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Partying it up online à la Nerd!

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After a very long time, I finally got an hour to catch up on my reading. I don’t know if I am just more efficient now at finding good articles, or if their numbers and quality has increased in recent years, but the wealth of empowering pieces that on the one hand sustain my hope for a better future and on the other give me ideas on how to realistically help advance human civilisation in itself gives me so much hope for the future. I also have been lucky enough to stumble on some inspiring blogs and also on a couple that offer some sweet smiles.

Here is a small round up of the most interesting pieces I have read in the last hour, as well as some of the videos I managed to pack into it.

  • It’s Fasting time, but it’s still morning, so I started off with some sweetness. Jonathan has been experimenting with chocolate and chronicling it on his blog, JJ’s Hot Chocolate. His January post, It May be Winter, but the Flowers are Here , got me craving for some chocolate of my own. I wonder if I can convince him to send me his January creation, which seems to contain rose petals, for sampling and a review. Then again, it might melt in the mail, so perhaps I will just have to figure out a way of visiting him. Warning: if you, too, are fasting, do not read this blog between sunrise and sunset.
  • Of course I am not randomly fasting; I am using this time to intensely reflect on my contribution to various unacceptable situations in society today. One of them being poverty, I read Philippe Copeland musing about the gap between the poor and the rich in America in his post Midnight Sighing numerous times. While I unfortunately don’t have an amazing insight to share with you, I do have a musing of my own to share: I love that Philippe doesn’t go into a rant typical of such posts; after all, it’s not bad to have material possessions; it’s bad when it makes you forget that you are, first and foremost, a noble, spiritual being.
  • Another thought provoking post on yet another contribution to an unacceptable situation in the world today that I hope to make was May’s Questioning underlying assumptions, on Engendering Equality. The question she raises, i.e. is taking a stand against some things in society that are perceived as sexist creating equality? Not really; but it definitely is a good beginning, as it creates a space for reflection on the topic.
  • Being a woman, the topic of feminism is one I spend a lot of time studying, consulting and acting on. I also look out for blogs that will help me in said process. Feministing has become one of my favourite blogs in a very short time. While I don’t agree with some of the statements, I love that these women are actively reflecting on what it means to be a woman, rather than to merely accept being what is expected of them as women. One recent interesting post was on Carl Sagan’s statement, written in 1981, about the exclusion of women from scientific organizations and how it helps no one.
  • Speaking of Feministing, I discovered the site through the Ted Talk one of the blogs’ writers recently gave. Courtney Martin spoke about Reinventing Feminism, which struck a particular chord with me. Going back to May’s post, Feminism isn’t anymore simply about standing up to the things in society that are perceived as sexist, but rather, creating a world in which women have the choice to do what they want, rather than being told what they should do.
  • Another fascinating Ted Talk I recently watched was Patricia Kuhl’s talk on The Linguistic Genius of Babies, which had me fighting the urge to start downloading Sesame Street in every single language I could find for the child that I don’t have yet. Hey, you can never be too prepared!
  • I got a little brain tired after all this reading, so I focused on a couple of simple and inspiring posts to end up my hour of reading. A poem always does the trick; check out Shiras’, Sensing Spirituality.
  • Last but not least, Borna has been on a roll, as recently, his blog has been popping up a haiku a day, as well as a virtue a day. Mysterious, intriguing and inspiring, not bad for a series of very short posts!

I’m now going to work off the head rush and sort out my thoughts. What a great way to start the day!

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