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is it more or less?
...maybe this question is a key one as we head into 2007. a new year can highlight abundance for some and lack for others.
when we realise we cannot control everything that happens to us but we can control our response to events that occur to us we take a shift in consciousness. it is a powerful, personal choice and may just represent true freedom.
two things have impacted on my personal perception of freedom recently.
firstly, last night i watched a documentary by renowned photographer sebastiao salgado (see www.terra.combr/sebastiaosalgado/ ). as you are possibly aware, sebastiao's photography spans many countries and thirty years of non judgemental coverage of events that have shaped our present day. this particular documentary focused on his popular book "workers" - a moving compilation of photographs and stories of the thousands of people who work in manual labour throughout our world. as i understood it, the documentary observed that western society has an almost 100% focus on service as an end result, with little if any awareness about the producers of goods. refreshingly this rational observation, for me at least, didn't only convey guilt to people in a more priviliged position it was also infused with a sense of wonder and awe. this lead me to ponder whether it is more than likely we miss a certain amount of pleasure and fulfillment from not being aware how something (e.g. a sugar cube) was attained.
some of the workers interviewed during the documentary were working in the sugar cane industry. one woman took enormous pleasure and pride in her threshing of the cane and was concerned that the end product from machine harvesting would never carry the love and care she invested in her work. it is likely since this interview was conducted that she, like thousands of others, has lost her job to machinisation and we begin to realise the increasing urbanisation of humanity. sebastiao has another famous book called migration - humanity in transition, which is a fascinating journey exploring this trend. for all its faults western society is becoming increasingly aware that the cheapest end consumer price often comes at huge expense to the primary producer - their livelihood.
we have ordered some of sebastiao's books and will let you know when they arrive.
the second thing to impact on me was the death of ana carolina reston who died in november 2006 at 21 years of age and weighing just 40kg. prior to her death she attained super model status in august 2006. the resultant controversy and coinciding moves, initiated firstly by the spanish fashion industry, to monitor models health before accepting them onto the cat walks is a welcome shift. european countries are now in the process of forming an agreement which will check the bmi/medical certificate of all models employed. no, i don't believe the blame for anorexia lies soley with the fashion industry - far from it. to me, this is a shift in peoples consciousness that they can do something to help and empower rather than ignoring the dangerous trend known as ano-chic.
on a trip to san francisco, last may, i went shopping with my sixteen year old daughter which was largely extremely good fun. however it was shocking to discover in some major adult fashion stores the feature displays of clothing were all in size 00. to put that sizing into perspective imagine the size of a healthy seven year olds waist measurement or relate it to a UK size 2. anything larger than size 0 was up on high shelves, out of the promotional circle, and therefore public arena. while we were there i noticed a young mother with a cute little girl, about 18 months old, in her stroller and looking all around. yes i felt my consciousness shift, actually lurch might be a better description. what chance did this little girl have if this was where high fashion was headed?
optimistically the tide may be beginning to turn as women choose otherwise and move to protect their own. somewhere these choices belong to each of us and perhaps humour can help. seriously wouldn't you like to meet the person who came up with the sizing 00? was it suddenly not enough to wear a size 0 or nothing or just an incredibly bizarre urge to gain more from less?
the choice is indeed our own and in a world experiencing profound change the choice and goal of optimum health, clear focus and a strong mind/body connection are increasingly important. keep your freedom of choice alive and well during 2007 and remind me to do the same.
written by cathie davis, Dip A & C (Hons), 29 January 2007
"are we condemned to be largely spectators? can we affect the course of events?
can we claim compassion fatigue when we show no sign of consumption fatigue?"
......sebastiao salgado
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