Bernard Jan's Blog - Posts Tagged "holidays"
The Hidden Faces of Holidays
This is about you: oppressed, invisible, silent. Nameless, undesired, unworthy. Unwanted. FACELESS. You – banished from your homes and you – caged into your existence.
You are turned into a burden of our society. (Not by your own will.) Because you are poor; once you had a meaningful life and now you are fading shadows crawling up and down our streets, unwashed and dirty packages stacked and locked behind razor wires with just a vision of freedom you once possessed in your vanished and broken homes, with destiny that doesn't force its smile upon you any more. The future for you is uncertain like the drops of sudden rain burned and turned into vapor on the hot desert sand.
The faces of the other you are even harder to count, harder to see. You multiply us by tens and hundreds of times. We love you from a distance. But we don't actually care about you, acknowledge you. We love the taste of you much better than the lives you were given and granted as something of yours and something that belongs to you only; we love your blood and fear on our tongue rather than the gentle pulse of your beating hearts on the soft palms of our hands.
Your babies are cute and our babies love to play with them. They relate and understand each other with the uncorrupted knowledge of innocent souls who know that they belong to and create one and the same universe. Though, that universe doesn't bring the same fate to all of them when, even at holidays and the time of universal joy, they go silently into the darkness of their lives, guided by the hands of our humanity. Their tears, their cries, pain and agony are hushed with our celebration of life and good wishes.
Something is very wrong. I look for compassion, kindness, gentleness and goodness, but they are masked behind our smiling faces. Sparkled into nothingness by the lights of fireworks and myriads of wishes. As the world sinks its teeth deeper into the soft and ripe flesh of celebration, I feel the ever thicker presence of death spilling like a fog everywhere, all over the world. Hiding both sad and smiling faces, hiding everyone and everything, like there is no single life left on this planet. Like the light is completely turned off.
Before the plates are cleaned, even before the tables are set and candles lit, I humbly beg you to consider celebrating kindness, compassion and life. Because there is so much more to it, so much more than a sparkle of champagne, clinging of glasses, smeared rouge and loosened ties after the long-hour night and tipsy heads.
Once we are back to our old selves, we realize that there is kindness in us and that there is the need for good deeds towards others. Homeless, poor, refugees, animals. Those abandoned, forgotten and faceless ones. Those we refuse to acknowledge, those whose existence we deny because they are far from our hearts.
Except, they don't have to be. Not now. Not ever. Particularly not in the days of celebration. They can be celebrated and celebrating with us, by our decisions and resolutions that will last for a long lifetime. Ours and theirs.
Thank you for choosing compassion, kindness, goodwill and empathy. Thank you for opening your hearts to human and animal suffering. And thank you for doing something about it.
Happy holidays!
BJ
www.bernardjan.com
Bernard Jan
You are turned into a burden of our society. (Not by your own will.) Because you are poor; once you had a meaningful life and now you are fading shadows crawling up and down our streets, unwashed and dirty packages stacked and locked behind razor wires with just a vision of freedom you once possessed in your vanished and broken homes, with destiny that doesn't force its smile upon you any more. The future for you is uncertain like the drops of sudden rain burned and turned into vapor on the hot desert sand.
The faces of the other you are even harder to count, harder to see. You multiply us by tens and hundreds of times. We love you from a distance. But we don't actually care about you, acknowledge you. We love the taste of you much better than the lives you were given and granted as something of yours and something that belongs to you only; we love your blood and fear on our tongue rather than the gentle pulse of your beating hearts on the soft palms of our hands.
Your babies are cute and our babies love to play with them. They relate and understand each other with the uncorrupted knowledge of innocent souls who know that they belong to and create one and the same universe. Though, that universe doesn't bring the same fate to all of them when, even at holidays and the time of universal joy, they go silently into the darkness of their lives, guided by the hands of our humanity. Their tears, their cries, pain and agony are hushed with our celebration of life and good wishes.
Something is very wrong. I look for compassion, kindness, gentleness and goodness, but they are masked behind our smiling faces. Sparkled into nothingness by the lights of fireworks and myriads of wishes. As the world sinks its teeth deeper into the soft and ripe flesh of celebration, I feel the ever thicker presence of death spilling like a fog everywhere, all over the world. Hiding both sad and smiling faces, hiding everyone and everything, like there is no single life left on this planet. Like the light is completely turned off.
Before the plates are cleaned, even before the tables are set and candles lit, I humbly beg you to consider celebrating kindness, compassion and life. Because there is so much more to it, so much more than a sparkle of champagne, clinging of glasses, smeared rouge and loosened ties after the long-hour night and tipsy heads.
Once we are back to our old selves, we realize that there is kindness in us and that there is the need for good deeds towards others. Homeless, poor, refugees, animals. Those abandoned, forgotten and faceless ones. Those we refuse to acknowledge, those whose existence we deny because they are far from our hearts.
Except, they don't have to be. Not now. Not ever. Particularly not in the days of celebration. They can be celebrated and celebrating with us, by our decisions and resolutions that will last for a long lifetime. Ours and theirs.
Thank you for choosing compassion, kindness, goodwill and empathy. Thank you for opening your hearts to human and animal suffering. And thank you for doing something about it.
Happy holidays!
BJ
www.bernardjan.com
Bernard Jan
Holy Cow for Holy Days Review
Holy Cow by David DuchovnyMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Nothing more appropriate could have happened to me than to read Holy Cow by David Duchovny in a holiday time. Christmas and New Year are holidays when we remember our loved ones, everyone who has in any good way influenced us during the year or even a few years before.
But it is also a time when we easily forget those outside our field of vision, those we subconsciously push out of their existence. The hidden faces of holidays.
A happy cow Elise Bovary, a grumpy pig Shalom and a suave turkey Tom are the hidden faces of our holidays but true and hilariously funny characters of Duchovny's novel! (Yes, David Duchovny also knows to write beside being a great actor!) It is a story that makes us laugh and touches the emotional part of our brain, a story that takes us—in the spirit of its predecessors Charlotte's Web and Animal Farm—on an exciting journey from the United States all across the world to Turkey, Israel and finally India, when our three adorable protagonists escape from a farm to find a safe place where they won't be killed and eaten by humans.
Holy Cow is the perfect read for holy days because it carries an outstanding message of compassion, empathy and love to all the creatures. It reminds us of the unity and interconnectedness of the species, that we are all one, as Elsie concludes in her story:
You, me, the animals in the wild, the animal at your feet, the animal on your plate, the person next to you—
We are all one
We are all holy cows
Moo
Let's keep our fellow animals in our hearts instead on our plates! Happy holidays!
BJ
www.bernardjan.com
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Bernard Jan
View all my reviews
Peace, Love, Empathy
These are the days when we are full of love and show more kindness than anytime during the year.
These are the days when we want peace and happiness to everyone, when we are ready to give getting nothing in return.
But these are also the days when we take the most. When we deprive others of their happiness and peace, when out of ignorance or lack of care we sit at the family table and take their lives.
Opening our hearts—to everyone—is important. We are so capable of grand and beautiful things and, truth is, we can live and be happy without taking from our animal families.
Please think before you choose your meal and show them mercy. Join me in honoring life and fill this world with kindness and love for everyone. Don’t let any animal be killed for our celebrations and festivities, we are all entitled to freedom and happiness.
My love to you and your beloved ones and every single creature that swims, flies, crawls and walks the earth.
Best wishes and happy holy-and-every-day!
BJ
www.bernardjan.com
Bernard Jan
These are the days when we want peace and happiness to everyone, when we are ready to give getting nothing in return.
But these are also the days when we take the most. When we deprive others of their happiness and peace, when out of ignorance or lack of care we sit at the family table and take their lives.
Opening our hearts—to everyone—is important. We are so capable of grand and beautiful things and, truth is, we can live and be happy without taking from our animal families.
Please think before you choose your meal and show them mercy. Join me in honoring life and fill this world with kindness and love for everyone. Don’t let any animal be killed for our celebrations and festivities, we are all entitled to freedom and happiness.
My love to you and your beloved ones and every single creature that swims, flies, crawls and walks the earth.
Best wishes and happy holy-and-every-day!
BJ
www.bernardjan.com
Bernard Jan
Mo Mo Mo! Merry Christmas, Maureen! Book Review
Mo Mo Mo! Merry Christmas, Maureen! by Jonathan HillMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
If I’ve read this novella during the Xmas time, I would be less depressed than I was on that day.
Jonathan Hill is again brilliant in making me laugh with his natural sense of humor. Throughout the whole story you grin at Maureen’s wickedness and silliness, and then he makes your eye shine with a stranded tear of her kindness.
Even if Xmas is not your favorite time of the year, you will like the warmth and find joy in reading Mo Mo Mo! Merry Christmas, Maureen! story.
Thanks, J, for your gift!
BJ
www.bernardjan.com
View all my reviews
Bernard Jan
My Very Best Wishes (with Hopes for a Happier World)
To all my friends, followers, readers, and reviewers. To all of you who got in touch with me in this year and to all of you who will read this.
I wish you all the best for the holidays and many days after. I wish you to spend them with the people you love and who give you their unconditional love; surrounded with warmth, happiness, kindness and with no worry on your mind. Whether you spend them with your family, friends or alone, let them be full of all good things that make this life worth living.
I don’t have big plans for the end of this year. I will work on my book, read books from my huge reading list, spend time at home with my parents and my online friends. I like to keep it quiet, cozy and relaxing, doing things I like best, because books are my addiction. This passion keeps burning inside me no matter what time of day or year. My other passion is spreading kindness and compassion to and for those in need, especially animals. Even in times of celebration and holidays I will keep thinking on them, wishing I can do more for them to ease their misery and suffering. There are days when being a vegan doesn’t seem enough, when I feel I can do and should do more like jump in the catastrophic fires that are devastating Australia and be a protective shield between devouring flames and animals and people losing their lives and homes there. And it’s not only Down Under. It’s like that all over our beautiful planet!
Do you sometimes feel the same? Do you feel bad, frustrated and angry seeing our planet going from bad to worse as it spins madly toward the cataclysm, and those in power to make a change do nothing or ignore it? They have the power, yes, but they are not the only ones. We have the power too, you and me. If we do something on our small personal level, things will move forward. And if others join us, we can do bigger, greater things. We can change the world, I firmly believe that.
So, why not start now, during these holidays? Why not end this year and begin a new year with small acts of kindness? It’s actually very simple. Having a plant-based Christmas dinner or New Year’s party can mean a lot to animals who suffer, and it won’t cost us anything. It will open our windows to the world of new flavors and smells, the best ones being kindness, compassion, and empathy. Those are the flavors I enjoy for 18 years already and they feel so good. The best things I’ve ever tasted! You’d give me a great joy if you tried them too and let me know how you liked them. One thing is certain: they get better with time because the more we taste them the more we heal our planet. It’s the best natural cure our Earth can get from us. And, to be honest, it needs it!
Thank you for spreading love and kindness, thank you for having a big and compassionate heart. Thanks for all good things you will do for others in the last moments of this year and for good things you will continue doing in 2020.
Hopefully, it brings us all many memorable and pleasant moments, happiness, good health, and great books.
Much love and my very best wishes!
BJ
www.bernardjan.com
Follow me on Twitter.
Bernard Jan
I wish you all the best for the holidays and many days after. I wish you to spend them with the people you love and who give you their unconditional love; surrounded with warmth, happiness, kindness and with no worry on your mind. Whether you spend them with your family, friends or alone, let them be full of all good things that make this life worth living.
I don’t have big plans for the end of this year. I will work on my book, read books from my huge reading list, spend time at home with my parents and my online friends. I like to keep it quiet, cozy and relaxing, doing things I like best, because books are my addiction. This passion keeps burning inside me no matter what time of day or year. My other passion is spreading kindness and compassion to and for those in need, especially animals. Even in times of celebration and holidays I will keep thinking on them, wishing I can do more for them to ease their misery and suffering. There are days when being a vegan doesn’t seem enough, when I feel I can do and should do more like jump in the catastrophic fires that are devastating Australia and be a protective shield between devouring flames and animals and people losing their lives and homes there. And it’s not only Down Under. It’s like that all over our beautiful planet!
Do you sometimes feel the same? Do you feel bad, frustrated and angry seeing our planet going from bad to worse as it spins madly toward the cataclysm, and those in power to make a change do nothing or ignore it? They have the power, yes, but they are not the only ones. We have the power too, you and me. If we do something on our small personal level, things will move forward. And if others join us, we can do bigger, greater things. We can change the world, I firmly believe that.
So, why not start now, during these holidays? Why not end this year and begin a new year with small acts of kindness? It’s actually very simple. Having a plant-based Christmas dinner or New Year’s party can mean a lot to animals who suffer, and it won’t cost us anything. It will open our windows to the world of new flavors and smells, the best ones being kindness, compassion, and empathy. Those are the flavors I enjoy for 18 years already and they feel so good. The best things I’ve ever tasted! You’d give me a great joy if you tried them too and let me know how you liked them. One thing is certain: they get better with time because the more we taste them the more we heal our planet. It’s the best natural cure our Earth can get from us. And, to be honest, it needs it!
Thank you for spreading love and kindness, thank you for having a big and compassionate heart. Thanks for all good things you will do for others in the last moments of this year and for good things you will continue doing in 2020.
Hopefully, it brings us all many memorable and pleasant moments, happiness, good health, and great books.
Much love and my very best wishes!
BJ
www.bernardjan.com
Follow me on Twitter.
Bernard Jan
A Holiday All-Books Sale
I did it! For the first time. I discounted all my books to ONLY $0.99!
It is my gift to all my readers, reviewers, and supporters, to all of you who loved one or more of my stories, and to all of you who will yet become their fans.
Check out the dates and links below for these fantastic discounts.
Sunday, December 26, 2021, 8:00 AM PST through Sunday, January 2, 2022, 12:00 AM PST
Cruel Summer
January River
Look for Me Under the Rainbow
A World Without Color
Grab this unique opportunity and don’t look any further.
Thank you for your love and support, and please don’t forget to leave your honest reviews. It can be just a one or two-sentence honest thought or impression.
May the new 2022 year bring you everything you wished for and 2021 denied to you, and even more! Happy Holidays!
BJ
www.bernardjan.com
Subscribe to my mailing list.
Follow me on Twitter.
Bernard Jan
It is my gift to all my readers, reviewers, and supporters, to all of you who loved one or more of my stories, and to all of you who will yet become their fans.
Check out the dates and links below for these fantastic discounts.
Sunday, December 26, 2021, 8:00 AM PST through Sunday, January 2, 2022, 12:00 AM PST
Cruel Summer
January River
Look for Me Under the Rainbow
A World Without Color
Grab this unique opportunity and don’t look any further.
Thank you for your love and support, and please don’t forget to leave your honest reviews. It can be just a one or two-sentence honest thought or impression.
May the new 2022 year bring you everything you wished for and 2021 denied to you, and even more! Happy Holidays!
BJ
www.bernardjan.com
Subscribe to my mailing list.
Follow me on Twitter.
Bernard Jan
