Tecnhological Revolution has socially crippled us!!!

This has been an intense week for me. I learned a couple of new things is great. This last week I have

spoken to a lot of people from completely different backgrounds, countries and perspectives in life. I have come to realize that with all the technological revolutionary advancements of this day and age. Individuals are definitely smarter than they were say 100 years ago. Why? Well that is a simple answer.

The information revolution that we are living in and not only that, but they way we communicate has fundamentally changed us. Clear examples are social networks in this particular case Facebook. This tool allows you to stay connected with HUNDREDS of friends and enable us to EMULATE a virtual SOCIAL LIFE. Don’t get me wrong I am an IT guy and develop these things myself, and facebook is an incredible tool that allows to KEEP CONECTED with hundreds of people across the globe SIMULTANEOUSLY. That is powerful!! Thus I said KEEP CONECTED. In this day and age of such huge technological advancements and I all sorts of High-tech communication the idea of KEEPING CONECTED does not mean KEEPING GOOD SOCIAL SKILLS.

My objective point is that for such a highly technological advanced world our social skills are brutally diminished. We are still so tribal like-minded considering such incredible technological advancements. And we are just not able to keep up. The world has created smarted individuals but that doesn’t mean more socially capable. People remain within their social contexts and tribes and What I have come to discover is that we have so much in common with other tribes. This is virtually impossible to imagine until you experience it. What I mean by this is that, if people give instead of take, “socially speaking” results could be absolutely amazing and a total win-win situation. Why I mean by give is to be absolutely open and give yourself to the group in terms of ENERGY life experiences, opinions and emotions.

This is a proven way to ADD SOCIAL VALUE to a specific tribe. Evolutionary speaking we are wired to survive and replicate taking Richard Dawkings theory. This means if a member of a tribe adds a valuable scheme of thought, actions or emotions for the particular objective of the tribe in that specific moment in time. The incorporation and acceptance of the new member is immediate, and not only that, the tribe wants to be around that member, because he or she adds value to the social replication-reproductive pool. I don’t fully believe this human ROBOTIC theory, but we do behave like that in many respects. Ellen is gone to Nepal for 3 weeks and heading to India in another 3. I am so incredibly excited It is going to be my 3th time in India. I love this country so much because it allows you to feel and think stuff that you would have never imagined to think or feel. That is where the beauty of it lies. Finding people with Zero technological access but with incredible social value. I am all about adding incredible value and enriching myself in the process is a beautiful thing!!!!

Adrian

Strangers and the comfort zone.

Hey amigos it has been a while since I last wrote. I have just been really busy working on the website, which I love doing is so challenging. Currently I am learning loads in terms of being able to build any sort of web application, considering the fact that nowadays we use the web so much, mine is going to be amazing with loads of users and specially be able to meet incredible people and learn more about myself.

Regarding people and social interaction I’ve been having great success. During the race week in Galway, I managed to speak to over 50 different people and all strangers of course and got over 40 different e-mails. I happened to learns loads and hone my approaching skills and one of the big realizations is that there is no such a thing as REJECTION. People in general have a friendly tendency towards other people and the big lesson is that we all share a lot of things in common. Just think of yourself having a good night out and all of a sudden a friendly stranger approaches you with a substantial conversation. The likelihood of you reacting positively is very high indeed.

One of the things that I discovered about myself is that I am able to approach any sorts and groups of people, obviously as a human being I feel the norm of social anxiety but the trick is to overcome it and that is when all the magic happens. I am fascinated by approaching strangers and meeting cool interesting people. One thing that I would like to share is that there are loads of interesting people out there. I can’t miss the opportunity to meet them all. A very interesting thing about all the interactions that I had was that out of all 50 only 1 was initiated by somebody else but me. What does this mean? We hardly ever talk to strangers apart from transactional purposes, and if we do, it could turn into a big challenge making the next step, meaning getting their contact details.

We hardly ever make it to the 12 feet with a stranger unless good skills are applied.
The challenge is reaching a casual distance with strangers.

Talking about the dark side on the other hand is that some people are still wary about NEW people and strangers. That could be a fascinating analysis of why humans instinctively are reluctant to the “new and novel” and prefer the familiar scheme of things, the so called comfort zone. I hate comfort zones. I don’t learn much staying in my comfort zone and familiarity. So if you have any experiences of how have you been BREAKING your comfort zone in the last week or month PLEASE SHARE !!!!!!!!

Anyway I am having loads of fun at the moment and can’t wait to launch my site and meet lots of interesting people.

I completely borderline between disasted zone and adventure zone. Where are you located??

Adrian

Living in Galway and Rocking up to people.

Hi everyone well WE ARE IN GALWAY. I'll try to describe the experience in one paragraph because it is a rather vast one.

Many changes first of all, new house, city, job and general activities and it just has been fantastic. I love developing the web site, it is a complete form of self expression writing code and seeing the output is like writing a poem; meaning I am an artist )):):):):):).

Well you have to work smart and to be a successful artist, but the challenge of creating something yours and trying to convert it into something real is just something completely beautiful. I love it. Galway is a great city like the arts festival is on and went to see a couple of bands from Cape Verde and Mali. It was great and just came back from seeing a couple of art exhibitions and found a lovely cafe place which sells cheese and wine with a combination of organic teas. I saw a beautiful sign in the wall posted which said "WE DON'T SELL CHIPS". This place opens until 4am in the morning amazing!!!, and so full of people and there seems to be a big alternative crowd in Galway which is going to be great for my business so if you are around in Galway don't hesitate and pay us a visit to our great apartment in Galway.

Another technique that I am developing is the technique on talking to strangers and initiate a substantial conversation and later engage them with an idea and ask for their contact details. This is one of the things that I will have to constantly do to sell my website and inviting people. I really love talking to new people and it feels great, instead of feeling all nervous and awkward and not knowing what to say I feel this HUGE BUZZ and so far I have met so many people just by rocking up to them and initiating some sort of conversation. The most interesting part is that most people react in a really friendly way. So if you have any suggestions on how would YOU best like to be approached by a friendly stranger send them up to me amonter5@hotmail.com. I love feedback.

Also I would recommend everyone to talk to strangers it’s great. You realize how many interesting people are really out there!!!!!!

WHY A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE STILL AFRAID OF STRANGERS ????????

Are they going to kill us, rob us, rape us ????

Or are we just being so incredibly tribal like cave men !!!!

Are we still cave MEN ???

Have fun and live your life!!!!!

Adrian

Morocco, London and Galway.

A really good photo was taken by me while Ellen is observing in a very diligently manner how the Moroccan man are in the course of devouring a savoury Tagine (Moroccan dish composed of several spices and vegetables in a clay pot). I saw the guy eating and asked them if we could take a photo with them.

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That is me in one of the most beautiful Medersa Ben-Youssef (Islamic school which contains dormitories and student halls) which fabulous and fiery Moroccan stucco around the walls. Once you are inside you feel completely subdued to the elegance and beauty of the place.

One of the narrow streets in Fez.

I'll continue very soon ...............................................................

Adrian

Camino de santiago de compostela

So Adrian wrote the last post, and I guess it's my turn! Life has been pretty hectic over the last few months which is great! I love being busy and we have managed to fill our lives with activites that we are passionate about, so its been a very exciting time :)

I just came back from a 10 day holiday in spain with mairead and cliffy. We did 4 days of the camino de santiago de compostela and became peregrinos for the week! We walked 90 km from Pamplona to Logrono and it was just such a fantastic experience that we all agreed to go back to do more of it next year!

It doesnt sound like an amazing holiday opportunity when I describe it - waking up at 6 in the morning after sleeping in a hostel which tends to be occupied by pilgrims who have a marvellous ability to snore, maybe it has something to do with their spirituality - the louder you snore, the closer you are to god?? Wearing, in my case, hand me down professional walking gear which was not in the least bit flattering, living out of a rucksack that you have to lug around with you all day, stale sweat coating every surface of your body, oozing through your rucksack as you walk to permeate every edifice of your belongings, stamping you permanently with your own particular scent... And thats not to mention the foot pain, hip pain, knee pain, blister pain, mosquito bite pain and thirst/hunger/exhaustion that accompanies you on your 6-8 hour walk each day :)

Ah, it was wonderful!

Seriously though, walking through the countryside, watching the wheat fields, and poppies, the ground changing from gravel, to stones, to sand, to clay, plodding over every type of soil, every kind of terrain, we crossed rivers, went up hills, and down mountains, through villages and towns, traipsed through mud where sarah fell, gracefully, and through vineyards, where I fell, painfully! Just accompanied by our conversations, our thoughts, the smells of flowers and the simple sounds of the three of us making our way to our destination, I felt like we were all alone in the world.

Needless to say, after 6 hours of walking, I didnt notice anything of beauty, all I could think about was how to make the pain stop :) Until the fourth day, when I didn't want the day to end :( The feeling of reaching our destination was magnificent! A huge accomplishment, and something we didnt tire of in our short trip. Although I would imagine that after 30 days of reaching destinations that the sensation dimishes somewhat!

Once we got to Logrono, we said goodbye to our new friends, and headed to San Sebastian, to the beach and the sun which had been hiding behind clouds throughout our walks. I think the sight of so many people shocked us a little after our peaceful pilgrimage, and it took us a while to get used to not being greeted with the usual respect that a pilgrim deserves :)

Flying back through Biarritz, I spent an extra day there and extended my holiday even further. I came back feeling as though I had been away for a month!

So I am beginning work full time next Monday, which I feel sure is a step in the right direction for me, and Adrian has 3 more weeks of work before he joins me up there to start his own venture on a wonderful website that we are developing - well he is developing and I am the advisor :) Its really something we feel passionately about and I am sure we will make it work.

So, I hope all of my readers are well. It amazes me again and again how happy I can be in this little life, that if I fill it with the things that I love doing, and with the people that I respect, and love and enjoy being with, that everything is possible.

Have a good week xx

More learning experiences !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HI everyone it’s been a long time since I last wrote and is a pleasure to write at this moment. Several events have happened in the last couple of months:

• Adrian and Ellen went to Morocco and London.
• Ellen sent her book to several publishers in Ireland and the UK.
• Ellen went to Amsterdam on her first business experience.
• Adrian with the help from Ellen is creating a great remarkable website that is going to create impact in the world.
• We're moving to Galway and a lot more come.

Adrian and Ellen went to Morocco and London.

London was absolutely great. I went by myself first and saw a great artist called Cranach. He basically was the leading edge in his time, painting provocative pictures of naked women evoking a huge sense of erotism for the 16^th century.

My next big adventure was to see Freud’s house in which he lived for the last year of his life and the most interesting thing was to see that he collected all sorts of antiquities from all over earth. All of which, in a way gave way for him to create ideas about the unconscious and psychosexual development it’s fascinating !!!!!!

Morocco was a great experience completely different from Syria or Jordan. The culture is very different considering food, environment and architecture. People were still very nice more pushy from the sales perspective, but still great in terms great social skills. They were very keen on joking and getting to know the person before diving into the sales pitch. Morocco has an incredible blend of African, European, Middle eastern and Mediterranean cultures mixed into a single melting pot . I really enjoyed the food the architecture and specially the culture as a monolith and it’s so close to Europe, only 3 hours away beautiful. I reiterate my passion for a learning travel experience and meeting interesting new people from completely different backgrounds.

Ellen went to Amsterdam on her first business experience.

This was a really great one, she got to meet people from all over earth and network and talk about interesting topics that all were passionate about, these are one of the things that you really get to learn loads and sort of measure were your overall skills stand in comparison with the most intelligent people out there in the world.

To be continued..

Art packed weekend in Limerick

So, news regarding us: We're going to Morocco!! Yay!!

Adrian's idea, random of the random, we are going in 3 weeks, just for a week... How exciting! Looking forward to diving into a new cultural experience which is defined in the Lonely Planet as "the greatest show on earth." Apparently, "there's no place on earth quite like this." I'll let you know :)

Yesterday we went to the the Limerick City Gallery of Art to see one part of the Eva exhibition, which is held in 10 locations around Limerick. It was great! We were a little shocked that we were unaware of its existence until just recently... How shameful.

The installation by Haegue Yang (Korea / Germany) called Holiday for Tomorrow caught my attention, and I quote:

"She is interested in contemplating the invisible power relationship in structure of society and in everyday life. Her new installation includes a video essay, "Holiday Story", in which the nature and fact of holiday is quietly yet sincerely commented. Holiday is socially agreed temporary suspension of labour from restless production urge, which only legitimated itself for a purpose of regeneration for the better future production efficiency.

...The installation also includes "Blind Department", which functions as an obstacle of sight that rest of sight is suggested......

...Yangs complex thought on the role of art, cognizing the betrayal aspect of holiday in life, deceiving our expectation of fundamental rest responds to her mental struggle about labour....."

Which led me to wonder if in my time off, I am simply resting so that the next week I will be more productive.However, I also wonder if the artist ever does anything while on "holiday", because I know I definitely never come back feeling "rested"! Although I would like it if we were able to integrate work into our lives so that the two were not so segregated... but then that satisfaction of finishing work, and the build up to time off wouldn't be so sweet. Go check out the exhibition and let me know what you guys think!

Today we took advantage of the free admission on a Sunday to visit The Hunt Museum, and stumbled upon a guided tour in progress with a delightful docent who filled us in on the more amusing and intriguing aspects of a few of the artifacts in the collection.

Hope you all enjoyed your weekend as much as we enjoyed our surprising art packed weekend in lovely little Limerick.