Identity

I was invited on a short notice to fill a gap in a panel discussion on “intercultural interaction in teaching environments”. The main focus being on “identity” and how teachers could support young people who are still figuring out their identity. While preparing for the panel, surprisingly I found out that I didn’t really have…

What is it…

…about them that is actually not about them, but about me? Today I sorted through papers and found this question, one of my many scribbles. Not sure why I post it. Somehow I feel it might be a good idea to remember that, whenever we point a finger at somebody, there are at least  3…

What type of relation-ship are you in?

It seems that the bulk of relationship self-help advice is concerned with getting people into a relationship. The next biggest chunk of advice is concerned with getting them out of it again. Having been, to my own utter surprise, in a long-term relation-ship myself, I have been wondering about this topic a lot. The Tall…

Action or Reaction

There are hundreds of self help courses, e-books and stuff sitting in my computer, promising to help me “change my life”, for the better, of course. So far, only one course has really worked, for me, that is. It’s a small, unpretentious  course called “Creating Power”, by a modest, likewise unpretentious guy called Karim Hajee.…

Scale of happiness?

In his book “Feel happy now!” Michael Neill suggests that you measure your happiness on a scale from 1 to 10. In case you are below 7,  he suggests you find an answer to the following question: “What could you do right now to take yourself up the scale by one step? Once you found…

Tough question…

…if somebody is struggling to find a direction for their life. It is November in Finland, so that’s may be why this question came up for me: What would you like people to read on your gravestone or tell about you at your funeral? Brrr, not a nice thought… The picture below is taken at …

Going through Hell?

It’s still November. I don’t know why, but for me, November in Finland is some kind of mental hell. Winston Churchill is rumored to have said: If you are going through hell, be sure to keep going! I really like that.  A lot. When I go through mental hell, questions help me to keep going.…

Response – Ability

I was introduced to the idea of “responsibility” in my mother tongue, German. Although the German word “Verantwortung” actually contains the word “Antwort”, meaning answer or response, it wasn’t after I had learned to speak English well that I was able to grasp the true meaning of the word. I still cringe when hearing somebody…