Elles ont conquis le monde – Les grandes aventurièes 1850-1950. Parmis mes lectures… à défaut d’être içi et non pas à cheval dans la brousse…
Newly found friendship with Keri’s latest jem, How to be an explorer of the world, Portable life museum. I love how the book’s different tasks, not to say missions, are taking me far away from my straight, linear thinking, bringing me exactly where i most need to be, all senses ON, absolutely-and-totally-in-the-moment, ready to embrace the fullness of my own world.
I feel like a solitary human, on my mission to discover other worlds which might open their doors to me – no googles though, but still, i take my missions real serious!
Christine’s book was waiting for me at the post office today, an unexpected surprise since i had no hope to receive the book before some more weeks – damn the slow US-Canada post service – but there it was, handled to me as saying C’mon, take me home!
Well, the book is a beautiful piece that made my heart sing – I felt so happy to hold in my hands this precious work of her. As a loyal reader of Christine’s blog since years, I feel i’ve been virtually part of this book’s creation process. I’ve read through the ups and down, i’ve been there to share all the courage and guts that was put down to selfpublish this book – i know what it feels to try to keep up, to start and complete a personal creative project. I know about the excitement, the discipline it takes, and the rituals. I know one must show up to the page, face all the internal demons, and still, do it for one’s sake. It takes courage – tons of it – and I could more than often recognize myself in the struggles, feel the excitement, the hopes and fears of bringing such a work into the world.
As i skipped through the book tonight, words were floating out, almost shouting at me, words i most needed to hear today, as to confirm, in the silence of my kitchen, what my heart is most trying to tell me since weeks, months, years: stop loosing yourself emcee, do what you love most and stop loosing yourself.
I hear it but try to avoid it – and it comes back, it is always there – Stop loosing yourself emcee, do what you love most, you’re almost there.
The words are there, i hear them, read them, and then i’m up with a strong feeling of trust in myself and in my work, until the moment where this feeling is gone again, leaving all space for fears to rises up and make me forget Who i really am… Once lost, it can get so hard and painful to get back, that just this thought creates a new fear in itself… How did i get so lost? What if it happens again…
Christine’s book is one of a brilliant soul, one who’s got a heart wide open and a rare talent to express what we as creative beings most need to hear. I totally dig her way of sharing her life experiences in the most loving, wise, compassionate way.
Here tonight I feel like i’ve found in this book a good companion, one to remember me to keep listening to what my heart sings, even when the fear is there, as if it’s there only for me to learn to dance with.
I don’t know why, but I picked up that book during our last trip to NYC… I did not know the author nor the title.
But it turned out to be an excellent book and I immediately ordered more books from the french writer Michel Houellebecq. I especially loved the mixture of philosophy, futurism and criticism on today’s culture and society.
Update: La Possibilité d’une île is about to be released as a movie!
In my spring reading list i talked about the book The boss of you.
I have just found out that the authors have a blog to support the book, with resources for women trying to find their own way in creating a business, in the traditional business world which is often gray and dull.
I could easily relate to the post called Networking for Nonconformists, or how to stand out when you just dont fit in:
“When we started our business, one of the things that filled me with dread was the thought that to be a successful entrepreneur, I would need to master the art of glad-handing, delivering elevator speeches, and handing out business cards with aplomb (…)
… although we do encourage you to stretch a little beyond your comfort zone, we don’t insist you join a bunch of clubs where you won’t fit in. I really believe you can succeed in business without compromising the things that make you unique. After all, how are you ever going to stand out enough to be noticed if you follow the crowd?”
Another interesting read is the sample chapter of the book which you can get here. They also have a facebook page.
Spring coming, best time for new beginnings, time to put in action resolutions which you forgot about on the second day of the year!
On the list of things which i am looking forward to is first to finish to read a pile of books, so i can order new ones (!). I’m looking forward to dig a little more into energy medicine, since my last reading, Energy Medicine by Donna Eden, has been a breakthrough for me, learning more about being concious of my body’s energy systems and how to sustain them (the meridians, acupuncture points, the chakras, and other energy flow in the body).
She is about to release Energy Medicine for Women, and hopefully there will be a french version:
Beside that, i’m looking forward to get my hands on 1,000 Artist Journal Pages: Personal Pages and Inspirations since me and Guylaine will have some of our work in it!
The Boss of You: Everything a Woman Needs to Know to Start, Run, and Maintain Her Own Business is also on my wishlist, even if the title sounds a little like a 1950 selling brochure, i’ve read about it here:
Women Travelers: A Century of Trailblazing Adventures 1850-1950, this sounds SO inspiring – i know there is a french version as well :
Here are some more of the books i’m looking forward to read – lounging on my balcony or in a retreat in nature… ah!
 A Speech Giver’s Notebook: Tips, Inspirations, Worksheets, Cut-Out Cue Cards to Take the Fear Out of Public Speaking – sounds interesting! |
 The Gluten-Free Vegan: 150 Delicious Gluten-Free, Animal-Free Recipes, because i am *that* complicated! |
 Megatrends 2010: The Rise of Conscious Capitalism, because i am that curious! |
 The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich, who’s not dreaming about it? |
Problems Men Started – This is a note to myself to check out the book, with such a title I’m eager to get to know its content… blink!
The Austrian philosopher and writer Rudolf Steiner (born 1861) was one of the most original thinkers of the twentieth century. His writings cover a wide range of subjects, and he made valuable and influential contributions in many fields, including education, science, medicine, and social reform.
The foundation of his researches was the “science of the spirit” that he called anthroposophy. He maintained that material science could never comprehend the whole of nature, as it excluded the realm of the spirit. Bridging the physical and spiritual worlds, anthroposophy would show the way toward a true understanding of humanity and its relation to the universe.
Rudolf Steiner’s legacy is remarkable. Around the world, thousands of programs have been built up around his inspiration and ideas. These include Waldorf schools, centers for special education, medical clinics, biodynamic farms, centers for various arts, and much more.
Best companion during the last days – i’ve been so ill, spending days in bed. May Sarton’s journals are one of my best discovery of the last year, and i’m sure they’ll be of good company in the following years.
Many quotes could be taken out of this book, here is one which made me think about where feminism might have failed, and where it should start from :
“It cannot be woman against man. It has to be woman finding her true self with or without man, but not against man.”
I met May Sarton through her last book, a diary from her 82nd year. I discovered that she let behind about 10 other diaries, and the book from which i heard most often of her, Journal of a Solitude.
I love diaries, i feel so lucky to be able to get into someone else’s life, life of another time, someone of another age. I felt so close, like being a watching companion over her life, and her being a companion to me for the days i was reading the diary.
As she writes,
“We are all getting older, travel less, and in some ways these journals are like long letters, telling much of what i have done and thought in a whole year”
so i felt compeled to get to know more about how it feels to be May Sarton, at 82, with the solitude, the images and memories fading behind, the good moments, the fighting against depression and frustration, the constant struggle to keep things up, and the despair about the idea of leaving things unfinished…
“… Now i know that this business of being May Sarton will never be sorted out…”
I wish, or hope she knew, that as a woman of another time, i am deeply grateful for her sharing of her life, with such humility and sensibility.
I’ve been doing yoga since 2001. At that time i was living in hamburg, germany, and went to a session of Kundalini Yoga suggested to me by a friend. Since then, doing yoga has been the best way i found to calm down, and most of all, to get back to what i could call my real essence – getting a clear perspective on what’s important, i mean really important, on the long run, and clearly see what is the essence of what i want.
There are many different kind of yoga, and meditation practices. I think there’s something for each kind of people – each of us has to try what feels good to try, usually a strong gut feeling will show you what’s best for you (meaning, my kind of practice will maybe not fit you!).
As a curious person, i do love exploring these new fields – different practices of yoga and meditation – not in a naive way, but more as a way to open my mind and find my own way to connect body and soul with nature and creativity, something our culture has in my opinion failed to teach us. Go, explore!
Ressources :
Creative Visualisation by Shakti Gawain
Kundalini Yoga by Shakti Parwha Kaur Khalsa
David Lynch, Catching the Big Fish: Meditation, Consciousness, and Creativity.
It is a new experience for me to get one of my favorite author’s book just when it’s hitting the stands, while at the same time i can read on the author’s blog all the excitement she felt from having her work out.
I did not know what to expect from Wreck this journal, until i received my copy. Hell fun! — tear, rub, break, lick, stick, drag out, wash — carry it around with you, here is your new friend!
I see this book as a statement that in order to create freely, we as creative beings must be able to experiment, explore, polish and scratch over, disrupt, destroy and rebuild constantly – let go of preconceived ideas, just play in a innocent and almost savage way, as we did as kids, color on our fingers, over our faces. There is no right and wrong, just do it.
Let go. Let go! You should be playing!
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