Acting course for everyday life

About a year ago I went to a two-day acting course in Glastonbury, organised by Tor Theatre and Somerset Skills & Learning. I am going to describe one of the exercises we did.

It was a small, short course, really just a taster, but we did many different activities and it made two days really good in grey January. It was a very diverse group of people, creating a supportive environment together with the trainer.

I like courses or workshops where people get together to learn something in a group. I like acting, especially challenging practice, where you don't have a text to tie you down, you just make up a character, a situation, and you play! You get to step outside of your own personality, while of course still being present.

So for one of the exercises the trainer gave each of us a number from 1 to 10, without showing it to anyone else. We were around 10 people I think. Then he explained that our numbers will represent status in society, 1 being the poorest, most disadvantaged, 5 being perhaps those who get by fairly well on average, and 10 being millionaires or royal. He invited us to think about what our number represented and to step into that character. The exercise was to mill around evenly in the space and to get accustomed with our character. Then, slowly he told us to interact with each other with a gesture, a nod specific to our character. It was interesting how we could quite easily play some of the roles, while the middle ground was a bit tricky to find, to express, the characters around 4-5-6. After that he invited us to say a few words of greeting as we pass each other, still in line with our character's status. Later we stopped moving and he told us to stand in a line starting from one end of the room to the other, according to status. Remember, nobody knew each other's numbers, only their own. Obviously whoever had 10 and 1 had an easy job and everyone else had to find to fill in the rest. If I remember well we actually got it right straight away, and that with there being two nines!

For me it was interesting because I think I was playing an 8 or a 9, which is quite high up there. And it's also interesting to give these “grades” to people and personalities. And mostly to self-confidence. The higher you are, the more secure, the more power you have. And the most interesting about it was that I can act being 8 or 9 and people can't really make the difference... I think the trainer might have mentioned that this practice is useful to remember when going to an interview or having to speak in public. To just think you have a high number in your pocket and act it!

I know acting is also used as a form of therapy. I am sure it can be helpful, I've experienced its power of broadening your perspective. Also, getting on a stage with any type of performance can be therapeutic and builds your self-confidence (as long as it is properly framed, in front of a mature audience).

Have you ever done any acting? Do you remember anything meaningful you learned from any games/exercises from interesting courses?

We run after buses.

• We run after buses because we need to catch them.
• We run after buses because they're the cheap environmentally friendly way of getting around.
• We run after buses because we underestimate the time left and we always almost or actually miss them.
• We run after buses even when we know we have another 10-20 minutes.
• We run after buses even if they're not our buses, just to practice, and when jogging it is actually just to get better at running after buses.
• We run after buses because it truly gives us purpose.
• We run after buses even though it is quite dangerous...
• We run after buses because getting on a bus out of breath after running full speed for the past few hundred meters is a sweet triumphant feeling!

How about you?

Subtitles translated!

I have been volunteering at TED.com as a translator and today I had my first subtitles published!

I am posting here a link to the video for which I wrote subtitles in Romanian.
I hope you enjoy it!

Enric Sala: Un ocean neatins


"Imaginează-ţi că oceanul este contul nostru de economii - iar în prezent noi facem doar retrageri, nu depunem nimic. Enric Sala ne arată cum putem regenera contul nostru cu rezervaţii marine totale care aduc mari beneficii ecologice şi economice."

What is success?

Professionally: where I am today, success to me is being able to step up and deliver an excellent service to those who need it, in my case that being interpreting, tutoring or translating.

I am most accomplished when I can facilitate crossing the language gap between my people and... my people (be that any two or more people who speak different languages of the ones I know).

While my work is most rewarding when it is truly appreciated... it is also a sign of it being done well when I fade into the background, because communication is simply flowing, through me, flawlessly.

Financially, I feel prosperous when I have enough resources to pay for rent, bills, food, transport, treats and anything I want to try out. I feel like I'm truly thriving when I can afford giving heart-felt gifts to those I know. Also, I believe that I am being fruitful financially when after all those I have money left over every month to set some aside and give the rest to charity.

As a human being I feel fulfilled when I can open and connect to and share experiences, work, food and joy with others. I truly feel victorious when people can rely upon me and I don't fear relying on them in times of need. I feel worthy when I can imagine being put in the spotlight as an example of dedication and compassion. I believe I am truly human when I practice understanding both towards others and to myself. I am centered and grounded when I become still. I feel triumphant when I can practice my skills of making music, writing and dancing. I am grateful to have time for cooking tasty food and for cycling in shimmering sunny weather. I am most fortunate to have dear, caring friends and family.

What does success mean to you?*

_________________________________
* This entry is an affirmation of what I value, and what at times in my life I experience. These thoughts so soothingly surfaced after lots and lots of reading and listening to audios about human flourishing. I must note that the question was specifically raised at Oprah's new show, which I highly recommend as an entertaining, understandable summary of great teachings.

walk with a stranger

One Friday evening I was emptying the mailbox in the hallway of the post office when a young boy noticed me there alone, struggling with fitting a packet into my backpack. I was quite excited because I knew the parcel was probably M's birthday gift from his parents.

The boy asked me for 5 lei. My usual answer is a “Sorry, no”. But he insisted, that he needed money to buy bread. I honestly don't know why, but in a bit of a nutty way I asked “Do you really need it for bread?”, and he maintained that yes, he needed it for food. So I said if that is so, I will give him 5 lei, from my heart, and that I hope it helps him. He seemed very pressed, looking around anxiously, while I took out the money from my purse and handed it to him.

After I put the purse away... he started asking for another 5 lei. And at this point he was really urging me to hurry up and give him another 5 lei. I kindly reminded him that it would be nice if he thanked me for the note I'd just given him. “Thanks! But give me 5 more, now!”. Well that's not a nice way to behave! I was in a kind of motherly state a bit, like I would've wanted to teach him some manners.

Then he started threatening me, while looking around worried, hurrying me to deliver what he demands. “Or else I'll call my father and you'll be sorry”. Really? You're going to call daddy? Of course in the moment, facing him alone I didn't say those things. I was slightly intimidated, but not genuinely scared because it was so distant... as if his father could be bothered, really, and what would he do?

At this point we left the post office and started walking down the main street. It was dark and I had already said goodbye to him several times, but it turned out he was going in the same direction. So he walked at a certain distance from me, continuing to ask for money. I continued to tell him I had already given him 5 and it should be enough for bread and such, and that I sincerely wish him all the best.

Later he threatened me further, saying that if I don't give him 5, he'll take all my money. I took that in, I felt it didn't bother me too much, so I answered I needed that money just as much as him, for bread and food. I was in fact headed for the market, to buy food. And he didn't do anything, just kept repeating the same threats and demands and I kept repeating the same facts.

My adrenaline was quite high I must say. But also I felt very centred, I didn't actually feel fear very much because he seemed more scared than me when people would walk by. It was a very good experience. Not to react to threats. Especially not to try to scare him or anything, just calmly letting him be there if that's what he wants. It might've confused him a bit, like he didn't know what to do next.

After a while I asked him about his age, where he was from, he asked me also. I don't know how honest he was in his answers, but it doesn't really matter. It took his focus from begging to just... walking and talking. Sometimes he'd ask for money again, at least 2 lei then, and I'd reassure him of my best wishes. One time he asked for a kiss. I told him I had a boyfriend and that he can have a kiss from his mother or sisters. He quickly said he had a girlfriend anyway.

I asked him why was he asking so much from me? What does he give? Anyway, guess what was in his bag? A loaf of bread. That he had asked the money for. Haha. I didn't mind.

I saw him as a person I happen to be talking to, because he's walking the same way. I wanted him to feel that and that I wish him all the best in his life, good luck, compassion and such. I don't know what effect it had on him and how much he believed me.

This experience felt like we broke some barriers, or, if not, we had a glimpse of what is beyond the roles we play. To him, I was a source of income. To me, he was a beggar and a threat. Walking down the street, we were forced to step out of our initial roles, and we became merely two strangers, who got to connect by chance, not very deeply, but it was enough to kick us a bit out of balance.

And then we walked on into our lives.

It's not all just music on my mp3-player!

Not long ago I discovered in how many ways you can use the mp3-player. While before I would listen to a lot of music on it – which was really good, don't misunderstand –, now I discovered that you can play novels, talks and comedy on it as well!

Let me share what I've been listening to nowadays.

You can download audiobooks from several websites (mainly works that have passed the 50 year copyright period). Before I wouldn't have thought that I could pay attention and listen to a novel (as opposed to reading one, seeing the words), but it's really nice to hear a story while washing up, walking or resting.

The websites I've discovered are librivox.org (audiobooks in several languages, read by volunteers), litteratureaudio.net (I think only in French) and the online Hungarian library: http://mek.niif.hu/keresesek/keresesf.phtml?formatum=MP3

I've listened to several French novels, because I like to hear the language, and I realised I really missed literature when I was learning of French. I read few novels in French, could count them on one hand, and comics (Asterix in original is real good fun), textbooks, newspapers, etc. The last audiobook I listened to was The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas, it's here: http://librivox.org/les-trois-mousquetaires-by-alexandre-dumas/

The other types of materials I listen to almost weekly are talks, which are recorded over the phone and internet – interviews, different people exploring diverse topics. You can hear very interesting things, from people at the leading edge of human evolution – and it's not just the things they talk about that are amazing, but their openness, and their talent in engaging fully with each other. These are recorded mainly in the United States (therefore in English), I download them from these websites:

http://www.daretoliveyou.com/mean-girl-cleanse/

http://beyondawakeningseries.com/

http://integrallife.com/

The third thing is complete fun – it definitely works the laughing muscles - but it also helps you keep up with things going on in the world. It is “an audio newspaper for a visual world” that appears weekly on the Times website, its name: The Bugle. It's a “podcast”, a recorded show that listeners can download and listen to any time, not on the radio, but on their own mp3-player ,i-pod or computer. Half hour comedy, in English, a bit difficult to understand (for non English natives), sometimes even because of the type of humour, but when you do understand, they present the week's news in a very intelligent way, laughing along, and sometimes they can come up with very silly jokes, puns, it's almost painful. In the last episode they read out our e-mail that we sent them (It was awesome!!). You can download episodes from:

http://podcast.timesonline.co.uk/rss/thebuglemp3.rss

(may contain some strong language)

My poor listening thingy will soon turn three (my mp3-player), which counts as quite ancient. Plus its main button is missing (it needed to be taken out because it got stuck), so I need to turn it on with something pointy. One of the earphones broke as well so I just cut it off (now I listen to it with one ear). I can't bring myself to buy a new one, because it serves me so well poor thing, what would happen to it.

What do you do while washing up, walking or resting?

Our cottage is by the Milky Way

In summer, you could count 6-7 shooting starts on the dense sky in a few minutes outside the cottage. After a while either your neck goes numb or you run out of bravery to stand outside in the darkness.
Sunday mornings we would pull the curtains and my favourite show would be on: fluffy clouds would swim across the blue, trees would swing in the breeze. Nowadays I wake up slightly earlier and the sky is red, sometimes it's foggy or snowing.
When I went to the toilet in autumn, I'd watch the leaves chirp from one branch to another. Now I don't occupy myself with interesting things to see, I do my job before I freeze to the toilet seat – oh not really, last time it was totally bearable in -7 degrees.
But the cottage heats up very quickly, we only need to have the fire going for a little while.
Sometimes we see deer, quite close to the cottage (can you spot them in the photo?). We've only seen the tracks of bears, but even that was magical. We saw an owl in the forest once, it felt amazing. Maybe because it's so mysterious – it's rare to see these animals in real life. That's why when I see one, it's as if the forest opens up a bit. We've seen frogs, a couple of adders and mice. In summer lots of lizards sit on rocks in the sun. In winter many types of birds come to the juniper tree or to the bird table.

The man who planted trees

Magyarul is megvan.
On peut le regarder en français.

The first day

begins like any other day. Something moves nearby and it's time to wake up, but you enjoy a bit more the light shining in through your eyelids. It's a nice feeling to float like this, as if in a dream.
After a while, you notice that something changed around you. For the first time since you're here, you feel quite uncomfortable, you try to move, but you can't find your place.
Suddenly something breaks in your world and you feel a great disturbance. You don't understand what's happening. You've had moments of uncertainty before, when you needed to kick with your legs as hard as you could, but now the situation is becoming rather suffocating!
Time passes very slowly and all you want is to get out of here as quick as possible, to feel relaxed again, and safe. There is no other way: you must go through an opening, hoping that the world's better on the other side.
But it's not easy. After a few minutes or maybe hours of suffering, you are finally free. This world is full of unknown now: you feel a cool breeze, much brighter light and you need to scream as hard as you can! And you feel an ache in the spot of your new navel.
You're washed and covered in something rough, then you are put into your mother's arms... You taste the warm milk that calms you in a moment and you hear the heart that raised you beating nearby. You are safe after all.
You finally fall asleep, relaxed.

the freedom that we gain when we move through fear

http://www.seizetheday.org/

Lyrical "I" am not

Without father without mother
without God or homeland either
without crib or coffin-cover
without kisses or a lover
(A.J.)

Without colour without nation,
without safety or religion,
without size and without age,
without future or a place.

I'm nobody.
I'm not myself.

that which is, was and will be,
with or without me, it shall well be.

I am not.
but life.

procrastinating*

= to put off doing something, especially out of habitual carelessness or laziness.

...or out of being terrified you might not be able to finish it. twisted

Nicu Alifantis - Ce bine ca esti

*this is not a cry for help, it's just the new word of the day!

thanklist

Donna Summer - I feel love

well hello there. :) days and months pass by, life's good, different every day.

I've got a cold. my brother's the one to blame, and maybe dad and people at work, everyone who used to have a cold and gave it to me. I keep sneezing and my nose is runny. not nice.
I've got an interesting, maybe annoying idea: I'll write a list about things that felt good in the past few days, things I'm thankful for. and I just came up with a name for it, too: thanklist

• early music practice was very nice today, quite a challenge to play those songs, but when it all comes together after more or less work, it's beautiful
• I met up with Eszter, I don't see her often enough and there are always things that we can't talk through well enough
• I printed photos from last year to remember things and put them in an album, it feels really nice seeing past moments
• I didn't sneeze once and I didn't need to blow my nose for more than an hour and a half while the film lasted (the one we watched with Eszter) - it probably caught all my attention. it was nice realising afterwards that I had a runny-nose-free hour and a half :) my heart is light with happiness.
• when I got home I spoke with mum and dad, my brother gave me a few hugs, too, they're over with the cold and - dad had been shopping and he bought Tofiffee, Heidi chocolate and After eight and oranges and tasty water! and I made myself some tea, too.

and of course the list can go on, it's very very long. it's not for saying I'm very lucky. but... I'm sharing my little joys and I'm encouraging everyone to enjoy such things and notice the value of these little things :) you can write similar things in comments.

Through the air

http://www.myspace.com/ceilidhjoandthe

as I say the words, meaning fades away
as I say the words, meaning fades away
so I hum alone gently in the tune
sing a poem from the sun to the moon
you are, I am
you are, I am

well I'm tired of situations, how to wear my hair
judgements and false conceptions
change is rolling
through the air
through the air

there are futures in the pictures rolling through my mind
there are meanings and coincidences
it'll be fine
it'll be fine
you are, I am
you are, I am

healing

This little thing caught my eye and I feel the need to show it to you.

A cancer cell is a normal cell disconnected from its genetic memory, cut off from the wisdom of millions of years of evolutionary development. It doesn't cooperate in harmony with the rest of the body. It experiences itself as separate from the body, overpopulates, and consumes the organism which supports it. Cancer eventually kills itself by consuming its own environment. — Brian Patrick

I found it on The Big Picture.

what I say is... we are like cancer cells. because as long as we don't "cooperate in harmony" with nature, as long as we think of ourselves as "separate" from everything else... well you can see where we are going.

I hope we can connect to the wisdom that we are part of a bigger story, a bigger organism, and allow our environment to heal. Let's heal together...

Be the change you want to see in the world

(Mahatma Gandhi)

feel the depth of those words for a second...
let me explain a bit, the way I understand it:

how would you like the world to be? how would you change it? starting from simple, everyday things: I wish people washed their dishes after using them. I wish people didn't smoke so much. I wish streets were cleaner. I wish people were more smiling and positive. continue. start thinking about things you would change.

and when you think it through, with all your heart, what would be right in the world... be that thing. wash the dishes, don't smoke, keep clean, smile and think positive, and anything else, make it personal. be what you want the world to be, right now. and people will see that and be influenced. or even if they don't seem to notice, you will still have changed something for the better, you will feel content (and strong, and right).

also remember that you are (part of) the world.

and then

made some hot tea and when I got back I thought it would feel good to write this down somehow like this...

this evening I had a bit a feeling like I had a fever, so I decided to go to bed early. actually yesterday I felt somewhat similar, I slept from 9 to 10, but I woke up, got dressed and we went to a party :) and the fever feeling disappeared, I had a great time, this time we even danced, finally! and I danced salsa with an Indian boy! hahaha... I really like it if somebody spins me around :) and today I was feeling like having a fever again, like some chills and hot on the inside, so I went to bed at 10. I didn't sleep that well, if I did at all. oh! I only know I slept a bit because I dreamt Roxi knocked on my door and I told her I was a bit ill and I'd love some hot tea... and I hoped she would feel sorry for me, and she really brought me tea in my dream and I also had biscuits on my table. so at midnight I looked at the time and I thought it's weird that I'm not sleeping... because I usually sleep like a baby. well it's true that yesterday I went to sleep at 6 in the morning, because we changed to daylight saving time and got home from the party at half to 6 – that was interesting, too, all 6 of us went straight to the kitchen in the morning to drink something and all :) of course afterwards I woke up at one o'clock. so it's understandable that I didn't really feel like sleeping. but it usually doesn't bother me if I wake up at one I can go to sleep at 10. anyway, after midnight I tried to sleep again, don't know how that went, but at 2 o'clock I looked at the time again and I decided it's not working. because I was also singing in my head, amongst others the new traditional song to which Bori sent me the lyrics few hours earlier. I got out of bed a bit, opened the window, thinking some fresh air might do me some good and I looked up at the stars. I like the stars a lot, so I smiled at them.

and then the sky winked at me – I saw a shooting star :)

both

I feel BOTH

that this is just one possibility AND that it's the only one

weak AND strong

that I want to give up AND that I want to fight

repulsed AND attracted

that we're all strangers AND that we can connect in amazing ways

uncertain AND confident

nothing is absolutely white or black

all is but a mixture of colours

a mixture of feelings and thoughts

some of them grow stronger while others fade

we can say it's our choice AND that it was meant to be

:)

birds

I've got a bunch of thoughts in my head, all at the same time. I love it. It's a bit annoying 'cause in order to express them, write them down, I need to take them one after the other. Can't express them at the same time.

Lately I go to sleep very late. Because I can afford to wake up late, cause if you didn't know, there's a strike at Universities in France. Here in Lorient there's been no movement for 2 weeks. Well there has, a few students have blocked all entrances to the buildings of the Uni, they even sleep there, it's like a real revolution. And they enjoy it. At first I was looking at them curious that they're so persistent, confident, when they want something, they believe in it and they start a revolution, they're not kidding. Like a month ago they started organizing big assemblies and voting about what they wanted to do. And demonstrations and all. It's a bit funny, because I heard that not many people went to those. But there are, as I said, a few students who take part very actively in this stuff. But the majority are having fun, they're like on a holiday, like me. Well I'm allowed to, cause I don't have any serious reason to go on a strike here, it's not my fight. Maybe I could support them, but if I look at it, this whole thing isn't helping me at all. I respect their goals, it doesn't bother me (yet) but in theory I came here to learn, not on holiday. But for now I'm very fine with it. Yet if they don't stop soon... let me just say I can't afford it to stay here in case the semester was prolonged. But I hope it won't be the case. By the way most of the foreign students are a bit laughing about the situation. Because it seems like the French just want to laze around! So you find out that some stereotypes are real, the French go on strikes often. That's the way they are, what can you do. Partly you can learn from it, look up to them, because they don't give up that easily, they're persistent. But after a while it's just funny. Especially if the government doesn't even notice. And anyway, they're exaggerating.

The other thing. Every day I put off the need to go to the supermarket. And even when I go, I buy the cheapest stuff, literally the cheapest bread, the cheapest apples. For example today I really wanted to buy (eat) some chocolate. But I said to myself, I've got enough food to cook tomorrow, I've got apples, I really don't need to go to the supermarket. I'll go on Monday anyway. And so I put off spending money. The fewer times I go to the temple of spending, the less I spend. And even when I'm there, I focus only on the things I need to buy. And I think about it a few times, whether I really need this...? Cause sometimes I get the feeling that I buy stuff that I don't really need. So I manage to go past the sweets shelf quite often, telling myself that I don't need this. Unfortunately when I go down into the kitchen here at home and I need to chew something, I regret very much that I didn't buy a bunch of junk food. Still I buy enough anyway.

I didn't want to write about the strike at all.
Neither about my financial situation.
It has nothing to do with this.
I wanted to write that when I'm up at night, I can hear a bunch of little birds.
They're singing.
And it feels very very good, I smile :)
And I thought, these little ones must be having quite a bit of fun, at least if I like to sing, I guess they do as well.
But I wonder why are they singing...?
And when do these birds sleep?
Hehehe... and there's a wide smile on my face :)

look out the window

the sky is so still
a ship drifting towards the port
just as I dreamed
there is but one star
no, there's two, and three
and bright clouds
the ship is twinkling
just as I dreamed