.com/2012/02/catholic-blog-day.html | 2018-05-22T13:41:22 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-22/segments/1526794864790.28/warc/CC-MAIN-20180522131652-20180522151652-00551.warc.gz | 0.97546 | 999 | CC-MAIN-2018-22 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2018-22__0__163862063 | en | Once I read the theme was Penance, my stomach started to churn. Every day a calendar reminder would come up, and every day I would reset it for another day. Finally on Monday, I decided to explore why I was having such a difficult time with writing the post. I mulled it over for hours, while going about my regular daily business, and finally went to bed at 8:30 - unheard of - totally depressed and nauseaus.
Tuesday morning I awoke and told myself this post needed to get done. I realized the reason I was balking at writing about "Penance", is because the thing that came to mind is a story a fellow RCIA classmate told me about her thoughts on penance. Her mother told her how before confession, her grandmother would make all the siblings walk about on their KNEES until it was time to go to the church. That story has never left me. From that point on, even though I was never required to do anything of the sort, I have always been reluctant to go to confession. Even though the penance given by the priest was always a number of Hail Marys, Our Fathers and the instruction to "sin no more", confession has always been very difficult for me.
It's not that I committed any heinous sins, I had no reason to fear confession. The damage had already been done, my mind had that picture etched in it.
So, in my reading up on the subject of penance (prayers, fasting and almsgiving) and the whole concept of Lent, I was happy to find a publication in my family library dated 1995 that echoed my sentiment on the subject of penance. It is entitled 40 Days to New Life: A Gentle Passage from Ashes to Easter. It was written by Diane M. Houdek, and published by St. Meinrad Archabbey.
It speaks of an alternative to "giving up" something for Lent and instead "enriching your prayer life" and "lifting your heart to God". Which all seems so much more productive than walking around on ones knees.
She suggests also "It's not enough merely to turn away from those things that represent death and destruction in our lives. Conversion is also a turning toward new and unexpected challenges to grow." This gave me hope, and echoed a sentiment I have long had in my heart. It paved the way to seeing and feeling "penance" in a new, more loving way.
The booklet goes on to say "Past mistakes need not trap us in a cycle of despair. We can resolve this Lent to make a new beginning, knowing that God wants us to accept forgiveness so that we can be open to the new life in store for us." Now, was this something I needed to hear. I can be my own worst enemy sometimes, and I will bully myself to death when I make a mistake, or use harsh words, or treat someone unfairly. After all, I am human, and I can be nasty at times, especially to myself.
"...If we are struggling with low self-esteem, with patterns of punishing ourselves needlessly, or with issues of grief or loss, we need to try to be especially good to ourselves this Lent." Wow! I have suffered from clinical depression for years, and after the death of the father of my children several years ago, I have sometimes not made the best decisions and choices, all in the aftermath of grief and loss.
"We do not need to punish ourselves in order to be worthy of the feast. We are invited because we are loved." A wonderful sentiment to take to heart, and to remember each and every day - even beyond Lent and Easter. The world around us is judgmental enough, undeservedly so. The only One we should be concerned with is Our Heavenly Father, and He loves us unconditionally. We need only ask for forgiveness.
"If we cultivate a patient and hopeful heart, and trust the good changes going on in our lives, we will find God bringing us out of our own forms of slavery and into a holier way of life - the Promised Land." Relief. Forgiveness. Hope. This year I can look at the idea of penance in a completely different way. I don't recall if I read this little booklet back in 1995. If I did, it obviously didn't affect me the same way, as my life was much different then. I am glad that I ran across it this year. I wish that I could link to it, or tell you where to get it, but it seems it is no longer in publication.
I hope that it's words, combined with mine affect someone else in a positive way too.
Peace be with you,
The Rosary Lady
Please follow the link to read others' offerings for Catholic Blog Day.
Thank you for reading mine.
Thank you for reading mine. | philosophy |
http://www.naturaldeath.org.uk/index.php?mact=Products,cntnt01,details,0&cntnt01category=Celebrants&cntnt01hierarchy=South%20East&cntnt01productid=847&cntnt01returnid=59 | 2017-04-23T17:40:55 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-17/segments/1492917118740.31/warc/CC-MAIN-20170423031158-00643-ip-10-145-167-34.ec2.internal.warc.gz | 0.927063 | 259 | CC-MAIN-2017-17 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2017-17__0__277388604 | en | Leaflets and forms
Our work is only possible through the generous support of people like you. Please consider making a donation to ensure we can help the next family who call on us.
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Frances Tulley East, Mid and West Sussex, Surrey, Kent, South London
It is so important to make a funeral ceremony unique and completely personal for the one you knew and loved. There are no rules about how you do this, so we can work together to make this a truly wonderful occasion, to celebrate a life and mark its ending. I have a very inclusive and open approach to individual spirituality and will be led by you to create a ceremony which accurately reflects the beliefs or philosophy of your loved one. You may wish to include a ritual or words which will make this ceremony deeply meaningful and memorable, and I will help make this possible. You can rest assured that however simple or lavish the ceremony, I will be there to help you every step of the way.
Areas covered: East, Mid and West Sussex, Surrey, Kent, South London
· Fee: £195
· Willing to travel up to 70 miles
· Additional costs negotiable over 20 miles
Telephone 01273 248750 / 07884 438049 | philosophy |
https://www.backkicks.com/jeet-kune-do/ | 2024-02-28T22:59:05 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-10/segments/1707947474746.1/warc/CC-MAIN-20240228211701-20240229001701-00622.warc.gz | 0.973096 | 1,579 | CC-MAIN-2024-10 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2024-10__0__14100342 | en | Jeet Kune Do was conceived by the late Bruce Lee in 1967: literally “way of the intercepting fist.” Unlike many other martial arts. there are no series of rules or techniques that constitute a distinct feet kune do (jkd) method of fighting: jkd utilizes all ways and means to serve its end. It is bound by none and therefore “free.” It possesses everything, but in itself is possessed by nothing. Those who understand jkd are primarily interested in its effects of liberation when it is used as a mirror for self-examination. In the past, many have tried to define jkd in terms of a distinct style. i.e., Bruce Lee’s gung-fu. Bruce Lee’s karate. Bruce Lee’s kick-boxing, or Bruce Lee’s street fighting. To label jkd Bruce Lee’s martial art is to miss its meaning: its concepts cannot be confined within a system. To understand this. a martial artist must transcend from the duality of the “for” and “against” into one unity which is without distinction. The understanding of jkd is a direct intuition of this unity. Truth cannot be perceived until we have come to full understanding of ourselves and our potential. According to Lee, knowledge in the martial arts ultimately means self knowledge. Jeet kune do is not a new style of karate or kung-fu. Bruce Lee did not invent a new style or a composite. or modify any style to set it apart from any existing method. His main concept was to free his followers from clinging to a style, pattern, or mold. It must be emphasized that feet kune do is merely a name: a mirror in which we see ourselves. There is some sort of progressive approach to its training, but as Lee said. “To create a method of
fighting is pretty much like putting a pound of water into wrapping paper and shaping it.” Structurally, many people tend to mistake jkd as a composite style because of its efficiency. At any given time, it can resemble Thai boxing, wing chun, wrestling, or karate. Its weaponry resembles Filipino escrima and kali, and, at long range, northern Chinese gung-fu or tae kwon do. According to Lee, the efficiency of style depends upon circumstances and range: a staff, for example, would be the wrong weapon to bring into a telephone booth to fight, whereas a knife would be appropriate. A good jkd practitioner must develop intuition. According to Lee, a style should never be like a bible in which the principles and laws of which can never be violated. There will always be a difference with regards to quality of training, physical make-up, level of understanding, environmental conditioning, and likes and dislikes. Thus jkd is not an organization or an institution to which one can belong. “Either you understand or you don’t. and that is that,” in Lee’s words. When Lee was teaching a Chinese system of qung-fu upon his arrival in the U.S., he did have an institute of learning: but after that he didn’t believe in a style or system, Chinese or otherwise. According to him, to reach the masses some sort of organization had to be formed. both domestic and foreign branches’ with affiliations: but he also felt it was not necessary to have these because a martial artist finds himself more often in places that are contrary. To reach the growing numbers of students some sort of preconformed sets had to be established as the standard for these branches. As a result, many members will be conditioned according to the prescribed system: many will probably end up as prisoners of systematic drilling.
This is why Lee believed in having only a few students at one time, because it requires constant alert observation of each student in order to establish a direct relationship. A good teacher can never be fixed at a routine, and today many instructors are just that As Lee so often said, “A good instructor functions as a pointer of the truth espousing the student’s vulnerability, causing him to explore both internally and externally, and finally, integrating himself with his being. Martial arts, like life itself, are a constant unrhythmic movement, as well as constant change. Flowing with this change is very important. Finally a jeet kune do man who says jkd is exclusively jkd is simply “not in with it.” He is still “hung up” on his own self-closing resistance, anchored to reactionary pattern and naturally bound by another modified pattern and can move only within its limits. He has not digested the simple fact that the truth exists outside of all molds and patterns. An awareness is never exclusive. To quote Lee, “Jeet kune do is just a name, a boat to get one across the river. Once across it is to be discarded and not to be carried on one’s back.” In 1981 jkd concepts were taught in only three places: by Dan Inosanto and Richard Bustillo at the Filipino Kali Academy in Torrance, Calif.; by Larry Hartsell in Charlotte. N.C.; and by Taki Kimura in Seattle, Wash. As taught in Torrance, the curriculum includes western boxing and Bruce Lee’s method of kick-boxing, called Jun Fan boxing. It is felt that students should gather experience rather than technique. In other words, a karate practitioner who has never before boxed needs to experience sparring with a boxer. What he learns from this experience is strictly up to him. According to Lee. a teacher is not a giver of truth; he is merely a guide to the truth and the student must discover for himself.
The total picture Lee wanted to present to his pupil was that above everything else he must find his own way. He always said, “Your truth is not my truth, and my truth is not yours.” Lee did not have a blueprint, but rather a series of guidelines to lead to proficiency. Using equipment, there was a systematic approach in which you could develop speed, distance, power, timing, coordination, endurance, and footwork. Jeet kune do, for Lee, was not an end in itself nor was it merely a by-product; it was a means of self-discovery; a prescription for personal growth, and an investigation of freedom, freedom to act naturally and effectively not only in combat but in life. In life, to absorb what is useful, to reject what is useless, ideally, a student will seek experience in many arts—judo, jujutsu, aikido, western boxing, kicking styles, wing chun, kali, escrima, arnis, pentjak silat, Thai boxing, French savate, etc. — and to understand the strengths and weaknesses of each. It is not necessary to study all of these arts, but to understand the high and low points of each, as well as the range, distance, and effectiveness of each. There is a distance in which western boxing is superior to any kicking style, whether it be from Korean karate or northern Chinese styles of kicking. No art is inferior or superior to any other. This is the object of jeet kune do: to be bound by no style and in combat to use no style as style. In the Zen maxim: “In the landscape of spring there is neither better nor worse. The flowering branches grow, some short, some long.” | philosophy |
http://erasmusresearch.com/home/about/ | 2019-07-23T13:28:24 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-30/segments/1563195529406.97/warc/CC-MAIN-20190723130306-20190723152306-00012.warc.gz | 0.948618 | 525 | CC-MAIN-2019-30 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2019-30__0__193972604 | en | A Citizen of the World
In 1499 Erasmus left the priesthood adopting the peripatetic life as an independent scholar. His teaching was in great demand all over Europe including the Universities of Paris, Basel, Leuven, Freiburg and Cambridge. A committed internationalist, Erasmus was famed for his assertion “I am a citizen of the world, known to all and to all a stranger”.
Erasmus the Scholar
Known as the ‘Prince of the Humanists’, Erasmus was the greatest scholar of the Northern Renaissance. In the 1530s Erasmus alone authored over 20 per cent of all books sold in Europe, a remarkable achievement given his rapacious appetite for other people's books. The quote that best sums up his scholarly obsession is, "When I get a little money I buy books; and if any is left, I buy food and clothes.”
Erasmus the Humanist
Although his scholarly work greatly influenced Reformation thinking he rejected Luther’s doctrine of Predestination. Erasmus’s book ‘On Free Will’ (1524), laid the foundations for a humanist scholarship that is still very much alive today. Erasmus believed that scholarly investigations should never lose sight of their principal humanist objective; the creation of a better world.
Inspiring great philosophical figures such as Spinoza and Leibniz, Erasmus turned down a number of well paid teaching positions in some of Europe's most prestigious academic institutions in order to live and travel freely as an independent thinker. His contribution to the fields of theology, pedagogy, philosophy of language, and political thought were to become a major influence on the European Enlightenment two centuries later. His life as a traveling scholar has inspired the educational exchange programme that bears his name. His greatest legacy, however, is his dedication to humanist scholarship. The central pillars of love and compassion that pervade the works of Erasmus are now more than ever, essential elements in any academic investigation, the aim of which is the creation of a better world.
Portrait of Desiderius Erasmus
Portrait Erasmus by Albrecht Durer, 1520, Louvre, Paris
Holbein's studies of Erasmus's hands, 1523, Louvre, Paris.
for a better world...
Our ethos is simple and frames everything we do. Academic investigations and scholarly endeavours must never lose sight of their main objective; the creation of a better world. | philosophy |
https://mariannewillburn.com/disconnecting-connect-modern-challenge/ | 2024-04-17T05:31:21 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817144.49/warc/CC-MAIN-20240417044411-20240417074411-00484.warc.gz | 0.972872 | 306 | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2024-18__0__7479877 | en | “Is the world getting more complicated, or am I just getting older?” said my sister over the phone this week. My junior by eight years, she is awash in toddler mayhem (her third Mission Impossible), which includes, but is not limited to, sketchy nap times, bottles of soap poured all over the floor and endless loads of laundry to complement endless weeks of potty-training.
That morning she’d made the mistake of compounding infinite despair with a quick look at the news, and was feeling less than certain that God was in His Heaven and all was right with the world.
As much I would have liked to have told my fresh-faced, still-well-under-forty sister that yes, she was indeed getting older and this was just the beginning of total mind and body breakdown, I could not do so in good conscience.
For it certainly seems as if the world is getting more complicated – or at least, that we are more aware of the complications of this world. It’s precisely why I have made Sundays and Tuesdays computer-free and why I spend as much time as humanly possible in the garden, where life truly is complicated – and yet profoundly simple.
Without the distraction of fresh disasters often more than half a world away, or the ranting of friends over the latest outrage flooding social media (how we do so love to be outraged), I am free to experience the moments that make life so quietly and intensely beautiful. | philosophy |
https://readitreviewit.com/reviewing-the-book-starry-messenger-exploring-civilization-through-a-cosmic-lens/ | 2023-12-03T05:13:34 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100484.76/warc/CC-MAIN-20231203030948-20231203060948-00590.warc.gz | 0.946292 | 590 | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2023-50__0__149568243 | en | If you’re looking for a book that will help you see the world in a new light, look no further than Starry Messenger by Neil deGrasse Tyson. As a world-renowned astrophysicist, Tyson brings a unique perspective to the topics of war, politics, religion, truth, beauty, gender, and race. And in a time when the world seems more divided than ever, his insights are a much-needed reminder of our shared humanity.
But what sets Starry Messenger apart from other books on science and philosophy is Tyson’s ability to make complex ideas accessible and engaging. Whether he’s talking about the mysteries of the universe or the inner workings of the human brain, Tyson has a way of explaining things that is both informative and entertaining. You can tell he’s passionate about his subject matter, and that enthusiasm is infectious.
One of the key themes of Starry Messenger is the importance of a cosmic perspective. Tyson argues that by viewing ourselves as part of a larger whole, we can gain a better understanding of our place in the universe and our responsibilities to each other. He also emphasizes the role of science in this process, pointing out that rational thinking and logical analysis are essential tools for navigating the complexities of the modern world.
Of course, no discussion of science and philosophy would be complete without a nod to the great thinkers who came before us. In Starry Messenger, Tyson pays tribute to some of the greatest minds in human history, from Galileo to Einstein. Through their work, we can see how our understanding of the universe has evolved over time, and how each new discovery has brought us closer to a more complete picture of reality.
But even as he delves into some of the deepest questions of existence, Tyson never loses sight of the beauty and wonder of the world around us. He reminds us that despite all our differences, we are all part of the same cosmic story, and that our lives are just one small part of a much larger tapestry.
Overall, Starry Messenger is a book that will challenge you, inspire you, and perhaps even change the way you view the world. With its mix of scientific insight, philosophical musings, and engaging storytelling, it’s a book that will appeal to anyone who is curious about the universe and their place in it. So if you’re looking for a book that will help you see the world in a new light, this is one that’s definitely worth checking out.
Don’t wait any longer to dive into this incredible story. Get your copy of the book today or try the 30-day trial of Audible to experience it for yourself! Don’t miss out on this captivating tale that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Order now!
(as of Mar 27, 2023 23:23:48 UTC – Details) | philosophy |
http://www.smallmattersinstitute.org/ | 2018-02-25T09:13:29 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-09/segments/1518891816351.97/warc/CC-MAIN-20180225090753-20180225110753-00311.warc.gz | 0.921378 | 229 | CC-MAIN-2018-09 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2018-09__0__205338169 | en | smallMatters Institute acts within a single ideological imperative:
To evolve as a species, human beings must get better at serving each other.
Therefore, smallMatters Institute is dedicated to identifying and sharing examples of excellence in four areas:
1) Social betterment; 2) Sustainable development; 3) Education; and, 4) Environmental stewardship.
Together, we can change millions of lives by reinventing the human experience. Our desired outcome is to demonstrate that people lead healthier and happier lives when they use their talents and intellect in creative ways to benefit self, family, country, and humanity.
Whilst the 21st Century promises extraordinary technical advances that can improve the quality of life for millions of people, America is at a major crossroads in defining how to best share these opportunities. We intellectually acknowledge that America does not exist in a vacuum and that we must be aware of how other countries or social cultures think and act. Nonetheless, we firmly believe that the best way to contribute to the global community is to improve the way we treat each other and work together right here at home – to lead – creatively, by example. | philosophy |
https://khnum.club/fullness/ | 2023-12-11T06:58:25 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679103558.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20231211045204-20231211075204-00881.warc.gz | 0.886197 | 2,196 | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2023-50__0__198028283 | en | Semanticus F. Alpaerts suggests in De Denkbeeldige Ruimte (1980) that the I Ching or Book of Changes, originating from mythical antiquity, is the first semantic lexicon of mankind. In this Chinese classic, unquestionably one of the most influential books in the world’s literature, 64 chapters are coded with a double triplet line code called hexagrams.
Alpaerts used the Wilhelm (1971) translation to show a possible connection between the code lines from the I Ching and the codon encoding in the Semantic Colour Space. The open (- -) and closed (—) lines from the I Ching correspond with respectively the 0’s and 1’s from his semantic coding system. This way he could associate the concepts described in the 64 chapters of the I Ching, with the eight primary colours and their combinations (8×8) from his classification. Later, his hypothesis was confirmed by a comparative research he conducted on the similarities between his keyword-colour classifications, in which the concepts from the I Ching form an important part, and the empirical data from sociologist Eva Heller’s word-to-colour association study (Alpaerts, 1993).
The following list includes I Ching chapter titles with links to pages in the DSD (between brackets: if the title is not in the DSD, a synonym), chapter numbers, digital coding (hexagram), and colour combinations.
|chapter title||chapters||hexagram||colour combination|
|difficulty at the beginning||3||010:001||GR:BK|
|youthful folly (inexperienced, foolish)||4||100:010||BR:GR|
|the taming power of the small (newborn)||9||110:111||WH:YL|
|standstill (stagnation, blocking)||12||111:000||YL:BL|
|fellowship with men (together, community)||13||111:101||YL:RD|
|great possessing (imperium)||14||101:111||RD:YL|
|rage (rancor, attack)||16||001:000||BK:BL|
|biting through (stick-it-out)||21||101:001||RD:BK|
|splitting apart (slivering)||23||100:000||BR:BL|
|the turning point||24||000:001||BL:BK|
|the taming power of the great (steering)||26||100:111||BR:YL|
|the corners of the mouth, providing nourishment (feeding, grooming, open mouth)||27||100:001||BR:BK|
|great exceeding (overloaded)||28||011:110||PL:WH|
|the clinging, fire (flame, attach)||30||101:101||RD:RD|
|influence, wooing (courtship)||31||011:100||PL:BR|
|the power of the great (powerful)||34||001:111||BK:YL|
|darkening of the Light (hiding)||36||000:101||BL:RD|
|increase, beneficial, useful (growth, functional)||42||110:001||WH:BK|
|gathering together, massing (assemble)||45||011:000||PL:BL|
|oppression, exhaustion (depletion, sucked out)||47||011:010||PL:GR|
|the cauldron (terrine)||50||101:110||RD:WH|
|the arousing, shock, thunder||51||001:001||BK:BK|
|keeping still, mountain (still, not moving)||52||100:100||BR:BR|
|development, gradual progress||53||110:100||WH:BR|
|the marrying maiden (concubine)||54||001:011||BK:PL|
|the wanderer, travelling (wanderlust)||56||101:100||RD:BR|
|the penetrating, wind||57||110:110||WH:WH|
|the joyous, lake (gay)||58||011:011||PL:PL|
|dispersion, dissolution, (scattering)||59||110:010||WH:GR|
|limitation, moderation (delimitation, restriction)||60||010:011||GR:PL|
|preponderance of the small (unremarkable, incompetent)||62||001:100||BK:BR|
The Cornucopia or Horn of Plenty is a legendary object, a symbol of prosperity and abundance, originally dating back to the earliest myths of mankind. One finds the first depictions of a horn already dating back from the Upper Palaeolithic. The Venus of Laussel (France, approximately 25,000 years old) is such an example. Here, the mother goddess holds a horn in her hands. (Fig.1)
Originally an attribute of the mother goddess, the horn is also adopted by male gods. Examples are found in Slavic mythology, such as the god Sventovit (Fig.2). The fertility of the female, related to plant life and water, is complemented with the potency of the male, relating to the bloodline and fire. While the meaning of abundance remains. Slavic priests used the horn to predict rich harvests. (Vyncke, 1969)
The horn of plenty thus becomes a phallus that guarantees the reproduction of the clan and the abundance of the harvest (Fig.3-4).
The cornucopia contains a male and a female aspect, which is why this object can be an attribute both of male and female deities. Examples of goddesses wearing the horn are personifications of Earth (Gaia); the nymph Mai, and Fortuna, the goddess of luck, who had the power to grant prosperity (Fig.5-6). (Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornucopia)
The concept of the Cornucopia, its male and female aspects, consists of parts and variations in meaning that can be clarified by the different levels of meaning in the Semantic Colour Space.
First, there is the horn, which is classified under the 64-level code red-on-black or white-4 (ecru, off-white). Red-on-black is the code for kingship, which prescribes laws and rules, and administers justice. In the same way, red-on-black contains the meaning of the phallus, which underlines the king’s potency and supremacy. A stylized phallus is the sceptre (a combination of 8-level black: stem and red: circle) Both the phallus, the sceptre and the horns denote the blood, the lineage, the pedigree, which gives the right to the holder to issue laws and rules. The white 8-level aspect of white-4 is the line. We recognize in this image the bloodline of descent, but also the (moral) rules imposed by the king. (Fig.7)
The second part concerns abundance. The horn is filled with attributes from the harvest, such as fruits, vegetables, grains, wine, later also with coins. Important in this image is that the horn overflows. The name ‘Abundantia’, the Roman Goddess of fortune, prosperity and abundance, literally means ‘plenty’ or ‘overflowing riches’. This concept was classified in the Semantic Colour Space under the 64-level code black-on-red, or green-4 (a darker aquamarine-green). Keywords such as abundance, flood and fullness, describe a situation that is at a peak, like the sun at noon. (Fig.8)
While in the inverted code red-on-black the laws are laid down and justice is spoken, in this sign they will be implemented by severe punishments. Weapons such as swords are often attributed to the deity as a means of enforcing laws and providing protection from the enemy. The green aspect in green-4 is the relationship to nature, alive, flow (8-level) and contains a feminine (physical) aspect. The (over-)fullness of life, accurately describes the core meaning of this sign. (Fig.8)
However, it is an unstable state, because when water overflows, it can become a dangerous force that causes destruction and grief, as in the case of flooding, or when one burst into a crying fit because of accumulated tension. It includes the creation of life in all its fullness, but therein also lies the danger. So the sign encompasses both creative abundance, and its destruction.
The horn of plenty, as a combination of white-4 and green-4, is classified under the code white-on-green or red-4 (. This colour combination is often used by artists to depict the female deity wearing the cornucopia, such as the goddess Fortuna (Fig. 5-6) or Abundantia. The core image contains the wind (white) blowing above the flowing water (green), causing the water to scatter and dissolve into foam and bubbles. The contents of the overflowing horn are thus scattered over the earth. (Fig.9)
The white-on-green coding implicates that the plenty is of an uncertain nature, that the rich harvests are not guaranteed, instead, they are a question of fate, of luck. That is why the cornucopia is often a means for fortune-telling, a white-on-blue keyword. Then, the colour combination white-on-green becomes a movement in the depth dimension from white-on-blue (code 110-000) to green-on-blue (code 010-000) in this classic conceptual construct. (Fig.11)
The concept of fortune is an addition to the white-on-green code. Fortune is coded green-on-blue. It is the earth (blue) on which life (green) grows that gives fortune. The idea represents the earthly womb that bestows life. This womb is represented by an amphora or pitcher, from which the water of life flows. (Fig.10) | philosophy |
https://westlondonphilosophyschool.com/tag/education/ | 2017-10-22T21:10:01 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-43/segments/1508187825464.60/warc/CC-MAIN-20171022203758-20171022223758-00076.warc.gz | 0.9667 | 3,246 | CC-MAIN-2017-43 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2017-43__0__152797131 | en | After teaching philosophy to different audiences for years, I have observed that some take more out of their education than others. Those who do well have a certain attitude in common: an open and inquisitive mind, a willingness to engage and to have their mind changed. Those who do less well often are held back because they are intimidated by the complexity of philosophical puzzles, by the (often illusory!) confidence of their classmates or because they are afraid of saying something stupid, or because they think they know the answers already. But adopting the first attitude in favour of the latter is easier said than done. Yet, there are some simple things you can do or avoid to help you adopt a healthy attitude.
When I started studying philosophy as a 19-year-old, I was often the one being intimidated by the other students in my class, whom I thought to be cleverer, better looking, more knowledgeable and more confident than myself. I learned later that this impression may well have been false, and even if it were true, it doesn’t really matter. Socrates, for example, wasn’t particularly clever, nor good looking, nor knowledgeable, but he was a bloody good philosopher! I also often felt overwhelmed by the complexity of philosophical arguments. First Plato convinced me, then Aristotle convinced me equally with the exact opposite view, leaving me confused. If just any philosopher could sway me, then my views must all be false and stupid, I thought. I learned later that if you don’t have exactly that experience, you’re doing it wrong.
What follows applies to any level of philosophy education, whether you’ve just joined your first philosophy evening class or you are working on your PhD. I’d even say that some established philosophers would do well to remind themselves of these things once in a while.
1. Realise that changing your mind often is a sign of growth, not of weakness.
Someone once said to me: if Wittgenstein can change his mind, then surely so can I. Wittgenstein is widely regarded as one of the best philosophers of the twentieth century. He worked long and hard on his Tractatus, and claimed to have answered philosophy’s questions. Then he thought some more and came to the conclusion that he’d had it all wrong, so he wrote his Philosophical Investigations, which says in many ways the polar opposite of what he’d said in the Tractatus. Nobody thinks Wittgenstein is stupid. Most people agree that both books are very interesting, regardless of whether they agree with Wittgenstein. Bottom line: everyone has opinions, you too. Whichever they are, some of them are likely to be mistaken. It’s great if you discover this within your lifetime, so you can change your mind. But if you never articulate any opinions for fear of having to reject them later, you’ll never investigate them and then you won’t learn anything. So just state your opinions and change them if necessary.
2. Ask questions. Particularly the ones you think are stupid. They’re the best.
I once had a student who thought he was stupid, or so he said, and he apologised for interrupting with stupid questions. In fact, he asked pretty darn good questions! He always asked questions like: “But what does idealism mean?” or “I didn’t follow that last bit. Can you repeat it?” I would then ask the rest of the class: “can someone explain what idealism means?” but often the response was silence. That means that someone who thinks he was stupid asked a simple question that the rest of the class was actually thinking but didn’t ask. So when you don’t know what the jargon means, or if you’ve lost the teacher’s narrative, or if you don’t understand something: just ask. More often than not you’ll be doing the class a favour. It allows the teacher to get everybody on board too. I’ve heard better and worse questions, but none of them were really stupid or made the person who asked it look stupid. A genuine question is always worth asking.
3. Charity before criticism. Think along with the argument before you refute it.
When you learn about the argument of a philosopher, it is great if you can identify the weaknesses in that argument and articulate a point of critique. But nourishing your critical thinking is not the same as disagreeing with everything from the outset. On the contrary. For an argument to be interesting, it must be somewhat controversial (platitudes and truisms are boring, they don’t teach us anything new). In order for you to understand what the controversial elements are, you’ll have to understand the argument. For you to understand the argument, you’ll have to give it a good shot. Perhaps the author of the argument has already anticipated and refuted your critique? Perhaps she can justify her controversial stance? Perhaps the answers are already implicit in her argument? A charitable attitude is not the same as uncritically accepting whatever the author says, but simply trying to follow the argument as far as it will go, granting its premises if you can. If you then still disagree, your critique will rest on a stronger foundation.
4. Respond to what your classmates say. Education is a group effort.
Good philosophy teachers make you think. They can give you material to think about in a lecture, and they can ask questions to invite you to make up your own mind. But they can’t do it alone. Neither can you, on your own, dream up all the questions you wish you could ask. The only way to really get some depth in the discussion, is by joint effort of everyone involved. A question asked by another student might spark a further question in your mind. You may think you’ve understood Aristotle, but another student might have understood the text in an entirely different way. The teacher cannot fully anticipate all of these things, nor can you. So learn from your fellow students and contribute your two cents too. You won’t learn very much if you expect to passively consume your education in the back of the class.
5. Realise that everyone can do philosophy. A child is just as good as a professor.
Of course, someone who has spent their working life surrounded full time by philosophy will master certain skills. Just like a flute maker can dissemble a complex instrument and put it back together again, an experienced philosopher can dissemble a complex argument and put it back together again, or amend it, or turn it upside down and inside out. Some people are real masters: articulate, knowledgeable, smart, thoughtful, good writers and speakers, and that’s wonderful. You’ll need those skills if you want to make philosophy your profession, or if you’re working towards a degree. But you don’t need those skills to be able to engage in philosophy per se. A child is naturally inquisitive. It asks questions because it genuinely wonders how things works and why the things are the way they are. If you can remember the questions you asked when you were a kid, you’re basically there. Others may be more or less skilled in the things I mentioned above, but we’re all sort of helpless in the face of the really puzzling questions, and they’re worth asking for everyone. An allegory: I play the flute very poorly. It’s not worth anybody’s time to listen to it, believe me. But it’s worth my time to do it nonetheless. There are excellent flautists in orchestras who are thousands of times better at it than I am. Should my incompetence stop me enjoying my playing the flute in an amateur orchestra? I think not! Should I be embarrassed about my lack of skill? No! Making music is intrinsically valuable for everyone, and so is philosophizing.
6. Don’t get too comfortable.
Imagine the following: you’ve been to a couple of classes, you’ve figured by now that your teacher is a passionate Kantian. Leafing through the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy pages of critics of Kant has not persuaded you that Kant was wrong, so you’ve come to the conclusion that Kant was right. And this has been the best decision you’ve taken so far. Finally, you can leave the confusion behind you, because you are now a Kantian. And it works fabulously. In every discussion, you’ve got a Kantian answer. Your teacher agrees, you sit back and rest comfortably in your new-found Kantianism: a little Kant goes a long way. STOP RIGHT THERE! If you want to make the most of your education, you’ll have to keep challenging your own position, even if you keep returning to it. And I mean seriously challenge it, not just find another objection to cleverly refute for the sport of it whilst you remain comfortable in your Kant armchair. You have to be prepared to wake up every morning and find the argument that will turn all your previously held beliefs upside down and cure you of your Kantianism for once and for all. That is difficult, and many philosophers are, I think, guilty of making themselves too comfortable in their armchair of choice, but if you want to really learn something, you’ll have to resist this temptation.
7. Don’t avoid taking a stance.
I once heard a philosopher scorn another philosopher and accuse him of being “merely an historian of ideas”. Now, there’s nothing wrong with historians of ideas. They do excellent work interpreting historical philosophies, not an easy task. But what this philosopher criticised was his opponent’s refusal to make himself susceptible to critique. He thought his opponent only offered uncontroversial accounts of what other people argued, but never committed to a controversial view himself. From a different angle, Derrida is often criticised for deconstructing everything, but failing to offer an alternative that could survive his own deconstruction. Martha Nussbaum accused Judith Butler of something similar: criticising what others thought without offering any alternative that can be criticised. I’ve had students who put a lot of effort in not having to say: “This is where I stand. I agree with position A, but disagree with position B, and these are my reasons.” Why is it a bad thing to avoid taking a stance? Why do philosophers ridicule each other if they fail to do so? Because such evasive accounts stifle the discussion. Because you’ll only really genuinely consider arguments if you are involved, if the stakes are high, if you have a belief to lose. For teachers, it is important to know where their students stand, whether they are sympathetic to Plato, or critical of his views, or if the class is divided. Teachers need to know this so they can adjust their pitch accordingly. In a class where no student states their view – however tentative – it is very difficult to get a discussion going. So try to take a stance, even if you think you’ll change your mind three times in the course of the lesson (see point 1).
8. Don’t be arrogant, nor be intimidated by arrogant peers.
There’s always one: “But obviously, Plato is fundamentally flawed. Nobody really buys his idealism.” says a clever loudmouth in the front of the class. When I was a 19-year-old and one of my fellow students said such a thing, I thought: wow, they’ve read so much more than I have! They already (1) understand Plato through and through, (2) have discovered not just some weaknesses, but fundamental flaws, (3) know that there isn’t any other philosopher who still buys Plato’s idealism, and (4) I’m clearly lagging behind because this is apparently “obvious” so the others must all know this too! It turns out I was mistaken: they were just as puzzled as I was. Nowadays, phrases like “obviously”, “everyone knows” or “nobody buys that” act like red arrogance flags for me. Hardly anything in philosophy is obvious. Most positions in the history of philosophy have some currency today, albeit in amended forms, so it’s hardly ever true that “nobody buys” a philosophy, or that “fundamental flaws” are so serious that there are no insights to learn. I’ve noticed that some people say such things to appear more confident than they are, or they just want to provoke a polarised debate. What they really mean is: “I’ve heard/read somewhere that Plato’s idealism is controversial.” Or “Plato’s idealism doesn’t really convince me.” Comments of this form are much more reasonable, less intimidating, and more constructive of a good discussion.
9. Don’t think this one historical philosopher you’ve read has all the answers.
There’s always one of these too: his mum gave him Nietzsche’s Beyond Good and Evil for Christmas, he read it, and now Nietzsche has got him under his spell. I understand it. It’s like falling in love. Some philosophers are so persuasive, such powerful writers, that they enchant you. So he is under Nietzsche’s spell, and everything makes sense now. Everything can be explained now he’s looking through Nietzsche glasses. He can find no flaw in anything Nietzsche has said. He dismisses the critiques: these people just haven’t really understood Nietzsche. He attends philosophy classes and then the teacher and his peers have to put up with his love for Nietzsche. All his questions and comments eventually return to Nietzsche, even in the class about Plato. All philosophers are judged by Nietzsche’s merits. All his essays are about Nietzsche. (Or perhaps he fell in love with Sartre. Or Derrida. Or Hegel. Or Wittgenstein. Or Davidson. Or any other philosopher.) What can I say about this? First love is really sweet, but there’s more fish in the sea. You better shop around.
10. Don’t expect learning to always be fun.
Here’s news for you: learning is not always fun. It is difficult. Philosophy can be rewarding: you get to flex your mind, you get to have really deep conversations with other people, you’ll learn a lot about yourself and where you stand, you might learn skills, you’ll learn to be more articulate, you’ll learn to ponder about these really interesting questions, you’ll get to know what fascinating ideas other philosophers had, and lots more. But the process may be confusing and uncomfortable. There’s a certain discomfort in realizing you’re going to have to abandon an assumption or belief you’ve always held dear and that informed your decision making. There’s also a certain discomfort in realizing you are confused, and you may never find the security of trusting in a firm answer the way you did before. These things happen a lot in philosophy. It makes you wiser. It’s just not all fun and games. You may have to plough through some dry stuff before you realise how fascinating it is. It’s all part of it, but don’t give up, it’s worth it. | philosophy |
http://www.giulianocremaschi.com/what-i-will-do-until-i-die/ | 2013-05-22T04:14:09 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701281163/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104801-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | 0.958691 | 1,927 | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2013-20__0__113093130 | en | When people with an aura die, whatever that aura is – power, ego, beauty, sex, strength, skill, madness, creativity, aggression, often a mix of many of them – I feel my own life become suddenly heavier.
It’s the slow, crushing feeling of the inevitable demise that awaits all of us. That awaits me.
It happens rarely, since people with an aura are rare.
It happened last night, the night that Steve Jobs died.
Last night, at 2 am, I learned of Steve Jobs’ death from the mad flow of news and sharing activity over the internet. I slept quite badly after that, and not only because of my toddler’s restlessness. I slept with the wispy breath of death circling me, reminding me of its presence.
For the whole of today, that feeling of weight, of gravity, that shroud, has been oppressing me. The words of Steve Jobs’ Commencement Speech at Standford University – now risen to the status of online gospel and meme – have been floating around in my head, teasing and testing me, the knowledge of myself, the love of my work.
Like a stern but wise taskmaster, like a ronin – a masterless samurai – of his own existence, during that speech Steve Jobs presented – in the form of stories – his three core Tenets, centered on Life, Love and Death.
The purpose of this post is – apart from exorcising this dark mood – to compare my personal experience, my work, with the Three Tenets of Steve Jobs.
Are they useful for my life, for my profession? Do they work for me?
I. LIFE (“Connecting the Dots”)
Again, you can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.
This Tenet is about following what your instinct tells you to do, even if it sounds like a bad idea – for example, dropping from college without a backup plan – and trusting that, if you do that, the dots will eventually connect and things will work out for the best.
Does it work for me?
But I discovered games. Pen-and-paper role playing games, arcade videogames, tabletop miniature and strategy games – much to the chagrin of my mother – became the funnel of my imagination, the place where I delved with competence and mastery, where I achieved and adventured and explored the new. Unwittingly, I also learned to write creatively, to read and write and speak English intuitively, to strategize, to design worlds and maps and cities and alternative rules and tables and systems, to create living characters, to narrate, to play games in a deep way.
Almost 10 years later, my career in online games started with the crucial years at Habbo, and I rediscovered the power of games in entirely new facets – virtual worlds, MMOs, social games… With it, I fell in love with the Internet and the idea of a global connectedness.
So, almost 10 years later, I finally used all the skills that I had originally learned to escape from reality to build a profession, to create a career, to design the new.
First Tenet: Life. Check.
II. LOVE (“Keep looking for what you love”)
I’m pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn’t been fired from Apple. It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don’t lose faith. I’m convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You’ve got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don’t settle.
This Tenet is about finding what you love and facing loss with a positive attitude, looking forward and not backward. Every defeat, every loss is an opportunity for learning and improving.
Does it work for me?
In 2008, after the two most successful years in my career at Habbo, I decided to leave the (for me) fabled position of Creative Director to join a Finnish/US startup and – finally, like in my teenager years – build my own world.
We brought together a talented Team from diverse backgrounds, worked manically for 18 months, used everything we knew, innovated, made mistakes, applied love and sweat and talent. And voila, Eco-Rangers - the best looking kids-oriented MMOG of its generation – was born, much to the joy of our publisher, stunned with the quality of the work. We were finally set to go live and send our child into the world.
Then came the financial crisis.
All funding from our publishers’ investors was frozen; we crunched even more, feared for our jobs, fought on, and lost. Our startup collapsed, like they sometimes do; and, worse than that, Eco-Rangers went into stasis, waiting for a new publisher or investor to take the torch and put it live.
It was horrifying. We were devastated. We had achieved a way higher quality than it was ever expected from a Flash-based MMOG. We had immersive gameplay, deep character progression, brilliant 3D characters and pets, fantastic visual design with shiny tech and vibrant nature. All of that, for naught.
In hindsight, that failure taught me much: how to set up a real Team, how to correct my own mistakes in leading professionals from different backgrounds than mine, how to design a game world from nothing, and many other things. It also taught me the limits of traditional casual MMOs, the pitfalls of standardization, the limits of Flash. It taught me to look for new ways.
I found them in social media and social games, in the integration of MMO-type ideas into social networks, into the total connectivity of modern online/social gaming.
It also taught me the value of lightness and simplicity in game and web design. And now, I think this is the kind of work I love.
Second Tenet: Love. Check.
III. DEATH (“Everyone dies, so don’t waste your time and instead create your own path”)
No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.
Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.
This is the most important Tenet. It’s crystal clear. The fundamental one. The hardest one.
Does it work for me?
I kept on learning it trough the new work that had be done. Through building something entirely new at Crytek, a hybrid service, from scratch, together with brilliant people: an exhilarating experience. Then, I stopped learning it and started listening to other people’s thinking, to a lot of noise, until it became deafening.
Until, one day, I realized I knew what I really wanted to become.
I should have realized it a long time ago, but I trust I was not ready. One day, I’ll probably look backward and see that the dots have eventually connected. Until then, I’ll be even more hungry and more foolish.
Third Tenet: Death. Check.
- – - -
The painting displayed is: Black Square, by Kasimir Malevich, 1913
- – - -
Giuliano Cremaschi writes about the interconnected worlds of Social Media and Social Gaming, and their inextricable and ever-evolving relationship | philosophy |
http://www.africaguineanews.com/2019/12/14/i-have-not-served-myself-i-have-served-my-people-and-my-security-is-the-people-coalition-it-is-enough-says-jerry-rawlings/ | 2020-07-06T08:26:11 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-29/segments/1593655890157.10/warc/CC-MAIN-20200706073443-20200706103443-00477.warc.gz | 0.987259 | 295 | CC-MAIN-2020-29 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2020-29__0__152752807 | en | “When I came to power, I fought so that it was the people who had power and not an individual. When you created the conditions to give power to the people who are the real boss, you cannot take the liberty to do anything. In Africa presidents impose themselves on their people because they have confiscated the power which belongs to the people and not to them. They reign. They allow themselves everything and anything. They embezzle the people’ money and this people being deprived of their power can do nothing and they suffer everything.
I refused to have any public building to bear my name. When you have served your people well, you stay in their hearts. I think I am in the hearts of my fellow citizens. I am proud of my people. No one can have the liberty to do anything in my country. I did not seek to be rich, but in the end I was enriched with the love of my people. I don’t need to walk around with security guards because my security is the people who saw me serving them. I am not afraid to walk with my eyes closed. I’m not saying I’m a saint. But I know that these people know that I gave everything to them so I feel safe with them. I don’t suspect any of my compatriots wanting to hurt me. Wherever I am, I feel completely safe. ”
Jerry Rawlings, Former President of Ghana | philosophy |
https://odonwagnergallery.com/news_events/don-resnick-usa-illuminated-landscapes/ | 2021-10-27T04:22:46 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-43/segments/1634323588053.38/warc/CC-MAIN-20211027022823-20211027052823-00014.warc.gz | 0.949099 | 1,587 | CC-MAIN-2021-43 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2021-43__0__148588246 | en | PRESS RELEASE – For Immediate Release
Don Resnick: An Illuminated Landscape
May 25 – June 16, 2007
Toronto – Odon Wagner Contemporary announces the opening of Illuminated Landscapes, an exhibition of new paintings by American artist Don Resnick.
"He who looks on nature with a loving eye, cannot move from his dwelling without the salutation of beauty; even in the city the deep blue sky and drifting clouds appeal to him. And if to escape its turmoil—if only to obtain a free horizon, land and water in the play of light and shadow yields delight—let him be transported to those favored regions, where the features of the earth are more varied, or yet add the sunset, that wreath of glory daily bound around the world, and he, indeed, drinks from pleasure's purest cup." – excerpted from Thomas Cole, 'Essay on American Scenery.' 1836
The conceptualization of nature leads sometimes to paradoxical conclusions, yet the relationship between man and his natural environment continues to be one that many artists strive to navigate. Don Resnick is one such artist who explores the expressive possibilities of landscape, and his oeuvre, spanning fifty years, reflects the very crux of the matter: that landscape is an ever-shifting, elusive construct. It has been the object of contemplation for as long as humans have been able to articulate their own subjectivity, and Resnick upholds the artistic tradition of granting the landscape aesthetic primacy. Landscape painting is a genre that only the bravest still pursue, and Resnick makes a strong argument for the appropriateness of the medium in conveying to the viewer the tactility, sensuousness, and dynamism of nature.
The works in this exhibition convey to the viewer Resnick's ardent faith in the restorative qualities of resting one's eyes on a scene that demands very little in return. We are granted a glimpse of Resnick's private moments, where he shares his personal experience of the land from which he gains so much fulfillment. If we acquire a new perspective on nature through nuances of light and space, or are even just reminded of its need for future protection, then Resnick is pleased. Ultimately, Resnick speaks to the mythic tradition of landscape, the idea that we are collectively defined by our environment; our habitus is rooted in this space; a notion that many take for granted—we cannot see the forest for the trees. Resnick takes pause, engages in the simple act of looking, and reminds us what we stand to miss in the lush, tranquil sublimity of the wilderness beyond the city.
Light is a principal element in Resnick's work, and the ephemeral qualities of the sun's diluted rays upon the contours of land guide the viewer though the composition. In Coastal Path, we are dwarfed in comparison to the cluster of trees that stand before us. Patches of light illuminate the ground and create a visual path up, around, and finally down to the waters that lie below. Instantly, we are reminded of the Impressionists' studies of light—its fluid, transient qualities—and their unprecedented technique of using a multitude of pigments to record the atmospheric energy of their surroundings. Uniquely, Resnick's painterly strokes suggest his own presence in the scene—we get a sense of his reaction to what lay before him and witness how that is translated into the vast expanse of colour and texture before us. His deft, masterful brushwork creates a luminous transparency often achieved through watercolour techniques, and he works 'alla prima' to ensure that his canvases remain lucid and buoyant.
Resnick works largely from memory and trusts instinct over concrete details of place. His spontaneous working methodology is what allows for such intensity of spirit in his painting. Resnick makes his preliminary sketches en plein air and uses those sketches in his studio, where he works in oils to capture that moment of inspiration from memory. Art historian Simon Schama comments that landscape can only be a human construct—it is a product of our culture, and exists in tandem with us. He notes that landscape is essentially a manifestation of the mind, and its scenery depends on our recollections of it as much as on geological formation. Since the formation of the word 'landschap,' by the Dutch in the sixteenth century, landscape came to reflect nature as mediated by human vision. With this in mind, it becomes clear that Resnick's work is in fact a response to nature, and not a utopian attempt to recreate nature.
Resnick's practice recalls the Romantic tradition of understanding landscape as a vehicle for exploring our own emotional depths, and Damariscotta Lake is one such example where we are reminded of this fact. We survey a scene that extends magnificently into the distance, where the horizon meets the sky and embraces the coral light offered by the retreating sun. This "wreath of glory" illuminates the fields before us, and we cannot help but feel as if we have stumbled onto this vision at the most perfect moment. The sky is reminiscent of Turner or Constable, but we are sharing a scene that only Resnick could provide us with—we are allowed to meditate on a vision that is so personal yet speaks to something greater, more universal. Resnick uses the intimacy of place to articulate the powers of space.
There is a tranquil solitude that connects Resnick's works, and he refrains from placing any figures within his compositions. Understanding that a figure immediately calls attention to itself, detracting from the setting in which he or she is placed, Resnick chooses, for the present, to emphasize the abstract qualities of the land over those who might inhabit it. We are given only traces of human presence, through a cabin in the periphery or a cottage nestled into the shoreline—never do they encroach on the scenery. In Moonlight Toward Pemaquid, one of Resnick's arresting nightscapes, we take note of a light flickering across the bay, but remain transfixed by the ethereal glow of the moon. To stand before this work is a mesmerizing experience. One shudders in anticipation of the slight chill in the air as the waves gently lap against the rocks at our feet. Falling into synch with our own breath, our own corporeality, we attempt to digest this visual feast.
This is what we do with Resnick's paintings—we are drawn into his scenes, lulled by the path it presents to us. Returning to Cole's lofty prose that characterized the Hudson River School's approach to painting, we recognize that Resnick departs from this tradition. Cole and his contemporaries presented the landscape with an idealized, formal, and spiritual reverence. The magnitude of these panoramas distance the viewer as subservient to nature. Resnick, thankfully, does the opposite. He takes us with him as he paints the most honest and unassuming landscapes—he uses his intimate knowledge of light's idiosyncrasies to depict the unique spaces in which he meanders. Robert Hughes once said that space liberates, and Resnick reminds us of this every time we rest our gaze upon his illuminated scenes. Through Resnick's paintings we exalt nature's healing properties, and walk away with vision restored. – Jane Hutchison, curator, Odon Wagner Contemporary
For more information about Don Resnick's oil paintings, works on paper and serigraphs please contact the gallery curator at [email protected] or by phone at +1 (416) 962-0438.
To view the available collection of Don Resnick’s artworks at Odon Wagner Contemporary please CLICK HERE (you will be redirected to another page on this website). | philosophy |
https://twistinthetaile.com/2014/05/19/whats-the-point-in-having-a-heart/ | 2021-07-23T16:28:33 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-31/segments/1627046149929.88/warc/CC-MAIN-20210723143921-20210723173921-00699.warc.gz | 0.892788 | 210 | CC-MAIN-2021-31 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2021-31__0__150719559 | en | His sapphire eyes flashed. “You marry the person you love – and none other,” he said, and she laughed. “You’re mocking me! You’re laughing in my face!”
“You deserve to be laughed at for such foolish thoughts! I spoke from my soul; you speak only from selfishness.”
“You’re remarkably judgemental.”
“What’s the point in having a mind if you don’t use it to make judgements?”
“What’s the point in having a heart if you don’t use it to spare others from the harsh judgements of your mind?”
– Sarah J Maas, Throne of Glass
Don’t laugh at people when they say things that they’re embarrassed about. They probably won’t make the same mistake twice, unless they’re Dorian Havilliard (see above). | philosophy |
http://slsschool.edu.pk/ | 2015-08-27T21:26:31 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-35/segments/1440644059993.5/warc/CC-MAIN-20150827025419-00051-ip-10-171-96-226.ec2.internal.warc.gz | 0.953042 | 474 | CC-MAIN-2015-35 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2015-35__0__114286999 | en | |SLS --- The School with a Vision|
|It has been SLS’s endeavour to provide children the best possible schooling within the least possible fees. To this end, we can safely say that as SLS stands today, you will find no other institution providing the kind of academic standards, co-curricular facilities and purpose built campus environment that SLS provides within the fee structure it has kept --- and we pare proud of it.
SLS firmly believes that as you make your decision, you will find no better combination of quality and value than at SLS... We call it… THE SLS ADVANTAGE!
SLS Montessori & School is a private co-educational English medium day school, which offers comprehensive guidance to students in the Montessori, & Classes I through Class X.
SLS started as a very small institution and with the help, support, and suggestions of the parents it has grown vertically and simultaneously mushroomed horizontally. Today, by the grace of God and parents support, the school has many campuses spread over 8 different locations in Rawalpindi and Islamabad.
The philosophy of SLS places emphasis on:-
- The dignity and worth of each student.
- Development of responsibility to self and to society.
- Development of a positive self image.
- Development of a strong foundation for academic achievement.
- Encouragement of critical thinking skills and personal creativity.
Students are given the opportunity to develop a personal set of values that will help them to make responsible choices.
SLS recognizes the great responsibility it has to both students and parents. It strives to communicate with parents formally and informally. SLS promotes and supports many phases of students’ growth i.e. physical, academic, personal, social and religious. SLS has selected the prism ‘which splits light into a rainbow-like spectrum of seven colours as its school insignia. The philosophy behind this insignia is that all children (Light) when they enter SLS (Prism) are endowed with a latent potential which, when nourished, burgeon into colourful abilities and capabilities (Spectrum). The school name which is also its motto “Seek the Light and Spread it” invites children to acquire the light of knowledge and spread it where ever they go. | philosophy |
https://www.newvillageacademyannapolis.org/teaching-at-new-village-academy | 2023-12-11T16:19:07 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679515260.97/warc/CC-MAIN-20231211143258-20231211173258-00089.warc.gz | 0.969413 | 397 | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2023-50__0__92436074 | en | Our Foundational Beliefs
Every team member at New Village Academy must be convinced that innovative ways of thinking about education are needed to meet the needs of a large segment of our student population.
We don’t have to agree on everything, but some basic premises are essential to being able to do this work together:
1) Students deserve to have their cultural identity affirmed, their needs met, and their aspirations supported in school – to feel that they are seen and heard, that their work is meaningful, and will prepare them for the life they envision for themselves.
2) Students deserve to be treated with dignity and respect at all times – especially when they have made mistakes. The traditional punitive response to mistakes is not working and alternative, restorative approaches are needed to address mistakes and misunderstandings, to heal harm, bring students back into the community, and support growth.
3) Teaching and learning happen best in the context of strong, respectful relationships and supportive community.
4) Learning should be grounded in depth of understanding, critical thinking, and authentic application of learning to real-world contexts, rather than “coverage” of content and seat time in worksheet-based classrooms.
5) Success should be defined by genuine preparation for real life – college or career, active citizenship, and personal/interpersonal growth - rather than by credits earned, test scores, or GPAs.
6) Parents and community members have an essential role in the education of our youth – as supportive teachers and listeners, as mentors and advocates.
7) Young people are capable of much more than we have given them credit for – they should be taken seriously and expected to take responsibility for their own education, and for making our community a better place.
8) Our Annapolis community and its individual members are enriched and made more resilient when adults, businesses, young people, and organizations come together to ensure that all of us are thriving, especially our youth. | philosophy |
http://www.kneehigh.co.uk/page/making_a_show.php | 2015-10-06T10:18:03 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-40/segments/1443736678592.48/warc/CC-MAIN-20151001215758-00041-ip-10-137-6-227.ec2.internal.warc.gz | 0.954262 | 1,178 | CC-MAIN-2015-40 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2015-40__0__29930229 | en | There is no formula to the way we make theatre. However, it always starts with the story. No, it starts before then. It starts with an itch, a need, an instinct.
Each one is raw, relevant and personal. Stories have an ability to present themselves, to emerge as if from nowhere. But they never are from nowhere. This is the seminal moment of instinct. This is when your subconscious stakes its claim and intervenes in your carefully ordered life. I sit up when a story taps me on the shoulder. I respect co-incidence. I listen to impulse. One of my most hated questions when making theatre is ‘Why?'. ‘Because', I want to answer, ‘Because...'.
For me, making theatre is an excavation of feelings long since buried, a journey of understanding. Bruno Bettelheim in ‘The Uses of Enchantment' his book about children's relationship to fiction, states that "our greatest need and most difficult achievement is to find meaning in our lives". He argues that by revealing the true content of folktales, children can use them to cope with their baffling and confusing emotions. My fascination with certain stories is fuelled by my own subconscious. The Red Shoes charts the pain of loss, obsession and addiction, The Wooden Frock, follows the slow and faltering healing process, Tristan & Yseult is a poem to love and its madness and The Bacchae a terrifying glimpse at the beast in us all. These are not children's themes but I often approach them in a childlike way. In my experience, our basic needs and desires are the same - to be communicated with, to be delighted, to be surprised, to be scared. We want to be part of something and we want to feel. We want to find meaning in our lives.
The event of live theatre is a rare chance to deliver all these needs. We can have a collective experience, unique to the group of people assembled in the theatre. I don't want the fourth wall constantly and fearfully placed between the actors and their audience, I want the actors to speak to their accomplices, look at them, to respond to them. I want a celebration, a collective gasp of amazement. I want the world to transform in front of the audiences eyes and demand that they join in with the game. Theatre is nothing without the engagement of the audience's creativity. Theatre takes us right back to Bruno Bettelheim and his belief in the therapeutic and cathartic nature of stories. We tell them because we need them.
Months before rehearsals begin, I start work with the creative team. We gaze at books and films, sketch and begin to form a concept; an environment in which the story can live, in which the actors can play. This physical world holds meaning and narrative, it is as much a story telling tool as the written word. Stu Barker (musical director and composer) and I exchange music we have heard, that inspires us or just feels right. We talk of themes and feelings. From these conversations he creates a musical palette of melodies and sound-scapes. With the writer or writers, we talk and dream. We map out the structure and the overall shape of the piece. They go away and write collections of poems or lyrics or ideas. Each writer works in a different way but what none of them do is to write a script or a scene in isolation.
It is this fertile palette of words, music and design that we bring to the rehearsal room. As I said, Kneehigh is a team. The shared imagination is greater than any individuals so we begin the rehearsal process by returning to the story. We tell it to each other, scribble thoughts on huge pieces of paper, relate it to our own experience. We create characters, always looking to serve and subvert the story. Actors like Mike Shepherd and Craig Johnson delight with their deft improvisation, breathing life and naughtiness into the bones of the story, performers like Bec Applebee and Eva Magyar use their painfully eloquent bodies to create physical poetry and story, Giles King and Tristan Sturrock tickle and disarm with their tragic clowns. Stu's music is used to help create the world, to guide and inform improvisation and release feeling. Lighting is used from day one, the design is developed with ideas coming from the devising team. The writers are in rehearsal. They watch and inspire, feeding in their poetry, their lyrics. They respond to improvisation and craft scenes and characters alongside the actors. Layer upon layer the world is created, the story released.
We lay the foundations, then we forget them. If you stay true to the fundamental relationship between yourself, your team and the subject matter, the piece will take on a life if its own. Armed with instinct, play and our building blocks of music, text and design, Kneehigh do fearless battle. One of our most used phrases in the process is ‘hold your nerve'. There is no room for neurosis or doubt, these will only undermine the process, hold your nerve, stay open and delight in the privilege of making theatre.
Each writer, Anna Maria Murphy, Carl Grose and Tom Morris bring their own beautiful and distinctive voice to the work. But remember, these texts represent just one layer of the worlds that Kneehigh creates. As you read, close your eyes from time to time. Let a tune drift back from your childhood or recall a painting that made your heart pound. Remember falling in love or losing control, leaving a loved one or laughing ‘til you cried. Now the work lives. Now there is a connection. Now there is meaning.
Emma Rice - Joint Artistic Director, Kneehigh | philosophy |
https://brooklynsoundlab.com/project/finding-freedom/ | 2023-12-03T12:06:00 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100499.43/warc/CC-MAIN-20231203094028-20231203124028-00127.warc.gz | 0.937987 | 349 | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2023-50__0__126678423 | en | There are many forms of liberation – some that exist at the mercy of circumstance and others that can never be taken away. In this stirring and timely collection of stories, essays, poems, and letters, Jarvis Jay Masters explores the meaning of true freedom on his road to inner peace through Buddhist practice. He reveals his life as a young African American man surrounded by violence, his entanglement in the criminal justice system, and – following an encounter with Tibetan Buddhist teacher Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche – an unfolding commitment to nonviolence and peacemaking. At turns joyful, heartbreaking, frightening, and soaring with profound insight, Masters’ story offers a vision of hope and the possibility of freedom in even the darkest of times.
“This is one of my favorite books, which I have often referred to in my teachings. I am delighted that it will have a wider publication now so that more people can read these wonderful heartfelt stories.” —from the foreword by Pema Chödrön
“It is a privilege and joy to read Jarvis Masters’s account of his spiritual struggle to find freedom at the edge of life. Everyone should read this book.” —Robert A. F. Thurman, author of Essential Tibetan Buddhism
“An inspiring, even exhilarating teaching on the life of a peacemaker in the midst of rage and despair, and in the shadow of the execution chamber.” —Bernie Glassman, founder of Zen Peacemakers International
“As he finds some measure of freedom inside a maximum security prison, Jarvis teaches me how to find freedom in my unfenced life.” —Susan Moon, coauthor of What Is Zen? | philosophy |
https://lotsawahouse.blog/2015/07/03/happy-birthday-your-holiness/ | 2022-11-26T13:46:19 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-49/segments/1669446706291.88/warc/CC-MAIN-20221126112341-20221126142341-00178.warc.gz | 0.900928 | 199 | CC-MAIN-2022-49 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2022-49__0__237124572 | en | | Fourteenth Dalai Lama Series | #HHDL80 | #DalaiLama80
In the heavenly realm of Tibet, surrounded by a chain of snow mountains,
The source of all happiness and help for beings
Is Tenzin Gyatso—Chenrezig in person—
May his life be secure for hundreds of kalpas!
As the whole world celebrates His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s 80th birthday on 6 July 2015, we at Lotsawa House pay homage to this great teacher and champion of peace, compassion and universal responsibility. To mark the occasion, we remind readers that we offer the following texts to support your prayers for His Holiness’s long life and the fulfilment of all his aspirations:
Prayer for the Fulfilment of His Holiness’s Aspirations
composed by His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama at the request of Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche | philosophy |
https://altaisadvisors.com/value-investing/ | 2021-02-28T09:56:36 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-10/segments/1614178360745.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20210228084740-20210228114740-00501.warc.gz | 0.931824 | 400 | CC-MAIN-2021-10 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2021-10__0__187956546 | en | Over the course of past few years, I had the pleasure of interacting with many investors across India and the globe. Leaving aside value pretenders and speculators, each seems to have a peculiar definition of value investing. Some go only for cigarbutts, while some go for multi year growth stocks. I think that this is but natural – investing is a reflection of one’s attitude and experiences in life. These interactions have greatly enriched my knowledge base; and have helped me evolve my distinct investing style.
Value investing is not about low P/B or P/E stocks; it’s not just about ‘buy and hold’, but it’s a comprehensive investing philosophy. It recognizes the behavioral aspect of investing – that there are cycles of greed and fear. It recognizes the uncertainty inherent in business environment and our inability to predict the future. It recognizes that markets are a voting machine in the short term, and a weighing machine in the long term. It’s a method to increase the probability of return by lowering the risk in the investment.
Value investing is based on 4 fundamental principles –
1. Circle of Competence: Investing in what you know, and where you have an edge.
2. Mr. Market: Investing based on own conviction, and not according to moods of the market.
3. Margin of Safety: Buying securities at a steep discount to a conservative valuation of the underlying business.
4. Low cost structure: Developing a low cost strategy – avoiding costs related to trading, taxes, intermediary etc.
While these make intuitive sense, it takes a lot of discipline to practice this in the real world – with high market volatility, one click transactions, experts with advice at the drop of a hat, and continuous information overload…
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https://shaklaandtariya.com/en/who-we-are/ | 2023-12-02T12:32:54 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100399.81/warc/CC-MAIN-20231202105028-20231202135028-00598.warc.gz | 0.915943 | 253 | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2023-50__0__131783282 | en | Who We Are
Shakla & Tariya is a term in Aramaic that means give and take, an exchange of words, a dialogue or a discussion. The spirit of Shakla & Tariya is reflected in our world of values:
We believe that focusing on structuring a negotiation process and the way it is managed, with consideration for the day after, is important and essentially impacts the content and results of a negotiation.
We believe that emotion is the main driver of interpersonal behavior and of the way we make decisions, and it is therefore important to build a relationship based on trust and listening, and to establish an ethical system anchored in curiosity, humility, stamina in a discomfort zone, and empowering the other, which enhance the negotiation process.
We empower and assist individuals, businesses, organizations and communities, in Israel and internationally, to grow and prosper, using negotiation methodologies developed by the founder of Shakla & Tariya, Atty. Michael Tsur, and the staff of Shakla & Tariya who specialize in the Tsur Method
Atty. Michael Tsur, Founder of Shakla & Tariya and Developer of the Tsur Method
Michael Tsur Atty., Shakla & Tariya Founder | philosophy |
https://www.wisdomofmeditation.com/the-gift-of-happiness/ | 2021-10-28T18:25:24 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-43/segments/1634323588398.42/warc/CC-MAIN-20211028162638-20211028192638-00716.warc.gz | 0.961935 | 1,210 | CC-MAIN-2021-43 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2021-43__0__2369997 | en | One aspect of Christmas is the tradition of exchanging gifts as a symbol of expressing appreciation. Because my Guru embodied a state of unconditional freedom and love, those who came to sit with him often wanted to offer a gift to show their gratitude. But what to bring someone with such modest needs? So, when they would ask, “Swamiji, what can I bring you?” he would answer, “Just be happy. This is the greatest gift.”
It seems so simple, even naive. Why is it more difficult to be happy than to buy a gift? Why, when everyone‟s true wish is to be happy and to spread happiness to all, why do we not see evidence of that happiness – not just at celebrations, but at every moment?
After considering this question for many years, I would like to share my research findings as my Christmas gift to you, the reader.
To unwrap the gift, you must become aware of the nature of the mind, not as ‘your’ mind, but as ‘the’ mind. Meditation and Self enquiry (satsang) strengthen a power of observation that is not bewitched by, and thereby entangled in your personal story dancing centre stage. This power of observation reveals that the mind’s patterns that make up the collective human experience do not imprint that pattern on You, the Witness Self, whose nature is freedom.
This enquiry leads us to examine how these mind patterns evolved – from an innocent, little girl or boy, who, being the nature of pure awareness, observed all that was around. We observed, we absorbed, we started to explore things, their names and their purposes, and we made meaning from sounds we heard repeated again and again.
We felt all kinds of feelings and learnt so many things as elders steered us through this complex maze called education, imprinting on the mind what is right and what is wrong. Even with the best intentions to nourish and support a child‟s self-esteem, the elders must „correct‟ the child in order for them to learn how to master this marvel of engineering – the body and mind.
Being told we are right felt great, and being told we are wrong felt the opposite. And so, as instinct dictates, we learnt to seek the „good‟ and erect barriers to shield us from „wrong‟, all the while perpetuating and cementing a personal identity that struggles to be seen as right and suffers from feeling the underlying sense of wrong.
Understanding how the conditioning process impacted and shaped our sense of self, does not give us license to indulge in regret and blame. But rather, when freed from a charged emotional response to our personal drama, the power of our true nature rises out of the helplessness that etched an imaginary identity of personal hurts that we are not recognised or supported by those in whom we invested our self worth.
We are the in-dwellers of this body, governed by a very fine intelligence that projects through a personal lens to interact with this formed existence. We were taught a liturgy of rules on how to manoeuvre the body/mind to be ‘proper’ in this ever- shifting world, but not taught how to be happy, joyful, creative, and free of pride, hatred and envy.
These rules did not secure us in love, nor relieve us from selfishness, worry and fear. We were not taught how to be at ease with ourselves and with others. We were not given the knowledge of how to work with vigour and yet not exhaust ourselves nor squander our resources. The rules did not set a wise course of action when faced with doubt and confusion. Where is the manual to show us the way to be in touch with our true nature – happiness?
Meditation is to give value to the manual of Self Knowledge. To read and assimilate its wisdom opens a vision that sees the changing physical nature – body, mind, senses, world, relations, experiences – AND, ‘sees’ with inner awareness, the subtle, unchanging, formless power, the basis upon which the physical nature exists.
Due to our training, the mind divided these powers, manifest and unmanifest, but in truth they are one and the same, just as earth and earthen jug are one and the same. When we realise we are whole, our consciousness unites the otherwise fragmented sense of Self, and personal hurts, worries, and frustrations are healed.
In the light of Oneness, it is clear that your true nature was not born with the body, nor will it die with the body. This clarity reveals that you are not a victim of the conditioned human drama, existing in between birth and death. You are forever free, but … only you can give this most precious gift to yourself.
Having received your own gift, you will not keep identifying yourself with the needs of the body. You will manage this body, nourishing it with love and respect.
Having received this gift, you will not overindulge the demands of the senses that seek fulfillment in fleeting things.
Having received this gift, you will not entertain the gripping dramas of ego projections and defenses, carrying a sense of wrongness, of lack, of worry, and in need of validation.
Having received this gift, you will not be upset by words and their meanings to feel small under the burden of how you appear to others.
Having received this gift of your own Self, you will not retaliate from not feeling appreciated and lick your wounds of self pity, sustaining the vicious illusion that you are not lovable and beautiful just as you are.
Having received the most precious gift of Self Awareness, you will return to innocence, pure Being, pure awareness, pure love, but with the manual in hand that steers you to see where happiness lies. In You. | philosophy |
https://jenniferkuhnsmosaic.blogspot.com/2023/05/the-significance-of-metamorphosis.html | 2023-09-22T10:32:23 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-40/segments/1695233506399.24/warc/CC-MAIN-20230922102329-20230922132329-00388.warc.gz | 0.957194 | 449 | CC-MAIN-2023-40 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2023-40__0__83972119 | en | As I've been applying for grants, seeking donations and promoting the Metamorphosis mural project, I've been describing the theme and message as a celebration of diversity and inclusivity, personal and societal transformation, and of individuals becoming their most authentic selves.
That's the nutshell version. Yesterday, I was asked to further elucidate the message of the project for someone interested in organizing a group butterfly-making event. I've been trying to organize the miasma of my thoughts on the subject, but I find it impossible to condense it into one clear statement.
This is in large part because I do not believe in hitting people over the head with art, especially community-based projects. I feel it is my job to amplify the voices of the participants, and to do my best to include marginalized perspectives. This is not a project that was commissioned by an entity to make a particular statement; it is a grass roots project that I felt motivated to offer my community.
|A mock-up of the mural concept on the wall at 425 4th Ave. Olympia, WA|
The foundation of the concept is rooted in my conviction that a diverse society is stronger, richer and more fun than homogeneity. When we embrace each other's differences, we all benefit from the unique strengths that we collectively bring to the table. In the current climate of culture war, I am gravely concerned for the safety and well-being of my LGBTQIA, BIPOC, and Jewish friends and family.
It is not my place to position myself as a spokesperson for any of the above-mentioned groups. My hope is to include as many voices as possible of those who are marginalized and those who support them in a message of solidarity.
|That's my kid at a Monarch Sanctuary in Michoacan during the 2016 migration.|
|All of the giant clusters hanging from the trees are masses of butterflies!|
The butterfly (usually a Monarch) is a ubiquitous symbol in Mexico and for Mexican Americans, representing the act of migration. Immigration policies in the U.S. are extremely problematic, and the results are devastating. It is impossible for me to facilitate this mural without acknowledging this layer of meaning and metaphor. | philosophy |
https://stnicholasprimaryschool.org.uk/philosophy-for-children-p4c/ | 2022-07-01T23:55:42 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-27/segments/1656103947269.55/warc/CC-MAIN-20220701220150-20220702010150-00149.warc.gz | 0.968272 | 412 | CC-MAIN-2022-27 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2022-27__0__213987665 | en | This week we were thinking about creativity. What does it mean to you? How can we show creativity? Is everyone creative?
Each class carried out a P4C enquiry.
Early Years and Key Stage One looked at ‘The Dot’ by Peter H. Reynolds. This book explores how a little girl, Vashti doesn’t think she is good at art. Vashti simply marks her paper with a dot. She doesn’t think of this ‘painting’ as art until her teacher asks her to sign it, and then proceeds to hang it up. The question arises: Is Vashti’s dot painting art?
The classes all came up with their own questions:
The older children watched a video about creativity made by Kingston University.
Each class thought about these questions:
Is creativity an art or a science?
Is creativity a way of thinking or a way of being?
Is creativity a quality or a habit?
Year 6 created this question to discuss:
During Kindness week, we are introducing a whole school stimulus for P4C. This means that children from EYFS all the way to Year 6 are shown the same video to discuss. This is a fantastic opportunity to look at how our children’s philosophical thinking progresses throughout the school.
The children have then been given four opinions about the video:
Corner 1. The bird should not have stolen the worms from the dog’s boat
Corner 2. The bird was allowed to steal because she was feeding her starving children
Corner 3. The fisherman should have shared the worms with the bird.
Corner 4. It is ok that the bird stole from the dog because she brought him some fish
The children were asked to stand next to the opinion that they agreed with the most.
Have a look at the video with your child/ren….what opinion do you agree with the most, and why? | philosophy |
https://imaginaryelevators.blog/2022/08/04/seeing-is-believing-sometimes/ | 2023-05-29T03:04:21 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-23/segments/1685224644574.15/warc/CC-MAIN-20230529010218-20230529040218-00536.warc.gz | 0.949146 | 663 | CC-MAIN-2023-23 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2023-23__0__299327918 | en | The Invisible – written by Alcides Villaça, illustrated by Andrés Sandoval, translated from the Portuguese by Flávia Rocha in collaboration with Endi Bogue Hartigan
Tapioca Stories, 2020
It’s difficult to do justice to this innovative new picture book by Alcides Villaça and Andrés Sandoval. Not only does it, like many works from Tapioca Stories, defy the age recommendations of the genre, but it is technically innovative. Using red overlay pages that obscure parts of the images, The Invisible embodies its central question. What does it mean to see and be seen? Children and adults will both feel immersed in this exploration, where everyday reality and dreams of freedom interact.
To a child, the idea of being able to escape the constraints of world controlled by adults seems fantastic, in every sense of the word. The boy in the book doesn’t merely contemplate this superpower; he experiments with it. Red overlays cause the red components of images to seemingly disappear, so that the act of reading itself becomes a kind superpower. (In fact, we always like to convince children that it actually is!) The pictures remind me both of Chagall’s people not always bound to earth, and of Maira Kalman’s affectionate and funny portraits and city scenes. But Sandoval’s style is definitely his own.
Villaça’s words also bridge generations. They are simple and clear for children, aphoristic for adults. “To not be seen at home…/To not be seen at school, not on the street, not anywhere” is a child’s dream come true, but also a reflection on the possibility of eluding any limitation in life. For adults, that could be work, relationships, or self-image. Being invisible isn’t purely a negative state because it confers the ability to do magic, as when the boy imagines he can make a broom dance. There are shades of The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, but also an allusion to how modest a child’s expectation of power might be. Making a broom dance, kissing a girl on the cheek, singing in Grandma’s ear: these are not world-changing gestures, but they matter.
Each expression of the boy’s thoughts is independent, but also part of a sequence. As he contemplates the idea of being invisible, he begins to question if its excitement might wear off. After all, “If someone is never seen, do they even know they exist?” Villaça manages to convey a child thinking aloud, not an adult philosophizing. A child narrator is never unmediated, because an adult has written the book. In The Invisible, we know that the author is there, and is himself invisible. But his creation is as tangible as a child wishing he could erase the teacher’s lesson, or attend a soccer game. Villaça and Sandoval celebrate both being invisible and making oneself known. After all, as the boy puts it, “I’m not supposed to be some kind of flying ghost.” No one is, as this wonderful book communicates with such distinction. | philosophy |
https://majestyspleasure.com/go-ahead-indulge-in-that-extra-round-of-dessert/ | 2021-01-27T17:43:47 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-04/segments/1610704828358.86/warc/CC-MAIN-20210127152334-20210127182334-00752.warc.gz | 0.96758 | 360 | CC-MAIN-2021-04 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2021-04__0__2920211 | en | by: Isabella Sarlija
With wellness on the rise, many people find themselves delving into the world of clean eating, mindful meditation, and setting proper goals to help them achieve balance in their lives. Many people feel the gratifying effects of taking care of themselves, which is all we can hope for in a society filled with external pressures that take us away from our true selves. However, we cannot deny that we sometimes indulge in days full of binge-watching shows, naps-turned mid-day sleep sessions, and eating not-so-good-for-you foods.
Today, we would like to talk about that last part: food. We all understand that we must nourish our body with whole organic foods to achieve wellness. Yet, in a society built on pressure, it’s easy for us to punish ourselves when we do indulge in a few cookies from time to time. Although some pressure is beneficial, we find that there is not enough time for pleasure when there is too much pressure. When we punish ourselves, we surround ourselves with negativity, which strays us from our paths of enlightenment.
Many people tend to think that wellness exists on a grocery list, but sticking to strict diets and workout routines leaves little time for an individual to indulge in the things that make their minds happy. The only way to achieve true wellness is to have both a body and mind that is cared for. Of course, we wouldn’t recommend eating an entire cake every night in the name of self-care, but we want you to know that you are not failing if you treat yourself to something you love every once in a while, be easy on yourself. So, if you are craving it, have that second round of dessert, guilt-free. | philosophy |
https://www.willinghamcote.com/blog/supreme-court-affirms-the-right-for-same-sex-couples-to-marry-legally-now-what/ | 2023-06-10T07:57:02 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-23/segments/1685224657144.94/warc/CC-MAIN-20230610062920-20230610092920-00062.warc.gz | 0.957123 | 296 | CC-MAIN-2023-23 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2023-23__0__35118505 | en | The United States Supreme Court confirmed the right of same-sex couples to marry today in its decision in Obergefell v Hodges. In its opinion, the Court found that “same-sex couples may exercise the fundamental right to marry in all States.” It also found that “there is no lawful basis for a State to refuse to recognize a lawful same-sex marriage performed in another State on the ground of its same-sex character.”
In reaching its conclusion, the Court extended the fundamental right to marry guaranteed by the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to same-sex couples based on four principles. The Court reasoned that (1) “the right to personal choice regarding marriage is inherent in the concept of individual autonomy,” (2) “the right to marry is fundamental because it supports a two-person union unlike any other in its importance to the committed individuals,” (3) the right to marry “safeguards children and families and thus draws meaning from related rights of childrearing, procreation and education,” and (4) “the Nation’s traditions make clear that marriage is a keystone of our social order.”
The Court also made clear in its opinion that the rights of same-sex couples to exercise this fundamental right cannot be delayed. Same-sex couples do not need to wait for legislative action to exercise these rights. | philosophy |
http://roalddahl.com/blog/2015/january/ten-memorable-roald-dahl-quotes | 2019-02-22T21:37:38 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-09/segments/1550247526282.78/warc/CC-MAIN-20190222200334-20190222222334-00434.warc.gz | 0.963367 | 422 | CC-MAIN-2019-09 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2019-09__0__237491172 | en | Roald Dahl wrote many quotable lines. But do you know which quote appeared in which story? Here is our unscientific top ten...
A person who has good thoughts cannot ever be ugly. You can have a wonky nose and a crooked mouth and a double chin and stick-out teeth, but if you have good thoughts they will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely.
It's always slightly surprising to realise that this quote is from The Twits - a story that contains possibly Roald Dahl's least lovely characters. It specifically relates to Mrs Twit, whose lack of good thoughts leads her to become uglier and uglier...
And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don't believe in magic will never find it.
This quote is from Roald Dahl's last children's story, The Minpins. In fact it is the very last line of that very last story.
A little nonsense now and then, is relished by the wisest men.
Don't gobblefunk around with words.
It's impossible to make your eyes twinkle if you aren't feeling twinkly yourself.
So please, oh please, we beg, we pray
Go throw your TV set away
And in its place you can install
A lovely bookshelf on the wall…
Never do anything by halves if you want to get away with it. Be outrageous. Go the whole hog.
It doesn't matter who you are or what you look like, so long as somebody loves you.
All you do is to look
At a page in this book
Because that’s where we always will be.
No book ever ends
When it’s full of your friends
This rhyme is from The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me.
If I were a headmaster I would get rid of the history teacher and get a chocolate teacher instead. | philosophy |
http://www.tedsanders.com/nate-silver/ | 2020-02-22T07:16:24 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-10/segments/1581875145654.0/warc/CC-MAIN-20200222054424-20200222084424-00254.warc.gz | 0.970031 | 776 | CC-MAIN-2020-10 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2020-10__0__20130284 | en | Two men argue over a coin. Mr Blue believes the coin has a 90% chance of landing heads. Mr Red believes it's only 50%. To test their beliefs, they agree to flip the coin. The coin is flipped once, and it lands heads. Who was proved right?
This question is surprisingly deep, so let's take it one step at a time.
Clearly, after only one flip, we can't say for certain who was right, since both men predicted that heads had a chance of coming up (they only disagreed on the probabilities, not the possibilities). And yet, there is a sense that Mr Blue, who predicted a 90% chance of heads, was more corroborated by reality than Mr Red, who predicted only a 50% chance. But how much more credit does Mr Blue deserve?
It turns out that there is a beautifully simple method for calculating how new evidence should affect old beliefs (like how a coin landing heads should affect your belief of who's right). Here's how it works:
To visualize the probabilities better, let's imagine that we live in 100 possible universes.
Before the flip, let's suppose we trusted each man equally. In other words, in 50 possible universes Mr Blue was right and in the other 50 possible universes Mr Red was right.
Now, in the universes where Mr Blue is right, the coin will land heads 90% of the time. But in the universes where Mr Red is right, the coin will land heads only 50% of the time.
Before we flip the coin, we expect to find ourselves in any of these 100 possible universes with equal likelihood. But what about after the coin flip?
After the coin flips heads, it's time to update our beliefs. Now we know our universe cannot be one in which tails was flipped, narrowing down the number of possible universes to 70. Of these 70 universes remaining, we see Mr Blue is right in 45 of them while Mr Red is right in 25 of them.
Before the coin flip, we believed each man equally. That is, we thought Mr Blue had a 50% chance of being right and we thought Mr Red had a 50% chance of being right. However, after the coin flip, we should believe Mr Blue has a 45/70 (64%) chance of being right while Mr Red only has a 25/70 (36%) chance of being right.
The coin flip increased our confidence in Mr Blue by only 14 percentage points!
So what does any of this have to do with Nate Silver and title of this post?
Some time before the 2012 US Presidential Election, Nate Silver's forecast model showed that Obama had a 90% chance of winning the election. At the same time, David Brooks, Joe Scarborough, and others argued that the election was still a 50/50 toss up.
When Obama eventually won, many people in the media believed that the outcome vindicated Nate Silver's high degree of confidence and his polling model. But in doing so, they are ignoring the mathematical approach that Nate Silver preaches. The single data point of Obama's victory should only boost our belief in Nate Silver by a modest amount.
By itself, an Obama victory is not enough to prove the model right, and in fact a Romney victory (which Nate Silver predicted would happen with 10% confidence) would not have been enough to prove the model wrong either.
My point is not that Nate Silver's model is bad or that we shouldn't trust him (in fact, I think his model is great and there are many reasons to trust him). Rather, my point is that we shouldn't judge the success or failure of a model on limited, noisy data. The right way to judge a probabilistic model is to ask whether it makes sense, not whether it matches a few data points. | philosophy |
https://tillwell.ca/finding-meaning-in-life-lessons-from-literary-masters-on-death-and-dignity/ | 2024-03-02T19:40:40 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-10/segments/1707947475897.53/warc/CC-MAIN-20240302184020-20240302214020-00375.warc.gz | 0.938702 | 1,273 | CC-MAIN-2024-10 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2024-10__0__90150553 | en | Embracing Mortality: The Gateway to Personal Growth
As we journey through life, we are often confronted with the harsh reality of our own mortality, begging the question, “What makes life truly meaningful and dignified?” Literary works by esteemed authors such as Leo Tolstoy, William Faulkner, Toni Morrison, Virginia Woolf, and Sylvia Plath offer profound insights into this age-old question, providing valuable lessons on finding meaning and maintaining dignity in the face of death.
The Search for Personal Meaning: A Path to Transformation
One of the key lessons these authors impart is the importance of searching for personal meaning. Engaging in introspection and self-exploration allows individuals to identify their values, passions, and purpose, ultimately making their lives more fulfilling. This search for meaning often leads to personal transformation, as seen in the characters in Tolstoy’s The Death of Ivan Ilyich, where Ivan Ilyich’s terminal illness forces him to reevaluate his life choices, leading him to exclaim, “What if my whole life has been wrong?”; in Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway, where Clarissa Dalloway’s reflections on her past decisions and her connection with Septimus Warren Smith offer her a deeper understanding of life, as she ponders, “Did it matter, then, she asked herself…what one did?”; and in Plath’s The Bell Jar, as Esther Greenwood’s struggle with mental illness prompts her to question societal expectations and find her own identity, confiding, “I took a deep breath and listened to the old brag of my heart: I am, I am, I am.”
The Heart’s Anchor: Nurturing Relationships in the Face of Adversity
Another essential theme is the role of relationships in finding meaning and maintaining dignity. The narratives underscore the importance of nurturing genuine connections with others, providing a source of love, support, and understanding in the face of adversity. Morrison’s Beloved illustrates the significance of family bonds and the process of healing through forgiveness and compassion, as Sethe confronts her traumatic past and finds redemption within her relationships with her surviving daughter Denver and the community, declaring, “Me and you, we got more yesterday than anybody. We need some kind of tomorrow.”; In Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying, the Bundren family’s arduous journey to bury their matriarch, Addie, reveals the complex emotions, motivations, and relationships among the family members, demonstrating the importance of human connection even in the face of death, as Darl reflects, “In a strange room you must empty yourself for sleep. And before you are emptied for sleep, what are you?”
Breaking the Chains: Challenging Societal Expectations
The impact of societal expectations on individual lives is another recurring theme. These authors explore how societal norms can impose constraints on personal choices, often hindering the quest for meaning and dignity. By questioning and challenging these expectations, individuals can make more authentic choices and live more meaningful lives on their own terms, as seen in Woolf’s To the Lighthouse, where Lily Briscoe defies conventional gender roles by pursuing her passion for painting, musing, “It was not a question of knowledge…but of vision. One wanted, she thought, dipping her brush deliberately, to be on a level with ordinary experience, to feel simply that’s a chair, that’s a table”; and in Plath’s The Bell Jar, where Esther Greenwood’s path toward recovery involves rejecting society’s expectations of women and embracing her own desires and ambitions, as she reflects, “The last thing I wanted was infinite security and to be the place an arrow shoots off from. I wanted change and excitement and to shoot off in all directions myself, like the colored arrows from a Fourth of July rocket.”
Rising from the Ashes: Resilience and Redemption
Finally, these works emphasize the importance of cultivating resilience and redemption. Despite facing immense challenges and hardships, many characters ultimately find redemption through personal growth and change. This resilience demonstrates the human capacity for transformation and highlights the potential for a more meaningful existence. In Tolstoy’s The Death of Ivan Ilyich, Ivan’s acceptance of his mortality leads to a newfound understanding of the importance of compassion and authentic relationships, as he realizes, “Death is finished…It is no more!”; while in Morrison’s Beloved, Sethe’s journey toward healing and forgiveness allows her to find redemption and move forward with her life, as she ultimately acknowledges, “Freeing yourself was one thing; claiming ownership of that freed self was another.”
The Timeless Wisdom of Literary Masters: A Beacon in the Darkness
In conclusion, the literary works of Tolstoy, Faulkner, Morrison, Woolf, and Plath offer valuable lessons on finding meaning and maintaining dignity in the face of death. By embracing mortality, searching for personal meaning, fostering genuine relationships, challenging societal expectations, and cultivating resilience and redemption, we can live more fulfilling and meaningful lives. As we navigate the complexities of our own existence, these timeless narratives serve as powerful reminders of the importance of living authentically and cherishing the connections we share with others.
So, the next time you find yourself contemplating life’s big questions or seeking solace in the face of loss, consider the wisdom of these literary masters. They offer guidance on navigating the human experience and finding meaning in the midst of our mortal existence. By embracing the lessons they impart, we can not only enrich our own lives but also honor the memories of those we’ve lost, ensuring that their legacies live on through the meaningful lives we lead.
In the end, it is the pursuit of meaning and dignity in the face of death that makes life truly worth living. Let these authors serve as our guides and elders, inspiring us to live with purpose, authenticity, and compassion, as we cherish the fleeting beauty of our mortal existence. | philosophy |
http://stinibeanie.blogspot.com/ | 2018-12-10T16:03:46 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-51/segments/1544376823348.23/warc/CC-MAIN-20181210144632-20181210170132-00584.warc.gz | 0.968212 | 240 | CC-MAIN-2018-51 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2018-51__0__216739184 | en | I used to think that I wasn't creative. I had an understanding of what was "artistic," and I could never quite get it from my brain, through my hands, and out on paper/clay/etc., so I kind of gave up trying for awhile.
But the thing is, creativity is unique. My brain hoards so many expectations of me... they lurk around, oozing lies and breeding discontent. But here's the truth: My brain, heart, spirit, and hands meld together to express me uniquely. I am made in the image of the most creative Being in the universe! Which means I am creative. :) I can choose to embrace that and explore it, or I can continue to let expectations and fears choke it out.
It might look different than I expect, but am I going to choose to let it be awesome in its own right, or compare it to some unrealistic, "not-me" standard?
I've gotta start somewhere... let it out and see what happens.
There are so. many. ways. to be creative, but I decided to start with watercolor painting.
Where will you start? :) | philosophy |
https://www.ritce2020.hbar.es/news/pysqt/online-seminar-16-maximal-intrinsic-randomness-of-a-quantum-state/ | 2024-04-12T23:51:54 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296816465.91/warc/CC-MAIN-20240412225756-20240413015756-00345.warc.gz | 0.912877 | 202 | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2024-18__0__156055457 | en | Fionnuala Curran (ICFO)
One of the most counterintuitive aspects of quantum theory is its claim that there is intrinsic randomness in the physical world. Arising from the phenomenon of superposition, this intrinsic or private randomness is inaccessible to any eavesdropper, a fact that is exploited in the design of quantum random number generators. We investigate how much intrinsic randomness can be extracted from a characterised quantum state using projective measurements. We consider two different quantifiers of randomness: the conditional min-entropy, which is related to the probability that the most powerful quantum eavesdropper can guess the measurement outcomes, and the conditional von Neumann entropy. We find analytic bounds for both of these quantities and necessary and sufficient conditions for a measurement to achieve the bounds. Interesting, while one always can saturate both bounds by measuring in a basis unbiased to that of the quantum state, the conditions for maximising each of the entropies are, in general, inequivalent. | philosophy |
https://www.thehyperconsciouspodcast.com/alans-speaker-page | 2020-04-07T00:29:08 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-16/segments/1585371662966.69/warc/CC-MAIN-20200406231617-20200407022117-00075.warc.gz | 0.966117 | 597 | CC-MAIN-2020-16 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2020-16__0__159732630 | en | My name is Alan Lazaros, and rather than listing off a bunch of accomplishments or accolades, I’d like to tell you a story.
I was 26 years old, and I’m in New Hampshire with my little cousin. After a fun night of Call of Duty, we headed to TGI Fridays.
I’m driving. It’s a cold and dark winter night, and I don’t know the area.
We get to a triangular intersection, and it looks like the road stays left, but it doesn’t. The road stays right, and I didn’t see the yield sign...
Looking down at the GPS, and in what literally felt like a millisecond, I look up and see the brightest lights I’d ever seen.
A massive, lift-kitted truck was blaring it’s horn not 10 feet away.
I honestly thought that was it…
To this day, that was the scariest moment of my life.
My father passed away in a car accident when I was 2 years old, so I get chills just thinking about this...
Now, if you’ve ever experienced a life or death situation, you know exactly what I’m talking about.
But to someone who hasn’t, the feeling is indescribable.
Fortunately, I was driving a 2004 Volkswagen Passat, which was a steel trap. And both airbags deployed, so no one was seriously injured.
But what I can tell you is that it made me question everything...
If this was the end, would I be proud of who I’ve become? Proud of how I lived?
If that was it, would I be happy with how I spent my time?
Did I live life to the fullest? Did I courageously fight for what I believe in? Did I love fiercely and hold nothing back? Did I pursue my dreams with tenacity, and perhaps most importantly, did I leave the world a better place?
At the end, these are the questions we’ll all ask ourselves.
And for me, I didn’t like the answers…
And that’s why I’m here to speak with you today. I want you to ask yourself the tough questions, and to take stalk of your life before it's too late…
Like me, I want you to start taking life head on, and to never let anyone or anything stop you from pursuing your dreams.
I’m here because I believe in people more than anything else, and I believe in dreams.
You are capable of so much more than you realize right now, and I’m here to prove it to you.
I appreciate your time, and I VERY MUCH look forward to meeting you soon!
Sincerely & with gratitude, | philosophy |
https://www.mrfoxcrafts.com/the-sense-of-wonder-by-rachel-carson/ | 2024-02-28T10:34:08 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-10/segments/1707947474700.89/warc/CC-MAIN-20240228080245-20240228110245-00416.warc.gz | 0.963551 | 1,599 | CC-MAIN-2024-10 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2024-10__0__105256269 | en | You probably know Rachel Carson as the author of “Silent Spring”, the brave woman who was probably the first to raise the issues of environment pollution, a biologist and sincere admirer and explorer of nature. Some people say she was the finest nature writer of the 20th century. She also wrote about the sense of wonder that nature inspires and how we, adults, can help children develop it. Her book The Sense of Wonder shares some of her personal experience and some useful advice.
Why do we need to help children develop a sense of wonder?
As a nature lover, biologist and conservationist, Rachel Carson knew that if people were in touch with nature and contemplated it in awe, they would have less appetite for the activities that destroy the natural world. However, conservation is not the focus of this book. She believes that helping develop the sense of wonder is one of the most valuable gifts children can receive from adults. Once developed in childhood, this attitude has an amazingly lasting nature, and it helps its owner retain their interest and zest for life, no matter what their external circumstances.
Rachel Carson also believed that the sense of wonder is inextricably linked to the motivation to learn, that the foundation of learning is in what we love. Here is why children first need to engage with nature in an emotional way first rather than be taught facts they may not be ready to assimilate.
Other people have written about the need for direct experience of nature as indispensable for healthy childhood development, for the physical and emotional well-being of both children and adults. One of the seminal books on the subject is Richard Louv’s Last Child in the Woods.
Exposing their children to nature and sharing the joy of the experience with them, religious people will add a spiritual dimension – admiration, deep love, respect and gratitude to nature’s creator, etc.
So how could we, adults, help children develop a sense of wonder?
1. We should abstain from our urge to teach children.
Rather, we better just express our emotional response to experiencing nature, our joy of discovery, our pleasure of contemplating beauty, etc. We better be like children rather than take the role of educators. Remember: it is easy to learn about what you love.
2. We should take any opportunity, no matter how messy or inconvenient it could be.
Rain, cold or darkness should not put us off. In fact, they will provide us with opportunities that warm sunny weather simply cannot offer.
“We have let Roger share our enjoyment of things people ordinarily deny children because they are inconvenient, interfering with bedtime, or involving wet clothing that has to be changed or mud that has to be cleaned off the rug. We have let him join us in the dark living room before the big picture window to watch the full moon riding lower and lower toward the far shore of the bay, setting all the water ablaze with silver flames and finding a thousand diamonds in the rocks on the shore as the light strikes the flakes of mica embedded in them. I think we have felt that the memory of such a scene, photographed year after year by his child’s mind, would mean more to him in manhood than the sleep he was losing. He told me it would, in his own way, when we had a full moon the night after his arrival last summer. He sat quietly on my lap for some time, watching the moon and the water and all the night sky, and then he whispered, “I’m glad we came.””The Sense of Wonder, by Rachel Carson
3. We should not be worried about our own ignorance of nature.
Remember: we are not going out to teach but to feel the joy and wonder.
“I sincerely believe that for the child, and for the parent seeking to guide him, it is not half so important to know as to feel. If facts are the seeds that later produce knowledge and wisdom, then the emotions and the impressions of the senses are the fertile soil in which the seeds must grow. The years of early childhood are the time to prepare the soil. Once the emotions have been aroused—a sense of the beautiful, the excitement of the new and the unknown, a feeling of sympathy, pity, admiration, or love—then we wish for knowledge about the object of our emotional response. Once found, it has lasting meaning. It is more important to pave the way for the child to want to know than to put him on a diet of facts he is not ready to assimilate.”The Sense of Wonder, by Rachel Carson
“If you are a parent who feels he has little nature lore at his disposal, there is still much you can do for your child. With him, wherever you are and whatever your resources, you can still look up at the sky—its dawn and twilight beauties, its moving clouds, its stars by night. You can listen to the wind, whether it blows with majestic voice through a forest or sings a many-voiced chorus around the eaves of your house or the corners of your apartment building, and in the listening, you can gain magical release for your thoughts. You can still feel the rain on your face and think of its long journey, its many transmutations, from sea to air to earth. Even if you are a city dweller, you can find some place, perhaps a park or a golf course, where you can observe the mysterious migrations of the birds and the changing seasons. And with your child you can ponder the mystery of a growing seed, even if it be only one planted in a pot of earth in the kitchen window.”The Sense of Wonder, by Rachel Carson
4. “Exploring nature with your child is largely a matter of becoming receptive to what lies all around you.”
A good way to start paying attention is to ask yourself “What if I had never seen this before? What if I never see it again?”.
“It occurred to me that if this were a sight that could be seen only once in a century or even once in a human generation, this little headland would be thronged with spectators. But it can be seen many scores of nights in any year, and so the lights burned in the cottages and the inhabitants probably gave not a thought to the beauty overhead; and because they could see it almost any night perhaps they will never see it.”The Sense of Wonder, by Rachel Carson
5. Discover the world of little things.
Armed with a magnifying glass or a hand lens, take a look at objects you usually take for granted as commonplace or uninteresting.
“A sprinkling of sand grains may appear as gleaming jewels of rose or crystal hue, or as glittering jet beads, or as a mélange of Lilliputian rocks, spines of sea urchins, and bits of snail shells.
A lens-aided view into a patch of moss reveals a dense tropical jungle, in which insects large as tigers prowl amid strangely formed, luxuriant trees. A bit of pond weed or seaweed put in a glass container and studied under a lens is found to be populated by hordes of strange beings, whose activities can entertain you for hours. Flowers (especially the composites), the early buds of leaf or flower from any tree, or any small creature reveal unexpected beauty and complexity when, aided by a lens, we can escape the limitations of the human size scale”The Sense of Wonder, by Rachel Carson
6. Seeing with your eyes is not the only way to experience nature.
Open up your ears and nostrils. Touch with your finger tips. Lie down on the ground. Jump in the air. | philosophy |
http://www.sachikokato.com/2014/01/30/an-extraordinarily-light-touch-on-the-keys-that-serves-j-s-bachs-goldberg-variations-very-well-kato-makes-her-presence-felt/ | 2018-01-17T20:23:43 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-05/segments/1516084886964.22/warc/CC-MAIN-20180117193009-20180117213009-00795.warc.gz | 0.947684 | 690 | CC-MAIN-2018-05 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2018-05__0__246782304 | en | Japanese-American pianist Sachiko Kato shows an extraordinarily light touch on the keys that serves J. S. Bach’s Goldberg Variations very well. The Osaka native who grew up in Los Angeles and studied at Juilliard, where her teachers included Russell Sherman and Jerome Lowenthal, cultivates a quickness in these variations that makes them move through our consciousness with a fleetness that does not preclude the time necessary for their immense musical and philosophical riches to make its impression. So lightly do her hands move across the keyboard that she recalls the original instrument for which Bach wrote this set of variations, the harpsichord, without actually attempting to replicate its sound (which would be both impossible and undesirable). Under her hands, what often appears in other recordings to be ponderous and labored soars toward heaven and plunges to the depths. At 59:15, as opposed to around 75 minutes for many competitive versions, these Goldberg Variations hardly seem to have begun before we reach the final Aria da capo. All the more reason to encore them!
Whether or not we believe the story that Bach wrote the variations for a certain Count Kaiserling who was plagued by insomnia, the fact remains that this music (with no attempt at disparagement) is the perfect prescription for that malady. When we experience insomnia, it is because our minds are too active at bedtime. What we need is not the soothing smarm of musical “wallpaper.” On the contrary, we need something to engage our mind, our imagination, and all our senses, to address the total person and give it a real workout. The Goldberg Variations do this better than any other music that I know.
From the opening Aria that forms the basis for the 30 far-ranging expressions of musical imagination that are to follow, Kato makes her presence felt. The Aria itself, a Sarabande in ¾ time with tastefully expressive ornamentation, seems to promise infinite riches for further development. We are not disappointed. Bach continually presents us with engaging contrasts. Var. 13, for example, a slow, gentle Sarabande with a melody in 32nd notes embellished by swelling tones (appoggiaturas) and the later addition of a second voice, appeals to the inner person, while the succeeding Var. 14, a rapid toccata with many trills and other ornaments that requires considerable hand-crossing, was described by Glenn Gould (one of Kato’s heroes) as “one of the giddiest bits of neo-Scarlatti-ism imaginable.”
When we get to Var. 25, an Adagio in two parts, we have arrived at the deep-water mark of the set. Wanda Landowska characterized it as the “black pearl” of the Goldberg Variations. Gould described this world-weary cantilena as “a master-stroke of psychology,” occurring at the precise moment in the set that it does. As we listen to the thoughtful way Kato approaches this solid synthesis of deep beauty and dark passion, and especially in the way we almost gasp when the second part occurs so unexpectedly (and so rightly), we are in the presence of one of music’s great treasures.
-Phil’s Classical Review (Audio Video Club of Atlanta) | philosophy |
https://independentparty.sites.yale.edu/ | 2023-12-09T07:38:31 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100873.6/warc/CC-MAIN-20231209071722-20231209101722-00150.warc.gz | 0.939033 | 670 | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2023-50__0__118198378 | en | The Independent Party of the Yale Political Union has been historically recognized as the premier forum for free and authentic student debate at Yale. The sole founding party of the Yale Political Union still in existence, dating back to 1934, the IP is the Union’s largest and most ideologically diverse party and the only one that adheres to no specific ideology or political viewpoint; instead we aim to foster robust, open, and wide-ranging political discourse, welcoming a tremendous diversity of perspectives.
Our weekly debates are open to the entire Yale community and address challenging political, cultural, and philosophical issues. Our debate format is easily accessible and relies on Robert’s Rules of Order to ensure that all voices are heard and respected. We encourage everyone–the casual visitor and committed member alike–to ask tough questions, give speeches, and actively explore their own convictions. Recently, we have debated some of the following resolutions: R: Abolish Inheritance, R: Automate the Army, R: Sell Out, R: Public Figures Deserve Private Lives, R: Judge Your Grandmother by the Standards of Her Day, and R: A Good Child Stays Home.
The Independent Party’s motto is “Hear All Sides,” and this is an imperative by which we live. At our debates, you will find bold expressions of opinions from across the political spectrum. One could say that the IP is home to libertarians, socialists, neoconservatives, hard-line moderates, and almost everything in between -but in fact, we are a group of students who resist the claustrophobic categories of “liberal” and “conservative” popular in today’s politics and reject the partisan pressures that demand adherence to a mass-produced political platform, in favor of intellectually honest and authentic approaches to forming and evaluating our worldviews. In the Independent Party we believe that openness of mind is the truest mark of genuine intelligence. Speeches on our floor are not given to win the debate, but to provoke interest and ideological introspection.
Along with our debates, the Independent Party hosts a wide variety of social events throughout the academic year. Whether watching a movie, arguing over drinks, or having a margherita mixer, IPsters are always having fun together. As we like to say, we take our ideas seriously, but we don’t take ourselves too seriously. The IP is one of the closest groups of friends you will find at Yale; the friendships formed in the IP stay with us forever.
We also go to New York City every semester to meet with prominent politicians, journalists, business people, artists, and media personalities. In recent semesters, we have meet with former New York Mayor Ed Koch, Obama Administration health care expert Dr. Ezekiel Emmanuel, Editor-in-Chief of The New Atlantis Eric Cohen, CEO of the New York Public Library Tony Marx, UN Ambassador John Bolton, Historian Eric Foner, and the late William F. Buckley, Jr.
“Yale,” George Pierson famously said, “is at once a tradition, a company of scholars, a society of friends.” The Independent Party is much the same. Please join us at one of our debates this Fall and learn firsthand what this party is all about. | philosophy |
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