Entering the third decade of my life I have things to look forward to such as getting a job and getting married, however I am not quite sure that I am ready to face ‘the real world’. I had been struggling to see what fun could lie ahead until I came across a new art; an art, which you could say is rising, or rather running to international recognition (The reference will become clear soon enough).

Its ethos is one against competition and rivalry and apologists of the art form say that its very essence is altruistic and the element of self -development is one that offers spiritual benefits. Upon reading the following quote, it was sold to me. The creator of this growing phenomenon, David Belle, said of it, “You just have to think like children.”

A lot of true art has been purged by the likes of art critics and their insatiable desire for conformity confined within a canvas, only to be displayed in art museums and snazzy coffee houses. However the rise of modern art, though disliked by the traditionalists, has allowed for the birth of art forms such as parkour.

The object of parkour is to get from one place to another in the most efficient way possible, using just the body and the things around you. This often involves running without stopping and turning obstacles into opportunities, like urban gymnastics with a direction. Personally I would choose to use the car sitting in my driveway, however the eco-friendly originators of parkour I’m sure would frown upon such decadence.

The Belle family, being the principal practitioners of parkour believe the philosophy behind it is an integral and extremely vital element. It is about overcoming one’s fears and emotions, not just the physical barriers. They believe that we are far too sheltered by the world and man is in need of reclamation of what it means to be a human being. Parkour supposedly teaches us movements we should have learnt as infants and also that we should interact more with the terrain and objects around us.

“It is as much as a part of truly learning the physical art as well as being able to master the movements, it gives you the ability to overcome your fears and pains and reapply this to life as you must be able to control your mind in order to master the art of parkour.” – parcour-berlin.blogspot.com/

For those of you unfamiliar with its original French name ‘parkour’, it is also known as free running and after listening to several interviews and reading various articles on the topic I have come to conclude that it is a form of self expression and a means of acting like a child without being taken into some sort of mental hospital for it.

If I am perfectly honest, parkour seems very much an excuse to run around in a carefree manner and frankly, I am all for it. It’s been far too long since I’ve acted immaturely or not taken things seriously and I need a break from it all. So if you see me acting unruly at any point in the future then please refrain from attempting to quell my parkour-inspired self-expression, but allow me to personify the philosophy of this great art form. After all, we are naught but artists (pronounced ar-tee-sts) in this transient existence.

If you are still unclear as to what parkour actually is, here is a little video of David Belle doing what he does best: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEeqHj3Nj2c

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Everything is twenty minutes away in London they say – it’s a nice walk too.

When I moved to London around eighteen months ago, it was the first time I had to get around without a car and clearly my skinny legs were not up to the challenge. People were flying passed me on the pavements, overtaking, undertaking with no warning. The complete anarchy on the gum-stained streets of London were overwhelming at the least. It was as bad as driving, fumes came from the person in front thanks to the smoking ban, and the worst of all is being stuck behind a learner. A slow walker is possibly one of the most frustrating moments in life. They leave no overtaking room and are oblivious to the traffic they are causing behind them and then it gets worse. If they are carrying luggage and dragging a suitcase, a suitcase wider than the pavement you cannot help but shout MOVE! in your head of course because we are far too polite to create a scene.

As the weeks went on, my spacial awareness had to increase and my brief walks were not so chaotic. Slowly the adrenaline rush of overtaking others became an addiction. Be it a mother with a buggy and bags of shopping or an old granny with a pulley-bag, I overtook them all and loved it!

There is the converse of walking in London, the quiet walks away from the busier roads. The slower paced walk allows one to absorb the surroundings; the handsome architecture of town houses with the autumn leaves swept neatly to the side, the small parks where children walk their dogs enjoying the lowered sun glowing goldly at them, and then, the snow fell.. and kept falling and what an image that left. Everyone saw the spectacular shot from the BBC of the UK covered in snow. Children played and constructed sculptures of igloos and snowmen, and the change in weather left a white glow around the streets which was passed onto the people who walked amongst the snow. Snow walkers immediately had a smile on their face and greeting others naturally as if they knew each other.

I suppose this script has no moral ending nor does it imply a message of any but rather an expression for my love for London.

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As the first term flew by as always, I found myself at the last few days of the week waiting for the annual snowfall to halt this capital to a standstill. It was that time of year again where students of all ages receive that deserved day off and commuters laze in front of the TV still in their pajamas. But it was also time for holidays and for me, that means a holiday. My choice of destination to close off a second decade of mine was Iraq. For some reason I had avoided this lost country as it is rarely seen in its positive light and why should it be? It is recovering from liberation from Saddam Hussein yet still fighting a civil war over a difference in history of over 1400 years ago. However, this country has seen the rise and fall of some of the greatest civilizations this world has seen and deserves a visit at minimum.

Since the snow did fall and decided to stay this time, my transit flight to Rome was delayed by four hours and thus missed my flight to Damascus and never made it to Iraq. Nevertheless the flight to our first city of Iraq called Najaf was available the next day and all we had to do was see Rome for a day – oh the struggles we face in life. So we saw Rome in a day, literally. We paced it from the Colosseum to Vatican City to be blessed by the Pope in a day and the holiday went on as planned.

One thing that left me in awe of Rome, a city I had never seen, was its culture. We like culture and Italy us definitely one that doesn’t hide it. We like it because we learn new aspects of civilization and enjoy the differences we share. It is bizarre because I wandered why does Italy have such a rich culture. For me the countries that have the most engulfing culture are Iran, India, China and now Italy. All these countries have something in common and it is not just great food but history. These countries have without doubt, produces the best civilizations we see today ( I know, I know Iran produced India but let’s not get technical). If we look at what these countries produce, we see paintings to poetry and martial arts to hospitality. Perhaps this is due to the conflicts it has been through especially between tribes within its country but I think it is due to the age of the civilization. Romans and Persians are some of the older civilizations which have been carried forward and maintained today. However, these countries have not created its culture through religion but rather seen the results of culture on many religions and for me, culture is irrelevant of religion. In fact India, which has five major religions, has the most overwhelming culture today.

We see the opposite in America and the UK where there was and has been since, one major religion with few tribal civil wars over history and are, in comparison, relatively new such as America of a youthful age of five hundred years compared to China of a thousand plus years.

Traveling into new cultures opens eyes as we are forced o=to break routine to become open minded. Traveling, in addition, with people creates friendship and the like minds will create ideas and the larger minds will create events. If you have travelled before of great experience then share it with people, if not, then I highly recommend you to do so.

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We participate because he has the power of pressure. He patronizes and plants pretty pictures and portraits of the praise he will perfume us in. Oh Poo! We have a portfolio  of pointy pins that prick our inner peace to then take a pill to cure the pain. We have been persuaded like a puppy. Like a poodle playing with a python that poseidon before pouncing. Paw us. Probably we plead with our peasant like minds in the parks and pools of thought not to be persuaded once again – but we persist. The power of peer pressure is plentiful. So ponder or put pen to paper before our potential reaches a point of no progress, where we are persuaded only by others and not ourselves. So be prepared to turn away in the pandemonium of the people and to say “Phuck You”  to your peers that disturb your inner peace. Be positive in the years to come. Praise others on their personalities and lower your pride to perhaps even pressure your piers in doing good.

If you know you are doing something bad, do not drag others down with you to feed you guilt. If you are doing something good, elevate the status of others by inviting them along and do not forget the power of peer pressure.

Oh Poppycock!

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