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A Dark Wine So Potent

2012-01-29T11:18:00.000-08:00

by Mevlana Rumi

"God has given us a dark wine so potent that,
drinking it, we leave the two worlds.
God has put into the form of plant a power
to deliver the taster from self-consciousness.
God has made sleep so
that it erases every thought.
There are thousands of wines
that can take over our minds.
Don't think all ecstacies
are the same!
Drink from the presence of saints,
not from those other jars.
Every object, every being,
is a jar full of delight.
Be a conoisseur,
and taste with caution.
Any wine will get you high.
Judge like a king, and choose the purest,
the ones unadulterated with fear,
or some urgency about "what's needed."
Drink the wine that moves you
as a camel moves when it's been untied,
and is just ambling about".

Why I Wake Early

2012-01-27T09:46:00.000-08:00

by Mary Oliver

"Hello, sun in my face.
Hello, you who made the morning
and spread it over the fields
and into the faces of the tulips
and the nodding morning glories,
best preacher that ever was,
dear star, that just happens
to be where you are in the universe
to keep us from ever-darkness,
to ease us with warm touching,
to hold us in the great hands of light –
good morning, good morning, good morning.
Watch, now, how I start the day
in happiness, in kindness".

The Summer Day

2012-01-24T18:15:00.000-08:00

by Mary Oliver

Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper, I mean-
the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down-
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.
I don't know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?

Rachid Taha

2012-01-16T12:35:00.000-08:00

Rachid Taha - Oh Emigrant

Oh where are you going? Eventually you must come back, how many ignorant people have regretted this, before you and me, how many overpopulated countries and empty lands have you seen? How much time have you wasted? How much have you yet to lose? Oh emigrant in the country of others, do you even know what's going on? Destiny and time follow their course but you ignore it.

Why is your heart so sad? And why are you staying there miserable? Hardship will end and you no longer learn or build anything. The days don't last, just as your youth and mine didn't. Oh poor fellow who missed his chance just as I missed mine. Oh traveller, I give you a piece of advice to follow right away, see what is in your interest before you sell or buy. Oh sleeper, your news reached me, and what happened to you happened to me. Thus, the heart returns to its creator, the Highest (God)

Darplay on TV

2012-01-03T13:59:00.000-08:00

Bulgarian National Television made a short video about Darplay featuring significant moments from last year's program.

I translated today for a marshal arts instructor born originally in Hong Kong who was here. He was very interesting and inspiring. He talked about eternal spring and permanent innocence. About how anger makes you stupid and how fear makes you dangerous. That he teaches kung-fu Wing Chun (eternal spring) as a form of anger management. Friends learn how to play a game in which they challenge each other in staying intelligent.

He said that the most important thing was that you enjoy what you are doing. Because in order to be good at something you have to do it a lot and it's important to like it.

He said that Bulgarians based on his experience who take his seminar are very focused on technical details, maybe because of the Communist times. With that they become very rigid. That he tries to make them relax by telling jokes, that the best form of therapy is laughter.

Happy New Year 2012

2012-01-01T02:59:00.000-08:00

Inspiration and strength, altruism and omniscience

Antonio Damasio: The quest to understand consciousness

2011-12-22T18:49:00.000-08:00

"Only the wealth of our minds is, not the very fact that we have a self that we can refer to our own existence, and that we have any sense of person.

Now there are three levels of self to consider -- the proto, the core and the autobiographical. The first two are shared with many, many other species, and they are really coming out largely of the brain stem and whatever there is of cortex in those species.

It's the autobiographical self which some species have, I think. Cetaceans and primates have also an autobiographical self to a certain degree. And everybody's dogs at home have an autobiographical self to a certain degree. But the novelty is here.

The autobiographical self is built on the basis of past memories and memories of the plans that we have made; it's the lived past and the anticipated future. And the autobiographical self has prompted extended memory, reasoning, imagination, creativity and language.

And out of that came the instruments of culture -- religions, justice, trade, the arts, science, technology. And it is within that culture that we really can get -- and this is the novelty -- something that is not entirely set by our biology.

It is developed in the cultures. It developed in collectives of human beings. And this is, of course, the culture where we have developed something that I like to call socio-cultural regulation.

And finally, you could rightly ask, why care about this? Why care if it is the brain stem or the cerebral cortex and how this is made? Three reasons. First, curiosity. Primates are extremely curious -- and humans most of all.

And if we are interested, for example, in the fact that anti-gravity is pulling galaxies away from the Earth, why should we not be interested in what is going on inside of human beings?"

travelling ...

2011-12-17T08:47:00.000-08:00

2011-12-14T22:23:00.000-08:00

2011-12-10T22:18:00.000-08:00

theatre and song

2011-11-29T08:43:00.000-08:00

On Saturday December 10th we are planning a wonderful event. Together with the Association for patients with Oncological Diseases and friends in one of the theatres here in Sofia. The theatre is called "Tears and Laughter".

All the tickets for the afternoon performance will be given as a gift to patients and friends. Before the performance at 4:30 p.m. we will present the Academy for New Health. Then all the guests will experience the learning of Abba's song I Have a Dream. 400 people will repeat the lyrics and practice the song.

We need to work on some practical details. Like going to the theatre hall and talking to the stage manager about the equipment which we'll need. Like mikes, a piano or an electric piano.

The event will be filmed and afterwards posted on the website of the new Academy.

I really love working with the Association. The Chairman of the Association and her team. They are very down-to-earth, practical and extremelly action-oriented. They have a lot of activities, like helping patients of all ages, including children to access treatment. The Academy for New Health is a Dream for their Chairman. I love working with them because whatever they say happens.

on the way to fluency

2011-11-29T06:45:00.000-08:00

I enjoyed today's lesson. It was wonderful. We studied two songs in Past Simple. There are some students which were talking about their last weekend. Where they went. What they did. They were enjoying the discussion. It's only their third session. Yet some are across the barrier. They've crossed the stream.

They are relaxed and they can communicate. They continue to need practice but the main job is done. That's very exciting.

President George Washington's Thanksgiving Proclamation from October 3, 1789

2011-11-24T04:31:00.000-08:00

President George Washington's Thanksgiving Proclamation from October 3, 1789:

"Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor-- and whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.

Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be-- That we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks--for his kind care and protection of the People of this Country previous to their becoming a Nation--for the signal and manifold mercies, and the favorable interpositions of his Providence which we experienced in the course and conclusion of the late war--for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty, which we have since enjoyed--for the peaceable and rational manner, in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national One now lately instituted--for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed; and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and in general for all the great and various favors which he hath been pleased to confer upon us.

and also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech him to pardon our national and other transgressions-- to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually--to render our national government a blessing to all the people, by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed--to protect and guide all Sovereigns and Nations (especially such as have shewn kindness unto us) and to bless them with good government, peace, and concord--To promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the encrease of science among them and us--and generally to grant unto all Mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as he alone knows to be best.

Given under my hand at the City of New York the third day of October in the year of our Lord 1789".

in class

2011-11-21T15:04:00.000-08:00

The second lesson in English went very well. I'm most excited because there were learners who told me they had been "singing" since 8:00 a.m. in the morning. That they had been practicing. This is what moves me the most. This kind of enthusiasm on their side.

They spoke very highly of the opportunity to understand the lyrics, the emotion, to learn whole phrases. They expressed an interest to continue learning beyond the three months' training that we have scheduled.

I felt completely relaxed with the group at this second session. I was running around, helping different pairs as they were working, answering their questions. It felt the exact same way -- that it has been feeling in the last few years. In class -- giving the learners an independence, a possibility to work together, and being there for them to help when needed.

Annual Patients Forum - Hisaria, Bulgaria

2011-11-17T20:37:00.000-08:00

From the Annual Patients Forum organized by the Association for Patients with Oncological Diseases and Friends for patients, doctors and medical students.

- Interesting and fun. After the activities I don’t need to go to the gym. I wish you luck.
- I'm just delighted! You made my day a big smile. Thanks.
- Interesting, getting to know others, emotional!
- Continue to do miracles for people. This forum was the most inspiring thing I've experienced for a long time.
- We are very pleased. Eagerly waiting for the next event.
- I feel charged with happiness. I feel concentrated. I sincerely love you all.
- I am very happy with life and with small things in life. You are a huge beam of light. You made me feel love even stronger.
- Magnificent! Unique! Irrational!
- Many thanks to Ms. Adarska and the whole team that conducted this wonderful therapy with loud and hearty laughter. Continue to be of help for years to come to those of us that love you.
- It was great! You were very synchronized, well prepared with activities and instructions. One could tell that you do everything from your heart, infectious with conviction, with good humor, joy, and I thank you from my heart!
- Thanks to all of you, dear young people, you charged us with energy and health! I wish you much success in the future! More Ha-ha-ha.
- A great day! I was charged with a very, very positive energy from everything that we experienced together! Bravo! Thanks for the opportunity to attract young, future doctors!
- I liked the initiative, it was a great way to spend time relaxing and it was very refreshing. All of it works on the psyche, and I guess the physical condition of each person. I welcome the spread of this method in Bulgaria and I hope it becomes more popular among people in order for our life to become more beautiful and more fun. Love you very much, all Darplay instructors. You are great! Thank you! Kisses.
- It is a pleasure to see that communication methods for the sick are entering Bulgaria which we have only read about in the books so far. I hope in the future more and more people have access to such events.
- Very good, very good ... coooool! Beautiful moments, great feeling, refreshing, emotionally enriching. I love you!
- Happiness is like a moment that you can always create and it comes where there is sincere and intimate laughter.
- Happy and relaxed. I am grateful not only for the young people who conducted the activities, but to the universe that allowed me to experience it.
- The program of the Forum "Academy for New Health Culture" was wonderful. The emotions that we gained positive. I feel refreshed and energized. A time to laugh, time to relax.
- I feel excellent, I'm glad I came, that I managed to experience all this, to dilute the bad feelings generated during the week. I ventilated, I got charged with new energy and enthusiasm. Beware, office, here I come!
- Grateful, happy, grateful!
- Thanks – it was awesome and I want it agaaaain!!!!!! Keep it up – people need you.
- A wonderful idea! Congratulations! I am delighted with the organization and the people who managed the event! I am amazed by the strength of health-deprived people, but not deprived of fire and smiles! Thank you for the opportunity! Good luck! Be healthy!
- I am very happy with the group of young girls and boys that included us in these games. Keep it up!
- I feel satisfied and happy from the communication. And you young people – you have my admiration of working with us!

2011-11-15T16:51:00.000-08:00

music on the walls

2011-11-09T11:37:00.000-08:00

We went to the Music School today. Wow, it was amazing. I learned some new things about the kids. We made that game in the beginning when everyone had to stand in a circle and say .. I am ... and I like ... I learned that for many of the kids -- the answer included drawing.

Then we continued with again everyone in a circle and finishing the sentence with a few words. Good people are those that ... there was an impressive number of people for whom being honest was part of being good.

The strong person is ... this question had some very interesting answers from 5th graders, including that a strong person falls down and gets up, a strong person doesn't look back, a person who is strong doesn't hurt others even if they get hurt.

We also played Darplay with the questions where everyone picked a card and talked in pairs. We talked about protecting the environment in the circle. Everyone said how they helped. Most talked about recycling.

The music program was very good. We had so many students participate. One girl played the piano and sang at the same time in the beginning. One boy sang after that. He was very sweet. There was goodness in his voice. When I hear goodness in someone's voice it brings tears to my eyes. He is a very enthusiastic kid.

Then we had some performances in the middle of the lesson. Three girls sang and made a dance that went with the song. The song and dance were about nature, the rainbow, silence, it was lovely. Then three students played the violin at the same time. They all had violins and they played at the same time. One started first, then the next one, then the next one. At the end of the lesson we had another girl sing a folk song and two girls sing a song in English. They were all very good.

After the lesson we had tea with the teacher. She was happy. The cafe in the Music School has a special atmosphere. There are different kind of scores, music framed on the walls instead of regular paintings. It's beautiful.

dreams coming true

2011-11-08T10:40:00.000-08:00

I'm very happy and excited. My colleagues at work are interested in studying English with Songs. They've signed up for the course. We start next week. The course will be for three months. Once a week.

I'm thrilled because I love teaching with this methodology. Three months is a good time. I want to see results and I want to help people, to make their dreams come true. I know that every goal can be broken into small steps and that we will take 12 steps together.

Forum and Film

2011-11-04T05:36:00.001-07:00

We are working on the organization of a Forum later this month. The Association for Patients with Oncological Diseases will have it in Hisarya for one weekend. It will include 50 doctors and 50 patients. We are preparing a whole day program which will include several activities such as Darplay, yoga laughter, work with Emotions and Needs, team building activities, singing, visualizations, Darplay "Celebration of Life" (a new very fascinating activity we have been developing).

Hisarya is a resort with mineral water. Healing.

We've also been working on making a film of people playing Darplay on Bulgarian National television. In the last couple of months maybe 30 public figures who have been guests on the Morning Show have answered questions -- not in 3 minutes but less. We're taking each answer on Movie Maker and cutting it to put it together as a colourful expression of wisdom and character. Depending on the length we will make several parts.

Movie making is fun :)

Prices and Innovation*

2011-10-29T13:41:00.000-07:00

I'm reading a great book. It's visionary, practical and witty. The revolution of clean technology seems much more possible and probable. There's light at the end of the trauma. 400 pages later, the research that went into it, the combination of information how the will to save our planet can be executed.

"I love magic. We all need a magic invention. Close your eyes and pray that we find one soon. But in the meantime let's open our eyes and see all the invisible to the naked eye clean electrons, which can be generated from clean energy technologies - if we create the right price signals on the market, to develop them on a grand scale".

*from Hot, Flat and Crowded. Why the world needs a Green Revolution - and How We Can Renew Our Global Future by Thomas Friedman. Thomas Friedman is an American journalist, columnist and author. He writes for The New York Times.

2011-10-24T02:51:00.000-07:00

House of the Clock

2011-10-24T01:30:00.000-07:00

The House of the Clock is situated in the heart of Sofia. We went there earlier to prepare for the evening with the P.R. company organizing the event whose introduction we were about to participate in. Slowly the elegant restaurant started filling with breast cancer survivors, female journalists working in the print and TV media and men – writers, singers, journalists, prominent figures who had chosen to support the Annual Breast Health campaign held this month.

The restaurant is not very big. There were about 40 people. The main hall was packed. A concentration of people working to change the perception of society towards this curable if detected on time form of cancer. The purpose of the evening was for each journalist to meet a lady whose story of courage they would tell. Working together in further visits the two ladies would match up and the stories would be published in a volume. To help others find the strength to fight this disease and better still bring greater awareness which will lead to early detection and treatment.

The host of the evening, the Chairman of the Association for Patients with Oncological Diseases and Friends, Ms. Adarska spoke in the beginning and gave us the floor. We talked about the Academy for New Health Culture and introduced Darplay as one of the activities. We gave each group an hourglass and cards. They spoke on the questions that they picked out.

Before Darplay we did an activity “I am … and I love …” around the room. It’s a very bonding exercise for the whole group. They enjoyed it. The mike went from participant to participant. Some said they love travelling, their daughter, people. In the beginning we gave them an example: “I am Deni and I love dancing.”, “ I am Annie and I love poetry”, “I am Rumi and love reading”.

We really like this short group dynamics exercise. It’s very good. It works really well. We are really starting to use it a lot in our trainings.

In the beginning when we were introducing Darplay I welcomed the guests. I enjoyed that. I love saying those words: “Dear ladies and gentlemen, dear friends, good evening. We are very happy to be together on this very special occasion. Tonight we are going to ...”

I’ve done this a lot, so many times translating in the past. It’s a pleasure to do it. I really felt good. I felt good that night with the mike. I walked around the room. I felt very comfortable. I love that part. I put a lot of heartfelt respect, seriousness and feeling into it.

Deni spoke after me about the purpose of Darplay – “to let the beauty in each of us to come out. Like the beauty of nature that we see around us. Like the colours of autumn”. Rumi explained the rules very carefully, clearly and kindly. We’re a good team.

2011-10-22T02:50:00.000-07:00

Darplay visits the Military Medical Academy

2011-10-21T12:15:00.000-07:00

http://www.mysurgery.bg/списание-за-хирургия/новини/736-дарплей-гостува-на-вма-софия-на-21-ви-октомври-2011

Darplay visits the Military Medical Academy, Sofia, October 21, 2011
Author: Rumyana Kancheva, sociologist

“The hall is set for the communicative game Darplay. We are waiting for a few more nurses. Dr. Baychev helps us with what is needed. On the tables there are signs with different capital cities on them. Around each table there are three chairs. Everyone who enters with a smile chooses where to go, thinking "where to travel." I notice how one of the women chooses to sit on the table "Sofia", she says she is here in Bulgaria and wants to sit here. It makes me feel well – we want to be here and travel the world.

8:50 in the morning. 8th Floor, Clinic for Thoracic Surgery - Medical Academy Sofia, postgraduate training for health care professionals entitled "Breast Unit - a multidisciplinary way to the health of the woman." We are grateful to Jeni Adarska, Chair of APOZ for the opportunity to have Darplay on the last day, when time is given to activities as part of "Healing Words" of APOZ (Association for Patients with Oncological Diseases and Friends". The game in which words are spoken in the tranquil atmosphere of three-minute speeches without interruption. After Darplay two activities follow: Laughter Yoga and various team building exercises.

The participants are already in groups of three people. We present Darplay. "The game of the future" - each person is placed in the role of speaker and listener enjoying the two challenges. Last week we visited the TV show “Up Close with Mira Dobreva” on BNT 1 where every day she gives her special guest a Darplay question. During our participation Mira answers her question within three minutes, during which we, her guests, listen to her with empathy and in silence.

Since Darplay is a game in which many questions arise it is best to be experienced by the rules in order to fully understand it. We are ready to start. Before that we show a three-minute Darplay response by Mira Dobreva to the question "It is interesting for me to ...." In the first Darplay round the participants in the communicative team building answer this question. After each round the participants change groups at random.

The atmosphere in the hall becomes livelier with each minute. Warm and sincere laughter is heard. The excitement of the speakers and the respect and attention of listeners whose roles change are felt. All are equal.

After the fourth round we ask the participants to write their personal impressions of the Darplay game. We express our thanks to all the medical specialists for the warm words. For us it was an honor to share this way of communication.

- I feel wonderful. I feel lighter, uplifted! I think Darplay can help us get to know people around us, to draw more good ideas, to give away kindness. Relieved, releasing stress, we will be better and change the world. Penka Stefanova, nurse

- I feel relaxed, I enjoy being in a different environment other than the daily one, with almost unknown people from whom you can learn something new and different. I like it and I thank you! Denitsa, midwife

- You learn more about others that you communicate with and you learn more about their desires. Thank you! Christina Simeonova, midwife

- We talked about topics which we rarely discuss - universal and health care subjects. When you share something you feel relieved. Svetla Nedelcheva, nurse

- Relaxing. Thank you! Rosica Petkova, nurse

- I liked what we played out. I feel that people have something to say and with each game one feels more confident. It is important not to erect barriers and the one who is opposite you to listen to what you are saying! And looking into the eyes of the one who speaks! Ina Bacheva, nurse

- I feel HAPPY! Thank you! George Baychev, surgeon

- Darplay is a very interesting game. With it, it is very easy to learn to communicate and to listen to the person next to you. Nurse - surgical center

- A great way for free expression of personal opinion and most importantly, that all are heard. An interesting and exciting organization with which you relax from the busy lifestyle. Daniela Aleksandrova

In the latest round of speeches in Darplay the participants played with their own questions:

I am ... The day is ... What do I think of Orthodox religion in Bulgaria? ... How do you feel now? ... What I could do to change the world for the better? ... I believe that ... What do you think about alternative medicine? ... I work this because ... What would you do, for people to be honest in your team? ... How can we be better? ... Is there positivism in Bulgaria? ... How long will young professionals leave Bulgaria? ... What is love? ... How do you affect the patient with cancer? ... What is your mission? ... What do I want to do tomorrow? ...

Darplay on Bulgarian National Radio

2011-10-19T09:12:00.000-07:00

We were just on Bulgarian National Radio "Horizont". Deni, Rumi and I - on the story of Darplay. It was fun, a lot of fun. It's very different to sit in a radio station with just a couple of people in an empty room with headphones and the mikes. I really enjoyed it. It's not like the atmosphere of a TV studio. It's a lot more relaxing.

We talked very spontaneously. The host led the talk. She had thoroughly prepared herself. She had printed materials from our website. She talked about the different uses of Darplay. She gave us a chance to explain our views.

It was just me, Rumi and her in the studio. Deni was on the phone because she was in another city. At one point the host gave us one question which we answered for 3 minutes as each of us spoke for a minute. That was fun.

Then an amazing coincidence happened. The next guest on the program was a lady -- who is the Chairman of the Association for Patients with Oncological Diseases. We have been working with her on the creation of the Academy for New Health Culture. She too wasn't in the studio. She was in another town for a conference on the yearly Breast Health Campaign and she was invited to speak about it.

The host kept us in the studio, Deni on the phone, and she put the other lady on the phone too. So, it was the four of us on the program. We used the occasion to officially announce the Academy which will include different activities including Darplay and English with Songs.

2011-10-18T23:31:00.000-07:00

former U.S. ambassador James Pardew on the Slavi Show

2011-10-18T02:29:00.000-07:00

Friends mean a lot to me during difficult times. Their words of support, of strength, their faith in me, their words that I would do well because of being bright and with thinking which is pure were very important to me in the period of preparation before doing this task. I am lucky to be blessed with friends I can truly rely on, who are there for me when I need them, who are poetic with words. Their use of words is memorable. Here is what a friend writes after watching the show:

"You are terrific! How do you do it!?! What concentration and clarity of expression! ...and what speed!

Not going to mention how great you look!

Your calmness covers the hurricane type thought process that goes on in your mind doing this difficult job".

2011-10-17T13:40:00.000-07:00

Darplay on BNT

2011-10-13T12:13:00.000-07:00

Undaunted Courage*

2011-10-07T03:20:00.000-07:00

It was warm late in the evening when the gardens and parks of Sofia lay in the arms of a magical understanding between the rising moon and the soft breeze. Slowly, as midnight moved closer, a colder wind approached, to end the last day of a spell of beautiful weather.

Earlier in the day, twelve hours before this dramatic change in temperature, in South Park, the stage was set for the filming of an introduction to a live interview which will take place on Bulgarian National Television next week. The TV program creates a minute and a half video with images only which is played before the live interview itself.

South Park is the original location where the idea for Darplay came along a walk to answer the deep and profound need for self-expression.

Now a film crew of three was busy recording a scene to introduce Darplay. A couple of people playing on white, stone chairs surrounding a round, white stone table. On it lay a computer, an hourglass, a notebook, the colourful, orange, light green, dark green Darplay cards.

A book on the stone table added to the ambiance - *Undaunted Courage (Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the opening of the American West) by Stephen Ambrose about the Lewis and Clark Expedition. The book is spectacular – it provides insight into an area of untamed nature and admirable human character dedicated to its exploration.

It’s not a coincidence that one of Darplay’s activities includes the organization of workshops for "green" initiatives and environmental protection in the workplace, which will take place with short lectures and discussions with the Darplay method.

Darplay is very multi-functional and after careful consideration it has been decided that we’ll include all the aspects – family, education, health, the corporate world in the interview on Bulgarian National Television which will take place on October 13th.

I Have a Dream

2011-10-03T19:35:00.000-07:00

We met with a friend of ours at my grandmother’s house this afternoon. The lady who is a nurse works in a hospital with cancer patients and when my grandfather got ill a few years ago she took care of him. She would come to the house and help my grandmother. Cancer is such a devastating and painful experience. We were so lucky and incredibly grateful that she was by our family at such a difficult time.

The lady is in her early fifties, tall, with blond, short hair. She has a very elegant air about her. She wakes up at 5:00 a.m. every morning to go to the hospital. Waking up so early I think helps one on their path of enlightenment. She reads a lot of spiritual books and has thought tremendously about many of the important things in life.

Recently we were talking and she shared with us that she had bought a computer program to study English by herself. We told her she could attend one of the seminars we are organizing for doctors, nurses, patients, family and friends.

She said she wanted to study on her own. She told us she started thinking about learning English in 2005. A couple of years later there was a course organized at the hospital. She had missed a few times and when she went after a few classes she got really stressed out. She was so shy that she couldn’t speak in the group of 14-15 people. Her stress was so high that she got sick and physically lost her voice which turned out to an excuse for her to stop going to the course.

It’s a vivid example of some of the trauma people receive when learning a foreign language with conventional methods.

She wanted to share with us her current efforts. We watched patiently as she carefully showed us the computer program. The computer based voice left little to the imagination when pronouncing in a very monotonous and flat way – greetings which come on the first lesson of a rigorously developed functional program of lessons organized in the menu of familiar subjects – saying hello, at the airport, at the hotel, shopping, etc.

I have nothing against these programs. I think they are useful as a reference. I don’t think they can provide enough stimulation for the learner unless they were a robot. Language is communication and emotion. Little bits and pieces leave one feeling very lost.

We explained to her that we were going to start with learning one song so that she could wrap her mouth around the English sounds. The song we chose was “I Have a Dream” by ABBA. We played her the song. We gave her the text which was translated and she repeated the sentences of the first verse after me. After that we tried singing the verse with the recording.

Sentence by sentence, verse by verse. She was jumping with joy, laughing like a little child and really enjoying herself. She told us that she had ABBA albums and she had listened to the songs many times never knowing what they mean.

We told her it was her homework to learn the song by heart for next time. That we would study a song a week, and in two months she would know eight magical songs. Magical songs not just because of the lyrics but because they were especially selected and would give her an example of English grammar.

After the eight weeks we’ll go to phase 2 which has dialogues, questions and answers to choose from to have an exchange of information. I’m very excited where this would lead. So far we’ve worked with people who’ve had some previous idea, knowledge. But she is a true beginner.

I’m also excited because I never thought it would be possible for me/for us to do something to thank her for her help, her kindness and nursing help she gave a dying man who had lived a rich and full life and was faced with death. She helped him. Of course what we’re going to do cannot be compared to her act but I feel good that we can do something about a dream that she has.

I’ve felt this dream in the hearts of so many people who I’ve met in the course of teaching in the last few years. It’s an incredible relief for me that we feel we have a solution. A solution which can heal many people from their previous unsuccessful efforts and put them on a track where they feel good about themselves, their relationship to the language.

It’s such an amazing place to be at. When a person has a dream and you feel you can help make that dream come true. You feel like someone who can make dreams come true.

- What’s your job? What do you do for a living?
- I make dreams come true.

Darplay at the Music School

2011-10-02T12:30:00.000-07:00

Today was a very inspiring day. I lighted a candle in Alexander Nevsky Cathedral with a friend of mine for Peace and Harmony. Then we went for a walk. The weather has been very beautiful – mild, fresh, cold in the mornings, bright sunshine all day.

We talked about last week’s visit in the Music High School with Darplay. My friend takes an active interest and it’s fun to relieve an experience by sharing it with someone who wasn’t there. In fact putting together the background, the experience and the future provided lots of new energy and motivation.

It’s the story of the math teacher who has invited us to continue working this school year with her. She has a new class of students. They are 5th grade. Last week was our first visit of our scheduled program.

The teacher is going to write a paper as part of her on-going qualification. She is in her late forties, early fifties. Teachers throughout their career have an ongoing process of professional development and she will use Darplay and our visits as a basis for reporting on the effect on students, their academic excellence.

We put the names of different capital cities on each two desks in the classroom. There are twenty students so we had 10 cities, and the classroom was transformed into an international community – Paris, Rome, Stockholm, Sofia, … we wished the students a successful music career that will lead them to the visit of all these countries, where including Bulgaria, and the world, they will show their musical gifts.

Introductions went around the class. Each student said their name which we wrote on the WB. They also said the music instrument or profile they are studying in with at the Music School – violin, piano, folklore singing, opera, pop and jazz, …

Then all the students picked a piece of paper that had a number on it. They journey started. Each capital city also had a number which led the students to sit in different configurations with different classmates.

It’s a new class that was just formed on September 15th and our main purpose was for them to get to know each other better.

The first question was: “In my summer vacation I ….”. Before asking them to play Darplay in pairs I gave them a model and told them a little bit about my summer vacation in the village … the nature, the river, the peace and quiet, the birds, the animals, the goats, the cows.

Then we said – now, all the students on the left talk to the student next to you and in your pair tell them about your vacation. We gave a signal with a special instrument which makes a powerful but relaxing noise, you turn it around and these wooden ends hit on the surface. It creates a relaxing sound like that of a small drum. We got it from our cousin when she went to Singapore.

We said: Ready, Steady, Go!

They started speaking. Then after a couple of minutes we repeated the same procedure and gave a chance to the other student in each pair to speak.

After the first round of Darplay there was another change of partners which took them to another city on their journey. They all were ecstatic about the change, picking a number that led them to a different part of the world with a different classmate. There was a lot of excitement and commotion as they found their new seat.

The question now was: “Music in my life …” I gave them a model: “My grandmother played the violin, my grandfather took me to an opera for the first time, Karmen. I love listening to and singing songs in different languages, studying the lyrics, ...”

Ready, Steady, Go!

One more change of classmates. Bustle and liveliness. The drum. Silence.

The last question was: “I enjoy … (school subject) when …”. Rumi gave them a model. She said that she used to love literature because it was very interesting for her to learn more about the authors’ lives, and whether and how they would put their own lives in their works, that she enjoyed reading the physical descriptions of the characters and imagining how they would look.

The students told each other about their favorite school subject.

After the Third Round of Darplay we asked the students to sit back in their regular seats and write on a piece of paper: “What I learned about my classmates”. Some read their notes to the class. We collected the papers.

When we read them one of the things that came out was the predominantly liked school subject “Man and Nature.” (In 5th grade it combines biology, physics and chemistry).

In the end, oh my God, comes the most beautiful part. The teacher gave them the chance to thank us for our time -- one girl came out and sang a beautiful folklore song. Then another girl came out and sang. Then a third girl came out and played a piece on the piano in the classroom.

It was an exceptional experience to listen to these 10-year olds. They voice and the piano were like a soothing bouquet of calm for our souls. I realized once again how extraordinary it is to combine art with a regular work that went on before that in the class. When you go to a concert, your heart and soul are set on the experience, you’re psychologically prepared, you’re in the mode for music.

When music happens in the middle of ordinary life – the effect on the human psyche is extremely powerful. You’re taken from this world of work, into the world of beauty and perfection instantaneously. The playful accords, the emotion, determination and elegance of a beautiful voice or the piano, self-confidence and enthusiasm.

Darplay on Bulgarian National TV

2011-09-29T12:55:00.000-07:00

The guest is a Bulgarian singer. The question was: "Freedom for me is ..."

Song XXIV

2011-09-28T12:30:00.000-07:00

by Khalil Gibran

I am the lover's eyes, and the spirit's
Wine, and the heart's nourishment.
I am a rose. My heart opens at dawn.

I am the house of true fortune, and the
Origin of pleasure, and the beginning
Of peace and tranquility. I am the gentle
Smile upon his lips of beauty. When youth
Overtakes me he forgets his toil, and his
Whole life becomes reality of sweet dreams.

I am the poet's elation,
And the artist's revelation,
And the musician's inspiration.

I am a sacred shrine in the heart of a
Child, adored by a merciful mother.

Summer

2011-09-26T23:40:00.000-07:00

by Khalil Gibran

Let us go into the fields, for the
Time of harvest approaches, and the sun's eyes
Are ripening the grain.
Let us tend the fruit of the earth, as the
Spirit nourishes the grains of Joy from the
Seeds of Love, sowed deep in our hearts.

Let us fill our bins with the products of
Nature, as life fills so abundantly the
Domain of our hearts with her endless bounty.
Let us make the flowers our bed, and the
Sky our blanket, and rest our heads together
Upon pillows of soft hay.

Let us relax after the day's toil, and listen
To the provoking murmur of the brook.

The Poet VIII by Khalil Gibran

2011-09-12T00:43:00.000-07:00

He is a link between this and the coming world.
He is a pure spring from which all thirsty souls may drink.

He is a tree watered by the River of Beauty, bearing
Fruit which the hungry heart craves;
He is a nightingale, soothing the depressed
Spirit with his beautiful melodies;

He is a white cloud appearing over the horizon,
Ascending and growing until it fills the face of the sky.
Then it falls on the flows in the field of Life,
Opening their petals to admit the light.

He is an angel, send by the goddess to
Preach the Deity's gospel;
He is a brilliant lamp, unconquered by darkness
And inextinguishable by the wind.

It is filled with oil by Ishtar of Love,
and lighted by Apollo of Music.

He is a solitary figure, robed in simplicity and
Kindness; He sits upon the lap of Nature to draw his
Inspiration, and stays up in the silence of the night,
Awaiting the descending of the spirit.

He is a sower who sows the seeds of his heart in the
Prairies of affection, and humanity reaps the
Harvest for her nourishment.

Longing by Friedrich von Schiller

2011-09-08T10:53:00.001-07:00

Could I from this valley drear,
Where the mist hangs heavily,
Soar to some more blissful sphere,
Ah! how happy should I be!

Distant hills enchant my sight,
Ever young and ever fair;
To those hills I'd take my flight
Had I wings to scale the air.

Harmonies mine ear assail,
Tunes that breathe a heavenly calm;
And the gently-sighing gale
Greets me with its fragrant balm.

Peeping through the shady bowers,
Golden fruits their charms display.
And those sweetly-blooming flowers
Ne'er become cold winter's prey.

In you endless sunshine bright,
Oh! what bliss 'twould be to dwell!
How the breeze on yonder height
Must the heart with rapture swell!

Yet the stream that hems my path
Checks me with its angry frown,
While its waves, in rising wrath,
Weigh my weary spirit down.

See--a bark is drawing near,
But, alas, the pilot fails!
Enter boldly--wherefore fear?
Inspiration fills its sails,

Faith and courage make thine own,--
Gods ne'er lend a helping-hand;
'Tis by magic power alone
Thou canst reach the magic land!

Yoga in the Park

2011-08-24T14:00:00.000-07:00

Rumi and I did yoga in the park this week, it was amazing in a clearing among the trees. It was the first time I’ve done yoga in nature that I can remember. It was for a long time. More than two hours. Deni was there with a friend. Right after the yoga we played Darplay. It felt so relaxed to share our impressions in this way. We all had felt differently and everyone had a chance to express themselves. It felt very civilized somehow. Normal conversations remind me of the clucking of chicks, all at the same time. Still natural, just different.

By civilized I don’t mean necessarily a product of our times. In my mind I have romantic images of people sitting around a fire, say for example, and smoking the pipe of peace. Each one taking a turn, a sense of brotherhood. With Darplay there was that sense of peace.

I have a new regular yoga instructor. She is originally from Israel and has been in Bulgaria for three months. She has travelled to many countries, including Nepal, she has taught yoga in India. She really loves what she is doing. In India she was teaching from eight in the morning till ten at night. She is very strict and tough as a teacher. It’s motivating in a way. She has an idea of what she thinks is the right way to do things and she is demanding. I feel I’m definitely learning a lot of yoga and more. I'm very easy-going and it’s good to be exposed to different styles of teaching.

Regarding Darplay, one of the teachers we’ve been working with last year was in the Music School. She teaches mathematics and she is getting a new class of students this year which will be in fifth grade. She wants to do a more rigorous program, as part of an on-going qualification process that teachers here have. She is going to write a paper about Darplay in her class for raising the academic success of her students. This paper will then be circulated in the teaching community.

Darplay will be used throughout the whole school year. The purpose will be both for helping students get to know each other better and helping them learn their lessons better. It will be fun.

I feel good when I do yoga for two main reasons -- I feel like I'm doing my very best and I feel that everything will be all right. This feeling then transcends into my regular life.

A great song for Conditional in French

2011-08-19T10:06:00.000-07:00

Et si tu n'existais pas,
Dis-moi pourquoi j'existerais.
Pour traîner dans un monde sans toi,
Sans espoir et sans regrets.

Et si tu n'existais pas,
J'essaierais d'inventer l'amour,
Comme un peintre qui voit sous ses doigts
Naître les couleurs du jour.
Et qui n'en revient pas.

Et si tu n'existais pas,
Dis-moi pour qui j'existerais.
Des passantes endormies dans mes bras
Que je n'aimerais jamais.

Et si tu n'existais pas,
Je ne serais qu'un point de plus
Dans ce monde qui vient et qui va,
Je me sentirais perdu,
J'aurais besoin de toi.

Et si tu n'existais pas,
Dis-moi comment j'existerais.
Je pourrais faire semblant d'être moi,
Mais je ne serais pas vrai.

Et si tu n'existais pas,
Je crois que je l'aurais trouvé,
Le secret de la vie, le pourquoi,
Simplement pour te créer
Et pour te regarder.

-----------------------------

If there were no you

If you did not exist
Tell me why I would exist
To wander in a world without you
Without hope and without regret

And if you did not exist
I would try to invent love
As a painter who sees under his fingers
The birth of the colors of a day
And who does not believe

And if you did not exist
Tell me for whom I would exist
The passer-byes asleep in my arms
Whom I would never love

And if you did not exist
I would only be one more point
In this world which comes and which goes
I would feel lost,
I would need you

And if you did not exist
Tell me how I would exist
I could pretend to be me
But I would not be true

And if you did not exist
I think that I would have found
The secret of life, "the why"
Just to create you
And to look at you

Law of Unintended Consequences*

2011-08-17T02:57:00.001-07:00

It’s been an enlightening holiday this year. Face-to-face with the sky in the lush, green fields blooming and blossoming, as the crickets sings endlessly and relentlessly themselves to life.

Side-by-side with the river as it follows its own flow, unaffected by the wind, going in every direction, a dizzy wind and a steadfast river.

All the senses of sensitivity to brightness, immersed in the variety of freshness, the air itself shining.

Throughout, the intellectual and soulful words found in those rare books, which become permanently a part of your own running thoughts, whose insights illuminate at every line, step.

An Open Heart on practicing compassion by the Dalai Lama and *Hamilton’s Blessing by John Gordon on the history of the U.S. national debt.

I used to think that history books were incredibly boring before the latter and could not understand what others who have spoken highly of them in the past found in them.

This book has been a revelation and has opened a whole new field to me which I’m now eager to explore. It’s thanks to the appreciation of others that we become aware of new worlds.

History which used to be flat, a one-dimensional list of people, figures and dates is now a living organism, a being of its own, with a character, a sense of deep caring, its intentions, reflexes and reactions, intertwined, interwoven. World events led by individuals. By passion and ability.

The impact of the past on the capacity for ideals today.

I’m halfway through reading the book on the debt, which is a history of the U.S., in effect, for the second time. I’m reading the book by the Dalai Lama for the third time. I could easily read it a million times. There’s a concept and an opportunity for understanding the meaning and purpose of life at every moment as you appreciate the philosophy and ways of Buddhism.

I’m happily waiting for my birthday present – a CD on Kabbalah meditation by Rabbi David A. Cooper. I’ve worked with these meditations before and I look forward to continuing to do so, as they are perfect for an active mind, whose captivation by stillness and emptiness remains probable and obtainable, yet to be, so close.

Last but not least, come October and I look forward to reading more on history to continue my newly found fascination.

P.S. I've also been reading a book in French with jokes to practice the language. It's particularly enjoyable to read a joke in French, and to understand it. One goes like something like that:

"A young, unattached lady was seated at a dinner table between two eligible men. After the dinner she chose the man on the left. Her friend asked her why and she explained: "after quarter of an hour conversation the man on the right convinced me that he is the smartest man in the world. After five minutes, talking to the man on the left he convinced me that I am the smartest woman in the world."

Julian Treasure: 5 ways to listen better

2011-08-03T10:35:00.000-07:00

Rousseau's Emile, ou l'education

2011-07-25T22:08:00.000-07:00

Book 1

[28:] To be something, to be oneself, and always at one with oneself, one must act as one speaks. One must be decisive about what course to take and must follow that course with vigour and persistence.

[38:] In the natural order since men are all equal their common vocation is that of man. And whoever is well-raised for that calling cannot badly fulfill anything that relates to it. Whether my pupil is destined for the army, the church, or the law, is of little import.

Before his parents chose a vocation for him, nature called him to human life. Life is the trade I want to teach him. Leaving my hands I grant you he will be neither a magistrate, a soldier, nor a priest; he will be first of all a man. All that a man ought to be he will learn as quickly as another. In vain can fortune change his station; he will always be in his right place.

Penguins

2011-07-21T01:09:00.000-07:00

Penguins spending about half of their lives on land and half in the oceans, waddling on their feet or sliding on their bellies across the snow, "tobogganing". Penguins seem to have no special fear of humans, and have approached groups of explorers without hesitation.

Jonathan Drori: The beautiful tricks of flowers

2011-07-19T13:06:00.000-07:00

"In this visually dazzling talk, Jonathan Drori shows the extraordinary ways flowering plants -- over a quarter million species -- have evolved to attract insects to spread their pollen: growing 'landing-strips' to guide the insects in, shining in ultraviolet, building elaborate traps, and even mimicking other insects in heat".

Stories, Emotion and Endings

2011-07-18T12:15:00.000-07:00

Wow, this show started on btv, The Voice of Bulgaria ... It's produced by the same company which makes this other TV Show. I've always liked these music shows because there are sometimes young people with really amazing voices on them.

It was the first episode. Quite nice but the ending was very moving. The last contestant was very emotional. After her performance she was crying. I like that. I like it when people are really passionate about what they do. There was a strength and a confidence about her but also a deep emotion.

Again the ending is so important. The whole episode was generally okay, but the ending for me was very good. I still remember the TED talk which I saw on that subject by Daniel Kahneman: The riddle of experience vs. memory

"What defines a story? And that is true of the stories that memory delivers for us, and it's also true of the stories that we make up. What defines a story are changes, significant moments and endings. Endings are very, very important and, in this case, the ending dominated".

Vocation

2011-07-17T23:11:00.000-07:00

I had a really nice time in my village. Yesterday I went to a garden party in a small city near our village. One of my colleagues from my new job has a house there. There were many people from work. The kids were laughing and playing in the pool. It was lovely, in the garden. I drank white wine. Homemade white wine.

I talked for a long time to my colleague's mother. She is retired now. She was very impressive. She has worked as a nurse for 40 years. With terminally ill people in the intensive care. It's really a vocation for her. Helping people who are dying. She said sometimes in a day two or three people would pass away. I'm so impressed that there are people like this. It's unbelievable.

She talked about her impression of the English language. She thinks English is so difficult. She has studied French at school but she never studied English.

Her daughter who is my colleague started going to English lessons in first grade. She says she can understand but she can't speak.

The mother told me she has two dreams. She wants to wake up one morning and speak English and also know how to swim. As she has almost drowned a few times.

This evening I went out with Rumi and Deni to a cafe near the lake in the centre. It was relaxing by the water. We played Darplay and talked about many things. It was refreshing and fun.

gusto

2011-07-12T10:10:00.000-07:00

This post is going to sound like self-advertising but I think it's pretty cool. I feel like blogging about it. A friend of mine who is a teacher in North America, retired now asked me what was new with me. I sent him a video where I'm interpreting on the TV show.

His reaction was "You are great. Wow!!! How do you do it? You seem to translate with such gusto as if you knew the words of the discussion before hand. What a character you are!! Woman for all seasons!"

I asked him what the last expression meant. He replied: "‘woman for all season’ means positive characteristics in your case. You are multi-talented.

Brains
Beauty
Compassion
If I may say so, Neat Body
Sex appeal in a modest way
A Mona Lisa smile
Quiet Strength
Perseverance
Dedication
Loyalty

just to name a few

... and the list goes on ..."

Today

2011-07-11T12:27:00.000-07:00

So, I really wrote, wrote, wrote today. I put all my thoughts on paper. But they are not in order. My thoughts are on paper, outside of my head. But they are chaotic. I now have to put them in order.

The most amazing thing is that now that they are on paper my head is empty. So I have new thoughts. New thoughts are coming to my mind. I feel very creative. Like a tree with many flowers. Чувствам се като липа :)

I'm thinking of the name of the trees which are blossoming at the moment out here. We make really delicious tea from them. There are many trees around where I live and the smell is coming through the window. It's beautiful. I think it's Tilia. Nature is so generous. So many blossoms, it's astonishing. Nature doesn't hold back. Wow, I feel like I'm in a gigantic cup of tea.

Exchange it for you

2011-07-07T08:34:00.000-07:00

"One swears to oneself
To hang on
When it is really needed
And to give the best on each day

One promises
To be a man
Someone else could trust
True to one's principles and firm on one's way

All the plans and the aims
Every wish that is inside of me
Everything I would fight for
I would exchange for you

One struggles along half of one's life
Until you look up someday
And recognize
That you stand there all alone

And one realizes
In the silence
When one's honest to oneself
That every lonely success also leaves a bitter after taste

My hopes and my dreams
My concept of happiness
Everything I long for
It valueless without you

All the crossroads and ways
Everything that lies in my past
You wouldn't have to ask me twice
I would exchange it for you

Every such beautiful experience
Every thriumph and every victory
My very best moments
I would exchange them for you"

A song by Die Toten Hosen.

Beauty

2011-07-04T22:19:00.000-07:00

"To see a world in a grain of sand,
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,
And eternity in an hour".

William Blake

Schwimmen

2011-06-30T23:31:00.000-07:00

"Komm zu mir ins Wasser
und ich zeige dir, wie man sich bewegt
und dabei Kräfte spart
und jede Angst verjagt,
wie man sich auf den Rücken legt
und auf der Oberfläche schwebt.

Spring ins Wasser
und schwimme mit mir
ein kleines Stück nach draußen.
Ich möchte hören wie du atmest,
wie du dabei atmest.
Komm, wir schwimmen raus auf's Meer!

Swimming

Come to me into the water
And I will show you, how to move
To save your energy
And to get rid of all fear
How to lay on your back
And how to float on the surface

Jump into the water
And swim with me
A small distance out
I want to listen how you breathe
How you breathe just then
Come we are swimming out in the ocean"

Die Toten Hosen

Letter LV to Julie

2011-06-14T21:11:00.000-07:00

by Jean-Jacques Rousseau

“Do you remember that whole hour we spent in peacefully talking about our love and of that obscure and fearful future by which the present was made still more tender for us – that hour, too short, alas, during which a slight touch of sadness made the conversation so moving? I was tranquil, and yet I was near you; I adored you and desired nothing. What calm in my senses! The charm of possession was in the soul, no longer momentary but eternal. It is of all the hours of my life which is most dearest to me, and the only one which I should have wished to prolong eternally..

I must confess to you a suspicion I have conceived. It is that you are more capable of love than I. Yes, my Julie, it is indeed you who constitute my life and my being. I adore you with all the powers of my soul, but yours is more loving; love has penetrated it more profoundly. One sees, one feels that love inspires your charms, reigns in your speech, gives that penetrating sweetness to your eyes, those accents so touching to your voice.”

by Robert Frost

2011-06-12T10:59:00.000-07:00

"I had withdrawn in forest, and my song
Was swallowed up in leaves that blew away;
And to the forest edge you came one day
(This was my dream) and looked and pondered long,
But did not enter, though the wish was strong:
You shook your pensive head as who should say,

'I dare not -- too far in his footsteps stray'.
Not far, but near, I stood and saw it all
Behind low boughs the trees let down outside;
And the sweet pang it cost me not to call
And tell you what I saw does still abide.
But 'tis not true that thus I dwelt aloof,
For the wood wakes, and you are here for proof"'.

June 17, 1784

2011-06-09T19:18:00.000-07:00

"My letters will have shown you how lovely I am. I don't dine at Court, I see few people, and take my walks alone, and at every beautiful spot I wish you were there.

I can't help loving you more than is good for me; I shall feel all the happier when I see you again. I am always conscious of my nearness to you, your presence never leaves me. In you I have a measure for every woman, for everyone; in your love a measure for all that is to be. Not in the sense that the rest of the world seems obscure tome, on the contrary, your love makes it clear; I see quite clearly what men are like and what they plan, wish, do and enjoy;..."

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

She walks in Beauty

2011-06-07T19:08:00.000-07:00

by Lord Byron

"She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that's best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes
Thus mellowed to that tender light
which softly lightens over her face;
Where thoughts serenely sweet express
How pure, how dear their dwelling-place.

And on that cheek, and over that brow,
So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,
The smiles that win, the tints that glow,
But tell of days in goodness spent,
A mind at peace with all below,
A heart whose love is innocent"!

Again and again

2011-06-04T13:22:00.000-07:00

by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926)

"Again and again, however we know the landscape of love
and the little churchyard there, with its lasting names,
and the frighteningly silent abyss into which the others
fall: again and again the two of us walk out together
under the ancient trees, lie down again and again
among the flowers, face to face with the sky"

The Drops of Nectar by Goethe

2011-06-02T22:55:00.000-07:00

"Artist, fashion! talk not long!
Be a breath thine only song!

THE DROPS OF NECTAR

When Minerva, to give pleasure
To Prometheus, her well-loved one,
Brought a brimming bowl of nectar
From the glorious realms of heaven

As a blessing for his creatures,
And to pour into their bosoms
Impulses for arts ennobling,
She with rapid footstep hastened,

Fearing Jupiter might see her,
And the golden goblet trembled,
And there fell a few drops from it
On the verdant plain beneath her.

Then the busy bees flew thither
Straightway, eagerly to drink them,
And the butterfly came quickly
That he, too, might find a drop there;

To a happy end they tasted,
They, and other gentle creatures!
For with mortals now divide they
Art, that noblest gift of all".

1789

Words heal

2011-06-01T07:06:00.000-07:00

A weekend (relaxing) seminar on May 14 in Velingrad for 70 nurses woking with cancer patients for an association organized with Darplay and a group of young people doing yoga laughter.

It is such a small world. One of the nurses who came to Velingrad is a good friend of one of our relatives. When my grandfather got sick she spent so much time with him and helped him both spiritually, emotionally and physically. It was all a coincidence because when Rumi went there and they saw each other it was a big surprise.

Here are pictures from that weekend.

https://picasaweb.google.com/111560918807720540588/141505?authkey=Gv1sRgCNnbvovbqunxSQ#

Here are some reviews by the nurses:

"We thank the organizers of these two fine days. The sessions were fun and a relief from our stressful and difficult life. It would be great if such meetings occurred more often.

***
Yesterday was wonderful! With lots of positive emotions, laughter, dancing, games and good friends!

***
The part with listening to the speaker opposite was good. I liked the card game for a conversation on a theme.

***
The young people tried very hard. It was all thought out beforehand. All people tried to relax completely. To forget their private life, and relax, to rest fully. Very interesting was the healing of stress with laughter. I really liked it because it relieves the psyche and a person feels more liberated and relieved.

***
We thank the organizers who conducted the course. I felt more relieved, rested, relaxed. The course was very useful for me to get to know many colleagues better, I felt them closer.

***
I liked very much the test for listening to the speaker opposite us, the three-minute hourglass, the cards with questions on the reverse. The positive mood created by laughter, thanks to the beautiful young people who taught us this.

***
Yesterday was emotionally charging for me in a positive, diverse and different way from previous days.

***
Day with lots of laughter, joy and positive emotions.

***
We thank the organizers of the seminar that found a way to pay attention to health care professionals. Most of us do not find time and resources to take care of themselves. We needed relaxation, which you provided us in an unusual way for us. We thank the young people who entertained us and accepted us as who we are".

Rousseau's Emile, ou l'education

2011-05-31T21:32:00.000-07:00

Jean-Jacques Rousseau - "To live is not to breathe but to act. It is to make use of our organs, our senses, our faculties, of all the parts of ourselves which give us the sentiment of our existence. The man who has lived the most is not he who has counted the most years but he who has most felt life".

Foundations of Modern Social Thought: Lecture 6
22 September, 2009
Professor Ivan Szelenyi for Open Yale Courses

"First he (Rousseau) says, "Well we have to rear a civilized savage, a child born in the state of nature; infancy and childhood and pre-adolescence is a gradual transformation from the state of nature into society. Then when adolescence comes, then we have a fully formed atomic individual by now, and we have to bring that person into society."

And then he has this very complicated idea that this transition from the atomic individual and state of nature to civil society is a transition from amour de soi to amour propre.

Well this is a very complex concept. Rousseau could have been more lucid about what the difference is than he was. Also, from English you think you understand it more easily than you actually do, because propre in French does not mean proper.

Propre also means myself; propre only means myself in consideration with others. Soi means myself without consideration of others. Right? So be careful.

Amour-propre is not proper love. Right? It is a self-love, but of a self-love in which I do take into consideration alter, not only ego, to put it with Sigmund Freud ...

Well what are the main themes? The first important theme is nature is good; society which is corrupt. A very important proposition, a very powerful proposition. This is something what Marx also takes from Rousseau, and this is what Durkheim also takes from Rousseau. "Fear of death is not natural," he continues. "It is forced on us--forced on us by priests, philosophers and doctors. And the first task is negative education." ...

The second one is: well the task is to turn the savages, noble savages--that's the noble savage, a very Rousseauian idea--into social beings, and from amour de soi to amour propre. Well but what makes us social--it's a lovely idea; provocative, ironic, and I just love it--what makes us social is pity. And I will labor on this. It's really so wonderful...

And then he said, "What is civilization?" Well civilization becomes culture when sex is sublimated into imagination. It's very important. I will labor on it, and I hope you will be able to relate to it as much as I can. Right? He said there are really two processes which makes us social: pity and love. But not sex. It is erotic love, which is in your mind as much as in your sexual drives.

And then he suggests love develops in three stages. And I think this is absolutely wonderful. Again, certainly I can relate to this very well. The first stage is that you are in love but you don't know yet with whom. Right? You are ready for love and you are looking for somebody to be loved.

But you don't really know yet, you did not identify yet. But there is a sense that you are in love. Well, it happens certainly for the first time in adolescence. When we are thirteen or fourteen, and we suddenly realize that there is romantic stuff but we don't have the object of our romantic feelings, we have to find this out.

But it happens actually always when one falls in love. Can I tell you as an old man, it will happen later to life as well. There is rarely one love in life. Right?

Okay, then he says love brings different people together on the basis of differences. This is very much a Durkheimian idea of what binds people together can be their differences. And he makes a very provocative argument: men and women are different ...

And then he gives--though he was not much of a believer--he gives a bit of theological argument: "Everything is good as it leaves the hands of the author of things [God] and everything degenerates in the hands of man." "Man turns everything upside down. He wants nothing as nature made it." We are being told to get rid of our natural instincts. And this is again lovely, right? ..."

2011-05-30T13:03:00.000-07:00

Music therapy and its impact on language learning

2011-05-27T22:06:00.000-07:00

Author: Lyubomira Nikolova

Participation in the seminar "English language with songs” is not only effective in language learning, it is a fun and wonderful tool for self-expression and dissolves the cares of everyday life. Engaging in vocal music workshops in English, participants have the opportunity to immerse themselves in the music itself, to be active musicians and feel relieved that learning a foreign language may be mild, pleasant and melodic.

Participants will experience a satisfaction with themselves, the feeling that they have the opportunity for self-expression in a circle of friends, may even find in themselves an unexpected musical talent. But one does not need vocal skills for that, even if they can’t sing, nobody would notice, and it will not be wrong, it’s important that they express themselves and are part of a "common voice" of the group, encouraged by the instrumental accompaniment.

The songs involved in the workshops themselves are valuable not only as a teaching method but also because of the beautiful sound and universal meaning which they contain. These are songs that you'll want to sing, to hum and you will not mind if they do not go out of your head once you have learned them in the seminars. Nice, melodic, rhythmic music ...

Easy and effective learning with music and additional benefits of this approach to learning, have their logical explanation. Music is conducive to positive emotions, we have fun, relax, and also more easily learn, work and do sports, it’s more enjoyable to eat, walk and travel.

With music recovery of illness is easier, even in some cases it may be sufficient as the sole means of treatment. As such, it is best known for its strength precisely as "music therapy". Music therapy helps both body and soul for mental and body well-being. Briefly, this is an explanation of why we need it to perform all the above-mentioned activities, and to achieve good results in various ventures, particularly with regard to language learning.

To be more aware of how and to what extent it is possible to accomplish something good through music, let’s review some known facts about music therapy. Its capabilities are sought, found and applied for centuries starting from ancient Egyptians. In the blossoming of ancient Greek culture the first theories of music therapy appeared: with Plato - music as a means of educating the soul, with Aristotle – the cathartic effect of music and its lasting impact on the character and soul.

The Romans were also attracted by the impact of music – finding that it cures bad mood and manages harmful emotions such as fear and anger. Renaissance doctors 'prescribed' as an active therapy playing music instruments and singing - mostly against melancholy.

It was in this period that Baroque composers like Handel, Vivaldi and Bach, created music just with the idea that it raises the spirit and relieves the mind from life's worries. After a brief stalemate caused by the prestige of pharmaceuticals and psychoanalysis, comes the great flowering of music therapy, after World War II to create a variety of theoretical strands.

Methods in music therapy can be divided into two types: passive - just listen and achieve results, and proactive - listen, sing, dance and achieve (more) results. For passive music therapy medical patients listen to different music, that helps them experience the emotional and aesthetic experiences that distract the mind from diseases and other troubles, gradually coming to restore harmony.

When using active methods musical sounds can be combined with auto-training, breathing exercises, hypnosis, yoga and more.

The most widespread is the use of music therapy for relaxation, enhancement of mental functioning and creating a sense of well-being. Experts describe the benefits of music sound waves that bring pleasure not only to the psycho-emotional state of man, but also on the functions of one's body. Pleasant musical sounds are captured by auditory receptors on nerve fibers, entering the brain where they are "analysed" and thus transmitted to the whole body to make it more healthy and balanced, impacting the functional level.

Indeed, music according to the way it sounds, changes brain waves, as well as other bodily functions. Examples of such effects are improvement of blood circulation, stabilization of hormone levels, blood pressure, pulse and respiration. That is why music and music therapy can help address or prevent the detrimental effects of chronic stress and help relaxation and general health.

When it comes to Baroque, classical music, it is considered that its even pace corresponds to the length of brain waves, when the brain is in a state of "wakefulness”. Such a state is conducive to learning. So today music is used for accelerated training courses in foreign languages and mathematics. Plato once said that music is the most powerful teaching tool among all others. In the Middle Ages monks used music to help them in learning long passages from the Bible.

Individual musical "elements" - major and minor chords, tempo, power of sound, rhythm, harmony and melody specifically act on human moods and behavior. Naturally, when we feel good and are in good spirits, we are open to the world. So strong is the impact of music itself, according to studies, it is perceived not only by humans but by all living organisms.

The effect of music is applied in practice in the workshop "Learning English with songs" in a number of ways - by extending the amount of attention, reducing stress, facilitating self-expression, stimulating imagination and associations and facilitating the process of memorizing.

According to researchers, “music enhances the activity of neurons, leading to increased concentration and understanding which are fundamental to learning” (Jensen 1998). Furthermore, listening and performance of music engages the left, right, front and back of the brain, which also explains why people can better learn and retain information listening to music.

By such action on bodily functions, music can stimulate brainwaves to resonate in sync with the beat, as faster rhythms lead to sharpened concentration and thinking. Change in the levels of activity of brain waves generated by music, allows the brain to change and also increases productivity, thus music can bring long term benefits to mental abilities.

Acting beneficially on the body and mind, music therapy holds the mark also of creativity, imagination and optimism necessary for learning. It is used to improve communication skills and communication as a whole, especially in introverted personalities - also an important element in learning a foreign language.

It is clear that in the seminar "Learning English with songs” participants have the opportunity to experience the beneficial effects of the properties of music therapy, and can achieve additional benefits in addition to learning the language.

As a whole they can feel fulfilled on several levels by meeting their physical, emotional, mental, social and cognitive needs. And in a natural and well-intentioned environment where there is no coercion and excessive seriousness of learning.

Felicita

2011-05-23T10:43:00.000-07:00

"happiness is holding hands and going away together,
is an innocent look, in the middle of a crowd,
is staying close like children, happiness

happiness is a pillow made of feathers, the rivers' water
that flows, is the rain going down the roofs,
happiness is turning off the light so peace can rule

happiness is a glass of wine and a sandwich,
is leaving a note inside a drawer,
is singing together how much I like you, happiness

you can feel in the air, our love song that flies
like a thought that knows about happiness,
you can feel in the air, a warmer ray of sun that flows,
like a smile that knows about happiness

happiness is a night with a surprising full moon
and the radio that is on,
is a 'happy birthday' card full of little hearts,
happiness is an unexpected call

is a beach at night, the waves that hit the shore,
happiness is a hand full of love, put on the heart,
happiness is waiting for the sunrise, to do it all over again"

Letter XIII from Julie

2011-05-22T11:39:00.000-07:00

Julie, ou la nouvelle Héloïse
by Jean-Jacques Rousseau

"Indeed, I told you we were happy; nothing proves it better than the uneasiness I experience at the slightest change in our situation. If we had had truly violent anguish before, could an absence of two days create so much for us? I say us, for I know that my friend shares my impatience; he shares it because I feel it, and he feels it also on his own account. I no longer need for him to tell me these things.

We have been in the country only since last night, it is not yet the hour at which I should see you if you were in town, and yet the distance between us already makes your absence more unbearable. If you had not forbidden me geometry, I should tell you that my uneasiness increases in a compound ratio of the intervals of time and space, so much do I find that distance adds to the pain of absence.

I have brought along your letter and your study plan, to reflect on both and I have read twice the first already…

At the moment when the desire to love took hold of my heart and when I felt the need for an eternal attachment, I did not ask Heaven to unite me to a charming man but to a man who had a beautiful soul; for I felt that such a soul was, of all the attributes one can have, least subject to future aversion, and that integrity and honor adorn all the sentiments that accompany them.

For having chosen properly, like Solomon, I have obtained not only what I asked for but also what I did not ask. I look upon this as a good omen for my other plans, and I do not despair, my friend, of one day being able to make you happy as you deserve to be. The means are slow, difficult and uncertain; the obstacles are terrible. I dare promise nothing, but be assured that nothing that patience and love can do will be forgotten…

I interrupted my letter to take a walk in the grove which is near our house. Oh, my sweet friend! I took you there with me, or rather, I carried you there in my heart. I sought those places where I thought we should have wandered together; I marked the retreats which seem worthy to shelter us. Our hearts overflowed in advance in these delightful arbors, which added to the pleasure we enjoyed in being together".

Letter XII to Julie

2011-05-21T18:00:00.000-07:00

Julie, ou la nouvelle Héloïse
by Jean-Jacques Rousseau

"My Julie, how touching is the simplicity of your letter! How clearly I see in it the serenity of an innocent soul and the tender solicitude of love! Your thoughts are expressed without difficulty; they make a delicate impression on my heart which an affected style does not produce at all. You urge invincible reasons with so simple an air that it is necessary to reflect on them to feel their force, and sublime sentiments are so natural to you that one is tempted to take them for common thoughts.

Ah yes, without a doubt, it is for you to control our destiny. It is not a right which I allow you, it is a duty which I require of you and a justice which I ask of you. From this instant I give you lifelong control of my will; dispose of me as of a man who has no interest of his own and whose whole being has no connection except with you.

Do not doubt that I shall keep the pledge I am taking, no matter what you command, I shall be more worthy, you will be happier, and I see above all the certain reward for my obedience. Therefore, I relinquish to you, without reservation, the care of our common happiness; secure your own, and all is done. As for me, who can neither forget you for an instant nor think of you without the ecstasies which I must overcome, I intend to busy myself solely with the duties you have imposed upon me

… real love is a devouring fire which instills its ardor in all other sentiments and enlivens them with new vigor. Thus it is said love created heroes. How fortunate is he whom fate has disposed to become one and who has Julie to love!"

Letter XI from Julie

2011-05-20T12:49:00.000-07:00

Julie, ou la nouvelle Héloïse
by Jean-Jacques Rousseau

“My friend, I feel that each day I am becoming more attached to you. I can no longer be parted from you, the least absence is unbearable, and I must see you or write you, to occupy myself ceaselessly with thoughts of you…

In the overflowing of my heart, I must tell you a truth which it feels strongly and which your own heart cannot fail to convince you. It is that in spite of fortune, of parents, and of ourselves, our destinies are forever united, and that we can no longer be happy or unhappy except together. Our souls touch, so to speak, at all points, and we feel an entire coherence. (Correct me my friend if I am poorly applying your lessons in physics).

Fate may indeed separate us, but not disunite us. We shall henceforward have only mutual pleasures and mutual pains; and like those magnets of which you were telling me that have, it is said, the same movements in different places, we should have the same sensations though we were at the two poles of the earth”.

Julie, ou la nouvelle Héloïse

2011-05-19T12:18:00.000-07:00

by Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Letter XXIII

"I have spent only a week in travelling through a country which would require years of observation ... Sometimes immense rocks hung ruinous over my head. Sometimes high and clamorous waterfalls deluged me with their heavy mist. Sometimes a perpetual torrent at my side would open an abyss which my eyes dared not fathom. Sometimes I was lost in the obscurity of a luxurious forest. Sometimes as I emerged from a gorge a pleasant meadow suddenly gladdened my eyes.

... during that first day I attributed the serenity that I felt again in my soul to pleasures of this kind. ... I reached the lowest mountains, and passing over their rugged tops I arrived at the highest summit I could attain. After walking in the clouds, I came to a more serene place, from which, in the proper season, one may see the thunder and the storm gathering below him ...

It was there in the purity of that air, that I plainly discerned the true cause of my change of humor and of the return of this interior peace which I had lost so long ago. In fact this is a general impression that all men experience, although they do not observe it, for in the high mountains where the air is pure and thin, one breathes more easily, his body is lighter and his mind more serene.

Pleasures are less ardent there, the passions more moderate. Meditations take on an indescribably grand and sublime character ... It seems that in being lifted above human society, one leaves below all base and terrestrial sentiments, and that as he approaches the ethereal regions, his soul requires something of their eternal purity.

One is serious there but not melancholy, peaceful but not indolent, content to exist and to think. All overly vivid desires become dulled. They loose that sharpness which makes them painful, they leave only a light and sweet emotion in the bottom of the heart, and it is thus that a pleasing climate causes the passions which elsewhere constitute man’s torment, to contribute to his happiness. ..

While I was delightedly travelling in these places, so little known and so worthy of admiration, what were you doing in the meantime, my Julie? Did your friend forget you? Julie forgotten? Should I not rather forget myself? And how would I be alone for a single moment, I who exist only for you?

I never noticed more readily how I instinctively find a place for our inseparable souls in various places according to the state of my mind. When I am sad, my soul takes refuge near yours and seeks consolation wherever you are.

When I am happy, I cannot enjoy anything alone, and then in order to share it I call you wherever I am. That was the case during this whole trip, where, the variety of scenes forever calling me back to my own situation, I led you everywhere with me. I did not take a step without you. I did not admire a view without hurrying to show it to you.

All the trees that I encountered lent you their shade; all the grassy banks served you as a bench. Sometimes, seated at your side, I gazed with you at the scene before us; sometimes at your knees, I surveyed one more worthy of the contemplation of a sensible man. Did I come to a difficult pass? I saw you leap over it with the agility of a fawn bounding after its mother. Was it necessary to cross a stream? I dared to press such a light burden into my arms. I walked through the stream slowly, delightedly, and was sorry to reach the opposite path.

Everything in this peaceful place reminded me of you. The striking natural beauty, the invariable purity of the air, the simple manners of the people, their constant and sure wisdom, the amiable modesty of the women and their innocent graces – in short, all that gave pleasure to my eye and my heart reminded them only of her whom they constantly seek”.

Ludwig van Beethoven

2011-05-18T12:58:00.000-07:00

Immortal Beloved

The Third Letter
"Good morning, on July 7

Though still in bed, my thoughts go out to you, my Immortal Beloved, now and then joyfully, then sadly, waiting to learn whether or not fate will hear us - I can live only wholly with you or not at all - Yes, I am resolved to wander so long away from you until I can fly to your arms and say that I am really at home with you, and can send my soul enwrapped in you into the land of spirits - Yes, unhappily it must be so - You will be the more contained since you know my fidelity to you. No one else can ever possess my heart - never - never - Oh God, why must one be parted from one whom one so loves. And yet my life in V is now a wretched life - Your love makes me at once the happiest and the unhappiest of men - At my age I need a steady, quiet life - can that be so in our connection?

My angel, I have just been told that the mail coach goes every day - therefore I must close at once so that you may receive the letter at once - Be calm, only by a calm consideration of our existence can we achieve our purpose to live together - Be calm - love me - today - yesterday - what tearful longings for you - you - you - my life - my all - farewell. Oh continue to love me - never misjudge the most faithful heart of your beloved. ever thine, ever mine, ever ours"

Louie Schwartzberg: The hidden beauty of pollination

2011-05-17T23:32:00.000-07:00

Ludwig van Beethoven

2011-05-15T08:44:00.000-07:00

Immortal Beloved

The Second Letter
Evening, Monday, July 6

"You are suffering, my dearest creature - only now have I learned that letters must be posted very early in the morning on Mondays to Thursdays - the only days on which the mail-coach goes from here to K. - You are suffering - Ah, wherever I am, there you are also - I will arrange it with you and me that I can live with you. What a life!!! thus!!! without you - pursued by the goodness of mankind hither and thither - which I as little want to deserve as I deserve it - Humility of man towards man - it pains me - and when I consider myself in relation to the universe, what am I and what is He - whom we call the greatest - and yet - herein lies the divine in man - I weep when I reflect that you will probably not receive the first report from me until Saturday - Much as you love me - I love you more - But do not ever conceal yourself from me - good night - As I am taking the baths I must go to bed - Oh God - so near! so far! Is not our love truly a heavenly structure, and also as firm as the vault of heaven?"

The Immortal Beloved

2011-05-13T19:19:00.000-07:00

LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN
(1770 - 1827)

The First Letter
July 6, in the morning

"My angel, my all, my very self - Only a few words today and at that with pencil (with yours) - Not till tomorrow will my lodgings be definitely determined upon - what a useless waste of time - Why this deep sorrow when necessity speaks - can our love endure except through sacrifices, through not demanding everything from one another; can you change the fact that you are not wholly mine, I not wholly thine - Oh God, look out into the beauties of nature and comfort your heart with that which must be - Love demands everything and that very justly - thus it is to me with you, and to you with me. But you forget so easily that I must live for me and for you; if we were wholly united you would feel the pain of it as little as I -

My journey was a fearful one; I did not reach here until 4 o'clock yesterday morning. Lacking horses the post-coach chose another route, but what an awful one; at the stage before the last I was warned not to travel at night; I was made fearful of a forest, but that only made me the more eager - and I was wrong. The coach must break down on the wretched road, a bottomless mud road.

Without such postilions as I had with me I should have remained stuck in the road. Esterhazy, traveling the usual road here, had the same fate with eight horses that I had with four - Yet I got some pleasure out of it, as I always do when I successfully overcome difficulties -

Now a quick change to things internal from things external.

We shall surely see each other soon; moreover, today I cannot share with you the thoughts I have had during these last few days touching my own life - If our hearts were always close together, I would have none of these. My heart is full of so many things to say to you - ah - there are moments when I feel that speech amounts to nothing at all - Cheer up - remain my true, my only treasure, my all as I am yours. The gods must send us the rest, what for us must and shall be -

Your faithful Ludwig"

One's-Self I Sing

2011-05-10T19:01:00.000-07:00

"One’s-Self I sing, a simple separate person,
Yet utter the word Democratic, the word En-Masse.

Of physiology from top to toe I sing,
Not physiognomy alone nor brain alone is worthy for the Muse, I say the Form complete is worthier far,
The Female equally with the Male I sing.

Of Life immense in passion, pulse, and power,
Cheerful, for freest action form’d under the laws divine,
The Modern Man I sing".

By Walt Whitman

To music

2011-05-04T18:17:00.000-07:00

"Music: breathing of statues. Perhaps: silence
of paintings. The language where all language ends.
Time standing vertically on the motion of mortal hearts.
Feelings for whom? The transformation of feelings
into what? --: into audible landscape. The stranger: music.

The heart-space grown out of us. The deepest space in us,
which, rising above us, forces its way out,-- holy departure:
when the innermost point in us stands outside,
as the most practiced distance, as the other side
of the air: pure, boundless, no longer habitable".

by Rainer Maria Rilke

Playing for Change - Mali

2011-04-30T09:39:00.000-07:00

A Visit to Kirina's New Music School from PlayingForChangeFoundation on Vimeo.

"When you educate a girl you educate the whole world" Mali proverb

Exposed on the cliffs of the heart

2011-04-29T14:54:00.000-07:00

"Exposed on the cliffs of the heart. Look, how tiny down there,
look: the last village of words and, higher,
(but how tiny) still one last
farmhouse of feeling. Can you see it?

Exposed on the cliffs of the heart. Stoneground
under your hands. Even here, though,
something can bloom; on a silent cliff-edge
an unknowing plant blooms, singing, into the air.

But the one who knows? Ah, he began to know
and is quiet now, exposed on the cliffs of the heart.

While, with their full awareness,
many sure-footed mountain animals pass
or linger. And the great sheltered birds fly, slowly
circling, around the peak's pure denial. - But
without a shelter, here on the cliffs of the heart..."

by Rainer Maria Rilke

the unstoppable

2011-04-27T12:22:00.000-07:00

that which cannot be contained, bound and determined,
a source of power, the power to win over, abundant and
extraordinary power, to a heightened degree, degree of
an expression, relentless in force, and tempo of motion,

set forth, with the emotion of language, exercising fluent,
compelling, right and fitting speech, keen and perceptive,
engaging in truthfulness, in the betterment of conditions
of kindness, benevolence, to make blissfully wholesome,

NASA - Solar Dynamics Observatory

2011-04-25T22:43:00.000-07:00

the feeling of being sixteen

2011-04-21T21:36:00.000-07:00

being less pressed by concern, freer of world resolutions,
being more experience-less, closer to wilderness, farther
from the crisis and emergencies of civilization, travelling
high on imagination, vulnerable and couragefull, amiable

and light-hearted, remote, distant from personal dogmas,
and expectations, filled with the impossible and possible,
ready, willing and able, to be in deep awe and adoration
of others, in the beginning, surrounded by all your heroes

2011-04-20T12:48:00.000-07:00

the look in your eyes

2011-04-19T13:51:00.000-07:00

emerald, having no limits or boundaries, transmitting light,
an inland body, of shimmering tranquil silence, never to be
forgotten, all-knowing, all-seeing, everlasting, supernatural
being, endowed with, infinite ingenuity, intense magnitude,

the look in your eyes, a reverie, made of reality, a dramatic
revelation, remembered throughout time, the significance
of man’s breathtaking resources, beyond belief, sensibility
of words, actions, and gestures, filling the lake of strength

Leopard Seal Sunset

2011-04-17T16:15:00.000-07:00

Claron McFadden on TED: Singing the primal mystery

2011-04-16T13:57:00.000-07:00

"Host: Folks, you've just met Claron McFadden. She is a world-class soprano singer who studied in Rochester, New York.

Claron McFadden: The human voice: mysterious, spontaneous, primal. For me, the human voice is the vessel on which all emotions travel -- except perhaps jealousy. And the breath, the breath is the captain of that vessel. A child is born, takes its first breath -- (Breathing) and we behold the wondrous beauty of vocal expression -- mysterious, spontaneous and primal.

A few years ago, I did a meditation retreat in Thailand. I wanted a place that I would have total silence and total solitude. I spent two weeks at this retreat in my own little hut -- no music, no nothing, sounds of nature -- trying to find the essence of concentration, being in the moment.

On my last day, the woman who looked after the place, she came and we spoke for a minute, and then she said to me, "Would you sing something for me?" And I thought, but this is a place of total quiet and silence; I can't make noise. She said, "Please, sing for me." So I closed my eyes, I took breath and the first thing that came up and out was "Summertime," Porgy and Bess.

♫ Summertime and the living is easy ♫ ♫ Fish are jumping and the cotton is high ♫ ♫ Oh, your daddy's rich and your ma is good looking ♫ ♫ So hush little baby ♫ ♫ Don't you cry ♫

And I opened my eyes, and I saw that she had her eyes closed. And after a moment, she opened her eyes and she looked at me and she said, "It's like meditation."

And in that moment I understood that everything I had gone to Thailand to look for, to search for, I had it already in my singing -- the calm, but alertness, the focus, but awareness, and being totally in the moment".

sense of perfection

2011-04-15T11:46:00.000-07:00

a myriad of sensory receptors, with all outermost stimuli,
providing illumination, that quality of being at the highest
degree, a key sense, in addition to sight, and touch, smell,
hearing, and taste, embodiment of maturity and integrity,

that which drives, the ideal for a perfect world, where free
are all, with equal educational, material and spiritual worth,
a world of respect and self-respect, humanness created in
the image of the divine, to be protected, and promulgated,

resistance

2011-04-13T11:30:00.000-07:00

to swim, cycle, drive, intently, following keenly, attentively,
racing at the heels of, turmoil and turbulence, at full force,
entering the course, without deviation, with dominion over,
air and water, twist, turn, arc, and curve, of leading athlete,

in one breath, on the beat, word for word, clearly, distinctly
without hesitation, progression of ideas, stream of thought,
at liberty, liberated, guarded and shielded, by music, artist,
self-confident, and self-assured, conversing without, barriers

conversation

2011-04-11T10:57:00.000-07:00

articulated, making known, compelling ideas, and continual,
feelings, long-lived and deep-rooted, convictions, ceaseless,
and effective, conquering, extending the limits of awareness,
research into personality, full of magic, amazement and zeal,

bringing solace, making tranquil, pacifying, quieting the deities
of anxiety, the healing that occurs, in the presence of extreme
feelings of passion, spirit and perseverance, medication from
carrying out actions, for a cause, enthusiasm, beyond reason,

Dreams

2011-04-06T08:00:00.000-07:00

"All people dream, but not equally.
Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their mind,
wake in the morning to find that it was vanity.

But the dreamers of the day are dangerous people,
for they dream their dreams with open eyes,
and make them come true".

by D.H. Lawrence

The Angel

2011-04-04T13:46:00.000-07:00

"At midnight an angel was crossing the sky,
and quietly he sang;
the moon and the stars and the concourse of clouds
paid heed to his heavenly song.

He sang of the bliss of the innocent souls
in heavenly gardens above;
of almighty God he sang out, and his praise
was pure and sincere.

He bore in his arms a young soul
to our valley of sorrow and tears;
the young soul remembered the heavenly song
so vivid and yet without words.

And long did it struggle on earth,
with wondrous desire imbued;
but none of the tedious songs of our earth
could rival celestial song".

by Mikhail Lermontov

Raving reviews :)

2011-03-31T23:11:00.000-07:00

On March 23, students in 8th grade played Darplay in the French Language School in Sofia. Here is what they shared with us:

- I feel good. I am glad that the people in the group heard my opinion and I heard theirs. The game allowed us, a little bit, to get to know each other better and learn interesting facts about each other.

- I feel better after Darplay, because I think activities of this kind are very useful. People should express their opinions, but in order to do so, they need to be heard. The game teaches you how to do this in a very fun and interesting way. I would play it again.

- My impressions of Darplay are positive. I think this game is pretty good for expression of an opinion. In this way people can get to know each other. The game is pretty good!

- Although it is unusual for this time of the week, I feel full of energy, cheerful. I liked Darplay because it is a new way of development and can probably achieve more than previous methods used for the same purpose.

- How do I feel – I feel really sleepy, but after this game I realized that I don’t need to worry when I speak and that is harder to listen, than to express your opinion. I liked Darplay because it is new and we have not done anything like this before.

- My impressions of Darplay are very positive, because one can express their views without anyone interrupting. There is a need to develop this game!

- I feel well. The game puts different people in one environment, brings them closer. Well-conceived and well implemented. I wish you success in its future development. The game allows everyone to express their opinions even to people to whom normally they would not have this option.

- After the game I feel strange because it was fun and relaxing, but difficult at the same time. The questions were tough. However Darplay is interesting and perhaps should be more widespread.

- Darplay is a game that allows me to voice my opinion. This game really is like a gift because it gives me freedom of speech. I am impressed by the questions, on which one should think about.

- I feel good. According to me the game is very useful because everyone can express their personal opinion on an issue without being interrupted. It is important that a person can share their personal point of view without expecting the understanding or approval of others! I think we should have more such activities during school.

- It was an interesting game. A game, in which you feel free and you can get others to listen, to hear your perspective.

- I liked Darplay because I was able to voice my opinion on the interesting questions. I feel good, because the rest of the people gave me a chance to speak even if they disagreed with me. I said everything that I think, without worrying.

- Darplay it very useful and interesting. It allows us to express an opinion, teaches us also to listen to each other. Through it we understand what others think.

- I feel good, but I have been better, I feel a little worried, but everything will be fine. I liked the game, it is interesting, it teaches us to communicate and to express our opinion. The game is very useful.

- It wasn’t a bad game. I feel good, as always. It is a relaxing game, also interesting. Everything is great.

- I feel good. The game was fun, but it needs to develop further and better and more interesting questions need to be added.

- With Darplay you can learn useful advice on important issues, which are expressed by my classmates.

- I feel good. Darplay is interesting and intriguing.

- After this game I feel I know more about my classmates. I found out some interesting things about life and their way of thinking and I think they also learned something new about me. The game is interesting and useful. It gives people a chance to speak and to be heard, which is difficult in the usual environment where people shout over each other and don’t listen.

- My impressions of Darplay are very positive. I think the game is very useful for a range of people, as in this way a person gets the opportunity to express themselves on very different topics. In addition to speaking, one can also listen to others and collect experience and impressions! I liked the game!

- After the game I knew more about my classmates, I understood their views and way of thinking. The game is very interesting, you learn more about those with whom you play. You learn to listen to others without interruption and without imposing your opinion on them.

- I feel satisfied that, for 3 minutes only I had the right to speak! I expressed an opinion on the issues and there was somebody to listen to me carefully. My impressions of this game are that it is useful for people who are isolated and very rarely have the opportunity to express their own thoughts and to be heard!!!

- Darplay is interesting and useful. It allows everyone to express their views freely on various issues. Through it you can understand what others think on the respective topics and exchange ideas.

- I feel good because I managed to understand the views of my classmates on various topics. I gathered many, different impressions from people and learned about various life problems and their solutions. Darplay is a very interesting game. From it you can figure out various lessons about life.

My Way

2011-03-30T09:36:00.000-07:00

"And now, the end is near, and so I face the final curtain,
my friends, I'll say it clear; I'll state my case of which I'm certain,
I've lived a life that's full - I've travelled each and every highway,
and more, much more than this, I did it my way

Regrets? I've had a few, but then again, too few to mention,
I did what I had to do and saw it through without exemption,
I planned each charted course - each careful step along
the byway, and more, much more than this, I did it my way

Yes, there were times, I'm sure you knew, when I bit off more
than I could chew, but through it all, when there was doubt,
I ate it up and spit it out. I faced it all and I stood tall
and did it my way, I've loved, I've laughed and cried,

I've had my fill - my share of losing, but now, as tears
subside, I find it all so amusing, to think I did all that,
and may I say, not in a shy way
- Oh no. Oh no, not me, I did it my way

For what is a man? What has he got? If not himself -
Then he has naught, to say the things he truly feels,
and not the words of one who kneels, the record shows
I took the blows and did it my way. Yes, it was my way".

Frank Sinatra

stairway to heaven

2011-03-29T05:00:00.000-07:00

Page stated that the song "speeds up like an adrenaline flow"

Page has himself commented on the song's legacy:

"The wonderful thing about "Stairway" is the fact that just about everybody has got their own individual interpretation to it, and actually what it meant to them at their point of life. And that's what's so great about it. Over the passage of years people come to me with all manner of stories about what it meant to them at certain points of their lives. About how it's got them through some really tragic circumstances ... Because it's an extremely positive song, it's such a positive energy, and, you know, people have got married to (the song)"

"There's a lady who's sure all that glitters is gold
and she's buying a stairway to heaven
when she gets there she knows if the stores are all closed
with a word she can get what she came for.

There's a sign on the wall but she wants to be sure
'cause you know sometimes words have two meanings,
in a tree by the brook there's a song bird who sings
sometimes all of our thoughts are misgiven.

There's a feeling I get when I look to the west
and my spirit is crying for leaving,
in my thoughts I have seen rings of smoke through the trees,
and the voices of those who stand looking.

And it's whispered that soon if we all call the tune
then the piper will lead us to reason,
and a new day will dawn for those who stand long
and the forests will echo with laughter

and it makes me wonder

If there's a bustle in your hedgerow don't be alarmed now,
it's just a spring clean for the May-Queen,

yes, there are two paths you can go by
but in the long run
there's still time to change the road you're on.

Your head is humming and it won't go - in case you don't know,
the piper's calling you to join him.

Dear lady, can you hear the wind blow and did you know,
your stairway lies on the whispering wind
and as we wind on down the road
our shadows taller than our soul,

there walks a lady we all know who shines white light
and wants to show how everything still turns to gold.

And if you listen very hard the tune will come
to you at last when all are one and one is all".

I never will forget

2011-03-28T13:33:00.000-07:00

"I've never seen you looking so lovely as you did tonight
I've never seen you shine so bright
I've never seen so many men ask you if you wanted to dance
they're looking for a little romance, given half a chance
I have never seen that dress you're wearing
or the highlights in your hair that catch your eyes
I have been blind

The lady in red is dancing with me cheek to cheek
there's nobody here, it's just you and me,
it's where I wanna be
but I hardly know this beauty by my side
I'll never forget, the way you look tonight
I've never seen you looking so gorgeous as you did tonight
I've never seen you shine so bright, you were amazing
I've never seen so many people want to be there by your side
and when you turned to me and smiled,
it took my breath away

I have never had such a feeling, such a feeling
of complete and utter love,
as I do tonight
the way you look tonight, I never will forget,
the way you look tonight."

Chris De Burgh

Thank you for the music

2011-03-26T10:39:00.000-07:00

"I’m nothing special, in fact I’m a bit of a bore
If I tell a joke, you’ve probably heard it before
But I have a talent, a wonderful thing
’cause everyone listens when I start to sing
I’m so grateful and proud
All I want is to sing it out loud

So I say -- thank you for the music,
the songs I’m singing
Thanks for all the joy they’re bringing
Who can live without it, I ask in all honesty
What would life be?
Without a song or a dance what are we?
So I say thank you for the music
For giving it to me

Mother says I was a dancer before I could walk
She says I began to sing long before I could talk
And I’ve often wondered, how did it all start?
Who found out that nothing can capture a heart
Like a melody can?
Well, whoever it was, I’m a fan

I’ve been so lucky, I am the girl with golden hair
I wanna sing it out to everybody
What a joy, what a life, what a chance!"

Abba

I have a dream

2011-03-23T12:09:00.000-07:00

Rumi and I went to the French school this afternoon. We facilitated a Darplay game in 8th grade. The students were exceptional. There were nine small groups. The psychological adviser of the school had also invited three university students 3rd year in Psychology. Each of them also participated. They talked and listened. After the class they gave us some of their views. They were really impressed with Darplay.

"I have a dream, a song to sing
To help me cope with anything
If you see the wonder of a fairy tale
You can take the future even if you fail
I believe in angels
Something good in everything I see
I believe in angels
When I know the time is right for me
I’ll cross the stream - I have a dream

I have a dream, a fantasy
To help me through reality
And my destination makes it worth the while
Pushing through the darkness still another mile
I believe in angels
Something good in everything I see
I believe in angels
When I know the time is right for me
I’ll cross the stream - I have a dream"

Abba

The Best is yet to come ...

2011-03-21T13:04:00.000-07:00

The sound of the universe

2011-03-17T19:51:00.000-07:00

"in this ambition to capture songs from the universe" ...

Forgiveness Day

2011-03-06T11:48:00.000-08:00

"Bulgarians observe today a self-styled traditional 'Forgiveness Day' on which everyone asks everyone to forgive him or her over the passed year. The rite is centered in families and communities, in which people ask their elders, including parents and superiors to absolve whatever they have done wrong, even if they do not know it or did not intend it.

The holiday is observed on a Sunday, exactly seven weeks before Easter".

novinite.com

Lopian

2011-03-03T18:32:00.000-08:00

It is sunny and cold and the snow is falling. It is relaxing to walk for hours on the road along the river between the mountains. There is ice and snow, the river flows.

Reading books all afternoon. Getting ready to draw and paint. Holidays are inspiring, as ideas develop, there is always a special perspective among nature.

ESL Past Tense

2011-02-27T08:18:00.000-08:00

2011-02-20T07:22:00.000-08:00

2011-02-19T23:47:00.000-08:00

Say I am You

2011-02-17T22:24:00.000-08:00

by Mevlana Jelalludin Rumi

"I am dust particles in sunlight.
I am the round sun.
To the bits of dust I say, Stay.
To the sun, Keep moving.

I am morning mist,
and the breathing of evening.
I am wind in the top of a grove,
and surf on the cliff.

Mast, rudder, helmsman, and keel,
I am also the coral reef they founder on.
I am a tree with a trained parrot in its branches.
Silence, thought, and voice.

The musical air coming through a flute,
a spark of stone, a flickering in metal.
Both candle and the moth crazy around it.
Rose, and the nightingale lost in the fragrance.

I am all orders of being, the circling galaxy,
the evolutionary intelligence, the lift, and the falling away.

What is, and what isn't.

You who know, Jelaluddin,
You the one in all, say who I am.
Say I am you.

...

You embrace some form
saying, "I am this."
By God, you are not this
or that or the other
you are "Unique One"
"Heart-ravishing"