In the midst of November

A letter on repeat as some of you might have received it last week through my usual newsletter. A letter worth repeating because everything I feel and sense during this November is powerful, unapologetic and kind.

Hello dear kind voices and friends of our platform, be it my personal Substack or my virtual platform One Kind Voice. We are one.

We are One Kind Voice as we are in together. It did take me a while to absorb this notion, and this has been one of my multiple learning experiences. It is in itself an opening practice to awareness, to kindness and compassion. We can listen deeply, we can ask ourselves “what does this situation mean?” In the sense of “what does this situation bring up in me and my perhaps few unresolved dilemmas?”.

How does the world reflect back into my internal world? What does it unravel about my transformation? Do I want to transform and take it further?

Some of the reflections that I keep coming back to whenever I read something interesting, I see an art masterpiece that moves me to tears and keeps me glued to it, I watch a movie that stays with me in such a wonderful way for so many years to come. These threads that we carry with us slowly slowly, like a-slow-burning fire, grow deeper in us and settle in a solid foundation.

The solid foundation of who we dream to become. The solid foundation of what internal house we would like to build to keep us solid through all the storms and throughout all the life’s joys too.

First and foremost, thank you for bearing with my silence during the month of October, as there was a whirlwind of doing. Yes, reflecting during pauses. Yes, gratitude for everything holding me together. In one piece. Setting stronger roots, not in physical space, but into myself. I could see my roots growing deeper and emerging whenever I needed the extra support to remind myself that I have come a long way.

Small steps, firm steps, most importantly consistent steps. I would also like to add, I have come a long way in becoming the person I aspire to be. I look up at many people everyday to motivate me to do something more everything in the world, and I feel that I can also rely also on my internal world to also motivate me even stronger everyday. Interestingly enough, moving also from enthusiastic idealistic daydreams to consistently adding up a foundational material to build a good house. A good internal home for myself and for others, hopefully. An internal house that I could carry with me no matter where my physical location might be. I know.

Happy Birthday, Mum!

This is a very special newsletter. Let us start with a big big smile.

Today is 16th of November and is my mother’s birthday too. It is also aSunday, my favourite day of the week, where I can wake up refreshed and feeling so inspired to create.

My mother is a builder, she has built physically buildings, houses, planned, designed, changed, transformed and she is living a legacy behind her. Not everything she has built is still standing (mainly the industrial constructions that were left in utter negligence with no ownership and some turned into ruins simply because there would be no interest from local authorities). This, for sure, is a subject much bigger than today’s newsletter. It is quite a sad event though for a builder dedicating her entire lifetime, even now, to see and face the remains of years of massive effort. Happily, she has never stopped even in retirement and so lovely to say that all her civil buildings, houses are standing and people call and thank her everyday or remind her of their projects with alot of gratitude. Including us, her kids, as she is working every single day not only to build a long-lasting home for us in the country side but also to maintain orchards and everything around it. With loving support from my brother and family and neighbours and the village! Because it takes a village for everything. Thank you mum! Happy birthday to you.

Featured Guest

I would like to introduce you my featured guest on One Kind Voice’s Podcast, Dr. Siobhan Graham from Vitalis Health, Belfast, Ireland.

Don’t you love it when you meet people by synchronicity in the most unexpected way and you go on and form a bond of friendship, support, training together and exchanging views and insights, or practices?

Don’t you love when you meet people and both of you are open and connect in an instant just like that? Not even knowing where this connection will lead to?

Siobhan and me met on the MMTCP course, mindfulness and meditation teacher training program. The program includes monthly small groups on various topics and we would have more than one gathering each month with different purposes. I would meet Siobhan twice a month in these small groups together with other peers and we have also partnered to continue one-to-oneR.A.I.N practices (a meditation technique that is based on the principles of Recognize, Acknowledge, Investigate, Nurture - in its latest version taught by our teacher Tara Brach). All our practices involved routine, dedication, and preparation while R.A.I.N involved surrendering, being there for each other, time flexibility.

As a side disclaimer, as Siobhan points it out in the talk, the R.A.I.N acronym has been first coined by Michele MacDonald, a senior Buddhist teacher (in her version of the same acronym, R stood for non-identifying with the experience).

You can delight more in this framework for practicing meditation in the blog article here below and you might surely hear about it more so in the coming years through the One Kind Voice platform.

Tara Brach’s Blog:

Two Versions of Acronym RAIN - Tara Brach

One important note, it is a very powerful when done in a partnership.

My first stunning impression on Siobhan was that she holds this skill to draw the essence or key teachings of a larger topic or reading material and turn it into one, two sentences at most - that tell you not only the story, but also the practicality of it. I remember her first speaking of the breath as an anchor during a meditation practice and her revealed essence to all of us listening was just it: “anytime an intrusive thought keeps coming, take a breath consciously. We know we cannot stop the thoughts, but let’s return to the breath every time. Is either “thoughts” or “breaths”.

Here, two meditations techniques available for you to learn and absorb today, if you wish to take a break or simple call and find me to practice R.A.I.N with me.

Although our discussion took place some time ago, also on a Sunday, I would think, trying hard to find the time to squeeze in a lovely chat is always so rewarding.

It does open so many windows into someone’s internal “house” and I simply love it as my guests reveal sides of themselves I was never aware of before. It is as if a magical wand touches our hearts to open even more so.

I honour you dear Siobhan here and I would like to extend my gratitude once again. You have both inspired me and offered me grounding. Grounding through the fact that you keep going. You love your daughters, you love your patients and you constantly think how to better other people’s lives and health, literally. While you also had to attend to your own healthy struggles and coming out of difficulties, while still maintaining the course of MMTCP with all its demands.

You hold a torch for me and I am sure for many others. Nothing grandiose here. A silent torch is lit besides you because you inspire many. Your warmth, laugher and professionalism all along teaches us something everyday.

I would leave you dear readers to listen further and take a delight in knowing another wonderful guest who is diligent, keep going and keep growing and developing herself, her practice, her love for her daughters. The interview will be posted here too.

Book Recommendation

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The Book of Alchemy: A creative practice for an inspired life

Suleika Jaouad

And now, since we have started with some insightful prompts for opening up our heart with raw honesty and reverence to the fact that we are all one, and we can see our own reflections into everyone else, I would like to close the One Kind Voice newsletter with one of my beloved and most cherished authors, Suleika Jaouad and her latest book, The Book of Alchemy, A creative practice for an inspired life.

I felt deeply connected with Suleika’s journey from her first book “Between Two Kingdoms” and I am a devoted follower of her life journey, her written work, her substack platform, her beautiful love story with Jon Batiste whose genius, creativity, kindness and faith I absolutely adore too. They are a couple who inspire me everyday to never give up in true love. True love exists.

This is one of the books I tend to keep buying as a “gift stock”, handy at home, for birthdays, friends visiting, a coffee encounter. I have a pile of “book gifts” and before I leave my home, I usually think “she/ or he might love this book too”. It is not always the case, but it is happening in my world. Apologies if it might not fit everyone’s interests. Maybe one day :)

The Book of Alchemy - takes the art of journaling at an immersive level, bold beautiful and artistic at the same time. She starts with a challenge of 108 days of journaling, she introduces us to prompts and inspiration from so many voices, artists, writers, musicians, mentors… the list is long. You can open the book at any page and just get inspired by a mini chapter and a prompt. Suleika’s book has created a movement leading not only to workshops around it, home gatherings, events, both in US and Tunisia, her home country, for example, and also to an online movement with people joining from all around the world and sharing their experiences with Suleika.

Suleika lives this life, through chemotherapy sessions and a long term illness that she battles with creativity, with art, with her love for family, partner, pets, collaborators, and her followers on Substack. She shows us every day that she shows up and chooses to beautify the world, in spite of the tremendous challenges that might come her way.

Dear Suleika, with every post, with every raw and candid share of your journey- you teach me one very very good thing: that we can all do it. We can all beautify. We can all create. We can also take time and break down, or collapse. We can just be. We can show up. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

I will keep gifting your wonderful book to the world. As a matter of fact, I have just added a new dream to “Motivation into Action” moodboard that I call “Reach out to a dream each day” - I have started dreaming to visit New York and meet you in person, attending one of the very workshops of gatherings related to “The Book of Alchemy”.

Good health and much love to you ,mum, and to you Siobhan and Suleika for holding a torch of light and enthusiasm for a BEAUTIFUL LIFE.

Wishing you all the same with much kindness and big hugs dear friends.