Business and consumerism and Buddhist principles

Last week one of my good friends set me the link to a 20 minute speech/lecture about business and consumerism and Buddhist principles. 

Clare Melford was the speaker and that 20 minutes flew by as I listened to her ideas which make such sense.  As she says what individuals do is important but business can make more of an impact over a wider audience.

The three principles which she thinks businesses should take from the Buddhist mind set are:

• That everything is connected
• Mastery of our impulses and desires
• And finding a middle way

These are all things that can be taken into personal life not just in business;  thinking about the consequences of our actions, learning to understand ourselves and trying to live in a sensible way rather than by extremes.

There was so much to take in I shall have to listen to it again (and again).

If you’d like to listen to it you can find it on the Radio 4 Four Thought site, look for 2^nd May, Clare Melford.  I don’t know how long it will be there for but having looked at the rest of the podcasts in the series I’ve downloaded a large number to listen to later.

Rocking Chameleon

Did you know that chameleon's rock?  No neither did I until I came across one of Rob Ives new projects - a rocking chameleon.  It's taken me a few weeks to create due to all the other stuff I'm also doing but I'm pleased with the end result, even if the rocking is a little creepy - check out Rob's video to see it in action.

The Electric Tooling Iron

For my birthday this year I was lucky enough to receive an Electric Tooling Iron.  This is a tool that book binders use for marking their books with metallic foils or for marking directly onto leather.  It might be words or just decoration.  Below is an example of how you would use it. 

First you need to know what you are using it for.  In this case I have traced the title of one of my favourite books, which has a beautiful title font.  I would do this if I was repairing the book and going to replace the cover.

First the metallic foil needs to be stuck to the new cover with masking tape.  It must be perfectly flat. 

The tracing is then placed over the foil.  Using the iron, once it is hot enough, you trace the design onto your book.  This takes a little practice as you can't hold it as close to the tip as you would a normal pen.  It doesn't matter too much if you need to go back over it as long as your design doesn't move half way through.

The finished design.  If I had another coloured foil I could go over it again as long as it was lined up right.
This is a great tool and I look forward to having some more practice with it.

May's writing group

The writers group met today and although numbers were low it was an interesting meeting.  With my head filled with totalitarian regimes and fascist Italy there was no room left for creative writing so nothing to read out again.  But we did have time to do a short exercise which was interesting so managed to read that out instead.
This months homework: To think of nursery rhymes from your childhood.  Take the first line of whichever appeals the most, ignore the original context and use as inspiration for a poem or short story.

For instance: ‘Little Jack Horner sat in the corner…’ Was he hearing voices?  Was he being bullied?  What happened next?  (borrowed from Mslexia)

A new perspective

Last weekend, much to my surprise, I ran 4 whole miles.

I shouldn’t really be surprised; I did after all set out to run 4 miles.  But it had taken me a good six months to run a whole 3 miles (about 5km) and this was only my second attempt to run 4.  Not only did I manage to run all of it, including the steepest hill I’ve ever seen, but I also managed it in just under 39 mins.  As you can imagine I’m very pleased with myself, even if my knees are starting to question my sanity.

I think a lot of this is to do with belief.  I never believe I would be able to run; never mind 4 miles.  So every time I tried to run the 3 miles my brain would tell me that I couldn’t run the whole thing, I’d have to walk some of it, even though my breathing and my legs were fine.

With the 4 miles I was doing fine, but coming to my second smaller hill and thinking how I’d never make it, I should walk now, when I came across a little boy ‘running’ with his dad.  I ran past them and then thought ‘I can’t stop’ at least not while they could see me.  By the time I was out of sight I was back on the flat and suddenly realised that there was no reason why I shouldn’t run the whole thing.  So I did.

Good luck to everyone running the London Marathon this weekend.  For the first time in my life I am starting to see why you do it.

April Writers Group

Today the Writers Group met.  No prize for guessing that once again I had nothing to read out.  But this week I really should have had something, even if it wasn't related to the homework.  
I've spent my Easter break doing all sorts of things and feeling really inspired but I never got past this feeling to an idea to write about.  I find this happens quite often and is really frustrating.  I find myself buzzing with 'inspiration' but can't find the outlet, whether it be a story or drawing or just making something.  It feels like there are hundreds of ideas in my head but every time I try to use one it escapes and leaves me with nothing but a glimmer of how amazing it would have been if I'd manage to grab it.   
Anyway this months homework is to write a short story, essay or poem using the form of an instructional article, employing a step-by-step method, such as ‘how to know if you’re enlightened’ or ‘ten steps to losing your mind’. (taken from Jack Heffron's The Writer's Idea Book)

Paper safe

Another Rob Ives project.  I find them very refreshing after all my essay writing and module reading.  This is his paper safe.  It took a couple of sessions to create it but I am very pleased with the outcome.  If it was just a little bigger it would be the perfect place to keep my Easter chocolate (you can seal the bottom compartment to people can't work out the combination).  Maybe one day I will try scaling it up.

Gift box with four compartments

With a little time off work for Easter and being up to date with my course work I decided to try another Rob Ives project.  This is his gift box with four compartments, which then folds up into a cover.  This is a pretty rough attempt but now I understand how it works I can have another go and smooth off the 'rough edges'.  I love boxes and think this is great. Any box that isn't quite what you expect gets my thumbs up.