.
am all quiet here and that means I am busy and will be offline for next few days.
'Poor communication Wilson' I say.
So much to say and so much to reflect.
will be back soon mehopes
bhp
Thursday, January 29, 2004
Wednesday, January 28, 2004
.
I think
and I have said this before in a blog
I think the BBC have behaved disgracefully.
Interesting how all the media praised the appointment of Lord Hutton and now because they are being criticized ....... they don't like it. The media are the masters of spin and don't stinking like it when they get a big smack in the mouth.
They look at a blank screen every day and write anything while others are working to run the country.
Will they ever admit they are just spinning to fill their non-stop media hours and hours and ........ zzzzzz
bhp
I think
and I have said this before in a blog
I think the BBC have behaved disgracefully.
Interesting how all the media praised the appointment of Lord Hutton and now because they are being criticized ....... they don't like it. The media are the masters of spin and don't stinking like it when they get a big smack in the mouth.
They look at a blank screen every day and write anything while others are working to run the country.
Will they ever admit they are just spinning to fill their non-stop media hours and hours and ........ zzzzzz
bhp
.
hmmmm ......... I am blogging and there is no groove to place the needle in right now. So here goes ...........
I am always interested in communication. The world is. Life cannot exist without it. To love is to communicate, love is a doing word, and that interests me.
The normal spoken speed is about 125 words per minute. If we measured the speed of thought it is said to be four times that.
So every minute (125 words) of someone is talking to us, we have an extra 400 words of thought time/words/thinking time to manage.
That given, it is a difficult task for the listener/receiver AND pretty much a challenge for the speaker/sender too.
I am interested in communication and that means 'words out' but also 'words in'. We cannot be communicators unless we listen ....... otherwise we may-as-well talk to ourselves! Add to all this the complexity of 'non verbal communication', body language, and we have something in everyday usage open to great misunderstanding.
My work with groups is a challenge. Not only do I aim to communicate but I aim to create an environment and opportunity for everyone there to communicate. Yes listening! Yes verbally and non-verbally expressing themselves.
One big issue here is something I have good conversations about. The issue of our own sensitivity to ourselves. If we are not aware of our own feelings, in touch with them, it seems to me we are in a struggle to understand other humans. So many people I know do not know how they are feeling, being able to put a word to a feeling.
I am happy.
I am frustrated.
I am angry.
I am low.
I am bitter.
I am at peace.
I am ....................... you fill in the space about your feelings now.
I believe we can then become sensitive to others better. From that base of sensitivity we can then decide how best to communicate.
I have had some wondrous experiences of communication in the last 48 hours and my tiny inadequate clicking fingers cannot cope.
I wish I could click as fast as I could talk.
Then of course I would like to click as quick as I could think!
........ what a groove ................. bhp
hmmmm ......... I am blogging and there is no groove to place the needle in right now. So here goes ...........
I am always interested in communication. The world is. Life cannot exist without it. To love is to communicate, love is a doing word, and that interests me.
The normal spoken speed is about 125 words per minute. If we measured the speed of thought it is said to be four times that.
So every minute (125 words) of someone is talking to us, we have an extra 400 words of thought time/words/thinking time to manage.
That given, it is a difficult task for the listener/receiver AND pretty much a challenge for the speaker/sender too.
I am interested in communication and that means 'words out' but also 'words in'. We cannot be communicators unless we listen ....... otherwise we may-as-well talk to ourselves! Add to all this the complexity of 'non verbal communication', body language, and we have something in everyday usage open to great misunderstanding.
My work with groups is a challenge. Not only do I aim to communicate but I aim to create an environment and opportunity for everyone there to communicate. Yes listening! Yes verbally and non-verbally expressing themselves.
One big issue here is something I have good conversations about. The issue of our own sensitivity to ourselves. If we are not aware of our own feelings, in touch with them, it seems to me we are in a struggle to understand other humans. So many people I know do not know how they are feeling, being able to put a word to a feeling.
I am happy.
I am frustrated.
I am angry.
I am low.
I am bitter.
I am at peace.
I am ....................... you fill in the space about your feelings now.
I believe we can then become sensitive to others better. From that base of sensitivity we can then decide how best to communicate.
I have had some wondrous experiences of communication in the last 48 hours and my tiny inadequate clicking fingers cannot cope.
I wish I could click as fast as I could talk.
Then of course I would like to click as quick as I could think!
........ what a groove ................. bhp
Tuesday, January 27, 2004
.
God is a DJ
Life is the dance floor
Love is the rhythm
You are the music
(Pink)
This is the hook from the new Pink single. Someone saw the poster ad and told me it reminded them of me.
A question;
If life is a dance floor what song are you?
I will have a think and post my answer. At least have a go, even if you don't tell anyone.
bhp
God is a DJ
Life is the dance floor
Love is the rhythm
You are the music
(Pink)
This is the hook from the new Pink single. Someone saw the poster ad and told me it reminded them of me.
A question;
If life is a dance floor what song are you?
I will have a think and post my answer. At least have a go, even if you don't tell anyone.
bhp
.
Just had a curry with mr singh.
I don't think I have told you about mr singh. I certainly have to some individuals like Andy T who I had a curry with last monday night. Monday is curry night ........ it seems.
Seven years ago a man came into the ymca dining room and sat on his own. He was an old looking man with a long gray beard and a turban in the sikh tradition. Like I do, I paused as I passed and greeted him as I did on successive evenings. Each time a longer exchange until I felt it ok for his comfort that I sat with him and conversed. It was then a regular opportunity to talk with this great man. Eventually others spoke to him and he then went on in developing relationships until he travelled on a week-end adventure with residents and staff to the distant land of Scotland. He made glass models and fire sculptures and built respectful relationships with others from the horrific troubles of kosova, other refugees - and even the local jack-the-lads and girls.
Everyone got to know mr singh and loved his warmth wisdom and stability.
One day I was walking through the ymca and a young man waved at me as I walked by. I stepped on my journey for a moment or two and then I realized that this younger man was mr singh! He had no beard. He had no turban.
All the talk was about mr singh. "He is not mr singh anymore" was the outcry. It became the talk of the ymca town and an adjustment from many as they had not seen the man behind the big beard and the big turban.
Talking with him, having dinner with him, he told me he had done it because he believed that God looked on the inside not the outside. He believed that faith was an inside job and this act was one of faith.
One evening later I was sat with him for dinner at the y and he got to his feet and helped sean with his tray of food. Sean was a schoolteacher and blind. He came into the ymca with his guide dog and Mr singh, with others, always helped sean with that last lap of getting grub to the table ....... and getting him a cup of tea to follow at the end of dinner.
After a while - mr singh got up and left. I said to sean "what do you think of mr singh shaving his beard off?" and he said "I didn't know he had a beard"
What a fantastic thought. He knew mr singh for his warmth and kindness and generosity. We, the rest of us, were disabled by the ability to see the man. Wow I think, how important it is to see the person below the surface and not the outer. I think that is a fab fab story.
About six months ago, Joan Joy myself and mr singh were at the back of our church in romford as the vicar stephen baptised him around the font. This was followed a couple of weeks later by a confirmation by the bishop. Starbucks and a long chat followed that baptism and I have the photos if you want to see one. Just do the pip at dot com thing ........
I could go on ........... but just one last bit of many additions to the story. Before christmas mr singh didn't appear in church so I gave him his christmas present tonight. The six days before christmas he sat with his mother in hospital, night and day until she died on christmas eve. He told us that two minutes before she died, she placed her hands together .." like mother teresa " he said ......... and she died.
Tonight he told me all about the funeral at the home, the sikh temple ( they know I am a christian - he said) and then back to the family home.
I feel a deep sense of wonder with him, for him, about him.
He knows I tell people about him. He stands humble and wonder-full.
Hope you don't mind me sharing part of his story ........ he won't.
bhp
Just had a curry with mr singh.
I don't think I have told you about mr singh. I certainly have to some individuals like Andy T who I had a curry with last monday night. Monday is curry night ........ it seems.
Seven years ago a man came into the ymca dining room and sat on his own. He was an old looking man with a long gray beard and a turban in the sikh tradition. Like I do, I paused as I passed and greeted him as I did on successive evenings. Each time a longer exchange until I felt it ok for his comfort that I sat with him and conversed. It was then a regular opportunity to talk with this great man. Eventually others spoke to him and he then went on in developing relationships until he travelled on a week-end adventure with residents and staff to the distant land of Scotland. He made glass models and fire sculptures and built respectful relationships with others from the horrific troubles of kosova, other refugees - and even the local jack-the-lads and girls.
Everyone got to know mr singh and loved his warmth wisdom and stability.
One day I was walking through the ymca and a young man waved at me as I walked by. I stepped on my journey for a moment or two and then I realized that this younger man was mr singh! He had no beard. He had no turban.
All the talk was about mr singh. "He is not mr singh anymore" was the outcry. It became the talk of the ymca town and an adjustment from many as they had not seen the man behind the big beard and the big turban.
Talking with him, having dinner with him, he told me he had done it because he believed that God looked on the inside not the outside. He believed that faith was an inside job and this act was one of faith.
One evening later I was sat with him for dinner at the y and he got to his feet and helped sean with his tray of food. Sean was a schoolteacher and blind. He came into the ymca with his guide dog and Mr singh, with others, always helped sean with that last lap of getting grub to the table ....... and getting him a cup of tea to follow at the end of dinner.
After a while - mr singh got up and left. I said to sean "what do you think of mr singh shaving his beard off?" and he said "I didn't know he had a beard"
What a fantastic thought. He knew mr singh for his warmth and kindness and generosity. We, the rest of us, were disabled by the ability to see the man. Wow I think, how important it is to see the person below the surface and not the outer. I think that is a fab fab story.
About six months ago, Joan Joy myself and mr singh were at the back of our church in romford as the vicar stephen baptised him around the font. This was followed a couple of weeks later by a confirmation by the bishop. Starbucks and a long chat followed that baptism and I have the photos if you want to see one. Just do the pip at dot com thing ........
I could go on ........... but just one last bit of many additions to the story. Before christmas mr singh didn't appear in church so I gave him his christmas present tonight. The six days before christmas he sat with his mother in hospital, night and day until she died on christmas eve. He told us that two minutes before she died, she placed her hands together .." like mother teresa " he said ......... and she died.
Tonight he told me all about the funeral at the home, the sikh temple ( they know I am a christian - he said) and then back to the family home.
I feel a deep sense of wonder with him, for him, about him.
He knows I tell people about him. He stands humble and wonder-full.
Hope you don't mind me sharing part of his story ........ he won't.
bhp
Sunday, January 25, 2004
.
This is a fantastic article I have nicked from wwwatu2.com
who I visit daily. I thought a using a paragraph quote but the whole article says so much to me. Meets me where I am at. Skip it if you wish.
It makes me yearn and churn in a bath of justice. It presses my faith refresh button. hmmm
In the Name of Love: King’s Legacy Lives On
The Daily Journal, January 24, 2004
Michelle Watson
I have been in love with Bono, lead singer of the Irish rock group U2, for 17 years, almost half my life. I went to Atlanta on Jan. 17 in a quest to finally meet him.
But in my single-minded mission, I ended up face to face with issues of civil rights, human rights, justice and equality and with one woman who embodies the spirit of all that and more, Coretta Scott King.
Bono was presented a Salute to Greatness Award by the King Center, which Mrs. King established in 1968 as a living memorial to the legacy of her husband, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. The Salute to Greatness Award is given in recognition of "outstanding efforts toward building Dr. King's 'Beloved Community.' "
I wasn't aware that such an award existed, but because Bono was receiving it, I was willing to drive the nine hours to Atlanta to be there for the presentation. Bono is known -— among U2 fans, at least -— for his entertaining and sometimes rambling acceptance speeches. I couldn't pass up a chance to hear one in person.
His speech was a definite highlight for me. I was touched to see the obvious affection between Bono and Mrs. King. She even referred to him as her new son, and he called her "Mama." Knowing that Bono's mother died when he was 14, and that he has always been a great admirer of Dr. King, I can only imagine what a great honor it is for him to have Mrs. King as a mother figure.
He was also his usual, self-deprecating self. He expressed the difficulty of speaking at the podium following members of the King family. "It's like getting the Beatles to open for a bar band," he said. But I'm not sure why he would be nervous. At times he sounded like a Baptist preacher himself.
Bono's sermon was about AIDS in Africa, and that we all have a duty to end the pandemic there. With the world getting smaller and smaller, the edict to love thy neighbor has new meaning.
The most moving part of his speech for me was when he talked about his song "MLK" being written "as sort of a lullaby for an idea that was dying in our country: the idea of non-violence...All inspired by a black reverend from Atlanta who refused to hate because he thought love would do a better job."
If only more people would honor King's legacy by refusing to hate because love would do a better job.
At the end of the awards dinner, Mrs. King asked us all to join in singing the anthem of the civil rights movement, "We Shall Overcome." I held hands with a stranger to my right and a new friend to my left and felt a great sense of gratitude at how far humanity has come but also a sense of duty to do everything in my power to uphold King's legacy of equality and justice for all.
When everything was over, I rushed up to the stage hoping for a chance to speak with Bono. I had been planning conversations in my head for a month, but I didn't get to carry them out. Amazingly, though, I wasn't disappointed. The evening had been so uplifting, how could I possibly be disappointed?
Besides, something equally special was in store. At the after-dinner reception, I got to meet Coretta Scott King. I could tell she was tired; it had been a long night. But she graciously allowed people to take pictures with her.
I was so humbled to be able to shake her hand. I even had a chance to tell her that I had heard her speak at Franklin College in April, and the one thing that stuck in my mind was her use of the term "adversaries" rather than "enemies," because there is a suggestion of hatred in the word "enemy." She thanked me, and we posed for a picture. I'm going to frame that photo and put it on display prominently in my home to remind myself of the dignity, grace and compassion evident in Mrs. King that we should all strive for.
Spending the evening in the King family's presence inspired me to visit the King Center in Atlanta the next day before I drove back to Indiana. I'm glad I did.
King's story has always fascinated me. I was in awe as I wandered around the glass semicircles in the visitor's center that held photos of King and told the history of the civil rights struggle in America.
I found myself in tears as I saw a photo of a young white girl smiling up at a black man hanging from a tree. My eyes welled up again as I watched a video of Dr. King's funeral, when they played a recording of one of his last sermons. In it, he spoke of his own funeral and what he hoped would be said.
"I'd like someone to mention that day that Martin Luther King Jr. tried to give his life serving others...I want you to be able to say that day that I did try to feed the hungry. I want you to be able to say that I did try in my life to clothe the naked. I want you to say on that day that I did try in my life to visit those who were in prison. And I want you to say that I tried to love and serve humanity."
But my heart soared when I read about the black community's determination to end the racist practices of the Montgomery, Ala., bus system and integrate lunch counters in the south. I knew about the Montgomery bus boycott, but I didn't understand what a hardship it was for people to keep up that boycott for a full year. I knew about the sit-ins at lunch counters, but I had no idea the abuse people took. Yet they remained nonviolent.
I left the King Center with a determination to spend every Martin Luther King Jr. Day in service to others. I want to read every book I can find by Dr. King and about him and Mrs. King and their brave struggle to make the world a better place.
I also left thankful that once again, my hero worship of Bono, a pop culture icon, brought me to a greater understanding of Martin Luther King Jr., an American icon whose dream is kept alive by his family, led by a woman who refuses to hate because she thinks love would do a better job.
Michelle Watson is assistant managing editor of production at the Daily Journal.
© 2004 The Daily Journal, Johnson County, Indiana.
Michelle is also a new member of the @U2 News staff.
This is a fantastic article I have nicked from wwwatu2.com
who I visit daily. I thought a using a paragraph quote but the whole article says so much to me. Meets me where I am at. Skip it if you wish.
It makes me yearn and churn in a bath of justice. It presses my faith refresh button. hmmm
In the Name of Love: King’s Legacy Lives On
The Daily Journal, January 24, 2004
Michelle Watson
I have been in love with Bono, lead singer of the Irish rock group U2, for 17 years, almost half my life. I went to Atlanta on Jan. 17 in a quest to finally meet him.
But in my single-minded mission, I ended up face to face with issues of civil rights, human rights, justice and equality and with one woman who embodies the spirit of all that and more, Coretta Scott King.
Bono was presented a Salute to Greatness Award by the King Center, which Mrs. King established in 1968 as a living memorial to the legacy of her husband, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. The Salute to Greatness Award is given in recognition of "outstanding efforts toward building Dr. King's 'Beloved Community.' "
I wasn't aware that such an award existed, but because Bono was receiving it, I was willing to drive the nine hours to Atlanta to be there for the presentation. Bono is known -— among U2 fans, at least -— for his entertaining and sometimes rambling acceptance speeches. I couldn't pass up a chance to hear one in person.
His speech was a definite highlight for me. I was touched to see the obvious affection between Bono and Mrs. King. She even referred to him as her new son, and he called her "Mama." Knowing that Bono's mother died when he was 14, and that he has always been a great admirer of Dr. King, I can only imagine what a great honor it is for him to have Mrs. King as a mother figure.
He was also his usual, self-deprecating self. He expressed the difficulty of speaking at the podium following members of the King family. "It's like getting the Beatles to open for a bar band," he said. But I'm not sure why he would be nervous. At times he sounded like a Baptist preacher himself.
Bono's sermon was about AIDS in Africa, and that we all have a duty to end the pandemic there. With the world getting smaller and smaller, the edict to love thy neighbor has new meaning.
The most moving part of his speech for me was when he talked about his song "MLK" being written "as sort of a lullaby for an idea that was dying in our country: the idea of non-violence...All inspired by a black reverend from Atlanta who refused to hate because he thought love would do a better job."
If only more people would honor King's legacy by refusing to hate because love would do a better job.
At the end of the awards dinner, Mrs. King asked us all to join in singing the anthem of the civil rights movement, "We Shall Overcome." I held hands with a stranger to my right and a new friend to my left and felt a great sense of gratitude at how far humanity has come but also a sense of duty to do everything in my power to uphold King's legacy of equality and justice for all.
When everything was over, I rushed up to the stage hoping for a chance to speak with Bono. I had been planning conversations in my head for a month, but I didn't get to carry them out. Amazingly, though, I wasn't disappointed. The evening had been so uplifting, how could I possibly be disappointed?
Besides, something equally special was in store. At the after-dinner reception, I got to meet Coretta Scott King. I could tell she was tired; it had been a long night. But she graciously allowed people to take pictures with her.
I was so humbled to be able to shake her hand. I even had a chance to tell her that I had heard her speak at Franklin College in April, and the one thing that stuck in my mind was her use of the term "adversaries" rather than "enemies," because there is a suggestion of hatred in the word "enemy." She thanked me, and we posed for a picture. I'm going to frame that photo and put it on display prominently in my home to remind myself of the dignity, grace and compassion evident in Mrs. King that we should all strive for.
Spending the evening in the King family's presence inspired me to visit the King Center in Atlanta the next day before I drove back to Indiana. I'm glad I did.
King's story has always fascinated me. I was in awe as I wandered around the glass semicircles in the visitor's center that held photos of King and told the history of the civil rights struggle in America.
I found myself in tears as I saw a photo of a young white girl smiling up at a black man hanging from a tree. My eyes welled up again as I watched a video of Dr. King's funeral, when they played a recording of one of his last sermons. In it, he spoke of his own funeral and what he hoped would be said.
"I'd like someone to mention that day that Martin Luther King Jr. tried to give his life serving others...I want you to be able to say that day that I did try to feed the hungry. I want you to be able to say that I did try in my life to clothe the naked. I want you to say on that day that I did try in my life to visit those who were in prison. And I want you to say that I tried to love and serve humanity."
But my heart soared when I read about the black community's determination to end the racist practices of the Montgomery, Ala., bus system and integrate lunch counters in the south. I knew about the Montgomery bus boycott, but I didn't understand what a hardship it was for people to keep up that boycott for a full year. I knew about the sit-ins at lunch counters, but I had no idea the abuse people took. Yet they remained nonviolent.
I left the King Center with a determination to spend every Martin Luther King Jr. Day in service to others. I want to read every book I can find by Dr. King and about him and Mrs. King and their brave struggle to make the world a better place.
I also left thankful that once again, my hero worship of Bono, a pop culture icon, brought me to a greater understanding of Martin Luther King Jr., an American icon whose dream is kept alive by his family, led by a woman who refuses to hate because she thinks love would do a better job.
Michelle Watson is assistant managing editor of production at the Daily Journal.
© 2004 The Daily Journal, Johnson County, Indiana.
Michelle is also a new member of the @U2 News staff.
Friday, January 23, 2004
.
clicking dis on my piptop ..........
I am away with the people who have decided to give to an Association which cares for the whole of the YMCA Staff across four nations. Ireland, Scotland, Wales and yes England. APS (Association of Professional Staff) is a group I have belonged to for a few years and I am on my last elected lap. I end in June.
Fine folks.
Fine purpose.
Massive need.
7000 of them/us
We can be so self contained;
in ourselves ...... shudder the thought
in our own staff team ........ hmmm
in our own local ymca ....... vital to be a community but
in the four nations we can bring beautiful exchanges of learning, challenge, training, growth in spirit and the rest of the package we need.
So here I am loving it loving it ...... at a conference centre called High Leigh in Hodderston. I love this place and I will be here soon for a Greenbelt Angels w/e and then a Can Opener Conference with the ymca. The environment can so add to the mission of the conference.
I will be left with some enhanced relationships and a new vision for the ymca staff for the next year. We have needs and we can meet so many by sharing together.
I am feeling good thanx.
A few life decisions to make. Have you?
Me and Joan just talk. We talk so much about alsorts and that is good.
I am looking forward to eating out with Ann and Joan at the w/e and having a good catchup before she flies to Hong Kong. I love my daughters ..... sorry ....... our daughters.
Music at the moment ...... Nelly is on, with all the others, from my itunes mactop mix
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
clicking dis on my piptop ..........
I am away with the people who have decided to give to an Association which cares for the whole of the YMCA Staff across four nations. Ireland, Scotland, Wales and yes England. APS (Association of Professional Staff) is a group I have belonged to for a few years and I am on my last elected lap. I end in June.
Fine folks.
Fine purpose.
Massive need.
7000 of them/us
We can be so self contained;
in ourselves ...... shudder the thought
in our own staff team ........ hmmm
in our own local ymca ....... vital to be a community but
in the four nations we can bring beautiful exchanges of learning, challenge, training, growth in spirit and the rest of the package we need.
So here I am loving it loving it ...... at a conference centre called High Leigh in Hodderston. I love this place and I will be here soon for a Greenbelt Angels w/e and then a Can Opener Conference with the ymca. The environment can so add to the mission of the conference.
I will be left with some enhanced relationships and a new vision for the ymca staff for the next year. We have needs and we can meet so many by sharing together.
I am feeling good thanx.
A few life decisions to make. Have you?
Me and Joan just talk. We talk so much about alsorts and that is good.
I am looking forward to eating out with Ann and Joan at the w/e and having a good catchup before she flies to Hong Kong. I love my daughters ..... sorry ....... our daughters.
Music at the moment ...... Nelly is on, with all the others, from my itunes mactop mix
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
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