[[ 28 ]] COHABITATE

All living things were designed to seek their own fulfillment.
They exist in their own habitat, and you - in yours.
Nature prefers variation. Allow it.
Other living things are not your domain to judge, own or dispel.
Chose the path of Understanding, and we can coexist.  Harmony leads to a better life for everyone. You can enjoy your preferences, without repressing a respect for others.

Disobey
By promoting Hate, Control, Oppression or the belief that yours is the only truth
And you have chosen to hurt. You may not mean to... but your passion for your path may make you Relentless. A sword, where a plowshare would do. A shark among dolphins.
So ask, don't tell. Share, don't shove.
Offer and you can teach, but be a willing student as well.
This respect for living things is like the gift of sunlight - it can nourish remarkable fruits of peace, and allow the good to grow.
Without that same warmth however, our world is left cold and barren in time.

And all that this beautiful existence has to offer
Will be lost to the ruin of people, inflexible in their righteousness
Unwilling to discern that the Ocean serves everyone, each in his own way
(... even those who do not wish to swim.)

Some would say that a heaven was granted to us, right here on Earth
Yet even good folk would risk it all, for lack of understanding our commonality:

We are kindred, meant to share this world and live together
Or perish, struggling, frustrated and dry and dead as bone.

All the fish in the sea, without the grace of water.

Nature prefers variation. 
It is nothing to be afraid of.

There are currently 79 currently known species of whales. The largest of these is the Blue Whale. An adult can measure up to 33.59 meters (110 ft) in length and 181 metric tonnes or more in weight. 
Despite being the largest animal to have ever existed on Earth, they present no danger whatsoever to man.

Yet due to fear, greed and Righteousness of Need 
              - humans have hunted them to near extinction.



Dear People of Earth, 

Please do better. 

Sincerely,
- The Scientist



If we can’t figure this out.. what makes us think that we’re qualified to tell other people “stop killing one another!”?  Our lives are micro compared to the bigger picture, yet the changing of this world very much depends on small, individual changes. Things we have to personally demonstrate.
Respect of others and respect of self very much relies on our learning to treat each other as if we are treating ourselves, living another life. At the soul of it all, the essence of what we are is the same – only our approach is different; the ideal that you are me and I am you is true. I could easily be you. And you might make different choices if presented with my life. 

We don’t need to agree with one another’s choices, but learning to work out our individual existence is a part of our individual evolution. Without such an understanding, we’re only fostering more negativity into the world, and being hypocritical to the very values which we both hold most true: that people should learn to get along in this world. - unk.



I think we can’t go around measuring our goodness by what we don’t do – by what we deny ourselves, what we resist and who we exclude. 
I think we’ve got to measure goodness by what we embrace, what we create and who we include.  – Père Henri, in Chocolat



What you can do.

[[ 27 ]] 10 THINGS YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW ABOUT LOVE

Below, is a fascinating 10-point revelation about Love, sent to me by a good friend (thank you Crimsy !) 
Excellent reading! 

-C.D.

Ten things you might not know about Love.

Editor's note: Barbara Fredrickson is the Kenan Distinguished Professor of Psychology and director of the Positive Emotions and Psychophysiology Laboratory at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is the author of a new book on love.

(CNN) -- In writing the book "Love 2.0: How Our Supreme Emotion Affects Everything We Feel, Think, Do, and Become," here are 10 lessons I have learned:

1. It can be hard to talk about love in scientific terms because people have strong pre-existing ideas about it.

The vision of love that emerges from the latest science requires a radical shift. I learned that I need to ask people to step back from their current views of love long enough to consider it from a different perspective: their body's perspective. Love is not romance. It's not sexual desire. It's not even that special bond you feel with family or significant others.

And perhaps most challenging of all, love is neither lasting nor unconditional. The radical shift we need to make is this: Love, as your body experiences it, is a micro-moment of connection shared with another.

2. We tend to think of love in the same breath as loved ones. When you take these to be only your innermost circle of family and friends, you inadvertently and severely constrain your opportunities for health, growth and well-being. Love is not exclusive.

In reality, you can experience micro-moments of connection with anyone -- whether your soul mate or a stranger. So long as you feel safe and can forge the right kind of connection, the conditions for experiencing the emotion of love are in place.

3. Love doesn't belong to just one person.

We tend to think of emotions as private events, confined to one person's mind and skin. Upgrading our view of love defies this logic. Evidence suggests that when you really "click" with someone else, a discernible yet momentary synchrony emerges between the two of you, as your gestures and biochemistries, even your respective neural firings, come to mirror one another in a pattern I call positivity resonance. Love is a biological wave of good feeling and mutual care that rolls through two or more brains and bodies at once.

4. Making eye contact is a key gateway for love.

Your body has the built-in ability to "catch" the emotions of those around you, making your prospects for love -- defined as micro-moments of positivity resonance -- nearly limitless. As hopeful as this sounds, I also learned that you can thwart this natural ability if you don't make eye contact with the other person. Meeting eyes is a key gatekeeper to neural synchrony.

5. Love fortifies the connection between your brain and your heart, making you healthier.

Decades of research show that people who are more socially connected live longer and healthier lives. Yet precisely how social ties affect health has remained one of the great mysteries of science.

My research team and I recently learned that when we randomly assign one group of people to learn ways to create more micro-moments of love in daily live, we lastingly improve the function of the vagus nerve, a key conduit that connects your brain to your heart. This discovery provides a new window into how micro-moments of love serve as nutrients for your health.

6. Your immune cells reflect your past experiences of love.

Too often, you get the message that your future prospects hinge on your DNA. Yet the ways that your genes get expressed at the cellular level depends mightily on many factors, including whether you consider yourself to be socially connected or chronically lonely.

My team is now investigating the cellular effects of love, testing whether people who build more micro-moments of love in daily life also build healthier immune cells.

7. Small emotional moments can have disproportionately large biological effects.

It can seem surprising that an experience that lasts just a micro-moment can have any lasting effect on your health and longevity. Yet I learned that there's an important feedback loop at work here, an upward spiral between your social and your physical well-being.

That is, your micro-moments of love not only make you healthier, but being healthier builds your capacity for love. Little by little, love begets love by improving your health. And health begets health by improving your capacity for love.

8. Don't take a loving marriage for granted.

Writing this book has profoundly changed my personal view of love. I used to uphold love as that constant, steady force that all but defines my marriage. While that constant, steady force still exists, I now see our bond as a product of the many micro-moments of positivity resonance that my husband and I have shared over the years. This shakes me out of any complacency that tempts me to take our love for granted. Love is something we should re-cultivate every single day.

9. Love and compassion can be one and the same.

If we re-imagine love as micro-moments of shared positivity, it can seem like love requires that you always feel happy. I learned that this isn't true. You can experience a micro-moment of love even as you or the person with whom you connect suffers.

Love doesn't require that you ignore or suppress negativity. It simply requires that some element of kindness, empathy or appreciation be added to the mix. Compassion is the form love takes when suffering occurs.

10. Simply upgrading your view of love changes your capacity for it.

The latest science offers new lenses through which to see your every interaction. The people I interviewed for the book shared incredibly moving stories about how they used micro-moments of connection to make dramatic turnarounds in their personal and work lives.

One of the most hopeful things I learned is that when people take just a minute or so each day to think about whether they felt connected and attuned to others, they initiate a cascade of benefits. And this is something you could start doing today, having learned even just this much more about how love works!

Source: http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/24/health/love-psychology-book/index.html

Kissing You (performed by Des'Ree) - from Romeo & Juliet, 1996.

Do not stand in the way of love you do not understand. 

It is no less valid, relevant or romantic than your own.

You may see it as an affront, a debacle
... a tragedy-in-waiting

But to those in it -- please realize, it is only love.

Not my religion, but my belief.

[[ 26 ]] THIS CHARMING MAN

I have come to the realization that I like romantic movies. Not the lame and dubious comedies which are so common these days – but truly inspired films.My spirit genuinely believes in the magic of romance. 

These scintillating sparks --- my curious regard for the tenderness in people – can be drawn to the surface of my eyes by a mere snippet of beautiful music, or a smile, or even a kind act. 

Not that sappy kind of adoration which wanes all soggy over pictures of kittens playing in baskets, no… but the deeper, potent and fierce evocation, which renews my faith in a forgotten truth: 

- the realization that We are Worthy.

Not always worthy of the things that we are given

And certainly not worthy of all that we’d like to have.

But we are worthy of Hope.

Hope for More, and Better and Truth.

Romance is all about the innocence of that feeling... not tied to the seduction of “getting some action”, nor the greediness of obsession, nor dependent need.

It's not about what you have to get or gain – but what you would share. All that which you would willingly give, joyously and without hesitation.

Romance expresses that level of connectivity which feels like somehow, the Universe has slowed down and expanded itself, allowing you a moment from a movie script. You can turn on your million dollar smile.. say things that are clever or sweet or charming, but all real. All, perfectly awkward and sincere and elegantly honest. You can share the best of yourself, with someone who makes you feel better than you think you are. 

Someone who makes you feel worthy.

And if you understand the Theory of Relativity, you know:

Our understanding of this world is relative to the velocities at which we are travelling through it.

In particular, space and time can expand, allowing you to see the beauty inherent in the Divinity of our Beings.

If you have held a softly sleeping baby before, you know this.

If you have cried due to witnessing the virtue of sacrifice or honor, you know this.

And if you have ever loved in a way that requires no gravity, you know this well.

As for me?  

Well... 

I am a man of Science, who recognizes the immeasurable, yet self-evident force of Love.

It leaves me humbled, happy and ever Hopeful.

- C.D.    

*A preview from the upcoming movie, TO THE WONDER.

      It will probably be lame, but I will hope it’s as sweet as it is awkward, novel and bright.

NOT BY FORMULA, BUT BY ESSENCE:

...A few of my favorite romantic movies:

• Voices of a Distant Star
• Cloud Atlas
• Somewhere in Time
• Ponyo / Kiki's Delivery Service / Howl's Moving Castle
•  28 Days Later
• The Best, Exotic Marigold Hotel
• Moonlight Kingdom
• Romeo and Juliet (1996)
• Speed Racer - The Movie
• Return of the Jedi
• Superman (1978)
•  The Village

   

     

i am here 

[[ 25 ]] SHAME

Took a few days off from posting, but had to share this...    the latest on Malala.


By Janet Stobart
January 4, 2013, 6:42 p.m.

*Source: L.A. Times, World article

LONDON -- Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani teenager shot in the head by Taliban gunmen last October, has walked out of a hospital to rejoin her family.

Wearing a white patterned headscarf and long gray dress, Malala walked slowly out of Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham on Thursday, helped by a nurse, and waved shyly as she went through the door.

The 15-year-old schoolgirl who campaigned for education for girls in Pakistan and wrote a blog for the BBC Urdu service about daily life under the Taliban was attacked on her way to school on Oct. 9.

She was shot in the head and neck by men who blocked the school bus in which she was riding near her home in Mingora in Pakistan's Swat Valley and asked for her by name. She was rushed to a local hospital, then flown to the Birmingham hospital, which specializes in military casualties, a week later for specialist neurosurgery.

A hospital statement said Friday that she would return there "in late January or early February to undergo cranial reconstructive surgery as part of her long-term recovery."

Dr. David Rosser, the medical director, praised Malala, who he said "has worked hard with the people caring for her to make excellent progress in her recovery."

The teenager, who spoke out against the Taliban's opposition to education for girls, focused attention on the plight of women and girls around the world who are struggling for education and social freedoms under repressive regimes. 

The Taliban has vowed to target her again.

That last line is rather sickening, isn't it? 

I tell you friends, we better get busy spreading a message of Positivity,  Acceptance and Love - because there are forces who are certainly dedicated to the zealotry of death.  

India:  gang rape

Steubenville,  Ohio:  gang rape

Shame.

-C.D.

SPEAK OUT AGAINST VIOLENCE/BIGOTRY/HATE/SEXISM/NATIONALISM/DEATH CULTURE.