Whatever Life is - one thing I know for sure : in order to live, one must be courageous.
It takes courage to take one step, then another one and another.
I am driven by curiosity in everything I do. Am I curious about grocery shopping too ? Was that your question ? You bet, groceries are immensely interesting! If there were no time constraints I would be looking at, reading labels and touching every single item :)
Living in the world today requires the courage to stay sane, curious, resilient, to want to know yourself and it requires a lot of imagination. The war in Ukraine has been going on for over 50 days now. Bombs are still dropping. Human beings are left dead behind.
Politicians are debating, the rest of the world is watching
horrifying scenes played on super intelligent devices.
I understand Greta Thunberg, by now a popular character in this play we play and call Life. This is a child in appearance, but not in thinking, scared that our home - Planet Earth- is falling apart while millions of adults are busy taking selfies. She is speaking the language of adults trying to make them listen and do something. Her speech at The U.N. Climate Action Summit gave me chills.
I understand creators - musicians, painters, film directors, actors, writers, coders, cooks, mothers and fathers, dancers or rappers using that vulgare language which feels like they are recycling their minds, spewing out the dirt, the ordeals they have been through. From rags to riches ! Creativity is probably the only way to stay alive anyway.
I understand the #metoo movement -the mental breakthrough those women had to go through, in order to be able to become aware of their situation and to speak up - that is deeply human. While witnessing this courageous movement, I chose to focus on a personal #notme movement.
I listen to wiser people.
These are all creators , courageous souls I admire. I am thinking about people such as : Gabor Mate, Marianne Williamson, the current president of Rep of Moldova Maia Sandu, Jaron Lanier - one of the original creators of virtual reality and musician who is now advocating for a better internet (made for human wellbeing).
An internet which empowers humans does not exploit them . These are just a few names and stories coming to mind as I type away.
I do not understand (a)social media tools and the utter destruction caused to humans. Do not understand why humans are willingly saying Yes to exploitation and only a minority is speaking about the modern slavery we are currently engaged in.
But I understand the power of words, language and stories, the power of the Truth and the responsibility we all have to protect it, to bring out the truth in everything we say or do. We must never give up fighting for the Truth.
Having said that, following you can read about the books and the courageous souls who created them. They have accompanied me lately on my journey .
The leitmotif of this article is the Human Soul- that which inspires us to write books, tell stories, go to work and work, create a positive context where other humans feel safe to create and live courageously.
Simon Sinek “Leaders eat last”
When I finished reading this book I felt regret. I felt the emotion we feel when something interesting, dear and valuable is over. We are left with a new memory in a new mind of our own.
This is a monumental book for the millennium we are living in.
It is about human beings who take the responsibility to become Leaders leading with their heart by bringing people together (not inflicting fear) ,inspiring them to do so in their lives outside work.
He is talking about why we have leaders, how do people connect in teams and pull together -in comparison to teams that fall apart.
He also explains how the human brain is “on drugs” the whole time, we are fueled by internal chemicals.
Work environments and relationships where humans are trusted, treated with respect and why not, love of a certain type, they work together, get stronger during hard times and they build a shield around them, mentally and at a physical level also called the Trust Circle in the book. In this way, any exterior danger is approached as a unique force, whereas Internal conflict and dismay lead to more conflict.
Generalization - another theme discussed in the book. When top employees look at numbers, dehumanizing the team , stripping them off the story and how they relate to other humans is a problem we are facing at the moment in the world
I loved the chapter about Integrity and how that transpires in everything we do. The integrity of a human being is measured during hard times, when things fall apart.
Anyone alive will or has experienced their own version of “ 40 days in the desert”
Well, this is how Integrity is being molded in us, out of us. A Leader is the person who chooses the hardship and is willing to go first.
“Leadership is about integrity, honesty and accountability”
The chapter about leading millennials, or trying to keep them engaged, is delightful to read and probably a must read nowadays.
Millennials have a bad reputation as employees. They appear to be entitled, not accepting responsibility and the need to actually do some work over a long period of time. They seem to be inattentive and impatient.
Well, let us look around, aren't we all becoming impatience, impulsive and angry , given the world we share? Simon Sinek has great suggestions on how to handle this new reality. Suggestion proven to be effective in reality too.
A book I will most probably reread some time soon. If nothing else, I trust a book containing 20 pages of references at the end.
Jaron Lanier “ Wem gehört die Zukunft” or Who owns the Future - Jaron Lanier is my internet hero.
This book is not an easy read. In fact, I am still working my way through it.
Jaron Lanier understands the technology behind the internet. He is an American computer scientist, computer philosophy writer, composer, programmer and a great human being - my instincts let me know.
This book is about ….Life.
The author goes into detail explaining financial systems and how the technology used and the infrastructure , the networks therefore created are directly impacting us, the society, the way we think and act.
He is talking about Freie Wille or free will; Data Missbrauch or data abuse; narcissism and the internet; Grundprinzipien or basic principles of the humanistic IT; Virtuelle Realität or Virtual Reality and the future of us living as element in an augmented reality.
But this is me explaining the top of Everest from down here.
The book is simply fascinating just like as the human pouring his soul in it is.
Watch these interviews with Jaron Lanier also:
Ellen DeGeneres “ Seriously…I’m kidding “
I am still laughing ! I mean ….
Ellen's spirit speaks through humor.
Her ingenious and hilarious ways to affront hard or embarrassing life situations might disarm anyone still human.
Humor is and will forever be a very healthy and interesting way to use language and relate to other humans .
Marianne Williamson “A return to love”
This a book about the living human mind.
I have been listening for years now to Marianne Williamson. She is a Leader of the heart and mind.
This book is about being a courageous human.
A courageous human is making use of the instruments we have available - Soul or life energy, the Mind - or the software translating the experience of being alive into stories and the Heart - the center.
All ways lead to the Heart!
This is a book for those who are ready to learn and integrate in their lives, grounding principles such as : the experience of Hell and Darkness, Pain, Forgiveness, Resurrection and coming back to life, the experience of God, the experience of Miracles.
Why a return to love?
Life is probably a short live show. Things fall, we stumble and learn to avoid sharp objects . We learn how to use them for a good cause and then all of a sudden the light goes off.
End of part one
留言