What Freedom looks like to you?

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-26614481








Depending on where you  live , where you were born or what your living or working  conditions are , freedom means what thing or another .


Suppose you are living under the yoke of tradition and unfair family commitments , as was  Eveline in the Dubliners , then Freedom means to be able to set free from that "asphyxiating" love moral or protection .


Were you to be ill , Freedom would be define as being healthy and being able to do things that you used to do.


You can also set free from addictions which kill your hopes .   If you live in a country devastated by the war or famine,when you free your mind and imagination there are no fences that restrict  you  from living or finding a new life.


This video shows different opinions and answers ,  from all ages ,all nationalities ,all languages.
Freedom for me is not to have timetables or  money troubles that my phone doesn´t sound and taking a plane or being somewhere very far away from your daily life.


What is freedom for you ?

British Island Accents and Dialects

When one first arrives at British Islands can feel dismayed to discover how little one understands (I, for one), or how little this or that English accent  has to with we have learnt .
 There are also differences in Grammar and vocabulary .I would  overdo if I said that what in a place can be hilarious , some miles away can trigger a riot , it is not that exaggerate , but differences exist.


Social and situational factors affect language and make it vary. When we speak to a person we can identify some features such as origen or even social status. This is called variation , and variation affects both  our situational background and , consciously , the way we react to someone speech or in order to adhere to certain social class.


There are terms which are worthy of mention : Accent and dialect.
Dialect is a language variety distinguished from other varieties by gramar and vocabulary . Standard British English is a dialect ,as are Scottish , American or Black English Vernacular.
Accent has to do with differences in pronounciation what means just a charactistic combination of  phonetic features which we connect with a particular geographical area o social background.It is a well -known fact that RP ( Received Pronuntiation ) or  Standard Southern British  English is  ,nowadays, a symbol of prestigie and it is related to upper classes , the accent of those educated in public schools and those with high incomes.


It is not my intention to entry in the complicated field of Sociolinguisics but just emphasize the fact that a particular accent can devalue or overrate  someone since it is associated to a certain status , low or high instead of paying atention to the differents changes in pronunciation and  what is even more important,that English , as all  living  languages, change over the time, it is in constant flux because people use them endlessly.
RP is not regional  or local accent but the accent that is widely regarded as symbol or correctness, and unfortunately , some people pretending to be someone more whealthy ,or educated tent to imitate it, creating just  affectation.

To finish , I would like to quote a sentence of  Oscar Wilde which can best illustrate my writing " the first thing I forgot at Oxford was my Irish accent"

 

Bibliography:

Dialect bloghttp://dialectblog.com/british-accents/
Arthur Huhges: "English accents and dialects"

Babette`s Feast ( don`t take it on a empty stomach )

 

Babette´s Feast is a film based on the story by Isak Dinesen and directed by Gabriel Axel . The movie was also the first Danish film  to win an Academy award .

The film tell us the story of two pious sisters who live in Jutland , a rather isolated village. In their youth ,  they left escape fame and love since they lived under both the  yoke of religion and an authoritarian and unfair father. Time pass by and their father passes away , as their youth does, leaving no trace. The sisters continue their father´s work devoting their life to austerity and sacrifice . One day Babette calls at their door, she is a refugee from the French civil war from which she had to flee otherwise she would have died . She serves the sister for years and the only bond she keeps with France is a lottery ticket she buys all the years . One day she wins  and she decided to prepare  a truly French dinner in honour to the sisters `father . Everybody belonging to the small sects will be there , and it  will also  be someone from the past . Babette´s prepare a sensual and tasteful dinner bathed with different table and dessert wines which  clean taste and bouquet. The textures and smells whet their appetite and loosen their tongues and spirits .

This is an amazing movie not only about food but also about art and life . All of us , without exception, are forced to make decisions during out life, leaving people in the path , sometimes gaining ,sometimes losing . The movie teaches us  that it is never late and life can be surprising in many different ways, even though  when we think happiness is outside our scope.

I highly recommend it since its understated plot makes you never lose the thread and it overlays a subtle depiction of the fears , doubts and anxieties that lurk the human soul.

Neuroplasticity : the habit of being happy

 

 

 

It was Emilio from I first heard about the term neuroplasticity . How  it can  be defined is difficult to say , maybe as the tireless capacity of our brain of learning new habits ,positive and negative ,regardless sex of age .
Most of us lead  a dull life , I don´t use dullness in the sense of dreariness but in the sense of   repetitive  monotony.( I bring this to a halt just to say that this doesn´t happen on Facebook ,over there, all of us , without exception , have found the longing happiness ) anyway ...
Googling , I have found this article about neuroplasticity

hhttp://www.refocuser.com/2009/05/neuroplasticity-your-brains-amazing-ability-to-form-new-habits/

There would probably be  hundreds more , but what it calls my attention is that if we really change our bad habits and therefore the worst of us, we are bound to  turn into the person we want to be .
 I personally , lead a strict routine which  makes me  neither happy nor unhappy , in the same way that when I used to smoke I would light a cigarette every time my favourite group sounded or   I sipped at my beer or whatever pleasant activity was that  I associated with smoking, my current habits happen just because I haven`t bothered changing them .

Were the article to be true, would I be able to replace unsatisfactory habits , stop doing things in my usual fashion and learning new ways of being happier or cleverer or making my time fully productive ?
In short , how can new habits be built and could  I create my perfect self ?

The Sailor- Boy´s Tale

The Sailor-Boy´s Tale by the Denmark author  Isak Dinesen´s , one of the most prominent voices of twentieth century, was first published in 1942 in the book entitled "Winter´s Tales" , narrated in the style of the ancient fairy tales.

 Simon is a young sailor who  travels with not fixed  destination throughout the world. Being still a boy, and moved by a  mysterious strength , he  rescues a  peregrine falcon tangled up  in the ropes of the main mast of a ship,  since then ,their fates become linked by an invisible bond.
 Two years later, Simon is coming of age and still working on boats , here, there and everywhere.  In Norway, he goes  ashore and he meets Nora by whom he is promised a kiss under condition of coming back the next day.

He befriends Ivan , a Russian sailor , who unconsciously blocked Simon´s way to the long -awaited kiss and eventually everything finish in manslaughter .Chasing by the Russian crew , he would never had managed to escape alive but for Sunniva `s help who is more than an old woman and who  his fate was linked to , as it was to the falcon .

The story is told through an omniscient narrator who , as if he were a talented storyteller , is  able to read the boy´s soul using numerous adjectives and movement in its words . Traditional elements such as the sea, adventure ,or far -off  countries  are also present and they are bound to create another kind of reality full of mystery and magic , as it shows the final spell .

Not only is the story well worth reading , but also the whole book . Its simple plot , about a boy coming of age, can be defined as a Bildungsroman , that is to say , a story of learning into adulthood since he is put to test  within unforeseeable events . As for any downside , the only one that comes to my mind is that the story leaves us eager for more .

Poverty in the land of plenty :Waterloo Food Bank and Red Cross

Since  WWII ,the UK has never been  needed  a food  aid plan.

 British citizens pay high taxes  on their income which are mostly invest in welfare benefits such as housing benefits, tax credit or income support to name but a few.
Apart from this,  The UK heads the list of the European countries that invest more money in foreign  help , but now , because of the cutbacks ,mainly in public health and welfare,  imposed by Cameron ,his austerity measures and economic downturn , many people between 50 and 6O have to turn to food banks such as Waterloo Bank http://waterloo.foodbank.org.uk/ to have the chance of eating .
Most of them live in council homes , which are not free , on little allowances  from the government , being most of them sick and  not having the possibility of working .Red Cross ha launched the first emergency aid plan for UK since WWII and it is helping Waterloo Food Bank to gather and distribute meals among the struggling  families and  people .

Another added problem  are the serious  flooding ,

  specially in  Somerset , and more rains  and storms are due next week. Many properties in Somerset have been flooded as the river burst after heavy rains. Some citizens start wondering why Britain don´t use foreign aid money to help people affected by flooding.

Some people claim to divert part of the money allocated for  helping  in oversee disasters as it is wh now  Great  Britain which  needs that money .  Brits are well-known for being globally- minded  and  generous people but Cameron policies and misunderstanding about budget are discouraging them. Brits think that the money they pay on taxes is poured into countries with corrupted regimens instead of being allocated  for fear causes.

I support this ONG

http://www.amigosdelosmayores.org/

The ONG I support is " Amigos de los mayors " . It is committed to help our elders , regardless of race, religion, sex or political ideology .

I am interested in helping  the elderly  since they have to deal with loneliness, illness  and social insolation. Most of them have mobility problems which keep them stuck at home . Aging is inevitable and having or not having children , being married or single are not factors which make us impervious to spend our last years  in loneliness .

This organization has its headquarter in Madrid but it is present in countries such as Germany, France or USA.
They organize gatherings , celebrations , parties or their volunteers visit  the elderly at home for some hours since it is focus to lessening the lack of affection and they try to made them feel alive again.

You can help making a donation because just with 20 euros a elderly  person can join a Christmas party and receive a present .
You can also help becoming volunteer . There are many reasons for doing so but the main one is that this is a project which has as central point the friendship between human beings . Becoming volunteer you will learn from people who are a piece of our  history which you cannot learn from the books , you will feel surprised by their gratitude and you became aware of the different social  realities , doing so , you  will  enrich  your  life  and will make you a  better person.

The afternoon knows what the morning never suspected.”
Robert Frost