Inspiration Application; An Unexpected Day in Amsterdam

Last week, I got stuck in Amsterdam. There was a storm and I missed my flight and landed a great opportunity to be inspired by the moment in time in a great city.

My conclusion is that Amsterdam is not a bad place to get stuck in. It is merely the question of how to size this unexpected opportunity suddenly and without any preparations. Quick decisions had to be made of what out of all the possibilities a visitor could choose to be inspired by.

So, I chose the most obvious, the canals. It is the quickest way. After all, that is the most striking feature I know about Amsterdam, besides the famous tulips, of course.

After making your way to the Amsterdam Central by train from the Airport, you just walk across the street and hop on a boat that will take you around the city's canals for a day. There is a combi-cruise available, where you can hop on-and-off wherever you like. The coolest thing ever, especially on a dreary mid-winter day.

Then it is another decision of where to hop-off as with a sudden opportunity time is of the most importance as you have to catch the next flight home, for sure.

The other great feature I know about Amsterdam is that it is full of great art. Hoping off next to the National Museum then becomes quite a simple decision. But would there be time enough in two hours to absorb it all? I' d say no. So the next available inspirational, fit-for-two-hours-experience is the Van Gogh Museum, right behind the previously mentioned one. And Wow!

It is an inspirational tour of the best kind. To me, it was an exercise in turning the dreary into colorful. Van Gogh, famously, knew how to do that.

Let's see! Here we have a person, who adores dreary landscapes and colors but instead becomes the trademark for orange.

To make the long story short, here is an example of a person who, at the age of 27, after making a sudden decision of becoming an artist instead of selling art, works tirelessly at improving his skills. He is also confident enough to forgo critique and hold on to the inspiration to the end. It is a show of real self-confidence in one's abilities to be able to say that you are satisfied by your work of art and leave it at that despite of what anybody else says.

I was fascinated by the way Van Gogh was inspired by the Japanese art and how it can be detected in his work. His famous work, 'The Bedroom', for example becomes much more understandable with the background knowledge of where he took his inspiration from. It is much like after watching the special features of making a movie, you can better appreciate the completed work. The Van Gogh Museum has certainly succeeded in giving the visitor that experience.

Amongst the inspirational art that inspired Van Gogh, I also found Odilon Redon, a new favorite of mine in inspiring for the mysterious.

One of the art works also reminded me that I should re-read Emile Zola, which would then in it's turn inspire with the understanding how the rebellious mind of the youth of the 19th Century can be turned into great art pieces.

What I did take with me after spending an unplanned day in Amsterdam as a spectator for great architecture, landscape and art was the concept of inspiration application.

The opportunity is in all of us, despite the dreariness of the day. It is learning to size the moment and channeling every inspiration to make our day a worthwhile experience. Holding on to that inspiration and letting it move us towards an enchanted life then becomes a little bit easier every day.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Amongst the Childhood Memories; Christmas Characters Re-visited

Christmas is fast approaching. It is clearly evident that the shopping centers are starting to prepare earlier and at the same time people are too busy to notice and start thinking about it later and later. This is just the best time for the storybook characters to appear in their fancy best.

So, I found this Facebook page called 'Make your profile picture your favorite character until Christmas' and I 'liked' it. It was actually for the last year but who cares. This is cool, I thought and the next thing would be actually to do it. The picture attached to this posting shows where I have come to. My choice for this year will be the White Rabbit dressed as a Christmas character. I actually met him at the local shopping centre and was able to be photographed with him.

Steps to take when choosing your favorite profile character until this Christmas

1. Overall attitude

The first step is to decide if you like a traditional or recently created popular character as a favorite. Are you a traditionalist or a modernist? In the world of possible characters it makes a big difference.

Traditional characters for Christmas time would enhance the compassionate attitude of the season. Then you could also go for the quirky, or you could go for the elves. That would be enhancing the fun of the season. There is also the 'creepy' way.

My choice of the White Rabbit dressed as a Christmas character is somewhere between, a traditional storybook character with a quirky look about him. Mr Carroll could approve that, I think.

2. Following the times or maybe not

Step two is deciding do you what to follow the times or do you want to keep to the old look.

Sitting in a cafe at my local shopping centre observing this year's children's storybook parade I noticed that the characters walk much quicker than before.

The Loony Toons characters that marched past us were very agile. They are also taller and more streamlined and they have long skinny legs. No wonder that they can dance and sing and jump around the stage like anything. The other storybook characters were clearly influenced by Dr Zeuss characters or by the latest Christmas films.

The most alarming observation in my mind was that the Mother Santa and all her elves were so small and skinny. She wore high heals to boot. OMG, I say. They were cute, though. The tiny elves with skinny, skinny legs all dressed in green and red. On the positive side, the number of the little elves has grown. Instead of one round Santa and an elf, there are huddles of them all around the shopping place, including the Cat in the Hat and the Chrich.

Going with the flow is my choice. It allows for full enjoyment of all the new that has been created and lets you be inspired by the moment. If the old is reinvented, all the best for that, too.

3. Being charmed or not

The third step is to decide if you will be charmed or not by this new development.

So, I chose to be charmed by the crowds of tiny Helpers and Storybook Characters. For my favorite character I had three contestants, namely the Moomin Mother, Mad Hatter and the White  Rabbit.                                      
          
                                                           

   

It was a tough choice until I met the White Rabbit in person. This is a point for direct marketing, I was immediately persuaded.

Merry Christmas Season to Everyone! Let's be compassionate in small things as well as the big ones this year!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Be Inspired by Everything

At this time of the year in Australia, I am really inspired by the colours of the spring. They are everywhere. Everything seems to bloom. And still, after so many years of living in Queensland and experiencing it, I get inspired by the idea that long time ago some forward thinking people planted flowering trees around the place in rows so that other people would be able to enjoy and be inspired by them in their unforeseen future. I also get inspired by the fact that everything that in my birth country is grown inside in pots here grows into trees and flowers as well.

I get inspired by little things. People who smile and say hello even though they do not know you. They are in the act of spreading goodwill and sharing their positivity. It is invigorating.

I get inspired by art, music and culture. Listening to inspirational music lifts your spirits spreading calmness and good feelings. it contributes to making your day better.
                                    
I get inspired by exhibitions and museums where people have collected inspiring things or ideas. Even after experiencing the Queensland Museum many times, I still think it is cool that the sex of a sea turtle is determined by the temperature of the eggs.

Most of all I get inspired by other people being inspired. The look of rapture, passion and enthusiasm when they talk about things that inspire them. It can be anything.

Recently, I was inspired by Yvette Adams at the Westside Business Women's breakfast. She inspired us by likening marketing to eating ice-cream. I can just see the visual image of a child enjoying the ice-cream and this inspires me further to try everything she suggested we try on the net.

Just couple days ago, I was inspired by a conversation about light bulbs. It is incredible how the technology and science of producing electricity has changed in the recent times. It is inspiring to understand that the little halogen light that previously did not light much has become so powerful as a light source that it can now light a whole stage.

Last night, I was inspired by the calming music at a friend's house. Listening to the clever piano player being inspired by a long passed composer made my day.

Today, I am looking forward to much more inspiration. My eyes will see things, my primary visual cortex will transport the images to 30 other processing centers of my brain. This process will create meaning for me. My limbic system will recognise the feelings that come to me and I'll be once again inspired by everything I see, do and think.

It is a viscous circle but someone has to be inspired, so why not you and me?

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Having a great day at the Caddies Community Care Centre in Jimboomba

Demonstrating success towards attaining results in community capacity building

How would a great working day be defined? Is there a standard criterion? What would it take to say that a particular day in a working life has been great, wonderful and thoroughly enjoyable? Well, we had a day last week at Caddies in Jimboomba where I work, which in my mind can qualify as a grand day. Lucky for me, on that day we had a pleasure to be visited by Councillor Hajnal Black from the Logan City Council and I was equipped with a camera. As the day went on and the pictures piled up, its particular meaning suddenly became quite clear to me.

Is there a criterion for a great day at work?

For me a criterion is set by what kind of outcomes I would like to achieve from a successful day’s work. I have been pondering what makes a great day at work for other people. In my mind I would deem it a wonderful day if I can actually see a positive influence my work experience and commitment has on people and service outcomes. It would make the work worthwhile and would colour the day great.

As the Director for the organisation, I set my goals in relation to the mission, vision and the philosophy of the organisation. In this case the Jimboomba Community Care Association Inc which exists to enhance the wellbeing and social capital of our community. The Community Care Centre from where we operate is the centre of our activities in the area. From there we demonstrate our presence, our values and our commitment to the wellbeing of the community surrounding us. According to the 2006 census some 41000 people are anchored through our service provision to the community in the Logan and Beaudesert area. It is a huge challenge.

The organisational plan is set to encompass all our services: Caddies Care Services, Caddies Food Services, Caddies Community Welfare, Caddies Family and Youth Support Services, both funded and unfunded, and all the Caddies Community Care Centre activities. On the care service front our aim is to achieve an all-inclusive best practice, high quality service delivery and on the centre activities front a genuine presence in the community as a place to participate, meet and interact. My role is to lead the organisation to greater achievements and balanced service delivery for all in our community. Positive outcomes in an organisation can only be achieved by a great team effort, a committed Management Committee, staff and volunteer participation. First of all it requires attitude! Luckily, we have the IT factor. I can only commend the staff, volunteers and all involved in their commitment to the organisational outcomes.

Personally for me a great day is when I come home in the evening inspired, happy, full of future plans and ready for more. I might even take up some vacuum cleaning and cooking without any bother. Achieving organisational and personal goals, just for one day, calls for a celebration. My feeling is that we have now set the standard and can aim at repeating it again and again in rabid succession.


What did this remarkable day involve?

First and foremost the day was full of activities at Caddies Community Care Centre. The place was busting with children, parents, grandparents, volunteers and other visitors. The JCCA staff was at their most efficient and the facilities were in full use. Every function room, including the courtyard was occupied. The Food Pantry was busy, too. As the day happened to be the National Meals-on-Wheels Day, MOW staff and volunteers were celebrating. Now we know what we can achieve.

We greatly appreciate Councillor Black’s visit to the Caddies Community Care Centre. Through the day we got to demonstrate that well planed and defined cooperation with local council and community results in more community participation by the members of the said community. The pictures clearly show how much fun we had on the day and how good it turned out to be.


Parent/grandparents support group and the Chatterbox.


New Mothers group and Parents and Bubs Fun.


Caddies Meals-on-Wheels volunteers in training and at lunch.