The morning pages and "finding the river"

I've been talking a lot recently about "The Artist's Way" - a remarkably effective creative course I'm doing at the moment. A lot of my friends are intrigued by the daily discipline of "The Morning Pages" which is the routine of filling 3 pages of a notebook with stream of consciousness writing first thing in the morning every day for 12 weeks. The morning pages is a critical element of the course. In fact, you could argue that The Artist's Way is nothing without the morning pages.

Maybe it's my enthusiasm or maybe it's just politeness but a lot of people seem interested in the course, to the extent that they appear to begin entertaining the idea of giving it a try. However, they often baulk at the idea of the morning pages. "What is the point of that?" people earnestly ask, skeptical because of the time commitment required by such an endeavour.

I've just started the fifth week of the course and I can honestly say that the shift in my perception brought about by my commitment to the morning pages is amazing and perplexing.

Last night I read an excellent description of the way in which the morning pages assist the "unblocking" process that The Artist's Way is designed to promote. I thought I'd share it with you here, mostly for the benefit of all those people who have asked that pointed question and received an inadequate answer from me.

As for the rest of you reading this - if you have any creative aspirations then I thoroughly recommend the course if you are finding them frequently frustrated. It works.

"The shift is a gradual one. We have been making this shift slowly and surely. With each day we become more true to ourselves, more open to the positive. To our surprise this seems to be working in our human relationships. We find we are able to tell more of our truth, hear more of other people's truth, and encompass a far more kindly attitude toward both. We are becoming less judgmental of ourselves and others. How is this possible? The morning pages, a flow of stream of consciousness, gradually loosens our hold on fixed opinions and short-sighted views. We see that our moods, views, and insights are transitory. We acquire a sense of movement, a current of change in our lives. This current, or river, is a flow of grace moving us to our right livelihood, companions, destiny."

Julia Cameron, "The Artist's Way"

The Overton Window

This is a concept that Graham introduced me to a month or so ago, but it was so interesting I thought I'd post about it here.

Extract from Wikipedia:

The Overton window, in political theory, describes a "window" in the range of public reactions to ideas in public discourse, in a spectrum of all possible options on a particular issue. It is named after its originator, Joseph P. Overton[1], former vice president of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy.

At any given moment, the “window” includes a range of policies considered to be politically acceptable in the current climate of public opinion, which a politician can recommend without being considered too “extreme” or outside the mainstream to gain or keep public office. Overton arranged the spectrum on a vertical axis of “more free” and “less free” in regards to government intervention. When the window moves or expands, ideas can accordingly become more or less politically acceptable. The degrees of acceptance[3] of public ideas can be described roughly as:

- Unthinkable
- Radical
- Acceptable
- Sensible
- Popular
- Policy

The Overton Window is a means of visualizing which ideas define that range of acceptance by where they fall in it. Proponents of policies outside the window seek to persuade or educate the public so that the window either “moves” or expands to encompass them. Opponents of current policies, or similar ones currently within the window, likewise seek to convince people that these should be considered unacceptable.

Other formulations of the process created after Overton's death add the concept of moving the window, such as deliberately promoting ideas even less acceptable than the previous "outer fringe" ideas, with the intention of making the current fringe ideas acceptable by comparison.

Guy Walks Across America

I thought this would be interesting enough to post on the Bettany blog. In photography class I am looking at stop frame animation and will be working on my own project. Whilst doing some research I came across this and thought it was very creative and clever.

WikiRebels - The Documentary

From YouTube:

“Exclusive rough-cut of first in-depth documentary on WikiLeaks and the people behind it!

From summer 2010 until now, Swedish Television has been following the secretive media network WikiLeaks and its enigmatic Editor-in-Chief Julian Assange.

Reporters Jesper Huor and Bosse Lindquist have traveled to key countries where WikiLeaks operates, interviewing top members, such as Assange, new Spokesperson Kristinn Hrafnsson, as well as people like Daniel Domscheit-Berg who now is starting his own version – Openleaks.org!

Where is the secretive organization heading? Stronger than ever, or broken by the US? Who is Assange: champion of freedom, spy or rapist? What are his objectives? What are the consequences for the internet?”

Bill Bailey - The ultimate song about loneliness, love and loss

The Royal Alexandra and Albert School – Kevin’s school from 1961 -1968

Please click the image to see Dads word article.

Doubt is Their Product

1 Million Frames Per Second Slow Motion Bullet Impacts

Life Inc.

Life Inc. The Movie from Douglas Rushkoff on Vimeo.

Cody O'Grady

Today was the funeral of a 17 year old lad from our community in East Manchester. Lizzie has known him for years, from when he started going to youth club at the Church.

Twelve months ago he was diagnosed with an aggressive cancer, since then, it’s been roller coaster of a journey for him & his family. Our entire church mobilised in prayer and treatment began to work, much to the Doctors disbelief. He was told that it had gone into remission.

Some months later, the cancer was back and had spread around his brain. We really feel that God has used the extra time he gave Cody so that he might grasp in a very simple way, the Christian message. That with all the suffering, there was a God who loved him. As well as this amazing testimony, he won an Urban Hero Award for courage. Below is the link to the video telling his story.


Video

It's a sad day for our community. A day that reminds me of how fragile life is. I feel challenged on how important is it to not waste life and I just wanted to share this little boy's troubled and difficult one with you. Not to shock, but to remind you of what matters.

Prison Transformation

I haven't posted in a while either and only thought of the blog to my shame, when reading another..

Yet before I post, to avoid the risk of being taken as overly zealous or indeed offensive, I would add that there are two conclusions you may come to, in response to the following. The first, is that God is a crutch for the weak and the lost and its nothing new, OR God is real and he transforms lives. Simple

I quote, Matty Hawthorne who is a friend of mine who works for Reflex, a Christian charity that work in prisons. Check out his blog post here, or below:

One of my favourite chapters of the Bible is Isaiah 61, which starts off:

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,
because the Lord has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners

In the North West Reflex team, we are seeing the Holy Spirit transform many broken young men and women, giving them internal freedom and releasing them from darkness. More than ever before, we are seeing signs and wonders, with people being miraculously healed, words of knowledge, addictions broken, young men and women who were intent on suicide, discovering new hope and many young offenders being set free as they step into a relationship with Jesus Christ.

Below is Craig’s story, one of the many inmates who have been impacted recently by God through the work of Reflex:

Craig is from Manchester, and is the son of a father who was a career criminal, and founder of one of the city’s notorious gangs, and a mum who was a drug addict. After a tough start in life, Craig was taken into care aged 10.

In care Craig found it very hard to behave, get on with other children and any foster parents, and refused to go to school. After just a year of being in care, Craig started drinking with older residents, and committing small crimes to try to fit in, and get attention.

At the age of 14, Craig got back in touch with his Dad, who recruited him to run errands for him, and in return gave him drugs. Throughout the rest of his teens, Craig was in and out of different foster homes, secure units, and living on the street.

When he was 18, Craig was deeply involved in the gang lifestyle, violence and selling and taking drugs. Eventually he got charged with kidnapping and attempted murder, and was sentenced to 9 years in prison.

Craig used this first prison sentence to start getting into music, but also used his reputation and contacts while in prison for more devious activities. After getting released, he started getting back into crime, but on a higher level, with people working for him rather than directly dealing etc. Craig also got into music, and recorded several tracks and performed around the Manchester club scene.

10 years later, after making a lot of money from his criminal activities, and not being in trouble with the law since being released, Craig was arrested following a police investigation into his gang, and found himself back in prison.

In prison, Craig met the Reflex team, who were running detached sessions on his wing. They invited him to come onto a music course that the team were running in the prison, and Craig was really keen to use his music skills in prison. Craig was amazing on the music course, and recorded a track about his future and changing his ways.

At the end of the course, Craig asked for a Bible, as he had so many conversations about it with the team, and what they believe about Christianity. Over the weekend, without being lead to them by anyone, he read three very significant passages: Isaiah 53 (prophecy of Jesus in OT), Psalm 139 (About how God knows you & made you), and the account of Jesus’ trial in Luke.

Craig was invited to perform at a Reflex showcase to some of the prison staff and other inmates the following Tuesday, and told the Reflex team the parts of the Bible he had read. That afternoon, Matty and Nick from Reflex prayed with Craig, and without prompting, Craig prayed a prayer committing his life to God, and repenting for his old lifestyle.

Since then, over the past month, Craig has been coming to the Reflex groups, started reading the Bible, and sharing his new-found faith with fellow inmates, who can’t believe the transformation in him. Craig is being supported by the Reflex team while in prison, and has a local church who he has been linked up with for when he is released.

Here is one of the lyrics that Craig has written since becoming a Christian:

Hailing from a real troubled life when I was young,

seeing all around the effects of drugs and guns,

hearing the cry of mothers who’ve lost sons,

made me realise something must be done,

politicians chat what they’re doing in the slums,

but how many live there while it happens well none,

its left to the parents to resolve the problems,

living on handouts scrabbling for crumbs,

police alienating the blacks and the muslims,

then on the rare occasions they stop the white ones,

and there aint no places for the kids to have fun,

they’d rather lick you down blaze bud an get drunk,

back in the day we’d pump music from the trunk,

and we never used guns it was settled with a punch,

there’s a moral i’m to teach to young ones,

you’ll be never alone once you walk in God’s love.

Fantastic Fractal

I haven't done a Bettany Blog post for a while but I thought this one was worth it - assuming you can get past the music!

Mandelbox Zoom from hömpörgő on Vimeo.

Tuba Solo Fnugg Blue

Here's a video my friend Edd sent me randomly, it's quite impressive. If you thought beat boxing flute was good, check out beat boxing Tuba.

O Love That Will Not Let Me Go

George Matheson 1842 - 1906 O Love That Will Not Let Me Go

“O Love That Will Not Let Me Go” written on the evening of Matheson’s sister’s marriage. His whole family had gone to the wedding and had left him alone. And he writes of something which had happened to him that caused immense mental anguish. There is a story of how years before, he had been engaged until his fiancé learned that he was going blind, and there was nothing the doctors could do, and she told him that she could not go through life with a blind man. He went blind while studying for the ministry, and his sister had been the one who had taken care of him all these years, but now she is gone. Looking back over his life, he once wrote that his was “an obstructed life, a circumscribed life… but a life of quenchless hopefulness ...

My hymn was com­posed in the manse of In­ne­lan [Ar­gyle­shire, Scot­land] on the ev­en­ing of the 6th of June, 1882, when I was 40 years of age. I was alone in the manse at that time. It was the night of my sister’s mar­ri­age, and the rest of the fam­i­ly were stay­ing over­night in Glas­gow. Some­thing hap­pened to me, which was known only to my­self, and which caused me the most se­vere men­tal suf­fer­ing. The hymn was the fruit of that suf­fer­ing. It was the quick­est bit of work I ever did in my life. I had the im­press­ion of hav­ing it dic­tat­ed to me by some in­ward voice ra­ther than of work­ing it out my­self. I am quite sure that the whole work was com­plet­ed in five min­utes, and equal­ly sure that it ne­ver re­ceived at my hands any re­touch­ing or cor­rect­ion. I have no na­tur­al gift of rhy­thm. All the other vers­es I have ever writ­ten are man­u­fact­ured ar­ti­cles; this came like a day­spring from on high.

1. O Love that will not let me go,
I rest my weary soul in thee;
I give thee back the life I owe,
That in thine ocean depths its flow
May richer, fuller be.

2. O light that followest all my way,
I yield my flickering torch to thee;
My heart restores its borrowed ray,
That in thy sunshine’s blaze its day
May brighter, fairer be.

3. O Joy that seekest me through pain,
I cannot close my heart to thee;
I trace the rainbow through the rain,
And feel the promise is not vain,
That morn shall tearless be.

4. O Cross that liftest up my head,
I dare not ask to fly from thee;
I lay in dust life’s glory dead,
And from the ground there blossoms red
Life that shall endless be.

Just Do It - The Movie

Interesting stuff:

Just Do It is an exciting new feature documentary film that follows the mischievous and risky world of UK climate activists.

In early 2009, acclaimed documentary filmmaker Emily James began filming the clandestine activities of several groups of environmental civil disobedient activists in the UK. Allowed unprecedented access, her footage shows us the people behind the politics, providing the often overlooked human element to their story as we watch them take on the combined forces of global capitalism, run-away climate change and those pesky metropolitan police!

Their adventures will entertain, illuminate and inspire, whilst inciting you to get off your arse and change the world.

Currently in post-production and set for release in early 2011, Just Do It is a film pushing boundaries. It is an experiment in crowd-funding, group production and community-engaged documentary filmmaking. Read on to find out more…

Croquet - Wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Croquet

The Tropic of Cancer, from Bangladesh to Burma

A few friends recommended this program to me and I found it quite alarming, but in a way it confirms what I know about the plight on the Chin people already, and reaffirms my burden for the people , and why I started the Burma Orphanage Project. Have a watch...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00s5wzp/Tropic_of_Cancer_Bangladesh_to_Burma

Simon Reeve continues his epic journey around the world following the tropic of Cancer, the northern border of the tropics region.

This episode takes Simon through Bangladesh and on a perilous covert journey into Burma, where western journalists are banned.

In Bangladesh, Simon sails down the mighty Padma River and visits fishermen who use trained otters to drive fish into their nets. Further on he sees the river banks crumbling before his eyes - increased river erosion is thought to be caused by global climate change - and in the capital Dhaka he meets some of the millions of child workers.

From North East India, Simon treks through jungles and across rivers into Burma to meet the Chin people - an ethnic group who are brutalised and oppressed by the Burmese government.

After travelling around the tropic of Capricorn and the equator, this series completes Simon's trilogy of journeys exploring the amazing tropics region with his toughest, longest, most ambitious challenge yet.

Are Christians Being Persecuted - A BBC documentary

For years now, some town halls have been renaming their Christmas Lights as Winter Lights festivals. More and more Christians are ending up in court, defending themselves against what they see as victimisation for not being allowed to wear a cross to work or to pray for a patient. Many Christians feel that Christianity - once the heart of British society - is being pushed to the margins.

Nicky Campbell investigates whether Christians are being discriminated against. He explores the effects of multiculturalism and asks Muslims whether they are offended by Christmas Lights celebrations. Campbell also analyses the impact of recent human rights legislation and the Equality Bill: do they promote a more or less tolerant society? A poll specially commissioned for the BBC reveals what the public think.

If the Christian faith is being sidelined from the public space, is that a good or a bad thing? Campbell interviews Christians who claim they have been discriminated against, as well as leading religious and secular voices, including Archbishop of Westminster Cardinal Vincent Nichols; Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks; Bishop of Rochester Michael Nazir Ali; Shami Chakrabati, Director of the civil rights organistation Liberty; and Polly Toynbee, President of the National Secular Society

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00rx7tj/Are_Christians_Being_Persecuted/

Found this incredibly interesting. Thought some interesting points were made regarding the general push for tolerance in society, trumping tolerance of Christians and people of faith...

Sarah's Brother plays Little Wing

Wicked.

The photograph that defined the class divide

Something interesting for the History Buffs in the family:

In 1937, five boys were famously snapped standing outside Lord's. But who were they, what were they doing there – and what happened to them?

By 1937 Eton and Harrow had been playing each other at cricket for 132 years. Their annual match was, and remains, probably the oldest regular fixture in a game that has the richest and longest traditions of any team sport played with a ball. It lasted two days and attracted big crowds – over 30,000 during its Edwardian heyday. To use a violent modern image, a bomb dropped on this crowd would have obliterated many of the most powerful people in England.

Male spectators wore toppers and tails, and women their summer hats and frocks. The Harrovians and Etonians themselves came in their most formal outfits – "Sunday dress" as Harrow called it – which only a very able student of the English social system could differentiate. The pupils at both schools wore, with minor variations in style, the clothes that at some point in the 19th century had become the uniform of the well-dressed English gentleman: a top hat, a tail coat, a silk waistcoat, a cane.

On the morning of Friday 9 July 1937, Peter Wagner and Thomas Dyson stood dressed in this way outside Lord's. They were Harrow pupils, aged 14 and 15, and this was the opening day of the match. The event had lost some of its social eminence in the years since the great war, but the crowd strolling into the ground that morning was still large and smart. Local boys, porters for the day, unloaded wicker hampers from spectators' cars and carried them into the stands. There were quite a few photographers about. But where in this melee was the Wagner family: Peter's father, mother and older sister?

The Wagners had made an arrangement. Peter and his friend Dyson (known as Timmy or Tim) would come down from Harrow with their cases packed so that, after the day's play was over, they could go straight to the Wagners' Surrey house for the weekend. A little before the match started at 11am, the two boys would meet the Wagner party at the Grace Gates. There could be no mistaking the rendezvous: the Grace Gates were easily the most splendid entrance to Lord's, remodelled in the previous decade to honour the memory of the legendary Victorian cricketer. This was also the first entrance that the Wagners, motoring east up St John's Wood Road, would see.

The two boys waited, the minutes ticked away. No sign of the car. Peter had started at Harrow barely three months before, at the beginning of the summer term; Tim had arrived the previous year. They were in different forms and different houses – Peter at The Park and Tim at West Acre. Peter was the smaller and the younger and also, perhaps, the cleverer boy, because he had won a scholarship and Tim had not. They knew each other through their parents, who had met on a cruise. We can speculate that waiting gave Peter more anxiety. Now the burden of responsibility (his parents, their lateness) made him turn his back on Tim and stare westwards down the likely route his parents' car would take....

More from The Guardian.

Graham in Aviation and the Environment

Graham's Interview starts on Page 23.

Aviation and the Environment - Issue 03

FC Kahuna - Hayling

Dante Bucci - Fanfare (Hang Drum)

Elgar Cello Concerto

Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet, OM, GCVO (2 June 1857 – 23 February 1934) was an English composer. He is known for such works as the Enigma Variations, the Pomp and Circumstance Marches, The Dream of Gerontius, concertos for violin and cello, and two symphonies. He also composed oratorios, chamber music and songs. He was appointed Master of the King's Musick in 1924. - Taken from wikipedia.

Dan Rivers in Burma

Dan Rivers is a friend of mine from Durham and a journalist for CNN. This video is his report from Burma in the wake of Cyclone Nargis:

G' Brown

Shostakovich Symphony No.5 Ⅰ.Moderato [1/6]

I recently saw this performed by the National Youth Orchestra and thought it was amazing. I'm not entirely sure what the full length of the piece is as this is just the first movement. The full piece is a thrill to behold and had me on the edge of my seat.