Reflective of my mood to explore the world

"Every man ought to be inquisitive through every hour of his great adventure down to the day when he shall no longer cast a shadow in the sun. For if he dies without a question in his heart, what excuse is there for his continuance?"

Frank Moore Colby, The Colby Essays

My objective for facilitation...

''Do not try to satisfy your vanity by teaching a great many things. Awaken people's curiosity. It is enough to open minds; do not overload them. Put there just a spark. If there is good inflamable stuff, it will catch fire.''

Anatole France

Amazing

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

Marianne Williamson

A wonderous weekend :)

Thank you Zhenia for the fun Saturday evening! Loved the laser quest and the bowling! And as usual, you were a star...and my favourite naughty russian!

Discovering London gig scene...

When fenchie suggested we go out to a gig in some random pub on a Wednesday night, the first thought I had was that I would have to put up with some punk bands for the entire evening and that all I would get out of it would be one big headache...

My surprise was not only an amazing evening, but also the feeling like I am a bit closer to home. Once the acts started...I was hooked. Very cool blues voices, poetry, acting and even a lady that sounded like Ada Milea!

Here is a taste of my favourites:
http://www.myspace.com/ilovespeakershoe - funky sound and very cool voice
http://www.myspace.com/hadarmanor - amazing voice

Romanian surprise at Canary Wharf

Surprise surprise...the CEO of Canary Wharf is a romanian!

I was going through the top 1000 most influential people in London and guess who I found...a romanian is the third most influential under the Property headline after the Mayor and the Deputy Mayor, because Canary Wharf Group owns the Canary Wharf area.

For those of you not from London, Canary Wharf is an area that was redone into London's financial centre from an old dockland that was bombed in the second world war. Today it boasts the 3 tallest buildings in the UK and hosts: major banks, such as Credit Suisse, HSBC, Citigroup, Lehman Brothers, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, Northern Trust, and Barclays, law firms such as Clifford Chance, as well as major news media and service firms, including Thomson Reuters, and the Daily Mirror.

Born in Romania, Iacobescu trained as an engineer, graduated from the University of Bucharest and then emigrated to Canada and settled in Toronto, where he initially worked for the Olympia and York company as an engineer and later as vice president for development and construction at the World Financial Center in New York, and the Olympia Center and the Neiman Marcus Buildings in Chicago.

Iacobescu joined the Canary Wharf Group in 1988 as Senior Vice President, Construction, to oversee the procurement and construction of the first phase of Canary Wharf. He was promoted to the board of Canary Wharf Holdings Limited as an Executive Director in 1994, was appointed Deputy Chief Executive in 1996 and Chief Executive in March 1997.He was awarded a CBE in June 2003 and became a Trustee of the British Museum in 2007.

Read more here.

The Bucket List

If people ask me what is my favourite movie I never really quite know which one to pick...but The Bucket List has definitely become one of my favourites. Why? Not only because the actors in it are brilliant and interesting people- like I want to become one day- but also because it reflects so well the philosophy of life I believe in.

The basic story is that the two characters meet in the hospital and are both diagnosed with cancer and given just a few months to live. At one point one of them starts writing a list of things that he would like to do before he 'hits the bucket' and so they both end up adding to it and going out there to make things happen.

I have started my list of things to do in life and taking steps towards making things happen too: like chairing a national conference in Kazachstan, which is something I always wanted to do, but also my first ever trip outside of Europe. Travelling will surely be a huge part of my list, and therefore next year I also hope to visit JJ in New York and meet my old MC in Cambodia- also a place I am fascinated by.

Talking to Harman today about the trees that are getting yellow, life cycles and evolution, I remembered a line from the movie which to me right now underlines the basic fundamentals of our lives- as short passers by through the universe. In the movie, one character tells the other as they sit on top of the pyramids, the story about how St.Peter asks everyone who wants to go to heaven just 2 questions: 1. Did you find happiness in your life? And 2. Did you give happiness to others? Something to think about and a very simple way to measure one's impact and whether they have had a good life...