Touchdown Santiago

Touched down in Santiago at 11.40am local time. Back in the UK that’s 4.40pm. The 5 hour difference is driving my body insane, sleepy but it’s still too early. The trip itself was a blur, 13 hour flight with intermittent sleep, I remember watching The Departed somewhere in between. The flight was via Sao Paulo, I would’ve loved to see Brazil, the airport seems to be in the middle of the city because you can see houses and trees and mountains just outside the airport, and the sun was lovely.

I remember walking through the airport half in a daze with Paris and Public Enemy’s Remixed version of “Rebirth of a Nation” on my iPod trying to find my way to the “Connecting Flights” Section. Met some awesome people, all from Global Voices. Egypt, Tanzania, Macedonia, Fiji, Bangladesh, Japan, China, USA, Pakistan, India, Bolivia, Madagascar… and there’s going to be many more to meet tomorrow at the Summit itself.

Santiago is a big ass city, like all big ass cities, tall buildings with bustling people back and forth. In terms of culture and scenery its like a mix between Johannesburg and Egypt. Everyone speaks Spanish and I constantly chastise myself for not learning the language more. I have worse than basics to work with. I love it though, the city I mean, That constant buzz and noise and life just filtering all around me, I can sit mesmerised by it for ages.

I’m sitting in the hotel room taking advantage of the intermittent wi-fi and buzzing with excitement at the prospect of tomorrow’s Global Voices Citizen Media Summit. It’s gonna be HUGE.

Friend

Where were they when you was walking through the dark path of sorrow and unhealthy self-flagellation for your failures? The ones who laughed with you way back when you were at primary school, at high school and at university. The ones who rode the tide across the happy days, sucking on the smiles.

And now when the darkness has come, after the glory days… when you hit that hard wall of reality and suddenly nobody’s smiling because nobody’s there. Except you, and you’re not smiling either. All you see is this mountain to climb, a long road ahead with little provision. All you have is you.

Does it make you wonder then, that your REAL friends, even those who did help a little, could only go so far… does it not make you wonder at the fabric of your life? Cloth stitched with decision after decision and it’s all up to you. You, alone, can take the action necessary and you alone should accept the consequences, the responsibility. Accept it. Take the first step up that mountain, on that lonely road.  The others, the ‘friends’, will follow you. But you have to lead yourself, and eventually them too, to the sunlit path of smiles and laughter.

You, are ultimately your only friend.

Recognise.

Irreconcilable Differences

The Judge walks in and everybody instinctively rises. I suddenly feel like I’m back in primary school and you had to stand every time a teacher or the principal came into the class and greet them loudly, unquestioningly. I know it’s a matter of respect and it does have its place but I have this innate problem with authority, especially authority which enforces rituals instituted by archaic social conventions.

So I grudgingly stand as the judge, a very chubby man of about 50 years old, walks to his seat. His impossible to hide double-chin depresses as he lifts his head from his notes and calls the first divorce case for the day, “Case two-oh-three-four, two thousand and seven, Mr James and Ms Jackson.”

The lawyers constantly refer to the Judge as “Your worship…” which irritates me again but I’m just an observer here. They bow as they leave the room, the judge doesn’t notice this at all and this indicates to me how ingrained the behaviour is amongst lawyers and people in general. Is this part of the curriculum at law school? “Etiquette and behaviour in court” or something similar? I wonder…

No doubt, social convention has its place. The masses are fucking idiots… just look at the lyrical content of the top 40 hit countdown and suddenly social conventions to keep people in line and instil some sort of structure makes sense. But then again, it’s the same system purveying the culture of self-gratification and delusion anyway. Which is why, from an overall perspective, the whole thing grates against my being.

Yes we need some form of authority and structure, but I reserve my right to question it and wholeheartedly disagree with it.

Why the Concept of Vampires are so Intriguing…

The Twilight Series, Blade, The Vampire Diaries, True Blood and a whole host of other new-age vampire manifestations with varying theories on what vampires are, what they can do and what kills them.  But I don’t care about all that. Why do we find them so interesting that we give it all of our attention and warrant throwing all our money at Hollywood to go see them?

I think the main hook is their immortal nature.  We’re drawn to something that is, in effect, infinite.  Granted in our daily lives or even just by thinking we can not fully grasp the concept of infinity, or eternity.  By nature we are finite beings and hence vampires, by subverting this fundamental aspect of humanity, are made far more intriguing as beings we aspire to.  And we DO aspire to them, what after how glamorous they are made to look in modern literature and cinema.

But still, glamour aside, we subconsciously want the infinite and with most people writing off conventional religion and embracing the religion of atheism, vampires are the only somewhat-infinite idols they can turn their attention to.  For the general religious populace, those who believe in God and the hereafter, vampires give us a glimpse of what we want to be… happy in eternity (without all the bloodsucking and free of any need, ofcourse).

I have written before of how vampires also represent our dark side, but I find the philosophy of the creation of these beings in literature intriguing in itself and required another post with anotehr point of view.

All in all, I find the whole business terribly fascinating.  Maybe there’ll be another post soon form another angle.

The Dark Side of the Mind

Amazing article I found from Ego Development…

If you desire to stay positive in your life, try to avoid these bad human habits. When you make these changes, you will feel it will make great changes in the way you see things and will help you live a happier life.

1. Fear
“Fear” is one of the harmful negative or depressing emotions. Fear, like all other depressing emotions, poisons the body. This is not said in a figurative sense. It is an actual scientific fact; it has been demonstrated chemically. Were it not for the fact that the lungs, skin, kidneys and the bowels are constantly removing poisons from the body, an acute attack of fear would prove fatal.

2. Worry
Worrying is perhaps the most common and the worst of our mental sins. Worry is like a cancer: It eats in and in. It is destructive of both body and mind. It is due largely to lack of self-control and is a symptom of cowardice. Much worry is also indicative of great selfishness, which most of those afflicted will deny. Those who worry much are always in poor health, which grows progressively worse. The form of indigestion accompanied by great acidity and gas formation is a prolific source of worry, as well as of other mental and physical troubles. The acidity irritates the nervous system and the irritation in time causes mental depression.

3. Guiltiness/Regret.
For one thing, we are all guilty. We live not knowing as much as we need to know about the problems that we have, and so we make mistakes, all of us. It is Nature itself that is imperfect, and we are all the heirs of this imperfection. Knowing that you are totally created makes it possible to rise above personal injuries and move beyond guiltiness and regret. In the words of Lao-Tse, “When I let go of who I am, I become who I might be.”

4. Depression-despair.
Depression affects more than just an individual’s mood and general overall sense of well being. Depression surfaces in a number of other ways, including the form of eating disorders. To be a whole person again, you can move away from ignoring or repudiating your bad feelings and move into a position of being receptive to change. From this position you are compassionate – you recognize that you are more than your bad feelings. Implicit in this attitude lie the words, “I am with you. I do not turn away from you. I acknowledge you. I recognize your bad feelings. My compassion recognizes that you are more than you think you are. Who you are and who you have been have been produced by the processes of Nature/life. I do not repudiate or desert any of you. I do not turn my back on you. I do not try to will you out of existence. I acknowledge your existence, each part of your body and each part of your mind. A person is going to feel the full range of human feelings, including fear, shame, hostility, and guiltiness.

5. Anger.
Anger is a normal human emotion. However, when it’s unresolved or unchecked, it can lead to devastating consequences for the person holding onto the anger and those around him or her. The major reason that anger is so difficult to manage for most people is that it has become a habitual response to certain people, places and situations. Most habits tend to operate below our awareness—meaning we react without considering our choices

6. Self-blame
If you are down on yourself, practicing a lot of self-blame, please remember that it is very difficult to get by in this complicated world as it is without any disorders. Blaming yourself for all kinds of stuff such as whether other people are happy, whether other people work hard, whether your relationship fails to thrive, whether a social event is going well – is so much work! People who blame themselves for too much mistake influence for control. A mother may be able to influence her child when it comes to academic study but she can’t completely control the child’s motivation (or lack of). You may be able to influence whether your partner or friend has a good time but you certainly can’t be totally responsible.

7. Indifference 
An absence of compulsion to or toward one thing or another. To be indifferent is to realize that I have no interest — not now, not yet or maybe ever — in something I have become aware of and spent some time prioritizing. To not know is to realize how futile self-importance is. Ignorance however represents a procrastinization of thought. Ignorance is the substitution of belief for knowledge. Where continuing ignorance would curtain with darkness, realization provides the ubiquity of sun light. The bliss of ignorance is ironic — I’m giving away my bliss to the rapturous.

Classic Works get ‘Twitterized’ – twitterature

Now this is a nice modernisation… 60 classic works of literature got re-imagined through Twitter. Everyon’es favourite publishing house, Penguin, just bought the rights to Twitterature and it includes some brilliant re-imaginings of literature.  The book won’t be published in the UK till 5 November but the book has been seen by the guys at the Guardian… check these out…

Romeo tweets his dying lament: O, I am fortune’s fool! Maybe just a tool. And so I die. BTW that other woman I was into before Juliet? Would’ve been a safer bet.

Sherlock Holmes says: Continuing investigation. Made brilliant deductions on many snorts and very little evidence. Notice salt deposits on factory owner’s shoes?

Goethe’s Young Werther emotes: Have I noted how upset I am? I am very upset. #pain #angst #suffering #sexdep.

Elizabeth Bennet muses: It’s as if the less he seems to care about me, the more drawn to him I am. This seems the opposite of how it should be? Oh well.

And then there’s Ishmael from Moby-Dick: We set out. Follow @starbuck, @queequeg for long introspective soliloquies on the human soul. Or @tashtego if you like adorable kittens.

Pretty damn cool, right?  Especially if you ever got down to reading any of the books above or at least know the work in some way. Hence the note from the author…

"There has been some misunderstanding about the book in that it’s been said it’s going to educate people, but you couldn’t do an English class with this book. The humour is heightened by having knowledge of the works."

Anyway… All of the Classic works were distilled into 20 tweets or fewer.

Love it.

Chasing Your Tail: A Parable on Happiness

There is this very interesting parable I heard recently about ‘Happiness’ and how to attain it.  I had to share it here is because it made so much sense in a very cool way.  So to all those seeking happiness… here goes…

An old cat in an alley comes across a little kitten chasing it’s tail and asks "What the hell are you doing?" The little kitten replies "Well… I’ve been studying Cat Philosophy and I’ve discovered that there are only two things that are important for a cat… one is that Happiness is the most important thing for a cat and two, Happiness is located in a cat’s tail. So what I figured out is that if I keep on chasing my tail when I finally get it I will have a LOT of Happiness.’

The old cat replied "Well I haven’t had the chance to go to Cat Philosophy School, I’ve just wandered around the alley’s most of my life and I’ve come to the same conclusion as you… Happiness is the most important thing for a cat and that happiness is indeed located in my tail. The only difference between you and I is that I’ve discovered that if you go about your business and do the things that are important to you, the things which need to be done… It will follow after you… wherever you go…"

:)

Ramadan in the UK

made the above picture wayyy past my bedtime after Taraweeh prayer

Ramadan in the UK is a bit… different.

After years of idiosyncratic Ramadaan and Eid behaviour being drummed into me with the ritual eventually melding into the deeper meaning of how what we do affects who we are and how it will make who we are even better. South Africa was great with the community around me, it gives one an awesome sense of belonging.

In the UK, specifically here in Epsom, there’s a community as well, albeit a younger, less developed one. So, in essence, it can be a little lonely. Not so many friends… some family is here, but with London’s Transport Network – specifically the Road Network – Traffic is 10 X worse than Johannesburg, just to give you an idea, it’s a bit hard. The Public Transport ROCKS! I mean really… trains, busses and the tube are brilliant… but there are costs involved (temporal and monetary), and it does take its toll… makes you think twice before thinking of going anywhere.

It is a very different experience. It takes Ramadaan and puts a magnifying glass on the experience and focuses it. Ramadaan generally makes you forget the outer world and focus on the inner world inside yourself. Being without the general comfort of the family and friends you’ve come to love and trust at a time like Ramadaan takes the whole inner world thing to another level. You start feeling and thinking things about yourself that wouldn’t happen in any other circumstance.

I believe nothing happens without a reason, and so I must be here for a reason. In this situation, in this place. Yet another journey of self-discovery, and from this experience I’m also beginning to realise the truth in the saying that the Final Frontier won’t be space (What’s out there) but it’s going to be Mind & Soul (What’s in here).

Maybe my answer isn’t out there, it’s in me… and now I’m wondering if I’m asking the right questions.

Technorati Tags: Ramadan, Ramadaan, UK, London, Islam, South Africa, Family, Friends

Nothing Good Happens After Nightfall

I think vampires are a metaphor for our dark side. The darker side of humanity… and if you take into account their habits it all begins to make a little sense. Their thirst for blood mirrors our bad habit of always going after one another’s “blood”. Backbiting, Backstabbing, Violence, Abuse… everytime we put ourselves over others and go a little further with bad intent.. there we have it. We may as well have fangs.

Another aspect is that they only come out at night. I don’t think this is a coincidence. As far as I can see nothing good ever happens after the sun goes down. People end up drunk, spaced out, and most of the time up to no good. There must be a statistic which can prove this point because I have no doubt about it. Again, it makes sense. The dark provides anonymity… people can’t see us, so we let out who we truly are (just like the vampire). If bad intent drives us, that’s exactly what will come out. The anonymity of the dark makes us think that we can’t be held responsible for our actions (because no one knows its us) and we can hide very easily in the dark. Murders, Robberies and all other kinds of shit happens at night.

So there we have it. Vampires are our dark side.

Technorati Tags: Vampire, Philosophy, Life, Darkness

Is Advertising Really Pure Evil?

When it comes down to the bare bones of the issue, or is it the beating heart, whatever… the main thing is… they want you to buy more stuff. This is a pretty simple concept and it has been said before, blah, blah, blah. The power play comes in at the juncture where what they’re selling coincides with what you need. The thing which tips the power in the advertisers favour is when they convince you that you need something you don’t. This gets more complicated when you take into account wants versus needs.

Further complicating things is context. The context today is we’ve moved far away from worrying about needs. We WANT STUFF. Lots of Stuff. Shiny, pastel-coloured, Curvy Stuff which will make us happy and able to satisfy our every sense and then do it all again. We also want it all NOW. Instantly. None of this patience shit and waiting for things which are ‘worthwhile’… I know what’s worthwhile because I feel it now and I want it right fucking now.

I don’t believe Advertisers have any sway, not really, in terms of ‘Making us buy more stuff’. They are merely the temptation… WE make the choice. It is within us… the choice of wanting stuff we don’t need and also to want it right now. So is advertising pure evil? No. Advertising is just showing us what is within us… in the end WE choose. I would say that advertising is only evil if that is what we see within ourselves. You don’t have to buy the product and even if you do… do you need it right now?

Advertising is just stimulus and we can either react automatically to whatever whims and desires move us or be a little bit more AWARE of what’s happening around us and choose to RESPOND to stimulus in our own best interest.

Advertising is only really effective because we all only operate on auto-pilot, we set ourselves up with bad habits of wanting things we don’t need and things we want right now. So when it finally flashes before our eyes and ears we simply react. And, if we are all operating on auto-pilot, that makes us less human because the real thing which makes us human is our ability to choose.

You can’t blame the stimulus… advertising is not the enemy… you are.

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