“I Am” documentary | What is Wrong with the World? What can we do about it?

After facing his own death, film producer Tom Shadyac suddenly had an instant sense of clarity and purpose. He went around the world with a film crew of four, to talk with significant minds, authors, journalists, academics, leaders, historians, religious leaders who had been extremely influential and inspirational in his own life, to ask two questions: What is Wrong with the World? What can we do about it?

He created this documentary film in three parts. This is it. Tom Shadyac director of I Am. Part one.

Asking whether there is a fundamental, endemic problem, that causes all the other problems?

I Am, director Tom Shadyac, Albert Einstein quote

I Am, Albert Einstein quote

I Am Part Two introduces HeartMath, the concept that the heart is smart and in many indigenous cultures, the heart is the center of consciousness, not the brain. It also ventures into quantum entanglement.

I Am, Desmond Tutu

Desmond Tutu God says I dont have anybody else except you

I Am Howard Zinn No evidence that war comes out of some innate human need

“I Am” Part Three introduces the fact that mass mind – many individual actions together – really does affect the fabric of reality. The evolutionary biologist, Elisabet Sahtouris, states
this is a participatory universe. Interconnectivity. Everything that we do in it, changes it. We have an interior role in co-creating with all the other species.

Everything on our planet is alive.
 

I Am Part Three Howard Zinn talks about how change happens in increments by individual actions together. Desmond Tutu states that change happens, when each person feels concern.

I Am quote Ralph Waldo Emerson, Money, False Principles

I Am quote Ralph Waldo Emerson

The Power of One person.

I Am video on Vimeo Dr David Suzuki

I Am, We should be grateful and celebrate our relatives

I Am We should be grateful and celebrate our relatives

Dr. David Suzuki, scientist, author “The Sacred Balance”, mentions Wade Davis’s term the ethnosphere: the sum total of all of the ways that humans beings have imagines the world into existence. Suzuki talks about the separation of humanity from the natural world, and the fact that the economy is the most important thing in our lives.

Among the people interviewed:

Lynne McTaggart – Author, “the Field” talks of the stories that fashion our worldview, in a competition, scarcity, in which a person needs to be significant, at someone else’s expense

Dean Radin – Senior Scientist, Institute of Noetic Sciences,

Howard Zinn – Historian, Author “A People’s History of the United States”

John Francis – Environmentalist, Author “Planetwalker”

Noam Chomsky- Professor Emeritus of Linguistics, MIT

Desmond Tutu – Archbishop, Cape Town, South Africa

Thom Hartmann – Author “Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight”
There’s a fundamental difference between machines and life, and we are running our society as if we are a machine and as if the world is a machine
Thom mentions Jack Davis Professor of Native American studies at UCA Davis, talks of the Native American term “Wetico” = cannibal – one who eats the life of another. It is considered an illness.

Daniel Quinn – Author, “Ishmael”

Ray Anderson – CEO Interface

Chris Jordan – Photographer

Coleman Barks – Poet, Author “The Essential Rumi”

Marc Ian Barasch – Author, “Field Notes on the Compassionate Life”

Dacher Keltner – Professor of Psychology, UC Berkeley

Rollin McCraty – Senior Researcher, Heartmath Institute

Elisabet Sahtouris – Evolutionary Biologist

Marilyn Schlitz – President, CEO Institute of Noetic Sciences

 

eco_revolution

Carol holding the plastic globe

nYc Mid Summer Hitchabout Bliss | Sleepless in New York | The Strangers Project

 

Here are 104 digital photos of this nYc hitchabout trip July 11th, 2015 from Palmyra, Pennsylvania

highline, graffiti, einstein

highline_graffiti_einstein

With a new impetus to travel, I worked hard for the week – much of my tasks involved with proactively preparing for when my current residence, the family home where I grew up, will be sold. And as I’m not ready to depart just yet, I decided that a weekend adventure in New York city would fulfill that desire.

I decided to make the plunge.

highline_graffiti_plunge

highline_graffiti_plunge

This title could also be Sleepless In New York 🙂

NYC hitching sign

NYC hitching sign

building juxtapostion

building juxtapostion

I went on two of these hitchabouts within two weeks of each other. The first was on the 21st of June, to celebrate the summer solstice with the Make Music New York. Here’s a flickr link to the pics from this trip.

As New York is unlike most other places in America, one visits the entire world as people wander by in full traditional wear from whatever their culture, especially the older generation. One can see saris of India, elegant midwestern wear in burkas, Central and South American passengers on the streets along with various African cultures passing you in turbans along with Jamaican…basically you name it, you will see people from all over the world. I’m merely talking about Manhattan. Of the five boroughs, I know that Queens has one of the most broad concentrations of people living in the same congested area, resulting in the highest concentration of divers languages in one area, in the world.

highline_looking_south_midtown_plexiglass_stadium

highline_looking_south_midtown_plexiglass_stadium

highline, flowers, bees

highline_flowers_bees

highline water walkway

highline water walkway

 

Here are 104 digital photos of this nYc hitchabout trip July 11th, 2015.

 

My best discovery of the last hitch was the the High Line, which is much more maturely grown with its extravagance of wild flowers than the wiki-link pic when it was just being born. It is now one of my favorite getaways for silence and nature and a healthy sprinkle of people from all over the world who are also visiting these lovely gardens imbedded into the former overhead railway. This former railway carried trains to transport meat and finished products back and forth to the Meat Packing district.

The other highlights of this trip both took place in Washington Square park.

A surprise classical piano recital played on a grande piano that Colin Huggins rolled up and played.

Colin Huggins playing the grande piano in Washington Sq. Park NYC

Colin Huggins playing the grande piano in Washington Sq. Park NYC

Colin Huggins, grand piano, Washington Square Park

Colin Huggins playing the grand piano in Washington Square Park

As well as the Strangers Project, an interactive event in the park where people came to read other peoples’ stories, and were invited to share their own.

With a new impetus to travel, I worked hard for the week – much of my tasks involved with proactively preparing for when my current residence, the family home where I grew up, will be sold. And as I’m not ready to depart just yet, I decided that a weekend adventure in New York city would fulfill that desire. I decided to make the plunge.

highline_graffiti_plunge

highline_graffiti_plunge

This title could also be Sleepless In New York 🙂

NYC hitching sign

NYC hitching sign

building juxtapostion

building juxtapostion

I went on two of these hitchabouts within two weeks of each other. The first was on the 21st of June, to celebrate the summer solstice with the Make Music New York.

 

Here are 104 digital photos of this nYc hitchabout trip from Palmyra, Pennsylvania on July 11th, 2015

As New York is unlike most other places in America, one visits the entire world as people wander by in full traditional wear from whatever their culture, especially the older generation. One can see saris of India, elegant midwestern wear in burkas, Central and South American passengers on the streets along with various African cultures passing you in turbans along with Jamaican…basically you name it, you will see people from all over the world. I’m merely talking about Manhattan. Of the five boroughs, I know that Queens has one of the most broad concentrations of people living in the same congested area, resulting in the highest concentration of divers languages in one area, in the world.

highline_looking_south_midtown_plexiglass_stadium

highline_looking_south_midtown_plexiglass_stadium

highline, flowers, bees

highline_flowers_bees

highline water walkway

highline water walkway

My best discovery of the last hitch was the the High Line, which is much more maturely grown with its extravagance of wild flowers than the wiki-link pic when it was just being born. It is now one of my favorite getaways for silence and nature and a healthy sprinkle of people from all over the world who are also visiting these lovely gardens imbedded into the former overhead railway. This former railway carried trains to transport meat and finished products back and forth to the Meat Packing district. The other highlights of this trip both took place in Washington Square park. A surprise classical piano recital played on a grande piano that Colin Huggins rolled up and played.

Colin Huggins playing the grande piano in Washington Sq. Park NYC

Colin Huggins playing the grande piano in Washington Sq. Park NYC

Colin Huggins, grand piano, Washington Square Park

Colin Huggins playing the grand piano in Washington Square Park

As well as the Strangers Project, an interactive event in the park where people came to read other peoples’ stories, and were invited to share their own.

washington_sq_pk_the_strangers_project_stories

washington_sq_pk_the_strangers_project_stories

the Strangers Project whats your story

the Strangers Project whats your story

the Strangers Project whats your story

what's your story? the strangers project

what’s your story? the strangers project

Here are a few stories !-)

washington_sq_pk_the_strangers_project_story_dont_forget

washington_sq_pk_the_strangers_project_story_dont_forget

the Strangers Project

the Strangers Project story How things are supposed to work

the stranger project my story in nyc

the stranger project my story in nyc

The pictures pretty much describe most of my journey, with the exception of dancing the first night in the Meat Packing district!

On the way back, I made my way to my town square in three rides. An Egyptian driver taking his rider through the tunnel to New Jersey, picked me up because she asked him to. His attitude towards me changed abruptly once she left the car; he was now a bit hostile and asking me for a faire. However he calmed by the time we talked a bit and took me next to the road where many cars could head onto the route I intended to take. The next was a man born in the Dominican Republic, whose parents moved to the Bronx when he was ten. He claimed that there’s way too much corruption there and high presence of gangs. That this transformation has been taking place as a result of the economic fallout, with a high percentage increase compared to what the United States population has taken. These poorer countries feel the hit ten fold. He brought me to within feet of the border of Pennsylvania from New Jersey. There I discovered two gas stations across the street from one another, with both of the gas station attendants barely English literate young me from the Ukraine. I sort of drifted back and forth investigating rides from both. One of the men was all smiles and brightness. The other looked continually sour and preoccupied. I thought he was going to ask me to leave, then when he finally said something to me, it was to complain that people in New Jersey and Pennsylvania don’t tip. I offered to make him a sign, and with time on my hands, did so. I showed him the sketch and said I could make a substantially larger one with my marker on cardboard.

Tips R Welcome

Tips R Welcome

After that, the few times that I suggested holding up the sign, he waived his finger gravely, no no, his boss definitely did not like the idea of having a sign encouraging tips! I was about to pack it up for the night, mean walking around to investigate the area, when after getting no response from the two cars at this station, I looked at the less busy one across the divided road, and saw two cars there as well. I was 90 miles from home and it was dark for a while now. I suddenly noticed cars at the gas station across the street and immediately started walking there carrying my pack. I then started to run with a bit of an urgency. I arrived there just as the customer had paid, his window was open. I approached the driver sitting in the car about to leave holding up my

Hershey sign

Hershey sign

as I spoke to him asking if he happens to be going towards Hershey, and he answered, “As a matter of fact, I am.” The conversation with him now started to pull together what the previous conversation with the Dominican Republic man had started to hint at; economic injustice causing most of the problems of the world today. Captivated, I listened as my young driver quite articulately expressed: ‘that the current world problems of injustice and inequality and the subsequent violence and disharmony are all a fall-out of the fact that as the economic powers that be – corporations which are growing larger – grow more wealthy and dismantle and crush mom-and-pop stores around the country (world) have the effect of decreasing the circulation of capital, which normally would take place as more and more people contribute their business and flow of money. These large corporations have the tendency to keep getting richer, as they also suck the money out of the populations. And the years of growing phat monopolies and outsourcing have basically ‘desertified’ the home grown economies. Yep, well, there it is in a nutshell>DIVEST< from petrochemical, chemical, pharmaceutical, dirty industries, from the Starbucks, Walmart, CostCo and all of these huge business chains that are gobbling up all of our local businesses. 🙂 I had my good luck charm with me, which seems to have done me well.

elephant_necklace_gift_from vendor in Berlin

elephant_necklace_gift_from vendor in Berlin

Hope walks through the fire and faith leaps over it.

carol_the_blogger_safe_n_sound

carol_the_blogger_safe_n_sound

Donations towards Carol Keiter’s writing, eBook, music composition, photography & illustrations are graciously accepted! PayPal Donate Button Thanks!

the blogger, Carol Keiter at a luncheon.

Carol Keiter, the blogger

” rel=”noopener” target=”_blank”>104 digital photos of this trip, nYc hitchabout July 11,2015

washington_sq_pk_the_strangers_project_stories

washington_sq_pk_the_strangers_project_stories

the Strangers Project whats your story

the Strangers Project whats your story

the Strangers Project whats your story

the Strangers Project whats your story

the Strangers Project whats your story

what's your story? the strangers project

what’s your story? the strangers project

Here are a few stories !-)

washington_sq_pk_the_strangers_project_story_dont_forget

washington_sq_pk_the_strangers_project_story_dont_forget

the Strangers Project

the Strangers Project story How things are supposed to work

the stranger project my story in nyc

the stranger project my story in nyc

The pictures pretty much describe most of my journey, with the exception of dancing the first night in the Meat Packing district!

On the way back, I made my way to my town square in three rides. An Egyptian driver taking his rider through the tunnel to New Jersey, picked me up because she asked him to. His attitude towards me changed abruptly once she left the car; he was now a bit hostile and asking me for a faire. However he calmed by the time we talked a bit and took me next to the road where many cars could head onto the route I intended to take. The next was a man born in the Dominican Republic, whose parents moved to the Bronx when he was ten. He claimed that there’s way too much corruption there and high presence of gangs. That this transformation has been taking place as a result of the economic fallout, with a high percentage increase compared to what the United States population has taken. These poorer countries feel the hit ten fold. He brought me to within feet of the border of Pennsylvania from New Jersey. There I discovered two gas stations across the street from one another, with both of the gas station attendants barely English literate young me from the Ukraine. I sort of drifted back and forth investigating rides from both. One of the men was all smiles and brightness. The other looked continually sour and preoccupied. I thought he was going to ask me to leave, then when he finally said something to me, it was to complain that people in New Jersey and Pennsylvania don’t tip. I offered to make him a sign, and with time on my hands, did so. I showed him the sketch and said I could make a substantially larger one with my marker on cardboard.

Tips R Welcome

Tips R Welcome

After that, the few times that I suggested holding up the sign, he waived his finger gravely, no no, his boss definitely did not like the idea of having a sign encouraging tips!

I was about to pack it up for the night, mean walking around to investigate the area, when after getting no response from the two cars at this station, I looked at the less busy one across the divided road, and saw two cars there as well. I was 90 miles from home and it was dark for a while now. I suddenly noticed cars at the gas station across the street and immediately started walking there carrying my pack. I then started to run with a bit of an urgency. I arrived there just as the customer had paid, his window was open. I approached the driver sitting in the car about to leave holding up my

Hershey sign

Hershey sign

as I spoke to him asking if he happens to be going towards Hershey, and he answered, “As a matter of fact, I am.” The conversation with him now started to pull together what the previous conversation with the Dominican Republic man had started to hint at; economic injustice causing most of the problems of the world today. Captivated, I listened as my young driver quite articulately expressed: ‘that the current world problems of injustice and inequality and the subsequent violence and disharmony are all a fall-out of the fact that as the economic powers that be – corporations which are growing larger – grow more wealthy and dismantle and crush mom-and-pop stores around the country (world) have the effect of decreasing the circulation of capital, which normally would take place as more and more people contribute their business and flow of money. These large corporations have the tendency to keep getting richer, as they also suck the money out of the populations. And the years of growing phat monopolies and outsourcing have basically ‘desertified’ the home grown economies.

Yep, well, there it is in a nutshell>DIVEST< from petrochemical, chemical, pharmaceutical, dirty industries, from the Starbucks, Walmart, CostCo and all of these huge business chains that are gobbling up all of our local businesses. 🙂

I had my good luck charm with me, which seems to have done me well.

elephant_necklace_gift_from vendor in Berlin

elephant_necklace_gift_from vendor in Berlin

Hope walks through the fire and faith leaps over it.

carol_the_blogger_safe_n_sound

carol_the_blogger_safe_n_sound

Donations towards Carol Keiter’s writing, eBook, music composition, photography & illustrations are graciously accepted! PayPal Donate Button

Thanks!

the blogger, Carol Keiter at a luncheon.

Carol Keiter, the blogger

What Will You Do? | The Greatest Story of Our Generation | DoSomething | TimeForChange

 "The Greatest Story of Our Generation"

image from “The Greatest Story of Our Generation”

I had viewed a two minute video “The Essence of Life“, a trailer of the Film “Beyond“, posted on Cryptik about a week ago. Something compelled me to hold onto it. I only really investigated the Cryptik site yesterday, perusing its postings.

Their prominent quote by Albert Einstein let me know why I had synchronistically kept this on file.

“The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and all science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed.” -Albert Einstein

It was yesterday, 11/10/2014, that I discovered this movie – the subject of this blog. “The Greatest Story of Our Generation“. I believe that this information is essential to understand; that it should be mandatory viewing! I challenge myself and everyone; to listen, watch and respond with action. It resonates so completely with my heart, intellect and spirit and embraces so much of the content that I have been writing about, that I had tears rolling down my face as I listened to it.

The Greatest Story of Our Generation” put out by “Films for Action”: A Learning Library for People Who Want to Change the World – is written by Andrew Dickson, directed by Louie Schwartzberg and produced by Lyn Davis Lear.

Narrated by Morgan Freeman (the sought after voice these days whose affect is one which invokes trust and respect) “The Greatest Story of Our Generation” is the story of the human journey at this critical moment in time. Of all the stories to belong to, this is the story to be a part of. Don’t watch it from the sidelines. Don’t wait for the experts to figure it out. Ask yourself: how can I become one of the weavers of the story? It’s a tapestry with 7 billion threads. What contribution do I want to make? If you’re not yet contributing to this story in some way, ask yourself why not? This is a story for everyone. See the video here.

Amazon Rain Forest 1975 2008 via Satellite

Amazon Rain Forest 1975 2008 via Satellite


In fact, the earth is not in danger, we are. Changing our actions and moving forward is the one thing that can prevent our extinction. Destroying our rainforests and evaporating our lakes is like dissecting a lung; depriving our bodies – our earth – of oxygen.

Our best chance for survival comes from continuing to imitate nature, drawing inspiration from its awesome power.

Consider mycelium, a mass of filaments beneath the soil that allow the natural world to distribute nutrients and information to be communicated without a central brain.

mycelium filaments from mushrooms

mycelium filaments from mushrooms

 

 

 

 

 

mycelium decentralized network of communicaiton

mycelium decentralized network of communicaiton

 

 

 

 

 

It is similar to how the internet functions. People around the world can communicate information with each other without it being transmitted hierarchically – top-down – from a centralized source.

internet network world wide web of communication

internet network world wide web of communication

I wrote about mycelium and how mushrooms can be a solution for the environment and economy in this former blog. http://digesthis.wordpress.com/2012/04/12/gross_domestic_problem_-why-measurement-of-wealth-depends-on-a-healthy-environment/

The message of “The Greatest Story of Our Generation” is that we have already contributed many designs from what we have observed in nature…It is still possible to redirect and save the world from ourselves. What is needed is a concerted effort.”

what is needed is a concerted effort

what is needed is a concerted effort

This isn’t a challenge that a few countries or world leaders can fix on their own, it is going to take ALL OF US – through actions large and small.

One day we will be asked, “What did we do?” We have never faced a crisis this big. This is our only home. You can choose today to make a world of difference.

What will you do?

faces from around the world up close

faces from around the world up close

 

 

 

 

faces from around the world further away

faces from around the world further away

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Become one of the weavers of this story.

Become one of the weavers of this story.

 

footage donated by the following

footage donated by the following

https://www.dosomething.org/facts/11-facts-about-poaching-animals

DoSomething.org is one of the largest orgs for people to participate in social change.  Here are 11 facts about animal poaching, with information on what you can do to take action and volunteer with millions of members to in their words, “make the world suck less”.

Do Something, 11 facts Poaching

Do Something – 11 facts about Animal Poaching

Here’s a link to explore the various campaigns that are existing today that you can join in. https://www.dosomething.org/campaigns

 

 

 

 

 

DoSomething Justice for Elephants Signup

DoSomething Justice for Elephants Signup

 

 

For information about your own carbon footprinthttp://timeforchange.org is all about personal growth and the meaning of life…not financially based goals or making purchases. As they say:

«Time for change» is about your life, your objectives and your decisions. We are convinced that basic human needs are the same everywhere and finally we all strive for the same thing:

•We want to be happy and satisfied • we want to be able to live our lives• without worries and cares.

If you don’t feel that you are there – this might just be the right time for change!

Because I am personally a HUGE animal advocate who appreciates all of life, I have included these links below, alerting people to various animals in danger due to poaching – because of ignorance and misconstrued ideas.

http://www.nytimes.com/video/opinion/100000003221222/gorillas-in-the-crossfire.html?emc=edit_th_20141108&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=21379859

"Gorillas in the Crossfire" Virunga National Park - Democratic Republic of Congo

“Gorillas in the Crossfire” Virunga National Park – Democratic Republic of Congo

Andre Bauma works with orphaned gorillas in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which has been in conflict since 1996. More than 140 park rangers have been killed protecting gorillas in the past 15 years.

You can view National Geographic Society’s 2013 Annual Report of what has been accomplished through their efforts.

http://www.takepart.com/article/2013/03/18/sloth-curse-cute

Tinka Plese is a Croatian woman who has been rescuing sloths for almost twenty years. She started this Sloth Sanctuary in Columbia, South America.

three-toed baby sloth at Columbian Sloth Sanctuary

three-toed baby sloth at Columbian Sloth Sanctuary

 

http://www.jaguarrescue.com

La Ceiba Reserva Natural  - Centro de Rescate Jaguar, La Ceiba Nature Reserve, Jaguar Rescue Center

La Ceiba Reserva Natural – Centro de Rescate Jaguar, La Ceiba Nature Reserve, Jaguar Rescue Center

Why does this matter? Because we don’t inhabit this planet alone.

http://www.joelsartore.com/galleries/the-photo-ark/

Greed & Profit-driven Aims to Protect Wealth & Power = Path of Destruction

This blog was incited by having read a comment on someone’s Facebook page, regarding a man’s decision to NOT give a TED Talk, because he wouldn’t be paid.

The idea of some kind of monetary compensation for presenting a TED talk never occurred to me. Of the many excellent presentations I’ve seen, shouldn’t the fact that one’s ideas are considered worthy enough to present them to an audience of potentially hundreds of millions of people, suffice? I was under the impression that the point of TED Talks is to spread ideas, for the good of humanity and all of the other species that cohabit this planet. Through the education and perspective I personally received through my family heritage and genetics, I have been granted a great deal of wealth; health, intelligence, analytical skills and an abundance of creativity. On top of that, I am physically fit, allowing me to move through this world unencumbered. I have education and knowledge, and the resourcefulness and curiosity to obtain more. Yet, I am teetering on the edge of financial poverty. Not because of poor planning, but because of my adventurous spirit combined with idealism, which leads to risk-taking. The wisdom I follow is from those who genuinely care about humanity and all of the other species with whom we share this planet. People like Albert Einstein, Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King, Jr., Carl Gustav Jung, Deepak Chopra among others, including the wisdom coming from Native American Indians and literary and spiritual guides from the Middle East and Asia. I wish to continually create possibilities to learn and develop my skills, to be the best that I can be in order to give something back to the world. Reading about a person complaining because the TED talk doesn’t pay the presenter, irked me. It made me stop everything else, to comment. It ignited the fuse of my annoyance regarding the injustices I see presently in the world today.

Our world is corrupted by money, and the greed and drive of people to make a profit and protect their power, no matter the consequences. It is the large, incorporated manufacturers of the world, those who have invested in the extraction and transport of non-renewable energy, telecommunications, technology, pharmaceutical industries and those who control information, that often are responsible for the careless and myopic profit-making, resulting in the path of destruction of the environment and eradication of many of the species. The imbalance of wealth, lack of education and instability of the planet (human industry-induced global warming) are all a result of this misplaced greed of a small percentile. The vast majority of people and species, are all suffering from overpopulation and economic misfortune, driven by sustained ignorance.

Many of the scientists, teachers, artists and people with creative insights and ideas who genuinely help to guide people and make the world a better place, are NOT the movers and shakers. Presently, the “leaders” of the United States government are not elected for their insight and desire to do good and justly represent the people, they are corporate sponsored actors who tug the line, speak the voice of those who place them in these positions, for an inflationary cost that is disproportionate to what democratically chosen elections should cost. In the world today, those who have more wealth, are more easily able to carve paths that slide around the rules that everyone else must follow, making deductions, avoiding taxes through all sorts of loopholes, while the vast majority are just getting by. I am absolutely disgusted with the idea of people protecting their wealth and power, at the cost of others.

Malala Yousafzai

Malala Yousafzai

Do you think that Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani girl who passionately wants to improve the condition of women in Pakistan, by voicing the right of girls to receive an education (which will ripple to affect many other parts of the world) who was shot by the Taliban because of her courage and honesty, is driven by profit? I could go on, but I’ll share this in another forum – my own blog, for which incidentally, I earn absolutely no money, but am driven by my own passion to recirculate ideas and events, purely because of their value and the wish to share. Thank fucking DOG, because even the concept of GOD, by most religions, has been distorted and compelled by those wishing to sustain their wealth and power.

The Science of Happiness – An Experiment in Gratitude | SoulPancake | Upworthy: Things that Matter

Since I’ve been blogging about happiness a number of times and then had the surprise and delight while living back in the United States to attend these college courses for several semesters at Lebanon Valley College in Pennsylvania – a consortium on the subject of “Happiness” – I’m very happy to share this with all of you. I’m really starting to like upworthy.com the more I receive the postings. This particular video made me cry, bringing tears of gratitude, to realize what is truly important in life. ‘-)

Soul Pancake is, in their words, a brain batter of art, culture, science, philosophy, spirituality and humor.

SoulPancake is, in their words, a brain batter of art, culture, science, philosophy, spirituality and humor.

According to this SoulPancake production, scientists have discovered that one of the overwhelming indicators of how happy you are in your life, is how much gratitude you show.

They did an experiment, and encourage you to do the same.

one of the subjects of the experiment

one of the subjects of the experiment

 

another subject in the experiment on gratitude

another subject in the experiment on gratitude

The experiment, conducted by SoulPancake, can be watched in this short video on the ‘Science of Happiness – An Experiment in Gratitude’, presented by upworthy.

I’ll have to test it out too! As the saying goes, we can’t choose our family or genetics, but we can choose what kinds of people we associate with and our ‘responses’ to situations. I choose to be around people who have tolerance, respect and gratitude along with sharing humor and joy in life. ‘-) Feeling self worth and recognizing one’s value, can be disfigured, if you hang around people who constantly criticize, or for that matter, completely ignore you. Listening to one’s intuition is very important, in terms of moving towards or staying away from people, in terms of how they respond to you. Ultimately, tuning in to what makes you happy and what you love to do most, reflects those things you do best, and the path that you should be following. Often what is truly worthwhile, what has value in life, are the simple things. It has little to do with material acquisitions or wealth, and everything to do with how much one appreciates the little things and how one navigates through the little decisions and circumstances. As a single female, I recently encountered a scenario in which I began sharing company with someone who I felt did not value my presence or company. Fortunately, the ‘red flags’ went up. I can’t be happier to go in the opposite direction, and enjoy being. Enjoy!

Earlier in the year, before even concretely making the decision to return to Berlin, I was also blogging about the Science of Happiness https://carolkeiter.wordpress.com/2013/05/07/tools-for-decision-making-freewill-astrology-the-science-of-happiness/

The blog links to the Futurist, featuring two articles having to do with the subject of happiness. One written by two psychologists, David G. Myers and Ed Diener on the “Science of Happiness”. The second is about Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s concept of the “flow” theory of happiness, in which he hones into the connection between creativity and happiness.

Following are two poignant quotes by Albert Einstein:

Imagination is more important than knowledge.”

The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift.”

Think about it and well, feel and digest what he means!

Love & Life | Documentary about Dian Fossey | Life Quotes to Act on

Tonight I did something unusual. After a full day of activities and finishing dinner at about 10pm, I turned on the television. Typically I’d prefer to play piano or bass guitar, go out to an open mic or chess night, or write…However after enjoying nature earlier in the day while doing some stuff that needed to be accomplished around the home, making sure that the animals and birds that make our yard (like a mini forest) their home were given ample water and seed, afterwards, I bicycled to the library to work all day on my book. On the way home, I visited a farm owned by Milton Hershey properties where I’ve met several of the care-takers over time, because I’m caught on their surveillance video cameras every time I stop there to visit the horses, a donkey donkey, and three cats which I’ve named: Goldie, Gordo and Groucho in this photo; from fore to background. Returning to this barn in 2014, I’ve sadly learned that Groucho has since died, hit by a car on the busy highway next to the property.golde_gordo_groucho_2

Yeah, so besides music and sports and writing and investigating things, I really do love animals.

It soon became clear why I ‘intuitively’ turned the TV on. I tuned in to a documentary “Gorillas in the Mist” about the American zoologist Dian Fossey played by Sigourney Weaver. Fossey studied gorillas in their habitat in the forests of Rwanda. She was initially encouraged by the anthropologist Louis Leaky and became one of the foremost primatologists in the world while she was alive.

Because I love animals so much and by the way studied ‘cultural anthropology’, I was mystified and mistified by the movie. Yeah, I made up the second word, because my eyes were tearing up during a lot of it. I could fully identify with Fossey’s love of the gorillas, instinct to protect them and fury over them being brutally killed just to serve as trophies for wealthy people. dian_fossey_gorillas

There is currently an illegal trade of endangered species which makes me ill. As you can read in this short segment about poaching in Africa “War Against Wildlife: Tusks and horns are no match for automatic weapons” in Sierra Club’s ‘Sierra Magazine’ July/August 2013, “Poachers are rapidly killing off Africa’s most iconic megafauna to make keychains and impotence cures.” They also mention that “wildlife poaching is highly militarized. Last year hundreds of Sudanese militiamen swept 600 miles south on horseback to slaughter 300 elephants in Cameroon. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, scores of elephants are being gunned down with automatic weapons fired from helicopters-some of them linked to the region’s national armies.” Here’s a photo of anti-poaching rangers and Congolese soldiers patrolling Garamba National Park-too late for this elephant killed for its tusks. Sierra_Magazine_shot_Congolese_anti-poaching_rangers The writer Paul Rauber also mentions that “the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species seems inadequate to deal with the crisis. Its decision in 2008 to allow African nations to legally sell more than 100 tons of stockpiled ivory to “accredited traders” in Japan and China revived what had been a moribund carving industry.”

Often Hollywood makes me ill as well, for different reasons. Each time a commercial came on to advertise some stupid made-for-TV show, I was irked as I hastily muted it and focused my attention on my computer screen. Yes, I was multi tasking – reading emails at the end of my work day. And no, I don’t have a ‘job’ with income, yet I am taking my work of writing and marketing my first eBook, very seriously. ‘-))

Yeah, so despite the fact that Hollywood does deliver some good material for sure, like this movie, I still snarl at a lot of the gimmicky stuff.

I wan’t so shocked at the end of the movie when Fossey was murdered, after seeing how personally involved she became in protecting these animals when in fact, she was encroaching on the livelihood and ‘habits’ that spread over several generations of the indigenous people who share their same habitat. I quickly looked Fossey up and sure enough, wikipedia states that the murder case was never solved.
Dian_Fossey_Art_of_Conservation
Point is, that I feel happy to have learned about her life, studies, about these creatures and just had an all around great day because I fully felt gratitude, enjoyment of communing with nature and animals, satisfied and thrilled with the writing I’m doing and just full of joy with appreciation of the simple things, riding a bicycle to commute, love nature and the animals I encounter and enjoy humans whom I meet as well. ‘-)

It was with this sense of feeling satisfied, that I happened to ‘bother’ to open one of the emails delivered to my inbox, which more often, I skip.

To explain, over the last years, in the process of trying to understand why I was drawn to stay in a relationship with a guy who was basically abusive towards me and critical more than supportive, I would investigate what it is about ‘me’ that caused me to devalue myself to this extent. In the process of trying to wrap my head around this and seek information, I’ve wound up ‘signing up’ to receive emails (in one of my email accounts) spanning topics on emotional health, codependency, narcissism, empowerment and well-being. In other words, in trying to fix ‘the problem’, I began to realize that it starts with fixing ‘oneself’. Over time I learned that I have to be accountable for my own actions and that I am ultimately responsible for my own happiness.

So even though in time I soon figured out that some of these (email saviors) are actually trying to entice the reader into ‘buying in’ to their system, there are genuinely some that deliver good messages.

I decided to share this one, because several of the life quotes’ I read were actually ones that I have heard and embraced before.

So here it goes, sponsored by ‘Its All About Women’ “Ways to LIve Life to the Fullest”

Sometimes, we just need to be reminded.

What are you going to do today to live life to the fullest?

Don’t wait ’till tomorrow to chase your dreams and goals. Because life is too short to just be a spectator…

Dare to be adventurous and step out of your comfort zone.

Notice the miracle of life in every moment, even the seemingly ordinary.

Chase your goals and dreams with discipline and determination, but never lose the childlike wonder that is thrilled by the ups and downs of the roller coaster ride.

Every day holds endless opportunities for you to participate in life, instead of just watching it go by.

some ‘quotes about life

• “Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far they can go.” T.S. Elliot

• “Life is either a daring adventure or it is nothing.” Helen Keller

Helen Keller quote Security does not exist in nature - life a daring adventure

Helen Keller quote Security does not exist in nature – life a daring adventure

Helen Keller quote character not developed in ease and quiet

Helen Keller quote character not developed in ease and quiet

• “A man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life.” Charles Darwin

• “There are only two ways to live a life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” Albert Einstein

• “We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.” George Bernard Shaw

• “Enjoy life. This is not a dress rehearsal.” Anonymous

• “The chief danger in life is that you may take too many precautions.” Alfred Adler

• “It is better to wear out than to rust out (fade away).” Richard Cumberland

• “Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it; boldness has genius, power and magic in it.” Goethe

• “Life, like a mirror, never gives back more than we put into it.” Anonymous

• “And in the end it’s not the years in your life that count, it’s the life in your years.” Abraham Lincoln

• “Life is a choice. Choose well.”

• “It’s the things that you ‘don’t do’ that you will regret.” Susan Sarandon

thanks for reading!

oh whatever, that's me the blogger c'est moi!

oh whatever, that’s me the blogger c’est moi!

By the way, I have so many things that I want to continue to blog about in addition to completing my eBook and beginning once again to compose more music, and yet, because I have no ‘funding’ or ‘sponsors’, I am barely able to keep afloat. Presently living in Berlin, Germany again, I have not even been able to pay all of my rent this last time. So I think I’m about to go off on that daring adventure “called life” into the unknown, since I will soon not really have a roof over my head. Therefore, hint hint, any donations will be accepted /-)) or if you know of billionaire, ask him/her to give me a little .001 %. Donate Button

the missing dimension | Quantum Consciousness |

In January of 2010, I blogged about an earlier ‘hitchabout‘, which I mentioned then, is a wordplay, aligned with the concept of the Aboriginal Walkabout.
During this hitchhiking adventure, a number of synchronicities took place. I recognized then, two repeated themes which surfaced during this journey. One of these was on the subject of Native American spirituality which came up repeatedly. One with respect to a dreamcatcher that was present which is a Native American legend. The other, my introduction to a hint of the concept of the changes that are taking place presently in the world, through a meeting which took place among North and South American Indians in 2003, with some of their insights captured in “The White Road“.

The other recurring theme was neuroplasticity.

In “The White Road“, the indigenous people describe that they are certain that not only is all past information of the universe stored in our bodies, but that we are constantly provided with new information from the Cosmos. It flows through us so that we can consciously perceive the information, tune into it and learn to understand it.

Within the concept of neuroplasticity, I mentioned to one of the driver’s a book written by a professor of Neuroscience, Antonio Damasio, “Descartes’ Error: Emotion, Reason, and the Human Brain“. In the process of formulating new thoughts or tasks, the neurons involved are not located in specific areas, but the brain creates convoluted neural networks spanning different lobes, encoded across different regions, depending on the different associations that are being built in the process. Ultimately, the author talks about the interdependence of emotions, in the reasoning process.

In the field of Neurology, it is understood that in the process of creating thoughts, and specifically, the essential nature of the meaning behind a thought, can not only expand our minds, but also in essence, affect the rest of our body, either beneficially or harmfully.

I mention these, because at the time of the writing, I was compelled to delineate a germinating theory of mine, explaining the how and why of incidents such as synchronistic events, precognition, ESP extrasensory perception, clairvoyance and telepathy as well as multiple discoveries…

I proposed then “that in the formulation of a thought that is taking place within my brain, and a similar meaning pattern that is outside of me; that those concepts, resonant in meaning and intent, intercept one another.”

But first, let me backtrack and relate one perspective that radically shifted my focus. My intention then was to make a point of the power of “thought”, until I read some words on the subject of thought by Sri Chinmoy. In this paper he distills the difference between ‘thought’ and ‘mind’, saying that the former is typically generated by the ego, involving ‘desire’ – among typically a lot of chatter and noise – and the latter, more to do with ‘aspiration’, typically involving silencing the mind and opening the heart.

With this in mind, allow me to introduce the missing dimension: “quantum consciousness”. I’ve rewired my theory, having been introduced to the work of a theoretical quantum physicist, Dr. Amit Goswami.

Deepak Chopra, an Indian American physician, states that “we live in the Age of the Higher Brain, the cerebral cortex that has grown enormously over the last few millennium, overshadowing the ancient, instinctive lower brain.” He has been among the pioneers of quantum medicine. However, it was from the writing of Amit Goswami, in his paper, “Signatures of the Divine“, that I learned of his concepts, and how they can be applied to illuminate my theory.

In the introduction to the paper, Amit says “This entire paper is an exercise in how to take the straightjacket of scientific materialism off our back.” Parallel to what the Native Americans stated in “The White Way”, with reference to the fact that “They perceive that at the present time, doors are opening to different dimensions, and as multi-dimensional beings, it is up to us to now move through them, and leave the prison of our limited consciousness behind.”

In the world of sub-atomic particles, a new dimension is introduced, unlike the causal laws in physics, in which the “observer” affects the outcome of that being measured. With respect to the ‘double slit experiments‘, (believe me I’m no physicist nor mathematician) within quantum physics, this link contains a basic explanation for the lay person like me, to get an idea of the terminology that Dr. Goswami uses.

The conclusions drawn in the double slit experiments, is that “the electron leaves the source as a particle, becomes a wave of potentials and interferes with itself when it hits the wall. This phenomenon is known as a wave-particle duality, the concept that matter and energy exhibits both wave-like and matter-like properties…The electron once leaving the source goes into what is known as superposition, (in which) the electron takes every conceivable and inconceivable path, through both slits, through one slit, through no slits rebounding against the sheet, around the experiment. However, upon measuring this, the wave function collapses, and is forced to go through a single slit; going back to behaving like a particle, no longer demonstrating the interference pattern of waves. Quanta, the discreet bundles of energy that basically, in the form of electrons or protons demonstrate not linearly moving from one energy level around the orbit of an atom, but jump; discontinuously appearing in this or that orbit.

In Signatures of the Divine, Amit “argues that quantum physics shows us the way, by giving us back downward causation and its agent—Quantum consciousness (popularly called God) acting through the observer. In Newtonian physics, objects are determined things. But in quantum physics, objects are possibilities for consciousness to choose from. When an observer looks, the observer’s consciousness chooses among the quantum possibilities, to collapse an actuality of experience. Quantum collapse is downward causation.” Upward causation would be for example, describing “a flow” experience, as occurring because of “muscle memory” or some other biological/chemical function occurring in the body.

My intent in correlating his concepts with my paper, is not to attempt to prove the existence of God; I have more of an allegiance with the concepts of the psychologist, Carl Gustav Jung, who coined the term “synchronicity” as well as “collective unconscious” and illustrated in his theories a world of archetypal images that are essentially meaning. I see the quantum aspects which Dr. Goswami alludes to – the “supramental”; as consisting of archetypes of meaning, describing what we experience when collapsed into biological functions as intuition.

Amit further states that “We create our own reality through quantum collapse involved in making an observation, but there is a subtlety in consciousness. We do not create reality in our ordinary state of consciousness, but in a non-ordinary state of consciousness.

Here is where the distinction between “thought” and “mind” arises, and where intention, coming either from conscious or unconscious processes, over-rules. Amit describes the results of the Nobel laureate physicist who first thought of the paradox of Wigner’s friend: Goswami stated that “After many decades, three physicists at different places and times, Ludwig Bass (1971) in Australia, myself (Goswami, 1989, 1993) at Oregon, and Casey Blood (2001) at Rutgers, New Jersey, independently discovered the solution of the paradox: consciousness is one, non-local and cosmic, behind the two people’s local individuality.”

Amit talks of the ‘speed limit’ imposed on the universe by Einstein, in which no thing can travel faster than the speed of light. “Quantum physics, besides discontinuity, gives us another amazing principle to operate with–non-locality. The principle of locality says that all communication must proceed through local signals that have a speed limit.” I concur, adding that thought is not limited by this, but instantaneous, moving from past, present to future. As you read, and actively think about what I’ve written, you will process the ideas through images you create. Creating new links from the outside, or drawing from within; memories, dreams and reflections of ideas. All of these imprint the screen through which you are looking.

However, Goswami, as well as Chinmoy specify a distinction between ordinary thought and a consciousness within which we are all enfolded. “Quantum non-locality is–a signal-less interconnectedness outside space and time… The situation is saved by the idea of unconscious processing, a part and parcel of the creative process. It is conscious processing that costs time.” He writes about this also in his book Quantum Creativity (Goswami, 1999).

My guess is that when you have a sudden flash of insight or intuition, that this is an a-causal, non localized, immediate apprehension or grasp of a concept; connecting the web of neuro synaptic connections within our brains, along with the entangled hierarchical relationships with events and people – experiences – outside. A leap occurs, discontinuously triggered either from outside or inside – it doesn’t matter – at which time the energy that is oscillating at the same frequency from both sources, coalesces. Sort of the same concept as having receptors in our brains that are similar to the chemical makeup of a substance outside of the brain, thus triggering the response. If the receptors weren’t there, there would be no perceived affect. And in the case of the subtleties of meaning and intent within conscious awareness, when a symmetry occurs with similar archetypes, a concept can be received and ignited, occurring as a sudden realization.

Even more elegant, perhaps information goes back and forth through a conduit like an umbilical cord, or worm hole, from what we see and perceive through our senses of matter, connecting with meaning structures, instantaneously, in another space-time, thus explaining the phenomena of intention manifesting in matter, and information received expressed as intuition.

What does this mean? In terms of free will vs. determinism, nature vs. nurture… both are true. Regarding the emotional/physical/mental aspects of a human being; your physical body is pretty much limited by your skin’s surface on the outside, though even this can be influenced and permeated by the mind. With respect to the emotional/mental sphere, ‘thought’ processes ‘appear’ to occur localized within the brain. Yet, regarding the ‘mind’ and the supramental, this is as much a part of a gigantic fabric of energy wave particles that permeate all of matter; and when one has the experience of a realization of an object of knowledge, without thought, it simply is there in the mind anew.

Just as our physical body contains miles of DNA, encoded with information from the past of all life, so does our conscious (potential), consist of an energy fabric of waves, in which we are immersed, and through which all archetypes of ideas, present as vibrating possibilities, like seeds of meaning omnipresent in all energy.

We only recently discerned that as the oceans that cover three quarters of the surface of the planet, our bodies are also made up of 75% water. And until also fairly recently in history, man did not have much of a grasp of what air is and what the earth’s atmosphere is made of, nor realized that much of the chemical make-up of our bodies consists of the same elements found within the soils and rock of our planet. Scientists still haven’t figured out why the mass of the universe, surpasses the weight of all of the planets in the cosmos, revealed through calculations measuring how fast the universe is expanding.

We are however creatures living within the limits of our world(s), with lots of ‘noise and clutter’ of information all around us, much of it we don’t need or use. Therefore, we remain more or less distracted and confined, within the world we perceive with our senses. Perhaps every thought or idea, discovery or invention, is part of a supramental | a priori | state of existence, in which all concepts have always existed, and it has been only through various triggers, that these became ‘conscious’ throughout mankind’s time on this planet; erupting among different people(s) during various times. Perhaps all “ideas/concepts” mathematical laws… already exist within themselves, and are the basic building blocks of consciousness; archetypes of truths which have always been present within the kernel of the entire ‘becoming’ of the universe. And this web of consciousness, present within the seed of all life that ever did and will happen; a blueprint not contained with a particular space-time location, but everywhere at once as a hologram of possibilities. An idea which could potentially be ignited, to collapse into an event, when the leverage occurs to unite the connection; of which the essential element must be a similar meaning. Meaning or intention, as energy in its purist form.

Therefore, when Native American Indians of the Amazon talk of being directly given information from indigenous plants upon ingesting them, or Aborigines ‘becoming’ or ‘dreaming’ the thing which they need to be connected to, this has nothing to do with the traditional material/linear way of thinking. This has to do with directly apprehending something, through a matching of intent. The intention, conscious or unconscious, transported and arched to the concept, via the ‘waves’ of emotion. A conception, is already present within the cells and systems of life on the micro level, within animals plants. So the world as we know it, with homo sapiens and their ‘brains’ at the top, is actually ‘upside down’. Humans are conduits to intelligence and highly sophisticated processes, that appear to be conscious, yet occurring readily and immediately, within the minutest fabric of life. We appear to be the last to ‘get it’. In a funny circular kind of way, science is finally showing the head of the snake, it’s tail.

As I was somehow coming to an intuitive conclusion, that the lines that I describe within my dream (in the caption of this worm hole diagram below)
are energy, no they’re space-time, then I thought, could they be all of these, and I linked to this information.

http://www.grandunifiedtheory.org.il/book/time01.htm

“The three media — time, space and energy — are waved together. Each has its own properties and behaviors, but one cannot exist without the others….Energetic activity means space and time…In space, different energy levels appear from time to time. Their activity brings about the appearance of swirls, which cause changes of time and space (phase transitions).”

The connection between “Space, Time, Energy & Matter” are discussed clearly for the layperson in this paper, in which Bernard Cloutier reveals the unfolding of our understanding, through scientific discoveries. In his description:

“Quantum mechanics deal with the way that energy exists only in discrete packets, or quanta, at the ultra microscopic scale of the fundamental building blocks of the universe rather than in the continuously varying amounts we are familiar with in classical physics. For example, the single electron of the hydrogen atom flies around the nucleus only in certain orbits that correspond to specific energy levels. The electron cannot occupy intermediate orbits but it can jump from one orbit to a higher or lower one by acquiring or losing a quantum of energy in the form of a photon.

Quantum mechanics describes how the electromagnetic force, the weak force and the strong force interact with matter. The model on which quantum mechanics is based uses the same idealized concept of dimensionless points used in the model of an ideal gas. It presumes that the fermions that make up matter (electrons, quarks and their antimatter partners), and the bosons that transmit energy (photons, gluons and weak gauge bosons), are dimensionless entities that differ only by their various attributes such as mass, charge and spin. ( Later, it became evident that a new concept called ‘string theory‘ was the only way to reconcile general relativity with quantum mechanics.)

According to this theory, fundamental particles are the manifestations of the vibration of extremely small regions of space, various modes of these vibrations giving rise to all the known fermions and bosons.

String theory eventually postulated the existence of six “curled up” dimensions in addition to the four “extended” dimensions we know, (right-left, up-down, front-back and past-future) to provide all the vibration modes required to give rise to all the known fundamental particles.

What does this last string of references have to do with my point about consciousness? That’s precisely it, consciousness is not a point from my ego localized here, and your ego localized area, but is a multi-dimentional interwoven mesh of energy waves, that together with sensory perceptions and awareness, which we (I and you) perceive as “subjective”, in so far as we are only consciously operating within the four dimensions of space-time. Consciousness is perhaps like a primordial soup of collective unconscious and/or a supramental reservoir; from which just as the DNA in every cell has the blueprint of the entire organism encoded within, our “mind” taps into this collective “consciousness”, within which we are contained. Consciousness is not ‘in our brain’, which can spin off all sorts of debris (some of you may think of my ideas as just that !-) called “thinking”, but a channel, tunneling into this multi-dimensional vibrating entity that encodes information regarding meaning which is implicit, to and from which we all have periodic lapses. ‘-)

Ironically, what has taken me 7 pages to describe (and still working on simplifying), Bill Hicks, the now deceased comic, was able to convey with humor and eloquence in 60 seconds, in the 8/8 part of a live show recorded, called Revelations.