I am just back from Dubai. The city of superlatives in every form, towering above a sea of average Western franchises. This time, my most memorable moments came in my encounters with the ordinary people I met and the dreams they shared with me. Nature loves diversity, and creativity too. The Wheel of Creativity is turning.
How my mother taught me to love
I have a cupboard in my mind where I keep a collection of images from my life, and the lingering feelings that go with them. Every Mother’s Day, there is one I must take out and look at. It was the moment when everything changed – the day I learned something about love that I shall never forget.
Room to grow… how safety kills creativity
Sometimes the things we construct to protect us end up harming us in the end. Sometimes we need room to grow. And we must free ourselves from these unyielding constructions to have it.
An original egg
Several weeks ago, when I was doing my grocery shopping at Carrefour (the WalMart of France), I saw this egg in the tray. I picked it up and held it in my hand; and instantly we drew a small crowd of people who found the egg equally disturbing. “C’est bizarre” was their assessment. Well, that cinched it. I had to have it.
walk softly and feel the connection
Seven years ago, I participated in my first Sweat Lodge on a secluded piece of fertile land in Provence. Part of the ritual was to gather small offerings from Nature for the altar at the entrance of the lodge. As I took my first steps out into the vibrant green jungle around the lodge, I realized that I could not take one step without crushing something beneath my foot. I was deeply humbled.
walk softly and take a deep breath
I have been aware lately that I have been more nervous that usual, more anxious, more tense. I am aware that the disruption, destabilization and disasters around our world are disturbing me. What can I do? As individuals we may feel powerless, but we are not. Just as other people offer us the opportunity to look at and amend things in ourselves that hold us back, so the world today is offering us this as a species.