|Making a Difference Radio Program is a weekly show on KDUR during the fall semester
highlighting the themes of the Common Reading Experience's selection of
the year. This year's book choice is Dead Man Walking by Sister Helen Prejean.
KDUR has been supporting the Common Reading Experience since its
inception with a half-hour weekly program produced by Retired Assistant Dean of
Arts and Sciences, Bridget Irish. This year's show
will be co-hosted by Erik Juergensmeyer, Director of the Writing Program
at Fort Lewis College. For more on the Common Reading Experience click


Maggie's Love Letter
The letter below was found with other letters addressed to Margaret (Maggie) Virginia Blain (b. 9 Dec 1859). It is not in an envelope, but is dated “Whiteville, Tenn , July 3, 1880. The author also refers to his “teacher’s life”. It is addressed to “Little Darling” and is unsigned. However, considering the material it was found with; considering that is dated five months prior to Maggie’s marriage to Charles Edwin Nuckolls and ; considering that Charles Edwin Nuckolls (b. 16 Jul 1851) was a teacher and principal by profession and was born and raised in Whiteville, Tenn, I feel that it is safe to assume that this love letter was written by Charles Edwin Nuckolls to Margaret Virginia Blain prior to their marriage. He was 29, she was 20.
Ken Nuckolls – 16 Sep 1999
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July 3, 1880
How delightful the pleasure to be at home again with loved ones, amid the beauty and splendor of childhood scenes recalled. But Oh!, how sad the thought to know that I am so far from the little blond, whose beauty, loveliness, and winning smiles ever hover around my memory like the golden haze of departing twilight around the setting sun. It seems that I have been transported into a new existence and that my life is being changed from the dullness and loneliness of a teacher’s life to that of the purity and happiness of a dreamer’s life – ever dreaming of thee. Even at the writing of this, I am dreaming a day – dream and in that dream, methinks I can see along the rugged pathway of our future life, bouquets of love and happiness thrown at our feet, to be gathered up by us as we slowly plod along its extended journey; arm in arm; heart beating to heart; lips pressed to lips. Besides, I can see our little boat of wedded life, floating down the stream of time gathering love and happiness in still more abundance as we smoothly glide along.
Just think, Little Darling, how happy we will be when we start on our journey together. We will not kiss then, by the hundred, as we have so oft before, but by the thousand. Every passing Zephyr that gently fans our young brow and cheeks, shall speak of love. Every little bird that sings in the forest grows shall sing to us sweet songs of happy love; and every glittering star that shines above shall envy the little world of happiness that we will make here on earth below. I wonder if these words will bring so much as a little sign of love from thee, if so, happy am I. I care not what others may think or say, so long as I have the thoughts and love of one little blonde.


Messy Media is presented by the Translational Partnership for Mental Health as a part of their dissemination efforts aiming to point out “translational” research that is too good to be true and to correct how the media tends to exaggerate translational findings to garner more attention.
Each edition of Messy Media focuses on a different study or concept that was lost in translation between the journal article and ensuing media coverage.
A downloadable PDF of this article is available here.
What the Media Says:
Due to the fact that brushing and flossing daily have been recommended for years by the American Dental Association (ADA) it was assumed that there was sufficient evidence to back up the claims. Instead, it recently became clear that flossing specifically may not be as necessary as previously thought due to a lack of clinical trials and controlled experiments. A current review found very unreliable evidence that flossing actually reduces plaque or gingivitis gum inflammation in the short term. However, a dentistry expert is also quoted saying that gingivitis can eventually lead to periodontitis bone loss after several years, so flossing is likely not doing any harm.
Feeling Guilty About Not Flossing? Maybe There’s No Need
What the Article Actually Says:
A systematic review was performed, which is where researchers search every relevant internet database thoroughly for articles related to the topic in question. In this study, the researchers looked for all articles that included experiments on the benefits of flossing and brushing combined. They found 12 articles that had done controlled experiments on the benefits of flossing and brushing. After combining the data from all 12 articles, they found that flossing plus brushing, compared to brushing alone, significantly reduced gingivitis at one month, three months and six months. Specifically, the longer the participants brushed and flossed, the better the effect. At the same time, the amount of plaque reduced was so small that the researchers could not conclude that flossing and brushing together reduces plaque.
There is some evidence that flossing and brushing together reduces gingivitis and that this benefit increases with time. However, there is not enough evidence to conclude that flossing and brushing together reduce plaque. More research is needed over a longer period of time to definitely know the benefits of flossing.
Why the Media Is Messy:
There was no discussion of the fact that the researchers were analyzing studies that had compared flossing plus brushing to brushing alone. The media article briefly stated that brushing is assumed to be of benefit, but provided no citations. Overall, not well structured; it starts with a catchy title and does not clearly explain the set up of the study. Quote from experts are used, which is a positive, but the quotes are based on feelings/thoughts and not facts, which is misleading because readers naturally believe what experts say.


Shards, The Next Chapters - Audio Only (2 1/2 hours)
Darryl Anka reads the first 3 chapters of his novel, "Shards of a Shattered Mirror", a story about the life and experiences of Willa Hillacrissing, a sage and parallel reality specialist from 700 years in our future. Bashar and Willa answer your questions.
Shards The Next Chapters - Audio Only
2h 29m · Streamable only


And Other Not So Trivial Matters
By Jim Altfeld
I can’t think of anything much sadder than the words Schopenhauer spoke when he said, It is bad today and every day will get worse until the worst of all happens. Tied closely to that are the words of the faithful pessimists who believe in an afterlife, It will be over soon and there is a perfect life waiting for me in Heaven. My reply to this, “Perhaps. But, then again, perhaps not.” All any of us know for certain is the life we have right now. The very one you and I are living. All I am saying is that we need to take this life seriously, which includes our actions, the decisions we make and the choices we make.
Consider the idea of Eternal Re-Occurrence. Consider, instead of an afterlife, instead of reincarnation, having to relive every moment of your entire life, with all the joy, pain, ecstasy, agony, hurt, disappointments, thrills, suffering etc. included, over and over and over again. How would you live your life then? How would you look at the decisions you make and the choices you’ve made knowing that you will forever, relive the consequences of those decisions ad infinitum?
Add one more thing to the scenario of Eternal Re-Occurrence. Do you live your life in the manner you live it for fear of having to face your Maker and increase your chances of getting into Heaven? Or, do you live a life of good values and high morals because of who you are? Indulge me in this and humor me. Let’s stick with the idea of Eternal Re-Occurrence and eliminate any idea of an afterlife. What if, what you did and the way you acted in life became a universal law of nature for everyone else to follow? What if your actions and the things you did became a moral maxim? How would you act then?
Ok, so I now at least have you thinking. Let’s try this. Remember when, as a child, teenager, young adult, and for some us, just last week being asked, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” And what was your response? A policeman, fireman, ballet dancer, doctor, lawyer, bank president, rich by the time you’re 30, etc., etc. Before you ever gave your answer, did you ever consider the real you and the things that drove and drive the real you? Did you take into consideration the things the real you is passionate about? Or, did you just give an answer that was either programmed into you or what you thought those asking the questions wanted to hear? I ask you, are you now doing what you love to do? Are you following your passions, or are you doing what you think others think you ought to be doing? Does a rose bloom for us to admire or for its own sake?
Consider this statement: I Want to be Happy! From what I’ve seen in my past sixty years, most of us pursue happiness, (a right granted to all U.S. Citizens by the U.S. Constitution), as though it were some commodity, wrapped up like a Christmas present, waiting to be found by anyone who has the where with all to find it. And then when we do find it, the happiness we experience is so damn brief. What it turns out to be, as Goethe explains, is our going from desire, to satisfaction and soon back to desire again. The point being that this type of happiness is not real happiness. Rather it is fleeting and merely temporary satisfaction.
So, the question remains, just where does one find happiness? According to Aristotle, the “Contemplative Life” (Bios Thoretikos) a divine activity resulting in the truest form of happiness and the highest life of all, was the way to go. I don’t necessarily disagree with him. I believe that happiness comes in the form of self-forgetfulness. It seems that whenever happiness does occur, I find myself lost and completely immersed in something or someone outside myself and something so much larger than myself. So much so, that I not only seem to forget about myself and time, but I actually travel beyond and outside of myself in the process. It is as though I no longer matter. I no longer focus on me.
I know for a fact that that has happened, but just where in the hell did I find that feeling of happiness and how do I find it again on a continuous, constant and steady basis!?! The answer lies in identifying and following those things that drive you! You find happiness in your passions. Passions can make you forget about yourself and can make time literally stand still.
When John Wesley, the cofounder of the Methodist Church was asked how he was able to attract such large crowds with his preaching, he said “I simply set myself on fire and people come to watch me burn.” Now that’s what I call passion!
Passion not only affects you, but those around you.
Yeah, but I wasn’t born with the advantages some others were born with. Ok, I’ll give you that. But, give me this…. Each of us is born with advantages, disadvantages, certain aptitudes, certain IQs, as well as physical and mental strengths, weaknesses and disabilities. Some are born healthier than others. The challenge is to make the best out of what you were given.
Once again, referring to Aristotle, he believed that everything is programmed toward a particular end and purpose. Aristotle believed that the acorn, for example, was programmed to becoming an oak tree with its entire being devoted to achieving that end. For man, we are programmed not only to reproduce and keep the species going, but also to ascend ourselves. As individuals, each of us has, or should have, our own unique purpose and chief aim.
I find it almost uncanny how each and every one of us arrive in this world with inherent gifts. As humans, each of us has a nature about us. Each of us has limits and potentials. Then, for whatever reason, we spend the first half of our lives abandoning them or letting others disillusion us about them. As young people, we are surrounded by expectations that may have little to do with who we really are. Too often, the expectations of us are held by people who are not trying to discern who we really are, but to fit us into slots. And, all too often, it is their slots they are trying to fit us in. If we’re fortunate enough, we then spend the second half of our lives trying to recover from the first half and reclaim the gift or gifts we once had.
Ability determines what you can do.
Aptitude determines what you can learn to do.
Aspiration determines what you hope to do.
Attitude determines what you believe you can do.
But passion determines what you want to do!
The trick, it seems, is to know yourself and the limitations, capabilities and potential that are part of your individual nature. If you seek out a life without understanding yourself and your own nature – your own limitations, capabilities and potential – you place yourself on the road to possible failure by putting yourself in life situations that your nature is not meant to handle. Much like a certain material is meant for specific applications, only. Should you use the material in an application it was not meant for and the material is doomed to failure.
Our deepest calling in life is to grow into our own authentic true self, whether or not it conforms to some image of who we, or someone else thinks we OUGHT to be. In other words, by not knowing and understanding who we are, we can go through life wearing one or any number of false masks. We fall prey to what some philosophical men call Oughtiveness. “You know what you ought to do?” “You know what you ought to be?” “You really ought to….” You become what someone or even yourself has convinced yourself, you ought to be, instead of what you really are. That includes what I consider to be the worst-case scenario, which is wearing someone else’s mask you may have picked up along the way and leading their life instead of your own.
My point being that by not understanding self, not knowing your own nature, not taking the necessary time to determine your personal chief aim in life, one winds up living an ungrounded life. As a result, one finds him or her self-conforming to a false image and a false sense of self. And, you can go through life wearing false masks or someone else’s mask without ever getting the opportunity to wear the mask that truly represents you. The tragedy is that you go through life portraying yourself as someone you really are not, based upon the misconception that this is the someone you think you ought to be, when in fact you really are not that person at all. Or, in the words of McAnnula, “It is perfectly all right to try to be everything you cannot be when you find that you cannot be everything that you are.”
Which brings me to this: Become Who You Are! According to Erich Fromm, Man’s main task in life is to give birth to himself, to become what he potentially is. For far too many of us, we do nothing but run, never allowing ourselves to reflect on where we’re running to or what we’re running for. Life goes on no matter what we do, but personal growth and development happen only if we allow it to happen and then choose wisely.
To become who you are, you first must understand what you have. Then, it is up to you to decide what you will do with what you have. The choice is yours. Do you become an advice-rejecting complainer and a couch potato, or do you become exceptional? As I pointed out earlier with Eternal Re-Occurrence, it is up to you to be responsible and held accountable for your actions, your decisions and your choices. You made them, you allowed things to happen and you cannot blame others for them. The choice is our own to make. Be a hapless victim or an active participant.
According to Heidegger, the inauthentic life is a life lead unaware. It is an unconscious life of white water river rafting. In an authentic life I am aware and fully conscious. I am in a state of enlightenment. I am my own witness to my own events.
Belief follows need.
What we see and how we interpret what we see confirms what we believe. And, what we believe shapes what we see. Right or wrong, true or false, we believe those things we need to believe in order to support our beliefs. Do I believe what I believe because of what has been instilled in me, or do I believe what I believe because of who I am? I firmly believe that by being aware of who I am, I am far more aware of what I truly believe.
To lead a life of awareness and authenticity, means being conscious of who we are, what we are doing, why we are acting or reacting the way we are and knowing we are a particle of energy that helps comprise that ocean of energy called Life! Simply stated, what we are is determined by what we think. What we think is often a result of what we’ve experienced. Our experiences are based upon those things to which we are exposed. And the experiences we expose ourselves to are based upon who we are.
Let me ask you this: Have you ever heard the expression you are what you eat? I don’t know about you, but I am not what I eat. I am not a peanut butter and jelly sandwich! What I eat is determined by who I am. I am not my job, either, nor am I my life’s situations, and I am not my experiences. I have the job I have, I have the experiences I have and I have the life situations I have because of who I am.
Whether you believe this or not, life truly IS exciting, or at least it should be. Life is also scary. It can also be cruel. And, without a doubt, it is always dangerous. To live life fully requires taking risks. To live it in fear, you can shun it, hide from it and waste it. You can hide on your couch, buy a bigger TV, not venture out and take no risks. And what a tragic waste of a human being that is?
Even worse may be discovering that you have just spent the greater part of your life and a great deal of energy on things that, in the bigger picture, were really not very useful or important.
For life to be an extension of yourself and a way to be ourselves, you must deal with life in the present. To do that, however, means saying YES to life. I accept death and all that comes with it. I accept that death is the impossibility of all future possibilities. I accept that death takes away all that I ever had and all that I will ever have. But, death also plays a crucial role in our awareness of life. It reminds us that existence cannot be postponed. It is through death that we see what is at stake. Any confrontation with death can lead me to rearrange my priorities. Death is, or can be, wonderful at providing us humans with a greater appreciation of life. But what if death comes before your real life has started. How tragic would that be?
Which is why I find it ever so important to enthusiastically say, YES to life.
On the flip side of that same coin, I feel strongly that death is not necessarily The End, nor is it final. I firmly believe that each of us can live on long after our death and achieve immortality. We can become immortal through our children and our children’s children. We can become immortal by having a building named for us, planting a tree, writing a great book, and through our works. It is all about giving meaning to one’s life. For, giving meaning to one’s life means going beyond one’s life.
What you are and what you believe you can be goes on well after your death. Become who you are is about making something out of what you have and what you’ve been given. To become who you are, however, requires you to LOVE who you are. Love what you have to work with and make something beautiful and exceptional out of it. Give shape to yourself. Create yourself. Take what you have and make the most out of it. Play off other people to grow and develop yourself. Transcend who you are. Aspire to be more. Perform a transfiguration!
In the Myth of Sisyphus, Sisyphus was forever condemned to roll a rock up the top of a mountain. When it would roll back down the other side, he would resume the task, over and over and over again. The beauty of Sisyphus is that he didn’t bitch and complain. He didn’t hate himself or the life to which he had been condemned. Instead, he took it upon himself to know the rock and understand the mountain. He used the knowledge he acquired to grow, develop and better understand himself, all of which enabled him to become who he was. It allowed him to transcend himself. You and I have the same choice. We can either, bitch and complain about the hand we’ve been dealt, or can use it to our best ablilties.
I, for one, believe in living life, every day of it, in a perpetual state of wonderment. And instead of cursing life, be forever grateful for the precious gift of sheer existence. We’re here. We’re here right now and what a wonderful opportunity it is to be here!!
I don’t marvel about the way things are, but that they are. I am not only mindful of the fragility of my being, but too, the responsibility for my own being. To become who I am means having to be in touch with my own self-creation.
Recognize that no matter how close you, me or any other human being gets to other people, it all comes down to our facing life alone. For me, that means facing the basic issue of my life and my death and thereby living my life more honestly and being less caught up in the trivialities. It also means learning that I must take the ultimate responsibility for the way I live my life no matter how much guidance, encouragement and support I get from others.
Which leads me to yet another one of life’s rules. Regardless of the situation in which you find yourself we all have three choices. We either come to accept what is, change what is, or walk away from it. And even in choosing to accept it, you have a choice. You can accept the reality of things for what it is, (not being in denial) and then elect to change it.
I leave you with these three final thoughts and a pledge:
- Uncertainty, death and impermanence exist and we must all learn to co-exist with each of them.
- The measure of your life will be the measure of your courage, contribution, trust, and how much you give back.
- If you do not take responsibility for your own predicament, you can never expect to change.
Your Pledge to Yourself:
I, ________________, from this day forward, shall no longer accept sorrow, disappointment and victimization to play a part in my life’s situations. Nor shall I any longer consider myself responsible for fulfilling the lives of others. I shall instead focus upon the birth of my true self, coming to know that I am life itself, and that I am far more than a mere composite of my past experiences and my life’s situations.
Signed by Date
Thank you for your time, interest and consideration. Your feedback is greatly welcomed.


This case study will follow the journey of Susan, who began her journey with Positive People at the beginning of 2019. Before then Susan spent time in Abu Dhabi, teaching in international schools and immersing herself in the culture within the United Arab Emirates. Eighteen months ago, Susan returned to live full time in Devon. “It was like: I’ve come back, hit 60, no pension, no job and now what? What do I do?”. She felt lost and with no clear direction. Whilst on a train journey to Exeter, Susan overheard part of a conversation across the aisle; someone mentioned Positive People. She didn’t know anything about the project, but the word “positive” struck a chord and she decided to do some research.
As a result, Susan was introduced to one of Positive People’s Change Coaches. They recommended that Susan joined the Digital Business Academy course, to learn how to develop her skills into a business. With a series of business-basics workshops, digital skills training, and mentoring, Susan now feels that she “suddenly has a path to go down, and a direction to follow”. Positive People were also able to provide Susan with a website, to allow her to promote her next projects. These were to be children’s books with an emphasis on Abu Dhabi culture. Susan spent the next 8 months developing these ideas which resulted in publishing a hardback book. This is when Susan turned to Positive People again for further support.
Susan was made aware of and attended a Digital Café in Paignton where she could receive digital support. This is where she met me for the first time. Over a coffee we discussed her past, her books and her vision for the future. She was very keen to have her first published book available for download online. I talked though Amazon Books and the process required to create an eBook. Susan was very excited about the prospect of having the book on Amazon, so we set out an action plan for this to become a reality. Over two further one-to-one sessions we produced PDF pages of the book and used the kindle book creator app to produce a draft of what the book would look like.
It was at this point we followed the governments guidelines regarding Covid-19 and cancelled all of our face to face digital support. However, this didn’t stop us from completing our goal as we moved to remote sessions. Using TeamViewer I was able to remotley view and take control of Susans laptop and though a phone conversation guide her through the last stages of creating the ebook and uploading it to Amazon for purchase.
Success!! From over hearing a conversation on a train journey, with no clear direction or goals right though to having a published book available for purchace on Amazon! We are so happy to be able to help Susan achieve her goals, and even more importantly it has given her the ambition to push even further;
“I would like to give a huge thank you and compliments to Ben, without his help, this would not have happened. He is brilliant, helpful and patient. A huge asset to the team.
This has inspired me to now go on and try and put my Teaching English book online… watch this space!”


At NP Current we want to reflect the needs and interests of nurse practitioners across Canada. We are seeking your ideas and submissions on any topics that would be of interest to the NP Current community. In each issue we will strive for a mix of content that addresses diagnosis, treatment, prevention and management of patients from the NP perspective.
We invite to you submit articles such as case studies, original research, literature reviews, reports and newsworthy information from your practice or area of expertise. We are also interested in hearing about your personal experiences as a nurse practitioner in brief 300-400 word submissions.


I've found a site to create comics with these heroes (if you click on the image you'll see it).
I really liked it, it's easy to use and you can easily save the comic or print it.
The problem comes if you want to post the image in a blog to show your student's creations. The document you have when you save the comic is a PDF and I had some problems to post this image.
Image from Marvel
Nevertheless, I think this page will encourage my students to write some short stories in English.
Great idea from Marvel.


"Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be late!" the white rabbit was saying to himself while passing Alice and her sister in 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.' Then the rabbit took a watch out of its waistcoat, gazed at it and suddenly popped down a large rabbit hole. Down went Alice, burning with curiosity and without knowing of how in the world she was ever going to get out of it. In a dazzling array of kaleidoscopic experiences she meets strange creatures and undergoes many bizarre and wondrous experiences.
Alice‘s adventures in wonderland incorporate every ingredient of a perfectly planned themed entertainment — awakening at the right time included. The opening with the agitated white rabbit makes one curious. The rabbit hole is the secret place, which we all want to see. Each show act is mind-boggling. To achieve this state of flawlessness, the strings must be finely spun in the background. What should take place at what point of time, who is doing what, which is the limiting factor for the execution of an idea, what framework is essential. When creating ideas we look into the sky, when executing them we are firmly rooted on the ground.


She was born in Chang'an, and was a beautiful woman. When she was a young girl that Li Shangyin taught her how to write poetry. Her second poetry teacher was Wen Tingyun , who was also her lover. She was concubine to a rich businessman, but this ended when the man's wife forced him to leave Yu. It even so abandon Yu but rich businessman still loved Yu and supported her. When Wen Tingyun left her in 870 that made Yu second times strike on spirit, it could identified Yu owne Electra complex.
Then Yu formed a relationship with her handmaiden. When Yu discovered her handmaiden had fallen in love with the same man as she had, Yu hung her handmaiden from a tree and beat her to death, then buried her in her garden.
Yu‘s poem style was influenced by Li Shangyin and Wen Tingyun, poem masters in late Tang Dynasty.
Her works date from the time of the only female Emperor in Chinese history, Wu Zetian. Her work depended on poem exam appointed officials, till female Yu Shenjeer was wonderful circle finished in late Tong.
Mayor Chang'an was a warlord. Warlords hate lesbian because they need lots soldiers but lesbians tend not to have as many children as their heterosexual counterparts. He arrest and accused Yu of murder. On the day of her execution, she said :.
In early 1980s a film according to Yu‘s life with Hong Kong.


I’ve been following this Zelda fan manga for a while now, and just thought that I would share it with everyone. In the interest of Zelda fans, I feel that reading it and knowing about it is important! There are tons of quality art pieces out there, but I’ve found that this one in particular is an extremely well put together comic. It is written and illustrated as a collaboration between two very talented DA artists. OniChild who is in charge of doing the lineart, and CrazyFreak is in charge of colors. Both of them work very hard coming up with exciting and dynamic poses and storyboarding, and each page in the comic is done with absolute care. The story is written by the two of them, and is a throw back to older Zelda titles (Link with brown hair), and slightly inspired by the Zelda Cartoon from the 80s (that those of us old enough to have watched it as kids could really relate to!).
Check it out guys! If you are a fan of Zelda I think you’d really enjoy this story and comic: www.zeldanime.com


Every new creation is original in its way, just like the millions of snowflakes and every leaf on a tree. Differences are what forms colors and shapes of plants, flowers, animals, and humans between. No one is made identical, otherwise life would be dissolved in the same color and shape.
This individualism and uniqueness gives us self-integrity from the day we’re born. Identity and worth is not defined in relation to anyone, but your independence from others is what makes the world multifaceted; pluralistic. Variances and diversity gives contrasts for us to experience transformation and the reinvention of Life. To embrace Life is to embrace the originality of the individual. Your unique quality is what makes life special to Us. For this, respect is given to the dignity and sanctity of the individual life.
Being an Individual
Being You: your Self
You are being a person, your own person, next to another person. What distinct you two apart is what constitutes your own individual Self.
We are by construction almost entirely identical, though we stand beside each other as different persons. Not one person is alike. Not one person has been made twice throughout the history of Life. You are as original as any other valuable person ever lived. You have your own individual thought, behavior, action, desires, preferences, and wills. By this, you create your own being. To be in this life, is to be yourself.
A human being is fundamentally a living being engaged in life from a human perspective – personal, social, and natural life.
Being engaged in life is as simple as experiencing the world and expressing yourself. We engage in tasks and events that we care about. Care is central to our life. We tend to seek out and engage in those things we care about, i.e. those things we find interest in to keep at mind or participate in activity. What you care about, in thought and activities, is very personal to you. Whatever you think and do, will become who you are; your personality, character.
Being a human in your own individual shape
Essentially, we are shaped by what we experience from our environment and other people; and, we shape ourselves by what we express in thoughts, words, behavior, and actions (directed to ourselves or others).
What we experience becomes our reality.
Nature: what Nature and Her beings express, you will experience
People: what other people express, you will experience
City/Society: urban habitat and group expressions
As every person will experience their day, and entire life, from their own point of view and location, as well as different nature and people, every person will live a different reality.
What we experience communicates with us what possibilities we have in our reality to engage in, to choose to do/act. The possibilities we observe, determine our behavior: self-expression.
What we express becomes our existence.
Self-creation, identity: how we structure our thoughts and words, is how we structure our behavior and actions. Since you create your own thoughts and words, you become your own self-creation. You are your own design.
If you have an ability, but don’t practice it, you will no longer keep the ability – it will no longer be a part of You. The opposite also goes: if you start practicing something you earlier couldn’t, the thing that you practice (such as speaking kindly or playing football), will be part of You.
We are what we do:
– If you are good, but don’t practice good – then you are not a good person.
– If you are caring, and practice caring – then you are a caring person.
Identification is what we create and express, not what we attach to – such as things, property, text, ideas, ideology, other people, etc.
A general mistake is doing what other people say; i.e. to structure our life (behavior, actions) according to someone else’s words and thoughts.
Self-fulfillment: self-fulfillment is when what we do in life (behavior, actions) corresponds to our thoughts, desires and wills. [Inner] peace and happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony; i.e. you are fulfilled. This can be as simple as desiring to eat some sweets, and doing it; or, desiring to go out for a walk, and doing it; or, desiring to study engineering, and doing it.
Individual Life is Founded On
An individual life is free from control of others. Agency means self-determination, control and influence over one’s own life. Every individual holds the power of their own life, to live a personal life. That is individual integrity.
Agency is the self-recognition of you being an independent character, original life-form with independent will and independent power of choice to act/to do things.
Every being has its own nature of Being.
A tree is different from a human in construction, function, and requirements for it to be a tree. And trees among themselves are slightly different in construction, function, and requirements – that is why each tree is different and original in itself.
Every human being is slightly different in construction, function, and requirement for them to be Themselves. That is called individualism – personal identity.
– Body: your distinct individual character is in your individual DNA that gives you your personal eye color, finger prints, voice, length and other things. [Biology]
– Mind: your distinct individual character is in your mind’s ability to process and imagine. Think differently, vision differently, dream differently. [Psychology]
– Soul: your distinct individual character is also in your soul, that is filled with personal ambiance and essence like no other.
Despite any similarities by which people are identified as members of humankind, and despite any behavioral regularities which are involved in any personal events, individuals will always be exceptional on their own by their own nature; identity. Every human has their own values, traditions, rituals, believes, and so on. In other words, each person has their own culture and religion they identify with. This distinction makes each person a subject, not an object. An individual is not something of a replica of a material construction, but an individual is mostly a self-created (non-material) somebody who hold subjective (personal) likings/disliking, desires, wills, skills, traits, talents, and so forth. For example, you cannot explain who your friend is without describing their exceptional nature/identity that distinct that friend from other people.
The entire Life rest on the axiom: one thing is not another thing. Especially, one Self is not another Self. My good is my good, and your good is yours. My interest and will, are my interest and will; and, your interest and will are yours. My thoughts in my head are mine, and your thoughts are yours. I cannot voice my thoughts in your head, for it is not my head to fill and dominate.
Right to privacy means right to be yourself – from other people and their voices and wills. Privacy is the act of respect for a person’s Self-integrity; that you are original and autonomous as any other form of life. Privacy is the state of being apart from company when desired, and being apart from observation of any being – close family, friends, neighbors or the government. Privacy is the space to be yourself, without judgement or questioning. It is the time of personal retreat, of thoughts or activities, where one enjoys the company of oneself – in solitude. It is the time of self-fulfillment, self-development, and self-company.
To be private, does not mean to exclude information that is of importance to other persons, only that one care to be oneself only by oneself. To lead a private life, free from observation and regulation, you are required to be self-aware and self-regulating if thoughts or actions were to become injure-causing to other beings. Your privacy dissolves in that moment where intentions of harmful nature are revealed to be true, based on great evidence of such, but never ahead.
Authenticity is to live a life true to your own nature (identity: body–mind–soul), regardless of what era or place in the world you find yourself in, and regardless to what cultural and religious predetermined business and manner demanding of you.
Authenticity means you self-determine your own life by considering all possibilities in life to shape your own existence. To live an authentic life, you must be engaged in your own thoughts to learn what you care for, and examine the world/reality that you are exposed to, to learn whether or not they help you to live a life you care to live. To be authentic is to fully be your own – to live a life of your own.
It is not only human animals who have personalities, unique traits and skills that distinct themselves from other of the same kind. Other animals and plants are just like us: within group, constructed near identical (biologically) but every subject/person are exceptional in their own creation by their own nature – of liking/disliking, desires, traits, wills, and so forth. That is why every dog or cat have different personalities, and we can tell them apart even if two dogs looked alike. Dogs and cats are two species we have close enough interaction with to observe and learn their personality traits, and even develop compassion to from empathy (empathy: understanding from recognition of similarities between you and another individual). Since we don’t have close relationship to most other animals, or plants, we tend to draw the conclusion that they all are the same by same construction. We fail to observe personality traits, and we thus fail to give respect to each individual life and only treat them as an object (one of many of the same “things”). This disrespect is a great injustice. Discriminatory and aggressive, as living beings are perceived as objects (material things) and not as original forms of life.
The Nature of Humans
Construction: Body – Mind – Soul
Function/Purpose: being human
> Experience: what you Take In (influx), use our senses, body, mind and emotions to observe everything that fills our space, feed and nurture our inside from the outside.
> Expression: what you Give Out (out-flux), to express ourselves with our body, mind emotions.
It pains us to not use our legs, as it is in our nature to move our bodies.
It pains us not to speak a word, as it is in our nature to use our voice.
It pains us not to use our minds, as it is in our nature to be curious (searching for understanding) and creative (inventive for development).
It pains us not to be outdoors or among people, as it is in our nature to be in nature and social.
It pains us not to love, as it is in our nature to care and be cared for.
= Pain is a communicator between the body and mind and soul that the function abnormal, unfulfilling or injure-causing. Pain communicates wrong; dysfunction.
Something is done wrong, for the effect is not natural (positive and true) to our human being.
Requirement: Health. Time. Energy. Nature. Flexibility & Mobility. Family, Friends and Community.
Principles of Individuality
Give respect to each individual life, human and non-human, and receive respect to your individual life
Don’t obstruct or destruct another beings’ individual life, founded on agency, identity, privacy, and authenticity
Never be the source of someone’s bad/negative experience
Never hinder or limit someone’s self-expressions
>> Enabling Factors: for individuality
Factors for autonomy: self-leadership, self-regulation and self-determination.
Health: health is both an instrument and an end in itself. With poor health, thinking and caring for oneself and others cannot be done. Health is a foremost requirement for individual life.
Democracy: equal space for equal influence.
Co-Operation and Respect: collaboration liberates time and energy for you to have space for a personal life instead of doing all work singlehandedly, in a system of solidarity and mutual-aid.
Education: knowledge-base, of language, science, emotions, social and technical skills.
Critical Thinking: individual thought and judgement for an autonomous life.
Moral Judgement: to distinct right from wrong. Morals govern reason and action.
>> Instrumental Factors/Elements
Language: verbal and written communication
Knowledge base/Literacy: Health Literacy, Self Literacy, Ecologic Literacy
Cognitive ability: to organize information and thoughts
Emotional ability: to express and read emotional communication
Social organization: space and mobility for experiences and expressions
Instrumental things need to be practiced, not only read about.
Logic + Emotion + Learning.
The educational system will be transformed to match the way people, children and adults, learn. Contextual learning, and practical learning is more efficient, simpler and long-lasting.
[Continue Reading & Learn More]
Society is a means for individuality; the individual is not a means for society. Your life is not a tool to fulfill the majority, for that would be oppression. A social system is liberal, and based on your free will to participate.
[Continue Reading & Learn More]
(more to come - site under construction)


By Boukje Cnossen
On March 20, 2015
My reviews and essays have appeared in art and culture magazines such as Rekto:verso, Theatermaker, De Gids, Metropolis M and Time Out Magazine. I continue to contribute essays to artist publications and catalogues.
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(C) 2015 - 2108 Boukje Cnossen.


About Your Friend - Ankit Singla
I'll call you my "Friend" coz calling you "web visitor" don't gives a personal touch. Right?
So, hello my new friend.. I'm glad you are interested in knowing about me.
I'm a Full-time Blogger and a YouTuber. I make my living online by sharing my learnings and experience on my ⤷web-assets.⤶
I spend most of my time in learning various new things. I'm an epic book lover. I have read over 30 books till now and have a collection of over 100 books. If you know how to speed read, please drop me an email and let me know.
You can connect with this 25 Years Young man anytime in Delhi, the Heart of INDIA.


"We're gonna get where we're going, you and me. Death and indignity be damned...we'll get there..and we'll be the stars we were always meant to be."
Be all like, “I have a fiction paper due and I wanna be on Ernest Hemingway’s level.”
I HAVE A MIGHTY NEED
all right where can I find this??
we could hang Anne Hathaway up right now and she could be a disco ball in that dress
an incredibly attractive disco ball
make all the boy disco balls go
where the fuck is you, romeo
Fuck you, the original line in Romeo and Juliet is “Wherefore art thou”. And maybe if you stopped being an assumption-making bag of fucking asshole, you’d know that wherefore does NOT FUCKING MEAN “WHERE”, WHEREFORE MEANS “WHY”.
SHE’S ASKING WHY HIS NAME IS ROMEO. FUCK ALL OF YOU. FUCK ALL OF YOU HARD UP THE TOENAIL. I TAKE MY SHAKESPEARE SERIOUSLY AS TITS.
why the fuck is you romeo
Castle & Firefly ReferencesBest.
i may not be over it but i will never be as not over it as nathan fillion is
Why do movies show “nerdy girls” as carrying a billion books, and then portray them as physically weak? If a girl can carry the harry potter series, the lotr trilogy, and all of her textbooks then she can probably lift the protagonist football star and throw him across the football field


History journal articles and book chapters
- Dunstan, V.S. “Glimpses into a Town’s Reading Habits in Enlightenment Scotland: Analysing the Borrowings of Gray Library, Haddington, 1732-1816”. In Journal of Scottish Historical Studies, Vol. 26 (2006), pp. 42-59. Edinburgh University Press retains the IPR but a full PDF of the article is available freely here, under their green Open Access rules. dunstanJSHS.pdf
- Dunstan, V.S. “Thoughts on archives: informal observations on locating records, facilities and access”. In Scottish Archives, Vol. 12 (2006), pp. 6-11.
- Dunstan, V. “Book Ownership in Late Eighteenth-Century Scotland: a Local Case Study of Dumfriesshire Inventories”. In Scottish Historical Review, Vol. 91 number 2 (October 2012), pp. 265-286. Edinburgh University Press retains the IPR but a full PDF of the article is available freely here, under their green Open Access rules. dunstanSHR.pdf
- Book review of K. A. Manley, “Books, Borrowers, and Shareholders: Scottish Circulating and Subscription Libraries before 1825, A Survey and Listing” (Edinburgh: Edinburgh Bibliographical Society, 2012). In Journal of Scottish Historical Studies, Vol. 33 number 2 (November 2013), pp. 295-296.
- Dunstan, V. “Professionals, their Private Libraries, and Wider Reading Habits in Late Eighteenth- and Early Nineteenth-Century Scotland”. In Library & Information History, Vol. 30 number 2 (May 2014), pp. 110-128.
- Dunstan, V.S. “Comparing Eighteenth and Nineteenth-Century Scottish Reading Habits with England”. In Review of Scottish Culture, Vol. 26 (2014), pp. 42-48.
- Dunstan, V.S. “Two Booksellers in South-West Scotland in the Late Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth Centuries: The Records of Ebenezer Wilson and James Meuros”. In Journal of the Edinburgh Bibliographical Society, Vol. 11 (2016), pp. 43-63.
- Dunstan, V. “Chapmen in Eighteenth-Century Scotland”. In Scottish Literary Review, Vol. 9 number 1 (Spring/Summer 2017), pp. 41-57.
- Dunstan, V.S. “Reading Strategies in Scotland circa 1750-1820”, in Daniel Bellingradt, Paul Nelles and Jeroen Salman (eds), Books in Motion in Early Modern Europe: Beyond Production, Circulation and Consumption (October 2017), book chapter pp. 221-242, published by Palgrave in their New Directions in Book History series
- Dunstan, V. “The State of Scottish Bookselling circa 1800”, in Shanti Graheli (ed), Buying and Selling: The Business of Books in Early Modern Europe (February 2019), book chapter pp. 261-275, published by Brill in their Library of the Written Word series.
Interactive fiction publications
- Keller, D., Ardis. P., Dunstan, V., Thornton, A., Henry, R., and Witty, B. “Gaming, Identity, and Literacy”, in C.L. Selfe and G.E. Hawisher (eds), Gaming Lives in the Twenty-First Century: Literate Connections (New York, 2007), pp. 71-87.
Persistent Programming Research Group
This section lists the publications which I co-authored while a member of this group at St Andrews.
- Connor, R.C.H., Cutts, Q.I., Kirby, G.N.C., Moore, V.S. & Morrison, R. “Unifying Interaction with Persistent Data and Program”. In Proc. 2nd International Workshop on User Interfaces to Databases, Ambleside, Cumbria (1994) pp 185-200.
- Morrison, R., Connor, R.C.H., Cutts, Q.I., Dunstan, V.S. & Kirby, G.N.C. “Exploiting Persistent Linkage in Software Engineering Environments”. In Computer Journal 38, 1 (1995) pp 1-16.
- Kirby, G.N.C., Brown, A.L., Connor, R.C.H., Cutts, Q.I., Dearle, A., Dunstan, V.S., Morrison, R. & Munro, D.S. Napier88 Standard Library Reference Manual (Release 2.2.1). University of St Andrews (1996).
- Zirintsis, E., Dunstan, V.S., Kirby, G.N.C. & Morrison, R. “Hyperprogramming in Java”. In Proc. 3rd International Workshop on Persistence and Java (PJW3), Tiburon, California, 1998 (published 1999), pp. 370-382.
- Morrison, R., Connor, R., Cutts, Q., Dunstan, V., and Kirby, G., “Exploiting Persistent Linkage in Software Engineering Environments”, in M.P. Atkinson and R. Welland (eds), Fully Integrated Data Environments: Persistent Programming Languages, Object Stores, and Programming Environments (Berlin, 2000), pp. 511-514.
- Connor, R., Cutts, Q., Kirby, G., Dunstan, V., and Morrison, R., “Unifying Interaction with Persistent Data and Program”, in M.P. Atkinson and R. Welland (eds), Fully Integrated Data Environments: Persistent Programming Languages, Object Stores, and Programming Environments (Berlin, 2000), pp. 519-522.
For more information on the project, see the GENUKI home page.
- Austen, M., Dunstan, V., Randell, B., Stanier, A., Stringer, P. & Woodgate, J. “An Information Service for United Kingdom & Ireland Genealogy based on the Internet’s World Wide Web”. In Computers in Genealogy 5, 7 (1995) pp 297-307.
- Austen, M., Dunstan, V., Randell, B., Stanier, A., Stringer, P. & Woodgate, J. “An Internet-Based Genealogical Reference Library for the United Kingdom & Ireland”. In Family Researcher, Dec/Jan 1995/6, pp 14-15.
- Dunstan, V.S. “GENUKI and the Internet”. In Borders Family History Society Magazine 35 (1997) p 20.
Design of genealogical software
- Dunstan, M.N. & Dunstan, V.S. “Genealogical Software when storage-space is at a premium”. In Computers in Genealogy 6, 1 (1997) pp 24-29.
- Dunstan, V.S. “Customizable Genealogical Software”. In Computers in Genealogy 6, 4 (1997) pp 166-168.
- Dunstan, V.S. “Coldingham Mortcloth Records”. In Borders Family History Society Magazine 28 (1995) p 6.
- Dunstan, V.S. “Indexing burial records and newspapers”. In Society of Indexers’ Genealogical Group Newsletter 18 (1998) pp 18-20.


“Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever, and rich, with a comfortable home and happy disposition, seemed to unite some of the best blessings of existence; and had lived nearly twenty-one years in the world with very little to distress or vex her.”
“Emma” by Jane Austen.
Continue reading “Emma Woodhouse”
Probably, because I like to sew, I’m interested in fashion history as well. My dolls are the perfect models to sew and try historical garments on them. Looking through “The Tudor Tailor” book by Jane Malcolm-Davies and Ninya Mikhaila, I burned with passion to sew Tudor French gowns for my girls.
Continue reading “Tudor French gown”
I sewed this Victorian era costume that includes the dress itself, chemise, drawers, stockings, a corset and a petticoat, for a game, where I should to take final pictures on a real Historical place.
Continue reading “Victorian era dress”


Whether or not this particular book is as good as its reputation is immaterial: it’s not how its intended to be read (and many books like this will actually tell you as much).
Some books in our field feel like they should be on your shelf, or that someone will ask you if you have read it, and you will be able to say “Yes.”
Reading a book like this start to finish, instead of applying or referencing it, got me there and not much further.
I’d like to think I wouldn’t fall into this trap again, but I think type books can do this a bit more subtly than programming books. They are visual, they are much more likely to be beautiful objects in their own right, not just reference manuals. And of course we love them for that reason too, but it depends on what you want out of them.
There’s no substitute for having these books open alongside you, as you do the real thing.
Until next time,


This can lead to serious injuries, and sadly, sometimes death.
A person with high self-esteem can also be affected by dating violence, but generally, someone with high self-esteem will be more empowered to leave a relationship that is marked with a high degree of controlling and abusive behavior.
METHODS: Secondary analysis of Waves 1 (1994–1995), 2 (1996), and 3 (2001–2002) of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, a nationally representative sample of US high schools and middle schools.
Participants were 5681 12- to 18-year-old adolescents who reported heterosexual dating experiences at Wave 2.
Often it may exclusively involve emotional abuse, sexual abuse, and stalking.
Basically, dating violence offenders always feel the need to be in control of their partners (victims).
She has written a book, Tornado Warning, A Memoir Of Teen Dating Violence And Its Effect On A Woman’s Life, started a non-profit organization which seeks to build self-esteem in girls called Girls Know More, and is out in our community speaking to high schools and organizations about the realities of relationship abuse.
She is demystifying the myths of abusive relationships one person at a time—abuse can happen to anyone, it does not discriminate and awareness begins with having the courage to stand up and ask people to see it for what it is and join her in her crusade to end it.
Perhaps the articles that Elin has published on the subject of teen dating violence and prevention, her book Tornado Warning, and recent speaking engagements in community schools may provide some consolation and hope to the family and friends of Yeardley Love.We consulted with girls around the world to better understand their personal obstacles.These girls reported, overwhelmingly, multiple challenges and sources of stress—violence, dating, peer pressure, depression, lack of self-esteem, and family or cultural expectations.Know the facts, understand teen dating abuse and recognize the signs to ensure young women know what a healthy vs. Research Paper: If She Can Dream It Providing Role Models and Mentors for 21st Century Girl Empowerment.In many cases, self-esteem and domestic violence go hand in hand.Outcome measures were reported at Wave 3, and included depressive symptomatology, self-esteem, antisocial behaviors, sexual risk behaviors, extreme weight control behaviors, suicidal ideation and attempt, substance use (smoking, heavy episodic drinking, marijuana, other drugs), and adult intimate partner violence (IPV) victimization.


Our fortnightly Silent Hour starts with a short reflective reading and for this mornings I was drawn to Naomi Shihab Nye’s poem Daily which is from Tender Spot. it reflects on all we do on a daily basis with our hands. She cites simple things which we all do but which we, all, I think can do with more intention. Just the act of folding washing can be seen as a spiritual act rather than as one of those necessary chores.
Yesterday I walked on the Long Mynd and I was suddenly conscious (probably due to the poem) of how frequently I use my hands to gather information about the landscape. I know the temperature of the water, the texture of the hawthorn trunk, the flexibility of the reeds as they parted to enable my trailing fingers to pass.
It was my Mother’s hands I most minded being cremated. I saw my Mother thorough the generosity and wisdom of her hands. She used them to create our landscapes through art, baking, polishing, gardening, clothing us and by showing love. She protected us with the strength of her hands.
Today I will endeavour to do the same.


The Energy Citizens for Inclusive Decarbonization (ENCLUDE) project addresses the need to better define, contextualize, and integrate energy citizenship into decision making processes by acknowledging and including different types of knowledge from diverse groups in order to co-produce strategies for mobilizing and scaling up energy citizenship initiatives for inclusive energy transitions. Through the implementation of a mixed-method and transdisciplinary research framework, ENCLUDE aims to rethink and redesign engagement processes between government, business, civil society organizations, and citizens for a decarbonized future for and by all.
Develop a validated typology of energy citizenship at multiple scales (local, regional, national, supranational) and within an inclusive range of cultural, social, economic, and political contexts.
Reach an integrated understanding of the individual and collective factors that lead to the emergence and consolidation of energy citizenship. Through the analyses of group dynamic processes, ENCLUDE will integrate individual and collective factors for understanding the emergence and consolidation of energy citizenship through studying cognitive norms, energy practices material culture, and group dynamic actions.
Assess the decarbonization potential of energy citizenship based on an improved understanding of energy citizenship types, an identification of clusters of citizens, and through the emergence and consolidation of factors of energy citizenship. ENCLUDE will integrate qualitative factors governing energy decision-making and practices into the design of decarbonization pathways. We bring together the outputs from O1 into an ensemble of models including agent-based, demand-side management, and integrated assessment models. With this integration, we quantify decarbonization pathway potentials and determine the trade-offs between the drivers, barriers, uncertainties, and impacts of energy citizenship.
Create context-appropriate guidelines for local and regional policymakers that help to mobilize an inclusive range of stakeholders for decarbonization. Through an online, interactive platform, with information offered on the basis of the needs and context of the reader, the guidelines will support policy and decision-makers, who want to mobilize citizens for decarbonization from diverse communities. The content of the platform will be a synthesis of ENCLUDE outcomes that is refined and co-created through citizen engagement.
Develop novel forms of citizen engagement that support co-creation and effective implementation. Based on the insights on energy citizenship from ENCLUDE and further literature review of collective action strategies, a 5-module program will be developed to train 50 citizens from around the EU and internationally, recruited especially from regions with little decarbonization activity. These participants will launch their own community initiatives after the program.
Provide participants not only with new knowledge but also capture and document participants’ experiences and knowledge in order to promote learning across different countries and regions to improve future training materials and research questions. The participants of the ENCLUDE school for energy citizen leadership will become a network of “decarbonization ambassadors”, who will spread the knowledge of energy citizenship to seed future collective action.


A must have for the sock knitter or wannabe sock knitter in your life, even if it's you. 52 Weeks of Socks delivers 52 exquisite designs that will delight you.
From Laine: 52 Weeks of Socks is the first hardcover book of Laine Publishing. This publication contains 52 knitting patterns by 46 designers, and is a true encyclopedia of socks. Patterns are beautifully photographed and laid out on 256 pages in the style Laine is known and loved for.
The book contains patterns from the following designers: Heidi Alander, Fiona Alice, Gina Baglia, Ainur Berkimbayeva, Katrine Birkenwasser, Karen Borrel, Sachiko Burgin, Diana Clinch, Verena Cohrs, Valentina Consalvi, Rachel Coopey, Nele Druyts, Marion Em, Lindsey Fowler, Fabienne Gassmann, Lucinda Guy, Dawn Henderson, Anja Heumann, Tiina Huhtaniemi, Caitlin Hunter, Mieka John, Amanda Jones, Joséphine & the seeds, Pauliina Karru, Isabell Kraemer, Tatiana Kulikova, Joji Locatelli, Erika López, Andrea Mowry, Paula Pereira, Rosa Pomar, Elena Potemkina, Amelia Putri, Emily Joy Rickard, Mona Schmidt, Nataliya Sinelshchikova, Marceline Smith, Minna Sorvala, Helen Stewart, Charlotte Stone, Becky Sørensen, Niina Tanskanen, Natalia Vasilieva, Kristine Vejar, Kajsa Vuorela and Mariya Zyaparova.


To support climate protection in Germany, suitable initiatives, especially concerning the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, need to be pushed forward on all levels within the country. In this context, the implementation of measures on local, communal level is highly important.
Together with the aforementioned project partners the DFIU made a feasibility study for climate neutrality in the district of Karlsruhe. This study is part of the competition “Klimaneutrale Kommune” (climate-neutral community) sponsored by the Ministry of the Environment, Climate Protection and the Energy Sector Baden-Württemberg,. In the study it is examined, if the objective of a strong reduction of CO2-emissions of 2 tons of CO2 per capita per year can be reached in the long term (until 2050). It is analysed, which fields of action and measures in which areas are necessary to reach the objective and what are the expenses. The focus is on mobility, demands of electricity and energy for heating in domestic households, in the trade-and-service sector and the industry sector as well as on energy production and distribution.
KÜHLEN, A.; STENGEL, J; SCHULTMANN, F. (2012): Feasibility study for private households towards a zero carbon economy in 2050. In Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Building Sustainability Assessment (BSA 2012), Porto, p. 827-836.
VOGELEY, D.; GROH, B.; WAND, S.; KÜHLEN, A.; STENGEL, J.; SCHULTMANN, F.; STELZER, V.; WOLPENSINGER, H.; REITZE, F.; TORO, F.; HERBST, A.; JOCHEM, E.; HEDEL, R.; KUNZE, J. (2011): Klimaneutrales Karlsruhe 2050 – Machbarkeitsstudie zur Klimaneutralität im Stadtkreis Karlsruhe. Karlsruhe: Stadt Karlsruhe, 220 p.


Ingokhosiosis is basically a chicken who suffered a “miscarriage” 😦
Meaning we either miscalculated her eggs and ate all of them, without keeping some for her breeding. Or she sleeps on the eggs but they hatch zero. Or rather a miscarriage of justice happens with the hatching squad.
Now the only problem this presents, is that the hen will continue to pretend that it has new chicks. Even in the obvious absentia of the chicks.
So my mum usually goes to bath it in the cold river water. And after the Baptism of fire, the hen completely forgets about the trauma loss. And is free to date again. Cause it’s single to mingle with Bwana Jogoo.
Well, I thank God, that in him, we are never truly forgotten. No matter what we pass through in life. He holds us safely in the palms of his hand.
Have you seen a prayerful woman?
I tell you nothing will kill her faith
Nor dim the light of Jesus in her.
Brave soldier she is.
Many will stand against her
But never will she give them the pleasure of giving up
Beautiful inside out
She draws her strength from the Spirit of God
Her lights shines like the morning star
Bringing hope to those who look up to her
Kindness is her weakness
Mercy is her fault
She is going places this woman
Far she goes
Flying up and up
Down isn’t her abode anymore
For she soars with the eagles
For greatness lies in her!
You don’t need a massive number of followers
For God to confirm his gift upon you.
Just be loyal to the one who called and chose you
For many are called but few are the chosen ones.
Besides Jesus had a massive number of crowds thronging about him
From town to town.
Sadly instead of focusing on the bread of life that he offered
Many followed him for the bread and fish he provided
To satisfy their physical belly rather than the spiritual one.
Among those who followed him were spies and traitors
Those who waited for him to sin and make a mistake.
Some who loved the law of man over God’s law
And those who followed him with pure malice
In order to contend and pull him down.
You have a gift?
Be gracious that the Holy spirit confirms it
That’s the only affirmation you need.
For when men exalt you, they will push you down!
But when God exalts you, then up you will always be at the top!
Had gone to that primary school for a Sexual Reproductive Health facilitation session. Because am a facilitator/Counsellor and Trainer in regards to HIV/AID’s, Drug abuse, Teenage pregnancy, Abortion amongst other things.
I reported my arrival to the administration block. And the Deputy principal sent a small girl on an errand
:Go call any one in that class over there👉
The girl went to that class, stood at the door and started shouting
Little girl: ANYONE ANYONE ANYONE😁😂🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
I have had trouble learning to pronounce the word CONSCIENCE, War, Son and many others. It’s not easy. But we are learning daily. 😁
Bible Reference: 1 Chronicles 4:9-10
Jabez was more honourable than his brothers. But his name meant pain in Hebrew. Despite the oil of honour upon him, this man couldn’t advance because of the tag of pain. There was an altar of pain in his life but we thank God for his grace!
There’s something about names, that believers have to pay more attention to it. Because names have great power and can control the rise and fall of a person. Rachel named her last born Ben-Oni which means son of trouble in Hebrew. But Jacob being a man of the spirit, renamed him Benjamin, which means son of my right hand!
Jabez knew that no one could rescue him, hence he called upon the name of God!
I’ll reference Jeremiah 33:3
:Call to me and I will answer you,
And tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know,
Jabez prayer was, “Oh that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm, so that I will be free from pain.”
AND GOD GRANTED HIS REQUEST!
-Unless you break down the altars of darkness in your life, it will always be hard for the oil of honour and blessings to work in your life. Darkness will always try to suffocate any goodness in you. Reason why God asked Gideon to first burn the gods of his father.
-MAY GOD GRANT YOUR REQUEST TODAY!
-WE SERVE A GOD OF GREAT THINGS!
I just remembered something during my childhood days, and it really was humorous to recall it, though at that time, it wasn’t funny at all. I was around 12 years, money was missing in the house, am sure my younger brother took it! 😂 He was always stealing stuff from the house. Anyway, our aunt called us and asked for the culprit to confess in order to receive mercy! 😂😂😂 How convinient! My brother never confesses his atrocities 🤷♂
Am always bearing the burden of his bad behaviour, talk of being the first born. Anyway, my aunt asked us to undress, stark naked in order to receive our punishment 🙄
Eish! My stress levels had already risen up. I freaked out cause I was afraid of being whipped. No, an African parent BEATS! 😢😂
My heart was thumping and racing up and down, when thè whip fell on my young skin 😭
Of course what followed was my loud screams as auntie alternated the whip between me and bro. When things got too hot to withstand, I just rushed out naked to the next room😂😂😂😂😂
Mind you, at that time, we were living in rental house that had other tenants. So we had two rooms, one consisted of our bedroom and sitting room 🤷♂
While the other room was our parents bedroom and kitchen, while a veranda was in between the rooms, that led to other tenants rooms! Am proud of my humble upbringing. So you can imagine what was happening, when the whip became unbearable, I would just rush out to the other room, and my aunt would follow me running
I wish I had the bravery to rush out, but I couldn’t, I was incapacitated by my nakedness 🙄😁
I was a child then but well, kids understand this stuff. So when my brother saw that my aunt was unrelenting in the punishment course, bro fled out of the house naked 🙄🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣😂😂😂😂
I wish I could follow but mehn👋😂
Well, auntie was double angry because my bro run away, and of course I got double punishment 😢
Yani, auntie hit me until my body became numb. Couldn’t feel any pain. But because she’s an African parent, I dare not stop crying cause she will think that I am rude, and I don’t want her to kill me😂😭 bitter sweet moment.
So after auntie was done with whipping me, was asked to shower, mehn, the sting was itching and what not.
About bro, I don’t know who gave him shorts 😂 but he didn’t come home until he spotted mum coming from work. So they came along, as he told mum what happened to us. 😂
Mum was super angry, not that she’s against discipline, nah but there’s a difference between punishment to correct and abuse. My aunt would have killed me. And mum just told her, ” wait until you get children, am very sure you won’t be beating them like you did with mine.”
True to mum’s word, those auntie’s that made us eat dust😂😂😂 , it’s just a word expression that means, ‘one who makes you suffer’ not literal dust eating😂😂😂
Final word, I am not even allowed to pinch my cousins 😂😂😂😂😂😂
#Started writing again after many years
#Yes it’s a true story


This art was for Helvetica Brown and her BB story.
I had a lot of fun working on it! ( This is actually from 4 months ago, but I'm just gonna pretend I keep my DA up to date.
Tools: Special marker paper, Copic markers & Photoshop.A Big Bang (for those who might be curious) is a collaboration between fic authors and fandom artists. Also involved in that collaboration are beta readers and the cheerleaders who keep everyone motivated along the way.
Normally the fandom artist makes an illustration based on a draft from the fic author, but this time it was the other way around.
If you want the link to the original story, send me a PM and I'll send it to ya.


Top talent agencies (Waynesboro, PA)Posted: About 6 years ago
Location: Waynesboro, PA
Looking for an Agent to help promote screen plays and a looking for a literary agent to help promote book publishing. I have been published twice -We can make history. I have a Sci-fi which is ready to go to film and an autobiography ready for print. I am an up and coming writer who has a few projects that are new and truly innovating. I am looking to be taken to the next level. If you can be of any assistance - inbox me. Many Blessings!
Serious Inquiries only!


Community Liaison Contact: Carol Van Baalen
Happy New Year! With the beginning of a new year, our three libraries are busy with a wealth of special programs for library patrons. Here is a sampling for the month of January:
Woodmont: Tuesday, January 3, 7-9pm, and Wednesday, January 4, 1-3pm.
Clear Your Clutter and Organize for the New Year
Kent: Monday, January 9, 7pm
Sponsored by the Friends of the Kent Library
Bridge to Basics
Kent: Monday, January 9, 2-4pm
Woodmont: Monday, January 9, 3-5pm
Bridge to Basics connects people to public benefits and money saving services such as food stamps, health care, utility assistance and other community resources. Presented by WithinReach.
How to Grow Good Roses
Kent: Saturday, January 28, 1pm
Clifford Kicks Off Winter Story Times
Bring your children or grandchildren, and get back in the Story Time habit. Clifford, the Big Red Dog, will make a guest appearance at the first story time of the new year.
Woodmont: Tuesday, January 10, at 7pm
Kent: Thursday, January 12, at 1:30pm
Des Moines: Tuesday, January 17, at 10:15am
Join a Book Group in 2012
If you’re not already in a book group, consider joining one of the groups that meet monthly at our libraries. Here’s the schedule for January:
Knit Lit Book Group at Woodmont: Thursday, January 5, 6-8pm. This month’s book: Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay.
After Lunch Book Bunch at Kent: Wednesday, January 11, 1pm. This month’s book: I Still Dream About You by Fannie Flagg
Woodmont Book Group: Thursday, January 19, 7pm. This month’s book: Ford County by John Grisham
Des Moines Book Group: Wednesday, January 25, 7pm. This month’s book: Agent Zigzag: a true story of Nazi Espionage, Love and Betrayal.
Copies of the books for discussion are available at the library front desk, and new members are always welcome!
For a complete list of library programs, click on this link http://www.kcls.org/programs/
Des Moines Library Advisory Board will meet at the Des Moines Library on Wednesday, January 11, at 7pm.
The Board’s membership will remain the same this year, as Tony Wilson and Janet Sorby will return for second terms. Other board members are Virg Staiger, Robin Lamoureux, and Melissa Ponder.
The next Planning Committee Meeting takes place on Thursday, January 12, 12pm at the Mercer Island Library.
The next Finance Committee Meeting takes place on Tuesday, January 24, 4pm at the Service Center.
The next KCLS Board of Trustees Meeting takes place on Tuesday, January 24, 5pm at the Service Center.


Just right click on the image above and save it to your computer.
Image taken by me. Fonts used: Blingtastic & ADRIFT
Congratulations, Melissa!!! We will get your book in the mail this week!
Christmas is approaching, how are you preparing for this time of year?
This book has become a part of our nightly routine, thankfully it is also a very fun book to read as a parent (lots of rhythmic rhyming). We absolutely love it. I have three boys ages [almost] 5 , [almost] 3, & 5 months old. All three of them enjoy Peter’s Perfect Prayer Place. Recommended ages: 3-8 [with parent involvement]. Written by brothers, Stephen and Alex Kendrick, Peter’s Perfect Prayer Place is meant to go alongside the movie War Room. This book helps encourage children to find their own prayer place. We follow Peter along his journey to find the perfect place to pray. Peter’s parents help explain to him that God can hear Him anywhere and anytime. My boys used to pray before bed anyway, but now it seems there’s a little more excitement.
The book also comes with a Prayer Chart & colorful “I Prayed” & “God Answered” stickers. Parents will need to help the children write their prayers on the chart and then the child can place the stickers accordingly. We will actually be starting our chart next week, the boys wanted their Papa to help them with it when he comes up to visit.
Now – It’s time for a GIVEAWAY!!!!! We were given an extra copy of Peter’s Perfect Prayer Place to give to one of our readers. Comment below the post and let us know your favorite place to pray! For extra entries, ask your children & list their responses as well! Winner will be randomly chosen and announced on Monday, November 2, 2015 & will be asked to email us with their mailing address.
Please note: I was given this book free of charge from B&H Publishing in exchange for an honest review. Thoughts are my own.
Perfect Your Prayer Strategy as You Put On the Whole Armor of God
A 7-Session Video-Driven Women’s Study for Small Groups
All day, every day, an invisible war rages around you — unseen, unheard, yet felt throughout every aspect of your life. A devoted, devilish enemy seeks to wreak havoc on everything that matters to you: your heart, your mind, your marriage, your children, your relationships, your resilience, your dreams, your destiny.
But his battle plan depends on catching you unaware and unarmed. If you’re tired of being pushed around and caught with your guard down, this study is for you.
The enemy always fails miserably when he meets a woman dressed for the occasion. The Armor of God, more than merely a biblical description of the believer’s inventory, is an action plan for putting it on and developing a personalized strategy to secure victory.
“It’s a never ending pattern, played out over and over again by a progressive culture filled with craven wimps, always compensating for their moral failings by tearing down false Satans, too afraid to do battle with the real one.” – Matt Walsh


Paperback: 54 pages Publisher: Hard Press (November 3, 2006) Language: English ISBN-10: 1406945390 ISBN-13: 978-1406945393 Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.1 inches Shipping Weight: 4.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies) ReadHowYouWant publishes a wide variety of best selling books in Large and Super Large fonts in partnership with leading publishers fce may 2011 answer key. EasyRead books are available in 11pt and 13pt fce may 2011 answer key. type fce may 2011 answer key. EasyRead Large books are available in 16pt, 16pt Bold, and 18pt Bold type fce may 2011 answer key. EasyRead Super Large books are available in 20pt. Bold and 24pt. Bold Type. You choose the format that is right for you.In this short dialogue, Plato, through his character has discussed a single virtue, that of temperance. The quality and its effects are analyzed deeply and discussed through different angles. Like all his works, this one also imprints itself on the mind. Thought-provoking!To find more titles in your format, Search in Books using EasyRead and the size of the font that makes reading easier and more enjoyable for you. Tags: Charmides (9781406945393) Plato , tutorials, pdf, ebook, torrent, downloads, rapidshare, filesonic, hotfile, megaupload, fileserve
GO Charmides (9781406945393) Plato
Related links: Uniforms & Heraldry of The Empire Yaeger HomeStudy – CPA Review – FAR(updated 25/08/2011) Yngwie Malmsteen: Alchemy/Rising Force (Jap) Yoga: Mastering the Secrets of Matter and the Universe Yesenia Adame - Salsa... Solo!


In the occasion your essay is lengthy or this is a dissertation, you got to organize modest breezes of sentences after which endeavor to concentrate on each section. Each one of these points will provide you with a plan to your own article creating. Writing an essay is not any mean endeavor. It’s vital to certainly have a thesis statement composed before you begin writing your composition. This, nevertheless, is an incredibly tedious method of ending your authorship and more frequently than not doesn’t have the influence you’ll desire. They don’t get adequate time to consider creating a excellent essay composing skill. The perfect thought which you have to concentrate up on initially, is the aim of writing this composition. Regularly students attempt to steer clear of essay writing inside their own usual study course.
Often the water is likely to be on whenever you make it, but typically this isn???t the event.
Your writing has to be enlightening and educative. Composing introduction has to be simple and succinct. This is legitimate for each essay you create, not only about poetry, nonetheless it is especially significant if you’re writing about a composition. This is thought to be freewheeling article writing. You’re composing for an official audience to ensure your terminology ought to be proper. You should keep comprehensive notes, and recall you are not just required to compose an individual essay, there’ll be others, so be in-depth records that are going to help you in other composing. While composing argumentative essays you need to mention whether you’re creating in favour or against this problem. You should take a stand although composing a ICSE composition. 2 documents should be created determined by the quotations.
A little waver and confusion may add together and create all of your attempt appear in useless.
Readers’s might choose to determine on some thing imaginary, aside from being concrete normally in most essays. SAT Article Specialists will most likely tell keep from information within the body of your own composition. Pupils must write 2 documents based on both models of quotes given. While writing an essay you got to obey several fundamental steps that are natural in any kind of article. Each part of the essay should to have a unique function. The issue with making use of a quotation is it really is considered to become a lazy means to fix stop an essay. Write the last duplicate of the article. After that, summarize in your words what the one major notion of the essay is. It really is various notions and notions.
A style has been chosen by you and chosen your key elements to make its gist typical to everybody.
An article might be a reflection of the author’s viewpoints and individual worth, shaped within the form of the narrative. Throughout GAMSAT homework, you have to rehearse just how to think of coherent documents within a hour. The debut of an article is the stage where the writer brings within the essential notion helping the essay writer essay. There are considerable tactics to begin an essay. For smaller essays this is sometimes put within the opening. It permits one to step back and inspect the points you’ve produced as well as their experience of the theme and the complete composition. Paraphrase important supporting factors which come up within the essay. A simple story or an anecdote which has some relation as well as the article and demonstrates the point you’re attempting to make may be an intriguing solution to stop it.


DEDICATED TO THE PRESERVATION AND CONSERVATION OF THE PRIMATES OF MADAGASCAR THROUGH CAPTIVE BREEDING, SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH, AND EDUCATION. Ring-tailed lemur twins, pictured here with their mother, Ansell. They were born in the LCF forests in April.
LCF Bulletin Board
SUBSCRIBE TO LEMUR LATITUDES,
our biweekly e-newsletter!
Six beautiful storybooks about the adventures of young lemurs. These are not textbooks! But they are exciting, funny, scary—and scientifically accurate. Each book goes with a poster about the six species' different habitats.


dealing with the loss of a loved one is so hard. far harder than one could imagine. everybody means differently to everybody else. for some a friend, for some others, even more closer - a wife, a parent, a sibling, a son/daughter. to each their own, to some - many.
hard to believe it was 3 sundays back that we spent an evening with a very dear friend's parents. an evening of good food, of talk, of fond memories and remembrances. few people she didn't remember/mention, or that's how it felt. people from tens of years back, some from the last few. friends, strangers, neighbours, parents, children, grand children... so many people whose path crossed theirs. the friend and i mostly listened that evening. their elderly, cheerful voices recounting good times and the occasional words of wisdom. an evening we'll remember forever - for us and for those who weren't around. felt guilty and under-deserving that the evening deserved an audience who were closer and to whom she meant far, far more than the two of us. they deserved to be around that evening. really did.
she passed away that saturday, unable to sustain a third heart attack in as many days. a cardiac arrest just hours after taken off life support. a grim reminder that life is so fragile. that every moment you live is a moment spent, it matters and is impossible to reclaim. that life has no "undo". every word said is said, every action taken is taken, every moment spent is gone. be grateful for the past times and wishful for the future.


The demand of manufacturing company to get organized by sustainable processes allowing to achieve their goals – manufacturing products and providing services to customers. If we think in a lower resolution about these goals, we can translate them in the list of granular goals and processes. While ERP systems are taking care of financial aspects of manufacturing and (in most cases) about procurement and manufacturing operation, PLM is focusing on the following processes – product introduction, quality, manufacturability.
I can identify three processes that PLM systems were focusing in most of implementations I’ve seen:
(1) New Product Introduction / Development (NPI / NPD)
(2) Configuration management (or BoM management)
(3) Change management


Who do you want to determine your future?
Having read Shoshana Zuboff’s new book, ‘The Age of Surveillance Capitalism’, we wanted to share with you some of the key themes of the book, as they impact upon all of us as individuals, but also as citizens of the world. The question posed in this blog is ‘who do you want to determine your future?’ We suspect that your answer will neither be Google nor Facebook!
Zuboff’s book reveals a chilling vision of the near-future, in which companies and States are able to influence our decision-making ability based on data collected, processed and shared by them. The book takes us through the historical development of surveillance capitalism, which Zuboff describes as a rogue mutation of capitalism.
It is interesting to note that part of the reason for the lack of regulation in the industry (which might be best described as ‘data-mining’) was caused by Governments’ needs (such as the US) to increase wide-scale military surveillance, to prevent terrorist activities, such as 9/11, re-occurring.
In her authoritative and detailed analysis of this new era, Zuboff explains the change of the usage and value of personal data (however minor and/or incidental), exploited by companies such as Google and Facebook (to name only a couple), leaving the reader with the clear understanding that these companies are not only utilising this data to market products and services to us, but also to seek to determine what products, services and opinions we will ‘elect’ in the future. Surveillance capitalism seeks to reduce uncertainty by using our data to accurately assess decisions which we have yet to make, with a worryingly increasing degree of certainty. This would enable companies to market directly to individuals, who are, for example, walking past a coffee shop, and often stop for a coffee at that time of day, thus enticing them to enter the shop to purchase a product.
Surveillance capitalists take ownership of our data, in many cases irrespective of our knowledge, understanding or consent, and then use that information to seek to impose upon us decisions which we are herded towards, through their marketing techniques. Zuboff quotes Frank Pasquale in her book as stating: “[d]espite [Google and Facebook’s] claims of objectivity and neutrality, they are constantly making value-laden, controversial decisions. They help create the world they claim to merely ‘show’ us.” This is evidenced, for example, in a social media newsfeed, where algorithms, derived from surplus data, select and order the content and search results.
Whilst current online marketing practices are widely known and generally understood, the continual accumulation of data used by surveillance capitalists to know everything about us, enables them to immerse themselves into every aspect of our day-to-day lives, thus enabling marketing to become more ‘certain’ in its outcome, through personalization in content, time and location.
We are all amazed, and find huge delight in, how the internet has enrichened our lives, but this enrichment comes at a cost, and part of that cost is paid by us sacrificing our rights to privacy to enable the ever-increasing technological advances to provide us with more and more information.
Examples quoted in the book include Alexa, Google Home, Pokémon Go, Google Glass, smartphones and our PCs. However, what is even more troubling is how surveillance capitalists are seeking to maximise the amount of data they collect about us, in formats such as voice recognition and facial recognition, to gain ever increased access to our data and our private lives. The reason they need this data is to increase their knowledge of our behaviours, in order to stand out from their competition with regards to marketing of messages to us, the ultimate consumers. Whilst we are the consumers of the ideas, products and services sold to us online, the companies and organisations wishing us to see those messages are the people paying for those messages to be broadcast to us. The individual does not pay the surveillance capitalist for their services, instead they pay, in kind, by providing the raw data which the surveillance capitalist needs in order to sell their services to their customers. The reduction of uncertainty in the message (and therefore the increase in the likelihood of the individual accepting the message), makes such data more valuable to the surveillance capitalist. The more raw data which the surveillance capitalist can accrue, the more valuable it becomes.
Not surprisingly, the usage of this data is not limited to marketing opportunities relating to goods and services, but goes further into the foundations of democracy itself. Examples, which may be well-known to many of our readers, include the impact of Cambridge Analytica and Facebook in the Brexit vote and the alleged Russian interference in the last US presidential election. A more extreme and direct example was given of China, where State monitoring of individuals permeates every part of their citizens’ lives, such as schooling, travelling and work. Citizens considered to be ‘good’ are rewarded, whilst ‘bad’ citizens are punished, by, for example, restrictions on travel and the ability to purchase luxury goods.
The increased accumulation of what might appear to be ‘valueless’ data enables both companies and States to know many of our innermost thoughts, and to translate those into valuable assets, utilised by States and corporations to impact upon our autonomous decision-making.
At a time when the UK Government are seeking to impose stricter regulations on Social Media companies, it is crucial that we as individuals understand the importance of this intervention, not only in the context of children and vulnerable persons, but more widely with regards to the protection of our human rights in the murky international legal waters of ownership and protection of personal data.
Zuboff raises the difference between the EU and the US with regards to the lawful enforcement of privacy rights, and identifies the General Data Protection Regulation (‘GDPR’) as one potential defence to the increase of surveillance capitalism. As she rightly states however, it remains to be seen whether this piece of legislation acts as a ‘springboard’ to challenging the legitimacy of surveillance capitalism or not. She concludes that “[s]uch a victory would depend on society’s rejection of markets based on the dispossession of human expertise as a means to the prediction and control of human behaviour for others’ profit.”
The book is almost 700 pages in total (although much of the text is useful references), and thus, this short summary fails entirely to give sufficient understanding of the detailed and well-reasoned lines of argument set out by Zuboff, raising awareness of the threats caused by surveillance capitalism. Suffice to say, we would highly recommend this book to anybody interested in the future of democracy and the right to self-determination. It is not a textbook about data protection legislation but rather offers an intriguing insight as to how, in the absence of adequate safeguards, our ability to make independent decisions will be severely impacted by the relentless surge of surveillance capitalism.


Jak być bardziej szczęśliwym? Odpowiedź jest tu i teraz. Posłuchaj w języku angielskim o jednej z najbardziej nośnych idei ostatniego czasu. Dowiesz się, jak zmienić swoje życie na lepsze, bardziej szczęśliwe i spełnione w sposób dostępny dla każdego. Bez rozróżnienia na płeć, wyznanie, rasę czy ogólnie pojętą zamożność.
Koniecznie więc pobierzcie kartę pracy do dzisiejszego odcinka.
A może chciałbyś/chciałabyś wesprzeć moją działalność? Postaw mi przysłowiową kawę – https://www.buymeacoffee.com/mpodbielska
the Magic of Gratefulness
Gratefulness – there is another word which expresses this meaning – gratitude. In fact these mean the same, their origin is only different. The latter one comes from the Latin “gratitudo”. “Gratefulness” on the other hand comes from the Latin adjective “gratus” which means pleasing.
For our today’s discussion, though, we will use the word “gratefulness”. It can be understood even wider as “great – fullness”, where “fullness” is being full of life and full of happiness. And now we will see why and how it can be achieved by anyone who wishes to feel that way and be that way – saying simply – just happy.
You may ask what do these two concepts have in common – gratitude and happiness.
So far we have heard about meditation as a profound and great tool practiced for thousands of years, we are learning how to live in a mindful way. And now there is this new key to a happy and fulfilling life – gratefulness. This is the notion when we appreciate and notice the smallest and tiniest things being just around us which in fact make our life fuller, better, happier.
All people want to happy, everybody in his or her own absolutely individual way. And the notion of gratefulness helps to achieve the state of happiness in absolutely everybody’s life. There are a lot of people who, from our perspective have everything to be happy – money, beautiful houses, opportunities to travel and enjoy life, but very often are not. They are given a lot and are not able to appreciate it. On the other hand, people who really have suffered a lot in their lives radiate with happiness. Of course, those who are in the group of those more fortunate and wealthier may also be happy. So, what makes people happy?
- It is the ability to appreciate the small and big things we are able to find around us that we may be grateful for.
Ideally, if you are able to understand that every single moment is the opportunity to find a new chance and to find a possibility to be grateful for the new experiences. It can be just the blue sky above you, or a hint of color which you like, maybe it is red or green for you. Maybe it is a new pen or maybe a photo you have taken and you and just you and nobody else enjoy looking at, maybe the first wrinkle on you face which shows that you live and have lived so long. Maybe hardworking hands of a person struggling through life? Anything that gives your soul that spark of happiness and as the result you may be grateful for.
Ideally if you would write it down, take a quick record on your phone, computer or just a sheet of paper at the end of the day; think back on your day and make a very quick, or longer entry if you prefer, note on what you may be grateful for a the end of this day.
Just do it and wait for the magic to happen.
I have another extremely simple exercise, which I find extremely helpful. You just have to check it for yourself! Just take a comfortable position in a quiet place. Close your eyes. With every breath you take in focus on the things you are grateful for TODAY. With every breath out think on all the bad emotions and bad experiences you have had TODAY – throw them away/breathe them out. And then another breath in and another breath out. In with notions you are grateful for, out and far away with notions which made you feel bad and made your day bad. In and out. In and out. It is better now, isn’t it? Life is beautiful for you again.
Gratefulness is available to every single person, of any religion and approach to life. It is the key to live a fulfilling and happy life. You will see that It may help you more than meditation, yoga, mindfulness or anything else you take up to help you deal with life. It helps to find sense in every moment and experience in your life. Even the hardest one.
Yes, there are moments that are difficult and we cannot be grateful for them. We have to find moments which create opportunities to be grateful for.
And it brings us to the merit of patience. Patience helps to wait for the events and experience which we can be grateful for.
Many people rush through life, spend their days at work, always in a hurry. But you may find in the life happiness and gratefulness. Enough is to think about it. What moment has brought something valuable to me? What has taught me something? What makes me work hard and live for? These are just seconds to think it over and will show you the meaning of your life.
When you start appreciating small things they will show the direction and light, the beacon of your life. And remember, always find the things which only and personally you are grateful for and not what others tell you to be meaningful and good in your life. It must feel for your life and for you.
And it gives you the sense of life. You are then the one to be resourceful and generous to yourself and others.
Gratitude is easy and can be done right here and right now. Every day, even within a fracture of a second.
Please note, how much more peaceful the world, your neighborhood, your family would be if all/many/the majority of people found things to be grateful for. They would focus on these and foster these and care for these and pamper them. How much less violence there would be. That is why it is worth it to spread the concept.
You can set up a notebook into which you stick inspirational pictures taken from magazines or newspapers even, in which you draw or paint pictures by yourself, where you insert photographs, in which you just take notes and write, draft down things you and only you really appreciate – and all of which depict things you are grateful for. Many people claim that it changes the life. Quite certainly, you can do It just yourself, at home, every day or every weekend, but regularly. Maybe there are cold, winter days when you are able to enjoy your favourite tea, maybe there are gym classes when you can feel every movement of your body, maybe these are pints of beer with friends… anything that might fill you with some kind of joy. Such things change our lives and our perspective onto life!
The TED talk which changed my perspective onto the idea is the one entitled 365 Grateful Project by Hailey Bartholomew which you can find under this link:
Absolutely inspirational, you just must see it!
Our life is too short not to appreciate the simple things that surround us. And we are the only ones to shape our lives and emotions. We are the ones to spot the beautiful and valuable things which surround each and everyone of you.
I do wish you all the best with your own gratitude project.