From 7 to 11

Wow the last entry on my blog was freakin' 2007! Facebook truly has taken over my creative space and e-literary universe! Mental note to self....get back onto the blog! Stumbled onto some inspiring travel stroies today which seems to hae relit the blog spark I feared I had lost. I love the random stumbles of life...to be continued...very shortly.....yippppeeee!!

Reflections - by George Carlin

I was emailed this by my mom this morning, and its reflections are...pure and simple. It is by George Carlin

The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider freeways, but narrower viewpoints.

We spend more, but have less, we buy more, but enjoy less.

We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, but less time.

We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgment, more experts, yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness.

We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom.

We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values.

We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often.We've learned how to make a living, but not a life. We've added years to life not life to years.

We've been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor.

We conquered outer space but not inner space.

We've done larger things, but not better things. We've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul.

We've conquered the atom, but not our prejudice.

We write more, but learn less.

We plan more, but accomplish less.

We've learned to rush, but not to wait.

We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but we communicate less and less. These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion, big men and small character, steep profits and shallow relationships.

These are the days of two incomes but more divorce, fancier houses, but broken homes. These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throwaway morality, one night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill.

It is a time when there is much in the showroom window and nothing in the stockroom.

A time when technology can bring this letter to you, and a time when you can choose either to share this insight, or to just hit delete...

Remember; spend some time with your loved ones, because they are not going to be around forever.

Remember, say a kind word to someone who looks up to you in awe, because that little person soon will grow up and leave your side.

Remember, to give a warm hug to the one next to you, because that is the only treasure you can give with your heart and it doesn't cost a cent.

Remember, to say, "I love you" to your partner and your loved ones, but most of all mean it. A kiss and an embrace will mend hurt when it comes from deep inside of you.

Remember to hold hands and cherish the moment for someday that person will not be there again.

Give time to love, give time to speak! And give time to share the precious thoughts in your mind.

AND ALWAYS REMEMBER: Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

Me, Reens and my nephews

A picture of Me, William, Shireen and Jed in Franschoek on Sunday xxx

One

One SONG can spark a moment

One FLOWER can wake the dream

One TREE can start a forest

One BIRD can herald spring

One SMILE begins a friendship

One HANDCLASP lifts a soul

One STAR can guide a ship at sea

One WORD can frame the goal

One VOTE can change a nation

One SUNBEAM lights a room

One CANDLE wipes out darkness

One LAUGH will conquer gloom

One STEP must start each journey

One WORD must start a prayer

One HOPE will raise our spirits

One TOUCH can show you care

One VOICE can speak with wisdom

One HEART can know what is true

One LIFE can make a difference.

I love this reading this especially at times when I am feeling quite down or sad about something or someone. Sometimes I get so focused on the negative about a particular thing, that I forget how much positive experiences I have and had in my life. But more the special and amazing and unforgettable people that have touched my heart - knowingly or unknowingly. Whatever paths and contracts we have with each other, I would always hope that I can be just one of these inspirations to myself and if lucky enough, to someone else.



The ONE and only Orangeblossom xxx

On Giving

Last week had a very strange mood about it, perhaps it was the new moon lunar energy or the solstice, but I think a more likely conclusion would point to me. Perhaps my chakras are out of balance and I need to meditate, cleanse and do a bit more self reflection on myself, those around me and my current life.


Anyway all this rambling does and will lead to a point. I had been wanting to write on my blog all of last week, but couldn’t (or wouldn’t perhaps) find the inspiration on what to write. I want my blog to reflect my best intensions and thoughts, so that it serves as something to strive and push towards. To become a better person to myself and to those around me. It’s a long journey.


So while I was self consuming last week, I guess my mood started to lift on Friday and then when Cherise sent me this picture this morning I just looked at it and the message I saw behind it. A message of giving. And giving in all its many forms, from a simple gesture to an elaborate declaration. How brave those are who dare to take a leap, weather for their faith, friendships, studies, career or love.


Where there is giving, there is bound to be taking. They go hand in hand and too frequently do we forget that they are actually mutual actions that need to be circulated in order for the flow to remain in a constant state on equilibrium. And it’s so much easier to take and I often have to consciously remind myself to keep that flow going. And as much as one gives, the more will be returned, its simply karma.


And with life happening all around us, we get caught up in our own whirlwinds so its hard to focus and put forth energy and love to others, especially if we don’t feel we are or will get any in return. Or I find that too often my own inability to clear my own thoughts then manifests into negative energy with my relations with others, which just frustrates me even more, because its unintended. Many times I think that the negativity I feel towards others (often those clostest to me) is just a reflection of the negativity that I see mirroring itself in me. So perhaps if we spend some time on not just giving to others, but also giving and expressing our own thoughts and dreams to ourselves, we will enrich our own souls which will ripple happy and loving energy to those around us.


When it comes to giving and receiving (in every sense of our mind, body and spirit), I hope that I can aim to give more of myself to others so that I may be blessed enough to receive whatever they are able to give of themselves to me. Because although it may seem greedy, but I couldn’t think of anything more precious than being able to be completely open with even just one other person, being brave enough to expose your own inner soul and in return by giving yourself, you allow them to give a part or a whole of themselves to you. I think there is a lot of healing to be found in the sharing of giving, its liberating and freeing.


And as Jo and I always say: “Sharing is Caring”!


I am probably making no sense, so when in doubt I always turn to those little gems of quotations that I stack up along with way. They seem to express things so simply, so purely, and so…perfectly.

“Those who bring sunshine into the lives of others, cannot keep it from themselves.” – James M. Barrie

“Happiness is not so much in having as sharing. We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” – Norman Macewan

“Three keys to more abundant living: caring about others, daring for others, sharing with others.” – William A. Ward

“If nature has made you a giver, your hands are born open, and so is your heart. And though there may be times when your hands are empty, your heart is always full, and you can give things out of that.” - Frances Hodgson Burnett

“There is a wonderful mythical law of nature that the three things we crave most in life - happiness, freedom and peace of mind - are always attained by giving them to someone else.” - Peyton Conway March

Love, Light and Happiness
Orangeblooom

The Much Belated Update

Greetings from the elusive and slumbering Orangeblossom! Yes for too long I have neglected my blog, I could list some valid enough reasons, but its still poor show really. I guess I can mostly blame it on my lack of creativity of late – or at least feeling very creatively unproductive or uninspired. But I will be making a more consertive effort to keep on updating on a much more regular basis (heard and said that one way too many times, I know, but have faith please!) I don’t even know who will pop their heads into my Orangeblossom world, but feel free to anytime, and if not no worries, my blog is also a form of inner expression of reflection, contemplation, observation etc etc my own online portal of visual thoughts and feelings. I do love writing and perhaps I tend to babble or rabble, but I find it soothing and theraputic to my cluttered mind and spirit. And also I go through stages where I roam alone in my world esp during times of confusion, stress, longing, self awareness...I go to my forest of safety and hang out there till I have made my clearing or set up a new hedge or lay a new path for myself and sometimes for others. My own processing theory!

So quite a lot has happened since my last posting since January….oh I changed my course from Emergency and Disaster Management to Global Security. It incorporates more politics and international relations as well as human security issues and terrorism and all that. Very exciting subjects to be studying. I am loving it.

In January I also went to Amsterdam (with Jo, Jus and Tyran) which was a hazey blast – you can check out my Facebook for the pics of our escapades. I love the one of Jo and the “Lost in Amsterdam” sign behind her – it says it all! I do love Amsterdam, even riding the funky old school bicycles around and there are so many coffeeshops and coffeeshops that it would be quite an awesome place to live for a while – I fear I will get truly “lost” ;)

Anyway….oh yes went on a very spontaneous last minute getaway to Spain before I left with Pete and that was great. The weather was warm and sunny and we went to Valencia, Tarragona and Barcelona, so many places to see in Spain. It was so good to just get away from everything and also clear my head before starting examinations. Sun, sea and sand certainly did the trick. Still need to upload those pics on my Facebook, soon soon that will be.

Exams….phew after seven years of not studying it was quite a battle to get motivated and do get down and actually do some constructive studying. But I think overall it went off well, only the results will truly tell….eeek! But I am so looking forward to second year, although I do find myself being quite drained because of the subject matter which can cause me quite depression and anxiety, but I am faithful that I have made the right decision for me.

Now I am spending the summer holidays back home in Cape Town. Ill be working at the petroleum company again, but focussing more on the community development and project work which suits me just grandly. Am involved in quite a diverse and encouraging youth programme in one of the poorer parts of the city (I will do a posting of that once I have it all up and running). I also have a new baby nephew, Jed, and he is just such a cutie. And William is just growing up to be such a little boy – he is such a cheeky muffin. I also get to spend more time with my treasured friends and basically just chill out a bit and be surrounded by home before returning to the UK in September – which I am excited for as well, for numerous reasons.

But that is just an overview of the latest happenings – will be posting some more random things. I am wanting to get back in touch with my spirit and soul and just reconnect and develop my own truths and values.

Love, light and eternal happiness
C xxx

Back from Elusiveness

I have indeed deglected my little blog for too long - I will try and make up for it my posting loads of pictures of the festive season....

Christmas in Cape Town and a bit of New Years in Brighton and some of my beautiful nephew William - its all been a bit of a blur and just starting to get back to a semi state of normality - university starts next week and Tyran arrives next Sunday!

Ok so here are some snapshot collages for my few days in Cape Town - alas I could not spend nearly as much time with all my friends and family as I wanted to but I didnt have many days :(

Some of William

And of Brighton on New Years day with Jo and Justin - very cold and windy, but clear blue skies!

The next adventure is Amsterdam in two weeks time with Jodene, Tyran and Justin - wow its going to be fabulous - so will be taking lots of cultural and not so cultural pics - actually I cant promise what pictures Ill end up taking, it is after all Amsterdam and its a crazy city!

Love and light Orangeblossom xxx

Exploring the Buddha

"If you want others to be happy, Practice compassion.

If you want to be happy, Practice compassion."

- His Holiness The Dalai Lama

I came across this posting on the gumtree website about a BuddhistMeditation Group in Coventry. So I went along last night to see what it was all about, as for a long time I have been interested in a more Eastern philosophical view on life.

I bought a book while I was in Cape Town in September (at the Obs holistic fair) and I was not quite sure why I was just drawn to it, but I just bought it anyway, figuring its use will be revealed to me later. Its called Pure Land Pure Mind: The Buddhism of Masters Chu-hung and Tsung-pen and I have now started reading it as it goes hand in hand with the meditation groups that I will be going to from now on.

I thought I would share some information about Buddhism, the school of Buddhism that is followed and practised at the meditation classes is based on Tibetan Buddhism which can be briefly summarised as:

Tibetan Buddhism - formerly also called Lamaism, after their religious gurus known as lamas - is the body of religious Buddhist doctrine and institutions characteristic of Tibet and the Himalayan region. It is a multifaceted and integrated teaching, naturally implementing methods for all human-condition levels: Hinayana, Mahayana, Vajrayana (Tantric Path) and Ati Yoga.

The monk that leads us in the mediation class was taught at The Jamyang Centre, which is a centre for meditation and the study of Tibetan Buddhism in the heart of London. Since its establishment in 1978, our main aims are to provide Buddhist teachings to everyone interested, and to develop local community services. Jamyang is the Tibetan name for the Bodhisattva of Wisdom, and the name of our meditation and study centre in the centre of London. Another translation of the word Jamyang (or Manjushri in Sanskrit) is Gentle Voice. For more info, visit http://www.jamyang.co.uk/

Some Buddhism FAQ's

Who is the Buddha? What are the Three Jewels? What is the essence of the Buddha’s teachings? Why are there many Buddhist traditions? What are the various Buddhist traditions? What does the imagery in tantric art mean? What is the purpose of reciting mantras?

Who is the Buddha?

There are many ways to describe who the Buddha is, according to different ways of understanding . These various interpretations have their sources in the Buddha’s teachings.
One way is to see the historical Buddha who lived 2,500 years ago as a human being who cleansed his mind of all defilements and developed all his potential. Any being who does likewise is also considered a Buddha, for there are many Buddhas, not just one.

Another way is to understand a particular Buddha or Buddhist deity as omniscient mind manifesting in a certain physical aspect in order to communicate with us.

Yet another way is to see the Buddha -- or any of the enlightened Buddhist deities -- as the appearance of the future Buddha that we will become once we properly and completely have engaged in the path to cleanse our mind of defilements and develop all our potentials.

What are the Three Jewels?

The Three Jewels are the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. Buddha is one who has purified all the defilements of the mind the afflictive emotions, the imprints of the actions motivated by them, and the stains of these afflictive emotions and who has developed all good qualities, such as impartial love and compassion, wisdom knowing all existence, and skillful means of guiding others.

The Dharma embodies the preventive measures which keep us from problems and suffering. This includes the teachings of the Buddha, as well as the realizations of those teachings the cessations of problems and their causes, and the realizations or paths which lead to those cessations.

The Sangha are those beings who have direct non-conceptual perception of emptiness or ultimate truth. On a relative level, Sangha also refers to the ordained people who put the Buddha’s teachings into practice.

The Dharma is our real refuge, the medicine we take which cures our problems and their causes. The Buddha is like the doctor, who correctly diagnoses the cause of our problems and prescribes the appropriate medicine. By assisting us in the practice, the Sangha is similar to the nurse who helps us take the medicine.

Taking refuge means that we rely wholeheartedly on the Three Jewels to inspire and guide us towards a constructive and beneficial direction to take in our life. Taking refuge does not mean passively hiding under the protection of Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. Rather, it is an active process of taking the direction they show and improving the quality of our life.

What is the essence of the Buddha’s teachings?
Simply speaking, this is to avoid harming others and to help them as much as possible. Another way of expressing this is, Abandon negative action; create perfect virtue; subdue your own mind. This is the teaching of the Buddha. By abandoning negative actions (killing, etc.) and destructive motivations (anger, attachment, close-mindedness, etc.), we stop harming ourselves and others. By creating perfect virtue, we develop beneficial attitudes, like impartial love and compassion, and do actions motivated by these thoughts. By subduing our mind, we cut away all false projections, thus making ourselves calm and peaceful by understanding reality.

The essence of Buddha’s teachings is also contained in the three principles of the path: definite emergence, the dedicated heart and wisdom realizing emptiness. Initially, we seek definitely to emerge from the confusion of our problems and their causes. Then, we see that other people also have problems, and with love and compassion, we dedicate our heart to becoming a Buddha so that we are capable of helping others extensively. In order to do this, we develop the wisdom understanding the real nature of ourselves and other phenomena.

Why are there many Buddhist traditions?

The Buddha gave a wide variety of teachings because sentient beings (any being with mind who is not a Buddha, including those in other realms of existence) have different dispositions, inclinations and interests. The Buddha never expected us all to fit into the same mould. Thus, he gave many teachings and described various ways of practicing so each of us could find something that suits our level of mind and our personality.

With skill and compassion in guiding others, the Buddha turned the wheel of Dharma three times, each time setting forth a slightly different philosophical system in order to suit the various dispositions of sentient beings. The essence of all the teachings is the same: the wish definitely to emerge from the cycle of constantly recurring problems (samsara), compassion for others and the wisdom realizing selflessness.
Not everyone likes the same kind of food. When a huge buffet is spread before us, we choose the dishes that we like. There is no obligation to like everything. Although we may have a taste for sweets, that does not mean that the salty dishes are not good and should be thrown away!
Similarly, we may prefer a certain approach to the teachings: Theravada, Pure Land, Zen, Vajrayana, and so on. We are free to choose the approach that suits us best and with which we feel the most comfortable. Yet we still maintain an open mind and respect for other traditions. As our mind develops, we may come to understand elements in other traditions that we failed to comprehend previously.

In short, whatever is useful and helps us live a better life, we practice, and whatever we do not yet understand, we leave aside without rejecting it.

While we may find one particular tradition best suited for our personality, do not identify with it in a concrete way: "I am a Mahayanist, you are a Theravadin," or "I am a Buddhist, you are a Christian." It is important to remember that we are all human beings seeking happiness and wanting to realize the truth, and we each must find a method suitable for our disposition.
However, keeping an open mind to different approaches does not mean to mix everything together at random, making our practice like chop suey.

Do not mix meditation techniques from different traditions together in one meditation session. In one session, it is better to do one technique. If we take a little of this technique and a little from that, and without understanding either one very well mix them together, we may end up confused. However, a teaching emphasized in one tradition may enrich our understanding and practice of another. Also, it is advisable to do the same meditations daily. If we do breathing meditation one day, chanting the Buddha's name the next, and analytical meditation the third, we will not make progress in any of them for there is no continuity in the practice.

What are the various Buddhist traditions?

Generally, there are two divisions: Theravada and Mahayana.
The Theravada lineage (Tradition of the Elders), which relies on sutras recorded in the Pali language, spread from India to Sri Lanka, Thailand, Burma, etc. It emphasizes meditation on the breath to develop concentration and meditation on mindfulness of the body, feelings, mind and phenomena in order to develop wisdom.

The Mahayana (Great Vehicle) tradition, based on the scriptures recorded in Sanskrit, spread to China, Tibet, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, etc. Although in the Theravadin practice love and compassion are essential and important factors, in the Mahayana they are emphasized to an even greater extent.

Within Mahayana, there are several branches: Pure Land emphasizes chanting the name of Amitabha Buddha in order to be reborn in His Pure Land; Zen emphasizes meditation to eliminate the noisy, conceptual mind; Vajrayana (Diamond Vehicle) employs meditation on a deity in order to transform our contaminated body and mind into the body and mind of a Buddha.

What does the imagery in tantric art mean?

Vajrayana deals a lot with transformation, and therefore, symbolism is widely used. There are representations of some deities, which are manifestations of the Buddha, that are expressing desire or wrath. The sexual imagery is not to be taken literally, according to worldly appearances. In Vajrayana, deities in sexual union represent the union of method and wisdom, the two aspects of the path that need to be developed in order to attain enlightenment. Wrathful deities are not monsters threatening us. Their wrath is directed toward ignorance and selfishness, which are our real enemies. This imagery, when properly understood, shows how desire and anger can be transformed and thereby subdued. It has deep meaning, far beyond ordinary lust and anger. We should not misinterpret it.

What is the purpose of reciting mantras?

Mantras are prescribed syllables to protect the mind. What we want to protect our mind from are attachment, anger, ignorance, and so on. When combined with the four opponent powers, mantra recitation is very powerful in purifying negative karmic imprints on our mindstream. While we recite mantras, we should also be thinking and visualizing in a beneficial way so that we are building up constructive habits in the mind. In the Vajrayana practice, mantras are recited in Sanskrit, rather than being translated into other languages. The reason for this is that there is a special beneficial energy or vibration that is induced by the sound of the syllables. While doing recitation, we can concentrate on the sound of the mantra, on its meaning, or on the accompanying visualizations that the master has taught.

Other links:

http://www.buddhistthought.org/
http://www.lamayeshe.com/
http://www.fpmt.org
http://aboutbuddhism.org/
http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhism
http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/buddhism/

Love, Light and Buddha!!
Orangeblossom xxx

Twisted Records 10th Anniversary Halloween Party

Last weekend, Jo and I went to the Twisted Records 10th Anniversary Halloween party at the Renaissance Rooms in Vauxhall, London.

After waiting 3 hours in the "non ticket holders" queue with Rob (he is in the photo above with the blue Scottish guy!), lady luck was on our side (randomly yet again!) and we met these people with extra tickets - halleluja!!

So we spent the night from about 11:45pm until 7am roaming about the rooms and checking out all the strange, wacky, weird, wonderful, crazy, gorgeous, scary, intriguing people and listening to all the thumping, pumping and jumping psy trance beats.

My favorite room was the butterfly garden room and also ID Spiral chill out - because the guy serving there sneaked us some cola (organic I assure you! Dare they have coca cola there!).

I was testing out my new digital camera and it shows - because some of the photos came our really trippy and blurry and unintentionally arty!

Had such an awesome and fun night with Jo - we always seem to just party so easily together! By the end of the night - or morning I should say - we were knackered and hopped on the morning tube.

I am off to London tomorrow and joining in the ICount Campaign Against Climate Chaos March to Trafalgar Square. I am marching with the students first to the American Embassy - should be fun!

Love and light Orangeblossom xxx

Another Day In Camden

Whenever I am down in London, I always try to sneak a visit to Camden - those of you who have been to London will know why. Those who havent - well I will not elaborate on the spectacle that awaits you in Camden Town.

Anyway, Jo and I went there a few weeks ago and had mint tea and apple hookah pipe at a Morrocan cafe called Marakesh and its so authentic and charming.

Also we went for a walk along the canal and it almost looks a bit like Amsterdam.

OB xxx

Sharon and Steve's Wedding Day

As promised before, here are some photos of Sharon and Steven's wedding in Falmouth at the end of September.

It was such a special day and I was so privaleged to be there and share in their magical moments.

The sun even made an appearance while we were on the beach so the photos came out so great.

All the very best to you Shazzy Lobelia Fairy Princess and your Hobbit Knight Steven - you truly a match made in angel heaven :)

OB xxx

Having Faith in Faith

Sometimes I find myself riding so fast on my own wave on the universal thought superhighway, that when I do slow down or indeed stop, there is a silence or sorts. Like I get so consumed with just believing everything will be alright and staying focused on being positive, that I hardly ever stop to think that maybe things aren’t going to turn out as brightly as I may want or believe them to. And when I stop to analyse the situation or thought from a different perspective, I invariably get into an argument with myself (only in my head of course, just in case you were really starting to get worried about me!)

All this optimistic and positive thinking is a universal truth. The laws of attraction. What you think is what you project and that which you project, you will receive.

So I always try to have faith or keep faith or rather just to believe in Faith. Without it, I fear that its glue that binds my mortal shell will slowly fade and all that will remain is a whole lot of scattered pieces that cannot be puzzled back together.

So I guess I will just keep going along, believing that my faith, not luck, will not run out. And even if Winter does stay around a bit longer, Spring is always around the corner.

As a fan of JRR Tolkien, I have included a short poem that he once wrote…


All That is Gold Does Not Glitter

All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king.


Love, Light and Faith
Orangeblossom xxx

Quotes of my Moment(s)

Some quotes and sayings and expressions that reflect my mood of late…

“You can kiss your family and friends good-bye and put miles between you, but at the same time you carry them with you in your heart, your mind, your stomach, because you do not just live in a world but a world lives in you.” - Frederick Buechner

"What most people need to learn in life is how to love people and use things instead of using people and loving things." - Unknown

"We do not inherit the land, we borrow it from our children." - Native American saying

“Well, it seems to me that the best relationships - the ones that last - are frequently the ones that are rooted in friendship. You know, one day you look at the person and you see something more than you did the night before. Like a switch has been flicked somewhere. And the person who was just a friend is... suddenly the only person you can ever imagine yourself with.” - Gillian Anderson (American actress (Dana Sculley-X Files)

“Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born.” - Anais Nin

"People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within." - Elizabeth Kubler-Ross

A Much Belated Update

Shooooooo......(as Skippy would declare!) I have not updated my blog in ages. Since coming back from Cape Town, its been pretty much a blur these last four weeks. I started university last month and slowly settling in to the whole student life and all. At times I find myself strolling along and I still cant quite believe that this will be my way of life for the next three or four years. I am sure there will be lots of change, growth, development, socialising and oh yes education of course! But so far so good, I could definately get used to this lifestyle.

Ok but I have been doing other things besides living the student life...I was at Sharon and Steven wedding in Falmouth, Cornwall a few weeks back. I am still waiting for the pictures to be sent to me, and then I will dedicate an entire blog posting on the very special event that I was so lucky to share in.

Last weekend I was down in London visting Jo, we went to Camden (but of course) and I scouted around for some bedroom decor. I am going back down at the beginning of November to join the Campaign Against Climate Chaos rally to Trafalgar Square. The students are marching or demonstrating to the US Embassy first - not even a month at uni and already I am participating in demonstrations and all that glorious stuff!!

Oh this weekend we are having a house party, apparently! Details and pictures to follow. Oh yes I bought a digital camera (Charlene you will be proud of me, how I have finally succumbed to the digital technology!!! haha) so once I get that all figured out, I will be posting more pics, lucky for you!

And other than that, no other news really, but will be making a more conscious effort to blog more frequently.

Until then, ta da and too da loo until next time.

Love and light Orangeblossom xxx

Desiderata by Max Ehrmann

Desiderata

Go placidly amid the noise and haste,and remember what peace there may be in silence.As far as possible without surrenderbe on good terms with all persons.Speak your truth quietly and clearly;and listen to others,even the dull and the ignorant;they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons,they are vexations to the spirit.If you compare yourself with others,you may become vain and bitter;for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.

Keep interested in your own career, however humble;it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.Exercise caution in your business affairs;for the world is full of trickery.But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;many persons strive for high ideals;and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself.Especially, do not feign affection.Neither be cynical about love;for in the face of all aridity and disenchantmentit is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years,gracefully surrendering the things of youth.Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.Beyond a wholesome discipline,be gentle with yourself.

You are a child of the universe,no less than the trees and the stars;you have a right to be here.And whether or not it is clear to you,no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,whatever you conceive Him to be,and whatever your labors and aspirations,in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,it is still a beautiful world.Be cheerful.Strive to be happy.

Written by Max Ehrmann, 1952.

The Earthdance Experience

As I mentioned in my previous post (I think!) I went to the Cape Town Earthdance last weekend with a bunch of my friendies. We set up our own little tent boudior and actually spent most of our time hanging out and being crazy and chillaxing and all that. We did mission to the dance floor (when it was finally put up at like 10pm!) and stayed there for a good few hours and stomped our little feet to the beats and sounds of some pumping psy trance tunes.

The weather was rather chilly and wet to say the least, but that did not dampen our spirits, we all got rather cosy and snuggled in the boudior.

So I have attached some pics of the weekend that was Earthdance, not many of Sunday though as most of us were in 'recovery' mode!

In the Daytime when the weather was fine(ish) :






And when the sun goes away, in the night time we play:

Earthdance 2006 - Global Party for Peace

EARTHDANCE September 16, 2006

THE GLOBAL FESTIVAL FOR PEACE - Uniting over 250 locations in 50 countries through music and dancein celebration of peace

The highlight of the Earthdance event is a simultaneous link up, when every event across the world plays the Prayer for Peace. Morning in the Australian rainforest, midnight in London, and sunrise over the Himalayas, the Prayer for Peace is a profound and powerful moment that unifies our intentions for World peace and healing.

"We are one global family

All colors, All races, One world united.

We dance for peace and the healing of our planet Earth

Peace for all nations.

Peace for our communities.

And peace within ourselves.

As we join all dance floors across the world,let us connect heart to heart.

Through our diversity we recognize Unity.

Through our compassion we recognize Peace.

Our love is the power to transform our world

Let us send it out

NOW..."

The Mission
Our mission is to promote peace by joining participants worldwide in a synchronized PRAYER FOR PEACE and to support humanitarian causes through the global language of music and dance.
The Goal
Our goal is to inspire participation from promoters, clubs, artists, musicians and peace-lovers worldwide to dedicate one day to support humanitarian efforts and help unite people from all nations in a day of peaceful celebration and harmony. This year we are expanding the circle to include anyone interested in world peace, even if you can't make it to an official event.
The Objective

Our objective is to create as many Earthdance events around the world as possible. From public stadium concerts to private living room gatherings, there are no conditions on how big or small an event has to be. The spirit of Earthdance is participation on whatever level possible.
In the spirit of "Think Global, Act Local," each local promoter must donate at least 50% of their profits to a local charity related to one of the following categories:

* The Welfare of Children & Urban Youth
* Indigenous Peoples
* International Relief and Development;
* Environmental Sustainability & Protection
* Organizations that help Promote Peace

Give Peace a Dance…check out http://www.earthdance.org/ for further details and the cities listing where the parties are going to be happening.

I am going to be lucky enough to be in Cape Town for Earthdance (like last year with Jo and Chris!) and I will look up at the moon and send out my love and energy to those I hold dear.

Peace, Love and Earthdance

Orangeblossom xxx

The Essence of Man - by Werner Klokow

Under stars underneath clear skies
Rhythmic pulsating sugary beat
Existence reflects in pure bliss
Humanity in a momentary pause of life
Rides the beat of our basic instincts
Bare feet in mud and dust pounding
Together write the story of our essence
Life becomes a reflection of a moment
All moments become one leading up
Upwards the music sends our psyche
Upwards our souls soar careless
Like children perfect when born first

Checking out the Czech Republic

I am not going to drown this posting in the potholes that surrounded Jo and my trip to Czech. Instead I have decided to post some lovely pictures of our good times spent in Prague and Cesky Krumlov.

Prague and Cesky are beautifully preserved medieval places with towers castles and many spiers and bridges. The architectures is so detailed and glorious and I loved how the streets (especially in Cesky) just wind in cobbled mazes.

Some sights we saw in Prague were the Charles Bridge, Prague Castle complex, Old Town, New Town and a charming tea room not far from our pristine hostel (seriously, if you go to Prague stay at Miss Sophies!)

In Cesky we went up to the castle complex and gardens, lazed in another tea room and then just strolled around the town, absorbing this quaint and charming little town surrounded by a meanding river moat.

So despite all our hiccups and drama, we did still have a good time and we plan on visiting Hungary next year esp Ozora festival that we had to miss out on :( boo hoo

But such is life and I thought I would include a few travel quotes that have rung true on this little journey of ours:

* "Stop worrying about the potholes in the road and enjoy the journey. " - Babs Hoffman

* "The rewards of the journey far outweigh the risk of leaving the harbor." - Unknown

* "For my part, I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel's sake. The great affair is to move; to feel the needs and hitches of our life more nearly; to come down off this feather-bed of civilization, and find the globe granite underfoot and strewn with cutting flints." -Robert Louis Stevenson

* "If you come to a fork in the road, take it." -Yogi Berra

* "Tourists don't know where they've been, travellers don't know where they're going." -Paul Theroux

So ahoy I shout from my travelling ship, its off I go again, back home to Africa on Saturday for a few weeks before I begin the student life - horray!

Love, Light and Safe Travels
Orangeblossom xxx

The Truth about Soya

Soya. It’s a controversial story.

While the health benefits of soya consumption have been shouted from the rooftops for many years now, there are also frequent reports that it may actually be bad for your health.

So, what’s the truth? Jo handed me an article from The Guardian newspaper about soya.

I have copied the article in, and you can read at your leisure and decide for yourself if you would like to look into it further. I have stopped buying soya milk, and am going to make a conscious effort to look more at what is actually in the products that I buy. Its not just about the potential health dangers that soya poses, but also the unethical cultivation and fermentation methods in which most soya is forced to grow in.

Call it becoming more “food conscious”, but I think in today’s world of mass production struggling to keep in demand for global food consumption, its worth thinking about it a bit more about what actually is being put into everyday foods.

~~~ The Guardian 25th July 2006 - by Felicity Lawrence

Should we worry about soya in our food?

Whether you know it or not, you'll probably be eating soya today. It's in 60% of all processed food, from cheese to ice cream, baby formula to biscuits. But should it carry a health warning?

For Dr Mike Fitzpatrick, the saga of soya began in Monty Python-style with a dead parrot. His investigations into the ubiquitous bean started in 1991 when Richard James, a multimillionaire American lawyer, turned up at the laboratory in New Zealand where Fitzpatrick was working as a consultant toxicologist. James was sure that soya beans were killing his rare birds.

"We thought he was mad, but he had a lot of money and wanted us to find out what was going on," Fitzpatrick recalls.

Over the next months, Fitzpatrick carried out an exhaustive study of soya and its effects. "We discovered quite quickly," he recalls, "that soya contains toxins and plant oestrogens powerful enough to disrupt women's menstrual cycles in experiments. It also appeared damaging to the thyroid." James's lobbying eventually forced governments to investigate. In 2002, the British government's expert committee on the toxicity of food (CoT) published the results of its inquiry into the safety of plant oestrogens, mainly from soya proteins, in modern food. It concluded that in general the health benefits claimed for soya were not supported by clear evidence and judged that there could be risks from high levels of consumption for certain age groups. Yet little has happened to curb soya's growth since.

More than 60% of all processed food in Britain today contains soya in some form, according to food industry estimates. It is in breakfast cereals, cereal bars and biscuits, cheeses, cakes, dairy desserts, gravies, noodles, pastries, soups, sausage casings, sauces and sandwich spreads. Soya, crushed, separated and refined into its different parts, can appear on food labels as soya flour, hydrolysed vegetable protein, soy protein isolate, protein concentrate, textured vegetable protein, vegetable oil (simple, fully, or partially hydrogenated), plant sterols, or the emulsifier lecithin. Its many guises hint at its value to manufacturers.

Soya increases the protein content of processed meat products. It replaces them altogether in vegetarian foods. It stops industrial breads shrinking. It makes cakes hold on to their water. It helps manufacturers mix water into oil. Hydrogenated, its oil is used to deep-fry fast food.

Soya is also in cat food and dog food. But above all it is used in agricultural feeds for intensive chicken, beef, dairy, pig and fish farming. Soya protein - which accounts for 35% of the raw bean - is what has made the global factory farming of livestock for cheap meat a possibility. Soya oil - high in omega 6 fatty acids and 18% of the whole bean - has meanwhile driven the postwar explosion in snack foods around the world. Crisps, confectionery, deep-fried take-aways, ready meals, ice-creams, mayonnaise and margarines all make liberal use of it. Its widespread presence is one of the reasons our balance of omega 3 to omega 6 essential fatty acids is so out of kilter.

You may think that when you order a skinny soya latte, you are choosing a commodity blessed with an unadulterated aura of health. But soya today is in fact associated with patterns of food consumption that have been linked to diet-related diseases. And 50 years ago it was not eaten in the west in any quantity.
In 1965, the earliest year for which the Chicago Board of Trade keeps figures, global soya bean production was just 30m tonnes. By 2005, the world was consuming nine times that a year, at 270m tonnes. World soya oil production, meanwhile, has increased sevenfold over the same period, from 5m tonnes to 34m tonnes a year.

To feed demand, new agricultural frontiers are being opened up in Brazil, where large areas of virgin rainforest have been illegally felled to make room for the crop. US-based transnationals are now exporting soya back to China, the country from which it originated, as newly urbanised Chinese switch to industrialised western diets. Thanks to US agribusiness, we have developed an apparently insatiable global appetite for the bean produced by farmers in the Americas.

James and Fitzpatrick became convinced early on that this entirely new dependence on soya was, in fact, a dangerous experiment. The dead parrots were no joke - they were the canaries in the coalmine.

For James and his wife Valerie, breeding the exotic birds down under was a retirement dream. They wanted to feed their young birds the best, so they began giving the chicks a soya feed. Parrots do not eat soya beans in the wild but the high-protein animal feed had been marketed in the US as a new miracle food.

The result was a catastrophic breeding year. Some of the birds were infertile; many died. Other young male birds aged prematurely or reached puberty years early. "We realised there was some sort of hormonal disruption going on but we'd eliminated other possible hormone disrupting chemicals such as pesticides from the inquiry," Fitzpatrick says.

So the toxicologist began a systematic review of the scientific literature on soya. After finding out about the plant oestrogens in soya, Fitzpatrick says, "My next thought was: what about children who are fed soya milk?" He calculated that babies fed exclusively on soya formula could receive the oestrogenic equivalent, based on body weight, of five birth control pills a day.

In fact, it had been known since the early 1980s that plant oestrogens, or phyto-oestrogens, could produce biological effects in humans. The most common of these were a group of compounds in soya protein called isoflavones. Food manufacturers had variously marketed soya foods as an antidote to menopausal hot flushes and osteoporosis, and as a protective ingredient against cardiovascular disease and hormone-related cancers. Large quantities of mainly industry-sponsored scientific research have been produced to back up these claims.

The American soya industry spends about $80m every year, raised from a mandatory levy on producers, to research and promote the consumption of soya around the world. The rash of new soya foods can be seen as the latest in a line of innovative ways devised to use soya.

The hypothesis behind the health claims is that rates of heart disease and certain cancers such as breast and prostate cancer are lower in east Asian populations with soya-rich diets than in western countries, and that the oestrogens in soya might therefore have a protective effect.

Fitzpatrick, however, looked into historic soya consumption in Japan and China and concluded that Asians did not actually eat that much. What they did eat tended to have been fermented for months. "If you look at people who are into health fads here, they are eating soya steaks and veggie burgers or veggie sausages and drinking soya milk - they are getting over 100g a day. They are eating tonnes of the raw stuff."

Mass exposure to isoflavones in the west has only occurred in the past 30 years due to the widespread incorporation of soya protein into processed foods, a fact noted by the Royal Society in its expert report on Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals in 2000. When the independent experts on the scientific committee on toxicity trawled through all the scientific data, they concluded that soya milk should not be recommended for infants even when they had cow's milk allergies, except on medical advice, because of the high levels of oestrogenic isoflavones it contains.

On breast cancer, they decided that "despite the suggested benefits of phyto-oestrogens in lowering risk of developing breast cancer, there is also evidence that they may stimulate the progression of the disease". The lower risk of certain cancers among Asian populations might be due to other factors - their high consumption of fish, for example. They advised caution. On the effects on menopause symptoms, the evidence was inconclusive, the experts ruled. On bone density, the committee thought there might be some protective effects, but the data was unclear. The evidence on prostate cancer was mixed. Since isoflavones cross the placenta, the implications of pregnant women eating large quantities of soya were unclear. There was some evidence that soya-based products had a beneficial effect on the good HDL cholesterol but they were not sure that was down to the isoflavones. On the other hand - reassuringly - they judged that a study linking soya consumption to decline in cognitive function was not convincing.

What the committee also pointed out was that the way soya was processed affected the levels of phyto-oestrogens. Traditional fermentation reduces the levels of isoflavones two- to threefold. Modern factory processes do not. Moreover, modern American strains of soya have significantly higher levels of isoflavones than Japanese or Chinese ones because they have been bred to be more resistant to pests. (One way to tackle pests is to stop them breeding by making them infertile. It turns out that unfermented soya did play one role in traditional Asian diets - it was eaten by monks to dampen down their libido.)

Sue Dibb, now food policy expert at the National Consumer Council, was a member of the CoT working group that compiled the final report. She questions whether infant soya milk should still be on public sale and is troubled by the latest marketing of soya. "We looked in detail at the claimed health benefits for adults for soya consumption and concluded there was not sufficient evidence to support many of them. There may be benefits but there are also risks. The groups of adults of particular concern are those with a thyroid problem and women with oestrogen-dependent breast cancer. It worries me that soya is being pushed as a health food by a big soya and supplements industry. We ought to be taking a more cautious approach."

The Food Standards Agency advice is that soya's potential to have an adverse effect on babies' hormonal development is still controversial, but that soya formula should only be given to infants under 12 months old in exceptional circumstances.

Professor Richard Sharpe, head of the Medical Research Council's human reproductive sciences unit at Edinburgh University, was also a member of the committee's working group on phyto-oestrogens in food. He has been studying the decline in male fertility in the past half-century. He recently completed studies on the effects of soya milk on young male monkeys which showed that it interferes with testosterone levels. "In the first three months after birth, baby boys have a neonatal testosterone rise. The testes are very, very active in hormone production at this point and there is a lot of cell activity going on that will determine sperm count in adults and will affect the developing prostate. If you introduce a phyto-oestrogen, which can, in large amounts, alter these changes, you may predispose children to later disease. Soya formula milk is a [recent] western invention. There is not the historical evidence to show it is safe."

Manufacturers, however, argue that soya infant formula has been widely used without problems. "The industry has said that if the CoT comes up with clear science, we will take note, but the case is not proven," says Roger Clarke, director general of the industry's Infant Dietetics Food Association. "A lot of the work it looked at was based on experimental work with animals. There does not seem to be clear evidence of adverse effects, and there is demand for it. There are some markets, such as vegan usage, where soya is the only alternative."

While 30-40% of all infants in the US are raised on soya formula - not least because it is given away in welfare programmes - soya milk for babies has always been confined to a small minority in the UK. So does Sharpe think exposure to soya from other sources - vegetarian soya proteins, the soya flour in factory bread, the hydrolysed proteins added as flavourings, for example - has a cumulative effect that might be worrying to other age groups? He says he is not concerned about people who eat soya foods in moderation or in the way they are traditionally used in oriental diets, but when it comes to modern processed foods, which use soya proteins in different ways, he prefers to turn the question round. "If someone said they were adding a hormone to your foods, would you be happy with that? There may be lots of effects, some of them may be beneficial, but would you be happy with that? I am not a fan of processed foods, full stop. And these quick fixes for protecting against ill-health - you know they can't be true," he adds.

A steaming hiss fills the kitchen of the top London restaurant Nobu, even after the lunchtime rush. Japanese chefs are filleting the evening's fish while stock bubbles and concentrates in its stainless steel vat behind. Executive chef Mark Edwards hands me a teaspoon of one of his soy sauces. Cool from the fridge, it is thick, rich, dark and sweet, yet remarkably clear from its long fermentation. The miso that he uses to marinade his famous black cod for three days is dense and strong from its lengthy brew too. Muslin cloths envelop delicate curds of tofu, made fresh each day and added in small cubes to miso soup.

Soya is used in traditional oriental diets in these forms, after cultures, moulds or precipitants have achieved a biochemical transformation, because in its raw form the mature bean is known not only for its oestrogenic qualities but for also its antinutrients, according to the clinical nutritionist Kaayla Daniel, author of The Whole Soy Story. Soya was originally grown in China as a green manure, for its ability to fix nitrogen in the soil, rather than as a food crop, until the Chinese discovered ways of fermenting it, she says.

The young green beans, now sold as a fashionable snack, edamame, are lower in oestrogens and antinutrients, though not free of them. But raw mature soya beans contain phytates that prevent mineral absorption and enzyme inhibitors that block the key enzymes we need to digest protein. They are also famous for inducing flatulence.

Christopher Dawson, who owns the Clearspring brand of organic soy sauces, agrees. He lived in Japan for 18 years and his Japanese wife, Setsuko, is a cookery teacher. "I never saw soy beans on the table in Japan - they're indigestible."

Dawson describes the traditional craft method of transforming the soya bean through fermentation, so that its valuable amino acids become available but its antinutrients are tamed. The process involves cooking whole soya beans, complete with their oil, for several hours, then adding the spores of a mould to the mix, and leaving it to ferment for three days to begin the long process of breaking down the proteins and starches. This initial brew is then mixed with salt water and left to ferment for a further 18 months, during which time the temperature will vary with the seasons. The end result is an intensely flavoured condiment in which the soya's chemical composition has been radically altered. Traditional miso is similarly made with natural whole ingredients, slowly aged.

Most soya sauces (and misos) are not made this way any more, however. Instead of using the whole bean, manufacturers short-cut the fermentation by starting with defatted soy protein meal. Soya veggie burgers and sausages generally use the same chemically extracted fraction of the bean.

This meal is the product of the industrial crushing process the vast majority of the world's soya beans go through. The raw beans are broken down to thin flakes, which are then percolated with a petroleum-based hexane solvent to extract the soya oil. The remains of the flakes are toasted and ground to a protein meal, most of which goes into animal feed. Soya flour is made in a similar way.

The oil then goes through a process of cleaning, bleaching, degumming and deodorising to remove the solvent and the oil's characteristic "off" smells and flavours. The lecithin that forms a heavy sludge in the oil during storage used to be regarded as a waste product, but now it has been turned into a valuable market in its own right as an emulsifier.

In so-called "naturally brewed" soya sauces the processed soy protein meal is mixed with the mould spores and given accelerated ageing at high temperatures for three to six months. Non-brewed soya sauce, the cheapest grade, is made in just two days. Defatted soya flour is mixed with hydrochloric acid at high temperatures and under pressure to create hydrolysed vegetable protein. Salt, caramel and chemical preservatives and flavourings are then added to provide colour and taste. This rapid hydrolysis method uses the enzyme glutamase as a reactor and creates large amounts of the unnatural form of glutamate that is found in MSG.

Most commercial soya milk today is made from soya isolates, although some of the pioneers of soya foods as health products in Europe avoid the chemical extraction process and use whole beans to make their milk. The key selling points for both types of soya milk are that they contain complete proteins and oestrogenic isoflavones.

Bernard Deryckere, president of the European Natural Soyfood Manufacturers Association, says that his members' products, made using natural processes, are a healthy alternative to diary products. "A lot of people in Europe are lactose-intolerant. Soya milk was invented in China 4,000 years ago and today it's consumed by all types of people as a cholesterol-free source of quality protein."

Daniel's detailed examination of the history of soya milk, however, suggests that soya milk was made not to drink, except in times of famine, but as the first step in the process of making tofu. After the long, slow boiling of soya beans in water to eliminate toxins, a curdling agent was added to the liquid to separate it. The curds would then be pressed to make tofu and the whey, in which the antinutrients were concentrated, would be thrown away.

Dibb points out that if you are drinking non-dairy milk because you want calcium without cow's milk, there are plenty of other sources such as green leafy vegetables and nuts. And only those eating extremely limited diets are likely to be short of protein as adults.

Dawson, a lifelong vegetarian, does not drink soya milk and only eats tofu in moderation. "I will only use a product for my family if there is 200 years of tradition behind it. You are asking for trouble if you take an isolate from soya - yet so much effort seems to go into taking industry's waste and turning it into new food."

The effort that has gone into creating the global soya market has indeed been enormous. Today it is dominated by a handful of American trading companies. Three of them - Bunge, ADM and Cargill - control 80% of the European soya bean crushing industry. These three, together with allied companies, are also estimated to control up to 80% of European animal feed manufacturing. They dominate the US soya market, and also account for 60% of Brazil's soya exports.

Before the first world war, only a very few soya beans were crushed. The Americans had begun experimenting with using the protein meal as animal feed, but farmers were reluctant to take it up because it was indigestible to chicken and pigs. The oil produced was considered "a bit of an embarrassment", according to Kurt Burger, a fats and oils technical expert at the Society of Chemical Industry, whose experience in the food industry goes back to 1944. It was mainly used in soaps because it was considered unpalatable. (Henry Ford later funded research projects to turn soya into plastic for car parts.)

Cottonseed oil, a byproduct of the cotton industry, was the main edible oil used in the US. But then the combination of disease in monocropped cotton and demand from European allies in the first world war for oil both to eat and to make the glycerine needed for nitroglycerine in explosives, stimulated American soy oil production.

It was not until the 1940s that industry worked out how to deactivate the enzyme inhibitor in the protein meal sufficiently for animals to tolerate it, and it was only technology taken from the Nazis at the end of the second world war that solved the problem of the oil's horrible smell and flavour. That left the way for the US to promote the soya that suited its agricultural conditions as part of the reconstruction of Europe through the 1950s. Soya oil exports to Europe tripled under the Marshall Plan, and heavily subsidised exports of surplus US soya ensured the commodity's dominance in animal feed. The subsidies continue. Between 1998 and 2004, US Department of Agriculture figures show that its soya farming received $13bn in subsidies from the American taxpayer.

Until 2003, the US was the largest exporter of soya. But through the 1990s, multinationals promoted the expansion of the crop in Latin America, helping finance farmers and building the infrastructure for soya exports. The attraction of Latin America is that land is cheap and labour costs are minimal too. Three years ago, the combined exports from Brazil and Argentina surpassed US exports for the first time. The cost is now being counted there in environmental damage and social upheaval. The cost to western consumers may yet be counted in health.”
~~~

Being a Lefty

“Everyone is born right-handed; only the greatest can overcome it!”

I thought I would shed some light on us creatures of the Left existence because well we are few and far between (only 13% of the population around the world) and although no one has come up with a definitive reason for WHY some people are left-handed, our uniqueness should be celebrated!

I found most of this info on a website actually dedicate to being left handed!http://www.lefthandersday.com Celebrate left handers day on 13th August!

FASCINATING LEFT-HANDED FACTS
· Most left-handers draw figures facing to the right
· There is a high tendency in twins for one to be left-handed
· Left-handers adjust more readily to seeing underwater.
· Left-handers excel particularly in tennis, baseball, swimming and fencing
· Left-handers usually reach puberty 4 to 5 months after right-handers
· 4 of the 5 original designers of the Macintosh computer were left-handed
· Left-handers are generally more intelligent, better looking, imaginative and multi-talented than right handers. Fact.

WHAT MAKES A LEFTY, LEFT?
The way the brain works is incredibly complex, but this simplified explanation will give you some understanding of where our left-hand dominance comes from. The brain is "cross-wired" so that the left hemisphere controls the right handed side of the body and vice-versa and hand dominance is connected with brain dominance on the opposite side - which is why we say that only left-handers are in their right minds!

The left hemisphere (RIGHT HAND CONTROL) controls Speech, Language, Writing, Logic, Mathematics, Science, this is the LINEAR THINKING MODE.

The right hemisphere (LEFT HAND CONTROL) controls Music, Art, Creativity, Perception, Emotions,Genius, this is the HOLISTIC THINKING MODE.

This brain dominance makes left-handers more likely than right handers to be creative, and visual thinkers. This is supported by higher percentages of left-handers than normal in certain jobs and professions - music and the arts, media in general.

Left-handers are also generally better at 3-dimensional perception and thinking, leading, for example, to more left-handed architects than normal. Left-handers are also usually pretty good at most ball sports and things involving hand-to-eye co-ordination.

The view that left-handers are clumsy and awkward is not down to their natural abilities, but being forced to use right-handed tools and machinery which is completely back-to-front for them.

See illustration below...

It's not easy being a lefty.

Statistics show left-handed people are more likely to be schizophrenic, alcoholic, delinquent, dyslexic, and have Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, as well as mental disabilities. They're also more likely to die young and get into accidents. So if evolutionary theory dictates survival of the fittest, why do lefties still exist?

Then again, as many lefties might point out, being left-handed can also offer intellectual prowess. Tests conducted by Alan Searleman from St Lawrence University in New York found there were more left-handed people with IQs over 140 than right-handed people. Famous left-handed thinkers in history from Albert Einstein to Isaac Newton to Benjamin Franklin seem to underline the point.

THE SCIENTIFIC BIT
The way our brains are organised, with the right hemisphere controlling our dominant left-hand, means we do things differently to right-handers. This is called Brain hemisphere division of labour.

The left hemisphere (RIGHT HAND CONTROL) controls Speech, Language, Writing, Logic, Mathematics, Science, this is the LINEAR THINKING MODE.The right hemisphere (LEFT HAND CONTROL) controls Music, Art, Creativity, Perception, Spatial awareness, Emotions, Genius, this is the HOLISTIC THINKING MODE.

This is the most commonly accepted theory of handedness. The premise of this theory is that since both speaking and handiwork require fine motor skills, having one hemisphere of the brain do both would be more efficient than having it divided up. And since in most people, the left side of the brain controls speaking, right-handedness would prevail. It also predicts that left-handed people would have a reversed brain division of labour. Lastly, since other primates do not have a spoken language (at least of the type we have) there would be no stimulus for right-handed preference among them, and that is true.

On the balance, it appears that this theory could well explain some left-handedness, but it has too many gaps to explain all left-handedness.

Several brain-scan studies have verified a fundamental difference between left-handed and right-handed brains. A right-handed person's brain is typically highly specialized, with a specific portion of the brain dedicated to each task. This same specialization is much less prevalent in left-handed brains. Left-handed stroke victims often rehabilitate more quickly than right-handed stroke victims, as the left-handed brain has a lesser tendency to compartmentalize and specialize its abilities.

LEFT-HANDED HISTORY
Stone Age implements discovered seem equally divided between left and right and studies of cave drawings have indicated a preference for the left hand. When tools became more sophisticated, a clear hand preference emerged. The right hand preference may have originated in sun worship.

In the Northern hemisphere you have to face south to follow the sun and move from left to right until the suns sets in the west. This gave moving to the right and the right hand side a great significance. Another theory says that as the heart is on the left hand side, a shield would have to be in the left hand to defend it and any weapon therefore had to be held in the right, which became the dominant hand.

Recent theories have included one that right-handedness is the normality and left-handedness is a deficiency which results from a traumatic birth!

FOLKLORE AND SUPERSTITIONS (the source of Lefty Phobia!)
For thousands of years, the Devil has been associated with the left hand in various ways and is normally portrayed as being left-handed in pictures and other images.

In the seventeenth century it was thought that the Devil baptised his followers with his left-hand and there are many references in superstitions to the "left-hand side" being associated with evil. As an example, in France it was held that witches greet Satan "avec le bras gauche" or with the left hand. It is also considered that we can only see ghosts if we look over our left shoulder and that the Devil watches us over the left shoulder.

· Evil spirits lurk over the left shoulder - throw salt over this shoulder to ward them off. In Roman times, salt was a very valuable commodity, giving rise to the word "salary" and was considered a form of money at the time. If salt was spilled, that was considered very bad luck, that could only be avoided by throwing some of the spilled salt over your left shoulder to placate the devil.
· Joan of Arc (burned at the stake in 1431 for being a heretic and a witch) was not necessarily left-handed, she may have been depicted in this way to make her seem evil.
· Getting out of bed with the left foot first means that you will have a bad day and be bad tempered . i.e. getting out of bed the wrong side.
· An itchy right palm means that you will receive money. An itchy left palm means you will have to give money.
· Wedding rings worn on the third finger of the left hand originated with the Greeks and Romans, who wore them to fend of evil associated with the left-hand.
· The Romans originally considered the left to be the lucky side and used for augury. However, they later changed back to the Greek methods and favoured the right-hand side.
· The right hand often symbolises 'male' while the left hand is 'female'.
· When leaving to go on a journey, if your right foot itches you're bound to have a good journey. If your left foot itches it will end in sorrow.
· It is thought to be bad luck to pass a drink to another person with your left-hand or anti-clockwise around a table.

FAMOUS LEFTIES
Lefties have excelled at both ends of the scale - the very good and the very bad. They seem to make exceptional leaders, inventors, artists, musicians and murderers! (I only picked the ones that I recognized, there are of course many more!)

Ramses II, Egyptian pharaoh
Alexander the Great, Greek conqueror
Charlemagne, Holy Roman emperor
Julius Caesar, Roman general
Napoléon Bonaparte, French emperor
King Louis XVI of France, Queen Victoria of England, King George II & VI of England, Prince Charles of England, Prince William of England
Fidel Castro, Cuban leader
Henry Ford, automobile manufacturer
David Rockefeller, banker
Edwin Buzz Aldrin, astronaut
John F. Kennedy, Jr., lawyer/publisher
David Letterman, host
Matt Groening, The Simpsons cartoonist
John Dillinger, criminal/bank robber
Boston Strangler (Albert Henry DeSalvo), serial killer
Jack-the-Ripper, serial killer
Mark Twain, novelist
H.G. Wells, British science fiction writer
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, composer,
Michelangelo, Raphael and Leonardo da Vinci, Italian Renaissance artists

Go the lefties!!!

The Lefty Orangeblossom xxx

The Story of Todo

I live in my magical forest; where hobbits, goblins and elves wander through. I sit on top a canopy of furry green moss, just listening to the sweet, still sound that whispers along the glade.

Sometimes I am alone, and sometimes I am with my fellow fairy sisters. Always exploring, always laughing, always connected, and always free.

I dip and dive in the chilly mountain stream, nestled in the hidden overgrowth and climb up my favorite mushroom stalk to dry my wings on its furry grooves.

Then along comes a hobbit I have never seen before, so I keep very quiet and watch him down below. He has followed the white rabbit and has found himself in this new and different forest, but is strolling with wonder in his eyes, but caution in his step.

Boom! I fly crashing into him and knock him to the forest floor. Maybe I should of just said Boo instead! But I offer him my hand and help him to his feet, where he shakes off the gathered leaves and grants me a smile as warm as the summer sunshine rays that filters through the trees. How blessed I do feel.

A friendship begins and I find myself asking why I never bumped into this gracious creature before. I feel somewhat deprived, but not really because we were only destined to meet in this forest when our paths merged at the right moment for both of us.

I want to take him to a secret place, a place that exists under our forest umbrella. This place where we can play freely in the wondrous woodland, and be connected with the universal energy. A place that binds our spirits and connects our souls.

This place is my heart, where my hobbit has turned the dormant dew of its night into sparkles of water that gently nourish and rejuvenate the flowers of my soul.

Times drifts by and the days of spending time with this fairy fantastical hobbit and discovering all who he is, illuminates my being.

My thoughts of him are never ending and I jump in ecstatic joy, tingling happiness and unbounded love.

I just want to say thank you, Tyran, for being Orangeblossom’s Todo, but most of all for just being you and for allowing me to crash into your world – you have repaired my broken wings. I hope I can show you more around my magical fairy forest world where we can walk and run, stumble and tumble, trip and skip, hop and bop, dash and dive and fly and float…together.

Love Orangeblossom xxx