Wednesday, January 12, 2011

everything is ok in Israel

I have been spenbding the last couple of days in Israel with my Everything is Ok sign (this one also has a translation into Hebrew) MOst of it hasnt been filmed because I didnt have anyone with me to film it so I thought I write about the memorabl;e moments.

After 5 minutes near a shopping mall, in typical Israeli style, a midfdle aged guy comes up to me with a marker pen, telling me how to enhance my sign and actually added an exclamation mark after the everything si ok ! He wanted to add an acronym 'BSD' which means with the help of God but i just drew the line htere and told him to get his own sign. I like holding the sign 'upside down' here because so many people tell me to turn it around. Oh the one hand they are trying to help ands on the other they cant handle things that dont look right.

Yesterday, somehting happened that never happens in the UK except at protests. There were 2 male and 3 female polivce officers hanging around where I was standing and they were loving it. One fo them even filmed the whole thing on her phone !
A guy comes up to me and says 'Everything is NOT ok. I have a headache!' to which the police officer replied 'Thats good. If you have a headache, that means you have a head !
People kept telling me to turn it around and even came up to me and forced me to do so. A street cleaner came passed and asked me what was written. i asked if he could read and he said no so I told him what the sign said. He said 'Thats a ridiculous sign and came up to me and tried to snatch it out of my hand claiming that it was his job to put it in the garbage!
A couple of guys in the 60s came up to me as I was holding it upside down. they were Yemenite Jews. In Yemen when they were kids, they were so poor that they could only afford one book so they sat around the table and learned to read upside down so these guys were perfectly fine with the sign that way. One of them wanted to try it out himself so he took the sign and stood there. I got my megaphone out and anjnounced in Ivroit that if there were any psychologists in the area they should make themselves known because this crazy guy didnt think the sign was upside down.
Another guy came up to me saying everything is not ok for him. His 17 year old son is depressed and suicidal and the next son down has been thrown out of school and they cant get him back into school. It was of course moving toi was hear his story after 1 minute of knowing him. Another woman started talking to me and after a few minutes asked if I was married. Turns out she had just divorced and was desperate to get married and was hoping I was available !
I then headed to the stricly religious area called mea Shearim in Jeruslam. Crowds of ultra orthodox jews started huddling around and asking me what I was doing. One of the kids then interrogated me to check if I was a religious jew. I asked him why he was asking and he replied 'if you are not religious you are not allowed to stand here!' I checked this out with his elders who just laughed !

11 comments:

Marchije said...

Such a simple yet insightful experiment. The story told by the Yemenites particularly made me smile. I hope we do get to see some of what was filmed. Thanks for sharing.

Anonymous said...

Danny

I really miss the vibe you put out in London - Are you coming back soon? and this time have somebody film great awareness learning scenes like described in this post.

Did you delete your youtube channel?

Sending positivity your way

SOC

Anonymous said...

thanks for sharing the experience with the world, danny. nice to read that you are still up and running and that really everything is ok! ;)

playonwords said...

So many people must think you are mad when you are in fact one of the sanest people i have had the pleasure of coming across...albeit online only but maybe one day i will be faced with the refreshing opportunity to meet you in person.

"it is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society" J. Krishnamurti

Avivit said...

hey!
just saw you outside the "save our crumbling democracy" rally ( :
(didn't see anyone filming you there either..)

was funny as ever ( :

cheers!

danny shine said...

my youtube channel si spiritualentertainer

i was indeed at the save our demockery protest. As you well know, you dont really have democracy not that democracy is such a great idea. It means that if there are enough idiots (or should i say if the media can fool enough people into being idiots) then the government can get away with murder. but i dont have to tell you that!

Marchije said...

I've greatly enjoyed watching your latest videos on YouTube. It's heartening to hear so many people of so many different backgrounds, ages, etc... thinking so deeply about the world. I especially like the answers you got to the "What's really going on?" It would be nice if you could get a 3rd person to film you interviewing these people. I'd be curious to see how you approach them/they approach you.

Cheers!

danny shine said...

i hadnt thought of filming myself asking the question - i may try it

Anonymous said...

"If your not on the Red Carpet, your not quite as special as the people on the Red Carpet".

Everything is OK in Motown, USA

Love the site and the videos.

--Bill P.

Heretic said...

Dear Danny

Your great at what you do, your videos always make me me smile!

What are your thoughts on the Israel/Palestine conflict? I'd be interested in hearing your own down to earth perspective.

Anonymous said...

Dear Danny

I'm a young woman from Sweden who spends a week here and there in the UK. I was over to celebrate a friend's birthday, and when walking around Camden we noticed you.

Swedes are not the sort of people who generally make a fuss, or share feelings, or make eye contact. We obey. We follow the system. Lately, I've been questioning why. Why do I bother? When it feels like there is so much more to life than just this. I have always been a great admirer of "social experiments". I love helping random people on the streets, or simply smiling at them, just to see their reactions. Sometimes, a smile is all it takes for somebody to turn it all around for the better.

Me and my two friends stood there, watching you for a while. What you said made so much sense. It made us smile, laugh, talk about things amongst ourselves that we didn't know we were allowed to question. Allowed to speak about in public. I am a very scared person. I still have problems going out, I find it difficult to be around people at times. However, I stopped reading the newspapers a few years ago, and it made me feel so much better. I no longer fear my surroundings as badly as I used to.

What I want to say is, you've opened up my eyes again. You make me feel like Everything Is Ok.

After listening to you for a while, me and my friends approached you and gave you hugs. It felt so good to know that I am not alone. Me and my friends, the few I have, are not alone in our line of thoughts. It's ok to question, to feel and to love. For the first time in a very long time, I feel free.

I'm not sure if you remember me from that day in Camden, but I was the blonde short girl with round glasses - and I just want to thank you, with all the love in my heart for opening up my eyes again.

You are a truly amazing person. Many hugs, lots of love and admiration. I hope I see you again some day.

Lis