Lean in close and listen good - food for thought - Bourdain has gone

Writing from Buenos Aires - big big shock - Anthony Bourdain gone. He would have been the big brother I never had. He made me smile so many times and had me loving food ever ever more.

Who knows what pressures he was facing...

Keep checking in on your friends and family - life gets complicated in a the blink of an eye and we need to watch out for each other.

I was reminded of a testimony in the book "Charles Ives Remembered" by Charles J Buseing who worked with the innovative American composer. He said, “During the Depression in the downtown Wall Street area we cast our eyes to the sidewalk, hoping to pick up a dime or a nickel, but we also cast our eyes skyward to avoid falling bodies. It was that desperate. I went home twice with the blood of suicides on my suit. Right on Cedar Street, while I was walking in the centre of the street about two o’clock in the afternoon, a body came hurtling down from the top of the 120 Broadway building an killed a close friend on mine who was just seven feet away from me.”

Once again life can get tough in the blinking of an eye. My on-going belief is that we need to get better and more determined at constructing a world fit for all. That means better communication, more emotional intelligence, getting rid of jealousy and greed - perhaps these things were once in the hands of the church or religious organisation - now they are in our hands. We need all the tools we can to move forward as humanity.

I'm further reminded of the work of a video that I discovered through a philosophical study group "The Art of Living" with fantastic life-coach Molly Gordon where her challenge for the group is the question "how do we create our lives moment by moment as unique works of art?" The video that Gordon recommended is part of a trilogy called “Human” by film-maker and artist Yann Arthus-Bertrand who spent three years collecting real-life stories from 2,000 women and men in 60 countries. Yann captures deeply personal and emotional accounts of topics that unite us all; struggles with poverty, war, homophobia, and the future of our planet mixed with moments of love and happiness. 

Or there is Mo Gawdat who worked for IBM, Microsoft, and Google is the author of "Solve for Happy: Engineer Your Path to Joy, an international bestseller translated in 28 languages.  who has been developing a movement based around three simple steps: 1) Make happiness your priority, 2) Invest time to learn how to be happy (he has many free resources online), and 3) Teach others what you learn. In other words, "Pay it forward" - make someone else happy. Gawdat has free videos on solveforhappy.com. He believes that people should invest in your own happiness in order to make those around you happy. His mission, based on his own experiences of bereavement and loss are to have "One Billion Happy."

It is a shock to lose someone like Bourdain - a big shock. Let's hold on tight to the people around us. Check in on the people you haven't heard from for a bit.  Little movements, small gestures can make a difference.

? Deborah Claire Procter 2018

Deborah Claire Procter (MFA, FRSA, Creative Wales Award) - Clear Insight Productions  |  Cynyrchiadau Gweledigaeth Glir - Multimedia Artist, Mentor, Producer: Email | Website | Facebook | Twitter | Youtube | Linkedin | Instagram

More thoughts on happiness - CHASE JARVIS - https://bit.ly/Stefan-Sagmeister-Finding-Happiness

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New ways of being, doing & knowing | Ffyrdd newydd o fod, gwneud a gwybod - Clear Insight Productions makes theatre, opera, film, music & dance productions that present the opportunity to find wider perspectives & new ways of seeing the world. | Mae Gweledigaeth Glir yn gwneud cynyrchiadau theatr, opera, ffilm, cerddoriaeth a dawns sy'n cyflwyno'r cyfle i ddarganfod safbwyntiau ehangach a ffyrdd newydd o edrych ar y byd. 

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About Deborah: She is a multi-media artist from Wales who makes performances for theatres, galleries and site-specific spaces. She gained her degree in theatre at the University of Exeter and a Masters in Fine Arts from the University of Wales, Cardiff. Her performances have been shown in numerous prestigious theatres and galleries such as The Ferens (Hull), Spacex (Exeter), Hemsley (Madison, EEUU), and the Museum Theatre (Madras, India). She has worked with Theatre Alibi (U.K.) and received training with Gardzienice Theatre Association in Poland. The theatre critic David Adams (U.K.) described her solo show Don’t Know as both “lyrical and quirky.” In 2005 she received the Creative Wales Award for her work with video & experimental dance. In 2003 and 2005 she was funded by Wales Arts International to visit Argentina to collaborate with Oscar Edelstein. She set up the independent production company Clear Insight Productions, works as a consultant on social media marketing for performance groups, and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts. She mentors new businesses owners to dig into finding their voice in their branding and marketing, whilst discovering the joy of feeling of powerfully speaking about what they do on any stage in order to playfully and intuitively expand their business.