Loreena McKennitt - Tango to Evora

The Visit Album: Track list (1991)

1. All Souls Night
2. Bonny Portmore
3. Between The Shadows
4. The Lady Of Shalott
5. The Greensleeves
6. Tango To Evora
7. Courtyard Lullaby
8. The Old Ways
9. Cymbeline

Being Human 2015 Liverpool

Being Human 2015 with University of Liverpool

The exhibition at Abercromby Square is from the 4th November - 18th December.

This year I am participating in Being Human 2015 Exhibition with a poster (below). The poster summaries a paper I presented at the Caribbean Philosophical Association (CPA)'s annual conference which took place in St Louis, Missouri last June 2015.

Further Info:
http://beinghumanfestival.org/
More about my research see Academia: https://liverpool.academia.edu/ShereenHamedShaw

Eve @The Well Space_Liverpool

I'd like to introduce to you.. Eve...

Meet Eve...

She is trapped inside a confined space, silent and still. She is destined to be here, destined to carry on. Life goes by, people surround her and yet she finds herself restless, unable to reach out, unable to escape. But to where or to whom will she escape. The other imprisons her with his gaze. She is belittled. She stumbles into the darkness to find her way. She waits in silence for what is yet to come. Anxious, fearful and yet hopeful. She is hopeful that one day she will be able to lift herself up, reach higher, stand up and fulfill her being as a woman, a mother, a daughter, a sister and as a human being.

This is the many poses of Eve...

She moves, she stretches, she bends and lies to the ground. She is restless and anxious. Eve is waiting. For what, she cannot tell. Few words can express what she is longing for. She can no longer say. Blamed for Adam's sin and for her own in a world that values him over her. She is no longer afraid, no longer worried or anxious. She grows, she creates her own world where he no longer exists. Why would she submit to the gaze of the other when she can try to be free... And even if she's never free, the journey is still worthwhile. These are the many poses of Eve. She is strong, she is ruthless, she moves confidently, her sight is clear and her goals are within reach. 

Life Drawing Session at The Well Space Cafe, Roscoe St. Liverpool

https://www.facebook.com/TheWellSpaceLiverpool1

* The Well Space is a beautiful hidden Cafe and gallery on Roscoe st. They hold events, small functions and gigs. Such a cool space with funky decor, snacks, a bar and projector. A well lit open space that is both relaxing and truly inspiring.

Date: 05/10/2015

Model: Eve

Drawn by myself, S.Shaw

The Joy of Phenomenology today

Phenomenology is the study of structures of consciousness as experienced from the first-person point of view. The central structure of an experience is its intentionality, its being directed toward something, as it is an experience of or about some object.

https://youtu.be/cVGAxMo-kiw

Force and Understanding in Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit

See:
http://bat020.com/2011/05/20/force-and-understanding-in-hegels-phenomenology-of-spirit/

Succubus

 

Two sides of the same coin?

In myth as well as in fictional tales, there are descriptions of women who are seductive, luring, with an ability to make things..."magical". They have such a power and charm that takes hold of your heart and soul. Some portrays are darker than others, a few have serpents to imply that she is just as cunning, as manipulative, whilst others are more luring and almost angelic. Which one fascinates me? And which one are you is a more important question...Our history is full of stories of  a succubus (a female demon or supernatural entity in folklore (traced back to medieval legend) that appears in dreams and takes the form of a woman in order to seduce men, usually through sexual activity. The male counterpart is the incubus. Religious traditions hold that repeated sexual activity with a succubus may result in the deterioration of health or even death.)

 

Seduction is an art that can be taught (if you don't believe me watch a film set in the 17th Century Venice, Dangerous Beauty) A woman who can seduce, has so much power beyond imagination. It isn't that men are weak and stand no chance against a woman, but it is more that when a woman seduces; her mind and body are engaged. This makes her powerful, magical and more importantly, capable of what no man can do or think of. In Victorian times, the image of the woman who seduces men had more of a negative stigma attached to it and the focus was more on highlighting the "virginity" and purity of the female. A seducer would be a sorceress, a child of the darkness, cursed and shunned by society. But secretly, every Victorian man was looking for this woman behind the innocent faces. There was nothing in these innocent faces that enticed them, intrigued them enough to want to explore, nothing was luring.

In Thomas Hardy's Tess of the D'Urberville, we find that Tess' innocence did not really get her far. It never got her the man she really wanted and longed for. He, ironically, blamed her for being rapped by another man and thus, having lost her purity. But was purity what he was really after? Virgin, pure girl, inexperienced... or is the longing for what he cannot have? Or is it the idea of her having already experienced pleasure and having already crossed that bridge from being a girl to becoming a full woman that he couldn't tolerate and caused him to be indifferent. Why are societies, following in the foot steps of the Victorian and others, still highlighting the qualities of women that really gets them no where in life? Why are men after what they cannot have and once they have it, it is no longer of use to them? If I am magical, enchanting, passionate, fiery and powerful, will men find themselves unable to accept that with power and skill, there is passion and a kind of love that is like no other.

Enjoy listening to this song:

Miguel - How Many Drinks? (Lyrics)         

https://youtu.be/OTIZ9buTdgU

Kizomba: Dance with Passion

Kizomba music emerged as a more modern music genre with a sensual touch mixed with African rhythm. Shall I say anymore!

Song played is Mil Pasos (Soho).

Join: Liverpool Kizomba here!
https://www.facebook.com/Kizomba.Merseyside?fref=ts

The Sturggle of Relationships

In our modern age, a relationship has a different look than what it used to be in the olden days. There seem to be more demand for reassurances than before and certainly more pressure on both parties to continue happily together. I have to say I don't regret having been married 7 years and now single. The 7 years taught me a lot about the level of dedication that is required for a relationship to last. It also taught me that one party alone can not keep the boat floating for long and that if one jumps off the boat, the other has to be prepared to go alone regardless of all odds. I learnt a lot about myself and I probably chose very wrong from the start; a man who saw very little in me. To meet a man now who would appreciate me and love what he sees  is exciting and something I am certainly looking forward to. Fact, my son needs a father and I need a man. This makes 2 men required, seeing that it's doubtful one man will be sufficient to carry out both roles. I am regardless hopeful and certainly positive about a future that has many unknowns. They don't phase me or worry me. I can only look forward because I am uninterested in the past. It took me a while and a lot of hard work. Every day was a struggle but was worth going through. From now on, I think my understanding of a relationship has become clearer; we must want the same things and be on the same boat.

Since being single, every man I met to date added something exciting to my life; an assertion of what I need and what I am looking for. If it's not you, I apologies truly. The search for the mysterious "other" fills me with excitement and keeps me on my feet. I can only hope that I would never be in a position where my principles are tested and I have to make a tough decision. I am an ethical being who will not accept on my consciousness a wrong doing. I will not hurt another woman no matter what. I will always put myself in the other's shoes and I certainly can never be "the other" woman. When the woman my X had an affair with emailed me to say she tried to end their affair on many occasions, I replied with two things: 1. He was not yours to have and 2. Thank you for giving me a chance to kick his a** out seeing I've had enough of his failures in every aspect of our life and relation. These are my principles that I will live by in relations. They are key in modern relations; never take another's man, never cheat and certainly never lie. Marriage is just a piece of paper, I agree, but the vows mean nothing if they were not truly meant. The rules of any relation are crystal clear, love, struggle, continue together wanting the same goals and build your dreams together. I am not sad this happen to me. In fact I am relieved that I am unburdened now and set free to be who I want to be and to make the best life for the person who truly deserves it; my son. If a man comes along, he'll have to convince me that there IS really room for him in my life and that his contribution to both ourselves is vital.

Mysterious Mr right, a note from myself and from my 3 years old son to you....

From me, first: I need a man who cares about me, who is willing to fight the world together side by side no matter how hard and how difficult it gets. I need a man who raise me up and never put me down. I need a man who looks at me with love and sees the woman I am and admire. I need a man who is faithful to me as I am faithful to him and who knows that good things happen to those who work hard and have ambition. I want a man who appreciate my upbringing and my principles and who share my philosophy in life, we live once, we make our own destiny and with our freedom comes great responsibility.

And from my son: I need a father who teaches me good principles in life and be a role model for me to look up to and admire. I need a father I can see loving my mother and dedicated to us as a family. I need a father who is caring and loving and puts us before his own needs. I need a father who looks after me and her in every way a man could and makes us feel safe and happy. I need a father most of all to teach me how to be a great man because my biological father failed to see how important these things would be to me....

Yours, me and mum x

We loook forward to meeting you and having you in our lives

Do you Love Life?

My journey from August 2014 to date... From Size 16 to 12 (and some...)

June 2014

Do you love life? This very difficult question to answer pops in my mind every time I reach for my "Love Life" daily supplements.







I have for the majority of my life been joining gyms, starting diets and to be honest slacking half way for many excuses that only I can blame only myself for.

I have been skeptical but hopeful like every dieter starting new that "this" will work. Whatever "this" was, it never gave me the instant transformation of a beach body babe that I longed to be. After 7 years of marriage and going through the divorce, this was my wake up call. I had to give up "bad habits", I had to wake up to start fresh and love not just life, but love myself!

God knows how many times I ate and ate to feel better about how many things that were simply frustrating me, irritating me or simply letting me down. That is including being encouraged to junk by my X who has no clue about health eating and eats junk and sweets. Well, some people when they are sad they eat (and that was me) whilst others go totally without food (and thus become skinny). I had to put an end to this just I put an end to everything else that was making me unhappy in my life. A new start is what I needed...

January 2015

I wanted to be able to see the person who felt trapped inside that body. I wanted to be healthy, fit and most of all happy. These three goals were always on my mind, they all depended on each other. So..... Action plan began: Day one after my divorce I went on Amazon.co.uk bought myself my first product of Love Life. That was "Inner Flush". The many times I felt bloated having ate and ate out of probably not loving myself at all are just phenomenal. I felt if I ate and carry on eating, I must at least help myself digest properly and basically "let it go" if you know what I mean...hahahaha

First week of taking Inner Flush was a success, I felt "lighter" overall, having had regular bowl movements and no urge to stuff myself with more food, or go for seconds. I felt great at this point and decided to check more products out. This lead me to Raspberry Keytone which I saw a lot of publicity for online and on "instagram" as the new next thing in losing weight. By this point, because I was emotionally a wreck, I was also attending Fit Camp exercise classes in Liverpool @ Speke. The collectivity of exercising in a warehouse with people in the same position as I am, as a group, either 6 am or 7 pm, gave me a massive adrenaline rush that I really for the first time in my life enjoyed. During this week, I lost a 11lb and 2 inches off my waist and my thighs.

Second and third week, the weight continued to drop. I was combining my Inner Flush (2tabs before bedtime) with Raspberry Keytone & Gracinia Cambogia (4 tabs- 2 morning and 2 evening). You would think naturally I would be energetic having a 3 years old running around the house. This was never the case, I was tired and generally irritable. After taking these regularly, I had more energy to be dancing in the living room with my son, going for walks, play-centre and simply putting on more music on to dance even more. Last activities I embarked on were Hot yoga session, attending a dancing class and a belly dancing class. I was and still am buzzing. I today attend twice personal training 1 hour sessions with Orioll Portell @Sport Direct (LA fiteness) on Rose lane, Liverpool, in order to maintain the health weight, tone and build more muscles. I could simply say that things have worked out very well so that I can re-gain the life that I deserve.

With this said, and how it is not easy to suddenly find one's world upside down, I have always believed that it is not the difficulty that counts, it is more about what I will and be able to do to "cope". I am not a fighter, but a survivor. I am glad to have come across Love life who are a genuine company who cares about their customers. If this is how I will be a hot beach babe at only 30 years of age and with a happy very active 3 years old, then be it.

It isn't about the difficulty I say, it is about how much you love life...and most of all, love yourself

Love life, I not only DO love you, but also I DO love life and I DO love most of all, myself... so here is a Big Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

See:  http://www.lovelifesupplements.co.uk/

Theo Humanism: Ibn Tufayl

Theo Humanism: Ibn Tufayl 

Taken by my dear friend, Deb Jackson

Lecture 1 By Paul Heck 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=xyasbNctYfg

Divinely revealed knowledge is not enough to get people to follow it... 

These are questions that are worth thinking of....

Q. Is an incentive (the promise of Eden) enough to motivate people to the path of god? 
Q. Can a believer follow the path of god without the threat of hell or the promise of Eden? 

And finally...I ask  
 
Q. How can a conviction/belief withstand the strain of the 21st Century and accommodate the demands of modern societies? 

I have a feeling that the latter question is one that I will (having lived in the East and the West) spend the rest of my life struggle to explore and may never resolve...

S x

The Theory of Everything

A film about love, sacrifice, selflessness and hard work and dedication. No one can deny that great things happen to those who wait. Great things happen to those who understand that having good principles in life and that caring for a loved one is more important than anything else in the world. Dedication and hard work pays off. This moving film tells the life story of Stephen Hawking from the beginning of his career and the times of turmoil and struggle with his illness. On many occasions during this film tears were rolling down my cheek. It is not a sad film but a truly beautiful tale of love. One that cannot be measured or explained. Hawkings challenged all the struggles put in his way, he saw the positive in every situation and for this, he succeeded in making something of  himself. His wife stood next to him and it was love that made them both survive and continue together for so long. It is a shame how their relationship came to an end, but what matters is how their love continues in different ways and forms. In one scene, Hawkings tells Jane, "look what we have made" pointing at the 3 beautiful children playing in the garden. This was enough to fill his heart. This moment was truly remarkable and I believe that a woman who can stand beside a man to such an extent is a remarkable woman who deserves more applaud and recognition more than Hawkings himself. For without her, he would not have remained strong, he would not have survived and his life would have been meaningless without this woman who gave him her life, her love and care and 3 beautiful children who carry his name.

The life of S Hawkings...