DO WHAT FULFILS YOU

I was chatting to a graffiti artist. He'd been participating in the 'Battle of Waterloo 2011', a graffiti event in London. Graffiti is his life. In his spare time he made graffiti art in his home. To celebrate his birthday, he had a wonderful 3-D-effect graffiti-style tattoo done, his own design, on his arm.

It's a whole world in itself. A 'battle' is a contest of skills. 'Tagging up' is signing your work. To go out 'bombing' is to go and write, to cover a place with your work. Sometimes the artists get into trouble, go one step too far.

To get so involved in an activity is to take part in a whole subculture, with its own heroes, language and style. It doesn't matter what it is, as long as you're not hurting anyone. Go and do something that fulfils you.

WE'RE LIKE LAWN MOWERS!

Sometimes our brains just stop functioning… we want them to work, but thinking seems so difficult. Often it's at times of high pressure, when there seems to be a lot to process all at once.

I was mowing the lawn the other day, and noticed how the mower slowed down when the storage box became full of cut grass. It wouldn't function properly until I stopped, emptied the box, and reconnected it.

I think people process what happens to them in a similar type of way. When there's a lot going on, there isn't the time to digest everything that's happening, and our cognitive processes start to slow down. The short-term memory is crying out for time and space to empty itself a little. We can keep trying to push and push, but what is needed is to stop for a while, and empty ourselves of everything we've just been through.

For me, the 'emptying of the grass' in our minds is sometimes shown when we stop fussing and fighting, and let ourselves 'let go', or even cry, for once. That often seems to come before renewal. I think it is the way we become fluid again, and release ourselves to move forward.

Just a thought.

BEACH HUTS

What is it about a beach hut that makes the soul happy? I think it's the appeal to that bit of our brains that loves to have a home. As the sun went down at the end of a beautiful day, family groups of three and four sat in the doorways of their huts. Their chairs were slightly tipped towards each other, as though grouped around an imaginary fire. Often there was a kettle, teapot and crockery on a table inside. The huts are no bigger than garden sheds. But each one is a little home. It has a roof, and walls, and that's all you need.

And opposite beach huts is the sea. Miles and miles of ever-changing water. While we walked, it was blue, then green, then grey, then blue again. And above it the wide sky changed mood every few minutes. I can see why some people sit there all day, in the doorway, just watching the sea and sky. There's always someone coming, someone going, something changing. The sea is very healing. It absorbs the energy of your watching, and gives you more. It is bigger than us, and is never intimidated.

Between the sea and the huts, the beach and the little road curve around the coast. Everyone walks slowly. At the beach, you don't walk to get somewhere. You walk to breathe, to talk, to watch. Time doesn't seem to matter, and the end of the day surprises you. When you go back to your house, your skin is still singing with the sun and the wind and the sea.

MIND OVER MATTER

There is a great article in the New Scientist this month which looks at the effect of the mind on health.

THE POWER OF BELIEF

Belief can make a medicine have positive effects, even if it has no active ingredients. Most people are familiar with this 'placebo' effect. But recent studies suggest that this can happen even if the patient is TOLD that the medicine has no active ingredients. All that is necessary is that the patient believes that there can be a positive effect.

POSITIVE THINKING

It is well known that optimism protects against stress - for example, by lowering cortisol levels. But some research has gone further, showing positive effects independent of mere stress-reduction. The body seems actively to get better at maintaining and repairing itself if you have a positive outlook. Additionally, as well as having a positive outlook on life, having a positive view of yourself seems to reduce levels of adrenaline and other fear hormones.

MEDITATION

There is an increasing body of evidence showing that meditation protects against depression, anxiety and disease, and may even make you live longer. Structural changes in the brain can happen after only around 11 hours of training.

HYPNOSIS

Although we don't know why hypnosis works as a therapy, it seems to operate through tapping into these same positive effects of belief. It can help with mood, eating issues and skin disorders, among other things.

TRUSTING PEOPLE

If you are happy with your social life, and are with others you trust, evidence suggests you sleep better, stay younger, and respond better to many medicines. Evolutionary researchers have suggested that loneliness triggers chemical responses (e.g. cortisol) related to defence against injury. In contrast, social interaction may trigger chemical responses to protect against transmitted diseases (e.g. viruses). In this way, good friends can promote immunity!

DO WHAT YOU LOVE

Researchers disagree about the direct effect of religion, and spirituality. But some are convinced that living a life which you find meaningful, and doing what you love, can in themselves bring key health benefits.

In summary, it seems that a positive attitude, towards life, yourself, and others, can provide a significant health boost. More than that, I'd say, it's just a nice thing to do!

This is a very brief summary of an original article in the August 2011 edition of New Scientist ('Heal Thyself', p.32)

SUN AND RAIN

Recently I was sitting in a friend's flat, admiring their fabulous view. The panorama included miles and miles, through something like a 270 degree angle, so that you felt you were somehow part of the sky.

"Look over there," I said, seeing a curtain of grey descending through the blue. "You can see the rain falling from the clouds miles away."

"Sometimes," she said, "you get a sunny day on one side, and a rainy day on the other."

She said it was strange to sit, on some days, and experience both good and bad weather in the same room.

The clouds have a flow that it's hard to understand, just as the world of people has a flow that can't always be explained so easily. Getting along with others is a bit like watching a big sky. We can't always know why people think what they do, or where ideas and events come from. We can't judge from appearances, because we can't always know what has happened to lead people to their own thoughts, or conclusions, or behaviour.

One of my favourite books has a chapter called 'Just Watching'. It talks about how we can't stop negative sensations:

'Nonetheless, it is possible to weather it out, like a gust of wind at sea. When we "just watch" we are not numb and insensitive, we are fully alive to what is happening…. Tranquility comes not by changing the world, but from allowing the moments of emotional pain to die a natural death. They are like a shower of sparks from a fire. Most peter out in a few seconds, unless they land in something explosive. Like sparks, the negative emotions - anger, despair, fear, attachment - burn when they fall on you. If we can accept the momentary discomfort, they soon burn out. If we flare up, they can smoulder for hours.

"Good meditators don't escape times of emotional pain. However, they can give those feelings space to be there and move through."

So maybe it's like that sun and that rain. We can sit and watch both, just like in my friend's flat. We may not understand everything that's going on, but we don't have to. We can 'just watch'. It doesn't mean we are insensitive. It just means we have our eyes open.

STILL I RISE

A wonderful day in London, with the sun and the rain playing in grey-white clouds, and laughter singing across the park. And a funny, happy time, with a lovely friend who introduced me to this poem.

STILL I RISE

Maya Angelou

You may write me down in history

With your bitter, twisted lies,

You may trod me in the very dirt

But still, like dust, I'll rise.

Does my sassiness upset you?

Why are you beset with gloom?

'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells

Pumping in my living room.

Just like moons and like suns,

With the certainty of tides,

Just like hopes springing high,

Still I'll rise.

Did you want to see me broken?

Bowed head and lowered eyes?

Shoulders falling down like teardrops.

Weakened by my soulful cries.

Does my haughtiness offend you?

Don't you take it awful hard

'Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines

Diggin' in my own back yard.

You may shoot me with your words,

You may cut me with your eyes,

You may kill me with your hatefulness,

But still, like air, I'll rise.

Does my sexiness upset you?

Does it come as a surprise

That I dance like I've got diamonds

At the meeting of my thighs?

Out of the huts of history's shame

I rise

Up from a past that's rooted in pain

I rise

I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,

Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.

Leaving behind nights of terror and fear

I rise

Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear

I rise

Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,

I am the dream and the hope of the slave.

I rise

I rise

I rise.

SOMETHING INSIDE SO STRONG

All was quiet at the house for once, and I felt a little alone. We all know that silence, when you have done your bit, and the world stops for a moment. After so much fuss this year, after so many times which try patience and test strength, I was trying to remind myself it is still a beautiful world. Just then, on the radio, came the gorgeous song by Labi Siffre.

SOMETHING INSIDE SO STRONG

Labi Siffre

The higher you build your barriers

The taller I become

The farther you take my rights away

The faster I will run

You can deny me

You can decide to turn your face away

No matter, cos there's....

Something inside so strong

I know that I can make it

Tho' you're doing me wrong, so wrong

You thought that my pride was gone

Oh no, something inside so strong

Oh oh oh oh oh something inside so strong

The more you refuse to hear my voice

The louder I will sing

You hide behind walls of Jericho

Your lies will come tumbling

Deny my place in time

You squander wealth that's mine

My light will shine so brightly

It will blind you

Cos there's......

Something inside so strong

I know that I can make it

Tho' you're doing me wrong, so wrong

You thought that my pride was gone

Oh no, something inside so strong

Oh oh oh oh oh something inside so strong

Brothers and sisters

When they insist we're just not good enough

When we know better

Just look 'em in the eyes and say

I'm gonna do it anyway

I'm gonna do it anyway

Something inside so strong

And I know that I can make it

Tho' you're doing me wrong, so wrong

You thought that my pride was gone

Oh no, something inside so strong

Oh oh oh oh oh something inside so strong

Brothers and sisters

When they insist we're just good not enough

When we know better

Just look 'em in the eyes and say

I'm gonna do it anyway

I'm gonna do it anyway

I'm gonna do it anyway

I'm gonna do it anyway

Because there's something inside so strong

And I know that I can make it

Tho' you're doing me, so wrong

You thought that my pride was gone

Oh no, something inside so strong

Oh oh oh oh oh something inside so strong

Because there's something inside so strong

And I know that I can make it

Tho' you're doing me, so wrong

You thought that my pride was gone

Oh no, something inside so strong

Oh oh oh oh oh something inside so strong