Coaching Monday: Something worth celebrating

Since Germany is celebrating one of its most meaningful national holidays this week, this Coaching Monday is dedicated to celebrations.

The big achievements need to be recognized as such and celebrated, sure thing, but what about the small ones that many people take for granted or brush off out of fear of being seen as someone bragging for no reason? 

[The answer to this question is a very solid hint

to what matters the most to you: 

career, health, success, relationships, self-awareness, generosity...]

And what about the tiny ones and even the mistakes, the good days, the bad days, the daily baby steps that help us be who we want to be, even when we are not at our best but we are still doing our best to get there? 

Everything can be celebrated, and there is so much to be thankful for. Celebrating is not about showing off, it's about gratitude, humility, and hope.

"What in your life is worth celebrating?"        

                                

Tags: Coaching question, Self-coaching, Self-awareness, Self-reflection, Celebrations, Thankfulness

What to read next:

Coaching, reloaded - Coaching question of the day #355. - Where the magic is already happening

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A new year, a new hope, and my best wishes for all of you

For every single person (among my readers, my newsletter subscribers, and beyond) hoping for a better year ahead of us, my best wishes to all of you, your loved ones, and everyone else up to the famous six degrees of separation:

[In German there's the saying "Das Beste kommt noch",

which means "The best is yet to come"]

"May 2022 be for all of you a year full of wonder, laughter, growth, unforgettable moments, health, lovely memories, and peace"                                                            

Tags: Best wishes, New year's wishes, Growth, Resilience

What to read next:

Coaching, reloaded - Coaching question of the day #88. - Your many accountability buddies

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Coaching, reloaded - Coaching question of the day #365. - One year ago VS. today

365 days ago today, the first coaching question of this series was posted.
Who were you back then, and who are you today?

How much has changed in your life, how much have you changed?
In which direction, and how? What for?

How does it feel to look back at the last 365 days knowing what you know now?

[The only kind of comparison that makes sense

is the one offered by this question]

Coaching question of the day: 

"Who were you one year ago, and who are you now?"     

                                                                       

Tags: Coaching question, Self-coaching, Self-awareness, Self-reflection, Identity

What to read next:

Coaching, reloaded - Coaching question of the day #30. - One year from now

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First Doodle Google of August 2018 is dedicated to German war phographer Gerda Taro

Today's Google Doodle in Germany is dedicated to Gerda Taro (pseudonym of Gerta Pohorylle), the German photographer considered to have been the first woman to work as a photojournalist in war zones and to be killed on duty.

[A big smile for the camera!

Google Doodle dedicated to Gerda Taro

on August 1st, 2018]

Activist against Nazism and Fascism, picture editor, photographer and furthermore personal assistant, muse and companion of Robert Capa (born Endre Friedmann) during the last two years of her life, Gerda Taro had to leave Germany in 1929 because of her Jewish heritage and worked with many important newspapers, also documenting the Spanish Civil War with David Seymour and with Capa himself.

Many pictures and negatives that she signed together with his personal and professional partner, seen as lost for decades, has been found in Mexico in 2007, making it possible to dedicate her prestigious art exhibitions.

Google Doodle pays homage to German graphic designer Ludwig Sütterlin

Today's Google Doodle in Germany is dedicated to Ludwig Sütterlin [1865-1917], a Berlin-based graphic artist and teacher at the "Teaching Institution of the Royal Museum of Decorative Arts" (lit.  Unterrichtsanstalt des Königlichen Kunstgewerbemuseums zu Berlin) that invented the Sütterlin script.

[Colorful Google Doodle on July, 23rd 2018

dedicated to Ludwig Sütterlin]

This minimal and very regular writing style based on geometrical forms, influenced by Art Nouveau and by the work of Rudolf von Larisch, was nationally adopted in Germany as a more adapt writing style for children (in comparison to the more tricky Eckenschrift) during the Twenties and the Thirties.

Every letter would have the same height and width, in order to help small children learning how to write properly while using a quill:

Funny merchandising for Jane Austen fans: Jane Austen bandages and beautiful stamps

You may or may not know that I really admire Jane Austen and her work. And that I consider her one of the best English writers of the last centuries, even if other writers (including the otherwise awesome Mark Twain) and a lot of literary critics were not always that crazy about her.

[Classy parody of Jane Austen 

as modern and a little bit pompous Hollywood screenwriter]

And yet Jane Austen is still absolutely popular and well-known, her persona reached the status of a pop culture icon (with new deductions about Miss Austen being murdered with arsenic, no more and no less) and her works keep providing the perfect materials for movies, plays, television adaptations, comics and graphic novels, re-writings with zombies or XXX sexual fantasies and... knitting sets as well.

This could not be enough for very die-hard fans of the British author, who can not find cookies, puzzles, jewelry and other stuff interesting any longer. What about a package of colorful Jane Austen bandages then?

A new Google Doodle says "Happy Birthday, Jane Austen!"

Google celebrates Jane Austen [1775-1817] with an elegant and romantic Doodle. 

The great author is my favorite writer ever. I have read all of her books several times, again and again, and each time I've discovered something new and unexpected in them. And in myself.

[Google Doodle for December 16th, 2010

Jane Austen's 235th birth anniversary]

Too often improperly described as boring, outdated, outmoded and "sugary", Jane Austen's works are actually still (and always have been) a fantastic and exciting reading.

Forget Becoming Jane - even if I'm in love with James McAvoy now and forever - and Pride & Prejudice with Keira Knightley and maybe take a look at The Jane Austen Book Club or at Gurinder Ghadha's Bride & Prejudice.

Google celebrates 'The Wizard of Oz' with a yellow brick road (and a Doodle)

Saying something new about a classic like Victor Fleming's The Wizard of Oz is almost impossible. Judy Garland. Over the Rainbow. 'Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas any more'. The Wicked Witches of the West and of the East. The Scarecrow. The magic of L. Frank Baum's books. And the Technicolor!

But it's not always necessary to say something new. 

Google celebrates the 71st anniversary of the premiere of the film in the USA - with the exception of Sweden, Denmark, and Finland, the movie it has been released in Europe after WWII and in 1951 in West Germany! - with a yellow brick road that leads us through a fairy and amazing land.

[Google Doodle for August 12th, 2010
The Wizard of Oz's 71st anniversary]

Remembering Antoine de Saint-Exupéry and the mysterious circumstances of his death

Which one is your favorite book?

How often did you and do you get inspired by it?

[Antoine de Saint-Exupéry and the Little Prince
Statue by Christiane Guillaumet, Place Bellecour in Lyon]

As you may know, The Petit Prince is my favorite book. After celebrating Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's birth, today we're talking about this death.

On July 31st, 1944, the French writer and aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, while being on duty during WWII, left the military base in Naples to carry out a mission in solo flight. He's disappeared with his own plane and his last message was a radio silence.
So the mystery of his vanishing began, while letting generations of fans puzzled about his fate and his death. It was only after almost sixty years, in 2003, that the remains of the aircraft were located and found beyond any doubt and the mystery of his vanishing was partially solved.

Tags: Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Le petit Prince, The Little Prince, Literature, Death anniversary

What to read next:
Collecting "Le petit Prince" - Why collecting the book is like a big, wonderful game

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123 years ago today, the first book in Esperanto has been published!

'Lingvo internacia. Antaŭparolo kaj plena lernolibro' [International Language. Foreword And Complete Textbook], first book in Esperanto written under the pseudonym 'Doktoro Esperanto' by Polish ophthalmologist and philologist L.L. Zamenhof, has been published exactly 123 years ago, on July, 26th 1887.

[L.L. Zamenhof, 1859-1917]

Constructed language created by Zamenhof to promote cooperation and mutual understanding between people speaking different languages, Esperanto has become very 'pop' but unfortunately has never become an international standard. Maybe in the future?

Were Zamenhof's ideas too radical at the time? And now? Was Doktoro Esperanto too idealist?
Do you know some words in Esperanto?

Tags: Esperanto, Anniversary, Languages, International language

Further information:
Esperanto.Net

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Google celebrates Austrian/Swedish architect Josef Frank with a colorful Doodle

Google Doodles are almost always very poetic and beautiful and it's a real pleasure to start my 'search engine journey' with something different and unexpected, now and then.

Today Google celebrates Austrian/Swedish architect Josef Frank's 125th birth anniversary [July 15th, 1885] with an explosion of shapes and colors, a Doodle realized by displaying some of the most beautiful creations from Frank.

[Google Doodle for July 15th, 2010
Josef Frank's 125th birth anniversary]

Gloria Stuart is 100 years old!

[Gloria Stuart, born Gloria Frances Stewart]

In a few words... she's a legend. Period. And not only because of Titanic. James Whale's The Invisible Man, anyone?!
Happy 100th birthday, Gloria!

A wonderful Google Doodle celebrates Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's 110th bith anniversary

I have been collecting "Le petit Prince" (The Little Prince) by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry in every language since 2006. But this is another story.

Today's story is about the wonderful Google Doodle that celebrates Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's 110th birth anniversary [June 29th, 1900]. It's absolutely beautiful and poetic like the book: my favorite Google Doodle ever.

[Google Doodle for June 29th, 2010
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's 110th Birth Anniversary]

I've seen this Doodle on the Italian and German version of Google but not on the English one. Maybe just not yet?

ps. Thanks again, Fra!

Update: For mysterious reasons, the English version of Google didn't display the Doodle at all...

Tags: Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Le petit Prince, The Little Prince, Google Doodle, Birth Anniversary

What to read next:

Collecting "Le petit Prince" - Why collecting the book is like a big, wonderful game

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Fifty years of the birth-control pill

Fifty years ago, exactly today, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gave permission to commercialize in the US the birth-control pill invented by Gregory Goodwin Pincus.

It's ideally a revolution that allows women to take control of their own bodies. But practically? Practically, without a proper sex education, I'm afraid that the birth-control pill is too often just a tool given to someone who has no idea how to use it.

Tags: Anniversary, Women, Health, Sex education, Birth control

Sixty-first anniversary of Simone de Beauvoir's 'The Second Sex'

[Simone de Beauvoir, portrait by Henri Cartier-Bresson]

On ne naît pas femme: on le devient.
(One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman)

Simone-Lucie-Ernestine-Marie Bertrand de Beauvoir [1908-1986]
Le deuxième sexe

Today is the sixty-first anniversary of the publication of Simone de Beauvoir's masterpiece, 'The Second Sex'.

The Simone de Beauvoir's book was a powerful invitation to all women to become stronger, indipendent and free. At her time, this was quite impossible, and also inconceivable in some cases, for the great majority of women.
Sixty-one years later, this is still impossible and inconceivable for too many women, all around the world. There's still a lot of work to do. To become a woman is very painful, dangerous and hard, but it's worth the trip.