A professor walked into the class and gave his students a test. The test was a blank page with one little black spot in the middle.
He advised his students to write about what they were seeing on this sheet.

All of the students wrote about one thing. They wrote about the black spot.

No one wrote about all the white on the page and what can be done with all of this beautiful not defined space.
No one talked about the possibilities, the freedom, the creativity that could be realized on the blank part of the paper.
No one talked about how the black spot could be developed into something bigger, meaningful and harmonious.
No one talked about the perfection of the white color and the smooth texture of the paper.

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Dale Carnegie told the story that dogs have mastered one great skill: The art of making friends.
You can be many meters away and they start waging their tales. A sign without words, that they like you are there. When you approach them and take the time to pet them, they show happiness, jump up and down. They are excited about your presence.

What does the dog do?
The dog is interested in people in a genuine way.
Not slimy, not sleezy – just open and natural.

 

 

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If you are anything like me, you are interested in a substantial amount of things.
And this causes severe troubles. SEVERE. TROUBLES! But let me explain.

You have your professional life going on, whatever that brings for you.
For a bassoonist it’s usually: concerts, lessons, practicing, reed making, searching for sheet music (hopefully on AnselmaMusic.com!), caring about students and fellow musicians.

You have parallel to professional stuff going on like improving your knowledge and capabilities, learning about better posture and poise, better mental skills, performing better on stage, being a better teacher and such.

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One of the most interesting stories that I have ever read is the original Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi from 1881 based on a folk tale from Tuscany, Italy. It’s deepness and meaning can easily be overlooked and is not part of the Disney version, so it keeps to be mostly unknown.
While the most famous part of the Pinocchio story is the one with his truth telling nose, the most intriguing part in my view is the brilliance in the narrative itself.

Pinocchio is a wooden puppet made by a cabinetmaker named Gepetto. This old master of his craft formed with love and care this little doll and is part of the old Italian tradition of making burattinos (puppet in Italian). Wooden marionettes are made in Northern Italy for centuries and it is a special craft of its own, involving carving, chiselling, sawing and tying.

 

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Michael Endes “Neverending Story” is one of the five books I would take to the island. I already shared this passion with you right here in this column.
It is a prism of colorful narrative levels, a woven story in a story in a story. It starts at an antiquarian bookstore and it ends there. In between the covers the author so brilliantly takes us to deep truths about being human and life itself.

I have read this book several times and the core concept presented there so masterfully keeps circling back.
At the core of the saga stands the fundamental danger, presented as the Nothing that keeps eating up Fantastica and the Childlike Empress.

 

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When Teruo Higa, professor for agriculture and gardening out of Japan, researched the life of bacteria, he found something astounding.

There are three types of microbes:
– some that help life and contribute to growth and health,
– some that destroy life and make it deteriorate and
– some – and this is the vast majority – that just follow the dominant trend.

And here comes the intriguing part. It only takes 15% positive microbes to build a flourishing and life affirming setting. In other words: only a small crowd is necessary to create a strong and vibrant surrounding. Good will attract more good and override the bad.

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What would you say, if someone asks:
“What impresses you the most about Europe?”

The fantastic Architecture!
The amazing History!
The great Culture!
The unprecedented Collections of Fine Art!
Savoir vivre!
The astounding unity in utmost cultural diversity!
The cradel of humanity’s most valuable treasure: Classical Music.

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Do you remember those days when stress was something only super highpayed managers would have?
Do you remember the phone answering machine? At first, our grandmas had this job until we bought this very modern little black boxes.
When the first of my friends showed up at our house with a cell phone in his hand, we girls laughed at him and said teasingly: “You feel pretty important, don’t you?”

Today everyone is overwhelmed and available 24/7.
Most people I know say this is because of the kids: “They need to reach me.”
When we were little, there were no cell phones around – not even an answering machine and in many cases no grandma, too.

And still we managed to grow up.
How did that happen? A true miracle!!

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What do thoughts and dust bunnies have in common?

(Dust bunnies are these little creatures behind your door that have a secret life on their own. They magically appear without anybody doing anything. A truly mystical genesis! Unfortunately they don’t disappear the same way. Only when someone takes heart and vacuums them away.)

So, what do they have in common?
You can take them personally – or not.

 

Dust bunnies just appear.
We can all experience this.
Everyone who lives in some sort of a rectangular shelter – not in a yurt or a tepee! – has at some point seen those guys.
(Men usually tend to see them later, I don’t know why.)

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When Einstein was asked to explain his theory of relativity in simple terms he said: “An hour sitting with a pretty girl on a park bench passes like a minute, but a minute sitting on a hot stove seems like an hour.”

I love this quote, because it applies to just about every walk of life. We tend to think our perspective is the truth. But what it actually is, is just our perspective.

 

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