My Happy Place

Brasil must be the happiest place on earth right now. With the carnaval in full swing, I can only imagine how exciting it is for you to be amongst all the music, the dancing and the loco locals.

If I had the ability to apparate to a happy place of my choice, I'm pretty certain that I'll find myself in Tulum. I am in love with Tulum as you know and it's where I last had my little piece of pure bliss. But seeing as I have no super powers to let me travel through time and space, Tulum will have to wait until I can afford an air ticket and physically hop on a plane. :)

Fortunately for me, I have a happy place that's just a hop, skip and a jump away.

Welcome to the children's books section of my local bookstore. I come here for lots of different reasons - to unwind, to amuse myself, to reflect, to let off steam and to escape to a worry-free world. This is where I go when I want to get away from it all. I love love love picture books. I love that they can be modest and quite profound at the same time. These books have helped me find simple answers to complex questions on numerous occasions. I think it's amazing how a book that one can finish in 2 minutes can also hold so much meaning and be so full of life. And for these reasons, I also love sharing children's books with people whom I care about. From experience, I can say that there is a children's book for any loved one and any occasion. Last weekend, I spent a good couple of hours poring over pages of witty words and colourful illustrations with the aim of finding the perfect books for Reem and Sue Ellen. They are both travelling innit... one is chasing a dream and the other is looking for hers. And as I ran away to my happy place, I held hopes in my heart that both would find the same kind of comfort that I get from my children's books. It may not necessarily be from the books that I got them but perhaps from their own happy place that they have yet to discover.

Say hello to my happy place... have you got one of your own?

Bogota

Hola from Bogota! Bogota Room, that is. This is where I've spent most of my work hours in the last 10 months. You'll find me here everyday... for my daily stand-ups, weekly client calls, prioritisation meetings, planning sessions, workshops, conference calls etc. We are moving offices at the end of the week and I will have to find a new city to base myself at the new building. I wish travelling from one city to another were that easy in real life... that a few steps across the office hallways would take me to a different place instead of a different meeting room.

Across the seas and on the other side of the world, you are also leaving Bogota. But you're leaving the real thing and moving towards the culmination of your mini adventure. Brasil doesn't know what's about to hit it!

Moving offices, moving places, moving in general... it's a twofold action that generates a push-pull reaction amongst us. There is the force that pulls us and makes it hard to let go of our current state. And then we have the force that pushes us to pursue change. The present may be comfortable but sometimes, whether it's by chance or by choice, life throws us off and challenges the norm. There are times when the decision is made for us. In a way, it makes the situation easier to handle cos we are steered towards a general direction with narrowed down options. In other times, we find a fork in the road and it is left completely up to us to choose which path to take. Whichever the case is, things will have to move and we'll have to go with it. So why not own the situation? Get over the fears, take what we can from the present and forge our way into the future.

Listen to that nagging voice in your head... it might be time to take a leap and shake your system.

Imagine.

The courage to imagine the otherwise is our greatest resource, adding color and suspense to all our life. — Daniel J. Boorstin, U.S. historian

I've just come back from a 3-day company conference in the Gold Coast. The theme was "click." but to be honest I was expecting more of a cliche... work disguised with a beach front hotel, buffet meals and an open bar. I was thinking boring talks and overused team building activities. Talk about going against my power to imagine, hey. :p The team introductions/presentations were the closest that we got to working. And even they were done really creatively. My highlights would have to be getting whisked away to Sea World, building a bike for a little girl from the Pyjama Foundation and forming personal reflections from what the keynote speaker has to say. And from there I can only imagine...

IMAGINE is one of my favourite words. I think it's amazing how the mind can run away and come back with idea after idea after idea. We have bursts of images and concepts that we paint in our heads and have yet to be given the chance to materialise. Some may be more practical than others. Others are just plain crazy. But they are all opportunities to create and be used to influence our realities. Sometimes we just have to allow ourselves to be free, fearless, proactive and creative. And hopefully it leads to empowerment and inspiration to go for what we really want. The possibilities are truly endless and there is nothing like feeling that buzz from having a light bulb moment.

Three things stayed with me after the conference.

1. There are always reasons not to do something.
2. We have to shrink our fears and extend our comfort zone.
3. At the end of the day, life just happens and we get more of what we focus on.

Imagine you want something really bad.

See it. Say it. Feel it. Do it.