Poverty - please email your MP

The Make Poverty History campaign continues... they have created an easy web page from which you can email your own MP. Quote from their newsletter:

"...Right now, when governments give aid to Africa, it’s not a straightforward donation – it’s given with a lot of strings attached. And the problem is, most of those ‘strings’ just mean that the poorest people just get poorer.
...Thanks to a series of landmark meetings of world leaders it could and should be the year when we finally end the kind of poverty that claims 30,000 children's lives every single day.
...What we’d love you to do is ask your MP to write to Gordon Brown asking him to think again about this problem. It's one that he can help fix if enough people tell him to. Also we want MPs to sign our “Early Day Motion” – the message of support for Make Poverty History in the House of Commons. "

So click here and fill in your name and postcode.

Ludovico Einaudi concert

Having loved the music of pianist/composer Ludovico Einaudi for several years, last night I had the pleasure of going to his concert in Northampton. This was such a treat. Really listening fully to the music, often with my eyes shut, and sometimes with tears gently emerging, the music contained so many messages for me. His music ebbs and flows – a metaphor for life. The first piece I ever heard was Le onde - the waves - it really conjures up the waves in the sea, ‘always the same but always different’ (composer’s words). This remains a favourite of mine, and he finished with this as his final encore – wonderful.

However, all his music has the same quality, in that it conjures up every emotion and experience possible – simultaneously sad, melancholic, joyful, confused, gentle, inspiring, beautiful, pounding, rushing, driving, tumbling, loving, laughing, thoughtful, celebrating – every experience from life, all flowing along together. I was struck by the thought that just as his music never stops still, neither does life; and yet he also has momentary pauses, just as life can appear to have, and he sometimes ends a piece suddenly, unexpectedly, just as life does for some.

As we live, we are in constant transition, with some old and some new continually flowing together. For instance, over a few years, we move home, change friends, change hobbies and jobs, start and end relationships etc. Einaudi’s music has this feature – themes are mixed, such that the music changes dramatically over time, but it feels gradual, because new themes and old are interconnected.

I then realised that, at the instant I was sitting listening and experiencing these thoughts, somewhere in the world, every emotion and experience was taking place for someone. Every second people are born, others die, some become ill, others recover, some fall in love, others end a love, some laugh, some cry etc… His music is an appropriate accompaniment to all that is happening at any moment in the universe.

Strange thoughts to arise during a concert – but I came away a different, more enlightened human being, thanks to Ludovico Einaudi.

To look for a concert near you, see http://www.ludovicoeinaudi.com/ and click on News. And to listen to his latest album, click here.

Back from skiing!

I've just spent a few wonderful days in Fieberbrunn in Austria. It snowed almost constantly, so conditions were perfect for falling over safely into heaps of powdery snow. It is 5 years since I last went skiing, so I started again as a beginner, but by the second afternoon, I was coming down a blue run. Skiing is a brilliant way to push yourself outside comfort zones - repeatedly. Absolutely every task, from getting going on a drag lift, staying on it, then exiting safely, then skiing down again - each moment is another stretch, which moves you forward another notch. There is only one way to get better and that is to tackle something that doesn't initially feel comfortable... a great metaphor for making progress elsewhere in life!

Be nice to nerds!

I couldn't resist posting this link to a speech Bill Gates made in 2004 about the things not taught in schools. Some good advice...

Wedding of the year???

Oh dear - I'm not really very interested in Prince Charles' wedding, but I have just heard that today's Daily Mail has 21 pages about it! I find this sad. Why are so many people preoccupied with the lives of other people, instead of living their own lives fully? How can they fill 21 pages? Is it really that important? Surely there is more important news in the world? And who could read it all? Surely anyone busy living their own fulfilled life hasn’t got the time to read it all? I am on a crusade… to get people to stop watching East Enders/reading celebrity gossip etc etc… in favour of living proactively.

Ellen MacArthur and Middle East progress - fantastic!

What wonderful news today, with Ellen MacArthur setting a new world record for sailing alone non-stop around the world - an amazing achievement. I wonder how many people will now make life-changing decisions as a result of being inspired by her!

And to add to that, real progress has been made today in Egypt, with a handshake between Ariel Sharon and Mahmoud Abbas. This is something really close to my heart - great news. Let's hope it continues...

Newsletter

I've just posted my February newsletter - see http://www.ambitioncoach.com/62652/84225.html.

Wonderful to see that so many people went to Make Poverty History day in London yesterday, to see Nelson Mandela speak. This year has the feel of something special. Definitely good things happening... perhaps the tsunami is shifting thinking a bit.

Good news continues in the Middle East

The news from Iraq has been encouraging this week. I enjoyed reading more voting stories, such as: ... in Baghdad, Samir Hassan refused to let the security ban on private cars stop him from voting, despite losing his leg to a bomb last October. "I would have crawled here if I had to," he said. "I don't want terrorists to kill other Iraqis like they tried to kill me. Today I am voting for peace."
and: One elderly man, in black and white keffayah, had tears in his eyes. "My two sons were executed by Saddam," he said, "I am voting to make sure we never return to the old ways of doing things in Iraq." (See http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4224435.stm.)

I am also more hopeful about Palestine/Israel, with the announcement that Ariel Sharon and Mahmoud Abbas are to attend a summit in Egypt next Tuesday.

Maybe 2005 is going to be a good year for the world :-)