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31 Jan 2016

Something’s Missing

By Cal McDonnell / 2 Comments

I have returned from two weeks’ vacation. 14 days of beaches, sun, serviced food preparation, new experiences and reconnection with the family. All gluttonous in its condensed consumption, but a remarkable treat none-the-less. Perhaps one of the great private pleasures of this type of treat is the opportunity to gorge myself on reading. I have devoured three tremendous novels in the last couple of weeks and their beauty and the genius of the writers invigorate me. Perhaps by accident, each of the books I read has, indirectly

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23 Nov 2015

Quote of the day

By Cal McDonnell / No Comment

“I believe in the possible. I believe, small though we are, insignificant though we may be, we can reach a full understanding of the universe. You were right when you said you felt small, looking up at all that up there. We are very, very small, but we are profoundly capable of very, very big things.” Stephen Hawking

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24 Jul 2015

A Cartographer for the Soul

By Cal McDonnell / No Comment

A while back I was looking at photographs of Pluto that were coming through via the New Horizon spacecraft showing a craterless terrain of frozen lakes. Astronomers were calling this ‘dwarf’ planet infantile because in the timeframe of our three billion year old solar system, Pluto is but a pup! I think when the world first saw images of our own planet taken from space it must have opened our minds up to a new way of seeing life. It was then possible to imagine ourselves in our world in ways that were once unimaginable.

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26 Mar 2015

Appropriation

By Cal McDonnell / No Comment

So a couple of weeks ago, we established I have a very talented niece. Now it is time to share with you one of my children’s talentss. My daughter is in Year 12 and is busy putting together a portfolio for her Year 12 Visual Arts. Her first assignment is called Culture and Spirituality and she is playing with the paradoxes between the first world and the third world. As African migrants, we have this duality that has coloured our lives and that, as a family, we have struggled to make sense of and to be at peace with based on our

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19 Feb 2015

It’s written in the stars

By Cal McDonnell / No Comment

This new year in the Chinese calendar celebrates  a new moon, and this auspicious lunar event also heralds in the month of Pisces. Pisces is a time of recovering lost dreams and rekindling our passions. Our greatest work during Pisces is to become filled with joy. It is a month of happiness, miracles and wonders. It affords us the ability to achieve mind over matter, to overcome our doubts, and connect to things of a higher order. This is an exceptionally powerful month and linking that to the Year of the Goat (which lies between

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30 Jun 2014

Higher Consciousness

By Cal McDonnell / No Comment

The term ‘higher consciousness’ is often used by spiritually-minded people to describe important but hard-to-reach mental states. Hindu sages, Christian monks and Buddhist ascetics all speak of reaching moments of ‘higher consciousness’ – through meditation or chanting, fasting or pilgrimages. Unfortunately, the way in which these spiritual people discuss their states of higher consciousness has a tendency to put a lot of secular types on edge. It can all sound maddeningly vague, wishy washy, touchy-feely – and, for want of a

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