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Showing posts from 2013

I love a bit of tomfoolery

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Just one of many bits of tomfoolery I sent off into a festival. However, I did not ask this man to take his clothes off. He did that by his own initiative. Outrageous! What are people doing taking initiative?

Existentialist angst!

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I am having an extended funny phase. My tendency to always see the big picture, tune into the gist and not do details (a blessing and a disability) make me on a perpetual quest to look for patterns and see clarity in chaos and try to make sense of things. But of course - it is all a lot of chaos - much of it adversarial. I sum things up to try and help me make sense of the chaos and some of my conclusions help me. And I don't mind that my summations are perpetually altered. I let information in when it seems relevant and the odd detail can shift my stance overnight. But I have got to this point in my life arriving at these non-conclusions: Certainty is strange to me. We can only be certain within our own level of consciousness. And to recognise each of our consciousnesses are limited seems to be beyond many. People seem to hold on to their certainly. They seem to like it. Flexibility seems more sensible than certainty to me. There's always a fact or new experience that

Visit Norwich - the alternative guide for wanderers

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I have lived in the same city all my adult life and that city is Norwich, Norfolk, UK. I came here originally to study at the University of East Anglia and stayed. I know several people that did the same as me and a few more that left and then came back. Those of us that love it, really do love it. 'Not too big, not too small and enough to keep you entertained,' is a common mantra. It's also beautiful to look at. Something I always do when I see someone in Norwich holding a map, is to stop and ask them if they need any help. Usually I find myself in a conversation that results in me listing many of Norwich's 'worth seeings'. I know there are websites that list attractions, but they are often the things you have to pay to go and see. Some of these attractions are great but Norwich is also a wonderful city to just wander around too. So here is my alternative list of 'experiences' for visitors to Norwich. Riverside Walk A stroll along the river takes y

Gratitude and parking tickets

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I have been thinking a lot about gratitude recently. I think it is a key and effective tool in helping us to be happy. It is so easy to get sucked into the negatives: the grass being greener, the disappointments and moan about the mundane. It is also very easy to take things for granted. However, it doesn't take long to shift your perspective and suddenly be filled with gratitude. For example, there are parents in the world that have to watch more than one of their children die of starvation and/or disease. That surely gives enough instant perspective to shift most people's thinking into that of gratitude. I think most people in the 'western world' should be able to find something to be grateful for. I am reading a book at the moment called 'Capital' by John Lanchester. It's a brilliant book and I recommend it highly. It's social comment, attack on inequality, satire of modern living, gives a view of different lifestyles from different and 'outside

Behaviour Management Technique

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For the last two years I have worked in a school for primary-aged children that have been kicked out of mainstream education (known as a PRU or short-stay school). Upon hearing this, most people say 'that must be a really tough job,' and it undoubtedly is - in some ways. For example, when I am with these children, I can't display any personal 'touchy' or sensitive areas or I would fail miserably as these children invariably attempt to find any weak spots and goad every adult into behaving like the other adults in their lives. When they do this, I always remain calm and carry on delivering unconditional positive regard for the child - which might - I suspect - be beyond some people. The job requires me and those I work with to be very self aware and therefore this job has taught me lots! Aside from this dollop of self-awareness, I have learnt the better ways to manage extremely damaged children's behaviour. Recently I went to a training day that consolidated wh

Opinions

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I have been marvelling at how much conflict opinions can sometimes cause. I have witnessed many heated debates based on opinion solely - which to me is like one blind faith arguing with another. An opinion can be a transient thing. When we react to an issue and form an opinion, it is based on our current knowledge of the issue (which is unlikely to be comprehensive), the patterns and buttons of our personality/ego (applying our individual evaluative judgement), and how our personality has reacted to any prior experiences we have had relating to the issue and the thoughts it created. These are all rather woolly if you ask me. It's like saying - my experience, knowledge and personality are more valid than yours. So why do opinions cause conflict? I guess some people present opinion as fact or dodgy facts as fact -that might get people whipped up. Also if someone believes they know more about the issue than the person they are debating it with, this might give them a powerful and t