After the terrible events of last Friday, like everybody, I was shocked, sadden, horrified…It felt terrible to be attacked like this, it felt selfishly personal that Paris, a city I called home, a city I love, a city where a lot of my friends and family live, could be the scene of such horrible acts.
I wanted to blog about it, I wanted to share my deepest sympathy for the victims, their families and friends. I wanted to write how grateful I was that none of my relatives were armed during that night of horror… but I felt paralyzed. How could I find the words? I just couldn’t…
Then I came across a citation that truly resonated with me, and I finally decided to share it with you:
With guns you can kill terrorists.
With education, you can kill terrorism.
Indeed, education is probably the only thing that will save the World we live in, although it unfortunately takes an awful amount of time.
It’s hard to be Human, it’s a journey we take without knowing the destination, it’s the biggest adventure of all, it’s also filled with ambushes and blessings. There is no right pace, but there are probably wrong paths. Choosing love & compassion, in everything we do, shouldn’t be that difficult. It unfortunately is. Education, knowledge, understanding ourselves and each others as well as being willing to make the right choices will put us on the right tracks.
We’ve come from so far, but we still have a long way to go, to become the educated, knowledgeable and most importantly peaceful and loving Earth caretakers, we should be.
So keep travelling, keep learning from the people you meet, keep marveling at the Worlds wonder, share with others… together we can make the World better, one step at a time.
A word about the image I chose to feature for this post: The globes you see are the terrestrial and celestial globes created in 1683, by Vincenzo Cornelli and as ordered by the Cardinal d’entrées as a gift to Louis XIV. These globes are monumental (close to 4m – 13 feet diameter), probably the biggest existing globes from that era.
So you might wonder, why use this picture?
Well, I thought that, in the present circumstances, showing the beauty of the Earth, the amazing things men can create, the astonishing capacities and talents men have, was maybe an appropriate thing to do. Let’s all remember mankind is capable of wonders.
The Earth Globe presents a complete cartography of the World as known in the 17th century with lots of detailed painting and calligraphy work.
When the Grand Palais was reopened (years back!!), the globes were displayed there for a while. It was an impressive and smart setting with mirrors above and on the sides to enable the visitors to see the globes from every angles.
The Grand Palais, was a perfect setting for these jewels.
The celestial globe shows the sky and constellations such as they were on the day of the birth of Louis XIV.
This globes are on display at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France in Paris. For now they are not displayed on the furniture that was designed to hold them. I sure hope one day, they will…
If you are in Paris, you should go to the BNL, it’s a surprising library to say the least!
If you like globes, check out www.bellerbyandco.com. Yes the art of globe-making is not lost.
