Somewhere in the Orient a king had a special military department. This brigade contained an army of elephants. When the leading elephant grew too old to go into combat, they let him free to live on his own in the jungle.

One day the elephant went to the river to drink and got trapped in the muddy shore. He tried to lift his foot but could not move and got stuck. He used his trumpet to call for help and the servants of the king came to see what’s going on. No one could move this huge animal.

The king asked a wise man what could be done for the former leading elephant. The old man pondered for a moment, then said: “Beat the war drums!”
The army was called forth and they did as told, they played the war drums.

The elephant heard the call. He mustered all his strength and finally liberated his leg. All by himself. The war drum reminded him on who he was – the strongest animal in the forest!

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The other day I noticed, there are two ways of saying thank you.
The first is by doing and the second is by speaking. Let me explain.

When I found myself in the fortunate position to experience great mentorship, I felt immensely blessed. A mentor is someone who is on a higher level of mastery than you and who is so generous to share their wisdom in some form.
This person takes the time and effort to show you a better way of doing certain things.

We all experienced mentors in some way or form along our way. The mentor can be a very kind person that we see as a role model. This person helps us to choose the right traits and values to build our character.
A mentor can also be someone who does have a certain skillset and who is willing to putting in the effort to initiate us into their craft.

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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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