Dignity.

An old Irish proverb tells us that
“it is in the shelter of each other that people live”. 

You’d hope this rings true today in contemporary Britain, but does it? When you see people sleeping rough on the street or begging for change, you question who is looking out for those at the margins of our society.

Because the homeless have no-one to shield them from their poverty; no shelter to take refuge from life’s storms. They are ultimately left with no hiding place, exposed to the world with what little they may have for all to see, yet ignored by passers-by and forgotten by the state. You may recognise them with a rugged backpack full of possessions, maybe even a pet to feed, and carrying the burdensome stigma that goes hand in hand with being homeless...

That false yet fabled stigma that they are all alcoholic, drug-abusing, dirty criminals scrounging off the rest of us ‘hard-working model citizens’. But may not this flippant and ignorant perception of the homeless apply to individuals across the board? The idle neighbour drinking at home living off undue benefits, or the chief executive sleazing around with his shareholders’ trusted funds are but two examples. Of course, there’s no denying that a number of homeless people find themselves out on the streets having lost everything due to alcohol or substance addiction, or possibly as a result of a criminal past. But there are also all those without a home having experienced financial difficulties following a business failure, faced housing difficulties after losing a job, or as result of violence or family break-ups that left them cast aside. Each and every one of us regret certain decisions in our lives, just as they do, but they are the ones sitting out in the cold for their mistakes or misfortunes.

And the cold pavement is no place to sit around, as the homeless’ exposure to the public and the elements take their toll in making them vulnerable to illness, verbal abuse, and physical violence. Indeed last year’s riots inflicted a great stress upon Britain’s homeless amidst the chaos, as does the merciless winter freeze each year. Furthermore, this poverty is compounded by a hunger, lack of hygiene, and a solitude that compounds their struggle to survive. For the public eye sees them as a nuisance littering the street, and this is what they shrink down to; an inconvenient and invisible truth lost amidst the high street’s commerce and commotion as their pleas for help fall on deaf ears…

For what they want is their voice to be heard. And what they ask for is enough money to survive. But what they need is support. We’re told that charity begins at home, and the street is the home of the homeless, so let’s start there. Perceptions and prejudices die hard, but no longer should people divert their paths to avoid the guilt of ignorance, no longer should shops’ adverts avert our eyes from those less fortunate, and no longer should people look at a street seller as if he is selling Nazi propaganda. Because there are avenues offering a way out of poverty, providing a step in the right direction towards better health and housing, with homeless support agencies catering for their needs. Offering them the stability to rebuild their lives, the opportunity to earn their own income, and the help needed for them to help themselves.

So the rest is up to us. To open doors and to welcome the homeless into a more inclusive society, free of prejudice and prejudgment, that gives them hope for a better future. We may not be able to house them ourselves, but what we can offer is the social support that allows a route back into employment, and provide them with a hand up, if not a hand-out. Indeed, Jesse Jackson, the American black civil rights leader, once commented that “you should never look down on anybody unless you’re helping them up”. It is now upon our streets that this sentiment must echo.

Daniel Bowen.

A healthier planet starts here.

Try throwing a book, any self-respecting book, into a bin…

It’s near impossible to do, isn’t it? Because a book has its own story. Its own history. Its own soul. Once it is read you leave your fingerprints upon it, and in turn it imprints itself upon your mind. And once tossed aside it remains alive, seeking another mind to enrich should you decide to clear some space upon your shelves during a ritual clean-out…

But rather than throw it to the trash or try to re-sell it for pennies, why not donate it to Healthy Planet’s BooksForFree initiative? Healthy Planet is a not-for-profit organisation, managing volunteer-run BooksForFree projects that take in public donations, publishers’ surplus, and unsold books from charity shops before giving them away for free. Really. You can walk into any one of the initiative’s nation-wide stores and feel free to take up to three books, free of charge. Regardless of whether you’re donating your own books or not; as the project works to the classic tune of supply and demand, receiving a bag-full of books one minute before passing the same books on in their threes to a new home soon after.

As this is essentially what the project is all about, keeping books in circulation by extending their lives beyond the Kindle revolution and away from the scrapheap. Giving the book another pair of eyes to entertain, another mind to educate, and another set of hands to nestle into whilst converting your own trash into someone else’s treasure. But you needn’t think that you’ll only find old wives’ novels upon these generous shelves, as they are stacked high with fact and fiction, contemporary titles, timeless classics, children’s favourites and even those pricey university textbooks. However this plentiful supply isn’t exclusive to books, as BooksForFree also cater for magazines, Videos, CDs, Audio Books, DVDs and even the old record to complement Dad’s dusty collection. So why not bring the whole family along…

You may well discover their true shopping personalities, as reading the stores’ scattered signs signalling the 3-book-maximum will instantly divide customers into either Camp X’s astounded “three for free??” or Camp Y’s covetous “what, only three?!” responses. As it is a strange concept to grasp, especially when approaching the counter where you find yourself confronted by a donations box in place of a cash register and receive a bookstamp rather than a receipt. You can even return your ‘purchase’ at any time free of receipt squabbles, creating some form of library-shop hybrid without the loyalty card. This makes up a refreshing anomaly within the average shopping experience, noticeable for the distinct absence of cash transactions, chip & pin machines, and promotional offers.

For today’s businesses set a price for everything, but know the value of nothing. And this is how BooksForFree distinguishes itself, as it recognises the value of a dust-ridden literary classic but refrains from barcoding it with a price. It is simply stamped with Healthy Planet’s logo complete with a discreet request to “Pass me on when you’ve finished reading me”, and it becomes a priceless entity. And this collection of entities combine to create a project that provides a contemporary outlet to the cyclical nature of the purchase and disposal of goods, whilst being sustainable in tackling the world’s financial and environmental problems.

For these threats are posing ever more questions to our economic evolution, and projects such as this may prove to be part of the solution.

Follow this link to find your nearest store, and be part of the solution;

http://www.healthyplanet.org/projects/books-for-free.aspx

Daniel Bowen.

A new breed of rebellion?

Rebel (noun);

• A person who rebels.
• A person who resents and resists authority or oppressive conditions.
• A person who refuses to conform to the generally accepted modes of behaviour, dress etc

Despite the above description that would suggest otherwise, the modern day rebel has now taken on a whole new meaning, image and associated attributes. No more does the word inspire images of violent and passionate protestors in the street defying the authorities, but rather that of a confused teenage tearaway orchestrating meaningless juvenile antics and shenanigans. The current perception of a rebel as a mischief-making nuisance therefore lies in stark contrast to the word’s previous association with that of a threat to normality or as an agent for change.

So who now constitutes anything resembling a modern day ‘rebel’ as perceived in the press or in social circles? And how would you describe a rebel in contemporary terms? Well how does this fit...

He or she is likely to be wearing a hoodie loitering around a street corner, consuming excessive amounts of alcohol and/or drugs whilst indulging in casual sex and violence during late nights full of wrong-doing and ASBO-worthy activities. At least this is the exaggerated image conveyed by politicians and the press as they complain of youth crime and anti-social behaviour amidst these raucous ‘rebels’. But what if said stereotype is now the norm, simply a product of contemporary society? Not so much a rebel, but a mindless sponge just absorbing its conditioned environment, and soaking up all that’s wrong with it. That being the excessive bacteria of trashy entertainment output, advertising overload, and the ill influences of modern media we are all susceptible to. And all of this in the absence of any real cleansing influence in the form of respectable role models for the younger generation to look up to as politicians seem sleazier, families more fragile and celebrities forever redundant of any moral guidance.

As a result, these wrongly tagged ‘rebels’ are drawn into a numb state of conformity and consumerism that is currently bombarded into our surroundings, encouraging a blend of compulsiveness and impressionability that only furthers their vulnerability to such an environment. Television tells them that casual sex and violence is okay, so it’s condoned. Marketing and advertisements tell them that buying is always good, so they consume. Fashion and music media tell them what’s ‘cool’, so they conform. Admittedly these individuals I am currently referring to will not possess all of the above traits, but what is clear is that such people can in no way be classed as ‘rebels’…

So who can now be genuinely classed as the modern-day rebels of contemporary society? Faced with this new generation of reactive conformists cultivated in such a conditioned environment, who’s resisting?

Well what if those who have previously been mocked and lazily branded as ‘hippies’ or ‘liberals’ were now the true rebels within modern society... What if the modern common perception of rebellion as a somewhat negative or aggressive trait was flip reversed into that of a positive force for well-being and progress. And so the stereotyped ‘hippie’ characteristics of having respect for the environment, genuine concern for others, engagement with spirituality, unconventional dress sense, autonomous thinking and alternative lifestyle patterns suddenly seem revolutionary. For what the mainstream may languidly disregard as ‘weird’ or ‘offbeat’ ideals are essentially core altruistic principles that are more pertinent than ever when considering our current cultural corruption. Environmental upheavals, blind consumerism, conditioned conformity, moral bankruptcy, and economic woes are all staring us in the face and so it is necessary for us to step out of our comfort zones...

And there are a number of ways in which this is achieved… It may include buying from independent stores, being environmentally responsible, giving to charity, spending sustainably, eating ethically sourced foods, the avoidance of dressing like a chain store mannequin, and taking the time to gain a perspective from our rushed lives. These are all manners of resisting the contemporary societal ills that plague us, and the transition is a smooth one should you believe in their underlying meaning and purpose. For living according to the convenience of credit, fast food, supermarkets, and the media’s latest take on the ins and outs of fashion may be the easy option, but it also makes taking the alternative route so much more appealing and rewarding. Such simple, considered and positive behavioural patterns can immeasurably stunt the current lifestyle trends that threaten to completely distort our already fragile cultural and environmental health. A form of rebellion that barely even makes sense considering how principled and fundamentally benevolent these actions are in everyday practice, and how idealistic they seem in the rough and tumble of contemporary society. Some may label this outlook and approach as a rosy form of everyday ‘culture jamming’, but it may be better perceived as taking civil disobedience to its most civil form.

And this resistance can only be reinforced with the open-minded, proactive and creative thinking that goes hand in hand with this new alternative breed of rebel. No more the glorified flag-waving or banner-bearing activism in the street, but rather the unassuming and undervalued actions of those simply living the change they want to see in the world.

Dan Bowen.

The Summer Bubble

Summer Camp. Never Never Land. A Working Holiday…

Whichever way you want to look at it, it’s a funny old place. Where else do you find 50 adults and 200 children living together within communal living spaces and dining upon questionable food? Well, apart from the average British school obviously…


The summer camp setting cultivates a complex environment where the outside world fades to a distant existence as an invisible bubble encapsulates its latest residents in a crazed cauldron of youth, enthusiasm and awkwardness. The summer begins in biblical fashion, no not with Adam & Eve’s nudity (that would be considered ‘camp inappropriate’), but rather more akin to Noah’s nautical antics. 50 random twenty-somethings collectively thrown in the deep end with the expectation of building a raft capable of weathering two tempestuous months of challenging children, dubious dinners and…each other. Team-building exercises suddenly seemed appealing…

But, in truth, the group gels pretty quickly despite the crazed myriad of nationalities, languages, accents, and cultural norms that inevitably go hand in hand with international summer camps. And even though the group is made up of similar-minded people, each individual brings a different set of cards to the proverbial table; whether it be a funny accent, a drinking game, some strange bodily attributes, or a weird sense of humour. Indeed, living amongst such a crowd screams for punchlines to inadvertent jokes as you objectively witness ‘a Kiwi, an American, and a Scotsman walk into a Croatian bar…’ or reinforce pre-supposed stereotypes as an Englishman happily sips his imported PG Tips. Even more amusing is hearing some people’s distorted accents after a summer spent in the company of a newfound foreign friend.


So how does this bunch of individuals streamline into a team so smoothly? This process is definitely aided by the social lubricant of alcohol in combination with the much-anticipated once-weekly 24 hours off duty. That time of week when females look prettier, males make an effort to smell that little bit better, food becomes tastier, and the alcohol tastes sweeter. Night-day trips may include checking out a neighbouring city, cliff-jumping at a national park, group kayaking some white waters, or simply indulging in some late night drunken antics. This is also the day of reckoning for the weekly enthronement of ‘that guy’; the he (or she) that, after a long week of trials & tribulations, decided to have five beers too many and earn oneself a few funny photos and a hefty hangover to remember the weekend by. But we also return to camp with the newly scripted stories, newly founded friendships (aww), newly-purchased matching accessories, and of course the ‘consummated’ romances from that manic day release.

However it then quickly dawns on these new couplings that they’ve now effectively been fast-forwarded to marriage and kids as they are reunited with the campers and the oh-so-intimate camp grounds. This is when the sanctuary of the staff lounge comes into its own, for never has a key for a glorified crack den become such a prized asset as in the wake of a weekend off. And for those romances that managed to dodge the spotlight during this period, they must take their relationship covert once back at camp in order to outmanoeuvre and outlast the inescapable gossip loop. Even the slightest hint of ruffled hair, a love-bite, or a sighting of a male counsellor and a female counsellor whispering to each other arises a suspicion that quickly escalates into some pretty interesting rumours / filthy fabrications; “Russian chaperone retrieves condom supply in a teacup for Welshman” anyone?

Moving on… Aside from the fun and games, what about the work? Well, this would include more fun, and more games. The nature of the work undertaken at camp, at surface level, is very appealing due to it being outdoors, active, social, alternative and liberal in contrast to the 9 to 5 jobs many of your friends may be grinding through at home. You cannot really complain of work-related stress when your prime duties for the day include teaching windsurfing or football to a bunch of kids on the Adriatic coast or in New England, USA. But dig deeper, and you can definitely appreciate the mental and physical demands of the job as the staff are entrusted with the responsibility of supervising, teaching, entertaining, and even parenting these children 24 hours a day, 6 days a week. The job soon becomes a perfect paradox of fatigue and fun, as the counsellors mask their exhaustion with enthusiasm with the aid of some much-needed caffeine and camp depot.

This fatigue and frustration may become too much for some as the quite literal ‘cabin fever’ suddenly sets in, where the bubble becomes a boundary with no escape route from living in close quarters with the same people day in day out. The time continuum warps as minutes drag to hours, hours become days, and days feel like weeks whilst your personal space seemingly dwarfs in the company of these needy kids and relative unknowns. Simultaneously, the outside world’s current affairs become secondary to the internal disputes and discrepancies that make mountains out of molehills amongst the staff ranks. Yet, just as suddenly, the fever will cool off alleviating your anxiety levels and downgrading your stress to that of questioning which mystery meat will be served at dinner or which boardies to wear with this t-shirt.

And whilst on the subject, image and appearance also takes a sharp twist once within the camp gates, with some interesting clothing combinations that will challenge contemporary fashion norms. Tie-dyed shirts and sweatshirts, bandanas, capes, casual cross-dressing, body-painting, optional showers, no make-up, males walking around topless, pyjama bottoms, and customised wife-beaters... Would these really be socially acceptable should you wear them down your local high street? There’s no doubt that they should be, I mean who doesn’t appreciate a good tie-dye, but we’re unlikely to see Armani stock a range for the foreseeable future.

This future then suddenly becomes a reality as the season finishes in a frenzy with the closing night staff party, and is followed by the inevitable farewells of the morning after. Everyone stands around nursing their hangovers as they reflect upon the hectic summer blur of crazy campers, early wake-ups, hilarious night-day trips & in-jokes, and those moments that you can’t quite remember but will never forget. Emotional goodbyes, prospective reunion and visit vows follow amidst the final embrace with those people who you’d only met some nine weeks ago. The very same set of strangers that quickly became a group of friends that hadn’t yet met...


Dan Bowen.

Board, Mast, Sail... Boom!

“A wet and windy weekend”. Possibly the most familiar yet groan-inducing phrase known to the British population having been subjected to a lifetime of pessimistic weather forecasts... But what if it was said with a smile? Or, more specifically, the smile of a windsurfer?

If you’re unfamiliar with the concept of windsurfing, it is ultimately a hybrid of surfing and sailing that challenges you to negotiate coastal winds with a sail attached to what resembles a large surfboard underfoot. It is the perfect combination of technique and tenacity, enabling you to take on and convert Mother Nature’s wind-power into a fuel that feeds your very own adrenaline fix. So how do you get started?

The equipment is fairly straight forward; consisting of a board, mast, sail and boom. The board supports the mast, to which you attach the sail, with a boom running across the middle allowing you to hold on to the sail for stability and direction. You then position the sail in relation to the direction of the wind, allowing the gust to hit the sail’s large surface area and power the board along the surface of the water. In doing so, you are effectively combining and testing your delicacy of balance, grasp of wind dynamics, and physical strength in grappling with the wind. And what a battle it can be... In tandem with the speed generated, the prime thrill of windsurfing is the opportunity to wrestle against the wind as a raw force of nature, actively challenging it to further energise your sail’s capacity for velocity. Some pros take this contest to its extremities, progressing to the standard of wave-surfing, speed-swivelling and performing big air jumps that defy all of the gravity laws you’d have thought a board & sail couldn’t possibly breach. Isaac would have been impressed...

So what else do you get from this windsurfing business? Good health and good vibes to name but two. The sport provides you with a full body workout; thoroughly conditioning your legs, back, arms and shoulders whilst you lift, hold and spin the sail according to the conditions (oh and be prepared for some quality swimming time whilst you’re learning). However, you’ll be happy to hear that the adrenaline generated more than compensates for any exerted effort, with the sea air and endorphins combining to create an additive-free high without the hangover. And all of this comes at a minimal cost to the natural environment... Having discounted the initial equipment manufacture and travel fuel to your local beach, windsurfing is an eco-friendly and sustainable sport with zero dependence upon fossil fuels or other parties in contrast to other water-sports such as water-skiing or wakeboarding.

As a result, windsurfing is now a well-renowned extreme sport worldwide, and such is its popularity that there are now specific holiday resorts and inclusive packages aimed at fanatics willing to travel in search of the winds that dwell over warm waters. It has even inspired a new derivative of itself, effectively growing to become big brother of the newborn phenomenon that is kite-surfing, where you capture the wind’s energy via a parachute whilst your feet are strapped into a mini surfboard. Oh and I should mention that you can windsurf on land should you make the perfectly rational decision of strapping your sail onto a skateboard or kart. The possibilities are endless...

So check the forecast... Wet and windy this weekend? Turn off the TV, get down to the beach and you can be the one smiling come Monday morning.

Dan Bowen.

A Society's Surrender to Stimulus

What the f#!k has happened to TV and the media?!

Got your attention? Good. You’re stimulated. You’re jolted. You’re still reading... Such is the make-up of our contemporary mass-media conditioned society, this is simply an exaggerated example of a common tactic deployed to fix your attention. However our senses are now so overloaded by such stimulatory poking and probing that we no longer see it as an invasion of our privacy and balanced judgement.

A stimulus is defined as “an action, influence or agency that produces a response in a living organism”, whilst to stimulate refers to anything that “incites, instigates or excites towards increased action”. Therefore, a stimulant is effectively engineering a pre-meditated reaction within us in order to capture and sustain our attention upon the rousing source. Modern media and marketing is specifically geared towards unleashing as many of these stimulants as possible in the direction of potential consumers – i.e. you and I - in order to grip our attention and instigate interest in what they have to offer. These stimulants will appear in many different mediums; mainly in television, films and mass media, but also increasingly so in radio, music, games consoles and static advertisements. This is achieved by the inclusion of distinctive sounds, flashing visuals, arresting buzzwords, catchy sales slogans, and sensationalism of controversy, sometimes all incorporated into a single source! Think about it... How often have your eyes and ears been subjected to such stimulus today?

Just consider television for a moment... We now live in era of round-the-clock news channels, a cult-like following of soaps, and a plethora of ‘reality tv’ shows each striving for our attention with their maxed-out inclusion of emotional triggers and stimulants. The 24 hour news channels throw up and regurgitate sensationalist news stories in the form of easily digestible soundbites, carefully condensed into quick-read summaries as to fit into our oh-so-hectic lifestyles. Flick the channel over and we are at the mercy of soaps and reality tv shows that strive to include as many controversial and provocative scenes - ranging from sex & drugs to violence & conflict - as possible into their pre-watershed slots. And, of course, in the scheduled breaks between these programmes, we are subjected to the shameless deluge of slogans, celebrity endorsements and flashy animations that we call adverts in which we are relentlessly encouraged to Buy, Buy, Buy. But whilst you could argue that all of this simply adds up to provide us with absorbing entertainment, ‘stimulating media’ should not always be considered to be a positive description as is commonly perceived...

The real issue lies with the way in which these stimulants are deployed in order to deter us from being distracted by our environment, effectively slapping our faces over and over again just in case we lose focus and take our eyes off the ‘prize’. It is the concept of focus that cements the reciprocal nature of our interaction with modern media, whereby less stimulation would result in reduced viewer focus ultimately leading to poor ratings and low viewing figures. Therefore, tv executives and marketers are eager to fit metaphorical matchsticks between our eyelids by constantly jolting us without a moment’s respite to make judgements upon the quality of the show itself. So what’s the problem here? If this is a virus, what are the symptoms?

The result is that we’re walking around constantly aroused (no laughing at the back...) by our surroundings, with little or no time to digest explosive animations before we are bombarded by the next. This is hitting the younger generation the hardest; as newspapers and books are increasingly judged as boring substitutes for online or televised media, advertisement slogans predominate over parents’ preachings, and iPods are viewed as a welcome buffer for that most uncomfortable of natural silences that arise when in the untainted outdoors. And if you look hard enough, the effects are there for all to see... An increase in nervous energy, anxiousness, fidgeting and restlessness is evident within us all once that stimulation is momentarily taken away, leaving us with no visual or verbal stimulant to hold our focus. Just try asking a teenager to sit still between their marathon Xbox sessions. Furthermore, this discreet form of conditioning seems to have diminished our attention-spans, levels of concentration and focus to the point where Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is now perceived as a common ‘condition’ amongst children in contemporary society. It could also prove to be overpowering for those individuals of an impulsive disposition, who are more vulnerable than most to marketing’s relentless drive in encouraging consumption of their promoted products.

Our underlying relationship with this form of bombardment can therefore be likened to that of the respiratory process... However, as much as we are constantly inhaling all of these stimulatory media, what is being exhaled? All those sales slogans, emotional triggers, violent movie scenes and games console binges... where does it all go? With the only tangible output being that of consumption in response to mass marketing and sales advertisements, what happens to the television & media intake? It all seems to be bottling up inside of us, discreetly fizzing up nervous energy and restlessness until we sit up and take notice of just how badly this can spill over when the cap is lifted. But, what match are we for the media people in trying to avert the gaze of the millions from their television sets...

Yup, those same media people who claim the media doesn't influence people, but are perfectly willing to sell you advertising time.