I had a dream!

No, I'm afraid it wasn't as profound as Martin Luther King's dream; it was a real, mundane dream, about an hour ago. And it woke me up.

Other people's dreams are pretty boring, so I'll paraphrase... I was writing an outline for a new TV series. But I there were other people around and I was due to go out somewhere, so I there were too many distractions to write. Plus I needed to get my younger son to hurry up, and I couldn't, so I was going to miss whatever it was I was supposed to be going out to do. It all led to pretty familiar feelings of frustration. Life getting in the way of art, again!

When I woke, feeling rather disgruntled, I spent quite a few minutes trying to remember the details of the TV outline so I could write it down - now that all the distractions had stopped. It didn't really dawn on me that it had all been a dream until I was awake enough to realise that there was nothing, really, to remember.

I was in a bad mood because mundane things had stopped me from doing something I wanted to do, but which I hadn't really been doing anyway!

Hang on to that thought for a moment...

Anyway, Ladles and Jellyspoons, you will have noticed that I have been away for Quite Some Time. I could give you an-elephant-ate-my-homework type of explanation, but other people's excuses are just as boring as other people's dreams, so I won't. I'll just say that I have been in a Bad Mood.

This Bad Mood has lasted a long time (and it hasn't quite gone away yet, but never mind that for now). At the root of it, I realise, is frustration that mundane things have stopped me doing things I want to do. Ha - deja vu!

The things I want to do (the important ones that I'm not managing anyhow) are writing, swimming outdoors and enjoying some sunshine. But somehow other things have got in the way - things like earning money, housework, newly-diagnosed arthritis and rain.

The trouble is that after a while of not doing things for very good reasons, you get out of the habit of doing them. Then you feel frustrated about not doing things you want to do, although you are making no effort at all to do them anyway!

So... I haven't been go-going with the flow, I've been sort of limping along with the flow. Time to kick myself up the arse!

Anyway, I've done a bit of writing, and now the sun is up, so I'm off.

'Til later...

Flow x

P.S. You'll notice I've had some fun with this silly-but-clever fake newspaper creating tool!

Little steps to a better world

(Inspirational Quotes - Help Yourself, Help Others - SelfHelp Collective)

I came across a great quotation today:

"Don't spend your precious time asking 'Why isn't the world a better place?' It will only be time wasted. The question to ask is 'How can I make it better?' To that there is an answer".
(Leo Buscaglia)

(And thanks to Steve, for sending me the link to his new YouTube videos of Inspirational Quotes, which is where I found it).

There are probably lots of answers, in fact. And it seems to me that we don't need to worry about finding the 'right' one: all sorts of positive actions, even tiny little steps, can make the world a better place. If you're a problem-solver - an instinctive Mr or Ms Fix-It like me - then it can be hard to remember that, if you can't see the grand solution, small improvements are still worth making. 'Better' is a relative term, after all.

Flow x

The turning of the year

Happy New Year!

It's the first of January, and this is my first post of 2009. I admit I have rather a hangover - a real head-thumping humdinger in fact - the first for about a decade - so forgive me, if my thinking seems a little wooly...

It seemed appropriate to reflect a little on the turning of the year. Last night, of course, we moved from one calendar year into the next. But the year is 'turning' in other ways, too. The winter solstice last week was the moment when the days began to grow longer and the nights began to grow shorter. And it's called the 'solstice' (as I can confidently tell you, because I did Latin at school!) because the sun (sol, from solus), which has been getting lower in the sky throughout the winter so far, stands still (stasis) for a few days before it begins to climb higher again.

'The turning of the year', indeed. I had a vague feeling that this must be a quotation, but I couldn't think of its source, so I googled the phrase. I was a little taken aback to find there are 57,400 results for that exact phrase, and nearly 39 million for 'turning' and 'year'! But I'm not easily daunted, so I followed up a couple of hunches.

First, I looked up Auld Lang Syne , but it's not in that. Then I thought of Shakespeare, but thanks to a rather nifty searchable text thingy I now know the phrase isn't his, either. I found it in a rather nice modern version of The Holly and the Ivy, but since this is very different from the old version I learned as a child, it can't be where I've heard it before.

My search uncovered a couple of lovely discoveries; they didn't help me with the origin of the phrase, but I was glad to have found them.

Someone has done lots of research on the symbolism of all the months of the year , and their post for Yule and the New Year made interesting reading:

"Yggdrasil (the world-tree whose roots were knotted in Hell and its boughs supported Heaven) ... This Tree of Life sheltered the Norns, another example of the triple-goddess: Urth (the past), Verdandi (the present), and Skuld (the future) who lovingly tended the tree. In Norse tradition, the festival of Yule (December 26-January 6) assigns 4 days to each of the Norns to honor the turning of the year. New Year’s day, the middle of this period has become a day when we remember the past and plan for the future, making resolutions to better our lives, and invoking the assistance of these triune sister goddesses".

Then the Guardian website had a page with some links to lovely poems relating to new year, including Emily Dickinson's 'Hope is a strange invention':

Hope is a strange invention
A Patent of the Heart
In unremitting action
Yet never wearing out

Of this electric Adjunct
Not anything is known
But its unique momentum
Embellish all we own.

Hope seems to me to be great theme for 2009. Let's face it, 2008 wasn't much fun, was it? And I certainly hope this year will be better.

Fun. Ah yes: one of my favourite themes!

I never did find the origin of the phrase, but thoughts of the year's revolution have now turned to resolution. And I am resolved that this year will be much more fun-filled than last, because I agree with Tom Robbins:

"Fun! If others might find that appraisal of his life shallow, frivolous, so be it. To him, it seemed now to largely have been some form of play. And he vowed that in future he would strive to keep that sense of play more in mind, for he'd grown convinced that play - more than piety, more than charity or vigilance - was what allowed human beings to transcend evil".

And may 2009 be full of fun and play for you, too!

Flow x

Zeitgeist

Have you heard of the Zeitgeist Movement? If not, let me introduce you!

It's a new and growing movement that wants to change the world. It calls for shifts in human awareness and behaviour, so that we can all live creatively and positively, enjoying the good things in life.

It celebrates human potential and existing achievements. Particularly, it talks about the technology that already exists to provide us with all the power, transport and leisure we want. It critiques the economic, political and social systems we currently live within, and presents arguments and evidence about how these - but especially money, the drive for 'profit' and debt - harm us all and prevent us from living the lives we deserve. It offers concrete suggestions for how we can get involved and play a part - yes, you and me too! - in changing the world.

The Zeitgeist Movement is hugely idealistic - and I mean that as a compliment: isn't it about time for a new global movement that shakes us all up a bit and encourages us to (how can I put it, hem hem) go-go with the flow?!

The Zeitgeist website isn't as good as it could be. It is full of jargon and ideology that will put off many visitors before the ideas can hook 'em. But the Zeitgeist movies are compelling. If you only watch one documentary this year, make it Zeitgeist Addendum. It weaves together information and ideas about money, politics, big business, American interventionism, war, international 'aid', technology, 'green' energy, transport, the Venus Project, labour, leisure, sustainability, creativity, religion, human nature and consciousness ... and ends with a call to action!

(I tried to embed Zeitgeist Addendum here, but it wouldn't work - I may try again later, but meanwhile, click on the movie link above to go to Google Video).

And last year's Zeitgeist movie explored links between the global banking system and international terrorism, and put forward the best 'conspiracy theory' I've heard, arguing that 9-11 was a put-up, 'inside job'. Very interesting!

You don't have to agree with everything the Zeitgeist Movement says to rejoice in the fact that someone is out there saying it! As the filmakers say themselves, "We must be open to new information at all times, even if it threatens our belief systems and identities".

Personally, I am absolutely delighted to have stumbled upon this evidence that there are other people thinking things that I've been thinking: people who care about the world, who have some faith in human beings, who are happy to try to change even if it's scary or difficult, and who are passionate enough about these ideas to make a couple of non-commercial movies and start a global movement.

"We must become the change we want to see in the world" - Mohandas Gandhi.

Yup, the Zeitgeist Movement has captured something important - and it may well be the 'spirit of the age'. I hope so!




Flow x