-
Decision-making issues
Here and there I read local job advertisements and quite a few of them require good (or rather excellent) decision-making skills. The potential employers want the potential employee not to be afraid of making decisions and be willing to take responsibility for them, probably in situations and under conditions which may be very stressful and difficult. Without hesitation, I put these ads aside. I know I am not that kind of person. I do not make my decisions easily. Not even the most trivial ones. Imagine me, standing in a shop, not able to choose a T-shirt. I like a few but I am not sure which one looks good…
-
Charm of mnemonics
There are so many pieces of information we need to know, there are so many pieces of information we need to remember. None of us is able to remember everything and sometimes we may get into trouble when forgetting something important. But there are techniques coming to our aid and probably all of you met and used the art of mnemonics which makes it easier for our brain to remember and recall the important pieces of information. There are many mnemonic devices and you can find plenty of them on the Internet but I would like to mention just a few practical uses which have stuck in my (Czech) mind.…
-
Faces of denial
A few months ago, Dan Brown’s Inferno was released, which is his latest novel. I have read all of his novels and felt curious what he would come up with now so I bought the book as soon as I saw it in a book store. Frankly, I have been disappointed in many respects. Nevertheless, there is mentioned a theory of denial in the story and I had to think about it a lot. It has stuck in my mind… The theory says that our human mind protects itself against feeling unbearable stress which could be faced when thinking too much about possible threats. We could be permanently afraid of…
-
Beads of memories
When I was in my twentieth, I had a pair of friends who used to organise evenings of reading in their flat for a bunch of young people. I do not remember if there was served any food (probably just what participants brought with them) but there was always prepared a big pot of strong black tea with a pinch of cinnamon, the flavour was very unusual to me at that time. The reading was voluntary and everybody was welcome to participate in it. One could choose any book and any section of it to read it aloud to the others. To make them think, discuss the matter or laugh,…
-
Though seen, hidden to our eyes
A few days ago, I was watching a celebration of the ninetieth anniversary of the local Volunteer Fire Company. It was a wonderful opportunity to try and take another type of photos than I am used to. The firemen were dressed in official light or dark blue uniforms, fire engines and equipment – both new and old – were displayed in the local pitch and procession was walking through the village including a small band playing to set a marching step. I was absorbed in the celebration and focused on taking the photographs as the light was changing all the time, people were moving, regrouping, talking, so much to figure…
-
Following trail markings
“The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant.We have created a society that honours the servant and has forgotten the gift.”― Albert Einstein When I was going home from work last week, I started to think about Felix Felicis, a potion playing an important role in Harry Potter’s adventures… Well, I need to insert a little intermezzo here. Afterwards I pondered about the occurrence of that idea in my mind, why Harry Potter all of a sudden? And I realised that I could start many of my posts with the words “When I was going home from work, it occurred to me…”. I…
-
Perspective
“We are set in our ways, bound by our perspectives and stuck in our thinking.”― Joel Osteen The other day I was going home from work, driving my car and listening to the radio. I was in a bad mood because I made a great deal of effort at work and credit for it was given indirectly to my colleague. I was listening to the broadcasting, both news and music and was drowning disappointment in self-pity. Then a song started and though I wasn’t listening to it carefully, I suddenly heard two words prominently among other words. True seeker. TRUE SEEKER. The words were screaming in my mind and I…
-
Meeting warmth
One of the things that make me happy in my garden is a little clump of chives that I love to add to soups or to scatter them on boiled potatoes. They are best in late spring or early summer before hot days dry their juiciness out. I usually cut them a lot at that time prior to their flowering and keep them in our freezer for later use. I’ve learnt to use more herbs and spices lately and a week ago I remembered a spice mixture which I used to buy years ago. I decided to buy and taste it again so I made a mental note and when…
-
Message left by a dream
From Monday to Friday, my husband’s alarm clock goes off at 5:00 a.m. My alarm is set for 5:01 and follows shortly. I like to stay in bed for a few more minutes to wake up properly so I stop the ringing as soon as it starts and try not to fall asleep to get to my workplace in time. Surprisingly I rarely fall back to sleep. This Tuesday morning belonged to those rare exceptions. When I heard my husband’s tender voice calling my name, I opened my eyes with a start to find out that it was almost half past five. To get even bigger shock, I woke from…
-
Stepping twice into the same river
Have you ever heard that you cannot step twice into the same river? I have met this saying for the first time probably when attending a high school and learning about ancient Greek philosophers and their teachings. I was taught that it means the following: Everything changes and nothing stays the same. When you step into the same river for the second time, the water is not the same anymore and you are not the same either. At least your cells got older but you may also be more experienced, see life from a different perspective. I liked it and used the saying many times, emphasizing that when you do…
