jump to navigation

38 Ways to Win an Argument, by Schopenhauer (The Teaching Company) June 27, 2008

Posted by solangek in Levez les yeux!.
Tags: , , , ,
2 comments

I have recently been giving a wonderful gift by my father: two courses from The Teaching Company, How to Listen to and Understand Great Music, 3rd Edition & Great Authors of the Western Literary Tradition, 2nd Edition.

Once I opened an account with the company, they sent me a “free article”. Hoping to inspire someone in the Big Wide World, here it is: a translation of 38 Ways to Win an Argument, by Schopenhauer. So if you like to learn, visit their website at www.teach12.com. I promise you won’t be disappointed because they have something for everyone and it is all great quality.

Enjoy!

Solange

(more…)

Searching for happiness? June 13, 2008

Posted by solangek in DOWN TO EARTH, Levez les yeux!.
Tags: , , , , , ,
add a comment

If you are desperately searching for happiness, my recipe is as follows.

Simply remember all the beautiful things around you, think about how wonderful the world is and everything that is worth loving: children, the sky, big trees, forests, ladybugs, grandparents, your husband or wife, your special secret place that makes you happy, elephants…

Then simply make improving the world your life’s work. For the sake of helping everybody and everything around you (and yourself of course) to have a better life experience, always be polite, don’t waste; make all of your decisions based on what the wisest most wonderful and perfect person would choose. Live a healthy virtuous life, and strive for perfection in everything, especially yourself – but remember that perfection is a never-ending journey and not a destination. Remember that everyone just wants to be happy. You cannot change the entire planet, but you can work towards improving the little things around you, like yourself, and your family’s life.

If that were your life’s work, then where would happiness be?

If you aren’t sure where to start, here is a QUIZ to find out how wise you are.

Of course, you already know how wise you are – a quiz can’t tell you. But each question gives you something to think about, for you to evaluate different aspects of yourself, such as attitude, outlook, treatment of others etc. So even if the idea of measuring your wisdom is kind of silly, you can use this quiz as a personal checklist once in a while to remind you of the little things you can work on in order to become a better, wiser person.

Another way to perfect yourself is to read about what other, wiser, people before us have written about becoming a better person. Here in Ottawa, there is a Hindu temple with an online course on the Upanishads. You can find it HERE, on their website.

And finally, make a list of concrete, positive things you can or should do at least once, such as writing a letter to a friend or family member, bringing some flowers to a co-worker just for the heck of it, or preparing pancakes with your kids to give a certain somebody breakfast in bed. Then once a week, do something on your list.

Isn’t life wonderful? Every day we have the opportunity to do something in order to make our lives better.

Cheers! To us!

Mejorar como persona June 13, 2008

Posted by solangek in DOWN TO EARTH, Levez les yeux!.
Tags: , , , ,
1 comment so far

Una verdad sobre la naturaleza es que pensamos demasiado en nosotros mismos. No quiero decir que somos egoístas, quiero decir que pensamos obsesivamente sobre quienes somos, cuales problemas tenemos, nuestras relaciones con los demás, nuestra perspectiva del mundo. Complicamos todo. Nos llenamos la cabeza con peros y es ques, rencores, remordimientos, chantajes, justificaciones, manipulaciones, y sobre todo, de miedos. La lista de miedos que afectan nuestros pensamientos y comportamientos es tan conocida que ni vale la pena mencionarlos todos, pero hay unos cuantos, como el miedo a fallar y el miedo al desconocido, que son nuestros peores enemigos y limitantes.

Todo esto ya lo sabemos. ¿Entonces porque nos obsesionamos tanto? Muchos dan vueltas en círculos apretados, como papalotes locos, amarrados por un hilo delgado a nuestros miedos. Tenemos miedo hasta de nuestros miedos; luchamos desesperadamente para liberarnos de ellos y encontrar la felicidad. Creemos que nuestros miedos nos controlan, y entonces damos vueltas rápidas, rápidas, jalando en círculos para liberarnos de ellos… y no vemos lo grande que es el cielo azul. Solo vemos el hilo tenso que nos amarra a nuestros miedos, allá abajo en la tierra.

No queremos caer, pero al mismo tiempo, nuestro vuelo tampoco es muy estable. El problema es que pensamos que la culpa es de nuestros miedos, cuando en verdad es nuestra. Hablamos de « liberarnos de nuestros miedos », pero la verdad es que tenemos que abrir los ojos. Necesitamos dejar de pensar en nuestros miedos personales y mirar lo grande y hermoso que es el mundo a nuestro alrededor: el cielo, el bosque, la plantita feliz que crece con fuerza a bajo de tu ventana. Tus hijos y los niños en general. El vestido favorito que tienes en tu closet, un mango sabroso, jícama con limón y sal. El árbol que te da sombra durante el día y perfume en la noche, un hermoso verso, una bonita voz, un pájaro en el aire. Disfruta todo eso, y date cuenta que tenemos mucho que hacer en el mundo para que sea un lugar mejor para todo lo que amamos.

Entonces, ¿qué esperes? Haz pequeñas cosas para mejorar la experiencia de vida de los a tu alrededor: pórtate bien como una persona educada. Haz un esfuerzo para tomar decisiones sabias, con consecuencias positivas para todos los involucrados. No olvides darle agua fresca al chucho y a la plantita abajo de tu ventana. Nunca olvides decir por favor y gracias. Sea atento. Trata de vivir con virtud. Sí trata de lograr la perfección, pero recuerda que ese camino dura toda la vida y no tiene fin.

Trata de embellecer el lugar en donde vives, y tu persona también, en todos los aspectos. Haciendo concientemente que tu vida sea una hermosa obra de mejorar el mundo, verás como desaparecen solitos esos miedos que antes te preocupaban tanto. No necesitas hacer grandes milagros, enfócate a lo que sí puedes cambiar (como la experiencia de vida de tu familia), y lo demás llegará por su cuenta con tiempo. Ya veras que con esa actitud, encontraras todas la razones que tienes para ser feliz, y feliz serás – como nunca.

Sketch: Ottawa rush hour on a bicycle June 5, 2008

Posted by solangek in Levez les yeux!.
Tags: , , , , ,
2 comments

Surrounded by chaotic five o’clock traffic, I pedal as fast as I can to get through the next intersection before the light turns red. Grabbing my brakes, I screech to a complete stop, even lifting my rear tire off the pavement a little when the lights win my private little race.

Suddenly, everything is quiet.

Without any through traffic and in the shade of a tall office building, I feel like I am in a dream: sounds mute and the sunlight seems far away at the edge of the building’s shadow. A few pedestrians cross the street in front of me, from right to left, from the sunlight into the shade, but nobody is talking. How odd.

As their crossing signal starts to flash, a mailman jogs across the intersection with a large mail bag in his right hand. His running seems to be in slow-motion. That bag looks awfully heavy. It is big enough to be Santa’s bag of toys. The veins on his right forearm, which is noticeably bigger than his left, look like part of an industrial irrigation system. I wonder how long he has been a postman.

I look up at the street light again, waiting for the green light. Go! I kick off excitedly in order to gain enough momentum to change into a harder gear.

At the next red light, I grab my brakes again. This time the cars and I are in the sunlight, with a squat old stone church on our right and flowering bushes nearby which smell sweet and strong. I breathe deeply to enjoy the smell.

A young lady crosses the street in front of me, wearing black leggings and a long bright green top. She is slim and blonde, but I don’t see her face. The tight blouse has a wide band of stretchy lace at the bottom, which comes down to the middle of her bum accentuating her feminine gait (her high heels help, too). Like a pendulum, her bum swings left and right, left and right under her small waist, and her shoes tick evenly just like a clock. A man watches her back as she dances past him. He is fascinated by this lovely girl with the long hair and bright green top.

I look up at the street light again, waiting for the green light. Go! I kick off excitedly in order to gain enough momentum to change into a harder gear…

Lilacs June 4, 2008

Posted by solangek in Levez les yeux!.
Tags: , , ,
add a comment

The most heavenly perfume crosses your path in Ottawa during April, May and early June. This is from the lilacs, one of my favourite flowers. They are delicate and dainty, evanescent.
When I was young there was a stand of white, pink and purple lilacs close to the house. I enjoyed going there to smell them, hiding under the boughs with the mosquitoes, flies and spider webs, feeling the flaky bark with my hands. I admired the graceful elbows and wrists of the branches as they zigzagged wildly, in all directions. The leaves, always gracefully poised on their petioles, looked like hands being offered for a kiss.

A lilac dryad would be full of kinks too, with flaky brown skin and gorgeous eyes to match her flowers. Imagine the perfume of her skin. Imagine her lush green hair sprinkled with tiny lilac flowers. Her strangely corkscrewy body would be an interesting contrast to the statuesque elegance of her movements. Her tranquility and her grace as she danced with the wind to the song of spring would enamour everybody lucky enough to see her…

MÊLER June 2, 2008

Posted by solangek in Levez les yeux!.
Tags: , , , ,
1 comment so far

Ce verbe est issu du bas latin misculare (cf. It. Mischiare et mescolare, occ., cat. et port. mesclar, esp. mezclar), classique miscere, p. p. mixtus, « mêler, mélanger », se rattachant à la même racine indo-européenne 0mei-k/0mei- « mélanger » que le grec misgein « mêler » (→ migmatite) ou l’allemand du même sens. Les mots de la famille sont en rapport avec l’idée de « mélange », que celui-ci soit concret avec mixtion et mixture, méteil « mélange froment-seigle », mistelle (de l’esp.), mesclun (du provenç.), miscellanées « receuil d’écrits », miscible, qu’il soit disparate avec promiscuité, ou plus abstrait avec métis (et métisser, métissage) et mixte (et mixité), s’immiscer, pouvant aller jusqu’au désordre et à la confusion avec pêle-mêle et méli-mélo. Mêler a produit mêlée, sang-mêlé, mélange (et mélanger, mélangeur) et des verbes comme emmêler, entremêler , démêler. L’anglais doit au français to meddle, « se mêler de », medley « mélange » (XIVe s.), to mix « mélanger » (XVe s.), que l’on retrouve dans mixer et mixeur ou dans mixage (emprunté par l’it. missagio) et remix. L’allemand meliert « grisonnant; chiné » vient du français.

Le Petit Robert 1; 40 edition

Esta entrada es para las personas a quienes les interesan las lenguas, especialmente la prima Angy, quien lo puede aprovechar practicando, y mi suegra Tere. Es interesante ver como los idiomas influyen a otros, y luego como estos mismos regresan, introduciendo nuevas palabras derivadas de las primeras al primer idioma. Las incito a seguir los hyper-vínculos a sus definiciones en español para comparar las definiciones en español y en francés, enriqueciendo su experiencia lingüística y su apreciación cultural. Me gusta pensar en el ejemplo de la nieve para los Inuit : may muchas palabras diferentes para describir la nieve dado a que la nieve es muy importante para ellos culturalmente y en ptráctica tambien. Entonces imagínense lo importante que son las mezclas para las culturas de Francia y México! Qué bonito, verdad?

Dr. Jane Goodall May 27, 2008

Posted by solangek in Levez les yeux!.
Tags: , ,
add a comment
Dr. Jane Goodall

One of the people I admire most (without actually having met her) is my hero, Dr. Jane Goodall. She represents to me many important values: intelligence, compassion, hard work, observation, critical thinking, beauty, leadership…

Remember in school, when your teacher taught you about the difference between humans and animals? In sociology class, they teach us the evolution of the definition of being human. A human can use a tool. Well, Jane showed the world that chimpanzees can also make and use tools, so then we said that a human can love, or have emotions. She showed us that chimpanzees are just as loving as we are. Desperately trying to be “more than animal”, we thaught that if they are good beasts, at least we can be cruel and cunning. But she showed us that just like humans, chimpanzees can be cruel for the sake of being cruel, can gang up and fight wars like the worst of us. Think about that… So where is the famous difference? Some argue that animals don’t actually have emotions: weak people have projected their emotions onto animals to make them seem cute, or more accessible to us. But can you really believe that?

I think that the only people who say that animals don’t have emotions are people who must use them in ways that if they thought that they were hurting animals, they would stop what they were doing; people who must use animals in experiments, or people who must use animals for food. If a person wanted to find a cure for a disease, or a way to save a life and had to somehow use a non-human… it would be traumatizing for them to see all the suffering they inflict. So it is easier to say that animals don’t have feelings.

goodall21.gif

Jane Goodall sugests that instead of not using animals at all for the advancement of science, it is better to properly treat the ones we do use. The Aztecs treated their human sacrifices wonderfully: choosing only the most beautiful, the strongest, the most pure. Then they fed them the best foods and gave them the best homes and clothes. Why shouldn’t we treat our animal sacrifices the same way, if they are giving us everything and more? It is the least we can do… And that is also my justification for choosing organic meats, eggs and dairy products. Enjoy your food, and let it also enjoy it’s life. It is the least we can give!

So next time you go and buy your eggs and milk, think about the slightly higher price of organic food as a gift back to the animals who give you their best, and to the people who work hard for the health of the earth and the happiness of their animals. Imagine those animals were your children, or that your children were those animals, and you will feel more than justified in choosing organic eggs once in a while.

That is an act of compassion. Imagine all the good you can do around you, and how good you will feel, when little things you do spread compassion around you, reaching far and wide: those eggs might come from around the corner, or the other side of the country. And then the farmer who grows the organic chicken food…

geddes352.jpg

This post was originally written and published onhttp://chanfainatv.com