Insights

I had been learning English since I was thirteen.  The times that I am abroad or in English speaking trainings or groups, my English improves fast and I feel very connected to the language. And then come times when I feel like I just did not learn enough.

Among all of the words that I have learned, ‘insight’ was a word I used or was even aware of until I read “The Celestine Prophecy” by James Redfield over ten years ago.  Since I was a kid, I had had experiences of synchronicity, feelings of déjà vu and amazement for the strange coincidences that show up in my life at unexpected times.  Then after reading James Redfield,  few years later, the word ‘insight’ would this time appear in game developed at the Findhorn Eco village in Scotland.  As a part of the amazing “The Transformation Game”.  In time ‘Insight’ became for me a word that meant a world of personal discoveries.

As I look back, I cannot pin point exactly when I started to be more aware of the surprising coincidences in my life.  That there is something to them, about them that needs to be discovered. It probably was after I went to the US for college.

Then books started to show up in my life.  The first book that I can definitely say was an eye-opener for me was “The Road Less Travelled” by M. Scott Peck.  That book stayed touched something in me and made me look for more. I went to Boston for my first Thanksgiving to visit the sister of one of my best friends.  And in Boston Renin gave me this book. “The Road Less Travelled” touched something in me and made me look for more.

Then Erich Fromm and Rollo May started to interest me.  For the first time I was reading about psychology.  In junior high and high school, I had read only novels.  At least one per week.  I loved reading. I loved fiction. In that fall of 1988 in Boston, something started to change.  My focus of attention was starting to change suddenly in my first few months in the US.  I had come to New York to study engineer.  I always thought I loved math and numbers were my calling. And now I was discovering that my real interests seemed to be very different from what I had chosen to learn for my future.  Away from home and in new territories of all kinds, I guess I was terrified to even consider that I was not on the right track.  And I ignored the signs, until I could not.

From that autumn in 1988 in Boston to 2013 naturally a lot has happened.  Looking back, my life seems to follow a path like what James Redfield is writing about in his books “The Celestine Prophecy”, “The Tenth Insight” and his other books. Following and discovering the insights he wrote about.

There are many signs in our lives.  Call them whatever you like corner stones, lighthouses, wake-up calls, warnings, dilemmas, coincidences, synchronicities or insight.  There are signs in our lives that seem to try to lead us to events, people or situations that will makes us happier, healthier and more satisfied.  Listening to them, seeing them, choosing to see them and accept them makes a difference.

And may be the coincidences in our lives are the answers to our prayers.

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Some questions from James Redfield to leave you with for the next few weeks:

1-      Were there any particular coincidences or signs connected with getting your current living space (significant house numbers, encounters with neighbours, delays in negotiations, mixed-up phone calls, special street names, or any other odd detail)?

2-      How did you get your past or present job? Think back to how you found out about it, to whom you talked and what messages you might have received?

3-      Describe how you met your most important relationship. What led up to your being in that place at that time?

4-      Do you see a pattern in how things come to you? What was the similarity, if any, between meeting your significant relationship and getting a job or a place to live in?

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Wishing you many delightful coincidences and sought after insights.

With love,

Zeynep

Xi’an, Ben & Jerry’s and “Sliding Doors”

On my trip to China this summer, our group leader told us that we were going to the city of Xi’an as well and for one reason, to see to “Terracotta Soldiers.”  As it is also called the Terracotta Army or the "Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses", is the name used to talk about a site that has a huge collection of terracotta sculptures depicting the armies of Qin Shi Huang, known as the first Emperor of China.  This amazing site is one of UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites.  Terracotta statues of 8000 soldiers, 520 horses with 130 chariots are the main pieces of attraction at this site.

It was  a very hot and a very humid day when we arrived in Xi’an.  The amazingly hot days we had in Turkey in July this summer seemed very innocent compared with the extremely humid summer days of China.  I remember feeling quite cool after I have been back in Turkey and although we are experiencing one of the hottest summers in history in Turkey, I am not as bothered.  A week in China was enough to change my perspective.

Back to the city of Xi’an... Xi’an has become a centre of attraction after the discovery of this site and everything is geared towards this historical site.  I find it difficult to remember anything but the city itself.  But maybe it is enough.  May be the Terracotta Army is more than enough.

Why would anyone go through the trouble of making much life-size statues, in such a manner that the face of each warrior is different than the other?   Some say that The Terracotta Army is a form of funerary art and that these were buried with the Emperor in 210–209 BC and their purpose was to protect the emperor in his afterlife, and/or to make sure that he had people to rule over.  However, since this site was discovered by coincidence by a farmer who was digging a well in 1974, no one really knows for sure.  One of the stories we were told that these statues were built so that the actual soldiers of the army would not have been killed and buried with the Emperor.  As far as I was told by our Chinese local guide in Xi’an, there are only theories and since the site was found in 1974, no official records have been found yet. 

There are amazing details about these soldiers.  They are life-sized.  All of them vary in height, size and expression.  It seems that the details also vary with the ranks of the soldiers and they are created and placed with those taken into consideration. They are thought be painted in colour as well, but in most of the statues the colours seem to have faded.

There are many details that make this UNESCO World Heritage Site and its statues amazing.  The sheer amount of work and effort behind this site is more than enough to be impressed.

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Strange things impress me at different times.  Today I was going to Şövalye Island. I realized that there were a few things that I needed to buy and I turned around to stop at Tansaş.  As I was about the finish my shopping, I saw the Ben & Jerry’s ice cream refrigerator.  Actually I had seen Ben & Jerry’s ice cream fridges in several of the big supermarkets in Fethiye over the years.  It was obviously not the first time, but I found myself going back twenty years in time.  And surprisingly almost exactly twenty years...

As I am eating my Chocolate Fudge Brownie ice cream, I am still surprised by the fact that I remembered my days in Vermont, USA exactly twenty years later.  I went to college in the US. The university that I went to, Cornell University, is one of the Ivy League Universities in the US and is quite a good university in the field of engineering.  Cornell University is also known in the world for its famous Medical School, which is in New York City.  The main campus of Cornell University is near the town of Ithaca in New York State.  Ithaca is about five hours driving distance to  New York City. 

When I was completing my undergraduate degree at Cornell, I was planning to stay a year or two more to get my masters degree in engineering or maybe to do an MBA. However, after my family came to attend my graduation in May 1992, I found myself planning to go back to Turkey to work with my father in our family construction company.  My father, who had had a complicated heart surgery in 1989 in Indiana was not able to work like he used to and he needed help at the family company in Turkey.  Either I was going to go back home or a partner from outside would be needed for our company.  My plans to get a masters degree started not to look that reasonable.  It was 1992.  Those years  were times when we were still writing letters on paper to our family and friends. 

I had been away from home for 18 months and I was learning about my father’s and our company’s needs at a pace much faster that I was willing.  Life has its unique ways and timings.  I was not as appreciative of the timings of the Universe then.  It took me a few years more to learn those lessons.

So there I was.  My parents, especially my mother, were trying to convince me come back to Turkey immediately after graduation.  I was sure that I should be staying to complete my masters.  Those were our first stands and reactions.  Actually my father was not saying anything.  He was just being his sweet self.  After the first week of their arrival in Ithaca, I was starting to feel that I was about to make an important decision.  I was torn between my logic and my heart.  Those few days were maybe my hardest days in life and now looking back can see why.  Those few days definitely determined my following twenty years and will probably continue to do so for the rest of my life.  Roads diverge and some of these paths never come together again.

There was an interesting movie in the late 1990s called “Sliding Doors” with Gwyneth Paltrow.   In the movie the main female character is at the door of a train in London and the movies continues with two different  parallel plots, one in which she misses the train with the sliding of the door of the train and in the other she makes it to the train in that one split second.  The effect that split second has on the possible turn of events and the life of the female leading character has made me wonder every time I watched this movie.

My split second was more like a day, a Sunday in May in 1992. That decision took me to Vermont that  in the month of July in 1992, which made it possible for me to think of Vermont in a Tansaş in Fethiye on the same days in 2012.   Let me tell the details of that story at another time, yet I cannot help but share that as doors keep sliding, keep opening and closing, we seem to be swimming in a world of endless options and choices and every choice and every move seems so very important; yet, there is also the feeling that as I was staring at the Ben & Jerry’s fridge at the supermarket, oblivious of the fact that Ben & Jerry’s had been sold to Unilever about 12-13 years ago and for that reason this quite uniquely American brand of ice cream was able to make it to its own fridge in the supermarket in a small town in South-western Turkey, there was also the feeling that that moment was the only possible option for that moment.  It was the only following step for all of the millions of big and small preceding decisions.  I chose to go to China this June, I chose to apply and go to Cornell, I chose to move to Fethiye and certainly I chose to go to Tansaş this afternoon.  Still, there is more to the mystery of the choices that we make and choices that we cannot seem to make.  And surely these were not what I was planning to write for this week’s Land of Lights.

There is a lot to share about China and a lot to share about energy, decisions, fate, our callings and more.  It is clear to me that for now this is more than enough.

Let’s trust that there is time for everything and for everything there is a time. 

Wishing you a week full of love, joy and happiness. Best wishes,

Zeynep

http://www.zeynepkocasinanenglish.blogspot.com/

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Quote of the Week:

“Love is the will to extend one’s self for the purpose of nurturing one’s own or another ‘s spiritual growth.”

-          Scott Peck, The Road Less Travelled

Affirmation of the Week:

From Louise L. Hay:  “I am neither too little nor too much, and I do not have to prove myself to anyone.”

Power of Laughter

There is amazing power in laughter, and in humour. I am one of those who believe in the power of the smile, both to make me and those around me happier and stronger.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox said “Laugh and the world laughs with you.” Smile and the world smiles also, I can guarantee at least most of the time.



Peter Ustinov said “Laughter is the most civilized music in the world.”

Well, this week I would like to write about laughter and humour because unless we integrate them into our lives, maintaining health and happiness becomes quite difficult.

This week I worked with two clients who are dealing with life threatening conditions, and through our conservations both have admitted to the fact they do not even recall when they last laughed, a real laugh that came from their heart. We are not talking about the polite smiles at work, or the pressured laugh at friend’s birthday party.

When was the last time you laughed?

How frequently do you laugh in a day? In a week? In a month?

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Did you know that ‘a sense of humour’ is cited as the most sexually attractive trait in surveys? More seems to be involved in real attractions than our body parts. Many psychologists agree that laughter opens up our senses, as well as our mind.

Laughter also seems to affect our endocrine systems, and produce natural painkillers and increase our immune system.

I have believed that growing up and getting older meant being more serious. I could not totally manage it, but tired to be more reserved that what was natural to me. I do not anymore.

I do not watch the news in the evenings anymore. I do read the paper, but not first thing in the morning anymore. I save that for times during the day where my subconscious is more protected and aware of the negative input bombardment. What you see, read or hear does affect you, whether you believe, accept or even want to take it in. The second you are in contact, the input, the information is in your system.

The news say that the world is not a safe place, that the economy is crashing and life standards will fall. If you are listening to these news without awareness, like when you are just up in the morning, or about to sleep in the evening, or just dozing off on the couch on a Sunday afternoon, you are being sold to this information as true. Whether you know or accept it or not. Your subconscious cannot differentiate between what is really true and what is just being told as someone’s perspective on what seems to be taking place.

So somewhere in your being a part of you believes that the world is not safe, and act accordingly. And you will find yourself questioning why you are afraid to try even the smallest new things. A part of you is doing crisis management, and you are not even aware.

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There are so many different stories and battles that are taking place in our personalities, in our bodies that we are not aware. Yet, as soon as we open ourselves to this possibility, we can do something to stop creating useless and even dangerous new influences to our physical, emotional and mental health.

Affirmations are great tools to reprogram thoughts and beliefs that do not serve us anymore.

And also happiness, laughter, humour increase our energy levels to the highest of our potential. They indeed do. And in that state, all that seem to trouble us become apparent and surmountable.

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Exercises of the Week:

1- This week as you go out, or just while you are walking in the street, try to catch people’s eyes and smile at them. (They may or may not smile back at you, but the changes are most of them will.)
2- Watch at least one comedy film or show this week.
3- Buy yourself or borrow a comic book or a cartoon book and read it allowing yourself to smile or laugh as you feel.
4- Catch yourself when (and if) you are frowning and turn it into a smile. Whether you are alone or with others.
5- And finally an affirmation: “I am usually cheerful, and bring a sense of lightness to my life and the lives of others.”

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May you journey be filled with joy and happiness.

With love and light,
Zeynep

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Awareness of the Week: Cheerfulness

Affirmation of the Week:“I am in a joyous, intimate relationship with a person who truly loves me.”
By Louise L. Hay

Quote of the Week:
“Do not try to explain feelings. Live everything intensely and treasure what you feel as a gift from God.”
From “Brida” by Paulo Coelho

“The Road Less Travelled” By M. Scott Peck
The Turkish translation of the book may be found under the name “Az Seçilen Yol”.