Reading ban part 1

As some of you might know I am reading (and completing) Julia Cameron's The Artist Way. It's an interesting book that puts you through a creative self-discovery journey. So far so good. However, in Chapter 4, the book bans you from reading for a week. And I got there. Chapter 4. This is just my second day without reading and I am finding it extreeeemely difficult. How can I live without reading? Where do I find my inspiration? I've realised how much time I spend every day just reading. And I'm not talking only about reading for pleasure. Reading to work, reading to be informed, reading to communicate, reading the food labels, reading as a reward, reading to kill time, reading to stop myself from doing something else I should... That's the point of the reading ban, probably. Or at least one of them. Facing reality. Getting rid of distractions, just for a week. Take some perspective. After writing my pages this morning, after my yoga session I thought 'Hey, before I get down to my writing I'll check if I have comments on my blog', 'I'll see if there is a new entry on SWIM blog', 'Oh, I'll read this and this blog'. 'That seems interesting, I'll follow the link and read about it...' Nooooooo! I'm not allowed to read this week. Bye bye before-to-bed-reading-pages too. Waiting-for-my-class-book. And I can see the point. That's the worst. I need to de-clutter my life. I'm now in that process: decluttering the house, the office, the files, the computer, giving clothes away, and most importantly, decluttering my thoughts. I can see how so many words are stopping my own to become alive. So, yes, I understand the ban. But I AM NOT ENJOYING IT AT ALL. It makes me feel so isolated. It makes me face what I need to do with no space for procrastrination. I'm ready to do it, though. I am open to what this week can teach me. And I hope I find a sense of balance and perspective after all. However, right now, I AM STILL HATING IT.

Llueve, detrás de los cristales llueve y llueve...

Rain always remind me of this song, which translates to 'Ballad of the fall'. It's a beautiful song by a Catalan singer called Serrat who I admire. Even though now it is supposed to be summer, days like today (and yesterday) make me wonder... 'Come on!' I can hear my boyfriends' voice, 'how long have you been living in England!' Yes, he's right. But rain always does this to me. It's not too bad when I'm indoors. Just rain...

My Yoga Yourney

Following the yogic principle of saucha (purity) I have decided to try and simplify my life. Por this reason I have merged my two blogs Ones and My Yoga Journey . Yoga is not something separate from the rest of my life so my blogs shouldn't show this separation either.

The first time I ever went to a Yoga class was purely out of curiosity. I was very young and I only remember a dark class and a few impossibly difficult poses that I found rather pointless. Out of context, I didn't get it at all and I never came back. My next encounter with Yoga would be a few years later in a philosophy class. Expecting to hear about Plato and Aristotle, the lecturer surprised me with a module on Oriental Philosophy. Immediately I felt fascinated. Following the urge of knowing more about the subject, I travelled to India, where I lived for a while. I didn't practise any yoga there. My work in Parvathivai Leprosy Hospital completely absorved me and I was moving in a rather different dimension then. However, I learnt many aspects of the Indian culture in that hospital that would make entire sense later on in my yoga practice. Nobody recognised me when I got back. My family and friends were used to me as a chaotic, nervous, hyperactive person and I went back home exhaling peace. I learnt the meaning of purity (literal and metaphorical), meditation, self-knowledge and compassion. I lived with no worries. I learnt to let go of so many unnecessary things that used to clutter my life. Now, whenever I feel overwhelmed by life, I take my mind back to that state of mind. I can live free, I say to myself. I just need to decide to do it, believe it's possible and let go. I did it once. I can do it again. I will be eternally grateful to everyone I met in Mumbay, Goa and, especially, Surat, Barodha and Viara. I've never felt so welcome in my life and, like in a magical puzzle, all the pieces are now slowly falling into place. Namaste, sisters!

You can't separate the sun from the sunrise.

What does compassion mean to you?

I've just listened to a podcast on Compassion from Ken McLeod. His webside, Unfettered mind ( http://www.unfetteredmind.com/) is worth having a look.

Teatro en Quatre Camins/ Theatre at the 'Quatre Camins' prison

http://www.lavanguardia.es/premium/publica/publica?COMPID=53736809546&ID_PAGINA=200806163&ID_FORMATO=9&PAGINACIO=1&SUBORDRE=3&TEXT
Just a brief summary for those who cannot read Spanish. In a Spanish prison called Quatre Camins a few prisoners formed their own theatre company with the help of a group of actors. This week they have performed for the first time and there has been an article (and video) in the Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia. I felt very happy that something like that was happening. I am a firm believer that Art is a fantastic way to live life in a better way, to become better and more reflective individuals, to experiment compassion towards others and toward ourselves. Art is a unique way of self-discovery and understanding of the world. However, all my happiness disappeared instantly as I read some (many, too many) of the readers' comments. I could not believe our society is still so close-minded, so ignorant, so rude, so profoundly disgusting as how to insult and criticise the prisoners' artistic work.

From here I want to send a message of hope to those who work towards a better self, a better life and a better world through Art anywhere in the world, in freedom or in reclusion. We all live in our little prisons and we all must escape from them.

No me lo puedo creer. Estoy hablando de los comentarios de la gente a la compañía de teatro en Quatre Camins. ¿En qué sociedad más ignorante, retrógrada, despreciable vivimos?

Desde aquí quiero dar un mensaje de ánimo y de esperanza a todos aquellos que trabajan para ser mejores, en cualquier situación o lugar del mundo, en libertad o reclusión (física o mental), a través del arte. Todos vivimos en nuestras propias prisiones y todos tenemos debemos aprender a salir de elllas.

"Why should we all use our creative power...? Because there is nothing that makes people so generous, joyful, lively, bold and compassionate, so indifferent to fighting and the accumulation of objects and money." Brenda Ueland.

"The purpose of art is not a rarified, intellectual distillat -it is life, intensified, brilliant life." Alain Arias-Misson.

Ambas citas han sido obtenidas del libro de Julia Cameron, The Artist's Way: http://www.theartistsway.com/

Change the world, think differently.

It's easy to think that one person cannot change the world. We are so wrong. Everyone, everyday is changing the world. For the best or for the worst, we are. Our contribution is vital and we have a responsibility with the universe (our small and big one). Don't let anyone silence your voice. Not because you think differently; especially if you think differently. This is a big THANK YOU for (and to) all the 'different thinkers' that still make me believe a better world is possible.

The NHS. Have we changed?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7478439.stm

I found this archive footage pretty entertaining not only for historical but also for personal reasons.
The images of those nurses have made me think that while many, many, many things have changed in the healthcare universe, very very little has changed in the concept of what a NURSE nowadays really is. In the footage we see nurses making beds, cups of tea, cleaning the ward. Very little has changed since. In the UK, Nursing is now a university degree that doesn't really reflect what's going on in the hospitals or even at other institutions around the world. It has always surprised me that patients expect doctors to be professional and nurses to be nice and caring. This is the image we manage to perpetuate year after year. This is the reason why the nursing profession can't advance in the UK. They are surrounded by various enemies who still see them as 'nice but not too clever', by deeply entrenched unwritten rules in the health care institutions who tell them about their limitations, by their own low self-esteem.
The nurses on the video are prototypes of the values of the profession. The nurses are beautiful, kind, caring, clean. All those adjectives sound familiar to me. Of course! That's also what is expected from any WOMAN.
To work as a nurse in a hospital many professional skills are necessary. Knowledge. Procedures to master. You need to be intelligent, a good communicator, possess good time management skills. Nurses are like glue; without them the ward collapses. Nobody seems to realise.
Thinks haven't changed at all. Add a bit of colour and a different uniform (no so different though..) and you have a 21st c hospital ward. Feminine professions always get a hard time in history. The worst is that most of us still don't know. We do live in and island and we don't want to extend bridges to see beyond.