Commentary of Sorts
Wanted: i-Balance
It feels as though humanity is going through a rather confusing phase. Watching several video parodies of the latest Apple iPad has prompted me to look back on some of our achievements.
Back in the 4th millennium B.C., our ancestors wrote on clay tablets, making greater use of their brains to retain what was being instructed. Eventually we upgraded to quills and pens and leather-bound notebooks. Now we have magically come ‘full circle’ with cute touch-screen offspring that allow us to wirelessly access vast sources of information, without having to write anything down; worst of all, without having to memorise it. This has become our latest human development in brain function – coordinating our interactions on screen to conjure up a ludicrous amount of data we are hardly capacitated to remember these days. We are left wanting for more and dangerously retaining less.
Unfortunately, Generation Y seems to be in truth a Generation ADD or even ADHD, considering the constant bombardment of news, information, and distractions that seem so important to us now. Many people wouldn’t even realise how limited their attention span is as they are too busy skimming from one thing to the next – in fact, this trait seems to be a given these days.
Likewise, few of those living in the developed countries would know to tell which phase the moon is in to understand their heightened sensitivities, or find their bearings at night based on the stars. We are so married to our gadgets and internet that we have forgotten the most basic elements of survival. It is frightening, to say the least, given the geographical turmoil we are all experiencing in different parts of the world. Not to put apocalyptic fears into anyone’s heads, yet the reality is such that so many people are ill-prepared for even reading their location in a new city, without some artefact to show them colourful lines on a virtual map to get from point to point (“Turn left at the next corner. Drive a hundred meters. Turn right. Turn right. You missed it…”).
We think we have reduced the clutter by putting all our books and music into a little pocketsize hard drive with a fancy screen, and yet we panic if that expensive toy gets broken. The stress levels can be more dramatic than losing a shipment of boxes containing the same items in their original format. Just like squirrels, we have a deeply rooted habit of hoarding.
Cut.
Pan to the right side of the brain…
Picture a lush garden with waterfalls and a soft breeze tickling the tree branches. There might be squirrels.
Cue the Zen approach to life…
Whilst it seems we are increasingly drawn towards subliminal slavery to technology, we are also learning to make great use of it. Now you can sit on a bus and read up on the latest nutritional benefits of quinoa, or listen to podcasts of your preferred spiritual mentor.
A lot of us crave a more meaningful existence. Daring to explore our inner callings, decompose anxieties, break destructive patterns, understand what it really means to be human.
Not everyone is going to take off on a weekend yoga retreat, where you can make a more concentrated effort on healing body, mind and soul. I have tried this and quite enjoyed it… admittedly being yoga’d out by the third and final day (hey, it was my first time). I even took my iPod and laptop so I could get some quality writing done between sessions, and found that I never touched one or the other, choosing instead to pull out a book and read it in charming outdoor silence, with hints of a few birds possibly discussing lunch plans.
It would seem these attitudes are at opposite ends of our existential spectrum, yet there is a growing number of people who are sitting somewhere in the middle… technological advances on one hand, determination to maintain all-round balance in their lives on the other.
So, whilst I am hopeful of our natural instinct to nourish spiritual endeavours, embrace deeper relationships with one another, and harbour a more holistic approach towards our personal development… I do of course love a cute gadget that will give me a friendly reminder to step away from the computer, pick up my fountain pen to go write in the sun, and call to wish you a happy birthday. Not to mention play my favourite tunes as I’m walking towards the coffee shop.
The technology around us is advancing at the speed of procreating rabbits, and yet humankind itself can get lazy and lost in this myriad of gadgetry, thinking we are evolving through it as a species.
Therefore, I would encourage you to ask yourself if all those fancy little toys are truly enabling a more relaxed, meaningful, clutter-free lifestyle, or if they are inadvertently causing more stress than you originally anticipated. Are they truly helping you enhance as a person, or stupefying you? True balance comes from internal focus, not from shiny little objects…
On The Possible Death of Romance
First of all, some might say, “Romance? Why don’t we just start with being nice to each other again?” I hear about people who don’t think twice to help others in need, and I admit on a lot of levels we have become isolated and scared to reach out.
In fact, in this so-called Age of Aquarius, we principally tend to share our love only with those close to us, or strangers who captivate our motherly instincts, as in my case these last few days having no voice. I have been offered tea and healing advice by the bucket-load, and whilst it is endearing, it made me wonder how and with whom we ‘share the love’ these days.
But I won’t question Aquarius today, and shall return to this noble and oft-ignored trait that can qualify us or not as lovers or re-ignite jaded relations…
So, am I romantic, and what does that really mean?
I bow down to the literary mammoths of yesteryear… Leo Tolstoy, Victor Hugo, P. B. Shelley, and countless other writers who have lured us to tears over twists of fate, lovers gone astray or set the foundations for love’s philosophy. I listen to songs that could send diabetics into a panic. I am a dreamer who grew up surrounded by the Arab and Roman heritage of my country, and carries these influences with me wherever I go. A little piece of Andalucía sits on my window ledge, 8,000 kilometres away from its place of origin.
But whilst I tie words together in a particular fashion at times, or drift away to distant worlds with lulling music, I am a firm believer in actions not over-coated sugary sentiments, and the more selfless the more genuine. I am known to do ‘stupid things’ for people at certain times, but these have not been limited to lovers. And I believe that showing them off is presumptuous, which is why I rarely talk about what I have done in the past. The curious will have to wait patiently and judge for themselves.
It’s not a case of listing your accomplishments hoping to win somebody’s favour, or constantly fabricating ‘romantic scenarios’ because this would be contrived and confuse the reality of one’s feelings.
The essence of a true romantic does not lie just in waltzing away to the Blue Danube or indulging in candle-lit dinners for two. Romantics often display their abilities in all elements of life – burning through adversity, breezing past obstacles courageously, washing away somebody’s pain simply by holding hands, or planting their humility firmly in the ground where others brashly claim the spotlight.
Some of us may not consciously make time for romance, but sometimes the simplest, most innocent gesture will be worth more than all the glasses of wine or sunsets we could share.
Romance is magic – that certain something you can’t always put to words. The impulsive spark that surprises you when you least expect it.
Ultimately, romance speaks for itself. And it is certainly not dead.
Anybody who wishes to challenge me on that is welcome to place their bets…
Fighting For Your Rights
I was just reading an article about two co-habiting sisters who have lost their legal battle to avoid paying an inheritance tax bill to the UK government (see article here) when either of them passes away. They are both over 80, and demand protection of their property as siblings, requesting the same rights as married and gay couples. Strangely enough, their surname is Burden, and a great one they carry with them after this sentence from the courts. My point of interest in this item, however, is not about their specific issue or the verdict, but rather my reaction as I could not avoid squinting with intrigue at a remark made by one of the sisters stating that, “If we were lesbians we would have all the rights in the world.”
If only lesbians did have all the rights in the world…
The most immediate reference to ‘gay rights’ that springs to mind is that of marriage, which spawns inheritance issues among others. Luckily, certain countries such as Spain, Canada, The Netherlands, Belgium or South Africa have same-sex marriage rights. In other countries, there are civil union rights which don’t fully qualify as ‘marriage’, but are an encouraging step away from complete legal chastisement. Immigration issues are equally sensitive, if you consider for example that in the US, a ’straight’ US citizen who marries a foreign partner is eligible to bring that person into the United States, whilst long-term same-sex partners in similar situations are denied those very same rights, forcing foreign gay partners to find temporary visas or face separation. So, suffice to say that ‘all the rights in the world’ have not yet been served upon the L, G, B or T communities.
What I do find interesting and inspiring, however, is the fact that the tables are slowly turning with respect to how people view anybody’s rights. Whilst there are still many cases within the gay community pushing for change in legislation and way of life according to the ’straight world’, it is now the rest of the world that is using gay rights issues as examples to fight for other equal rights.
And this, in the name of human rights, should be a matter of pride for everyone.
