Reflections on Twenty-ten

Reflections on Twenty-ten

I'm going to list the things that I've learned over the year, so that whenever I come back to this post, in case I forgot my lessons, I'd remember them with (hopefully) a smile (:
I will post something similar on my other blog, but since it's more personal, let's stick to the general points here and the personal ones there.

Reflections:
1- Patience (ongoing).
2- Not judge according to one side of the story.

3- Depression is not what we go through in our daily life (Check this post).
4- The things I have mentioned in the books reviews I have read this year, including the quotes. In other words, to read more!
5- Persistence is what will always keep us going.
6- At the end of the tunnel you'll find what you choose to see.
7- I have learned to live with my imperfections and try to fix what could be fixed.
8- To pray more. The feeling I get when I pray now is so much different than before..
9- It only takes a leap of courage to do it (:
10- Pain is an awfully good teacher to the "be stronger" lessons.
11- When you accept your end, you'll actually start to be even more positive than before!
12- Reading is an addiction that only the crazy will appreciate.
13- Friends, I keep learning that friends are the most dazzling gift Allah has given us.
14- At the hour of breakdown you will still remember the people who love you, and it will make you feel better.
15- You are never, ever, EVER...alone.
16- Nothing can stop you if you want to and can do it!
17- There are too many people who need your heart to sympathize with them, you do that and you'll be rewarded sooner or later.
18- Pretense sometimes is an awesome way to deal with whom you have no escape but to deal with.
19- Crying actually makes us stronger, on the long run though.
20- Love will never perish =)

A totally random post

A totally random post

The concept, I like it. Even though I would not find the exact word for each hour, it's fun.
Let's give it a shot: eight and eleven a.m are "nightmares or sudden awakening for no apparent reason" (just noticed this a moment ago btw). Nine and ten are "the deep sleep". Twelve is "the re-organizing-of thoughts". One and two are "imprisonment". Three and four are "preparation-for-salvation". Five is "ponder". Six is "Freedom". Seven is "indulging". Eight is the same as image, or shall I say, the climax. Nine is "blankness". Ten is "the wish upon tomorrow". Eleven is "stay with me". And twelve is "Tell me more".

I think that will make me reconsider how to use my hours more!

"B"robability!

"B"robability!

ya3ni bsra7a such creative ad =D Love the facial expressions haha.

Dwell in thought..

Dwell in thought..

I thought this photo is breathtaking :)

"If you’re feeling frightened about what comes next… Don’t. Embrace the uncertainty. Allow it to lead you places. Be brave as it challenges you to exercise both your heart and your mind as you create your own path towards happiness. Don’t waste time with regret. Spin wildly into your next action. Enjoy the present - each moment as it comes - because you’ll never get another one quite like it. And if you should ever look up and find yourself lost, simply take a breath and start over. Retrace your steps and go back to the purest place in your heart, where your hope lives. You’ll find your way again…" -Julia Brown, Everwood


"Much of your pain is self-chosen. It is the bitter potion by which the physician within you heals your sick self. Therefore trust the physician, and drink his remedy in silence and tranquility: For his hand, though heavy and hard, is guided by the tender hand of the Unseen, And the cup he brings, though it burn your lips, has been fashioned of the clay which the Potter has moistened with His own sacred tears." -Khalil Gibran

Lost Symbol [Full Review]

Lost Symbol [Full Review]

Quoting: "So many twists—all satisfying, most unexpected...Let's just say that if this novel doesn't get your pulse racing, you need to check your meds." —San Francicso Chronicle.

Spoiler Alert

Although this novel can be described in a thousand words, I can't find the exact words to describe it. From the very Prologue to the last chapter, it was deep-cave dark, mystifying. The twist and suspense were the main factors that kept me going. I loved so many things in this novel so I'll try as hard as possible to pen at least half of them.

Point: It felt so real that I could hardly tell I'm reading a sci-fi novel, I thought I was reading a pure science book. I got to learn so many things. Enlightenment!
Point: The end of each chapter provoked me to read another one even when I was too sleepy to concentrate, something triggered me to continue reading, and, with full attention.
Point: The symbols were so very well-chosen to perfectly serve the plot of the novel. I thought it was intelligent!
Point: I loved the fact that most of the science explained in this novel is actually real science, which proves that Brown is not just a novelist, he's way more than that.
Point: The history of the son was intriguing, it was...almost perfect for the novel.
Point: I now know more Latin words (YAY!) which is a language I've always wanted to learn, for some reason I still cannot figure out.
Point: Something I learned from this novel is to not take things literally as read, and to search for a thousand hidden meaning within one word. Which is also what poetry teaches me.

Some general points:
Point: At some point, I thought the novel was gory and outrageous, Mal'akh's parts, some descriptions were disgusting, especially the sexual ones. The description of him, however, was well enough to be pictured even by poor imagination.
Point: Some chapters were sort of lame for the suspense, because as a reader, and a regular Dan Brown reader (I'm not, I've only seen the movies Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons) you'd know that he would never kill the protagonist, Robert Langdon, even though the way he used science to prove the opposite I have to say was impressive.
Point: Sometimes I couldn't fathom the meanings of some words because of the intensity of the novel's plot that at first I thought of giving up on reading. And I actually have some parts that I didn't understand. I'm definitely googling some of them!

Things I learned from this novel:
* Some Noetic science facts.
* Stoicism.
* Total Liquid Ventilation.
* Rosicrucian Philosophy.
* The origin of many words such as Revelation.
* TGA (Thermal gravimetic analysis).
* Dura mater and Pia mater.

Some facts I liked:

"Since the days of Michelangelo, sculptors had been hiding the flaws in their work by smearing hot wax and then dabbing the wax with stone dust. The method was considered cheating, and therefore, any sculpture without wax—literally sine cera— was considered a "sincere" piece of art. The phrase stuck. To this day we still sign our letters "sincerely" as a promise that we have written "without wax" and that our words are true."

"Robert Langdon had often heard it said that an animal, when cornered, was capable of miraculous feats of strength. Nonetheless, when he threw his full force into the underside of his crate, nothing budged at all."

"Perhaps you've heard about the brain scans taken for yogis while they meditate? The human brain, in advanced states of focus, will physically create a waxlike substance from the pineal gland. This brain secretion is unlike anything else in the body. It has an incredible healing effect, can literally regenerate cells, and may be one of the reasons yogis live so long. The substance has inconceivable properties and can be created only by a mind that is highly tuned to a deeply focused state"

"If I hand you a violin and say you have the capability to use it to make incredible music, I am not lying. You do have the capability, but you'll need enormous amounts of practice to manifest it. This is no different from learning to use your mind, Robert. Well-directed thought is a learned skill. To manifest an intention requires a laser-like focus, full sensory visualisation, and a profound belief"


Some Quotes to remember:

"If enough people begin thinking the same thing, then the gravitational force of that thought becomes tangible"

"Wide acceptance of an idea is not proof of its validity"

"I beg you to remember that wealth without wisdom can often end in disaster"

"If the infinite had not desired man to be wise, he would not have bestowed upon him the faculty of knowing" Philosopher Manly P.Hall.


Final note: I would not recommend this novel to anyone, only the people I know who are wise enough to fathom the info in it the way it is, some parts were just too dark for say a beginner reader, or an innocent mind. Unless, they'll take it as just a book.
So if you're familiar with conspiracy theories and theorists, go for it!

On Appreciation

On Appreciation

"The truly creative mind in any field is no more than this: A human creature born abnormally, inhumanly sensitive. To him… a touch is a blow, a sound is a noise, a misfortune is a tragedy, a joy is an ecstasy, a friend is a lover, a lover is a god, and failure is death. Add to this cruelly delicate organism the overpowering necessity to create, create, create —so that without the creating of music or poetry or books or buildings or something of meaning, his very breath is cut off from him. He must create, must pour out creation. By some strange, unknown, inward urgency he is not really alive unless he is creating." -Pearl S. Buck


"Who has never killed an hour? Not casually or without thought, but carefully: a premeditated murder of minutes. The violence comes from a combination of giving up, not caring, and a resignation that getting past it is all you can hope to accomplish. So you kill the hour. You do not work, you do not read, you do not daydream. If you sleep it is not because you need to sleep. And when at last it is over, there is no evidence: no weapon, no blood, and no body. The only clue might be the shadows beneath your eyes or a terribly thin line near the corner of your mouth indicating something has been suffered, that in the privacy of your life you have lost something and the loss is too empty to share." -Mark Z. Danielewski

It's not JUST Déjà Vu!

It's not JUST Déjà Vu!

Dutch psychiatrist Hermon Sno proposed the idea that memories are like holograms, meaning that you can recreate the entire three-dimensional image from any fragment of the whole. The smaller the fragment, however, the fuzzier the ultimate picture. Déjà vu, he says, happens when some detail in the environment we are currently in (a sight, sound, smell, et cetera) is similar to some remnant of a memory of our past and our brain recreates an entire scene from that fragment.


Below are names for some of the many ways in which the déjà experience may manifest:

* déjà entendu - already heard
* déjà éprouvé - already experienced
* déjà fait - already done
* déjà pensé - already thought
* déjà raconté - already recounted
* déjà senti - already felt, smelt
* déjà su - already known (intellectually)
* déjà trouvé - already found (met)
* déjà vécu - already lived
* déjà voulu - already desired

Neppe (in conjunction with Prof. B. G. Rogers, Professor of French, University of the Witwatersrand) in 1981 suggested the following additional terms:

* déjà arrivé - already happened
* déjà connu - already known (personal knowing)
* déjà dit - already said/spoken (content of speech)
* déjà gouté - already tasted
* déjà lu - already read
* déjà parlé - already spoken (act of speech)
* déjà pressenti - already sensed
* déjà rencontré - already met
* déjà rêvé - already dreamt
* déjà visité - already visited

Déjà rencontré appears preferable to déjà trouvé for the already met experience because it specifically relates to interpersonal situations.


-Source: How Stuff Works.

Blogger note: I must say I don't pay attention to the type of the experience. Now I shall do!

Planning Fallacy

Planning Fallacy

The Planning fallacy is the tendency to underestimate the time needed to complete tasks. The planning fallacy actually stems from another error, The Optimism Bias, which is the tendency for individuals to be overly positive about the outcome of planned actions. People are more susceptible to the planning fallacy when the task is something they have never done before. The reason for this is because we estimate based on past experiences. For example, if I asked you how long it takes you to grocery shop, you will consider how long it has taken you in the past, and you will have a reasonable answer. If I ask you how long it will take you to do something you have never done before, like completing a thesis or climbing Mount Everest, you have no experience to reference, and because of your inherent optimism, you will guesstimate less time than you really need. To help you with this fallacy, remember Hofstadter’s Law: It always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into account Hofstadter’s Law.

Interesting Fact: “Realistic pessimism” is a phenomenon where depressed or overly pessimistic people more accurately predict task completion estimations.

Source: Listverse again!

And..this feeling..

And..this feeling..

"No matter how careful you are, there’s going to be the sense you missed something, the collapsed feeling under your skin that you didn’t experience it all. There’s that fallen heart feeling that you rushed right through the moments where you should’ve been paying attention.
Well, get used to that feeling. That’s how your whole life will feel some day.
This is all practice"
... Chuck Palahniuk.

On the True Self..

On the True Self..

"Even now I’m not really sure which parts of myself are real and which parts are things I’ve gotten from books."
... Go Ask Alice, Anonymous


















"The hardest thing is facing yourself. It’s easier to shout ‘revolution’ and ‘power to the people’ than it is to look at yourself and try and find out what’s real inside you and what isn’t when you pull the wool over your own eyes. Your own hypocrisy, that’s the hardest thing, and that’s what I’m involved in."
... John Lennon





Source: I took a deep breath

Do not stand at my grave and weep

Do not stand at my grave and weep

This is one of the poems that resemble the beauty in meaningful simplicity. I just love it.

By Elizabeth Frye

Do not stand at my grave and weep;
I am not there, I do not sleep
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning's hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry;
I am not there. I did not die.

Inscription on a Tomb- Jorge Borges

Inscription on a Tomb- Jorge Borges

"Let not the rash marble risk
garrulous breaches of oblivion's omnipotence,
in many words recalling
name, renown, events, birthplace.
All those glass jewels are best left in the dark.
Let not the marble say what men do not.
The essentials of the dead man's life--
the trembling hope,
the implacable miracle of pain, the wonder of sensual delight--
will abide forever.
Blindly the uncertain soul asks to continue
when it is the lives of others that will make that happen,
as you yourself are the mirror and image
of those who did not live as long as you
and others will be (and are) your immortality on earth."

— Jorge Luis Borges

Pareidolia

Pareidolia

Pareidolia is when random images or sounds are perceived as significant. Seeing clouds in the shapes of dinosaurs, Jesus on a hot pocket, or hearing messages when a record is played backward are common examples of pareidolia. The common element is that the stimulus is neutral, it does not have intentional meaning; the meaning is in the viewer’s perception.


Note: This gets funnier when they mess up your mind to awaken the pervert side of you. [Bam, this sucks!]

You Who Never Arrived-Rainer Maria Rilke

You Who Never Arrived-Rainer Maria Rilke

I love this poem..

[ You Who Never Arrived ]


You who never arrived
in my arms, Beloved, who were lost
from the start,
I don't even know what songs
would please you. I have given up trying
to recognize you in the surging wave of
the next moment. All the immense
images in me -- the far-off, deeply-felt landscape,
cities, towers, and bridges, and un-
suspected turns in the path,
and those powerful lands that were once
pulsing with the life of the gods--
all rise within me to mean
you, who forever elude me.


You, Beloved, who are all
the gardens I have ever gazed at,
longing. An open window
in a country house-- , and you almost
stepped out, pensive, to meet me. Streets that I chanced
upon,--
you had just walked down them and vanished.
And sometimes, in a shop, the mirrors
were still dizzy with your presence and, startled, gave back
my too-sudden image. Who knows? Perhaps the same
bird echoed through both of us
yesterday, separate, in the evening...

Like the Gentle Wind..

Like the Gentle Wind..

"Only once in your life, I truly believe, you find someone who can completely turn your world around. You tell them things that you’ve never shared with another soul and they absorb everything you say and actually want to hear more. You share hopes for the future, dreams that will never come true, goals that were never achieved and the many disappointments life has thrown at you. When something wonderful happens, you can’t wait to tell them about it, knowing they will share in your excitement. They are not embarrassed to cry with you when you are hurting or laugh with you when you make a fool of yourself. Never do they hurt your feelings or make you feel like you are not good enough, but rather they build you up and show you the things about yourself that make you special and even beautiful. There is never any pressure, jealousy or competition but only a quiet calmness when they are around. You can be yourself and not worry about what they will think of you because they love you for who you are. The things that seem insignificant to most people such as a note, song or walk become invaluable treasures kept safe in your heart to cherish forever. Memories of your childhood come back and are so clear and vivid it’s like being young again. Colours seem brighter and more brilliant. Laughter seems part of daily life where before it was infrequent or didn’t exist at all. A phone call or two during the day helps to get you through a long day’s work and always brings a smile to your face. In their presence, there’s no need for continuous conversation, but you find you’re quite content in just having them nearby. Things that never interested you before become fascinating because you know they are important to this person who is so special to you. You think of this person on every occasion and in everything you do. Simple things bring them to mind like a pale blue sky, gentle wind or even a storm cloud on the horizon. You open your heart knowing that there’s a chance it may be broken one day and in opening your heart, you experience a love and joy that you never dreamed possible. You find that being vulnerable is the only way to allow your heart to feel true pleasure that’s so real it scares you. You find strength in knowing you have a true friend and possibly a soul mate who will remain loyal to the end. Life seems completely different, exciting and worthwhile. Your only hope and security is in knowing that they are a part of your life." — Bob Marley

Availability Heuristic

Availability Heuristic

The availability heuristic is a phenomenon (which can result in a cognitive bias) in which people predict the frequency of an event, or a proportion within a population, based on how easily an example can be brought to mind.
This phenomenon was first reported by psychologists Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman, who also identified the representativeness heuristic. To see how availability differs from related terms vividness and salience, see availability, salience and vividness.

The Availability heuristic is gauging what is more likely based on vivid memories. The problem is individuals tend to remember unusual events more than everyday, commonplace events. For example, airplane crashes receive lots of national media coverage. Fatal car crashes do not. However, more people are afraid of flying than driving a car, even though statistically airplane travel is safer. Media coverage feeds into this bias; because rare or unusual events such as medical errors, animal attacks and natural disasters are highly publicized, people perceive these events as having a higher probability of happening.

Source: Listverse and Wiki.