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Reflections
Once I was standing on a bank of a pond, watching a duck resting just opposite and admiring its reflection in the water. It was such a tranquil scene… I zoomed in my camera in an effort to capture the impression but when I opened the photo on my laptop, I felt taken aback. Is this what I saw at the place? There is something wrong with the picture… And then it dawned on me. The reflection did not look as I supposed it should. The duck was there but there were also trees mirroring themselves in the water which could not be seen in the upper part of the…
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Costume
Last summer we visited a Milotice castle, a baroque castle situated in South Moravia. When we entered the castle’s court yard, we noticed a poster inviting everybody to “Change into a period costume!”. After a while we noticed a group of three women dressed in enchanting period gowns. Obviously they were having fun while promenading in the castle’s park, posing for photographs and chatting, and it felt as if we found ourselves in that period as well. The way we dress ourselves definitely influences or even decides on how we feel. To put on clothes of a different style than we are used to wearing may evoke a surprising experience…
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Bionics And Cyborgs
A few years ago handicapped runners started to use new prostheses which looked like a curved thick metal sheet in a shape of a bird’s leg. The prostheses were flexible, enabled better spring and easier movement while running and the runners were achieving better times in races. Even discussions started whether these athletes could or should contest against the not handicapped ones. Surprisingly (or not), the not handicapped runners found such competition unfair, explaining that the prostheses have qualities human legs will never have and thus the handicapped runners would have great advantage over them. A few weeks ago I was reminded of that dilemma when I was listening to…
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Creativity
“Creativity is not just for artists.It’s for businesspeople looking for a new way to close a sale;it’s for engineers trying to solve a problem;it’s for parents who want their children to see the world in more than one way.”― Twyla Tharp, a dancer and choreographer Many times it seems to me that I lack creativity absolutely but when I look at my ordinary day through the glasses of this quote, I realise how much wisdom they reveal. We are creative in solving our family and personal problemsimpressing those we want to impresslooking for new opportunitiesclimbing career laddersfulfilling our needs trying to keep ourselves comfortablearranging clothes in our wardrobessetting tables and…
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Added value
In the first January week I started my 52-week photography project which should help me to use my camera on a regular basis and become more practised and experienced photographer. Thanks to this project I visited the town Švihov a week ago where my husband wanted to show me a nice cottage on a river bank. We were strolling along the river for a while, went to the near cemetery and eventually arrived at the local castle. The castle is moated and before we left, I asked my husband to go to the water with me so that I could try and capture ducks swimming there. It was getting dark…
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Black and white
Before Christmas I was making an appointment and on that occasion I was speaking with an assistant over the phone, with a woman I had not known. Her voice was pleasant and friendly and when I was to meet her finally, I was looking forward to that meeting. But expectations are deceiving troublemakers so when I actually saw her, I could not believe it was the same person. I did not like her appearance and felt disappointed. After exchanging the words we needed to say I got back to my car and went home. While driving, it began to dawn on me that my what-I-felt-at-first-sight perception was quite silly. She…
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Unplanned
Before I got married, my favourite styles of music had been contemporary folk and classical music. Then my husband-to-be entered my life and brought his favourite rock music into our household. I discovered quite a new musical world but did not find it overwhelmingly appealing. I did like some rock ballads and from time to time a rock song but did not enjoy and often could not stand those lengthy instrumental interludes my husband was speaking about passionately. A few weeks ago he bought a CD. He did not tell me a word about it but I noticed it playing one day and as its music aroused my curiosity I…
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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…
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Knocking
I am knocking Knocking at my soulasking permission to enter I keep knocking Are you present therethough not displayed in the center? I am not coming with empty handscan you see? I am bringing all the beauty I have met todayI am bringing all the strength I have gathered todayI am bringing all the love I have received today Because I know how fragile,full of uncertainties you areholding your fears inside youyet setting high the bar I know how scared you areof challenges you facebut I know there is courageto accept them with good grace I witnessed your great braveryso many, many timesI saw it in your shining faceand twinkling…
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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.…
