All hail the king of Lovely!

A quick post this time. Basically a recommendation on the works of Danny Wallace. The man who created Yes Man (a very inspiring film/book). He has done many different things in life, he created a micro nation in his flat and dubbed himself king, he accidentally created a cult. He went on a 6 month challenge where he could only say yes to every opportunity that presented itself and much much more! Apart from these things he is an insanely funny man. I highly recommend the book Awkward Situations for Men, possibly his funniest work yet! He is very much in touch with every bumbling eccentric bloke who over thinks every situation. Its very hard to resist his nerdy logic and charmingly optimistic outlook on life!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8KCi1qnZSQ

My next topic for discussion is vegetarianism, free range/organic meats and the benefits of a balanced consumption of  both meats and vegetables!

Introduction.

Hello, welcome to my blog. I have to admit I was nervous about starting one I mean where do I start? What can I write about? Who does it concern? It suddenly occurred to me that blogs are not written by one for the many. Its about one expressing self, occasionally enlightening others with their unique perspectives, skills and talents. Alternatively its a place for prepubescent girls to write about the boys they like and shiny things (I was a little peeved my previous domain name was in use)
So this blog is about personal experiences, spirituality, faith and recommendations of every kind. Also once in awhile. very rarely you might learn about something new. Also just a heads up to all those with a passing interest in my blog (all paragraph and a half of it) I will be leaving within the next 2 months on a spiritual journey in search of self. I will be talking more in depth about this experience on my return and I shall be uploading segments from my travel journal.

First things first my chosen topic to talk about is something that has been on my mind for months and to be honest is very relevant to first introductions. The topic is identity. How does a person distinguish themselves; is it by the friends they keep? The actions they partake in. Alternatively does a person construct themselves from the bottom up introducing characteristics slowly to new groups testing the waters so to speak;
For example I used to see myself as nervous, pleasant & eccentric. I used to portray my thoughts across as if they are the accepted norm, to be greeted with confusion and laughter.. typically at my own expense. This was slightly frustrating (although I did grow an empathy for people who stutter or find it hard to verbalise so I guess that's a plus). For a while I was happy to indulge others as the fool in groups or social gatherings. Generally acting stupid, making odd statements, bouncing around like a Shakespearian fool. Occasionally I would babble a lucid remark or something on a deeper more profound level which typically confused the hell out of most people. Eventually I found this role was hurting my self image and the more I became the fool the less respect I had for myself and from other people. The role started as a way of coping with my social inadequacies and it turned into a personae. It was a way of making people feel entertained/at ease in my company so In turn I wasn't perceived as threatening physically or mentally. After a while I distanced myself from that personae and started working on Paul.2. After removing the more farcical undertones of my personality I now see myself as more balanced, down to earth (with mild eccentricity's) . I cut out most of the foolishness and eventually saw that people still felt at ease in my company, albeit a little bored considering I wasn't constantly being a complete prat.

I find the understanding of self to be of great importance. Understanding who we are means we can then grow spiritually and mentally. Although just because we acknowledge self doesn't mean the quality of life increases, it typically means we are ready to begin yet another challenging journey.
My faith dictates two schools of teaching about self one suggests that self is an illusion and once we relinquish attachment & desire and perfect dispassion we achieve nirvana, we become free from suffering aka The Four Noble Truths. Whereas the other school teaches that we should all be enlightened that we are not truly autonomous beings, we are all connected. I started with the first teaching but it led me to become more existential and emotionless it felt.. Cold & lonely, it is said that those who have not perceived nirvana will not understand it so I turned to lighter ideologies a one that wasn't so nihilistic. However I have accepted myself and my place in the universe and I feel small, somewhat insignificant as if we are nothing more than specks of dust in the grand scheme of things. I don't devalue my life or the lives of others. I just do not believe we are the greatest or the only living organisms in the universe nor do I believe we are the greatest even on our own planet. Just because of our ability's to articulate and perceive self doesn't mean we rock.. Just saying.

In my next post I hope to talk about an author I very much admire and a couple of other recommendations as I sit here I can now envision this blog to be very mismatched and composed in a very disorganised manner just like my dress sense. : )