Friday, September 16, 2022

Alice’s Book Club – SUMMER session of 2022

Before the warm season of the year reached its completion, on Friday
(September 16’22), we had the summer session of my book club series, this time analyzing the book called “Stillness Speaks(written by Eckhart Tolle).
On this occasion, our online gathering was of a reasonable size and the atmosphere was abundantly filled with such a good cheer (in our midst), fact which brought along a pleasant sense of harmony, ease and joy.
Now, briefly speaking about this book: Eckhart Tolle (the author, who is a German-born resident of Canada, is also a teacher and an entrepreneur) shows “how to become your true self by embracing stillness and silence”. He also says: “When we are no longer limited by our thinking mind, suffering and pain disappear and we are able to move forward towards a new understanding of our relationships, of nature and of the profound wisdom that is to be found in stillness.”
The personal perspectives presented this evening were interesting, varied and filled with lots of insights.
For your reference, here are few concepts from the book, which might get your attention:
The equivalent of external noise is the inner noise of thinking. The equivalent of external silence is inner stillness.
When you lose touch with inner stillness, you lose touch with yourself. When you lose touch with yourself, you lose yourself in the world.
- “Most people spend their entire life imprisoned within the confines of their own thoughts. They never go beyond a narrow, mind-made, personalized sense of self that is conditioned by the past.”
- “What it doesn't say — but only points to — is more important than what it says.”
- “For most things in life, you need time: to learn a new skill, build a house, become an expert, make a cup of tea. . . . Time is useless, however, for the most essential thing in life, the one thing that really matters: self-realization, which means knowing who you are beyond the surface self — beyond your name, your physical form, your history, your story.
- “You cannot find yourself in the past or future. The only place where you can find yourself is in the Now.” ...and so on....
As usual, time was flying by fast & we wrapped up the evening in a very enjoyable manner, committed to continue with our reading as well as sharing in this setting.
Also, once again, much appreciation to those who were able & willing to join me this evening….their on going support motivates me to prepare for the next project.
Until next time, my best regards to each of you!
Alice
“When you make friends with the present moment, you feel at home no matter where you are.”

Wednesday, September 7, 2022

“The DESIDERATA of Happiness”

Desiderata” – an inspirational writing at its finest, meant to remind us to listen to our inner voice, in a non-judgmental manner, seeking to find a lasting inner peace.

Amid the noise, always remember to stay true to yourself!
“Desiderata”
(short video clip)

Tuesday, September 6, 2022

UNIQUENESS or the courage to be yourself

Being yourself in a world where everyone is trying to fit around, it takes courage; yes, that beautiful courage which allows you to stand out and be unique.
If we look around we can see that people have some traits, habits or personalities which can be unlike others, and it feels to me that this makes a person more interesting & fascinating at times. But, it is also noticeable that the most beautiful thing & at the same time the hardest thing to tolerate is some people's uniqueness.
Over time, it has been observed that some people don't have problems with their uniqueness, but with the uniqueness of the others (in some way, it bothers them).
For sure each of you’ve heard those more or less ‘silent’ comments….if s/he's not like me, s/he has particular flaws…if s/he were like me, s/he would have the same flaws as me (and that would be very hard to bear), and so on…anyways, sometimes it is very complicated to make sense of all the pointless noise.
"Iubire ar fi destulă, dar nu are loc printre atâtea orgolii înghesuite."
On the other hand, I truly believe that it is great to have friends who appreciate you for who you are, otherwise life without them would be like a dessert…life with good friends and honest relationships gives us joy, fulfillment, security, meaning, health. At times, some relationships are not easy to maintain due to some disturbing interferences, but good friends you care about are worth the price.
Aside of that, just imagine:
– What it would be like for a whole world to talk a lot…definitively it would be super tiring!
– Or let them all be silent …what boredom that would be!
– Let everyone be impulsive…for sure they would break their heads!
– May they all be visionaries of projects…who no longer get to see their fulfillment, unfortunately!
– If all would be extroverts…there would be no room for each other.
– Or if all would be introverts…a world where no one talks to anyone….and the list goes on ...
One of the wonderful things about human society is the diversity in gifts and abilities, but in order for those various gifts to fit into the final inlay they have to be sanded and processed first, don't they? This is not simple, but it makes sense.
Personally, I truly believe that in life it is important to be true to yourself & be who you are, so be different & dare to embrace yourself as you are...be one of a kind!
“Kites rise high against the wind, not with it.” (Winston Churchill)