Gaia Community: Martin's Blog

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Sat, 09 Feb 2008 11:57:42 -0000

Certainty

Sun, 27 Jan 2008 16:43:42 -0000

There is a light within us as human beings, a bright light that shines out when we go beyond ourselves, when we give of ourselves into something greater than our own needs.

This light shines out of everyone of us when we are being of service to one another.
With this light comes a sense of certainty and this certainty is the foundation of faith, the essence of true knowingness.

The light transfers from person to person, it literally beams out from our hearts into each other and on my 7 year journey I've never felt it so strong, standing in the spaces once occupied by Dwight D. Eisenhower, Martin Luther King, the light seemed to grow within me like nothing I'd ever imagined.

It's a light of hope, a light of potentiality, a light of love.
And bright as I thought it was in the past, it now seems like it was a pilot light to the flame that has now burst forth.
I know this is beyond me and within me, I know because I've seen it reflected in all the meetings I've had here in the USA, more than just seen, I've felt it, like this is what we're here for, to unite in common purpose.

I leave now for the UK and with me I take a sense of gratitude and deep appreciation for the love, hospitality and American welcome I've experienced. This truly is like being born again in knowingness and faith for humanity.

Peace is down the road from here, I know with ALL my heart we can get there, I've stood on my mountain top and seen the view beyond, the journey is begun and all we have to do is stand together, join our compassionate lights together, add our voices to the song of faith, hope and love.

The journey to peace begins with the collective dismantling of the issue of world poverty and disparity, it begins with every step we take towards that goal. Brothers and sisters, this is our time to work together as never before towards our highest of dreams and common goals.

Thank you Janie, thank you America, thank you my friends over here, thank you everyone for shining your light onto our collective potential.

With all my love

Martin

Martin

Mon, 21 Jan 2008 19:30:38 -0000

On the shoulders of giants we move onwards and upwards towards our highest goals, this giant has the broadest of shoulders and laid the deepest of foundations for hope in this nation we call America.

I'm here as a guest, a visitor from distant shores and whilst my dreams have called me ever onwards, I am but one small voice amongst so very many.

At Glide Church in San Francisco yesterday I felt the call of a new religion, a new religion that embraces all religions, a new religion that spreads its arms out wide and says "welcome brother and sister to everlasting freedom". This new religion is up the highest mountain and the view from here is 365 x 24/7 x 365. This new religion IS the moral high ground and from whichever direction you climb the destination is the same.

I heard it once said that we see the world through the stained glass windows of our opinions, but when we remove the glass the truth is the same to all.
What removes the glass? hope and love, an open heart and an open mind, an indominatable will, a refusal to ever stop climbing, trust in yourself and faith in your highest of dreams.

Removing my own stained glass windows is a daily job, and whilst they evaporate in the light of human dignity and in the humble witnessing of compassion in action, they soon colour up again if I forget that I chose to climb!

Climbing the mountain towards an inclusive dream is challenging and rewarding, there's already a congrigation awaiting our arrival at the end of each day, great souls who have made their climbs, conqured their limiting beliefs and died in the persuit of peace and humanity.
Behind us cheering us on are the countless thousands of children who await the rewards of our endeavour.

An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

An Emerging Philosophy

Thu, 03 Jan 2008 08:23:21 -0000

Like the leaves on the trees have a structure to hold them together, soil, roots, trunk, branches, stems all supporting each perfect leaf and beneath the surface of each leaf there's a skeletal structure holding it together too.

We as human beings within a global society are also connected, attached, supported by, fed by, nourished by an interconnected structure that's in turn a part of everything.

Imagine if the leaves competed with the branches or the trunk made war with the roots?
Imagine a leaf without a tree, without it's nutrients of light, water and air?

As a global society that's discovering it's connections in every moment through the expansion of communications and travel, we are as a whole learning, our individual consciousness is expanding with the collective consciousness.

There's an unseen structure to society.
It's a-political, a-religious, it reaches beyond man made boundaries and runs deeper than tribal culture.
This structure is multidimensional, multifaceted and is printed like a blueprint within us all.
It carries with it a vibrational resonance, a harmonic note and a 'feeling' of alignment.

It's language is universal and beyond intellect.
It could even be called common sense or logic.

The structure I speak of is more of an agreement between people than a physical skeleton, it exists yet it cant be seen, it is new yet it has always been with us in potential, once found and shared by all it will see us through millennia.

How do I know it's there?
I physically 'experienced' it in 1999, since then I've been seeking it out, gathering evidence, listening to those who are aware of it, observing the patterns, learning from nature, focusing my attention towards its revelation.

A peaceful, harmonious, interconnected, interdependent society is within us and like the saying goes 'I'm unable to see the wood for the trees' our potential for a united world is obscured by the way we look. By changing the way we look at society the society we look at will change.

The emerging philosophy is not mine, it's already shared by millions of people, it's a path already being trodden by countless thousands, it's a reality in cultures and communities around the world, it's a knowingness within us all that is simply emerging.

For me it has a structure, all be it an invisible one ... it's the interconnected partnerships between public, private and voluntary sectors, it's the commonly shared themes of the 'triple bottom line' that point us towards social, economic and environmental benefits and it's the actions of individuals in our guise as employers or employees, as mothers or fathers, as teachers or students, as volunteers or recipients.

Until we all win = we all lose ... is for me a simple reminder of how the tree that is humanity will enjoy its very 'being' as we collectively transcend the concept of winning and losing.
The trancending is simply the ending of the trance, the illusion of our separation.

So, on this the 3rd day of 2008 may I wish you an inspiring New Year.
May your actions align with your dreams and your intentions align with your highest aspirations.

Ahmed Time

Thu, 06 Dec 2007 11:54:56 -0000

The clock on Ahmed's wall reads 6.10, the batteries ran out years ago, now at least it shows the right time twice a day every day, 365.

Ahmed's time is slowed down to a snails pace both physically and metaphorically, severely injured by a landmine many years ago he was confined to a wheel chair and dependence on care. In the other sense of the phrase, Ahmed's days are long, the clock may as well not exist for him, so he lives in a space of hope and expectation, far removed from the fast pace of our lives in the western world.

Ahmed lives in a centre for victims of war and land mines, in a remote outpost in the Sahara desert in Africa. To be with him is to feel time slow down, to experience a fraction of his life is to feel the earth's spin turn to slow motion upon its axis. Here it becomes possible to experience Eckhart Tolle's real meaning of the Power of Now.

Ahmed shares his temporary home with 130+ other victims of mans inhumanity. They too live on Ahmed time, a place where a morning feels like a long day, where tomorrow seems like a week away. And their time apart from the painful reality of disability through trauma, is to some degree spent in wonderment at the world around them, perhaps even a sense of disbelief at the way we have co-created a world where disparity and exclusion are norms.

Ahmed smiled like a Cheshire Cat when I returned the other month, there was that moment of brotherhood, of friendship and love in the eternal now that brought me to tears of appreciation and sadness at our pending separation. Such is the way of the world today, we meet one another upon our path but all life is in transience, our moments together fleeting, even if we're together for a life time, our three score years and ten are but moments in a very, very big picture.

Ahmed like billions of souls alive today lives in a space that is cut off from our attention, separate from our day to day experience but never the less a part of the one race we call humanity, the one species we call mankind. Like Ahmed feels hope, dreams of freedom or life experiences beyond the walls of his remote desert hospital centre, billions of souls are praying for someone to come, dreaming of a gift from God, hoping for a sign of light at the end of their tunnels.

You are the light they dream of, we are the lights, each of us with the ability to respond, the ability to show compassion and love and friendship for our fellow life travellers. You are the person, the angel that could mean the world to someone, you don't have to save the world or protest against anything, all it takes is all that you are to shine through from within you.

Ahmed time is only ever now, every day forever and in this now we have 3 options, to watch what happens, to make something happen or to wonder what happened. Life is just events, events, events. By following your heart you will make something happen and that something will make a powerful difference in the world. Now as always we live in a space of cause and effect.

Interdependence Day

Tue, 27 Nov 2007 13:55:12 -0000

We're all parts in an interdependent machine, believing we're all independent, co-creating in a world of cause and effect ... dependence to ... money, things, lifestyles, cultural identities, boundaries, social security and, and, and.

And yet we are one people, sharing common human needs, sharing one available space in time, with one air, one water, one planet to sustain us.

So, even a child can see the need for fairness, equity, balance and no need whatsoever for the disparity we see evident today, but what tips the scales, what could possibly swing the way the world is ... towards the world can be?

For me the answer is simple and I hasten to add that this is the 'simple' found on the far side of complexity as referred to often by Oliver Wendell Holmes.

The simple I refer to is a choice too, it's not imposed, it's a learned behaviour that will createsocial and environmental benefits beyond our wildest dreams.

Add a penny to each thing you buy.
Imagine everyone doing the same?
(Everyone currently being about 1.7 billion of us.)
Imagine this choice sitting alongside everything as it currently exists?
Millions of businesses, organisations, charities, NGO's and not for profits currently working independently, competing, right now.

Millions of opportunites for peace and equity a second, slipping by us as we maintain what we know at the expense of what we are yet to learn.

Paradigm shifts appear as common sense once they've occurred. But prior to they may appear revolutionary, especially when one looks at the change from a close perspective.
Standing back the patterns emerge, the hidden becomes apparent, the impossible becomes possible.

Look with your head in an engine bay and you'll see engine rather than the journey ahead!
Look at the component parts of a clock and you'll see parts rather than the gift of time!

Like the component parts in a great time piece, humanity has the potential to learn to become interdependent, to work as one, to connect and grow as a child grows from cells to an entire being in the womb of its Mother.

Penny On, the name we give to a project to unite humanity in common caring is simply the way of love in action, but more than a campaign or an organisation and more like a new philosophy, it becomes something everyone can do towards a world that works for everyone.
However, like any change be it subtle or cataclysmic, it takes pioneers to walk in front, to show it's OK, it's safe, it works, our pioneers are young people.

I could write down the full workings of the clock and risk blinding you with science and serve not one life, or I could invite you to imagine with me the simplicity.
And then through our collective actions ... the world changes.

The new born baby is perfect, the parents love for the new born baby is perfect, you are perfect, the world is working perfectly ... however ... be your view Zen, Christian, Muslim, Jewish or Atheist, the shared reality is ... a childs life is the future of our race, a childs life is the only real legacy we leave, a childs life is all we revolve around.

Our communities, be they at the wealthy heart of America or the desert tents of a refugee camp, all revolve around the new born child. How that child then experiences the world is then 'dependent' upon the environment he or she is born into.

And regardless of the environment he or she is born with potential, world changing, community changing, family changing potential. With the universe behind him or her, that change will be for the good of all. On their own that change could equally be to the detriment of the whole.

Caring for the self is the norm so alongside this caring for all becomes the antidote to the issues we co-create.
If taught by default to care for all every single day is simply about teaching or inviting "consciousness" and this in turn allows the world to change by that fractional degree that Jesus described as "in a blink of an eye".

The components for the world that works for everyone are here right now ...
1 man, 1 woman, 1 boy and 1 girl.
1 penny ... merely assists the evolution from dependence to interdependence.

Stop

Thu, 15 Nov 2007 23:26:35 -0000

Stop all the clocks said the W H Orden poem and its words have the ability to leave its reader sad or mournful, such was the energy with which it was written. And the energy with which we live or participate in our lives can determine the outcomes we experience.

On that thought I just imagined 'stopping' in the context of us all being able to be still for a moment.

Imagine the world just still, all stopped, all calm, for a moment;

Stop all the cars, land all the planes, anchor the ships, stop all the machines.
Turn off the computers and all of the 'doing', lay down the guns and drop all your guards.

Stop all the thinking, stop all the tears, stop all the drinking, stop all the fear.
Look for a moment, look at your peers, look at their beauty, look at your life.

Hear all the silence when people stand still, hear all of nature, eternal and full.
Hear your heart beat, feel the life pulsing through you, through us all.

I have these thoughts in the day, when I'm lucid and sober, when my mind's cup is full of hearing, full from thinking, full from 'trying' and a quite still voice within invites the thought, so quiet its softness pierces the noise, stills the turmoil, quiets the buzz.

And I imagine scenarios replaying in new contexts, times where I've seen the best we are capable of being/doing/having when we're in harmony with a cause or a calling, times when I've wept in company from the simple beauty of a childs words, or a friends gift of giving.

Imagining in the cold light of day is dangerous, it changes everything, old walls come tumbling down, man made defenses seem futile, everything we do against each other no longer fits in the space of aspiration, of faith and trust of what can be.

Love in action is like water against the rocks, it erodes the hardness in us, it wears away the hardened heart and the castle walls of the closed mind, it frees the human consciousness like a bird from its cage, it simply represents life.

So media moguls I call to you from a mountain top ... do your worst now, for it is a lost cause. Advertising gurus, sell me a world for its value is beyond your site just now. Politicians spin me your greatest lies for I am now immune. Men of war send in your greatest arms for soon they will be dust.

Love in action is all powerful, it flows amongst the peoples of the world, it flows amongst the poorest homes and amidst the most excluded communities. Love in action is our highest potential, it sees the unfolding of us, the becoming of us, the transition from cowardice to bravery, from fear to triumph, the evolution of boys to men.

Stop everything and imagine with me, just for a moment.
If this unstoppable river is within you, is it not in us all?
If this desire for peace is within you, is not in us all?
If this hope for our childrens children
If this search for meaning
If this call from your heart
If this knowing you feel
Is this not in us all?

Dare with me, dare to imagine, dare to envision, to believe, to follow your thirst for truth.
And I'll be at your side through the darkest of days, through the worst any man can do, beyond the lowest valleys and highest peaks, I'll be at your side, as we walk in the footsteps of the giants that strode before us, the giants that saw peace as our highest potential through love in action.

:-)

And if you're a scientist, or a realist, or sceptic or just someone who prefers to cut to the chase, here's the 'common sense' from Wayne W Dyer;

There's a positive effect of kindness upon the immune system and on the the increased production of serotonin in the brain has been proven in research studies. Serotonin is a naturally occurring substance in the body that makes us feel more comfortable, peaceful and even blissful. Research has shown that a simple act of kindness directed towards another improves the functioning of the immune system and stimulates the production of serotonin in both the recipient of the kindness and the person extending the kindness. Even more amazing is that persons observing the act of kindness have similar beneficial results.

So, STOP!

Look at yourself, the person next to you, the other human being you're about to ... whatever to/about/against and ask yourself this ...

If I knew I had a choice between my none suffering and my suffering,
which would I choose?
If I knew I had a choice between my growth and my entropy,
which would I choose?
If I knew I had a choice between my peace or my conflict,
which would I choose?

???

:-)

Stop, Look, Listen To Your Heart

Rights And Responding

Fri, 09 Nov 2007 10:22:26 -0000

When I set off on my experiential mission to get to the heart of the issue of poverty little did I know how busy the road was, how many souls have ventured in search of meaning, answers and practical solutions.

When the Ethopia crisis hit our TV screens in the mid 1980's and Live Aid was launched, one lady amongst many began to dig beneath the surface to find the root cause of the issue. This lady, Julia Hausermann, discovered the answers lay in all of us, in our ability to respond, our ability to recognise our commonality. Julia, a tireless force in the field of development worked behind the scenes to change global policy, to advance governments and to cut through bureaucracy and into potentiality.

Here are the 7 principles that have evolved out of her devotion to the cause, 7 principles that the human 'being' within us will align with ...

Rights and Humanity's Principles of Responsibility

We all share the responsibility to:

Recognise and respect our common humanity

comprehend that all is interconnected and that individual action affects others
avoid harm to others
treat everyone with humanity and as we ourselves would wish to be treated

Respect human dignity

treat everyone with respect for their human dignity, privacy and autonomy
appreciate the richness of diversity and the dignity of difference
recognise and respect the rights of others to have and express opinions and practices different from our own

Revere life

respect human life and everyone's right to a standard of living adequate for life, health and wellbeing
recognise the impact of our actions and inactions on others and on their livelihoods
respect nature, protect our shared environment and avoid the waste of scarce resources

Respect and promote the human rights of everyone, everywhere

recognise, promote and respect the human rights of everyone, everywhere in the world
avoid any prejudice and respect the equality of everyone irrespective of any potentially divisive barrier such as race, sex, religion or ideology
strive for economic, social, political and cultural justice within the family, the community and within and between states

Think and behave with compassion

empathise with others in the wish that they might be free of suffering
share with others and act to support and include those living in distress, poverty and social isolation
work in cooperation with others to prevent and alleviate human suffering and develop to the full our potential for service to others

Act with integrity

act with integrity in all matters and speak and behave with honesty
inform ourselves of, and take responsibility for, the impact on others of our actions and inactions
strive to base our decisions on accurate facts and reasoned analysis of the effects of the decision, seeking always to avoid harm and promote good

Make peace

make peace with ourselves and with others
build bridges of understanding
strive for justice and for peaceful resolution of conflicts in the home, at work, in the community and in the world.

more here

Julia's work represents not only the legal argument at a global governmental level but also the practical framework for delivery of the human rights approach to development, a subject that Julia literally 'wrote the book' on and the content of which was adopted by the worlds NGO community after its launch into the UN's development sector.

Thank you Julia for all you do.

All of Us

Tue, 30 Oct 2007 18:06:07 -0000

I began to think about the uniqueness of us about 8 years ago, seeing through fresh eyes that the diversity we enjoy in fact makes us all alike. We all have unique finger prints which makes us in truth ... all the same. We all share basic human needs, this too makes us all the same.

Looking at the world from this perspective, one of total inclusion, we are truly all one race with 6.5 billion diverse perspectives and as many individual dreams, goals and aspirations.

To approach life with an inclusive perspective means that for me there can be no exclusion, no prejudice, no us and them, only us. Just as in the world we are rapidly discovering that there is no 'away' in reference to throwing our rubbish away, it simply ends up in someone elses back yard.

For a moment let's consider there is no enemy, there is no terrorism, there is no external threat, there is only us, our potentially limited beliefs and a world that is in a constant state of cause and effect.

In this world that exists in a state of constant change anything is possible, peace is possible, environmental sustainability is possible, the end of poverty is possible ... everything we practically desire that aligns with our core humanity is possible ... BUT only when we align ourselves in action towards these shared goals.

Ask every child in the world what she or he wants for their future and their answer will be to a degree governed by their environmental experience of life thus far. For the majority a roof and clean water may be their request, for the minority their aspirations will be governed by their social norms and may involve careers, posessions, wealth and the like.

And, just as there is no longer an 'away' it is also apparent that in truth there is no 'them', only us, born into a diverse world of diverse riches and a currently un-balanced model for total inclusion.

So, how do we step towards an inclusive world that works for us all?
This for me is not a question for scientists, politicians, futurists or even the worlds religious leaders. This for me is a question to ask of the worlds children.

Yes, maths, science, history et al are important, AND ... The word "education" derives from the Latin educare, meaning "to nourish" or "to raise".
It also means 'to draw out', facilitating realisation of potential and latent talent.

To draw out of every child their individual understanding and thoughts around the question of a world that works for everyone is to nourish and to raise a new aspiration for our shared future.

Having realised that not only Every Child Matters but in fact that every life matters, my hopes are strengthened by our diversity, by the very nature of our differences and it is through this solid reality (the fact that we are all different) that our inclusive, sustainable future survival will emerge.

"And verily he will find the roots of the good and the bad, the fruitful and the fruitless, all entwined together in the silent heart of the earth"

Water

Sun, 28 Oct 2007 18:58:41 -0000

They say that where there's water, there's life. In this case there's water and life for sure but can you imagine for a moment having to draw water from this tank?
Can you imagine this being your water ration for 2 weeks?

In the refugee camp they're pretty organised, water comes by truck every 2 weeks and delivers to each of 5 desert camps sufficient water to ensure 170,000 people survive the harsh desert heat.

As a westener my body is comparatively weak, intollerent of their dirty water, in fact even fruit washed in the water is enough to turn a white man green or have him (or her) rushing for the closest out-house with the runs or to be sick.

We took bottled water, hundreds of bottles 17p each from ASDA, each one had to be marked with our names to avoid sharing any infections or bugs we may have. And drink we did, by the litre, the desert heat drying us out so fast.

Our empties we saved and refilled in Bechar from an outside tap, the water here still no good for us but a positive luxury for our refugee hosts! As we filled our old bottles I was reminded by the puddle in the litter infested ground around the outside tap ... people further down into Africa, in Sout America, in India ... fight over less, killing each other for the right to drink from a dirty puddle.

It was one of numerous remiders of just how lucky we are to have access to clean water.

To have access to clean water is a human right.
That right is currently determined by where a child is born.
And whilst we may be able to quantify the wealth of men and nations, we still have a duty to our fellow humanity, a duty of care that goes beyond our current levels of social consciousness and into a new paradigm that awaits us all.

In this new paradigm the right to water wont have to be contested, fought for or advertised by NGO's and Charities until they are blue in the face.
In this new paradigm Every Child Matters is a global policy enforced by community rather than governments.
In this new paradigm there is enough of everything.

Nothing needs to change in the outside world, the only change is within us and within us right now there are deserts, poverty, famine, war and environmental destruction.
Within us ALL will be peace, sufficiency, interdependence, harmony, acceptance, trust.
All that changes is the way in which we see.

There is one thing going on which is you, me, I, which is one, which is everything.

Where there is water there is life.

Homecoming

Wed, 24 Oct 2007 17:14:18 -0000

So I made it home, a 10,000 km round trip from UK to Africa and back, along the way I met with abject poverty, extreme afluence and the many faces of humanity in between.

I was moved to tears by the scale of the issue, the focus on armed conflict as a solution and the seemingly child like view that it's all about 'business', it's all about 'money' and 'land' and 'boundaries'.

But above all I was moved to inspiration by the potential we have when we work together, by the beings we become when we're faced with extreme diversity and environmental challenges.

I met with Doctors, Scientists, Midwives, Teachers, Engineers, Farmers and Politicians, all of whom reside in a place of externally imposed exile, all of whom share a common faith, a common voice and a common reason for struggling on ... the right to self determination as a country.

I visited schools where you could hear a pin drop such was the respect the students had for their teachers and their guests, I visited medical units, rehabilitation centres, all in need of support, but each simply getting on with the meagre available resources they had in their refugee camps.

And I get home, having experienced what I'd thought was beyond belief only to have to jump in the car again to get to London to find something that stopped me in my tracks ...

After 11pm as I exited the London Hilton, the venue for a meeting I was attending, I was met by a young girl, she was in her late teens and carrying a baby, it was dark and cold and very clear she was begging so I stopped to ask how she was, she introduced me to baby Martin, just 1 week old.

It was like meeting myself as a babe, being carried in the loving arms of a universal mother.
This mother was willing to degrade herself into begging to feed her child, her face battered from an abusive relationship, broken tooth, scratches on her skin, blood in her hair and in her pram the papers from the social services verifying her story, in her eyes ... a genuine desire to find a home for her and her child, the chance to pull her life back together, the chance to be a 'normal' citizen.

Meeting this representative of our worlds Mothers I was reminded about the importance of never giving up my belief, my trust and my faith that there is hope for us all, I was reminded that this tiny life is each of us, could be any of us, was all of us.

Baby Martin is our collective responsibility. His Mother doesn't need charity or social hand outs she just needs to re-discover her value, get her dignity back, her self respect and her own faith in her ability as a parent, dont we all?

She promised me she'd write to me when she had found somewhere and she looked me in the eyes as she promised to never give up on herself.

Lord, thank you for showing me the hope in peoples eyes, the potential in our collective abilities and the love of Mothers the world over.

Think Global Act Local

Mon, 01 Oct 2007 08:29:33 -0000

Arriving in a desert refugee camp for 170,000 women and children with supplies medical from friends and supporters in the UK may appear to be a futile gesture, words like drops and oceans spring to mind.

Seeing is believing and drops in oceans are an over statement, this is an incredibly small solution when weighed againts a global issue and yet ... all our issues are local, wherever we are and as the TESCO strapline says ... every little helps!

Tony and I as co-founders of Penny On are what you may describe as patient men, we've stepped back, seen a pattern, a solution and put the foundations in place. Now we're simply walking a talk as ordinary men, patiently waiting for a very important Penny to drop.

What we discovered on our missions to the desert was that relief aid in its normal form often creates dependancy but that what was really required was personal intervention, involvement and outreach. For a human being to simply know that another cares about their plight can be the catalyst to growth.

In the UK where we're based we see the evidence of 3rd generation unemployment, the social effects of hand outs and the need for hand ups in the form of real social care.
That's not to be crytical of the current system, its results are evident, what we do see though is another potential, one where social responsibility is a shared ownership thing, not just the domain of 'someone else'.

What we also observed that poverty as an issue takes on many guises, from resource poverty through to poverty of the spirit, the kind where kindness and compassion are off the agenda and selfishness takes centre stage in our lives.

All the big issues, from Cancer through to War and Landmines can result in poverty, removing in its wake the ability for a person to either earn an income or pay for care. And yet to deny our in-built capacity to create and innovate is to deny our very nature.
Which is why next week I'm personally driving 5,000 km to deliver a sewing machine to a lady who I met last year.

Though disabled physically by the loss of her legs in a rocket attack that also killed her entire family, this lady has accepted her fate and 30 years on since her tragedy is simply waiting for assistance to enable her to be of service.

In this ladies case her dream is to be able to make clothes for the refugee children in her camp, it's not much to ask, a sewing machine, so since we met we've been working to facilitate her dream by finding enough equipment to set up a workshop.

Pride of place is an antique Singer machine, hand operated and heavily engineered, it will withstand the desert conditions and once again make clothes as it will have done decades ago in the UK. Like the medicines and all the other supplies we take, it's still a futile gesture but its a bond between two people in two parts of the world where the giving and the recieving will bring us both great pleasure, hope and inspiration.

The best anti-poverty interventions in the world require no resources, just facilitation and empowerment of individuals to dig deep within their own inner resources to create solutions to their situation that they cant see alone. And having said that, all the best psychological interventions in the world cant feed a child dying of malaria or a mother crippled with malnutrition, physical intervention is required too. But what we're doing is what any decent person would do for a friend in need ... ask how they can help!

The long view is this. External interventions from Governments work to a degree, but for a sustainable solution to our global social challenges we only have each other, people looking out for people, communities linking with communities and that's where we're heading.
Local solutions from ordinary people sharing their care and responsibility with our sisters and brothers overseas.

Run this by the youth we're working with and it makes perfect sense, run this buy the teachers, the nurses, the social workers, the faith leaders, the ordinary folks in the street, it registers, such is common sense, we all have it :-)

When we all care for one another the world will work for everyone.
Whilst there's a mindset of us and them, winners and losers, we're all lost.
When Every Child Matters is a global social norm all children will grow up with caring high on their agenda ... however, for the children to believe this is possible requires us all to walk the talk alongside them.

May your day be fulfilled by who you are.
May your heart be filled with compassion and your life represent hope for us all.

Ability to Respond

Mon, 10 Sep 2007 09:37:54 -0000

Regardless of our social outer garb, we are within, very alike, our dreams, our aspirations our fears, our limiting beliefs all are echoed across social divides and cultural difference.
Beneath the surface there is a common feeling, a feeling of humanity that is shared, a feeling that we lose when we hurt one another, a feeling we amplify when we work together towards common goals.

My experience of life thus far suggests that we share a desire to be responsible, to act upon our ability to respond and at times we deny or surpress this, at others we allow it expression.

Today I discovered a project that has been going on for many years and was founded by a man who knew only too well about the effects of mans 'inhumanity' to his fellow beings.
Viktor Frankl talked about a Statue of Responsibility to partner the Statue of Liberty and proposed that Liberty + Responsibility = Our Freedom.

I use Diana's beautiful image above in tribute to a woman who acted out of her ability to respond, choosing to be involved in humanitarian work around the world that doubtless left her 'feeling' responsible through her selfless actions. Diana, like Viktor Frankl had a rare ability to touch people deeply, they shared their own liberty to pave the path for us all towards our potential shared freedom.

Beyond our private trials, beyond our personal struggles, beyond our individual dreams and aspirations there are shared dreams, shared aspirations and collective potentialities. Beyond our local challenges there are Global challenges that make our own seem ant like in comparison. There are personal challenges that right now are testing the strength of our human spirit to its very limits.

Parents watching their children die, brothers witnessing their sisters in pain, grandparents seeing their childrens, children suffering the indignity of poverty. And as long as this exists within our lives we have a responsibility to act with our liberty towards the resolution of an old paradigm.

There are many who would say that I am the least responsible person they know, the mayhem and personal upset my following this vision has cost my nearest and dearest goes beyond my words. And I could very easily have denied my ability to respond and settled into a nice comfortable life, however, once confronted with a sense of just how much one can do and just how much needs to be done, my heart was set on doing all I could to use my liberty while I could.

Michael Skye describes the associated feelings so well. He says in a recent letter;

Imagine heading into new, unknown territory and leading others into the wilderness with you, based on a vision that you see...

At every turn there are people blaming you, pointing at you as the cause of their fears and suffering.

At times, it can become quite tough to face them--and to face yourself. Quite naturally, as an honest person, you question yourself too.

What makes all of this all the more challenging is that you grew up in a world that trained you to give up your own visionary guidance to be a "good" follower of authorities' visions.

You were made to feel fear and guilt for walking your own path. How naive, how arrogant, how inconsiderate, how selfish, how immature.

Regardless of how much you rebelled against such training and erected inner walls to protect yourself, your natural visionary guidance instincts have been affected.

As a visionary leader and creator in these times of great change, you've probably noticed how ineffective guilt is as a method for guiding yourself and others.

Yet, growing up in a world that plays the Guilt Game, we learn to use it guide and control others ... and ourselves (even if we don't realize it).

Guilt conditions us not to look within, and looking within is a pre-requisite to life as a visionary.

Thus, guilt kills your spirit, your vision and your heart. And it kills the spirit, vision and heart of those you love.

So, in order for responsibility to be a norm it would have to transcend the pressures associated with individualism and the effects this can have at a local level (family and friends).
Rather social responsibility needs to be a natural thing we all do, we all see as rewarding and fun.
Which is where I see the next generation fulfilling a role as teachers, showing us all how social responsibility can be a collective act with personal rewards and growth as natural bi-products.

The Millennium Development Goals are our collective responsibility.
Governments and UN agencies simply cannot ever deliver them without our collective support and backing.
We have more than an ability to respond, we have a moral duty to do so and this duty goes beyond the years of our lives, beyond our childrens lives, our timely response now will ripple down through future generations towards a world that works for everyone.

You, We, I ...

have an ability to respond.

What we are

Tue, 28 Aug 2007 22:43:47 -0000

I had the good fortune to spend a week camping by the coast with my children. We were literally by the beach, overlooking the sea and a few short steps from 10 square miles of sand.

My mind was full of campaigning, things to do and emails to answer, it chattered on like a monkey until the tent was up, the kettle was on and the deck chair in place under the tents porch.

The view was breathtaking, a distant skeleton of a shipwreck made a carcus like shape about a mile away on the vast expanse of sand, the hills beyond framed the scene and reminded me of previous years treks across the beach from a cottage we'd rented years before.

Last year I'd camped in exactly the same spot and been captivated by a book by Ernesto Sirolli (Ripples on the Zambezi) and another by EF Schumacher (Small is Beautiful) this year I read the sands, read the sky and felt the slowness of time.

This year I'd found answers to big questions for me, big questions for us all in truth, the answers were profoundly simple and practical too, way beyond the complexity I'd become used to with my limited capabilities as a man.

What I got back to was me in relation to nature, me in perspective to the world around me, me in relation to the whole. I'd last really felt this in the desert, a time where I got to experience my tiny nature and the worlds vastness.

Here, by the sea and near to some beautiful majestic mountains I saw once more the scale of my problems, the enormity of nature and the scale of my own dillusions. I got back in touch with a part of me that gets clouded by things to do, deadlines and to-do lists.

We walked the sands, played on the beach and watched shooting stars at night. We shivered some nights and baked on others. We ate off camping plates and fire cooked our evening meals. We lived a life for a week far closer to our hearts than the lives we live nearer to our work and school lives.

I was reminded of the passage of time back home and the eternal, timeless nature of the great outdoors.
So, batteries re-charged I'm back at the laptop, answering hundreds of letters, writing to friends and playing catch up with my diary.

There are times where I cant see the wood for the trees and others when I cant see the trees for the desert that is our collective potential. So I'm grateful for the time out to re-focus on what needs to be done and what can in reality take a back seat.

It's the case that we cant force a butterfly out of its crysalis without damaging its wings, it's doubtless also the case that at a community, regional, national and international level we will unfold our collective wings when we are collectively ready to do so.

I take heart in the hundreds of thousands of beating wings that are arising from every country on earth, for the millions of people who are providing essential care for the vulnerable and at risk young and old, and for the billions of us who like drops of water in the clouds will one day reach the ocean of our collective consciousness.

What we are is whatever we desire in our wildest dreams.
In my dreams we are as beautiful as nature can be.
In my dreams we are unfolding perfectly.

:-)

Royal Vision

Fri, 03 Aug 2007 01:07:04 -0000

The young Prince lived a life of luxury with servants to grant his every wish. Another boy spent his days begging on the streets, and his nights in a hovel. When the two boys meet, a simple switch of clothing sets them on a path they'd never dreamed possible. The prince, mistaken for the boy, is forced to live a pauper's life, while the boy unwillingly takes on the life of a prince. And in the end, each boy finds the king inside himself.

In this so called 'real life' the 'real' is determined as ever by where we are born, but as Bono said recently in a moving speech "where you are born should not decide whether you live or whether you die"

I have been a beggar now for 7 years, some call me a Sanyasi, though I am not worthy of such a title. In these years I have learned experientially about the meaning of both poverty and abundance. I have learned to appreciate what before I hardly noticed, to see what before I could rarely imagine.

My learning has been broad and at times painful and yet now as things unfold before me I find myself in awe of what lies ahead and within our collective realisation.
We now have Royalty adding his name to our campaign, a Prince who is related to every reigning King & Queen in Europe, though he, like me has realised that we bow in unison to a common potential ... that of peace and prosperity to all.

Like me, he too sees children as our most esteemed teachers and his work has reflected this view for 25 years. As a modern example of a Prince and a pauper I am honoured to walk this next stretch of the path alongside a man who has devoted his life to peace.
We are brothers in compassion and we both see a world where each child finds the King or Queen within themselves.

If I may lay claim to a throne it is one of a servant King, a sacred seat that places me at the feet of all until the day of awakening. My throne is smaller than the size of an ant and I have to kneel to begin to see it. In seeing it I am reminded of the love that was shown to me as I was born and the love that is due to every child upon this earth. I reminded too of the education I have recieved, the roof that has sheltered me and the food that has filled my stomach. I am reminded of the abundance that has graced my life and the joy I feel in sharing its possibility with all who would benefit from its arrival in their life.

Like the richest man I ever met was a pauper in London called 'Song' whose wealth was the world and who wanted for nothing, I too find myself close to this space where life itself is my reward, where I give thanks each moment for the learning I experience and where God smiles with me through everyone I meet.

Thank you for all you bring to this world.

And most of all for the dream of peace that fills your heart.

Human Spirit

Sun, 29 Jul 2007 22:14:23 -0000

"Nothing that I can do will change the structure of the universe.
But maybe, by raising my voice I can help the greatest of all causes - goodwill among men and peace on earth."
Einstein

So I get it that I'm an ordinary guy. Nothing special, just a guy with a big heart and a dream that calls me, pulls me, urges me every moment of every day.

And I find myself in the course of following this dream, meeting with experts from all over the planet, experts in development, in business, in education, in psychology, in science, in leadership, in culture, the list is endless.

And I'm an ordinary guy who doesnt know the first thing about anything, well I used to know a thing or two about design, but that was before I got the dream, now I'm like a child in a toy store, just meeting these awsome people wherever I go.

And I find myself in the Sahara meeting with what I can only describe as world teachers, these are a whole race of people who have dropped of the worlds media radar, and their story is one of the most amazing accounts of human spirit winning over the most extreme odds.

So here I am in the desert, thousands of miles from anywhere and there's a tent, it's been made by the women of this race and in spite of the adversity they've had to endure, in spite of the lives that were lost in their struggle and the pain they've endured, their tent is a symbol of unity, of community and diversity.

Knowing nothing and not being caught up inside the box of existing thinking, be it political or religious, I'm dumfounded by the potential here, the determination of human beings when faced with great physical and emotional challenges.

And I hear the 'words' of would be commercial advisors who tell me I'm wrong to point towards this issue, 'words' that come from the mouths of people who have yet to taste water from a cup served by another humanbeing who values water like they value life, or tasted last crumbs of food given with unconditonal gratitude served as though one was a Royal guest.

So 'words' pail into nothingness next to experience. My dream was mountain like when it came, nothing anyone has said since to deter me has amounted to a hill of beans and there are days when I feel like a great grandparent listening to a child teaching me how to suck eggs.

My dream sees lasting peace in the world.

True enough I could hear bitter, angry arguments a plenty from men with vested interests in the dream being impossible, but at the end of the day, a vested interest is as temporary and as transient as a gnats life is to an elephant. We are here for a brief moment in time then we're gone. I could be a multi trillionaire and so what? Big deal! The richest people I have ever met have very little of anything and they appreciate everything.

Bowing as I do to my most respected teachers, the children of the world, I find myself in a space that I can only describe as being truly magical, truly inspirational and you know? The potential for peace is as real as my mountain like dream is when I close my eyes.

Peace my friends will not come through politics or war, it wont come by changing the economic system or marchng on the White House. Peace is within us all as human beings, it will arrive in our consciousness, our collective consciousness when we choose.
When it comes for us it will come for all of us, it will come in the blink of an eye and in that moment nothing we hold as important will be important anymore, all that will matter is each other, and it is people like the Saharawi who will teach us just how powerful the human spirit is, it is the disabled, the marginalised, the poverty stricken, the outcast who will guide the way forward, for it is they who have learned through their hardships to reach a level of acceptance that is right now, beyond our comprehension.

These coming weeks and months as I step into the world of children as teachers I feel more blessed than a man should, more fortunate than words can convey, for now more than any time on my 7 year journey of discovery I can touch the mountain in my dream, I can feel it's dizzy heights beckoning me and feel it's virgin footpaths at my innocent feet.

To all my friends that journey with me ...
thank you, your belief, trust and faith is such a blessing.

Growth

Fri, 27 Jul 2007 14:46:55 -0000

We are evolving, each of us is growing, unfolding, discovering about ourselves as individuals. Likewise as a world we too are sharing a process of discovery.

What may appear like logic today may appear in 10 years to be limited thinking, what may appear to be ahead of its time today may appear to be historic in 30 years time.

The process of growth requires effort, it calls for energy in to equal energy out and there's no free ride, we cant grow whilst mesmorized by TV or intoxicated in commercialism or consumersim, the growth requires stepping out of what we know and into the un-known.

In these unchartered waters, onto the path less trodden, jumping off the metaphorical cliff we find things we never imagined could be, realisations appear to startle us with their simplictiy and logic.

Growth comes to us all at some point and to embrace it is to enjoy the ride, however scarey it may appear. And we can only grow ourselves never each other. That's like me going to the Gym and you expecting to grow muscles :-)

Our growth is an amazing process to not only experience and reflect upon but also to be around and hence my reason for sharig this today. Being around people who are pushing their boundaries, being around people who are celebrating their opportunity for growth is such a joy and a great contrast to being amongst entropy.

Being awake to the process means enjoying the ride and recognising a challenge ahead then embracing it for the potential it holds rather than avoiding it for the pain it 'may' conceal.

I met with an extraordinary lady yesterday, 10 years in a wheelchair, rejected by her family, forced onto anti-depressants, given no hope by the medical profession, she discovered within herself an inner core of potentiality. Long story short she is now a walking, running, jumping expression of feminine beauty, liberated from her prison of consciousness and now unfolding like a rose in full bloom.

Never say it cant be done, never say I cant, never say I'm too old, too young, to fat, too thin, just envision a possibility and go for it with all you can muster. And if you think it wont work or it cant be done, guess what, you're right!! :-)

So be it tackling an issue in your life or working towards the liberation of others, trust and believe in your ability to make a change, to transcend wherever you are right now.
Trust in a possibility that those who say it cant be done ar emerely testing your resiliance, your commitment, your courage, your faith.

"Let no one be discouraged by the belief that there is nothing one man or one woman can do against the enormous array of the world's ills -- against misery and ignorance, injustice and violence... Few will have the greatness to bend history itself; but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total of all those acts will be written the history of this generation...
It is from the numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a man (or a woman) stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he (or she) sends a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance."
Robert Francis Kennedy, speech at Day of Affirmation, University of Capetown, South Africa

You are a walking miracle, an amazing, beautiful, perfect expression of humanity

2 Worlds

Fri, 20 Jul 2007 17:36:11 -0000

There are 2 worlds one within the other, each has the power to predominate, each has an opposing potential, one expansive, unfolding and ever growing, the other imploding, folding in on itself.

World number 1 currently predominates, it is ruled largely by potentially limited thinking, largely by men, largely by love of money and bred amongst extreme levels of mistrust, doubt, negativity and good old fashioned, common or garden fear.

In this world the logic is individualist, dog eat dog, survivalist and as primative in many respects to ancient times where man first created fire and made his first club. (That's a heavy stick, not a chocolate bar)

World number 2 is occupied by children. It functions in the eternal now. It broadcasts simple logic, fun, happiness, inclusion, participation and action. This world if consulted could assist World number 1 to become sustainable, harmonious and peaceful.
This world, if consulted could answer many of the issues currently faced
in World number 1.

Asking young people for their ideas for integration with World number 1 reveals some great logic.

Here's their first line of suggestions;

Ensure every child has food and shelter
Ensure every child has access to a school
Ensure every Mother & Daughter has the same rights as every Father & Son
Ensure every child matters to every adult
Ensure every expectant Mother has a safe childbirth
Ensure every child is free from diseases
Ensure every child lives near a bio-diverse environment
Ensure every child is connected children overseas through technology

Not much to ask really, not when you stop and think how much World number 1 is wasting on arms and defense from itself.

The UN is reduced to a big hall, all the world leaders are invited to sit in a great circle cross legged on the floor, their security guards have to wait outside and look over each others shoulders.

Then their new special peace advisors step into the circle and answer any questions they may have about any on-going conflicts. Its quite possible that some leaders may be sent to stand in the corner until they're ready to play properly, but one things for sure, peer pressure is a powerful antidote!

World number 2 is where the sun shines :-)

Who we are

Thu, 19 Jul 2007 06:12:18 -0000

Who we are is not what we do, who we are is what we have within us, who we are is defined by our dreams and aspirations, who we are is who we know we are in our hearts.

So, when I approach the subject of mans inhumanity, I do so with love for who we are within rather than the results of our un-conscious actions.

I have a friend, Bendir, he is a brother to me and I to him. We were brought up in two very different worlds in two very different sets of circumstances, and we are brothers.

At the age of 10 he witnessed soldiers using napalm on his fathers cattle, it was his livelihood and he'd worked all his life to build this herd. Can you imagine the horror?

Bendir told me with tears rolling down his face, how he could understand the soldiers killing people as they were witnesses to their acts of hubris and ignorance, but not innocent animals who were defenseless against their mindless attacks.

I learned that Mans inhumanity he does unto himself, as well as unto others, for though it may be possible for victims to forgive, to get complete, to find acceptance, the aggressor carries his knowledge with him until the moment he finds his inner light.

A friend of mine works with hardened criminals, many of them angry with the world and lashing out at anyone and everyone who get in their way. He tells me how all they really need is a safe place to cry. That's part of his medicine.

To my right as I write this I can see an advert for the Peaceful Warrior, the guys who break through their emotional walls, who come to terms with what they have done and who they have hurt in the process, they find their peaceful warrior within, they turn their destructive power into a force for good.

And the point of this blog?
In spite of the daily dose of negativity we are fed through the TV news, in spite of the violence and inhumanity that appears to have been with us since the first angry dictator raised his axe in anger ... I would urge you to see beyond the violence, beyond the ignorant actions and into the eyes of a young child who learned to lash out by mirroring the actions of those around him. To the soul of the young child who wanted love. To the young child who was emotionally crushed.

Look for the inner child in everyone you meet. Forgive the actions of those who hurt others. Be thankful that you were not born in their shoes or destined to grow up surrounded by war, destruction and torture.

The antipathy of war and violence is peace and this begins and ends inside of you. Your unconditional love for them is the beginning of their healing and eventual awakening of their inner peaceful warrior.
And you have the power to perpetuate the norm or to transcend it.

To my brother Bendir, thank you for showing me forgiveness in action.

Unfolding

Wed, 11 Jul 2007 08:30:45 -0000

It has been said that time and tide wait for no man

Meaning

No one is so powerful that they can stop the march of time.

Origin

The origin is uncertain, although it's clear that the phrase is ancient and that it predates modern English. The earliest known record is from St. Marher, 1225:

"And te tide and te time þat tu iboren were, schal beon iblescet."

A version in modern English - "the tide abides for, tarrieth for no man, stays no man, tide nor time tarrieth no man" evolved into the present day version.

The notion of 'tide' being beyond man's control brings up images of the King Canute story. He demonstrated to his courtiers the limits of a king's power by failing to make the sea obey his command. That literal interpretation of 'tide' in 'time and tide' is what is now usually understood, but wasn't what was meant in the original version of the expression. 'Tide' didn't refer to the contemporary meaning of the word, i.e. the rising and falling of the sea, but to a period of time. When this phrase was coined tide meant a season, or a time, or a while. The word is still with us in that sense in 'good tidings', which refers to a good event or occasion and whitsuntide, noontide etc.

Thank you Phrase Finder.

Our period of time is but a blink of an eye, we are here for the briefest of moments.

Life goes on and revolves around life itself, not thinking about politics, money, possessions, life just simply flows, constantly, like a perpetual conveyor belt and we my friends are merely aspects of life, aspects of a whole, parts in an eco-system.

We are given a stage, and this stage is life, the set is the world, the cast is 6.5 billion and the play is one of interdependance or one of disharmony, each of us are the writers of the script.

And there's a clock ticking, it ticks for each of us, it knows not of pains, deadlines, schedules, chores, rush hour, striving, it simply marks the passage of time amidst the flow, like the counting of trees on a train journey, the trees remain as we wizz past.

The clock waits to ring its wake up call and when it rings we will awaken to a world quite different to the one we know. In this world there are no more clocks, there is no more striving, there is no more unconsciousness. The bell will ring and the entire world will continue on its conveyor belt cycle of perpetual cycles of life, but we (that's you, me and everyone) will see newly and through the excitement of newness we will enjoy each moment in our own perpetual harmony.
Not because we have to, not because the earth depends upon us doing so, not because we are told to, simply because its what we are within.

Downstream of us, life goes on, downstream of now we learn about going with the flow of life, downstream of history the tides change and we will collectively appreciate the futility of our attempts to hold back tide and time.