Anne –
Being an enfeebled 82 year old meant that radical educating and action were down the pan. Change its Vehicle !
Into the empty space dropped the website inspiration…any topic…any place, could be explored.
And to make the idea HAPPEN … there is our daughter Sally.
I have delighted in this powerful means of getting to know each other and marvelled at her skilled editing of the material which I find.
Sally –
At first …. TIA was a collaboration with my mum to capture wonderful legacies of her projects past. Soon developed into its own creation – very happy times working together – her, with her unique creative eye and enthusiasm for finding interesting content and encouraging friends and colleagues to tell their inspiring stories. And me, uploading the website. We’ve created a real treasure and shared journey – will be ever precious to me.
What we focus on gets bigger – on the world stage it’s created by mass hypnosis!
Basic law of our Universe, ever loving and giving, simply gives us more of what we focus on. Doesn’t judge or condemn, it gently accumulates more and more of ‘stuff’ we’re putting attention on – wanted or unwanted!
Media People understand how the brain works. ‘News at Ten’ is a classic example:
The chaos theory has never worked for me ! When I dive into the ocean and see an octopus unfurl its limbs, rippling luminescent lights across its skin, or watch a bird heading south for the winter with a secret inner navigation system directing it to fly thousands of miles towards the sunshine, I cannot believe that this has evolved by chance or random luck.
There must be an organising force that orchestrates all life force and co-ordinates this life experience we all share together. There is nothing about our Universe that looks random. I sense a loving presence that is logical and kind. I feel each individual has the freedom to create, and that we are so free, that we can create freedom and joy or we can create suffering and bondage.
So how is this creation orchestrated ? The law of attraction.
Mosques and temples are helping to assist the elderly and the vulnerable in their towns and cities.
As the countrywide lockdown takes hold within the first week many religious and community organisations have been helping ALL members of their community.
The army of volunteers have been collecting food and essentials to ensure those people that need the most help at this time of crisis are being cared for.
At many times they are putting themselves in harm’s way.
The Bolton Hindu Forum said they are leading ‘a joint Coordinated Community Help Program to look after elders living alone and who have no immediate family and those who have family but they are out of town and not able to help as they would in normal circumstances’.
The Masjide Noorul Islam (Blackburn) have already recruited 250 people to help the elderly and vulnerable in isolation.
In my job working with families I had lots of restrictions on what I could do or not do… call them professional boundaries, maybe for the right reasons, but most of the time fear generated “what if this goes to court… cover your back “.
In the end of March this year someone contacted me about a Closed Case. This young mother, who suffered from mental health issues, was struggling with two children under three and one 12 year old. Her parents couldn’t help her because of Covid19 and their age and health issues.
I contacted a few organisations and explained the situation. Thereafter, hot meals were delivered every day for the month of Ramadan and also milk and groceries were delivered every week.
This helped to reduce her anxiety and improved her sleep. She is now helping people over the phone passing INFORMATION on how to get help.
Cover My Back or Cover My Face !
Kamal Hussein’s story is in Kutupalong, world’s largest refugee settlement – late August 2017, thousands of refugees arriving daily. Many children were separated from parents and Hussein’s mission was to reunite families.
Hussein decided to act after a woman asked for help finding her child.
“I rented a microphone” relaying a description. His broadcasts worked – someone returned the child; his mission was born.
Charities gave audio equipment and a booth to broadcast the names of separated children and urge parents to collect them.
“The new refugees don’t know the camp, they get lost here,”
Myanmar’s campaign of persecution and violence drove 740,000+ stateless Rohingya from their Rakhine homes. Now, 1,000,000+ Rohingya are in Bangladesh.
A refugee himself, he was separated from his parents when a boy.
“As a child, I had a lot of pain in my life but doing this work, I feel at peace with myself.”
www.unhcr.org/news/stories/2019/11/5dc3fd334/rohingya-mans-mission-reunite-parents-lost-children-new-film.html
I was kicked into action to research this edition’s theme of MIGRATION by a friend’s unexpected outpouring of grief and fury . We were sitting in a circle at our long-established Support Group. When we got to M’s turn in the “go- round”, she erupted, boiled! Tears in her eyes, flushed cheeks, piercing voice decrying the chaos in Kos…. destitution , hopeless future for migrants and Greek inhabitants alike.
AND the intransigence of EU countries….their politicians and inhabitants.
“ Hold on to our affluent security”.
I absorbed this greatly loved and respected friend’s voice of compassion, of injustice recognised, and I determined that my mind should enter the migrants’ world…from the blessed place in which my Family has LANDED.
Photo – A younger Manu Berardi demonstrating against local tree destruction by Developers
An Oak tree has been growing near our boundary for at least 60 years. Its roots reach underground towards my neighbour’s 100 year Oak.
And for sure, the trees’ fungi enmesh soil and stones as they journey across our gardens’ divide.
Unseen connections, little considered in daily living. The underground underworld, my friend and I recently realise, also vibrates through the inner underworld of us two insomniacs.
Both of us can see the Oaks …shining last week in the moonlit gardens. We may think about one another. We note the availability of connections.