Look Into My Hollowed Eyes

Day 44 (Friday 13th January 2017)

44 titles (with a further two for doubles championship wins)

demonstrate why Andy Murray is currently ranked Number 1 in the world for tennis
and was awarded a knighthood. Congratulations Sir Andrew Barron Murray, OBE.

I am not superstitious and hence have no fear of today being Friday the 13th - indeed to me it seems a great day, given the impact and importance of today's excellent post. It has been written by Keith Gulliver. After many years within a well-known technology business, and a period as an independent, Keith is now working in the Corporate HR team at West Sussex Council on Pay and Reward projects. He is based in Chichester, and walks past Chichester Cathedral every day on his way to and from work - it was in January 2016 that Keith took the photographs that illustrate his piece.

I first got to know Keith on Twitter (his handle is @KeithGulliver). He is a very sporadic blogger - you can read his words on his blog "Through the Talent Twittens". He lives in Havant in Hampshire and is an avid fan of Portsmouth Football Club (in his capacity as a fan and supporter he tweets as @PompeyChicken; and he has Liberal political leanings, resulting in his tweeting  as well under @ThisLiberalAge. 

Given the importance of his subject in the post, I will explain write a brief further explanation at the end of the piece.

*****************************

Look Into My Hollowed Eyes

Please don't pass me by.

Look into my hollowed eyes, I will not haunt you. 

Desperate, I fled.

Please don't pass me by. 

Hold my hands, I will not harm you.

Fatigued, I trudge.

Please don't pass me by. 

Tend my bruised body, my weathered face should not scare you.

Exhausted, I stop. 

Please don't pass me by. 

Soothe my troubled mind, hear my murmurings.

Desperate, I am drawn. 

Helpless, I drown.

Look into my hollowed eyes, I will haunt you.

You passed me by.

Some Background Notes

The pictures Keith sent me and I have used are of a statue in Chichester Cathedral titled 'The Refugee', it's by Diana Brandenburger. It's described as 'haunting' and I agree with Keith that that is in part down to the hollowed eyes, and hence there's the connection to this year's theme of heights, hearts and hollows. The statue was given to the Cathedral in 2008, to tie in with the celebration of its 900th year. 

In 2016 over 5,000 people have drowned in the Mediterranean Sea trying to cross to Europe.

Raw Silk

Day 43 (Thursday 12th January 2017)

43 species have now been declared Extinct in the Wild by the IUCN

Each of these creatures can now only be found in zoos. Amongst the 43 are:

• Alagoas curassow (extinct in the wild since 1988)
• Black soft-shell turtle (extinct in the wild since 2002)
• Escarpment cycad (extinct in the wild since 2006)
• Guam rail (extinct in the wild since the 1980s)
• Hawaiian crow or ʻalalā (extinct in the wild since 2002)
• Scimitar oryx (extinct in the wild since 1998 - pictured above in Cincinnati Zoo)
• Socorro dove (extinct in the wild since 1972)
• Wyoming toad (extinct in the wild since 1991)

Today's author, Janine Baillie-Stewart, lives and works in Cape Town, South Africa. She wrote this post on New Year's Eve - it uses the symbolism of one of the gifts she received at Christmas to focus her thoughts and to provide a message for us, her readers. Janine is a highly capable senior HR professional, with over 24 years of Human Resources and OD experience gained in the Public Sector, Retail, FMCG, Pharmaceuticals and Manufacturing industries. She is one of the few I know who can rival me for experience in start ups, SMEs, established, global or local, public and privately owned organisations. She believes in authenticity and living a balanced life and she leads by example. 

Janine has worked at GSK for the past four years and is currently the Learning Business Partner for the Consumer Healthcare Supply Chain division for across Asia, the Middle East and Africa. She is a sporadic blogger, commenting on life and things that matter to her, on JanineBSBlog. As you will deduce from her writing, Janine has an eye for detail and is full of heart. Her academic roots are in Psychology and she is loving and caring, a devoted mother, with a genuine concern for the environment and our future. You can find her on Twitter, her handle is @JanineBS.

*************************

Raw Silk

I received a truly beautiful Tree of Life wall hanging for my small garden this Christmas. Of all things symbolic, it is the one which truly resonates with me.

Now, with a small lull in the hive of holiday activity, I have some time to reflect.

The Tree of Life is symbolic in many cultures and religions. Universal symbolism.

Baobab Tree at Sunset, oil painting by Errol Norbury
In Africa the Baobab is known as the Tree of Life

The symbolic meanings come from all the aspects of the tree and how these interact with the earth's elements. The deep strong ground roots embracing the fertile soil of Mother Earth, the green open-faced leaves reaching to the glorious sun for much-needed sustenance, bringing healing. The solid towering trunk supporting, standing firm and at times bracing against the relentless wind. The fruits give back of themselves to Nature which has provided for their growth and abundance.

The tree provides life.

All the elements are in harmony with the tree. Everything is at one. As I watch the sun set on the last evening of 2016, I wonder how we would, as mankind, compare to the synchronicity of the Tree of Life?

Cartoon by Chris Madden

An old university friend of mine recently suggested I read "The Tao Te Ching" by Lao Tzu as translated by Stan Rosenthal in 1984. Reflecting on the year which has been, and looking to a new year, no.39 struck a chord with me.

"19. RETURNING TO NATURALNESS

It is better merely to live one's life,

realizing one's potential,

rather than wishing

for sanctification.

He who lives in filial piety and love

has no need of ethical teaching.

When cunning and profit are renounced,

stealing and fraud will disappear.

But ethics and kindness, and even wisdom

are insufficient in themselves.

Better by far to see the simplicity

of raw silk's beauty

and the uncarved block;

to be one with oneself,

and with one's brother.

It is better by far

to be one with the Tao,

developing selflessness,

tempering desire,

removing the wish,

but being compassionate"

In 2016 we have seen cunning and profit succeed, we have seen selfishness create a reign of fear where many are afraid of their brothers. We have seen hostility between men and nations. We have seen mothers and children dying with no other place to go.

So what to do differently in 2017?

We have so many examples of people performing selfless acts of kindness and courage. People working two to three jobs to support an extended family. People working within their communities to uplift the poverty-stricken. Stories are abound where families and individuals have made the decision to simplify their lives, to live more naturally and embrace the beauty of the raw silk and the un-carved block.

As more and more of us make these conscious choices with the small things in our lives, the choice to live with less, act with less malevolence, and to embrace the natural ebb and low of life, let go of our ego's, we can germinate seeds of change. We can return to a state of harmony like the Tree of Life.

Mulberry Tree seedling

The change starts within. 

Raw mulberry silk yarn

Common Courtesy

Day 42 ( Wednesday 11th January 2017)

42 times higher than the national air quality standards - was the finding of
scientists in India when assessing pollution in Delhi during Diwali (the
celebratory fireworks plunged the city into smog and air pollution levels
rose significantly on the night of the Diwali holiday.) Air pollution causes as many
as 10,000-30,000 deaths annually in India.

Today's post is by a delightful man, whom I met for the first time on 8th December 2016 - Bede Northcote, the Managing Director and founder of Northcote Internet Ltd, a business that provides videos for online annual reports and live events production. Bede has had a fascinating route to where he is now - with a degree in Nuclear Engineering and a period in the British Royal Navy as a submariner, before  working in software development and as a consultant for a range of organisations including IMR Global, Thomson Financial and Morgan Stanley International. I met Bede because he and I share a love of rugby - having both played in the front row when younger. We enjoyed watching The Varsity Match together - I am pleased to report that, being supporters of Cambridge, we had much to celebrate (Cambridge broke a six year run of losing to take the title). 

Bede can be found on Twitter (his handle is @northcote_b), although he is seldom active in a personal capacity. His post is on the theme of heart and the impact people have on others through the way they interact.

**************************************

Common Courtesy

For some years now, I have been trying to be more polite.  

It has the most wonderful benefits.  I started by thanking bus drivers and now try to look back at the driver and wave my thanks as well.  This invariably results in a smile and a wave back.  I now hear more bus passengers also thanking the driver.  We rely on so many people doing hard jobs in difficult situations at odd hours of the day and night that politeness is the least that we can do.

London Transport's first female bus driver, Mrs Rosamund Viner, at the driver training centre in Chiswick 1974

Britain has always thought of itself as a polite country.  We need to work at being more polite and remembering that manners, etiquette and civility all help us get along.  This is particularly true in the coming years as we face a new future.

This thought has lead me to another level.  I have a wonderful multi-national and multi-cultural team working for me.  A lot of them are from Europe and the morning after the Brexit result, they felt that they weren’t as welcome here as they had felt before.  Meanwhile all of the rhetoric from our politicians assumes that we can just get what we want.

We need to be more polite, we offer help to the world and we should be polite in asking for it back.  We should be generous in our offers and un-assuming in our expectations.  We have no right to expect a better world for ourselves.

Banksy drawing in Clacton

If we approached the future negotiations with utter politeness, maybe it would be much easier.  People achieve so much more happiness and success when they are polite to each other rather than assuming that everything is in conflict.  Countries are only huge collections of people and politicians are only representatives of people.  If the people demand politeness, then contentment will follow.

The first thing we could do is offer the wonderful people who are British by choice, the protection of our country. 

Global etiquette

Heights, Hearts and Hollows

Day 41 (Tuesday 10th January 2017)



41% spike in hate crimes motivated by race or religion, occurred in the UK
following the EU referendum. Home Office dat shows a marked increase of more
than 2/5ths in July 2016 compared to July 2015. This appears to be linked to a
rise in anti-immigration sentiment, although it is also possible that the increase is
due in part to victims being more inclined to contact the police to report
crimes than perhaps they would have in 2015.

On this day in 1920 the League of Nations was founded as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended World War One. In many ways, this seems apt given that today's writer is, in my and many people's minds, a true global citizen who wants a better world for all. Trevor Black, the author of today's post, is an inspirational man. He is academically gifted, having qualified as an actuary before becoming valued as a talented portfolio manager and financial analyst, working both in South Africa and Europe. He then made a conscious decision to leave the financially rewarding environment of corporate life to pursue his passions. He is artistic and creative - I have enjoyed attending art exhibitions and admiring his highly textured oils; his writing speaks for itself. Trevor writes a daily blog on happiness and learning Swartdonkey which has occasional guest posts. He is gathering stories from people he knows and meets about how to overcome obstacles to creativity and composing his own.

Trevor was born and raised in South Africa, but now he lives in the beautiful Cotswolds in the UK. As well as being active and mindful (diet, yoga, and attitude are important to him), he is curious and a thinker. The main themes he is interested in and writes about are: 

• Universal Basic Income
• Global Citizen
• Guest Posts
• Exercise
• Diet
• Breathing
• Relaxation
• Positive Thinking
• Flow
• Relationships

You can follow him on Twitter (his handle is @trevorblack) 

**************************************************************************

“Heights, Hearts and Hollows”

We are forgetful. I often need, and find, reminding just how fragile life is. Reminding how much care we need to put into the things that matter to us. Being forgetful helps focus our attention. We can’t worry about everything, and still do anything worthwhile. Understanding how we function can give the perspective needed to make sure we don’t wander off, and forget the things that matter. Daniel Kahneman talks about our Experiencing and Remembering selves. We experience each moment, if we are paying attention, but we tend to remember according to the Peak-End rule. The heights the experience reached and the way it concluded. We don’t add, or average, each and every moment. The story we live, and the story we lived hold each other with a light touch.

Like a delicate path of breadcrumbs as we wander into the unknown, our hearts provide the connections back to what matters. 

Edward Colarik Hearts Sculpture Blue

We remember things that have meaning to us. We create that meaning by caring. We are trigger happy. If we have an emotional response to something – anger, humour, disgust, and love – it forges a link to other memories. 

The more connections of the heart we make, the less likely we are to get lost as strange beasts of the night nibble away at the tasty morsels we have left behind.

The real flavour of life can lie in the hollows. Hidden from the easy path. The cavities, craters, caves and crannies caused by the drama and pain we encounter. If we share our struggles with others, they add depth to those connections.  Then each struggle adds a layer of strength that increases our capacity to engage the unknown. Each struggle overcome builds our confidence.

Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, Bt, 'Sisyphus', Tate

Our Experiencing and Remembering selves weave through the heights, hearts and hollows of our story. The more that story is shared, the more flavour lingers on the air connecting each bite we take.

Hand loomed, Persian Tree of Life tapestry