Enjoy, do not obsess…

Obituary of The Late Mr COMMON SENSE by ANNE WHITFIELD

“Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as:
- Knowing when to come in out of the rain;
- Why the early bird gets the worm;
- Life isn’t always fair; and
- Maybe it was my fault.

Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don’t spend more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children, are in charge). His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a 6-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.

Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children. It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer sun lotion or an Elastoplast to a student; but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.

Common Sense lost the will to live as the Ten Commandments became contraband; churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims.

Common Sense took a beating when you couldn’t defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault. Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.

Common Sense was preceded in death by:

- his parents, Truth and Trust;
- his wife, Discretion;
- his daughter, Responsibility; and
- his son, Reason.

He is survived by his 4 stepbrothers:

- I Know My Rights,
- I Want It Now,
- Someone Else Is To Blame, and
- I’m A Victim.

Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone.

People come, people go…

Life fact. Period.

A vision of tomorrow: Passion

I have been constantly searching for passion in my life until recently, when I realized it has always been within me. Interestingly enough, personal and professional passion is a blurred line for me as I carry it into life collectively. I am an activist, as well as a promoter of creative expression without boundaries. I am also a woman, a living creature seeking to fulfill its biological purpose.

Three passions, simple but overwhelmingly strong, have governed my life: a connection with nature, meaningful relationships, and the search for understanding. Three passions, have carved the path I have walked and will continue to guide me on my life’s journey.

I have sought a connection with nature, first, because it brings peace – peace which reaches so deep into my soul that I am completely engulfed in a cloud of tranquility. I have sought it further for it relieves self-doubt – to be in sync with so simple, and natural an environment as nature, reinforces confidence to pursue dreams. I have sought it, finally, because in observing natures miracle’s, I have seen that miracles do exist, painting rainbows following the storm. This is what I sought, and through nature I have seen light and hope.

With equal passion I have sought meaningful relationships. I have wished to connect with loved ones through out my life. I have wished to share experiences with family and friends that will bring us close together. So close that in losing one of them that pain is heart wrenching. It is then that I know that we have loved each other. Pieces of each our lives have become part of the other person, and in losing them we have lost a part of ourselves, but that connection between us will always exist.

A search for understanding of my life fills my mind with constant questions. My purpose on this earth is a burning entity in the pit of my stomach, driving me forward, pushing me on. Guidance can only be provided by others to a certain extent before we must take over and complete our own journey. The journey I must travel I have yet to reveal, or perhaps I am already walking the path, it is my purpose, here, that sparks my fire.

This is my life, I see my future filled with them. Passions are what make it worth the while, having the opportunity to relive every moment is a gift I could never refuse.

Passion is what wakes me in the morning, pushes me to take unprecedented risks and allows me live to tell the story. I have an entrepreneur spirit and have several ventures docked in my head ready for entrance into the world. At times I feel like the doula of ideas. But there is one that will always remain: I am passionate about leaving the world a better place for the future.

Exploding Eggs

If you try to microwave broiled eggs to make them warm again… they will explode like small nitroglicerine bombs and in your microwave there will be egg all over the place…

Coffee here and there

There is something that is becoming terribly weird about what I did with my life for the last eight years. It comes as a direct result of my AIESEC times, because during that while I matched more than 500 internships in different places of the world, to 500 students from different places of the world.

I must say that sadly I don’t remember most of them, not their names, where they were from or where they did their internship; but there is a good group of 50 that I remember and that somehow I stayed in touch with.

It is so scary to see how I impacted the lives of this people down the line. Today many are working in the same company where they did their internship, work in another company in the same country, others married another intern or a boyfriend and girlfriend that lived close to where their internship happened others went back home to better jobs than they expected. Some of them, go on holidays together, attend eachother’s wedding, etc etc.

I guess I am not involved in much of it, because as always I have been an observer of the people around me, move from one group to another easily, country to country easily and well… will rarely set strong connexions with those around me, even if of course there are some exceptions.

All and all, we have stayed in touch, I have an idea of what happens in their lives as they have an idea of what is going on with mine and well… it all keeps moving with the rare but strange possibility of coffee in many places of this world in which while catching up, time seems to suspend.

Yes, the Davos generation.

The Dark Side

When our commitment to positive thinking turns from ‘I will welcome the challenges the world throws at me, take responsibility for my own existence, and make the best of any situation’ to ‘If I think positively and exclude the negative aspects of reality from my awareness, then conditions themselves will become positive’, we are trading constructive self-reliance for panglossian delusion. Also, for many, recognizing the darker sides of our own nature is one of the first steps on the path of self-discovery.

No IF

It takes no genius to know that putting feelings out there makes us feel exposed and vulnerable and the fear to that exposure and vulnerability is what utterly can make it quite hard for people to express their feelings and even more, their fear.

Already a long time ago, because time flies, I saw myself with Jeanne and Kiko discussing about these matters, and while the barman was singing happily to the song that was played while he cleaned a glass or two, we came with a theory of layers and personal shields or pretty much how consciously or unconsciously we let people closer to our core giving them the power to lift us or hurt us; Being one of those that are unable to express deep feelings until I simply cannot keep quiet any longer I can say the good news is that once you are able to pin down what you feel or fear, the talking, which may be also done with other ways of expression, is much lighter. And yet, if after the exposure it is impossible to tell what the reaction of the other person will be… Letting you float over the sky or feeling your heart was chopped in small pieces and dropped in the garbage can in front of your eyes, here is the better news… You’ve done it.

It was a dear friend who passed recently who said we all should try to do it at least once in our life; I thought at the time he was referring to pouring your heart to someone, but now as time has passed and unfortunately not having him around anymore to continue this discussion, I think he was referring much more than that but this is something I shall never know. Living with no if, at least you’ve done it.

When in Switzerland…

Calvin Stopes – Balcony TV Hamburg