Just a Dandelion free essay sample

WHO AM I, LIVING IN THE MIDDLE OF HISTORY, TO TELL THE UNIVERSE THAT IT OR MY OBSERVATION OF IT IS TEMPORARY? I am just a dandelion – as every person inhabiting planet earth. Eternity is a concept beyond my grasps and comprehension. It comprises of thousands, billions of momentary lives – like mine and yours. We flicker on and out. We are here one moment and the next we may be gone. How much we manage to reach out, on how many things we do indeed put a finger on remains unfathomable. The only purpose in our lives that seems somewhat reasonable and credible is to find our purpose. What’s the point in living when you can be blown away by the wind any second now? However, it is an unpromising and unpropitious venture and whoever sets out to delve into the depths of the recondite and abstruse, lands up in the depths of despair instead. We will write a custom essay sample on Just a Dandelion or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Needless to say, the only way out is dead-end street. I am just a dandelion – like you. I can get blown away by the harsh wind as I am sitting in my room and typing those words. I like being a part of that world, though†¦ a world of so many unknowns. And I contempt the impending second when my observation of it will come to an end. I despise the fact that my story would be dwindled and lost among the hundreds other. I abhor the mere thought that my observation would halt. I hate it†¦ But I am just a fragile dandelion – I am here and I am gone. Good riddance to bad rubbish. I grow to divulge the spring and the warm summer sun but I seldom make it to the hot days of August. The risen sun too bright in my losing eyes. The howling wind too wicked against my frail wings. Who am I to insinuate hatred towards that infinite magnificence of power? I am just a dandelion but I do relish my tenuous being. Perhaps I am temporary. Perhaps what I get is just a glimpse of t he marvels the universe beholds. But I retain my right to observe its glory and riot of colours. And I intend to indulge and bask in it. So here I am, sharing my momentary contemplation of a might too abstract and too arcane to name. My existence may be ephemeral but my observation (and my personal growth) would be conserved in the time capsule my essays are.

Report on International Business Strategy Essays

Report on International Business Strategy Essays Report on International Business Strategy Essay Report on International Business Strategy Essay Assessment Overview of assessment The assessment is an individual assignment which you will submit as two separate tasks. The first task will contribute 40% to your final module mark and will involve an audit into the global market opportunities for a firm of your choice from your home country (see the section headed Assignment brief below for further guidance). This task will specifically assess learning outcomes 1, 2, and 3. The second task will contribute 60% to your final module mark and will comprise an international, edium-term strategic marketing plan for the firm that you have analysed in the first task. This task will specifically assess learning outcomes 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. Assignment brief You have been hired by an organisation in your *home country which is seeking market expansion opportunities overseas for one of its products, services, or brands. Your remit is to first carry out analysis (task one) and to then produce a medium-term strategic marketing plan (task two), based on the findings of your analysis, for entry into the international market. You must firstly make the decision as to your choice of rganisation. We recommend that you choose a firm of which you have some background knowledge. You can research any international market, providing that you can find opportunities in that market for your firms product or brand. However, you must ensure that the firm you choose has not already launched the product, service, or brand into the market you are investigating; your brief is to find a new market opportunity. * You may select an organisation that is owned by a parent company outside of your home country providing that your product, service, or brand s marketed from your home country. Task one (audit) instructions: Format: Written report (see guidelines below on report format). Submission date: See assessment scheduler. Submission format: Submit a hard copy to SHIP and a soft copy to Turnitin (see below). by the submission date. Word count: 2,500 words (+ / 10%). Your work may include appendices if necessary but you must not put content in the appendix that is part of the assessment criteria. Words in tables, diagrams, charts, and fgures are excluded from the word count and academic references are also excluded. Referencing: SHU Harvard referencing must be used throughout the report. Turnitin: The Turnitin tool is available on the Blackboard site for this module and you can submit your work as many times as necessary to Turnitin before you submit your final hard copy to SHIP. Task one assessment criteria: 1. A background to the organisation that explains its current market position (strengths and weaknesses), international marketing experience, and its need to explore new markets. 2. A rough market screening of your chosen global region. 3. A fine market screening and ranking of markets which will lead to the selection of one market. 4. An opportunity analysis of the international market, including the analyses of customer buyer behaviour (and potential segments), and competitors within the market. 5. A SWOT analysis that highlights your findings. Guidance on report format Each task should be presented in a report style format and should include the following elements: 1 . Cover page (excluded from word count) 2. Contents page (excluded from word count) 3. Report style numbering system 4. Appendix where necessary (do not bury content in the appendix that is part of the assessment criteria) 5. Main headings to separate out key sections 6. Sub-headings to separate out key sub-sections 7. Bullet points for lists 8. Bibliography using the SHU Harvard referencing system (excluded from word count) A final note on referencing Note that all external sources in your assessed work must be properly referenced using the SHU Harvard referencing system and that it is not acceptable at this level of academic study to reference un-trusted sources such as Wikipedia,

Problem Solving College Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Problem Solving College - Essay Example In problem solving one should explore all options one by one until you come across the best one. However, in general, as one gains experience in solving problems, one develops one's own techniques and strategies, though they are often intangible. The computer is not an intelligent machine. It does not have the ability to think about the solution of the problem. Our task is to provide a series of steps, which when written in a programming language becomes a code. The computer runs the code for the solution. The good part is that the computer can run the solution consistently, again and again once we have written the code, saving us from the tedious and boring work. Programs are written to solve problems posed by people. The difficulty of writing the programs is driven by the difficulty of the problems. The difficulty of the problems is limited by the imagination of the people posing the problems. Now we'll see how problem solving by programming is difficult. Programming is a complex skill that takes time to master. To solve a specific problem via programming, you need to understand the nature of the problem. Think about the solution of the problem. Then we will choose a programming language. You need to have knowledge of the programming language you decide to use. ... Depending on the nature of the task problem solving can either be easy or difficult. Let's take a very simple example of finding the largest number from a given list of unsorted numbers. We can easily solve this problem manually, provided the given list of numbers is not too big. If we have to solve the same problem using programming then it is not so easy .We will have to explain the computer all the steps one by one and code it for the compiler to run the solution. Similarly, if we have a list of numbers which is very big, say ten thousand numbers and we have to find the maximum one so it would be easier to write a code for the problem rather than going through the whole list. There are many ways to find the maximum number in a given list of unsorted numbers. We will discuss one of the ways to solve it. Our first step would be to consider the first number as the largest. We will save that number in a temporary location .Then we will compare it with all the other numbers in the list and if we encounter any number greater than the number stored in our temporary location, we will update our location. The last noted item in our memory location is the largest in the list when the process is complete. Hence, we can say that it depends on the nature of the task whether problem solving is difficult with programming or not. Similarly, we consider another example of a factorial generating program. We can easily calculate the factorial of a small number in our minds but think about a program that will return you the factorial of any number you want. It can be as large as you want because you don't have to worry about the computations. The computer is going to

Blueprint for Professional and Personal Growth Assignment

Blueprint for Professional and Personal Growth - Assignment Example The reason this is so is that the individual employees will know their left from their right, and have their competences well developed to deliver the best of service. It is expected that the new understanding that has been gained will go a long way to contribute to the productivity levels of the organization because a new era that gets the best out of employees will be developed. As far as the way I thought of the manager’s role is concerned, I can clearly stay that I have developed a new understanding that makes me realize that the manager’s role is more of a shared responsibility rather than a one man show. Before the course, I used to have this thinking, I believe must best be described as a misconception. This is because I used to think that managers were lords over their employees and only dictated for their employees to follow. With the content and assignments however, there has been a new realization that managers function best if they would do so in collaborati on with their employees; whiles empowering the employees to be at their best competence levels. I have also come to know of the manager as a facilitator of change rather than an implementer of change. Having come to develop the kind of new understanding I have about managers, my goals for my organization have tremendously been influenced. Earlier, most of my goals were self centered and focused on way in which I could make myself better as a manager. What is more, I focused the human development roles within the organization around only few people within the organization. For now, my goals have changed towards the development of personal goals of all people within the organization. My goals are now focused on the larger development of all people within the organization, knowing that their development will lead to the total development of the organization. Their personal developments would also make my own work as a manager much easier. Strategy for Professional and Personal Life Ear lier in the course, I had made a personal sentence to â€Å"support others for the collective success of the organization†. Having come this far with the course and with specific inspiration from the article of Christensen (2010), I find the need to develop a strategy that will aid in my professional and personal life. The first component of the strategy has to do with ways of ensuring that I am happy in my career and become the manager I aspire to be. Christensen (2010) admonishes the need for output to match expected input in order for any manager to be happy with his position. This is to say that the efforts that the manager puts into the service delivery at the organization must be promising enough to bring enhanced productivity. In relation to my sentence, I will ensure this by putting in place motivational factors that urge my workforce to give off their best. Once the employees gain satisfaction, there are most likely to give off their best and ensure productivity, whi ch would in turn bring me joy as succeeding in my position. Whiles putting these structures in place within the organization, it will be very important not to neglect or abandon my social responsibilities, especially as a family person.

The Necessity of Art Essay Example for Free

The Necessity of Art Essay What is art? There are many definitions that can be given to art depending on the person talking about it and by these definitions; the following questions can be answered. Why is art necessary? What does it benefit us if art is applied in our lives? What can it do for us? What is its importance? These are the questions some people think of when they hear the word art. I have learned some things in my GREATWK class especially the definition of art and how to answer these questions. To give a heads up, I got a quote from Fischer, a writer and it says: Art is necessary in order that man should be able to recognize and change the world. But art is also necessary by virtue of the magic inherent in it. Art in capitalist society may appear as a discrete area of leisure or luxury, but this is wholly exceptional for human society. Art was humanity’s attempt to control the world. Art and magic were the same thing: ‘The newly acquired power to grasp and control objects, to prompt social activity and bring about events by means of signs, images, and words, led him to expect the magical power of language to be infinite. Fischer, 2012). In relation to Fischer’s idea of why is art necessary, it is because in today’s time, more and more people often use art as a form of communication, expression, imagination, exploration and many more. Art is important in viewing things differently, and the world where we live in, in general. People, specifically, young people or the youth use art for their own creativity and expression. People use art to express what they are feeling about things which other people tries to understand what it conveys to them especially in social reality or in society, rather. One of the things why art is important in our society is that art can show how change and improvement may be brought about with a mixture of creative imagination. It may be considered as a guide to our society as well but more of that later. We will be discussing what I learned through this subject in the course of this paper. Art and Its Importance What is Art? First of all, what is Art? This question had been and is still asked and at the same time answered by several human minds ever since ancient Greek philosophers had lived. Many may argue that art cannot be statically defined, in as much as that art is a very complex and dynamic term which can be proven by the drastic changes of the definition of the term over the years. To better understand its importance, we must first know its definition. Art stimulates different parts of our brains to make us laugh or incite us to riot, with a whole gamut of emotions in between. Art gives us a way to be creative and express ourselves. For some people, art is the entire reason they get out of bed in the morning. It is something that makes us more thoughtful and well-rounded humans. Art is such a large part of our everyday lives that we may hardly even stop to think about it. Art is something that is both functional and aesthetically pleasing to our eyes. For some students Art is their motivation for coming to school and an area where they have success or excel, providing an important balance in their total educational experience. These are some of the definitions of art. Art has its own distinctive and indispensible features. It has the ability to convey messages and emotions; †¢It is a mere combination of man’s own cognitive and creative attitudes to reality recorded in words, colours, plastic forms, or melodically arranged sound; †¢It also has an ability of having profound communicative function; †¢It also contains the cognitive, moral and social substance; †¢It makes use of different styles like paintings and poems. There are many definitions of art but to simply put it, art is a diverse range of human acts and what it produces. Art is created by man and man alone. It has been characterized, specifically, in terms of expression, communication and emotion. There are other values that characterize art but these 3 specifically characterize it. Another main definition of art is that it is form and content, meaning all art consists of form and content. Form simply means the elements of art used, its design principles and the physical materials used. Content, on the other hand, is idea-based and it means that what the artist meant to portray, what the artist did portray and ow we, individuals, react to both the intended and the actual messages. Additionally, content includes ways in which a work was influenced by something like politics, religion, society or sometimes even the artist’s use of hallucinogenic substances at the time it was created. All of these factors, together, make up the content side of art. Why is Art Necessary? Art is born of necessity to a world of imperfection. In a sense, we all live within ourselves, within our own cons ciousness, within our perceptions. In this simple fact of human psychology art is born. Through the arts, we have the capacity to consciously shape our perception and the perception of others. The sensations created by an art form are called aesthetics. Beauty is a part of aesthetics, but only a small part. Often the reason an artist is compelled to create has nothing to do with capturing beauty or perfection. The need to create, the creative imperative, is more primal and infinitely more subtle than the cliche of beauty. (Gregson, 2005). There are many, different reasons why art is important. Some of those reasons were already mentioned. There are other reasons of why art is important and these are the following: †¢They are languages that all people speak that cut across racial, cultural, social, educational, and economic barriers and enhance cultural appreciation and awareness. †¢They provide opportunities for self-expression, bringing the inner world into the outer world of concrete reality. †¢They develop both independence and collaboration. †¢They make it possible to use personal strengths in meaningful ways and to bridge into understanding sometimes difficult abstractions through these strengths. They improve academic achievement enhancing test scores, attitudes, social skills, critical and creative thinking. †¢They exercise and develop higher order thinking skills including analysis, synthesis, evaluation, and problem-finding. †¢They provide the means for every student to learn. (DoSomething. org, 2012). Importance of Art as discussed in our GREATWK Course Our GREATWK course, pro vided us, students, a chance to develop cognitive skills and at the same time creative skills and helped us develop our imaginations through the discussions made by our professors. Individually, it also helped me grasp the definition of Art through the works of four, not alike famous Philosophers or Artists. The course defined art through the specific works of Friedrich Nietzsche, Aristotle, Leo Tolstoy, and Frida Kahlo. Nietzsche focused more on Tragic Art through the Birth of Tragedy, Aristotle on Tragedy and Mimesis through Poetics,, Tolstoy on â€Å"What is Art† and Frida Kahlo on Visual Art through her famous paintings. The four combined and created a quadrumvirate form of definition of what art is and helped me grasp a better and scholarly perspective on what art is to me. By the discussions made by our professors in our class, art was defined and was discussed thoroughly with the help of the specific works made by some of the greatest artists in history. It was also discussed why it is really significant in our lives. In the following sections, each of the four artists will be discussed, what is art for them and why art is necessary for us. Frida Kahlo defined Art mostly through her paintings which conveyed her biographical features to the audience. Through Visual Art, Frida freely expressed herself through the paintings, her experiences, ideas, and the significant happenings that happened in her life. One famous artist, Leo Tolstoy, who pretty much defined what art and beauty should be and composed of to be considered as real art and beauty. According to Tolstoy, art must form some kind of emotional link between the artist and his/her audience, one that emotionally affects the viewer. With respect to Kahlo, whose work represented a lot of experience and/or events within her life, it is quite very important for us viewers to know the story behind the art more than about the creator for us to understand the deeper meanings behind the figures. Tolstoy shows how the works of Frida can be considered as perfect examples of art and beauty. For Tolstoy, Art can only be considered as art only by the artist’s emotions through his/her creations, the form, and the intentions in creating such artwork. Art is considered beautiful only if the art portrays the sincerity of the artist, clearness or clarity of what the artist wants to express to his/her audience, and how the artist’s individuality is visibly shown to his/her audience. Freidrich Nietzsche In Nietzsche’s ideology, man is the main structure of this world. He believed that without man, life is useless and meaningless. In order to attain meaning in this world, man should live life dangerously, one of his famous lines, regardless of any consequences that may happen. He believed that there is no God and that it is through art that man may find path to becoming an ubermench. In Birth of Tragedy, Nietzsche developed an idea of art and nature using the two ancient Greek gods Apollo and Dionysus as metaphors for these two fundamental principles. The Apollonian principle is most clearly expressed through the arts of painting and sculpture which, Nietzsche states are representations of the world. But these representations are fantastical in nature and, therefore, allow us to escape from the reality of the world, rather like a pleasant dream. The Dionysian principle, however, is more in touch with the cruel realities of nature and is most clearly expressed through ecstatic music and dance. It is also a form of forgetting or drunkenness. For Nietzsche, dreams represent the realm of beautiful forms and symbols, an orderly place of light and appearance. Drunkenness, on the other hand, is that state of wild passions where the boundaries between self and other dissolve. If we are to be truly human and experience any form of genuine understanding of ourselves and the world we live in. Ultimately, a person should strive to find a balance between the Apollonian and the Dionysian forces. In relation to art being a necessity in life, according to Nietzsche, Art sustains life. Art is what makes life endurable and thus possible. Art is what make life worth living. Nietzsche depicts this through a beautiful metaphor: Once again we may see the artistic buoyancy and creative joy as a luminous cloud shape reflected upon the dark surface of a lake of sorrow. Hence, this is another basic role of art: art as a metaphysical solace. Nietszsche, analyzing the Greek tragedy writes: The metaphysical solace (with which, I wish to say at once, all true tragedy sends us away) that despite every phenomenal change, life is at bottom indestructibly joyful and powerful. (Quesada, 2009). Leo Tolstoy and Aristotle In Poetics, Aristotle proposed that the origin of Art for the likings of Human existence was Imitation. Based from Aristotle himself, Poetry, which is a form of Art, imitates life through harmony, rhythm, and language. Tragedy is one form of poetry that deals with feelings of pity, fear and of Catharsis, or the purification of emotions. The poet is the one who serves as the writer and narrator of the tragedy who in a way in which imitates life through pity and fear. The poet is also the one who takes the recipient into a lampoon type of worldview within the tragedy. With that in mind, the recipient evokes in himself/herself the idea of criticizing the tragedy and thus recollects once again and tries to recall whether he/she really did felt pity and fear towards the tragic hero. For Tolstoy, on the other hand, he described art and explained why art is necessary in different ways in his work entitled â€Å"What is Art? †. First, he described and explained how art can be considered as a work of art. It is based on these three: †¢On the greater or lesser individuality of the feeling transmitted; †¢On the greater or lesser clearness with which the feeling is transmitted; †¢On the sincerity of the artist, i. e. , on the greater or lesser force with which the artist himself feels the emotion he transmits. (Tolstoy, 1986). Then he also explained why art is necessary. Art acts as a message for the viewers to see and feel. It is based on the fact that a man, receiving through his sense of hearing or sight another mans expression of feeling, is capable of experiencing the emotion which moved the man who expressed it. Conclusion In conclusion, with all the definition of art given by the artists/philosophers aforementioned, I now know how complex and dynamic art as a subject is. Art is a diverse range of human acts and what it produces. It can be something that can be expressed through individual thoughts, emotions, feelings and senses. Art evolves in a way that when expressed properly with the correct criteria used in judging if it is a work of art or not, it is transformed into creative forms through creative and cognitive skills like novels, paintings, dramas, plays, etc. Every person has its own perspective and understanding of art. There are many definitions of art. We can define art based on our own understanding and our own experience. Art is really necessary for us because it can bring about change and improvement. We, as human beings, we are always subject to change no matter what because it is who we are and it is how we grow and improve to become better. By becoming better citizens, we can create a better society and by doing so, we can create a better world where we can live peacefully and in harmony. Art can be really important in our lives because it can be a form of communication, emotion, expression, creativity, imagination and many more. Through art, we have the capacity to consciously shape our perception and the perception of others. Art can be considered as way to connect tragedy with our lives (Nietzsche), a way to pour out our emotions and feelings through our paintings (Kahlo), or as an imitation of one’s life (Aristotle) and that it is in our own selves how we criticize and create a life perspective based on the decisions we make that could either lead to a misfortune or contentment in life.

Television and Media - Stereotypes, Stereotyping and the Media :: Exploratory Essays Research Papers

Stereotypes and the Media â€Å"Hey isn’t that Reverend Camden's daughter? I thought she was a Christian!† â€Å"Isn’t her dad a policeman?† â€Å"What! The President's daughters were arrested for drinking?† These are statements that are frequently made by people like myself. I expect more from my peers whose fathers have jobs as prominent moral leaders because of the way the media portrays them. Our society places higher standards on pastors of Christian church, a policemen, and the President of the United States of America, because of their positions. These fathers are expected to be upstanding, moral citizens of their community, and are expected to have children that conduct themselves in the same manner. As college students we have learned from the media how to judge our peers' social actions based solely on their fathers' jobs. The nightly news broadcast, newspapers, and television sitcoms such as the The Cosby Show, 7th Heaven, and Dawson’s Creek are all examples of where we learn to judge based on these stereotypes. Imagine you are at a party having a great time listening to a Marilyn Manson CD playing in the background, â€Å"Sweet dreams are made of these, who am I to disbelieve?† While filling up your glass of beer you spring a conversation with the person standing next to you. The music is loud so you both venture out to the porch to talk. Names, where you live, and your major are all exchanged in the beginning of your conversation. The two of you quit talking for a moment to take a sip of the beer you had both just filled up a few minutes ago. As the conversation gets deeper, the issue of your fathers' careers is brought up. Your dad is a real estate agent who sells homes for a living. The person standing across from you informs you that her father is a pastor of a Christian church. Your mouth drops, then your stomach. You quickly look down at your glass of beer, and then you look at her glass. A surprised eyebrow is raised, confused as to why this person is drinking, or wh y she is even at this party. Automatically, without any reason, you have already stereotyped this person and placed a higher standard of social prestige on her because of her fathers’ job.

Monastic spirituality in the 21st Century Essay

In the 21st Century, it could be said that monastic spirituality in an outdated concept. In the contemporary world we live in today, it has become increasingly difficult to live obedient to the Churches teaching. Some people would argue that there should be no real set of moral codes, and that the Church should not have such high authority. This contrasts to the Celtic Monks belief that â€Å"Nothing must be refused in their obedience; to be Christ’s true disciple†¦it will not be pleasing to the Lord.† In society today, people don’t see a need for a moral code. They make their own subjective decisions about what is right and wrong from them, and don’t accept religious or government law. Grove argues â€Å"People do not see the Church as having a real relevance in their everyday lives, and therefore do not recognise its authority in everyday matters.† Some sociologists have said that it is this belief that has led to religious organizations â€Å"watering down† their beliefs to accommodate many beliefs, in the hope that this would make their religion more popular. However, in actual fact this can often lead to the religious organization becoming less popular, as they may lose the devoted members, who aren’t looking for a watered down religion. Pope Benedict said that â€Å"relativism†¦does not recognise anything as being certain†¦its highest goals are one’s own ego and desire.† Relativism is the belief that concepts such as right and wrong, goodness and badness, or truth and falsehood are not definite and that they alter in different cultures and situations. It could be described as the â€Å"cherry picking† for faith. An example of this would be ignoring the rule of no contraception, for promiscuous reasons. An other common example would be the issue of sex before marriage. The Celtic monks had a huge sense of Divine Will that had to be obeyed. Saint Columbanus reminded us of this by saying â€Å"by strict obedience shall the monk show his love of God.† Many of these traits, that the monks found so admirable, have been lost in today’s society. Monks believed that community was better than the individual, and that when we do something, it should be for the sake of the community, rather than for the sake of the individual themselves. The monks saw obedience as responding to God’s call. We can see a huge lack of obedience to God by looking at the large decline in vocations in recent years. In 2008, in Dublin, only three people were ordained into the priesthood. There are many reasons for this, a main possibility being the recent scandal the Church has been involved in in recent years. In 1968, 95% of Catholics went to mass. By 2004 this amount had dropped to a mere 50% (BBC Newsline). These figures support the view that as Christians, we no longer feel compelled to be obedient to God. This can relate back to what Pope Benedict described as â€Å"The Culture of Relativism.† Another debated issue is the importance of chastity and sexuality in our society today. Saint Columbanus said â€Å"a monk’s chastity is indeed judged by his thoughts.† He said that they were not only judged by sexual relations, but by the purity of the mind, and the sexual desires that they experienced. This view contrasts greatly to the view of society today. In our modern society, people are often sexually objectified. An estimated average of 75% of prime television shows include content of a sexual nature, and in soap operas it is estimated that extra-marital sex is referred to two out of three times every hour. This is because the television company’s know that in today’s society, sex sells. It is no longer thought of as a big deal, and there has been a massive increase in sexual promiscuity. This has led to a big increase in sexually transmitted diseases, which are becoming increasingly difficult to control. It also meant a big increase in the amount of unwanted pregnancies. Unlike monastic living which promoted the selfless giving of ones self to the community, we have adopted a hedonistic, narcissistic attitude. We have become our own lust. Michael Maher points out that the standards in Celtic monasteries are â€Å"severe, particularly in the area of sexual morality†. For many today, the idea of chastity is an outdated concept and is problematic for the future of the priesthood in the Catholic Church. This would lead me to believe that in regard to this aspect of monastic life, monastic spirituality could very easily be perceived as outdated in the 21st Century. Brigid of Kildare had a preferential option for the poor. She vowed to the king of Leinster, â€Å"If I had all your wealth, I would take it and give it away to the poor,† So Brigids monastery in Kildare, became known as the â€Å"City of the poor.† Aidan of Lindesfarm also expressed solidarity to the poor, when he gave away the kings’ gift of a horse to the first beggar he met saying â€Å"Surely this son of a mare is not more important to you than that son of man.† However, the Church didn’t always share the same view. Leondardo Boff argues that â€Å"the Church became an abstract speculation removed from the original spirit of the Gospel message, and out of touch with real life.† The Church has been criticised for siding with the vested interest, and in its history has even been involved in colonisation and the removal of land from the peasantry, in its commitment to obeying the laws of the land. Richard Woods reminds us that â€Å"justice and chastity were the main hinges of Celtic social action.† This is another way, in that it could be said that monastic spirituality is an outdated concept in the 21st Century. Views that should be had today have slowly died off, and have left places worse off. However, Bishop Casadaliga reminds us that â€Å"as long as there are poor people in the world, and as long as there is a God who cares for the poor, there will be a need for a theology of Liberation.† The spirit of Liberation Theology is very much evident in Celtic Monasticism in many ways, from the care of the poor and the sinner, to the welcoming of the stranger. Hospitality was always extremely generous in the monasteries, and any stranger who came was very well looked after. In 2004, 19% of asylum seekers were allowed to find refuge in Britain, while 78% were turned away. The Celtic monks in their openness to all, especially the weakest turned no one away. This shows another way that Monastic Spirituality could be considered an outdated concept in 21st Century life. In conclusion, it would appear that Monastic Spirituality is in fact an outdated concept in 21st Century living, with our lackadaisical views on chastity and sexuality, and our selfish views on poverty, it seems that Monastic Spirituality has been lost, and I believe it would be in the Catholic Churches interest to try and retrieve some of this monastic spirit.