Nimavenl - Nicole's Random Ramblings

After posting a single photo as a preview of this newest Photo Challenge last week , here are some of the other photos. I hope you enjoy the beauty of a misty morning. As is evident, I haven't written a Photo Challenge post every week, haven't written a proper Photo Challenge post for some time now. Yes, creating a Photo Challenge for this blog was meant in part to challenge me to go out there and take photos, however I've just not felt inspired lately. Walking around with a camera, attempting to see the beauty all around, sharing that beauty - All that sounds great in theory, however doesn't always work out in real life. Sometimes you're just too tired or drained. Sometimes you have a period when seeing the beauty is hard. Sometimes you feel let down by others and taking photos takes too much emotional effort. Sometimes you look at what is happening in the world and feel like taking photos of beautiful scenes is pointless. Sometimes you wonder why you even bothe...

While I'm not a self-help guru, a Professor or a researcher, I am a reader and a blogger - someone who sees a lot of articles online with titles like " Five steps to a new you" or " Six ways to change the world" or " Seven things you need to know right now!"  Most of the time, titles like that make me laugh. After all, the whatever-many steps that worked for whoever wrote the article may not work for me or anyone else. This blog post is entitled "How To Fix The World In Five Simple Steps" not because I believe that these five steps will actually 'fix' the world but precisely because titles like this one make me laugh. Because they make me curious yet also make me think Let's see what this author comes up with... These five steps may not fix the world, however I hope this article will make you think. Step One: What works for you may not work for another Realise that your system, *your* way of seeing the world, of believing, of ...

The sun shines The water flows The flowers sing I dream of yellow Of blue and green And amazing things Just for a moment There is no war No hate no strife Only beauty exists Nature is perfect I feel so alive

"Remember, each one of us has the power to change the world. Just start thinking peace, and the message will spread quicker than you think."  ~ Yoko Ono

“Look closely. The beautiful may be small .” “Treat people as an end, and never as a means to an end.” “Science is organized knowledge. Wisdom is organized life.” “Dare to know! Have the courage to use your own intelligence!” “For peace to reign on Earth, humans must evolve into new beings who have learned to see the whole first.”

While I applaud this initiative, it saddens me that it is necessary. Hating others simply because of who they are, what they believe or who their family is, makes absolutely no sense to me. I oppose discrimination and senseless hatred, no matter what. We are all human, all equal, all one big family, all inhabitants of planet earth. We may look different, think different things, speak different languages, read different holy books and believe different truths, however we are all human and whether we like it or not, we are all stuck on this planet together. The Facebook page for the event has mostly Norwegian posts however I've read several English-language posts from those who applaud the idea and wish they could join in themselves. Personally, I believe that this is a good idea, it reminds me of the " I'll Ride With You " campaign in Australia after the Sydney Siege. Hatred is not the answer, intolerance is not the solution. Oslo Muslims to form 'peace ring...

Some days I wonder if humanity is doomed to fail at being human and humane. Some days I wonder if Europe is gearing up for a do-over of the nineteen-thirties and nineteen-forties. Some days I wonder if our entire world will end in flames and fumes, dust and rubble. Some days I wonder if some trigger-happy madman will nuke the entire world to Kingdom Come. What are we doing to each other? Will we ever stop trying to kill and hurt other human beings? Will we ever learn that true world peace will only happen when we all learn to live together, when we learn to respect our fellow human beings and understand that our way may not be their way?

One only has to turn on the television or read the newspaper to realise our world is full of war, injustice, senseless hatred, racism, discrimination, murder and terrorism. We have brains capable of imagining how others might act, react, think and feel. We have books and movies which give us the opportunity to see the world from another's point of view or even from inside their hearts and minds. We have the internet and free online translation services that allow us to communicate with people from all over the world, no matter their language or home country. Yet even with books, movies and the internet to connect us and our human ability to imagine how others might think and feel, we haven't learned to live together in peace and prosperity, to share our planet together without bloodshed or violence, to coexist without trying to bend others to our will and our ways. Source: "Colour Blind" by Acvelyen | Deviant Art We are all human, yet relatively small differe...