Home

Some weeks ago I had the pleasure of learning a new skill…or I should say, I tried to learn a new skill! 

Skating had always been on my bucket-list and ticking it was such an achievement…small but quite exciting. On the rink, on the wheels, I have never felt so out of control. Apparently the movement of the wheels can be controlled by the skater, but to a beginner, they seem to have a mind of their own. As I toddled on, my teacher kept saying, “If you forget everything, just remember to reach for your knees when you feel yourself falling”. I took this to mean that ‘reaching for my knees’ meant finding stability. Something to hang onto when all else is out of your control. Simple, right? Reaching for the knees seemed like such an unnatural thing to do, because when you feel yourself falling, your arms flail around hoping to break the fall. At least mine do…

Let me get to my point. But before that, yes I fell.

I go back to what my teacher said….’reach for your knees when you feel yourself falling’. That phrase has stayed on my mind because it occurred to me how it can work in just about all scenarios we live through. Let me try to expound.

Sample scenario

You have gone to class because learning never stops. Right? In walks the teacher and all you hear is gibberish instead of the new language you hope to learn. You start to panic and question your existence on this planet. Once the panic subsides, you feel yourself becoming more receptive to the class.

How did the panic subside? I believe it’s because you ‘reached for your knees’. You realised that you could easily translate what was being taught to a language you could process until you are ready to converse without translation.

Making sense?

What do you do when you are ‘reaching for your knees’? How do you find stability in the chaos?

“The most powerful force in the universe is compound interest.” 

– Attributed to Albert Einstein.

Today I will be a little technical…and then I will say why. On my current reading list is ‘The Psychology of money’. It highlights that our interactions with money are a behavioral thing based on our past experiences. We all know that our perceptions have a big impact on all our experiences. It is in this book that I was reminded of compounding – in simple terms – Compounding is the repeated addition of interest payments to the principal invested over a period of time. The principal grows exponentially as each new payment of interest is added to it (Investopedia).

As I was reading this, it occurred to me that compounding not only relates to money, but also relates to all other areas in our lives. Do you smell a superimposition? I do! I’ll keep it brief. We have bank accounts or piggy banks or m-banks in our phones…at least I hope so!

Interpersonal relationships – The different relationships we have with each other, operate on the same principle of compounding. We hold a proverbial bank account with each person we often interact with. Every positive thing we do, whether small or big, is a deposit into that account, and every negative thing that we do, whether small or big, is a withdrawal from that account. 

Have you ever encountered a person who just seems to drain you and doesn’t seem keen on making a deposit into the proverbial bank account? These people are often referred to as takers. All they do is take…take…take. Don’t get me wrong…taking is not bad…but you have to balance with the giving. If the scale is skewed heavily on the giving, the two people in the relationship will not encounter an overdrawn account. 

Giving does not have to be financial…it can be anything from support, time, love, warmth etc…Are you still following? When we ensure that we don’t have overdrawn interpersonal accounts, we are able to solve disputes, grow and heal together. 

Just as an account can be overdrawn to the point of closure, so too are the interpersonal relationships we have.

I promised to keep it brief, so I will stop there with some thoughts.

Do you have any ‘account’ that is on the verge of being overdrawn? Make a deposit.

Do you have any ‘account’ that is running on empty? Perhaps you need to close it.

Do you have any ‘account’ that has the potential to grow? Perhaps you need to open it!

Have a compounding week.

 

It has been a while since I last used an acronym. It has also been a long while since my last muse. This acronym came to me at a moment where I realized my reaction to a certain situation was not making sense. It transported me to a recent past moment that I’m just getting over. I hear the question coming…so what’s the acronym?

W.H.Y. 

What

Happened

Yesterday?

The lessons of yesterday help to shape our today and tomorrow. If you were to trip on an unevenly paved path yesterday, I’m sure that today you wouldn’t be caught by surprise.

How often do you allow your yesterday to shape your today? Of course there are positives and negatives to each story. Today I’ll focus on the negative, so that I shed more light on the origins of the acronym.

The hurts of yesterday…the let-downs…the doubts…the unanswered questions…of yesterday, can cause one to lash out or overreact to seemingly tiny things. How well do you know yourself to realize when it happens? 

Because I love stories, let me attempt a borrowed one.

Potatoes, Eggs, and Coffee Beans

Once upon a time a daughter complained to her father that her life was miserable and that she didn’t know how she was going to make it. She was tired of fighting and struggling all the time. It seemed just as one problem was solved, another one soon followed.

Her father, a chef, took her to the kitchen. He filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Once the three pots began to boil, he placed potatoes in one pot, eggs in the second pot, and ground coffee beans in the third pot.

He then let them sit and boil, without saying a word to his daughter. The daughter moaned and impatiently waited, wondering what he was doing.

After twenty minutes he turned off the burners. He took the potatoes out of the pot and placed them in a bowl. He pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl.

He then ladled the coffee out and placed it in a cup. Turning to her he asked. “Daughter, what do you see?”

“Potatoes, eggs, and coffee,” she hastily replied.

“Look closer,” he said, “and touch the potatoes.” She did and noted that they were soft. He then asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg. Finally, he asked her to sip the coffee. Its rich aroma brought a smile to her face.

“Father, what does this mean?” she asked.

He then explained that the potatoes, the eggs and coffee beans had each faced the same adversity– the boiling water.

However, each one reacted differently.

The potato went in strong, hard, and unrelenting, but in boiling water, it became soft and weak.

The egg was fragile, with the thin outer shell protecting its liquid interior until it was put in the boiling water. Then the inside of the egg became hard.

However, the ground coffee beans were unique. After they were exposed to the boiling water, they changed the water and created something new.

“Which are you,” he asked his daughter. “When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a potato, an egg, or a coffee bean? “

Moral: In life, things happen around us, things happen to us, but the only thing that truly matters is what happens within us.

Which one are you?

*****

So what does the story have to do with the beginning of the muse? Well, everywhere we look, we see opportunities to either be an egg, potato or coffee bean.

The boiling water of yesterday, could have made a potato of you. It could have also made an egg of you…seemingly unchanged on the outside but hard on the inside. However, in the boiling water of today, you have the option of being the coffee bean. Stronger and better with each rising degree of heat.  

The hurts of yesterday, can make you love better tomorrow.

The let-downs of yesterday, can make you stand stronger tomorrow. 

So, W.H.Y?

 “The first move toward mastery is always inward – learning who you really are and reconnecting with that innate force” – Robert Greene

This was the ending of last week’s article where I spoke of how a certain performance touched the depths of my soul. What stood out for me above all were two things; the musicians mastery of both instrument and self.

As I sat in the audience, it was enthralling to watch how the instruments were manipulated and all the while, the performers’ composure remained steady. It was even more enthralling to watch and listen to how the audience became engaged as a result of this. Yes I am getting to my point for this week. MASTERY.

Mastering to the point of simplicity (I know I sound like a broken record!)

Mastering to the point of happiness.

Mastering to the point of purpose.

I will keep it short this week.

Recipe for mastery.

1 pinch of awareness

2 bales of discipline

4 bales of persistence

8 bales of practice.

1 pinch of interest

A sprinkle of mentors to your taste.

I am no expert. I’m sure there’s more that can be added to this list. However, observing those who appear to have mastered an aspect of their lives, allows me to put together what I think would be the minimum required for each person on the quest to scale MASTERY.

I am a master.

I am waiting for you to look within to find me.

I reside in you, however, I do get lost in all that is within you.

Allow me to grow.

Allow me to break out of your shell.

Allow me to let you shine.

Dear reader,

I challenge you. I challenge me.

“Become who you are by learning who you are.”
― Robert Greene,  

Who knew that a musical performance could lead down this road!

 

“True silence is the rest of the mind; it is to the spirit. What sleep is to the body, nourishment and refreshment.” – William Penn

There are many quotes about the power of silence all around us. And I’m not talking about the silence that comes from pouting or from being in a funk. I’m talking about the silence that our Soul needs. The silence that clears the mind. That which allows the Spirit to settle and therefore grow.

In our daily encounters, we meet a lot of noise. Be it from machines, or from human chit chat. Sometimes the noise is productive while at other times, it distracts.

“We need to find God, and He cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature — trees, flowers, grass — grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence. We need silence to be able to touch souls.” – Mother Teresa

I believe that Mother Teresa hit the nail on the head with the quote above. Never have the sounds in a forest been classified as ‘noise’!

What’s my point in saying all this? Let me try a quote…

“Learn to not be afraid when you have nothing to say, because that is when you need to say the least.” – Muse with Nj

 

Do not be afraid of me

I can only help if you let me.

Yours truly,

Silence

When I see a page, I see notations that dance.

The dance of a pen.

 

Flowing to an end that is unknown,

Only to the hand that leads the dancing pen.

 

Frictions and potholes to fix or avoid,

On a road made smooth,

On a road in your mind

That leads the hand

That dances with the pen.

 

Smooth sailing…rough sailing…

Sometimes on canvas

The pen continues to dance

 

Stories come alive

Notations come alive

Creations come to life

All to the dance of the pen.

 

I have no idea what I have written.

I let my pen take the lead.

I let it dance.

 

Parting question dear reader – are you consciously holding your pen? Or you have no idea what your story contains?