Friday 19 December 2008

What can I do about the economy?

Anyone who is alive in the developed world will know that there is a problem with the world economies at the moment. Most people feel powerless about what is happening here.
There are however certain things we can do to help the world at this time.
One good thing to do is to refuse to tap into the mass consciousness of fear. But how do we do that? Mantras are a good way to change our consciousness.

Here is a good mantra along with an interesting visualization.
The mantra calls on the name of God - I AM THAT I AM. This name was given to us when Moses saw the burning bush that was not consumed by the fire. He asked who shall I say sent me?

God replied "Ehyeh-Asher-Ehyeh." Exodus 3.14. The English translation of the Hebrew used is I AM THAT I AM.
So when we say "I AM...." we are really saying 'God in me is....."

This mantra also refers to the US economy. Of course you may wish to substitute the name of your country in that phrase or you may wish to say it as it is. In my opinion the US economy is so important to the world economy that it is wise to pray for it to be upheld.

Thursday 18 December 2008

The Little School

I came across this video at homeschooling ideas.com
It is about a School in Denmark where the children learn autonomously. It looks like it was filmed in the 1970s. It is black and white and crackly but well worth spending 35 minutes to watch it.

Saturday 13 December 2008

Do schools kill creativity?

Thank goodness I was never sent to school...Beatrix Potter quote at DailyLearners.com

This guy talks so much sense and he does it so entertainingly too! One of the stories he tells is of a successful and famous dancer/choreographer who couldn't sit still at school. Fortunately someone realised that she didn't have a learning disability but was in fact a dancer. She had to move to think. As he says, it is a good job she wasn't given medication and told to calm down!

Sir Ken Robinson: Do schools kill creativity?

Monday 8 December 2008

Validation

Here is an interesting film about the power of validation.
I'm sorry that the music is jazz, but it is worth watching nevertheless.

Friday 5 December 2008

Sebastian


We have a small black cat called Sebastian. I must admit that I often refer to him as 'her'. This is probably because he is small and thin like a female. He is under two years old so I hope as he gets older he will fill out.

He was meowing at the back door this morning and so I picked him up for a cuddle before I put him outside. He immediately turned around and came back in the door. It is cold outside so I was not surprised he didn't want to go out. I picked him up again and he enjoyed another cuddle. (Apart from the rubbing around the legs when he is hungry this is the only contact he likes as he never comes on laps. When he is curled up he will bite a person who strokes him more than twice.)

When he wanted to go down I left him and he sat at the door meowing again. This time I opened the door and let him go out on his own. He sniffed the cold air and backed away from the door.

I picked him up and told him I could not change the weather, and if he wanted to go out he would have to brave the cold. The next time he meowed at the door, a few minutes later, I gently nudged him out with my foot. He hesitated then walked away.

About 5-10 minutes later I saw him being chased by another cat in the garden and a silent fight ensued. It was not vicious so I did not intervene.

I wonder now, that it may not have been the cold that caused him to not want to go out. If the other cat was already in the vicinity he would have smelled him.

Before Sebastian came to live with us there were several cats to be seen wandering about our garden so they probably think that Sebastian is intruding on their patch.

I did intervene once in a fight in the summer because it was vicious and noisy. I went out and shooed the other cat away but I'm not sure that was the correct thing to do for Sebastian's sake. Maybe he needs to establish his ownership of the space.