When I was little, I was fascinated by kaleidoscopes. I especially loved those with little pieces of coloured glass, which you would rotate and then you would see countless designs, shifting and changing as you tilted the angle. Perhaps we are the same as these little pieces of glass - they remain the same, but as ...
Are we all asleep?
This is a post responding to Alis' thought-provoking post from last week, in which she challenged people who are "asleep" in their own lives, living mechanically, like Neo from the Matrix before taking the red pill. She said people who live consciously, breaking away from the nice warm beds of mundane lives, those are awake. That ...
Take it easier during the Holiday season. Here’s one simple idea.
In case you feel rushed, stressed, pressed, pulled from side to side...take a deep breath. And keep hope that it will turn out just fine. You know that saying Everything will be ok in the end. If it's not ok, then it's not the end. According to Stephen Covey, one of the main things happier people do is keep ...
Do less. Be more.
I love October, it's one of the months when everything around pops with colour, I feel nostalgic and more attentive to the changes around, in the air, as it shifts from warmth to breezy to cool, in search for winter. October is also one of the busiest months of the year, full of long meetings, last ...
Does happiness really come from doing what you love?
As a corporate worker, I'm one of the lucky ones who get to do something they really enjoy, and something I've wanted to do for many years. Some might even say "living the dream". However when I draw the line at the end of the day, the answer isn't always "happy". As a human being, I'm ...
Little pieces of everyday add up
The above is a mix of things I love. And this has been a short and dry weekend, because I have not been able to collect my artistic energy and do something with it, like paint or write (hm, on the latter there seems to be some work in progress right now...) Poetry and art should be ...
Taking the time to read
In a different life, my dream job is to be a librarian. I spent many autumn and winter afternoons in the Bucharest British Council library, near a roof window facing trees and grey skies. While working 3 months in Chicago, one of my favorite places was the Library - the large one with 7 floors, in the ...
10 Things I’d like to do Every Day
1. Sleep in late and get up at around 9-9:30. I'm aware that's a luxury. Sometimes my inner clock kicks in on weekends and so I wake up at 7:30. But then, if I can, I stay in bed, watch movies and read. 2. Eat a very healthy meal. Don't you get annoyed at yourself when several days pass ...
The Gratitude List
Dan Pink, in the book "A Whole New Mind", suggests having a "Gratitude List" on your birthday, with x things you are grateful for, if you turn x years old. The principle being that once you grow older, you learn to appreciate the things around you more, and you get more to thank for. I guess ...
The search for vintage and the search for self
Searching through kitchenware ideas (I'm planning on decorating a new home) I found that plenty of the nicest (and yes, most expensive) stuff is ...well, old-looking. Grandma's kitchen stove - or not really. The vintage trend is all over us. We reinvent the Fifties, watch Mad Men, listen to retro music, buy analog-looking (of course more ...
Harmony is…?
Today is Midsummer, also known as the Summer Solstice - the longest day of the year. Since we're living - most of us - in big cities, we're missing out on the usual country traditions of the day, but I believe legend goes that it was somehow connected to gathering the grains, as they started ...
A Manifest on Laziness
How else could I start a Sunday morning, without a coffee, something delicious to eat, and wasting time? Sounds like a paradox, to have a productivity/effectiveness blogger write about how good it feels to waste time. Losing time is an art on the verge of extinction. Remember the best pieces of art, the best novels, the best ...
10 Commandments for the Creative person
1. Read books. Such as the ones here. Read Seth Godin and Malcom Gladwell. Read Philip Pullman and Frank Herbert. Read poetry and children's books. Travel to parallel universes and dive into other people's minds. 2. Watch other creative people explain their development process. Such as Elizabeth Gilbert and her genius/muse idea on Ted.com. 3. Surf Twitter. Get ...
Moving out = stages of change
I am moving to a new apartment. I was congratulated, received many encouragements, good wishes and the like, yet I look around me in horror. I hate moving. The clutter around, the dust, the confusion as you can't find anything anymore. But in the end, moving out is a renewal process. "You have a few days of ...
