Author    : Jonas Bendiksen

Nowadays  more people are living in cities than in the countryside. Which doesn't necessarily means progress. Shortly there'll be more than 1 billion people in slums. Often -but not always- under horrible circumstances.
Jonas Bendiksen (Magnum photographer) has created a documentary of the life of people living in these slums. Four slums in three continents:
- Nairobi    (Kenia, Africa)
- Mumbai   ( India, Asia)
- Jakarta    (Indonesia, Asia)
- Caracas   (Venezuela, South-America)
To be able to get really close to the people, he has chosen to live for some time amongst the people who live in these dwellings. Where there is usually a constant lack of healthcare, sanitations and electricity.
But it's not just the poor, living there. Also doctors and lawyers, a social middleclass, which feel very much at home. On the other hand there's sparks of violence, which happens easily with a million or more inhabitants per sq. kilometer.

Bendiksen's photo's are stunning, not in the least the way he has presented them: twenty double pages can be opened to reveal the hose one enters this way, showing the four walls and it's people.
In between these pages these people tell the stories of their lives.

To see/read more about this topic, I can recommend the movie 'Slumdog Millionaire'
and the book 'Shantaram' written by Gregory David Roberts

--

Title: SynchroDestiny

Author:  Deepak Chopra

There are few books, once I've finished reading, I immediately want to re-read. Well, this is one I will! Because the information connects to my soul and inner knowing.
Page one starts with praise for Deepak Chopra, first one by the Dalai Lama:
'I absolutely agree with Dr. Chopra's view that "if we want to change the world, we begin by changing ourselves." This is the same message that I have always been conveying'.
This is my own motto in life too, as it is Ghandi's "be the change you wish to see in the world".
Which leaves me in good company!

We are all interconnected and our thoughts are pre-stages of manifestations. In fact we are all one big soup..
My deeper interests I always found in the body/mind connection, as well as the bridges between East/West. Deepak Chopra is one of these strong bridge-builders with his work (www.chopra.com). And his network: The Alliance for a new Humanity   www.anhglobal.org

This book contains a step-by-step plan to use the power of  coincidences to create your own miracles. And by creating our individual miracles, we co-create them for the whole.
He uses the ancient wisdom of Vedic texts, the Upanishads:
'You are what your deepest desire is. As is your desire, so is your intention. As is your intention, so is your will. As is your will, so is your deed. As is your deed, so is your destiny".

Everything starts with intention. But where does intention come from?
Deepak Chopra teaches how to pay attention. How to enter a deeper level of consciousness, just by doing simple excercises and being more aware. Nothing happens without reason. Awareness is the key.

He reveals the seven principles of synchrodestiny and explains how to apply these principles in our daily lives. These seven principles are making up the second part of the book.
In part one he describes and explains 'the promise of unlimited potential' and how it all works: matter, mind and spirit. Synchronicity in nature (hence the cover - a photo of a shoal of fish). Coincidences, intention and the nature of the soul. About desires and Archetypes. Non-local intelligence and the local mind versus the non-local mind.
He provides many examples of synchrodestiny and how they especially can be found in the animal world (think about the strong bond between dogs and their owners - I can relate to that!)

This book contains a similar message as the bestseller The  Secret, only in my opinion it is more true, more genuine. No cheap tricks', but a clear guide in enhancincing our awareness.
And the outcome?? MIRACLES!