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Tuesday, 18 November 2008

home

One of the things I love most about traveling and being at the whim of a project schedule is that it forces one to be "home", "centered", "at peace" with whatever is happening in one's environment. The more the world around is fluctuating, moving, changing, the more one needs to focus internally in order to find stability. Having one's sight set inward, sooner or later one encounters the observer behind the ego, that something that looks through one's eyes, is behind all thought, and calmly observes all that is happening without attachment, desire, or any other false connection to the world around.
As the landscape changes and events and people come and go, it is helpful to focus on staying and living in the flow, appreciating all that is happening no matter if ego finds it pleasant or not, loving all who are around, the strangers on the street, the special ones one has to sometimes leave behind.

Rome - View from the Spanish Steps

Here also some more pictures from my travels... After Brussels, a short stunt in Cologne (had some "Himmel and Aed" - lovely blood sausage with mashed potatoes - a local specialty), it was back to London (had some pig's head, ear and cheek there, which was delicious), then on to Munich (where I had the Bavarian version of blood sausage, apples and potatoes as well as some delicious tounge - and a most magnificient restaurant experience with a Tarot card reader, a masseuse and a delightful show), and from there to Rome (some more tripe, pizza, of course, and some oxtail), and back to London (more pig's head - couldn't help myself, and more Japanese delights such as pickled octopus and grilled smelt).
This weekend, it will be on to Berlin, then Frankfurt, Stuttgart and Zurich before I finish my project here in London. Lots to look forward to ;-)

Mussels in Brussels

The last location on my tour was Brussels. Did not get to see much of it, though. For the most part, I was working either in the office or the hotel room. Did get a chance to have some interesting foods, though. While Spain had been about Pulpo, Tripe, Entrails, Belgium provided me with Mussels, Cow Diaphragm, and Cuckoo! Did not even know you could eat Cuckoo, but apparently it's a specialty in some areas of Belgium. It was quite delicious I have to say, more tender but a bit like chicken (which I am not too fond of after having seen too many films about how they are typically kept and processed). On of the things I liked about Brussels was the apparent mix of old and new architecture. Especially in the area where I was staying, new glass and steel constructions were shooting out of the ground right next to beautiful old buildings. The office I worked in, e.g. was from the 17th century and had original wood carvings, heavy wooden doors, a sale d'arms and tile work that was just delectable.
This weekend I am in Cologne visiting my brother and then it's on to London. Originally, I was supposed to be in Vienna, which I had very much looked forward to as I love that city, but more urgent needs are calling me to good ole London. Do look forward to being there again, though. In the last year, I have made it home a bit, and I look forward to stopping by some of my favorite places there...
Six Sigma for your Life is off and running and the course starts Monday. We have a pile of people this time around and I look forward to finding out how the results on their stress levels will look in six weeks. If last year's prototype run was any indication, the course should definitely affect the quality of their lives, something dear to my heart ;-)

Pulpo y Sangria

Madrid it was for the last week and a half: Had some delicious foods and drinks, learned a bit of Spanish, enjoyed the relative occasional notsocoldness, took a tourist bus tour (above image being the result), saw impressive art at the Prado (Goya, Rembrandt, Rubens, Tizian, Velasquez, El Greco), and spent the rest of it working in the office or my hotel room...

Six Sigma for Your Life is in full gear. Had a great response to my invitation and the machine is in full gear. Look forward to it starting in the next couple of weeks.

Tomorrow it's on to Germany and from there to Brussels on Sunday... (map of tour)

The tour is on...

Fortune is something funny. One of my numerology readings last year told me that I was not going to travel much in 2006. Another reading told me that I would be traveling more than usual.... Hmmm.... Seems like the latter might be happening - at least for now.

Am sitting in a hotel room in Amsterdam at the moment, the first stop on a tour continuing to Madrid, Brussels, Vienna, Rome, Frankfurt, Zurich, London, and a couple-two-three other places in-between. The full schedule is not finalized, so there might still be some more adventures in stock. We shall see...

For now, I am definitely enjoying Amsterdam and the local specialties. I promised my friend to take at least one picture in each location, so to the right my sunset in Amsterdam picture (haven't seen much daylight, it's cold, it's raining, and I have been working most of the time).

Apart from my travels and the project I am involved with here (ever wondered how movies end up in movie theatres all over the world?), I am also trying to continue working on all my other lovely projects. One that is going in full force and that I am quite excited about is Six Sigma for Your Life, an email delivered course for busy professionals that improves the quality of life. After a first successful trial run last summer (my brother's stress evaluation showed that all participants for whom we had complete data sets actually showed an improvement in stress coping capabilities and consequently an improvement in the quality of their lives), we are relaunching it this March with a new and rewritten version. I have agreed to let people take it for free one more time in exchange for providing some feedback and help with my brother's PhD research by filling out a stress assessment prior to and after the program, so use this unique opportunity and sign up to improve the Quality of Your Life for FREE!

Okay, that's it. On to other things ;-) Next picture will be from Madrid. Look forward to being there as of next week... hopefully, it's a bit warmer there (California has spoiled me).

Touchdown in LA - Happy New Year!

May your year be filled with love, creativity and joy! May it be wondrous and full of adventures! May this be the best year of your life so far and the worst of your life to come!

Wishing you a most delightful 2006!

In philipworld, 2006 has already started with quite some movement and adventures in the planning. Just returned to LA from a two month trip to London and Germany a couple of days before the new year, then spent New Year's eve at a most lovely wedding near Palm Springs, and am now getting ready to leave to Europe again for another crazy all-across-the-continent project. I seem to like it that way, or at least I keep attracting these kinds of opportunities... In any case, I am looking forward to 2006. I am planning on finishing my Masters in Transformational Psychology (and on publishing my thesis as a book called "Who is creating your reality?"), am fully launching Six Sigma for Your Life this spring, there are already some exciting possibilities for the Center for Conscious Creativity, and the sun is shining in my favorite office in the littlehouse garden... So far, so good... Will keep you posted!

smiles

philip

alas, a new year yet again..

I can't believe it has already been another year again... Last year at this time I had just dissolved my household here in LA, had packed up all my books in boxes in my friend's garage, and was getting ready to retreat to Switzerland to work on Six Sigma for Your Life. Then January came, and before I knew it, I found myself in LA again visiting from LA, then the two-month whirlwind tour through Europe in the summer, back to LA, then the Writers' conference, and right away a whole pile of new and exciting projects as I am heading into a new year:

Am preparing to write my thesis dealing with the megalomaniac idea of actually describing a morally and traditionally neutral concept of the meaning of life from a transformational perspective over the next two months, which should be fun - contact me if you are interested in a copy.

Also preparing to launch another iteration of Six Sigma for Your Life next year. The feedback I received on the first round was great, and I look forward to making the program even better. Initial prestudies my brother did for his PhD research showed that everyone who took the program this summer and filled out both pre- and post-test stress surveys, actually improved their stress coping behavior. Actually met one of the people who took the program for the first time last Saturday. She was thrilled to report the successes she had achieved: how she had given up coffee, how she felt more at peace, and how she had become much nicer to the people around her. It was thrilling to hear and I am grateful beyond belief that what I love to do actually had a positive effect on somebody else. Onward to the next round!

Then, of course, I am preparing for the next round with the Center for Conscious Creativity, with some exciting projects coming up there as well. Outside of that, I am working on the twenty or so other projects, took on a class in Hermetic studies, am meeting wonderful and interesting people with all kinds of potential, and trying to find time to enjoy the lovely garden I get to live and work in.

Finally, I am - as far as I know right now - also slated for another five week all-over-Europe-trip coming up in the next couple of weeks for another work project. We will see...

It will definitely be another interesting year. For now, I finished the last one quite delightfully, with a full on joymonkey weekend. Went party-hopping on Saturday with a few friends all decked out in a fez hat and jelaba (as you can see on the right). Then on Sunday, I went into the studio to record the second "Joymonkey Featuring the Participants" CD called "Who is creating Your Reality?" in preparation for my upcomning thesis/book of the same title with some amazing and lovely musicians, poets, artists. Already burning to listen to the outcome, and can't wait to post things for your listening pleasure ;-)

Overall, a delightful year, and all kinds of wonderful prospects for the next. Thank you for having been a part of my life this year!