Helping Julie Blow out her Candles

I desperately tried to get to my blog for the last two nights. And the last two nights storms have had me in bed consoling the messmonsters, counting the kilometres between the storm and the house, and making firmly sure my modem was UNPLUGGED. 

We now go accoustic here in the country after having more than one internet connection frazzle itself out complete with perm and electric guitar in a storm.

My post about one of my favourite artists was prepared already... But it will have to wait for tomorrow. Because it's a 'STOP THE PRESS' sort of event that just occured.

It's JULIE'S birthday. Julie, the adventurer, sweet friend and general all round supporter of everybody and their 'blog,' is having a birthday today. 

Well - I say that you can't have a birthday without a party. And I'm inviting myself to this one.  (See - I'm already there under that same sky Julie took a  photograph of today)

SO JULIE,  FROM ME ...

TRES JOYEUX ANNIVERSAIRE PLEIN DE JOIE, BONHEUR, AMOUR, SANTE ET REUSSITE.

You are one of the sweetest, sincerest and most encouraging people I have met (since even before blogging) and I could go on forever about your talent but I'm just tooooo  jealous so will let everyone pop over and wish you a happy birthday and see for themselves.

Lots of love

Ange

Inspirational Invictus

 William Ernest Henley, was a real life inspiration,
who reputedly inspired more than one not insignificant other ...

From the age of 12 Henley suffered from tuberculosis of the bone which resulted in the amputation of his left leg below the knee during either 1865 or 1868-69.According to Robert Louis Stevenson's letters, the idea for the character of Long John Silver was inspired by his real-life friend Henley. Stevenson's stepson, Lloyd Osbourne, described Henley as "..a great, glowing, massive-shouldered fellow with a big red beard and a crutch; jovial, astoundingly clever, and with a laugh that rolled like music; he had an unimaginable fire and vitality; he swept one off one's feet". 

And then ... if another man can spend 27 years in a prison cell, on an island, FORGIVE, and go on to lead his country with dignity, whether he in fact read 'Invictus' or not... Well - I think there's something in that for all of us (Chenille) don't you? ;-)

Original			Traduction littérale
Out of the night that covers me,     Black as the pit from pole to pole, I thank whatever gods may be     For my unconquerable soul. In the fell clutch of circumstance     I have not winced nor cried aloud. Under the bludgeonings of chance     My head is bloody, but unbow'd. Beyond this place of wrath and tears     Looms but the Horror of the shade, And yet the menace of the years     Finds and shall find me unafraid. It matters not how strait the gate,     How charged with punishments the scroll, I am the master of my fate:     I am the captain of my soul.			Depuis l'obscurité qui m'envahit, Noire comme le royaume de l'enfer, Je remercie les dieux quels qu'ils soient Pour mon âme indomptable. Dans l'étreinte féroce des circonstances, Je n'ai ni bronché ni pleuré Sous les coups de l'adversité. Mon esprit est ensanglanté mais inflexible. Au-delà de ce monde de colère et de larmes, Ne se profile que l'horreur de la nuit. Et pourtant face à la grande menace Je me trouve et je reste sans peur. Peu importe combien le voyage sera dur, Et combien la liste des châtiments sera lourde, Je suis le maître de mon destin, Je suis le capitaine de mon âme.

This is what my birthday inspired!

The written word has power.

Words have the power to heal, to uplift and to motivate. All too often we don’t appreciate their power – at best disregarding the strong positive impact they can have, and at worst, mis-using them through anything from complaints and negative ideas to insults... (and if you look closely, even spelling mistakes ;-)

What type of words work to make a personal change, on one level, and that can go on to make a global change on another? The expressions and sayings of the world’s visionaries like Ghandi, Seneca, Mark Twain, St Augustin, The Dalai Lama, Lao Tse, Martin Luther King and many others are a great place to start. Regardless of religion or country, we all have our secret idols that inspire us to live a better life, and give us the courage to go on with our projects.

In the news every day we hear story after story of sadness, violence, hurt and pain, that reinforce a sense of desperation, suspicion, mistrust and general helplessness in all members of the community alike. It appears to me that if a little more effort went into focusing on and reinforcing the good, the joyful and the visionary, then individually and as a community, we all may find the courage to take a little more responsibility for our actions, and dare ourselves all to fix objectives that can improve our own daily situations, as well as those of others.

So let me take some of the expressions of the world's great visionaries and give them to you from my perspective. I'm not the first nor will I be the last person to do this - but hopefully my version will inspire you in some way! In any case, that's the goal!