Månadsarkiv: juli 2014

Duolingo

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While on vacation in the UK, my brother who lives there, told us about the app/website Duolingo, which he’s using to refresh his French. Me and my daughter Alma downloaded the app, and I got started on German, and Alma on Spanish. We were hooked.

Then we came home, and my son was so eager to download the app onto the kids IPad that we barely got the luggage inside the front door before he had the IPad in hand, demanding help.

He started off with Italian, and man, it’s amazing to see. He asked me if I’d help him, and while I told him the truth that his Italian surely was way better than mine after a day with the language course, he crawled up beside me in the sofa. And while I couldn’t actually help him in any way, I could provide some moral support and also get totally amazed.

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Then today he decided he wanted to learn German instead (after telling me and his father that he want’s to go to Germany for the fall break! Last year we did India, this year he want’s Germany.), so he switched language in the app and set off to gather points in the morning. I could hear the German phrases coming from the vicinity of the kitchen table, but then all of a sudden there was some Spanish as well… turns out my husband also got curious enough to download the app and start a Spanish course.

Have to say thanks to my brother for setting us all off on a wild dash for improved language-skills!

Being a glorious day, we all went to the deep sea swimming-place and were away all day, with my sons best friend tagging along as well. But when we got home, guess what happened? My son and his best friend curled up on the sofa, and immediately started to practice their German. AND their English, which is an added bonus!

We’re Swedish but the app works with English as the base language so here were these two 10-year old boys discussing German and English verbs, nouns, spelling, grammar, scoring points as they went along.

Absolutely fascinating to witness – talk about there being a lot of joy in learning! Or rather, there sure can be a lot of joy in learning. And that’s the way it should be, in my view. Do you agree or disagree with that?

Crawl

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My daughter Alma taught me to crawl a few summers ago. I’ve always lived being in (and mostly under) water, but just never got the hang of the breathing part of crawling. Hence I managed one maybe two breaths before I sort of drowned.

But then Alma taught me and since then I’ve been practicing more and more. I remember in the beginning when I first swam in a 50 meter long indoor pool. That was a stretch, just managing even one length of that was almost more than I could manage. Because while I no longer ‘drowned’ my breathing and crawling technique was far from perfect and I got so tired so quickly.

But I persevered. Did 25 me a h of breast stroke x 2, back stroke, crawl. Repeat x 10. Then slowly the percentage of crawl increased and since at least 2 years I’ve been able to do a full kilometer of crawl. It’s great because I avoid the crick in my neck that breast stroke give me.

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Just did one km at Segevångsbadet in Malmö, a nice slow swim to get some relief from the almost tropical heat of southern Sweden. All the while my son and his best friend were having fun jumping in the pool. Summer at its best!

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Strange world

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Sitting at Stansted Airport waiting for a delayed flight, headed for Copenhagen. Have spent a lovely week in England, mainly in Ely and the Peak District, both of which I definitely recommend.

But airports sure are strange worlds… They remind me of huge ant hills, or bee hives. People going in hordes along specific routes, stressed out, carrying so much luggage. Some eager, perhaps going for a holiday. Some travel-weary and homeward bound. Some have family and friends to travel with, others might be leaving them behind, or are headed for a longed after reunion.

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The noise and constant movement here is a stress to my system, I can feel myself gearing up internally, trying to cope with it all. Kids screaming, people talking, walking, running to catch a flight…

Our flight is even more delayed and I vow to myself to go with the flow of it. That’s the only sensible thing to do, and it will be most beneficial for me. We’ll all get home, sooner or later. In due time.

But it sure is a strange world, isn’t it?

All of me

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A hauntingly beautiful song by John Legend that enforces my promise to myself to be me all the way, giving myself and the world all of me:

 

 

”All Of Me”

[Verse 1:]
What would I do without your smart mouth?
Drawing me in, and you kicking me out
You’ve got my head spinning, no kidding, I can’t pin you down
What’s going on in that beautiful mind
I’m on your magical mystery ride
And I’m so dizzy, don’t know what hit me, but I’ll be alright

[Pre-Chorus:]
My head’s under water
But I’m breathing fine
You’re crazy and I’m out of my mind

[Chorus:]
‘Cause all of me
Loves all of you
Love your curves and all your edges
All your perfect imperfections
Give your all to me
I’ll give my all to you
You’re my end and my beginning
Even when I lose I’m winning
‘Cause I give you all of me
And you give me all of you, ohoh

[Verse 2:]
How many times do I have to tell you
Even when you’re crying you’re beautiful too
The world is beating you down, I’m around through every mood
You’re my downfall, you’re my muse
My worst distraction, my rhythm and blues
I can’t stop singing, it’s ringing, in my head for you

[Pre-Chorus:]
My head’s under water
But I’m breathing fine
You’re crazy and I’m out of my mind

[Chorus:]
‘Cause all of me
Loves all of you
Love your curves and all your edges
All your perfect imperfections
Give your all to me
I’ll give my all to you
You’re my end and my beginning
Even when I lose I’m winning
‘Cause I give you all of me
And you give me all of you, ohoh

[Bridge:]
Give me all of you
Cards on the table, we’re both showing hearts
Risking it all, though it’s hard

[Chorus:]
‘Cause all of me
Loves all of you
Love your curves and all your edges
All your perfect imperfections
Give your all to me
I’ll give my all to you
You’re my end and my beginning
Even when I lose I’m winning
‘Cause I give you all of me
And you give me all of you

I give you all of me
And you give me all of you, ohoh

Namnändelsen A

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20140710-103609-38169662.jpgLigger på britsen hos sjukgymnasten och blir (aku)punkterad. 20 minuter av stilla tid, med mobilen i tryggt förvar på besöksstolen ett par meter bort. Ganska skönt har jag insett. Perfekt sätt att varva ner. Och att låta tankarna flyga helt fritt. Denna gången landade de i namnändelsen A. Låg och funderade över alla flicknamn som slutar på A. Helena. Alma. Gunilla. Stina. Katja. Maria. Laila. Eva. Sara. Annika. Finns så många exempel. Sen började jag fundera över pojknamn som slutar på A. Och kom bara på ett enda namn. Ola. Hjärnan spann igenom namn på namn, men jag hittade inget annat exempel än Ola.

Anders
Benjamin
Carl
David
Emil
Fredrik
Göran
Hans
Ivar
Jonatan
Klas
Lars
Måns
Niklas
Ola
Peter
Quintus
Rasmus
Sture
Tomas
Ulf
Vidar
Wilhelm
Xerxes
Yngve
Zlatan
Åke
Ä???
Örjan

Att jag inte kommer på något pojknamn som börjar på Ä, det är väl lite underligt det med. Visst måste det finnas ett sånt också? Men baske mig om jag kommer på ett endaste pojknamn till som slutar på A. Nog måtte det väl finnas?

Börjar fundera över namn som både pojkar och flickor kan ha, men Maria är för mig ett flicknamn. Men nu kom jag på ett till namn. Noa finns ju också! Men inte kan det väl vara så att det endast finns två namn? Jag utmanar dig att motbevisa min bristande pojknamn-som-slutar-på-a-kunskap. Jag utlovar en gåva till alla som skriver in ett (nytt) pojknamn som slutar på A i kommentarerna nedan! Ola och Noa är de två jag kommit på hittills. Vilka fler finns?

Mindblown!

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The two days of The Independence Intensive with Rich Litvin and Steve Chandler didn’t blow my mind. I would have liked more, longer, deeper, more challenges, and above all more interaction with all the magnificent people attending the event.

However, watching Rich turn on his high-flame coaching in a nanosecond has been a true inspiration to witness. I’m gonna be much more fearless and vulnerable myself in my coaching from now on. Thanks Rich for modelling that for me in the most authentic way!

And Steve Chandler, the man with the voice that I struggled not to get stuck on. Now I love that voice, and even more, I love his message. And his humor. Man, that’s one funny man! I will keep on listening to your pods, and read your books, and your generosity is simply amazing. You make me reflect, think and act, and I thank you for that. You’ve flipped my mind several times already, and I look forward to more flips ahead!

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The resources made available to me/us as attendees, both before, during and after the event, all in themselves are value enough for the price of the Intensive. I will continue to grow and evolve as a direct result of all these resources!

1,5 day in. Enter: Steve Hardison.

And my mind blew. Totally.

I’ve never ever experienced presence like that. I’ve never met anyone so present. And it wasn’t the words he said. Not at all. It was where he was coming from. A place of love. 100% love. And 100% willingness to serve.

I am at a loss for words. But during the break after Hardison spoke, my whole body vibrated. And I was filled with a new purpose, a commitment so deep and immediate I feel all shook up.

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The main message from Steve Hardison was simple. Just be me. Whatever that is, be it, and be it fully. Be fully that which I am. And that which I am can change at any moment, and that’s just the way it is. But at the same time, Steve Hardison models beautifully how it’s possible to practice to live a life of love. Cuz love is all there is. Live. And love. Namaste Steve Hardison, namaste.

I have now gotten a resolve for two things:
1) Living and loving life, and doing it by being me.
2) Honouring the gift of life by serving the world and those around me.

Again. My mind just blew. And I love it. And boy am I grateful to myself for doing this sort of thing, attending challenging and potentiallty mindblowing events. What an experience!

When did you last have a mind blowing experience?

What’s my legacy?

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Am attending a two day Independence intensive with Rich Litvin and Steve Chandler and we are asked to play the deathbed game by answering two questions:

What’s my legacy? What contribution do I want to make in the world?

We get a 5 min reflection time, to ponder these questions and our own mortality. Meanwhile Allison Crow is the visual recorder at the event and she’s capturing the deathbed game this way:

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I pick up my phone and start to write an email to myself. My mind immediately wanders towards the Swedish movement the school spring, aka #skolvåren, that I am one of the initiators of, and which for me is a conduit for one of the great passions of my life: the set goal I have to change school systems globally by 2020.

But what lies behind that, what’s the passion driving me? Why do I want to do this?

Well, in short because I see so much wasted and untapped potential just withering and shrivelling away, going unused, perishing. And that’s to the detriment of us all, I tell you. We have challenges today and tomorrow that require something else from humanity than what created the problems now challenging us. And to paraphrase Albert Einstein, you cannot solve a problem from within the same state of mind that created it in the first place.

So, I want more of us (all of us!) to level up. To climb up the ladder of consciousness, to a higher level. That’s what I see is in store for us, for humanity. We have but one way forward if we want to remain here on Earth and that is to level up. There is no doubt in my mind on that one.

I want a world inhabited by people who are consciously creating the world, rather than just reacting to what happens. And that’s why I want to change school systems on a global scale – because in today’s modern society school has a HUGE impact on all of out lives. So we need to make sure it’s an impact for the better, for the good of humanity, for the lives of the born and the unborn.

In short, that’s my contribution to the world.

What’s your legacy?

Knock you upside the head with a shovel?

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I’ve written over and over again about the podcast of Julia Butterfly Hill interviewed by Chris Martenson on Peak Prosperity. Find it on iTunes or here: http://www.peakprosperity.com/podcast/85294/julia-butterfly-hill-living-meaning

I talked to you about how every so often, the way life works, sooner or later, life might pick up a shovel and knock you upside the head with it. When we get resentful, fearful, and anxious, it is like picking up the shovel and hitting ourselves back in the head with it. It does not actually pick up the shovel and use it for something constructive. It just knocks us back in the head with it. Whereas if we can shift our thoughts, we can maybe take that shovel and do something constructive with it.

Now. I know there is no way for me to control what thoughts come into my head. NO WAY! I cannot control this. However. If/When I get a ”You silly twat, I’m gonna hit you over the head with a shovel”-thought into my head, what I can do is control how I react on it. When Julia say ”shift your thoughts” this is how I interpret her. I don’t have to act on the thought, I don’t have to believe the thought, and I definitely don’t have to act in a way that doesn’t serve me. I can just as easily act in a way that does serve me.

It’s all thought, it’s not Truth.

I’ve become better and better at not hitting myself with said shovel. Because, you see, I used to be champion of the world in this field, for a long long time. But I realized that it’s not serving me AT ALL to hold this world championship title! So I’ve gradually learned not to go there, not to believe the ”You silly twat, I’m gonna hit you over the head with a shovel”-thoughts, and more importantly, not to hang onto them. When they come, they come. Nothing I can do about that. But I have a choice in how I respond and relate to that thought.

There’s a quote by Wayne Dyer that goes like this:

You create your thoughts,
your thoughts create your intentions,
and your intensions create your reality.

Now. I agree with the two latter parts, but not the ”I create my thoughts”-part. Because I don’t create them. So I’d like to rephrase:

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So, what do you do when you get a ”You silly twat, I’m gonna hit you over the head with a shovel”-thought? And does that response serve you?