Found a quote by Shakespeare on questioning:
Questioning the way of the world is definitely a big part of my diet these days.
What do you feed yourself with?
Questioning
Svara
Månadsarkiv: maj 2014
Breathe in, breathe out
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
That’s a great metaphor for life. And to a large extent it isn’t even a metaphor, because the day I stop breathing in and out, life as I know it, will end.
But I see that I can use this metaphor in many more ways than that one. It’s like it applies to everything.
Sometimes I feel really happy – breathe in.
Then I get superlow – breathe out.
Am in a flow at work – breathe in.
Stuck in a rut, not getting anything done – breathe out.
Can’t believe the wondrous relationships I’m a part of – breathe in.
Everyone around me annoys me to pieces – breathe out.
This that has really helped me to realize that it – whatever it is – will pass. I can’t inhale or exhale infinitely, and in the same way, being stuck in a rut will not last forever either. And the real magic to this is that I have stopped mentally beating myself up over it. When I was low in the past I did not speak nicely to myself. And that sure didn’t help me out of it, I assure you.
Being accepting and loving towards myself, regardless of my state of mind, helps me to take the up’s and down’s, the in’s and out’s, less seriously. Because it will pass. Regardless.
Does this resonate with you?
State of mind
I’ve given a lot of mind to the concept of State of Mind these past days, since a lot of Supercoach Academy 2014 Creation weekend centered around that concept. And today I got to sample it first hand. My brother and I (thank you Mary, I would have written me instead of I there if it wasn’t for your help!) went walking around Ely this morning, taking in the lovely scenery along the Great Ouse river. Not a cloud in the sky, summer temperatures and just a very faint breeze. Marvellous!
We went to The Almonry for a light lunch, and there we were graced with the presence of four absolutely adorable ducklings. (Sorry about the poor state of the pic though!)
Had a great time, and when we got up to leave I noticed I’d lost the envelope with my British pound notes, that I put in my back pocket when we headed off for the walk. Gone. Probably around £100 in it. Nowhere in sight.
It didn’t affect my state of mind though and I sort of shook my sholders at my brother who cringed a bit when he heard it. He thought we should backtrack a bit, to see if we could find it, and we did. But no envelope. So we headed home again, to get my stuff and head on home.
And you know what? I really don’t care. And I mean it.
It was obviously a bad idea to keep it in my back pocket, so I won’t do that ever again. And for sure I could have used the money. I don’t normally throw money away.
But still – feeling bad about the loss, beating my self up for being daft enough to keep it in my back pocket where it – apparently – very easily could fall out, imagining all the cool stuff I could have done with it and filling my head with remorse for what will not be… none of that would bring the money back, would it? All it would do would be to keep me in a shitty state of mind.
And I’m not in a shitty state of mind. Am not inclined to push myself into one either. That will come when it comes. And you know what, next time something like this happens to me, my state of mind will greatly influence the way I relate to it. Had I been in a shitty state of mind when I made the discovery, I would have been filled with shame for what I had done, beating myself up over it. But I’m not! And it feels great.
Cause here’s the thing: the state of mind I am currently in, influences the way I perceive the world. If I’m low, the world seems like a shitty place. And that’s how I’ll respond to what happens to me. If I’m high, the world is on my side, and ain’t nothing gonna get me down.
”Oh, so just keep your self in a good state of mind then” you might think? That’s just it though: I can’t control my state of mind. I can’t decide to go from one state to another. It just happens. But knowing that it just happens, knowing that mechanism exist and how it works means I can observe my reactions, drop below them to realise what state of mind I’m in, and from there, perhaps make more sensible decisions. Like refraining from talking, texting, emailing or writing while I am in a really bad state of mind, for instance. Nothing good’s gonna come out of that, I promise. Not until my state of mind shifts.
And it will. Sooner or later. Knowing it’s a state of mind might just help a new thought come into my head, and in a second, my state of mind can shift. Have you ever experienced this instant shift?
Creation weekend #SCA2014, day 4
And then it came to an end, like all the weekends have. Like all weekends do, since we have decided to create the concept of time and days. Have you ever considered the fact that time is a human creation? Is it really? How do I know this? Hm… lots to think about there!
I am – once again – grateful for having the opportunity to meet all these magnificent people, having them in my life, learning from them, sharing with them, loving them.
Headed off to Ely to my brother and his family in the afternoon, and have enjoyed an afternoon and evening talking about this and that, including family, travels, SCA2014, his work, Thai politics and the purpose of school. I got a few new insights, like I tend to do when I talk about the purpose of school with people. I like getting insights. Do you?
Creation weekend #SCA2014, day 3
Lovely start to the day, with a walk thru the parks to get from my room to the venue for Supercoach Academy. I even got to say hi to Achilles:
Today turned into yet another day absolutely filled to the brim with interesting conversations and massive opportunity for insight. I ate lunch with an SCA colleague and she gave me an offer I could not believe – and immediately accepted of course. Won’t let the cat out of the bag just yet though, so if you’re curious, you’ll have to wait for a while to hear what the offer was all about.
I can tell you though, it absolutely threw me, because I wasn’t expecting it at all, and it made me feel kind of like this sensational statue, made of glass, called The Sun. It’s created by Dale Chihuly and is situated in Berkley Square. Haven’t seen it? Go there! It’s my favorite of all statues I’ve ever laid eyes on! It’s sensational.
After class I met up with my lovely niece Tintin, treated her to dinner on East Street restaurant, and afterwards we took a walk to see where she is living and studying.
She even took me to see this Banksy creation! (I hope you see that the VERY is painted ON the glass covering the art work.)
Life is unfolding in a wonderful way right now, and I am glad that I get to experience it. What’s unfolding in your life at the moment?
Creation weekend #SCA2014, day 2
Creativity and creation, what is that, really? Is it something all humans have a capacity for? Or are there a few chosen people, born with the possibility to create?
The theme for the weekend in London is creation, and today we have dwelved into the concept even more, together with Aaron Turner. Lots of laughter, insights and sharing. So much so I feel all cheesecaked out (all participants of SCA2014 will understand the reference, and for the rest of you, imaging the feeling you get when you’ve overeaten cheesecake. Fancy some more food then? Not really, right? That’s the mental state I am in right now.)
So much so, that I have absolutely no way of trying to write down even a semblance of a coherent answer to the questions at the top of the post. But perhaps you have some thoughts on the matter?
After class I strolled across the street down to Shepherds Market, had a glass of cider and talked to some of my fellow SCAers, and then latched onto Carla, Caroline and Andrew for dinner. Magnificent dinner and dito company. What interesting conversations we had. I feel blessed for being in the company of so fascinating people! I promised to send them a link to a short clip on amazingness, which was one of the topics we covered at the dinner table. Here it is for all of you to see:
Once I got off the bus and walked the last few blocks home I was feeling a bit creative myself:
A tad Andy Warholish right? Creative, or just being a copy cat?
Creation weekend of SCA2014
So, third out of a total of four weekends with Supercoach Academy 2014 has just begun, first day today. I stay with an Airbnb-host off Kensington Gardens, woke up this mornibng to sunshine, chirping birds and absolutely no traffic noice. Magnificent. Walked through Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park to get to the Washington Mayfair Hotel on Curzon Street which is our venue for the weekend, and got into a hugging frenzie. Really nice actually!
I am very pleased with the day, especially with a few choice moments, so I want to give an extra thanks to Kirsty, Peter and Patrik – you helped me zoom out and jump a few levels in conciousness today. For that I am very grateful.
And I mean, look at this, how can life be anything but lovely when this is the way London greet us all:
Kate and Wills palace
Kensington Garden, panoramic view
The Isis-statue in Hyde Park
Saw an egret sitting on a dock
Big fish in the Serpentine (also a whole bunch of swimmers I kid you not!)
Magnificent rose, if I could I’d pass along the smell of it as well!
Iris in full bloom
Helena in front of Helenae-roses (at least I think that’s what this was!)
Hope you had a lovely day as well?
Doodle anyone?
Do you doodle? I do. I’ve done it more and more in the past years, and actually I’ve done it even more deliberately after I watched this amazing doodle-TED Talk:
I find it helps me listen more intently, creating longer-lasting memories and connections to that which is said during talks, seminars, lectures, workshops and the likes.
Doodles from my SCA2014-weekends. Look forward to a few fun days of more doodling this week, as I am headed for London for the third SCA-weekend!
Do you doodle?
Ensam i sällskap
Visst finns det något ordspråk eller citat som handlar om att det värsta som finns är att känna sig ensam när man är i ett sällskap?
Googlar lite. Hittar massvis med citat om ensamhet. Kanske är det detta, av Anon, som jag tänker på:
Aldrig är man så ensam, som när man är två med fel person.
Eller som Susanne Alfvengren har uttryckt det:
Det är bättre med ensam ensamhet än ensamhet när man är två!
Finns tydligen många citat på samma tema, Liv Ullman lär ha sagt:
Det är bättre att vakna ensam och veta att man är ensam, än att vakna med någon och ändå vara ensam.
”Värsta som finns” kanske var en lätt överdrift för den delen, men, onekligen är det ingen skön känsla, upplever jag själv. Att vara i ett sällskap av en eller flera andra människor, men uppleva att jag är ensam. Att personen/erna inte bryr sig, inte är engagerad i mig, i vår relation, att det finns saker jag inte kan/vill/vågar dela med vederbörande. Som vore det en osynlig vall mellan oss, en mur som separerar oss. Känslan av att vara separerad, avskild, är dock en känsla, och skapar min verklighet, men är inte nödvändigtvis verkligheten.
Under SuperCoach Academy-helgen i New York pratade vi mycket om begreppen connect och disconnect, och det som gjorde stort intryck på mig där var ytterligare en liten insikt i det faktum att vårt normalläge är samhörighet, connection. Dvs, jag behöver inte egentligen sträva efter att skapa en samhörighet, för det är utgångspunkten. Den finns där. Alltid. Men frågan är om jag ser den, inser den, upplever den. Det händer ofta att jag inte gör det. Men oaktat allt det, så finns den alltså där, samhörigheten.
Nu när jag skriver detta, ett inlägg som liksom började nånstans, men landar nån helt annanstans än där jag avsåg att landa, inser jag hur sant just det där är. För här sitter jag och skriver om min känsla av att vara ensam, att inte känna samhörighet. Och det är en sann känsla, jag känner den, den finns. Men den bottnar sig inte i en Sanning för det. Den bottnar sig i en tanke jag har kring en viss individ eller två, och det är, precis som med alla andra tankar, en tanke. Som ger mig en känsla. Känslan ÄR.
Men behöver jag tro på den? Behöver jag agera på den? Vill jag agera som om jag vore ensam, för att jag upplever mig ensam, eller kan jag ånyo landa i min insikt i det faktum att vi hänger ihop? Allesammans. Jag är inte ensam, oaktat att jag upplever det så just nu.
Jag är inte ensam, för jag hör ihop med dig! Och du med mig.
Och det gör att det känns lite bättre. Tanken på ensamheten fladdrar iväg och en ny tanke kan ta plats. En tanke att nu är det dags att utföra lite jobb. Men också en tanke kring vilket oerhört värde jag får ut av mitt dagliga bloggande, för det hjälper mig att sätta ord till mina tankar och känslor, och det gör det ibland, ja, ganska ofta, lättare att släppa taget om dem så nya tankar kan få ta plats.
Väckte detta några nya tankar i dig?
Sluta svär!
Om du får höra
”Sluta svär! Jag tycker inte om det!”
eller
”Jag märker att du svär mycket. Jag uppskattar det inte eftersom jag tycker det är både otrevligt och något jag helst skulle vilja slippa höra. Vad säger du om att försöka dra ner på ditt svärande, eller sluta helt?”,
hur reagerar du då? Är det någon skillnad? Hur förändringsbenägen blir du av dessa två bemötanden?
För att förändring ska bli varaktig och på riktigt, tror jag den måste komma inifrån, bero på egen inspiration och vilja, bli något jag Vill snarare än något jag upplever att jag Måste.
För handen på hjärtat – skulle inte det förstnämnda få dig att bli ungefär tre år (oavsett om du i verkligheten är 10, 50 eller 100 år gammal) och säga/tänka ”Nej så fan heller att du ska styra över mig!” medan det andra exemplet kanske skulle få dig att börja fundera över vad du uttrycker och hur?
HERO - the coach 