Urgent! Ken Cheng in London! #Asian #diversity #comedy #standup

Posted on October 1, 2018 by

The last couple of years have been enormous for Asian representation. Netflix hit us with ‘To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before’ and ‘Kim’s Convenience Store’, Cary Fukunaga was announced as the next James Bond director and ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ went into cinema release worldwide. The Southbank Centre in London is celebrating China Changing Festival and as part of it Ken Cheng is having his first London gig. I watched his youtube clips and this guy is going to be huge. So if you support diversity and/or love comedy, you know where to find me this Saturday laughing my socks off! Represent! 🙂  Book here.

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Heart of surrender mantra #happiness

Posted on September 29, 2018 by

I am reading this book – ‘Whatever Arises, Love That’ by Matt Kahn – when I just started, I thought it was a bit out there, even for me. However as I proceeded, I can only say that this book is as perspective changing and reframing as Eckhart Tolle’s ‘Power of Now’ and Lissa Rankin’s ‘The Fear Cure’ have been. Here is one of the mantras from the ‘Heart of Surrender’ chapter that I wanted to share here:

I no longer fight with those who insist on
fighting with me. I acknowledge anyone who
fights as only fighting for the grace of their
own loving attention.

I freely give loving attention to whatever calls
out for it, whether appearing as jumbled
emotions in my body, a noisy mind of endless
thoughts, or the relentless behavior of those
I encounter.

By speaking to others in a tone and manner that
suggests how much better they deserve to treat
themselves when not in my presence, I help
raise the vibration of the planet. I know full well
that my path cannot be defined by how others
treat me but only how I choose to respond.

Even though it seems as if I’m speaking to other
characters in my play, as the truth of all that is,
whatever I say to another is a love letter sent to
every heart. Knowing this, I relinquish any desire
or tendency to fight, negotiate, or defend, and I
return to love by embracing the truth of all.

Whether or not those I love consciously
receive my gifts, it is I who walks away from
each encounter more open, conscious, and
empowered than any moment before.

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What if money was no object? #happiness #purpose

Posted on September 22, 2018 by

We’ve had our first session of the ‘Exploring What Matters’ course from Action for Happiness that I am running as a volunteer. It was amazing. That night I felt elated, buzzing, euphoric. We have been blessed with 20 participants who are open, positive and willing to make their lives happier. I will be sharing some of the resources we use during the course here. I wanted to start with this famous video by Alan Watts:

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Be a loner (to all introverts out there) #happiness

Posted on September 15, 2018 by

Being an introvert is absolutely fine! Focus on your strengths – many historic figures and amazing people were introverts. Feeling different is ok – you will come to realise that you are not so different, everything and everyone is one. Being shy is ok – just don’t cut off yourself from vital energy that is love, be it friends or loved ones. Being told that you should be more of a ‘team player’ at work is fine – one day you will find the right environment to thrive as a lone wolf that you are and if not, you will create it for yourself, at or outside of work. Be yourself. Love yourself. Realise your purpose.

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On death: the best eulogy, according to a physicist

Posted on September 8, 2018 by

I was reminded of Aaron Freeman’s words (full text here) recently when I wanted to console to a lady on Quora whose husband of many years died suddenly in hospital.

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Continue reading →

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The Waking by Theodore Roethke #poem

Posted on September 1, 2018 by

I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
I feel my fate in what I cannot fear.
I learn by going where I have to go.

We think by feeling. What is there to know?
I hear my being dance from ear to ear.
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.

Of those so close beside me, which are you?
God bless the Ground! I shall walk softly there,
And learn by going where I have to go.

Light takes the Tree; but who can tell us how?
The lowly worm climbs up a winding stair;
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.

Great Nature has another thing to do
To you and me; so take the lively air,
And, lovely, learn by going where to go.

This shaking keeps me steady. I should know.
What falls away is always. And is near.
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
I learn by going where I have to go.

Theodore Roethke, “The Waking,” from The Collected Poems of Theodore Roethke. Copyright © 1953 by Theodore Roethke. Used by permission of Doubleday.Favourite poem project

 

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Action for Happiness course – Exploring What Matters

Posted on August 25, 2018 by

After months of work, I am delighted to share that this fall I am volunteering to organise and co-lead Exploring What Matters, an 8-week course designed by the Dalai Lama endorsed charity Action for Happiness, in the area of England where I live.

We will explore what really matters for a happy and meaningful life, discuss some of the biggest questions in life, explore ways to create happiness for ourselves and others, learn mindfulness and ways to improve mental health in the group of like-minded friends.

If you are around this neck of the woods, do join (click here to sign up or search “Action for happiness Rochester”), if not and you think it’s a great idea, you can join your local AfH course or organise your own. Here is to creating a happier and more caring world!

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