My Application Proccess In Emirates – Assessment Day

Theo James travelled with UNHCR to meet refugees in Greece

yī rì sān qiū / 一日三秋 (κινέζικα): “μια μέρα, τρία φθινόπωρα”, όταν κάποιος σου λείπει και νομίζεις πως ο χρόνος δε περνάει με τίποτα.

10 Best Things To Do In Cephalonia, Greece

☀️Sun Meditations☀️

🌞Drawing in Sun Energy Meditation🌞:

This can be done right before any kind of Sun magic or working with Sun deities. It’s also a easy way to recharge your personal energies. If you’re tired and in need of an energy boost during the day use this exercise to recharge your energy levels. It’s also an excellent way to raise energy for any type of healing work

🌞If possible, sit outside in a sunny spot where you will not be disturbed or, if it’s cold outside, stand by a window where the Sun’s light can shine on you. Sit in a comfortable position.

🌞 Close your eyes. Feel the warmth of the sun on your skin. Take 3 deep breaths in-and-out and allow your body to relax.

🌞Turn your hands palm up, raise them to the sky (if that’s comfortable, just resting them on your lap, palms open, works just as well). See the Sun’s energy streaming towards you, and then draw it between your hands until you hold a fiery, golden orb of light.

🌞Slowly lower your hands. As you do, see the Sun’s energy filling your body. See the Sun’s energy filling your head then lower your hands to your chest and see it filling your heart in the core of your being.

🌞Lower your hands again and see the Sun’s energy fill the lower part of your body, going down the soles of your feet. Repeat as many times as you wish.

🌍Grounding Sun Meditation☀️:

This meditation is my favorite way to ground. The sun and earth work in harmony to bring you balance and strength.

🌍 If possible, sit outside in a sunny spot where you will not be disturbed or, if it’s cold outside, stand by a window where the Sun’s light can shine on you. Sit in a comfortable position.

☀️Hold your hands palms up. See a ray of golden light shining on you. Concentrate on the light. Concentrate on emotions being felt and physical sensations. Feel or imagine its warmth on your skin.

🌍Take a deep breath, and as you do, see the sunlight filling you. Take 2 more deep breaths, or until you feel filled with sunlight.

☀️Now place your hands Palm down on the ground to either side of you. Imagine reaching down through the Earth - down, down to the fiery core of the planet.

🌍Take a deep breath and, pulling up the fires that are at the heart of the Earth, take 2 more deep breaths until you are filled with the fires of the Earth.

☀️Place your palms over your heart. See the golden sunlight in the fires at the core of the Earth mix and blend as they fill in circulate through your being.

☀️Say or think:

Fires above, fires below

Within, without I am whole

Source

~ Predynastic Egyptian man.

Date: ca. 3500 B.C.

Place of origin: Gebelein

Period/culture: Late Predynastic; Naqada II

THROUGH A RAPIST’S EYES” (PLS TAKE TIME TO READ THIS. It may save a life, It may save your life.)

An Article from Neena Susan Thomas

“Through a rapist’s eyes. A group of rapists and date rapists in prison were interview…ed on what they look for in a potential victim and here are some interesting facts:

1] The first thing men look for in a potential victim is hairstyle. They are most likely to go after a woman with a ponytail, bun! , braid, or other hairstyle that can easily be grabbed. They are also likely to go after a woman with long hair. Women with short hair are not common targets.

2] The second thing men look for is clothing. They will look for women who’s clothing is easy to remove quickly. Many of them carry scissors around to cut clothing.

3] They also look for women using their cell phone, searching through their purse or doing other activities while walking because they are off guard and can be easily overpowered.

4] The number one place women are abducted from / attacked at is grocery store parking lots.

5] Number two is office parking lots/garages.

6] Number three is public restrooms.

7] The thing about these men is that they are looking to grab a woman and quickly move her to a second location where they don’t have to worry about getting caught.

8] If you put up any kind of a fight at all, they get discouraged because it only takes a minute or two for them to realize that going after you isn’t worth it because it will be time-consuming.

9] These men said they would not pick on women who have umbrellas,or other similar objects that can be used from a distance, in their hands.

10] Keys are not a deterrent because you have to get really close to the attacker to use them as a weapon. So, the idea is to convince these guys you’re not worth it.

POINTS THAT WE SHOULD REMEMBER:

1] If someone is following behind you on a street or in a garage or with you in an elevator or stairwell, look them in the face and ask them a question, like what time is it, or make general small talk: can’t believe it is so cold out here, we’re in for a bad winter. Now that you’ve seen their faces and could identify them in a line- up, you lose appeal as a target.

2] If someone is coming toward you, hold out your hands in front of you and yell Stop or Stay back! Most of the rapists this man talked to said they’d leave a woman alone if she yelled or showed that she would not be afraid to fight back. Again, they are looking for an EASY target.

3] If you carry pepper spray (this instructor was a huge advocate of it and carries it with him wherever he goes,) yelling I HAVE PEPPER SPRAY and holding it out will be a deterrent.

4] If someone grabs you, you can’t beat them with strength but you can do it by outsmarting them. If you are grabbed around the waist from behind, pinch the attacker either under the arm between the elbow and armpit or in the upper inner thigh – HARD. One woman in a class this guy taught told him she used the underarm pinch on a guy who was trying to date rape her and was so upset she broke through the skin and tore out muscle strands the guy needed stitches. Try pinching yourself in those places as hard as you can stand it; it really hurts.

5] After the initial hit, always go for the groin. I know from a particularly unfortunate experience that if you slap a guy’s parts it is extremely painful. You might think that you’ll anger the guy and make him want to hurt you more, but the thing these rapists told our instructor is that they want a woman who will not cause him a lot of trouble. Start causing trouble, and he’s out of there.

6] When the guy puts his hands up to you, grab his first two fingers and bend them back as far as possible with as much pressure pushing down on them as possible. The instructor did it to me without using much pressure, and I ended up on my knees and both knuckles cracked audibly.

7] Of course the things we always hear still apply. Always be aware of your surroundings, take someone with you if you can and if you see any odd behavior, don’t dismiss it, go with your instincts. You may feel little silly at the time, but you’d feel much worse if the guy really was trouble.

FINALLY, PLEASE REMEMBER THESE AS WELL ….

1. Tip from Tae Kwon Do: The elbow is the strongest point on your body. If you are close enough to use it, do it.

2. Learned this from a tourist guide to New Orleans : if a robber asks for your wallet and/or purse, DO NOT HAND IT TO HIM. Toss it away from you…. chances are that he is more interested in your wallet and/or purse than you and he will go for the wallet/purse. RUN LIKE MAD IN THE OTHER DIRECTION!

3. If you are ever thrown into the trunk of a car: Kick out the back tail lights and stick your arm out the hole and start waving like crazy. The driver won’t see you but everybody else will. This has saved lives.

4. Women have a tendency to get into their cars after shopping,eating, working, etc., and just sit (doing their checkbook, or making a list, etc. DON’T DO THIS! The predator will be watching you, and this is the perfect opportunity for him to get in on the passenger side,put a gun to your head, and tell you where to go. AS SOON AS YOU CLOSE the DOORS , LEAVE.

5. A few notes about getting into your car in a parking lot, or parking garage:

a. Be aware: look around your car as someone may be hiding at the passenger side , peek into your car, inside the passenger side floor, and in the back seat. ( DO THIS TOO BEFORE RIDING A TAXI CAB) .

b. If you are parked next to a big van, enter your car from the passenger door. Most serial killers attack their victims by pulling them into their vans while the women are attempting to get into their cars.

c. Look at the car parked on the driver’s side of your vehicle, and the passenger side. If a male is sitting alone in the seat nearest your car, you may want to walk back into the mall, or work, and get a guard/policeman to walk you back out. IT IS ALWAYS BETTER TO BE SAFE THAN SORRY. (And better paranoid than dead.)

6. ALWAYS take the elevator instead of the stairs. (Stairwells are horrible places to be alone and the perfect crime spot).

7. If the predator has a gun and you are not under his control, ALWAYS RUN! The predator will only hit you (a running target) 4 in 100 times; And even then, it most likely WILL NOT be a vital organ. RUN!

8. As women, we are always trying to be sympathetic: STOP IT! It may get you raped, or killed. Ted Bundy, the serial killer, was a good-looking, well educated man, who ALWAYS played on the sympathies of unsuspecting women. He walked with a cane, or a limp, and often asked “for help” into his vehicle or with his vehicle, which is when he abducted his next victim.

Send this to any woman you know that may need to be reminded that the world we live in has a lot of crazies in it and it’s better safe than sorry.

If u have compassion reblog this post. ‘Helping hands are better than Praying Lips’ – give us your helping hand.

REBLOG THIS AND LET EVERY GIRL KNOW AT LEAST PEOPLE WILL KNOW WHATS GOING ON IN THIS WORLD. So please reblog this….Your one reblog can Help to spread this information.

THIS COULD ACTUALLY SAVE A LIFE.”

Small Ways To Improve Your Life

make your bed to immediately make your room look more put together

water first, then coffee or tea

pray or meditate, even just for ten minutes, to set the tone for your day

browse the news headlines ( & read the articles that interest you when you’ve got time)

wear something you feel b o m b in

listen to music while doing your daily activities-commuting, cleaning, cooking, exercising

smile at at least two people

smile at YOURSELF

call or message someone you love

eat food that makes you feel radiant

make lists of things you need to accomplish for the day

stretch for 10 minutes

record in your phone the positive thoughts you have so you can remember them

carry water with you (always always always)

shut off your phone for an hour and have some ME time

take a hot shower or bath at the end of a stressful day

try to make plans to spend time with someone at least once a week

think about 3 things you are grateful for at the end of each day

do something calming, relaxing, and non-electronic 30 minutes before you sleep

sleep pants-less

The Song of Achilles, Madeline Miller

Rating: No Good Genre: Fantasy Representation: Gay men, Greek/Mediterranean cast Trigger Warnings: rape, rape culture, explicit sex scenes, child sexualization, exotified ethnicity, character death

I stopped reading The Song of Achilles a third of the way through.  I started the novel with high hopes, as The Song of Achilles promised to be an exploration of the romantic relationship between Achilles and Patroclus—taking what The Iliad only implied and putting it to paper.

Here’s what I was hoping for: an honest exploration of the ancient Greek conception of sexuality, taking into account that homoeroticism that we today would call “homosexual” was not considered part of one’s sexual identity, simply what one did (in addition to taking a wife, of course).  What would a boy growing up in (mythical) ancient Greece, a land where even Zeus took male lovers, think about his own romantic and sexual desires?  Does he desire only men (in The Song of Achilles this is true of both Achilles and Patroclus), and what does that mean for him personally, as compared to what it would mean for us today?

Here’s what I got: The Song of Achilles reads very much like the erotic fantasy of a straight woman about gay men.  I was made personally uncomfortable, especially considering how young the characters are in the first 3rd of the book (9-16). The Song of Achilles revisits tired tropes that seem very out of place in the ancient Greek setting–a culture notorious for its fluid sexuality. Thetis (Achilles’ mother) behaves more like a small town republican than a goddess. She’s upset that Achilles and Patroclus kiss and makes it her mission to separate them. This makes absolutely no sense considering that, as a goddess, she should be above the petty who’s-kissing-who of mortals, and makes even less sense when you consider that Zeus himself took male lovers. The bigotry is only included in the text because Miller has no idea how to deal with queer characters outside of the angst of the present day.  I was expecting this story to at least acknowledge that ancient Greece is not the same as Victorian England just because both periods happened out of living memory.

Neither Achilles nor Patroclus consider themselves as part of a greater social context.  If Patroclus really had exclusive feelings towards men, there would be some internal narrative exploring how he feels about his feelings–how does he see himself fitting into his culture? Instead, the entire narrative focuses on the external–how attractive Achilles is, and the external consequences for their relationship (such as the disapproval of Achilles’ mother). This is what really convinced me that this book was written for straight readers. A coming of age story about queer children, yet they spare no thought for their own identities? No thoughts of the future, or considerations of whether there are others like them? I would have been incredibly interested in a well-researched novel which explores the unique challenges (and enjoyment!) of queerness in an ancient context. That would have been a truly unique novel. The Song of Achilles, however, reads like Miller read one Alex Sanchez novel and thought she was somehow qualified to write this book.

Further, Miller struggles with separating her own voice from the voice of her first person narrator, which makes for some very uncomfortable narration surrounding the bodies of 9-13 year old children. Patroclus, 9 at the time, describes Achilles as “still plump with childhood” and with “hair lit like honey in the sun.” Later, at 13, Achilles is “supple.” This is the language not of a child, but of an adult observing childhood. A child would never say another child their age was “still plump with childhood.” Patroclus’ voice gets lost in Miller’s desire to write in a sophisticated style, which has the horrible repercussion of making her novel voyeuristic.

Related to this is the fact that Miller exotifies the nationalities of her characters. Everyone has “skin the color of freshly pressed olive oil” which is so silly coming from the point of view of Patroclus, who has grown up seeing Mediterranean people all his life–and looking just like them. Frankly, it’s racist. It’s a white woman looking in and impressing her own observations, not the observations of a young Greek boy, on the narrative. Some further racism: Achilles, hyperattractive demi-god that he is, is portrayed as “whiter” than everyone else–and his beauty is almost always described by the color of his “golden” skin. His hair is honey and his eyes are green, in contrast to the dark eyes and the “nut-brown” bodies of the rest of the Greeks.

So, not only is The Song of Achilles a disappointment for queer readers looking for good representation, it’s not that well written, constantly breaking point of view to give us an uncomfortable dose of child sexualization and racism. The premise of this novel had a lot of potential, but Miller couldn’t follow through with an inoffensive execution.

For more info on Madeline Miller, here’s her website

July 27, 2018 - 22:28 pm to 2:28 am

4 Hours of Longest Lunar Eclipse sped in to 1 minute. 🕚🌑🌒🌕🌖🌘🕐