Frugality lifestyle is living an economical way of life, being able to plan expenditure to the minimum, living in a small house/apartment, eating what your financial budget can afford and planning on conserving, surviving or thriving on minimum amount of resource. To live a frugality lifestyle one must have a strict and disipline will, to be able to resist the impulsive consumer habits and to conserve whatever remaining resources.

Most of us have experienced frugality lifestyle in our lifes before but many of us just don’t realise it. When we decided to move out from our parents house and plan to make a living on our own, or when we are having a bad economic down turn, thats where the frugality lifestyle kicks in. Our mind and soul will tell us to be in a “safe cost mode”.

Some people consider frugality lifestyle as a habbit. They just want to live a simple life and are happy about it. These people are mostly singles, old couples and those who cannot afford for anything more. As long they have a small comfortable place to stay and food to eat then everything is Ok for them.

New Dawn started as an idea as there seemed to be a growing number of people who was sick and tired of how political and corporate leaders only seemed to make changes that benefited themselves and a small elite that already had more than they needed. Okay, this sounds political, but hang in there, there are more to it.

There is a growing number of people who have began to speak about how we need to break away from the society run by those leaders and create self-sustainable and self-sufficient communities outside society. This may sound almost impossible, no government would allow citizens break free and build communities that aren’t controlled by those governments, would they? Probably not, but on the other hand it have been done before.

There have always at one time or another come forth a group of people who don’t share the values and ideals of the ruling majority, and many have very successfully been able to create new communites where they can live by their own values and rules. Most of these groups are of religious nature but it is nowhere etched in stone that it have to be that way. And that’s where this new movement may have a chance to succeed.

The New Dawn have its roots as far back as in the hippie movement in the 60s and 70s, but without the drugs. It is in fact against drug or alcohol abuse and promotes a clean, healthy lifestyle of balance between body, mind and spirit. It is a movement about living in harmony with nature and don’t take more than what is needed to support their families. It is also about combining the ancient wisdom of our ancestors with modern technology as well as combining alternative medicine with the traditional medicine used on modern hospitals every day.

“We could occupy old abandoned mansions or convents and start a group with the official intent to live by our own belief system, and it may come to that one day if our leaders don’t stop abusing Mother Earth, and exploit her for their own material gain.” The person who said this wishes to remain anonymous, but continues, “We are not terrorists and are not here to neither cause violence or fear. We only wish to create self-sustainable and self-sufficient communities that live in harmony with nature without exploiting her.”

A New Dawn is a suitable name for this movement that wishes to create a new way of living around the planet, a way that takes us away from the materialistic world of today and in to a world where we focus more on what is good for all.

Some people enjoy change, and they look forward to new experiences. Others reminiscent of their lives to stop the same, and they do not vary their everyday habits.

A number of individuals like to live in the alike house, give birth to the same job and lifestyle all their lives. However, others aspire to changes and new experience. Personally, for the quite a few reasons, which I strength of character give explanation below.

First of all, changes in one’s life bring many benefits. One tries new things, gains new comprehension and experience. I think it is great for the reason that the lacking changes soul becomes boring. I am forever trying to make changes in my life. Moreover, whilst I sense that my kick is boring I do not sense attractively about it. I feel akin to my tired individuals living for nothing. I did not do anything exiting, I learnt zilch appealing and I moral washed out my time.

Second of all, populate need changes. Furthermore, we requisite obstacles to overcome and make our goals. I suppose that changes appoint us stronger, more persistent, added self-confident, and more patient. Also, I touch that all people who succeeded in living in the vein of the changes and new experience as it is impossible to be the greatest at a little field without perfecting the existing knowledge and gain new experience. People catch every opening to gather more and modification their life for the better.

From the other side, colonize who like their lives to stay the constant are very permanent. They produce the same job all their life, the unaffected habits, the same weekend and even the same time in being out. I think it is boring. Pardon? Determination they let know their children approaching their lives? Come again? Kind of part will they do for the society? I think such ancestors are just frightened of the changes.

I ponder curiosity and aspiration to the new experience are two of the main reasons of human evolution. Nation for ever and a day wanted to break limits and get more knowledge and experience. So, people who enjoy revolution are the engine of human development.

Some excuse this saying that “God gave us dominion over the other animals”. Of course whether this is true or not is highly debatable. It could also be said that God gave males dominion over females, so should men have the right to abuse, kill, or consume females?

I am not saying that we need to all become vegetarians, although there are many good reasons (health, environmental) that support eating less meat, or none at all, but it would sure be nice if people would be less callous about eating animals. We need to recognize that the animals we eat wanted to live just as much as we do.

©by author “We Want to Live Too!“

Many of the animals we eat have horrid lives prior to reaching our tables, kept in boring, over crowded cages or pens, taken from their mothers at a young age, killed when under a year old, but surely we owe them some compassion and should not simply take it for granted that these animal’s lives meant nothing to them.

People seem to feel the need to justify eating meat by making stupid sayings such as “If God did not want us to eat meat, he would not have made animals so tasty.”. Funny… if a bear were to kill, and eat, a person due to our tastiness we would freak out!

I am quite disgusted at how many people treat meat as though it were not from a living animal; they waste a lot, discarding chicken breasts because they forgot about them so long they got freezer burn. They treat the body in a way that would be illegal to treat the body of a deceased human, and show no concern in doing so.

I suggest that people stop to think about the death in front of them at meal times rather than ignoring the truth, do not be so cold as to deny that whatever animal you are eating, be it shrimp or beef, did not want to live.

Do not be ignorant and “thank it for giving up its life”, it is a pretty safe bet to assume the animal did not have a choice, its life was taken, not surrendered willingly.

Teach your children well, we eat animals but that does not mean we need to disrespect them in order to justify eating them. We do not need to be callous about it in order to show how “manly” we are. Nor should we use religion to excuse ourselves for taking a life.

Read

Meatless Mondays

Break dancing, as known as B boying is a style of dancing that grew up around hip hop music during its early stages of development in the United States. It is a really challenging dance that tests your physical abilities. I had this passion for breakdance since I was eleven. When I was young, I watched a movie about superheroes and marveled at how they could do somersaults and stunts in the air. I thought they were cool and was inspired to be just like them. As I grew older, I realized that there was a type of dance –break dance that had many “stunts” in the routine too, like handstands, windmills, flares and it was pretty cool. So, I decided to take up break dancing.

At first, I was discouraged by my older brother, who disapproved of it. He explained that break dancing was only for guys. Frankly speaking, all of the break dance videos I found on YouTube were of guys dancing. Maybe there were a few videos of girls breakdancing out there but they are pretty rare. I searched up some break dance tutorials on YouTube as the break dance lessons conducted by professionals were too expensive. My parents wouldn’t allow me to attend them anyway. Therefore, I tried doing hand stands against walls and practiced almost every day. (I recently started doing so there wasn’t much progress) It was tough at first (I guess my arms were too weak) and I finally understood why my brother said that break dance was only for guys. Maybe it was because of the fact that they were naturally stronger than girls.  However, despite this, I’m not giving up. I know that one day, I would eventually succeed.

If you are interested about learning break dance and is a beginner like me, I would recommend you some techniques to try out:

1)      1) Flare

Your starting position should be something like that.

2)      2) Float

There many different types of floats such as spinning and straight arm floats.

3)     3) The worm

A move in which a dancer lies on the ground and forms a rippling motion through his body, just like a worm moving.

If you want to find out more, I advise you to check this website out http://www.angelfire.com/bc/kuruptcrew/moves.html  for more moves and watch YouTube videos for more tutorials.

I would still continue to practice the break dancing moves and hopefully master them in a few months. If you are interested in break dancing too, start practicing already!

When a person doesn’t bother much about being happy, then why is there so much of hue and cry when we are in distress?? The answer is simple, we feel it is only we, who are burdened with sadness. And the main reason is we always look up to those who are much happier in their lives with all comforts, luxuries, health, etc. We never bother to focus on people who may not be getting even a sqaure-meal a day. We have grown thankless about what we have and just complain about we don’t. 

Elders always say “Don’t look for someone who has a better lifestyle than you, look at someone who is living a life lower than your lifestyle.” If you want to be thankful and content with life, look at people who are living without even the basic needs that we are blessed with. Life is all about living life not just for realising our dreams but also about making a bit of difference to the people around us too.

That way, we will partake in the betterment of the society and bringing cheers to others. Nothing can be more comforting than to be a reason for someones smile even for a moment. It is all about sharing happiness with others, that our happiness grows.

Colorful Recycling Containers for Trash (Photo credit: epSos.de)

Once you’ve sorted your recycling, your green job on your garbage is done, right? No, says Recyclebank*, the site where you can earn points for rewards by learning how to be more environmentally sound. Follow these tips they provide to “green your garbage” and help out Mother Earth:

“Toss your trash and your waste hauler hauls it away. Out of sight, out of mind. Trouble is, all that trash piling up is increasingly, well, a pile of environmental trouble. Before you toss next time, try these strategies for reducing, reusing, and recycling first.” – Recyclebank

1.  Reduce the amount of garbage you create

The first rung on the “reduce, reuse, recycle” ladder is the ultimate garbage minimizer. By consuming less, you end up tossing less.

2.  Reuse items instead of throwing them away

Give new life to old items by giving them to someone who can use them or finding creative new uses for what could otherwise end up as landfill waste.

3.  Recycle your garbage

By recycling your garbage, you keep valuable material out of landfills, provide resources to the recycling industry, support local jobs, and keep toxins out of soil and water.

4.  Compost your biodegradable and organic waste

You don’t need a backyard to compost! All you need is a bag to collect the stuff and the commitment to keeping organic waste out of the landfill.

5.  Opt for recycled-content products

Buying products made from recycled materials keeps trash out of the landfill and reuses resources rather than requiring the eco-unfriendly procurement and processing of virgin ones.

6.  Dispose of household hazardous waste properly

Prevent toxic chemicals from old paint and used car oil from leaching into groundwater and soil by taking them to your local toxic roundup center.

7.  Dispose of used appliances properly

Many appliances, such as refrigerators, contain chemicals that can deplete the ozone layer and must be disposed of with special care.

8.  Dispose of pharmaceuticals properly

Old or unused medication can contaminate groundwater if flushed or poured down the drain. Find out the correct way to dispose of them.

9.  Give your stuff away !

What’s junk to you may be a jewel to someone else.

*(Recyclebank is great, btw: I’ve gotten coupons for cans of free cat food from this site as rewards in the past; it’s a great resource and you really do get rewarded for taking care of the environment. Click here to join Recyclebank and start earning points toward discounts and rewards for helping make the Earth a better place to live.)

In the process of conversation with others, self-cultivation is a tool to conquer others. A girl who likes reading, she must be quiet and have a good attitude, a certain eloquence and elegant intellectual woman.

Have taste

The taste is the attitude of a person to observe things, the same thing, different vision, different versions. To some extent, a person’s taste and her temperament is complementary, the taste depends on a girl in the daily life of the discovery of new things.

To try to find beauty in life

Do not always remind your misfortune there a lot of people unfortunate than you in this world, as long as we can see the rise of the sun we are lucky. As long as you work hard, the society must be fair. Do not complain about life.

Make friends with outstanding thinking skills

To start a purpose to choose your friends, social contacts are very important, do not make friends easily, but if you want to make friends, you have to pay for them in good faith, being good and bad at others, it is clear and visible. Those who are sincere and possess excellent thinking skills are the people to make friends!

Away from the fairy tales

Yearning TV Prince Charming and Cinderella are the life of the boy or girl, it does not really exist, girls should not indulge in this false fairy tale atmosphere, will they directly affect the own outlook on life and values, like the flourishes or a night penniless, there may be in life, love and affection as film absolutely must cruel.

Learn patience and tolerance

We cannot try to change others, instead of being very angry ,shouting loud accusations of other people’s behaviour. With understanding give each other a smile, any one of them will not hurt a good person.

Cultivate a healthy attitude and attention to their body

The body is the most important, I believe everyone knows, but in really doing it, is not a simple matter. 20 teenage girls in the diet should begin to pay attention.

Let beauty be your capital

At the appropriate time to let your beauty holds an adequate voice. Is not every girl has a beautiful appearance, use good looks to be your capital, use when needed, it can open a lot of difficulties in your life, although sometimes some people say are beautiful girl are just vases , but if the vase was placed in a suitable position, it is a work of art .Not only a beautiful appearance but also the wisdom of the inner is the beautiful woman.

Leave a man that won’t appreciate you

I once thought if I left him I cannot live, then I asked myself hundred times, to leave him, I cannot live? In fact the answer is: I will live well. The girls do not trample on their own, do not think to make compromises will be able to exchange for the love of a man, love is a beautiful, beautiful girls, cannot be ruined by any man! Leave man then do not know how to appreciate you, this is the most magnificent turn, though unwilling, but the torment will lead you to have no energy to your work or study.

Have financial motives, learning the investment business

Girl at the twenties, to begin to learn financial management, regardless of your income you should plan for tomorrow, smart woman should know how to spend money, in fact, is an art.

At first sight, tourism appears to be a prime mechanism by which cultural influences are diffused and assimilated as it involves the large scale movement of people from place to place, often involving the crossing of national boundaries. It also involves people consuming narratives of place, which encapsulate certain cultural values. Tourism always involves some form of   ‘cultural contact’.

When a person goes to a place, whether just nearby or halfway across the world, he finds himself in a different environment from that that of his own. As tourists cross border in the literal sense, they also cross cultural barriers. They have preconceived ideas about a place, formed from a variety of means be it books, media or just hearsay.  Tourists bring with them not only a set of expectations and perceptions about their destination, but also their own cultural preferences and forms of behavior, their own forms of indigenous knowledge. Such cross border movements are by nature temporary, and contacts between hosts and guests are transitory. Each side views the other as a generalized type, as the opportunities to develop for social interaction are generally limited.

For a long time, in absence of much inter-people interaction, the West and the East had such impressions of each other. The West saw the other as not so developed but being magical and mystical. Their ‘other worldly’ charm had a certain appeal and the East was termed as the Orient. For example India was known as ‘the land of snake charmers’ in the ancient times, but that image has changed for real now with the increasing globalization. On the other hand, the East too had a certain image of the developed world as being overly materialistic with lack of traditional values.

We all have our individual geographical imaginations and these are formed from a variety of factors – sex, age, class, ethnicity, culture, the media and many others. These differing geographical imaginations emphasize that representations are socially constructed and that there is an array of factors contributing to our understanding of the world.

How do the hosts and guests interact and react?? Tourists interpret and represent their experiences in ways that may be fundamentally opposed to the experience of those being visited. Also the way the hosts see the whole tourism experience can be either good or bad. It differs depending on the individual and who the stakeholder is.

Although guest-host interactions can unfold in a variety of contexts, the most common encounters occur when the tourists purchase goods or services from the host community. The tourists rarely get to know the native culture due to many factors. In absence of sufficient time at hand or maybe even unwillingness at times, the visitors may just indulge in sightseeing , shopping etc. and not involve themselves with the native people and culture. More common is the case of the language being a barrier. Inability to communicate with each other, the visitors and those visited fail to develop understanding towards each other’s cultures. In such cases, the tourists see the destination being visited through the meanings provided to them by the middlemen like the tour operators and guides etc. It is they who represent the local places and traditions, and shape the tourist gaze.

Many tourists are interested in the cultural heritage but most have minimal knowledge about the past. As such, they may be travelling to have their stereotypical images of a destination reinforced or possibly challenged.

Contacts between hosts and guests can result in friction because of differences in lifestyle and belief systems. What is normal in one society may be taboo in another. The definition of what is ‘right’ and what is ‘wrong’ is very much contextual.  Often, inappropriate behavior of tourists is a major issue and there is an impact if the tourists are not aware of, or choose to ignore visitor etiquette or fail to show sensitivity to local customs.

The traditional societies, generally the Eastern countries, see tourism activities as somehow contaminating themselves by contact with what is invariably seen as the West or the developed world. The openness of the developed world is not welcomed there, with protests over the tourist’s way of dressing, defiling sacred places,  public display of affection etc. being much common. 

Clashes between the two can result in misunderstandings, and may serve to reinforce stereotypes rather than mitigate them.

One great paradox that comes with tourism is that whether it leads to the heterogeneity or homogeneity of society?? One of the consequences of globalization and tourism is the increasing homogenization and westernization of culture. But at the same time a counterargument exists that it leads to the increasing differentiation of cultures and the reassertion of cultural identity at a localized level.

 Food is a very vital aspect of culture. Changes that have come about from tourism in food habits are the most visible.

Foreign foods are increasingly available for the comforts of the incoming visitors with tourism becoming a major activity in many areas,. This, in turn, has exposed the local communities to their food and culture. A large number of restaurants and food establishments have begun to appear at most tourist destinations, offering numerous styles of food to satisfy every kind of consumer, leading to a gradual change in local food habits. Today, we can find eating outlets for major cuisines like Italian, Mexican, Chinese, Continental etc. in addition to authentic food joints in almost every tourist place. With exposure to new foreign foods, the host communities may gradually develop taste for new foods. We can say that this has led to a kind of global food culture with many multinational joints like Pizza Hut, McDonalds, Café Coffee Day and many more open up in several nations. In Such fast food joints are much more in vogue today than ever before, especially welcomed by the younger generations. But at the same time, not to be outdone by these innovations, there is often an increase in traditional eating places for both the locals and foreigners. Hence providing more authentic food tastes as well.

For the visitors, they willingly indulge in local foods and delicacies, which is seen as part of the overall travel experience but may like or dislike accordingly. It may so happen that the tourists may take this new found love for this food to their homes and continue their association. The word of mouth from the tourists in their native places about the different food forms perceptions of others. It can lead to others, who have never been to the actual tourist destination, trying out the traditional foods. The host culture thus travels far and wide.

“Cultures travel as well as people…. what is involved in the movement of culture is the migration of objects and people” as described in the theory given by Clifford. What can initially be foreign and imported can become indigenized and accepted as an integral and natural part of a culture. It seems that changes brought about by tourist contact are leading to the eradication of cultural differences and the replacement of cultural heterogeneity with a global culture characterized by homogeneity.

The argument for homogeneity is often cast in terms of commodification, seen to be the processes through which cultures are reduced to inauthentic shadows for sale to the masses. Commodifying  culture has become a significant factor in tourism, and one that is increasingly bound up in the development of a global tourist system. With tourism playing a very significant role in the economy, more and more efforts and resources are being put into attracting travelers to a destination with the result that the host culture and place becomes a commodity for the tourist consumption. Thorough advertising and marketing are clearly evident of this fact with the success of some recent tourism campaigns as examples.

New Zealand’s ‘100% Pure’ campaign sought to present that everything is fresh and unspoilt about the country and its people through the portrayal of it being ‘the youngest country on the earth’. ‘Malaysia: Truly Asia’ tourist campaign has resulted in more than a tripling of visitors to the nation to about more than 25 million through showcasing itself as a destination rich in history, culture in addition to great infrastructure and economic climate. ‘Incredible India’ campaign too has become a wonderful success with creating India as an exotic and exciting brand destination with a variety of heritage sites, beautiful landscapes and natural environment, rich in diversity, culture and spirituality. Closer at home, the ‘God’s own country’ tourism campaign by Kerala and ‘Vibrant Gujarat’ also attempt to showcase themselves as being ‘different and unique’ to the travelers with much success.

We have people attempting to define their place in the global system by asserting essential characteristics, often bound to place, as the basis for their cultural identities.

Now it has become a norm for destinations to organize some fair or event during the tourist season. Presenting these as their high points so as to attract tourists, the real meanings may be lost. Many traditional events are staged in a sanitized way to cater to the needs of the international visitors who often merely want a superficial, quick demonstration and a photo opportunity of ceremonies that might take hours or days to present authentically. Similarly, tourist demands on arts can distort the production and display of indigenous art forms, leading to increased fake mass reproduction of souvenirs, handicrafts etc.

This makes us ask- how much commodification can occur before an asset ceases to be authentic?? The notion of inauthenticity coming from commoditisation is very vague.

Cultures are not bounded entities, are not composed of unchanging essential elements, and are more mobile than before. So assuming that it is static is completely wrong and assigning a point of reference to judge the real authenticity is not possible.

Even if one accepts that there might be ‘authenticity’ of single objects such as a costume or a building in reference to a certain time or place – the selective portrayal of these components will always be based on the taste and perception of a modern biased society. The question arises- Who defines what is ‘authentic’?? The older generations are stricter in their views of what they think as the real authentic culture but the younger ones are more accommodating in this sense. Authentic culture has different meaning for different people.

It is hence hard to define what is actually authentic. 

To see the local people as merely the recipients of an external world which impinges upon them is like assigning them only the role of objects in the formation of tourist gaze. Using a commodified format to do so does not necessarily mean abandoning local notions of heritage and identity and may, moreover help establish the significance of local experience. The heritage centres and tourism more generally can be a way of telling the people’s story, and of helping to make sure that it will be heard

Local forms of knowledge are not necessarily corrupted by tourism, rather tourism is one element that needs to be dealt with, perhaps to be resisted, perhaps to be incorporated, perhaps to be changed and modified in the process.

Tourism thought of as a having a changing influence on the local culture can, at the same time, emerge as a means of recovering or rediscovering, aspects of history that may otherwise have been neglected.  In the process of promoting tourism, ancient heritage sites, art work, traditions etc. are glorified. These may be infused with new energy and attention is drawn to them from the local crowds, which may otherwise have been ignorant about its deep cultural roots. Examples are the many sacred rituals and events being regularly organized for tourists, events celebrating the history and culture of a place in addition to intense marketing etc. to promote awareness about its rich culture. The local residents are not left untouched by it and in fact, develop a new found sense of pride.

Tourism may itself become a part of an integral part of a process of cultural invention. Also, it is possible to visualize global tourism resulting in further differentiation through the instrumental use of places, people and activities as commodities for the tourist consumption.

Cultures are best conceptualized as dynamic systems containing both material and symbolic elements which cut across accepted notions of boundedness, and which also have the capacity within a global market.

Tourism and increased contact leads inexorably to homogeneity is not definite and in fact, a counter- movement towards heterogeneity always exists. It is not that greater contact will lead to greater understanding of one another, but can simply reinforce stereotypical attitudes of both hosts and guests rather than diminish them.

While tourism is globalised in terms of the movement of people and capital, it is also leading to the reassertion of more localized forms of culture, and the emergence of new hybrid forms created for both domestic purposes as much as tourist consumption. Hannerz sums it up well – “culture is fitted to circumstances”.

According to the latest studies, early retirement is closely linked to early deaths of the retirees. Lead researcher Andreas Khun and his team discovered that men especially, stand the high risk of dying earlier than their 67th birthday once they opt for early retirement.

The researchers studied some workers from Austria born between 1929 and 1941 and found out that  early retirement was the main risk factor for the premature deaths among male workers. They went on to estimate that  any one additional year of early retirement tended to account for a percentile points  of 2.4  or an equivalent of nearly two months of lost life.

The main reason behind this early death phenomenon arising from early retirement has largely been attributed to unhealthy habits among the retirees. When one is working, there is a tendency to keep oneself active both physically and mentally. Experience has shown that most retirees engage in unhealthy lifestyles such as smoking, lack of exercise, alcoholism, unhealthy diets and all these combine to account for up to 78% of early retirement deaths.

There is great need for global preventive health policies to target those on early retirement. It would also be a good thing if most countries revised their mandatory retirement age upward to keep their senior members of the population from early retirement. Some Erupean Union countries have recently adopted this policy of increasing the retirement age upwards to keep the seniors active, healthy and useful.