human rights meditations: week 12

CCTV Photo: Always Watching by Matthew Fisher of Matthew Fisher Photography. Available via etsy.

Welcome to Week 12 of Human Rights Meditations. Each week we’re looking at an Article in the United Nation's Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Learn more about the series here. You’ll note that these posts are quite short: this is because the series is way more about the time that you spend reflecting, and engaging in the discussion via comments below & twitter (hash tag #hrmlak).

This week we’re looking at Article 12 of the UDHR.

Article 12: No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.

Read over the article above a few times and let it sink in. As you reflect, consider the following:

·          What's the first picture that came to your mind?

·          How did you respond to what you read?

·          Reflect how you feel about yourself in comparison to others.

·          Reflect on how you perceive others in your world. 

·          Reflect on your understanding of global issues.

Write the article down and stick it somewhere where you know you'll see it throughout the week. This will prompt you to keep the thinking going! Alternatively, write down something that has stood out to you throughout this meditation.  

Now, get talking! Let's talk openly about our thoughts on each article, what we're learning about ourselves and some of the actions we're taking to live more in line with the Declaration. Don't forget that as well as chatting via the comments below, you can get talking via twitter by including this tag: #hrmlak

I'll go first:

• The words "Big Brother" come to mind. It's interesting that with our desire for our own privacy that we find it so very interesting to poke around others private lives. Exhibit A: Reality TV (with one show ironically called "Big Brother"!). Exhibit B: Celebrity gossip magazines. Exhibit C: Social Media. Where's the line between being interested in other's lives and being intrusive? 
• Perception: imagine that everything you see and hear is through the view of a video camera: you only see a limited amount, you only hear that which is picked up on the receiver. It's all about where and what you focus on. The camera doesn't capture the whole of who we really are. We know this, because we see photos and video of ourselves and understand it just as a snippet of who we are. But what we don't realise is that we walk around with our own inbuilt camera, gaining focus and making editing judgments with our experience (let's call it our auto setting), our knowledge (depth of field), our values (ISO) and our exposure (speed). 

Kate xx


PS Thanks to Matthew Fisher for sharing his photograph and supporting this series. You can check out more of Matthew's work via his etsy shop.