I like this one from Michael Pritchard
Month: February 2012
Glocal
– The World in a nutshell
Isn’t it funny how nearby everything and anyone is. I mean, smartphones, tablet PC, Skype, FaceTime, planes, trains, automobiles. It is possible to have friends all over the world and be connected. No matter where they are. Global becomes local, but also from globally to more intense.
I experience it with my sister. She’s living in Bali and I am not, but the intensity of our relationship has never been as strong as it is today.
It made me wonder how that works. It’s much more then the possibility to electronically connect, or physically move. It’s also some kind of spiritual connection and that is a state of mind.
I think it is imagination. I’m not sure where that word comes from, but the way I see it, it is derived from ‘imagining it’, draw the pictures in your head and in a way fool your brain.
It is funny, but the brain cannot see the difference between real and imagination. The same areas light up when you actually see it or just think about it. So when you feel sad, think happy thoughts, when you feel tired, think energy, when you feel alone, think friends and when you think hard enough, they’ll feel it, for sure.
My sister and I think creative, we’ve created the world of WEAST, our world in a nutshell, where anything can and will happen. With that we somehow got connected to what we used to have as children and lost along the way. Or maybe what had to be, but wasn’t able to come out and it is amazing the energy that comes out of that!
Do you have a world of WEAST, what is your nutshell?
To find your real passion, open your real eyes.
Gong San Ho
Serendipity
I think serendipity is one of the most beautiful words in the world.
Just taste it: se-ren-dip-i-ty. Sooo good and it looks good as well.
It has a great origin, if I might add. It is based on a Persian fairytale in which three princes of Serendip, (now Sri Lanka) traveled the world. Have a read: http://tiny.cc/1aswr . The word was ‘made up’ by Horace Walpole in 1754.
Needless to say, it is one of my favourite words.
I think it’s a magic word.
The general idea: “making discoveries, by accidents and sagacity, of things they were not in quest of…”. I prefer to say it simple: find what you’re not looking for.
Serendipity it’s no sinecure: Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin, Wilhelm Roentgen discovered x-rays, Pfizer discovered Viagra, Charles Goodyear vulcanized rubber, Harry Hoover invented Post-it’s, not the least of the inventions I would say..
I believe this a very interesting concept and think most of the people find just what they’re looking for. That sounds very boring. I myself have a few techniques making serendipity happen. One of them I call seitnevnoc. It’s conventions spelled backwards. The idea is simple: define the conventions and turn them around.
There are two interesting parts.
- You have to know the conventions. This is about knowledge (or curiosity). Knowing the facts, knowing your customer, the trends the competition, the products, everything. If you don’t know this, how can you make good decisions? Many people don’t (hey I didn’t say it was easy!).
- One has to have the guts to turn them around. Now it gets tricky. Conventions are way things are usually done, so that is scary. It really gets people out of their ‘comfort zone’. But is the basis for new thinking. Without it it’s hard to come up with something new.
A few years back I wrote some copy for a back pack customer:
“No man ever changed the world by doing nothing. Serendipity is the power of being prepared to discover the unexpected. Mankind’s greatest revelations have been brought into being that way. Therefore it’s wise to keep an open mind and let reality surprise you.”
I think we should all become more serendip thinkers and not only that, I believe it is necessary to postpone any judging (yourself and others!) and try to see things form a different perspective, with different eyes and new a mind set. You’ll never know what you will find. You’ll never know when you can change the world…
Happy serendipping!
Progress isn’t made by early risers. It’s made by lazy men trying to find easier ways to do something.
— Robert A. Heinlein, Time Enough For Love
He’s one of my favorite Science Fiction writers. Here’s the book Time enough for love:
Babylon III
– Balibon
The difference between a cacophony and the most beautiful poem in the world, is the order in which the words are put. Think about that. All the words are already there, we just need to learn to put them in the right order.
My head is full of words. Good words, bad words, funny words, sad words and any word you can imagine. I like to collect words as thoughts and thoughts as words. The more words I have available, the better stories I can tell, I just need to put them in the right order. That’s my lesson, that’s how all great stories are written.
I have a credo: Live your life in a way you’re able to tell good stories at parties. There’s 3 things in there.
- Experience stories; don’t be afraid to do something new or unexpected, open your eyes;
- Become an entertaining and skilled storyteller. Practice a lot;
- Get invited to parties, so be nice to people.
What’s your story?
Babylon II
– Biblion
I have a small philosophy.
I try to read my thoughts as a book:
Chapter by Chapter, One by One.
Imagine reading it, jumping forth and back. Or quickly read the last page. That’s a choice, but you won’t get the story. I believe the story is more important then the plot.
It’s ok to read more then one book at the time, I even find that comforting. Depending on how I feel or what I want I get the book of the shelf, but I’ve structured it. I let go of the ‘must read’ and ‘now’, I read it whenever I feel like it.
Gathering my thoughts like that, is relaxed. I categorize them, like Wikipedia in my head, adding new information or experience when I found it and not afraid deleting stuff.
Keeps it fresh and airy,
I like that.
Don’t try to remember everything, just remember what’s important.
Gong San Ho
The difference between a revolution and evolution is time.
Babylon I
– Babble on
Isn’t it strange how we create our own little Babylon in our heads?
At one point in life, I found it hard to keep up with all the words in my head. I was thinking too much and too many things. Different me’s babbling on. All at the same time and all saying these ‘important’ things.
A real cacophony.
I couldn’t hear myself think. The moment I realized this, many voices already silenced. It’s a kind of mind control; actively thinking about what not to think, what’s important and what isn’t.
Give it a try, enjoy the silence, it is liberating.
The WEAST Perspective 