tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33202804855150372542024-03-04T01:49:57.010-08:00Write-PlaceA collection and selection of my writing, reading, views and news.Lexia257http://www.blogger.com/profile/12656262901790598651noreply@blogger.comBlogger354125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3320280485515037254.post-77234493315143460732024-02-29T03:20:00.000-08:002024-02-29T03:20:13.580-08:0029th February 2024 - An Extra Day or An Extra Day of Work ? <h3 style="text-align: left;"> So, if you hadn't realised - like me who didn't until I checked the calendar for my dogs grooming appointment - today is an 'extra' day, this being a Leap Year. </h3><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div><p data-t="{"n":"blueLinks"}" style="background-color: white; color: #2b2b2b; margin: 0px 0px 16px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">One solar year, the amount of time it takes our planet to complete one full rotation about the sun, takes roughly 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes and 46 seconds. That extra five-plus hours is why we have leap years. Yes, of course I looked it up - my retention of information these days and memory in general, is poor to say the least. Why this is the case for me is plain, but why people much younger than me also find their memory is not as clear as it once was. Many reasons for this could be discussed, but that is a topic for a different post.</span></p><p data-t="{"n":"blueLinks"}" style="background-color: white; color: #2b2b2b; margin: 0px 0px 16px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Every four years is not always a Leap Year apparently. According to<span style="font-size: 17px;"> the </span><a href="https://www.bing.com/ck/a?!&&p=e433ec16ade2b842JmltdHM9MTcwOTE2NDgwMCZpZ3VpZD0xMzZlMmQ2MC01YjFlLTY4MTYtMWRlOC0zZDllNWYxZTZhYmImaW5zaWQ9NTg1OQ&ptn=3&ver=2&hsh=3&fclid=136e2d60-5b1e-6816-1de8-3d9e5f1e6abb&u=a1aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuYmluZy5jb20vYWxpbmsvbGluaz91cmw9aHR0cHMlM2ElMmYlMmZhaXJhbmRzcGFjZS5zaS5lZHUlMmYmc291cmNlPXNlcnAtbG9jYWwmaD0xbDE0RE1VUGwwbDhoZEt4dGVSNTM3d3Q1bzNpS1gxUzRLWU1kNmRPbWRrJTNkJnA9bHdfbHN0cHQmaWc9QTA5MDM3M0U1NUQwNDNEMTg1MzFDMzJENTE2Q0I5MkImeXBpZD1ZTjg3M3gxNDkzMzE2OTM4OTQwODI1MDk4Mg&ntb=1" style="font-size: 17px;" target="_blank">National Air and Space Agency </a><span style="font-size: 17px;"> (United States), in a calendar yet to come, years divisible by 100 would not follow the four year leap day rule unless they are also divisible by 400 . In the past 500 years there was no leap day in 1700, 1800, 1900 but 2000 had one. </span><span style="font-size: 17px;"> In the next 500 years, there will be no leap day in 2100, 2200, 2300 and 2500, if my the practice is followed. As this is unlikely to affect anyone reading this, I think we can safely put that out of our minds.</span></span></p><p data-t="{"n":"blueLinks"}" style="background-color: white; color: #2b2b2b; margin: 0px 0px 16px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The 366-day years of our Gregorian calendar, of course <span style="font-size: 17px;"> means that those born on this day technically celebrate their birthdays </span><span style="font-size: 17px;">only once every four years, though I'm sure many. if not most have 2 days, the 28th - February and 1st March. For working folks, it may seem unfair to have to work an extra day for no extra pay, but perhaps working on the 29th February is similar to working Bank Holiday Mondays - if you usually work Mondays throughout the year. Maybe someone could enlighten me as to whether they receive an extra days pay for these 'holiday' days.</span></span></p><p data-t="{"n":"blueLinks"}" style="background-color: white; color: #2b2b2b; margin: 0px 0px 16px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">For those who were born on 29th February - around 1778 in the UK - there are some benefits it seems for the extra day this year :</span></p><p data-t="{"n":"blueLinks"}" style="background-color: white; color: #2b2b2b; margin: 0px 0px 16px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Free Ride on the London Eye - first 100</span></p><p data-t="{"n":"blueLinks"}" style="background-color: white; color: #2b2b2b; margin: 0px 0px 16px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Free Pints in Manchester - F</span><span style="font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Midlevel", sans-serif; font-size: 17px;">ood and Beer Hall Society</span></p><p data-t="{"n":"blueLinks"}" style="background-color: white; color: #2b2b2b; margin: 0px 0px 16px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Win a £1000 holiday voucher - Love Holidays </span></p><p data-t="{"n":"blueLinks"}" style="background-color: white; color: #2b2b2b; margin: 0px 0px 16px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Free Pizza nationwide - <span style="font-size: 17px;">If you live near a Zizzi </span><span style="font-size: 17px;">restaurant, then you can claim a free rustic pizza today. </span></span></p><p data-t="{"n":"blueLinks"}" style="background-color: white; color: #2b2b2b; margin: 0px 0px 16px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 17px;">Free Thai Curry - </span><span style="font-size: 17px;">Rosa’s Thai is also offering a free curry </span></span></p><p data-t="{"n":"blueLinks"}" style="background-color: white; color: #2b2b2b; font-size: 17px; margin: 0px 0px 16px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The Real Greek - £50 off</span></p><p data-t="{"n":"blueLinks"}" style="background-color: white; color: #2b2b2b; font-size: 17px; margin: 0px 0px 16px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> Not sure how these offers will spread between the 1778 people but Happy Birthday birthday to you all. </span></p><p data-t="{"n":"blueLinks"}" style="background-color: white; color: #2b2b2b; font-size: 17px; margin: 0px 0px 16px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">And to those who feel cheated about the extra day of work, come on admit it... it's not really any different to any other day - but make sure you book your own birthday off next year if you haven't already !</span></p><p data-t="{"n":"blueLinks"}" style="background-color: white; color: #2b2b2b; font-size: 17px; margin: 0px 0px 16px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p data-t="{"n":"blueLinks"}" style="background-color: white; color: #2b2b2b; margin: 0px 0px 16px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMPRW1PhO610xxFQfpXh-sd-gqU8o7X3T3Zro7QW2X1y2L_Lhbspn-MNmt_AvRt92SFBy9eB2FwIcpIVPkyxjQySYOSktMJB_vQtfwXSgnYuIjN065qk8ROiOB7a7egDjs_sb-mDzbpNc4GCZvGOtCDOTJlOskLKPkxx_Cgtjw-hvOr9h22oMh_pvaQ4U/s768/Leap%20Year.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="512" data-original-width="768" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMPRW1PhO610xxFQfpXh-sd-gqU8o7X3T3Zro7QW2X1y2L_Lhbspn-MNmt_AvRt92SFBy9eB2FwIcpIVPkyxjQySYOSktMJB_vQtfwXSgnYuIjN065qk8ROiOB7a7egDjs_sb-mDzbpNc4GCZvGOtCDOTJlOskLKPkxx_Cgtjw-hvOr9h22oMh_pvaQ4U/s320/Leap%20Year.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><div class="intra-article-module" data-t="{"n":"intraArticle","t":13}" style="background-color: white; 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-webkit-line-clamp: var(--heading-max-lines,3); display: -webkit-box; fill: currentcolor; font-size: var(--content-card-heading-font-size,var(--type-ramp-plus-1-font-size)); font-weight: 600; line-height: var(--content-card-heading-line-height,var(--type-ramp-plus-1-line-height)); outline: 0px; overflow: hidden; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span aria-level="2" role="heading"><slot><span class="card-title intra-article" style="color: var(--neutral-foreground-1-rest); font-size: 20px; line-height: 28px;"><span class="ad-provider-name" style="-webkit-box-orient: vertical; -webkit-line-clamp: 1; align-self: start; display: -webkit-box; font-size: 12px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 8px; overflow: hidden;"></span></span></slot></span></a></div></div></cs-content-card></slot></cs-card></cs-native-ad-card-intra-article-left-image></div></views-native-ad></div></div></slot></div></div>Lexia257http://www.blogger.com/profile/12656262901790598651noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3320280485515037254.post-71046666791641177722023-11-10T00:29:00.001-08:002023-11-10T00:37:21.869-08:00Spiral<div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Spiral </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9inbn9-MxEc1PcZL9XARRfhyEPfuKkYAmzYnYp0LDTnOtgGgYzyqRq70JU9vo2yiKEoexPIUvOAMSHZy-ccy88iCVh3somXWkPNezZh68xJaLp2G8YSoA-1GDWqm6Iv3WQEfhGzAJn5DVvX0_QYa2G6JKYtMxv98aJcGxZUFLwFYw_yQf9U8SN5KQvPg/s265/spiral%202.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="190" data-original-width="265" height="190" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9inbn9-MxEc1PcZL9XARRfhyEPfuKkYAmzYnYp0LDTnOtgGgYzyqRq70JU9vo2yiKEoexPIUvOAMSHZy-ccy88iCVh3somXWkPNezZh68xJaLp2G8YSoA-1GDWqm6Iv3WQEfhGzAJn5DVvX0_QYa2G6JKYtMxv98aJcGxZUFLwFYw_yQf9U8SN5KQvPg/s1600/spiral%202.jpg" width="265" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBF_PDENE0gaJKTNoGm3gvqho0j13dLk9UvO9jtN3O62vNFdNHHIedv2s9TwGBeWBurhr9VHo3UNmJPbpFh0fwWCm9S1mB_4nYnZhw8lJzLlxRxpRUKUtxLptVocAfWCuxQg5gL588CBlP3QbAPH8Een9e90D0vKEzo4bkady9oY5KbcGyUppJR9NrUVE/s259/4.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="194" data-original-width="259" height="194" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBF_PDENE0gaJKTNoGm3gvqho0j13dLk9UvO9jtN3O62vNFdNHHIedv2s9TwGBeWBurhr9VHo3UNmJPbpFh0fwWCm9S1mB_4nYnZhw8lJzLlxRxpRUKUtxLptVocAfWCuxQg5gL588CBlP3QbAPH8Een9e90D0vKEzo4bkady9oY5KbcGyUppJR9NrUVE/s1600/4.jpg" width="259" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Linearity does not come naturally.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">It kills the imagination and nothing happens. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><div style="text-align: left;">No bell rings, no moment of here and now, no moment saying yes.</div><div style="text-align: left;">Without these, where is alive ?</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I prefer the pleasure of the journey through the spiral.</div></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><div style="text-align: left;">Relax. </div></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><div style="text-align: left;">If you miss something on the first time around,</div><div style="text-align: left;">don't worry.</div><div style="text-align: left;">You might pick it up on the second - or third - or tenth ;</div><div style="text-align: left;">it doesn't matter.</div></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><div style="text-align: left;">Relax.</div></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><div style="text-align: left;">Timing is everything.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">If the bell does ring, it will resonate</div><div style="text-align: left;">through all the rungs of your spiral. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">If it doesn't</div><div style="text-align: left;">it is the wrong spiral -</div></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><div style="text-align: left;">or the wrong time - </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">or there is no bell.</div></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhxf2cCAuGEJ0tsSZuhEDsF1OpA928gdYkQm63BF5NNRa6COiR90bJZy9lukmv0M75UnNdMSbXgTPonPgXaMyivtmM9FjGR3SBL3tg85qOdFau58EDXENJC0VRCH7GcaxcglGjZYCT_iULnj_EnQaHLXaMrpbqKu7AerSsGM6CRH00zCdRucdVutgpQaY/s254/3.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="198" data-original-width="254" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhxf2cCAuGEJ0tsSZuhEDsF1OpA928gdYkQm63BF5NNRa6COiR90bJZy9lukmv0M75UnNdMSbXgTPonPgXaMyivtmM9FjGR3SBL3tg85qOdFau58EDXENJC0VRCH7GcaxcglGjZYCT_iULnj_EnQaHLXaMrpbqKu7AerSsGM6CRH00zCdRucdVutgpQaY/w275-h214/3.jpg" width="275" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgelyv-uSaEqEBf-DNCcPd63AXSSroNoRz6RLHfqkNMoLeZ1rlOXGw8QVohPnqpOXbO1BPvOSatjmFDN7rxWZZfHuEmrc0eHPlQGHu8vOYHbnORBw84rGANL7w5ulNDBGin7JT6BH52KoukD6oMOqNW8U9O6RTmOrItYdBb9nowSL3FieW-0LA-QX3ekFg/s284/spiral%201.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="177" data-original-width="284" height="177" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgelyv-uSaEqEBf-DNCcPd63AXSSroNoRz6RLHfqkNMoLeZ1rlOXGw8QVohPnqpOXbO1BPvOSatjmFDN7rxWZZfHuEmrc0eHPlQGHu8vOYHbnORBw84rGANL7w5ulNDBGin7JT6BH52KoukD6oMOqNW8U9O6RTmOrItYdBb9nowSL3FieW-0LA-QX3ekFg/s1600/spiral%201.jpg" width="284" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>Lexia257http://www.blogger.com/profile/12656262901790598651noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3320280485515037254.post-67992049142346922362023-10-11T02:44:00.001-07:002023-10-11T02:44:40.692-07:00Seventy Five Years On - "I Am Neveen" - A Palestinian Child's Story <p> <b>The Nakba - the "disaster" or "catastrophe" was the destruction of Palestinian society and homeland in 1948 and the permanent displacement of Palestinian Arabs. </b>The term is used to describe both the events of 1948 and the ongoing occupation of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, as well as their displacement in refugee camps throughout the region and beyond. The Nakba was the result of the partition of Mandatory Palestine after World War Two ended as the United Nations and world powers realigned the borders of the Middle East. <a class=" l_ecrd_txt_lnk b_ignbt l_ecrd_txt_hover l_ecrd_hovblk_3_6 l_ecrd_hov_hitbox" h="ID=SERP,6065.1" hover-data="-" href="https://www.bing.com/ck/a?!&&p=aedd69ce2231a916JmltdHM9MTY5Njk4MjQwMCZpZ3VpZD0xMzZlMmQ2MC01YjFlLTY4MTYtMWRlOC0zZDllNWYxZTZhYmImaW5zaWQ9NjA2NQ&ptn=3&hsh=3&fclid=136e2d60-5b1e-6816-1de8-3d9e5f1e6abb&psq=nakba+1948+british&u=a1aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubWlkZGxlZWFzdGV5ZS5uZXQvbmV3cy93aGF0LWlzLW5ha2JhLXBhbGVzdGluZS1pc3JhZWwtY29uZmxpY3QtZXhwbGFpbmVkLTE5NDgjOn46dGV4dD1UaGUlMjBOYWtiYSUyMHdhcyUyMHRoZSUyMHJlc3VsdCUyMG9m&ntb=1" style="background-color: #f6eeee; color: #111111; display: inline; font-family: Roboto, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"></a></p><p><br /></p><p><b>The following story is by Neveen Abuelola, my 'step -niece' through marriage.</b></p><p><b>I am reblogging this from when she first wrote it, around 2012</b></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="background-color: #f3fdfe; color: #757575; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; text-align: center;">I am Neveen. I am Palestinian. This is my story. This is the Palestinian Story.</span></p><div class="separator" style="background-color: #f3fdfe; clear: both; color: #757575; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; text-align: center;"></div><div dir="LTR" style="background-color: #f3fdfe; color: #757575; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'd like to take you back to 64 years ago, to the fertile rolling hills of Palestine.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div dir="LTR" style="background-color: #f3fdfe; color: #757575; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To the land of orange, lemon and olive trees, to around mid May1948.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div dir="LTR" style="background-color: #f3fdfe; color: #757575; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div><div dir="LTR" style="background-color: #f3fdfe; color: #757575; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My Grandmother, heavily pregnant quickly picks 2 or 3 oranges. She hastily feeds the chooks, cuts homemade cheese taken from brine and spoons out salted olives from a large clay pot .She packs red, ripe tomatoes and bread.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div dir="LTR" style="background-color: #f3fdfe; color: #757575; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div><div dir="LTR" style="background-color: #f3fdfe; color: #757575; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Her father rushes to hurry her & help with the children and Grandmother locks the wooden door placing the key in her clothing for her return.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div dir="LTR" style="background-color: #f3fdfe; color: #757575; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">They leave scared, but certain they will return soon.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div dir="LTR" style="background-color: #f3fdfe; color: #757575; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div><div dir="LTR" style="background-color: #f3fdfe; color: #757575; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">She walked, travelling a long journey to safety. She gave birth along the way, to my Uncle, her third child.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div dir="LTR" style="background-color: #f3fdfe; color: #757575; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Fear, cold, hunger, thirst and the ghost of death, were their companions. in fact they would be for many years to come.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div dir="LTR" style="background-color: #f3fdfe; color: #757575; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">She did not return within weeks as she had thought. Nor would 900,000 others who are now called Palestinian refugees.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div dir="LTR" style="background-color: #f3fdfe; color: #757575; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div><div dir="LTR" style="background-color: #f3fdfe; color: #757575; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My family would make their difficult way across unknown lands, living in large camps, and finally settle in Yarmouk Camp, Syria in the early 1950's.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div dir="LTR" style="background-color: #f3fdfe; color: #757575; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here I was born. The culture from the past is still touchable for me.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div dir="LTR" style="background-color: #f3fdfe; color: #757575; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div><div dir="LTR" style="background-color: #f3fdfe; color: #757575; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was born with Palestinian culture around me and with a Palestinian accent. The sound of a grandmothers voice singing Palestinian songs passes through my ears. My sisters and me are part of a larger family.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div dir="LTR" style="background-color: #f3fdfe; color: #757575; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div><div dir="LTR" style="background-color: #f3fdfe; color: #757575; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I enjoy eating Musakhan, one of our special Palestinian dishes - a lot of onion with chicken and spices. I smell it with joy as I enter our narrow alley. My family and I share similar foods from the past. We sit closely together on a carpet in a circle eating Arabic and Palestinian food.<br />Cheese in brine, salted olives, hummus, red ripe tomatoes, salad, oranges and lemons. We love sweets of hot Knafah and Arabic pastry.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div dir="LTR" style="background-color: #f3fdfe; color: #757575; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div><div dir="LTR" style="background-color: #f3fdfe; color: #757575; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I love watching my Grandmother moving with her beautiful black dress embroidered with red & green cross stitches.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div dir="LTR" style="background-color: #f3fdfe; color: #757575; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"We used to have other colours and stitches, each for every occasion, every town had its own", she would tell me and her eyes would glitter with pride.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div dir="LTR" style="background-color: #f3fdfe; color: #757575; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I enjoy our simple life gathering on the floor with all my family around me.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div dir="LTR" style="background-color: #f3fdfe; color: #757575; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I love spending some evenings listening to my Grandmother’s story. We spend other evenings listening to our favourite poet Mahmoud Darwish and the famous oud player Marcel Khalifah .<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div dir="LTR" style="background-color: #f3fdfe; color: #757575; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div><div dir="LTR" style="background-color: #f3fdfe; color: #757575; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sometimes we go out to visit our family .We drink tea and share food, men gather playing dice and cards, the women settled in another corner, talking, laughing. I love to sit with my sisters and my cousins laughing and chatting.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div dir="LTR" style="background-color: #f3fdfe; color: #757575; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We dance the Dabke and share each other's celebrations.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div dir="LTR" style="background-color: #f3fdfe; color: #757575; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div><div dir="LTR" style="background-color: #f3fdfe; color: #757575; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When one day I marry, I would like to gather with the women as my Grandmother did. In the Bride’s home, singing amazing traditional and poetic songs. Placing henna on our hands and wearing the traditional embroidered clothes.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div dir="LTR" style="background-color: #f3fdfe; color: #757575; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div><div dir="LTR" style="background-color: #f3fdfe; color: #757575; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today, when I walk in the streets of the camp, I sense sadness and despair in elderly people's eyes, but when I go quietly onto our roof top, although I see pollution I can still see a blossom on a tree, oddly planted in a drum filled with soil.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div dir="LTR" style="background-color: #f3fdfe; color: #757575; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div><div dir="LTR" style="background-color: #f3fdfe; color: #757575; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US">That blossom will</span><span lang="EN-US"> </span><span lang="EN-US">be an orange one day .<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" dir="RTL" style="background-color: #f3fdfe; color: #757575; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; text-align: start;"><br /></div><br style="background-color: #f3fdfe; color: #757575; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;" /><div class="separator" style="background-color: #f3fdfe; clear: both; color: #757575; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpGWIeqzMQQ8VAnD4dSa00OV9kIAMPRoPI94ZLHUHVZ1XRnFqixN4DjcU4VOePZJgBL-ahU1uSiffWLm9scUcp5Ow7aKjPBdZJqEz2u7lLrM8105SYTze5Fe62AT5j1w_wzy0IVcThP1M/s1600/neveen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="background: transparent; clear: left; color: #37afc0; display: inline-block; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpGWIeqzMQQ8VAnD4dSa00OV9kIAMPRoPI94ZLHUHVZ1XRnFqixN4DjcU4VOePZJgBL-ahU1uSiffWLm9scUcp5Ow7aKjPBdZJqEz2u7lLrM8105SYTze5Fe62AT5j1w_wzy0IVcThP1M/s1600/neveen.jpg" style="border: 0px; height: inherit; max-width: 100%;" /></a></div>Lexia257http://www.blogger.com/profile/12656262901790598651noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3320280485515037254.post-47632925268611961702023-10-10T02:50:00.000-07:002023-10-10T02:50:33.538-07:00Talking to Strangers - It's good for your health (part one)<p><span style="font-family: times;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">I have been thinking about the topic of the title I have given to this post for some time, and thought that today being <a href="https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/our-work/public-engagement/world-mental-health-day" target="_blank">World Mental Health Day</a> I thought that I ought to at least attempt to put my thoughts into words and share them.</span></b></span></p><p><i><span style="font-family: times;">"World Mental Health Day is a day to talk about mental health and show everyone that mental health matters. It's also a day to let people know that it's ok to ask for help, no matter what you're going through. The theme this year highlights 'mental health as a universal human right ' which means working towards good mental health for all." </span></i></p><p><b style="color: #333333; letter-spacing: 0.32px;"><span style="font-family: times;">Apart from some specific times in my
life when I felt that I wasn’t quite “me”, I’ve hardly ever been one to think
twice about starting up a conversation with a stranger. The times I refer to when I have not been able
to instigate a repartee, have generally been during illness of some sort – which, touch wood,
I am relatively free from, as I write. </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"> </span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="color: #333333;">Whether this is a good thing or not
is quite subjective and I am sure that others have a range of views on my
statement and can relate to personal situations where they have perhaps
questioned their own ability or desire to converse or not with someone they don’t
know.</span><span style="color: #333333;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">But, next time you consider striking
up a conversation (or not) with a stranger in a queue at the supermarket, or while
waiting for an appointment, </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">keep in mind that it might be beneficial for
your well-being to do so.</span></span></p><p><span style="color: #212529; font-family: times; font-size: 14px;">The human brain is equipped to keep track of around 150 people. These are the 150 we claim to know by having an ongoing connection in some way. The ones to whom we could suggest going for a coffee with though we haven't seen them in person for a long time. Those we might text (these days) and ask how they are and should we meet up. These are the people we believe we have some sort of insight of and understand how they think. Thirty years ago, Richard Dunbar theorised that humans can maintain a friendship group of 150 people, with 5 intimate friendships. </span><span style="color: #212529; font-family: times; font-size: 14px;">His theory has stood firm also with the evidence that personal and social networks and natural communities are approximately 150 in size, with a distant layered structure, has grown extensively in the past decade. We see this in our telephone call networks, Facebook/other social media groups, Christmas card lists, military groups, online gaming environments, and so on. This number also holds for church congregations and Bronze Age communities associated with stone circles. </span></p><p><span style="color: #212529; font-family: times; font-size: 14px;">The concept of "the stranger" was discussed by the philosopher and sociologist George Simnel in 1908. According to him a stranger is someone who is both close and distant to a group. They are close because they are part of a group - but distant because they are not fully integrated into it. "The stranger is both nearby and remote and the proximity and remoteness is of course a completely positive relation as it is a specific form of interaction", he said. </span></p><p><span style="color: #212529; font-family: times; font-size: 14px;">In early communities, strangers could be both good and bad. Strangers brought new ideas, skills and resources to the community and could provide perspective to problems and conflicts, but they could also bring disease or violence which could be seen as a threat to the community's values and social order. The risks of interacting with strangers were often greater than the benefits and communities needed to be be cautious in their dealing with strangers. In anthropology, the "stranger king theory" suggests that pre-colonial and colonial processes of state formation share similarities and divergences. Pre-colonial state was formed by a stranger who was accepted by the local people as their king and this stranger was able to bring together different groups and create a new political order. The colonial state however, was formed by individuals who imposed their own political order on the local people. (This is not intended to be a political post in any way, so enough said on that issue - but food for thought.) I</span><span style="color: #212529; font-family: times; font-size: 14px;">n modern times, fortunately, studies have shown that talking to strangers can have many benefits such as making us happier, more connected to our communities, mentally sharper, healthier, less lonely and more trustful. </span></p><p><span style="color: #212529; font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">My view and analysis of my own personality is that I am, in general, an extrovert; an outgoing, socially confident person, by definition. (That an extrovert personality can actually hide an introvert, socially awkward character is a subject for a different discussion and possible post). I talk to anyone and everyone on a daily basis and no doubt to some, I could do with keeping quiet, but I know from experience that not only is it good for my own well being, it is good for others too - even if they don't realise it. So why not give it a try and what's the worst that can happen ? Perhaps the person that you speak to ignores you completely or responds in a way that makes you think "I shouldn't have bothered". That person may secretly be glad that you spoke to them and you might be the only person who has spoken to then all day, or longer. Again, from experience, I am quite sure that the positive responses you will get outweigh any negativity and that can't be a bad thing. </span></span></p><p><span style="color: #212529; font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">As George Simnel also said - "There is something freeing about strangers - unentangled in our world and lives, our own burden can be lightened. Sometimes, unexpectantly, strangers can become our confidants. With them we can trade the most surprising revelations and confidences at times reminiscent of a confessional". Now doesn't that sound good ? </span></span></p><p><span style="color: #212529; font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="color: #212529; font-family: times;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #212529; font-family: times;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgczIEkZkIUjb5zHhyphenhyphenrICCuggmGlrFMIuL_l4qcaZtKSz_NREEmcXCWlpSUD9kSFPYDjE4-v-KQNVG_EqDupQIEOyIj0_-JtyVyP3gKWpE361adajSqIVAmzzU_unXEZwkFM6Nucm5yKfMSyP8KDeeM5CYZR8d7Fx_kXexMLPdm77hNVR7jBQB_-zkHA44/s770/dunbar-number-friendship-neurosinces-public.jpg.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="485" data-original-width="770" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgczIEkZkIUjb5zHhyphenhyphenrICCuggmGlrFMIuL_l4qcaZtKSz_NREEmcXCWlpSUD9kSFPYDjE4-v-KQNVG_EqDupQIEOyIj0_-JtyVyP3gKWpE361adajSqIVAmzzU_unXEZwkFM6Nucm5yKfMSyP8KDeeM5CYZR8d7Fx_kXexMLPdm77hNVR7jBQB_-zkHA44/w375-h237/dunbar-number-friendship-neurosinces-public.jpg.webp" width="375" /></a></span></div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: times;"><br /><span style="font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span><p></p><p><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 14.1pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 14.1pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></p><p style="background: white; margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></p><p style="background: white; margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></p><p style="background: white; margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><br /></span></p><p style="background: white; margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><br /></span></p><p style="background: white; margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></p><p style="background: white; margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #212529; font-family: times; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></p><p style="background: white; margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #212529; font-family: times; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></p><p style="background: white; margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></em></p><p style="background: white; margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></p><p style="background: white; margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #212529; font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="background: white; margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #212529; font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 14.1pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #333333;"><o:p><span style="font-family: times;"> </span></o:p></span></p><p style="background: white; margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="background: white; margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="background: white; margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="background: white; margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="background: white; margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></p><div>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 14.1pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></p></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #181818;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none;"><br /></span></span></span></div>Lexia257http://www.blogger.com/profile/12656262901790598651noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3320280485515037254.post-28715680433002206192023-08-22T04:27:00.000-07:002023-08-22T04:27:10.947-07:00To Where We Belong - Musings on a mill pond<p> <span style="font-family: arial;">He first went there with his school, long ago. </span></p><div class="MsoNormal"><span><span style="font-family: arial;">The teachers had told the classes that the stone work was from Roman times; remnants from hundreds of years back. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span><span style="font-family: arial;">It turned out that it wasn’t Roman at all.</span></span><span><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial;">It was an old mill first used for smelting lead in the late 1600s and then between around 1760 and 1850 fine paper was produced there to wrap the products of the nearby iron and steel industry - often cutlery and probably the pins, needles and wire made in the local area.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 15px;">All that remained today was the pond which had provided power by supplying a water wheel and some and some ruinous buildings. <span style="background-color: transparent;">Romantic maybe – but not Roman.</span></p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span><span style="font-family: arial;"><span class="apple-style-span">When they had met years later, he could not wait to take her to this place, high up on the hillside in the depths of the forest with the stream trickling, then rushing down from the tops. Tawny, hazel, mustard and coral tainted leaves and ferns painted the background for the scene.</span><br /><span class="apple-style-span">And she had loved it too. </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span><span style="font-family: arial;"><span class="apple-style-span">It was an almost secret place and a place of secrets with its overhanging trees and woodland walk not used by many. The millpond itself lay clear and still holding its memories from times gone by.</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br /><span class="apple-style-span">This day he was alone. He had walked up the incline to the pond with his head bent against the stinging wind and rain fighting against the equally stinging tears which he could not hold back. The weather seemed to try to discourage him in his efforts but he pushed on, his precious cargo bumping rhythmically against his back inside the rucksack, with each step. How easily a walk once joyous and uplifting could become so painful and morose.</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span><span style="font-family: arial;">He was glad of the weather though today, as any would be hikers or joggers appeared to have either taken another route or stayed at home. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span><span style="font-family: arial;">The pond was calm and clear despite the torrent of the waterfall joining it from higher up the cliff side, it's sound complementing the splash of the raindrops and the howl of the wind. Unwillingly, he felt his spirits rise as he stood at the water's edge, the rucksack now at his feet.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span><span style="font-family: arial;">He held the urn high in the air and tilted it slowly, sprinkling the contents into the water, the breeze picking up some of the ashes and carrying them away high into the mountains, and beyond. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"><!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--></span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"><!--[endif]--></span></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9wC0iJiSzLXnjwuiFrnrWZm4isFIfkrRWo9QjWdN4taZtj4qlRrTZM0o3OLBwyDRSx3YIQztfUIdMuUXubP-_aTv_h8VmMexL0MUBzXc57fuMkehdZKBiiktqGqeOGOLcXSpp8caJBJ2eibX-Bo2VGIFwB6PsXtDmzckiObfGyg1LKmMRJmlACKBl230/s227/th%20(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="155" data-original-width="227" height="155" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9wC0iJiSzLXnjwuiFrnrWZm4isFIfkrRWo9QjWdN4taZtj4qlRrTZM0o3OLBwyDRSx3YIQztfUIdMuUXubP-_aTv_h8VmMexL0MUBzXc57fuMkehdZKBiiktqGqeOGOLcXSpp8caJBJ2eibX-Bo2VGIFwB6PsXtDmzckiObfGyg1LKmMRJmlACKBl230/w230-h155/th%20(1).jpg" width="230" /></a></div></div>Lexia257http://www.blogger.com/profile/12656262901790598651noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3320280485515037254.post-75808291588747375062023-08-14T01:28:00.000-07:002023-08-14T01:28:33.087-07:00Save Water - Bathe with a friend : Re blogged 13 years on <h4 style="text-align: left;"></h4><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Well, here we are seven days into July and some parts of the country are starting with hose pipe bans.<br />
Now I know we must not waste water, after all it's one of the most precious natural things we have available to us - after air, and maybe the sun (and no doubt a few more things)</span></h3> <h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Anyway, it's precious, we know that. And my tomato plants not only have black fly - which is probably caused by being too dry - but they are all shrivelled too and so are the beans and the potatoes are not looking too clever. But I won't worry - I shall use the dirty washing up water on them, which I understand will kill the blackfly and water them at the same time. It's the washing up liquid the blackfly hate, not the grease and bits of food.</span></h4>
<span style="font-family: arial;"><br />
But come on. We are an island. You can't travel much further than 50 or 60 miles and you reach water. Salted yes, but didn't someone invent something to get rid of the salt for drinking? I am no expert (on anything at all) but even I know you can collect water to drink when you are lost at sea in your dinghy by collecting condensation on a piece of plastic or metal. Now if I know that, there's got to be some clever brains out there to work on this.<br />
As for washing, I read somewhere that it's better to only bathe twice a week. I suppose some people carry this through to the extreme.<br />
<br />
So - apparently we are short of water again. Many places which are usually "hot" don't seem to have this problem. They water the perfectly groomed green lawns of their hotels almost 24 hours a day and I've not heard of hose pipe bans. <br />
No doubt I will get aspersions cast on my ignorance about climate change and all that stuff, but this is the way I say it from the "person in the street" 's point of view. When it rains, save some. When it doesn't, use that which you saved before. Where's the problem.<br />
<br />Just need to point out that the title of this blog is taken from an incident when I was twelve and my RE teacher sent me to the Headmaster to explain myself for having it written on the front of my notebook.</span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Thanks Mr Alan Tarn, you saved me a lot of thinking time there ! </span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQKS9_lUoLtlB-l4KBFVJ0yJH_nnFJ27FnGe14KFHWDUoo4u94OZS3Rjd5eGk9tU_jOxXAvUm5-SY8ub075ad-3nGBjENHu7UsRiXyTa-qeFks60JyfXLKYEa3qbkuWEvSHy7YaROlRhdvDc2P0q0CWYjiBpzSMoYUQJnenJBllmzEEH5_mPv9Q5ZHAGU/s489/th.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="489" data-original-width="326" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQKS9_lUoLtlB-l4KBFVJ0yJH_nnFJ27FnGe14KFHWDUoo4u94OZS3Rjd5eGk9tU_jOxXAvUm5-SY8ub075ad-3nGBjENHu7UsRiXyTa-qeFks60JyfXLKYEa3qbkuWEvSHy7YaROlRhdvDc2P0q0CWYjiBpzSMoYUQJnenJBllmzEEH5_mPv9Q5ZHAGU/s320/th.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div></div>Lexia257http://www.blogger.com/profile/12656262901790598651noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3320280485515037254.post-1708447448616865412023-07-25T03:53:00.011-07:002023-07-25T03:59:19.548-07:00Tuesday 25th July 2023<h3 style="text-align: left;"> <span style="font-family: arial;">I could begin this by asking myself ... what should I write today ? or, I have been meaning to write something for a while now - as has been the precursor to many of the posts on this blog, over the years. </span></h3><p>But not today. Today it's my birthday and I have reached the official State Pension age (currently 66) and have given myself carte blanche to write whatever I feel like and whatever thoughts come into my head. Maybe someone other than me will read this, but if not, so be it. Having said that, this is not so different to any other things I have ever written , or are likely to write in the future. 😊 I have also given myself the full go ahead to use a smiley face/emoji which is not generally the done thing in a blog - but, you see, its my birthday and I'm a pensioner now. Here's another, just because I can 😀</p><p>I could write about the state of the country/world and the selfishness of society and governments or many other things. I could write that today I have written my final ever 'complaint' to the BBC about a number of issues, and then go on to discuss them, but not today. </p><p>Today, it is a beautiful sunny day (I have been telling people that it is <i>always sunny on my birthday </i>for the past few days now, so at least that is correct, so far ). I am writing this sitting in my garden which is very wet and wild at the moment, but I love it. My lemon, orange, olive and fig trees are doing their very best to keep thriving despite the weather and the tomatoes are flourishing, despite them being inside, outside, inside and now outside again. Butterflies and bees are flying around, birds are singing and at the risk of going all poetical - all is well. </p><p>I am grateful - for so many things that the list is so long it would become a cliche to name them all. Suffice to say, my family, friends and the people I meet each day, which seems to become more as each day goes by. And my dog. </p><p>So that's it really. This sense of peace and calm and thankfulness perhaps is due to this birthday, or perhaps not. For whatever reason, I hope it continues and I will do my utmost to ensure that it does, especially on the days when it seems that there is some outside force determined to usurp the peace. </p><p>Happy Tuesday to You </p><p>xxx</p><p><br /></p>Lexia257http://www.blogger.com/profile/12656262901790598651noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3320280485515037254.post-46204796962224505842023-03-09T04:23:00.000-08:002023-03-09T04:23:09.683-08:00 The Human Condition : #Embracing Equity & International Women's Day, 2023<h4 style="text-align: left;">Yesterday 8th March, 2023 was <a href="https://www.internationalwomensday.com/" target="_blank">International Women's Day</a> with the campaign theme of #EmbraceEquity.</h4><div><b>I did have this post written yesterday morning but didn't get around to posting it as my day was three quarters taken up with doing IWD type things - well sort of, as you will see if you read to the end.</b></div><div><br /></div><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyhiGdkciygW1iyMJG5zr8sEkFsU3rZ94tePIstWMvH4gSdZUcSjupqIHAokcw9dcpPUsQrhBIpDa-ToD-sGhM5soM6pHuEJ1PleeW5t7_MP6h4My3pzw1n3XuQDtSYwVZ7WxXC4ubax4YtedOfLqcJap8b7O27gg5LV1LH0hKfppqA3NopZ00vKkQ/s929/iwd.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="667" data-original-width="929" height="152" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyhiGdkciygW1iyMJG5zr8sEkFsU3rZ94tePIstWMvH4gSdZUcSjupqIHAokcw9dcpPUsQrhBIpDa-ToD-sGhM5soM6pHuEJ1PleeW5t7_MP6h4My3pzw1n3XuQDtSYwVZ7WxXC4ubax4YtedOfLqcJap8b7O27gg5LV1LH0hKfppqA3NopZ00vKkQ/w212-h152/iwd.jpg" width="212" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The word 'equity' <span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Open Sans", serif; font-size: 16px;"> is the quality of being fair and reasonable in a way that gives equal treatment to everyone. It's commonly used in legal and financial terms such as in the sum of a person's assets, once debts have been taken from it. </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Open Sans", serif; font-size: 16px;">If someone who has borrowed money to buy a house and has 'negative equity', </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Open Sans", serif; font-size: 16px;">the amount of money they owe is greater than the present value of their home. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Open Sans", serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Open Sans", serif; font-size: 16px;">I have to say that I have checked my understanding of 'equity' and 'equality' and the differences between them, with a dictionary and can confirm that " Equality is providing the same level of opportunity to all segments of society such as races and genders, while equity is providing various levels of support and assistance depending on specific needs or abilities". </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Open Sans", serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Open Sans", serif; font-size: 16px;">For International Women's Day, and beyond, we are being encouraged to fully "Embrace Equity" in any way we can and to know that it is critical to understand the differences (between equity and equality). The aim of the IWF campaign theme this year is to get the world talking about why only equal opportunities are not enough and how we can all really embrace equity, regardless of who we are or our life circumstances. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Open Sans", serif; font-size: 16px;">We are also encouraged to continue to believe, unconditionally, in the concept as a means to keep on creating an inclusive world. Each one of us can support this within our own sphere of influence, whether that be within family and friends, locally, nationally or internationally. Feeling included and having a sense of 'belonging' is not only a human right but a part of the 'human condition' - the shared experiences and challenges that are common to all of us, regardless of culture, race or background. This encompasses both positive and negative aspects of human existence </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Open Sans", serif; font-size: 16px;">including love, joy and fulfilment as well as pain, suffering and mortality. It is often confused with human nature which is only one part of the human condition referring to the behaviours, traits and characteristics that are natural to humans. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Open Sans", serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Open Sans", serif; font-size: 16px;">So, how do we embrace equity, as the International Women's Day theme suggests and is it any more than what we would ordinarily do as part of our everyday lives ? </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Open Sans", serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Open Sans", serif; font-size: 16px;">It seems that there is not a day goes by without these concepts being debated in the media and social media or new 'laws' introduced to ensure that equality and inclusiveness is happening in all walks of life. This is surely a good thing provided we keep to original intentions and don't get - pardon the cliche - 'thrown off balance' by government, 'celebrities' or others with a particular agenda to push, which is in fact neither equal nor inclusive. The IWD suggestions are an added reminder to us, I think, to consciously aim for the goal of equality in all things and equity is the means to get there. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Open Sans", serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i><span style="background-color: white; color: #212529; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", Arial, "Noto Sans", "Liberation Sans", sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Noto Color Emoji"; font-size: 16px;">"When we embrace equity, we embrace diversity, and inclusion. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #212529; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", Arial, "Noto Sans", "Liberation Sans", sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Noto Color Emoji"; font-size: 16px;">We embrace equity to forge harmony and unity, and to help drive success for all. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #212529; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", Arial, "Noto Sans", "Liberation Sans", sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Noto Color Emoji"; font-size: 16px;">Through the process of equity, we can reach equality." </span></i></div><p></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #212529; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times;">Sharing the passion and excitement that can come from valuing and supporting differences, we can all be part of a solution rather than a problem. By encouraging our family, friends, colleagues and community to embrace equity, we can collectively impact positive change and help towards and equal world. This may sound like preaching but I believe in the power of collective thought as well as action, and hope that I put my convictions into practice enough.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #212529; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times;">Yesterday I was fortunate to attend another <a href="https://lost-chord.org.uk/" target="_blank">Lost Chord</a> session, at the <a href="https://www.sheffieldquakers.org.uk/" target="_blank">Quaker Meeting House</a> in Sheffield, led by musicians <a href="https://www.clarelangan.co.uk/" target="_blank">Clare Langan</a> and <a href="https://lukecarvergoss.co.uk/projects.html" target="_blank">Luke Carver Goss</a> Again, it was a pleasure to take part in the music, song and chat between a group of people, as diverse as could be, and to appreciate the inclusion and equality of us all within that group. Both men and women attended the group so I hope I played my part in embracing equity for all. I think I did.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #212529; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #212529; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;"><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://lost-chord.org.uk/dates-for-your-diary/" style="font-family: times; font-size: 16px;" target="_blank">https://lost-chord.org.uk/dates-for-your-diary/</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Open Sans", serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><p></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #212529; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", Arial, "Noto Sans", "Liberation Sans", sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Noto Color Emoji"; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;"><br /></p>Lexia257http://www.blogger.com/profile/12656262901790598651noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3320280485515037254.post-79447515175499263292023-03-02T03:44:00.005-08:002023-03-02T03:44:59.884-08:00We Need Books - World Book Day 2023<h4 style="text-align: left;">Yesterday morning, 1st March, I began writing a blog post about St David's Day. I was interested to learn that he is the only British/Irish saint to be born in the country that he is patron of. Also that his last words are recorded as "Be joyful, keep faith and do the little things which you have heard and seen me do". I like this thought and intention that the small actions we take in life can be just as significant for ourselves and others , as the bigger ones. "Gwnewch Y Pethau Bychain" in Welsh. </h4><p>That was as far as I went with the blog however, as I was distracted by further information about St David that a biography written by an 11th century monk, <a href="https://blogs.bl.uk/digitisedmanuscripts/2021/03/rhygyfarch.html" target="_blank">Rhygyfarch</a> claims that he lived to the ripe old age of 147 - well, I had to investigate further, I found myself spending way looking into the life and work of this medieval Welsh poet, clerk and biographer who was one of the most renowned scholars of his time. And the rest as is said, is history. My morning was taken up with me reading more on the subject, downloading and reading a book "Poetry and Protest in Medieval Wales" and deciding that I need to visit the city of St David's at the earliest opportunity and broaden my knowledge on the place. (I also spent some time looking at whether the name should be spelled St David's or St Davids as it is written as both across the internet. I settled on St David's, with the apostrophe as it is clearly 'the home of David' as in 'belonging to').</p><p>Which brings me to today, and World Book Day. What better way to reinforce the essentiality of books than to explain why yesterday I did not write what I had intended as I was busy reading and learning more than I knew before ?</p><p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRg2SDPtUwAKffpKpl8mN1RLrjDTOK53yc_KdhwOHpgqPwweNUUE5SNRnfyasQFOsLsPxbY9YPk_rca-QmZ6A2P_0iJIjRUGR7TMXc5QuXCdAZmIOFBJanI5uZImjUvR9Dlb4NP3_DTsHFtlT0KHLI-AD-Zb1eXw_rWymn1oa2MNq190eqIU-uGZ5L/s404/R.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="273" data-original-width="404" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRg2SDPtUwAKffpKpl8mN1RLrjDTOK53yc_KdhwOHpgqPwweNUUE5SNRnfyasQFOsLsPxbY9YPk_rca-QmZ6A2P_0iJIjRUGR7TMXc5QuXCdAZmIOFBJanI5uZImjUvR9Dlb4NP3_DTsHFtlT0KHLI-AD-Zb1eXw_rWymn1oa2MNq190eqIU-uGZ5L/s320/R.png" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><p>I have always loved books and reading and whether it stems from family upbringing and environment or is innate in some people, who is to say. In my family growing up, everyone read, all of the time and books were treated with reverence, especially by my grandfather, who insisted we wash our hands before opening any book. I'm afraid that this practice has long gone, but it is good to remember how it was installed in us children how precious books were/are. I dreamed of a library or a book shop of my own where I could spend many hours devouring the texts of famous and less famous authors. One of my greatest pleasures as a child was to get out our family set of Arthur Mees Encyclopaedias and ask someone to give me a word or phrase to look up and research . Of course, some will say that as we didn't have the internet or television even, so long ago, REAL books were vital for learning, entertainment and pleasure. This is true and in I recently discussed the virtues of paper books versus electronic books, but all in all, I believe that as long as the word 'Book' remains in our vocabulary and experiences, we can't go far wrong.</p><p>For the rest of my day I will be reading and writing (I'm at least a few months behind what I intend writing as the reading gets in the way !) I hope that whoever is reading this may have the opportunity to relax with a good book, a cup of tea and perhaps a bar of chocolate, at some time today.</p><p>Here's to a pleasurable, educational, and entertaining World Book day, whatever you are doing. </p><p><br /></p><p>Related past blogs :</p><p><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/3320280485515037254/4902336915114849438" target="_blank">Battle of the Hard Copy</a></p><p><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/3320280485515037254/694486191073192306" target="_blank">Write-Place : World Book Day</a> <br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p> </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><span face="ReithSans, Arial, Helvetica, freesans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 16px;"><br /></span></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Lexia257http://www.blogger.com/profile/12656262901790598651noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3320280485515037254.post-28436773654129865652023-02-21T10:24:00.001-08:002023-02-21T10:24:50.983-08:00Know Thyself - Me Being Me<blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p></p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><h4 style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><b>Looking back over past posts that I have written for this blog - as I often do when I need to focus my mind on one new thing to write about - I found a post from way back with <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/3320280485515037254/9067182297504115964" target="_blank">this title</a>, "Know Thyself". </b></span></h4></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p></p></blockquote><p><span style="font-family: times;">I wrote that I had found the ultimate "get yourself moving and write" site or at least thought I had. The idea was to take part in that year's NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) the idea of which was to begin writing on November 1st with a goal to write a 175- page, 50,000 word novel by midnight on November 30th. <a href="https://nanowrimo.org/" target="_blank">NanoWriMo</a></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">I declared that this seemed "simple", and then immediately decided that it was not so. Having started with good intentions that morning and being sure that at least a few hundred words would be written that day, despite having "other" things to do, my plan went awry and I castigated myself that I ought to have "known myself better". I then described my scenario that day - the site itself was running very slow and I couldn't upload even the title of my 'novel', I needed to write a blog for that day first and check on how others were progressing with the task, offering supportive comments and the like. Clearly these supposed tasks of mine were procrastination techniques (which I have written about a number of times over the years since this blog's inception) and I had little intention of making any headway with my novel. I had omitted to note that I could write perfectly well without having any connection with the NaNoWriMo site itself. I excused myself, in 2010, by saying that I would begin the next day. </span><span style="font-family: times;">But it was the title I'd given the post which caught my eye while browsing today. My memory doesn't usually allow me to remember something from this morning, let alone thirteen years ago, so I was curious as to whether I thought I knew myself, and if I really did, back then. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">There are thousands or perhaps millions of quotations about 'self' from over the ages, by famous and not so famous people. Here are just a few :</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">"<i>Not until we are lost do we begin to understand ourselves.</i>" Henry David Thoreau</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">"<i>Know thyself was written over the portal of the antique world. Over the portal of the new world, 'Be thyself' shall be written.</i>" Oscar Wilde</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">"<i>Be clear about exactly what it is that you need to learn and exactly what you need to do to learn it. Being clear kills fear. Make it thy business to know thyself, which is the most difficult lesson in the world"</i>. Miguel de Cervantes</span></p><p><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: times;">"<i>There is only one corner of the universe you can be certain if improving, and that's your own self</i>". Aldous Huxley</span></span></p><p><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: times;">"<i>Just when I think I have learned the easy to live, life changes</i>". Hugh Prather</span></span></p><p><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: times;">And perhaps even more appropriate, also from Prather - "<i>If the desire to write is not accompanied by actual writing, then the desire must be not to write</i>".</span></span></p><p><span style="color: #333333; font-family: times;">By not writing what I had hoped or intended to that day, or any other day before and since, did I not 'know' myself at that particular time ? Or, did I know myself enough to believe that even though I hadn't achieved that day's supposed 'goal', I could do it (or not) another day and nothing and no one would be any the worse ? </span></p><p><span style="color: #333333; font-family: times;">Right now, I think it's the second suggestion. Today, and probably that earlier day, I know myself. The anxieties I have in my life are from the inner disputes between what I <i>should </i>be and what I am; what I <i>should</i> feel and what I do feel and, as Prather succinctly puts it ... </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: times;"> </span></p><p><span style="color: #333333; font-family: times;"> </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: times;">"... it seems to begin whenever I smuggle into my mind an expectation about how I or others should be and the conflict between my desire to control the world and the understanding that I can't. It is the recognition that I may not reach the rung on the opinion ladder I have just set for myself ".</span></p><p><span style="color: #333333; font-family: times;"> So today, and for at least the rest of this week, no 'procrastination'. No 'I should ...' this, that or the other. No expectations of myself or anyone else, no goals, nothing 'unachieved'. Just me being me without any repercussions. I hope it lasts. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJlo8TWqse9Uh9JUCu91ijmrzRibmYgqqalkZWkXEuNn6azaZVjyndCdhly20zE3jhWbIDMedomfZnWw32Bxw93wHhfi1gqzo7mRdOU_3tLTrboJpu6aJqUccHnyfH73QNC7Kv34PpAzFFphk61l7H7WLdjfReLvdJX--RrvwzcqJs5UPOqbl4imK-/s850/know%20thyself.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="850" height="151" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJlo8TWqse9Uh9JUCu91ijmrzRibmYgqqalkZWkXEuNn6azaZVjyndCdhly20zE3jhWbIDMedomfZnWw32Bxw93wHhfi1gqzo7mRdOU_3tLTrboJpu6aJqUccHnyfH73QNC7Kv34PpAzFFphk61l7H7WLdjfReLvdJX--RrvwzcqJs5UPOqbl4imK-/s320/know%20thyself.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /> <p></p>Lexia257http://www.blogger.com/profile/12656262901790598651noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3320280485515037254.post-49023369151148494382023-02-07T03:31:00.000-08:002023-02-07T03:31:28.693-08:00Battle of the Hard Copy - 12 Years On<div>Came across this post of mine from 12 years ago :</div><div><br /></div><div>Battle of the Hard Copy <a href="http://wwwrite-place.blogspot.com/search?q=battle+of+the+hard+copy">Write-Place (wwwrite-place.blogspot.com</a> </div><div><br /></div><div>in which I write that in the battle of 'book versus e.reader', I would argue for the case of The Book, to the bitter end. Granted, I was talking about something called a 'View Quest Mediabox' which at the time was £52 and half the price of a Kindle, but oh, how new technology and age changes one's views.</div><div><br /></div><div>Apparently, at the time this 5 inch wonder could not only store hundreds of books but you could watch videos, listen to music and use a voice recorder on it. Clearly in 2011, the Smart Phone as we know it today had not reached me, or at least, I could not afford one then. I did get a Kindle like this </div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMRAG0SoBoR5JVy_sy9-0X7_xNQqRXXSRcUfNZGQz9IPmOAuRm6i_31vtfKTBSA1AAWxi-gCBBtXkPa7wzc47ToiGx7Up2xnRQHZ6lKx4pucPKB2gH8FBlYnQpozMPf8XHBtMMegn8V6ATFaE-gPwOjhl5DMtxDvQwpKsSswocJ_hgJu6ugLX1YD8D/s750/137303-gadgets-news-amazon-kindle-a-brief-10-year-history-from-the-original-kindle-to-the-new-kindle-oasis-image5-u4v8smq9zc.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="750" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMRAG0SoBoR5JVy_sy9-0X7_xNQqRXXSRcUfNZGQz9IPmOAuRm6i_31vtfKTBSA1AAWxi-gCBBtXkPa7wzc47ToiGx7Up2xnRQHZ6lKx4pucPKB2gH8FBlYnQpozMPf8XHBtMMegn8V6ATFaE-gPwOjhl5DMtxDvQwpKsSswocJ_hgJu6ugLX1YD8D/s320/137303-gadgets-news-amazon-kindle-a-brief-10-year-history-from-the-original-kindle-to-the-new-kindle-oasis-image5-u4v8smq9zc.webp" width="320" /></a></div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">which a quick Google search tells me was brought out by Amazon in September 2011. I soon lost interest in it as I could not get to grips with the turning the page buttons forward and back and as the device does not have a touch screen, for me the 'search' facility was quite laborious. (I have the same frustration with my television and remote control when typing text to search - but I do appreciate that this may be due to the age/type of my TV set. Are there touch screen TVs with touch screen remotes ? No doubt this is something that has passed me by).</div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">In the past post I noted that it may have been the voice recorder facility which drew my attention to the device advertised, even wondering how I could be managing my life without it. I have a number of times purchased a 'dictaphone' style device, even one in my early days of writing with tiny little cassettes tapes which could be fast forwarded or run backwards. The technology of the time defeated me, however, as I found that in the time that I had taken to record some information and replay it and amend it, I could have easily had the text written by hand and typed up just as quickly. As for reading itself, I found that yes, I could read whilst sat in the garden or whilst hanging onto a tube train strap as shown in the adverts, but could not do without my glasses - prescription sunglasses in the garden/outside scenario. Then, I could only read on the Kindle in bed with the light on, which wasn't ideal so I might as well read a book with my head torch or book light on. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">As time passed, it became clear to me that if the device does not have an e-ink screen, I might as well get e books on my laptop, Notepad computer and later still on my Samsung phone. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>"And all the time in the back of my mind is the thought that these items are helping towards the demise of real books, bookshops and libraries. Haven't I just last weekend signed petitions for keeping libraries open ? There really is nothing better than having a 'hard copy' book which can be read anywhere, anytime and unless it's the complete set of Encyclopaedia Brittanica, easily transportable. Add to this the fact that I bought 3 new books from just ordered 2 from Amazon today and I really have to wonder what I was thinking of."</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i><br /></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Now, in 2023, with advancing age and poorer eyesight, particularly after having surgery more than once on my right eye, I am relying more on the new Kindle bought for me a couple of years ago. It can be read anywhere and in the dark and the text can be enlarged or lightened up as necessary and is sadly taking the place of 'real books' for me. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I have recycled much of my book collection to charity shops or passed on to friends and saved only the books of most importance and sentimental value to me. It was a sad day indeed when I recently bought 4 books from a local charity shop and found that the text was almost impossible for me to read, so returned them and bought the e versions for my Kindle. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I am grateful for the treatment and care that I have received from the Vitreoretinal Surgery team at Royal Hallamshire Hospital and thankful for the technology discovered and used, which never fails to astound me and enriches so many peoples lives. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>Lexia257http://www.blogger.com/profile/12656262901790598651noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3320280485515037254.post-71065308273753914562023-02-03T02:02:00.000-08:002023-02-03T02:02:05.427-08:00 When Words Fail, Music Speaks - Lost Chord<h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;">It has long been recognised and accepted that listening to and taking part in musical activities has an effect on our feelings and emotions. </span></h4><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;">We all have pieces of music or songs which reminds us of a particular event or time in our lives and most of us can recall when the hairs on the back of our neck stood up, we had goose-bumps on our arms and shivers down our spine at the musical sounds we were hearing. I am fortunate that I was brought up within a family who loved music - my father a pianist and church organist, my mother a pianist and a member of numerous choirs. I have lovely memories of singing 'around the piano', duets with my mother, especially at bath time, and my attempts at harmonising from the age of about 3 years old. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;">Musician Billy Joel once said "I think music itself is healing. It is an explosive expression of humanity and something we are all touched by. No matter the culture, we all love music". Most of us, I'm sure, agree with this statement and it is this universal bond with music which has led researchers across the globe to investigate it's therapeutic potential. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;">The elements of music - rhythm, melody, pitch, tempo etc, are echoed in our physiology, functioning and being and we have such a deep connection to music because it is 'hardwired' into our brains and bodies. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;">Given this connection, it is not surprising that numerous studies have shown that music can benefit our mental health. The mood enhancing chemical dopamine is increased in the brain when listening to music or singing and so is a feasible, natural treatment for depression and many other 'illnesses'. Increasingly, researchers are finding that the benefits of music may also go beyond mental health and as a result, health experts are calling for music therapy to be more widely incorporated into health care settings.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="http://lost-chord.org.uk" target="_blank">Lost Chord</a> is a charitable organisation founded by Helena Muller in 1999. It's earliest beginnings, with 11 residential homes in my home town of Maltby, Rotherham has now expanded into many parts of South Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire with satellite schemes in Coventry, London, Bury St Edmonds and Ipswich.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><i>"We are unique in that we are probably the only organisation in the country which visits the same homes each month in order to build on the responses achieved in previous successive concerts. The past years have been an exciting journey of discovery into dealing with dementia." </i>Helena Muller - Founder of Lost Chord</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;">In 2021, musician <a href="https://lost-chord.org.uk/people-at-lost-chord/staff-and-trustees/" target="_blank">Clare Langan</a> took on the role of Chief Executive to the organisation, which she has done with flair and passion and is an excellent ambassador for Lost Chord. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><i>"In the summer of 2021 it was my honour to be asked to consider building on the incredible legacy Helena has devoted her life to for the past 22 years". </i>Clare Langan </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">Lost Chord produces more than 1300 interactive musical sessions a year which are designed to stimulate responses from people with dementia in residential care homes, day centres and also now in community settings, such as church and parish halls - anywhere that people can gather together to enjoy the music and song and take part or simply enjoy the atmosphere and sense of well being which is created in sessions. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;">Requests for musical sessions and concerts are increasing rapidly, which means that the organisation is always looking for further income generating opportunities, to enable them to reach out further to many more people across the UK.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;">It was my own pleasure to meet Clare at a Lost Chord session at 'Vintage Booth' in Maltby last December and to offer my support as a volunteer with them. Whilst waiting for my DBS to be completed, I have visited and taken part in a number of sessions, including 'Soup and Song', and have seen the pleasure and benefits to all who attend, regardless of age or circumstances. The building on my own sense of well being and self esteem cannot be underestimated and seeing the reactions and participation of others is a joy in itself. What more could anyone ask for ? </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;">When words fail, music truly does speak. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;">I am so looking forward to becoming an 'official' volunteer and if you have not as yet, been to one of Lost Chord's sessions, I definately recommend them. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://lost-chord.org.uk/dates-for-your-diary/" style="font-family: times;" target="_blank">Dates for your diary 2023</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></p><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhuNS_AW80Fz0jylI3HGT541wTJXQug3lgm_a1VwxBiRe8looTKJFzBejjvV1hZyQ6dFZCp-tilvaYzJWyl7OetbZ-Kyjws_s2BQMXTIWu0h9NrKn4O8k3xdsJVdXZwy7f07fUQ0fLLAP04St8pLOlboZnuJlyDj9D94xyDRotUA9rGBkUTmCp8K8qt" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="856" data-original-width="1640" height="167" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhuNS_AW80Fz0jylI3HGT541wTJXQug3lgm_a1VwxBiRe8looTKJFzBejjvV1hZyQ6dFZCp-tilvaYzJWyl7OetbZ-Kyjws_s2BQMXTIWu0h9NrKn4O8k3xdsJVdXZwy7f07fUQ0fLLAP04St8pLOlboZnuJlyDj9D94xyDRotUA9rGBkUTmCp8K8qt" width="320" /></a></div><br /><b>Facebook</b> <span style="background-color: white; color: #65676b; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17px;">@lostchordmaltby</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #536471; font-family: TwitterChirp, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: nowrap;"><b>Twitter </b> @lchord</span></div><span style="background-color: white; color: #65676b; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17px;"><span class="xzpqnlu xjm9jq1 x6ikm8r x10wlt62 x10l6tqk x1i1rx1s" style="clip: rect(0px, 0px, 0px, 0px); font-family: inherit; height: 1px; overflow: hidden; position: absolute; width: 1px;"> </span><span aria-hidden="true" style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: inherit; color: #231f20; font-family: "Proxima Nova", "Proxima Nova Fallback", sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 26px; margin-bottom: 25px; margin-top: 25px;"><br /></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: inherit; color: #231f20; font-family: "Proxima Nova", "Proxima Nova Fallback", sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 26px; margin-bottom: 25px; margin-top: 25px;"><br /></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: inherit; color: #231f20; font-family: "Proxima Nova", "Proxima Nova Fallback", sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 26px; margin-bottom: 25px; margin-top: 25px;"><br /></p></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 28px;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: inherit;"><figure class="css-1p5qnda" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 30px auto; max-width: 700px;"><span class="css-rwmw5v" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: inherit; color: #231f20; display: block; font-family: "Proxima Nova", "Proxima Nova Fallback", sans-serif; font-size: 0px; line-height: 0; outline: none; position: relative; text-align: center; user-select: none; z-index: 0;"><span class="css-179ddaw" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: inherit; display: block; padding-bottom: 466px; position: relative;"><picture class="css-16pk1is" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 0;"><source media="(min-width: 1190px)" srcset="//i0.wp.com/cdn-prod.medicalnewstoday.com/content/images/articles/302/302903/a-woman-listening-to-music.jpg?w=1575 750w" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: inherit;"></source><source media="(min-width: 990px)" srcset="//i0.wp.com/cdn-prod.medicalnewstoday.com/content/images/articles/302/302903/a-woman-listening-to-music.jpg?w=1575 750w" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: inherit;"></source><source media="(min-width: 768px)" srcset="//i0.wp.com/cdn-prod.medicalnewstoday.com/content/images/articles/302/302903/a-woman-listening-to-music.jpg?w=1845 879w" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: inherit;"></source><br /></picture></span></span></figure></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>Lexia257http://www.blogger.com/profile/12656262901790598651noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3320280485515037254.post-44796960136026361992023-01-03T08:57:00.000-08:002023-01-03T08:57:12.625-08:00Well Said, Mr Micawber - Something Mostly Does Turn Up <p>Here we are, already on the 3rd day of the new year of 2023 and I have been berating myself over the weekend for not having a thought or two worth expressing here about anything at all. </p><p>Anyone looking back over the 14 or so years of this blog will see that this is by no means a new 'thing' for me, and a simple search of " New Year" "Christmas" or even "Time" finds me castigating myself for not writing a post, the timing of a post or for the feelings and thoughts that I should or shouldn't have had about the season. </p><p>(I have posted handy links for some of these posts to save the reader searching themselves, which is a thankless task :) ) </p><p>So where does Mr Micawber come into this ?</p><p>He is a character in Charles Dickens' book "David Copperfield" and is renowned for many sayings which we use in everyday situations, such as "Something will turn up". Here, I need to explain that his quotations come about due to his inability to drag himself out of poverty, not because he procrastinates about a blog post - though he does quote the proverb "Procrastination is the thief of time". </p><p>Today I have 'met' and had a telephone conversation with someone who works with <a href="https://www.varotherham.org.uk/">Voluntary Action Rotherham </a>an organisation which supports, develops and promotes the voluntary and community sector in the Rotherham borough (<a href="https://www.varotherham.org.uk/">varotherham.org.uk)</a> Our discussion was about how, I might become involved in their work, using my life experiences, and hopefully skills, in promoting mental health awareness and support. Yes, it seems that even at my age I can still be useful to others as well as myself. More information here : <a href="https://www.england.nhs.uk/personalisedcare/workforce-and-training/social-prescribing-link-workers/">NHS England » Social prescribing link workers</a>. I am very excited about this and looking forward to meeting others involved and more about this will be posted in due course. This is not a promise but an intention !</p><p>And so a productive day all in all, without any sign of procrastination from me and a blog post written and posted too, which needless to say, eases my mind.</p><p>Watch out for more, coming very soon. Oh and Happy New Year 2023 !</p><p><br /></p><p>Links to similar posts </p><p><a href="http://wwwrite-place.blogspot.com/2016/12/time-and-tide-wait-for-no-man.html">Time and Tide Wait for No Man (wwwrite-place.blogspot.com)</a></p><p><a href="http://wwwrite-place.blogspot.com/2008/12/its-christmas.html">It's Christmas (wwwrite-place.blogspot.com)</a></p><p><a href="http://wwwrite-place.blogspot.com/2016/01/happy-new-year-2016-12-things-i-learned.html">Happy New Year 2016 - 12 things I learned from last year (wwwrite-place.blogspot.com)</a></p><p><a href="http://wwwrite-place.blogspot.com/2013/01/another-year-lets-hope-its-good-one.html">Another Year -Let's hope it's a good one. (wwwrite-place.blogspot.com)</a></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Lexia257http://www.blogger.com/profile/12656262901790598651noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3320280485515037254.post-36606765417290111302022-09-29T03:22:00.002-07:002023-10-10T06:12:25.197-07:00Are You Overthinking ? In Support of Breathing<h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Do you lie awake at night thinking of everything that’s happened that day and wondering what’s going to happen tomorrow? </span></h4><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>Are you finding it difficult to remember things?</i></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>Do you worry constantly about conversations and actions far longer than is helpful? </i></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial;"><i>Do you get stuck weighing the pros and cons to the point of being unable to decide?</i></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i style="font-family: arial;"><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Answering yes to even one of these questions
could mean that that you are ‘overthinking'.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZWJUvYjgPFJXf_1zeBajl0JYDwgX0cNaTcOBz-3FREVI3kRkuMTjaEcxLL-d11K5zn6UT269DPuoTAoGlSrCxfAXMryJH_tHxy0aCzj30nmbasvaKrGegN28IdJsR4Mr1JkX4CXIDE-6m3ubat7zEPuFYHqEx2Xvpw1Jm1TsN5uaNPDB4V6ZUh17o/s238/OIP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="238" data-original-width="238" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZWJUvYjgPFJXf_1zeBajl0JYDwgX0cNaTcOBz-3FREVI3kRkuMTjaEcxLL-d11K5zn6UT269DPuoTAoGlSrCxfAXMryJH_tHxy0aCzj30nmbasvaKrGegN28IdJsR4Mr1JkX4CXIDE-6m3ubat7zEPuFYHqEx2Xvpw1Jm1TsN5uaNPDB4V6ZUh17o/s1600/OIP.jpg" width="238" /></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; text-align: center;"> Most of us do this at some point. Some of us do it much too often. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; text-align: center;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; text-align: center;">Thinking</span><span style="color: #212121; font-family: arial; text-align: center;"> about the things that could go wrong when going to a job interview, or an exam or a driving test. </span><span style="font-family: arial; text-align: center;">We all know the numerous possible scenarios – you may want to talk to someone you don’t know well at an event but as soon as the thought enters your mind, you just can’t help thinking about how the situation could suddenly spiral into chaos. What if you trip up as you walk over to them and everyone else turns to look? What if they don’t like you and they’ve told others they don’t like you, and now everyone at the event feels the same?</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: arial; line-height: 27.6px;">It’s very unlikely that this will happen, but our brains convince us it’s the most likely result. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 18.4px;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 18.4px;">When making important decisions, there's obviously a need to be cautious - though some of us, find this difficult too and make decisions which others might call 'rash'. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 18.4px;">But overthinking can happen even when making small, otherwise meaningless choices. </span></span><span style="color: #212121; font-family: arial;">You might even convince yourself that thinking about something for a really long time is the answer to finding an answer but that’s usually not the case. </span><span style="color: #212121; font-family: arial;">Maybe you’ve wasted countless hours trying to decide what to wear to that job interview and as a result, you didn’t spend any time preparing your responses. </span><span style="color: #212121; font-family: arial;">The longer you think about something, the less time and energy you might have to take productive action. But b</span><span style="color: #212121; font-family: arial;">efore we can put an end to overthinking, we have to recognize when we are doing it.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><p class="comp mntl-sc-block mntl-sc-block-html" id="mntl-sc-block_1-0-5" style="background: 0px 0px rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #212121; counter-reset: section 0; margin: 1.2rem 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Rumination - overthinking - involves repetitive, excessive thoughts which interfere with other types of thinking. <span style="background-color: initial;">It is as stressful as it is common, taking a situation which has already caused stress and magnifying the stress as well as the importance of the situation in our mind.</span></p><ul class="comp mntl-sc-block mntl-sc-block-html" id="mntl-sc-block_1-0-11" style="background: 0px 0px rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #212121; counter-reset: section 0; list-style: none; margin: 1rem 0px 2rem 3.25rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><li style="background: 0px 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px 0px 1rem; padding: 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background: 0px 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Reflection</span>: The reflection part of rumination can actually be helpful as reflecting on a problem can lead to a simple solution. Also, reflecting on particular events can help process strong emotions associated with the issue.</li><li style="background: 0px 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px 0px 1rem; padding: 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background: 0px 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Brooding</span>: Rumination in general, and brooding in particular, are associated with less proactive behaviour and more of a negative mood.</li></ul><div class="comp mntl-sc-block mntl-sc-block-adslot mntl-block" id="mntl-sc-block_1-0-12" style="background: 0px 0px rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #212121; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><p class="comp mntl-sc-block mntl-sc-block-html" id="mntl-sc-block_1-0-13" style="background: 0px 0px rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #212121; counter-reset: section 0; margin: 1.2rem 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">We do not have the ability to change what has already happened. We cannot re-create a situation in the future and respond with the perfect response or solution, and this can make us feel powerless and stressed. Realising how much energy we have used over thinking can lead to even more feelings of frustration as the cycle of confused thoughts continues.</p><p class="comp mntl-sc-block mntl-sc-block-html" id="mntl-sc-block_1-0-13" style="background: 0px 0px rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #212121; counter-reset: section 0; margin: 1.2rem 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Co - rumination, where you rehash a situation with others until you've talked it to its limits, also brings more stress to both parties, once it has passed the point of being constructive.</p><p class="comp mntl-sc-block mntl-sc-block-html" id="mntl-sc-block_1-0-19" style="background: 0px 0px rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #212121; counter-reset: section 0; margin: 1.2rem 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Constantly replaying something in your mind, dwelling on what you should have said or done without taking any corresponding action, makes you feel more stressed, and you are also likely to experience other negative effects.</p><p class="comp mntl-sc-block mntl-sc-block-html" id="mntl-sc-block_1-0-25" style="background: 0px 0px rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #212121; counter-reset: section 0; margin: 1.2rem 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><b>So why obsess over things?</b> It seems that different people obsess for different reasons, and some people are more prone to it than others. Not surprisingly, over-thinking has a negative effect by producing a more depressed, unhappy mood. Not only is this unpleasant in itself, but this negative frame of mind can bring a whole new set of consequences. <span style="background-color: transparent;">Once we start
to obsess over these negative outcomes, we are leaving less space in our heads for
any potential positive results.</span></p></span></span></div><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36pt; text-indent: -36pt;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEZzVpssnf3SS6VBWjceXuVAgSRS7pA8Qmd2qi1OI_ZX7PFL8xCLqrHGpK2RwN2sfRXFUvWcz8aj_R-QfOktAnD1a2hRpABLDePnweF00IkKD3dYTaW8DvSJevSpcAOstY4TdHAkJkaYWikLCKFOm7lSEAunOx-3aSgVNRYd6ol7-caDVBykPd-A8D/s363/over%20think.jpg" style="font-family: Inter, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="267" data-original-width="363" height="132" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEZzVpssnf3SS6VBWjceXuVAgSRS7pA8Qmd2qi1OI_ZX7PFL8xCLqrHGpK2RwN2sfRXFUvWcz8aj_R-QfOktAnD1a2hRpABLDePnweF00IkKD3dYTaW8DvSJevSpcAOstY4TdHAkJkaYWikLCKFOm7lSEAunOx-3aSgVNRYd6ol7-caDVBykPd-A8D/w180-h132/over%20think.jpg" width="180" /></a><span face="Inter, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"> </span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2vNvF6TIExcqWN3_PdDl1ClgvWnvkt4J71c-xql7MugaIkXlEGctjnDsJQ8kHne7l9s3q_iR-KSpYt7MNtDZLmiG0MMzd1_CZnbNsMExu7uGIy4JPCaL38nuhw0Tkrl4KetOXy_uAUbMo9ttn2kyNQRiPTnqffMatVeVBWXXL0kv6jcSrqJjHM-cT/s231/th.jpg" style="background-color: white; font-family: Inter, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="231" data-original-width="217" height="131" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2vNvF6TIExcqWN3_PdDl1ClgvWnvkt4J71c-xql7MugaIkXlEGctjnDsJQ8kHne7l9s3q_iR-KSpYt7MNtDZLmiG0MMzd1_CZnbNsMExu7uGIy4JPCaL38nuhw0Tkrl4KetOXy_uAUbMo9ttn2kyNQRiPTnqffMatVeVBWXXL0kv6jcSrqJjHM-cT/w172-h131/th.jpg" width="172" /></a></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36pt; text-indent: -36pt;"><span face="Inter, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;"><br /></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36pt; text-indent: -36pt;"><span face="Inter, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;"> If you are thinking about something for a long time, to the point that you are you are putting a </span><span face="Inter, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; text-indent: -36pt;">stop to everything else in your life, clearly, overthinking is more destructive than productive.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Inter, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 32px; margin-top: 32px;"><b>So,what to do?</b> </p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Inter, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 32px; margin-top: 32px;">It is easy for anyone to make what might seem like glib suggestions such as 'go for a walk', 'get a hobby', 'talk to someone', 'stop trying to be perfect' - but speaking from much personal experience, I know that these are solutions. Each time it seems that you are about to start overthinking, take a quick walk outside. This enables you to breathe in fresh air which can help you lower your anxiety and stress. Since walking is a form of exercise, and 'happy' hormones are produced, anxiety and stress levels are reduced almost immediately. You also need something to distract your mind, to prevent overthinking. For me, walking (preferably with dogs) is the perfect distraction in itself as I love to be outdoors, often to the point of not being able to bear being inside - but it has to be appreciated that every person is different and for others, doing crosswords, listening to music, reading, playing a game on your phone or cooking a meal is a perfect distraction. As long as whatever you choose is something that you enjoy and it occupies your mind, so that it can't overthink. </p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Inter, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 32px; margin-top: 32px;">The instruction to "talk to someone" is generally given as a remedy for overthinking, though again this depends on the type of person you are and your personality traits. Personally, I feel I often talk too much, analysing every situation, which I then discuss with my family, which can then bring on more unnecessary thinking. Of course, talking to people is life and mood enhancing in general, and individual situations need to be taken into account. Most people want their lives to be perfect. Well, that's not going to happen so dreaming of a life which is full of ups and no downs is detrimental to our health. Focussing on what can be changed is a better aim, because as it is said, life is a journey and not a destination.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Inter, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 32px; margin-top: 32px;">Sometimes I feel as though I have spent at least half of my life, 'practising breathing' (or 'focussing on the breath' as it is usually called in Yoga and meditation practices) Sounds silly as surely I have been breathing for all of my life - and I admit that there have been times when I have been unable to put into practice the advice which was being given to me - chill out, calm down, focus on one thing at a time, be mindful, meditate. I have berated myself since for believing that these things might work for others but not for me. I have felt that I could teach it effectively to others, as I have studied the techniques at length, but that it was no benefit to me at the time. I now know that the reason for my thinking this way was because the overthinking, anxiety, depression, or whatever we name it, had taken over<i> me. </i></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Inter, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 32px; margin-top: 32px;">My overthinking/ anxiety/bad days have not disappeared completely, in fact as I write I am just recovering from a couple of those unpleasant times. But I know that the tips, advice and suggestions given here do work, and are well worth practising as often as you can. Good luck.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Inter, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 32px; margin-top: 32px;"><b>Take a deep breath expanding your belly to a count of 4 ... ... ... Hold the breath for a count of 2 ... ... ... Exhale fully to a count of 4. And repeat.</b></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Inter, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 32px; margin-top: 32px;">Please feel to share this article where appropriate and I welcome comments in the section below. Perhaps we can help other over-thinking people as well as ourselves.</p>Lexia257http://www.blogger.com/profile/12656262901790598651noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3320280485515037254.post-19107734534484573042022-09-28T23:04:00.001-07:002022-09-28T23:04:11.976-07:00The Observer <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The Observer</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">She sits, motionless yet alert </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Eyes wide and searching</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Wings folded, feathers smoothed.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Relishing the remaining tastes of vole or rabbit.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">She waits.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">As wind blown leaves drift into sight</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Her gaze stays on the gloved hand </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">which she knows holds treats.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Then the call</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">and in one majestic moment, with wings spread, </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">talons ready to grip </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">She soars from her perch </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Landing with open mouth to snap the morsel.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcOZBSHxVctyYj1DnD1kjolEJaYbfG0SWWWGK9UU99ysZPbO4AF6pTuuKN7fA7uUTRjfDAl9bLAiAllfRHObOLRjRzaF_8eH3dKIhpbhHUMSxVrhRCtIi8ADQUMJsrs8SmABtX0zkI-6mj4qHJ-V3n9ijioCFS65PxRcWw0SoCv5j5jITQbTz_56PA/s4594/__opt__aboutcom__coeus__resources__content_migration__mnn__images__2015__04__shutterstock_1141238219-3dfe1ce2bda54a4d84422f3b5e8ad4ec.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3063" data-original-width="4594" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcOZBSHxVctyYj1DnD1kjolEJaYbfG0SWWWGK9UU99ysZPbO4AF6pTuuKN7fA7uUTRjfDAl9bLAiAllfRHObOLRjRzaF_8eH3dKIhpbhHUMSxVrhRCtIi8ADQUMJsrs8SmABtX0zkI-6mj4qHJ-V3n9ijioCFS65PxRcWw0SoCv5j5jITQbTz_56PA/s320/__opt__aboutcom__coeus__resources__content_migration__mnn__images__2015__04__shutterstock_1141238219-3dfe1ce2bda54a4d84422f3b5e8ad4ec.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /> <p></p>Lexia257http://www.blogger.com/profile/12656262901790598651noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3320280485515037254.post-22008431959428001852022-09-26T03:31:00.002-07:002022-09-27T01:40:35.988-07:00A Question of Faith or Faiths & Reconciling My Own<h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">As King Charles III assumes the role of monarch his views and opinions on 'faith' will no doubt again be discussed. From those he has voiced in the past, and most recently since the death of his mother Queen Elizabeth II, these views could be different enough to affect the 'established' Church of England, so could "all faiths and none" be workable in practice, within the monarchy? </span></h3><p><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: arial;">A royal wedding or funeral, without doubt, reminds us that the official, established Church of England continues, with
the monarch as its Supreme Governor. Since Queen Elizabeth’s death we have seen it in the ascendance of Charles, yet there are signs that the late monarch and the Church of England have recognized the need to make some adjustments. </span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSEf3MUdqpoolRNro_KXI9wJPQWjjCl-TAUQV7zoiR27j2TCfKeszdl0mwJiqCnam5kNa38quEZyRZlb-FiVtVfRzm8DTbjgySEw1p2Y2_usbohaJt5Ja0gVepy97t5IPQ5Kp-luTclEI6OqSaD-m0rNgJ9e1QK8w4kkuK_yG30bXK_mPtGbeNb1K5/s910/Queen-Elizabeth-funeral.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="603" data-original-width="910" height="122" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSEf3MUdqpoolRNro_KXI9wJPQWjjCl-TAUQV7zoiR27j2TCfKeszdl0mwJiqCnam5kNa38quEZyRZlb-FiVtVfRzm8DTbjgySEw1p2Y2_usbohaJt5Ja0gVepy97t5IPQ5Kp-luTclEI6OqSaD-m0rNgJ9e1QK8w4kkuK_yG30bXK_mPtGbeNb1K5/w185-h122/Queen-Elizabeth-funeral.jpg" width="185" /></a></span></div><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span><p></p><p style="background: white; margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: arial;">In 2012, the then queen spoke from Lambeth Palace, the official London residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury. She said that the Church of England's role is not to defend Anglicanism to the exclusion of other religions, but rather it is a duty to protect the free practice of all
faiths in this country. </span></p><p style="background: white; margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: arial;">During her <a href="https://platinumjubilee.royal.uk/queens-speech-lambeth-palace-15-february-2012?page=10" style="background-color: transparent;" target="_blank">Platinum Jubilee</a> earlier this year, she reiterated these comments saying, </span></p><p style="background: white; margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: arial;">“Gently and assuredly, the Church of England has created an environment for other faith communities and indeed people of no faith to live freely,”.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">When she ascended to the throne, in 1953 she took on the role of "Defender of the Faith", (a title granted to Henry VIII by the Pope in 1521 - he subsequently broke with Rome and became the first head of the Church of England) and monarchs have assumed this role ever since. <span style="background-color: white;">Charles III will take on this title and has endorsed his mother's words in his address to the nation, the day after her death :</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: white;"> “The role and the duties of Monarchy also remain,” he said, “as does the Sovereign’s particular relationship and responsibility towards the Church of England - the Church in which my own faith is so deeply rooted.” </span><span style="background-color: white;">But he continued, "In the course of the last 70 years we have seen our society become one of many cultures and many faiths.”</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: white;">Decades earlier, the then Prince of Wales suggested adopting a title of "Defender of Faith (or faiths) " to reflect a more inclusive title and an interest in other denominations and religions. Many Christians and traditionalists were shocked at this idea of change which would have meant parliament amending the longstanding legislation, which has been in place since 1953. Later, however, Charles then indicated that he would not seek an amendment and </span><span style="background-color: white;">that his views had been misinterpreted.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: white;"> His statement in his public address on September 9th was perhaps to reassure those doubters, when he was proclaimed "King and Defender of the Faith" - singular rather</span><span style="background-color: white;"> than plural. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #212529;">“I said I would rather be seen as ‘Defender of Faith,’ all those years ago, as I mind about the inclusion of other people’s faiths and their freedom to worship in this country,</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #212529;"> while at the same time being Defender of The Faith, you can also be protector of faiths ... ... </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #212529;">You have to come from your own Christian standpoint – in the case I have, as Defender of The Faith – and ensure that other people’s faiths can also be practiced.”</span></span></p><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #212529; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />The new king's 'clarification' was met with dismay by <a href="https://www.secularism.org.uk/" target="_blank">British National Secular Society </a>. It wants royal titles and oaths to be further inclusive and appropriate for the modern era. Their campaign manager has said that there have been two major changes in society since the Queen came to the throne. Firstly, there is now a vast number of people who do not identify with any religion and secondly, that there is a wide variety of religions and denominations in the UK. Even the earlier-proposed “Defender of Faith” title would only have addressed the second of those two trends. The monarchy has a history of adapting as society changes but it must also recognise when it's time for the institution to adjust to the fact that a large proportion of Britons are non-believers. Ideally that would mean the head of state not having any constitutional connection with religion – or religions. (Any possible dissent on the accession of Charles III seen in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland could constitute a debate on 'Faith v Nationalism', another day).</span></div><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The late queen's funeral with its choral music, military processions and pomp and circumstance was a reminder that, central to the event, it was a Christian ceremony. W<span style="background-color: white;">ith the coffin </span><span style="background-color: white;">presided over by robed clergymen, and resting in front of the altar, we we</span><span style="background-color: white;">re told by the Archbishop of Canterbury that:</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: arial;">"Those who serve will be loved and remembered when those who cling to power and privileges are forgotten".</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: arial;">We must take our own interpretations of 'serve' here - serving the monarch, the country, church, God or all of these has to be our decision. But how this seemingly, freedom of individual thought and speech can be practised within the contexts of all religions and also a secular society, I am not sure.</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: arial;">And so, which 'faith' exactly are we referring to in any reference, royal or not?</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: white;">With my advancing years, reflections on the death of the queen and inevitably further reflection on my parents and grandparents deaths, I find I am questioning the word 'faith' in a way which sometimes feels contradictory to my own beliefs and how I was brought up - as a Christian and closely connected to the Methodist Church. Of course, this questioning has been continuous through my life - musings of which can be found elsewhere on this blog - but naturally, more so as I I come closer to my own demise, which none of us know the time of, royalty or commoner. </span><span style="background-color: white;">I have researched, investigated and drawn conclusions from what I have experienced of many religions and spiritual thinking and have agreed with myself, to a point, on what my personal, individual belief system is, though this is tested and changed on a regular basis. I have disregarded 'religion' as a social and collective belief system, which relies on rules and rituals inspired by scriptures believed to be divine. Yet I cannot describe my 'faith' as such, except perhaps in a negative way. That is, I can tell you what I don't believe, but to say what I do, is a more difficult matter. However, I do regard myself as having a 'faith' which encompasses some elements of a number of different 'faiths'. How then can this be reconciled with a defender of such, when that defence is based on not only a 'religion', but a denomination, namely Anglican? Add to this the thought that </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">all members of the Church of England are Anglicans, but not all members of the Anglican church are also members of the Church of England, as they may be members of other churches within the International Anglican Communion - and the importance of precise wording becomes even more clear. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">I have always struggled with the concept of 'divinity' in Christianity, let alone the nature of deities in any other of the generally recognised world religions - </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111;">Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism and Islam.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111;">Which is a shame, as one of my favourite hymns is "Love Divine", which was sung as the final hymn at </span><span style="background-color: white;">Queen Elizabeth's funeral. It's music is almost ethereal and the words speak to my heart, yet I hesitate at singing the name of Jesus as 'divine' or 'redeemer'. 'God' works better for me, despite my faith in God being different to others. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: white;">Having m</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111;">y music loving Methodist parents, and Baptist grandparents, ensured that our home was always full of singing, mostly hymns, many of which I sing to myself, aloud or in my head as I go about my daily life. Sometimes I have been known to quote a line of a hymn or biblical text while chatting to strangers in a supermarket queue, to emphasise a point of discussion. Needless to say, often these comments either fall on deaf ears or are puzzling enough to be responded to with blank expression. </span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The point that I am trying to make here is that being a product of a religious and absolutely faithful background, has enriched my life, and helped me to become the adult I am today, without enforcing a particular, prescriptive faith on me. This I have due to my personality, life experiences and the influence of 'spiritual' inspiration. A defender of faith/faiths cannot defend my faith, or anyone else's without imposing prescription, such as stating the creed of that religion.</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Dilemma - Is it hypocritical for me to sing "Love Divine" ?</span></span></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pk9Txu-1p6M&t=28s" target="_blank">Love Divine - Queen Elizabeth's funeral </a></span></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><div class="verse" style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Roboto, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; padding-bottom: 10px;"><div style="text-align: center;">Love divine, all loves excelling,</div><div style="text-align: center;">Joy of heaven to earth come down</div><div style="text-align: center;">Fix in us thy humble dwelling</div><div style="text-align: center;">All thy faithful mercies crown</div><div style="text-align: center;">Jesu, Thou art all compassion</div><div style="text-align: center;">Pure unbounded love Thou art</div><div style="text-align: center;">Visit us with Thy salvation</div><div style="text-align: center;">Enter every trembling heart</div></div><div class="verse" style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Roboto, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; padding-bottom: 10px;"><div style="text-align: center;">Breathe, O breathe Thy loving Spirit</div><div style="text-align: center;">Into every troubled breast</div><div style="text-align: center;">Let us all in Thee inherit</div><div style="text-align: center;">Let us find that promised rest</div><div style="text-align: center;">Take away the love of sinning</div><div style="text-align: center;">Alpha and Omega be</div><div style="text-align: center;">End of faith, as its Beginning</div><div style="text-align: center;">Set our hearts at liberty</div></div><div class="verse" style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Roboto, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; padding-bottom: 10px;"><div style="text-align: center;">Come, Almighty to deliver,</div><div style="text-align: center;">Let us all Thy grace receive</div><div style="text-align: center;">Suddenly return and never</div><div style="text-align: center;">Never more Thy temples leave</div><div style="text-align: center;">Thee we would be always blessing</div><div style="text-align: center;">Serve Thee as Thy hosts above</div><div style="text-align: center;">Pray and praise Thee without ceasing</div><div style="text-align: center;">Glory in Thy perfect love</div></div><div class="verse" style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Roboto, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; padding-bottom: 0px;"><div style="text-align: center;">Finish, then, Thy new creation</div><div style="text-align: center;">Pure and spotless let us be</div><div style="text-align: center;">Let us see Thy great salvation</div><div style="text-align: center;">Perfectly restored in Thee</div><div style="text-align: center;">Changed from glory into glory</div><div style="text-align: center;">'Til in heaven we take our place</div><div style="text-align: center;">'Til we cast our crowns before Thee</div><div style="text-align: center;">Lost in wonder, love, and praise.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Charles Wesley</div><div class="l_ecrd_vqfcts_row l_ecrd_vqfcts_row_space" style="font-size: 13px; margin: 8px 20px 0px;"><div class="lc_expfact" style="align-items: center; display: flex;"><div class="lc_expfact_default" style="overflow: hidden; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a class="lc_expfact_title" h="ID=SERP,5637.1" hover-data="-" href="https://www.bing.com/search?FORM=SNAPST&q=Love+Divine%2c+All+Loves+Excelling+written&filters=sid:%22a3d5e571-4b01-1ddd-770a-ad5b86adc7ca%22" style="color: #444444; display: inline-block; font-weight: 700; line-height: 15px; margin-right: 12px; text-decoration-line: none;">Written</a>1747</div></div></div><div class="l_ecrd_vqfcts_row l_ecrd_vqfcts_row_space" style="font-size: 13px; margin: 8px 20px 0px;"><div class="lc_expfact" style="align-items: center; display: flex;"><div class="lc_expfact_default" style="overflow: hidden; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a class="lc_expfact_title" h="ID=SERP,5640.1" hover-data="-" href="https://www.bing.com/search?FORM=SNAPST&q=Love+Divine%2c+All+Loves+Excelling+based+on&filters=sid:%22a3d5e571-4b01-1ddd-770a-ad5b86adc7ca%22" style="color: #444444; display: inline-block; font-weight: 700; line-height: 15px; margin-right: 12px; text-decoration-line: none;">Based on</a><a h="ID=SERP,5641.1" hover-url="https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Bible_(King_James)/1_John#4:16" href="https://www.bing.com/ck/a?!&&p=8598990c1a6362c6JmltdHM9MTY2NDE1MDQwMCZpZ3VpZD0xMzZlMmQ2MC01YjFlLTY4MTYtMWRlOC0zZDllNWYxZTZhYmImaW5zaWQ9NTY0MQ&ptn=3&hsh=3&fclid=136e2d60-5b1e-6816-1de8-3d9e5f1e6abb&u=a1aHR0cHM6Ly9lbi53aWtpc291cmNlLm9yZy93aWtpL0JpYmxlXyhLaW5nX0phbWVzKS8xX0pvaG4jNDoxNg&ntb=1" state="" style="color: #7e0b0b; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">1 John 4:16</a></div></div></div><div class="l_ecrd_vqfcts_row l_ecrd_vqfcts_row_space" style="font-size: 13px; margin: 8px 20px 0px;"><div class="lc_expfact" style="align-items: center; display: flex;"><div class="lc_expfact_default" style="overflow: hidden; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a class="lc_expfact_title" h="ID=SERP,5643.1" hover-data="-" href="https://www.bing.com/search?FORM=SNAPST&q=Love+Divine%2c+All+Loves+Excelling+melody&filters=sid:%22a3d5e571-4b01-1ddd-770a-ad5b86adc7ca%22" style="color: #444444; display: inline-block; font-weight: 700; line-height: 15px; margin-right: 12px; text-decoration-line: none;">Melody</a>"Beecher" by <a data-sid="f1fdbf2d-a9dc-a2b1-bcbf-2ec5627b1147" h="ID=SERP,5644.1" href="https://www.bing.com/search?FORM=SNAPST&q=John+Zundel&filters=sid:%22f1fdbf2d-a9dc-a2b1-bcbf-2ec5627b1147%22" style="color: #7e0b0b; text-decoration-line: none;">John Zundel</a> </div></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div></div><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-size: 16px;"><br /></span></p>Lexia257http://www.blogger.com/profile/12656262901790598651noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3320280485515037254.post-69266265970107916662022-09-09T00:29:00.007-07:002022-09-27T02:23:07.154-07:00On the Death of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth the 2nd - 1926 - 1922Her Majesty the Queen died yesterday afternoon at Balmoral where she had been staying since earlier this summer. <div><br /></div><div>Though we know that death is an inevitable part of life, when the time comes for a loved one, family member or friend, we are shocked and numerous emotions engulf us as the grieving process proceeds. The Queen had a special place in our hearts, not least because she was 96 years old and had reigned for 70 years. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtryayet9HFRoDq6MEIOkEfhvpY1uP7pQiT6dY3tV3LopPv8_2EcAw4HkWX-_gf459CNEAo6pxcYr2ERziomZAWegO7BghXgwTkUFooczEqtKliszmtfFVkxw_zUEjfqGfFkT0FdDfJHt4ZYMdbo75GaXCj791PHN3nwy-UjYtNJeuyOXVH0DErmvd/s358/queen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="358" data-original-width="271" height="148" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtryayet9HFRoDq6MEIOkEfhvpY1uP7pQiT6dY3tV3LopPv8_2EcAw4HkWX-_gf459CNEAo6pxcYr2ERziomZAWegO7BghXgwTkUFooczEqtKliszmtfFVkxw_zUEjfqGfFkT0FdDfJHt4ZYMdbo75GaXCj791PHN3nwy-UjYtNJeuyOXVH0DErmvd/w112-h148/queen.jpg" width="112" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div>Waiting for the official announcement of the Queen's death was a strange and unsettling feeling, for me and for many others. When it was made, the sense of shock was no less than if I had known her personally and this is what made our Queen so special. She has been a constant in our lives, during good and not so good times over the years. She has been here for the whole of my life. She has been loved as a mother, a grandmother and a great grandmother and I am reminded of my own mother and grandmothers, the loss being as raw today as the day they died. I remember my own mother telling me about the day that the Queen's father King George V1 died, and her own shock, disbelief and sadness at the news, reading the news boards stating 'The King is dead. Long live The Queen'. Someone describing their feelings on social media last night used the word 'untethered', which was exactly how I felt.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>As the tributes and condolences are reported and the images of our Queen's long life and achievements are relayed, I send my own condolences to all of the Royal Family, and hope that our love, honour and respect for Her Majesty, helps them in their grief over the coming weeks and months. </div><div><br /></div><div>Rest in Peace Your Majesty and thank you for your service. </div><div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div>Lexia257http://www.blogger.com/profile/12656262901790598651noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3320280485515037254.post-11010248540646405142022-08-10T03:03:00.000-07:002022-08-10T03:03:17.981-07:00What Is A Story - The Ultimate In Self Preservation<p><br /></p><h1 style="background-color: white; border-bottom-color: rgb(194, 194, 194); border-bottom-style: solid; border-image: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: initial; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; color: #464646; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 24px; margin: 35px 0px 14px; padding: 0px 0px 6px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;">Storytelling - the Ultimate in Self Preservation</span></h1><h3 style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #353535; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: arial;">What is a story ? </span></h3><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #353535; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: arial;">A story or narrative is a connected series of events told through words, in the case of a book, written words. Stories can be told about anything, and the events can be real or imaginary, fiction or non fiction and cover every topic, genre or style imaginable. All things and all times, past, present and future can be described and explained in stories and are therefore of great value to humans and some of the oldest, most important aspects of life. </span><span style="font-family: arial;">Stories are how we learn about each other, our past, and our cultures. Whether they are created for entertainment or to recount a real-life event—new stories are literally being lived, told, and created every second of every day.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #353535; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><h4 style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #353535; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: arial;">History of storytelling</span></h4><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #353535; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: arial;">As modern humans, we have the convenience of information available at our finger tips, and often take for granted a time when communication and access to knowledge was not instantaneous. Knowledge of history, medicine and food resources and technology was once proudly guarded information and the property of only the privileged few. Humans may have been telling stories before language and writing but the inception of these led to an explosion in culture. Societies pre-civilisation, held record keeping as an important task and their cultural knowledge and history was regarded as highly as collecting food. The sharing of the collective history of their people therefore, increased the chances of survival of their children, their people and their culture as a whole and storytelling was the ultimate form of self preservation. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #353535; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><h4 style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #353535; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Why are people drawn to stories ?</span></h4><div><span style="font-family: arial;">One reason may be that it helps us to feel in control by finding order and meaning in things that have happened to us and try to make sense of the events of a seemingly random world. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">We can see and understand how people feel and think and empathise with those around us. Information can be shared in a memorable way, rather than merely stating the facts and so details are remembered more clearly. The more compelling the story, the more empathetic people become in real life. Regardless of the reasons, stories are everywhere and much of our life is devoted to telling others what we did, where we went and who we spent time with. Fictional characters are almost always based on real people, or pieces of a number of people the writer has known and imagined. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Why writers write short stories</span></h4><div><span style="font-family: arial;">"Writer" is a very broad term as there are numerous genres that any one person may write in. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">The heading of this paragraph is also clearly not at all objective, so the question I ought to answer here is "Why do<i> I </i>write short stories ?", as I can only speak for myself. There is much advice, suggestion and speculation around the question though and it seems that overall, short stories are written for similar reasons by many. An experienced novelist may find writing a short story a daunting task due to the restrictions on how much space you have to tell the story. However, the opposite is also true, certainly in my case, in that 'the curse' of most writers is having abandoned, half finished projects which taunt you from the edges of your mind every time you begin something new. It feels chaotic to keep returning to pieces to complete them, only to abandon them again, as a new idea is pressing and urging you to write it down. This is, for me, usual with longer pieces such as a novel. A short story keeps me focussed on the draft in my head and is completed in a relatively short space of time and can be revised and edited accordingly. It also shows that in a few thousand words, all the elements of fiction can be introduced - setting, plot, characters, prose, dialogue and many more.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #0c0c0c; font-family: arial; font-size: 16px;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: white;">"</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #0c0c0c; font-size: 16px;">People Watching" is a collection of short stories ,and flash fiction which is characterised by being very short and typically of only a few hundred words. </span></span></div><div><span style="color: #0c0c0c; font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: white;">Some of these included in this book were written from a 'prompt' of a word, sentence, photo or first line. Others came to me in a 'flash' of creativity from something mundane or ordinary, or something unique or amazing, which I felt needed to be expressed.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Coming very soon - </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #0c0c0c; font-family: arial;">I hope you enjoy the book.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #0c0c0c; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #0c0c0c; font-family: arial;"><a href="https://author.amazon.com/profile" target="_blank">Amazon Author Page </a><br /></span></div><div class="post-entry" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><h3 style="background-color: white; font-size: 19px; font-weight: 300; margin: 0px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><div class="g-0 justify-content-center pb-3 pb-md-0 pt-4 mt-2 row" data-test-id="row" style="--bs-gutter-x: 0; --bs-gutter-y: 0; box-sizing: border-box; color: #121212; display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap; font-size: 20px; justify-content: center; margin-left: calc(var(--bs-gutter-x)*-0.5); margin-right: calc(var(--bs-gutter-x)*-0.5); margin-top: calc(var(--bs-gutter-y)*-1); overflow-anchor: none; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 1.5rem; text-align: start;"><div class="col-lg-6 col-md-8 col-sm-12" data-test-id="col" style="box-sizing: border-box; flex: 0 0 auto; margin-top: var(--bs-gutter-y); max-width: 100%; overflow-anchor: none; padding-left: calc(var(--bs-gutter-x)*0.5); padding-right: calc(var(--bs-gutter-x)*0.5); width: 645px;"><div data-test-id="tabs" style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow-anchor: none;"><div class="swipeable-tabs" style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow-anchor: none; overflow-x: hidden;"><div class="react-swipeable-view-container" style="box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; display: flex; flex-direction: row; overflow-anchor: none; transform: translate(0%, 0px); transition: all 0s ease 0s; will-change: transform;"><div aria-hidden="true" data-swipeable="true" style="box-sizing: border-box; flex-shrink: 0; font-family: GeographEditWeb, sans-serif; overflow-anchor: none; overflow: auto; width: 645px;"><div class="ng-tab-hidden" data-test-id="tabs-tab-2" style="box-sizing: border-box; height: 0px; overflow-anchor: none;"><div class="mx-md-3 row" data-test-id="row" style="--bs-gutter-x: 30px; --bs-gutter-y: 0; box-sizing: border-box; display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap; margin-left: calc(var(--bs-gutter-x)*-0.5); margin-right: calc(var(--bs-gutter-x)*-0.5); margin-top: calc(var(--bs-gutter-y)*-1); overflow-anchor: none;"><div class="list-group-padding-m list-group-no-borders-dividers list-group-block-hover ng-resource-page-vocab-items list-group" data-test-id="list" style="border-radius: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-shrink: 0; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: var(--bs-gutter-y); max-width: 100%; overflow-anchor: none; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: calc(var(--bs-gutter-x)*0.5); width: 605px;"><div class="bg-light list-group-item" data-test-id="listItem" style="--bs-bg-opacity: 1; background-color: rgba(var(--bs-light-rgb),var(--bs-bg-opacity)) !important; border-top-left-radius: inherit; border-top-right-radius: inherit; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; overflow-anchor: none; padding: 0.5rem 1.25rem; position: relative;"><div class="row" data-test-id="row" style="--bs-gutter-x: 30px; --bs-gutter-y: 0; box-sizing: border-box; display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap; margin-left: calc(var(--bs-gutter-x)*-0.5); margin-right: calc(var(--bs-gutter-x)*-0.5); margin-top: calc(var(--bs-gutter-y)*-1); overflow-anchor: none;"><div class="px-3 pt-3 col-8" data-test-id="col" style="box-sizing: border-box; flex: 0 0 auto; margin-top: var(--bs-gutter-y); max-width: 100%; overflow-anchor: none; padding-left: calc(var(--bs-gutter-x)*0.5); padding-right: calc(var(--bs-gutter-x)*0.5); padding-top: 1rem; width: 380px;"><div class="fw-medium" style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow-anchor: none;">culture</div></div><div class="px-3 pt-3 fst-italic text-capitalize col-4" data-test-id="col" style="box-sizing: border-box; flex: 0 0 auto; font-style: italic; margin-top: var(--bs-gutter-y); max-width: 100%; overflow-anchor: none; padding-left: calc(var(--bs-gutter-x)*0.5); padding-right: calc(var(--bs-gutter-x)*0.5); padding-top: 1rem; text-transform: capitalize; width: 189.988px;">Noun</div></div><div class="row" data-test-id="row" style="--bs-gutter-x: 30px; --bs-gutter-y: 0; box-sizing: border-box; display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap; margin-left: calc(var(--bs-gutter-x)*-0.5); margin-right: calc(var(--bs-gutter-x)*-0.5); margin-top: calc(var(--bs-gutter-y)*-1); overflow-anchor: none;"><div class="px-3 pt-3 pb-2 col" data-test-id="col" style="box-sizing: border-box; flex: 1 0 0%; margin-top: var(--bs-gutter-y); max-width: 100%; overflow-anchor: none; padding-bottom: 0.5rem; padding-left: calc(var(--bs-gutter-x)*0.5); padding-right: calc(var(--bs-gutter-x)*0.5); padding-top: 1rem; width: 570px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px; overflow-anchor: none;">learned behavior of people, including their languages, belief systems, social structures, institutions, and material goods.</p></div></div></div><div class="list-group-item" data-test-id="listItem" style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; overflow-anchor: none; padding: 0.5rem 1.25rem; position: relative;"><div class="row" data-test-id="row" style="--bs-gutter-x: 30px; --bs-gutter-y: 0; box-sizing: border-box; display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap; margin-left: calc(var(--bs-gutter-x)*-0.5); margin-right: calc(var(--bs-gutter-x)*-0.5); margin-top: calc(var(--bs-gutter-y)*-1); overflow-anchor: none;"><div class="px-3 pt-3 col-8" data-test-id="col" style="box-sizing: border-box; flex: 0 0 auto; margin-top: var(--bs-gutter-y); max-width: 100%; overflow-anchor: none; padding-left: calc(var(--bs-gutter-x)*0.5); padding-right: calc(var(--bs-gutter-x)*0.5); padding-top: 1rem; width: 380px;"><div class="fw-medium" style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow-anchor: none;">empathize</div></div><div class="px-3 pt-3 fst-italic text-capitalize col-4" data-test-id="col" style="box-sizing: border-box; flex: 0 0 auto; font-style: italic; margin-top: var(--bs-gutter-y); max-width: 100%; overflow-anchor: none; padding-left: calc(var(--bs-gutter-x)*0.5); padding-right: calc(var(--bs-gutter-x)*0.5); padding-top: 1rem; text-transform: capitalize; width: 189.988px;">Verb</div></div><div class="row" data-test-id="row" style="--bs-gutter-x: 30px; --bs-gutter-y: 0; box-sizing: border-box; display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap; margin-left: calc(var(--bs-gutter-x)*-0.5); margin-right: calc(var(--bs-gutter-x)*-0.5); margin-top: calc(var(--bs-gutter-y)*-1); overflow-anchor: none;"><div class="px-3 pt-3 pb-2 col" data-test-id="col" style="box-sizing: border-box; flex: 1 0 0%; margin-top: var(--bs-gutter-y); max-width: 100%; overflow-anchor: none; padding-bottom: 0.5rem; padding-left: calc(var(--bs-gutter-x)*0.5); padding-right: calc(var(--bs-gutter-x)*0.5); padding-top: 1rem; width: 570px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px; overflow-anchor: none;">understanding the thoughts, feelings, and attitudes of others.</p></div></div></div><div class="bg-light list-group-item" data-test-id="listItem" style="--bs-bg-opacity: 1; background-color: rgba(var(--bs-light-rgb),var(--bs-bg-opacity)) !important; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; overflow-anchor: none; padding: 0.5rem 1.25rem; position: relative;"><div class="row" data-test-id="row" style="--bs-gutter-x: 30px; --bs-gutter-y: 0; box-sizing: border-box; display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap; margin-left: calc(var(--bs-gutter-x)*-0.5); margin-right: calc(var(--bs-gutter-x)*-0.5); margin-top: calc(var(--bs-gutter-y)*-1); overflow-anchor: none;"><div class="px-3 pt-3 col-8" data-test-id="col" style="box-sizing: border-box; flex: 0 0 auto; margin-top: var(--bs-gutter-y); max-width: 100%; overflow-anchor: none; padding-left: calc(var(--bs-gutter-x)*0.5); padding-right: calc(var(--bs-gutter-x)*0.5); padding-top: 1rem; width: 380px;"><div class="fw-medium" style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow-anchor: none;">entertainment</div></div><div class="px-3 pt-3 fst-italic text-capitalize col-4" data-test-id="col" style="box-sizing: border-box; flex: 0 0 auto; font-style: italic; margin-top: var(--bs-gutter-y); max-width: 100%; overflow-anchor: none; padding-left: calc(var(--bs-gutter-x)*0.5); padding-right: calc(var(--bs-gutter-x)*0.5); padding-top: 1rem; text-transform: capitalize; width: 189.988px;">Noun</div></div><div class="row" data-test-id="row" style="--bs-gutter-x: 30px; --bs-gutter-y: 0; box-sizing: border-box; display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap; margin-left: calc(var(--bs-gutter-x)*-0.5); margin-right: calc(var(--bs-gutter-x)*-0.5); margin-top: calc(var(--bs-gutter-y)*-1); overflow-anchor: none;"><div class="px-3 pt-3 pb-2 col" data-test-id="col" style="box-sizing: border-box; flex: 1 0 0%; margin-top: var(--bs-gutter-y); max-width: 100%; overflow-anchor: none; padding-bottom: 0.5rem; padding-left: calc(var(--bs-gutter-x)*0.5); padding-right: calc(var(--bs-gutter-x)*0.5); padding-top: 1rem; width: 570px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px; overflow-anchor: none;">performance or material produced to interest and amuse.</p></div></div></div><div class="list-group-item" data-test-id="listItem" style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; overflow-anchor: none; padding: 0.5rem 1.25rem; position: relative;"><div class="row" data-test-id="row" style="--bs-gutter-x: 30px; --bs-gutter-y: 0; box-sizing: border-box; display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap; margin-left: calc(var(--bs-gutter-x)*-0.5); margin-right: calc(var(--bs-gutter-x)*-0.5); margin-top: calc(var(--bs-gutter-y)*-1); overflow-anchor: none;"><div class="px-3 pt-3 col-8" data-test-id="col" style="box-sizing: border-box; flex: 0 0 auto; margin-top: var(--bs-gutter-y); max-width: 100%; overflow-anchor: none; padding-left: calc(var(--bs-gutter-x)*0.5); padding-right: calc(var(--bs-gutter-x)*0.5); padding-top: 1rem; width: 380px;"><div class="fw-medium" style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow-anchor: none;">fable</div></div><div class="px-3 pt-3 fst-italic text-capitalize col-4" data-test-id="col" style="box-sizing: border-box; flex: 0 0 auto; font-style: italic; margin-top: var(--bs-gutter-y); max-width: 100%; overflow-anchor: none; padding-left: calc(var(--bs-gutter-x)*0.5); padding-right: calc(var(--bs-gutter-x)*0.5); padding-top: 1rem; text-transform: capitalize; width: 189.988px;">Noun</div></div><div class="row" data-test-id="row" style="--bs-gutter-x: 30px; --bs-gutter-y: 0; box-sizing: border-box; display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap; margin-left: calc(var(--bs-gutter-x)*-0.5); margin-right: calc(var(--bs-gutter-x)*-0.5); margin-top: calc(var(--bs-gutter-y)*-1); overflow-anchor: none;"><div class="px-3 pt-3 pb-2 col" data-test-id="col" style="box-sizing: border-box; flex: 1 0 0%; margin-top: var(--bs-gutter-y); max-width: 100%; overflow-anchor: none; padding-bottom: 0.5rem; padding-left: calc(var(--bs-gutter-x)*0.5); padding-right: calc(var(--bs-gutter-x)*0.5); padding-top: 1rem; width: 570px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px; overflow-anchor: none;">traditional short story that usually has a moral lesson.</p></div></div></div><div class="bg-light list-group-item" data-test-id="listItem" style="--bs-bg-opacity: 1; background-color: rgba(var(--bs-light-rgb),var(--bs-bg-opacity)) !important; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; overflow-anchor: none; padding: 0.5rem 1.25rem; position: relative;"><div class="row" data-test-id="row" style="--bs-gutter-x: 30px; --bs-gutter-y: 0; box-sizing: border-box; display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap; margin-left: calc(var(--bs-gutter-x)*-0.5); margin-right: calc(var(--bs-gutter-x)*-0.5); margin-top: calc(var(--bs-gutter-y)*-1); overflow-anchor: none;"><div class="px-3 pt-3 col-8" data-test-id="col" style="box-sizing: border-box; flex: 0 0 auto; margin-top: var(--bs-gutter-y); max-width: 100%; overflow-anchor: none; padding-left: calc(var(--bs-gutter-x)*0.5); padding-right: calc(var(--bs-gutter-x)*0.5); padding-top: 1rem; width: 380px;"><div class="fw-medium" style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow-anchor: none;">information</div></div><div class="px-3 pt-3 fst-italic text-capitalize col-4" data-test-id="col" style="box-sizing: border-box; flex: 0 0 auto; font-style: italic; margin-top: var(--bs-gutter-y); max-width: 100%; overflow-anchor: none; padding-left: calc(var(--bs-gutter-x)*0.5); padding-right: calc(var(--bs-gutter-x)*0.5); padding-top: 1rem; text-transform: capitalize; width: 189.988px;">Noun</div></div><div class="row" data-test-id="row" style="--bs-gutter-x: 30px; --bs-gutter-y: 0; box-sizing: border-box; display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap; margin-left: calc(var(--bs-gutter-x)*-0.5); margin-right: calc(var(--bs-gutter-x)*-0.5); margin-top: calc(var(--bs-gutter-y)*-1); overflow-anchor: none;"><div class="px-3 pt-3 pb-2 col" data-test-id="col" style="box-sizing: border-box; flex: 1 0 0%; margin-top: var(--bs-gutter-y); max-width: 100%; overflow-anchor: none; padding-bottom: 0.5rem; padding-left: calc(var(--bs-gutter-x)*0.5); padding-right: calc(var(--bs-gutter-x)*0.5); padding-top: 1rem; width: 570px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px; overflow-anchor: none;">data.</p></div></div></div><div class="list-group-item" data-test-id="listItem" style="border-bottom-left-radius: inherit; border-bottom-right-radius: inherit; border-bottom: 0px none; border-image: initial; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; box-sizing: border-box; overflow-anchor: none; padding: 0.5rem 1.25rem; position: relative;"><div class="row" data-test-id="row" style="--bs-gutter-x: 30px; --bs-gutter-y: 0; box-sizing: border-box; display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap; margin-left: calc(var(--bs-gutter-x)*-0.5); margin-right: calc(var(--bs-gutter-x)*-0.5); margin-top: calc(var(--bs-gutter-y)*-1); overflow-anchor: none;"><div class="px-3 pt-3 col-8" data-test-id="col" style="box-sizing: border-box; flex: 0 0 auto; margin-top: var(--bs-gutter-y); max-width: 100%; overflow-anchor: none; padding-left: calc(var(--bs-gutter-x)*0.5); padding-right: calc(var(--bs-gutter-x)*0.5); padding-top: 1rem; width: 380px;"><div class="fw-medium" style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow-anchor: none;">storytelling</div></div><div class="px-3 pt-3 fst-italic text-capitalize col-4" data-test-id="col" style="box-sizing: border-box; flex: 0 0 auto; font-style: italic; margin-top: var(--bs-gutter-y); max-width: 100%; overflow-anchor: none; padding-left: calc(var(--bs-gutter-x)*0.5); padding-right: calc(var(--bs-gutter-x)*0.5); padding-top: 1rem; text-transform: capitalize; width: 189.988px;">Noun</div></div><div class="row" data-test-id="row" style="--bs-gutter-x: 30px; --bs-gutter-y: 0; box-sizing: border-box; display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap; margin-left: calc(var(--bs-gutter-x)*-0.5); margin-right: calc(var(--bs-gutter-x)*-0.5); margin-top: calc(var(--bs-gutter-y)*-1); overflow-anchor: none;"><div class="px-3 pt-3 pb-2 col" data-test-id="col" style="box-sizing: border-box; flex: 1 0 0%; margin-top: var(--bs-gutter-y); max-width: 100%; overflow-anchor: none; padding-bottom: 0.5rem; padding-left: calc(var(--bs-gutter-x)*0.5); padding-right: calc(var(--bs-gutter-x)*0.5); padding-top: 1rem; width: 570px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px; overflow-anchor: none;">use of visual, literary, auditory, or other creative media to educate, inform, entertaining, or inspire an audience to take actio</p></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></h3></div>Lexia257http://www.blogger.com/profile/12656262901790598651noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3320280485515037254.post-53450100335153814372022-07-28T12:40:00.000-07:002022-07-28T12:40:13.200-07:00Another Milestone in Life's Journey - age is just a number <h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> On reaching sixty five years old ... </span></h4><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Until around 2010 I'd imagined my 65th birthday to be more of a milestone than it's turned out to be, though the words 'pension' and 'retirement' age are so ingrained in my past that it is inevitable that they are still on my mind now that the day has come, and gone. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">(25th July for anyone interested; I was too busy celebrating with my family from 23rd onwards - and managing to stretch the 'birthday period' to at least the second week in August - to write a blog post, on the day). </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #000b3b;">Over the last few years, there have been a number of significant changes to the State Pension entitlement for women.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #000b3b;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #000b3b; font-family: arial;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #000b3b; font-family: arial;">Between 2010 and 2018 the age</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #000b3b; font-family: arial;"> changed from 60 to 65 for women</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #000b3b; font-family: arial;"> and </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #000b3b; font-family: arial;">is now increasing in stages, alongside men, until it reaches 68. At the moment, it is forecast that I will receive mine at age 66 next year, but I have no expectations whatsoever that this will actually happen. I feel that it's more likely to be a situation where I chase an elusive unicorn, until the end of my days. I have a feeling also that when those who are currently looking towards the day when they become 68, will still have a little longer to wait when that day arrives.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #000b3b; font-family: arial; font-size: 1rem;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #000b3b; font-family: arial;">Life expectancy is a statistical measure of the average time an organism is expected to live, based on the year of its birth, current age and other demographic factors, such as sex.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #000b3b;">As the average </span><a href="https://www.worldometers.info/demographics/uk-demographics/#life-exp" target="_blank">life expectancy in the UK</a><span> (according to Worldometers)<span style="background-color: white; color: #000b3b;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #000b3b;">has increased from 69.4 in 1950, to 81.8 in 2020, clearly the age at which we receive State Pension also has to rise.</span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #000b3b; font-family: arial;">This is a simplistic description of the way of measurement and many other factors obviously need to be taken into account for a more accurate forecast - illnesses, accidents, life style, hereditary issues and so on. </span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #000b3b; font-family: arial; font-size: 1rem;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #000b3b; font-family: arial;">The year that I was born, the life expectancy was 71 (male and female) and today is approximately 82. My father died aged 64 and my mother at 93, so by my calculations, being a mixture of averaging out all of these figures and Maths never being my best subject, I estimate I have around another fifteen years of life left. Putting it like that now seems rather concerning, and I am beginning to think I shouldn't have started this. However, I have been doing quite a bit of tidying up recently - possessions and paperwork, rather than house and garden - so am fairly confident that things will be 'in order' when the time comes. </span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #000b3b; font-family: arial; font-size: 1rem;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #000b3b; font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: white;">To finish on a lighter note, my daughter made me a delicious birthday cake, which was presented on the day, and devoured by all of us within a short space of time. It was decorated beautifully with 'Happy Birthday', 'Celebrate' and the number of years that have passed and likewise a card stating '<i>On your 60th Birthday</i>'.... ... </span></span></div><div><span style="color: #000b3b; font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #000b3b; font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: white;">What a brilliant mistake to have made !</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #000b3b; font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #000b3b; font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: white;">I know she won't mind me writing this. She is, as she says herself, becoming more and more like her mother with every day that goes by, while I become more like my mother. </span></span></div><div><span style="color: #000b3b; font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #000b3b; font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: white;">Five years lifted from me in an instant. Age really is just a number.</span></span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #000b3b; font-family: arial; font-size: 1rem;"><br /></span></div><div><br /></div>Lexia257http://www.blogger.com/profile/12656262901790598651noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3320280485515037254.post-4140433430701822572022-07-18T10:31:00.002-07:002022-09-27T01:51:51.995-07:00It's Hot, Hot, Hot - how are you coping ? <h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I thought I ought to write a post here, on the day that temperatures are likely to exceed the highest we've ever known - after all, it might be a day, week or month which is remembered in history for this very thing. </span></h3><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Or, sometime in the future, it may even be noted as the time when we had relatively low temperatures compared with what they are then experiencing - in say, 2072 and beyond, whether due to climate change or not. </span></h4><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipUr8ao2HEQqeZKZQ_UR_r7oh-kQw4P3B4j618wVOq_oW82V1x48CsRAKlmVTuQiZJ5YNnhC8pxfEFjiNKMf27qpe-ATFxULM7VjJproKDb0E514epkuej15os4crOfGxyMnL4Aryku_kWh1aFtV-347xCZcpTFjUN5wTCxixvuLNSLevlMz39XfpI/s413/temperatute.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="217" data-original-width="413" height="104" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipUr8ao2HEQqeZKZQ_UR_r7oh-kQw4P3B4j618wVOq_oW82V1x48CsRAKlmVTuQiZJ5YNnhC8pxfEFjiNKMf27qpe-ATFxULM7VjJproKDb0E514epkuej15os4crOfGxyMnL4Aryku_kWh1aFtV-347xCZcpTFjUN5wTCxixvuLNSLevlMz39XfpI/w198-h104/temperatute.jpg" width="198" /></a></div></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">While the Met Office seem to often say "since records began in 1914" to describe any kind of record topping weather (such as 2007's 'wettest summer' and 1976's 'heatwave'), there are of course records that go back much further. Rainfall and snow is measured by the 'England and Wales Precipitation Series', which goes back to 1766, and the 'Central England Temperature Series' which covers the temperature from the south Midlands to Lancashire, and dates from 1659. Many records have been kept on a personal basis by amateur meteorologists of course, who have kept weather diaries recording not only the weather but also the effects on wildlife and plants. Clearly, it takes many years to assess and transfer this data onto computer and before that is done, which is an endless task, I wonder if we can make too much of 'records' gathered even over centuries. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The Ancient Greeks, and many other early civilisations, attributed weather changes and natural phenomena to the gods. Lightening was the way that Zeus, and Thor in Nordic mythology, showed their anger. Gods and goddesses were elements of the weather and seasons personified. The then unexplainable forces of nature, weather and astronomy, explained to themselves in this way. Due to their continuous observation of nature, though not as advanced as modern science, their knowledge helped them better understand weather changes and find ways to benefit from them. </span><span style="font-family: arial;">The word 'climate' stems from the Greek 'klima' meaning inclination, referring to the climate conditions created by the angle of the sun. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; content: ""; display: block; font-family: Verdana, BlinkMacSystemFont, -apple-system, "segoe ui", Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "open sans", "helvetica neue", sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 25px; margin-top: 25px;" /><span style="font-family: arial;">As I write this at 5pm BST, according to the weather app on my phone the temperature is currently 37 degrees where I am in the UK, which is certainly the hottest I have experienced, even in Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Morocco or central Spain. So far today the blinds and curtains in this house have been closed since 6.30 am, the dogs have not moved much further than a foot from the fan in the living room and the chickens have been fed frozen peas, sweetcorn and broccoli, all of which was just about unfrozen by the time I got it to them at the bottom of the garden.</span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">My old car does not have air conditioning so I was glad that I'd left the windows covered with a duvet cover, from yesterday's journey. It was almost unbearable as there is no breeze at all today so despite the windows being open it was still very hot. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Fellow shoppers and me were less than amused when on entering Aldi for something cool, we found the shutters were just coming down over the 'chilled' and 'frozen' sections. The fridges and freezers apparently needed some time to get themselves down to acceptably low temperatures. I did feel a little smug that I had succeeded in making some fruit sorbet (apricot and mint to be precise) yesterday, which I have been going on about to my daughters since I saw a recipe on some tv programme last week - even though it did take a full 24 hours to make. I also hoped that my fridge freezer, did not decide to give up the ghost today or the net coming days.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">I do not have a particular point to make here today or a unique idea of what should or should not be done in relation to climate changes in general - it's too hot for my brain to function at that intellectual level anyway. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Here's hoping that everyone takes as much care as they can during these hot days and that vulnerable people and animals are not too uncomfortable. This is the UK remember - summers may be getting hotter with each year that goes by, but it won't be long until we are complaining to each other about how cold and wet it is. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Off to water my tomatoes ... </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><br /></div>Lexia257http://www.blogger.com/profile/12656262901790598651noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3320280485515037254.post-23250952854696481552022-07-02T03:21:00.010-07:002022-07-02T03:30:39.799-07:00The Windmill House - Thoughts From the Island <h3 style="text-align: left;"> <b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">The sky has changed from earlier this morning from a hazy grey to a brilliant, clear blue. White cumulus clouds float motionless above the roof of the house and the sun shines hot on the back of my neck and uncovered head.</span></b></h3><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">I have crossed the causeway to the sounds of herring gulls screeching their familiar call. Now the sound has changed to the gentle chirruping of reed warblers as they dart in and out of the wet marram grass, which blankets this part of the island from the dunes on the sand to the gorse bushes around the pond. </span><span style="font-family: arial;">The old windmill still stands, tall and sail-less as it surveys the shore, watching the endless tides ebb and flow, day in day out, through all seasons.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"> It was winter the first time I met you here. You stood on the turrets of the mill, waving and calling to me as the wind tried to blow you from the top. Your words sailed away and out on the tide leaving me not knowing what it was you’d said. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">The door of the house opens outwards into the heather-like patches of purple vetch and celandine. You said that this was so that when the snow came you could push it away from the door and would never be trapped on the inside. But snow never stays long here - the salt in the air and the sea itself keep it from settling on the ground.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">The stone floor of the kitchen felt icy even through my fur lined boots and you ushered me towards the open fire, crackling and sparking with driftwood picked from the beach. We warmed ourselves and drank hot coffee in large mugs, cupping our hands to keep in as much heat as possible.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">We lay on a mattress on the floor of an upstairs room and looked out at the moon rising over the sea, round and white sending shafts of light sparkling onto the water. Perfect moon beams. We watched the sun set over the land in vertical rainbows in pink and purple splendorous skies. </span><span style="font-family: arial;">In the morning the sun sent streams of light onto the cold stone floor and warmed us with it’s rays. You said that you would never leave this place and I knew that was true.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Today it is hard to imagine winter ever being here. There is a humming in the air, both from the temperature and the bees hovering around the honeysuckle crawling up and over the porch. I reach out and grasp the metal door handle, pulling it towards me. But the door is locked tight and I don’t have the key. The windows are covered with net curtains and though I peer through the glass, all I see is my own reflection looking back at me.</span><span style="font-family: arial;"> Above my head a single kite hovers and then swoops down over the water of the pond. It plucks something small from the reeds - a mouse or shrew, I can’t tell which - and flies off with it’s catch. I feel the beat of it’s wings and then nothing, as the sun beats down causing the blood to race and my head to pound. In the distance the sea laps gently onto the half sand half mud beach as the tide begins to turn.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Some say they saw you on the beach that morning barefoot by the rockpools and then pacing that stretch of sand. You stood for a while staring towards the horizon. Then you walked, straight out across the sand through the rivulets of water, into the shallow waves and then the breakers. You didn't look back.<o:p></o:p></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">And the kite soared in the sky; silent, but watching and knowing everything.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRps17VptYbg_rH2RtAYtdQ_kK1rT8-eeGDi_B4Tkn3dX0zrCp5zQIsxqxwnXL9issGBBglQgRMczooy4GO03u0uBRn3YyqmMIbej2DVFRDzjaB0tKnJzCc5VENBh9qU71gYn2Bblf0f8Z6j2JCmLIgkEtGqkh66_im87YKGzYDZg7b-XXP6J-7y7n/s2048/lindisfarne.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1053" data-original-width="2048" height="165" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRps17VptYbg_rH2RtAYtdQ_kK1rT8-eeGDi_B4Tkn3dX0zrCp5zQIsxqxwnXL9issGBBglQgRMczooy4GO03u0uBRn3YyqmMIbej2DVFRDzjaB0tKnJzCc5VENBh9qU71gYn2Bblf0f8Z6j2JCmLIgkEtGqkh66_im87YKGzYDZg7b-XXP6J-7y7n/s320/lindisfarne.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div>Lexia257http://www.blogger.com/profile/12656262901790598651noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3320280485515037254.post-64716799930404914982022-06-29T12:38:00.002-07:002022-06-29T12:38:25.606-07:00Thought Experiment - Inspired by the book 'The Ego Trip'<h4 style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #20124d;"><b><span style="font-family: arial;">I have recently read again Julian Baggini's "The Ego Trick', </span></b></span><b style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: arial;">a brilliant book which looks at </span></b></span><b style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: arial;">"the nature of </span></b><b style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: arial;">s</span></b><b style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: arial;">elf in an entertaining and comprehensive, </span></b><b style="color: #20124d; font-family: arial; font-size: large;">easily </b><b style="color: #20124d; font-family: arial; font-size: large;">understandable way".</b></h4><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 13.2px; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #20124d;"><b><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 13.2px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 13.2px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #20124d;"><b><a href="http://julianbaggini.blogspot.com/2011/03/ego-trick.html" style="color: #2288bb; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;">http://julianbaggini.blogspot.com/2011/03/ego-trick.html</span></a></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 13.2px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 13.2px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #20124d;"><b><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Definitely recommended for anyone interested in exploring what it means to be 'you'. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: arial;">On first reading I was inspired to write 'Thought Experiment', so thought I'd bring it around again. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #20124d; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #20124d; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #20124d; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #20124d; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thought Experiment</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #20124d; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #20124d; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Imagine yourself as created</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #20124d; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">all at once, yet perfect and whole,</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">but your sight has been veiled from the external.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Do your feelings then come from the soul?</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #20124d; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #20124d; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As you fall without any resistance,</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #20124d; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #20124d; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">through the void; </span><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">each body part separate, untouched -</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">then reflect in the glass of experience</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #20124d; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and affirm the existence of self.</span></p><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #20124d; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #20124d; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>(Ref: “Floating Man” – Avicenna </i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #20124d; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>cited in "The Ego Trick" Julian Baggini )</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Why not now read Baggini's book ?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B007JHTMDI/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1" target="_blank">The Ego Trick</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;">Any comments welcome. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><b style="color: #20124d; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><b style="color: #20124d; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #20124d; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #20124d; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #20124d; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div>Lexia257http://www.blogger.com/profile/12656262901790598651noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3320280485515037254.post-4593311365184357192022-06-28T07:32:00.000-07:002022-06-28T07:32:29.583-07:00Glass - 'Diving For Pearls'<h3 style="text-align: center;"><br /></h3><div><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #20124d;">(200 words or less on the theme of 'glass')</span></span></span></div><h3 style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></h3><h3 style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"> </span></span>Diving for Pearls</h3><div><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: arial;">What you see is what you get.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: arial;">That’s what I used to tell people. But lately that’s not quite true. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: arial;">It seems that there are elements of myself that cannot be seen but are certainly there </span></span><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: arial;">and almost conscious, almost tangible, but not quite. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I recount my memories and they write down my stories though I don’t really remember </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: arial;">some of the events that I recall. They seem pleased when I describe particular things and it’s easier to go along with them than question it. It’s not my problem that they need to search for who I am. </span></span><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: arial;">The looking glass has always been my confirmation of that. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: arial;">So I talk their language and I take their pills and now when I see more than one reflection in the mirror, it is no longer a contradiction but a truth.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: arial;">They say it’s DID - Disassociate Identity Disorder.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I say, it’s only me.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I am multi-faceted. I know now that I am more than a clichéd thought, because there’s more to me than meets the eye.</span></span></div>Lexia257http://www.blogger.com/profile/12656262901790598651noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3320280485515037254.post-4567209916613562292022-06-23T08:57:00.000-07:002022-06-23T08:57:36.092-07:00 ‘Monkeypox’ to be Renamed Amidst Concerns of Stigma and Racism it. <p></p><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: .4pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">The
World Health Organisation (WHO) will officially rename Monkeypox, following
concerns about stigma and racism surrounding the virus which has allegedly infected over
1600 people in more than two dozen countries. </span></h4>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 21pt; margin: 21pt 0cm 21pt -2.85pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">The WHO’s director general, Tedros Adhanom
Ghebreyesus has announced that the </span></span></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;">organisation is working with partners and
experts from around the world on changing the name of the Monkeypox virus
and its ‘clades’</span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #444444;">(from the Greek ‘klados’ for ‘branch’) </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;">and the disease it causes. A </span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #444444;">clade
consists of an organism and all of its descendants; for example, the shared
ancestry of apes and all of that species descendants would comprise a ‘clade.’ </span>T<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;">he </span></span>WHO has<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #444444; font-family: arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: arial; letter-spacing: 0.4pt;">said it will make announcements about the new names as
soon as possible.</span></div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 18.0pt; mso-outline-level: 3;"><b><span style="font-family: arial;">Monkeypox in the UK<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 18.0pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Although more people have been diagnosed with it
recently, only a small number of people in the UK have had Monkeypox and the risk
remains low. It is extremely unlikely to catch Monkeypox without close contact, such
as touching the skin or sharing bedding with someone who has Monkeypox symptoms,
and not recently having travelled to west or central Africa. Anyone can catch the virus but the NHS states that,
“Currently most cases have been in men who are gay, bisexual or have sex with
men, so it's particularly important to be aware of the symptoms if you are in
these groups.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 18.0pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background: white; color: #2b2b2b;">Since
the Covid-19 ‘pandemic’ and the controversy surrounding many issues, such as vaccinations, isolation and lockdowns </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #2b2b2b;">it seems
inevitable that similar will happen with any future topical </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #2b2b2b;">diseases
which, for whatever reason become prevalent in the news.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #2b2b2b;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #2b2b2b;">Everyone </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #2b2b2b;">has their
own views on the Covid-19 situation and the responses, interventions </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #2b2b2b;">and
restrictions put in place by governments around the world and particularly </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #2b2b2b;">our
own in the UK. Connotations around the virus itself have become a stigma </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #2b2b2b;">in
many situations and any mention of where a disease is thought to </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #2b2b2b;">have originated could be classed as racially motivated by
those who, again for </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #2b2b2b;">whatever reason, prefer to see it that way.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Why the name change? <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;">International scientists have last week said that the Monkeypox label is </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;">discriminatory and stigmatising, and that there is an “urgent” need to </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;">rename it as the current name doesn’t fit with WHO guidelines which </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;">recommend avoiding geographic regions and animal names. This proposal is </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;">reminiscent of when the WHO quickly moved to rename SARS-CoV-2 </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;">(Covid-</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;">19) after people around the world referred to it as the ‘Chinese’ or ‘Wuhan </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;">virus’, before an official name was designated.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;">The actual animal source of Monkeypox, which has been found in a wide </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;">variety of mammals, is still unknown however, and in the context of a
global </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;">outbreak, and continued reference to this virus being African, is </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;">said to be not only inaccurate but also discriminatory and stigmatising.
The </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;">WHO is therefore consulting experts in orthopox viruses, the family to
which </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;">Monkeypox belongs, on more appropriate names. Joint
recommendations from </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;">the WHO, the World Organisation for Animal Health, and the Food and </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;">Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, are that other disease
names </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;">which are counter to the guidelines include swine flu. </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;">Diseases, they state, should be named with the aim of minimising negative </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;">impact, and “avoiding causing offense to any cultural, social, national,
regional, </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;">pr</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;">ofessional or ethnic groups.” Perhaps the World Health Organisation should </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;">have thought of this before discussing it in such terms in the first place. </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;">It hardly seems likely now that the word 'Monkeypox' has been circulated </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;">across the world, for which the media and social networks might be
blamed,</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;">that any name change by authorities will have any effect on how the
general </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;">public will refer to the virus and its consequences in everyday
conversation.</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;">We have talked of ‘bird flu’ ‘bat flu’ and ‘swine flu’, as mentioned, for
long </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;">enough to not bother distinguishing between Influenza A, (which circulates
</span>in ducks,
chickens, pigs, whales, horses, seals and cats, as well as humans) and Influenza
B viruses (which circulate widely only amongst humans.) </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Incredibly, despite the experience of Covid-19 over the last three years or so, the WHO doesn't appear to be aware of how quickly and easily language evolves and remains amongst us, whether it be in all seriousness or 'jest'. If anyone appears to have the symptoms of Monkeypox no doubt we will continue to remark that we have probably caught it. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="color: black;">Whether
this is stigmatising, racist or not, the decision will be left to the world’s </span>‘authorities’,
with whom many of us have little faith or trust left.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 18.0pt;"><span style="background: white; color: #2b2b2b; font-family: Roboto; font-size: 13.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class="leftdiv" style="background-color: white; display: inline-block; float: left; margin: 0px; order: 2; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; text-align: center; width: calc(100% - 320px);"><img alt="Monkeypox Virus Photograph - Monkeypox Virus Particle, Tem by Centre For Infections/public Health England" height="4750" id="mainimage" src="https://images.fineartamerica.com/images-medium-large-5/3-monkeypox-virus-particle-tem-centre-for-infectionspublic-health-england.jpg" style="border-radius: 2px; border: none; box-shadow: rgb(238, 238, 238) 0px 8px 8px -5px; cursor: pointer; display: inline-block; font-family: arial; font-size: 10pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; height: auto; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px;" title="Monkeypox Virus Photograph - Monkeypox Virus Particle, Tem by Centre For Infections/public Health England" width="3691" /> <p id="fullSentenceDescription" style="color: #666666; display: inline-block; font-family: arial; font-size: 9pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 20px 0px 10px; width: 495.9px;"><span style="font-style: italic; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Monkeypox Virus Particle, Tem</span> is a photograph by Centre For Infections/public Health England which was uploaded on December 15th, 2014.</p></div><div class="rightdiv" data-new-layout="1" id="rightsidebar" style="background-color: white; float: right; margin: 0px; order: 4; padding: 0px; width: 280px;"><div style="float: left; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 280px;"><div id="previousNextDivContainer" style="display: inline-block; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; width: 280px;"><div id="iconWithNumbersContainerDiv" style="float: right; margin: 5px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"><button class="iconClassWithNumbers" id="HeartIconDiv" style="border-color: initial; border-style: none; border-width: initial; box-shadow: none; color: #444444; cursor: pointer; font-family: arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px 2px; overflow: hidden; padding: 5px; vertical-align: middle;" type="button"><div class="iconImageContainer" style="display: inline-block; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><img alt="Favorite" class="iconImage" src="https://pixels.com/assets/images/iconHeart2021.jpg" style="border: none; display: inline-block; margin: 0px; max-height: 18px; opacity: 1; padding: 0px; vertical-align: middle;" title="Favorite" /></div> <span class="iconNumber" id="HeartIconCountDiv" style="color: #666666; display: inline-block; font-family: arial; font-size: 8pt; margin: 0px; padding: 4px 0px; text-shadow: none; vertical-align: middle;">0</span></button> <button class="iconClassWithNumbers" id="CommentIconDiv" style="border-color: initial; border-style: none; border-width: initial; box-shadow: none; color: #444444; cursor: pointer; font-family: arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px 2px; overflow: hidden; padding: 5px; vertical-align: middle;" type="button"><div class="iconImageContainer" style="display: inline-block; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><img alt="Comment" class="iconImage" src="https://pixels.com/assets/images/iconComment2021.jpg" style="border: none; display: inline-block; margin: 0px; max-height: 18px; opacity: 1; padding: 0px; vertical-align: middle;" title="Comment" /></div> <span class="iconNumber" id="CommentIconCountDiv" style="color: #666666; display: inline-block; font-family: arial; font-size: 8pt; margin: 0px; padding: 4px 0px; text-shadow: none; vertical-align: middle;">0</span></button></div></div> <div style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); display: inline-block; margin: 0px; padding: 20px 0px; width: 280px;"><h1 id="h1title" style="border: none; color: #444444; float: left; font-family: cabin, oswald, arial; font-size: 16pt; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 25.6px; margin: -5px 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-overflow: ellipsis; text-shadow: none; width: 280px;">Monkeypox Virus Particle, Tem</h1><p id="topDescription" style="color: #444444; display: inline-block; font-family: arial; font-size: 9pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; width: 280px;">Monkeypox virus (MPV) particle, coloured transmission electron micrograph (TEM). Each particle is composed of a DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) genome... <a id="linkDisplayFullTopDescription" style="color: #335599; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">more</a></p> <div id="artistLogoDiv" style="display: inline-block; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 280px;"><a href="https://pixels.com/profiles/science-photo-library" style="color: #445577; font-family: arial; font-size: 8pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;"><img alt="Centre For Infections/public Health England" class=" lazyloaded" data-src="https://images.fineartamerica.com/images/artistlogos/science-photo-library-1424273762-square.jpg" src="https://images.fineartamerica.com/images/artistlogos/science-photo-library-1424273762-square.jpg" style="border-radius: 15px; box-shadow: rgb(238, 238, 238) 2px 2px 2px; display: inline-block; margin: 0px 5px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: 30px;" title="Centre For Infections/public Health England" /></a> <h2 style="color: #666666; display: inline-block; float: none; font-family: arial; font-size: 10pt; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 14.6667px; margin: 0px; max-width: 75%; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; text-overflow: ellipsis; vertical-align: middle; white-space: nowrap; width: auto;">by <a href="https://pixels.com/profiles/science-photo-library" style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;">Centre For Infections/public Health England</a></h2></div></div></div></div><p></p>Lexia257http://www.blogger.com/profile/12656262901790598651noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3320280485515037254.post-40697356816279446202022-06-15T01:23:00.001-07:002022-06-15T01:26:40.289-07:00Autobiography - Processing the fact and the fiction<p> </p><h3 class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 22px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0.75em 0px 0px; position: relative;"><a href="http://wwwrite-place.blogspot.com/2021/04/my-autobiography-what-shall-i-call-it.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: black;">Autobiography - Processing the fact and the fiction</span></a></h3><div class="post-header" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 10.8px; line-height: 1.6; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><div class="post-header-line-1"></div></div><div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-805520847860122595" itemprop="description articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 1.4; position: relative; width: 570px;"><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>When embarking on writing your own autobiography, no doubt one of the most important questions you will ask yourself is "What shall I call it ?"</b></span></h4><p style="font-size: 13.2px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">There are a multitude of ways of deciding on a title, for an autobiography, from picking a catchphrase from your working life to a phrase relating to a particular talent - or lack of it - which relates to you. It was suggested to me by tutors while at University that the title should be left till last, but I have found that in practice, having something in mind keeps you focused and gives the reader an idea of whether they want to read the writing or not. </span></p><p style="font-size: 13.2px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The list of 'famous' authors of biographies is endless.</span></p><p style="font-size: 13.2px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> A quick 'Google' gives us Prime Ministers (current and past) Ghandi, Mandela, most politicians present and past as well as writers as diverse as Agatha Christie, Anne Frank and Alan Bennett and so called 'celebrities' of the day, some of whom I have heard of and many more that I haven't.</span></p><p style="font-size: 13.2px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The first line of the biography or novel is important too, as with any writing. Again many famous ones stick in the mind easily -</span></p><p style="font-size: 13.2px;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-family: arial;">"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief ... ". Charles Dickens </span></span></p><p style="font-size: 13.2px;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-style: italic;">"It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen". George Orwell</span></p><p style="font-size: 13.2px;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-style: italic;">"I set fire to my Bible on the playing fields of my Cambridge boarding school, one bright, windy, Spring afternoon in 1967". Peter Hitchens </span></p><p style="font-size: 13.2px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>"May in Ayamenem is a hot brooding month". Arundhati Roy</i></span></p><p style="font-size: 13.2px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>"This is a story about a man named Eddie and it begins at the end, with Eddie dying in the sun". Mitch Albom</i></span></p><p style="font-size: 13.2px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">(You may test yourself by naming the books or Googling them as you wish.)</span></p><p style="font-size: 13.2px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">After reading J D Salinger's <span style="box-sizing: border-box;">The Catcher in the Rye, as an angst ridden teenager, I fancied that my autobiography would have an opening sentence something on the lines of this ;</span></span></p><blockquote style="border-left: 2px solid rgb(235, 235, 235); box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 13.2px; font-style: italic; margin: 20px 0px; padding-left: 20px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 20px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">"If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you’ll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don’t feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth".</span></p></blockquote><p style="font-size: 13.2px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I didn't have a lousy childhood however, and short of writing a novel about an imagined one or plagiarising the actual text in some other format, this first line of mine has not yet been written.</span></p><p style="font-size: 13.2px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">After many years of writing, on and off, sections of what was intended to eventually become 'A Novel', this is still incomplete. It may get finished before I die, but I'm not promising anything. Writing about myself and my experiences - even if I say so 'myself' - is "easier" for me and as I have noted in this blog and elsewhere, has often been a cathartic process more than a few times. I have writing in a variety of styles for a range of audiences where I have found that relating the topic or situation to myself comes naturally which is not, obvious exclusive to me. Perhaps this revelation stemmed from a comment, again from a tutor, who was an established author, who said "Write about what you know", which was contradicted by yet another tutor who stated that writing about what you haven't experienced but can imagine, describe and have an empathy with, is equally valid and necessary. </span></p><p style="font-size: 13.2px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">And so, (I am allowed to use 'and' at the start of a sentence here as I am writing conversationally with you the reader - another tip picked up on the writing journe</span><span style="font-family: arial;">y. My incomplete novel is "Never On Sunday". My biography is untitled as yet.</span></p><p style="font-size: 13.2px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I have a while back reached the age of thinking 'If I don't do this now I never will' and leaving an unfinished writing legacy would prevent me from resting in peace.</span></p><p style="font-size: 13.2px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">So, watch out for them both, very soon. </span></p></div>Lexia257http://www.blogger.com/profile/12656262901790598651noreply@blogger.com0