Wednesday, August 17, 2011

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).
 


Tuesday, August 16, 2011

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




 

Friday, August 12, 2011

Street sign

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




Sunday, August 7, 2011

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.



 




Saturday, August 6, 2011

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.....












Friday, July 29, 2011

practising drawing


As many big things start from a small step, this week I have tried to provoke the creativeness in me! Dedicated to mum.

I finally took this step thanks to Julia Cameron's book about creativity: one of the recommended tasks to generate one's creativeness is to write "morning pages". This means writing  three slides of text every morning- what ever comes to your mind. Writing should push subconsious and creative thoughts out of the corners of our minds and get rid of the stress and worries the first thing in the morning so we could concentrate on the essential. This sounded a bit crazy first, but I tried it and in some point noticed that small changes started to happen: I wrote a small poem, changed morning routines and finally picked up a pen again and started to draw!