Space is SACRED

an open space....it's sacred these days. I was past the park the other day and i noticed this interesting incident- a group of graffiti sidewalk designers were getting edgy with another group of footballers who had their gear stacked up against a wall that they wanted to decorate. I decided to watch what would happen; the graffitti guys were just hanging around, but you could tell they were getting agitated by their impatience. The footballers just were oblivious with what was happening, and were entrenched in their game. I think what was running through the mind of the graffiti guys was, "if we move their stuff, they wouldn't notice, right?" Space is sacred these days. We defend what we take rightfully as ours....as the world gets more crowded, we get paranoid that we wouldn't have any space for ourselves.

Space doesn't necessarily need to define us-we should define the space we're in!

selah

Face the book or be twittered!

Have you got an account on Twitter? Have you opened up your soul on Facebook? Everybody's into twitter and facebooking(it's even become part of our language) When I read Animal Farm in my teens, I was terrified about 'Big Brother' following me....developing an Orwellian type of society was terrifying....but come to think of it, computers were cumbersome and not so readily available then; internet was military classified. How things have changed! here we live in a virtual world where connections of the fibre optics kind is essential.....Question I ask is......where is the heart in all of this? It is fun to have facebook and fun but laborious to be followed on twitter, but where does it really lead us to? Invasion of privacy or information overload? Where are the boundaries? Wait a minute....are there any boundaries any more? Technology is great to have in terms of efficiency and speed and time, but where is the heart in all of this...?

It is easy to blame the media, but we make our own choices when we have the options given to us. We choose to invite people into facebook; we choose to decide on what is twittered. Strange how the tables are now subtly turned around so that we need to exercise control....or not....

Maybe that is where the heart is.....it's in the conscience of our decisions....

SELAH

MJ

Signature moves; a lifestyle documented by the paparazzi; a need for companionship and acceptance;a need for normalcy-that was the life of MJ, the King of Pop. The press is going to enjoy what happens now....I wonder if Martin Bashir will revisit Neverneverland...but he might not be allowed in....I remember MJ as a talented Afro-American teen, in his album "Off the Wall"...I heard Billy Jean and I knew we had a winner on our hands...then I heard Man in the Mirror....that song would be the song of today's generation...a generation looking for their true self but clouded in this fog of materialism and consumerism...it was a song that asked the question...Who is the real me? A song every counselor ought to put into his iPOD.

Who was the real MJ? A frightened little boy, put on the stage at an early age by his father and with his brothers made history...but MJ had a dream...he pursued it with reckless abandon...he developed his own style, his own moves...he became an icon.

MJ we will miss ur individuality....your uniqueness....YOU

Life

You decided
You chose
I inhaled
Life
This heart
Your blood
Life
This mouth
these words
Life
These hands
These feet
Your path
Eternity
Life

44

44 years of age....that's how old i am on the 20th of June...old, young, matured...how best to see it? Age.....it's a sensitive topic, a well worn conversation piece and a trajectile that can be used as a double edged sword. Why women cant reveal their age (when physical manifestations show otherwise), why children at a certain age are considered cute and cuddly, why grand pa and grand ma in their tottering years feel discarded and left on the shelf, we really haven't been able to understand. One thing we know, the numbers increase-maybe that is the best way to view age? As the numbers grow bigger, it depicts the value of our lives....our values as individuals increase, our sense of worth becomes more appreciated.

Age to me is really a marker. A marker, not a tombstone, not a millstone. A marker. Birthdays are brief pitstops under these markers, giving us an opportunity to reflect and see how far we have come, how much we have grown and in a humble attitude, acknowledge how much more time has been graciously given to us to discover more about ourselves and those around us-how we can improve the quality of our life and the lives of those around us...

SELAH

Pat Riley, a well known name in the basketball fraternity, having rubbed shoulders with the LA Lakers, the Miami Heat as a coach and later became a sought after motivational speaker once said that

Excellence is the gradual result of always striving to do better

I love what he said about excellence; the fact that he views it as a gradual result of striving. That word, 'gradual' can get some people off their seat in protest. "We don't have space or time to be gradual anymore!" is what I can hear them shouting from the rooftops. Think about it: we live in a instant mechanised society, where instant demand has to be corelated to instant supply or we just lag behind. Yet, Pat Riley, an experienced coach can expound on the need to be gradual and bring his teams from nought to well-sought, shouldn't we sit up and take notice of what gradual means?

Mind you, there isn't anything wrong with excellence. We all want to be good at what we do. That's being responsible with the time and talents we possess. Yet, there is a need to understand the path to excellence-its a gradual path upwards, learning from mistakes, learning to overcome challenges, before reaching the top. I liken it to be enjoying the journey and focussing on that journey rather than being obsessed with the destination. We'll get there some day, but we need to focus on the journey, the gradual progression towards excellence.

How are you 'striving' ? Keep at it even if your not on top...yet. Remember, it's gradual.

SELAH

As a counselor I see many young men and women walk into my office and share a piece of their heart with me in total confidentiality. When I first started, I found it stressful to maintain this responsibility, but as I gained experience, it sort of grew on me. I always tell my clients that their secrets will always go to the grave with me. We live in a world where the lure of secrecy is tantalising; what is hidden seems enticing and fodder for gossip and speculation. The obvious isn't really 'news' anymore; it's the deepest darkest secrets that make us celebrities. It's the same in the world of entertainment, where shows that allude to secret pasts, or secrets hidden that can do most damage prove to be ratings winners. Yet, in a world where private space has become more public, we need to also reinstate the notion that private spaces should be sacred spaces as well. Secrecy doesn't mean we are selfish or snobbish; it could very well mean that we are respectful of a person's private sacred space. Let us learn to respect each other's space-not to violate that trust and make other people's lives our entertainment at their expense. if we want to live harmoniously in this world, this concept is fundamental.

SELAH