Is your definition of success yours?

Being a creative, curious type, with a multitude of interests and passions, I find it hard sometimes when I am expected to fit into previously defined career paths or life paths or any other paths or patterns that have been prescribed by societies or cultures. The good news is that I meet more and more people with whom I share this kind of profile. But it’s hard you know. This kind of transition between supposedly secure/safe societies and the newly cannot-afford-retirement-plans type of societies. I think I face the double standard: being free and creative while most of the jobs on the market stick to the same old definition of what a successful career is. And it is frustrating. What I come to experience is that time flies so-so fast and people change as well!  But institutions and social norms don’t change at the same pace. I’ve always based my … Continue reading

9 months living in the most Muslim country in the world

It’s exactly today my 9 months anniversary of living in Indonesia. Time flies by. I felt a bit afraid, afraid and excited, before first stepping foot here. I knew so little about Indonesia. My time was short to do any research on it and when I did have a little time I preferred to keep away form creating any prejudiced or stereotyped impressions from books or any media. Personal experience with an open heart and an open mind is always what I choose. Flying here I had a 6 hour layover in Abu Dhabi. That was actually my first real contact with an Islamic country. Sitting just in the airport, observing the people. Further on, reaching Indonesia, I could just feel that the Muslims of Indonesia are different than the Muslims of the United Arab Emirates. Later I found out that there are some actual formal differences in the Muslim … Continue reading

Tarot reading: what does this person represent in my life?

I received one question in my email from A., who wants to know what does the man whom she met and lost contact with represents in her life. Why did he came in her life so suddenly and beautifuly and then completely withdrew. This is a very good question to put to gain more insight, by using the tarot cards. Once the question was clear in my mind, and after focusing, I drew the cards as follows. The picture is just below. Before drawing the cards I assigned to each one an intention and a role. The first card drawn, the one in the left, represents A., the person who requested the reading. Right now she is represented by the Wheel of Fortune. This suggests that A. is in a situation that is testing her, challenging her to grow, so that it needs serious reflection for eventually making a conscious … Continue reading

Nature vs Humanity

I am living in Indonesia for almost 8 months now and during this time I had the chance to connect more and more with nature. I live in an urban area, the Special District of Yogyakarta, but in an area where rice fields are reachable in a 5 minutes walk. Actually, Indonesian houses, even in the cities, used to be surrounded by a lot of nature, having each their own jackfruit, banana, mango trees and maybe a small rice field hidden in the back of the house. But now things are changing. Concrete is making its way in every neighborhood for facilitating transportation, primarily by motorbikes, and people have started selling their land to support their urban lifestyle which requires owning a car and a motorbike.. or several motorbikes, one for which member of the family. I am not saying that urban development is good or bad, what I am … Continue reading

Why is ‘being water’ one of the best ways to live your life?

We are all living these hyper-fast times in which changes occur every day. Few things stay the same and this apparent lack of stability or security stir up in each of us anxieties and fears. Each of us looks for her or his ways to cope with this situation: some develop addictions and attachments to food or drinks or drugs or other persons, others choose to go on regular visits to psychologists, psychiatrists and other mind therapists, other look for spiritual meanings and solutions such as meditation, yoga, qigong etc.. I’ve been through my own process of finding my way to be me in this world and I chose meditation and Qigong. About my meditation learning I wrote previously here. As about my Qigong experience it’s a lot to be said, but for the moment I want to focus on the awareness that it brought to me over the theory of … Continue reading

Batik: fabled cloth of Java

My Indonesian experience so far enriched me so much! I am grateful to be living here in Java, Indonesia and to study from professionals the amazing UNESCO certified Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity certified Indonesian textile art, batik. It was one of my dreams to study art formally and this art form is so beautiful and it suits me so much. Besides the technique itself which has its challenges, batik is an art so full of philosophical meaning! Each type of batik says a story. Batik is a textile art based on the technique of decorating and (repeatedly) dyeing a fabric by using removable wax to save the parts of the fabric that are not intended to be dyed. Batik is centuries old and the diversity of patterns, motifs and colors used stand as a proof for the cultural diversity that can be found in Indonesia itself … Continue reading

A visit at the Borobudur temple

When you come to Indonesia you shouldn’t miss visiting the largest Buddhist temple in the world, located in Central Java: Borobudur. It is impressive! It is actually the number one sightseeing site on the list of every tourist coming to the Java island. Borobudur is basically built in a hill, consists of six square platforms and three circular platforms at the top, being in a shape of a Buddhist mandala, as it can be seen from the photos below: The temple is decorated with 2 672 relief panels and 504 Buddha statues. On the top platform there is a main dome surrounded by 72 Buddha statues which are each placed inside a perforated stupa (a stupa is a hemispherical structure which contains Buddhist relics. Stupas all over the world have slightly different designs. However, one beautiful symbolism of the stupa that I’ve been told of is that of a water … Continue reading

What I have learnt by practicing meditation …

I’ve been an on/off meditator for the last 6 years. I’ve been practicing it more regularly in the last 3 years and I’ve been working on making it a regular daily practice because I am utterly convinced of  its benefits! About its concrete benefits neuroscientists have undergone some recent studies that demonstrate that it actually helps reshape our brain. My interest lies more in how this reshape of the brain shifts our behavior – which is defined as the action and/or reaction each of us takes in response to external or internal stimuli. My biggest meditation lesson and challenge in the same time was attending a 10 days Vipassana meditation in silence. The word vipassana means seeing things as they really are. This meditation technique was re-discovered by Gautama Siddhartha Buddha more than 2500 years ago and it was taught to me in its original form, by attending one of … Continue reading

The Durian fruit: a love story

My love story with durian didn’t start off so passionately from the beginning … I was warned that one either loves it or hates it. Still, the rule is this: you have to try it three times before you can be sure of your feelings toward it.  At first I found the smell to be a bit disgusting (just to have an idea, some people describe as “the smell of a very dirty toilet”) and the taste not so special. But as I gave it more chances I finally fell in love with it. I observed with surprise how my senses changed their perception: the smell is one of the best, delicate and distinct perfumes  in the world, the consistency and taste are comparable to one of the most delicious artisan Italian gelato you could find out there! And yes, it is all natural! And it doesn’t stop here! Durian … Continue reading

Happy new year of the Wooden Sheep! Selamat tahun baru imlek! Gong Xi Fa Cai!

  Happy new year everybody! We have officialy entered into the Wooden Sheep (Goat), according to Chinese astrology! It looks like it is going to be a year of blooming creativity and of peace finding… I stumbled here upon this poem which would best describe the Sheep and its characteristics for the new year: I am nature’s child, fortune smiles upon me. All things bloom in the gentleness of my love. I strive to find beauty in all I behold. I AM THE SHEEP. So, the advice for this year is: get in touch with your inner child, find peace with everyone including yourself and create create create!