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 ...

As social media seems to explode about the Supreme Court of the United States of America's (SCOTUS) decision to legalise gay marriage in the US and Twitter can't seem to stop talking about how great the world is, I have to admit that there's this voice in the back of my mind that wants to tell Americans "Welcome to the club! Glad that you finally made it..." For a country that prides itself on its inclusiveness and democratic values, why did it have to take so long to legalise marriage for all people? The U.S. is now among nearly two dozen countries that allow same-sex marriage nationwide: http://t.co/GDlydLBCWW pic.twitter.com/awVwTfyHXi — PewResearch Religion (@PewReligion) June 26, 2015 As the above map shows, there are many other countries where marriage is legal for all couples, regardless of their gender. In fact, both of my countries - The Netherlands and New Zealand - have already legalised gay marriage. According to the data on the website, The...

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

#AnneFrank Hatred killed her yet she saw the good in others. She continues to inspire me. https://t.co/vnYGoc1JOC — Nicole M. Verhaaf (@nimavenl) June 12, 2015 Anne Frank would have turned 86 today. Anti-Semitism killed this gifted young writer. #NeverForget pic.twitter.com/UYiK7pizGc — Lisa Bloom (@LisaBloom) June 12, 2015

"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

The UK's Daily Mail writes that actress Lena Headey - who many will know as Cersei Lannister in Game of Thrones - is expecting a baby girl in about six weeks. On the website of Plan International USA , she  writes a guest blog post entitled " My Daughter " with some very inspiring words for her future daughter. As she's a famous actress known by millions around the world, her words reach a lot of people. They reached me and hopefully, through this post, they'll reach a few more people. "The ever-present abuse of social and human rights in our world keeps me consciously awake, grateful, and humble."  I got to know Lena Headey as Sarah Connor in television series Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles . She played the mother of John Connor, the young man who will one day lead the human revolution against the machines known as Terminators. Yes - that tough as nails Sarah Connor who stops at nothing to protect her son and with him, the future of humani...

I took this photo of white flowers / white buds on a tree branch a few days ago. It was a warm and sunny day, the sky was a gorgeous blue and there was just enough wind to provide a pleasant breeze. A perfect day to stare up at the trees and the sky, to enjoy the beauty right there and all around me. I walk past this tree almost daily however rarely stop to actually look up at the beauty above. How much beauty and how many happy moments have I missed, walking past without looking up? White flowers can have different meanings depending on country, culture and context - purity and innocence, perfection, or death and mourning. A quick online search for the symbolism of white flowers tells me they are "Often associated with innocence, humility, and reverence" ( Teleflora ) as well as purity, honesty and perfection ( Flower Shopping ). Today all those meanings feel appropriate. As The Netherlands remembers those who died in World War Two , I am drawn to the diary of a young girl...

Spring is here! All seasons are beautiful, however there is something extraordinary about seeing the world come to life again after winter, seeing colours erupt all around us. Humans may fight and argue, kill and make war - Nature is constant, beautiful, amazing and always changing. I wonder, how different might our world be if we spent as much time loving & enjoying nature and caring for our planet as we do fighting, arguing and hurting others? Nature vs Humanity - Beauty and the Beast | Nimavenl

I've been spending a lot of time writing, lately. For my blog, not so much. For my story - a ridiculous amount. It's not a story I want to publish, however it is a story I want to write. Because I like the story and because I want to get to know this world I'm developing in my imagination. For years, different story-related ideas have been going through my head - the look of a dress or garment, the view from a certain location, the interior of a room, the way words sound in a to-be-discovered language. They're all snapshots from a world I'm trying to create and 'seeing' them (in my imagination) can sometimes feel as if Real Life is a dream and Storyworld is reality, leaking through into Dream Country. What I want is to create an entire world with its own countries, continents, weather patterns, customs, habits, religions, languages, building styles... I want to create a detailed world where everything is different from our world yet still familiar and hu...

Have you ever smiled when hearing a favourite quote or instantly liked someone because of the book they happened to be gushing about? Language connects us and words are powerful. The way we use them says a lot about who we are as people and as a society. Personally, I'd love to live in a world where insulting or belittling others is unncessary and hurting others using words is a thing of the past. A world where people talk to each other, accept and respect others as they are and do not feel the need to try to change people just because they don't happen to think or believe as we do. I am very much in favour of free speech and believe it is extremely important that people are able to honestly say (and write) what they think or feel, without having to fear for their lives. However I also believe that it is important that we respect others as they are, without belittling them using words or actions and without the need to insult the choices people have made in their lives or be...

Bored Panda With all the anger, hatred and senseless violence humans bring to Planet Earth, it can feel like the world is going to hell in a hand-basket (to use a popular phrase). Some days I am mighty proud (to be a member) of the human race, other days I actually wish this was not my planet and that those committing atrocities were not my fellow human beings. The human race is capable of so much goodness and kindness, yet we are also capable of horrors and atrocities beyond even my wildest dreams (or should that be beyond even my scariest nightmares?) Will we ever learn to love and respect our fellow human beings just as they are? Will we ever understand that violence and destruction will only lead to more violence and destruction? Will we ever stop fighting and hating each other? Today, I am fed up with the human race. We may be capable of so much goodness, kindness, love, friendship, respect, hope, compassion, understanding and balanced thinking, however we do not show that...

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...

The following is a quote from a Times of Israel newspaper article regarding the fatal shooting outside a synagogue in Copenhagen, Denmark, this past weekend. T he mother of the girl who celebrated her bat mitzvah at a Copenhagen synagogue when a gunman opened fire outside, killing one Jewish security guard, recalled the attack with horror and grief on Monday, and expressed sorrow at the death of the beloved community member, Dan Uzan.  “Only an hour beforehand I went out to bring [Uzan] cakes and sandwiches,” Mita Ben-Tov told Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth. “All of the sudden the celebration looks vain, [my daughter] Hannah told me ‘Mom, I wish I had not had a bat mitzvah and that Dan would have stayed alive.'”  Ben-Tov said guests and children were forced to hide in a basement for two hours following the shooting.  “We were dancing and singing, and suddenly the second guard entered and told us to turn the music down,” she said. “We were not aware that there was ...

I spent most of today thinking, reading and working on a story. After dinner I checked the news to catch up on what's going on in the world. One dead and three wounded in a terrorist shooting in Copenhagen, Twitter practically screamed at me. It seems likely that I'll write more about that, however first I want to write about another attack, this one in Turkey. A 20-year old Turkish woman named Özgecan Aslan was buried today. According to Turkish newspaper Hurriyet Daily News she'd been missing for two days, last seen by a friend while on a bus travelling home from university. Her burned body was found Friday in a riverbed near Tarsus disctrict in Mersin province. "Three suspects have been detained for stabbing Aslan to death and later burning her remains. According to their testimonies, the woman was killed when she fought back a rape attempt by the driver of the minibus she took to go home." Assaulted, almost raped and stabbed to death. What must this po...

"Remind yourself that you don't have to do what everyone else is doing." pic.twitter.com/pZRMsitIBb — banksy (@thereaIbanksy) January 28, 2015

"The day the power of love overrules the love of power, the world will know peace."  ~ Mahatma Gandhi Post by Happinez Magazine .

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?

Worrying about what's going on in Sydney with regards to the #sydneysiege . My thoughts are with the hostages and all who know and love them. I have friends and family in Australia; really don't like how close to home this feels. Silver lining to this horrible situation must be the " I'll Ride With You " social media posts tagged #illridewithyou and the way Australians are coming together as one. It's good to see that the Australian people won't let terrorists scare them into being quiet, going into hiding or turning on each other.

Early Morning... Well, not so early any more by the time I added watermarks to the photos and decided what to write in this post! Still - it was dark when I got up, surely that counts as early! As it got lighter and I went to make a cup of tea, this amazing sight greeted me. O f C ourse I rushed to the balcony to take several photos to share! @Nimavenl We really do live in a very beautiful world!  I just wish we - humanity - could spend more time enjoying our world, loving each other and appreciating being alive to enjoy the beauty. Instead, we hate, we disagree, we dislike, we fight, we torture, we rape, we insult, we discriminate, we kill, we terrorise.  "Our lives begin to end the day we become  silent about the things that matter."         Martin Luther King, Jr @Nimavenl I refuse to let terror win - I believe in humanity. Peace   :)   Shalom   :)   Salaam