The wild ones in my tree

In memory of my dear friend Livia Koppman

Fantasy is a place

...where it rains....

      (Pirandello)

From Mattis' and Nikos' archives...

Es una historía de un bandito qe viva en francia y una chica qe se robado un diamente y el ladrón fue detenido por la policía. La película está dirigida por Nikos Appelquist Dalton.

Mattis

Human Potential

Hide and seek

Homo Ludens par exellence !

The Power of Play!

Play...play...play...
.... generates optimism, seeks out novelty, makes perseverance fun, leads to mastery, gives the immune system a bounce, fosters empathy and promotes a sense of belonging and community... (says scientist!) and a life or a culture devoid of or deficient in play exists as a heightened major public health risk factor ...




 The National Institute for Play

Here is MR. W

isn't he great?

Joy

The bouddhists say :

"Laughter is the language of the gods"


Schopenhauer looked at humanity and wrote: "we live life with the attitude that everything is bad, and everyday it just gets worse and worse, until finally one day the very worst thing happens.....!!"

Bzzzz

I keep meeting people who tell me stories about BEES...

For example: how their dance according to the sun, or the number of beating with their wings in a second (up to 240!) tell other bees where to find productive plants.... Or that bees once upon a time were wasps!.....and how their society is efficient and economic and unbelievable complex... and of course how our planet cannot survive without them!

And by the way,



HERE is a VERY interesting interview about beekeeping!
..haha...

Re-wiring the brain

As I said below, age is not an obstacle to learning. The adult brain retains impressive powers of 'neuroplasticity' - the ability to change it's structure and function in response to new experience!

In neuroscience, research has now overthrown the prevailing dogma that adult human brain is immutable. It is proved that mental training has the power to change it's physical structure, and that emotions, moods and states of mind are trainable skills. Yes, the ability of mere thoughts can alter the physical structure and function of our brain, with the help of 'self-directed neuroplasticity'. Interesting, no?
Read THIS ARTICLE.

A Nonne "Tale"......

I haven't been very present on this page for a while, so perhaps about time to post a few lines...

Let me tell you how it is to work with "old sisters"... I was recently asked to do some Feldenkrais in an old peoples home for retreated nonnes! Some of them are 100 years old, but that is absolutely no obstacle to keep learning - and laughing !!

To help them feel their pelvis and spine (necessary for bending down or reaching up, of course...) I suggested that they imagined having a tale attached to their talebone, - a tale that could move up or downwards - like a dog when happy or sad.
THAT was VERY funny for them to imagine, some of them (especially Jeanne who is 101!) giggled so much that we almost couldn't finish the session...hahaha.... that's what nonne-humour is about.... They are wonderful!

I will get it done today!

Dont you all know the feeling of getting invaded
by numerous little (and big) things that demand your full attention
and when not done they sit there and ruminate....

It is said that our accomplished tasks arrange themselves
in a drawer of our memory which permits us to calmly move on to other challenges, BUT that certain unacomplished and non finished tasks can haunt us, for better or worse, (it's called "Zeigarnik effect") for the rest of our entire life....help!!

Waves of the Ocean

" We are all waves of one same ocean
One deep eternal ocean
One life one consciousness

We are individual waves of this ocean
The wave is already the ocean
it dwells in the ocean
the ocean dwells in the wave

...And how strange it is to learn that
a wave has decided to devote it's life
through perceverance, efforts and struggle
....to reach the ocean.....! "

Arnaud Desjardins

The wave is by Hokusai, bien sur...

Happy New Year

I wish you all peace, serenity and lots of creatvity for 2009.
May our projects and ambitions be gratified with
passion, love and vision, and then
Hit the road Jack !!


Let's get our swimming gear together and go for it!
Thats what they did in this funny and exotic adventure
from Hannover to Africa on new years day.

.

Sne !

Snowflakes are pretty magic...

Even when touring....

.

Nordic winther tales

"Il fait nuit à présent. la vielle ferme dort, et tous les gens qui l'habite.
Au milieu de la forêt elle se trouve.
Il y a longtemps, bien longtemps, un homme vient dans cette forêt.
Il commença à cultiver la terre, coupa des arbres et bâtit une maison.
Cela fait si longtemps que personne se souvient de son nom à présent...
Comme cette nuit est silencieuse.
Comme cette nuit et lumineuse.
Les étoiles scintillent dans le ciel, et la neige illumine tout, blanc.
Et comme le froid est piquant!
Ici se trouve une vielle ferme où tout le monde dort.
Tous sauf un......."

Teksten er delvis min, delvis en oversaettelse til fransk af Astrid Lindgrens "Nissen og Raeven" - det franske publikum elsker den....



Today was the last show of this years scandinavian
winther-tales in the Cantal,
....and all the spicy biscuits are gone....

I was crazy enough to make them myself (800!!)






Soon heading north.....









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Ygdrasil and clever birds

Ygdrasil the tree of life in nordic mythology or Axis Mundi, and the begining of the world. More to come... but while researching I also study Odin with his two birds Hugin (Thought) and Munin (Memory).

.

...At sunrise Odin sends them off to fly throughout the whole world. They come back at mealtime, sits on Odin’s shoulders, and tell him all the news they
saw or heard...

Odin so gathers knowledge, and just to remind you that Ravens
and their brothers Crows, are actually, also in non-mythological time, very intelligent birds: Here a funny scientific experiment

Til Rag-Mil, med tak for dit inspirerende naervaerd!
PS. Efter at have modtaget en chokerende nyhed
plejede min mormor at sige:
"Vel, man skal sandelig höre meget för örene falder af!"

Morning dew

Hello Cruel World
In need of tunes for these early,
cold, dark winther mornings?
I should really be working Hell I'd go ,
concentrated with papers, words,
figures to please the french bureaucracy...
and not listening to La vie en rose

A bit Tom Waits about her, right?

Woman warrior

With ten arms,
intelligence, love and humour
we shall join warrior Durga


And why,
in fierce compassion,
out of all decent causes to join,
is it so fundamentally important
to resist and "fight" violence (in all it's aspects)...

Eve Ensler (the fantastic storyteller who wrote the vagina monoloques)
talks about 'security' creating 'insecurity'.
Listen and watch her voice of Gaïa...

Shining Eyes

Watch charismatic Benjamin Zander
when he plays with passion and proposes
a great barometer for the definition of succes :

Click HERE

Grazie amore cannella ...

En efteraarsmorgen....

En saerlig hyggelig morgenstund....

Og tak for de mange varme tanker, sms, mails, breve!


Her er mit bidrag in return:

Trying to concentrate


.

Diogenes, the cynical philosopher !

Just came across Diogenes of Sinope
Do you remember him?
The rebelious and cynical philosopher,
who lived in a barrel...

Diogenes walked through Athens in broad daylight

carrying a lighted lamp...
'What on earth are you doing, Diogenes ??'

'I'm looking for a man!

An Honest Man, - The Unknown One!'


And it is also said that:
Once upon a time a wealthy Athenian invited him to visit
his new and very sumptuous house.
Since Diogenes didn't stop making sounds
as if he was about to clean his throat,
the elegant man asked him to please not spit
in his clean and spotless home.
Diogenes, then, spit him right in his face.

Johanne sov stille ind

"Jamen, Pia, vi kan jo ikke blive her"
sagde hun sidste gang jeg saa hende.
"Her ville jo komme til at se forfaerdelig ud hvis vi andre blev"
"Der er jo nye der skal til, - vi maa lade pladsen til de nye....."

Og det er saa hvad min elskede mormor gjorde igaar aftes.

Hun blev 90 aar.
Da hun var 82 cyklede hun stadig mange kilometer,
i modvind, i det sönderjyske landskab,
og indtil hun mistede det gode syn i fjord
strikkede og haeklede hun i metervis ...

Jeg er en af hendes piger, og hun efterlader et oprigtigt savn.

Foto fra 11.august 2008

Humbleness and beauty

Morning...

Just wanted to share this beauty of Hokusai with you...

Aergeligt at du holder pause Mille,
haaber du kommer tilbage af og til
for du har altid saa meget spaendene i posen....

Have been absent for a while, I know
The summer has been busy but rich in encounters.
The new theater building is currently preparing its coming season.
Promise to keep you better posted.
Will soon be back with more...

Sankt Hans - Solstice

Dear scandinavian friends and relatives,
Are you celebrating this longest day of the year?
Are you burning witches and old boats
in big bonfires on the beaches?
Are you enjoying this pagan feast with
drinking, dancing and singing under the midnight sun?
I miss you all....
and I miss the blackbird's early morning song...

From my exile I'll listen to Him - isn't he great ?!

FETE de la MUSIQUE

Et ce jour est la Fête de la Musique....

Here is one of my favorites.....

Sisters

Watch this little beauty 

of women in art

  and in case you are confused with publicity and women-magasin propaganda

remember the known  Audrey Hepburn tips:

For attractive lips:

  -  speak words of kindness  

For lovely eyes:

  - seek out the good in people

For a slim figure:

  - share your food with the hungry

For beautiful hair: 

  - let a child run his/her fingers through it once a day

For poise:

  - walk with the knowledge that you never walk alone...

(The painting above is by Emil Nolde)

Imagination

My son showed me this link today

and said "I'm a dreamer" ...:

IMAGINE

Tak Mattis

 you are  not the only one...

Dance of Life

While working on "Le Pays qui n'est pas"......

(I faar en dansk oversaettelse snarest)

Painting of E.Munch

Le bonheur ne chante pas, ne pense pas, ne fait rien

Le bonheur se glisse dans la broussaille endormie

avec le souffle du matin

L'espace infini de la mer ou dardent les rayons du soleil,

Le bonheur est impuissant, il dort, il respire, il ne sait rien.

Connais-tu la douleur?

elle est grande, elle est forte,

elle serre en cachette les poings.

Connais-tu la douleurs?

elle sourit et, les yeux rougis de larmes, elle espère -

elle nous pousse, encore hésitant, par la porte.

La douleur règne sur tout, elle lisse le front du penseur,

elle attache le collier offert à la femme que tu désires,

elle attend devant la porte quand l'amant quitte sa maîtresse.

Que donne-t-elle de plus à ceux qu'elle chérit?

Je n'en sais rien.

Elle donne des perles et des fleurs, des chants et des rêves,

elle donne l'unique baiser vrai

elle nous offre tous les gros lots de la vie:

L'amour, la solitude et la face de la mort.

Edith Södergran

Wednesday morning

Er det ogsaa hvidt hos jer?

Monday morning- don't worry

Press here  if you are desperate...

Don't worry, you are not alone!

Under the wings of the eagles

"How can you do what you want

if you don't know what you are doing?"

(M.Feldenkrais)

Went for a long walk thinking about it,

a sunny afternoon on top of a volcano

Hvem gemmer sig under den forgyldte urtepotte?

Naar man rejser fra landet til byen

taenker man ofte "her er vi saa kommet til en anden planet"

Hurra for andre planeter !

Foran det kunstneriske Mekka Pompidou i Paris

staar en söjle med guld paa sin top

Men hvem er det der sidder ved kunst-soklens fod?

Jo, i skyggen sad saamaend denne lille dame med ét ben

og et ustemt öst-europeisk folke instrument

Buen gik frem og buen gik tilbage.

Hun spillede mekanisk 2 toner i 2 timer.

( og jeg tror egentlig at hun havde 2 ben ! )

.

The Woman and the Lion roar

I wander what 

my father thought

my mother was thinking

when he watched her

wathing HIM

a spring day in the sixties....

Jeg taenker paa

Hvad min far taenkte paa

At min mor taenkte paa

Da han tog dette billede

en foraarsdag i Vejle...

From my windows-ill...

Peaceful morning here at my windows-ill

lucky am I who cant hear or see

the horrible men in a foreign country

who turn children into human bombs.

Morgenstund med guld i mund...

For her ved min vindueskarm

kan jeg heldigvis ikke höre eller se

de grusomme maend i et fremmed land

som laver börn til bomber.

Les voisins

"Il fait froid - eh?!" dit madame Bousquet (en haut de sa fenêtre)

"Si vous avez besoin du bois - je vous en apporterai" dit monsieur Bousquet...

Pas mal les voisins à la campagne....

Speak later

Aarsrapporter, ansögninger, regnskab, salgsmateriale, oversaettelser mm. skal afleveres snarest!

Vi snakkes ved naar jeg kommer frem...

Suffering from all the paper and administration work that I hate...!

Speak when destination is reached....

Et Aeg i min hule haand

En dag blev Dalaï Lama spurgt: "Hvad er for dem det mest overraskende ved menneskeheden idag "Han svarede: "At mennesker mister deres helbred for at tjene penge, og at de saa bruger deres penge paa at genfinde deres helbred. At de aengsteligt taenker paa fremtiden og glemmer  nuet, i en saadan grad at de hverken lever i nutiden eller fremtiden. De lever som om de aldrig skulle dö, og dör som om de aldrig har levet".

What's it all about?

I'll try to answer the question below with the following:

Should you take a shower everyday? And get up early or late? Put on make-up that only the tulips will see? Eat healthy food ? Decorate your house with flowers? and yourself with silk-shawls and painted foot-nails that nobody will notice? 

My answer is YES to everything. Just do it.

 It's like with Art, - don't ask what it is good for, what it serves. 

At least you wont get any answer. 

The point of all this is probably  that your existence shall serve as a reminder of the inherent wonder of life and to try to rise to its challenge.

Suzanne Brögger bor paa landet i Danmark og svarer paa mit spörgsmaal  ved at skrive: Skal man gaa i bad hver dag? Skal man staa op om morgenen eller ud paa eftermiddagen? Skal man sminke sine öjne for paaskeliljerne? Skal man spise rigtig mad hver dag? Skal man pynte sit hus med blomster ? Og sig selv med silkesjaler og neglelak paa taeerne, som ingen ser? Mit svar er ja til det hele. man skal bare göre det. Det er ligesom med kunst. Man kan ikke spörge, hvad det skal göre godt for. Man faar ihvertfald ikke noget svar. Sagen er vel, at man med sit liv bare skal göre sig umage med at minde om livets vidunderlighed og pröve at svare til den...

How much to do?

When you live in an isolated rural mountain area in the center of France, where cows and farmers are many amongst the spectators to your un-traditional way of living, - then a question keeps coming back : how much do you have to do to keep yourself alive?

Naar man bor  langt ude paa landet i et tilbagetrukket fransk bjergomraade, hvor bönder og köer er mange blandt  tilskuerene til ens utraditionnelle adfaerd (og her tilföjes at Cantal er et omraade hvor der ved optaelling rent faktisk bor flere köer end mennesker...), - ja saa aktualiseres spörgsmaalet: Hvor meget skal man göre for at holde sig i live ?

How do I care... I'm the center...nothing more, nothing less !

Chroniques de la France profonde

Hvor er verdens centrum - spörger du?

Maaske til venstre for vanddraaaben...

I Massif Central mellem vulkaner, granit, ost og köer ?

Lost in the Cantal between volcanos, granit, cheese and cows

and still wandering where is the center of the universe....?