Birds, Mana and Maori Culture

Māori iwi have long held beliefs and customs about the native birds of Aotearoa New Zealand. Birds or Ngā Manu had a vital place in Maori tribal life as they provided food, beautiful feathers for adornment and their strengths and personalities were a rich source of metaphor and poetry. Their behaviour was use to predict theContinue reading “Birds, Mana and Maori Culture”

Comforting Thought: Our hearing is evolved to clearly hear animals’ sounds

“Our bodies evolved not for cocktail party conversation but rather to harvest #sounds from wild creatures. These are the aural signals on which our #species’ success depended: #Birds chatting, unconcerned. Herds gathering. #Corvids flocking.” #quote #books #nature

Travel: Koishikawa Korakuen Gardens

In the Koishikawa Korakuen Gardens is an Edo era (Tokyo) garden of hushed quiet contemplation amidst the bombastic, rushing and striving modern world

Comforting Thought: How You Understand You

“How people perceive you
is more reflective of
their inner mechanics
than your actions
you cannot control
how others think and live,
but you can be intentional
about the energy you put into the world
some may misunderstand you,
but what matters most is that you
understand you”

Comforting Thought: Great art gives homage to the finest examples of humankind

“Artists are the perpetual defenders of living creatures, precisely because those creatures are alive. They truly advocate to love whoever is close by right now, and not those far in the future, which is what debases contemporary humanism, turning it into a catechism of the courthouse. Quite the reverse: a great work of art endsContinue reading “Comforting Thought: Great art gives homage to the finest examples of humankind”

Comforting Thought: Be Like the Mayfly

“The experience of the world as one individual is so fleeting it is barely even measurable; especially when held up against the great passage of time felt since Earth’s conception. As humans, we arrive and pass like a mayfly spiraling on a breath of wind for its single day of life in the sun. OurContinue reading “Comforting Thought: Be Like the Mayfly”

Albert Camus: Art’s Corruption Under Brutality

“Brutality is never temporary. It does not respect the boundaries set for it, and so it is natural that brutality will spread, first corrupting art, then life. Then, out of the misfortunes and bloodshed of humankind, we see born insignificant literature, frivolous newspapers, photographed portraits, and youth-club plays in which hatred replaces religion. Art thenContinue reading “Albert Camus: Art’s Corruption Under Brutality”

Comforting Thought: An irreplaceable friend

“An irreplacable friend is someone who:

highly values your trust
appreciates your honesty
naturally feels like family
still loves you as you change
finds it easy to laugh with you
holds space for you in tough times
supports your happiness and safety
helps you to believe in your self-worth
inspires you to love and know yourself”

Comforting Thought: Foresty Smells Help Our Immune Systems

Phytoncides, the aromatic organic compounds that #trees emit—a.k.a. the stuff that makes a #forest smell so very good—boost our #immune system #health #books #quote #bookquote

Comforting Thought: The most rebellious art will be the most enduring

We must know that we cannot hide away from communal misery, and that our sole justification, if one exists, is to speak out, as best we can, for those who cannot. And we must do this for everyone who is suffering at this very moment, despite the past or future greatness of the states orContinue reading “Comforting Thought: The most rebellious art will be the most enduring”