A video taste of Greenbelt Festival
colour/music/soul/everything/beautifulllll

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Billy Bragg:: singing Jerusalem:: Greenbelt Festival:: WONDROUS

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I use this tool often
in my own evaluation
REALITY CHECK
and also in my work with groups


Who are you?
Who are you in touch with?

Do you do regular reality checks?

I am in touch
with humans who are going through tough times

I am in touch
with humans who have gone through tough times
The most beautiful humans
The scars seem to cultivate openness - vulnerability
L5

Vulnerability is a strength
not a weakness......

I am in touch
with humans, and privileged to be so,
who are going through massively complex
and extremely excruciating times.


CAN YOU CONSIDER ANSWERING THESE QUESTIONS?
If only in the secret place within?

If you have a bed to sleep in tonight.
Thank God,
or whoever you acknowledge,
for this privilege.
1 If you could not sleep in your own home tonight,
where would you go to sleep?
Think - not just read.

OK - a friend or relative -
I guess.
2 Second question -
how long could you sleep there
before you felt you would need to move on?
Think - decide - don't just read.

3 If you had no money,
no bank account and
you had to leave home/relative/friend
- where would you go?

4 If you was not wanted at home,
if not welcome amongst your friends
- how would you feel inside?

So many young humans,
and much older ones,
have experienced
relationship breakdowns.
Often caused by
substance misuse,
chemicals,
alcohol,
behaviour,
mental health issues,
slump of confidence
including basic inadequacy.

These humans are in pain
and it is not chosen.
It is a slide into poverty,
- a poverty of the spirit too,
and
a massive stigma.

The cycle for them will not change
unless other humans
step out of their comfort zones
and contribute to those
who are in greater need
than themselves.
We can always position ourselves as 'needy'.
I certainly do.

If we always only look to see
those who are richer.
Yet so often,
never really consider,
or even look to see,
those who are,
so called,
'below' us.

All of us cannot
sell up and go and live in the poorest community.

All of us cannot
stand alongside homeless humans.

All of us cannot
change jobs to work alongside youngsters in vital need.

All of us cannot,
yes we can,
we can
look out for those
who are on the fringe of our
vision
social network
friends
street
workplace,
frequented haunts
everyday places
and ........
go out to them
like no other human does
who they have met that day.

Sometimes they have never met anyone
like you
this
week
month
year,
sometimes
life time........

"To be free is
to know who we are,
with all that is beautiful,
all the brokenness in us;
it is to love our own values,
to embrace them,
and to develop them;
it is to be anchored
in a vision and a truth
but also to be open
to others and so,
to change.
Freedom lies in
discovering that the truth
is not a set of fixed certitudes
but a mystery we enter into,
one step at a time.
It is a process
of going deeper
and deeper
into an
unfathomable
reality."

Jean Vanier
Becoming Human

'we should give up the foolish task
of trying to be saints
and get on with the important task
of being human'

Bonhoeffer

I have often reflected that I have
'filters'
I mind map
spider doodle of my thoughts on my filters
- I believe we all have them ......
filters I mean/not spiders!


Our life has ethos-filters which influence
our language and behaviour
that stuff about
"you are beautiful"
is one of my filters

I was chatting with someone recently
and within a few minutes
he was slagging off people.
NOT particular ones
just anyone who,
it seemed to me,
to be different than he.

That sparked a dialogue.
I asked was he perfect?
Did he need to name call those
with different imperfections
than he.

This stuff really gets me going.
My beautiful-imperfection filter
comes into play.


I suppose I believe that::
what we
believe,
hold as principles,
have as self-guidelines .......
...... they are filters
when it comes to::

communication
2xlanguages
- verbal
- body

lifestyle
attitude
- to our own interior
- to other humans
- to the community/society we live in
- to the comos - the planet we live in
- to the eternal significance
which we all have some contact with ....

behaviour
need and greed
taker or maker
read
or don't read
view or don't view
quantity more-or-less
live or don't live
dwell or don't dwell
tent pitching place
- or following betterment of self.



Filters don't change our feelings
but
do influence the decisions we make
when we get signals from our feelings.
(Feelings are neutral -
neither good nor bad)
they are just real.

Training ourselves
to be in touch with them
and putting them through the filters
is what makes the Road Less Travelled
beautiful
but
still
beautiful imperfection


These are just some of my filters
- offered as a stimulus to you
and myself.
I am keen to keep my list active
because
I must be missing some foundational ones.

One big filter::


-You are beautiful-



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IF
you are anything like me
you will/may like this::





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Jubilee
Garden Party
for the neighbours
and Family Wilson

Bono made a (somewhat) surprise appearance on RTE TV tonight in Ireland during the 50th anniversary special for The Late Late Show, and he made a few interesting comments about U2's album progress.

Host Ryan Tubridy began by asking Bono what the band is up to currently.

"Looking for the perfect pop song. Edge is in denial of his genius. I'm a little too sure of my own. Larry is suspicious of both and Adam sees merit in both. They're unbelievable. They really want it, though, I will say that. As a band there's no sense of entitlement. I think they're very aware that U2's gotta do something very special to have a reason to exist right now, so that's what we're doing. We're song writing -- you know the process. But it's -- they're amazing men. They really are extraordinary. They really, really want it."

"There won't be a U2 album unless there's something really special. You just gotta go to that place. You gotta dig a deep well and see what you can pull up. We've been through many songs and there's some great stuff. I would say we had the best three weeks in the studio that we've had since, like, 1979. Three weeks is all it should take...."

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