'Out beyond the ideas of right-doing or wrong-doing there is a field- I'll meet you there', Rumi, 13th century Sufi poet.
Amazing words, get you thinking don't they!
My room mate Zoe mentioned Rumi the other day (dont remember what we were talking about), the words struck me the moment I heard them, just didn't know he (Rumi) has been an inspiration for a quite a few ... peace builders and conflict resolvers Out Beyone Ideas for example...
PS: I know an update of the blog has been long overdue...It's on it's way :))
Monday, September 17, 2007
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Can compassion and capitalism go-exist?
Yes, they can, says John Sage from Pura Vida - a fair trade coffee company - in his speech for Staford Social Innovation Review.
Listen to the speech here for inspiration!!!
And do your part!
Listen to the speech here for inspiration!!!
And do your part!
Friday, May 25, 2007
"It is like that because it has always been like that"
It was freezing outside today! +5 degrees...brhhh...I know it's nothing compared to the Estonian winters that sometimes reach up to minus (actually down to!) 30, yet it's soooo cold compared to the 30ies we have had here for the last 6 month or more. Nice and warm, which I've very much got used to already.
Not to mention, it's 25th of May!
It doesn't feel like 25th of May...funny...May always has this sentiment of blossoms, spring, warmth, growth, new beginnings etc.
And I'm here, it's May and it's cold; cold like September! It's really weird to experience how the time, the date, the month of the year doesn't feel like they have pretty much always felt like! And it's not as simple as that...you only need to think a bit more to realize how many associations are connected to this small fact.
For example,
I have a Brazilian friend who has a b-day in May. Earlier, when I found out, it brought the exact May-feeling to my mind! You know, of a spring child! And now it's May and it's cold. Twisted!
Sometimes, when writing a date etc, I really need to remind myself what date or time of the year it is, because the time seems kinda..."timeless"!
The same with Christmas and New Years. The last ones went missing actually. It just didn't seem like a Christmas nor New Years with 30 degrees outside laying on the beach. Being in the middle of all the decorations and stuff just felt like being on a stage that is set up for Christmas almost in the middle of summer.
This simple stuff brought me thinking (again) today, how many things could possibly be there that I take for granted, that I am sooo used to that I don't even notice to wonder about. Yeah, with weather it's simple - it feels cold in May and thus it is immediately different from "normal".
How about the mindsets, attitudes, stereotypes created by the daily experiences and situations where I never might not take another angle to look at it from.
I am glad though, I have so far had quite a few opportunities to look at things from other angles...living here in Brazil is just another one of these opportunities.
Sifaan (my Sri Lankan teammate with whom we worked together for 1 year in AIESEC), among many others, I have to thank you as well for different angles and perspectives. The title of this posting was inspired by you! I can even hear you saying that :))), stress on the word "always" :)))
Another bit from the past: bunch of us went for our first international conference in AIESEC, to Norway in 2000, Nordic Management Seminar it was. Great experience by all means. An inspiration I brought home was a sentence from one of the sessions, which said "Nothing is normal, everything is possible". I wrote it with black marker on an A4 paper and sticked it to my dormitory wall in Uni afterwards. Kept it there for a while...hmm...I wonder if I still have it packed somewhere....
Not to mention, it's 25th of May!
It doesn't feel like 25th of May...funny...May always has this sentiment of blossoms, spring, warmth, growth, new beginnings etc.
And I'm here, it's May and it's cold; cold like September! It's really weird to experience how the time, the date, the month of the year doesn't feel like they have pretty much always felt like! And it's not as simple as that...you only need to think a bit more to realize how many associations are connected to this small fact.
For example,
I have a Brazilian friend who has a b-day in May. Earlier, when I found out, it brought the exact May-feeling to my mind! You know, of a spring child! And now it's May and it's cold. Twisted!
Sometimes, when writing a date etc, I really need to remind myself what date or time of the year it is, because the time seems kinda..."timeless"!
The same with Christmas and New Years. The last ones went missing actually. It just didn't seem like a Christmas nor New Years with 30 degrees outside laying on the beach. Being in the middle of all the decorations and stuff just felt like being on a stage that is set up for Christmas almost in the middle of summer.
This simple stuff brought me thinking (again) today, how many things could possibly be there that I take for granted, that I am sooo used to that I don't even notice to wonder about. Yeah, with weather it's simple - it feels cold in May and thus it is immediately different from "normal".
How about the mindsets, attitudes, stereotypes created by the daily experiences and situations where I never might not take another angle to look at it from.
I am glad though, I have so far had quite a few opportunities to look at things from other angles...living here in Brazil is just another one of these opportunities.
Sifaan (my Sri Lankan teammate with whom we worked together for 1 year in AIESEC), among many others, I have to thank you as well for different angles and perspectives. The title of this posting was inspired by you! I can even hear you saying that :))), stress on the word "always" :)))
Another bit from the past: bunch of us went for our first international conference in AIESEC, to Norway in 2000, Nordic Management Seminar it was. Great experience by all means. An inspiration I brought home was a sentence from one of the sessions, which said "Nothing is normal, everything is possible". I wrote it with black marker on an A4 paper and sticked it to my dormitory wall in Uni afterwards. Kept it there for a while...hmm...I wonder if I still have it packed somewhere....
Thursday, April 05, 2007
Different morning
I woke up on Monday morning, and the morning was different! Like really different!! It felt like a early summer morning in Estonia, fresh, cool, exciting! But it was not about the weather, it was the feeling I had!! I still have it, and I am excited!
And I actually don't know where it came from!? Maybe cos I had been sick the whole last week (dengue like my colleagues were joking!), and now I finally got better. Or maybe cos I had supernice weekend, quiet, watching a few good movies with good people. Or maybe it was these 2 kilos that I had been trying (actually more like hoping, not trying too hard) to lose, but didn't manage otherwise than getting sick and not being able to eat much other than garlic and honey :))). Or maybe it was these bare 4 hours that I slept the night before, cos of my little movie marathon...
hmm...don't know!
On the top of this, Elina sent me a new design of our homepage (it's gonna be niiccee, great job Elina and Triini!), work is going well, and I'm looking forward to what's coming up in the next months!!
Surfed around in my mailbox and found a few good thoughts that seem to go with my mood right now:
QUOTE of the WEEK:"It seems to me that people have vast potential. Most people can do extraordinary things if they have the confidence or take the risks. Yet most people don't. They sit in front of the telly and treat life as if it goes on forever." Philip Adams
POEM for YOUR WEEK
Believing in You
By Catherine Pulsifer, © 1997
Never stop believing in yourself.
When others doubt, don't you.
Do what you love to do,
No one knows better than you.
Life is too short to live others' dreams
Follow your own dream
Push yourself to reach your goals
And live the life you once dreamed.
Trust your instincts.
Be true to yourself.
You know what is right for you.
Never give up or give in.
Forget the words "I don't know how".
You can learn,
You can research,
You can do.
Your mind is powerful.
When you believe you can.
You will find a way
You won't waste a day.
Persist and persevere
Do not fear
Because if you believe in you
You will find dreams can come true.
May all your dreams turn into goals, (ok that one I dont quite agree with, but...)
Believe in yourself.
And remember, all of life is a choice.
The decision is up to you.
And I actually don't know where it came from!? Maybe cos I had been sick the whole last week (dengue like my colleagues were joking!), and now I finally got better. Or maybe cos I had supernice weekend, quiet, watching a few good movies with good people. Or maybe it was these 2 kilos that I had been trying (actually more like hoping, not trying too hard) to lose, but didn't manage otherwise than getting sick and not being able to eat much other than garlic and honey :))). Or maybe it was these bare 4 hours that I slept the night before, cos of my little movie marathon...
hmm...don't know!
On the top of this, Elina sent me a new design of our homepage (it's gonna be niiccee, great job Elina and Triini!), work is going well, and I'm looking forward to what's coming up in the next months!!
Surfed around in my mailbox and found a few good thoughts that seem to go with my mood right now:
QUOTE of the WEEK:"It seems to me that people have vast potential. Most people can do extraordinary things if they have the confidence or take the risks. Yet most people don't. They sit in front of the telly and treat life as if it goes on forever." Philip Adams
POEM for YOUR WEEK
Believing in You
By Catherine Pulsifer, © 1997
Never stop believing in yourself.
When others doubt, don't you.
Do what you love to do,
No one knows better than you.
Life is too short to live others' dreams
Follow your own dream
Push yourself to reach your goals
And live the life you once dreamed.
Trust your instincts.
Be true to yourself.
You know what is right for you.
Never give up or give in.
Forget the words "I don't know how".
You can learn,
You can research,
You can do.
Your mind is powerful.
When you believe you can.
You will find a way
You won't waste a day.
Persist and persevere
Do not fear
Because if you believe in you
You will find dreams can come true.
May all your dreams turn into goals, (ok that one I dont quite agree with, but...)
Believe in yourself.
And remember, all of life is a choice.
The decision is up to you.
Friday, March 23, 2007
Alive and kicking :))
huuuhh my last post was in December!!! A while ago! Not that I haven't had anything to write about, way toooo many things!! Just always seems there are so many better things to do than to sit in front of the laptop/PC screen (which I do anyway at least 8 hrs a day).
haah like today! I was to go out, but the plan changed so I thought I get myself together to write a little update.
Sometimes it feels I wouldn't know where to start exactly, cos it's just too many things, not all pink and cheesy, it's been quite tough every now and then. The biggest challenge (I think...well at least so far :)) that I have faced during my stay in Brazil has been: how to contribute at the workplace and the job to the extent that I am professionally used to at the same time overcoming the obstacles such as:
– working in another cultural environment (not knowing the way of working and the people, and the organization and its structures etc etc)
– working in another language (although most people speak English, the work is in Portuguese, including meetings etc. and I didn't know any Portuguese before I game)
– working in an industry – banking – and in an organization that I was not familiar with before, but which require a lot of time and energy to get to know to (it's huuugeeee, imagine an organization of 30 000 people. PS. and that's only Brazil!)
I had and still have high expectations for myself, since I have been working professionally for about 4-5 years, out of which considerable time with an area that I love – sustainable development and corporate responsibility - and I expected not to be just a trainee, but be equal to all other employees in regards of the contribution that I make.
All the obstacles in mind, it has not been an easy task for me to demonstrate the capacity, skills and knowledge I have. There has been maaaany moments that I felt down and unable to meet the expectations that I had for myself in the limited time available.
It's gone better now, mainly along the improvements with Portuguese :))) (Gee...I had forgotten what it means to learn a new language and to actually be able to use it in daily working life!! English seems soooo easy now.)
Some things I remind myself (thanks to the people who contributed to the process, the "life support" was really important :)):
- Don't give up – I remind myself of my expectations and I don't need to lower them, but just need to walk the same path: keep learning and moving onwards
- Take a loooooot of initiative and network (talk to different people, get to know them and their work, push them to involve me etc.), because for most of people I am just a trainee from a foreign country that noone really knows anything about, let alone the fact that people at workplace wouldn't also know what to expect from me.
- Actively demonstrate the added value I can bring, show my work to even more people that is the immediate necessity etc...
So it has been a journey of personal and professional learning for me, with ups and downs, but now I am happy. I've made sense of things around and inside me a bit more, and I am working on it every day. I'd say I am satisfied.
haah like today! I was to go out, but the plan changed so I thought I get myself together to write a little update.
Sometimes it feels I wouldn't know where to start exactly, cos it's just too many things, not all pink and cheesy, it's been quite tough every now and then. The biggest challenge (I think...well at least so far :)) that I have faced during my stay in Brazil has been: how to contribute at the workplace and the job to the extent that I am professionally used to at the same time overcoming the obstacles such as:
– working in another cultural environment (not knowing the way of working and the people, and the organization and its structures etc etc)
– working in another language (although most people speak English, the work is in Portuguese, including meetings etc. and I didn't know any Portuguese before I game)
– working in an industry – banking – and in an organization that I was not familiar with before, but which require a lot of time and energy to get to know to (it's huuugeeee, imagine an organization of 30 000 people. PS. and that's only Brazil!)
I had and still have high expectations for myself, since I have been working professionally for about 4-5 years, out of which considerable time with an area that I love – sustainable development and corporate responsibility - and I expected not to be just a trainee, but be equal to all other employees in regards of the contribution that I make.
All the obstacles in mind, it has not been an easy task for me to demonstrate the capacity, skills and knowledge I have. There has been maaaany moments that I felt down and unable to meet the expectations that I had for myself in the limited time available.
It's gone better now, mainly along the improvements with Portuguese :))) (Gee...I had forgotten what it means to learn a new language and to actually be able to use it in daily working life!! English seems soooo easy now.)
Some things I remind myself (thanks to the people who contributed to the process, the "life support" was really important :)):
- Don't give up – I remind myself of my expectations and I don't need to lower them, but just need to walk the same path: keep learning and moving onwards
- Take a loooooot of initiative and network (talk to different people, get to know them and their work, push them to involve me etc.), because for most of people I am just a trainee from a foreign country that noone really knows anything about, let alone the fact that people at workplace wouldn't also know what to expect from me.
- Actively demonstrate the added value I can bring, show my work to even more people that is the immediate necessity etc...
So it has been a journey of personal and professional learning for me, with ups and downs, but now I am happy. I've made sense of things around and inside me a bit more, and I am working on it every day. I'd say I am satisfied.
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