It seems as if this time of year is always a bit manic.
Between wrapping up at the office, year end functions, holidays, social gatherings and last minute Christmas shopping everyone is rushing from one engagement to the next.
When I realised that I had double booked myself for the second time during the month of December, I decided that I needed to make myself a December planner to keep handy, in order to remember all the things I have going on.
I made these, which you are welcome to download if you also need some help keeping track.
I am jumping on the "Throw Back Thursday" trend, as it makes me feel as if uploading photos almost four months after they were taken is is totally justifiable.
I am throwing back to this one time I turned 30, and shared an amazing day with the most wonderful group of friends anyone could ask for.
The Great Dictator’s SpeechWatch this timeless and universal speech from Charlie Chaplin which couldn’t be more relevant today. Taken from his 1940 movie The Great Dictator, Charlie delivers a hair raising and thought-provoking speech that we should all take a moment to take in.
I’m sorry, but I don’t want to be an emperor. That’s not my business. I don’t
want to rule or conquer anyone. I should like to help everyone – if possible –
Jew, Gentile – black man – white. We all want to help one another. Human beings
are like that. We want to live by each other’s happiness – not by each other’s
misery. We don’t want to hate and despise one another. In this world there is
room for everyone. And the good earth is rich and can provide for everyone. The
way of life can be free and beautiful, but we have lost the way.
Greed has
poisoned men’s souls, has barricaded the world with hate, has goose-stepped us
into misery and bloodshed. We have developed speed, but we have shut ourselves
in. Machinery that gives abundance has left us in want. Our knowledge has made
us cynical. Our cleverness, hard and unkind. We think too much and feel too
little. More than machinery we need humanity. More than cleverness we need
kindness and gentleness. Without these qualities, life will be violent and all
will be lost….
The aeroplane
and the radio have brought us closer together. The very nature of these
inventions cries out for the goodness in men – cries out for universal
brotherhood – for the unity of us all. Even now my voice is reaching millions
throughout the world – millions of despairing men, women, and little children –
victims of a system that makes men torture and imprison innocent people.
To those who can
hear me, I say – do not despair. The misery that is now upon us is but the
passing of greed – the bitterness of men who fear the way of human progress.
The hate of men will pass, and dictators die, and the power they took from the
people will return to the people. And so long as men die, liberty will never
perish. …..
Soldiers! don’t
give yourselves to brutes – men who despise you – enslave you – who regiment
your lives – tell you what to do – what to think and what to feel! Who drill
you – diet you – treat you like cattle, use you as cannon fodder. Don’t give
yourselves to these unnatural men – machine men with machine minds and machine
hearts! You are not machines! You are not cattle! You are men! You have the
love of humanity in your hearts! You don’t hate! Only the unloved hate – the
unloved and the unnatural! Soldiers! Don’t fight for slavery! Fight for
liberty!
In the 17th Chapter
of St Luke it is written: “the Kingdom of God is within man” – not one man nor
a group of men, but in all men! In you! You, the people have the power – the
power to create machines. The power to create happiness! You, the people, have
the power to make this life free and beautiful, to make this life a wonderful
adventure.
Then – in the
name of democracy – let us use that power – let us all unite. Let us fight for
a new world – a decent world that will give men a chance to work – that will
give youth a future and old age a security. By the promise of these things,
brutes have risen to power. But they lie! They do not fulfill that promise. They
never will!
Dictators free
themselves but they enslave the people! Now let us fight to fulfill that
promise! Let us fight to free the world – to do away with national barriers –
to do away with greed, with hate and intolerance. Let us fight for a world of
reason, a world where science and progress will lead to all men’s happiness.
Soldiers! in the name of democracy, let us all unite!
