A socio-cultural evening of poetry & good talks

Friday evening (August 3'18) I was delighted to meet again with a group of dear friends at the Conservatory to discuss, analyze and share poetry, personal perspectives and life stories, which helped us all dive even deeper into meaningful matters. 

Also, I was pleased to welcome them with a fragment from Johann Pachelbel's sublime Canon (“In the Garden“) - a piece of classical music, which brought upon a deep sense of peace. On the other hand, as usual by now, I brought my aromatherapy diffuser with French lavender, which filled the room with such a pleasant and refreshing fragrance.

This time, we had two guests of honor – Dr. Ovidiu Grecea together with his wife. Dr. Grecea is Consul General – Head of Mission and Plenipotentiary Minister of Romania, and he brought along a noble message, re-emphasizing the importance of dialogue, communication and co-operation. We all are like branches of a tree and our lives are heading in different directions, we all grow wings and fly, but our roots always would remind us where we are coming from. Truly heart felt! 

Aside of that, our subsequent group conversations were long, open, from heart to heart, from soul to soul, from mind to mind…without any doubt, genuine, deep conversations with open-minded people are the best. Specifically speaking, our friends also brought a number of beautiful poems, dear books & a patriotic song, which triggered fond memories in many of us, and some of these I will enumerate below:

- “If“, a poem by Rudyard Kipling

- “Visam sa scriu“, a poem by Monica Pillat

- "Romanta fara ecou", a poem by Ion Minulescu

- "America ogarului cenuşiu", a book by Romulus Rusan

- “Maitreyi“, a book by Mircea Eliade (briefly mentioned though)

- A beautiful poem of Queen Maria, of Romania

- A beautiful poem of Ferdinand of Romania about Romania’s Great Unification

- A patriotic song, featuring our beautiful young adults

Following these we didn’t forget the light refreshments either, which again ignited new series of pleasant conversations around the table and offered extended socialization.

Concluding, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to all who joined me this evening to share memories, personal journals, poems, life changing stories and special moments. Until we meet again, I send along my best wishes to each of you for a wonderful rest of the summer!
Alice

Mesaj personal din partea lui Alice, adresat direct in limba romana:

Dragii mei,
Si pe aceasta cale doresc sa-mi exprim sincera apreciere pentru participarea si atentia pe care ati acordat-o intalnirii noastre de vineri (3 aug.'18).
Poeziile recitate, amintirile enumerate, simtamintele impartasite cu o autenticitate absolut deosebita au dat un farmec unic fiecarui moment petrecut impreuna. A fost o reala placere sa depanam cu totii trairi de suflet care au re-adus pe tapet intamplari memorabile din viata fiecaruia, scrieri dragi care ne-au incalzit inimile amintindu-ne totodata de fosti profesori consacrati de odinioara, de carturari respectati, de parinti, de neam, de radacini.
Cu siguranta, dragostea pentru frumos este numitorul nostru comun, ceea ce denota multe aspecte importante. Conceptul de unitate in diversitate si diversitate in unitate a stralucit cu adevarat.
Inca odata, sincere multumiri!  
Alice
“Let the beauty of what you love be what you do.” AliceFriendsCircle.blogspot.com

Mesaj primit înspre publicare din partea Domnului Dr. Ovidiu Grecea* şi al Doamnei Liliana Grecea

Pentru Doamna Alice şi pentru cei care ne-au impresionat plãcut, prin delicateţea sufleteascã, nobleţea intelectualã, bunul simţ, modestia şi normalitatea demonstrate într-o searã plinã de semnificaţii şi încãrcãturi emoţionale, unde nişte români-canadieni s-au reunit pentru setea lor de culturã şi de românism, pentru dorinţa de bine şi de un viitor frumos, artistic şi spiritual, cultural şi relaţional în comunitatea din care ei fac parte.

A fost un adevãrat balsam sufletesc, iar faptul cã poezia, filozofia, pildele de viaţã, cântecele şi sentimentele trainice şi veşnice faţã de România s-au contopit în prezentãrile, expunerile, discuţiile, dizertaţiile şi chiar controversele din aceastã magnificã întâlnire, demonstreazã cã românul este şi va fi, oriunde şi oricând, un cumul şi un vârf de omenie, de dragoste faţã de ţara lor şi de respect faţã de ţara care i-a adoptat, de oameni adevãraţi, nealteraţi sau schimonosiţi sufleteste şi mental, ci adevãrate repere existenţionale şi de devenire pentru noua generaţie.

Acum sunt puţini, dar sperãm şi avem convingerea cã în viitor elitele şi adevãratele personalitãţi reprezentative comunitare vor gãsi sursele, resursele, cãile şi modalitãţile viabile şi concrete de a se uni în cuget şi în simţire, de a-şi demonstra adevãratele lor calitãţi, forţa, tãria şi puterea de a fi numai învingãtori, de a-şi ocupa locul binemeritat într-o societate nouã, multiculturalã, care le-a oferit posibilitatea de a se integra, de a deveni, de a se simţi mai liberi şi mai încrezãtori, unde adevãratele valori sunt preţuite şi nu târâte în mocirla vremurilor actuale.

Noi, ca simpli oameni şi români pânã în mãduva fiinţei noastre, vom fi deschişi la orice iniţiative sincere şi benefice pentru comunitatea românilor de aici, pentru binele, propãşirea şi prosperitatea lor, pentru un viitor mai sigur şi mai demn, pentru unitate în gândire şi acţiune, pentru menţinerea, dezvoltarea şi perpetuarea unei relaţii sincere şi benefice a României în Canada.

Iar ca oficiali, noi nu vom pregeta de a face tot ce este omeneşte şi profesional posibil, în limitele şi competenţele noastre diplomatice şi de reprezentare, ca România şi românul sã fie pe primul loc, într-o armonie existenţionalã şi funcţionalã, pentru cã noi avem o istorie adevãratã, realã şi concretã de peste 2.000 de ani, iar bagajul nostru ancestral de experienţã de viaţã, de culturã şi de educaţie, de creştinism şi de respect al valorilor autentice, ne determinã sã fim numai: ’the best’, ’the first’, ’the no.1’!

Liliana şi Ovidiu Grecea

*Domnul Ovidiu Grecea este Consul General şi Ministru Plenipotenţiar al României la Vancouver

“BE LIKE A TREE. Stay grounded. Connect with your roots. Turn over a new leaf. Bend before you break.
Enjoy your unique natural beauty. Keep growing. ”

This event has been delivered in Romanian Language, featuring Romanian culture. 

● Fotogallery published on their website by the General Consulate of Romania in Vancouver

Concisely regarding PERCEPTION

Generally speaking ‘perception’ it is explained as being the ability, the awareness or the way a person thinks, notices, interprets or understands something or someone by the means of senses, or through the cognition of the mind. Over the years, numerous studies have shown that in general people expect a perfect match

between personal perception and reality, which are not always matching up, because the human lenses are constantly shifting. 

“Every person has a different view of another person's image. That's all perception.” (Steve Alford)

In the light of this concept here is a short story which I recently came across and find worth sharing it further … some of you might know it, some of you might not, but regardless, it will make it for a good, short reading. Enjoy!

Story: Changing our vision

There was a very wealthy man who was bothered by severe eye pain. He consulted many physicians and was being treated by several. He did not stop consulting a galaxy of medical experts; he consumed heavy loads of drugs and underwent hundreds of injections, but the ache persisted with more vigour than before.

At last, an elder who was supposed to be an expert in treating such patients was called for the suffering man. The wise man understood his problem and said that for some time he should concentrate only on green colours and not to let his eyes fall on any other colours. It was a strange prescription, but he was desperate and decided to try it.

The millionaire got together a group of painters and purchased barrels of green paint and directed that every object his eyes were likely to fall to be painted green just as the elder had directed. When the wise man came to visit him after few days, the millionaire's servants ran with buckets of green paint and poured it on him since he was in white dress, lest their master see any other colour and his eye ache would come back.

Hearing this, the wise man laughed and said "If only you had purchased a pair of green spectacles, worth just a few dollars, you could have saved these walls and trees and pots and all other articles and also could have saved a large share of his fortune. You cannot paint the entire world green. Let us change our vision and the world will appear accordingly. It is foolish to shape the world, let us shape ourselves first.”

“Change the way you look at things and the things you look at change.” 

A Literary Afternoon

Saturday afternoon (June 9, 2018), I was very pleased to meet with a small group of friends at a public library to spend some time discussing Romanian literature (personal compositions as well as masterpieces written by famous Romanian authors). 

I was truly happy to be able to greet them all with “Poema Românã“ by George Enescu (George Enescu, 1881-1955, who was a Romanian composer, violinist, pianist, conductor and teacher, regarded as Romania's most important musician and one of the world's greatest composers of the 20th century).
In addition, the aromatherapy with natural French lavender oil that I brought had a nice relaxing effect on all of us.

After our usual introductions around the circle, which this time took longer than usual and helped our friends open their hearts even more toward each other, we began our program, as per below: 
- Teo brought again few personal compositions (“Florile” & an acrostic, dedicated to our dear friend Ligia, who is also a virtuoso musician & a choir conductor).
- Asiza recited 2 poems composed by her departed mother (“Odoras“ and “Doar noi doi“)
- Ligia recited few poems, (“De-a v-ati ascunselea”, “Din tara de unde venim”), by Ana Blandiana, who is a Romanian poet, essayist, and political figure, considered also one of the leading contemporary authors

- Ioana narrated a chapter from “Maitreyi“ – a semiautobiographical novel of great intellectual and emotional power, written by Mircea Eliade, who was a world renowned scholar 
- Monica brought a poem filled with timeless wisdom, written by Emil Cioran, who was a famous Romanian philosopher and writer

At the end of our cultural program, Teo offered us all a live violin performance, gratefully re-emphasizing the heart touching love for his wife and lifelong partner (also part of the audience), who is such an adorable person. 
We all had a great time together and again we wrapped up the afternoon with light refreshments, snacks we each brought, and prolonged conversations, because food always tastes better when you eat it together with likeminded people. 

In closing, I want to share that I sincerely appreciate the participation of all these dear friends, who at the end of a long, busy week (mine not being an exception either) took the time from their relaxation program to join me for few hours to discuss literature, to share life stories, and to enjoy the presence of each other, which I find simply beautiful. Until next time, my best greetings to all and each of you!
Alice 

Don’t count the days, make the days count!

This event has been delivered in Romanian Language, featuring Romanian culture. 

Pondering about LIFE – random thoughts

These days I’m deeply enjoying a time of profound peace, but a number of circumstances made me ponder about the meaning of life in itself.

As we each walk the path of life, there is no doubt that at a certain point in time, we’ve experienced joy or sorrow, victory or defeat, but above all what we have learned from those experiences (from those lessons)

 is what really matters.

We know that each person is different, and what it is important for one might not be important at all for another. Many of us observed that at times, some people spend their entire life looking for something in particular, which they believe it is important for them, but (truly) never finding it, while there are other people who know exactly what it is important for them, where to find that, how to get it, how to keep it, and above all, how to continue to retain what remains important for them, no matter wherever they might spend the rest of their life, and that is beautiful and inspiring.

Psychologically, also it has been noticed that sometimes people have the tendency to wonder what other people think about them, because they look for social acceptance in order to accept themselves, but regardless of circumstances, one must never forget who s/he is, where s/he is coming from, and what it is of personal importance in life, and only then one could clearly and selflessly embrace the world in a non-judgmental manner, while having gratitude (gratitude, which is the greatest virtue of all, as Cicero said many hundreds of years ago).

Generally speaking, life is not complicated, but we have the tendency to make it difficult, because we are rushing and judging too much, forgetting to slow down while taking one step at the time, being fully aware of what is really going on – inwardly and/or outwardly. Some scholars believe that man’s accomplishments in life are the cumulative effect of his attention to details, and the quieter we become the more we can hear. They say that if we pay attention to details, the big picture will take care of itself. Many times we don’t have to chase the extraordinary, because that very special thing that we are looking for it is right on front of us, but usually we are too busy to notice it. I remember that once upon a time, Ernest Hemingway said that every man’s life ends the same way – it is only the details of how he lived and how he died that distinguish one from another. 

Anyhow, in closing, I strongly believe that at least once in a while, in this super busy world, it is truly worth it to take few moments from the daily routine to pursue something positive that you haven’t addressed yet and that is near and dear to your heart, or to admire a beautiful sunset or sunrise, or just to simply enjoy the fragrance of a beautiful flower, because after all life has been given to each us to be enjoyed as well!

Life is a journey, not a race, and it is up to each of us to see the beauty of every single day!

An evening of poetry

Together with a group of friends I gathered today (Friday - May 4, 2018) at a public library for a pleasant literary evening, focusing on poetry. 

We began the program with an introductory conversation, followed by a brief moment of recollection while we were listening “Balada“, by Ciprian Porumbescu.
I also brought my aromatherapy diffuser with lavender oil, which filled the room with a very refreshing spring fragrance.  

This evening we were featuring Mihai Eminescu (1850-1889), who is considered the most famous & influential Romanian poet, as well as the last major representative of the European Romanticism, and a significant promoter of the enlightened nationalism.   

Aside of that, our reciters brought few personal compositions, which were absolutely beautiful and full of sensibility. For instance, Teo brought 2 poems composed by himself (called “Eminescu” and “Basarabia”) and Asiza brought a poem composed by her mother (called “Matanie”). 
In addition, Maria recited “Prutul” and Dana recited a number of well-known Romanian poems, which brought back to each of us many dear memories. 
Last, but not least, our friend, Ligia recited a poem “The Albatross”, by Charles Baudelaire, and Teo sang a heartfelt patriotic song, greeting the current spring time. 

We wrapped up the evening with light refreshments, as well as good camaraderie amongst beautiful friends, with beautiful hearts, whose common denominator is the love for poetry.

Once again, my most sincere appreciation to all who joined me this evening, and until our paths will meet again, I wish you each have a wonderful rest of the spring!
Alice

“Painting is silent poetry, and poetry is painting that speaks.” (Plutarch)

This event has been delivered in Romanian Language, mostly featuring Romanian culture.