Lessons from a "children song" / Bir "cocuk sarkisindan" dersler

Su anda Harvard'da calisan kuzenimi ziyaret etmek icin Boston'dayim. Evet, kendisi gayet zekidir. Ayrica kendisinin 2 yasinda dunya tatlisi bir oglu var (masallah). Tabii ki kucuk afacan ailenin tek odagi durumunda su an. Sonuc olarak evde en fazla izlenen kanal, Nickeladeon Jr.

Bu kanalda bir sarki duydum bugun. Iki cizgi filmin arasinda elinde gitariyla genc bir kiz cikip bir "cocuk sarkisi" soyledi:

"Kusursuz degilim, ama elimden gelenin en iyisini yapiyorum.
Kusursuz degilsin, ama seni gene de seviyorum."

Hayattaki ugras ve iliskilerimizin iki cumle icinde ne guzel bir ozeti. Ya da olmasi gerektigi halinin.

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Right now I'm in Boston, visiting my cousin who works for Harvard School of Public Health. Yes, he's quite smart. And he also has a 2-year-old-and-amazingly-cute son (masallah). Not surprisingly, the little brat is the number one focus for the family. As a matter of fact, the only TV channel they watch most of the time is Nickelodeon Jr.

I heard a song today in this channel. Between two cartoons, there was a "music time" where a young lady took her guitar and played a "children song":

"I'm not perfect, but I do my best.
You're not perfect, but I love you as you are."

Our most memorable efforts and relationships summarized in two sentences. Or summarized the way they should be.

Türkiye'de internet sansürü devam ediyor / Internet censorship continues in Turkey

SansureSansur - 05 (Eng. Subt.) from adboy on Vimeo.

Click the link below to see other videos / Diğer videoları görmek için aşağıdaki bağlantıya tıklayın:

SansureSansur Videoları

Pupils and teachers (Sufi tradition)

From Paulo Coelho's Blog:

Nasrudin - the eternal character of Sufi legends – was standing on his doorstep when he saw a teacher passing by with his pupils.

“Where are you off to?” he asked.

“We’re going to pray that God puts a stop to corruption, for He always heeds the prayers of children,” answered the teacher.

“A good education would have put an end to that already. Teach the youngsters to be more responsible than their parents and uncles.”

The teacher felt offended: “What an example of lack of faith! The prayers of children can change anything!”

“God listens to all who pray. If he only listened to the prayers of children there wouldn’t be a single school in the whole country, for there is nothing they hate more than their teachers.”

Welcome to Share with Friends - Free Texts for a Free Internet

Spiritual Activism?

The "Bleeping Herald", the online publication that started after the movie "What the Bleep Do We Know?", just sent out its most recent e-mail. They interviewed with a famous Yogi named Seane Corn, who considers herself a "spiritual activist". I really liked this term.

Here are some of the highlights of that interview:

"I've never done any service that has been selfless. I don't even know what that means. I say that because every single time I've gone out there into the world to be of service in any capacity, I have gotten more than I have ever given. My life has changed on so many levels and all I have to do is give time, energy, money, or some effort but what I get in return has been truly indescribable and priceless."

"Bleeping Herald: In spiritual circles there are often those who believe it's not a good idea to focus on the "dark side" of things whether it be their environments, their lives in general, etc., with the reasoning that focusing on the more "negative" aspects will bring that into one's own life. Since you can't do as much service as you do without dealing with hard issues, can you address that way of thinking?

Seane: I've heard that perception before, I just don't personally relate to it. To understand the light I've had to also understand and respect the power of the shadow. It is the flip side of the same coin. Everyone has obsession and jealousy, anger, hate, judgment, blame and all those negative perceptions and if you don't acknowledge them and you repress them, they come out in other ways."

This response above is a very key message. I especially see it as a response to the very much popularized way of thinking through the book "The Secret". Brodie, President of AIESEC International 05-06 and a current McKinsey Consultant, also mentioned the same approach in his blog.

On with the interview:

"This idea that there is an other, a you against me is really what's perpetuating the wars, the terrorism, and all the dysfunction of this planet so as spiritual activists, we have to be willing to go above it and see the bigger picture."

"So the real battle first starts within the individual and then it can transcend out into the community."

The most inspiring part of Barack Obama's speech in Turkish Grand National Assembly

Here's how Obama finished his speech today in our Grand National Assembly in Ankara:

"I know there are those who like to debate Turkey’s future. They see your country at the crossroads of continents, and touched by the currents of history. They know that this has been a place where civilizations meet, and different peoples mingle. And they wonder whether you will be pulled in one direction or another.

Here is what they don’t understand: Turkey’s greatness lies in your ability to be at the center of things. This is not where East and West divide – it is where they come together. In the beauty of your culture. In the richness of your history. In the strength of your democracy. In your hopes for tomorrow."

He definitely has a point. Personally, I don't find the "Bridge" metaphor that is given to our country by many people satisfying enough. I think we should consider ourselves as the "Center" between the West and the East with a growing economy, a peacemaker role in the region, and a real democracy.

CDC - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Outbreak Notice

The Center for Disease Control has issued a medical alert about a highly contagious, potentially dangerous virus that is transmitted orally, by hand, and even electronically.

This virus is called Weekly Overload Recreational Killer (W.O.R.K.). If you receive W.O.R.K. from your boss, any of your collegues or anyone else via any means whatsoever - DO NOT TOUCH IT!!! This virus will wipe out your private life entirely. If you come into contact with W.O.R.K. you should immediately leave the premisses.

Take two good friends to the nearest liquor store and purchase one or both of the following antidotes:

• W.O.R.K. Isolating Neutralizer Extract (W.I.N.E.)
• Bothersome Employer Elimination Rebooter (B.E.E.R.)

Take the antidote repeatedly until W.O.R.K. has been completely eliminated from your system.

You should immediately forward this medical alert to five friends. If you do not have five friends, you have already been infected and W.O.R.K. is controlling your life.

Paulo Coelho, bir arkadaş ve ben / Paulo Coelho, a friend and myself

Neden sürekli Web 2.0 kavramıyla ilgili yazıyorum?
Az önce güzel bir örnekle anlatabileceğim bir sahne çıktı karşıma:

9 yaşındayken okuduğum Simyacı'nın yazarı, ben ve "dünyayı değiştirme" fikrine kafayı takmış bir arkadaşım, enteresan bir şekilde aynı sitede buluştuk. Yukarıda gördüğünüz resim, o anki ekranımı gösteriyor (Eğer yeterince hızlı davranırsanız siteye giderek kendiniz de görebilirsiniz).

İlginç olan, arkadaşım diye bahsettiğim bu kişiyle hayatımda yüz yüze 2-3 defa karşılaşmış olmama rağmen son günlerde internette tesadüfen karşılaşıp durmamız. Ne demek "internette tesadüfen karşılaşıp durmak"?
Twitter'da olduğunu öğrendiğimde en son paylaştığı videoyu, yakın zaman önce benim blogumda da gördünüz. Arkasından bu arkadaşın websitesine gittim ve oradan çok güzel başka siteler keşfettim. Sayfasında yer alan "Hayatımdaki en kritik anlardan bazılarının özü, insanlarla yaptığım basit sohbetlerde yatıyor" sözü, benim için ilham kaynağı oldu. Az önce favori kitap anlayışımızın birbirine ne kadar yakın olduğunu fark ettim.
Ve bu "karşılaşma"ların hiçbiri doğrudan iletişim yolları (e-posta, anında mesajlaşma, sohbet vs.) ile olmadı, gene de her biri benim için küçük ve güzel bir tecrübeydi.

Ve bunların hepsini, Web 2.0 adı verilen teknolojiler bütününe borçluyum.

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Why do I keep writing about Web 2.0?
I just had a good example to explain it:

The author of The Alchemist (which was a book I read when I was 9), a friend who is obsessed with the idea of "changing the world", and myself somehow met on a website. The screenshot above is from that moment (You can see it yourself in the website as well, if you're fast enough).
The interesting thing is that I keep virtually running into this person that I call a friend, even though I have seen him 2 or 3 times face-to-face in my life. But what does "I keep virtually running into this person" mean"?

Lately in my blog, you've seen a video he shared on Twitter. Then I saw his website and discovered some other very cool websites there. His words "Some of the most crucial moments in my life boil down to simple talks." inspired me. And I just realized how similar our understanding of favourite books are.

And none of these "encounters" happened through a direct way of communication (e-mail, instant messaging, chat, etc.), and still all were small and nice experiences for me.

And I owe all of these to the collection of technologies known as Web 2.0.