Geneva – in 1.5 hours!

Last year in November, I was invited to participate at a European Seminar on Youth Policies and post EVS opportunities within the framework of Youth in Action programme. The seminar was held in a small city in Provence called St. Cyr sur Mer. And…. I decided to take the train to get there! :)

In between train rides, I had just enough time to stop in Genève, change some euros in Swiss Francs, grab a coffee and venture around the train station.

Here are some photos I took on my little trip:

Views over Quai Gustave-Ador and Lake Geneva

The “Jet d’eau” (Water fountain)

Early Christmas decorations…The Swiss flag

Like any other major European city, Geneva is very bike friendly: in the little bit of time I spent around the bay, I saw lots of people – business men, students, kids and elderly, all biking. Quite nice! It reminded me a lot of Austria…

Geneva is the home of Red Cross International, CERN, UN and many other international organizations. It also hosts a plethora of festivals, museums and art galleries, which makes it a friendly and young city.

It is the capital of the Republic and Canton of Geneva, and the second biggest city in Switzerland after Zurich. If you speak French or English, and if not, some Italian, Spanish and Portuguese, you should be fine when traveling around (since there are a lot of people speaking these languages in the city).

No surprise there! Geneva is also the main European center of diplomacy and a very important financial center. It is ranked as being the third in the world at providing the best quality life for its citizens! The elegant and very well preserved architecture, the safe and orderly public transportation system, the efficient infrastructure, the clean-neat overall look of the city, as well as the numerous opportunities for cultural and educational growth reflects it.

Other fun facts and info about the city here and here!

Marie Madeleine Gautier’s Women

In today’s media, where women are captured having mostly standard sizes, shapes and if possible, the same type and hair color, Marie’s sculptures are a breath of fresh air! they are candid, joyful, honest and above all, liberating.

I got introduced to her work in Venice, Italy, in 2007. I was visiting an obscure art gallery – to me at least, at the time – and was struck by the beauty and charm of her sculptures on display. I saved her name, got back home and searched for her.

Thus, here is her official website. Here and here you can gaze at some of her works.

Women’s bodies are works of miracle and wonder! they foster and nourish life, they bear the burden of life giving, they unite families and friends, they can capture everyone’s attention with their mysterious ways, unique approaches to life, love and work (and looks!), and above all, women make half of the humanity! Now that is a powerful fact!

Sadly, in many countries of the world, women are still objectified and reduced solely to their ability of giving birth and pleasure and are being viewed as second rate citizens. And some attitudes in Westernized countries are no better! How many times have you heard “jokes” about blondes, or about the way women drive, or feel and act? Told in a sarcastic and diminishing way? How about the statistics of rape and domestic violence, that are still rising? And I could go and on…

I am glad we can vote. I am even happier that we can travel, choose whom and if to marry or mate with, attend college and plan when we have a baby, or not. I am happy for all these “freedoms” that we acquired. But what have we really gained? Do we look differently at women now than we did 50, 100, 500 years ago? Do we understand them in their complexity? Are women truly respected for their innate differences, attitudes, attributes and characteristics? In all their diversity, mystique and prowess, without judging them them too harshly or sarcastically?

Why are we so eager to prove then that men and females are not so different after all, or that the first are better than the latter, in some way or another?… And why are we still so surprised at the differences between males and females? They are natural! We are born with them so that together with the opposite sex, we can create successful partnerships: at work, in friendships, in love and when raising our children! it’s like cutting an apple in half and making it whole again by putting the two pieces together.

I think that sometimes we do not realize how we truly feel about women. But the more or less unconscious attitudes we hold about women surface in the generalizations we make about them, in the little sarcastic jokes that we tell amongst friends, in the type of porn we choose to watch, and ultimately, in whom we choose to date. Just observe your daily thoughts, comments and beliefs about them! You might be surprised…

I am glad I am a woman and I am happy for all the gifts that come with it! Just as I admire the men around me: the way they look at things, how they choose to solve problems, their strength, their courage and sense of adventure…I am also grateful that everywhere I look  – roads, bridges, houses, buildings – they were mainly built by men and through their ingenuity! So much to learn and grow from one another, isn’t it?

One of my wishes is to see more women and men working together harmoniously, accepting one another with respect and open-mindedness, using their differences to complement each other and learn. The Feminist waves helped us greatly but in the same way, I think it left us all a bit confused…

Maybe, with this new era, we can finally explore our depths, decide who we really are as males and females, what roles suit us, and how to nourish our differences in a way that together, we can bring a more loving, honest and kind humanity.

Marie Madeleine Gautier’s works are genuine glimpses into the female universe: light, serene, thoughtful, full of love…here are some of my faves:

“Dis-moi”(French) or “Tell me”.

“Confidence”

“Femme Chapeau” (The Hat Woman)

“Le Baiser” (The Kiss)

“La vid-a-til un sens” (The void has a meaning)

“Le Calin” (The Hug)

Inspirational Tuesday: On kindness

A part of kindness consists in loving people more than they deserve.

Joseph Joubert

Kindness has such an amazing power! to heal, to unite, to correct, to add love when is most needed, to change someone’s path for the better. I feel we all need to practice it, more and more every day, especially when we are bombarded with bad news, violence and stories of crimes all around us.

And the thing is, it doesn’t require any big or grand gestures from our part. We do not need to save the world and fix all its problems. By being kind, we just add, little by little, ripples of good and calmness, in the lives of our closest: family, friends, neighbors, coworkers, strangers…

Being kind means being attentive, patient, respectful of others feelings and opinions (taking them as they are without trying to change them or prove them wrong), listening with curiosity and an open mind, letting go of hurting someone back, and mostly, forgiving. Ourselves firstly, and then, all who have harmed us.

Then, it means doing good, helping someone out. Being encouraging, supportive, gentle: to people, animals, plants and then, the entire world. Spreading an attitude of well being, generosity and love, that will enlarge in time, like ripples on a lake, and create wonders.

The benefits?… too many to mention and you will start noticing them the moment you decide to use kindness as a daily practice! :)

Sunday’s sunny snow

The sun finally shone, for a little while, just enough to catch some glimpses of its tender and sparkly love with the snow…

Light and shadow in Gherla’s central park.

The river, covered by ice and snow…

The main entrance into the park.

Blue sky and the back of the Roman Catholic Church, in Gherla, Cluj County, Romania. Photos taken by me, February, 2012

Winter madness

Photos taken in Gherla, Cluj County, Romania. In the park and next to the Somes River. February, 2012.

And, a very beautiful song to go with the photos :)

I have taken some photos of the same scenery back in November…you can check them out and compare here.

From Peter Ustinov’s, “Dear Me”: on rediscovering ourselves and being playful

People know themselves when they are children, and then everything is done to integrate them into society as what is pretentiously and erroneously termed “useful members”. It is here that they lose themselves, sometimes irrevocably, in a prison of convention, where individual thought is replaced by conditioned reflexes, imposed by a sense of propriety and its attendant hypocrisy. The roots of racialism, for example, are planted deep in this fallow soil. (…). Old men of quality are those who have thought their way very successfully to a rediscovery of themselves in spite of every temptation, and it is no wonder they tend to befriend children. They have common ground, themselves, the ones not yet lost, the others rediscovered.

Peter Ustinov, “Dear Me”, 1977. Arrow Books, London, UK. Page 235

For an absolute fun and witty reading and some interesting views and ideas on life, love, the world of film and theater, Peter Ustinov’s autobiography is too good to miss! you can purchase the book here!

I especially liked this part because playing, acting and consequently staged theater plays, have so much to do with self-expression, growth and gaining self-knowledge, especially in the context of children’s play, that forgetting how to do it, while growing up, takes away something from our humanity.

If you’ve ever watched children play you would see them take their play very seriously. Like their whole life depended on it. In a non-classical educational context, you will see that playing continues quite later on, into teenage years. It only changes in structure, depth and themes. In the classical system, kids run wild like they’ve been held for too long caged in one place when the break comes. The breaks offer the needed escape. Play is fun and therapeutic. Their mental scenarios, fears, scares, events, are played and replayed through their games, for a proper understanding and grasping, and it is much needed for a healthy mental and physical development.

Growing up though, we forget how to do it. Or we are being told no to. We grow up so fast, especially in this digital world we live in, and we forget that there is this joyful side of us that needs to be nourished just as we need to nourish the physical, spiritual, mental and social one. If and when we are playful, we return to ourselves; to our inner beings, where there is freedom, and joy and light. And it can be done in many ways. By laughing, being creative when cooking/solving some issues around the house, when we play with our kids/someone else’s, when we write, pray, sing and love. It draws our attention back to the present moment. The only true moment in which we can feel the essence of life. Take the time every day, even for just a little bit of play, whatever you might conceive it to be.

Here are some ideas to bring more playfulness into your life:

• play, run, jump into puddles on the streets (alone, with your kids/others’…); it is the most liberating feeling, not caring if you get wet, about your clothes, about what the others say, etc. If whether permits it, walk barefoot.
• play with snow, for it is the season (in the northern hemisphere, at least).
• sing and hum, whenever you feel like it and have the chance – singing is highly correlated with a positive mood as well as higher levels of awareness and has absolutely nothing to do with how well you can actually sing ;)
• create your own crafts, cards and gift wrapping from old paper and magazines.
• find some old photos that you can purchase at almost any antique bookstore and give them to the precious people in your life. Tell them about the similarities that you have found, how you feel about them, what you wish for them; have fun doing so and find the inspiration to live both your lives fully, especially when being reminded of others that have lived and passed away before you.
• write postcards and letters, and send them to the people you love, unexpectedly.
• let others (and your kids, especially) play and be playful. Let them make their mistakes and still love them nonetheless. Let them learn in their own rhythm. There is no better architect for the brain than the actual experience. And we learn best when we play, when it engages all our senses, mind and body (there is an immense body of research on this topic!). And that takes time.
• daydream: at least 5, 10 minutes/day. It will engage not only your mind, but your heart and soul also. It will give you hope and energy to embark on all the things you desire.
• write: poems, thoughts, ideas…things you wanted to say to someone but never had the chance.
• read about something you know nothing/very little about/about the things that scare you. It will open the doors of possibility.
• love! learn how to. We spend years and years in school, colleges, training courses, and reach adulthood without learning how to love healthily, wholeheartedly, unconditionally. Or without properly understanding and managing our emotions. It is never too late.

Last but not the least, share your own playful ideas with the rest of us! :)

Roxi

The Red Chair

Keleti Railway Terminal. Budapest, Hungary, October, 2011