Thursday, October 16

Autumn day

Herbsttag
Rainer Maria Rilke

Herr: es ist Zeit. Der Sommer war sehr groß.
Leg deinen Schatten auf die Sonnenuhren,
und auf den Fluren laß die Winde los.
Befiel den letzten Früchten voll zu sein;
gib ihnen noch zwei südlichere Tage,
dränge sie zur Vollendung hin und jage
die letzte Süße in den schweren Wein.

Wer jetzt kein Haus hat, baut sich keines mehr.
Wer jetzt allein ist, wird Es lange bleiben,
wird wachen, lesen, lange Briefe schreiben

und wird in den Alleen hin und her
unruhig wandern, wenn die Blätter treiben.


Best to keep quiet, when the leaves are falling in the alleys. In order to hear something else than your own thoughts.

Wednesday, October 15

What I call elegance

"Do you want some coffee?" he asked politely, while pouring some in a cup. "Yes, please" I said, and added, "would you like some milk". (I was closer to the milk.) "Thank you, I like my coffee black", he answered, and handed me the cup he had just filled, elegantly, filling up another cup.

Feels like home :-)

Tuesday, October 14

The Prodigal Daughter

7 years into my departure from my hometown and another 4-and-something into my consulting continuum, I have returned home. Though I have been in Sibiu at some point or another over the years for holidays, now it will be different. Working from home and going to the office in my town already feels strange. It is a matter of professionalism to deliver the same value to the client, as if it were in any other city in the world. However, working from the desk I used as a high school student and maybe seeing my old friends in the evening has a perfume of a long-awaited rendez-vous.

Given that I will be mainly involved in work, please follow the Twitter updates on the right-hand side – it might be that they will give you more insight, since I will not be able to write on a constant basis.

Cheers!

Monday, October 13

Take some distance

People can be very cruel to one another, due to their own sensibility. Cruel to be kind, one might say. In response to an unpleasant situation, or words that may seem hurting, they withdraw deep into their shells, just to think about it, without realising that this "thinking" and the following silence might do more harm than good.

The silences I know are of different kinds - the kind that rebuilds you, and lets you appear more shining than ever in front of everyone, prepared to face life's vicisitudes and more, even dare life to give you more, without being afraid; the kind that lets you see through friends and foes, and recognize the good that comes with the bad, and maybe put an end to the latter; the silence that is empty, the one that bears creation, the emotional silence, the one that watches movies, the one that stares at the walls, the silence of being hurt, and the one that precedes words of wisdom. There is one particular form of silence though, that also exists in the bravest of us, although reason may concede otherwise - it is the silence of cowardice. When you are afraid of what might come out of your thinking, of what you have done - or didn't do, and of the reactions (of silence) that you might trigger. And the longer you avoid it, the more painful are the words roll from your lips. Because at some point, the risk is to encounter - not anger, not despair, but sheer indifference.

Just tell me what you've got to say to me
I've been waiting for so long to hear the truth
It comes as no surprise at all you see
So cut the crap and tell me that we're through

(White Town, I Could Never Be Your Woman)

Sunday, October 12

Video about a guy and his dog

Nee, my heart doesn't feel so bad at all, it's just that I liked the video so much. I wonder how much negotiation it will take with my mother to get myself a dog :)

Saturday, October 11

The devil is in the details

Someone told me tonight that all our trials are given to us by the devil. That the guy has nothing else better to do than to mix in the lives of people and make them unhappy. And that God has currently higher work to do than to help us handle it, but that He trusts us. I said I believe in a mass of good energy floating around and occasionally changing focus and influence. She looked at me in disbelief, but I appreciated her expressing neither contempt nor admiration. She took it just as if I had said a few words about the weather, so I felt confident to further expand, and say that since all this energy is good, and it resides in all of us, then we must all be good.

In the silence that followed, the only thought I could hang on to was that maybe now all the good energy is with me, and if I send some in your direction, then you will understand me behind all words and come back.

Moby - Slipping away


Thursday, October 9

Evolution

When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished by how much he'd learned in seven years.

(Mark Twain)

I must say I'm also very pleasantly surprised with my parents lately. They must have learned a lot! :)