News From the Hill

Posts Tagged ‘Listening’

Just lately it is even harder than ever to avoid bad news, dreariness, negativity etc on the nation’s media. I do my best to avoid the tv news and I haven’t bought or read a paper in ages, still it seeps in.

Today I had a look through my bookmarks for a study that I came across sometime last year, unfortunately I could not find the study however I do remember the gist of it and why it stuck in my mind.

The main point that came through from the study was that repetition is very effective in manipulating opinion. Even if people hear a fact that they know to be untrue, if they hear it often enough they may come to believe that it is true.

That may seem like an outrageous claim and I know that for big things or important issues it may not be true, for smaller or less important issues however it does appear to be true – after all, is that not the result that the majority of advertisers are hoping for?

Repeat often enough that your shop has the best bargains or that a certain product is healthy and people come to believe it, without any effort on their part, it happens in the back of your mind, so to speak.

I wondered at the time if the same is true of bad news, negativity etc. and I greatly suspect that it is.

I know if you wish to have a healthy attitude towards yourself and towards life that it helps to seek out the company of like minded individuals because it simply doesn’t feel good to be around people who are predominantly negative.

I don’t think that it is helpful right now for the media to focus so singly on doom and gloom, to dramatise it. I would love it if there were more good news stories being broadcast.

I feel lucky that I have seen a few really good programs lately. One show was about a bunch of Hawaiians who are teaching the children of the islands how to look after their islands, how to respect the coral, to reduce the use of plastic, to love the environment they are living it.

There is a native Hawaiian word (which I sadly cannot remember) which is an old teaching, the word means both privilege and responsibility. It is this old teaching that is being brought back to contemporary society, the children are learning what is involved in having both a sense of privilege and a sense of responsibility.

I love that these children are being supported in learning the old ways in this modern world, that they are being given a sense that they have power, they can do things to change what is unhealthy. They are being supported in learning to take responsibility, to fully enjoy and appreciate the privilege.

I love to hear and see stories such as this, to know that people are working hard at a very basic level to love this planet that we all inhabit. It is important for my spirit to know that there are a lot of people for whom money is not a high priority, who do not take more than they need, who do not suffer from a greed for power or for money.

Personally, I cannot hear enough of these stories, the good news stories that we can all share with each other…

Blian Núa Shona Dhuit – Happy New Year to you and those you love. My global wish (hey, why not be ambitious?) is that we all learn to prioritise the truly important things in life and concentrate less on the superficial and commercial.

I had a lovely break over the Christmas, didn’t even check my email for nine days straight!!!

I hope that you all, my two lovely readers   had a beautiful Christmas, as I did, spent some time with loved ones in my family, had lots of great food, some great walks, some great sitting and watching classic b+w films and some great chats.

As for New Year’s Eve – I have to admit that I have never been really interested in all the fuss that accompanies it, even in my younger and wilder partying days I was never into the N.Y.Eve parties, the resolutions that everyone assumed would not last past February, singing and hugging complete strangers etc. Somehow it all seemed a little exaggerated, superficial and unreal.

When I was younger I was not quite sure why I felt like this, it’s not as though I didn’t enjoy partying as much as the next young wild one and I wouldn’t have known a grounded, living-in-the-moment person if I bumped into one, which wasn’t likely actually in the places I hung out! It makes more sense now that my life has changed quite a bit and I have stopped floating through life in a smoky and busy haze, taken the time to challenge some of what I was running away from, dealt with some of the baggage that I was dragging around.

The concept of living in the moment was a difficult one for me to grasp, obviously I knew what it meant intellectually but it was a while before my heart caught up. No surprise there, my head was nearly always in the way. I still struggle with that  but now when I speak of getting out of my head it’s a very different out of my head experience than that of the eighties! Now it’s about taking the time to listen to my heart, taking time out of the rush and hustle of life to slow down and really listen to what it is that I need, what it is that I feel.

For me this is not as easy as it sounds, I really have to remind myself to do it and sometimes I have hearing problems – it can take quite some time before I can clearly hear myself. I suppose that this is sustainable living for me – in order to live a real and healthy life and to have healthy relationships I need to do this, I need to take time out to listen to what is really going on for me.

For me the Winter Solstice was a special time, a time for reflection, to acknowledge the year gone past and a new beginning, the days becoming longer, the sun coming back to us, growth starting slowly under the protection of the soil, promise and optimism.

I hope that this new year brings with it many wondrous and joyful experiences for us all…

Who wants some beautiful free music for Christmas?

The music website Jamendo is giving away a Christmas playlist to all who want it. It is a cool website where you can download or listen to music freely given by the performer! This is not illegally downloadable music – the performers put their music here for our listening pleasure! Some artists do accept donations but this is up to you.

There is a wonderful selection of music available and it is well worth checking out if you enjoy listening to music.

So switch off the telly, check out Jamedo and listen to some lovely tunes for free, share them around with your friends, enjoy wonderful creativity freely given.

Click here