The City Tree.

The photo to the right is an image of a small stretch of land belonging to a portion of Tottenham Court Road, in Central London. It is a busy area of around half a mile, sandwiched between Warren Street and Goodge Street tube stations. This particular shot was taken whilst sitting upon one of a small group of benches, either side of a Starbucks and Caffe Nero. Joining me in random moments here were bums with beards, businessmen with I-phones, students, soldiers, travellers, wanderers... all forms of the human race passing by with consistent regularity; as I drunk my carefully prepared paper-cupped Latte.
 
On a wider scale, this was more than a coffee-shop cubby hole. I was sitting in the vast metropolis known as the city of London; one of the most recognizable, historical places of Earth - inhabited by over eight million souls. London is both my home town and a beautiful city. It is a place I never grow tired of; where there is always a fresh pathway or unique cultural philosophy to experience, and you feel as if you can view the entire world here within the diameters of its thirty mile radius - which I always believed I was doing...

After thirty minutes quietly pondering life by myself, as the motions of my senses internally ingrained the buildings, people, sounds, and smells of the city. I noticed a sight which - in the past half-hour, and possibly each of the other one hundred times I passed this place, never occurred to me was even there. I saw a solitary, pure aspect of Earth's immense nature... a tree. It stood tall before my eyes, the wind was blowing its leaves in a flowing synchronicity, and even though I am pretty fond of nature, in the presence of a vast array of modern ingenuity, it had became somewhat lost and forgotten; I had to pause to even notice it.

It reminded me of the single Magnolia flower I once saw, peering beyond the concrete cracks of a Toys R Us car park; once noticed, its power is overwhelming. At the same time however, is very easy to miss. This tree has been preserved by the city, and this gives me faith in human nature's respect of mother nature. But the tree stands alone, and just because it cannot talk or express itself the way in which we do, it still carries life as it grows. In many ways this tree is the polar opposite of an urban city dweller lost in the woods - naked and vulnerable to elements he doesn't really understand. But who knows, like the curious few who embrace the jungles of natural development, perhaps the tree loves the hustle and bustle of humanity; knowing he remains both constant in his protected nature and the all seeing essence of a city he has seen built by man, survived through war, and always looking to take life in new and interesting directions.

I quietly saluted the city tree, and hoped he didn't feel so alone; surrounded by a human built world which - while incredible by itself, doesn't quite breathe the way he does. I then stood, and threw my empty paper cup in the bin; I wondered if the tree had grown used to seeing his relatives treated this way...

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Raising Light.

If you live in a world where you only ever see bitterness, bitterness is all you shall receive. Conversely, should you view a constant stream of glowing beauty - beauty will provide itself to you. It is a simple philosophy, but an altogether true reflection of the life we view through the reflective mirrors of our own eyes.

I have been a little lost in the shadows for a while now. Fortunately, I am not trapped in the dark abyss of a rotten existence, but the essence of a past carrying a ratio of one smile per fifteen frowns, which still lingers around me. This wasn't initially a world I created, but one I was born into; an unfortunate result of being around souls who couldn't get beyond their own issues with life. But I allowed it to become my mode of viewpoint, therefore any excuses to exonerate myself of personal responsibility are just that, excuses - I have been a big boy for many a year; plenty of time to water my own soul in the rich wonders of life.

Over the years - through force, reflection, dedication, and a genuine love of the human race, I have been edging closer to the side of life I always wanted to live in; the side where kindness is regular, judgement minimal, and gregarity constant. Not a naive notion of a perfect utopia where we all dance around a maypole, singing songs from The Sound Of Music, but a world in which everyone carries desire to avoid hurting one another. Every time I come so perilously close to entering the doors of this brave new land, I manage to pull myself right back into the dark shadows; I often wonder if I fear a global love of this magnitude? Choosing the comfort of destruction, over the possibilities of creation.

I am trying to find the light, walk through it, and live the rest of my years as a beacon of positive energy.  To view existence as a whole in a less delusional, selfish manner, and provide others with reasons to smile and feel good about being alive; as opposed to creating doubt in both themselves, and their personal pathway. I have many wonderful people in my life who lead me toward this direction, and I need to listen much more than I speak. But I am trying, and I seek deeper and stronger skills of progressive social communication, so need to remember how every human life is of equal value, and of equal worth; I can hear my ego screaming in disbelief - but he has to learn sometime.

So I continue to search for the brighter dawn, while standing at the edge of a permanent midnight I no longer need. I have lived in a world where the sun never shines, nobody smiles, and the background music is a constant loop of the slow numbers of Leonard Cohen; a place where every stranger is a potential enemy, every helping hand extended for ulterior motive, and each bridge designed purely for the twisted entertainment of watching as it is mercilessly destroyed. It is a land lost in a cold, empty hate I wouldn't wish on anybody, and I cannot say it ever felt like home sweet home. Though in an odd form of irony, it has helped me to appreciate beauty more than I ever possibly could have; I have a lot of appreciating to do...

Lee.

Our Human Labyrinth.

Our Human Labyrinth is a 93,000 word non-fiction book, about the history of human social communication, expressed through personal study of evolutionary systems we have come to rely and trust upon, and how they have effected perception amongst both the ways in which we view the world, and one another. The work runs along a direct time-line of the progressive and determined human; from the land dwelling Homo-Sapiens of ancient Africa, all the way to the sedentary, microchip technology reliant generations of the early 21st century. Each separate chapter incorporating the major powerhouses of existence; money, religion, media, and family structures, as examples, and how these modes have changed the psychological and philosophical ethos of our species - through the convoluted, spiritually corruptive nature of the powers they both afford and design us around.

We are a social animal which desires communication; an ability once necessary in order to save our species from a similar annihilation which befell the Dinosaurs, the Wholly Mammoth, or any other creature which failed to develop a functional system of mutually beneficial interaction amongst themselves. However, it is over 60,000 years since man emigrated from the shores of Africa to colonize Earth. Since this period and - especially in the past 10,000 years, we have slowly constructed our own necessary yet constricted version of 'society' - a notion of truth determined by the powerful, through the manipulations of tools available to them.

Over the period of writing, as is usual with any creative work, the book took a deeper direction than I initially anticipated, and - the reason behind its title 'Our Human Labyrinth', comes from a viewpoint I take in which human evolution; while a vital component which leads us to experience the wonders of all we have available at our disposal, may not carry an essential premise beyond that which provides us regularity in adequate shelter, warmth, and sustenance in food and drink. Born from this notion - in essence, the Labyrinth is a two way maze - our own personal definition of internal reality, and the external world we live upon; our wants and desires of both basic, yet distorted by the nebulous wonders of ingenuity.

It is a story about the journey of a beautiful, incredible animal - capable of achievements superseding any other species on the planet, yet somewhat lost within itself in trying to find a concious purpose and meaning, which may never be fully understood outside of the human heart and soul. It is not a negative account of a sad and tragic existence; life is too rich and precious a gift to be considered a waste of time. It is a deconstruction of an animal living in a world where communication is paramount to the survival of our species, yet often misunderstood to enforce cynicism over trust, judgement over humility, and to make us forget how we only succeed in co-operation, as opposed to attempts at growth in solitude.

I hope people like it, and in some-way offers them a unique sight of nature. It runs pretty deep in places, but all makes sense come the final pages. In the end, no matter how any solitary soul views this life we walk upon, it is entirely up to them to decide why they are here, and the purpose of their life... which may be the actual point of the book after all.

I will let you all know when Our Human Labyrinth is hitting the shelves. And if anyone would like a personally signed copy, I will be happy to oblige; even if it does end up on Ebay. ;-)

Lee.