The Sweet Sound

I have always loved foreign accents. Back home if I heard anyone with an accent that wasn’t from the States I’d perk up and immediately become intrigued with that person.

I do also enjoy a good southern drawl but let’s face it, it’s still not the same as the European or South American accent.

What I find interesting now that I’ve lived here in Amsterdam for almost 6 months is that foreign accents have become the norm for me. My ears don’t turn like satellites anymore whenever someone speaks english in an accent. Nor does my heart swoon (kinda sad).

Everyone is now lumped into the “you don’t sound like me” group.

It’s weird because now whenever I hear an American out on the streets of Amsterdam my ears perk up like they did when I was home and heard an accent. Now a  feeling of home and familiarity comes over me when I hear that American accent that I’m assuming doesn’t sound beautiful to many. Once the familiarity runs through my body, I’m over the homely feelings and I want to hear my foreign friends speak in that sweet sweet music to my ears foreign accent again.

The interesting thing is that when I talk to all my friends here (only one is American), it’s not as if  I’m thinking “Gosh, I love your accent.” That would be my response when I lived back home. Their accent is just the norm for me now. The one thing I’m starting to notice though is how different all the Dutch english accents sound.

I’m slowly starting to peg Dutch people into groups based on their accents because there are quite a lot of different ways the Dutch speak English. However, I can also say that none of the Germans at Knowmads have the same english accent which is probably due to the fact that they all grew up in different parts of Germany.

Which would then be the case if me, a new englander, and a southerner were to all be at Knowmads. Clearly you’d be able to hear the difference in our accents. I wonder though if foreigners can tell the difference between an Ohioan and a Californian. I remember when a Canadian was at Knowmads and she pegged me for an East coast girl immediately. Could I have picked up on the cadence after 9 years (wow that’s a long time, probably)?

It’s still quite fun to listen to all the different foreign accents here in Amsterdam since it’s such an international city. My favorite still is the British and Australian accents (though the British trump the Aussies for me). I could listen to Joseph from Tribe 3 who’s from England speak all day. It’s so adorable and it’s nice to know that we are on the same level when it comes to English. I can’t really explain what this means at the moment, it’s just this sense of knowing.

I think it’s pretty hilarious when foreign friends will ask me, “how do you say___?” I’ll give myself some credit and say I can help them 50% of the time. Many times though Knowmads will come up to me and say things like, “What’s another word for indifferent?” And I’ll be like “hmmmm, let me open up my browser and check for you on thesaurus.com.” (which of course defeats the purpose because they’re trying to avoid that).

This is the way my brain works. If you say a word that you want a synonym for I can’t stop thinking about that word. It’s just like saying don’t think about the giraffe wearing a tutu in the room. That’s right, you pictured it. This is how my mind is with words. I’m clearly not a walking thesaurus. I have an app for that. So you’re welcome American counterparts, I’m living up to our stereotype.

Speaking of American people…

I have been made aware since who knows when by my parents and most recently in the past few years my brother-in-law that I can sound like a valley girl who people can’t take seriously. This is kinda annoying to be told this and to change the way you speak because you sound like a dumb blonde. Apparently in the past I’ve said the word “like” a lot which is a very common word for teenagers who grew up in the late 90s and into today. It’s been part of our culture.

But God help me. Today I was walking around the center of Amsterdam where there are tons of tourists and I heard lots of American girls. I swear every single one of them said the word ‘like’ at least 2x per sentence. I had to walk fast past them to avoid their babble. It made me want to kill myself. Is this how I sound sometimes?

The way these girls talked was so typical American it made me want to gag. I hope to God that I don’t sound like them, it was absolutely horrible.

I know that sometimes I end up saying ‘like’ around here and then I’ll get pooped on for being “so American.” And let’s face it that really sucks because who wants to be known for sounding like some dumb American? Not I sir. Not I.

So if you hear me say ‘like’ too many times or my voice goes up a higher octave than normal, please, I beg you please, just slap me and tell me to speak as if I sound intelligent. All these ‘likes’ just give us Americans a worse rap than we already have. If it’s one thing we have control over it is the words that come out of our mouths.

Today I’m committed to using less ‘likes’ in my vocabulary.

Don’t do it! We love your foreign accents. Please don’t try to sound like us. Not worth it.

A Little Something Extra With That Juice

I went to the Netherlands beach yesterday for the first time. They didn’t have any good eats nor a boardwalk to get some food so naturally I was hungry when I got back to Amsterdam.

While riding my bike on the way to the fast ferry to get to the beach, I rode by a juice bar on Harlemmerdijk. As I rode the fast ferry back from the beach I could not stop thinking about food and how hungry I was. The thought of the juice bar kept popping up which I think is due to my body’s vitamin C deficiency and my focus of eating paleo.

Lucky for me the juice bar wasn’t that far away from the loading docks nor my house so I got to the bar in a jiffy. To my dismay the juice bar was closed. The door was locked, no one was in there, and there was no sign for their hours. I was waiting for the bike traffic to clear to cross the street to hop on my bike to the next potential food place when I heard yelling.

I looked around for the shouts because for some reason my intuition was telling me those yells were for me. Coming from the 2nd floor across the street, a man was yelling out the window something about juice and being right down and pointing to the bar. I gave a simple thumbs up that I’d wait for the guy and then proceeded to wait outside on the sidewalk a couple of minutes for the dude to get down from his window.

When he got to me he grabbed my hand and seriously pulled me inside. I think he was from somewhere in South America. He had a tan and long hippy hair pulled back in a ponytail. I would say he was a man in his late 40s. Definitely not Dutch.

I ask him what his hours are and says in a thick Spanish accent (I’m just guessing here), “Whatever you need them to be.” Seriously, that’s what he says.

Then he goes behind the high counter and motions me to bring up my right arm. I go along with it because honestly I don’t know half the stuff the guy is saying but it just seemed like the right thing to do. He takes my hand and starts giving me a hand massage. Twisting and pulling on my fingers and talking about energies. He doesn’t stop at my hand, he starts massaging my forearm, then my bicep, then get’s to my shoulder. He stops at my shoulder.

He’s says, “Don’t worry. I do this with all my customers.”

A red flag goes up in my head but then I thought, “ehhh, why not?”

He tells me to give him my left arm so I bring that one up to the counter and he places my arms next to each other and wiggles them a bit. He starts giving my left hand the same treatment as my right and I begin to notice that his hands are quite sticky. They have the stickiness of someone who’s just ate fruit, at least that’s where my mind was going since we were surrounded by fruit in a juice bar.

He continues the massage up my arm and says I have very nice soft skin and strong arms. Why yes I do, thank you. Notice his choice of words “strong.” Not big but maybe he was just feeling up those big strong muscles of mine. He points at a couple of red marks on my left shoulder and says “bites.” Why yes, I did just get that mosquito bite, thanks for stating the obvious. Are conversation was going in a very interesting direction.

Then the guy says he put a lot of energy into me and that I should pass it along to someone else. I told him thank you for the energy shot but he kept talking about this energy and other stuff I couldn’t quite understand. Frankly, he was making me slightly uncomfortable and most importantly I was starving as hell (I hadn’t eaten since 10:30 and it was now 4:30).

Oh, yeah. I think what really turned it uncomfortable was when the guy places a sticker on my tank top and said  “Have a great J Day (because his name is J. Maybe J for Juice, idk).” Though he really had to reach over the counter to place it on my top right about my left breast. Slightly awkward.

Sorry. My camera didn’t want to focus.

Probably not even 5 seconds after the massage/placement of the sticker I say, “I’ll take the orange sunrise, please.”

J says, “Oh, you get straight to the point.” Why yes J, I’m friggin’ starvin’.

 

But I really did love the experience even though it was an extremely awkward one. I will be going back because even though J awkwardly touched me, the juice was delicious and quite cheap! Curious to see what the next juice experience will be and also if other people really do get this type of treatment every time they walk into this place.

Vermist Kitty

I saw these cat posters outside the Albert Heine this evening.

The Dutch sure know how to get people to give back their cats; take horrible pictures of them so NO ONE would want to keep the thing.

I can’t figure out if I think the kitties are too stinkin’ cute or so friggin’ ugly. Or maybe so ugly that they’re adorable.

What I love is the choice of pictures their former owners chose. I can picture their owners looking through their facebook photo albums of their cats (because clearly these folks have them) thinking, “hmmmmm I’ll choose…..that one.”

 

Elmo looks possessed by the devil. You can have him back.

Is this photo to show the effects of his chronic condition whatever that may be

My First

Today I  facilitated my first workshop with the Knowmadic Learning Lab. I gave a workshop inspired by my lululemon training which included living in possibility, finding your values, creating a vision, and discussing goals and habits.

Since all of the Knowmads are in Berlin for a Mission U week long event, I thought throwing my own workshop would be perfect for my own learning. And boy was I right.

After giving the workshop today I already felt completely accomplished. If I stopped right then from doing anything new for the week I would already be winning but of course I’ve got some more adventures to go on this week.

Giving a workshop was something completely new to me but I think for my first time I did alright. My biggest areas of opportunity are making the workshop more interactive and less theory/monologue, giving everyone post its to write down all their disagreeing thoughts/opposing views so they have the background conversation out of their head, focus on the group again, and can always go back to their memos when the time to share comes, and then lastly ending with a strong exercise that get’s people excited to go out and go after their dreams.

I had no idea how much time the workshop would last so I estimated it would be until 3. We ended up going til 3:25 with the consensus of the group (#thing I’ve learned) and I also skipped a few exercises to focus on the theory. In hindsight I know I would do the exercises instead as well as plan for the workshop to be longer. I know the students in the workshop missed out on the goal setting part…next time, next time.

I’m currently figuring out how to take the conversation we had more active. Having a conversation with a group is interactive but there has to be better ways than just sitting in a group and talking. Will be contemplating on that this week.

I also find it extremely hard to debate on why writing down goals can be so powerful to people who don’t believe in writing goals. They seem to have such a strong opinion about NOT writing down goals. This to me is strange and hard to swallow.

I grew up writing goals so it’s second nature to me. But there are people who just think of thoughts for themselves to experience and call them goals. Maybe those are goals in their opinion but not in mine. Maybe it’s also because I’m an extremely visual person so I need to see that goal on paper and in my face constantly. As a reminder of where I want to head and direction I want to take.

People have beliefs for a reason. Just like I truly believe in writing down goals, there are others who believe it’s not worth it. I have to remember to not take it personally. I believe so passionately about creating goals and that they really lead to creating a remarkable life. I don’t think I’ve ever heard a successful person be interviewed saying they never set goals for themselves. It’s what we do 😉

I am glad for the debate because I did learn so much from it. Who wants everyone to believe you are right. It’s nice but can also be extremely boring. So thank you to all the KLL’s for participating and I hope they all got at least one thing out of today.

I already deem the workshop a success because one guy said today helped him confirm what he wants to do after he graduates. #WINNING

 

True Freedom

What’s stopping you?

It’s the thoughts after the brilliant thought you just had.

So why don’t you have the brilliant thought and cease thinking after that. Easy enough, right? haha

For  me I want to express how I feel. I know it will make me feel good to get those emotions out of me. But then I get those disempowering thoughts (jackals) that start popping up.

What happens if you ignore those jackals? Or if you stop those thoughts right in their tracks?

Those jackals limit you. They bring you into a state of fear. They keep you from doing what you want.

We just want to do what we want. That’s true freedom.

Ask yourself after you hear those jackals, “what do I really want?” If the answer is the 1st thought, in my case, “I want to express how I feel” then just do what you want.

Take control of your life. Don’t let the thoughts control you.

I now understand what inspires me most about people who don’t hold back. When I see people go after what they want, I know it’s because I want to be as courageous as them.

We all have that courage in us. We just have to ignore those after thoughts.

I’m finding it easier and easier to take the thought I want to follow through on and do it but it’s still quite hard to say and do what I want. It takes courage as well as strength to stop those after thoughts. But the more I go after what I want, the more empowered I feel. The more control I have over my life.

Do you stop listening to those after thoughts?

Do you have encouraging after thoughts?

Or do you stop believing those after thoughts?

I believe true freedom comes when you are able to do and say whatever you choose (as long as it doesn’t hurt another of course).

Who Would You Be Without That Thought?

This evening I went to a Byron Katie event (yay for reaching goals!) here in Amsterdam. We were given a piece a paper to fill out called Judge Your Neighbor.

On this paper we were to think of a recurring stressful situation that has happened in our lives. My immediate thought was this is just another type of exercise like nonviolent communication. I’ve got to think long and hard about things I choose not to remember anymore. I’m not a fan. Anyway, we had to describe the emotion we feel, who angers, confuses, or disappoints us, and why.

I did the entire exercise with an example I had from my life but I don’t think I got much out of the exercise when it comes to dealing with this exact situation. It could be because I chose a situation that hasn’t really recurred in my mind. It just so happened that this situation brought up the most emotion when I looked back on my life so I thought I’d go with it.

I’m not really sure if it’s a good or bad thing that I choose not to think about stressful situations. Usually I just become aware of it and ask, “Can I do anything about it?” If yes, I do. If no, then I try to go to a happy place with the thought and end up forgetting about it. Done.

We listened to 2 audience members situations and I was immediately reminded of my time at Landmark. In both seminars I listened to people who are dealing with deep emotional problems. It always brings me down to earth and so grateful for my own life. I’m so thankful I don’t have these emotions to deal with. I’m not saying I don’t have my own problems but that would require me to be super vulnerable and I’m still not ready to go there.

It was hard for me to listen to the people talk about their situations. I couldn’t really relate to either story. The first was a woman who was upset that her children were overweight. This one did touch me a bit because I could feel her judging her children on what they ate and I feel I’m always and have always been judged by what I eat. Doesn’t really help the eater, it only makes them want to eat more.

The second person talked about his daughter or someone woman close to him who was very depressed or something. I can’t really remember because by then I had lost my concentration and whatever the guy was saying I couldn’t find any way to relate to him. So instead of suffering through the conversation I decided to leave the event.

This is a big step for me. I have found in the past that I will stay just because it is what “I’m supposed to do.” I have now started asking myself the question lately, “What do I really want to do?” “What will serve me the best?” “Will I be happier or worse off if I stay?” When I answer these questions truthfully I feel good about myself.  If I feel like leaving I leave. Funny how it took me this long to take control over this part of my life.

Even though I didn’t get much out of the exercise, I did get some good stuff from Byron Katie that I will take with me.

First off I love that she asks the question in regards to a thought/belief we have about something, “Who would I be without that thought?”

I’ve never asked myself this question before. When it comes to my beliefs that aren’t serving me like:

1. There’s something wrong with me.

2. I don’t know what to do.

3. I’m not good enough.

I now sit with the question, Who would I be without those thoughts?

When I think about who I would be I feel like I’d be so much better off. I feel lighter. I feel like I can focus my energy on other things. I also know these statements aren’t absolutely true. The question still remains in my mind though. Who would I be without those thought?

Something I will sit and mediate about.

We’ll see what tomorrow brings when we have a full day workshop with Katie. Hopefully everything works out with the hotel that I can make it to most of it especially after to listening to Oprah’s interview with Katie. Interesting that I could relate to Oprah haha.

My Mantra

My mantra:

I’ll figure it out.  

It just so happens that it’s also the mantra of Ms. LaPorte.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cITNveY-kig&feature=youtu.be

Danielle LaPorte needs to be in my life more often. She on to some good stuff.

Sara B

Over the last couple of weeks we’ve had the assignment to pick a word and then take at least 5 seconds of video that represents that word. What we would do with all that footage is learn how to express what we want in a video in a future workshop.

I ended up having a hard time coming up with my word. I thought about my favorite words: incognito, bliss, remarkable. None of them seemed to be working for me when it came to thinking about what I could film and if I wanted to create a video out of it.

Did I want something happy, magical, or did I want to bring tears to my viewers? I couldn’t make a decision so I just started filming things.

Over the course of the 4 weeks we had to take footage, I used approximately 3 days and took about 15 small videos. I already knew going into today that I wouldn’t have enough video but hopefully something would inspire me.

The other part of the assignment was to find a song that also fit your word. I thought a good idea was to find a song first and then maybe that song could inspire the word. Not being great at finding good underground songs (I somehow end up loving pop), I went to the one artist that I know and love who I thought could really make my video artsy fartsy, Regina Spektor.

I listened to every song of hers on my iPod and on YouTube. Musicbox and Consequence of Sound were the only ones that had any promise with their sound but their words were kinda Debbie Downers. So back to square one.

I came to the workshop not really prepared and thought I’d just get the basic concepts so I can take the knowledge with me in the future. I had other things I could be doing so it would be no big deal if I stepped out.

Turns out when I opened up my computer this morning I had editing software on my computer (another reason I thought I couldn’t really participate) and because I was waiting around for the workshop to start (ahem) I put on the newest Sara Bareilles songs and wha-la! I new I had my song for the video.

The workshop involved both tribes and the Knowmadic Learning Lab and when you get in a group with the right mix of people things can get pretty hilarious. I laughed my butt off today because of Tom, Geoffrey, Sander and Laura. It was a much needed laughter too. I honestly don’t think I’ve laughed this hard since I’ve been in the Netherlands. Everyone brought their comedy A game; it literally brought tears to my eyes.

When it came to editing my video, my only objective was to create a video that fit the length of my new favorite song. That way I could listen to my song over and over and over again (as I was already doing) and watch the beautiful footage I captured of Amsterdam.

With the limited time we had in editing, I did somehow end up managing to accomplish my goal however some would say the consequence was that there was a lack of editing. Nonetheless, I think I entertained my audience for the 5 mins and 22seconds. I even heard 2 people say “Play it again!” But go figure, they were just on top of their comedic powers.

I cannot post the video here due to my basic WordPress subscription. So please click here to watch my video. If anything, just enjoy the music and the Amsterdam scenes if you’ve never been here. You may even get a kick out of the randomness of the clips. I believe there really is something in this video for everyone so give it a chance 🙂

I Know

We had a wonderful story telling workshop at Knowmads today. What a fantastic skill to be able to tell a story! People love to hear a good story. If you’re a good storyteller, people listen to you. You hold a tremendous amount of power.

The guy who ran the workshop, Simon, was absolutely amazing. He was able to express his passion for storytelling and it was so inspiring to see that. I absolutely loved him because he could really hold my attention with his speech.

Simon broke down the workshop into 4 parts.

1. He asked us to figure out who we want to tell our story to. What situation are they in? What problems are they facing? How do you want to make them feel? How do they see the world? I came up with my oldest friend, Katie.

2. Simon asked us to figure out what motivates/inspires us. I came up with people who go after their passions. Being able to empower people to live remarkable lives. It’s weird because I had a long list of what inspires me from a workshop we had last week and today I was coming up almost empty handed.

3. Simon asked us to write down our story. I wrote it in my notebook “What is my story?” I just looked at this question and nothing was coming to me, at least not in a story.

I knew I needed a different question (change your questions, change your life). So I went to Simon and told him I was stuck. He said start with the statement, “This is where I’m at..”

4. Present your story to the group.

Here is my story…

The things I know to be true:

I know I say “I don’t know” a lot.

I know this disempowers me.

I do know I am in a cloud of uncertainty.

I do know I want to inspire others to live remarkable lives.

I do know that it will take courage to be the person I really am.

I do know that I tell myself it’s scary to be vulnerable and to ask for what I really want and need in my life.

I know I’m scared to face what I know.

I know I’m too scared to do what I need to do?

How do I know?

I do know though that I figure things out because that is what I do.

 

I do know I was lost.

I do know that I’m closer to being found.

Yes…I do know these are partial lyrics to Amazing Grace.

I do know that I had no idea until after I wrote them down.

 

I do know that I always felt like an outsider within my communities.

I do know that has always left me searching.

I do  know that I’ve always felt in my heart….

I’ll figure it out.

 

I do know I’m going places.

I am here. I am there.

I will be there.

Where’s that there?

That ‘there’… I do know, is a company I create.

What there is that company?…

Nope….not going to say it.

I do know  it is just waiting to reveal itself to me.

I’ll figure it out.

 

I do know I will live an adventerous life.

I know I will empower others to live extraordinary lives.

How do I know?

Because I know…I know… I know.

It was so exhilarating to present my story. I absolutely love giving speeches. This is something I need to dive more into….

Paleo It Is

I’ve been doing CrossFit since the beginning of March here in the Netherlands. I was doing it sporadically since August of last year back in Annapolis but always had other classes to check out and my obsession with bikram yoga was in full swing back then. However, I always knew it was the workout for me since my basketball days were over.

When I first started CrossFit and was doing the introduction classes, the folks over at CrossFit Annapolis told us about the paleo diet and how it can really help with your CrossFit training. They called it the Whole9 and suggested we try it out for 30 days. I looked through the packet they gave us and on the second page it showed what the diet consisted of: meat, fish, eggs, fruit, veggies, and nuts. No dairy, no beans, no grains, no sugar, no alcohol. Nothing processed.

Everything looked good except for the fact that you couldn’t eat beans and I you had to eat meat and fish in order to benefit from the diet. I thought about trying it out without eating animals but realized that was a ridiculous idea and nixed that right away. It would be quite silly for me to go for it because I’d be nutritionally deficient and wouldn’t have the energy that apparently the diet gives you.

Fast forward 8 months later and I’m now completely obsessed with CrossFit. I go at least 4x a week and love the community that is being created at  Mobilis CrossFit. It definitively gives me a balance with my life at Knowmads.

If you hang around crossfitters long enough, you start to get curious about this paleo thing. Everyone who’s on it can’t stop talking more highly of it. They all say it has helped them so much with their training and they’ve never had more energy in their life.

The thing is I’m a vegetarian.

Can I go back to eating meat and fish?

As I’m contemplating this paleo diet, this vegan thing is in my face too. I’m hearing people going on a 30 day vegan challenge, other’s are turning vegetarian, I end up watching a 70 min lecture on youtube about veganism which reminds me why I want to be vegan in the first place, and then I find this 72 yr old woman who looks like she’s in her 50s and she claims it’s the diet. Oh the internal struggle!

After really contemplating it for a week, I have decided to go completely paleo for 8 weeks starting the first day of summer, June 21st. It’s extremely weird to think about eating meat again. As I think about it right now I wonder if I can do it. I may just eat lots of eggs for the first week or so. Maybe  have a piece of bacon or sausage to ease into it.

Mmmm bacon.

Not really sure if I can withstand eating fish. Currently the smell of fish makes me want to vomit and there’s lots of that around here because of the herring or whatever the heck I see people eating on little rectangle plates with tiny pitch fork utensils (you also smell a lot of weed depending on how the wind is blowing).

My goal is to test how my body reacts to this new diet. Will I have loads of energy? Will my body feel it when I have pasta, sugar, or dairy? The goal for the first 8 weeks is to go as strict as possible. So no dairy and no sugar. The alcohol thing will be my 10%. I also won’t beat myself up if I end up having some of this or some of that. It’s the “summer” and I’m on a European adventure so of course living life to the fullest is key.

Compassion for my body and the animals is the focus for the next 8 weeks starting Thursday. I will be conscious of the animals I eat but I think I will end up eating mostly fruits and vegetables anyways. Time will only tell. We’ll see how my body reacts.