Thank you

If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, "thank you,"
that would suffice. ~ eckhart ~

In today's world with the hysteria of swine flu, depression of the economy, terrorist threats and multiple natural disasters, wars and famine our systems have become so heightened with anxiety and fears that its quite simply too hard to "switch off". Worries all around us on top of everyday family and work related stresses are like an onslaught of disaster upon the biochemical makeup of our bodies and minds. We are strangled by fear, hopelessness and worry.

It is well known by scientists and physicians that fear creates an inate "flight or fight" response in the body, increasing levels of Cortisol and Adrenaline, leaving us weakened, exhausted and irritable. The amygdala is the portion of our brains where fear resides and this forms 90% of our response pattern, such that we are often in "hunter" or "survival" mode 24/7. The triggering of the response is automatic and in times of prolonged stress can lead to overload, making the body susceptible to increased risk of physical and mental illnesses. Despite this, our brain can be programmed to overcome this. Allowing space for the mind to unwind and recharge, along with increasing happiness. Also allowing the body to rest in a place where the brain is functioning in a much rarer state, using the neocortex, where we can train it to let go of fear and instead find an inner peace and stability.

According to medical psychologist Dan Baker, Ph. D., author of What Happy People Know, it is neurologically impossible for the brain to react to fear when one exhibits a state of gratitude and thankfulness. Being grateful for what you have rather than what you don't have increases your positive feelings about life and reduces anxiety levels. When you practice appreciation, according to Baker, you'll improve your mood, as your brain focuses on the elements that produce Serotonin (the Happy Hormone) rather than Adrenaline (which increases heart rate and prepares the body for a "fight/flight" response). You can simply learn to "channel" your nerve pathways to an alterior route!

The habit of each day writing down or concentrating on five things that you are grateful for, or showing appreciation to others around you is not a quick fix. It has to become a regular habit over months of practice for the brain to adjust its responses and serotonin levels.

Similarly according to research Professor Robert Emmons, of the University Of California, the quality of "being grateful" boosts the immune system and increases mental health. Grateful people are generally more optimistic, happier , suffer less depression and are more resilient in the face of stress.


Sharing with others and appreciating others around you, seeing good, genuinely valuing their worth and ignoring their faults, gives you a deeper feeling of satisfaction in your life.

To be happy we should "learn" to be grateful for the small blessings we do have, the simple beauties around us and most of all to share.

Our Media Is the Wall

Alt Artist™ - video series coming soon from Alt Artist on Vimeo.

"Here in Beirut we have more freedom than anywhere else"

The AltArtist is a forum for artists that aims to reveal the innovative spirit of artists who live in areas renowned for conflict, and in communities under-represented by the world's media by providing a 60 second documentary of their work.

One of the first artists represented is street artist Oras from Beirut

"I had this idea to bring fun stuff to the streets of Beirut - which can make people smile..."

You can follow The AltArtist on twitter @altartist

Friendship

amazing Sand art

"Friends are like windows through which you see out into the world and back into yourself… If you don’t have friends you see much less than you otherwise might." ~Merle Shain

You've Got a Friend

Drink your way out of poverty ~ tea bag art saves families

Original TBag Designs

is a community of South African artists who live using recycled tea bags as their canvases. The money earned by their art helps support a community of 125 people. Pictured here is Nomsa, who was able to buy a house with the proceeds from her paintings with tea bags.

“The most wonderful thing in the world is hearing the rain on the roof and knowing my children are warm and dry.”

YOu can purchase the artwork online or via retail outlets mentioned on their page.

Ballet

She with one arm ~ he with one leg ~
together hand in hand

A Ballet

Performed by Ma Li (馬麗) and Zhai Xiaowei (翟孝偉).

The music is composed by San Bao. This music is originally from a very popular TV episodes in China, named Qian Shou

Procrastination

Procrastination is opportunity's assassin. ~Victor Kiam

Inspiring Animated Design video "Procrastination" By John Kelly


Nothing is so fatiguing as the eternal hanging on of an uncompleted task.
- William James

U2, White as Snow & Ubuntu

This week I have been particularly inspired by the latest from U2 which cumulated at the end of the week with an impromptu live performance by the band on the top of the BBC Broadcasting House to promote the launch of their 12th studio album No Line On The Horizon. (see Magnificent)

I was especially moved by radio play of the song “White as Snow” which describes the wintery landscape of a soldier dying from a bomb in the snow of Afghanistan.The song's melody is based on an old hymn, Oh Come, Emmanuel, that, according to The Handbook to the Lutheran Hymnal, was composed by "an unknown author, circa 1100".

There is something about the song that catches you, causes you to ache & brings you to a sacred place where you sense the silent passage of a more peaceful horizon beyond the macabre futility of war. It hints of brutal divisons, forsken in the eyes of God, roads that refuse strangers where the only forgiveness of the bloodshed comes from a heart white as snow.

Once I knew there was a love divine
then came a time I thought it
knew me not.
Who can forgive forgiveness when forgiveness is not,
only the land as white as snow.

And the water, it was icy
as it washed over me
and the moon shined above me.

Now this dry ground it bears no fruit at all
only ? under a crescent moon.
The road refuses strangers,
the land, the seeds we sow
where might we find the land as white as snow.

As boys we would go hunting in the woods
to sleep the night shooting out the stars
now the voes of every passing stranger
every face we cannot know

For only a heart could be as white as snow,
for only a heart could be as white as snow






U2 have always been a leading voice in the world for both faith and social causes. This album would seem to bring a subtle emphasis on their stance on war.

official Site U2.com


Bono once commented on Ubuntu ~

"Essentially, what it means is 'I am because we are.' And it's about the interdependence, how we need each other and we have a stake in each other. One part of the community can't thrive truly while the other part of the community is in the dirt. In tending to them, we will be better off ourselves. It's that simple. Ubuntu."

A Mother's Journey

“I long to accomplish a great and noble tasks, but it is my chief duty to accomplish humble tasks as though they were great and noble. The world is moved along, not only by the mighty shoves of its heroes, but also by the aggregate of the tiny pushes of each honest worker.”

Helen Keller

Today I was very moved & humbled by this love journey

of a mother with her son through cancer

A Mother's Journey

The song at the end Because we Believe By Andrea Bocelli

Once in every life
There comes a time
We walk out all alone
And into the light
The moment won't last but then,
We remember it again
When we close our eyes.

Like stars across the sky
E per avvincere
Tu dovrai vincere
We were born to shine
All of us here because we believe

Mandela on Ubuntu

“Ubuntu is a concept in the Bantu Language.

“It is about the essence of Humanness.

Simply put: ‘people are people through other people’

I am human because I belong. This concept acknowledges both the rights and the responsibilities of each citizen in promoting individual and societal wellbeing.”

Nelson Mandela

watch Mandela on Ubuntu

Ubuntu

On this Day, on the Eve of the Inauguration of the First United States President of Colour;
On this day, the day dedicated to the Civil Rights leader, Martin Luther King;
On this day I have decided to begin a story.

A simple story, the story of people, everyday people, who like these great leaders, change the world. People who stand up for justice, people who stand up for truth, people who make a difference, people who give without taking, people who do small things that create great waves, people who make change.

Words, music, words, images, gestures that inspire & make a difference.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On my desk is a book, introduced by a man who in 2006 predicted that Barrack Obama would be President. A man who believed. Archbishop Desmond Tutu. I bought this book in Johannesburg, in the Apartheid Museum there.

The book is called "Dream"by PQ Blackwell and inside are the words and sayings of Martin Luther King. On the back of the book is an African saying ~
a saying that is the highest praise given to any man "yu, u nobuntu"

Ubuntu is central to the African being of what it means to be human.

People with ubuntu are, who I wish to describe..., people who follow to the rhythm of "a person is a person through other people"

"I am what I am because of who we all are" ~ this is the spirit of Ubuntu


I myself am not a writer. I simply write as I am, simply and through all of us and for those of us who need a voice.

Martin Luther King's Last Speech

"The self cannot be the self without other selves" ~ Martin Luther King.