A Modern Utopia

A passage from H.G Wells, book "A Modern Utopia" ( 19th C ) 
I found so relevant to what we are living today.

" My Utopian self is of course my better self, 
according to my best endeavour, 
and i must confess myself fully alive to 
the difficulties of the situation. 
When i came to this Utopia 
i had no thought of such any
intimate self examination " 


So are you, your better self in this Utopia?

everyone's got style!

   this video just put a smile on my face... enjoy!

the 'silent' beauty of exquisite detail

    the ottoman tombstones. 
    the calligraphic detail of koranic verses, poems, symbols and images.
    tombs decorated with grapes, pomegranates, olives. ( of the women )
    the top of the tombstone decorated with the headpieces worn ( of the men )
    walking amongst the tombs for me was simply an observation of silent beauty. 
    

kids should be presidents!

two roads diverged in a yellow wood ...
and i took the one less traveled ... 

Thaumazein

i came across the word ' thaumazein ' as i was doing my usual wonder 
and research on the net. 
it was the most appropriate work founded by i. 
as ' thaumazein ' means ' to wonder '  in Greek. 
descartes wrote " wonder is the first of all passions " 
plato wrote " philosophy begins in wonder " 

Bayt al-Hikma

HOUSE OF WISDOM  ( Bayt al-Hikma )

was a library, translation institute and research center, in Baghdad. It was the major intellectual hub of the Islamic Golden Age, from the 9th to 13th Century. well-known scholars shared information, ideas and culture in the House of Wisdom. 

The House was an unrivaled center for the study of humanities and for science in medieval Islam, including maths, astronomy, medicine, alchemy, zoology, geography and cartography. Drawing on Greek, Persian and Indian texts, the scholars accumulated a great collection of world knowledge, and built on it through their own discoveries. The House of Wisdom was the largest repository of books in the world.

 

the unknown

finding the wisdom within us.

The Gayatri Mantra inspires wisdom in us

absolutely beautiful !!!!

       om bhur bhuvah svaha
       tat savitur verenyam 
       bargo devasya dhimahi
       dhiyo yonah prachodayat

Om                   Sound as the basis of creation, Brahman Unity of all that is visible & invisible                     

Bhur                 The gross: earth, existence, physical body

Bhuvah             The subtle: atmosphere, prana, subtle body

Svaha               inner self,

Tat                    reference to the Ultimate God 

Savitur              life-giving energy of the sun

Varenyum         Supreme Consciousness that inspires adoration

Bhargo             Goodness, radiance, luster, illumination, destroyer of ignorance

Devasya           Divine radiance or grace

Dhimahi            let us meditate 

Dhiyo                means Buddhi, thoughts

Yonah               Our energies, our actions

Prachodayat     Inspire                                                                                                               

want to help someone? shut up and listen!

an inspiring simple talk by Dr Ernesto Sirolli.
making us a aware of the simplest skill, to just stop and listen. 
he quotes from Peter Drucker:
“planning is actually incompatible with an entrepreneurial society and economy.”
love it!

the story of lego

a fantastic animated documentary about the story of lego.

and how lego was created to "put system into play".

i never knew the meaning of lego was "to put together"

and like lego i believe "the imagination is the limit!"

enjoy!

to awaken

listen.

journey.

existence.

curious.

observer.

confidence.

early 15c.  directly from L. confidentia, from confidentem (nom. confidens) "firmly trusting, bold," of confidere "to have full trust or reliance," from com-, intensive prefix + fidere "to trust" 

the museum of innocence

a visit to "the museum of innocence"
orhan pamuk has not only written the book "the museum of innocence"
orhan pamuk has created "a museum of innocence"
he visualised. collected. detailed. displayed in such a brilliant way.
my fascination began when seeing the 4,213 cigarette butts 
mounted and displayed on the right hand side as soon
as i walked into the museum.

the collection of the objects, clothing, furniture of each chapter 

are there before your eyes. drawn every part of every chapter 

of the book and created a wonderful museum. 

i was fascinated whilst walking through each chapter.

you re-live the book. in all of its form. 
a true visual collection of the book. a must visit!
address: firuzaga mahallesi cukurcuma caddesi dalgic cikmazi
no.2 beyoglu taksim

appreciation.

many are sharing this journey of yours

remember to look around

to see who is around.

it is with them that 

your journey becomes more

fulfilling...

beautiful questions.

this is quite extraordinary. 
a wonderful 2 minute spanish animation. please watch:
Preguntas Hermosas means Beautiful Questions.
a story about a time that was shared between two people. 
told through a combination of Poema X by Pablo Neruda and 
Under the Harvest Moon by Carl Sandburg.  
it unfolds in three parts. 
a fond remembrance
loss and then
finally acceptance.