Envoyé à partir d'un téléphone mobile Sony Ericsson
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Simply simplify
Three months or so ago, I sat with a friend for six hours, writing down my personal goals for the next 3 to 5 years.
Two weeks after that, I sat down again, on my onw, to finalize what we had started and detail my goals into specific, timely actions. (yup, that's also something I learned from Aiesec)
One month after I had completed my action plan, I realized that I was not tracking my actions. I could not know if I was living my life according to my own priorities or not. So I started tracking.
Two weeks of tracking later, I realized that I needed to update my action plan, in order to incorporate a gross estimate of the time I was spending on my priorities: was I getting enough time to sleep, to read books or watch a movie, to spend time with friends; was I getting enough time to work?
Now, after one month of detailed tracking, I realize that it is very hard to keep within the limits I set to myself. To grant each of my personal priorities (including work) the right amount of time in order to achieve my goals. Because there is always a temptation, either a project that I want to study more in detail at work or some procrastination opportunity at home.
My daily life is getting in the way of my personal goal.
Recently, through a couple of well-meant links and thought-sharing from a great friend, I came accross an interesting idea: simplify.
The first link I surfed was http://zenhabits.net/. It is a perfect starting place for pragmatic, long-term thinking about how to implement your long-term plans, your life dreams, your great-idea-that-you-just-never-get-to-start. It has a lot of content revolving around personal organization, without being pushy or arbitrary.
From then, I discovered http://mnmlist.com/ . It is about minimalism. You had guess, had you not? ;)
There is a lot of truth and evidence in the posts on that blog, but it takes a lot of change to go from mass-consumption to life-streamlining to minimalist-living. That guy has gone very far, and he is keeping his own possessions under 100 items (or keeping blog posts under a certain number of words ;) ...), and having a lot of upper-limit numbers to a lot of things. I have not been that far, but I took some ideas already, that I mention further in this post. If you want to know where your life stands today, as regards simplicity, try any post from the top #20 posts. I would be surprised if there is not a single idea that you can start using today already.
In the past 2 weeks, I have undertaken three significant actions:
1. I have tidy-ed and cleaned up my bedroom. That involved a lot of thinigs going OUT of it; some to the trash, some to other places in the house. Not necessarily the best way, but at least it is out of my room. I have simplified my library, not the only books featured on my shelves actually reflect pretty well py personality! (there is philosophy, economics, Aiesec, comics & mangas, EU policy drafts and the UN charter...)
Consequence: The moment I was done, I could feel my mental space expanding, all the mind clutter stress flying away. It feels good, and healthy, to be in an environment that has nothing un-necessary on the floor, or getting in the way of your movement. Also, I felt more "at home": the room felt more like my place than it had ever before.
2. I have reduced my use of mobile phone: in transportations, considering that the mobile signal is poor in the subway, I got to reduce my exposure to electromagnetism (I am not debating whether it is dangerous or not). I think that I should be able to have my mobile 'off' at some point of the day. So it is that time: commuting to and from the office.
Consequence: I use that time to read a book, or close my eyes and think about a situation, a time of the day that I want to understand better. During my 8-day experiment, I did not read or think about anything, I was just looking at people, all the other passengers, and I found it can be quite boring ! So I figured reading is a good way to use that commute time.
3. I applied to myself the minimalist desktop; one from mnmlist that can be found here. I did that on both my office laptop, and my personal netbook. My pro laptop actually has exactly the same image as the minimalist guy, with the same quote, and I used a more personal photo for my netook.
Consequence: Here, only positive aspects. I never use desktop icons anyways, so not having them displayes suits me fine. I managed to remove even the "trash can" from windows desktop, ask me in a comment if you wanna know how ;) and I have all the essential shortcuts in the "quick launch" area of my auto-hide taskbar.
Closing words for today : Simplifying your life is not easy. One quote goes: "I did not have time to write you a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead".
But simplify is simple, in the sense that you have it in you. It starts with your will to simplify and get rid of things. And it is not absolute, it is mostly iterative: you go over those things, thinking you need them, at some point you will realize that you never read that book or never wear those socks.
As always, ideas and comments welcome.
Two weeks after that, I sat down again, on my onw, to finalize what we had started and detail my goals into specific, timely actions. (yup, that's also something I learned from Aiesec)
One month after I had completed my action plan, I realized that I was not tracking my actions. I could not know if I was living my life according to my own priorities or not. So I started tracking.
Two weeks of tracking later, I realized that I needed to update my action plan, in order to incorporate a gross estimate of the time I was spending on my priorities: was I getting enough time to sleep, to read books or watch a movie, to spend time with friends; was I getting enough time to work?
Now, after one month of detailed tracking, I realize that it is very hard to keep within the limits I set to myself. To grant each of my personal priorities (including work) the right amount of time in order to achieve my goals. Because there is always a temptation, either a project that I want to study more in detail at work or some procrastination opportunity at home.
My daily life is getting in the way of my personal goal.
Recently, through a couple of well-meant links and thought-sharing from a great friend, I came accross an interesting idea: simplify.
The first link I surfed was http://zenhabits.net/. It is a perfect starting place for pragmatic, long-term thinking about how to implement your long-term plans, your life dreams, your great-idea-that-you-just-never-get-to-start. It has a lot of content revolving around personal organization, without being pushy or arbitrary.
From then, I discovered http://mnmlist.com/ . It is about minimalism. You had guess, had you not? ;)
There is a lot of truth and evidence in the posts on that blog, but it takes a lot of change to go from mass-consumption to life-streamlining to minimalist-living. That guy has gone very far, and he is keeping his own possessions under 100 items (or keeping blog posts under a certain number of words ;) ...), and having a lot of upper-limit numbers to a lot of things. I have not been that far, but I took some ideas already, that I mention further in this post. If you want to know where your life stands today, as regards simplicity, try any post from the top #20 posts. I would be surprised if there is not a single idea that you can start using today already.
In the past 2 weeks, I have undertaken three significant actions:
1. I have tidy-ed and cleaned up my bedroom. That involved a lot of thinigs going OUT of it; some to the trash, some to other places in the house. Not necessarily the best way, but at least it is out of my room. I have simplified my library, not the only books featured on my shelves actually reflect pretty well py personality! (there is philosophy, economics, Aiesec, comics & mangas, EU policy drafts and the UN charter...)
Consequence: The moment I was done, I could feel my mental space expanding, all the mind clutter stress flying away. It feels good, and healthy, to be in an environment that has nothing un-necessary on the floor, or getting in the way of your movement. Also, I felt more "at home": the room felt more like my place than it had ever before.
2. I have reduced my use of mobile phone: in transportations, considering that the mobile signal is poor in the subway, I got to reduce my exposure to electromagnetism (I am not debating whether it is dangerous or not). I think that I should be able to have my mobile 'off' at some point of the day. So it is that time: commuting to and from the office.
Consequence: I use that time to read a book, or close my eyes and think about a situation, a time of the day that I want to understand better. During my 8-day experiment, I did not read or think about anything, I was just looking at people, all the other passengers, and I found it can be quite boring ! So I figured reading is a good way to use that commute time.
3. I applied to myself the minimalist desktop; one from mnmlist that can be found here. I did that on both my office laptop, and my personal netbook. My pro laptop actually has exactly the same image as the minimalist guy, with the same quote, and I used a more personal photo for my netook.
Consequence: Here, only positive aspects. I never use desktop icons anyways, so not having them displayes suits me fine. I managed to remove even the "trash can" from windows desktop, ask me in a comment if you wanna know how ;) and I have all the essential shortcuts in the "quick launch" area of my auto-hide taskbar.
Closing words for today : Simplifying your life is not easy. One quote goes: "I did not have time to write you a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead".
But simplify is simple, in the sense that you have it in you. It starts with your will to simplify and get rid of things. And it is not absolute, it is mostly iterative: you go over those things, thinking you need them, at some point you will realize that you never read that book or never wear those socks.
As always, ideas and comments welcome.
Monday, December 7, 2009
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Trying to post pictures from my mobile!
Envoyé à partir d'un téléphone mobile Sony Ericsson G705u
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Blogging from my mobile
As I mentioned in the past, blogging from my mobile was the ultimate
step that I was looking forward to, as a mobility and connectivity
addict. I've managed to transfer a lot of my online activities and
interactions, from social networks (personal as well as professional)
to news feeds, to looking for an address or the price of a seat for
tonight's play. Granted, my phone's battery is always dead in one day.
But i find it's worth it! Big day today... For my very first post from
mobile! It's the opening of a world of opportunities. Though i may
just switch to twitter soon, boomsieesini its much more suited to
writing tiny bits of information hat are only important the moment
they are written... To be continued, then.
step that I was looking forward to, as a mobility and connectivity
addict. I've managed to transfer a lot of my online activities and
interactions, from social networks (personal as well as professional)
to news feeds, to looking for an address or the price of a seat for
tonight's play. Granted, my phone's battery is always dead in one day.
But i find it's worth it! Big day today... For my very first post from
mobile! It's the opening of a world of opportunities. Though i may
just switch to twitter soon, boomsieesini its much more suited to
writing tiny bits of information hat are only important the moment
they are written... To be continued, then.
--
Envoyé avec mon mobile
"Wisdom is the supreme part of happiness" Sophocles.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Sunday like it should be
After watching "Cloudy with a chance of meatballs" yesterday evening, a nice surprise, I went to bed with very foody dreams!
My brazilian flatmate went on to make Feijoada today, which is a main national dish in Brazil, composed of black beans, pork meat, lots of seasoning, rice, and some special sweet-potato flour. Delicious!! All we missed was the typical brazilian fresh soda, Guarana, to wash it down.
She had invited a bunch of friends, Brazilian girls married with French guys, Mexican guys, etc. Some joyous "galera" it was!
Then we played some Rack Band Beatles on Wii, the latest acquisition of our flat in terms of in-house entertainment.
The rest of the afternoon was spent cleaning, updating our CVs and LinkedIn profiles, and watching some series.
Sunday like they all should be...
My brazilian flatmate went on to make Feijoada today, which is a main national dish in Brazil, composed of black beans, pork meat, lots of seasoning, rice, and some special sweet-potato flour. Delicious!! All we missed was the typical brazilian fresh soda, Guarana, to wash it down.
She had invited a bunch of friends, Brazilian girls married with French guys, Mexican guys, etc. Some joyous "galera" it was!
Then we played some Rack Band Beatles on Wii, the latest acquisition of our flat in terms of in-house entertainment.
The rest of the afternoon was spent cleaning, updating our CVs and LinkedIn profiles, and watching some series.
Sunday like they all should be...
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Freedom or happiness?
Since Ancient Times, some men, fewer women, have chosen to retreat from the public life. They chose the path of solitude, loneliness, isolation from their fellow humans.
It's not very hard to find out why: there is a strong belief that walking away from society, some people manage to find inner peace, to free themselves from a lot of perversions and fears associated with human life, and achieve "something".
This "something" is called Wisdom, Enlightenment, Freedom, Ascension,... you name it.
But I rarely hear it called "Happiness". That one is usually associated rather with some sort of achievement, over a period of time, that can be shared with others. Like being successful at something that you really like.
Personnally, I do feel that you need to be wise in order to be happy. In the sense: you need to be conscious of yourself, and of the reasons why you're happy, in order to be truly happy. Anything less would be an illusion. "Heureux soient les simples d'esprits, car ils ne savent pas qu'ils ne savent rien"; I don't stand by that statement.
On the other hand, if you are wise, does that make you happy? I am not so sure... at least it does not jump to me as something obvious, or as a well-spread idea.
Some weeks ago, a friend sent me this quote, said to come from Sophocles: "Wisdom is the supreme part of happiness".
What do you think?
It's not very hard to find out why: there is a strong belief that walking away from society, some people manage to find inner peace, to free themselves from a lot of perversions and fears associated with human life, and achieve "something".
This "something" is called Wisdom, Enlightenment, Freedom, Ascension,... you name it.
But I rarely hear it called "Happiness". That one is usually associated rather with some sort of achievement, over a period of time, that can be shared with others. Like being successful at something that you really like.
Personnally, I do feel that you need to be wise in order to be happy. In the sense: you need to be conscious of yourself, and of the reasons why you're happy, in order to be truly happy. Anything less would be an illusion. "Heureux soient les simples d'esprits, car ils ne savent pas qu'ils ne savent rien"; I don't stand by that statement.
On the other hand, if you are wise, does that make you happy? I am not so sure... at least it does not jump to me as something obvious, or as a well-spread idea.
Some weeks ago, a friend sent me this quote, said to come from Sophocles: "Wisdom is the supreme part of happiness".
What do you think?
Monday, August 24, 2009
Reunion, New York, and the universe
Those past days have been so packed with food for thought, and I've barely had/taken the time to reflect on anything.
First, there has been a "reunion": 5 young people, aged 20 to 28, who had met 2 years ago in Beijing, China, as interns in different companies. Meeting again in New York City, USA, throughout August 2009.
We planned for this to happen, mostly from 6 months ago. But the idea was there 2 years ago already.
I am amazed to see how it happened so well, how natural it feels to have a beer at a terrasse in NY with 3 other persons living on 3 different continents, who barely seen each other more than once in 24 months. Yes, I am amazed, because it feels so unnatural that people would keep such a strong bond over time and distance, and want to keep it, and want it to last further on. Yet it felt very natural when we were all sitting there, and we don't really have to ask ourselves if we want to keep this strong bond. It goes without saying that we want it to last.
Then, there was the city. New York is big.
I like the fact that the diversity exceeds by far all my expectations, even though I had read books and watched movies and series... It is immensely multicultural.
I like the art-deco architectural style a lot. On many buildings from the first half of the twentieth century.
I like to see how people help & reach out to each other in a simple, honest way; be it a lost neighbour asking his way in the crazy maze of subway routes or a homeless asking for food while holding the door at the mcdonalds.
I like to see the glimmer of hope and faith in the eyes of the people, even when both parents can barely keep their 4 (very) young kids together and apparently without a stable full-time job.
It is entertaining to listen to stories about the clichés that each burough has on its neighbours, and how the different part of the cities move together, each playing different roles at different times of the day.
I like the streetfood vendors with their carts everywhere (mostly for hotdogs & bretzels).
I enjoyed visiting the UN headquarters. A moving experience, a moment of connection with mankind. How to make it last longer, now that we're back?
I did not like very much the way new yorkers tend to meddle (they do it sooooooooooooo much) and never seem to be able to listen to any external view, let alone an improvement suggestion.
I had a hard time adapting to the heat inside the city. The AC (air conditioning) units surely do a good job taking all the heat from the buildings out to the streets of Manhattan, day and night.
I visited a chapel, saw the benches dedicated to the memory of the victims, read newspaper articles, took pictures of Ground Zero. Yet I cannot feel what a traumatism 9/11 must have been here. It is still very, very fresh in everyone's memory. It has to be washed away, with a new tower, and it has to be taken into account, to make sure that it never happens again.
Finally, there is our universe.
The reunion taking place in the city of New York proved to be an interesting setting for fruitful discussions and further questions. At least for me. I found myself getting to know better the friends I met here. Witnessing how two people share a same passion and personal commitment to the cause of helping their society... but that passion comes from very different, almost opposite, sources, for each of them.
We discussed several topics, from the kind of jobs we should be doing to 'is mankind worth saving' (and if it is, how?), and though I am not sure we have an answer about anything, I feel my own reflexion made some progress. I am now convinced, in my mind and body, that I need to chose.
I must stop pretending to look at the "global picture", to be "gathering information and waiting for an opportunity". The time is now to act, it won't ever be in the future, and one person alone cannot do everything on earth. One person can make choices, decisions, chose a path and work hard on one issue. With any luck, it will inspire others to help or to chose their own path and make progress on other issues.
I personnally believe that our universe is doing fine, with or without us. At different scales of time, it doesnt matter if some puny life forme raises, or lowers for that matter, the temperature at the surface of a tiny planet around a common star, among the 140 billion of stars in our galaxy. It's even more trivial when compared to the potential100 trillion of planets around those stars. So it's only if we decide to consider ourselves, mankind, important that we need to change our habits and living patterns nowadays. The universe won't care much, whether it is conscious or not.
What issue do you want to pick and focus on? I am not so sure about my choice yet, but they say it's all about getting started, and that "a thousand miles journey begins with the first step".
First, there has been a "reunion": 5 young people, aged 20 to 28, who had met 2 years ago in Beijing, China, as interns in different companies. Meeting again in New York City, USA, throughout August 2009.
We planned for this to happen, mostly from 6 months ago. But the idea was there 2 years ago already.
I am amazed to see how it happened so well, how natural it feels to have a beer at a terrasse in NY with 3 other persons living on 3 different continents, who barely seen each other more than once in 24 months. Yes, I am amazed, because it feels so unnatural that people would keep such a strong bond over time and distance, and want to keep it, and want it to last further on. Yet it felt very natural when we were all sitting there, and we don't really have to ask ourselves if we want to keep this strong bond. It goes without saying that we want it to last.
Then, there was the city. New York is big.
I like the fact that the diversity exceeds by far all my expectations, even though I had read books and watched movies and series... It is immensely multicultural.
I like the art-deco architectural style a lot. On many buildings from the first half of the twentieth century.
I like to see how people help & reach out to each other in a simple, honest way; be it a lost neighbour asking his way in the crazy maze of subway routes or a homeless asking for food while holding the door at the mcdonalds.
I like to see the glimmer of hope and faith in the eyes of the people, even when both parents can barely keep their 4 (very) young kids together and apparently without a stable full-time job.
It is entertaining to listen to stories about the clichés that each burough has on its neighbours, and how the different part of the cities move together, each playing different roles at different times of the day.
I like the streetfood vendors with their carts everywhere (mostly for hotdogs & bretzels).
I enjoyed visiting the UN headquarters. A moving experience, a moment of connection with mankind. How to make it last longer, now that we're back?
I did not like very much the way new yorkers tend to meddle (they do it sooooooooooooo much) and never seem to be able to listen to any external view, let alone an improvement suggestion.
I had a hard time adapting to the heat inside the city. The AC (air conditioning) units surely do a good job taking all the heat from the buildings out to the streets of Manhattan, day and night.
I visited a chapel, saw the benches dedicated to the memory of the victims, read newspaper articles, took pictures of Ground Zero. Yet I cannot feel what a traumatism 9/11 must have been here. It is still very, very fresh in everyone's memory. It has to be washed away, with a new tower, and it has to be taken into account, to make sure that it never happens again.
Finally, there is our universe.
The reunion taking place in the city of New York proved to be an interesting setting for fruitful discussions and further questions. At least for me. I found myself getting to know better the friends I met here. Witnessing how two people share a same passion and personal commitment to the cause of helping their society... but that passion comes from very different, almost opposite, sources, for each of them.
We discussed several topics, from the kind of jobs we should be doing to 'is mankind worth saving' (and if it is, how?), and though I am not sure we have an answer about anything, I feel my own reflexion made some progress. I am now convinced, in my mind and body, that I need to chose.
I must stop pretending to look at the "global picture", to be "gathering information and waiting for an opportunity". The time is now to act, it won't ever be in the future, and one person alone cannot do everything on earth. One person can make choices, decisions, chose a path and work hard on one issue. With any luck, it will inspire others to help or to chose their own path and make progress on other issues.
I personnally believe that our universe is doing fine, with or without us. At different scales of time, it doesnt matter if some puny life forme raises, or lowers for that matter, the temperature at the surface of a tiny planet around a common star, among the 140 billion of stars in our galaxy. It's even more trivial when compared to the potential100 trillion of planets around those stars. So it's only if we decide to consider ourselves, mankind, important that we need to change our habits and living patterns nowadays. The universe won't care much, whether it is conscious or not.
What issue do you want to pick and focus on? I am not so sure about my choice yet, but they say it's all about getting started, and that "a thousand miles journey begins with the first step".
peace.
it does not mean to be in a place
where there is no noise, trouble
or hard work. it means to be in
the midst of those things and still
be calm in your heart.
where there is no noise, trouble
or hard work. it means to be in
the midst of those things and still
be calm in your heart.
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Chicago, August 7th - 10th 2009
Let's summarize Chicago, or the 3 days we spent there:
- amazing skyline.
- diverse nightlife. example of a reggae live concert in a pub
- beautifully lit at night.
Next stop: New York City !
- amazing skyline.
- diverse nightlife. example of a reggae live concert in a pub
- beautifully lit at night.
Next stop: New York City !
Monday, July 27, 2009
Friday, July 10, 2009
Blogging from 3G mobile network
This is it!!
after almost 6 months of fooling around and fiddling with different options, I finally have a 3G usb dongle to use on a laptop.
Thanks to a special offer by Orange in France, I am now able to surf the web at really impressive speed, over the mobile network.
and this is my first post :)
next?
blogging from mobile phone.... soon...
after almost 6 months of fooling around and fiddling with different options, I finally have a 3G usb dongle to use on a laptop.
Thanks to a special offer by Orange in France, I am now able to surf the web at really impressive speed, over the mobile network.
and this is my first post :)
next?
blogging from mobile phone.... soon...
Friday, May 15, 2009
Thoughts & ideas
If I wrote this already, let me know.
But i think it's gonna be original content.
The trouble is: my mind never sleeps, and keeps coming up with ideas of things to do, companies to create, opportunities to explore...
I'd like to list down a few here, so that I least there is a written track and I dont forget them all.
Business ideas:
1. create an software, or online application, for writing, sharing, and advertising comments/notes on e-books. it would work on any platform that can read e-book files, but would be designed for devices like the Kindle (Amazon's ebook reader)
2 website on restaurants in Paris mentionning prices of most of the dishes, price of the set lunch, and dinner, happy hours, etc etc. it already exists, but I feel there is still a market.
3 a service of Q&A by sms. something like Yahoo! Answers. but people would send their questions by sms. then volunteers receive the question, answer it directly or if they dont know the answer,direct it to a previously selected expert. volunteers are mostly students willing to give some of their time and make some pocket money.
sounds crazy to you? well at least two companies like that are working in the US,and booming so far!!
4 insurance, or travel agency, for Aiesec in France, then maybe internationally! because sometimes, when going on conferences, Aiesecers are not properly insured. or they need to pay in advance based on the number of attendees, and there is no flexibility it someone needs to cancel at the last minute.
Educational ideas:
1 start a conference cycle at my former university.
First, prepare presentations from a few books that I have read (eg:'The world is flat')
Then present it to students, and get feedback.
After that, it can either become a training session for companies, focusing on the organisational and business issues, or a learning circle at the university by getting the students to discuss whichever topic is most relevant to them. For example, waht jobs will exist in 10, 15 years, and how do we prepare for them?
2 set up a Global Village in front of Hotel de Ville, in 2010.
Personal stuff that I need to dig more
1. I like delivering trainings, facilitating sessions, helping people to develop themselves. Where can I test my interest more on that topic?
2 world tour of all existing Aiesec local chapters, and take a picture with an aiesec banner in front of each, with the whole team standing in the picture as well.
what's more, what's more?... more ideas coming almost every day!
But i think it's gonna be original content.
The trouble is: my mind never sleeps, and keeps coming up with ideas of things to do, companies to create, opportunities to explore...
I'd like to list down a few here, so that I least there is a written track and I dont forget them all.
Business ideas:
1. create an software, or online application, for writing, sharing, and advertising comments/notes on e-books. it would work on any platform that can read e-book files, but would be designed for devices like the Kindle (Amazon's ebook reader)
2 website on restaurants in Paris mentionning prices of most of the dishes, price of the set lunch, and dinner, happy hours, etc etc. it already exists, but I feel there is still a market.
3 a service of Q&A by sms. something like Yahoo! Answers. but people would send their questions by sms. then volunteers receive the question, answer it directly or if they dont know the answer,direct it to a previously selected expert. volunteers are mostly students willing to give some of their time and make some pocket money.
sounds crazy to you? well at least two companies like that are working in the US,and booming so far!!
4 insurance, or travel agency, for Aiesec in France, then maybe internationally! because sometimes, when going on conferences, Aiesecers are not properly insured. or they need to pay in advance based on the number of attendees, and there is no flexibility it someone needs to cancel at the last minute.
Educational ideas:
1 start a conference cycle at my former university.
First, prepare presentations from a few books that I have read (eg:'The world is flat')
Then present it to students, and get feedback.
After that, it can either become a training session for companies, focusing on the organisational and business issues, or a learning circle at the university by getting the students to discuss whichever topic is most relevant to them. For example, waht jobs will exist in 10, 15 years, and how do we prepare for them?
2 set up a Global Village in front of Hotel de Ville, in 2010.
Personal stuff that I need to dig more
1. I like delivering trainings, facilitating sessions, helping people to develop themselves. Where can I test my interest more on that topic?
2 world tour of all existing Aiesec local chapters, and take a picture with an aiesec banner in front of each, with the whole team standing in the picture as well.
what's more, what's more?... more ideas coming almost every day!
Stoned
This is not about drugs. It's just the title of the song by Dido I'm listening to at the moment.
There is a good deal of surprising, unexpected things falling into my life from nowhere at the moment. Both good and bad. Either on personal, professional, or relationships aspects. It's hard to keep track and remember where I'm headed in the middle of the storm.
What has not changed is that I keep reflecting a lot on value-driven leadership and personal direction.
10 days ago I attended an Aiesec conference in Clermont (thanks Martine for having your LC organize it all!!). Peak experience.A close friend and source of personal inspiration, David Pires, facilitated a session for the students who were finishing their term, being discharged of the responsibility of running their local chapter.
As a delegate in this session, I realized (or rather, remembered what I had forgotten) that this step is just as important as the introduction to responsibility.
Letting go of a role you had and knowing what to do with yourself after that... well, I think we don't think about that too much, usually.
And I found one point which is currently hindering me: Aiesec was a "peak experience". It is so hard to leave Aiesec, we always feel drawn back to it, because of the intensity of the experience.
As a "retired", an alumnus, what you need to do in order to move on, is to find your next peak experience. As long as you don't, you feel bored. You don't know what to do with your life. You feel "stoned", maybe.
So, I'm trying to do that at work. Mostly by taking on a loooot of things to do, at the same time.
Also personnally, I'm trying. Trying to connect more, to have more meaningful moments with my friends, my flatmates. Incidentally, I got "Rock Band" on Wii last week, that game is awesome, and it feels great to be creating a hit music with your friends, even on plastic instruments in front of a tiny TV set :D
I'll try to upload some pictures...
Last Wednesday was a parisian concert of La Grande Sophie: perfect evening with the perfect person
Tonight I managed to pick up going to the gym again.
overall it's not so bad, i'm just lacking the general bearing, the direction....
There is a good deal of surprising, unexpected things falling into my life from nowhere at the moment. Both good and bad. Either on personal, professional, or relationships aspects. It's hard to keep track and remember where I'm headed in the middle of the storm.
What has not changed is that I keep reflecting a lot on value-driven leadership and personal direction.
10 days ago I attended an Aiesec conference in Clermont (thanks Martine for having your LC organize it all!!). Peak experience.A close friend and source of personal inspiration, David Pires, facilitated a session for the students who were finishing their term, being discharged of the responsibility of running their local chapter.
As a delegate in this session, I realized (or rather, remembered what I had forgotten) that this step is just as important as the introduction to responsibility.
Letting go of a role you had and knowing what to do with yourself after that... well, I think we don't think about that too much, usually.
And I found one point which is currently hindering me: Aiesec was a "peak experience". It is so hard to leave Aiesec, we always feel drawn back to it, because of the intensity of the experience.
As a "retired", an alumnus, what you need to do in order to move on, is to find your next peak experience. As long as you don't, you feel bored. You don't know what to do with your life. You feel "stoned", maybe.
So, I'm trying to do that at work. Mostly by taking on a loooot of things to do, at the same time.
Also personnally, I'm trying. Trying to connect more, to have more meaningful moments with my friends, my flatmates. Incidentally, I got "Rock Band" on Wii last week, that game is awesome, and it feels great to be creating a hit music with your friends, even on plastic instruments in front of a tiny TV set :D
I'll try to upload some pictures...
Last Wednesday was a parisian concert of La Grande Sophie: perfect evening with the perfect person
Tonight I managed to pick up going to the gym again.
overall it's not so bad, i'm just lacking the general bearing, the direction....
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Get Control
I used to feel that I did not have time for anything.
Between high-school and business school, I think I was late for almost every appointment I ever had. I'm not the most punctual person on earth, but I think I can safely say that I got better.
I was delayed a bit today as I left my office, and therefore got slightly late at the presentation I went to attend.
5 years ago, or maybe just 3 years ago, I probably would have ran like a madman to catch up with time, and win a couple of minutes. What I have understood is that time does not control me. I am in control of my life, of my actions, of my priorities.
Reaching that comprehension has taken me a lot of time, and quite many years of running, getting shorter of breath, and yet another day closer to death. I see today that it's okay to be one day closer to death without running. Be it to gain a few seconds on a travel, or to fit more things in one day.
Even though I cannot do everything that there is to do on this earth, even though I cannot possibly go through the complete span of life experiences, I can take my time. In fact, I feel it's because I know that I cannot do everything, I can allow myself to take control of my time.
Currently, I am reading The 7 Habits of Highly effective people.
Random trivia: in French the title reads something like "The 7 habits of people who successfully realize everything that they set themselves to endeavour" (don't worry, it's actually shorter when you write it in French. otherwise it simply would not even fit in the front cover :p ).
It is a highly useful book, as it provides guidance in leading a life more centered around principles and values, rather than appearance and personality, as is often the case in our current times.
After setting out to explain that:
- if you want to change, you need to want to change: the "what if", "I wish" won't ever do you no good
habit 1, "be proactive"
- all things are created twice: before you act, you must first produce an image of the expected result in your mind
habit 2: "begin with the end in mind",
so after those two habits he gives an opinion on the difference between leadership and management. If leadership is about going in the right direction (habit 2), habit 3 is about management: "Put first things first".
By consistently prioritizing on what is important for us, and not only on what is urgent, we can get more results on those important things.
And what is important? well, there can be quite a few things. I had some trouble understanding the whole point of this habit until I found out about the "roles" perspective. In our lives, we all hold several roles: child (of our parents), sibling (of our siblings), friend, colleague, student, etc.
And the first thing to do is, regularly, to assess which of our roles are most important to us. Then we can start prioritizing on the things we have to do. Well that is how I do it, in fact, and it is doing it that way that has helped me significantly in better managing myself (rather than better managing my time).
I undertook a"paradigm change", as Aiesecers would have it: I changed my perspective and understanding on a topic, on a given part of the world, therefore allowing myself to interact differently with that part of the world that I now see differently.
So that was it! First post since the last one, where I stated my new ambition: more personal, shorter and more to the point, and hopefully more practical, less philosophical than usual.
Cheerioos,
Jonhjonh soon at large in Cyproos
Between high-school and business school, I think I was late for almost every appointment I ever had. I'm not the most punctual person on earth, but I think I can safely say that I got better.
I was delayed a bit today as I left my office, and therefore got slightly late at the presentation I went to attend.
5 years ago, or maybe just 3 years ago, I probably would have ran like a madman to catch up with time, and win a couple of minutes. What I have understood is that time does not control me. I am in control of my life, of my actions, of my priorities.
Reaching that comprehension has taken me a lot of time, and quite many years of running, getting shorter of breath, and yet another day closer to death. I see today that it's okay to be one day closer to death without running. Be it to gain a few seconds on a travel, or to fit more things in one day.
Even though I cannot do everything that there is to do on this earth, even though I cannot possibly go through the complete span of life experiences, I can take my time. In fact, I feel it's because I know that I cannot do everything, I can allow myself to take control of my time.
Currently, I am reading The 7 Habits of Highly effective people.
Random trivia: in French the title reads something like "The 7 habits of people who successfully realize everything that they set themselves to endeavour" (don't worry, it's actually shorter when you write it in French. otherwise it simply would not even fit in the front cover :p ).
It is a highly useful book, as it provides guidance in leading a life more centered around principles and values, rather than appearance and personality, as is often the case in our current times.
After setting out to explain that:
- if you want to change, you need to want to change: the "what if", "I wish" won't ever do you no good
habit 1, "be proactive"
- all things are created twice: before you act, you must first produce an image of the expected result in your mind
habit 2: "begin with the end in mind",
so after those two habits he gives an opinion on the difference between leadership and management. If leadership is about going in the right direction (habit 2), habit 3 is about management: "Put first things first".
By consistently prioritizing on what is important for us, and not only on what is urgent, we can get more results on those important things.
And what is important? well, there can be quite a few things. I had some trouble understanding the whole point of this habit until I found out about the "roles" perspective. In our lives, we all hold several roles: child (of our parents), sibling (of our siblings), friend, colleague, student, etc.
And the first thing to do is, regularly, to assess which of our roles are most important to us. Then we can start prioritizing on the things we have to do. Well that is how I do it, in fact, and it is doing it that way that has helped me significantly in better managing myself (rather than better managing my time).
I undertook a"paradigm change", as Aiesecers would have it: I changed my perspective and understanding on a topic, on a given part of the world, therefore allowing myself to interact differently with that part of the world that I now see differently.
So that was it! First post since the last one, where I stated my new ambition: more personal, shorter and more to the point, and hopefully more practical, less philosophical than usual.
Cheerioos,
Jonhjonh soon at large in Cyproos
Thursday, March 26, 2009
This time, it's personal
[edit 29/03: Guillaume, aka Guigui, aka Giyume... was there too!]
I started this blog to share some thoughts and start some discussions on the topics of leadership, entrepreneurship. It has embraced wider topics already.
I've received some feedback that some people don't like my blog. They say it's too serious. 2009 is the year in which I've learned that I can survive people not liking what I do. So far so good :)
I've received some feedback that my posts are too long. I agree. It is not the most convenient way to carry my message, plus I should really learn to synthesize my ideas more around here.I've tried to write everything (a bit) shorter.
I have NOT received ANY feedback on the fact that my blog is not personal at all, that I dont share anything about my life or almost nothing. Still, I think it is too big a limit, and my ideas and points of view cannot be understood if i do not say what I'm going through on my personal life.
I've moved in a new flat with 3 amazing people: Viviane, Abhishek, François.
International people : Brazil, India, France, but they've all lived abroad, as have I.
Crazy people: our "flat meetings" last 2 hours or more and are punctuated by the wailing of a toy hippopotamus from a McDonald's happy meal, supposedly impersonating the female hero from the hit animation movies Madagascar 1 & 2.
Beautiful people: since I've moved in, I have had total peace of mind as to the fact that we can work out any problem together, that we will grow & develop together, and that we all try to be as meaningful as we can in our daily lives.
Last saturday took place a semi-official House warming party. It was a great evening!! I had my high-school friends coming over, most of them visiting my new place for the first time. A couple of friends from 'classes prépa'. A few friends from business school showed up as well, and it was great to feel that the connection created from studying together for 3 years (and maybe, also, from working in aiesec together for 1 year :p ) was still here. Aiesec people of course, friends and friends-to-be,who I've met recently. My sister also came, who I've seen less since I moved in here, though she works in Paris too.
Thanks a lot for showing up Audrey (x2), Céline, Faïza, Irène, Maryse, Manon, Mélanie, Sophie, Abdo, Benjamin, David, François, Guillaume Pat, Tri.
They brought me the perfect gifts for my current stage of settling, among which: a Lonely planet pocket guide of NEw York City, which is gonna be soooo useful for my two weeks there this summer.... , and a cocktail shaker with a 150-recipe book.
It's not so often that I manage all those busy people at the same place & time, so that was a really unique night.
On the whole, life if pretty hectic now, with heavy work hours, yet work is (almost) always personaly rewarding . On average, one person is crashing our flat every week, so we always have the company of the usual flatmates and new, changing faces for one or two days. It's a great lifestyle so far, it's a bit the anti-habit life, as everyday something new and surprising happens. Like when we all try to find where the water main tap is, or when try to clean under the oven, in the kitchen, and find new forms of life no one suspected could exist ;)
That reminds me I have to go and cook something.
Good night world.
I started this blog to share some thoughts and start some discussions on the topics of leadership, entrepreneurship. It has embraced wider topics already.
I've received some feedback that some people don't like my blog. They say it's too serious. 2009 is the year in which I've learned that I can survive people not liking what I do. So far so good :)
I've received some feedback that my posts are too long. I agree. It is not the most convenient way to carry my message, plus I should really learn to synthesize my ideas more around here.I've tried to write everything (a bit) shorter.
I have NOT received ANY feedback on the fact that my blog is not personal at all, that I dont share anything about my life or almost nothing. Still, I think it is too big a limit, and my ideas and points of view cannot be understood if i do not say what I'm going through on my personal life.
I've moved in a new flat with 3 amazing people: Viviane, Abhishek, François.
International people : Brazil, India, France, but they've all lived abroad, as have I.
Crazy people: our "flat meetings" last 2 hours or more and are punctuated by the wailing of a toy hippopotamus from a McDonald's happy meal, supposedly impersonating the female hero from the hit animation movies Madagascar 1 & 2.
Beautiful people: since I've moved in, I have had total peace of mind as to the fact that we can work out any problem together, that we will grow & develop together, and that we all try to be as meaningful as we can in our daily lives.
Last saturday took place a semi-official House warming party. It was a great evening!! I had my high-school friends coming over, most of them visiting my new place for the first time. A couple of friends from 'classes prépa'. A few friends from business school showed up as well, and it was great to feel that the connection created from studying together for 3 years (and maybe, also, from working in aiesec together for 1 year :p ) was still here. Aiesec people of course, friends and friends-to-be,who I've met recently. My sister also came, who I've seen less since I moved in here, though she works in Paris too.
Thanks a lot for showing up Audrey (x2), Céline, Faïza, Irène, Maryse, Manon, Mélanie, Sophie, Abdo, Benjamin, David, François, Guillaume Pat, Tri.
They brought me the perfect gifts for my current stage of settling, among which: a Lonely planet pocket guide of NEw York City, which is gonna be soooo useful for my two weeks there this summer.... , and a cocktail shaker with a 150-recipe book.
It's not so often that I manage all those busy people at the same place & time, so that was a really unique night.
On the whole, life if pretty hectic now, with heavy work hours, yet work is (almost) always personaly rewarding . On average, one person is crashing our flat every week, so we always have the company of the usual flatmates and new, changing faces for one or two days. It's a great lifestyle so far, it's a bit the anti-habit life, as everyday something new and surprising happens. Like when we all try to find where the water main tap is, or when try to clean under the oven, in the kitchen, and find new forms of life no one suspected could exist ;)
That reminds me I have to go and cook something.
Good night world.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
The Sunday Morning Factor
Have you noticed how many unusual things happen on Sunday mornings? Do you feel that there is something special about that precise time of the week, where everything seems better, simpler, where your mind is more relaxed?
Probably a lot of people just spend it sleeping, after coming home at 7 from an all-night-long hardcore party. It does happen to me from time to time!
A couple of things made this morning - and it's not even over yet! - different:
1. I got a new mobile phone last week, and I now have unrestricted, unlimited access to internet and 20 TV channels , 24/7, from anywhere as long as my mobile catches a signal.
2. some day in september 2003, soon after joining the business school I graduated from, I stepped through a door labelled "Aiesec" because I thought there might be something of interest.
Now let's look at the consequences:
1. as Thomas Friedman, world-reknown columnist & economy journalist, explains in book, "The World is Flat" (or on Amazon.com), the current trend is for increased connection of individuals to the global society & economy, and one of the things that individual can now do is "in-forming". He means that "Never before in the history of the planet have so many people-on their own-had the ability to find so much information about so many things and about so many other people". One of the consequences he describes a bit further in hte book is that every person with access to a computer and internet can be his/her own news reporter, can create his own information, comparing sources, relating events between each other, balancing perspectives coming from different places and build up his own opinion on a topic with a lot more foundation than ever before.
So I got this new mobile with internet, and as I rode the train back from my parent's place to my current flat, I was surfing on facebook (yes, they do have a mobile site). and one of the news caught my attention, it was an update about Janne Asmala.
That brings us to point 2.
2. Janne is a Finnish chap I met in 200...5 (I think?), at an Aiesec conference. It's amazing how much change in life has derived from my stepping through that door back in 2003. So in 2005 he was a student in Finland, aiming for a master in Knowledge Management. Meeting him was a striking experience for me because we were just 20 years old and he had already read an amazing lot about philosophy, the power of the mind, and education system. Within Aiesec, pushed simply by his strong inner belief, he started a move to change the education systems globally. I'm not sure how that move is now, but back then it resulted in discussion groups at several conferences, involving dozens of students from just about any country, and I'm sure it was a life changing experience for them. Witnessing this phenomenon made me understand better how a single person, just following his own path and inner conviction, can bring change and involve people into something bigger than just themselves.
So, surfing on facebook, i went to read his latest post, which led me, following the links at random, to learn about the book "Presence". As one of the amazon.com reviewed it:
"The authors' central question is "How do we individually and collectively bring about useful change in circumstances where the past, and established ways of thinking, are not good guides to the future?" If, as the authors believe, globalization, the exponentially growing impact of humans on the environment, and the overwhelming power and influence of a small number of global corporations have produced a situation in which accepted ways of thinking and acting are no longer appropriate, what are the appropriate ways of thinking and acting and how do we learn them, get them accepted and promote their widespread adoption? Is this an issue only for those in 'positions of power', or can all of us make a difference?"
I found myself looking at an excellent phrasing for a question that I have been focusing on lately: the challenge of change in environments that are not receptive to it. I think this is also a question that a lot of people are asking themselves at the moment, what with general climate change, economical slow-down (I'm an "anti-crisis"!), etc.
However this sentences poses quite a number of problems. Starting with the definitions of the words used :"useful change", and "established ways of thinking", are very much subjective. The very idea of "useful change" is extremely controversial", as differet people will see it differently. Also, what can be considered an "established way of thinking"? the average habit of the majority of the population? A statistical opinion at a given point in time?
I do not have answers for this, but I definitely intend to look into this topic. It is one of the questions that emerged from the Kitchen Discussion. But that is another story... that I keep for next time.
I hope you all make good use of your Sunday mornings. It is a time for extraordinary events, that will link your peaceful resting morning to places far away in space and time. It works if you read a book too :)
Long live Sunday mornings!
Probably a lot of people just spend it sleeping, after coming home at 7 from an all-night-long hardcore party. It does happen to me from time to time!
A couple of things made this morning - and it's not even over yet! - different:
1. I got a new mobile phone last week, and I now have unrestricted, unlimited access to internet and 20 TV channels , 24/7, from anywhere as long as my mobile catches a signal.
2. some day in september 2003, soon after joining the business school I graduated from, I stepped through a door labelled "Aiesec" because I thought there might be something of interest.
Now let's look at the consequences:
1. as Thomas Friedman, world-reknown columnist & economy journalist, explains in book, "The World is Flat" (or on Amazon.com), the current trend is for increased connection of individuals to the global society & economy, and one of the things that individual can now do is "in-forming". He means that "Never before in the history of the planet have so many people-on their own-had the ability to find so much information about so many things and about so many other people". One of the consequences he describes a bit further in hte book is that every person with access to a computer and internet can be his/her own news reporter, can create his own information, comparing sources, relating events between each other, balancing perspectives coming from different places and build up his own opinion on a topic with a lot more foundation than ever before.
So I got this new mobile with internet, and as I rode the train back from my parent's place to my current flat, I was surfing on facebook (yes, they do have a mobile site). and one of the news caught my attention, it was an update about Janne Asmala.
That brings us to point 2.
2. Janne is a Finnish chap I met in 200...5 (I think?), at an Aiesec conference. It's amazing how much change in life has derived from my stepping through that door back in 2003. So in 2005 he was a student in Finland, aiming for a master in Knowledge Management. Meeting him was a striking experience for me because we were just 20 years old and he had already read an amazing lot about philosophy, the power of the mind, and education system. Within Aiesec, pushed simply by his strong inner belief, he started a move to change the education systems globally. I'm not sure how that move is now, but back then it resulted in discussion groups at several conferences, involving dozens of students from just about any country, and I'm sure it was a life changing experience for them. Witnessing this phenomenon made me understand better how a single person, just following his own path and inner conviction, can bring change and involve people into something bigger than just themselves.
So, surfing on facebook, i went to read his latest post, which led me, following the links at random, to learn about the book "Presence". As one of the amazon.com reviewed it:
"The authors' central question is "How do we individually and collectively bring about useful change in circumstances where the past, and established ways of thinking, are not good guides to the future?" If, as the authors believe, globalization, the exponentially growing impact of humans on the environment, and the overwhelming power and influence of a small number of global corporations have produced a situation in which accepted ways of thinking and acting are no longer appropriate, what are the appropriate ways of thinking and acting and how do we learn them, get them accepted and promote their widespread adoption? Is this an issue only for those in 'positions of power', or can all of us make a difference?"
I found myself looking at an excellent phrasing for a question that I have been focusing on lately: the challenge of change in environments that are not receptive to it. I think this is also a question that a lot of people are asking themselves at the moment, what with general climate change, economical slow-down (I'm an "anti-crisis"!), etc.
However this sentences poses quite a number of problems. Starting with the definitions of the words used :"useful change", and "established ways of thinking", are very much subjective. The very idea of "useful change" is extremely controversial", as differet people will see it differently. Also, what can be considered an "established way of thinking"? the average habit of the majority of the population? A statistical opinion at a given point in time?
I do not have answers for this, but I definitely intend to look into this topic. It is one of the questions that emerged from the Kitchen Discussion. But that is another story... that I keep for next time.
I hope you all make good use of your Sunday mornings. It is a time for extraordinary events, that will link your peaceful resting morning to places far away in space and time. It works if you read a book too :)
Long live Sunday mornings!
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Home, Slevin, and the auto-playlist
This post was in my "drafts" folder, like 15 others, but I've decided that my blog should be consistent with my general effort to make 2009 a "result-oriented" year for me.. Therefore I'll unearth today this post started on Feb, 28th 2009. It's still more or less accurate.
In the last couple of days, a number of random events made me think about home.
First, a post on Meebo's blog. Meebo is a great online instant-messaging (IM) platform, which you should totally check out if, like me, you prefer to access everything online than to install some more software. Second, the movie « Garden State », which I just watched again, as I stumbled upon it in my dvd stack.
It's a really good movie (Zach Braff is directing, it's his first movie, you probably know him more as the young doctor named « J.D » in the series « SCRUBS »), and I liked it even more as I watched it this second time. A 26-year-old comes back from L.A. to his hometown, somewhere lost in the middle of the U.S., for family reasons an meets again with his high school friends, his parents;meets someone new, too. All his old friends have stayed exactly where they were; not really going anywhere. They are not dreaming so big, definitely not bigger than the size of the town they were born in. Having been outside for 9 years, he left a teenager and comes back a grown-up. He wonders where he belongs, and what to do with that birthplace where his former life is, but to which he cannot go back.
True fact about the movie: the soundtrack is absolutely amazing (Coldplay, back in the days they weren't even so famous; Remy Zero; the Shins; Colin Hay; Simon & garfunkel; Thievery corporation; etc etc.) And because there is no reason why should struggle to find it,it is probably the music you have been listening to since you entered this page. It's autoplay, and shuffled, for a seamless and ever-renewed blog experience!! Powered by deezer, but I'm definitely looking into Jiwa soon, as a lot of my "reference people" as regards music tell me it's quite better.
Home is where your relatives are. Home is where you come from. Home is where you will spend the rest of your life. Home is where you spent the most time (can an office be a home?). Home is where you feel safe. And although Josh Hartnet teaches us otherwise in the excellent motion picture "Lucky Number Slevin" (that link is in French), i'm going to use a word i'm trying to define in its own definition: for me, "home is where you feel 'at home' ". Somewhere you belong, somehow.
I recently moved in with 3 exceptional individuals, we are sharing a large flat in one of the most amazing cities of the world, but it could be anywhere else on the planet I guess, the feeling would be the same. I miss my previous home. The more connections I create here, the less I will miss the past. I suppose.
It's hard to say whether I'll ever feel 'at home' enough to actually settle, and never move out again. I know some of you people reading this are asking yourself the same question. But if I keep my definition, home is just a safe environment and the meaningful relations... then my home will always be traveling with me, around me, or at least stay within reach of an email of a phone call.
When was the last time you felt at home? and when was the last time you felt that you could be at home anywhere?
good night world
In the last couple of days, a number of random events made me think about home.
First, a post on Meebo's blog. Meebo is a great online instant-messaging (IM) platform, which you should totally check out if, like me, you prefer to access everything online than to install some more software. Second, the movie « Garden State », which I just watched again, as I stumbled upon it in my dvd stack.
It's a really good movie (Zach Braff is directing, it's his first movie, you probably know him more as the young doctor named « J.D » in the series « SCRUBS »), and I liked it even more as I watched it this second time. A 26-year-old comes back from L.A. to his hometown, somewhere lost in the middle of the U.S., for family reasons an meets again with his high school friends, his parents;meets someone new, too. All his old friends have stayed exactly where they were; not really going anywhere. They are not dreaming so big, definitely not bigger than the size of the town they were born in. Having been outside for 9 years, he left a teenager and comes back a grown-up. He wonders where he belongs, and what to do with that birthplace where his former life is, but to which he cannot go back.
True fact about the movie: the soundtrack is absolutely amazing (Coldplay, back in the days they weren't even so famous; Remy Zero; the Shins; Colin Hay; Simon & garfunkel; Thievery corporation; etc etc.) And because there is no reason why should struggle to find it,it is probably the music you have been listening to since you entered this page. It's autoplay, and shuffled, for a seamless and ever-renewed blog experience!! Powered by deezer, but I'm definitely looking into Jiwa soon, as a lot of my "reference people" as regards music tell me it's quite better.
Home is where your relatives are. Home is where you come from. Home is where you will spend the rest of your life. Home is where you spent the most time (can an office be a home?). Home is where you feel safe. And although Josh Hartnet teaches us otherwise in the excellent motion picture "Lucky Number Slevin" (that link is in French), i'm going to use a word i'm trying to define in its own definition: for me, "home is where you feel 'at home' ". Somewhere you belong, somehow.
I recently moved in with 3 exceptional individuals, we are sharing a large flat in one of the most amazing cities of the world, but it could be anywhere else on the planet I guess, the feeling would be the same. I miss my previous home. The more connections I create here, the less I will miss the past. I suppose.
It's hard to say whether I'll ever feel 'at home' enough to actually settle, and never move out again. I know some of you people reading this are asking yourself the same question. But if I keep my definition, home is just a safe environment and the meaningful relations... then my home will always be traveling with me, around me, or at least stay within reach of an email of a phone call.
When was the last time you felt at home? and when was the last time you felt that you could be at home anywhere?
good night world
Monday, February 23, 2009
Monday, February 9, 2009
A thousand trees
..."It only takes one tree to make a thousand matches,
it only takes one match to burn a thousand tress. " ....
it only takes one match to burn a thousand tress. " ....
A Thousand Trees, written & performed by the Stereophonics, in the album "Word Gets Around".
Got me thinking about responsibility, and my understanding of that word.
My paradigm about responsibility comes from one of my most impactful experiences ever. Let's rewind, step by step, back to that meaningful moment:
My paradigm about responsibility comes from one of my most impactful experiences ever. Let's rewind, step by step, back to that meaningful moment:
2008 is a year to remember for many reasons, on a global perspective.
Personally, it was the first year in which I took the time to reflect on what moments had been critical for me, in my life until now, and what they meant, why they had happened the way they did, and is there something I should do about it if I ever find the answer to all my questions.
In the course of that thiking, I remembered one of the most impactful moments of my life; one which set me out on the Sustainable Development path and were I made to myself the commitment to care about the environmental consequences of my actions.
Looking back, it could have set me on a lot of other courses.
It happened in Aiesec.
Fall 2004, I’m in my LCP term at LC INT (now IT-SudParis), and I decide to attend EuroCo, the very first edition of this pan-european conference for LCPs. So, 121 LCPs from all the cities, from Lisbon (Protugal) to Iasi (Romania), and from Milan to Stockholm. 121 students from all over the continent, ages ranging from 19 to 26. On the 3d or 4th day of the conference, after a mind-blowing Outdoor Day where I truly understood the word “team building” and the challenge of facilitating a session, we went into a different kind of simulation.
A current-state-of-the-world reproduction, on a smaller scale.
Fall 2004, I’m in my LCP term at LC INT (now IT-SudParis), and I decide to attend EuroCo, the very first edition of this pan-european conference for LCPs. So, 121 LCPs from all the cities, from Lisbon (Protugal) to Iasi (Romania), and from Milan to Stockholm. 121 students from all over the continent, ages ranging from 19 to 26. On the 3d or 4th day of the conference, after a mind-blowing Outdoor Day where I truly understood the word “team building” and the challenge of facilitating a session, we went into a different kind of simulation.
A current-state-of-the-world reproduction, on a smaller scale.
Here is exactly how it happened.
As we entered the plenary room, each LCP was given a small piece of colored paper. Soon we found that there were different colors, and not all in the same quantity.
I was in the white group, the largest of all. In fact, I think we were almost 50 people in there. We had to split into 5 10-people groups. We were advised to all sit on the ground. The pink group, with 30 people, split as well in 3 smaller groups. the blue, green, and yellow, were accordingly getting smaller and smaller. In fact, the Yellow “group” was just one girl, from the Netherlands or Denmark maybe.
Then each group was given the details of its current situation, and of the situation of others. To sum it up, the largest, white group, represented countries with the most difficult socio-economico-political situation.
- We did not have stable politics ensuring the development, roll-out, and improvement of national policies
- our people did not have permanent access to education, even for children
- we did not represent a market significant enough that foreign investments would come fortify our economy: only international grants & donations were coming in
- possibly, we would undergo civil unrest and/or war, environmental pressure from flood and earthquakes, disease epidemics…
- women were being discriminated at all stages of the society, starting from school
- etc.
you get the picture.
As we entered the plenary room, each LCP was given a small piece of colored paper. Soon we found that there were different colors, and not all in the same quantity.
I was in the white group, the largest of all. In fact, I think we were almost 50 people in there. We had to split into 5 10-people groups. We were advised to all sit on the ground. The pink group, with 30 people, split as well in 3 smaller groups. the blue, green, and yellow, were accordingly getting smaller and smaller. In fact, the Yellow “group” was just one girl, from the Netherlands or Denmark maybe.
Then each group was given the details of its current situation, and of the situation of others. To sum it up, the largest, white group, represented countries with the most difficult socio-economico-political situation.
- We did not have stable politics ensuring the development, roll-out, and improvement of national policies
- our people did not have permanent access to education, even for children
- we did not represent a market significant enough that foreign investments would come fortify our economy: only international grants & donations were coming in
- possibly, we would undergo civil unrest and/or war, environmental pressure from flood and earthquakes, disease epidemics…
- women were being discriminated at all stages of the society, starting from school
- etc.
you get the picture.
For each group between us and the yellow group, the situation was increasingly better, so that this girl sitting on her chair, alone, represented what I could call the modern, western society:
- higher education available for the large majority of the population
- political stability and strong diplomatic relations with other well established nations
- public service for basic survival needs (housing, water, existing healthcare system)
- economy providing at least 80% of the population with jobs
- research & education running and cooperating with peers in other countries
After we read what we had, the facilitator (Caroline Gertsch from Switzerland, if memory serves) gave us our task:
- identify what you, as a country, can OFFER to and RECEIVE from countries that would be in the groups just “above” and just “below” your own.
- for the bottom group (49 people and me), we could only look “up”
- for the top group (the girl alone), she could only look “down”
We had 25 minutes to discuss in my group of 10 people what we could find to offer to any country, to attract investment. It was probably an intense discussion, full of interesting thoughts and remarks. It may as well have been dull. I don’t remember it. But I remember the conclusion. I can let you think about it if you want. You can take 5 minutes now, to think about what you would have said in our situation.
If you don’t want to spend this time now, I give the answer now, and you can do it later, by imagining, say, the second group (pink) and thinking about what they can offer and what they can receive from countries with relatively close situations.
Basically, all we had to offer were :
- our arms & legs for working
- our natural resources, scarce or hard to mine ourselves, due to lack of know-how and equipment.
And what we could expect from other countries:
- everything…
To be more specific, the first needs identified (my memory seems weak on this point)
- support for building infrastructure
- support for stabilizing the political society
- international help on meeting basic water & food demand
- funding for child education & support for creating quality higher education
That moment has impacted me up ot today, and will continue to do so: I don’t even have a clue how many countries in our actual word are part of that huge group so much in need of help.
I think I saw more the other end of the issue: the girl at the top of this giant pyramid of needs, the only one, closest to the top, had everyone to help. And she was really alone. She had everything the others did not even know they could want and have. I do not believe that this will happen by itself if we just let time pass. The top countries had a blank page and enough ink to write their way to the stars and back. Now the planet is crowded ("hot, flat & crowded" as some would put it) and we are "consuming" the environment faster than it renews itself. (see latest studies from Science & Vie in France, or your local science magazine, about the ratio between population and 'minimum required space of earth"-per-person... well, it doesn't look good right now, and its still going down).
A famous french writer wrote "if you dont do it, who will do it? if not now, when?" (André Gide, in Les Faux Monnayeurs).
That is the sense of responsibility that I got from that cold day of october 2004, in the middle of a room full of students I never imagined meeting one week before.
Last week, at the Winter National Conference, in my closing speech I mentionned the idea of "connecting oneself" to the world, and how aiesec helps you to do that, when you go through the full @Experience.
I felt connected to the world, and I saw myself sitting at the top of it and doing nothing but eating it away and not even knowing the consequences of my way of life and my actions.
I hope I made my experience understandable for you. If not, I'd like you to leave me a comment, and we can talk about it more in detail.
It's really ironic that we make matches from trees. We have to be careful with each match.
Goodnight world.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Escapades - 2
playlist for writing this post:
The Strokes, their complete "First Impressions of Earth" album (2006). Start with the first song, "You only live once"...
as I was messing around at the same time, I had to use a bit of :
Shakira's "MTV Unplugged" (2000) towards the second part :)
Today's "Escapade" is not mine. I heard two life stories, and they both started exactly the same: a bright young graduate worked as a consultant/auditor for a global, world-renowned firm, in a glass-and-steel sky-rise in La Défense. Namely, the main Central business District in the area of Paris.
Then one day they felt like doing something else. Resigned from their jobs, from one day to the next (or almost). And started their own adventure.
1. The first one set out to create a firm selling natural, waterless car-cleaning solutions. He thought we should stop using so much water to wash car, and also he found that the existing products for washing cars without water were not so efficient.
Going back to his family home in the North of France, he started his own company. His family was soooo skeptical. SOooooooooooo skeptical! He knew nothing about the car-washing business, and had little idea about what organic components should be included.
He just carried on. After 3 years, most of his relatives are actually working in the company he founded. His mother, who was most worried about his future, is the most active and enthousiastic employees.
He offers professional washing services, his main customers are companies that manage fleets of vehicles (private industry, but also public institutions, or car rental companies). he washes a car in a couple of hours, with products using only natural ingredients and without any water addition.
Talk about a sustainable business!
It looks like he wants to focus on developing this business a bit more, but who know what he can come up with next?
2. Amaury Bironneau was also a successful, as we say, French young graduate. He had started a career in one of those big multinational firms offering lots of benefits, and interesting jobs, of course.
Still, one fine day, he got in touch with Patrice Franceschi, captain of the exploration sailship "La Boudeuse". The ship, bearing a french flag and stationned in Paris, on the river Seine, is usually at large somewhere halfway to the other side of the planet.
The boat brings its crew to meet and exchange with peoples and cultures.
So Amaury met the captain, something "clicked" and he knew that he was ready to embark on a year-trip to the other side of the world, only a few weeks later, with 20 or so people that he had never met before.
So many things happen on those kind of experiences, it is all about "expect the unexpected"... In 'developing' countries, things do not work as they are supposed to, and coastguards will ask for bribes, medicine wont be available, people wont speak your language...
Amaury was born in a "farmer" environment, his family coming from the ground, he had no pre-set mind to go sailing. He just went, because it felt like something right for him to do, and he couldnt picture himself making a career, putting his suit on & shaving every morning, going into an air-conditionned office.
The ability to make a risky decision, a committing life-choice, in order to get closer to one's true self and personal path. Now, that is what I call a leadership behavior.
I feel the same sometimes. We all want different things at different stages of our lives. At the moment, i dont want so much change that I'll go to Papua New Guinea. What happens when I do? How much time will I allow myself to prepare?
The future is gonna be such a great time! Incidentally, it is also the place where we are going to spend most of our remaining lifetime, so it better be great!!
the most AWESOME blog post ever!!
at the general request, here is a custom dedicated post to two amazing friends.
By alphabetical order:
Christine, from Mexico, teacher, globe-trotter, care giver and always cheerful, who keeps blowing our minds with her unique way to stay optimistic and love life like no one else I know
Ellen, from Germany, journalist (yet?), fine observer of the world, acute analyst of her time & surroundings, who entertains our crowd with her delightful way to recount anecdotes and tells about people so that you will know everything about them even if you never met them.
also, I agreed to write that this would be the most awesome blog post ever published :)
thanks to both of you for being here, even when you are away... well you know what I mean!
By alphabetical order:
Christine, from Mexico, teacher, globe-trotter, care giver and always cheerful, who keeps blowing our minds with her unique way to stay optimistic and love life like no one else I know
Ellen, from Germany, journalist (yet?), fine observer of the world, acute analyst of her time & surroundings, who entertains our crowd with her delightful way to recount anecdotes and tells about people so that you will know everything about them even if you never met them.
also, I agreed to write that this would be the most awesome blog post ever published :)
thanks to both of you for being here, even when you are away... well you know what I mean!
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Gathering & sharing viewpoints
For the past 2 weeks, I was trying to write a new post for this blog, but I could not focus on a single topic. There are just so many things I want to write about and so many extremely, both important and interesting things, happening around at the moment that I failed to narrow my post down to one issue.
Eventually, I decided I would today share some information sources that I value, and some pieces of info that I believe relevant, all that being a patchwork of what is around nowadays.
On Toni's blog,(amazing Aiesecer from Macedonia) I found out about the annual EBBF Conference, from where I learned about the EBBF organization. In short, it is a community of people looking to develop ethical values, personal virtues and moral leadership in their work.
To give an example of the mindset, here is a quote from one of the EBBF members in the latest newsletter "If at the end of my career all I had to show was money, then I would know that I had failed."
That is
Dreaminder is a website where you input, today, a dream that you have. Something you would like to realize, or witness becoming reality, some time from now. You also input your email address, and a date.
On that date, the website will send to your email address what you wrote.
Yes, you got it, it is a reminder of your dream.
I did iin late 2007, when I was still job-hunting, and received my dreaminder on Xmas 2008, exactly one year after starting my new job.
The great thing, you totally forget about it. Then suddenly it is brought back to you, and your thoughts navigate between that past moment, those past expectations, and the present. And you can assess if you have acheived what you had set yourself to.
Or it will also simply remind you of what dreams you had, and serve as an encouragement to always go towards the realiszation of those dreams.
the 1% for the planet project is a US-based initiative for organizations to donate 1% (or more) of their annual income to support environmental causes. It uses the principle that, even in 2009 with a global economic slow-down, the "western world" is able to survive using 'just' 99% of its income, and giving 1% to issues in dire need of funding.
Personal note: you dont have to join that particular project. I encourage you to apply that principle to yourself and donate to causes that are important to you.
Come on, do you really, really need that cream on top of the big cake?
A good friend of mine based in Bangkok, that I had the unexpected luck to see last week, told me that people can be classified in their relation to information: some are gatherers, some are analysers/synthesizers, some will focus on becoming experts in a topic... I'm looking forward to know more about that (Vincent, si tu m'entends...). Today, I act as a "gatherer": I share in a single place information from very different sources. I like doing that, because of the impact it can have on people by broadening their horizon. My next step will be to learn to structure what I share. I think you'll agree I need to work on that ^_^
playlist while writing this post: some Nadasurf, and the "Eye to the Telescope" album of KT Tunstall.
Eventually, I decided I would today share some information sources that I value, and some pieces of info that I believe relevant, all that being a patchwork of what is around nowadays.
On Toni's blog,(amazing Aiesecer from Macedonia) I found out about the annual EBBF Conference, from where I learned about the EBBF organization. In short, it is a community of people looking to develop ethical values, personal virtues and moral leadership in their work.
To give an example of the mindset, here is a quote from one of the EBBF members in the latest newsletter "If at the end of my career all I had to show was money, then I would know that I had failed."
That is
Dreaminder is a website where you input, today, a dream that you have. Something you would like to realize, or witness becoming reality, some time from now. You also input your email address, and a date.
On that date, the website will send to your email address what you wrote.
Yes, you got it, it is a reminder of your dream.
I did iin late 2007, when I was still job-hunting, and received my dreaminder on Xmas 2008, exactly one year after starting my new job.
The great thing, you totally forget about it. Then suddenly it is brought back to you, and your thoughts navigate between that past moment, those past expectations, and the present. And you can assess if you have acheived what you had set yourself to.
Or it will also simply remind you of what dreams you had, and serve as an encouragement to always go towards the realiszation of those dreams.
the 1% for the planet project is a US-based initiative for organizations to donate 1% (or more) of their annual income to support environmental causes. It uses the principle that, even in 2009 with a global economic slow-down, the "western world" is able to survive using 'just' 99% of its income, and giving 1% to issues in dire need of funding.
Personal note: you dont have to join that particular project. I encourage you to apply that principle to yourself and donate to causes that are important to you.
Come on, do you really, really need that cream on top of the big cake?
A good friend of mine based in Bangkok, that I had the unexpected luck to see last week, told me that people can be classified in their relation to information: some are gatherers, some are analysers/synthesizers, some will focus on becoming experts in a topic... I'm looking forward to know more about that (Vincent, si tu m'entends...). Today, I act as a "gatherer": I share in a single place information from very different sources. I like doing that, because of the impact it can have on people by broadening their horizon. My next step will be to learn to structure what I share. I think you'll agree I need to work on that ^_^
playlist while writing this post: some Nadasurf, and the "Eye to the Telescope" album of KT Tunstall.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Human condition
Lately I have been reading quite a few things about the Human condition. Or put differently: the condition of Mankind, as an evolved animal species on a uniquely plentiful planet.
And now, I am thinking a lot, about why are we here, and what are we supposed to do with ourselves, with our neighbours, with our world.
I think this is a discussion that will come back regularly on this blog, and I think before getting it started, I would need toset some definitions and objectives as well as some boundaries.
it's a bit late tonight, so I won't do it today, but here is some of the literature I was mentioning at the beginning of this post. Seriously, it's LIFE-CHANGING stuff!!!! Paradigm-shifting, glasses-removing (the theory of intercultural understanding and colored glasses....), thought-feeding... call it what you want, it really brings you to a whole different level of thinking.
Litterature:
"The World Without Us", by Alan Weisman. Interest of the book: what would happen to our planet, the fauna and flaura, nature in general, if humans vanished from one day to the next? That strange question starts an very documented, mind-boggling and eye-opening discussion. Looking back at what the world was before us, we see the natural evolution that we caused as an animal species, and the "artificial" evolution that we brought as we evolved into more and more complex societies.
"La vie - mode d'emploi" (Life - User's manual), by George Pérec. A French writer trying to make a style exercise comes up with an original way to give us a snapshot of parisian society around the turn of the century (from 19th to 20th). The "user's manual" describes the lives of all the inhabitants in a parisian building, in all apartments, from parties to adultery, from war crimes to art lessons, from the everyday, tiny events to the unleashing of human passion and fury.
"Apprendre à vivre" (learning to live) ,by Luc Ferry. French philosopher and former Minister for Education, his book is probably the best introduction ever to philosophy. His approach is simple, practical, and inviting to everyone. Looking at philosophy at the "doctrin of salvation without a god", he retraces the history of philosophy since it appeared in ancient times, explains the different schools, and why we went from one to another, and what is man's place in each of the main philosophical perspectives on the world, as well as in the main monotheistic religions.
Those 3 books are extremely significant to my thougth process, because they have been very easy to read (except maybe the 1st one, that sometimes gets dry, though alwyas very insightful), and totally changed my paradigms on the topics they adressed.
You know that idea: "once you have had that thought, once you have seen things this or that way, you can never go back. you can never forget those thoughts, it has changed your perspective on the world". Those books had that effect on me.
... and a few other things about sustainable development, that got me thinking about why we need it today, and what will be the human species like, if we ever make it through our global ecological crysis.
I want to write also about the idea of "change", as I got some new persectives from "The World without us", seeing that other species have alwyas known very slow change, following the long-term rythm of geological evolution, whereas we humans have brought so much acceleration into the game that we cannot even keep up with our own thoughts and actions, and who we have become. Another day, maybe.
And now, I am thinking a lot, about why are we here, and what are we supposed to do with ourselves, with our neighbours, with our world.
I think this is a discussion that will come back regularly on this blog, and I think before getting it started, I would need toset some definitions and objectives as well as some boundaries.
it's a bit late tonight, so I won't do it today, but here is some of the literature I was mentioning at the beginning of this post. Seriously, it's LIFE-CHANGING stuff!!!! Paradigm-shifting, glasses-removing (the theory of intercultural understanding and colored glasses....), thought-feeding... call it what you want, it really brings you to a whole different level of thinking.
Litterature:
"The World Without Us", by Alan Weisman. Interest of the book: what would happen to our planet, the fauna and flaura, nature in general, if humans vanished from one day to the next? That strange question starts an very documented, mind-boggling and eye-opening discussion. Looking back at what the world was before us, we see the natural evolution that we caused as an animal species, and the "artificial" evolution that we brought as we evolved into more and more complex societies.
"La vie - mode d'emploi" (Life - User's manual), by George Pérec. A French writer trying to make a style exercise comes up with an original way to give us a snapshot of parisian society around the turn of the century (from 19th to 20th). The "user's manual" describes the lives of all the inhabitants in a parisian building, in all apartments, from parties to adultery, from war crimes to art lessons, from the everyday, tiny events to the unleashing of human passion and fury.
"Apprendre à vivre" (learning to live) ,by Luc Ferry. French philosopher and former Minister for Education, his book is probably the best introduction ever to philosophy. His approach is simple, practical, and inviting to everyone. Looking at philosophy at the "doctrin of salvation without a god", he retraces the history of philosophy since it appeared in ancient times, explains the different schools, and why we went from one to another, and what is man's place in each of the main philosophical perspectives on the world, as well as in the main monotheistic religions.
Those 3 books are extremely significant to my thougth process, because they have been very easy to read (except maybe the 1st one, that sometimes gets dry, though alwyas very insightful), and totally changed my paradigms on the topics they adressed.
You know that idea: "once you have had that thought, once you have seen things this or that way, you can never go back. you can never forget those thoughts, it has changed your perspective on the world". Those books had that effect on me.
... and a few other things about sustainable development, that got me thinking about why we need it today, and what will be the human species like, if we ever make it through our global ecological crysis.
I want to write also about the idea of "change", as I got some new persectives from "The World without us", seeing that other species have alwyas known very slow change, following the long-term rythm of geological evolution, whereas we humans have brought so much acceleration into the game that we cannot even keep up with our own thoughts and actions, and who we have become. Another day, maybe.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
"Escapades"
Sometimes I skip lunch.
Some of you will tell me it's bad; unhealthy; unreasonable.You are probably right, if anyone is at all.
The reason why I skip lunch is that I want to travel, to discover, I am hungry for new sights, new feelings. Maybe you know this feeling. You want to drive as fast as you can, to feel the rush of speed. You want to walk in the middle of a huge, hurricane-like storm, to feel the unleashed strength of nature trying to blow you away. You want to feel alive.
When I skip lunch, I just go for a walk, and shut down my mind. I just trust my feet.
Yesterday I went to the gym in the morning, and after working out I felt this gush of energy, so instead of going straight down into the first subway hole,I decide to walk for a bit. As I stood right in the middle of Paris, I could go exactly anywhere.
I walked from Palais Royal to the Louvre, walked around it, going around the "Cour Carrée", and found myself at the Pont des Arts. There was no snow, just a freezing breeze moving the top branches of all the leafless trees bordering the banks of the river Seine.
I had this impression of being detached from myself, looking at the whole scene from somewhere else... I could almost take everything in at the same time:
The slow, fat "bateau-mouche" humming away from the bridge, with its scattered tourists all on the lower, indoor deck. No one outside. The weather made everything look crisp, fragile, thin.
The long, squeaky shrieks of the gulls muffled by the soft, freezing breeze; the birds flying in circles behind the boat, following its backwash, probably looking for food in the muddy waters.
The reddish roofs on the island and on the opposite bank of the river covered in white frost, reminding me strangely of strawberries with icing sugar.
The passers-by in long, winter-fashion trench coats and parka, white, beige, and red, mostly; slowly crossing the bridge, enjoying the relaxing view.
And suddenly, I realized who I was, where I was, the lon way I had come so far, from my childhood to university to job in Paris; the importance of this city in history, the importance of France in the modern world, the wars and battles that took place in this city, the rise and fall of kingdoms decided in the Louvre, just a few yards behind me. The crownings in Notre Dame, whose bell tower tips I can spot from here, towering the shorter buildings around it. The passionate, enraged and furious lives of artists whose works are on display at Musée d'Orsay, a short walk to my right. And dead ahead, the average Parisian house, high and narrow, that probalby hosted its fair amount of wealth and joy and crimes and great, historical moments forever lost in the flow of history, as no witness passed them on to posterity.
It shatters your mind, to realize all that at once. It did, to me. I felt born again. And also calmer, and more serene. Then I realized I was hungry, and went for lunch anyway.
Some of you will tell me it's bad; unhealthy; unreasonable.You are probably right, if anyone is at all.
The reason why I skip lunch is that I want to travel, to discover, I am hungry for new sights, new feelings. Maybe you know this feeling. You want to drive as fast as you can, to feel the rush of speed. You want to walk in the middle of a huge, hurricane-like storm, to feel the unleashed strength of nature trying to blow you away. You want to feel alive.
When I skip lunch, I just go for a walk, and shut down my mind. I just trust my feet.
Yesterday I went to the gym in the morning, and after working out I felt this gush of energy, so instead of going straight down into the first subway hole,I decide to walk for a bit. As I stood right in the middle of Paris, I could go exactly anywhere.
I walked from Palais Royal to the Louvre, walked around it, going around the "Cour Carrée", and found myself at the Pont des Arts. There was no snow, just a freezing breeze moving the top branches of all the leafless trees bordering the banks of the river Seine.
I had this impression of being detached from myself, looking at the whole scene from somewhere else... I could almost take everything in at the same time:
The slow, fat "bateau-mouche" humming away from the bridge, with its scattered tourists all on the lower, indoor deck. No one outside. The weather made everything look crisp, fragile, thin.
The long, squeaky shrieks of the gulls muffled by the soft, freezing breeze; the birds flying in circles behind the boat, following its backwash, probably looking for food in the muddy waters.
The reddish roofs on the island and on the opposite bank of the river covered in white frost, reminding me strangely of strawberries with icing sugar.
The passers-by in long, winter-fashion trench coats and parka, white, beige, and red, mostly; slowly crossing the bridge, enjoying the relaxing view.
And suddenly, I realized who I was, where I was, the lon way I had come so far, from my childhood to university to job in Paris; the importance of this city in history, the importance of France in the modern world, the wars and battles that took place in this city, the rise and fall of kingdoms decided in the Louvre, just a few yards behind me. The crownings in Notre Dame, whose bell tower tips I can spot from here, towering the shorter buildings around it. The passionate, enraged and furious lives of artists whose works are on display at Musée d'Orsay, a short walk to my right. And dead ahead, the average Parisian house, high and narrow, that probalby hosted its fair amount of wealth and joy and crimes and great, historical moments forever lost in the flow of history, as no witness passed them on to posterity.
It shatters your mind, to realize all that at once. It did, to me. I felt born again. And also calmer, and more serene. Then I realized I was hungry, and went for lunch anyway.
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