IN that part of the book of my memory before which little can be read is found a rubric which says: "Here begins the New Life". Under which rubric I find the words written which it is my intention to copy into this little book, - and if not all of them, at least their meaning. Dante Alighieri
What can I know of myself as long as I do not know that the self I do know is largely a synthetic product; that most people - including myself - lie without knowing it; that defense means war and duty submission; that virtue means obedience and sin disobedience; that fame is only rarely based on admirable human qualities, and even not too often on real achievements; that history is a distorted record because it is written by the victors; that over-modesty is not necessarily the proof of a lack of vanity; that some try to rationalize evil intentions and actions and to make them appear noble and beneficial ones; that the pursuit of power means the persecution of truth, justice and love; that present-day modern society is centered around the principle of selfishness, having and consuming, and not on principles on love and respect for life. Unless I am able to analyze the unconscious aspects of the society in which I live, I cannot know who I am, because I don't know which part of me is not me. From Art of Being (the art of functioning as a whole person based on authentic self-awareness that comes only through honest self-analysis) by Erich Fromm
Noir Desir-le vent nous portera I'm not scared of the road, we should see, must taste from meander in the hollow of your breast. And there everything will be ok. The wind will carry us. The caress and the grapeshot, and that wound that tears us appart. The palace of everyday from yesterday and tomorow. The wind will carry them.
It's hard, hard, not to sit on your hands, burrow your head in the sand, hard, not to make other plans and claim that you've done all you can, all alone and life must go on.
It's hard, hard, to stand up for what's right and bring home the bacon each night, hard, not to break down and cry, when every ideal that you tried has been wrong. But you must carry on.
It's hard, but you know it's worth the fight, cause you know you've got the truth on your side, when the accusations fly. Hold tight! Don't be afraid of what they'll say. Who cares what cowards think? Anyway, they will understand some day, some day.
It's hard, hard, when you're here all alone and everyone else's gone home. Harder to know right from wrong when all objectivity's gone and it's gone. But you still carry on.
Because you, you are the only one left and you've got to clean up this mess. You know you'll end up like the rest bitter and twisted - unless you stay strong and you carry on.
Les Jours Tristes - D'AMELIE POULAIN FILM - Yann Tiersen is a French musician and composer known for composing the score to the Jean-Pierre Jeunet movie Amelie. He uses a large variety of instruments in relatively minimalist music compositions, using primarily the piano, accordion or violin.
EVOLVE LOVE: Love in a Time of Climate Crisis Velcrow Ripper’s feature documentary
Here we stand as the forces blow across the land. Open minds and now open sores. But no open hand. Hiding in our trench of steel to witness the blast. Nothing to say and now nothing to feel. Now its hopeless and past the wind that was meant to be. Buildings and houses crops and forethought have now gone to ground. All but the dust and the helpless debris are all that are found. Now his creation is purchased by gods who must reconvene deciding to cleanse the Earth of its life by priming their own warmachine. Skil will grow soft blood will grow cold, but not on your frame. He mastered the deadliest weapon of all. But was he insane. He built it for life, he built it for peace. Oh thats what he thought but evilness knows no boundaries and satan will read from his court. Venom, Trinity Mcmxlv 0530
Toumani Diabate - Jarabi (AfroCubism) with The Photographs of Osama Esid
All the leaves are brown and the sky is gray. I've been for a walk on a winter's day. Stopped into a church I passed along the way. Well, I got down on my knees and I pretend to pray. The Mamas & The Papas- California Dreamin
You see, the cartoon version of our civilization is that we're all materialists, so we don't have a sense of a larger significance beyond us. Our fundamental concern is the individual. The individual, and accumulation-of whatever it might be. Is it fame? Is it money? We put that as the cornerstone of our civilization. That's how we've organized things. Now there are mitigating factors. What's necessary is for us to understand that, really, at the root of things is community. At the deepest level, that's the center of things. We come out of community. So how then can we organize our economics so that it's based on community, not accumulation? And when I say "community," I mean the whole earth community. That's the ultimate sacred domain-the earth community. That's one of the great things about Darwin. Darwin shows us that everything is kin. Talk about spiritual insight! Everything is kin at the level of genetic relatedness. So how can I interact in a way that would be helpful? That's my focus. Just to be responsible and to participate in a process, which one's life is based on genuine care and concern for the whole of life, that will deepen joy. Brian Swimme
Carrying out that responsibility means living out our individual lives in our neighborhoods and communities in ways that promote the general well-being of the larger biosphere within which we dwell. If we can harness our empathic sensibility to establish a new global ethic that recognizes and acts to harmonize the many relationships that make up the life-sustaining forces of the planet, we will have moved beyond the detached, self-interested assumptions that accompanied traditional right/left distinctions so characteristic of the geopolitics of the modern market economy and nation-state era and into a new era of biosphere consciousness.
Empathic maturity requires a well devolved sense of selfhood and individuality to flourish. When one empathizes with another, the experience is an affirmation of his or her existence and a celebration of his or her life. The more mature our empathic consciousness, the more intimate and universal is our participation with life and the deeper our sense of the layers of reality. - The Empathic Civilization, Jeromy Refkin.
I am just a poor boy though my story's seldom told. I have squandered my resistance for a pocket full of mumbles such are promises. All lies and jests; still a man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest
When I left my home and my family. I was no more than a boy in the company of strangers. In the quiet of the railway station running scared laying low, seeking out the poorer quarters. Where the ragged people go looking for the places only they would know. Simon and Garfunkel The Boxer
Malian griot singer Bako Dagnon
The great sea moves me, sets me adrift. It moves me like algae on stones in running brook water. The vault of heaven moves me. Mighty weather storms through my soul. It carries me with it. Trembling with joy. Uvavnuk
Nobody knows you when you're down and out. In my pocket, not one penny, and my friends, I haven't any. But if I ever get back up on my feet again, then I meet my long-lost friend. It's mighty strange, without a doubt, nobody knows you when you're down and out. Bessie Smith
PS22 Chorus -VIVA LA VIDA - Coldplay (Importance of music programs in our public schools) The PS22 Chorus is an elementary school chorus from Public School 22 in New York. It is composed of 60-70 fifth-graders, and is directed by Gregg Breinberg. DON'T STOP BELIEVIN
Syntony is a creative aligning and tuning with the evolutionary processes of which we are a part. It involves listening to the rhythms of change and learning how to play our own melody in harmony with the larger evolutionary piece. It is finding and creating meaning and evolutionary consonance, both individually and collectively. When we think of the kind of future that all of us could to bequeath to future generations in good conscience, we might imagine a future where the human family finally found ways to live in harmony on this planet and are consciously and ethically engaged in the most fascinating explorations of our human potential.
Luciano Pavarotti - Nessun Dorma - Turandot by Giacomo Puccini Nobody shall sleep! Even you, o Princess, in your cold room, watch the stars, that tremble with love and with hope. But my secret is hidden within me, my name no one shall know
big ideas in small places
A vow to all sentient beings, where we are all accepted, refuses to accept the notion of "exclusive" or "limited numher of specially selected" people.
Here, we dedicate ourselves to thinking outside the constraints of fear and neurosis. We fight for our process and each other. We believe in the principles of play, generosity, vulnerability, ambition, bravery, anarchy and instinct. We profoundly believe that human beings are capable of anything and push ourselves to find new depths, new joys and new excitements in our relationship to our work and our audience.
We want to collaborate with our fellow human beings, and are hungry to meet and work with new and vivid people from different backgrounds. We want to create event and offer experiences that can profoundly change people's lives. We want to create relevant, innovative and emotionally charged work, to reach out in meaningful ways to build a non-elite audience and to celebrate our delicious time on the planet. The Kneehigh Manifesto
"But there will be no smoke bombs, no lipstick, no flashing lights. It just has to be comfy, but we could have a laugh. We're born-again rockers, and we're starting over. There's plenty of time, right? Plenty of time." John Lennon
Alessandro Papetti from Milan paints very naked landscapes that speak of failed ambitions, all rendered in a restricted palette of sober tones exploraing movement and light. The works reveal an intimate, shifting balance between chaos and calm.
Live carefully, with your eyes open, and try not to cause pain. Krzysztof Kieslowski. The Three Colors trilogy
Where are you now? Who lies beneath your spell tonight? Whom else from rapture's road will you expel tonight? I beg for haven: Prisons, let open your gates- A refugee from Belief seeks a cell tonight. Lord, cried out the idols, Don't let us be broken. Only we can convert the infidel tonight. He's freed some fire from ice in pity for Heaven. He's left open- for God- the doors of Hell tonight. God, limit these punishments, there's still Judgment Day- I'm a mere sinner, I'm no infidel tonight. The hunt is over, and I hear the Call to Prayer fade into that of the wounded gazelle tonight. My rivals for your love- you've invited them all? This is mere insult, this is no farewell tonight. And I only am escaped to tell thee- God sobs in my arms. Call me Ishmael tonight. Agha Shahid Ali
This being human is a guest house. Every morning a new arrival. A joy, a depression, a meanness, some momentary awareness comes as an unexpected visitor. Welcome and entertain them all! Even if they are a crowd of sorrows, who violently sweep your house empty of its furniture, still, treat each guest honorably. He may be clearing you out for some new delight. The dark thought, the shame, the malice. Meet them at the door laughing and invite them in. Be grateful for whatever comes, because each has been sent as a guide from beyond. - Jelaluddin Rumi, translation by Coleman Barks
