café noisella- in love again

Noisette

Hot milk

Espresso

Bresiliénne

Cinnamon

I'm possible

Ardennes- another escape from Brussels

Fresh Air! Biking on the Dutch coast

Time to decide

Applying for jobs is exciting and demanding at the same time. Why? Not only because of the insecure feeling whether I will get the job and when, but I also have to decide which is the most important priority for me. 

Options are many: 1)I stay where I am in Brussels and try to get a nice well paid job 2) I follow my boyfriend in another country and try to find a job there, despite of the difficult unemployment situation and the fact that I do not speak the language yet 3)I apply to my home country with plenty international experience in my CV 4)I do an internship in another country and have a new cultural experience, but give up the normal salary 5) I search for jobs in any other country.

Like this it looks surprisingly simple, but underneath there are many distracting feelings: will I be fine without my friends and family and for how long, am I ready for a long distance relationship or give up on my own dreams for another person, will I be financially ok, will I ever find a job in that situation. For the moment, these are just worries, not yet reality. I haven't decided yet.

I have been writing about decision making already before, lately making decisions has been very challenging. 

Nevertheless, the book I recently got from a friend, The decisive moment by Jonah Lehner, made things much clearer again. The book gives many examples based on scientific research on how our brain works. The main message is: we should make decisions based on our feelings or rational reasoning depending on the situation.

The most surprising thing was that in some situations it is better to trust on intuition and emotions. When a group of consumers were asked to rate a variety of jams from best to worst just based on a quick tasting sample, they rated the jams in similar order as a group of experts. Nevertheless, when another group was asked to  rate the jams and then justify their choice, the results were very different. Many of them rated the worse jam as the best and so on. The test proves that too much logical reasoning can actually jeopardize our preferences and make us make worse decisions.

On the other hand, our brains cannot handle too many rational variables at the same time. For example, when buying a sofa we need to think about the price, how the sofa will fit with other furniture and colours, how it will feel, what material is it made of, its size etc. If we try to take all the criteria into consideration, the decision becomes almost impossible. Therefore, in these situations it is better to trust on our instincts: I buy a nice sofa that fits well with other furniture despite of the high price.


When making simple situations like choosing a strawberry jam or wine, we also have several options. Some research have shown that people cannot recognize an expensive wine among cheaper wines. Therefore in these situations we can trust on rational thinking and for example, take the cheapest or the biggest can.


My decision about the job is not a simple one. Now I also understand why trying to think logically has made me feel even more confused. I try to reason rationally and then convince myself and be certain about my choice. And then some inner feeling starts knocking on my chest. Here I have understood: things will be ok. What is best for my CV or for someone else is not necessarily best for me.


Tomorrow a free day: I forgot all the rational reasoning and I let my subconscious mind digest this a bit and then consciously trust more on my intuition. Let's see.

Listening Consciously?

Check out Julian Treasure's speech about listening consciously.

There is lots of noise and many visual messages disturbing us and therefore truly listening people around us, not even talking about their unstated messages, has become challenging. I have to admit I tend to surf on Internet while skyping with someone and I often see people around me typing their mobiles during dinner in restaurants.


But should listening really be taught at school? Technology keeps on developping, but it seems we have lost our basic skills.

Being present- or somewhere else?

How many times have I returned back home because I am not sure if I closed the door, put the stove or the iron machine off? Countless. Well, majority of the cases I returned for nothing, I just wasn't conscious when I was closing to door etc. But if the iron machine is accidentally left on for even once, that is truly dangerous. That's why being consious of our actions is crucial. And things could be so much easier and I would save time if I didn't have to return every single time to check something.

Zen habits  mentions some usefull tips for being present, like mindfulness and meditation. Practising regurlarly is very important. I started meditating last year, but I have noticed that I really need to do it every day to see some results. Since I have time now, I have been practising it every morning. Still, I often wake up in the middle of my breakfast realizing I had been thinking something else and not concentrating on the delicious thing I was eating. Or I was reading a book and suddenly realized I didn't remember a thing of what I was reading as my thoughts were wandering somewhere else. 


But I know this really works. I worry and panic much less than before. Breathing calmly in stressful situations has unbelivably strong effect on performance. Perhaps even on our health in the long term- and this motivates me to practise more, even though I am probably one of the most impatient meditators.


Tomorrow morning, porrige and coffee with full presence please( would be so much easier with a chocolate cake though).
 

Café surfing

This month our internet connection went kaputt. In other words, our neighbour left for holidays or simply cut their connection. In Brussels it is just too easy to use other people's networks, but impossible to make a new contract for only two months if neighbour's connection is no longer available.

So, I have been hanging out in different Internet cafés around Brussels. First it felt like too much effort, but now I've become addicted to it. When I am at home, I concentrate on the essential and not hanging half online, half doing something else. I use my time more efficiently. Besides, It is very convenient to surf on a sunny terrass and I have got to visit so many nice new cafés already. I could soon make a brochure of nice Internet cafés in Brussels...

 Quartier Gourmand, Sablon

Les Gens que j'aime, Rue du Midi

 

Street sign

So gratefull they put this add in my street corner- I will never get lost again!

Another way to spend the summer

Total Écran is film festival in Brussels. Movies everyday from Cannes Film festival nominees. A must!

 Cinema Arenberg is located in the beautiful Gallerié de la Reine being small, cosy and bohemian at the same time.

Rio Sex Comedy by Jonathan Nossiter is all about pleasure, beautiful Rio and ...enjoying life by being happy with ourselves, who we are and how we look. Particularly, the movie gives an interesting view on plastic surgery, which is quite common in Brazil nowadays. Nevertheless, smile is the best face lift that exists.

Life is a cake

Delicious, beautiful, stylish, fun. You never know how it will taste, but there is plenty of cream for everyone. It is a cake. Enjoy it before it is gone.

Birthday brunch at cafe Ekberg avec Suvi. Also starring: delicious cakes.

 

Alternative Brussels

One of the best sides of Brussels is that there are always new places, events and streets to discover.

This year I am one of the only ones staying the whole August in the city and decided to enjoy this time. Everything is open, the fact that I might leave this beautiful, colourfull(!)city is very probable.

Let's enjoy every single moment of this time: window shopping in Brussels

Rue Blaes, Marolles

 

Jeu de balle

 Ixelles

 

Closing time.....