Candy love

As everybody knows, the Romanian version of Saint Valentine is rushing rapidly upon the pages of our agendas, and so, as appropriately, this post is about "dragobete", or to better put it about what this holiday and tradition stands for.
First of all I just want to point out that personally, I find it quite hard to associate February with such profound, intense and beautiful feeling as they say love is. Who could imagine love as being something happening in a chilly, sometimes foggy or even snowy February day? Love is about blooming, about fragrance and warm, caressing wind, it is about spring and the coming to life of your soul, now reunited with its destined Half. And if love is not about spring, then it might be about the sweet, cherries smiling down on you from their green palace of branches, it's about heat and passion, about long nights and golden days, about the smell of salty sand and ocean...


But if none of these are at our disposal in such a beautiful month like February, maybe some substitutes provided by our mind could induce a bit the idea of love. Our mind can but imagine the sweet taste of candy love, a walk under the moonlit trees along the isolate lakes, or if preferences are rather oriented towards such exquisite things as Shakespeare's sonnets, or medieval, chivalry love, then the image of some strange love potion could take our thoughts far away...






















But if you are in love then you no longer need the strives of the mind to paint these things for you. They'll be there for you, no matter if it's just another month of February, no matter if those around you reject love as they would plague, and again no matter how much you might have suffered because of love...because somehow any deception you might have had in life is but another feather that would turn you into a Phoenix in the end.

la critique, c'est la solution

How can people feel better about themselves?
There are certain things one can do in order to grow in their own eyes. Of course as almost everything in life there is an easy way to do that as well as a more complex and hard manner to achieve a certain self-fulfillment. Most of us and most of the time will choose the easy way, our nature being rather inclined to that kind of acting.
Yet in our particular way, the situation is more complex than that. Why? Well, if you choose the easy way, then what you will get won't be the real thing, it will be just a fade copy, an appearance. Only choosing the hard way will ensure a real growth, making you a truly better person.
And yet, maybe not knowing this, or on the contrary refusing this truth most of us will always choose the light way. That's human nature, I guess.
Anyway, let's make it a more down to earth. If I choose the hard way to become a better person, then I will always try to become better than the previous day. Thus, this constant comparison with myself will drive me to do good, through an advice, a supporting word, or a comforting and encouraging gesture. You can't but help that you might have advanced two more cm into the path of good.
As for the easy way to do it, well one can always be better if those around them are bad or weak. So if you wanna feel good about yourself, you can always start criticizing everything and everyone around. Of course, while doing that your self-esteem quenches its thirst, your pride and ego will be more than satisfied- after all, you ARE a great person. And you see your criticizing as a sign and expression of your objectivity and courage to make a stand, while others' attitude is being passive and coward. Your head and look are straight, up while others go through life looking down.
And yet, or in spite of your objectivity and courage you go through life as a hunter sniffing for "leaks", weak spots- in people, the system, your country, hell, even in your blouse or the way bus tickets are made....
Even though people always criticizing, feel they have a life full of courage and attitude, a life in which they are not afraid to point to the existing problems, at one point in their voyage, they cross the line. They will end up doing this not because they really care and want to improve things, but because while criticizing they feel they are superior, above the "common masses."
And lately the world is getting full of the latter. As i said in a previous post everybody nowadays has an opinion, not a praising one, most of the time. So you see the optimism in me, when I say that this world is definitely getting more and more "good" people....

Avatar

Last Saturday, for the first time in months I managed to get to the cinema to see the over-acclaimed Avatar... And though I usually choose not to go with the herd, this time I went against my principles and I practically let myself be dragged into the cinema.
Well I've got 2 words for that night: no regrets! Avatar is definitely one of the best movies so far. The plot itself is quite interesting especially as it puts forth certain issues we should all think about- racism, the fight for freedom and rights, as well as the people's predatory characteristics, or to better put it, -locusts- how I "like" to call ourselves. It s amazing to see how after so many years of treading upon the Earth, humans still feel like it is their birth right to use everything they come across, to use, take and destroy. So here we are some time in the future on another planet-Pandora- diminishing their resources just like we did with our planet, killing everyone while "purchasing" those goods.... Why? You know that part of another film I used to like- Matilda- where her father says something like: "I'm big, you're small, I'm smart, you're stupid!"....well we have something similar here. We have the locals who are definitely some "savages", primitives and ignorant of everything that's important (especially the value of money), and then on the other side we have the saviors- the Americans- who are cultured people, appreciating art, technology, science and all modern commodities. You can see who was the big/ small, smart/ stupid. Of course the film attacks all this racial and predatory behavior, praising the rather simple, close to nature people. I can definitely see why this film might have "offended " certain circles- political, economical- advocating progress and evolution at any costs.

Yet, probably an even better part of the film is sustained by the imagery used- the stuff involved in making the film went miles beyond anything done before in terms of special effects, imagination and visual beauty. I am talking here about the kind of beauty that lifts your spirit, makes you closer to perfection. It's not the beauty you live now and then pass by, but the one that leaves traces into memory...The memory of some future events we might never get the chance to live...

Just burning midnight oil

Elbert Green Hubbard once said that the recipe for perpetual ignorance is to be satisfied with your opinions and content with your knowledge. Without any particular reason these words somehow sunk into my mind- it is simple and yet so right in so many ways.

We so many times fall into this trap, especially nowadays when everybody has an opinion about everything. We are bombed every day by the others' ideas, we in our turn voice our thoughts about things around, about the people we know, or not, about the universe, about that tone, or that look...And the trap is, while doing that we always forget to lend our ears to the others. We no longer read either, as that would definitely be just a waste of time. Why read? I know things... Well we definitely know more that before, but maybe we owe this to just having better antennae than people used to before. Why do I say that? well, simply because now we just pick things from around. We don't even realize they are not our own thoughts. We just find them there- in our heads- one day and of course in our pride we voice them loud. People have to hear them, after all they are genial ideas-they are ours, right?
You are going to say where is the problem? we still lend our ears and open our minds to the multitude of ideas out there, that must be a good thing, right? Not as long as we keep thinking those ideas were ours first. The trap is we just might end up being too content about "our knowledge" (which was never ours, in fact), or satisfied with our opinions (again not ours)...So the danger is we start living a lie, we are not only less smart and intelligent at the end of the day, but we are much prouder about ourselves, thus in fact diminishing our chances for true advancement and enlightment.
So my advise for you would be- go out there, take a book, dust it a bit and then plunge into its pages. You might be surprised. Then go hunting for ideas, but do it consciously and don't take credit for what's not yours. And you'll see how better man you will become by the end of that day!

"The God Game"

I might have been called many names so far, but never a child believing in Santa... That sounds strange but I think it is actually a nice name, even though it was definitely meant in a derogatory tone. So what can I tell the person calling me that, but THANKS, man! I prefer being considered a child (What is wrong about being a child in mind and heart?). As for the part with me- the child- believing in Santa....what is so wrong about believing in something good, in hope, in being given something good in return for my good done to someone else...
Of course all this was but a metaphor for those- "silly and naive"- who believe in God!!!! After all just a fairytale character meant to lead the weak and stupid into a certain direction.... As for religion, well that's another fairytale, not only there to lead most of the Earth's people into the direction wanted-just like one would lead thoughtless sheep- but also responsible for genocide... You can imagine my surprise to read these words...I mean, through time there have been so many things said upon the subject that I don't see how anyone could say anything without the risk of repeating themselves; these paths are so often trodden upon that I am still surprise to see people getting heated upon the topic. I am still trying to see the originality of their words, that would somehow justify their effort..but like that, just supporting an idea with some clumsy arguments, an idea that not only is not true, but also offensive in so many ways to so many people.... that is indeed strange...
The way I see it anyone is entitled to their opinion- whether is believing in God, or choosing science and material- but I guess either way, it shouldn't be a matter of pride, wearing this (dis)belief like a badge of courage or something...Faith, or non faith should be a personal matter, not something you cry out to the world while beating your chest... It is not just a game where the opponents keep saying: mine is better!!!!
God is there!!! And if you wanna call me a naive and stupid child for that, go ahead. I prefer being that, rather than an "all- knowing and understanding Adult"....