Live up to your full potential

Lately, reading a large number of different articles about people’s lives, destinies, talents, choices, options and so on, an old fable comes to me, which I find worth sharing further. May you have a peaceful lecture!

Fable of the Eagle and the Chickens
Once upon a time, an old farmer found an eagle’s egg and took it home to put it in a nest with the rest of his other chickens; soon, the eagle’s egg hatched and the young eagle grew up with all the other chickens and whatever the chickens did, the eagle did too, because he thought he was a chicken, just like them. The chickens could fly only for a short distance, so the eagle also learned to fly only for a short distance, since he thought that this was all what he supposed to do, all what he could do, and as a result that was all what he was able to do.

But one day, the eagle saw a majestic bird flying high above him; he was so very impressed, and asked the chickens around him: “Who is that?”

The chickens replied: “That’s the eagle, the king of the birds; he belongs to the sky, we belong to the earth…we are just chickens.” So the eagle lived his entire life and died as a chicken, because that’s what he thought he was!

Moral: Be careful of the company you keep, because even an eagle could become a chicken! 
If you listen, believe or adopt the limitations others have put on themselves you will never be able to reach your full potential and be what you are meant to be. 
It is always very important to be mindful, to stay informed, to do your own research, to be documented, to asses yourself objectively and always choose wisely!

“You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with”.

Socializing: CANADA Day 2020 – Morning Coffee Talks

 A lovely Wednesday morning (brief, on line) social gathering July 1'20) together with some of my available friends (while continuing to keep in line with the current guidance on physical distancing) celebrating the country we all love: CANADA. 

This year is Canada’s 153^rd birthday, and Canada Day is a bit different than before, as many restrictions still remain in place (large gatherings being banned, in-person events cancelled or held on line) in order to continue to flatten the COVID-19 curve.

But, despite the difficult times that we all are going through, to the best that we each can, it is important to be reminded that we all live in one of the greatest countries in the world. This is an appropriate occasion to honor our freedom, our values, our diversity and everything else that makes our nation such a special place we all call “home”.
Also, my most sincere appreciation to all of my guests today for expressing genuine gratitude for their life in Canada…different perspectives, different generations, different experiences, different demographics, different walks of life, but one voice: “Thank you, Canada!” May we each continue to grow in gratitude, as it has the potential to always bring new waves of joy and beauty into our lives!

Once more, to all my Canadian friends, near & far, from my heart to yours: HAPPY CANADA DAY, dear fellow Canadians! 

This event was featuring the Canadian life & culture.  

● Some of my additional greetings referring to CANADA Day – 2020, 2019 

● Additional references:

> Canada (an extensive descriptive material, as per Encyclopedia Britannica)

> The article our dear friend Dorina Aldea wrote about Canada: “Happy Birthday, Canada!”
● Few supplementary articles of large interest about Canada

– “The history of the National Flag of Canada”  │   – “10 Mind-Blowing Facts About Canada”   │   – “11 basic facts about Canada”

July 1, 2020: CANADA Day

            Happy Canada Day, dear fellow Canadians!
This year (on July 1st, 2020), we all celebrate Canada’s 153rd birthday, but unlike the years before, since we all continue to navigate through the extraordinary circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic, I believe that more than ever, this is an important time to bring communities together to virtually share the very special bond of living in one of the greatest countries in the world, and to celebrate our freedom, our values, our diversity, and everything else that makes our nation such a special place we all call ‘home’. 

National Anthem: ‘O Canada’ – audio       

A brief historical background
On July 1, 1867, the nation was officially born when the “Constitution Act” joined three provinces into one country: Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and the Canada province, which then split into Ontario and Quebec. However, Canada was not completely independent of England until 1982. The holiday called “Dominion Day” was officially established in 1879, but it wasn't observed by many Canadians, who considered themselves to be British citizens. “Dominion Day” started to catch on when the 50^th anniversary of the confederation rolled around, in 1917. In 1946, a bill was put forth to rename “Dominion Day”, but arguments in the House of Commons over what to call the holiday stalled the bill.

The 100^th anniversary of the nation's official creation in 1967 saw the growth of the spirit of Canadian patriotism, & “Dominion Day” celebrations began to take off. Although many Canadians already called the holiday “Canada Day” (“Fête du Canada”), the new name wasn't formally adopted until October 1982.

● A previous post on the same theme: CANADA Day – 2019

June 24, 2020: Universal Day of the ROMANIAN BLOUSE

The Universal Day of the Romanian Blouse (Rom: "Ziua iei"), each year on June 24^th, has become a global event celebrated on six continents, 55 countries, 130 cities, with lots of gatherings. This movement has contributed decisively to the rebirth and a renewed interest in traditional Romanian culture. The blouses are special as venerable anthropological artifacts, communicating through hand-embroidered symbols the identity of their wearer.

The Romanian blouse, "ie" by its original Romanian name, is not a simple traditional peasant blouse, but it became a symbol of Romania, with its legends, stories and deep significance. The "ie" (pronounced "ee-eh") is a blouse, commonly worn by Romanian girls and women, and it has overcome its historic peasant confines, as it became an important source of inspiration for the fashion designers in Romania and abroad (high-ranking names, such as Tom Ford based his 2012 collection on the Romanian traditional motifs). The "ie" is entirely hand-made from a special fabric (called approx. in English "sheer lawn"), with exquisite embroideries on the chest, back and sleeves, with designs preserved for centuries. The signs and symbols embroidered on the Romanian blouse aren’t just random decorations, but each has its own significance, depending on the region, the seamstress, and the person who wore it. 
Every "ie", along with the other items of the traditional folk costume, has its own story. Among the symbols embroidered on the blouse there is the tree or a tree-like design, which is the symbol of life, wisdom and rebirth. The fir tree is particularly drawn on the Romanian blouse, especially in the mountain rural areas, and symbolizes the immortality, a motif seldom found in Romanian mythology.

The circle or a sunflower represent the sun, day or Divinity; in Romanian tradition, the sun was at the core of life and often associated with abundance.

Other motifs related to daily activities can be found ranging from one region to another: water (either as a river or as sea waves) and fish in the fishing villages along the rivers and sea coast, wheat or corn stems in agricultural villages, wheels or coin in crafting traders’ villages, and so on.

At the same time, the colors on the blouse also vary according to the geographic region; green and gold symbolize the plains, gray, red and brown for the mountains and blue for the rivers. For instance, in the past, young girls from the countryside, who were not married used to wear merry colors on their blouses, combinations of red, yellow, pink & light colors, while the dark ones (brown, black, dark green) & gold were usually worn by older women, married & having a certain social statute.

June 21, 2020: Happy FATHER’s Day!

Today, each of us is glad to honor the father of the family and the important role he plays.
Also, this is the perfect occasion to acknowledge all the fathers and father figures across the world, expressing gratitude for their contribution in raising children.

Men grow into fathers and fathering is an important stage of life.

● A previous post on the same theme: FATHER's Day – 2019

June 20, 2020: SUMMER solstice

“Summer Solstice” is an astronomical event, marking the 1^st day of summer in Northern Hemisphere – a splendid time which fills our hearts with blissful joy.

● A previous post on the same theme: SUMMER Solstice – 2019

Alice’s Book Club – SPRING session of 2020

Before the end of the current spring, today (Friday - June 19, 2020) I was truly happy to be able to meet (on line) with some of my friends for our seasonal book club session, this time discussing compassion.

As we all are aware of the multitude of adjustments we have to make to our daily lives during the existing COVID-19 pandemic and keeping up to date with the ongoing developments surrounding this matter, we had our meeting via modern technology in order to prevent the spread.

Given that we all are encouraged to carry on with the practice of social distancing, as life goes on, we are adopting a responsible manner in order to continue to enjoy our cultural activities.

Also, instead of our usual novel, this time a university study on compassion conjugated with an additional essay were selected.

The conversations of our evening together emerged beautifully, as compassion is a topical virtue in such a high demand during these trying days.
It was truly delightful to notice how well my guests embraced the subject, all evolving into a meaningful conversation, with breadth & depth.  
Without any doubt, the chosen subject is vast and we could've speak about it extensively, but for the purpose of our gathering we covered aspects that apply directly to the period we all are going through - a worldwide pandemic combined with complex social issues.
Questions such as: ”What can we do (individually & as a group)? ”, ”How could we continue to remain compassionate in a world where kindness is perceived as a faulty weakness? ”, ”What’s next for humanity? ”, ”Are we really as evolved as we think we are?”, ”Is peers’ pressure preventing us from becoming more or less compassionate?”, ”Do you really need to be rich to be compassionate?”, and so on….

In brief, here I will share few additional points on what we could do individually as well as collectively in order to become a bit more compassionate:

-  in your circle of friends, do your best to be a good friend or to become a better one │ - listen attentively, smile and be polite

- be less judgmental, less prejudiced, less biased │  - volunteer in your community

- commit to conscious and random small acts of kindness every week  │  - make sure the people you interact with feel valued, respected and heard
- reach beyond your current boundaries and be nicer with your family members, with your friends, with your neighbours, with your contacts, with your colleagues, with your associates, with your fellows, with your network  

- acknowledge someone you usually ignore by breaking the cold habit with the simple question: “What do you think?”

Yes, there is a lot each of us could do every single day, but before we reach out it is important to be reminded that in order for compassion to be complete it has to start with self-compassion, so dear friends, each time you can, please be kind with yourself!

Also, for your convenience, on the same theme, here is a brief article I wrote, called”Beauty of COMPASSION”.

On the other hand, as we all know, soon (on this part of the world), people will celebrate Father’s Day, occasion which allowed us to express ahead of time the appreciation for each of our fathers, as well as honoring their contribution in raising children.

In closing of these comments, by this note, I’m sending once again my most sincere appreciation to all my friends who were able to join me this evening, wishing them each a wonderful time together with their loved ones!

Alice

Judgement divides. Compassion unites.

Few suggestions from elders to overcome stress

Dear ones, if you are willing to take some time to observe our current society, you would be astonished noticing that constantly people are in a big hurry, always rushing, like continually something urgent is happening. On the same note, many times we all heard loud and clear from different reputable sources that such behaviour is generating an enormous amount of stress and anxiety, and that is why we each need to learn effective ways to manage such situations.

For your convenience, below I’m sharing few words of wisdom issued long time ago by a number of wise thinkers, and I believe that most of them are truer than ever. Enjoy!

- "Let us stand up and give thanks, for even if we did not learn much today, at least we learned a little, and even if we did not learn a little, at least we did not get sick, and if we got sick, at least we did not die; so thank you!"

- "Don't cry because the bright days are gone; smile because they existed!"

- "Don't dwell in the past, don't dream about the future, focus your mind on the present."

- "Remember that you are always responsible for what is happening to you and how you transform yourself."

- "Others teach us who we are. Their attitudes toward us are the mirrors in which we learn to see ourselves, regardless of the fact that at times some mirrors could be distorted, but even so they still could ring a bell and that is what we need to pay attention to. In all, many of us probably are quite unaware of the immense power of the social environment."

- "He who knows others is somehow intelligent; he who knows himself is truly wise. He who can defeat others is strong; he who has defeated his weaknesses always is really strong. He who is content with what he has is very rich. He who is energetic has a purpose in life. He who does not stray from his nature lives long." 

June 1, 2020 – INTERNATIONAL CHILDREN's Day

INTERNATIONAL CHILDREN's DAY – it is celebrated as International Day for Protection of Children in many countries. Several organizations put in their best efforts towards making this day a success, while treasuring children...praising & encouraging them to lead a fruitful life that is full of new experiences & adventures.

● A previous post on the same theme: INTERNATIONAL CHILDREN's Day – 2019