Don't Worry! Be Happy!

Hi all,

To cheer yourselves up on these cold winter days go here

Blessed be,

KK

Promoting the Peace Pledge Union

Hi all,

For a world without war check out this link:-

http://www.ppu.org.uk/poppy/white_index.html.

I hope one day we can all share their vision.

Blessed be,

KK

Let's Celebrate Life - It's Our Duty!

Hi all,

You may think that the title of this post is contradictory because after all isn't duty usually something unpleasant? Well not now. I am putting a different spin on things.

Yesterday was a sombre day for me and one that threw up many emotions, but today I woke up with a new and renewed spirit: I want to celebrate life in all it's joy.

No-one ever died in a World War so we could live in miserable gratitude and feel guilt at being alive because we didn't suffer as much as they did - did they? And if they did what exactly were they fighting for?

No, people died so we could live joyfully and wonderfully free. The best way to appreciate the sacrifices of those who died is live as fully and joyfully as you can now.

We should never forget the past and those who made sacrifices for us but I would add two thoughts here:-

"The past is a good place to visit but no-one should live there"

We live in the present.

And also:-

"Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it".

This is the most important reason why we should not forget.

Got to go now. I'm going to raise a glass of champagne to my father.

Cheers!

As always,

Blessed be,

KK

Wear Your Poppy with Pride

Hi all,

I have just finished the two minute silence on today Armistice Day to remember all the war dead who fought and died so my country, (the UK), and others could be free.

My father was one ot the British soldiers who helped to liberate the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. He was twenty five years old and had to help bury the, (mainly), dead Jewish prisoners. It scarred his life.

He told me to wear my poppy with pride and pledge "Never again". So I go to schools now and teach the children what Armistice Day really means to ensure "Never again".

My father and I had disagreements over many things, but never the part he played in the war. Of that I am immensely proud.

My father, along with so many others who fought in the second world war is dead now so I publish this to honour him and all the other brave men and women who fought.


For the Fallen

With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children,
England mourns for her dead across the sea.
Flesh of her flesh they were, spirit of her spirit,
Fallen in the cause of the free.
Solemn the drums thrill; Death august and royal
Sings sorrow up into immortal spheres,
There is music in the midst of desolation
And a glory that shines upon our tears.
They went with songs to the battle; they were young,
Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow.
They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted;
They fell with their faces to the foe.
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

Laurence Binyon (1869 – 1943).

On this Sombre Day still,

Blessed be,

KK

Your Gift to Yourself and Your Duty to the World

Hi all,

Yes, I know I have been away from blogging for a while. But I have had a stressful week that has also taught me something very important.

Most of my stress this week has been caused by computers. However, as in most things, if you look for it there is also the gift in the experience. (This comes from Oprah Winfrey)

Through my struggles I learnt more about how to protect myself on computers and also how to recoup money from unscrupulous big businesses. However I also learnt something more important.

One of the most prevalent and destructive things in our world today is stress. Because of how I reacted to things recently I learnt something about how to control my stress levels and also learnt that controlling these were my responsibility. And when I am less stressed I am a nicer person.

So therefore since being the nicest you you can possibly be is a moral imperative, (well I think it is), I formulated a new way of thinking about stress. To remain as stress free and relaxed as possible, (in healthy ways), is a gift to yourself and your duty to the world!

Just a thought!

Blessed be,

KK

Back at Uni!

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX to you all. Sorry it has been sometime since I posted but after 25 years I am now back at Uni doing a B Sc (Hons) degree in Information Technology and Computing and it is taking some time to get used to it! However, I have finally mastered it and will be blogging again more regularly from now on.

Halloween is coming up and after that here in the UK it is Bonfire Night on the 5th of November. I'll educate non-UK citizens about these two things in a later blog.

But for now I thought I'd let you see my Angel side of me. Regular readers will know what that means!

That's all for now.

Blessed be,

KK

Paradoxes and the American Dream

Hi all,

This morning I woke up and the word paradoxes came into my mind. Or seeming paradoxes.

The reason for this is Hurricane Katrina.

It would seem that the good ole' USA can get aid and helicopters to help victims within two days when the Asian tsunami struck, but weeks after Katrina struck New Orleans is still in a mess.

And another paradox is that of the wealthiest country in the world asking everyone else, including some of the worlds poorest countries for aid. Donations have come in from many third world countries including BANGLADESH yes, you saw it right, BANGLADESH!

Now, there has been speculation that the reason aid and relief have come so late, and been so badly organised in New Orleans is because most of the population there is black. I don't happen to think this is the case. I did at first but upon examination I have another explanation, although colour is linked to it. I think the reason aid was not forthcoming at speed is not because the people are black but because they are poor and even this is not the direct link. The direct link is that poor people in the USA are unlikely to vote Republican, (the political party President Bush represents). So therefore there are very few Republican votes to be got out of this New Orleans situation.

Whereas, in helping after the tsunami there were R votes on two counts:-

(1) Americans could feel proud of America in its response and this fed patriotism - a very strong sentiment in the USA.

(2) President Bush could play the worlds statesman and make America, (and the Republicans), look good. Again a play to patriotism.

Now President Bush, under the American political system, cannot stand again because he has already had two terms in office, but he would still want to help bolster his party, and try to make sure that the next President in also a Republican.

This I think is at the heart of this apparent paradox.

And I said there was a link with the question of the people of New Orleans being black. Well that link is that if you are are black in the good ole' USA, where anyone can become President, you are ten times more likely to live in poverty than if you are any other colour.

So much for the American Dream!

Blessed be!

KK

Salute this Hero!

Hi all,

When you go out this evening in London raise your glasses and salute this man.

Mr George Psaradakis was the driver of the number 30 bus that got bombed on 7/7/05 in London. Two months on he is returning back to work ON THE NO. 30 BUS and is continuing business as usual.

What a hero!

And when you raise your glasses remember all the unsung heroes who risk their lives every day so that this country, and this city, can live in, (relative), peace!

Blessed be

KK

Love, Friendship and the London Bombs

Hi all,

I had an incident yesterday that made me think about life and the London bombs.

I have a "friend", well I thought he was a friend, but I think he is more of an acquaintance really after rewiewing how treats me. Well over the week-end he was ill and telephoned me for advice on what product to use to help recover from his cold. This is because I am something of a health buff. I was away for the week-end so he left a message for me.

After a wonderful week-end away I rang him back on Monday morning to recommend some products and explained I had been away for the week-end. We had a ten minute conversation and when I put the phone down I realised that the entire conversation had been about him and his health. Even though I had mentioned that I had been away for the week-end, (not something that I do often), he did not ask about it. In the entire conversation he never asked how I was or bothered to thank me for the information I had given him.

Even if it were not entirely hurtful to have a one-sided conversation, at the very least it was just plain rude. On top of this was that this was the only time that this person has bothered to phone me at home in about three months. When he needed something!

That started me thinking and I thought "What am I getting out of this apart from being hurt by his total indifference to me and my needs" And you know what I couldn't think of much!

The London bombs were a wake-up call for me and as far as I am concerned life is too short to fill it with people who don't give a damn about you. Their interest in you is more about what they can get than what you are.

And I started to evaluate myself. And do you know, I decided that I am a beautiful and intelligent woman and deserve more than to be treated like that.

It is just as easy to abuse someone by taking them for granted as it is to abuse them by being verbally or physically violent.

That said the only person responsible for allowing the situation to continue would be me. And so I decided it would stop.

I have more than an abundance of friends and I do not need passengers.

When this same person saw how many Christmas presents I got for Christmas he even suggested that I should give some of them away to charity. Why should I? Some people have determined that that is what I am worth; why should I throw their gift in their face by giving it away? I wouldn't like that if I gave some-one a gift. Yes recycle it a few years later, but not right away.

Some-one once told me he didn't get invited to many parties. I asked when he last held one? Of course there was no answer, because he didn't hold parties.

For people who complain that they have no friends I have very little sympathy. they haven't learnt the basic rule of life: that in order to receive you first have to give. You can be selective in that giving, but you still have to give.

If you think that you have nothing to give, then go and work as a befriender for a charity. I did this with Age Concern in the UK. I started visiting a housebound old lady. The first time I visited she cried because, apart from the community nurse she had not had a visitor in a year. IN A YEAR.

We all have something to give. OURSELVES.

And be sure of this. If you don't think you are worth anything, then the world will take you at you own evaluation of yourself.

And guess what when I go to see that old lady now, it is not an act a charity. She is now my friend. She shares her history with me and I enjoy the visits. So there is mutual exchange.

I do not expect gratitude from anyone. That is patronising. But I do expect appreciation - in the dictionary sense of the word. "Appreciation - recognition of the value or significance of something!"

If I am regarded as being of so little value that even enquiring as to how I am feeling is off the agenda then what is the point of that "friendship".

If others do not value you, move on to those who do. Your loss will soon be noted!

Blessed be

KK

A New Guy Sneaks on to the Team

Hi all,

Did you see somebody trying to get a look in on the "Don't worry - be happy!" image?

Yes it was who you thought and he has sneaked onto the team. He wanted to get a look in and you cannot keep a good koala down! But we might have known that his getting on the team would lead to THIS!

Blessed be.

KK

Thank God it's Friday!

Hi all,

Just to say thank God it's the end of the week! Friday doesn't usually affect me the way it affects many people because I am self employed and mainly work through the Internet anyway, so I can work when I want, (to some extent - I still have to eat etc!).

However, one factor struck me yesterday about the Internet and our lives in general. As in some ways they become richer, we may also have to take care that they do not become poorer.

I am talking mainly about the Internet and the media, (TV, radio etc). While the Internet and cable and satellite media give us more choice, they may also mean that in the real, physical world we get cut off from our neighbour's and so the community disintegrates around us.

I have just spent the last week working on the Internet and while it was immensely enjoyable and enriching for me, it occurred to me, that apart from seeing specific friends, I had not even gone out of the house to stroll around my local neighbourhood. Which is a normal thing for me to do because I try to walk everywhere I can. I can drive but choose not to.

As well as putting on a few pounds I also realised I felt cut off from my, (physical), neighbours. So I took a stroll around my local outdoor market and was reminded that people exist in the real world still and not just in cyberspace!

I think all our new technology has the potential to bring great benefits to humankind. I also think we must make sure it unites us rather than divides us.

A friend of mine said that the Internet is the new technological manifestation of collective human consciousness. Well it certainly has the potential to be. Let's hope it is, and for the better!

Have a good weekend.

Blessed be

KK

Cheers and Welcome to my New Moderator's Section!

Hi all,

This is just to say hi! to my new moderator who now also has his own private section.

I am not going to give details about him here as this is in the public arena but he knows who he is!

So cheers!

Blessed be

KK

Finding a Cure for Writer's Block

Hi all,




I've got a bit of writer's block at the moment and so am making, in my desperation, a call to the Goddess.






"Oh Polyhymnia Goddess of Sacred poetry,
Confer Your blessed muses gift upon me,
That I may bathe in the light of Your glow,
And feel once again my creativity flow,
And of writer's block forever be free!"

Here's hoping!

Blessed be,

KK

True Intelligence

Hi all,

Sorry I haven't had time to post recently. The sun is shining here in the UK so I have been out walking.

One of the great things about one of my jobs - writing, is that you can do it anywhere. So I have been away from my computer and outside writing. And also walking. I love walking.

However, I am slightly disabled today as I have sprained my shoulder and was in pain. So I am going nowhere being drugged up on the highest Ibuprofen I could find.

So I have been musing around on the Internet looking at all the strange things people do on it.

And I don't mean pornography! I never use the Internet for pornography as I don't like most pornography. I find it too harsh.

But there is stranger stuff than pornography on the Internet. And this is one I find very strange: people forming high IQ societies to prove to themselves that they are smarter than the rest of us.

They are not content with joining Mensa which accepts the top 2% of the most intelligent people. No, they have to go higher than that and be in the top 1% or the top .10% even.

Now I can understand people joining Mensa because it has an active and international social life, but observing these other societies they seem to do nothing other than prove that you can pass IQ tests better than 99% of other people.

Of the people who join I would say (IQ) Intelligence Quotient, (supposedly), high, (IQ) Interest Quotient, (definitely), zero! IMHO

Surely true intelligence means having a life, and if you don't have one, then getting one. I think the people who join these clubs may have a high IQ but they certainly don't appear to have a life!

The image at the beginning of this article says it all really. That's true intelligence!

Blessed be,

KK

24 hr Yob Culture - Guaranteed 100%

Hi all,

The British government is trying to make sure that the prevailing yob culture that is haunting this country at the moment is here to stay. How does it plan to do this? By introducing 24 hour drinking, (as in alcoholic drinking).

As a nation we cannot drink responsibly even when we do not have 24 hour licenses so by what dent of thinking is the government now trying to introduce 24 hour drinking?

If this is how our leaders think Goddess help us!

That's all for now. I'm off to have a, (responsible), drink!

Blessed be

KK

Be Afraid Be Very Afraid

Abundance

Hi all,

I work up with a thought on my mind this morning. Pruning*. Yes I know that it is a strange one. But it is a concept I have heard through blogging. That occasionally you "prune" your website Pruning is in it's original sense a gardening term and and means:-

* Prune
"trim (a tree, shrub, or bush) by cutting away dead or overgrown branches or stems."
(From The Concise Oxford English Dictionary)

And then I started thinking we could use this concept in our own lives. To cut away that which is dead or just in our lives but serving no real purpose. Now this may seem a cruel concept in human terms. Do we get rid of people. Well yes, sometimes, would be my answer.

That is not to say that you only have people in your life because they serve a purpose for you. That's wrong. People should be valued as having intrinsic worth in themselves regardless of any roles they play. But all healthy relationship should be built on the concept of exchange. The relationship should be beneficial to both parties.

This is why I am against the traditional concept of charity. That of doing something for someone else. I am much more in favour of empowering people so they can help themselves. As the old saying goes "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day: teach him to fish and you feed him for a lifetime".

But back to pruning. As any gardener knows the main purpose of pruning is to make way for new life and to make the existing life stronger and purer. And that is how I started to think of applying the concept to my life.

My life, and yours, is a living growing thing. Our creation. And we are the gardener in charge of the garden, and occasionally we may need to prune our lives. To get rid of that which isn't working in order to make space for new growth.

I also started to think about this term in relation to things I own.

I am in the lucky position that I get more presents than I can possible use. This is because of other aspects of my life. I have tried to persuade these people to give the money to charity but that didn't work. A friend of mine explained to me that when people give to a person that the giving usually involves ego, and they want the joy of giving to that specific person, so it does not come from the same place as charitable giving, so giving to charity could never act as a substitute for wanting to give to a particular person. Maybe not, but I have managed to get my admirers to give money to my favourite charities, so my personal persuasion can work to some extent.

Anyhow pruning. What I do with a lot of my possessions is keep them for a few years and then give them to charity. Or sell them second hand and give that money to charity. So I guess I am "pruning". Or "recycling" to use a modern word.

I think being wealthy, or having abundance, could be described as being in the position of being able to give things away without feeling loss. Knowing that you will receive again in time.

Well you know what we can all give something away. What can you give away that costs you nothing, but can make another person feel like a million dollars? Answer - a smile!

Personally what I give away for free, for charitable purposes, is something very precious. My time!

So I hope you all have abundance in your lives and spread it around for others to share!

Blessed be

KK

The View from Outer Space

Hi all,

Well quite a few new features have been added to this weblog including a forum, guestbook and traffic meter. Also a Private Members Area with a new security feature for attempted hacking in. And I know this works because someone has already attempted to hack their way in and they could not get past the security feature.

Which leads me nicely on to my thought for today...

The way we live on earth. For example, why do so many people expend so much energy trying to wreck other people's computer systems through trying to hack in and speading virus's and the like? If they are so clever why don't they get a job in computing and earn the big bucks that the industry pays? I would suspect the answer lies in their lack of social skills.

While they may have the intellectual capacity to do a computing job they simply can't get on with other people. And it doesn't matter how clever you are, to get on in life in anything you need to be able to get on with people. So in their bitterness, because they cannot create anything, be that a good job, or good relationships etc., they do the only thing they are capable of, they destroy.

I think the world is full of human goodness but I sometimes think that if the planet Earth was ever studied by extra terrestrial beings they would come to the conclusion that the human race was one the the most illogical and brutal species in the universe.

A few facts they might look at might be for example:-

(1) One half of the world starves while the other half cites obesity as the second greatest killer after cancer. Or at least this, in the sense of all the diseases and fatal conditions that arise out of, and/or, are made worse by being obese.

(2) After travel, the arms industry is the biggest billion dollar industry on the planet. More money is spent on finding different ways to kill people than is in invested in caring for them.

(3) In sexual behaviour it is still considered by some people that if a woman sleeps around she is immoral, whereas if a male engages in the same behaviour it is the making of him! (I deliberately used the word male here, because in my opinion, it definitely doesn't make him a "man"!)

And I could go on, but I won't. I am sure you get the general drift.

I am reminded of the the anti-psychiatry psychiatrist RD Laing when he suggested in his book"Knots" the ridiculous notion of asking a schitzophrenic to adjust to the world as it is. He said that perhaps insanity is a sane reponse to insane world. Or as he put it, from the perspective of a patient:-

"Positive and Negative Binds

Negative: Can't win. Everything I do is wrong.Positive: Can't lose. Everything I do is right. I do it because it is right.It is right, because I do it.

They are playing a game. They are playing at not playing agame. If I show them I see they are, I shall break the rules and they will punish me. I must play their game, of not seeing I see the game." From "Knots" by RD Laing.

For those interested in pursuing this matter more click here.

Personally I am sitting on the fence about this one. All I can say is NEVER ACCEPT SO CALLED EXPERT ADVICE WITHOUT EXAMINING IT FIRST. So called experts are first and foremost human and can be wrong. That said, don't go around second guessing everyone and everything just for the sake of it. That doesn't make you intelligent; it just makes you a jerk.

Blessed be,

KK

The Answer to the Puzzle

Hi all,

There are two ways of reading this sentence: "genuinehappinessistobefoundnowhere" and these are:-

(1) Genuine happiness is to be found nowhere.

(2) Genuine happiness is to be found now here.

Which one did you see?

Credits to The Happiness Project

Blessed be

KK

Promoting Polyamory!

Hi all,

Here is the universal symbol for Poly folk. Of which I am one. Promoting polyamory! Click here for an explanation.

Blessed be

KK

What do you see?

Hi all,

Here is an interesting thing. What do you see in these letters?

"genuinehappinessistobefoundnowhere"

Answers tomorrow or later.

Blessed be,

KK

Pope Benedict X I V and Neo-Paganism

Hi all,

I noticed a news items on the BBC news today which I think will bypass most people but I think it may be an important indication of how the new Pope thinks.

The Pope was in Cologne and was warning against the new rise of anti-semitism. And that's well and good except during the speech he also said this:- "In the 20th century, in the darkest period of German and European history, an insane racist ideology, born of neopaganism, gave rise to the attempt, planned and systematically carried out by the regime, to exterminate European Jewry," he said. (Italics mine).

It would be truer to say that SOME Nazi's practiced a convoluted form of NeoPaganism and were into the Occult: it is a well known fact that Hitler was interested in the dark side of the Occult. But to say that this represents NeoPaganism is similar to saying that the Crusades represented Christianity as taught by Christ. What some Nazi's followed was a warped interpretation of NeoPaganism that the Nazi's used for their own ends. Officially the Nazi party was atheistic because all allegiance had to be given to the State. Just as atheism was the official line of the Communist Party in the USSR - because again all allegiance had to be given to the State. Allegiance to God would have competed in both cases for total allegiance to the State. This is one of the reasons why both of these regimes were considered to be totalitarian.

Now it may be that the Holy Father has not investigated this matter fully and sincerely believes that he is right. But I think it is more indicative of his Conservative thinking. Imagine if he had said that Al-Qaeda represented Islam. There would have been an outcry.

But it is OK to give this distorted view of NeoPaganism and the resultant adverse publicity to those not informed about Paganism true message. The one rule that Paganism states is: Do what you will but harm none. Hardly a moral message that equates with the attempted genocide of the Jews!

It is not for nothing that I also note that Paganism is the Catholic Church's historical enemy, at least in the sense that the Catholic Church sought to repress the native Pagan traditions of many countries when it sought to establish itself there.

Where it couldn't completely quell Pagan traditions it sought to incorporate them. So you get the Christmas Tree at Christmas, which is a Pagan not a Christiran tradition. And that is just one example.

Could it be that the Holy Father, (or his advisers), have noted that Paganism is a fast growing religion and especially so amongst young people, and so his comment about it was thrown in for good measure?

Paganism is attracting young people because it is more in keeping with the liberal traditions of modern society than traditional Catholicism and that of course is in direct contradiction to the direction Pope Benedict XIV would like to see society go in.

And this now comes a short time after the Pope condemned Harry Potter as leading youth to the Occult.

If the Pope wishes to make peace between the world religions if is a pity that he does not extend this invitation to modern Paganism which is now established in the UK as a bona fide religion to the extend that it is recognised by the Home Office and there are now Pagan ministers in prisons.

People may try to stem the tide but we are here to stay and growing.

Blessed be Pope Benedict XIV.

Blessed be all others also,

KK

PS I composed this yesterday.

Today I add a quote from Isaac Bonewits "The term “Neopaganism” has nothing to do with the Catholic Church’s recent use of “neo-paganism” to refer to Hitler’s Germanic Mesopaganism, which incorporated nineteen centuries of Christian anti-semitism and dualism. Hitler, after all, considered himself a good Christian and was perceived as such by many, if not most, German Christians at the time. The Catholic Church is simply trying to distract attention away from its responsibility for creating the Western cultural environment that dehumanized Jews, and from its pathetic record in opposing the Holocaust while it was going on (not to mention the value to the Church in trashing competing new religions by associating us with the Nazis)."

Well done Isaac!

KK

Compensation Culture

Hi all,

I am writing today about compensation culture as I listened to my friend Nick Ferrari talking about it on LBC this morning.

We, (in the West), are getting to the stage where we think that there has to be a reason for everything and that, if something goes wrong, someone must be to blame, and so someone should pay. Well I'm telling you folks it just ain't true. Sometimes things happen and they are just accidents. And sometimes human beings make mistakes as anyone can, and should be forgiven. Believe me a life spent trying to get even, for the perceived, or even real times you have been unjustly hurt just isn't worth it. I can say this because I have been there and it doesn't take you anywhere you really want to go. You will become trapped in your own prison of darkness and it will be a prison of your own making. Yes, your own making.

That isn't to say that was done to you was just: maybe it wasn't. And that isn't to say where there is injustice you shouldn't fight it: you should. But compensation culture is about blame. It is about asking what can I get.

If you really want to feel empowered about righting a wrong done to you ask instead: what can I do? What can I do to make sure this doesn't happen again to anyone else? That's real power and real justice.

And treat yourself kindly. Whatever you needed to do to survive was what you had to do at the time. It doesn't matter if other people condemn you because you took drugs or whatever: they weren't walking in your shoes. And if they did who is to say that they would not have handled it worse that you did? So be kind to yourself.

Or course if you did real wrong to others it is up to you to sort that out and not blame your parents/society/etc. delete as appropriate.

And remember the best revenge is living well in a healthy and productive way.

I'll leave you with this poem

William Ernest Henley. 1849-1903

Invictus

OUT of the night that covers me,

Black as the Pit from pole to pole,

I thank whatever gods may be

For my unconquerable soul.


In the fell clutch of circumstance

I have not winced nor cried aloud.

Under the bludgeonings of chance

My head is bloody, but unbowed.


Beyond this place of wrath and tears

Looms but the Horror of the shade,

And yet the menace of the years

Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.


It matters not how strait the gate,

How charged with punishments the scroll,

I am the master of my fate:

I am the captain of my soul.

This poem was written by the author when he was in hospital. He suffered tuberculosis of the bone and has a leg amputated.

So with whatever is going on in your life, let us not descend into hatred or bitterness. And especially this so in the light of the London bombings.

Let us show in our lives that we are bigger than their, (the terrorists), hatred.

I am happy to report that in my neighbourhood in London there is still racial harmony. In fact my next door neighbour, my GP and my pharmacist are all Muslims and we are still getting on as normal. So the terrorists did not win after all.

My best wishes to you all and thanks to all of you who have contacted me with your kind comments about my blog.

Blessed be,

KK

London Police Keeping London Safe!

Keeping London Safe!

Yes indeed the Metropolitan Police are working for a safer London as you can see!

Back in London

Hi all,

I arrived back in London yesterday safe and sound. And already I have had yet another blue with a friend.

I told this friend that I had had a wonderful time in Oxford and he said something sarcastic. When I questioned him on this he said it was a joke. I asked him if he noticed I wasn't laughing. There was no reply to this.

And here's the point. I have noticed that there is a pattern in this and it is a classical pattern of response.

When a person sets out to achieve something, any type of thing: it could be a move to a new city, a decision to change one's job, or to slim, whatever, some people respond negatively. Usually the change that the person is initiating is, (from the point of view of that person), for their betterment. So you would think that friends would support that decision. Because you do suppose that friends want the best for you.

And in the beginning friends may support you. However, some people maybe THREATENED by the change so they start to undermine you.

I once started to slim and initially I was supported by (female) friends. However, when I started to succeed and start to feel and look a whole lot better some of these friends turned on me and started getting quite bitchy. I was confused until some-one pointed out that the same friends had tried to slim on several occasions and had not succeeded so my achievement was a threat to them.

My advise to any-one is to feel compassion for people like that but move on.

I am reminded in saying this of the words of Nelson Mandela at his inaugural speech. They were:-

"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. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us, it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

So let your light shine however you see it.

My journey goes on, but London contrasts deeply with the my hometown. Not always badly, but right now, deeply.

That said I am in the process of creating a private area of the website that will only be accessible to those to whom I issue a password. This will be sent to those selected via email or text message.

Coming soon..

That's all for now,

Blessed be

KK

Still in Oxford

Hi all,

Well I am still in Oxford and boy it is so peaceful here. I see on the TV about the bombs in London and it seems a world away.

I have even made new friends here and am already looking at property.

I have two other English towns to consider and possibly a Scottish one before I make my decision about where to live. But it seems definite that it will not be in London.

The strange thing is I have met a number of other people who are considering doing the same thing, so I am not alone in this exploration.

I have walked everywhere since I came to Oxford. There are several reasons for this.

One is that the city is highly pedestrianised and also that a single bus journey costs a £1. So I am getting fitter and also saving quite a bit of money. Another is that breakfast is included in the cost of my accommodationn so I am having a cooked breakfast every morning.

The b and b, (bed and breakfast accommodationn in the UK), I am staying in starts cooking the bacon at 7.30 every morning and this makes my tummy rumble and ensures that I wake up.

I took a walk by the river and the midges bit me. I know that insects abroad like me a lot but now it seems that the English ones do also. I'll have to be careful!.

That's all for now. Sorry if this post is a bit boring but I am posting it in a public library so am being a bit cautious.

The girl typing next to me also seems to thump the keys rather than just tap them and this is putting me off a bit! The whole bench is shaking. I wonder if she is very angry, or just enthusiastic?

Got a LFF meeting this evening. Regular readers will know what this is!

Blessed be

KK

A Post from Oxford

Hi all,

Just to say I am now in Oxford and I am writing this on a public computer. Yet another learning process.

I have a great sense of well-being having left the stress of London behind and I am convinced I have done the right thing.

I am now looking around for a suitable property and have registered to stay in a convent. Very good value for money!

I won't be posting as much in the next few days as I have to pay to access the computer and am limited by time, but you know I wish all of you the very best!

Good luck on your own journey's.

Blessed be,

KK

Life Goes On

Hi all,

Just a quick note to say that I am on my way to Oxford today and that I am about to get the tube to Victoria Coach Station. A little bit nervous, but I have decided to do this in preference to getting a taxi, ( or mini-cab), as we say in England.

Looking forward to seeing my hometown again.

It's a little bit of a holiday where I will test the waters to see if I want to live there again.

As a writer I am used to late nights and late rising, so getting up at 7.00 this morning was a shock to the system and I am sure I shall sleep on the coach!

By 9.00 I had showered, made my sandwiches, had breakfast and packed. Amazing.

I will check in again when I am in Oxford.

Have a good day!

Blessed be

KK

Doing Things the English Way!

Hi all,

Right now writing is my therapy. It helps to heal my soul and my emotions. In this respect I am lucky because I have this outlet and it is a constructive one.

I am going to Oxford tomorrow to see about re-locating there. However I did get reminded that I still live in Britain when I tried to book my fare for the coach.

First I tried on the Internet: it accepted all my credit card details and then told me the e-ticket option was not available for that fare! So then I rang the company and after being told three different conflicting fares for the same journey I finally got it sorted out. I also got a concession because I am disabled.

My advice if you are visiting this country is make sure you know about concessions because you sure as hell won’t be told about it by any tourist staff!

The Aussies say the English (Pommies) whinge. After they have lived here a bit guess what? – they do to.

This reminds me of a friend who went to a restaurant in London and got very bad service. He refused to pay the 12% “gratuity,” (also colloquially called “service”), that was automatically added to the bill. When he left the restaurant the waiter came running after him saying “Sir, sir there was no service”. To which my friend very straight faced replied “So I noticed!”

You’ve got to laugh because if you didn’t you would cry.

Blessed be

KK

London Blues Continued

Hi all,

I’ve had yet another blue with the same friend. It seems that the tension in London is driving us apart and we are both coping with it in different ways. My way is to want to acknowledge it, but get away from it.

Now this other person has so constructed their life that they have little choice but to stay here. Then they suggested moving to Oxford with me! Now I must say that this friend has copied me before, but since I do not want them to move with me I am going to keep very reticent about my new address when I do move.

It seems to me that sometimes the very tensions in life act as catalyst to catapult you along in a new direction. This certainly seems to the case in my life at the moment.

We so don’t understand each other right now.

Most parents do their very best to bring their children up so they can cope with life. But who teaches you how to deal with bombs on tubes and the tension that creates? How could ever teach your child how to deal with that?

I’m just trying to do my best and live from day to day.

If my life does change and this friendship ends or lessens I am reminded to the words of John Donne in last three lines of “The Good Morrow”:-

"Whatever dies, was not mixed equally;
If our two loves be one, or thou and I
Love so alike that none can slacken, none can die."

He is speaking of course about romantic love. but I think it can apply to any type of friendship or love.

So we will see my friendship with this person was "equally mixed".

Blessed be

KK

A Blue with a Friend

Hi all,

It’s tense in London at the moment. Last night I had a blue with a friend of mine. (Blue is Australian slang for an argument or disagreement. I like the word – it is expressive.)

Well this blue was about the London bombings. My friend thinks they will end but I am not so sure . I’m not sure that he isn’t sticking his head in the sand.

I am planning to move out of London to Oxford. I have been considering this for some time, but the bombs may have acted as a catalyst.

I have had to consider whether I am being a coward or not, and think this may have been the case if it was only the bombs that made me consider leaving London, but it isn’t.

And now a thought: is it a cowardly act to want to make your life more safe? I mean isn’t this what people do everyday as a natural act?

You don’t deliberately walk across a road without looking. You put security on your house if you can afford it. You get a cab, if you can afford it, in preference to getting the night bus.

Without wrapping yourself in cotton wool, you try to be as safe as you can. This would seem to me to be healthy and sane.

So am I being a coward in wanting to move to a safer, bomb free city? In a word - no. Am I lucky that I am in a position to be able to do this? – perhaps according to your belief system. Are we in charge of our lives within certain parameters? – absolutely.

My first responsibility is to myself and those I love. After that I will do what I can to help my neighbour. And if some people don’t like that order of things then that is their problem!

Blessed be,

KK

Life is Surreal

Hi all,

I was just reflecting on how surreal life is. Or at least how surreal my life is in general.

I am a website designer as well as a writer, so almost all of my work takes place in the mind. And my job is, for the most part, the creation of fantasy.

Sometimes I develope characters and they seem to take on a life of their own - as if they existed already in some other dimension. At other times I wake up with a poem in my head and when I write it down I am not even "there". It is as if some-one else is doing the writing - and I'm not talking about spirit guides!

But the most mind blowing thing of all is to think that in a thousand years time people could still be reading what I have written.

In fact if Karma is true it could be me reading my own words without even knowing it! Mind bloggling!

Blessed be

KK

Near Death Experiences and Churches

Hi all,

I just did a long post and then lost it! I have now learnt to do the draft as a Word document just in case! Also I can do a spell check which blogger doesn’t have at the moment!

I was listening to Lord Pearson and Banksy on LBC this morning discussing near death experiences. Very interesting.

I have also decided I may start attending the Unitarian Church which would seem to suit me.

This was going to be a longer post but I am no longer in the mood because of losing my previous one!

I identify, amongst other things, as a Pagan, so I will leave you with the Pagan goodbye blessing.

Blessed be,

KK

My Publishing Company

Hi again,

The final post of the day!

On the left is the logo of my publishing company:

The Blue Lotus Publishing House.

I will see if I can make this into a hyperlink for my selected readers.

Working on it!

Lots of love,

KK

Have a Laugh for London

Hi,

I'm back after lunch.

I have just been listening to the debate about the recent bill that, when implemented by Parliament (UK), will supposedly stop jokes being made about people's religion. Well I don't know about that but I do know that all decent people condemn terrorist bombings so here is something to make you laugh and help you fight back about what was done to London recently.

Go to Destroying Your Sacred Cows and enjoy!

Thanks Strawman and thanks to the Aussies in general.

We'll see how we do in The Ashes.

I always used to say about these that we already knew the result, we just had to wait to see the score.

I'm English BTW!

KK

My First Blog Day

Hi, this is my first blog day and I am thrusting my blog onto the world!

For those who already know my work I am in the middle of my first anthology of poetry right now. Please let me know via my email address if you wish to place advance orders.

You may be pleased to know that I have passed all the modules in my ECDL and will soon be the proud owner of two certificates and my log book. To further facilitate my love of the computer and IT I have also enrolled to start a B Sc (Honours) degree in IT and Computing in October.

I shall of course continue writing and all my other activities.

For another interesting blog see:- Samizdata

Got to go now. I am going to have my lunch!

Kystal Klere