Showing posts with label Lifestyle. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lifestyle. Show all posts

20 Dec 2023

The Quest for Wisdom

 

The quest for information, knowledge understanding and wisdom


Yes, we were born without any of these. Shall we remain so, or shall we strive for wisdom – our ultimate quest?

It is said that a fool knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.
Shall we have all the information there is in this world or even the universe, and remain fools?

It seems to me that most of us do not even get out of the starting blocks and are not interested in information at all. We feed on what was good for yesterday and for our ancestors.

1 Nov 2023

God is a utilitarian par excellence

 God is a utilitarian par excellence.

One of the best qualities I like and attribute to God is His utilitarianism, and by extension our utilitarianism which is a spin off of our free will. Similarly, it is also a spin off of God's free will.

In essence, utilitarianism is the act of doing the best for yourself or for groups on whose behalf you may act or choose.

7 Jul 2023

The Root of all Evil - Part 2

 The Root of all Evil – Part 2 – by P.K. Odendaal July 2023

My previous article on the root of all evil is pure drivel.

Will I delete that article or will I keep it here on my repertoire as a lesson in folly? Yes, I will keep it here, as the endeavour and accomplishment of humankind is fraught with error, omission, folly and evil. I make no excuse.

What this exercise in folly really taught me, is that an idea which has slumbered in my soul for too long - the idea that expressing an opinion is useless, fruitless, superficial and egoistic, has been let loose.

16 Sept 2022

The Pursuit of Happiness – Part 8 – Becoming a Friend of God.

The Pursuit of Happiness – Part 8 – Becoming a Friend of God.

We have now come to the end of this series, not that the subject is exhausted, but rather that this part is the ultimate happiness and joy any human can live for and even die for; the incredible opportunity to be a friend of God, or more specifically, to be a friend of Jesus Christ, the human side of God. Scripture says 'for in Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily'.

24 Jul 2022

The Pursuit of Happiness – Part 4 – Embrace the Nietzsche Moment

Part 4 – Embrace the Nietzsche Moment

Now that we are at peace with our decisions, we do not care about the past or the future, we have shunned negative people from our lives and we have made peace with those whom we have wronged and those who have wronged us, we can sit back and enjoy every moment that we are alive and blessed to partake in the wondrous universe and people around us.

23 Jul 2022

The Pursuit of Happiness – Part 3 – Inspire or shun negative people

 Part 3 – Inspire or shun negative people.

You get a breed of people who can never be happy. They are never satisfied with their lives, with what they have and with people around them. They can never embrace life or accept responsibility for their actions. They have no idea what their mission in life is and can never accept their destiny. Despair, prejudice and bitterness darken their inner being. They have no faith, no hope and no love.

19 Jul 2022

The Pursuit of Happiness Part 2 – The joy of forgiving and forgetting.

Part 2 – The joy of forgiving and forgetting.

In the first part we learned how to be free to choose anything from all possibilities, regardless of what the outcome of the choice may be, and that the past and future has no meaning for us.

We thus progress on this road to become free, to delete the past, and for that matter also the future’s pain that the past may have caused us.

17 Jul 2022

The Pursuit of Happiness - Part 1 – Goodbye Convention and Compromise

Foreword.

Happiness is within our grasp. I know that, as I am the happiest person in the universe, I think, and I have not even explored half of the possibilities of these seven principles yet. I also know some people around me who feel exactly the same, probably without even realizing what the principles of happiness are. But I also know that the majority of people around me are unhappy, frustrated and miserable.

27 Nov 2015

Marriage – or Forward to the Past


Marriage – or Forward to the Past – by P.K. Odendaal – December 2015

 

Whether it is forward to the past or back the future, I do not really know or care, because what is important is that we do not want to go here – a place we call today. I mean with regard to marriage, the family, education and cultural and social affairs. We have seen enough and we have had enough. Who will save us from ourselves?
When I wrote A Parody on Marriage, there were just too many questions, idiosyncrasies, pretension and contradictions to keep a rational person sane in the dichotomies which developed from the conclusions. So, I had to rethink and relive the whole thing. What was clear, however, was that the way of choosing a spouse today was just not working anymore and was leading us nowhere, if such a destination could be found at all. In fact, the remedies we are applying to save our marriages are exactly those which destroy it.

9 Nov 2015

Cause and Effect


Cause and Effect – by P.K.Odendaal - November 2015.
Up until now I have broadly written about cause and effect as if everybody knew exactly what it was, but on reflection I realise that I have buttered over its more serious and subtle aspects and paid lip service to its own cause and effect.
As a start we all know that every cause has an effect and some causes have a multitude of effects called ramifications, but I have not yet stood still to consider who or what causes these causes. We should also realise that many or most effects are again causes in themselves, if they are not corrected or relegated. They can in fact be managed and altered quite successfully, and the earlier you start, the easier it gets to change them.

27 Jun 2015

Killing me softly

Killing me softly – by P.K.Odendaal _ June 2015.
The only thing a man ever needs to fear is himself - from Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
No, this is not about the song by that name but a siren song of humans. It is about killing ourselves in a subtle way and is a continuation of my previous article on self-destruction.

21 Jun 2015

Reception, Deception and Rejection

Father’s day 2015 and self-destruction – by P.K.Odendaal – June 2015.
For Father’s day 2015

Go ask the rolling river (a living thing)
Why it flows in ceaseless motion (from where it originated in the mountain)
To the all-absorbing ocean, (its grave)
Finding there the final goal. (its death)
It will say, I’m driven onward
By a force beyond control. (gravity)
From The Elixir of Love by Donizetti

The cause of rejection in ourselves is mainly from a mistaken identity. We have not identified or found ourselves or our place in this world, or we have not fashioned our identity at youth to someone we admire and respect, mainly for not having such a person on our radar, and the effects of this is devastating in our lives.

22 Dec 2012

What do you not want to see


What do you not want to see? - By P.K.Odendaal - January 2013

I was inspired by the article by Annemie titled: 'What do you see?' She inspired us to look deeper into everything to see the detail, emotion, meaning, creativity, art, light and darkness, texture and colour, harmony, emotion and passion in everything.
Of course, there are also times when we do not want to see, and these are times I call: 'What do you not want to see' - the things you turn a blind eye to. It is times when we wish our eyes were closed. Some people then stick their heads in the sand, but I, not wishing to get sand or smoke in my eyes, look, but do not see, plainly because some things make my eyes sore, and some things make my heart sore. What would happen if I really tried to see these things? I think the world would be a much better place, if I also saw that. However, I am programmed not to see it.

15 Aug 2012

Philosophy - Part 15 - What do you see?

This part was written by Annemie Odendaal on invitation.

As a painter, you are required to look at things a little differently, a little deeper. Paint that emotion behind the eyes, capture the magic that isn't visible on the surface. You have to look at an object and see how things really are. You can not draw from memory, you have to really look investigatively. We have to examine every angle, it is the only way to develop or grow in your style.

Years ago the Impressionists tried this for the first time,followed by the post-impressionists, expressionists and cubists. Until then, everybody painted just what they saw on surface and from memory. Everything was picture perfect and pretty. Almost documentary, which make sense, since there wasn't any cameras.