Earth Star

Glee in Mistakes

2011-09-26T09:41:00.000+02:00

It also blows my mind that there are people that take a certain glee in another's (tiny) mistake and will loudly make it known to everyone. Rather go directly to that person but, in some places, there is a culture of public naming and shaming.

My response? "Smile and wave boys, smile and wave!"

One (tiny) mistake in the grand scheme of life? Pretty insignificant.

Self esteem crisis averted

2011-09-20T10:06:00.000+02:00

It blows my mind but you actually get people who will only greet the people in a room that they deign to for whatever reason. One because her fashion is fabulous. One because she's lost 15 kilos. One because he is a 'higher up'. The rest... fodder for the machine and nothing else.

I had a moment of "maybe I should only drink shakes all day too! Then I will get thin fast and warrant a nod or a hello." I also had a moment of "maybe I should change my style and be more 'out there'."

But - what if I did? Do I really want that nod? That hello? In the context of where I am now yes, it might give me a boost. But in the grander scheme of life, my wonderful rich, full life that is about much more than silly validation from someone that I probably wouldn't spend time with even if I was skinny and out there, I think not. Whew! Self esteem crisis averted!

Reiki and Trauma

2010-05-18T09:57:00.000+02:00

Fast asleep I was one night when something awoke me. I opened my eyes and there was my broom flailing through the window towards me. In a flash the lamp was knocked over and my cat flew off the bed swiftly followed by me in an uncharacteristic balletic leap accompanied by the loudest scream that has ever come out of my mouth. I screamed and screamed until the broom dropped and the guy who lives in the other cottage on the property called my name. I had screamed so much because in that split section I had realised my cell phone was nowhere to be seen (it’s usually on the bed side table which is between the bed and the window) and the only thing I could do was scream as loudly as I can to scare this intruder off.

Yup, a version of what has happened to so many of us had happened to me. Someone broke into the property. Luckily all he could do, and did, was take my phone. This happened at five in the morning so I didn’t lose a whole night of sleep. I went to work and did a sim swap back into my old phone. Sorted right? I thought so. But I couldn’t sleep; I would lie in bed seeing this broom coming through the window and feel that fear sensation in the pit of my stomach all over again. “Come on Dom!” I told myself. “Potential death by broom? Stop being so dramatic!” Slowly it faded and sleep got a bit better. I was a bit jumpy, but hey.

Then a week later I had a car accident. I won’t go into the whole story but it was bad enough that I couldn’t drive my car and ended up with a sore arm, sore shoulder, bruised chest and ankle. Again, I just dealt with it practically. I sorted a rental car from insurance, made all the necessary arrangements and gave myself some Reiki for the pain. A couple of days later I started feeling panicky for no reason. Fear would hit my stomach with no provocation. I felt fuzzy headed and I just couldn’t shake any of this.

There is an old saying: “I got such a fright I jumped out of my skin!” We have all said it or heard it. So many of these sayings have a root in some truth and even though I had learnt about this in my Reiki training I had forgotten about it. What am I talking about you wonder? When we have a shock or a trauma, our spirit literally lifts from our body for a split second. And some of it gets stuck in that experience.

We are not just our mind, or our body, or our spirit. We are all three. If something happens to us it happens on every level of our being. We operate on the practical or more physical plain because that’s what we humans have learnt. Something happens and we deal with it. We make practical arrangements to get our lives back in order, go to the doctor if we need to, make our insurance claims and get back to life. These are all actions based in the physical reality of our lives.

But our emotions and our spiritual well being are also impacted by everything we experience, yet we tend to discount this. I know for a fact that when things like this happen to us we tend to resist the emotional and spiritual healing we need. I did. “It was just a broom!” I said. “It could have been worse! My car can be fixed, I am insured, its fine!” I said. I gave myself Reiki for the pain, not for how I was feeling emotionally or spiritually.

A couple of days after starting to feel so freaked out I went to a Reiki exchange that a fellow Reiki practitioner and I had set up. Our Reiki teacher, and friend, decided to be present because she knew what had happened and I think she knew that I had forgotten to do the very thing for myself that we do for others as healers, focus on the balance of mind, body and spirit.

During my Reiki session the two of them worked on bringing forth the parts of me that were still stuck in the experiences of the last two weeks and healing them, then integrating them back into the full expression of my being. It was a beautiful experience and I got off that table feeling like myself again. I hadn’t realised how truly bad I had been feeling until just before the session ended I wanted to jump off the bed and leap back into my life with my old joy, energy and laughter. I was back.

There is so much more to say on why we resist the emotional and spiritual healing needed in such circumstances. There is also much more to say on how shock and trauma impacts us but for this article I want to outline how important it is to remember that we are body, mind and soul. When something happens that is traumatic, shocking or stressful we need to care for the whole expression of our being; go to the doctor, fix the car or the window or whatever, but also deal with the emotional and spiritual impact of what has happened or is happening.

I learnt a valuable lesson. Immediately after each event I could have focused on all of me. Perhaps I could have circumvented that awful feeling of losing control if I had remembered this. However, it was also an awesome reminder of why I was so drawn to learning Reiki. I was reminded of the powerful relief and healing that Reiki can bring to our lives.

If you are in need of Reiki please call me on 073 613 7615 or email me on flutterbyd@live.com. More information is available on my website: http://earthstarza.webs.com

Spending the Gift of Life

2010-05-12T10:33:00.000+02:00

There is only one success--to be able to spend your life in your own way. ~ Christopher Morley

Recently I had a very interesting discussion with a friend of mine. It was an old and rehashed discussion except that this time we had an injection of inspiration in the form of a rather tough yet enlightening conversation she had with a friend she hadn’t seen in nearly 10 years.

This conversation revolves around an issue that so many women seem to carry with them, literally and metaphorically. This issue is weight. At some stage of our lives most of us have wanted to, or still want to, lose weight. Some want to gain weight. Those of us that want to lose it often think “I would give an arm to be in a position to want to gain weight!” However, whether we want to gain or lose it all comes down to the same thing; the way we perceive our bodies and the importance we place on having the perfect body.

I know I have spent years with this inner and outer battle. Mainly I battle with the silly fact that what I take in from the outer to the inner in the form of “nourishment” reflects on the ever expanding outer surface of my body. Sigh. But I digress. I know that I have spent many a moment thinking “when I am thin I will... when I am thin then I will be...” You fill in the blanks.

There are so many excuses we have as to why we are not there yet. “I have no time for gym. I am single; it’s hard to cook for one. I am so busy that I eat on the go. I have emotional issues.” The list is endless. And yes, emotional issues need time and work before any healthy plan will be effective in the long run. However, there are three points I want to explore.

One, all the excuses are just that: excuses. When the hard question is asked, as was asked to my friend, and then to me by her, and the answer is honest, that answer is: I do not live the healthiest lifestyle that I could. The hard question of course was why are you overweight? When we took an honest look at things we both realised that if we really wanted to we could make being healthy the number one priority in our lives. Yes, it would take discipline and some hard work but the benefits start immediately and just get better and better. The biggest challenge is to overcome the instant gratification culture that we live in, but it can be done as so many people have proved.

Two, battling the bulge is not the primary concern. The primary concern is living life at an optimum level. When we are unhealthy in any way, we are not living our best life. I use the weight issue as this was our conversation. It could apply just as easily to that niggling cold, that niggling back pain, the regular headaches or migraines that we attribute to stress, financial problems or just that feeling of being not quite happy and knowing that there is more to life. When we are brimming with vitality anything is possible. We are then poised, ready to leap in any direction that brings our lives joy and meaning.

This leads me to the third point. Life, and the time we have to live it really is a gift. Think of it as the biggest gift voucher ever. Each of us gets an allotted amount of time to spend. What we spend it on has no limits. But the amount of time does. This little connection happened when researching quotes for a workshop I am holding. As soon as I read the words of the quote that open this article something clicked. How many years have I spent in the space of “if, when, then”? The answer is too many. How many years have you spent in this same space?

How do we change this?

Firstly, it’s time to stop saying if, when and then. It’s time to say “Now!” It’s time to define “What”. It’s time to ask “What do I want my life to be? What do I need to do to live that life? What does it mean to spend my life in my own way?” I know for me, part of that answer is not to spend another minute of my life wanting to be healthier and more energetic, wanting to have the perfect body so that I can then live a full life with a husband, children, adventure and exploration. There is no action in wanting. There is action in being. If I am healthy then I am energetic. If I am energetic then my life is adventurous. If I am adventurous then my path will lead me to every opportunity that I might have missed by staying in the grey space of when, and it will inform every choice I make going forward. And while all this healthy adventurous energy is swirling around I know that my body will return to its own perfect state as I spend my life in my own way.

What will return to its perfect state, what will you create, when you spend your life in your way? So its five months in to 2010, but it’s a fraction into the rest of the time on the gift voucher of life. Let’s spend the currency of life on what we want!

True Celebrity True Charity

2008-09-18T17:42:00.003+02:00

Corporate or industrial theatre is often seen in the theatre industry as the cop out, the sell out. It is like waitressing to a restaurateur, adverts to a filmmaker, copy to someone who dreams of being a novelist. In other words it is often seen as the necessary evil in order to bring in the bacon doing something that resembles your passion, while dreaming of said passion.

Or is it?

In a way, yes. I began in industrial theatre when I finished varsity as a means to get into the industry. What happened though was that I fell in love with what we do. I fell in love with the fact that though theatre we communicate messages to people from all walks of life and essentially aim to make their lives better in some way. Whether it is saving lives with HIV & Aids interventions, or motivating people using a play about transformation and diversity, or even just presenting the joy of the journey of a theatre play to people who don't usually get to experience the magic. I still dream of writing a novel and I will be published, however the two are not separate entities. The two types of writing, of expression, feed into each other, influence each other.

What this little diatribe is getting to is that in this industry of industrial theatre we use actors. And it amazes me that in this totally unglamourous field that exists to serve people we have actors with celebrity issues.

When asked to do a charity show to underprivileged children we had two actors make comments like: "I no longer do free shows". Or: "That NGO offered to pay me to teach there so I don't see why I should do the show for free. Really, we do so much free stuff."

Really? REALLY? Are you serious? The words in type may not convey the attitude that accompanied them in speech. The attitude was pure... pure... words fail. Lets try again. Entitlement perhaps? Ego? Arrogance? And where does this come from in such a supposedly humbling job that is so so far away from the shining lights and grandeur of "real" theatre?

Then you look at celebrities... People such as Angelina Jolie spring to mind. Oprah Winfrey. Plenty of South African celebrities who have done countless charity events - songs, performances and the like. These people are surrounded by lights and glory that have the potential to seed huge egos yet they do things for free. Yes, they have more than enough money. However, I don't think charity rests only on money. To me charity means giving of something you have in abundance to empower the lives of those less fortunate. You can give of time, of love, of talent and of money. The charity that has the greatest effect in my mind is that which cannot be measured in money. Someone will forget that R500 odd rands but might remember forever the time they got to spend with someone inspiring, or the time they were the recipient of someones talent that perhaps inspired them to great achievement.

For me true celebrity is gracious and generous and then you are not only surrounded by light and glory, but you create it. It radiates from within. I wish I could tell this to the people I encountered in my quest to secure a free show. And as I write this I realize that I started this as a an opinionated rant underpinned by the need to correct what I see as wrong. I realize that actually, I find it sad that a lot of people don't realize the joy that comes from giving without wanting gain. The person living in the "I only work if I get paid" world is really living in the world of "I have lost my passion." I realized this myself recently when I uncovered another passion and as I am not trained feel obliged to do it for free. I felt that I would do it even if free is the only option purely because I love it. It also made me look at my main passion that I am lucky enough to earn money from - writing. I thought to myself if I am always putting a price on that writing, and I defend that price quite rigorously often, am I still passionate about it? Well then I remembered that I write for free all the time. I write my novels for free (at the moment). I write these blogs for free. I write in my journal for free. I try to inspire people with words for free all the time - silly things like cards and interoffice communications. Why? Because I am compelled to. And because I love writing so much, and I love inspiring people to reach their dreams no matter what they be, I will gladly do it for free. I think this is the point that I have been led to. Charity can only stem from a place of passion. Because when you are living with passion it is that passion that needs to spill over. Happiness comes from the act of doing it and not necessarily from what you get from it and this opens up the space for true effective giving.

So now, what I would say to my colleagues if I could: "I really really hope that you rediscover the reason that you do this work and find the passion again. And if you can't may you find the passion that is naturally yours that allows you the freedom to gain happiness from the very act of doing whatever that passion may be so that maybe it can spill over and touch the lives of those less fortunate so that they in turn may be inspired to find their own passion and happiness. The world really can be a better place".

The Sound of Saturday

2008-07-26T22:27:00.003+02:00

Awoken by a dream I glance
at my phone wondering
Am I late?
Will I be rushing for work?
I look
I listen
No normal morning sounds
I remember
Saturday
No shrilling alarm
No traffic sounds
No urgency
I sink back into sleep only to be awoken
by the possibility of missing the light that
I miss at work
So craving sleep
I get up
And do the mindless Saturday things
I clean
I wash clothes
and I sit outside and listen
to the sounds of Saturday
I hear birds I cannot name
The buzz of a lawnmower
powered by a neighbour I don't know
A plane above takes people
to destinations unknown
and I dream with the buzz as it passes
of places that I do not know yet
I turn my face to the warm sun
revealed by the sound of a passing plane
and sit dreaming
thinking
the birds I cannot name
someone can
The owner of the lawnmower
has a story
The plane above is full of dreams
wishes
hopes
thoughts
Possibility
I yearn for the blossoms on my trees
that say Spring!
I yearn for warmer
I yearn for blossoms in abundance
I yearn for sunlight felt on
Saturday skin
not hinted at by sound
but felt
by warmth of the sun
seen in pink sweet smelling blossoms and Jasmine
I yearn for time to explore this sense
this scent
that is not confined to Saturday sounds
That is not confined to Saturday.

© Dominique Masson 2008

Life, The Universe & Everything Else

2008-07-20T01:20:00.004+02:00

Yup, the title of this blog is the title of one of the books in my favourite trilogy in five parts - Hitchhikers Guide to The Galaxy, by Douglas Adams. But, this entry is about life as I see it, The Universe, (God), how I see it and everything else in between that has no neatly packagable label.
I have been on the most amazing journey in my life this week, which in snatched moments has been documented in previous blogs. Those blogs have been dashed out in moments between moments, never really capturing what is going on... what the universe, what God, is teaching me about everything else that happens in between life.
For a while now I have been in a really good space about my life - as I knew it. I have an awesome job, I get paid to fulfil my passion and as such the rest follows. I am happy as a person - I have wonderful friends and family, I see the beauty in every day, I have no lacks.
Then, this week I was challenged by three very distinct episodes. The first with my maid, Ana, the second with Simon, who made my absolutely awesome and pointless green beaded tortoise that serves no purpose except to sit on my counter and have people comment on it, and the most recently, Thandi and her son, relative strangers, house guests in my little flat.
All three of these episodes have turned my world upside down in five very short days. Simon and Ana challenged me to realize that things that I consider little irritations have the world of meaning for them. Thandi and her son have made me grateful for the life that I have, even more than seeing something beautiful in each day did.
In five short days my life has so much more meaning. Everyday I have a smile on my face and little things are just that, little things. And a smile that comes from contentment can overcome any little thing. In five short days the universe, God, has shown me how connected people actually are, and how important those connections are. Not just the obvious connections with friends and family, but those that are there when we open up our lives and forget to distrust and judge because we have learnt to.
In five short days, everything else has suddenly become something else, and someone else. Someone, or something, else that has something to teach me about Life and the universe, or God, and everything in between. And everything in between is our connection to our souls and our sense of belonging.
For the first time in my life, through this 5 day experience of Life, The Universe (I say God), and Everything Else, I feel a sense of belonging.
I belong to this world, to this country, to my family, my friends, and in this sense of belonging, everything is possible.
In this belonging every song has a melody, every sunset driven past after work is noticed and reveled in. Every conversation reveals something. Every moment is precious.
This sense of belonging is not just mine. It is there for every person to experience. In every moment. And it is this that I wish to communicate to people through my writing and my actions in life.

A Sense of Connection

2008-07-18T10:32:00.002+02:00

So, I let a complete stranger and her son into my house as they were in dire straits. It is the first time I have ever done anything like this and had to overcome all sorts of presumptions, fears and prejudices and take a big leap of faith.
When I heard her story and leanrt a little bit more about her than I previously knew, I was amazed at this awesome human being and at the paths that led to this point. While I am helping her with shelter for two weeks, she has opened my eyes and my heart and my mind and given me the gift of a sense of reconnection and community.
We have become so mistrustful in this country about strangers, with questions like "What does this person want of me?", "What are they going to take from me?", Or thoughts such as "Oh gosh! Another person begging for money.", "Another person that wants something from me", it is no wonder that there is chaos in our communities and distrust in our hearts. This distrust is so detrimental and full of fear. I only realized this when I was challenged to let it go. I had all the "what if" thoughts and I came to this conclusion, the only thing I stand to lose are material goods and those can be replaced. I only stand to lose two weeks of my normal routine. That routine can be regained. When I realized this and embraced this situation fully I felt me whole self relax and open up and since this whole thing came to be I have felt happy, light and connected.

How to Step Out of Your Comfort Zone 101

2008-07-16T19:47:00.004+02:00

1. Meet and see awesome jewelry from a woman selling jewelry at restaurants
2. Exchange numbers because you forgot to bring cash and must have that necklace
3. Use exchanged numbers to organize an exchange of another kind
4. Run into that person repeatedly and get excited about their dream of expanding a back room one person operation into a much bigger picture
4. Say that you can help
5. Get repeated missed calls presumably about said help
6. Phone back when time and get asked whether you can help with a huge problem - wonderful jeweler needs a place to stay urgently with her son. They don't have a place even for the night
7. Stammer out a response that you will think about something and call back
8. Ponder the options. No one you know has a room. Think of what it would mean to have a total stranger "off the street" in a very settled single person "I live alone with no routines and a lock up and go lifestyle"
9. Ponder the other option, saying no but knowing that this person might be out in the cold and you can't have that on your conscience as you get into a nice warm bed.
10. Make a decision.
11. Phone and say OK, I will help you and ask the relevant and logistical questions about daily life routines and future plans.
12. Decide on a time for Thandi to come round with her son.
13. Get home and wait. Time passes and no sign of Thandi.
14. Entertain a passing thought that maybe they made another plan and wait some more
15. Can't stand the waiting and phone to find out what is happening
16. They are right outside your door
17. Let them in
18. Listen to their story and marvel at yet another assumption made that has been obliterated about a certain 'type' of person
19. Reevaluate totally the transience of "stuff" and the true feeling of deciding to have faith in a total stranger, to trust in a total stranger and to regain a sense of community that perhaps in our fast paced self centric urban lives has been missing
20. Realize that there is something greater at work here
21. Lessons need to be learnt about opening up to strangers and realizing that they are not strange at all

And wham, you are out of your comfort zone with little stirrings of emerging lessons in life. This will be an ongoing topic as there is so much more to this situation than I am able to write in yet another long entry!

A Little Bit of Humble Pie

2008-07-15T22:29:00.003+02:00

In a raging temper much of the day due to various reasons that are best shared with a best friend over a couple of glasses of red wine, and then exorcised with a shot or two of tequila and a good boogie, I had the recurring reminder to be humble and to remember that other people's problems are often bigger, and that even the 'smallest' of people have it together, and both these people have infinitely more patience and staying power than I do.
Bogged down with annoyances which were compounded by the incessant ringing of my cell phone and a 'please call me' sms, I frequently had little temper tantrums, sometimes out loud and sometimes... uhm, no, actually always out loud, I was a menace.
Basically, the please call me was from my maid who comes in once a week and cleans and does washing. Her gran, who had raised her had passed away. She asked for a loan and I felt a twinge of irritation, but said I would make a plan and call her back. Then my phone rang, and rang and rang while I was in a meeting. I knew the number. I had asked a wire and bead guy in Melville to make me a tortoise and he was chasing me up. At that stage all I felt was the demands that people were making on me.
Once I had calmed down, I got my ducks in a row and called my maid back. She was still at my place. I asked her how she was doing. She was so honest. She felt sad, and tired, and sick, but she knew she wasn't sick. I thought: "My goodness. Here I am throwing temper tantrums about little things at work and here is someone doing possibly the worst job in the world, cleaning someone Else's mess for not the greatest amount of money, and doing it through grief." Then the day took over again and when I finally managed to get to Woollies to get some groceries, the bead guy phoned three times. Again, I was annoyed. I knew he wanted to meet in Melville to give me the Tortoise and get his money. That meant I had to go to the bank too. I phoned him back in Woollies, and he was the friendliest person on the phone and so professional and courteous. All he wanted to say was that he had gotten some work and couldn't meet and could I do an EFT?
What grabbed me through this whole thing was my reaction to petty things throughout the day compared to two people who really had bigger problems. The small amounts of the loan and the cost for my beaded tortoise, to me were another set of things to do on my list, but to these two individuals would mean the world, and both of them were calm and polite.
So I drove home in my awesome little car, dumped my Woollies groceries, poured myself a glass of red wine and did the EFT and arranged the loan with my maid and thought how lucky I am that my biggest problem today was getting through my to do list. It is a lesson that I will take into my dealings with all people from now on.

A Rambling on Email Etiquette (or the lack thereof...)

2008-07-12T17:40:00.001+02:00

I used to hate “read receipts”. You know that little box that pops up when you open an email and you click on yes to say, “Yes! I read the bloody email. Its in my inbox – duh!” Or you click on no, and just ignore it. Or you delete the message, and this is really obvious – hell, if a person sends an email to a specific email address then it will get there, or it should. And if I delete it, then you will get an email saying the message was not read – And who then didn’t read it. I did… uh… not… uh... well I opened it and closed my eyes and pressed no and then closed it so I definitely didn’t read it and just wanted you to know that okay?

I used to think read receipts were stupid. And a lot of my employers also thought they were in bad taste. I got into a lot of trouble once because it was against company policy. Why, if I hate them so much did I add the read receipt? It was my first proper job out of varsity with email and everything. I saw it as very professional. Then, over the years, the read receipt lost its novelty. Not only is it a royal pain to have to click yes all the time when you get 500 emails (I wish!), because sometimes in a hurry you press no, or delete by mistake, and again look like a bit of an idiot, especially if it is a hot prospective client, but it is a royal pain in the butt because if you send out 500 emails you potentially will get 1000 emails in return – half of those would be read receipts.

Well, that’s the theory anyhow. And that theory is why I dislike them. However, seven years later into my career with email and I not only want to add the damn read receipt, I also want to be a super hero with super powers like invisibility coupled with the ability to move with the speed of thought. Much like Harry Potter being able to apperate, but I would like to be able to apperate to wherever the recipient is that might or might not have read my very important email. So, I would send the email and in an instant I would be inside their office. Here a variety of possible scenarios pan out:
Scenario one: Client reads my email and composes and sends a reply while I watch. Not bloody likely. If this happened I wouldn’t be writing this. I wouldn’t be driven to insane ramblings by the fact that I have no responses to my very important emails! I wouldn’t be dreaming of ways to make the read receipt actually give people the impetus, or courtesy, or whatever is needed to get them to respond to emails.

Scenario two: Client reads my email and decides not to respond even though he or she is sitting at the computer. Not being unreasonable, I will of course add another super power to my list – that of multiple time existence, so I can be in two places at one time. That way I can see what the person ignoring my email is doing while still doing what I need to do for work, which for my part includes answering emails. If I didn’t deign to answer emails, I wouldn’t care that people don’t respond to mine. So, I would watch for a while and if I see that the person is just ignoring my budget proposal, which they demanded be done in half the time it usually takes to do one because they got a late mandate, I will give them a swift whack over the head. I might be invisible, but I am very much tangible. So, I would give them a swift good old South African klap and then whisper in their ear: “What about that proposal? Email the poor girl and let her know what is happening.” If that elicits no response I would do a spot of mind reading to see what the feedback is on the proposal (yes, I am becoming the superhero of all superheroes) and then type my own response to myself about the feedback and then flashback to the office and respond. We might just get the entire very urgent job that required a double time proposal done in this manner. Hmm…

Scenario three: Client is not in office. Again I employ my multiple time existence super power and sniff out the culprit. If he is in a meeting I might gently move his hand to write himself a note to reply to my email as soon as he gets back to his desk. Yes, I can also ghost write. If the culprit is having a beer with the lads I will employ the good old SA klap and the whisper in the ear which will carry on incessantly until the poor person runs screaming to his computer to dash out a response.

I shall also employ these superpowers for people who do not answer messages left by receptionists and PA’s (REPEATEDLY) and people who don’t answer their own voicemail. Why on earth record yourself saying: “You have reached so and so. Please record the time of call and leave your name and surname and I will get back to you.” when you clearly won’t? But that is a topic for another day.

My point of all this is that there is clearly a bit of a problem in business as there is a serious decline of email responses. Some might say that is because with it being so easy to relate via email people aren’t phoning and meeting and the best business response is gained by talking, especially face-to-face. But that is a bit problematic when you have to use one or the other of the avoidable methods of contact to secure that face-to-face meeting. Another problem is the volume of emails that people get. I don’t have a solution to this problem, except to say that a very valid point is a courtesy point: do unto others as you will have done unto you. You want emails answered? Phone calls returned? Then do the same. Schedule these things in. Otherwise I am either going to have to really find away to become Super Project Manager with a list of super powers as long as my arm just to get to the point of agreement and go ahead, or find myself in a white padded room twittering a garbled stream of words like email, superhero, no response…

© Dominique Masson 2008

A Healthy Dose of Serendipaciousness

2008-07-12T13:10:00.002+02:00

My favourite word is Serendipity. Oh, and Epiphany. However, this post is all about Serendipity. I stole the word Serenipaciousness from the movie Serendipity because it just works. Thank you John Cusack!

ser·en·dip·i·ty: an aptitude for making desirable discoveries by accident.
ser.en.dip.a.cious.ness: a series of serendipitous events that lead to an epiphany.

Oh, so maybe this is also a bit about Epiphany.
I love it when serendipaciousness happens.
This week I came to a realization, a little epiphanette.

e·piph·a·ny: A sudden manifestation of the essence or meaning of something.
e.piph.a.nette: A sudden manifestation of a smaller epiphany that leads to serendipaciousness and eventually a fully fledged epiphany.

So, I had my epiphanette and without even thinking about it, many things started to fall into place. Little acts of serendipity. Little fortunate accidents. An email in my inbox that prompted a rather bratty response by me, and a wonderful authentic response to my bratty email that sparked a meeting of two very similar beings. Same star sign, menthol cigarettes and coffee addicts, spiritual minded and on the same journey of mind, body and spirit. This meeting led to an epiphany, but now that I think of it, it is more a subtle reaffirmation of something I have been pondering. Must find a suitable mouldable word for that.

This sounds very esoteric and mystical and it is. To me serendipity is not just a fortunate accident. It has more to do with being aware. Same with epiphanies. And subtle reaffirmations of ponderings. It is to do with being aware, being open and conscious of dreams. It has to do with acknowledging mistakes and the occasional meander down the wrong path and addressing them head on without blame or guilt, just with the knowledge of being a perfectly imperfect human being. Then the barriers start to come down. Defenses begin to crumble and serendepaciousness is allowed to flood in like golden warm sunlight on a freezing grey winter day like today and dance with epiphany.