Tag: Greece


100 Days Of Awe: Day Fifty Six – Love Hearts

Day 56: Love Hearts

IMAG4617-001I never know what is going to surprise me on any given day.  In fact many days I don’t expect anything to surprise me and I can find myself part way through the day experiencing a knot of anxiety in my gut as I realise that I have made a commitment each and every day for 100 days to be open to awe.  On this journey I have become aware that my default position is not one of open receiving but rather of focused survival.  When my attention is locked in on the minutae of getting through the day awesome passes on by.  I see myself then like one of those comedic movie characters engrossed with grappling with some inconsequential knot while all of life’s pleasures, serendipities and synchronicities sail on by in the background.

The beauty of this project is that it reminds me to stop and observe what is going on; I recognise the anxiety, I can observe myself as the observer and I can choose to suspend my need to know and to breathe.  In those moments there is space for the gasp of surprise like when I opened a long forgotten sketch book and saw this page of crayoned love hearts dancing in the fluid swirls of dawdling drawing.  It is naive and simple, unstructured and free, it made me smile and the innocence of it filled my consciousness.

I am reminded of the food I have prepared for a friend who has just had a new baby.  I am excited about my expedition to the burbs of Isleworth to see them, their new home and the new addition to their family.  And I am reminded of my meeting later with my friend Sheila*, Sheila who has opened me up to vibrancy of raw food and foraging without any of the dogma or drama, Sheila who loves life and all of what it has to offer; whether it be a smokey nip of whiskey or a raw kale salad.   My focus goes to the end result of honouring the arrival Amy and Sheila’s recent big birthday.  Time to get my ass into gear and the show on the road to step into the adventure of life right now.

*Sheila Gibbons, Wholestic Wellbeing at Kalikalos Holistic Holidays in Greece from 24 May to 6 June 2014 – spaces still available!

100 Days of Awe is a playful project I set up to bring my attention to awe in my daily life. I see awe as wonder, a mixture of amazement and respect.  I expect the experience of awe to be about perception shifting awareness and that demands a reframing of some sort.  I am excited to see what will awe me on this journey.

Anne K. Scott is an imagination technologist, her work to teach, facilitate and deliver innovation for individuals and business.  She is the creator of FindYourMojo iPHone app. If you are interested in what intuitive coaching can do for you please do contact me.  I support clients all over the world.

100 Days Of Awe: Day Thirty Nine – Sometimes Sad Is Ok

Day 39: Sometimes Sad Is Ok

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Parrot Tulip in Tramore

I lost all heart to write about awe today when I heard about my friend Emile’s death.  Last Summer during my month as a facilitator with the Kalikalos Summer community on the Pelion in Greece I made Emile’s acquaintance.  More than one late Summer evening was spent on the terrace of the local tavernas in Kissos supping on wine and debating life.  Emile was a contemplative soul, with a sharp intellect and an inventor’s mind we shared long careers in the IT business.  A stalwart of the early days of the Kalikalos community he had chosen to step back a little, to live more sustainable for himself, to look after his heart both physically and metaphorically.   Last Sunday as this year’s work campers prepare to roll up their sleeves to launch another season Emile’s heart failed him.  He didn’t recover and passed on his way this 30th day of April.  I am sad, deflated and it feels right and fitting to be introspective with that.

100 Days of Awe is a playful project I set up to bring my attention to awe in my daily life. I see awe as wonder, a mixture of amazement and respect.  I expect the experience of awe to be about perception shifting awareness and that demands a reframing of some sort.  I am excited to see what will awe me on this journey.

Anne K. Scott is an imagination technologist, her work to teach, facilitate and deliver innovation for individuals and business.  She is the creator of FindYourMojo a FREE iPHone productivity app. If you are interested in what intuitive coaching can do for you please do contact me.  I support clients all over the world.

Leavings

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The soft silence of night’s starry blanket falls gently on the verdant slopes of Mount Pelion. There is the subtle coolness of Autumn’s breathe to usher us inside to laugh and joke and Facebook joust.   A raucous noise of separate voices.  Then out of nowhere harmony emerges and angelic tones emerge to soothe us and guide us to our beds.  I have been living in community at Kalikalos in the village of Kissos on the Pelion Peninsula in Greece since the 15 August, almost a month.  There is so much to write about living in community but that is a post for another day.  Right now I am in the poignancy of leaving.  This is a transient holiday community.  From the 1 September there is a gentle falling away of Summer’s sunny cloak and Autumn’s chilly finger prises it’s way into our consciousness.  The weather changes heralds the time to mothball this place for another year.

Online satellite tells there is a weather system moving in, the sky outside is gloomy and lethargic, sluggish and impotent. There is a rush to take down the tents and the yurts as boisterous brother Autumn pitter patters raindrops into town.  September the 15th is my last full day.  A time for contemplation, reflection and gratitude.  A time to savour another superb lunch creation shared with twelve fellow hearts.  The regular beach run is a non starter today but in a blanketed alcove there will be an afternoon of The Transformation Game and in the evening between that and dinner I am faciliatating a completion session using imagination to reveal learning and transformation and to till the sub conscious soil for future creations.  It is a process I use to integrate and leverage from my experiences and being in this community I have an opportunity to share what works for me with others who curiously live and learn together.  It is an occasion to honour the dying embers of this year’s Summer camp.

On the road again – and the decadence of sticky buns for breakfast. My digestive system doesn’t know what hit it after a month of Greek yoghurt, wild foraged fruit, freshly picked salad and healthy vegetarian fare.  The good news is that the policemen in Volos, my first stop to civilisation, are cute.  Very cute.

The itinerary for the journey back to the London is bus from Kissos to Volos on to Larissa where I catch the train to Thessaloniki to connect with a coach to Skopje in Macedonia where I intend to WizzAir it back to London Luton.   The weakest link in this trip is the shuttle connection to Alexander The Great International airport 21km out of town.  I do at least know that it starts at the Hotel Aleksander Palace.

I enjoy the warmth of technology in Greece; every bus and train station it seems offers free wifi – no complicated sign up procedures either, logon and password details have been the same at each of my stops.  I am out of community now, unbounded by the structure of our regular days.  I can hoon around online checking out my stops along the way, staying connected and not feeling so alone.  I forego lunch at Goodys Burger Bar, Thessaloniki Station for the more authentic experience of chicken and potatoes with Greek salad at a grubby sidewalk cafe suffuse with the dusty air of roadworks.  When I am on the move I sleep, like a baby I am soothed into somnolence by the rhythm of wheels on the move and our transition over the border into Macedonia is but a gentle disruption as the curtain of evening drops.

It is raining in Skopje but not wet, that just adds to my disorientation. Not knowing that there is an hours time difference with Greece I am not prepared for the trip to terminate an hour earlier than expected.  I assume that I must be in the wrong place. It scares me shitless to be disorientated; strange language, money, alphabet and the darkness in the glistening of this strange dry rain. My default reaction is to go on the defensive; great attention is paid to looking assertive, self sufficient and knowing. I swing my back pack on feigning effortless ease and certainty.  It is a good job I know that my perception of the world is not real. I catch myself just in time to receive guidance from my bus driver and his English speaking colleague.  Then in spite of my beating heart I head off into the unknown looking for a metered taxi and the Hotel Aleksander Palace.  My panic rises again committing to get into a car in this unfamilar city with a strange man.  I search to find a thread of familarity and it is there in the straining tones of country music on Fortuna FM, I catch sight of the hominess of Gywneth Paltrow beaming down at me from the advertising hoardings and my driver proudly attempts to point out all the ‘good’ sights of Skopje from the garish Parliament buildings  to the Sports Stadium to the Botantical Gardens and the Zoo.  I take in the incongruity of the red double decker buses and the city’s passion for statues and bright lights.  The taxi meter ticks away dinari and I remember this is a just a normal taxi ride in a new city.