Inspiration Central

Another world.

2006-08-13T22:49:00.000-07:00

Some of you may know that I have an interest in the South Pacific region, especially the tiny country of Vanuatu. The other day I was just looking around the web and I came across this awesome website, called Port Vila Today.

It's a blogspot page, and everyday it is updated with a new photo from the small city of Port Vila, Vanuatu's capital. Honestly, I can get carried away just by looking at all the pictures. With a little bit of imagination it takes you to a whole different world.

I can understand not everyone will have the same passion, but check it out, it's worth a look.

False inspiration.

2006-08-02T23:56:00.000-07:00

The following quote is quite often used in devotions, sermons, lectures and any other form of public speaking. It reads as follows,

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness
That most frightens us.
Nelson Mandela, Inaugural Speech [full quote here]

Whilst the words are great, it is not just the literary content that contains meaning. Many people draw inspiration from the fact that Nelson Mandela could go through so much pain and suffering, and still have such an attitude. The quote has inspired many people to do better in many aspects of their life. we should all congratulate Mandela for saying it. Oh, except he didn't.

The fully copy of Mandela's Inauguration speech is available to read here. It's a good speech, plenty of patriotism, plenty of optimism, plenty of charisma, but the above quote is nowhere to be seen. This could have something to do with the fact that Mandela never actually said those famous words. They infact came from a lady called Marianne Williamson, from a book that she authored which was entitled "A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of a Course in Miracles". All this time people have been drawing inspiration from a source that was, essentially, false. The words themselves still have great power, but they lose much of the meaning that is associated with Mandela's plight.

The big question: does it matter? I suppose that really it doesn't. If people are living better lives because of it who really cares who it was by. I must say, I do feel for for old Mrs. Williamson. Imagine having such a stroke of genius, and then the quote wrongly being attributed to somebody else. Shocking.

Doing my bit for community service.

2006-08-02T23:40:00.000-07:00

I was listening to the radio this morning when I heard a curious fact. Hands up if you knew that this week was the National Continence Awareness Week. I bet you didn't. Now, as a morally astutue citizen and a person who remains in control of their bowel movements, I felt it was only fair that I do my little bit for the community and help make the 2006 Continence Awareness Week a success. The organisers have stated that the aim is to make people talk about incontinence, so why not!

I must say, probably the funniest and most useful bit of information I have recieved out of this whole debacle has been this website. It is a map of all the public toilets in Australia. As I heard one person elegantly describe it, "A map of the continent for the incontinent." Never again must you suffer on a long car trip, wondering why you didn't go to the toilet before you left home. All you need is a laptop with wireless internet and wherever you go you can be assured of having facilities nearby.

One idea that I had, and that recieved minimal support from my peers, was that everybody should, at some point during the week, have to saturate their pants with water, and when somebody inevitably asks, "What happened?" they are required to inform that person all about Continence Awareness Week.

I tried calling the incontinence hotline for an interview, but the operator simply asked, "Can you hold please?" [think about it, you'll find it funny later]

The empty moments.

2006-08-02T00:31:00.000-07:00

At the start of the year my mum bought a Michael Leunig calendar. It was typically Leunig, a little bit funny, a little bit political, but last month the picture and associated poem really stood out to me. I'm not able to scan the picture just now, so the poem will suffice;

Come sit down beside me
I said to myself
And although it doesn't make sense,
I held my own hand
As a small sign of trust
And together I sat on the fence.
M. Leunig, "Sitting on the fence."

This poem centered upon some thoughts I've been having alot lately; so many people seem to struggle with being alone. Not just being alone, but even just sitting quietly. Next time you are with a friend try just sitting there quietly for a couple of minutes. Honestly, before a minute is even up I'll put money on the fact that the other person will try and say something. I'm not talking about awkward silences. They're completely different. They're the sort of thing that happens when you're talking to your best mate about his girlfriend, and then suddenly realise they've broken up.
Our culture is afraid of silence.

As a man who doesn't mind poetry, but is not the biggest fan, I'm going to break away from tradition and include a second poem in this post. Yes, two for the price of one. This one is slightly longer and was written by a Native American. It may have lost a little in translation, but I still love it for the sincerity that it holds. Another element that I find intriguing to take into account is the completely different culture that this man comes from, and the differences in values. Here it is;

It doesn’t interest me what you do for a living. I want to know what you ache for and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart’s longing.

It doesn’t interest me how old you are. I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love for your dream for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn’t interest me what planets are squaring your moon... I want to know if you have touched the centre of your own sorrow if you have been opened by life’s betrayals or have become shrivelled and closed from fear of further pain.

I want to know if you can sit with pain mine or your own without moving to hide it or fade it or fix it.

I want to know if you can be with joy mine or your own if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful be realistic remember the limitations of being human.

It doesn’t interest me if the story you are telling me is true. I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself. If you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul. If you can be faithless and therefore trustworthy.

I want to know if you can see Beauty even when it is not pretty every day. And if you can source your own life from its presence. I want to know if you can live with failure yours and mine and still stand at the edge of the lake and shout to the silver of the full moon, “Yes.”

It doesn’t interest me to know where you live or how much money you have. I want to know if you can get up after the night of grief and despair weary and bruised to the bone and do what needs to be done to feed the children.

It doesn’t interest me who you know or how you came to be here. I want to know if you will stand in the centre of the fire with me and not shrink back.

It doesn’t interest me where or what or with whom you have studied. I want to know what sustains you from the inside when all else falls away. I want to know if you can be alone with yourself and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments.

Oriah Mountain Dreamer, "The Invitation"

The line that I find particularly interesting is the last. "I want to know if you can be alone with yourself and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments." So many people these days seem to disklike their own company. They surround themselves constantly with distractions, and when it comes to a quiet time they feel lost and out of control. I'm no psychologist, but this can't be healthy.

The other day I got home from work and sat down on the couch. My original intent was to turn on the TV, but along the way I lost all motivation. I ended up sitting there for close to an hour, just staring at the wall. Probably not everybodies idea of a fun afternoon, but I loved it. I had time to sit and think, to be still.

I think I do enjoy the company I keep in the empty moments.

Every hero needs an intro...

2006-08-01T04:38:00.000-07:00

When was the last time you saw a movie and there were no introductory credits at the start. C'mon, in Lord Of The Rings they went on for about five minutes. In the same way, this blog needs to be introduced.

Let me start off by saying that I dislike blogs. Well, not so much blogging, but rather the status that it has attained. All blogging is is an overrated online diary, the same way that 'podcasting' is just low quality audio uploaded onto a website. It's a fad term, but I think I may have been sucked in.

I know what you're all thinking. "But Tristan, if you dislike blogs then why are you writing one!!" Settle down...let me explain myself. I firstly want to clearly and boldly state that I have not been sucked into the hype. Just because I signed up to blogspot does not mean that I am going to be linking to my 'ultra cool, updated MySpace page, now with 20% more friends!" [In case you haven't noticed, I'm not a Myspace fan either.] It also does not mean that I will be posting silly little forward emails that promise to 'reveal who your life long partner is...if you pass it along to 24 people in the next 10 minutes'. Basically, I am starting this because I am a thinker.

Everyday at some point I use my brain and I think. Yeah, I can hear your smart arse comments "Gee, that's a change...don't pull a muscle!" If you are going to try and be funny, at least be slightly original. Back on track. So whenever I think I generally come up with conclusions. They can be profound - I swear I found a quick fix for starvation in third world countries the other day, just gotta remember what - or they can also be slightly off topic - I wonder if it would be possible to go through a whole day without wearing shoes and not getting told off by anyone. [In the end I decided no, as our school has this thing about occupational health and safety, and therefore we are not allowed to wear open toed shoes on casual dress days, so unless I wore black socks and they didn't notice then it's probably not going to work].

This is where my blogspot comes in. I'm not a selfish guy, so in a move of generosity I'm going to open up my brain to the world and share its contents. Serious, funny, thought provoking. Get ready for anything. I'll try to keep the site fresh so you don't get to bored.

teejay.