In
This Issue: May 10, 2007
- My friend Jen Louden has declared
May 15 to be Freedom from Self Improvement
Day. What a great idea... and this plus
a book by Henry Miller have me talking
about Why Oranges are
Good for You. Curious?
Read on...
- Market Place Product
of the Month: What
does it take to make the most of your natural
talents, experience and skill? One answer
offered in this month's Market Place
- Got It Going On: Prague. Finland.
Istanbul. Toronto. Baltimore. Some
places I'm showing up to speak over the
next few months.
Warm wishes,
Michael Bungay Stanier
Principal, Box of Crayons
PS - Know anyone who's fond of citrus?
Please forward Outside the Lines to
anyone you think might be interested.
Why Oranges are Good
for You
Last week I was in San Francisco, spending
some time at a conference and the rest hanging
out and having fun in this funky city.
My wife and I got to explore Big Sur, a
glorious stretch of countryside squeezed
between wild Pacific ocean and mountains.
One place we stopped was The
Henry Miller Library, and
I came across Miller's book Big Sur and the
Oranges of Hieronymus Bosch.
Yep - I didn't understand the oranges thing
either.
But Hieronymus
Bosch is one of my favourite painters, and on some
investigation I found that in his strange
and glorious paintings, oranges symbolized
paradise.
And that association did not only occur
in 15th C Netherlands. It wasn't so long
ago that oranges weren't a ubiquitous fruit,
but something rare and special - my Dad told
me about getting an orange in his Christmas
stocking in post-war Britain.
So as research for this article - and this
is the sort of research I enjoy - I sat and
ate an orange. REALLY ate an orange. And
here's what occurred to me as I enjoyed a
brief moment of paradise...
What's juicy?
There's that moment when you first break
the peel of an orange and a little explosion
of orange oil squirts out and fills the space
with that familiar smell. And of course,
when you bite into a wonderful orange the
flesh is full and juicy.
What's juicy in your life right now? How
can you get some more of that? How can you
really enjoy it when you are there?
What can you share?
It's one of the simple and powerful acts
of community. Peel an orange, break it in
half and offer the half to someone else.
There is something you have right now that
would benefit from being shared. It may be
a skill or talent, it might be material goods,
it might be your time.
What will you share? Who will you share
it with?
What do you remember?
The taste of a "squat, plump little
cake" soaked in tea inspired Proust
to go in search of lost time, so perhaps
an orange can do the same.
Recall now a moment of paradise. It might
be a vacation, it might be a moment with
family or friends, it might be a time in
the heart of a city or out in wilderness.
Sit with that memory for just a minute or
so - recall it and savor it.
(This, by the way, is a great moment of
stress release - when you're under pressure,
close your eyes for a minute and take a 60
second vacation by recalling such a moment).
Don't
take my word for it
Smart folks thinking out loud about finding
paradise in your fruit bowl (or somewhere
else nearby).
"I have always imagined that Paradise
will be a kind of library."
- Jorge Luis Borges, Argentine philosopher
"Dogs are our link to paradise. They
don't know evil or jealousy or discontent.
To sit with a dog on a hillside on a glorious
afternoon is to be back in Eden, where doing
nothing was not boring - it was peace."
- Milan Kundera, Czech writer
"The academy is not paradise. But learning
is a place where paradise can be created."
bell hooks, African-American social activist
"Or were I in the wildest waste, Sae
bleak and bare, sae bleak and bare, The desert
were a paradise If thou wert there, if thou
wert there."
-Robert Burns, Scotland's bard
Want to learn more? Here are some useful
resources
Freedom
from Self-Improvement Day is on
May 15 and runs all of next week. This day
celebrates the simple and difficult act of
self-love, self-acceptance, and self-care
- in other words, enjoying the here and the
now rather than continuously questing after
an elusive perfect life. You can find daily
audio downloads, challenges, prizes - including
a copy of Get
Unstuck & Get Going - and
more at
the website.
The New Enchanted
Broccoli Forest, Mollie
Katzen. My first and still favorite vegetarian
recipe book. The mashed potato quiche crust
recipe alone makes it a classic. Paradise
found in savoring good food.
When
Things Fall Apart, Pema Chodron. Buddhist
reflections on how to centre yourself in
tough times.
Big Sur and the Oranges
of Hieronymus Bosch, Henry Miller.
Market Place Product
of the Month
Why is it that even as we work hard to reach
our goals and our dreams, somehow we still
get stuck along the way?
Is it possible to get back on track, get
unstuck and get going on the stuff that really
matters to you?
If you're like most people, there are probably
two ways you get stuck:
#1 You have a fair idea of what you want
- or at least the direction in which you
want to head - but...
- You can only see one
way of doing it - and you don't like
what you see
- You're overwhelmed by choices
- and you don't know which one to pick
- You
don't know the first step - so you can't
get going
- There's too much at risk - and
you're afraid of chasing the big dream
#2 Or perhaps you don't yet know what you
want - and you're still searching...
- How do
I stop working on the things that drain
me?
- How do I connect to the stuff that really
matters?
Why does everyone get stuck?
2000 years ago, Archimedes figured out the
secret when he said "Give me a lever
and I can move the world."
He'd figured out that with the right fulcrum
- the tool that turns a length of wood into
a lever so that you have leverage - anything
is possible.
Anyone who's stuck needs the same thing.
Once you have the fulcrum that gives you
leverage you can begin to put your own natural
abilities, strengths and hard earned wisdom
to good use and get yourself unstuck.
Looking for a way to make the most of your
strength and abilities?
"This book has the ability to transform
lives! I love how it unlocks your mind, frees
your spirit and holds you accountable as
you soar."
- Patricia Smith
Get Unstuck & Get Going has just won
Best Book award, General Self-Help category,
by Indie Excellence 2007 Book Awards
Got It Going On: Michael's
Speaking Gigs
I'm currently finalizing my schedule for
speaking in organizations and at conferences
in the second half of the year and I'm looking
for some great places to come and speak.
Could I be of service to your organization?
If you know someone who's responsible for
booking speakers or organizing conferences, please
send them my information.
In the next couple of months...
I'll be speaking
in Toronto, Prague, Helsinki, Istanbul,
and Baltimore. Check
out the details.
About Michael
Michael Bungay Stanier is the guy behind
The
Possibility Virus, an organization that
provides products and services so people
can have lives of fun, inspiration and action.
To learn more about his corporate offerings,
see BoxOfCrayons.biz
You can find out more by contacting Michael
directly at Michael@boxofcrayons.biz or
+1 (416) 532-1322.
Subscribe - To subscribe to Outside
the Lines click
here or go to PossibilityVirus.com.
Reprint - I'd be delighted if you should
wish to reprint (for free) any part of Outside
the Lines in your newsletters, websites,
and message boards. Simply include the following
attribution:
Michael Bungay Stanier is a professional
keynote speaker, the author of the best
selling coaching tool, Get
Unstuck & Get
Going ...on the stuff that matters and
the creator of Eight
Irresistible Principles of Fun.
A certified coach and Rhodes Scholar, he
works with teams and organizations to help
them do less Good Work and more Great Work.
Schedule - Outside the Lines is distributed
on the 2nd and 4th Thursday of every month.
Your contact information is never traded,
never rented, never sold.
I send out an extra email one to three times
a month detailing programs and offers.
©Box of Crayons 2007. Box of Crayons
is a registered trading name of Maida CC
Inc.
*Outside the Lines
is read in at least 150 countries:
Afghanistan,
Albania,
Algeria,
American
Samoa,
Anguilla,
Antarctica,
Antigua
and
Barbuda,
Argentina,
Australia,
Austria,
Bahamas,
Bahrain,
Bangladesh,
Barbados,
Belarus,
Belgium,
Belize,
Benin,
Bermuda,
Bhutan,
Bolivia,
Bosnia
and
Herzegovina,
Botswana,
Bouvet
Island,
Brazil,
British
Virgin
Islands,
Brunei,
Bulgaria,
Burundi,
Cameroon,
Canada,
Cape
Verde,
Cayman
Islands,
Chile,
China,
Colombia,
Costa
Rica,
Croatia,
Cuba,
Cyprus,
Czech
Republic,
Denmark,
Dominica,
Dominican
Republic,
Ecuador,
Egypt,
El
Salvador,
England,
Eritrea,
Estonia,
Ethiopia,
Falkland
Islands,
Fiji,
Finland,
France,
French
Guiana,
Germany,
Ghana,
Greece,
Guadeloupe,
Guatemala,
Hong
Kong,
Hungary,
Iceland,
India,
Indonesia,
Iran,
Iraq,
Ireland,
Israel,
Italy,
Jamaica,
Japan,
Jordan,
Kazakhstan,
Kenya,
Kuwait,
Kyrgyzstan,
Latvia,
Lebanon,
Lithuania,
Luxembourg,
Macedonia,
Macau,
Malawi,
Malaysia,
Maldives,
Malta,
Mauritius,
Mexico,
Morocco,
Mozambique,
Myanmar,
Namibia,
Nepal,
Netherland
Antilles,
Netherlands,
New
Zealand,
Nicaragua,
Nigeria,
Northern
Ireland,
Northern
Mariana
Islands,
Norway,
Oman,
Pakistan,
Panama,
Peru,
Philippines,
Poland,
Portugal,
Puerto
Rico,
Qatar,
Romania,
Russian
Federation,
St
Vincent & the
Grenadines,
Saudi
Arabia,
Scotland,
Singapore,
Slovak
Republic,
Slovenia,
South
Africa,
South
Korea,
Spain,
Sri
Lanka,
Sudan,
Suriname,
Sweden,
Switzerland,
Taiwan,
Tanzania,
Thailand,
Trinidad
and
Tobago,
Tunisia,
Turkey,
Uganda,
Ukraine,
United
Arab
Emirates,
United
Kingdom,
United
States,
Uruguay,
US
Virgin
Islands,
Uzbekistan,
Vatican
City,
Venezuela,
Vietnam,
Wales,
Yemen,
Zaire,
Zambia, and
Zimbabwe!
Did
I
miss
your
country?
Let
me
know! |
