Russell Smithers

I start teaching yoga in April this year. So I created a dedicated yoga website for my teaching activities which is; www.yoga-bija.me.uk, so feel free to visit and make comments. The russellsashtanga.info website will be retired, and I will consolidate the articles either into the new website, or maybe this one.

“Every portrait that is painted with feeling is a portrait of the artist, not of the sitter.” – Oscar Wilde

Having been a dedicated photographer for many years, the same is true of photography. The photograph is the result of a meeting between person, subject and how the photographer was being in that moment. But mostly it is a manifestation of how that person was when they were taking the picture.

Copyright © 2008 by Russell Smithers

“She stood up, and I rose with her. Under the street lamp her green eyes were jewels of desire, wet with light. Her lips widened in a half-smile that was mine – a moment that was mine alone – and the beggar, my heart , began to hope and plead.”

Gregory David Roberts from the book Shantaram.

Hi

I have just started to read a book called Shantaram (Gregory David Roberts). The first paragraph is amazing, I get the feeling that this will be like Star Maker (Olaf Stapldon) not because of the content, but because the first paragraph in both books are awsom, and in Star Maker each page was no decent from the original greatness of the first paragraph. Maybe Shantaram will be like that, according to the reviews it will be. Third time lucky, he wrote this book 3 times in prison, 1000 pages (nearly), the first two copies the guards in his prison trashed. Amazing, I shall read on.

All the best
Russell

Nothing wrong with small, small doesn’t mean it can’t be perfecty formed. Small is neither positive or negative, it just is in relation to other things.

Copyright © 2009 Russell Smithers

A quick note to friends and those who know me. I am moving address on the 21st Feb 2009, and this is only a few months after moving to Wales in July 2008. So if your unsure of where I am living, which would be understandable considering recent events, please contact me if I haven’t let you know my new address.

As the gaze of the Sun ever watchful, looks towards Earth
Earth rotates, and gracefully passes under her watchful eye

Earth always asleep and awake, as the Sun’s gaze comes and goes
The caress of the Sun, awakening lands of Earth
While nighttime comes and puts to bed, the tired lands

Earth’s wisdom to always rotate, giving all it’s lands the chance to rest and play
As all mothers know, Earth looks after her children and bears their sorrows
But children do not always know what pain they cause their mother

Copyright © 2008 by Russell Smithers

2007 was yet another hectic year for me, so I decided that 2008 was the year I needed to review my life, education and other goals. January has seen me reorganise my life (and time) sooner than I thought possible. I am now in a position to review the degrees available, make a decision and commit to a degree, but first I will need to sort out some loose ends.

Loose Ends

It is important the deck is cleared of loose ends and unnecessary things, before I set sail for the shores of academic success. Essentially I need my ship free of distractions. It is my aim to complete the following qualifications before starting my chosen degree;

• The Sun Certified Programmer for Java 5 (SCJP, Exam 310-055)
• Finish the Web Applications Development course I have started with the OU

Finally I will need to choose the degree I wish to study for.

Open University Options

The Open University (OU) distance learning is a good way for me to study, so it seems sensible to narrow my search to OU courses. Some of the courses I have completed might well count towards the following degree qualifications;

• BSc (Honours) Computing and Design
• BSc (Honours) Computing and Systems Practice
• BSc (Honours) Computing with Business
• BSc (Honours) Computing with Psychological Studies

The Plan

To complete the SCJP this year, and finish the Web Applications course sometime in 2009.

Toward the end of last year I knew it was time to review my goals and refocus my efforts. Why? well the last few years have seen many changes in my life, including a lifestyle becoming so hectic that I was almost tripping over myself to get things done. Needless to say the quality of my life deteriorated because of that. So 2008 is the year to work out how much time I have, decide how much time I need for myself and how much I am willing to give to volunteering and my studies.

In order to achieve what I really want (what I really really want … LOL). I decided to pause the degree I am studying for and enjoy myself a bit, in the process I have the time to sort out my life and try out different ways of using my time. This also gives me time to review the degree I am studying towards so I end up with a degree I feel happy with, rather than one I just achieved for the sake of it.

So far I am happy to report that within only a few weeks of trying out a new way of using my time, I have found a way of limiting what I do which gives me enough time to enjoy myself, do my study and volunteer in a sustainable way. 

So the next decision is, can I resume my studies this year, and what degree should I aim for. It seems obvious that I need to change degree I am studying towards, but which one?

I’m in the middle of reading some MySpace blogs, and a thought arose about how we can explore ourselves as people.  So how many ways can I think of at the moment, lets see;

1. Face your fears, maybe start with the small ones to get into practice.
2. Discover your likes and dislikes, and go into both a bit more deeply
3. Blogs, find peoples blogs (like MySpace) that you like, and look at thoughts and feelings  that arise, maybe commenting what you find against the blog you read. You may like to look at some different blogs that are available.
4. Try understanding people, maybe pick one you don’t like and one you do, and see where it leads
5. Go boldly into the unknown (maybe facing fears), do something different once in a while.
6. Change your life and routines. Maybe there are negative routines you could stop, or new positive routines that will be useful. I find that it’s good to always keep an eye on your self and your life and make changes anytime they are appropriate. There is no need to wait and make new years resolutions.
7. Engage more with the community, go along to events.
8. Volunteer to help others. It’s amazing what you learn about your self.

For now that’s all I can think of. I would love to hear your thoughts, so why not sign up and post some comments against this blog article.

Copyright Russell Smithers