Awarness...

Most of us like to use our minds to figure out things, so let's use the mind to explore the concept of Awareness.

Our mind tells us that we can't be the same thing as the object we are aware of. Thus, as you look at your computer, you are aware of the computer.

It is thus safe to say that if you are aware of your computer, you can't be your computer. Similarly, if you are aware of your desk right now, you can't be your desk.

If you see a car on the street and are aware of it, then you can't be that car.

Now let's consider your body. Right now, are you aware of your body? Of course, the answer is "Yes;" you're aware of your body. Even if you didn't have physical sight, you would be aware of your body.

Well, if you are aware of your body, then you can't be your body.

Are you aware of your thoughts? Yes.

If you are aware of your thoughts, you can't be your thoughts.

Are you aware of your emotions, such as happiness or sadness?
Yes.

If you are aware of your emotions, you can't be your emotions.

What then are YOU?

Think about this again. Can you be the thing you are aware of?

I realize this sounds a bit tricky. Yet it certainly seems that there is an Awareness, a non-physical presence, that is aware of your body, as well as your thoughts and emotions.

Some of you might be a step ahead and think that this Awareness or Consciousness is located inside the skull, and is a function of the brain. This has been analyzed by scientists
and those who have devoted much of their lives to spirituality, and the majority of these people have come to the conclusion that Awareness is NOT localized in the brain..

By the way, even if you believe that Awareness is inside your brain, how do you explain what happens when the body dies? Does Awareness or Consciousness leap out of the brain at the
moment of death? While I can accept (and even embrace) the view that Awareness or Spirit is everlasting, it seems awfully difficult to believe that the essence of us is lodged in the
brain during life and then is suddenly freed from the brain at death.

Let's look at this from another angle. If, as quantum physicists tell us, ALL matter is composed of vibrating subatomic particles in 99.9% empty space, that means our brain
is composed of vibrating particles in EMPTY space. How can anything be located "inside" empty space?

If you're confused, welcome to the club. The mind likes to ignore those bits of information that don't fit neatly into its preconceived beliefs. This inquiry invites you into the unknown, which can be very scary at first.

Our sense of Awareness has another fascinating quality I'd like you to examine. Think of something that worries you and makes you feel very anxious. Get that feeling of fear in the
pit of your stomach.

Once you have the feeling in place, just observe the feeling as an impartial observer. Don't judge it, or try to get rid of it. Allow it to be there. Just observe it as if you are a witness to the feeling.

Are you able to observe the fear as if you are a bystander? You have the ability to do that.

Here's an interesting conclusion you may reach: the part of you that is observing the fear is NOT afraid. In other words, it appears that a casual observer is the "one" observing "your" fear.

The same thing happens if you are angry - and you just observe your feelings of anger. The entity observing the anger is NOT angry. It seems to be impartial.

What is that part of YOU that is doing this impartial observing? How is it that I can be angry and yet some part of me can watch or observe that feeling, while somehow being "detached" from the anger?

Not an easy thing to figure out right away. Yet, if you are honest with yourself, you will eventually come to the conclusion that there is something in the background, all the
time, that seems to be Aware or Conscious of everything going on. When we are caught up in our thoughts and emotions, we aren't aware of this Awareness. But that doesn't mean it isn't there. It is always there.

The concept of Awareness or Consciousness is often discussed in many of the Eastern religions and spiritual traditions, where the principle of non-duality (Oneness) is popular. Those who endorse non-duality believe that your true nature is not a physical body - but Awareness or Consciousness itself - and that all physical matter arises within this field of Awareness.

Even if you think these ideas are far-fetched, I think you'll find that when examined, there IS some mysterious Awareness that is always in the background. It doesn't matter what religion you follow; it has nothing to do with religion. This Awareness is present regardless of what you may believe about it, or if you choose to ignore it.

Into the wild

I saw this movie... it's called just like that "Into the wild" and it was inspired by a true story worth to tell it to the world I guess...It captures in an authentic and inspiring manner all the paradox and lack of true value of this world. It made me think about what can I do each and every day... for not killing the truth of everyday.

"Oh it's a mystery to me.
We have a greed, with which we have agreed...
and you think you have to want more than you need...
until you have it all, you won't be free.

Society, you're a crazy breed.
I hope you're not lonely, without me.

When you want more than you have, you think you need...
and when you think more then you want, your thoughts begin to bleed.
I think I need to find a bigger place...
cause when you have more than you think, you need more space.

Society, you're a crazy breed.
I hope you're not lonely, without me.
Society, crazy indeed...
I hope you're not lonely, without me.

There's those thinkin' more or less, less is more,
but if less is more, how you keepin' score?
It means for every point you make, your level drops.
Kinda like you're startin' from the top...
and you can't do that.

Society, you're a crazy breed.
I hope you're not lonely, without me.
Society, crazy indeed...
I hope you're not lonely, without me
Society, have mercy on me.
I hope you're not angry, if I disagree.
Society, crazy indeed.
I hope you're not lonely...
without me."

Somehow it captures too many metaphors and truths that worth be told and lived everyday. Traveling inside makes me wanna be even stronger. Inner stronger that 1 million other.. cause I wanna change.. I wanna change...

Humility ... I believe that’s an essential value for innovation leadership

"Wherever you go, there you are!"
—Buckaroo Bonzai, in the movie –The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai (Also the title of a book on mindfulness meditation by Jon Kabat-Zinn)

Bringing innovation to life anywhere in the organization requires the following five key values which are essential for values for both Leadership and Innovation:

• Integrity – Doing what you say you’ll do.
• Tenacity – Persistently and doggedly pursuing an option or solution until it succeeds and/or others see the brilliance of it.
• Courage – Being brave about pursuing options that are risky, novel, or untried.
• Curiosity – Being interested in new ways of doing things, unusual approaches, or things that are outside of your area of expertise. Consciously not knowing the answer, and seeking new ones instead. Consciously learning.
• Humility – Recognizing that ideas can come from other people, a willingness to change your mind, being able to admit mistakes when you make them, and being willing to learn from the mistakes of others, rather than punishing them.

A question of Integrity

The critical questions of integrity are, “Am I behaving congruently with my values and the values of innovation leadership?” “Am I measuring up to these fundamentals?”

If however you notice a slight bit of discomfort with yourself in response to the integrity question…if you notice a bit of an itch in your moral fiber…good! Now you’ve got some awareness of where you need to scratch to sniff out the personal development need beneath the surface that you’re presenting to the world. And that is the work of the ever evolving innovation leader.

So what is Integrity?

We asked our colleagues what integrity meant to them. They said that a person demonstrating the value of integrity is someone who:

· Is honest

· Stands up for what they believe in

· Knows who they are

· Is steadfast

· Willing to make tough -- even unpopular -- decisions

· Courageous in conflict

· Does what they say

· Considers what’s best for the group rather than what’s best for themselves

· You can count on

· Who keeps their promises

· You can really trust to do the right thing

· Walks their talk

Refreshingly, in the tone of their voice it was clear that integrity was a virtue they admired and aspired to.

What does this have to do with Innovation Leadership?

From an innovation perspective, a leader who has integrity with the values of tenacity, curiosity, courage and humility is well-positioned to explore and exploit new ideas. By actively living these values they end up more willing and able to suspend their first judgment of others’ ideas and are more open so they can encourage and support others. They are less afraid to make mistakes themselves and to model this for others. They are more accepting of others’ (well-intentioned) mistakes. They are more able and willing to candidly express what they think and feel and to take action on them.

In other words, integrity is essential for innovation because it is critical for demonstrating to the people around you in the organization that you mean what you say about searching for innovation. Imagine the manager who asks for innovation yet punishes people for a) making mistakes, b) taking risks, c) challenging the status quo, or d) trying things outside “the system.” Certainly in some cases, these four things might be a bad idea, but in the quest for innovation they are inevitable and indeed, necessary. So when those actions are punished, the conclusion that emerges is, “sure s/he says they want innovation, but their actions say otherwise.”

“What you are stands over you and thunders so that I cannot hear what you say to the contrary.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson

Tying the five values together

It’s not surprising that innovators are drawn to people who demonstrate integrity with the other four key values. Courageous, curious, tenacious and humble are qualities that true creative thinkers aspire to become. The leaders we are most drawn to over the long haul are those who authentically live these values. It’s more than skin deep. How admired leaders come across -- their demeanor, their way of presenting themselves, their questions and ideas and the congruence of their words and deeds -- is a big part of their attraction. So in the quest to become an Innovation Leader, work on intention and presentation. This is easiest and most effective when intention and presentation are one and the same. And that takes practice in humility, curiosity, courage and tenacity and integrity to their core beliefs.

This is one of life’s greatest challenges. Think of the many stories we have of people who fail to practice and live up to their (stated) beliefs. Most of the jokes on late night talk shows are jabs at the disconnect between what “leaders” and other “heroes” say compared with what they actually do. We quickly become cynical about leaders whose talk doesn’t align with their actions. In our cynical society, we tend to look for these disconnects in our leaders as a way to humanize them. We search for the flaws that would give us pause in trusting them, perhaps as a way to make ourselves feel better or more important. This speaks to the critical nature of humility; by demonstrating and presenting ourselves as fallible humans, it’s safer for others to trust us.

The Challenge of Integrity

We all are faced with challenges of staying in integrity. Everyday we face small and large choices in saying and doing what is right for our particular situation. There are not always easy answers and unfortunately, we are wired to easily rationalize our decisions – we delude ourselves after the fact to believing we were demonstrating integrity.

Example: A new manager working on a deep ocean oil rig had responsibility for deciding when the weather was too dangerous for his undersea diving crew to stay on the bottom doing their work. His boss was a famous achiever and had implied the manager would receive great recognition and other rewards for exceeding production milestones. A huge ocean storm was brewing. What should he do? In the end he left the crew down until the storm was way too close. Only through sheer luck did the crew make it out of the water alive. Reflecting on the events afterwards, this manager saw that he put his own interests before his men. He had enough honesty with himself to not rationalize the decision (“it all worked out for the best…I made the right decision!”), so he received a life lesson which he used to change his future behaviors as an innovation leader. How might he have been in integrity with curiosity and courage to both take care of his team and achieve the production targets? Constantly asking oneself these kind of questions is the behavior of the Innovation Leader.

As leaders we are all faced with these kinds of leadership dilemmas:

• Do I focus more on safety or efficiency?
• How much can I cut costs here and still provide a quality safe process or product?
• Should I layoff people for the sake of profits or survival?
• Can I bet the future of the company on a new approach?
• Should we abandon what’s always worked in the past to change with the times?

As innovation leaders we are challenged to find the right solution. The ideal is to ask “How might we avoid “either/or” solutions and find ways to do “both/and” answers?” By adopting a curious, courageous, tenacious and humble mindset we are more apt to find the right questions to spark innovative solutions. And integrity to these values, and to core beliefs in what is right, will help us know when we’ve found the best answer.

“I look for three things in hiring people. The first is personal integrity, the second is intelligence, and the third is a high energy level. If you don’t have the first, the other two will kill you.”
— Warren Buffett, CEO Berkshire Hathaway

Fresh end

I needed to escape for a few minutes from writing my paper for the exam I'm having on Monday morning. I needed to go for just a moment in a beautiful place of my past. I needed to feel again as if I'm in the sweet arms of my friends who although we live in the same city I see more rarely... There's no context anymore that facilitates us getting altogether. And I'm not complaining, as I know that we can change that after the faculty is over.

The music is all around us

Wondering what would merge in the real world of mine people together. No sentimentalism. Just thinking at a meta-formula or a simple thing that could get us all together. And together for me means somehow in the same equation of feelings, power and beauty. I bet that living this just for one moment would change the world, our world.

And as I watched with my mum a week ago the film "August Rush" I got an answer to my question, which made me happy. Hey petite Fleur, someplace somebody is asking himself the same question. It may be music as good music is everywhere if you can hear it. Can you hear it? Just close your eyes and listen. It's real. My window is closed and I can still hear the pigeons singing in the tree just in front of me. It's a wonderful moment in May now and I'm living it without considering in which extent it's good to be intense, it's good to feel and to admit you love feeling and listening to the music all around.

It's just another normal day after a pleasant evening spent last night with an Alumni of ours - Vio Panaite. I drank my coffee in the morning doing my ritual of checking e-mails. I've had a nice surprise from Singapore as an ex AIESEC member that went in a traineeship there and to whom I wrote yesterday asking him more about his experience replied with some insights. I'm traveling with my eyes wide open on different continents. After this I'm gonna do my morning exercise and then go to school as I feel today is a good day for the future. The air is going to be fresh as it rained a lot yesterday... it's good to live and be aware of the beauty and music all around.

Thank you God!

Suflet la vedere

Cum ar fi sa purtam sufletele la vedere?
Sa iasa mereu prin ochi?

La naiba cu zidurile care ne imprejmuiesc
Ne imprejmuiesc sufletele...
Ne imprejumuiesc...
Si doar atunci cand ne descurcam
Ne descurcam labirintul
EL mai vede lumina
Niciodata sincron
Sau poate decat prea rar.

Scenariul meu este cu sufletul la vedere
La vederea mea si a ta,
A ta si a lui
A noastra.

Azi e o zi buna de umblat cu sufletul la vedere
Asa.