Often we say, ‘Ohh, so and so is worse than an animal!” But seeing recent events of human brutality, I cannot think animals are worse. Human brutality is based on creation of weapons that allow anyone to kill or main. This beautiful video has recently gone viral- shows an unlikely friendship. Watch it and see if you don’t feel humans can’t learn from animals! This will prove it.
Tag: Animal
the hunted
There is an important rule in relationships- that is, never hunt for a relationship!
Have you ever looked at someone and thought,’Ahh, he/she looks good (or has a great job/sense of humour/is rich/whatever), I could go out with them.’? Have you ever talked to someone all the while secretly judging them to see if they are worthy of being your partner? Have you ever thought about someone with the intent of meeting them because you thought that they might be good for you? Have you trawled bars, dating sites, school playgrounds for that one person? Then you have been hunting for a relationship.
And have you wondered why that person never responded, called you back, or hastily backed off in the middle of a conversation? That is because each of us have a ‘hunted’ radar- we can tell instinctively when we are being hunted and we run for our lives!
To get a good relationship, we have to become a person who can attract someone to us, without either party feeling hunted or becoming the hunter. That means developing kindness, compassion and respect towards everyone. That means being open to love and relationship. And then, someone will come along, drawn towards your human qualities, not your animal ones.
Seeing the light
There is a wonderful ‘book sharing’ going on at my local train station- part of a book sharing scheme for London’s tube and train stations. So I have been taking, re-placing and giving my books. In January this year, I found a small desk calendar. Having no calendar for the year, I took it. It had paintings on it but I did not give them much thought, thinking some of them a bit amateurish, only glancing at the calendar from time to time to check dates. One day I started noticing the lovely colours of the paintings and realised for the first time that all these paintings had been made by foot and mouth artists. I was so humbled instantly. I started researching these artists and that has been such a journey of inspiration, joy and love.
Today, I bring to you the astounding work of Keith Jansz which is featured for this month- you can google him to look at more of his work online. Keith Jansz was a successful freelance financial advisor, stockbroker and physically, a very active person. In 1995, after a car accident in which he broke his lower vertebra, he was left wheelchair bound, unable to use his arms and legs. Two years after he left the hospital he met the mouth painter Trevor C. Wells who encouraged him to paint with his mouth and Keith began a painting course at the “Open College of Art”.
That small desk calendar has made such a big impact on my life- a huge thank you to the unknown person who left it there to inspire me on my journey of following my heart. I now realise that following our hearts is not easy and sometimes, as we learn from Keith, a huge jolt to our reality gives us the opportunity to live our lives more creatively. I also realise once we shed our arrogance, we can look at things in a different light and truly appreciate each gift that life brings us, even a calendar. Buddhism says, “The heart is a skilled painter.”
These inspiring words come from Keith’s website- “Before 1995, when life forever more changed in a split second, I don’t think that I really saw the world around me…Now I revel in these simple pleasurable sights but at the same time try to keep them in my memory until I can use them in my painting….Of course, not everything inspires me but as my experience develops I find that it no longer has to be a perfect sunny day to motivate me to paint – there is as much pleasure in capturing the rest of nature’s moods. Real enthusiasm comes from the heart…I hope that my enthusiasm for life and my art is conveyed to you through my work.”
(PS- The title of this post comes from Keith’s website)
A Value Creating Life 