Kategoriarkiv: #English

A symphony of second chances

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Every day my students turn my classroom into a symphony of second chances. – Clint Smith

That phrase makes me shiver. Not unpleasantly at all, but rather from the sheer power of it, and from my desire to have that possibility of second chances be more present in the school system. Well. Why stop there. I want to see it on a global scale.

The phrase is spoken by Clint Smith in this TEDx Talk:

Here’s another beautiful phrase from the talk:

I carry their stories like a back pocket full of prayers.

The talk is captioned Celebrating resilience. Isn’t that one of natures foremost traits? Resilience. The abilility to endure, to bounce back, to survive and even prosper, despite harsh conditions.

Clint shares the resilience of his students, in a poetic and gripping narrative. I think most people have a story of resilience. I know I have a couple. Who would I be without those stories, told and retold. Who would you be without your stories?

The angel

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For many many years I’ve had a friend, Jenny, who have acted like my saviour many a times. In Swedish we say räddande ängel, literally meaning the angel who saves me. I guess you can translate it to guardian angel as well, only, in Swedish I would say skyddsängel, which is slightly different from räddande ängel. But, I think you get my drift anyway.

Here’s an example: When my daughter was born, my life was in upheaval, as my husband had called me up to break up with me, just five weeks prior to giving birth. Now, that was actually one of the best things that has ever happened to me, ending that relationship, but I can promise you this: being single, undergoing divorce and, to top it off, unemployed, sure wasn’t how I had pictured myself as a first-time mom!

The first days back home from the maternity ward, when my daughter was four days old, I didn’t cherish the thought of being alone. Not because I couldn’t handle my newborn, but rather because I wanted to share her splendor with someone. My mother was working and was going to come down on the Friday, staying over the weekend, but still there was that Thursday night, our first night home. So I called Jenny. And almost without me having to voice my request, she offered to come stay with me that night, and even cooked dinner for us.

20140407-063251.jpgIt was so nice just having her there, and even though this is just one example of Jenny coming to my help, I promise I have a ton of these stores. Luckily I am not in as much need of being saved nowadays, but still, I know she’s there for me. And I sure hope she knows the same is true of me.

Do you have an angel?

Smile at the world today

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I have a friend who runs peace missions, as a way to spread love and create more peace. One of them is something I know he does himself. So I figured, why not!

Hence, when I was in Tallinn at the My City Hotel, just before I left my room, I got out the roll of toilet paper in use in the bathroom, rolled out a couple of meters of toilet paper, gently, very gently, grabbed a pen and wrote SMILE AT THE WORLD TODAY! on it. 20140405-144753.jpg(Quickly discovered why Micke usually have a felt pen with him, ball point wasn’t really gentle enough for the paper, so I went for my lead pen, which worked ok.)20140405-144801.jpg

Then I carefully rolled the paper back onto the roll, and put it back in it’s place. I couldn’t keep it all in, so I published a photo of my feat on Instagram as well, giving the originator of the trick his due credit.

So a big heartfelt thank you to Micke Gunnarsson, you make me play more love-pranks in the world than I’ve ever done before!

Have you ever been the creator or receiver of a love-prank?

 

 

On Change

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Change

I like change. I call myself a change agent, so it would be strange if I didn’t like change, so it’s not a great surprise to anyone, I gather.

There is truth to the old saying that you cannot change anyone else, the only one I can change is myself. And hence, I am the foremost tool for being the change I want to see in the world, to paraphrase Gandhi.

What do you feel when you read the quote by Mister Shaw?

Hang more with vegetables

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At Tender Greens, Santa Monica, they had these pictures on the wall, with the most profound messages. I’m gonna share them with you because I think they are worthy of being shared, each and every one.

hangwithveggies

I do love my vegetables. I eat more and more vegetarian, and the more vegetarian I eat, the more I love it. I don’t know what I would do without fruit and vegetables, actually. I love carrots and for the past ten years, almost a day hasn’t gone by without me crunching on a carrot. So much so, that my skin tone is turned to orange, all those beta carotens have to turn up somewhere.

Do you hang with vegetables?

Tallinn, Estonia – a new acquaintance

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The cosiest airport in the world, there was a sign stating, when I was boarding at the Lennart Meri airport of Tallinn, Estonia yesterday. It’s the first time years that I actually visit a new country, and I liked it. I was there for business, hope to go back for that purpose as well, but will likely see what can be done to bring my loved ones there as well.

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I stayed in the old town, which is lovely, reminding me quite a lot of Visby on Gotland. Small enough that it’s easy to walk all around it in a few hours, but still full of small places to explore, so I am sure you can spend a few days here.

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20140404-120254.jpg20140404-120305.jpgMy friend Camilla told me the night before I flew out about this restaurant with ”a red sack hanging from the front of the building” so when I stumbled upon the PEPPERSACK I knew where I had to grab dinner!

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20140404-120329.jpgSo I say, thanks for a lovely welcome Tallinn, I’ll be back for sure! I felt like I got a little taste bite, and I want more. If you’ve been there, perhaps you have a gem or two to share with me, for my next visit?

Say hello

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At Tender Greens, Santa Monica, they had these pictures on the wall, with the most profound messages. I’m gonna share them with you because I think they are worthy of being shared, each and every one.

sayhello

I often say hello to anyone I pass out on the streets, even though I sometimes just smile. It’s funny, because in a way I think get the most out of it. It makes me feel good, acknowledging people, nodding, saying hej, morning, morgen, hi and so on. And smiling at people for sure make me feel great – and there’s even evidence to that.

Said hello or smiled to anyone today?

Isn’t life grand?

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20140327-195245.jpgAt least that’s a feeling I spend a lot of time with lately. It’s a very fleeting sensation though, it comes and goes. One second I can be in the middle of that senstion, and the other it’s lost. I do greatly enjoy it when it visits though, and I had such an experience yesterday, while out walking.

Part of the joy of life for me, is the very fact that my experience of it fluctuate so much. With every new thought there is the chance to experience new turns on the roller coaster of life – going up or down – since my feeling is a direct result of my thinking. Not too long ago, I lacked this understanding of the nature of life.And those days I chased the highs, and despised myself for falling into the lows. I rarely experience that anymore. Of that I am grateful, I must say.

However, last night, I enjoyed the grandness of life to its fullest:

Isn’t life grand?

Eco system engineers

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Oh, what a lovely – and significantly important! – video on the eco system engineering powers of wolves:

I love how nature naturally strive towards balance. But in a sense I feel humans have lost touch with that concept. And somehow it strikes me how odd it is, that human beings, in our quest to conquer and control nature, seem to believe we are not a PART of nature, but rather the rulers of it?