What will you do?

Meditate

On my 200th post, here's a self-reminder.

Painting by Goro Fujita

Alt-j - Taro

Deep thought of the day

Courtesy of TED.com

 

Susan Cain: The power of introverts

So this one is about introverts and suitcases. Yeah I know, go figure. Apparently we should open them up and share their contents - the suitcases, that is. Ah, after years of persecution, I wonder how many of us managed to keep the key.

 

Carl Honore praises slowness

Ah, apparently slow sex is better! Who knew!

We are all leaders

This was sent to me recently by a good friend. I thought it was important to share, if you can spare 6 minutes.

The sound of spring

Today while walking in the park I noticed the birds are starting to get erm, amorous.

Spring is just around the corner and so is that feeling that nature is about to explode. Easy, I'm referring to the plants here! And so, while wanting to be somewhat part of this momentous annual awakening, many of us have already started to get our hands smelling of delicious soil as we sow for the upcoming season.

What better choice to do this than at the sound of The Penguin Café Orchestra. Dig, sow, smell... smile.

Ride to the edge of the Universe

Thought I had already posted this video about a year ago but can't find it in the archive so here it is; a three dimensional animation of the currently mapped Universe up to the cosmic horizon. Each object is represented to the correct scale and location according to scientific research... including the size of your ego after watching this. : )


Size of the Universe from Paul Eyler on Vimeo.

Happy Valentine's day from Earth

Time lapse footage of the planet that enables your existence. Shot from the International Space Station in 2011 at an altitude of 350km. Isn't she awe-inspiring?

Earth | Time Lapse View from Space, Fly Over | NASA, ISS from Michael König on Vimeo.

In pursuit of happiness

While walking today my mind was wondering and pondering on what seems to be an ever growing epidemic of existential crisis. Starting with a close friend, everyone I speak to seems to be going through some sort of stage of questioning themselves and what they should be doing and where.

I've never seen so many people in search for meaning in their lives and that is both exciting and a bit scary. Exciting because more than ever we seem ready to question the status quo and explore different possibilities, and scary because we don't seem to know what we want so there doesn't seem to be any satisfying alternatives out there.

It is only logical that when we set off on a search for something undefined chances are, we won't find it. I know this is far from a new idea but I feel very strongly that the lack of meaning and satisfaction in our lives is the lack of feeling that we belong somewhere and that our contribution is valuable. I remember watching somewhere (possibly a TED talk) that research found that the common denominator to happiness is spending time with people you like/love. That sounds obvious. With the industrial revolution and the rise of capitalism we have sold out community for the pursuit of individual wants and comforts without realizing we were throwing away the most important factor to happiness - being part of a "tribe". Belonging to a community of friends/family that work together to achieve a common goal or to meet each others basic needs; physical, mental and spiritual.

There are many communities sparking up out there with all sorts of goals and motivations but today I  visualise my idea of community. I imagine waking up in my straw bail house beside my other half, with the sunshine coming through the window. The temperature is warm enough to walk around comfortably in minimal clothing.

Permaculture garden

I look through the window to admire the somewhat wild garden outside. Flowers mix with vegetables among climbers hanging from fruit trees and shrubs. I walk through it and pick a few cherries, strawberries and an apple for breakfast. I walk down the garden to the grassy path and shout good morning to you, painting on the balcony of your beautiful cob house.

Another friend's already busy in the garden below, harvesting potatoes for tonight's dinner party. In the distance we hear a friend plucking away at his/her guitar. On the other side of the stream of pristine clear water, we notice the smoke coming out of a friend couple's yurt and we hear the faint sound of a baby laughing. Today we are all helping to build the home of some new arrivals...

We all know each other pretty well and everyone communicates openly because there's a supportive atmosphere. We know that challenges aren't a problem because we work on them together. We live simply, we share time, effort and resources. We have few perks and commodities but we know we have the things that matter... the earth and all its incredible biodiversity, the rain, the sun and each other.

We are happy because we give each other lives' meaning... after all isn't this what life is meant to be about?

Before and after

Before enlightenment - chop wood, carry water.
After enlightenment - chop wood, carry water.

~ Zen Proverb

The real sound of piano

Composer and pianist Lubomyr Melnyk playing what he called (on a Radio 4 interview) "the real sound of piano", which he claims to have found after decades of searching. Apparently the fastest pianist of the world, according to his website, playing a maximum of 19 notes per second on each hand! He named his style of piano playing continuous music.

Living off the grid

Us when?

Once a week, for the past few weeks, I've been hosting a documentary evening with friends and anyone interested in non-fictional "edutainment"... or a nap (you know who you are :). For a few hours we watch the movie, share food, have a catch up and sometimes a healthy debate about the issue at hand.

Decided by majority vote, this week's documentary was Us Now, which you can watch below. This one hour long, fast passed, picture from 2009, analyses online social networking and how this unprecedented amount of non-hierarchical collaboration threatens the millennia old pyramid shaped power structures still so prevalent today.

The movie goes on to explore the still untapped potential of this relatively new capability, such as to allow citizens to be more involved in their government's policy and decision making, by creating a system of direct democracy.

The audience of 8 agreed that the documentary put across an interesting argument but there was some scepticism as to the practicalities and the safeness of such direct democracy system. Some said they don't trust the general public with decision making, while others seemed to agree that a transparent and decentralised power structure is less corruptible and preferable to the current system. What do you think.

After a short discussion we ended the evening with a bit of classic George Carlin stand up comedy... or rather a wake up call disguised as comedy.


For more information, extra clips and reviews please go to usnowfilm.com

Watch Us Now in other languages here.

Buy the DVD here.

Voices of the occupations

A compilation of a few voices from the various occupations dotted across the world.

New York City

Toronto

London

Occupy demands and solutions

We are the 99%

As the occupy movement gathers momentum more and more aware people start believing in the strength of their voices (specially if in unison with others) as we create a human microphone that is drawing the image of the future as we speak.

However, despite the movement's relative awareness and clear dissatisfaction with today's systemic problems, as a whole, it appears to still not have a very practical list of demands. As we grow, it's important that we draft a set of solutions that will not just try to remedy the superficial symptom temporarily. In order to do this we must find the very root of the rot and inoculate the system against the greed and corruption viruses, for good.

Following are a bunch of suggestions (by a well seasoned researcher), which I feel would serve us very well indeed from the moment they're implemented. If you agree with them, please help bring the focus of the occupy movement to these demands by spreading them far and wide. Thank you for caring.

1. An end to creating money out of thin air on computer screens and charging interest on it (fractional reserve lending).
2. An end to governments borrowing fresh-air money called ‘credit’ from private banks and the people paying interest on this ‘money’ that has never, does not and will never exist. Governments (and that concept must change radically) can create their own currency – interest free.
3. An end to private banks issuing non-existent money called ‘credit’ at all and thus creating ‘money’ as a debt from the very start.
4. An end to casinos like Wall Street and the City of London betting mercilessly on the financial and commodity markets with the lives of billions around the world.
5. An end to all professional lobby groups that earn their living and their clients’ living from corrupting the professionally corruptible – vast numbers of world politicians and the overwhelming majority on Capitol Hill.
6. An end to no-contract government in which mendacious politicians can promise the people they will do this and that to win their support and then do the very opposite after they have lied themselves into office (see Obama).
7. An end to the centralisation of power in all areas of our lives and a start to diversifying power to communities to decide their own lives and thus ensure there are too many points of decision making for any cabal to centrally control.

The song of life by Alan Watts

Random drops of wisdom

"When told that man lives in delusion everyone thinks of himself as the exception – hence his delusion." ~ Vernon Howard

"Fear is the great robber of time." ~ (Unknown)

"The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education." ~ Einstein

"With all the conflicting information on diet, what makes sense? Pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, larvicides, genetically modified organisms, chemical fertilizers, microwaves, pasteurization, homogenization, hormonally injected animals, color dyes, artificial additives, and high fructose corn syrup? Or raw, organic, sun-ripened plant food?" ~ David Wolf

"The art of medicine consists of amusing the patient while nature cures the disease." ~ Voltaire

"Strange, indeed, that you should not have suspected that your universe and its contents were only dreams, visions, fiction! Strange, because they are so frankly and hysterically insane--like all dreams:[...] a God who mouths justice and invented hell--mouths mercy and invented hell--mouths Golden Rules, and forgiveness multiplied by seventy times seven, and invented hell; who mouths morals to other people and has none himself; who frowns upon crimes, yet commits them all;[...] and finally, with altogether divine obtuseness, invites this poor, abused slave to worship him!..." ~  Mark Twain - The Mysterious Stranger

"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated." ~ Mahatma Ghandi

What doesn't kill us makes us bitter

The Big Bang Theory S04E23