Coming from a home with a piano?

A Danish phrase meaning being from the upperclass in society - but not only that, the underlying meaning is that you know what you are talking about when you voice your opinion because you are per definition better educated than those who didn't have a piano or perhaps couldn't afford it - or something like that...

My dad used to jokingly say it because in fact it was true, not the upperclass part, but that we had a piano (and probably were quite wise-bottoms, too - in a nice sort of way I guess). I played it - almost 10 years of learning, and then I sold it when I moved to England. I wonder if my class relation went along with it...

But then, we never were upperclass apart from the fact that our family and closeness was certainly out-of-class in a loving, caring and sharing way - so what does class matter when you have everything you need? A lot of snobbery is what I think!

How wonderful it is to have beautiful memories of  luxuries I didn't really appreciate at the time but thinking back it was amazing to have a piano and be able to play it whenever I felt like it.

I always wished I was as good as my uncle at playing the piano but he was a total star (in my opinion), just like other things I wanted to be good at but - there was always someone who was better... These are my evening thoughts on some of my pursuits in my early life and early work life but things change!

Things change when you decide to be you with everything this 'you' entails - including stopping comparing to other people! There is no one quite like you or quite like me or anyone else.

I decided to discover the greatness of being me.

So I did that.

At some point in the late 90s... Rather late, you may ponder, but you live and learn what works and what doesn't and I learned I cannot please everyone forever so I changed into who I really am.

I am me.

Without a piano these days and no saxophone either (but that's a different story). And I mostly know what I am talking about (but that's another different story).

And then Laughter Yoga showed up so now I am from a home with Laughter Yoga!

But no matter what, I will always come from a home with a piano because that was my parental home and it is my foundation, the love, the support, the caring and sense of family. This is what I bring forward in my present life and hope to inspire in other people; the discovery of all the goodness and greatness in everything we are as individuals including the baggage we carry along as part of our creation.

Be who you are in a loving and compassionate way - directed at yourself just as much as others.

Go forth and change the world - with love, laughter and full of life!

Tunnel Vision

Going back to St. Albans after a great Blue Mondy Laughter Session in Central London I was thinking of all the different things that have been going on this morning - in particular on the train to London, I just couldn't help smiling.

It has been a great morning and honestly, every morning is although this one was slightly different in its content.

This smiling-thing all went down while I was waiting for the train at St. Pancras...

Until I heard the announcement that any suspisciously behaving people would be apprehended for questioning... I thought I'd better stop smiling - and started giggling instead.

So what was so 'all that' about going to London on the train?

Nothing much, except a few notes taken!

Tunnel vision, good people, is not a requirement to move through the tunnels between the stations although it seems people going through these tunnels adapt to this way of viewing the world. No smile, no frown, no connection - just plain straght and forward directed gazes that look empty and meaningless - I wish they were... empty and meaningless.

The crammed Victoria Line rolled by towards my Oxford Circus destination - once - twice...

As I watched the fresh perms squashed against the tube windows roll by together with crinkled suit jackets and unjolly faces, I started wondering.

I politely raised my question question to the train-waiting-group I was enjoying the quiet waiting time with. Asking if anyone was regular and thereby would know how many trains on average it would take before we would get on one. A few shrugs, a couple of smiles, a comment or two saying 'we don't commute here daily' and a few LOOKS. The tube rolled by and then! The fourth train and luck struck.

I couldn't help grinning - no one got it, I just grinned on...

It is Blue Monday today but does it matter?

I was on my way to meet a group that didn't care much that today is a day for the blues because we were all set up for a laugh and by golly! We had a GREAT laugh - right there, by Oxford Circus Tube Station we did milkshakes and mental flossing along with lawnmower and meter laughs - all in a good days' work!

Even if only a few shared a shy smile - it is always worth wearing yours!
Even on the tube!
Especially on the tube!

Language

Communication is all we do - non-stop! [exclaiming with a matter-of-fact face expression and a double-hand gesture]

Years ago body language used to be a large part of our communication but nowadays where so much talk is being done on messaging each other via electronic devices and the intention of the message is sometimes lost because the expression is missed, both gesture-wise and intonationally. [shrugging shoulders with a grimassing face and a half-intended 'hmpfh']

Funny how sunchronicity works its magic in so many ways because language seems to be up in the air. I noted that while writing this blog post and my inspirational connection, Mark Thompson (lots of people could learn lots from Mark, I'm sure - kudos to him and his work), is on the same path of commenting or pondering on language. [nodding in agreement and validating the comment with a better-knowing smile]

The time I've spent trying to get my point across in a text message because the true meaning has been lost in lack of expression is not worth measuring. It is worth mentioning that not everyone understands smiley faces, internet slang and urban abbreviations - all the little language flowers that supposedly should help anyone get their point across. [pondering while raising eyebrows and upward-turning eyes, revisiting past situations in quiet resignation to the thought]

And this is where it becomes interesting because if the message is lost in un-understandable shortening and pictures no one gets then perhaps it's time to get the phone off the hook [saying grinningly with the knowledge that this expression makes sense to people who knows the old-type hook-hanging phones from past centuries], and make the call instead of continously trying to explain the intension and ending up in either upsets, dismay, anger or other negatively loaded emotions and sensations.

Let's face it, when the people we try to communicate with start getting humpy and cranky because of miscommunication it has a reciprocal effect. This leads to even more language burps... [tutting whilst shaking head with a smile]

Proper talk and the refreshment of body language can save relationships - if not lives in some cases. But we are often tied up in our online virtual presence instead of facing real life [sighing heartfelt with the realisation of the truth in this statement]

Even when we do communicate person-to-person sometimes conflicts occur - that is kind of a normal thing when people with different background, opinions, experience etc. come together... Who is the bigger person? Let it go - I believe I mentioned that a couple of times last week [cranking the face in an attempt to think of something original with the fingers hovering over the keys trying to figure out if there is life in those plastic buttons]

Communication is essential - and so is language often. However, conflicts and disagreements can be solved more easily when sharing a smile and a laugh - and even when speaking Gibberish! The language of nonsense is a powerful solvent and has been known to improve relationships and get fun back into work and life in general! [agreeing with the statement by raising thumbs from the keyboard with an acknowledging gesture]

Bring back body language and intonation and real personal communication!

And if this is not an option, then learn how to soften your expression, and your interpretation in particular. Interpretation of other people's comments, adding our own meaning to what is being said, can be the root of all misdiagnosed intentions and communicative trouble! [sighing and considering the fact that this has happened in real life on so many occasions I have lost track]

Laughter makes us omni-lingual!

Bring back laughter and joy!

NOW!

Love grows naturally from anything that is light and bright!

Now THERE's a thought!

We are all just humans and I say that in my Laughter Clubs, Laughter Yoga Trainings, Laughter Workshops and everywhere I share my work.

Why?

Well, I have been laughing for a very long time and it has profoundly changed my life and my outlook, my perspective and my view on what is possible to anyone who makes choices.

However, often in conversation people use negative phrases about things being 'tough' or 'hard' or similar and it really is all in the language.

We create what is 'so' with out language.

So.

Even though people often think I am always in a great and cheerful mood (I am mostly just for the record), I also have days when things are not as I imagined them to be and I get upset or fed up or tired or frustrated. I am just human and we all are just human afterall. But the essential message here is about picking the self up with a grin and letting go of what is not serving a great purpose!

Not to beat myself up because I still have a tiny control freak hidden inside me and sometimes it is bigger than tiny and I lose my mind to it but the truth is, that I have everything inside me to snap out of it when it's no longer worthwhile to remain with the experience of the ego-grasp. And it is NEVER worthwhile!

Another fact is that laughing every day for no reason provides perfect a reason for laughing in this style because it enables me, and anyone who practices it, to quickly realise self-staged little dramas and decide they are not what's needed and what's great.

In the end this realisation makes the choice to let go so so so much easier.

I realised my own little 'thing', the stuff I still have attached to me, the 'stuff' I'd love to let go of, when I came back from a lovely break in the north-east and discovered that my home which was supposedly 'just as when I left it' was NOT 'just as when I left it'.

After 10-12 teenagers having celebrated New Years' Eve and afterwards done their best to put things right, well, I threw a tiny tantrum at the mere sight which was, to say the least, NOT what I expected...

One and a half hour later, after hoovering, scrubbing, re-organising etc. I apologised to her for getting upset about what had not been done to my satisfaction and instead decided celebrating that my daughter and her friend had actually done a good job with the things that had in fact been tidied.

It is okay to apologise when you are an adult and your kids have done their best - even if you feel they should know better.

It creates great freedom to acknowledge, set straight, and let go!

I love my daughter and her friends are ace.

They partied until 6am and my neighbours didn't complain because they had been warned them in advance.

To be 18 years old and know what is expected inside your mum's head - now, THERE's a task that no child will ever truly graps.

Kudos to Karen & Co. for their effort, and thanks to thought process for the ability to let go of how it should have been.

The New Year 2014 is here and is seeping into every corner of 2013 remnants with tremendous speed, erasing the past year's fnuff and dustbunnies with amazing integrity and empowering style.

That's what comes from letting go and being in the moment instead of all the other past events and should've, could've, would've beens - momentum.

The only thing at stake when you let go of being right and in control is your ego - and honestly, the ego is not worth the fight, what's behind the ego is what matters!

Peace.