Giving 2nd impressions a chance !

"Tick, tick, tick, hhmmm cross": the rapid mental checklist as one builds the almost instantaneous 1st impression.

While I am a strong believer in instinct and the first sense and feeling one gets almost within 2-3 seconds of being exposed to a voice, photograph, physical acquaintance, or other scenario - I have become equally a supporter of 2nd impressions! Learning how to give a chance to a relationship, business deal or similar bond by investing in a 2nd impression and its sequel, is not always easy to do though. However I have realised that 2nd impressions can be opportunities to 'make' what may have been 'broken' at 1st impression - and in my experience - each time it has been so worth it :)

As I have given a second thought or chance to what initially came across as a right-off, it was as if now I could see the sun-rays reflect off a clean mirror, a mirror that 1st time around someone forgot to/could not dust.

For a moment...

In your arms….

Fleeting sanity and all glimmerings of reality

Melting in your smoldering charms….

I yearn – if only for a heartbeat – that you cradle my soul with the deepest charity

Drown me….

Suffer me to the quintessence of your affections

Only with you I am and I be….

I beg – if only for an instant – that your sultry magic engulf me

Nicety, subtlety, and nuance….

Diminish, as my being gels with yours

Delicately enchant my atoms, thus perchance….

I plead – if only for a flash – that your fervor penetrate my very pores

Free, liberated through our perfect fit….

I will carry your pain with ecstatic glee

Give me the torment riddling your pure spirit….

Be your eternal solace and balm, please let me be

With the gaze of your eyes, Paradise stands as a diminutive illusion….

My being is granted existence

I crave – if only for a moment, for a moment, a moment, moment – an electrifying fusion…..

With your essence.

- Rouzeh, 2010

Funky approach to ecosystem & A spiritual resolve

Though it has been around for a few years now, I find this initiative highly imaginative & seriously innovative!

The Funky Forest digital interactive ecosystem employs a hands-on approach where children create trees with their body and resultantly divert the water flowing from a waterfall to the trees to keep them alive. we know that the well-being of our trees (forests on a larger scale) contributes to the health forest life, including animals that live in it. This interactive model was created by design experts Emily Gobeille and Theodore Watson. When a tree is deprived of water, it withers, and standing against a wall and pressing your body into the forest creates new trees based on your shape and character. The purpose of this approach endevours to raise awareness amongst children about our eco-system, how everything is interrelated, and our actions have an influence on our environment and eventual well-being of human beings.

The Bahá'í viewpoint on environmental conservation pivots 3 main points:

1) Since the universe (in its natural state) is a reflection of the majestic qualities and attributes of the Supreme Being, it must be accorded the utmost respect;

2) The world of creation is intricately interconnected; and

3) The unity of humankind is the essential truth and compelling force in this age, and thus influencer of maintenance of a healthy ecosystem

Humanity can survive the serious environmental and developmental challenges facing it, as long as humanity honors its responsibilities and commitments to make necessary sacrifices and changes that will transform the world, and preserve its beauty.

"In such a world society... the economic resources of the world will be organized, its sources of raw materials will be tapped and fully utilized, its markets will be coordinated and developed, and the distribution of its products will be equitably regulated ...The enormous energy dissipated and wasted on war, whether economic or political, will be consecrated to such ends as will extend the range of human inventions and technical development, to the increase of the productivity of mankind, to the extermination of disease, to the extension of scientific research, to the raising of the standard of physical health, to the sharpening and refinement of the human brain, to the exploitation of the unused and unsuspected resources of the planet, to the prolongation of human life and to the furtherance of any other agency that can stimulate the intellectual, the moral and spiritual life of the entire human race" - Shoghi Effendi

Out of this world...

I am tripping...I'm falling

This so needs a calling

All up high..

Oooopppsss

I tumble down nigh !

Blending East & West in melody.....

I stumbled across this gorgeous blend of Eastern (Persian) and Western (American) melody and smooth voices!

And of-course it reminded me of the quotation below...

"A world federal system, ruling the whole earth and exercising unchallengeable authority over its unimaginably vast resources, blending and embodying the ideals of both the East and the West, liberated from the curse of war and its miseries, and bent on the exploitation of all the available sources of energy on the surface of the planet, a system in which Force is made the servant of Justice, whose life is sustained by its universal recognition of one God and by its allegiance to one common Revelation - such is the goal towards which humanity, impelled by the unifying forces of life, is moving." - (Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Bahá'u'lláh, p. 203-204)

To know...

"To know that we know what we know, and to know that we do not know what we do not know, that is true knowledge."

- Nicolaus Copernicus

Art in Math...reciprocated !

Funky stuff...! Stumbled across this totally intriguing site Math Art http://math-art.net/ , a gallery of shots featuring artwork formed by mathematical imagery (and imagination) and conversely mathematical imagery illustrated via art! Its liberating & fun :)

Samples above: Lorenz Attractor - 3 D and The Klein Bottle

Sooooooon

I must must must find the time again! Will play the keyboard soon enough on here...... for now one of my macro-shots and some loveeee :)

A Tomorrow...our tomorrow

Burning white
The void melts
Seeds blooming fragrant
Can love be this right?

Take me with you
Seal me in your soul
Wrapped and bound in all entirety
What else is there to do?

Let me bring you a tomorrow
Reversing all yesterdays
Surpassing all bliss you knew
Will you feed this intention to grow?

You are my Knight, brandishing your sword in suave conquer of my being, sweep me on your stallion - we gallop to win our tomorrow

- Rouzeh

The soul of a poet outlives the finest looks

You and I Whole
Refreshing my core
I immerse in your allure

The call of the heart
Falls feeble on the mind
But I must start
Ploughing only what love can bind

Will the toils and tears go?
When will they go?

Denying my resistance
I blend with your existence

The cry of reason
Fades on the soul soaked in devotion
Rays of treason
Are vacuum in this intricate emotion

Will the love conquer?
When will it conquer?

Believe in it and brew faith, take my heart and stamp in it your soul…..
Give reason and love a rhythm to dance, and perchance make you and I whole…..

- Rouzeh, 09

Love for Life ... :)))

For years I took it for granted that loving oneself and being 'ok' in oneself just came naturally (yeah yeah naive or ? ). And thereof came the Love for Life.....taking pleasure in the simple things......sharing and expressing freely and without borders and boundary.....brewing laughter at any instant, however silly or simplistic, and being positive in whatever instance (including stress and problems).

Recently I experienced a series of harrowing and border-abuse incidents - stretched over several months - that awakened me to how this whole concept/ideology does not apply to all - and in fact I realised it seems harder for some! And it reinforced what I had witnessed growing up, that: the ability to be happy and at peace with oneself comes from within and will simply not last if it is catalysed by externally driven 'masking behaviours'. To be happy is about making others happy - not waiting for someone to make you smile. As my adverse experiences have ceased, I begin to take back my "Love for Life" the way I always knew it, with laughter and content enjoyment of the simple things in life - and a glow in anticipation of the bigger things which are always awaiting us. Reminded that the blessings are all around - waiting to be noticed by the positive inner eye. How could I have forgotten?

Of-course there are always mixed feelings surrounding the desire to maintain one's 'Love for Life', especially when one experiences imbalanced or unjust instances, and this reminds me of the Kite Runner. A superb movie, remarkable in the making and compelling in its storyline, but of-course quite tearful too (for me at least). I watched it thrice in the past few months, and one (partial) statement I relate to strongly - "....there is a way to be good again". Those of you who have watched it will appreciate how this fits into the injustice and betrayal faced by Hassan from his friend Amir - though not intentional, but because Amir just did not know how to deal with the situation and resolved to take the easy way out. Much later in life Amir was presented an opportunity to 'make-up-for' the betrayal. And I wondered, in my own context, will 'it be made good' one-day? Will having upheld faith that the wrongs will be 'made-up-for' be worth it in the end? And will my love for life be influenced by this?

I guess the beauty of waiting for tomorrow to unfold and give the answers, is the mysteries and wisdom it will bring with it. But today - I am content to nurture my Love for Life :)

Possibility of turning 'Problems into Motivators'

I love Winnie the Pooh...do you?

Not just because he is adorable and always friendly and kind and saying the right thing in the simplest manner, but also because he gives off such 'positivity' : "If the person you are talking to doesn't appear to be listening, be patient. It may simply be that he has a small piece of fluff in his ear.”(Winne the Pooh) !

Clearly he speaks to not only kids, but adults as well! His statements are riddled with wise life lessons and guidance....

So what made me think of Winnie the Pooh this afternoon? Problems...problems and more...do we create them? Do we have problems because we are strong and they present a testing strategy in our path? Do we have problems because we are weak and failing to cope? Honestly I have no answer...just thoughts, but for now will share a bit on one of those thoughts: 'The possibility of turning our problems into motivators' !

While problems we face may not start with us, motivation to aspire towards a positive conquering status DOES start with us! Often anger and depression brews when we get into a difficult situation (sometimes aligned with panic, fear and apathy). Now both these negative emotions - anger and depression - can be turned into beneficial motivation. I wont go into the nitty-gritties (enough on the www as it is), but it IS possible to break the cycle of anger and depression and develop a chain of focus and positive channeling, and thus help oneself (and others around us).

It is important to understand why one is angry and depressed, understanding the source of the negative emotion is the root for turning it into positive energy. For example, if I am angry because I cannot lose 4 kg, I could use that to motivate myself into trying harder, eating right or even exercising more. Anger alone will not help me process information efficiently, and will actually prevent me from realising the real reason why you I am feeling low or upset. Once I understand that, I can work to make a difference in my life and ofcourse subsequently the life of those around me :)

Functional fixedness: overcome it!

Heard of 'The Candle Problem' - ever tried to solve it? Lets hear what Dan Pink has to say :)

io9 - LUV it!

Some of you may already be familiar with this website

But for those of who are not familiar with it - give it a hit next time you are online, especially if you are a sci-fi fan or intrigued by arb and visionary scientific break throughs and facts/tit-bits :)

It a year today since io9.com was launched, and I can only testify to its delightfully 'futuristic' watchdog state - hence I felt impelled to share with others.

Enjoy :)

Going Green !

I am having a hard time connecting to 'going green' and continue to associate this term with 'going green with envy'.

Anyhow 'going green' seems to be the 'in-thing' so to speak, lately, and a huge drive not only being pushed by environmentalists, but more recently also by many in the business and development (civil society sector) worlds. I won't dwell on the benefits thereof of going green, rather than going....I guess another color?! But found when I visited several going green related online sites, they were quite enlightening and it appears that going green is not as daunting or challenging as many of us make it out to be: why not pop on this site.

We can each find our own way of contributing to going green, here was one thought: "(ex) President Bush is starting to get concerned about global warming, which is why he's trying to rekindle the COLD war." - 
Jay Leno

 !! Odd but interesting..... :)

Successful - a carrot on a stick?

Yes yes, does look like an elixir posting...So why this topic? Especially as it seems I am slipping back into my sporadic posting syndrome (SPS)... (and I think I just created that!). Ok, so back to the matter at hand..why the topic? Because for the past few months the matters of success/achievement/failure/loss keep rearing as challenging buzz's all around me - I am particularly conscious of it this week because 'successful' has been long deserving of a "certain dear one" of mine...but somehow this does not seem to be crowning my "certain dear one"......so it got me thinking a bit more than usual about success.

There is an immense pool of information around 'how to be successful'. Then why does it seem hard to become successful? Possibly the complexities of our own personage as individuals and the autonomy we exercise to decide what we think will or will not work - may be standing in the way of us drawing from the elaborations available to us. On the other hand some may not opportune this pool of information. We could go on and discern multiple reasons why, though there has been so much shared about how to become successful, many do not (feel/perceive/believe) they are successful, at least as they would wish to be.

But lets see what we can remind ourselves around becoming successful. Respectful of diverse opinions on 'how' one can savour success....what I share is of-course only one humble perspective, which I pivots love:

a) Love and know yourself: may sound 'mushy', but loving oneself and appreciating oneself is not always a given! however when we love ourselves, we believe in ourselves, we seek to better ourselves and in the process we consciously identify within ourselves the positive, strengths, capacities and so on, this can be a catalyst to identifying WHAT one CAN succeed in. And when you succeed, do not forget who you were! Also take care of yourself, take care of your health and general outlook - when you feel good and look good, you're energy and motivation levels are higher. Avoid negativity!

b) Love what you do: if you don't enjoy it, even if you are good at it, someday it will 'give'!. Enjoying what you set out to do guarantees your dedication to its success and often also guarantees you explore enough about the area of intended success, to know exactly what to do, how and when, to attain the success. If you don't love it, you're probably miserable doing it. Also 'true' success can really only be aligned with happiness, how can one be deemed successful in something if it only gives off unhappy vibes? Loving it will motivate you, motivation will drive you and open your mind and soul to innovative ways to doing it...Some people already feel successful because they are able to do what they love in the first place! :)

c) Love the challenge of uniqueness: to feel successful and have others recognise it, it would make sense that you would need to do something 'different'. Uniqueness is an ideal quality to nurture when seeking success in something. Being unique often implies being different, and this can be challenging, so loving the challenge and viewing it as a stepping stone to success, is key. Bring YOUR own very special thoughts, ideas, ways and practices to the fore, and with it be successful in contributing valuabley the world.

d) Love the pains: often success comes about through perseverence, and in many instances can be hindered by rejection, failure, critiscism, others lack of faith in you, and other adverse reactions from your environment. Keep in mind that becoming successful is a process, and often one which requires learning, patience and faith - so learn to love these pains, as they are stepping stones to the success. Stay focused. Love and learn, learn what you can from all the negativities that may come your way, and find how you can do things better as your journey continues.

e) Love others: I hope this point lingers on with you longer than the others. Success can be a personal (self) pursuit, we seek OUR success, and when we seek something for ourselves it is easy to forget about the next person and even undermine those around us in our pursuit for our goals.Be radiant, enthusiastic, energetic, and confident about yourself and convey a positive attitude - this is a magnet, it will attract others, and they will without doubt support you towards your success. Don't forget team spirit - as the situation demands. And when you become successful, share your story with others - encourage them along on their paths of success!

So a possible redefinition of success — often aligned with riches, power, glory & prestige — may be neccesary to facilitate many of us towards repositioning our perceptions of 'success is unattainable - like the carrot on the stick!". And I shall sign off with this one : "Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm." - Sir Winston Churchill , and a little spanner for your thoughts :) "Try not to become a man of success but rather to become a man of value." - Albert Einstein (now would that not be a TRUE success? )

For me success is 'freedom'.....my freedom to be me!

A trial....and...voila....slide.com works well :)

Let Me Be A Love

What happened to the sheer wind?
Why has it ceased to sway me?
How did I land on the sun?
Was it on the rainbow slide you brought me after the rain?

All strides to detachment
Torn down by greater emotions
Have failed me
Leaving a persistent scar of enchantment
For you

Why is my soul tickling blue?
How is it creeping up on an emptiness?
What is the emotional war sucking on my mind?
Is it reality lurching me back to you?

It has started
Refusing to recoil inside me it hurdles and catapults forth
Persistently seeking succulent serenity
Beyond condition with revering awe
For you

What can I unleash?
Help me learn how much love can win
I fear failure

What can I sever?
Help me balm your soreness
I fear sowing pain

What can I succour?
Help me bring you infinity
I fear emotional mortality

What can I be?
Help me profess how much I love you
I fear to freeze

Let me touch you sublime, allow you and I transcendent unison, let me be a love, a love only, love only for, for you.

- Rouzeh (8/12/08)

Taking Back the Tech !!!

From 25 November to 10 December 2006, APC Women’s Networking SupportProgramme (APC WNSP) advocated and worked with many organisations and like-minded groups to TAKE BACK THE TECH! For 16 days,this campaign engaged many globally to think about how their use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) can work to eliminate, or perpetuate violence against women (VAW).
The root cause of VAW lies in unequal power relations between men and women in almost all facets of life. The field of ICTs faces the same gender disparity. As a result, digital spaces like the internet,broadcast and telecommunications have become defined and developed according to dominant masculist perspectives. This means that VAW that happened in physical spaces like the home and streets, are now also taking new forms and occurring in digital spaces. For example, domestic violence abusers have used tools like spyware and GPS to track and control their partner's mobility. APC WNSP believes that both ICTs and VAW affect our capacity tocompletely enjoy our human rights and fundamental freedoms. Our right to move freely without harassment or threats to safety also applies todigital spaces. This 16-day campaign aimed to reclaim our right to shape,define, participate, use and share all aspects related to ICTs. The continue to ask us are asking you to Take Back The Tech!, and re-create a vision and reality oftechnology that is founded on equality.
TAKE BACK THE TECH! www.takebackthetech.net

A fishy story?

A review of the literature on the health effects of dietary fish or fish-oil intake has a reassuring message for seafood lovers, anyone eating fish for health reasons, and perhaps most everyone else. Levels of mercury and other contaminants in commercially bought fish are low, and their potential risks are overwhelmed by likely reductions in cardiovascular mortality, according to an article in the October 18 issue of JAMA."The main message is really that everybody should be eating one or two servings of fish or seafood per week for their health," Dariush Mozaffarian, MD, from the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, Massachusetts, told heartwire.

"Potential risks of fish intake must be considered in the context of potential benefits," according to Drs. Mozaffarian and Rimm. "Avoidance of modest fish consumption due to confusion regarding risks and benefits could result in thousands of excess CHD [coronary heart disease] deaths annually and suboptimal neurodevelopment in children."Those potential benefits are immense compared with the highly publicized but apparently low health risks associated with methylmercury, dioxins, and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) that have been found in some fish species, the authors write. The evidence suggests a potential for neurodevelopmental deficits from early exposure to methylmercury, but the risk is likely diminished by limiting intake of fish with high methylmercury concentrations.And the cancer risk from consuming PCBs or dioxins in fish appears to be negligible, especially when stacked up against the likely cardiovascular protection, according to Dr. Mozaffarian. Moreover, he said, the evidence for CV [cardiovascular] benefit is far stronger than that for a cancer risk. "For benefits, we're talking about randomized trials and prospective studies in humans. For the risks, they're really theoretical risks based mostly on animal studies and a few limited studies in humans at much higher doses.""I think they've put things into perspective. This is an area that gets a tremendous amount of controversy and mixed messages going out to the public," Alice H Lichtenstein, MD, director of the Cardiovascular Nutrition Laboratory at the Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University in Boston, Massachusetts, told heartwire. The conclusions of Drs. Mozaffarian and Rimm, Dr. Lichtenstein said, are "well founded" and "consistent with what a lot of people have concluded that the benefits [of fish and fish-oil consumption] outweigh the risks."Benefits and Risks of Fish Intake for WomenThe report's recommendation that most everyone can benefit from a couple of servings of fish per week was directed not only to the general population and those with cardiovascular risk factors, but also to women who could become pregnant or who are nursing and are urged to avoid a few species of fish that generally have higher contaminant levels."I think it's important that women of childbearing age and nursing mothers not worry so much about mercury, which is present at high levels really in only four fishes that they're not supposed to eat," Dr. Mozaffarian said.

One major caution in the report is for people who eat fish that is not purchased from commercial sources. "Some of the inland lakes in the United States are more highly contaminated with PCBs and dioxins," Dr. Mozaffarian said, "so someone who sports fishes and eats their catch frequently should consult regional advisories about what levels of PCBs and dioxins are in the different fish." Another caveat: "Anybody who eats fish at one or more servings per day, just to be on the safe side, should make sure they're eating a variety of different fish, making sure that at least some are lower in mercury levels," Dr. Mozaffarian said.

CRIME reduction.....developmental or moral issue?

"Crime" ..... a common yet fearful term. One that has become over-rated in many spheres, yet remains grossly "untackled" in any sustainable manner. Even the definition of "crime" has been disputed in various arenas, adjusting it where it suits power and material gain of those who claim to contain crime, identify crime or punish crime.

Crime has been a politico-legal issue till the past two decades, where its significant infiltration into the developmental world has generated various developmental responses. Issues around human trafficking - in particular child and female trafficking - have recently begun rearing their ugly heads on the HIV/AIDS agenda and become of critical concern to HIV/AIDS policy makers and programmers globally. See http://www.humantrafficking.org/capacitybuilding/toolkits

The Baha'i Faith aproached crime from a unique, practical and highly humanitarian angle. Baha'is believe that the community ought day and night to strive and endeavor with the utmost zeal and effort to accomplish the education of men, to cause them day by day to progress and to increase in science and knowledge, to acquire virtues, to gain good morals and to avoid vices, so that crimes may not occur. At the present time the contrary prevails; the community is always thinking of enforcing the penal laws, and of preparing means of punishment, instruments of death and chastisement, places for imprisonment and banishment; and they expect crimes to be committed. This has a demoralizing effect.

There are two sorts of retributory punishments. One is vengeance, the other, chastisement. Man has not the right to take vengeance, but the community has the right to punish the criminal; and this punishment is intended to warn and to prevent so that no other person will dare to commit a like crime. This punishment is for the protection of man's rights, but it is not vengeance; vengeance appeases the anger of the heart by opposing one evil to another. This is not allowable, for man has not the right to take vengeance. But if criminals were entirely forgiven, the order of the world would be upset. So punishment is one of the essential necessities for the safety of communities, but he who is oppressed by a transgressor has not the right to take vengeance. On the contrary, he should forgive and pardon, for this is worthy of the world of man.

It has been ascertained that among civilized peoples crime is less frequent than among uncivilized -- that is to say, among those who have acquired the true civilization, which is divine civilization -- the civilization of those who unite all the spiritual and material perfections. As ignorance is the cause of crimes, the more knowledge and science increases, the more crimes will diminish.

As Bahá'u'lláh confirms: "So long as one's nature yieldeth unto evil passions, crime and transgression will prevail." (Baha'i International Community, 2001 May 28-31, Overcoming Corruption in Public Institutions) http://statements.bahai.org/pdf/01-0528.pdf

Abstinence and Being Faithful: Futile Strategies in PEPFAR HIV programming?

Certain cultural factors in resource limited settings pose significant challenges to prevention efforts and must be addressed to make it possible for people (especially youth) to adopt behaviours such as abstinence, being faithful, and correct and consistent condom use (ABC) according to several presentations at the 2006 PEPFAR Implementer’s Meeting held mid-June in Durban, South Africa. Some PEPFAR-funded prevention programmes are attempting to change cultural norms around polygamy, cross-generational sex, male attitudes towards women, sexual coercion and violence, taboos surrounding discussing sex, economic pressures and social expectations to have sex. Failure to confront these challenges could lead to the failure of prevention programmes, and could also have extremely negative unintended consequences — including, potentially, the rape of girls known to be abstinent. This issue was addressed during both plenary talks on prevention. “When communities set expectations about the sexual behaviour of young people, they must also create an environment where that behaviour is possible,” said David Stanton, a clinical epidemiologist at USAID.

“Although the ABC approach is an important strategy, there are a number of challenges to this approach,” said Dr Dorothy Mbori-Ngacha of CDC Kenya. “The reality is that for many women, these strategies are hard to implement, and fail to offer real options that [fit] into their daily reality.” “For example, abstinence is meaningless when women and girls feel they must resort to sex as a matter of survival, or when sexual activity is coerced. “Likewise, being faithful is an effective strategy, only if both partners are faithful and none of them is infected. Condoms, though effective, are a male decision, with women having very little power to negotiate their use due to their dependency on their male partners.” “And finally, most women have limited access to female controlled methods that will enable them to control their own sexual health. We therefore need to recognise these limitations and make sure that our prevention programmes use the ABC approach as a platform to incorporate other prevention strategies.”

The continued debates around ABC and its failure to address women's and girl's concerns in the context of the HIV/AIDS pandemic are beginning to equate the sounds of a scratched record - each scratch and screech finer the next time round !!! PEPFAR and other notable donors may carry their own political intentions forward with the ABC preaching - and of course as a Baha'i I fully support the ABC strategy thoroughly - BUTTTTTTTTTT its simply not currently feasible, we have no structures, no mechanisms and in majority of instances we have not won over the minds, beliefs and attitudes of the masses and those that control social survival. The justifications also seem to be changing goal posts ever so regularly....SO where are the actions, and with the upcoming XVI International AIDS Conference in Toronto, Canada 13-18 August 2006...whose theme is "Time To Deliver", my question remains....WHEN will the delivery become a reality?

To those of us who shall be in Toronto - especially all Women of Africa - Women of Substance - lets drive the agenda and Demand A Delivery.......