Esteem News 

2July2009

Esteem for German choreographer Pina Bausch

Posted by Cecilia under: Art and Culture.

Last Tuesday world-famous German choreographer Pina Bausch died of cancer at the age of 68.

Pina Bausch was a legendary as well as media-shy artist.  She opened the way for a new form of body expression through dancing and speaking.  Her avant-garde work strongly influenced modern ballet.

She was a most distinguished woman who got esteem throughout her life and from her work as a choreographer. 

She explained her work like this: “Body and motion are the best possibility to express what affects us.  It’s not art and skills, but life.”

We can give esteem to Pina Bausch and her work by remembering her important role in the world of ballet and dance art.

1July2009

Esteem for ballet dancers

Posted by Cecilia under: Art and Culture.

The high esteem ballet dancers once received is mostly gone.  Today ballet dancing is a tough and thankless job.

Even at the Royal Ballet in London, one of the top three companies in the world, ballet dancers face a lack of esteem in the form of difficult job conditions such as short-term contracts and early retirement.

Nevertheless opera visitors still enjoy classic and modern ballet dance.  This gratitude combined with a high self-esteem help ballet dancers to receive enough motivation for their work.

When ballet dancers create art through music and movements they achieve a high level of genuineness in their work.  This genuineness is equivalent to esteem they give themselves. 

We too can give esteem toward ballet dancers by attending ballet performances and showing our appreciation of their art.

30June2009

Esteem in “Cheers!”

Posted by Cecilia under: Art and Culture; Education; Health; Philosophy.

When we think of  signs of esteem which we can give daily we think often of a simple smile.  But there are other little signs of esteem which we can give daily. 

One of them is clinking glasses and saying “cheers” when we have a drink with somebody to whom we want to express esteem.

Most often we say “cheers” for special moments such as birthdays.  When we consider the deep meaning of it we can use it daily just to express our genuine esteem.

“Cheers” means “Thank you” but in other languages takes on such meanings as: “To good health”  “Good luck” and “All the best”.

Consider these meanings of “Cheers” the next time you have a drink with somebody.

29June2009

Esteem for Michael Nyangi, microfinancer in Nairobi

Posted by Cecilia under: Economy; Environment.

When he arrived in Nairobi in 1999, 18 year old Michael Nyangi was hoping he’d find work.  He ended up living in one of Nairobi’s slums. 

But Michael’s will was strong and he knew what he wanted to achieve: getting out of poverty and helping others.  He went to work for a construction company during the day and attended college at night. 

In 2003 he graduated with a degree in accounting. Immediately after his graduation he founded a micro-financing organization called “Lomoro”.  It didn’t take long for him to find clients.  His first client was a widow with four children.  He gave her 26 dollars - basically all he had saved from his work - to start a small vegetable trading company.  Today she is the successful owner of a small restaurant.

Michael’s office is still in the middle of the slum, but his efforts have expanded tremendously.  He now has 15 employees to help him with his operation.

Through his micro-financing Michael gives esteem toward people those coming from poverty by acknowledging their will to work.  Michael deserves the esteem of others.  He enables people to find a way out of poverty by helping themselves with a little bit of start-up support of Lomoro. 

In this video Michael talks about his work and his goals.

28June2009

Self-esteem: inner space and manifestation

Posted by Cecilia under: Philosophy.

There is a misunderstanding about self-esteem which seems to affect how we speak about it.

On the one hand our self-esteem is outwardly manifested through how we express our personality.  On the other hand our self-esteem is rooted in our inner space which we keep to ourselves.

This seeming contradiction is also reflected in words and actions.  Whatever we think, say and do is at once both centered in our self-understanding and expressed to the outer world.

Considering this fact we should be always aware of how we speak, think and act because it has an effect on our own self-esteem and on the people around us.

27June2009

Esteem for dogs sniffing out diabetes

Posted by Cecilia under: Education; Science; nature.

Some dogs are known for the services they provide for people.  They work as seeing-eye dogs for the blind, sniff out illegal drugs and detect explosives.

Researchers at Queen’s University Belfast, UK found evidence indicating that a dogs’s hypersensitive nose can detect when blood sugar levels plunge dangerously.

Dogs can be trained to detect certain odors down to one part per trillion.  They can identify a dangerous diabetes situation as well as even identify certain cancer types in humans.

Dogs working in service of humans deserve esteem.  Their effort can be incredibly helpful and they’re grateful for the esteem and attention they receive.

26June2009

Esteem for esteem

Posted by Cecilia under: Art and Culture; Health; Philosophy; Story.

Reactions of people who get esteem are often the same:  they give esteem back.  The signs of esteem can be as small as a smile, or it can be as huge as saving a life.

Thirty years ago 10-year-old Dani Schemesch was saved by his neighbor after being pulled out of a burning shed.

Last week forty year old Schemesch, now a firefighter, got an emergency call from the house of his old neighbor.  His house was full of smoke and flames.  Schemesch saved his 80-year-old neighbor and her husband by ripping out a window frame, allowing them to escape.

He said to the Israeli newspaper Maariv that he was happy to be able to save the life of someone who had done the same for him so long ago.

Dani Schemesch became a firefighter to show his esteem toward others and now he was able to return it to the person from whom he got esteem.

25June2009

Esteem for our differences

Posted by Cecilia under: Philosophy.

The meaning of esteem goes together with the premise that esteem is given equitably to all.  It would betray the core of esteem when it’s only given to certain people.

German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) explains this premise with these words: “The surest way to corrupt a youth is to instruct him to hold in higher esteem those who think alike than those who think differently.”

When we give higher appreciation to a certain group of people because they fulfill certain expectations it’s not esteem but superficial adulation.  

Esteem doesn’t require being  earned by something such as having the same opinion.  Esteem is only genuine when it’s given equally without any condition.

24June2009

Esteem for the first ever Navajo comedy duo

Posted by Cecilia under: Art and Culture.

Navajo comedians James and Ernie are the first ever Navajo comedy duo.  Their performances leave audiences laughing and feeling better about their world.

According to their website jamesandernie.com they’re poised to break into the national scene after having entertained audiences around the Four Corners area of the Southwest.

Esteem is a positive message of understanding and acknowledgment.  James and Ernie deliver also a positive message through their humor and deserve esteem for that.

Their message of esteem serves as encouragement to others to express their humor and create esteemful moments.

23June2009

An esteemful life purpose

Posted by Cecilia under: Philosophy.

There are as many life purposes as people on earth.  But there is only one life purpose which we could call to be universally human: it’s happiness.

This little story explains it:

“When I was 5 years old, my mom always told me that happiness was the key to life.  When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up.  I wrote down “happy”.  They told me I didn’t understand the assignment and I told them they didn’t understand life.”

Happiness is the life purpose toward which everybody directs his life.  We can achieve it by living esteem.  When people receive esteem they feel happy as well as the persons giving esteem.

Whatever personal life purpose we have we still have the underlying esteemful life purpose of happiness.