EchoActivate | Education, Communication & Fun | Working Side-by-Side, Empowering through Participating | Cleaning, Reusing, Planting & Restoring Habitats for All Creatures | Global Climate Action Summit

If India was able to plant 66 million trees in twelve hours with a million + people side by side doing it, this same action could happen around the world towards any environmental movement.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/india-plant-66-million-trees-12-hours-environment-campaign-madhya-pradesh-global-warming-climate-a7820416.html

actions, EChOACTiVate

Word cloud of involved actions in EChOACTiVate

I meditate daily and ask the four forces – earth, air, water and plasma – practicing heart rhythm meditation. My intent is to carry my voice to peoples’ platforms I can participate in and for information and guidance to be carried to me. It’s an intuitive process of trusting in the intelligence and consciousness of the universal force. I feel that many things that appear to ‘happen’ serendipitously, arrive because of intention to connect to this information. Magic? Today, for the first time i clicked on and read this info from this community that I learned of while taking courses when living in Pennsylvania. Interfaith Power & Light: A Religious Response to Global Warming. I’d go to multidisciplinary talks with religious leaders from all these different faiths putting forth their viewpoint on various questions. Opening it, i found out about this, http://globalclimateactionsummit.org/. The Global Climate Action Summit happens to be taking place in San Francisco, September 12th to 14th. Just a week before the ccc reunion.

lets mots, les activité
pour EChOACTIvate

It seems to be an excellent place to continue to disseminate my idea. The idea started years ago, imagined actually right before the COP21 Paris climate talks, which I went to, to Paris for two weeks with 20 dollars.

Previously I named the idea Eco Revolution, then EcoActivate, because the first was taken.

https://carolkeiter.wordpress.com/2015/11/21/calling-for-echoactivate-partners-core-team-refugee-manpower-best-weapon-is-education-and-empowerment/

https://digesthis.wordpress.com/2015/11/21/calling-for-echoactivate-partners-core-team-corporate-sponsors-government-subsidies/

lo que tu puedes hacer con EChOACTiVate

The idea is to bring the information to the people, through a cyber portal of information, and a mobile unit that comes to a community with needs that people perceive or perhaps aren’t aware of at all, that they can then do together to clean up and build sustainable energy, transportation and to plant community gardens, bee and butterfly highways, plant trees and build animals bridges…

The idea is to bring people together in a celebratory, participatory way. With the knowledge they need to create, transform and participate in greening their own environment.

Education is the tool. People power is the engine.

was EChOACTiVate ist

was EChOACTiVate ist

WHAT CAN WE DO? | LET’S DO SOMETHING! | How can we Organize the Human Community?

Democracy is Dying and it's Startling, Few Worried, Paul Mason

Democracy is Dying and it’s Startling How Few are Worried Paul Mason

I have been in France just under a month. I found out not even two hours ago through a conversation on skype with my sister who lives in England and France, that during the time we were back in the United States of Apathy, that ICE (i hadn’t know what this was, i thought ICE was simply In Case of Emergency) However I learned from my sister today about the other version. (ICE) Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

I hadn’t known what ICE meant, I had to google it. http://www.newsweek.com/immigration-immigration-and-customs-enforcement-ice-donald-trump-628896

ICE had come into the town of Lebanon, PA into a catholic church on a Sunday, and rounded up dozens of people, probably mostly men, of darker skin, and packed them into a van to take to another town to sit in jail, awaiting trial, perhaps a 1 or 2 year wait.

Newsweek, ICE raid, Risk, Deportation

Newsweek ICE raid Who Is At Risk Deportation.

While visiting the USA just a month ago, my sister befriended a guy from El Salvador who stayed in the motel room next to her. He’s been in the USA for 25 years, has a green card and has several kids and a wife in Virginia. Presently he’s been in central Pennsylvania working in construction to support his family. He was one of the people rounded up and loaded into this van. My sister attempted to stay with him, holding his hand, went into the van, and the police officer warned her with a tone of reproach that she better get the hell out of there if she knows what’s good for her.

The El Salvadoran gave my sister his phone and the number of his wife to call in VA. My sister said that his wife was screaming when she heard the news. Her life support money-earner for herself and her kids, disposed of.

War Zone Desperate and Dead Mondediplio

War Zone Desperate and Dead Mondediplio

I knew nothing of this. I was just reading headlines last night about 500 people in Turkey under questioning or worse, for attempting to overthrow a dictator. I know nothing of this Turkey official and hadn’t read the story yet.

500 in court, Turkey Coup Attempt 2016, CNN

Nearly 500 in court Turkey Coup Attempt 2016 CNN

Yet I thought to myself, can not the world step in and change this situation? That was before I knew what was happening in the neighboring town while I was sleeping on a Sunday morning. WTF.

 

 

What can we do? Sit back, crack open a beer and hang out with friends, watch a TV show, get ready to arrange the schedule of picking up the kids from their practice…..when before our eyes a military dictatorship fascist embarrassment of a President is enforcing this sweep of people across the country who have been living and working here, taking jobs that Americans haven’t wanted, and who were brought here to do the dirty jobs that help our system to run efficiently, are suddenly afraid to leave their homes to go to the grocery store?

Stop Swooning over Justin Trudeau, Climate Disaster, Bill McKibben

Stop Swooning over Justin Trudeau Climate Disaster Bill McKibben

McKibben writes for the Guardian, “Yes, 173bn barrels is indeed the estimate for recoverable oil in the tar sands. So let’s do some math. If Canada digs up that oil and sells it to people to burn, it will produce, according to the math whizzes at Oil Change International, 30% of the carbon necessary to take us past the 1.5C target that Canada helped set in Paris.

That is to say, Canada, which represents one half of 1% of the planet’s population, is claiming the right to sell the oil that will use up a third of the earth’s remaining carbon budget. Trump is a creep and a danger and unpleasant to look at, but at least he’s not a stunning hypocrite.”

Out of Wreckage, A New Politics, Age of Crisis, George Monbiot

Out of the Wreckage A New Politics for an Age of Crisis George Monbiot

Monbiot writes, “A toxic ideology rules the world – of extreme competition and individualism. It misrepresents human nature, destroying hope and common purpose. Only a positive vision can replace it, a new story that re-engages people in politics and lights a path to a better world.”

What are we going to do?

Immigrants from Syria and other parts of the world, war/climate immigrants are escaping deplorable situations to come to the West, which has been living amply, to be treated with hostility and turned away with barbwire. Black market money to stuff people on rickety over-loaded boats, taking peoples’ life savings, to flee situations, only to find that the rest of the world is not helping to organize their safe transport.

This is very, very wrong. We can use the money from the enormous profits from banks, international corporations who make millions and billions in profit, to set up communities, and renewable energy enterprises to re-esatablish safe havens.

This is not right. We can’t read news and do nothing like it isn’t our problem. In some countries people are having 12 to 16 babies. A large part of the problem of GLOBAL WARMING/CLIMATE CHANGE IS due to over-population. We are sucking up the soil, destroying habitats of other animals who have a right to life.

Humans need to be accountable.

We need to be accountable for what is happening ALL OVER THE WORLD.

We Are Humanity Film, Jarawa documentary

We Are Humanity Film Jarawa documentary

We need to intercept. I’m sorry, but we need to educate and infiltrate, not remain passive, saying it’s not my problem. Not my problem if some people are cruel to other humans or animals or their actions are knowingly or unknowingly destroying the habitat and polluting some creatures’ environment.

I don’t think any living being can just sit back and let all this happen without having a conscience and wanting to help.

I don’t know where to begin, except for expressing this. I think the world needs leaders who will actually step in and shut Trump and other dictators down. People can divest – take their money out of banks and institutions that support dirty energy and dirty politics. There are numerous ways that people working together could SHUT DOWN OPERATIONS AS THEY ARE through organized actions like; those working in public transportation or truck drivers to not work for a day, or three…We can all work together, educate one another, demand new structures and create them together, IMMEDIATELY.

There are plenty of people with the wisdom and insights and contacts to know how to lead and guide a worldwide REVOLUTION. Not a violent one, a movement with people stepping out of their routines and giving a little time and effort and action to make their voice heard. We can’t let more dictators destroy peoples lives. We can’t let peoples religious beliefs just allow people to pop out 13 babies and pretend that it’s okay. We live in one world, one with limited resources. I refuse to just take on business as usual, and pretend that it’s okay for Mr. Orangehead Chump to push his grey suits around and whimsical notions of what he thinks needs to happen. It’s time for the fucking world intelligence, artists, teachers, scientists and leaders to step in. I still have to read about what’s happening in Turkey, or Venezuela, because I can’t keep up with all of it, but it just IS NOT OKAY ANYMORE, to think that “It’s not here next to me in my community, so it’s not my problem.” IT IS ALL OF OUR PROBLEM. WE NEED LEADERS WHO CAN STEP IN AND INTERCEPT, AGENCIES TO EDUCATE, GUIDE.

I thank all of the environmental, social, ecological groups who serve as watch dogs and educate the rest of us, but somehow, i think something much more brilliant has to take place to begin lighting up the whole world to working together. If we are the people – in a Democracy – choosing our leaders, then we should have the military industrial complex working with us, not in militarized suits, against us.

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Carol Keiter aka nomadbeatz welcomes donations for her writing, photography, illustrations, eBook & music composition

Carol Keiter the blogger on return hitch from Taos to Santa Fe, New Mexico

Carol Keiter the blogger on return hitch from Taos to Santa Fe, New Mexico

carol keiter blogger card

carol keiter blogger card

Nick Vujicic’s Empowerment message vs. Income Realities of Expat & DE’s Harz IV | Chomsky ‘Profit over People’

This is the second time I’ve encountered a video featuring this man’s message, an Australian motivational speaker, Nick Vujicic, who has no arms or legs, yet manages to make the most of every moment of his life. Nick_Vujicic_inspirational_speaker “We become so preoccupied with what we don’t have, that often we forget what we DO have.”

Kids responding to Nick's positive message

Kids responding to Nick’s positive message

Well, after seeing his message, being engulfed in my own sense of worth and well-being, concerned with how I’m going to make my next dollar, seems petty. Yet, after trying to screen (after putting out online ads) who is sincerely responding with legitimate offers for work and who is trying to scam me, it is rather daunting. The majority have been scams, from asking ‘how old I am’ – after listing my skills and offers for numerous types of honest work – to sending a pdf form asking for my bank account and yes, a signature to send back to them as well.

Per Nick’s video message, what is important in life is not how much money one has, or power, or beauty…but one’s attitude. Yet, I, as everyone else, am inextricably part of a matrix of what we’ve all decided is a currency, exchanging the work that we do. Living in a foreign country, in a WORLD in which ‘nationalism’ prevails, doesn’t make things easier. All the German bureaucracy ( no doubt all Western European countries & US ) put up roadblocks to offering one employment. Yet in the three months that I’ve been here, I’ve encountered a LARGE number of young, healthy capable people from 20’s through 50’s in age, who are willingly committed to the German Hartz IV program. They obtain money from the government while unemployed, ‘arbeitslosgeld/unemployement compensation’ and go through the motions (as if) they are looking for work – just enough – to keep this flow of money coming; just enough to pay rent and buy food. It turns out to be more attractive to some people (a substantial number of people), than to actually push ahead in the work force to develop their crafts. I’ve been informed that this is not at all representative of the rest of Germany, but predominantly happening in Berlin. Reflecting Berlin’s unique history as an island of capitalism existing within the clench of a Soviet dominated fist.

Besides the fact that many inhabitants of the developed world have comparatively a great deal of wealth, at the same time, many of these people have a lot of ‘issues’. Issues which lead to unhappy, unfulfilled lives, resulting in various addictions and distractions. We live in a finance, commercially driven time with a lot of brain-washing, regarding what to strive for. A world which holds up false/photoshopped images and ideals of beauty and promises from material acquisition and power. Messages which are based on false ideals, to stay on top of the game, that actually lead to pitting people against one another. Nick’s point, is to forget about feeling ‘not good enough’. There will always be people who are drop dead gorgeous, or with incredibly brilliant minds, others with fabulous wit, extreme dedication…to compare ourselves to. Yet, each of us has something to offer through our love and genuine joy of doing what we love. Our responsibility is to follow our hearts and find what it is that we love to do, and therefore do well, to offer to others.

To me, seeing all of the kids listening and receiving this man’s message, is wonderful. It reminds me that we do all genuinely feel better when we are kind and compassionate and loving, and can care for what another human being feels. And we all do feel better exchanging positive energy and prompting smiles in others. This has absolutely nothing to do with how one looks or how much money one has in their bank account. Because yes, it is each and every one of us that have the gift of life, and we forget just how precious this is. Nevertheless, I still have to make 150 euros in 2 days, because I am challenging myself to do it. I am also down to no milk, no vegetables or fruits, used up the potatoes, the oatmeal is gone, still ample onions and garlic left. Great that I drink a lot of water primarily anyway, rather than buying anything else. ‘-)) I don’t know if I just love a challenge. Or, if by genuinely following my heart and speaking what I feel, is so against the grain of the consensus of modern society, that not to accept these ideals, appears to be naive and foolish. I say consensus in the context of Noam Chomsky’s messages about ‘Neoliberalism and the Global Order’ excerpted from his book “Profit Over People”. “The “principal architects” of the neoliberal “Washington consensus” are the masters of the private economy, mainly huge corporations that control much of the international economy and have the means to dominate policy formation as well as the structuring of thought and opinion.Chomsky has been a highly influential academic figure throughout his career, and was cited within the field of Arts and Humanities more often than any other living scholar between 1980 and 1992. His work has influenced fields such as artificial intelligence, cognitive science, computer science, logic, mathematics, music theory and analysis, political science, programming language theory and psychology.

This stage will pass, but it is now a bit scary

Halloween Geist

Ghost Figure for Hallowee

 

 

 

– good thing that Halloween is coming.

 

Scary halloween pumpkins

Carved Halloween pumpkins

Synchronicity experiences within ‘delight’ of | Deepak Chopra’s Seven Principles of SynchroDestiny |

I dedicate this blog to Jason Sneed, a self-declared chameleon. Jason SneedA California Bay Area native whom I met when I lived in San Francisco.  I met him at a cafe one afternoon in North Beach, the Italian neighborhood. He was handsome and sophisticated, chiseled features and a broad smile framed by a wide-brimmed hat. His eyes had a perpetual gleam of amusement. We talked for hours. He was carrying a laptop in his backpack, which I would later discover, he did relentlessly. His fluid creativity lapped waves of insight onto me.

I believe that one reason that I haven’t ‘finished’ and uploaded this blog, for months, is that the synchronistic events keep happening, and affecting the outcome, with their new twists in the evolution of the subject of this article.

When I’d started, prior to my earlier laptop computer ‘blacking out and ceasing’ on the morning of the SOPA/PIPA internet blackout, when I’d been furiously blogging about it and sending out alerts, I was still hung up, so to speak, on the reasons why I’d fled from Berlin in the first place.  Now, as new synchronicities literally have been tumbling into my life to introduce my consciousness to ever new fresh perspectives, the content of the blog have correspondingly evolved.  Just as spring has displayed new life peeping out from beneath old leaves and sticks brushed away from the winter debris, so have new clarities pierced my view, and displayed fresh insights.

In fact, these synchronicities have been occurring at ever increasing rates.  This tells me that I’m on the right track.  In the last 24 hours, I read an article in “The Economist” describing the laborious, dense clutter of too much legislation in the American political system “Over-regulated America”, which causes the new regulations, to be buried under too much debris.   “When regulators try to write an all-purpose instruction manual, the truly important dos and don’t are lost in an ocean of verbiage.”  I realized that often my own style of writing is similar; the delicate points are cumbersomely buried pages into the essay, where many people won’t find them because they don’t have the time or patience to read that far.

Ah, so living and learning and accepting criticism, I’ll spill the fruits into the beginning ’-))
I no longer have to dig up the unpleasantries of a relationship that wreaked of the dance of the codependent-narcissist.  I am finally cutting the chords, and no longer need to bother to look for a response from someone not capable of delivering it.  http://www.narcissismdailymirror.com/2011/01/narcissism-and-perfect-affair.html  Whew!  and I will only gently remind you of my posts on happiness and oxytocin, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxytocin of which I’m sure I’ll be writing more about, since a new local colloquium will be on the subject at a nearby college. This was the post in which I talked a bit about this topic. http://digesthis.wordpress.com/2012/02/03/happyness-making-the-best-of-what-you-have/ Those with the inability to secrete oxytocin, have the inability to feel empathy; therefore, it is linked to sociopathy, psychopathy, narcissism and general manipulativeness.  Another hint sprung up to illustrate perhaps why this narcissistic ex-partner sedated and distracted himself perpetually; with alcohol, weed, television, computer gaming … and why he rarely was able to give much more than grief. I tiptoed in his world, and he became more disengaged with me, as his annoyance level rose.  It was finally through the suggestion of a British acquaintance of mine in Berlin whose opinion I respect, who told me (as many people had) to extract this person completely from my consciousness.  He warned that if I didn’t do this, I will never truly be able to focus all of my creative projects or focus on my self, to blossom.  He also re minded me, that if I don’t follow my intuition and return to spend quality time with my parents, I will regret it forever.   His words resonated so perceptively, that I knew that I must do as he suggested, to leave the latitude and longitude where I hovered, waiting in vain. By moving away from the place (physically but mostly emotionally I was clinging to) I extracted myself from all my distractions, endlessly going out in a city that doesn’t sleep, and have returned to this place of deep nurturing and coming to the inside – full stop.  The rest is history.

I’ve always been interested in consciousness, and was drawn to Carl Jung‘s concept of synchronicity, after having a number of experiences which played into my real life.  I had introduced the concept several years ago in one of my first accounts of a hitchabout – a hitchhiking adventure – in Europe.

https://carolkeiter.wordpress.com/2011/03/09/the-missing-link-quantum-consciousness/

And wrote about the concept again, in which I elaborated on earlier synchronicity experiences which took place while living in Washington D.C. in the United States.

https://carolkeiter.wordpress.com/2011/04/14/holograms-of-meaning-consciousness-frequency-shift/  Ironically, that’s where I went to visit just weeks ago, where new tintillating synchronistic experiences ushered new realizations my way, in a way introducing to me on another level, the healing that was part of my current trek, inwards.  My friend who is a certified kundalini yoga instructor, re-introduced to me what I needed, to step away from being dominated by too much thinking, and stretching and expanding my body and consciousness to a level beyond thought.

Ironically, I recently came upon this again, now borrowed and re-defined by Deepak Chopra, in his term “synchrodestiny”.  Chopra describes his seven principles of synchrodestiny, and writes that we really underestimate the extent to which we literally create the world around us.

I mention more synchronistic experiences in this blog as well.   https://carolkeiter.wordpress.com/2011/03/30/spring-soltice-11-hitchabout-there-are-no-accidents/ And after having skimmed through this, I realized that I mentioned someone in the text whom I just read something about days earlier, seemingly randomly, Wayne Dyer, not talking this time about ‘intention’, but about ‘manifesting’.

http://www.beliefnet.com/Wellness/2003/10/Coincidences-Clues-From-The-Universe-By-Deepak-Chopra.aspx

http://www.crystallotus.com/Synchronicity/01.htm

Deepak Chopra elucidates that “There are messages everywhere around you to guide you, if you’re open and willing to move in the direction of understanding and growth, and listen to them. Some things in my life, are completely conscious and planned out, whereas others are intuitive, coming from an awareness that isn’t exactly stamped out and demarcated.”

Chopra says, “When a coincidence arises, don’t ignore it.  Ask yourself, What is the message here? What is the significance of this?  He says that you don’t need to go digging for the answers, because simply by asking the question, the answers will emerge. They may arrive as a sudden insight, or something very different. Perhaps you will meet a person who is somehow related to the coincidence that occurred.  It may be an encounter, a relationship, a chance meeting, a situation, a circumstance – that will immediately give you a clue to its meaning. …  The key is to pay attention and inquire.”

http://www.allaboutprosperity.com/articles/dchopra-synchrodestiny.htm

He describes in this preceding link seven principles of SynchroDestiny.

1)  The existence of a Conscious Energy Field; the underlying intelligence that gives rise to my body and yours and the universe as a whole.
2)  Understanding how human relationships operate in terms of Creating Cosmic Connections; in that the ability to create positive human relationships is fundamental.
3)  Mastering your Inner Dialogue, and recognizing the fact that it is the heart and mind that control external reality; if there is something that you can not find/achieve, it is because there is something within you that is preventing you from finding what you want or need.
4)  Penetrating the Conspiracy of Improbabilities means learning to recognize meaningful coincidences and seeing them as opportunities.
5)  Once we understand that external reality can’t be separated from internal reality, and that the universe is our extended body, it is clear that it’s necessary for each of us to Harness Emotional Turbulence, in order to transform negative energy into a higher level of awareness.
6)  Learning to Use the Infinite Organizing Power of Intention, which requires letting go of the idea that the universe is an inert machine, and realizing that the force within ourselves such as intention, is just as real as that of gravity or electromagnetism.
7)  Celebrating the Cosmic Dance is about synchronizing the series of experiences that emerge from your Conscious Energy Field with the universe.  Finding the connection between how we live our lives and the way that the universe works, so that we’re living in harmony with that connection.

I personally have been having a flood of experiences and connections with new insights that continue to guide me and perk up my attention to new ways of seeing, and am confident that all of this will unfold and reveal to me my path.  I simply need to listen to what surfaces – these details will make sense and enlighten me personally, as those which come into your life will reveal insights to you.

The French say, bon courage, which translates as ‘good luck’.  Yet, it is not merely stating this. Literally, it is saying have courage, have faith, as this trusting-the-voice-within, is infinitely more powerful than luck!  As many of my friends say, “There are no accidents!”

 

a new chapter of de.light at the end of the tunnel

After being so exhilarated with my recent quest and adventure, and wanting nothing more than to devote my full attention, time and energy to describing and adding to it, ultimately, life got in the way. My present only source of income, after having been cut off from an earlier employer who had subsidized my housing – which afforded me the luxury of time to devote to my own writings – I have had to throw all of my time and attention into making my living. That is, I do business writing, on the topic of consulting. I learn a great deal through the subject matter which I write about, however, I’ve calculated that since my aim is quality rather than quantity, and I am paid per page, my income works out to about 4.50 euro/hour. In other words, it relegates very little time for me to concentrate on any of my other pursuits; of doing outdoor physical sports, writing my blog(s), my children’s book, playing bass guitar and composing music; all which in a perfect world, would and should have priority!

Part of de.light at the end of the tunnel, was the awakening recognition of how I was robbing myself – through the relationship I was devoted to – of celebrating myself & the pleasure of living life devoted to creativity to the fullest. I have realized during this process of awakening, that in fact, I am the only person responsible for the choices that I have made, which have lead to me continually being beaten down and not valued. I have therefore decided to share this letter I wrote, which in itself, is part of my process, of trying to understand, why I chose to commit myself to a person who didn’t value me. I am trying to finally resolve, a series of unfulfilling and unsupportive relationships, with the attempt to break the trend and my own tendency, to keep jumping back into the fire. As my dear father says: I’m like a moth attracted to the flame. Maybe some of this is the adventure of a conquest, but it is rather, a thinly disguised self-loathing, of never feeling that I’m good enough. It’s about time to resolve it and move on, and to start shining the light from within. I share this very personal letter to my ex-flame ha! the irony in that choice of words! I promise to once again continue with stories of my last adventure, and more to come. It appears that Carol the ex-patriot, is about to return from Berlin, Germany to the States, to continue my adventures from there. And if I play the cards right, I will be bounding on even wider adventures – with the help of financial security through grants and sponsors – to assist and support my ability to devote 111% of my precious life’s time towards doing what I passionately love to do the most, and which I do best.

the end of the last chapter:

To the ex-flame,

As usual, I wrote a long email to you, but decided to rewrite this instead. I have already told you many times the things that gratify ‘you’ and what I loved about what we shared. However, there are many things that I did not like, and which I tolerated. I mostly felt very alone, isolated and neglected during our relationship. There was a part of you that I completely respected, a voice that spoke with authority….But that’s not the point here, this isn’t about you, it is about me.

I have not loved and adored ‘myself’. Deep within myself, I have never felt that I deserved love, or that anyone could love me. That’s why I got together with you, and returned again and again, for you to mirror this self-loathing, right back to me! You reflected with your behavior, anger, disappointment, criticism, disrespect, annoyance and disgust with me, exACTly what I felt about myself and what I felt I deserved in life.

At times you may have thought that you saw someone who is confident & arrogant, who appears to know it all, who is fearless and adventurous,
but the other side of this
is a woman highly critical of herself, not confident, and feeling replaceable by anyone.

I was like an object on the periphery from the start when you were together with K. and even when you were ‘together’ with me. You rarely included me in your life or wished for me to know you, or wanted to get to know me. You didn’t value me, support and appreciate who I am and what I do, rarely wanted to spend time with me alone; to go swimming, hiking, traveling together, go on adventures, to go ‘out’ to art & music events, dancing, or even to take time to talk about life.

Hidden there, barely visible, is me, who at times feels attractive, graceful, intelligent, talented, patient, creative, devoted, faithful, compassionate, loving… Every once in a while you would see this part of me, and I think you hated seeing me confident; assuming that I act like I know everything and only want to take advantage of everyone.

It’s true that I am selfish, fearful & not very generous, believe me, I know my negative attributes! I have an addictive personality and such feeble self esteem burning beneath the flicker of confidence and superiority, that I chose to be with you, as you beat me up emotionally and physically.

I have to forgive myself, for incessantly giving all of my power and devotion to you, instead of honoring myself.

all the best,

carol

Italian Hitchabout August 2011 | de.light at the end of the tunnel |

I’ve never passed through so many tunnels en route to anywhere in such a short period of time … wow, northern Italy and Switzerland, what a delight.

I calculated that I hitched a total of 3955 km = 2,457.523 miles ‘-) Flawless (when you’re only looking from the positive point of view of everything ‘-) and lots of fascinating encounters with lovely geography and people!

This journey was a personal evolution, moving with intention & zeal towards, rather than away, from something. The paths I choreographed and the surprises & synchronicities that arrived along the way, all had something to teach me.

-.-.-.-.-.-
I made the decision to finally make my way to Italy, with the particular aim of seeing Rome for the first time. Wow, what a pleasure. It was a great experience for all of the senses. I hadn’t had much time, but definitively got a taste. I now have a list of places and people to visit, when I roam back to Rome again. For example, recommended by a pleasant and smart couchsurfer, Leprotto Reale in Reggio Emilio:

Towns not to be missed because of their historic significance or beauty, or both.

Near Reggio Emilia:

Canossa
Castell’Arquato
Colorno
Carpineti

On the route from Reggio to Rome:

Gubbio
*Assisi
*Siena
Pisa
Perugia (In July the Umbria Jazz Festival takes place in this town, featuring artists such as Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, B.B. King, Pat Metheny and others)
Urbino
Orvieto
Viterbo (near Rome)
Arezzo (the town where Roberto Benigni filmed “La Vita è Bella”)

The trip was planned and anticipated through primarily the tools and communities on the internet.

I applied my membership in http://www.couchsurfing.org to seek out hosts along my way. I used http://maps.google.com | get directions | to plan my route; isolating strategic towns that could be interwoven into my direction, south to Rome. This was after I had already arrived from Berlin to the South of Germany in Baden-Württemberg.

Berlin to near Tübingen, Germany

From southern Germany, my first stop was Torino/Turin with a great couchsurfing host, Stefano, after he responded positively to my request. He introduced me to another couchsurfer, who happened to be a friend of the other couchsurfer in Reggio Emilio, whom I had already confirmed was my next planned second stop. As my brief letter to her mentioned I was south of Torino staying with a host in Chieri, Piemonte, Italy, she realized that she was familiar with the name. Turns out, she knew the friend of the man hosting me, whom I met the next evening, and two women were sms’ng one other about me the American couchsurfer.

A number of photos are of my visit with this second couchsurfing host, Giovanna in Reggio Emilia. She happens to be in the hospitality community professionally. She runs a bed and breakfast which she renovated. The property had been owned by her deceased grandfather. It had been a vineyard, and still is. It is producing grapes, though not using the ancient tools and materials that were used to produce the wine back in her grandfathers’ time. She has preserved these antiques and incorporated them into the lovely setting, grounds and interior of the casa. Giovanna was a fabulous host, and I recommend the place for those of you who may wish to travel through the area and get a taste of the beauty. The place is like a New Mexico style hacienda, the land and mountains to the south magically reminded me of the beauty of northern New Mexico. Reggio Emilia is a lovely town, known for it’s high quality opera. Giovanna’s grace, savvy, perceptive and direct nature made for the beginnings of a genuine friendship. She introduced me to the town of Reggio Emilia, and to a number of interesting people, most of whom are local couchsurfer members. Her bed and breakfast website:
http://www.casaledeinoci.it (for sms or calls +39 349 4505233)

My plan was to follow the route that google mapped out for me

but the rest was then left to serendipity/synchronicity, in terms of being stopped by the police on the inception of my second hitching trek which diverted my route as well as the various different people I met along the way. I hadn’t known that hitching – even standing on the turf of the restaurant/gas stations – is forbidden, adjacent to the major highways. Instead of heading south via Florence/Firenze to Roma, I was now riding with a pair of truckers who were heading East to Pescara on the Adriatic coast. One of the truckers witnessed the police basically kicking me out of the property, and as soon as the police were driving away he interceded, waving me towards their truck to accompany them. If I hadn’t already been talking in Spanish for a while with a friendly Cuban woman who worked at the station, she perhaps would not have let me back through the locked gate to the inside, where she was throwing out trash at the same time as the police were driving away. At this point one of the truckers had now approached the fence.

To be continued! and probably even the text I’ve written so far edited!! More to come, this ride with the truck drivers from South Italy, Pescara, the Moroccan 5 star restaurant and my introduction to the 5 points of the Muslim religion, Rome & my tour guide who enriched the quality of my experience there, more random events, the tail end of the Zurich street fest (electronic music) and more of the ride back.

Berlin to Mössingen 693 km
Mössingen to Torino Italy 594 km
Torino to Reggio Emilia 338 km
Bologna to Pescara 361 km
Pescara to Rome 208 km
2194 km

Rome, Italy to Mössingen, Germany 1,064 km
Mössingen, Germany to Berlin 697 km
1761 km

3955 km total = 2,457.523

Merely pause with your mouse over the images, to see the title text of the pictures.

I will happily & humbly accept donations supporting the evolution of my art, via the PayPal portal. As yet, I have no sponsors ‘-))
PayPal mail to: carolinberlin@dbzmail.com
BLZ/Routing Number: 322 271 627

Narcissistic Reading | Entertainment Culture |

I like this article featured in UTNE READER, “Narcissus Regards a Novel”, excerpted from a paper by Mark Edmundson from The Chronicle of Higher Education May-June 2011.

http://www.utne.com/Great-Writing/Narcissistic-Reading-Entertainment-Culture-Diversion-Industry

Spring Solstice ’11 Hitchabout | There are No accidents |

It’s taken a while to write about this, but as the title suggests, I had to absorb a few other pieces of information and experiences, which have effectively contributed to the telling of this tale.

An interesting aspect of the beginning of my hitch, is that from within moments of approaching my “starting point”, the clouds burst into a sudden downpour of rain. Ha, nice timing, I thought. I was amused with this, and also relieved to know that there was ahead a bridge under which I could stand, and still be next to the flow of traffic. Though it took a substantial (to the point of ridiculous) amount of time to get the first ride, as in a previous hitch, it was with people who had organized a ride online via mitfahrgelegendheit.

The driver and rider were going to Stuttgart, which was written on one of my signs. Seeing this, they spontaneously decided to include me in on the ride. This would take me 9/10th of my way! Getting to my destination involved only two rides. The second driver went out of his way to bring me precisely to the doorstep, of my destination.

I like to make a friendly play on the letters of the signs, by forming a kind of smiley face with the umlaut.

The return trip was more consequential, I found. Of course, everything one experiences, has to do with the way one chooses to interpret it. Though it involved 4 times as many rides and took me hundreds of kilmeters out of my way, it introduced a lot more information which I deemed relevant and actually, life changing.

Now wait, first the context. I was leaving a guy [drum roll or yawn] with ambivalent emotions – sadness, hopes and fears – whom I have adored, who isn’t exactly reciprocal in his admiration of me.

The first ride which occurred promptly within two minutes; a tall, handsome, fashionably dressed guy in sleek leather pants; warm, smiling, driving a British car which I noticed had a very cool interior design. Often I don’t notice dress or the exterior of machines, unless something is outstandingly beautiful or ugly. ha! Talkin’ about the material world. Michael, born in the vicinity, was on his way to work as a speech therapist. He was pleasant, and we had a nice conversation in that short duration of time until he was heading into Stuttgart, beyond a reasonable place to drop me off.

The next ride, who fortunately stopped at a rather inconvenient place, was Caner. I have to point out, that I get a lot of double and triple takes from the pedestrians who are not accustomed to seeing someone hitch hiking. I enjoy looking at the people commuting on bike, strolling of all ages, backgrounds. Though Caner was heading as well into Stuttgart, I spontaneously opted to get in the car, figuring I’d deal with where he would let me off, when the time comes to make that decision. He was also handsome, around the same age as the last driver, early 30’s. He’s was as distinctively ethnic, as he was well dressed and polished looking. Of Turkish decent, Caner is an insurance broker, whose German based company deals with high-risk. We also had a pleasant conversation the whole time. I’m interested in a lot of things, and have learned bits and pieces about a lot of topics; having lived in a lot of places and worked in jobs ranging from; being a sous chef and waitress in restaurants in Washington D.C. to slinging out lattés in espresso bars, to working in the administrative end of finance and industrial utility companies during the years I worked peripherally in the corporate world in San Francisco (temporarily an Executive Assistant in Charles Schwab) to teaching skiing. At the Ski Valley in Taos, New Mexico, my workday started in the glaring snow within pristine mountains at an elevation of about 9,500 feet = 2895 meters. By the way, it was while working at Taos Ski Valley that I saw a sign hanging on the wall, which has indefinitely been a theme in my life which I’ve wanted to aspire to ” Make your work your play, and your play your work”.

Though I have been warned previously about ‘getting stuck in the middle of Stuttgart’ or any city for that matter, as opposed to remaining on the highway en route to one’s destination, I followed Caner’s judgment. Upon leaving him, I walked over to the other side of the street, within the city perimeter, but close to the edge, at a point where the entrance to the highway was not that far removed. He’d seen other people hitching there, it has a place for people to pull over. I had a nice view from this hill, looking into the town beyond.

By virtue of a previous hitchhiking trip, I had studied and memorized (via a German atlas) all of the German States/Länder and some of the cities residing in them.

It was sunny, relatively mild, and I was, so I’m told, in the most conservative city and state in Germany. I didn’t let that dissuade my spirit. In not too long of a time, a woman with a smiling face pulled over. Gaby, Gabriele, was warm, friendly and had a sparkle in her voice; a delightful spirit. She explained she was on her way to a point on the highway where she could let me off, yet actually in the direction of Munich, southeast. I wanted to go north. I didn’t care, I took the ride to get out of the town. This proved to be a pivotal ride, in that she spoke about a lot of things that were quite relevant to what I had been feeling and ‘going through’. As two females together, we drifted into the topic of ‘relationships’ and the emotional aspects of life; as opposed to business and commerce!

I eventually informed her why I was there, and as I started to go into a few more details about my relationship, she responded to certain things I mentioned with a lot of comments. She elaborated about her own experiences in a previous relationship. Basically, without prying, but just responding honestly, the conversation started drawing out a lot of my emotions. In my fatigued state and within just hours of leaving my friend, tears started to well in my eyes. I felt that it was uncanny that this woman and her messages, which resonated as quite enlightening, had suddenly appeared. I pointed out to her that I appreciated what she was expressing and felt that it was strangely synchronistic in timing, that she picked me and had so much to contribute with her insights. To this she responded, “there are no accidents”. I believe she was coming from a Christian perspective, which mirrored my own spiritual one; believing that intention attracts that which will reflect it. Her points, after revealing ‘herstory’ as opposed to ‘history’, was that a person must first love him/her self, before being able to love someone else. And that it is each of our responsibility to follow the route which allows us to be happy. She pointed out that I appear to have “a high tolerance for suffering”, which is an exercise in futility, in a world designed for us to aspire to be happy and fulfilled, as a measure of well-being.

There’s nothing cool or admirable about resisting this, because a person can not inspire, help or serve other members of the human community, if he/she isn’t aiming to be at his/her best and feeling their best, physically and emotionally. Incidentally, this specific point was talked about in this video I just checked out, a PBS feature of Wayne Dyer talking about “The Power of Intention

Speaking of intention, the next ride was with a young man, Dieter who lives in Munich. At this point, I was without question, heading south and east, going several hundred kilometers out of my way. Rather than getting closer to Berlin, I was on my way to Munich, in Bavaria. Dieter talked continuously. Said that he had decided at the age of 25 that he better start concentrating on how he was going to make his living in this world. He then moved to Munich/München, the financial and publishing hub of Germany, with the intent of finding work. Starting with a job at a “call center” after moving to this wealthy business center, he subsequently changed jobs and applied the skills he learned to work within the call center department of the large US technology firm, Insight, which works adjacently in the same technology solutions as Microsoft. He recognized while working there, the corporate, culture clashes between the American company and the German ways of doing things, and bounced out to start his own company. As the geschäftsführer / managing director of his company, it proved to be so successful in establishing contracts for businesses, installing Microsoft systems, that the giant Microsoft itself, was forced to contend with this little player. They negotiated a contract with his company, in order to participate rather than compete, in their European business strategies and operations. He is young, proud and now has 17 employees, doing what he loves as the primary sales person.

With respect to business sales, he talked of the need to not only establish a rapport with the administrative department directors, but specifically with the technical liaison person, who with their technical knowledge and expertise, is the primary ‘obstacle’ – the person to convince that implementing this system is worth their while. Dieter spoke enthusiastically the entire time, and wound up driving me through the heart of Munich to take me to a place on the autobahn north of the city on the A9, where all traffic will lead to points north. The great thing, is that now I had a personal tour guide who was able to elaborate on the various architectural icons, which are at the core of this city’s history. Having missed the skyline of palaces and religious institutions, instead my attention was drawn to business and commerce architectural feats we were driving by. “The Olympic Stadium“, a vast tent like structure which was the site of the 1972 Summer Olympics. The tower of the “BMW Headquarters” and “BMW Museum”. The new sports facility, “The Allianz Arena“, which lights up in the evening with a color corresponding to which ‘home’ team is playing there that night. As an aside, funny how sports arenas are branded with the financial God (Dog spelled backwards) who forked out the money, i.e. the stadium in San Francisco, CA is “AT&T Park”.

Munich is home to several professional football teams, including FC Bayern sports club. This stadium was among those central to the World Cup in 2006. The stadium looks like a big padded bubble, branded throughout with Allianz who funded it. “Allianz’s” global headquarters is based in Munich. It’s ‘the’ insurance company of insurance companies; which insures, insurance companies. 😉 Not bad, in terms of prestige among the heavy-weights in the multinational court. With a global presence and certainly many subsidiary off-shoots, they are the second largest international insurance and financial services organization in the world. I just read that Allianz AG was founded in Berlin in 1890 and shifted its headquarters to Munich in 1949. Uhh, and there’s some bad press in wiki alluding to Third Reich affiliations.

Well, as it is March, I missed the Oktoberfest and Hofbräuhaus, signatures of this town…and hadn’t known that Siemens is based there. Nor had I realized that the “Max Planck Society” is headquartered in Munich, with dozes of institutes in the city (from astrophysics to biochemistry to quantum optics), and branches all over Germany as well as in Rome and the US. Incidentally, Max Planck is considered the founder of quantum theory.

This brings me circling back to Wayne Dyer, who in his presentation regarding his book “The Power of Intention”, mentions two people who influenced him; Max Planck and Carlos Castañeda. Carlos Castañeda influenced me as well, when in fact, I once decided not to continue with a university course in Economics, because I found it to be so wrong, and against my beliefs of what is important. Keynes spearheaded a revolution in economic thinking.  In this blog, https://carolkeiter.wordpress.com/2011/03/30/spring-soltice-11-hitchabout-there-are-no-accidents/ I pointed out the writings of the economist John Maynard Keynes which resounded with me, in this article written in Monde Diplio (the English online version of Monde Diplomatique. Dyer quoted Planck accepting his Nobel Prize; “As a man who has devoted his whole life to the most clearheaded science, the study of matter, I can tell you that as a result of my research into atoms; there is no matter, as such. All matter originates and exists only by virtue of a force which brings the particle of an atom to vibration and holds this most minute solar system of the atom together. We must assume behind this force, the existence of a conscious and intelligent mind. This mind is the matrix of all matter. ” I mention this, because it substantiates the fact, that there are no coincidences, ‘shit happens’, for a reason 😮

Dieter left me off with a smile and his business card. The next ride which arrived swiftly, was another attractive, professional man, Uli, short for Ulrich, who lives East of Munich, not far from Salzburg, Austria. He’s involved in Management and Leadership training. I was intent on probing and discussing with him aspects of his work. We chatted during the duration. Uli has a wife and several kids and loves the land and nature where he lives.

I was cordially left off by him at another large rest stop/gas/restaurant station along the A9, where I waited for only a short time, before another young guy dressed in business attire asserted that he could give me a ride, while talking on his cell phone. His name was Philippe; young, professional, cute and smart guy (what’s up with that 😉 whose mother is French and father a German university professor. We spoke a bit in both languages, though he’s quite capable in English, and has lived in both Munich, Germany and France. He’s a headhunter for high level personnel with legal aptitude and expertise; hiring them for large international corporate clients. He had studied international relations and law, with a minor in Asian studies. Sensing that Asia will be the next global business power, he had done his thesis on this topic. He illustrated this idea mentioning that in the 19th Century, the world was ‘Euro Centric’, in the 20th, ‘America’ was the focal point and in the 21st C, by virtue of population numbers alone as well as growing industry, by mid century ‘Asia Pacific’ will be dominant.

Philippe has lived and worked in Singapore, where he was planning to move the following week, to begin a new job within the same company he had worked in previously. I queried whether he might feel isolated or insulated living in an Asian country as a European, to which he pointed out that there are large numbers of expatriates there. He said he has a number of Singaporian friends as well. According to wiki; the population of Singapore has the sixth-highest percentage of foreigners globally, just over forty percent. I hadn’t known that, nor that English is one of their official languages, next to Malay and Mandarin. I did however have an inkling that it’s a modern and technologically sophisticated country, as a lot of countries in Southeast Asia appear to be. He pointed out that if he was in need of an operation, he wouldn’t hesitate to trust the medical system there, as much or more than in the Western World.

His unique perspective from what he’s studied and having lived in the country previously, introduced to me a new way of looking at things. He mentioned that from the Western point of view, Singapore might appear to have a harsh penal system, but then, people do learn their lesson and are effectively thwarted from going against the law. I know that vast numbers of young black men are jailed in the United States, which is a huge financial racket in itself, in which ‘correction’ and rehabilitation often are not a part of the process. One can’t really judge a system in a sweeping glance.

Philippe spoke of Democracy, as having very different interpretations in different places, and the fact that you can’t try to just force or stamp a country with a democratic system, and think that it’s going to stick. Another way of looking at this, is to realize that a people’s core beliefs, influence how they will interpret things. For example, whether they value the individual as having the highest authority, or the group/state. Indicating that the Chinese philosopher “Confucious” had a system of ethics and rules of behavior which centered on the group and relationships, as opposed to the individual, Philippe went on to show some more examples of how even a system that appears ‘socialist’ on the outside, can in effect manifest a democratic process in their decisions, even when in fact the majority of the people are voting to maintain something, that is ‘better for the group’. In light of this fact in the Asian world, democracy plays out differently. He mentioned that when the government of Singapore had wished to modernize in their attitudes, and introduced a more liberal law, that in fact most of the population resisted. Philippe pointed out, that this in fact demonstrated more of a true democratic process, in light of the fact that the majority ruled against something that the Government wished to proactively impose, which would have given individuals more supremacy. It’s quite a contrast to the huge influence that money and power have to sway the ‘democratic process’ in the United States system of “Corpocrisy” (my coined term).

Having studied Cultural Anthropology and had a growing interest in business, global politics and environmental affairs, I found this ride incredibly informative and valuable. I did have one more ride for two highway station stops, with an elderly man who spoke next to nothing, to whom I mirrored and returned the favor of silence 😉 The last ride was with several young Berliner guys returning after working at a book conference in Leipzig. After I’d been dropped off by them at an S-Bahn station, I was still carrying my “Berlin” sign, when some guy (who was with a few people inline skating around cones they set up in the concrete underground highway underpass) jokingly pointed out to me, “hey, you’re (already) In Berlin”!

Destination 2 rides, return, ’bout 8, but with a ridiculous amount of new information to pack into the experience!

“When you change the way that you look at things, the things you look at change.”

yeah for PS 22!

This is the most heart warming discovery I’ve heard and seen in a long time!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxZX8LpFOKo

I’m all over seeing kids from around the world in one classroom singing with this excellent chorus leader/musician who’s helping to shape such a beautiful gift to themselves and everyone who may share in being present for their song! check them out! PS 22 grade school chorus from Staten Island NY. 2.22.11