Sat - February 10, 2007

on speaking too quickly


a category lost

Hmmm.
Fortunately, they're not gone forever, merely residing in 'oops!'

Posted at 04:08 PM    

CHAORDIC SYSTEMS


might they save the world?

Somewhere between chaos and order lies the balance that makes life, that makes Life.
As a school boy I was trained to believe that chaos is danger and that human beings can only live in order. Despite the efforts of my teachers, I never really got the hang of order. Even now, in late mid life, I prefer to work in an untidy environment. I never could see the risk of chaos as any different from the risk of order.
So it was with great delight that I stumbled on the concept of the chaord.
The word combines CHA from chaos and ORD from order. The concept behind the word claims many things including a non hierarchical system of leadership, new forms of governance and alternative attitudes to ownership.
Is it true, then, that getting slack with order does not necessarily mean a chaotic end to everything? It seems hard to believe we could have fallen for the lie of order's supremacy for so long. Only the artist knew any different and there is a little of the artist in us all.
Creativity, if you think about it, is a marriage of chaos and order - as is Nature herself. We have for too long been shackled to unbalanced assertions of order. Perhaps now is the time to break free.
Of course there are responsibilities in the chaordic life style. We are only free to flourish, not to dominate or exploit. We sustain rather then obtain; we honour the person over the pound (sterling); we invest in our planet.
You can learn more about chaordic systems at www.chaordic.org , where you can even sign up to become an owning member.
first published 21/01/07

Posted at 04:03 PM    

THE PASSAGE OF TIME


(words for those moments of embarrassment)

Never believe that anything in life is a waste of time.
first published 13/12/06

Posted at 04:02 PM    

ABSENCE


Excuses for recent neglect

It's been a little while since I picked up the blog pen. I have been playing with a text editor to get a new web site out there in cyber space. A redesigned blog will accompany the New Year Launch - no firm date for this electronic birth. I am back from the nether world html tags and css squiggles. I will keep you informed.
Meanwhile, here's a photo of goats on the cliff path.
first published 07/12/06

Posted at 04:00 PM    

SOMETHING ABOUT BLACKBERRIES


keeping birds wild

There is perhaps an irony in our habit of collecting blackberries from the hedgerows for our tea time pie. And then putting out food for garden birds. Birds eat blackberries from hedgerows because that's what they do - and besides, they can't afford to go to a supermarket for their breakfast. We buy food - usually highly processed, eat some of it and chuck out the stale loaf for our feathered friends.
If I were a wren I'd rather forage for a blackberry than eat human leftovers.
first published 19/09/06

Posted at 03:59 PM    

DIGNITY AND TIMING


a politician and a formula 1 driver

Much has been written in the last week about the longevity of Tony Blair's role as Prime Minister. It seems that he wants to make a decade as the resident of Number 10. Which is a bit odd in itself as I seem to recall he choose to reside at number 11. It's possible I'm being overly cynical here. Could be it's the job rather than the address he's keen to keep. I suspect this has more to do with the image of historic prosperity he holds for himself than it does with pension rights. I could be wrong.
What a bun fight it's been.
Michael Schumacher on the other hand retired with dignity. And timing.
first published 11/09/06

Posted at 03:58 PM    

THE STATE OF THINGS


a true life tale and speculative personal opinion

A friend of mine has recently been diagnosed with testicular cancer. It's not spread to other organs but it has visited some lymph nodes causing swelling and a degree of blockage. The blockage has affected his kidneys causing complications of treatment.
Now this man is amongst the happiest souls I know. (In contrast, most of my working friends understandably moan about the tyrant work and yearn for their retirement.) He lives modestly and inoffensively in a caravan with the enthusiastic consent of a farmer.
Some days ago a council official gave him one month's notice to quit. A matter of illegal occupation leading to a void of council tax apparently.
We call ourselves civilised.
As it happens I pay council tax. I pay income tax and vat on everything I buy. I pay road tax and fuel tax, tax on tobacco and alcohol. I object to my taxes being spent on weeding out cheerful eccentrics who would never dream of hurting anyone in any way.
I don't believe anyone is more important than anyone else, or less deserving of respect and dignity.
When I see notices on government vehicles inviting me to report any un taxed cars I might have noticed on the streets, I experience an intense desire to commit criminal damage to said sign.
Perhaps we would all feel happier about paying taxes if we could see them being used to promote the sort of society we can be proud of. This might well differ from one individual to another, but I wonder how many of us see 21st century Britain head in such direction. How many of us simply pay up to avoid the hassle that ensues if we refuse to feed the Ego fuelled cauldron of Masculine Power whose job it is to Govern?
I acknowledge that much general compassion is carried by organisations and individuals, that death by starvation no longer exists in this country, that we have a system of social security and accessible health care. It's not all bad. I notice that these features of our civilised society are given less respect and value than they were 30 years ago. Their infrastructures are under threat. The poor, the weak, the unfortunate are encouraged to think of themselves as victims and grudgingly thrown a life line. We have in the past moved toward becoming a compassionate society. We now rest on our wilting laurels and point to history in an attempt to demonstrate our collective tolerance of humanity. Whilst developing commercially, economically and technologically, we refuse to consider the future - or indeed the existence - of whatever essential essence makes us human beings. So how can that essence develop? And are there alternatives to our current system?
Well, there are options, but there is not a quick fix. It's not so much a change of system as a change in attitude that could make a difference.
As individuals we can find the courage to acknowledge our fear - because only then can we operate from love - and discover our values and our truths while tolerating the truths and values of others. Nobody whose daily life, routine and habit is fuelled by fear can call themselves free.
In governance it is possible to empower as well as to control. If all we can offer by empowerment is the creation of people distanced from their fear by fragile financial independence, we cannot call ourselves a civilised nation. Such a society has simply replaced the boar with institutionalised tyranny. - Both are ruled by fear.
We can achieve civilisation - if we want to - by channelling our individual and collective energies into respect for self and others. We need each others' support to do this as surely as the shamefully exploited 'Third World' needs the help of western society to avoid being suffocated by financial debt. We owe them too - for the homes, the lifestyle, the livings, the culture we have taken from them in the name of our own 'civilised' existence.
first published 08/09/06

Posted at 03:56 PM    

YIN YANG


Musings on different cultural values.

I'm told there is a Chinese dialect that has no possessive pronoun - no words to identify ownership. Now wouldn't that make a difference to how the world is viewed.
It's interesting that in asking around about the meaning of Yin and Yang we hear words like 'opposites'; 'male and female'; 'black and white'. I'm not saying such understandings are wrong - I would probably describe Yin and Yang in similar terms - but I can't help thinking they miss some vital essence of the point. Coming from the Western hemisphere, it is hard to understand the basic assumptions of a culture that tolerates in its very language absence of ownership.
first published 01/09/06

Posted at 03:54 PM    

Acting without thought


latest blog error

It seems I deleted the entire 'life' category instead of editing a misspelt url.
Naturally, this error is irreversible.
I notice the content is still out there on the server though. Nonetheless, the experience has inspired a new category - 'oops!'

Posted at 03:09 PM    

©