Love Thy Neighbour... Unless They're Different...

Vanessa Feltz...
Whoda thunk it? But... 'Tis true... This blog is inspired by none other than Vanny herself!
I woke in bed, to the alarm-clock radio boomings of Vanessa...
She was arguing the religious right for sikh students to carry a kirpan (a small symbolic knife) to school after a boy of 14 was suspended and expelled from a school in Barnet for trying to enter the building with one on his person.
This threw up a great many religious and moral dilemmas for me...
I'm greatly interested in the ongoing and seemingly never-ending debate of what is acceptable in the name of religion.
The story of the kirpan interested me no end...
It is widely known, that a kirpan is nothing more than a symbol of faith to the Sikh religion. It is no more than 5" long and completely blunt as it purely represents the protection of the weak. It is no more a weapon than a pen or a ruler or a sharp tongue.
I'm stunned by the double standard that is still exercised in England... Especially considering that England is amongst the most liberal countries in the world.
For instance: Why is it okay for a Muslim child to wear a burkha when hoodies are banned from most inner London schools because children should show their faces?
Why are symbolic kirpans a reason for expulsion when the crucifix, a symbol of great violence and suffering, is still accepted?
Why is homosexuality still a taboo subject to teach when the alternative is intolerance, hatred and discrimination from a religion that promotes Jesus' teachings of love and non-judgement?
Why are school assemblies still a predominantly christian/catholic practice in London, when over 50% of London schools are made up of Hindu, Jewish, Muslim, Sikh, Buddhist, Bahai and jain children.
Why are young mother's frowned upon by the same people that insist contraception is a sin?
Why are Christian children taught that god is all loving, yet a small group are forced to stand by the roadside with signs saying "God hates this, that and the other"?
Why is paganism seen as mere folly by religions that can no-more prove their validity over another?
Why does it seem that everything to do with religion is bound in some kind of ignorance or half acceptance or cultural editing? Like nothing is absolutely clear or open or honest???
Recently, a senator in Tennessee, when arguing against foreign languages being taught in English speaking schools, said: "If English was good enough for Jesus, it's good enough for me."
I may sound like a dirty, sinful, heretic non-believer... But why does it seem that the only people able to give themselves wholeheartedly to a religion are the mildly uneducated, behind, backward, socially unsophisticated, ignorant ones? Hmmmmm!?


I'm a firm believer in the unconditional "Love Thy Neighbour!"... That's unconditional... as in un-con-di-tion-al... as in no exceptions... what a futuristic way to think!!
Just a thought
x 

A Great Load of Greatness...

What makes a person great?

Is it what they do, what they say, how they're viewed? 

There are the obvious examples of human greatness: "Oscar Wilde, Kurt Cobain, Shakespeare, Madonna, Mother Theresa, Brangelina, Charlie Chaplin, Michael Jackson, Gandhi, John Lennon... The Spice Girls!?!?" Each completely different from the next and yet all have been hailed as 'great'... 

***Humans that shine***

I can't help thinking that we may have lost our way in the labeling of greatness in modern times. There's no denying that Shakespeare or Wilde or Woolf were amazing individuals, but it seems far easier to make the list nowadays. Most names that feature on any modern "Humans of Greatness" list, are or were celebrities of their day. I'm left wondering if they were celebrities because they were great or were they great because they were celebrities? Could it be that in modern times we confuse the word "great" with "Loud" or "Extravert" or "Extreme Press Coverage" or simply "Remembered"? Do you have to be great to be remembered?

I've always had a preoccupation with leaving a mark in life. I'm afraid of the oblivion of mediocrity and being forgotten in the pages of 'normal'. Ultimately, I want to be remembered after I'm gone... Don't panic, I'm not planning on going anywhere, anytime soon. But it is still something I think about.

I'm reminded of the Chinese tradition of longevity and leaving your name and image in physical form on every wall and surface you can squeeze it onto, in order that you are not forgotten. Short of scrawling all over my walls, what is a person to do to be remembered?

In considering this, I have found myself at a loss. It seems to all boil down to media coverage. The artists, playwrights, medical specialists, rulers, presidents, popstars and concert organisers are freely admired, and for very good reason. They do, after all, provide a great service to the community. However, the teachers that strive to ground and educate or the parents that struggle to make money but still make time for their children or the carers that devote their time to the well being of another are somewhat left by the wayside. Greatness and column space hold a very close relationship, I have learned.

Could it be that greatness is something you claim with your final breath? You hear of great last words, such as: "My wallpaper and I are fighting a duel to the death. One of us has to go (Oscar Wilde)" or "The taste of death is upon my lips... I feel something that is not of this earth (Mozart)" or "I should never have switched from scotch to martinis (Hunphrey Bogart)". They are poignant, wonderful words that smack of luck and wit and good timing. But what about the people that said " D'you want a cup of tea?" or "I'm off to the shop" or simply farted before they died? Are they any less great for having a not-so-poetic final moment?

Ultimately I realise, greatness is something that lies in the heart of the beholder, not the possessor. We can strive all our lives for recognition and still slip effortlessly into the shadows without so much as a second thought or glance from anyone. I believe the key to greatness is as simple as making a difference to just one person. If, on the day we die, we can say "I made a change in someone's life"or "I earned respect" or "I tried my best", I believe we have achieved greatness.  

I conclude that you do not have to be great to be remembered, you simply have to be remembered to be great.

x

Do The Show...

Tonight, I was onstage in front of one of those audiences all performers pray for. They laughed at every joke, sighed at every poignant moment and clapped with never ending enthusiasm. It was one of those "I remember why I started all of this" evenings. It got me thinking about our role as the "performer" and the relationship we have with our audience.

The film "Alegria", directed by Franco dragone, has an amazing speech about the performer's role in society. The speech takes place in a sad scene when the Ringmaster of a dying and failing circus rouses his performers for one final show. He Says:

'We do the show. We do the show for the people in the dark... They need us. You know life is very tough, life is very hard and it's very cruel. When you step over the line into the light, you have a certain responsibility to the people in the dark. You've got to be strong. You've got to take all your pain and you have to bury it inside your costume. For 22 hours you can be just like them... You can moan and worry and cry and sleep and eat and drink and make love and suffer and grow old and die, just like everybody else. But, for two hours of every night, you're not allowed to let life in. So what are you going to do now?... Do the show! Do the show for the people sitting in the dark. The show is for them... Not for you...'

With only four performances left before our West End transfer, I am filled with great anticipation and excitement. My agent saw the show this evening and I was genuinely worried about what he might think. To my delight he told me he thought the show was "liberating and inspiring."

I'm very thankful for the chance to be one of the people in the light, baring all for the people sitting in the dark.

x

The 'N' Word

Nudity...

Talk about a good way to begin a new chapter of self discovery. I have just opened in a nude review show in London, so I thought I'd spare a few words on the subject of baring one's body to a scrutinising audience.

The most notable of occurrences on the night we first stood naked before a crowd was the "What will the audience think?" wall that hit you in the face right before you undressed. It's an inevitable part of the human psyche I guess, to be concerned about the judgement of others.

There were the obvious worries. ie. "Am I too fat, am i too thin, am I ugly, is my manhood the right size/shape/colour?"

But, something brilliant happens right in the split second before all comes off and you are left with nothing to hide behind. It's not so much that you scale the "What will the audience think?" wall, it's that you abandon all hope of ever getting over it. It's way too high and there's barbed wire across the top... So I'm told. 

Instead, you settle at the foot of that great, big wall and cast yourself adrift on the notion of "There's nothing in the world that I can do about it... So I don't care!"

It's the most liberating feeling. Down the line, I've come to massively enjoy the nudity in the show. I actually look forward to it. The audience, through some strange osmosis, seems to absorb our discomfort. Instead of us, it's them worrying "Am I looking too closely, what if they catch me sneaking a peek Southwards, am I enjoying this a little too much?"

I was always a bit of a secret nudist, opting to spend much of my alone time at home in my birthday suit, but I thoroughly recommend it. Public nudity has made me feel more at ease with myself than I have ever felt. It allows you to see your own strengths and weaknesses and deal with them through accepting the universal truth that you can't stop people judging or disliking or opposing, you can only accept that they do and let them continue. With or without their consent, we are quite simply... us!

That's enough from me! x

The Difference Between The Sprout and The Bean...

Sprout... 

 That's me... 

In the grand, old beanstalk of life I am currently ticking the "sprout" box. It's not something I'm necessarily very good at... being a sprout! I haven't quite found my place to grow fully and enjoy sproutliness to its full potential. (stay with me, it make sense in my head!)

I was great at being a bean. Some would say I was even blessed with a beanliness that few could have hoped for. I was a dreaming bean. A bean completely seduced with the adventure of putting out feelers and roots and the wonderful potential that feeling provided. Ticking the "bean" box felt like I had ownership over an embryo of endless possibilities that I guarded like a protective parent. In fact, the odd thing is, when I was a bean I couldn't wait for the day I would open my eyes and discover I had become a sprout.

Now I'm here. 26 years of well cultivated growth. I've loved, lost, loved again, worked, worked harder, worked harder still, cried, fought, laughed, played... slept?!

All was going smoothly... I was sprouting and it was exciting! 

I have suddenly found myself however, at a bit of a "blank canvas" stage in my life. I'm suddenly single for the first real time in almost six years, I've just moved house, I've recently lost weight, work is looking up and I'm feeling good. Could this be the gift of a renewal?

'Here I am. Hello! Nice to meet you!'

I'm taking it upon myself to go back and rediscover the things I possessed when I was a bean. I guess, though I didn't know at the time, I was very a lucky bean indeed. experience and excitement were things that, thankfully, stuck to my adult youth like old friends. Had I known what I now know, I would have cultivated and coaxed them to remain closer to my side over the past few years. They have grown somewhat distant and I suddenly realise how much I missed their presence.

Second Chance... Coaxing commencing!

This blog marks the beginning of discovering "The Difference Between The Sprout and The Bean." 

Here goes x