The Woman Condition: emotion

Showing posts with label emotion. Show all posts

26 Jan 2011

Sound Health in 8 Steps and 15 Minutes.

Sound affects our lives, all the time. It is a constant stimulus, whether we are aware of it or not. As such, it has an effect on our brain and on our mental health, both positive and negative.

I wanted to share two videos by Julian Treasure, who is - besides a man with a great name - a sound adviser by trade. He is also an author and blogs at Sound Business.

The first video is a 7 minute talk about the effects of sound on our health.

If you are hooked by now and have another 6 minutes to spare, I can also recommend this presentation:

Now, go find a place with lots of WWB. It's good for you!

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17 Jan 2011

Writing and the Power of Vulnerability.

I have just sent out the reworked first 4 chapters of my manuscript to a select number of betareaders.

These are people whom I love and trust, who all have a particular outlook on different aspects of my writing and who I know will give me honest and useful feedback. They are aware of how writing is a craft I will forever be learning. I can be (quite) sure none of them will think any less of me when they spot the awful bits in my writing and the flaws in my thinking. Still, every time I send something out, I have to call on a deep layer of courage to get myself to click that 'send' button.

Of course, being me, I had to dig my teeth into that feeling. Find out about its nature and its origins. I didn't have to look far. I've written about perfection before, I've hinted at the human fear of 'not being good enough', of what could come back at you when you put yourself out there.

As if by cosmic accident, I found this video a few days ago. It's a TED talk by Brene Brown, a professor at the University of Houston, Texas, who has spent the past 10 years researching courage, authenticity, vulnerability and shame.

Some of what she says is probably (MBTI-) J stuff (the measuring stick, etc.), which I can only relate to from a distance, being far out on the Perceiving scale. But for the most part, what she talked about was very recognisable. And insightful. Take out the banana nut muffins and stuff in dark, Belgian chocolate, and we're talking very, very recognisable.

The talk is about 20 minutes long and well worth that time. As a bonus, Brene is an excellent speaker with a great sense of humour.

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31 Dec 2010

The Faces of Love.

Have you ever noticed how often and in how many different contexts we use the word 'love'?

We love our partner(s), our friends, family, chocolate, weekends, sex, champagne, reading, one or several gods and/or goddesses, a pair of shoes, the great outdoors, a glass of wine, a film, fireplaces, cats or dogs, an artist's work, travelling, spring, summer, autumn or winter. If anything, we are capable of many different kinds of love.

So what does 'love' mean? Or more importantly: what does it mean to you?

All-knowing Wikipedia defines love as 'the emotion of strong affection and personal attachment.' It distinguishes between:

'the passionate desire and intimacy of romantic love, [...] the sexual love of eros (cf. Greek words for love), [...] the emotional closeness of familial love, [...] the platonic love that defines friendship, [...] the profound oneness or devotion of religious love.' (Wikipedia)

Around and in between those, there are millions of variations and shades of love. Love is, above anything, something very personal and unique.

I wanted to find a way to share with you some of that strange and all-encompassing emotion that is love. Because an image can often convey more than a thousand words, I went on a search for photographs that each represent one of the many faces of love. It was a worthwhile journey, one I can only recommend.

May your 2011 be filled with love, joy and the will to learn. The opportunities will be there. Happy New Year!