nature | Ascension Lifestyle

03 Aug 2023
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2023 So Far

We’re now 7 months into 2023 and I’ve been noticing some things that are quite different from previous years.

People are curious for something new, something fresh and different. Almost like folks have stopped saying that’s woowoo and started saying ‘Whatcha got?’
There are most definitely two distinct realities emerging. The old hierarchical one where everything is scary and scarce. And the new quantum one where everything is available for you to create your own version of life and reality.
While the weather might seem unpredictable, at the same time there’s an increase in the miraculousness of Nature. One wonders if the weather gods aren’t putting purpose in people’s faces and saying ‘Time to act.’, while at the same time the Nature gods are enticing us into a more wondrous interconnection with all of life.
The quantum field is present all around us now. The air we breathe is packed with great possibilities. Super flow of genius, ideas & innovation have become easy to access.
We believe … we create. In other words, you think a subtle thought and minutes later whoosh there it is staring you in the face in your reality. So make your thoughts and beliefs great ones! Coz they’re gonna become real real fast from now on.
There is Joy, oh so much Joy, if you just let yourself experience it. It’s really just a matter of raising your vibration and poof a smile comes on your face with laughter bubbling up from inside. One wonders if that godness that dwells within us all isn’t eager to burst through into our daily lives now. Big smile at that thought.
And the animals … omg! Spectacular. Sentiently more conscious than ever before. Perhaps they have an ability to let that inner godness burst free more easily than humans.

All that to say that while this might be a really weird year so far, in my books it’s truly an awesome one. Here’s to more great wonders to come.

About the Author:

Soleira Green is a visionary author, quantum coach, ALLchemist & future innovator. She has been creating leading edge breakthroughs in consciousness, quantum evolution, transformation, innovation, intelligence and more over the past 25 years, has written and self-published eleven books, and taught courses all over the world on these topics.

23 Jul 2023
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8 Natural Ways to Repel Insects Without Bug Spray

Unless you’re an entomologist (and on the clock), you probably hate being surrounded by bugs, especially if they bite. While these creatures play important roles in the environment, they can be a real nuisance to humans in the outdoors, and some of these bugs do transmit diseases. Your favorite store-bought bug repellent can keep them away for awhile, but what happens when the DEET can runs dry? Worse yet, what about when you’re in a survival situation and the bugs won’t leave you alone? Thankfully, there are some natural options to beat the bugs without all the chemicals.

Make Your Own Repellent

While it’s not the strongest option in the world, you can make your own bug repellent from essential oils and other household products. Make a trip to a health food store or similar shop for the essential oils (or order them online). Then you’ll be ready to blend and bottle your own bug repellent. You’ll need:

A one-quart spray bottle
1 pint distilled white vinegar
1 pint water
25 drops of tea tree oil
25 drops of lavender essential oil

Add the ingredients into a clean spray bottle and shake well. Spray your boots, clothing and skin with a generous coating before heading outside. Reapply every two to four hours for best results.

Check Often for Ticks

Ticks are more than a nuisance for our dogs. These troublesome arachnids are found in every habitat in the U.S., and we host more than 90 of the world’s 900 tick species. Many of these species pose a significant threat to outdoor enthusiasts, transmitting diseases such as Lyme disease, anaplasmosis, babesiosis, Powassan disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF), ehrlichiosis, STARI (Southern tick-associated rash illness), tularemia and other diseases. Spot them by wearing light colored clothing and doing frequent “tick checks” throughout the day. Remove embedded ticks quickly to limit your risk of contracting a tick-borne disease. Use tweezers or a tick removal tool to grab the tick by the mouth, pinching your own skin if necessary, then pull it straight out.

Watch Where You Put Your Gear

Scorpions, spiders, centipedes and other venomous creatures may consider your unattended boots, gloves, or other garments as a fine new home, especially if they have been undisturbed for a few hours. Then guess what happens when you suddenly pick these items up and put them on? The animal gets pressed against your skin and it bites or stings you. The venom can range from mild to intense, depending on the creature that you’ve disturbed and its size.

Take scorpions as an example. With more than a thousand known scorpion species in the world, there are plenty we’ll encounter in our travels. Mercifully, there are only 25 known to carry venom that would kill a human. From that group, there’s just one that lives in the continental U.S. It’s the Arizona bark scorpion (Centruroides sculpturatus) and its venom is on the low end of the spectrum (fatalities are very rare, usually occurring in small children and those with health problems).

So how do we avoid the sting or bite? Don’t leave your clothing, gloves or footwear on the ground or outside overnight. Don’t hang your jacket on a tree. Don’t give them a chance to crawl into your open backpack. Gear that’s not being worn should be put away, closed up or otherwise moved out of the creature’s reach. Yes, it’s a pain, but it’s less painful than getting bitten or stung.

Use Wild Plants as Repellents

Depending on your environment, there may be many wild plants which contain bug repelling compounds. Some of these may be native species and others may have been brought to this continent for various purposes. Either way, it could be very helpful to learn about the plant species that can ward off pests in the outdoors. Before you start scrubbing wild plants all over yourself, use a wild plant field guide to make 100 percent positive identification of any plant or plant part.

Paw Paw (Asimina triloba): This native tree species is commonly found along rivers and waterways throughout the eastern U.S. It bears large tropical-looking fruits (edible to people) that ripen in late summer. The trees also bear large ovate leaves which can be crushed and wiped on your skin as a useful insect repellent. The leaves are at their best in the spring and early summer, when their strong scent can remind us of fresh asphalt.

Catnip (Nepeta cataria): This common mint family member is a non-native species, brought to these shores for more than just driving your cat insane. A tea from the leaves can have a calming effect in humans and the plant can repel mosquitoes and other flying insects. The easiest way to use the plant is to crush the fresh leaves and stems onto your skin and clothing.

Don’t Forget The Net

They don’t have to be expensive and they won’t be pretty. They might just save your sanity though, and block the transmission of disease. Mesh bug suits and netted headwear can block the bugs when they come on strong.

This is much more effective than wearing multiple layers of clothing, as some people do, or by applying buckets of bug repellent. Make sure your exposed skin is covered and eliminate all gaps in your mesh suit and headwear. The only thing worse than having multiple bugs flying around inside your head net is not having a head net in the first place. Consider a sleeping net too, as these save lives in parts of the world. Mosquitos are more than just bothersome, they can transmit the malaria parasite (plasmodium, which kills over 1 million people per year globally), and many different viruses that cause encephalitis and dangerous fevers (like chikungunya, dengue, yellow fever, St. Louis encephalitis, West Nile virus and Zika).

Smoke the Bugs Away

Some savvy fishermen know how to beat biting flies and other pests around the water. They smoke cheap (or very good) cigars when the air gets buggy. For non-smokers (and those who’ve run out of cigars), there are plenty of other options – ones that won’t get you hooked on nicotine. It turns out that any smoke can act like a natural bug repellent, though some are much better than others. Remember grandma’s cedar chest full of blankets? Cedar has long been known as a natural bug repellent and cedar bark is famous for smoldering (rather than bursting into flame). So a bundle of smoldering cedar bark can help to keep the bugs at bay, and it’s also a fine way to transport a fire in the form of embers (for example, if you were leaving one camp and moving to another).

Another option for smoke uses a plant that normally grows by the water, like cattails. The dead brown seed heads can be found atop the tall grass-like plants. Grab one of these “burnt corn dogs” and apply an open flame to one end of it. Once smoldering, smoke will begin to drift out of it. Place the seed head upwind from you with the glowing end into the wind, and sit where the smoke can bathe you. Similarly, a fireproof container of crumbly rotten wood (aka punk wood) can also be lit to provide smoke. This is especially useful for “smudging” primitive survival shelters. Place the container of burning punk wood on the bare dirt floor of your shelter and allow the smoke to fill the structure. This will drive out insects, spiders and other unwelcomed guests. Repeat every few days in warmer weather, weekly or as needed in cooler weather.

Cover Up With Mud

You’re really serious if you go to this is extreme, but certain bug-infested environments may require this drastic solution. When smoke and wild plant scents aren’t strong enough to keep the bugs off your tender skin, you can create a physical barrier by coating your skin (and any thin clothing) with a layer of mud. Not only is this an effective camouflage against humans (remember the movie Rambo?), the mud suit is also effective when hiding from bugs. With the mud fresh and wet (and after it dries into a crusty shell), you’ll be wearing a surprisingly effective barrier that most bugs will not try to penetrate. It’s also useful for hiding your scent, which could come in handy while hunting.

Avoid Chigger Habitats

Sometimes, avoidance is the best way to win a fight. Chiggers (red bugs and harvest mites) are tiny biting arachnids that are found globally. Here in the U.S., there are only two species that impact us as outdoor enthusiasts. Eutrombicula alfreddugèsi is the main culprit, and the recently hatched larvae are the troublemakers. Too small to see with the naked eye, these hatchlings are hungry for any blood they can find (human or animal). Though they don’t transmit diseases, the intense itching of their bites can last for weeks. This has led to the popular (and incorrect) belief that these creatures burrow under your skin. In actuality, the larvae inject an enzyme into your skin, dissolving some skin cells (for them to drink) and hardening other skin cells (to make a “drinking straw” known as a stylostome). It’s this transformed tissue that causes such a severe itch, not a bug under your skin.

The best defense is to avoid likely breeding grounds where the larvae would be plentiful. Since they dry out easily, damp grassy areas, swampy spots, low lying and riverine environments are hot spots. Avoid these in late spring and early summer. If you do suspect you’ve wandered through their domain (due to a sensation of tiny prickly bites under your clothes), change your clothing immediately. They can crawl around in your clothes for hours, biting you in many different places. If you only had one set of clothes (say, in a survival setting), take the clothing off and hang them to dry for 30 minutes by a hot fire (socks and underwear too). This dry heat will kill the larvae.

Original article here

17 Jul 2023
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How do you stay optimistic in spite of it all? 6 hopeful souls share their secrets

Do the woes of the world get you down? Are daily headlines capsizing your ship?

Well, we’ve got just the pick-me-up for you. Last week, the Skoll World Forum was bustling with innovators and entrepreneurs engaged in the work of “transformational social change” — that is, making the world a better place. We drew lessons in optimism from six individuals in attendance, who shared what gives them cause to be hopeful — why they find themselves smiling in spite of everything. The following answers have been edited for length and clarity.

Don’t let the narrative change you. You must change the narrative

I don’t believe that all of these problems are happening to us. I believe they’re happening for us. Lonnie Holley is this wonderful artist who uses discarded material to create artwork. He says we shouldn’t think of it as trash and garbage. Rather, it’s something to work with … something to make something new out of. It’s this idea of narrative change. I like to think of it as “aesthetic force” because you can change people’s minds and opinions through this work.

And isn’t that a glorious thing? The possibility to shift and to pivot and to participate and to move … which becomes ignited when times get hard.

You look at the civil rights movement. All these horrible things were happening, and it just propelled them forward. It made them want to move. Same thing with this racial reckoning. Something challenging and horrible had to happen to activate people and make them want to embrace dignity in a new way.

So when we look at how much we’ve survived and the shoulders that we stand on, what’s not to be joyous about? — Ava Duvernay

Sleep, pray, love in safety

I love my family. I was brought up in a very close family. Of course we fight, but we also laugh together. We share everything — all the joys and the pains. And I know the pain I am feeling, my family will feel the same thing. We confide in each other and find comfort in that. When I want to be happy, my family is always there for me.

We are also a very religious family. We consider church our second home. All people want in church is peace. When we pray all together, I feel that I am reconnecting with God and that God can hear my prayer and everything that I’m concerned about because I open my heart completely.

Even when my whole family is overwhelmed, it is the priest and the church community who come to our rescue and comfort us as we pour our hearts out and cry. These are people who share my problems and I know they are on my side. I’m able to talk freely and not withhold anything.

So I can fall asleep in the presence of my family and my church — with these people who I love. I know that I am safe. — Mahali Hlasa

Tune into the genius of rural communities

I’ve been working in rural areas for the last ten years. And in the women, peasants and farmers I’ve met there, I’ve found another kind of genius. They help me understand that the future is possible.

I’ve seen how people in rural communities show a special sort of resilience and a lasting connection with nature and the universe that go back millennia.

In the north, we tend to be more similar in our approach. But amongst rural communities in the Global South, we see a beautiful diversity of opinions, understandings, ideas and knowledge that we need to recover to imagine a better future. These individuals can be tremendous leaders and mentors to all of us as we get back to our roots as humans in full connection with our planet. — Rodrigo Paris Rojas

Finding power in prayer

As for where I find optimism, I’ll tell you — I start my day with prayer and I end my day with prayer. That’s the biggest thing in my life. I’m a Roman Catholic and for me, that’s where it all starts. Prayer is very personal. My prayer is between me and my God. But of course, I also pray with other people. In Kenya, a lot of our meetings actually start with a prayer.

We’re a deeply spiritual people, whether we’re Christian, Muslim, or Hindu. I think that is what continues to hold us and keep us together and keep the humanity part of us alive. — Michael Onyango

Walk, chant, trust in goodness

When I see systems change so slowly, when I talk to girls and I find that not so much has changed in all these decades, of course I’m overwhelmed. Sometimes it really seems futile.

But I have this practice in the morning that I started doing during COVID when I was stuck at home and frightened. So after my walk in the morning, I come back, sit to face the sun, do a sun salutation, and I say some Vedic chants.

These invoke the goodness of the universe to protect and bless everything that exists — the sun, the moon, the fire, the wind, the Earth, living beings, the body, the soul and the self.

And along with that, I call out loud a set of affirmations. One is that I deeply love and accept myself.

Another one is that I trust the forces of goodness. That they’re taking care of the universe. And I believe it. It restores my faith and restores a feeling of wellbeing.

I focus on and have faith in the goodness around. And I think eventually, it will prevail. — Urvashi Sahni

Dance and draw strength from kids and nature

I find optimism in rural communities, in villages and slums. That’s because despite the difficult environment around them, they’re able to dance. At different times of year, they come together and celebrate. They bring so many smiles, so much joy. When I see that, I say, “I have more money than them, more education, more access, but they’re way happier than me.” So I find optimism in those ways of celebrating life and building community.

I’ve also found optimism among kids — Black, white, poor, rich — they play and they can enjoy life. They connect. It’s only later that they learn about differences and start to behave differently. But when I see how they interact as children, it’s all about playfulness. Even during war times or in refugee camps, I see kids finding ways to create joy amongst themselves.

And finally, in nature — how everything’s about collaboration. So when I see the patterns of nature and the way that nature treats me since I was a kid, it’s all about optimism. The negativity comes from humanity and the way that we behave to create scarcity — how we’re afraid of and draw boundaries between one another.

But from certain communities, from children, from our elders and from nature, I feel optimistic that we can fix things. That we can create abundance by sharing. — Edgard Gouveia Jr.

Original article here

08 Jul 2023
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Talking to Yourself Can Actually Be a Really Useful Way to Cope

It’s common to wonder whether talking to yourself is “normal.” Let me be the first to tell you—it’s what got me through the pandemic.

Three years ago following a routine sinus surgery, I woke up to blinding head pain. My surgeon assured me it was temporary, but months passed and the pain endured. I quit my job and moved in with my parents, who took me to countless specialists. Eventually, I was diagnosed with chronic daily headache, a condition defined by experiencing 15 or more headache days a month, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Throughout the next year I tried several treatments, from Botox to nerve blocks and even experimental medication. While marginally helpful, nothing really worked until my longtime psychiatrist suggested somatic therapy.

Somatic therapy is quite different from more commonly known forms of therapy, like cognitive behavioral therapy or dialectical behavioral therapy, in that it aims to treat symptoms of chronic and post-traumatic stress with exercises that direct the patient to focus on internal sensations, like tension, pain, or tightness. In doing so, somatic therapy is meant to explore and bridge the connection between body and mind.

Prior to starting therapy, that connection, for me, was nonexistent. Whether overloading my schedule or not taking care of a cold, I had ignored my body my entire life. Like many other somatic therapy patients, I started my journey by doing mindfulness exercises to learn to be more aware of my body. My therapist taught me to pendulate by shifting focus between an area of pain to a more comfortable area on my body. I also practiced visualizing my pain as a wall and dismantling it brick by brick.

At first, none of these coping mechanisms seemed to work. I struggled with them for six months and inevitably felt frustrated. “You can’t undo 20 years of behavior in a few months,” my therapist reminded me. “How can you expect your body to see you as a friend when you treat it like something to be crossed off your to-do list?”

Then she suggested something new: In order to actually befriend my body, I had to really, truly, treat it like a friend. And that involved speaking to it—having actual conversations with my body. “Approach it like any new relationship,” my therapist said in total seriousness. “Try to ask questions to get to know it better.”

So, I started talking to myself. Out loud.

While it may sound strange, asking yourself questions is actually a common practice in somatic therapy, used to clarify awareness of what is happening in the body. But according to my therapist, not everyone is told to simply talk to themselves. My therapist suggested this as part of our somatic therapy to enable me to further develop that mind-body awareness in a way I could more easily understand.

At first, I was reluctant. I asked my body audibly, “How are you feeling?” when my migraines worsened. Often, my body would flood with anxiety or freeze up with stress. When that happened, I’d ask, “What do you need in order to feel more relaxed?” I would wait and listen, then act on what my body “said” back to me. If my body felt tired, I would nap. If I was anxious, I would meditate. If I needed more information about what my body needed, I asked follow-up questions.

I used this “conversation” technique sparingly for a year and a half before the pandemic, but it became an invaluable tool when lockdown began in March 2020. The first week of quarantine, debilitating migraines and anxiety made it impossible for me to work. To cope, I began talking with my body for 30 minutes up to six times a day. To others, even patients of somatic therapy, this may seem like a lot. However, when I expressed this concern to my therapist, she said that if talking to myself was making me less anxious, I should do it as much as I thought was needed. (Granted, I was under her regular care—if you’re dealing with anxiety, depression, or a chronic condition, it’s best to practice therapeutic techniques in tandem with the guidance of a mental health care professional.)

From my “conversations,” it was clear that my body was stressed and anxious about the reality of my new situation; that I desperately needed more time to ground myself each day. So I started meditating twice a day for 30 minutes to an hour, and taking daily long walks. Within two weeks, I was able to “talk” with my body less, and lead an uninterrupted life more.

Yes, this all might sound extremely straightforward—and it’s a technique almost anyone can try for themselves. But before you dive into this conversation exercise, know that mental health professionals still recommend you practice somatic therapy techniques under the guidance of a therapist if possible.

“People appear to be following the suggested techniques, but there’s a high chance they’re doing it wrong,” Sharlene Bird, Psy.D., a clinical instructor at the Department of Psychiatry at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine and a psychologist and somatic experiencing practitioner, tells SELF. “If you don’t have the proper language or guidance from a professional,” Dr. Bird notes, “the process can become confusing, or even triggering.”

However, that doesn’t mean you can’t employ elements of somatic therapy practices—like that of basic mindfulness—on your own. “Somatic therapy is all about focusing on an awareness of your body, particularly your nervous system,” Dr. Bird tells me. Mindfulness is used in somatic therapy to “help you track what is happening in your body, which gives you a wealth of information. By being attuned to your body, it allows you to be fully present and notice how your body responds.”

If you’d like to try talking to yourself, Dr. Bird recommends a simplified version of the conversation technique. At the same time each day, ask yourself, How is my body feeling? Does it feel energetic, fatigued, relaxed? Then note your response. Practicing the simple act of noting, Dr. Bird says, “allows your body to recognize how you are feeling instead of repressing it.” Giving that feeling space in your body makes it feel less urgent or obstructive and allows you to move on from it.

Dr. Bird also emphasizes that it’s important to be patient with yourself along the way. “We aren’t taught to feel through our bodies,” she says. “An exercise like this may seem foreign at first because it is hard to explain the connection to your body, even if you have thousands of words. You have to experience it.”

Even with professional help, it took months for me to feel any connection with my body and even longer until that relationship felt natural. Someone else in somatic therapy might have a completely different timeline. “For my patients,” Dr. Bird notes, “the range of time it takes for therapy to ‘click’ is extensive, from one session to several years. It completely depends on the person and what they are trying to work through.”

This is all to say, be kind to yourself when building your mind-body connection, especially through exercises like these. Trying to connect to yourself can be especially difficult when we’re (still!) living in such abnormal times. If a practice like this feels odd for a while—or like it doesn’t work at all—that’s more than okay. There are other ways to get in touch with your body through mindfulness or meditation. If it’s feasible for you, therapy is always a great place to start too. It’s enlightening to realize how much our bodies know about us—and how much they may be able to help us when we take the time to listen.

Original article here

07 Jun 2023
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The length of Earth’s days has been mysteriously increasing, and scientists don’t know why

Atomic clocks, combined with precise astronomical measurements, have revealed that the length of a day is suddenly getting longer, and scientists don’t know why.

This has critical impacts not just on our timekeeping, but also things like GPS and other technologies that govern our modern life.

Over the past few decades, Earth’s rotation around its axis – which determines how long a day is – has been speeding up. This trend has been making our days shorter; in fact, in June 2022 we set a record for the shortest day over the past half a century or so.

But despite this record, since 2020 that steady speedup has curiously switched to a slowdown – days are getting longer again, and the reason is so far a mystery.

While the clocks in our phones indicate there are exactly 24 hours in a day, the actual time it takes for Earth to complete a single rotation varies ever so slightly. These changes occur over periods of millions of years to almost instantly – even earthquakes and storm events can play a role.

It turns out a day is very rarely exactly the magic number of 86,400 seconds.

The ever-changing planet

Over millions of years, Earth’s rotation has been slowing down due to friction effects associated with the tides driven by the Moon. That process adds about 2.3 milliseconds to the length of each day every century. A few billion years ago an Earth day was only about 19 hours.

For the past 20,000 years, another process has been working in the opposite direction, speeding up Earth’s rotation. When the last ice age ended, melting polar ice sheets reduced surface pressure, and Earth’s mantle started steadily moving toward the poles.

Just as a ballet dancer spins faster as they bring their arms toward their body – the axis around which they spin – so our planet’s spin rate increases when this mass of mantle moves closer to Earth’s axis. And this process shortens each day by about 0.6 milliseconds each century.

Over decades and longer, the connection between Earth’s interior and surface comes into play too. Major earthquakes can change the length of day, although normally by small amounts. For example, the Great Tōhoku Earthquake of 2011 in Japan, with a magnitude of 8.9, is believed to have sped up Earth’s rotation by a relatively tiny 1.8 microseconds.

Apart from these large-scale changes, over shorter periods weather and climate also have important impacts on Earth’s rotation, causing variations in both directions.

The fortnightly and monthly tidal cycles move mass around the planet, causing changes in the length of day by up to a millisecond in either direction. We can see tidal variations in length-of-day records over periods as long as 18.6 years. The movement of our atmosphere has a particularly strong effect, and ocean currents also play a role. Seasonal snow cover and rainfall, or groundwater extraction, alter things further.

Why is Earth suddenly slowing down?

Since the 1960s, when operators of radio telescopes around the planet started to devise techniques to simultaneously observe cosmic objects like quasars, we have had very precise estimates of Earth’s rate of rotation.

A comparison between these estimates and an atomic clock has revealed a seemingly ever-shortening length of day over the past few years.

But there’s a surprising reveal once we take away the rotation speed fluctuations we know happen due to the tides and seasonal effects. Despite Earth reaching its shortest day on June 29 2022, the long-term trajectory seems to have shifted from shortening to lengthening since 2020. This change is unprecedented over the past 50 years.

The reason for this change is not clear. It could be due to changes in weather systems, with back-to-back La Niña events, although these have occurred before. It could be increased melting of the ice sheets, although those have not deviated hugely from their steady rate of melt in recent years. Could it be related to the huge volcano explosion in Tonga injecting huge amounts of water into the atmosphere? Probably not, given that occurred in January 2022.

Scientists have speculated this recent, mysterious change in the planet’s rotational speed is related to a phenomenon called the “Chandler wobble” – a small deviation in Earth’s rotation axis with a period of about 430 days. Observations from radio telescopes also show that the wobble has diminished in recent years; the two may be linked.

One final possibility, which we think is plausible, is that nothing specific has changed inside or around Earth. It could just be long-term tidal effects working in parallel with other periodic processes to produce a temporary change in Earth’s rotation rate.

Do we need a ‘negative leap second’?

Precisely understanding Earth’s rotation rate is crucial for a host of applications – navigation systems such as GPS wouldn’t work without it. Also, every few years timekeepers insert leap seconds into our official timescales to make sure they don’t drift out of sync with our planet.

If Earth were to shift to even longer days, we may need to incorporate a “negative leap second” – this would be unprecedented, and may break the internet.

The need for negative leap seconds is regarded as unlikely right now. For now, we can welcome the news that – at least for a while – we all have a few extra milliseconds each day.

Original article here

01 Jun 2023
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June Artist of the Month: Jo March

About the Artist

My name is Jo March and I’m a self-taught painter. I’ve been making some kind of living through my work since 1986, based in Cornwall, the county where I grew up.

My work is figurative and essentially nostalgic, and both celebrates the memory, and mourns the loss of older, simpler ways of living in rural Britain.

The paintings explore patterns of landscape but also our innate emotional responses to ideas of ‘home’ and the right to roam to and from it. I admit I am sentimental, especially regarding animals, and in my imaginary land they always enjoy life, as should be their right.

My paintings invariably have a narrative element and, I hope, contain elements of individual short stories that the viewer might enjoy reading for themselves.

https://youtu.be/a0nVrcFzs1k

Link to an interview with Lost Meadow Gallery, which explains a lot!

https://instagram.com/jomarch_art?igshid=Y2M0YTlkZGNmOQ==

www.jomarchart.com

29 May 2023
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The big idea: why colour is in the eye of the beholder

In February 2015, a Scottish woman uploaded a photograph of a dress to the internet. Within 48 hours the blurry snapshot had gone viral, provoking spirited debate around the world. The disagreement centred on the dress’s colour: some people were convinced it was blue and black while others were adamant it was white and gold.

Everyone, it seemed, was incredulous. People couldn’t understand how, faced with exactly the same photograph of exactly the same dress, they could reach such different and firmly held conclusions about its appearance. The confusion was grounded in a fundamental misunderstanding about colour – one that, despite mounting evidence to the contrary, shows little sign of disappearing.

For a long time, people believed that colours were objective, physical properties of objects or of the light that bounced off them. Even today, science teachers regale their students with stories about Isaac Newton and his prism experiment, telling them how different wavelengths of light produce the rainbow of hues around us.

But this theory isn’t really true. Different wavelengths of light do exist independently of us but they only become colours inside our bodies. Colour is ultimately a neurological process whereby photons are detected by light-sensitive cells in our eyes, transformed into electrical signals and sent to our brain, where, in a series of complex calculations, our visual cortex converts them into “colour”.

Most experts now agree that colour, as commonly understood, doesn’t inhabit the physical world at all but exists in the eyes or minds of its beholders. They argue that if a tree fell in a forest and no one was there to see it, its leaves would be colourless – and so would everything else. To put it another way: there is no such thing as colour; there are only the people who perceive it.

This is why no two people will ever see exactly the same colours. Every person’s visual system is unique and so, therefore, are their perceptions. About 8% of men are colour-blind and see fewer colours than everyone else; a small number of lucky women might, thanks to a genetic duplication on the X chromosome, be able to distinguish many more than the rest of us.

Animals inhabit very different chromatic worlds too. Most mammals are red-green colour-blind; bulls might be famous for their hatred of red capes, but the colour itself is invisible to them – they are actually enraged by the fabric’s movements. By contrast, most reptiles, amphibians, insects and birds perceive more colours than us. Bees see ultraviolet light, discerning elaborate patterns in flowers that we cannot perceive, while snakes see infrared radiation, detecting the warm bodies of prey from a distance.

People generally name only the colours they consider socially or culturally important

“Colour,” Umberto Eco once said, “is not an easy matter.” It is indeed elusive and illusive. Pretty much everything we take to be self-evident about it really isn’t self-evident at all. Scientists have shown that the sky isn’t blue, the sun isn’t yellow, snow isn’t white, black isn’t dark and darkness isn’t black.

One cause of the problem – or perhaps its symptom – is language. In English we divide colour space into 11 basic terms – black, white, red, yellow, green, blue, purple, brown, grey, orange and pink – but other languages do things differently. Many don’t have words for pink, brown and yellow, and some use one word for both green and blue. The Tiv people in west Africa use only three basic colour terms (black, white, red), and at least one Indigenous community has no specific words for any colours, only “light” and “dark”.

The vocabulary of these languages isn’t dictated by the prismatic spectrum but, once again, by what is happening inside their speakers’ heads. People generally name only the colours they consider socially or culturally important. The Aztecs, who were enthusiastic farmers, used more than a dozen words for green; the Mursi cattleherders of Ethiopia have 11 colour terms for cows, and none for anything else.

These differences might even influence the colours they see. Debates about linguistic relativity – the extent to which our words shape our thoughts and perceptions – have been rumbling on for decades, and while many scholars have overstated the case for it, some have found persuasive evidence that if you don’t, say, have a word for blue, you will probably find it harder to distinguish.

The meanings of colour are no less socially constructed, which is why a single colour can mean completely different things in different places and at different times. In the west white is the colour of light, life and purity, but in parts of Asia it is the colour of death. In America red is conservative and blue progressive, while in Europe it’s the other way around. Many people today think of blue as masculine and pink as feminine, but only a hundred years ago baby boys were dressed in pink and girls in blue.

When all of this is taken together – the subjective nature of visual perception, the complicating influence of language, the role that social life and cultural traditions play in filtering our understandings of colour – it becomes really rather difficult to reach a conclusion different from that of the 18th-century philosopher David Hume: that, in the end, colour is “merely a phantasm of the senses”.

The ancient Egyptian term for “colour” was iwn – a word that also meant “skin”, “nature”, “character” and “being”, and was represented in part by a hieroglyph of human hair. To the Egyptians, colours were like people – full of life, energy, power and personality. We now understand just how completely the two are entangled. That’s because every hue we see around us is actually manufactured within us – in the same grey matter that forms language, stores memories, stokes emotions, shapes thoughts and gives rise to consciousness. Colour is, if you’ll pardon the pun, a pigment of our imaginations.

Original article here

27 May 2023
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The Dutch solution to busyness that captivated the world

The Hague, where I live, has 11km of gorgeous coastline with rolling dunes and sandy beaches. In summer, I often see locals in Scheveningen or Kijkduin (the city’s most famous beaches) sunbathing, strolling in nature or riding their bikes, then sitting down on one of the many benches available. Sometimes, they’re reading or chatting with their friends, but just as often, they’re engaging in niksen.

Niksen is a Dutch wellness trend that means “doing nothing”. It first caught the attention of the world in 2019 as a way to manage stress or recover from burnout. At the time, many people were complaining about exhaustion and depression caused by overwork and were looking for solutions – which is why concepts such as Japanese ikigai or Danish hygge also entered the English lexicon. As a linguist myself, I loved the idea that you could express the whole concept of doing nothing in one short and easy-to-pronounce word.

In my book Niksen: Embracing the Dutch Art of Doing Nothing, I define it as “doing nothing without a purpose” – so not scrolling on Facebook or engaging in meditation. Whereas mindfulness is about being present in the moment, niksen is more about carving out time to just be, letting your mind wander wherever it wants to go. And as we’re slowly recovering after the pandemic, it’s important to rethink the way we work and spend our time.

Linguistically, niksen (doing nothing) is a verb created from “niks“, which means “nothing”.

“It fits with the tendency of the Dutch language to create verbs out of nouns. From from ‘voetbal’ (football) to voetballen (playing football), from ‘internet’ to internetten, from ‘whatsapp‘ to whatsappen etc. I think this is something that happens in Dutch in particular,” said Monique Flecken, a psycholinguist at the University of Amsterdam, who researches how the languages we speak affect the way we see the world. Essentially, it’s much less work to say “niksen” instead of “to do nothing”. “The Dutch are a practical, direct people and their language reflects that,” she said.

In the Netherlands, the word can be used in a variety of ways, both positive and negative. Flecken said: “A parent might say to their kid, “Zit je weer te niksen?” (Are you doing nothing again?). And I would also say ‘lekker niksen’, which translates to ‘delicious doing nothing’, when talking about an evening blissfully free of any tasks or work.”

To Thijs Launspach, a psychologist, TEDx speaker and author of the book Crazy Busy: Staying Sane in a Stressful World, niksen means “doing nothing or occupying yourself with something trivial as a way of enjoying your own time. Not doing nothing entirely but doing as little as possible,” he said, pointing out that this mostly applies to elderly people who have more unstructured free time. Younger generations, on the other hand, are more stressed out than ever – even in the Netherlands, a country traditionally applauded for its work-life balance.

It’s not necessarily bad to be for a moment in a state of stress, where you’re really on and focused. The problem is when this is getting out of hand

There are plenty of reasons for that. “Our lives and our jobs have become increasingly complex. We tend to spend a lot of time with computers. There is a lot of pressure on being the best version of yourself, be it in our jobs, or the expectations of parents [or] from social media. There is a lot of pressure to perform,” Launspach said.

Of course, some stress can be good, as Leiden University psychology professor Bernet Elzinga points out. “It’s not necessarily bad to be for a moment in a state of stress, where you’re really on and focused. The problem is when this is getting out of hand,” she said. But niksen can help with that. “When you do nothing, you connect to your default mode network. And that network is responsible for mind-wandering and reflection,” Elzinga explained.

Paradoxically, niksen can also make us more productive, simply because breaks allow our brains to rest and come back with better focus and sustained attention. This is probably why, while the Dutch don’t work long hours, they tend to be very efficient at work. Working overtime is not encouraged due to the “just be normal, that’s already crazy enough” attitude prevalent in the Netherlands – a nod towards the country’s honest and egalitarian culture.

And it seems to work: the Dutch are a creative nation. Just think of all the famous painters like Rembrandt, Vermeer or Escher, as well as the innovative solutions the Dutch have found to battle the recurring threat of floods, such as huge dams and floating houses.

The Dutch also like to enjoy life, as shown by the word lekker. This means “delicious” but can be used to refer to anything nice and pleasant, like lekker warm(deliciously warm), lekker slapen (sleeping deliciously), and, of course, lekker niksen, or “deliciously doing nothing”. This available architecture of leisure makes it more possible for people to do nothing more easily.

Locals like spending their time in active ways, such as cycling or hiking, allowing time for clearing the mind. And each time the sun comes out, the Dutch flock to cafes and terraces en masse, even in the winter. For me, these are perfect places for doing nothing.

However, Launspach is not a fan of doing nothing as a stress-preventing measure. “I’m a little bit sceptical of the idea that you should create a buffer between you and stress. I don’t know if that’s even possible in the way that we live and work now,” he said.

Elzinga believes that it’s much better to do some sort of physical activity to distract you from your daily worries, preferably in nature. But luckily, in the Netherlands, there is a way to combine all these things – niksen, nature and movement.

While the country is not commonly known for its natural resources , the Dutch appreciate the little natural areas they have. Many dune areas – my favourite thing about The Netherlands – are a part of a large network of hiking and cycling routes crisscrossing the country. Even in large cities such as Rotterdam, The Hague or Amsterdam, you’re never too far away from a trail.

In a cooperation with the Dutch Railway system, Wandelnet – a foundation devoted to creating and maintaining hiking routes – has created NS Wandelingen, a system of hiking routes that are easy to reach by train or other public transport. They range between 7km and 22km in length, making them perfect for a day trip. And given the many benches along the way, it’s even possible to fit in a little niksen break.

This leisure time is possible for the Dutch because the Netherlands is a country with an excellent welfare system, and while people tend to work hard, they also take (and are granted) many days off.

“Having a good social support system, having lower stress level relates to feeling secure and in balance. So, I wouldn’t overestimate the importance of that,” said Elzinga.

And with everything going on in the world – the Covid-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine – relieving stress is more important than ever.

Original article here

26 Apr 2023
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Questing Greatness

I’ve been watching for how greatness shows up lately. For example, how Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney sourced Wrexham AFC into super winners with such grace, generousity and community spirit, and how Iam Tongi is winning the hearts of so many on American Idol this year.

Here are some insights into what I’ve gleaned from my recent questing into greatness …

* Genuine authenticity and kindness matter. We are looking for super heroes who personify these traits along with greatness.

* People matter. Animals matter. The Earth and Nature matter. There is great Love in greatness for these things.

* Making the world a greater place is an exhilarating, high vibing, Joy-filled adventure. As Ryan Reynolds put it, it’s addictive.

* Once you surrender your smallness, greatness will flood you with everything you need to make it so. Ideas, innovation, great creativity, laughter, sunshine emanating from you and more.

* Saying YES to greatness is one of the best things we might ever do in our lifetime. It opens the door to adventure and super herodom, even if you might be the only one who knows it’s so. Because it’s not about fortune and fame, you see. It’s about contribution and being moved so profoundly that Life is forever changed by the very presence of greatness in our world.

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10 Apr 2023
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7 mindfulness ideas to try instead of meditation

If you’ve ever tried to meditate and found yourself growing restless or struggling to clear your mind, you’re not alone. “It’s the nature of the mind to have this ongoing conversation in the background,” says mindfulness practitioner and author, Joy Rains.

“I call this ‘stuff’, which is an acronym for stories, thoughts, urges, frustrations and feelings. When you’re in a meditative state, you’re in the here and now and you’re releasing your stuff. You’re not getting caught up in judgments, thoughts about the past, worries about the future.”

When we think of traditional meditation techniques, we picture sitting cross-legged in a quiet room. But for many of us, there are much better ways of clearing our heads of mental ‘noise’.

Psychologist Suzy Reading believes that you don’t have to be brilliant at sitting still and focusing on breathing to get the benefits of meditation. Suzy is also a yoga teacher, but admits to having struggled with traditional meditation practices: “They are inaccessible for a lot of people. But that’s not to say that meditation is not for them.”

Joy agrees, and believes that you can bring mindfulness to a range of daily activities, instead of solely relying on traditional seated meditation. “The whole idea with mindfulness is training your brain,” she says. “You can do this just as well by being intentionally mindful throughout the day. I don’t think there’s a right or wrong way, and it’s important to do practices that resonate with you.”

7 non-traditional meditative ideas to try…

Clear your head by walking

We all know that going for walks in the fresh air is a guaranteed mood-booster, but it’s also an excellent time to practice mindfulness. Joy says: “When we’re walking, we’re not doing much else other than maybe being caught up in our stuff. That’s a great time to bring awareness, instead, to your feet as they connect with the ground.”

When you realise your mind has wandered, guide it back to the sound of your steps, the way the sun feels on your skin, or the sound of your breathing. The idea is to refocus your attention and allow thoughts to flow right past you.

For dog owners, Joy suggests: “Notice the dog’s tail wagging, the sound of the dog’s feet clicking on the pavement, the clouds of breath coming out of your dog’s mouth on a cold day”.

Let nature inspire a feeling of awe

From murmurations to sunrises, the world around us is breathtaking. We all know what it’s like to be captivated by nature, but did you know that encountering awe is an established element of mindfulness practice?

“There is a lot of research around awe,” says Suzy, “and we can experience its blissful sense of transcendent connection in as little as 15 seconds. That’s an incredible mood booster. You don’t have to be in a national park to experience that – just look up at the trees and sky, watch the sunrise.”

When we’re in nature, Suzy explains that we: “Engage in a panoramic gaze, which is different to when you’re on a Zoom call or focusing on a screen. The panoramic gaze allows peripheral vision in, and it’s soothing for your nervous system.”

Watching a spectacular performance or seeing something incredible can also inspire a feeling of awe. “These things can anchor us in a sense of being part of something bigger than ourselves.”

Practice your drawing skills

Hobbies that force us to focus on the task at hand – particularly creative ones like arts and crafts – can be incredibly soothing and help to calm the mind. Drawing is a great example, as it engages the brain and directs our attention away from other thoughts.

Joy explains: “You can really flow at the moment… and your attention is here and now – that’s why this kind of activity can be relaxing and restorative.”

Don’t overlook housework

Mindfulness as a whole is all about feeling present in the moment, or the task at hand. This is where housework comes in – the often-repetitive nature allows us to achieve a meditative state. Familiar tasks can be completed almost as though on autopilot whilst we direct our attention away from distracting thoughts and emotions, back to the process in front of us.

“Folding the washing can be a form of meditation,” says Suzy. “Don’t rush it, inhale the fresh laundry scent, notice the textures of the fabrics, and apply yourself to working neatly. You’ll be doing mindfulness training, relaxing a little.”

You can apply mindfulness to anything from vacuuming or washing the dishes says Suzy: “You can turn just about any activity into a meditative pursuit by really listening to your senses.”

Put pen to paper

Although we may need a break from our thoughts and emotions from time to time, there are also moments when it’s important to both acknowledge and reflect on them. Suzy says: “Meditation can be reflective writing, sitting with our feelings.”

Joy adds: “Often when people write, they will be judgmental and their thoughts interfere with their voice.” She says that instead, you should aim to: “Set all judgments aside and write what’s true in the here and now, without getting distracted by other tasks that need to be done”.

Setting five minutes of undisturbed time aside is an easy way to get started, whether it’s whilst you drink your morning coffee, or before you turn the lights out at night. There are many different types of journaling to try, so experiment until you find a format that works best for you.

Take a trip to the cinema

Similar to the feeling of awe we get from being in nature, whilst we’re captivated by the plot of a film, we give ourselves the opportunity to take a break from our thoughts.

This is especially true in a cinema, in which we’re cocooned from the outside world (not to mention, forced to take a break from our mobile phones). It also gives us the chance to build self-awareness in terms of a wandering mind and helps us to learn how to redirect our thoughts.

For example, you might start jumping to conclusions about the plot or try to guess the film’s ending, which, says Joy: “Takes you out of the present and away from watching the story unfold as it was written. Instead, stay with the story and the unknown of what’s going to happen next.”

Try a challenging craft

Learning a new skill, especially one that challenges us, helps us to stay in the moment. It’s also an opportunity to refocus our minds when self-critical thoughts arise.

A spin on a pottery wheel is a great example, explains Joy: “There are so many different sensory experiences while learning to set judgments aside – this bowl is crooked, or this person isn’t going to like this thing I made for them, or I’m having trouble with the wheel and I’m getting frustrated.

“Notice what these judgments feel like in your body, the texture and temperature of the clay, the sound of the wheel, and you will shift from the brain whirring to the potter’s wheel whirring.”

Original article here