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  • C.G. Jung, Synchronicity and how to find your ULP

    C.G. Jung, Synchronicity and how to find your ULP

    About Synchronicity

    An unknown word appeared in my life, and it was the project name called “Halcyon Days.” I had to spell this word several times as I mentioned it on several occasions, and I always got it wrong.

    So on a Monday night, when I watched a documentary on C.G. Jung and synchronicity, I noted the correct spelling. I hoped to spell it correctly. That evening I learned that there are a few “coincidences” between C.G. Jung and J.R.R. Tolkien. That was quite a fascinating discovery as I feel these two come from two completely separate fields of my life. However, the connections are intriguing. 

    Kingfishers and Butterflies

    Then, I heard from a friend about an old seventies TV series that I binged on. It was one of those cold Saturdays and Sundays when going out of the house was not an option. Guess what? 

    One of the prominent families in the series had the last name “Halcyon”. I then learned how to pronounce it and found out that it is a special kind of tree kingfisher (bird). I finally checked Wikipedia: “Halcyon Days is an oblique reference to the Greek mythological figure Alcyone”.

    “Ovid and Hyginus both also make the metamorphosis the origin of the etymology for “halcyon days“, the seven days in winter when storms never occur. They state that these were originally the 14 days each year (seven days on either side of the shortest day of the year[5]) during which Alcyone (as a kingfisher) laid her eggs and made her nest on the beach and during which her father Aeolus, god of the winds, restrained the winds and calmed the waves so she could do so in safety. The phrase has since come to refer to any peaceful time. Its proper meaning, however, is that of a lucky break, or a bright interval set in the midst of adversity; just as the days of calm and mild weather are set in the height of winter for the sake of the kingfishers’ egglaying.”

    You know that Wikipedia is not scientific, but it is often a good first reference for discovery, especially if you are looking for connections. Today, I read an article in which Ellie Goulding was mentioned. And she has an album called “Halcyon Days”. Yes, it’s a coincidence, maybe…maybe not. 

    The point is here: “Where our attention goes, energy flows.” (adapted from Tony Robbins)

    Synchronicity

    What C.G. Jung would say, though, is that I assigned a deeper meaning to this, which is why it is synchronicity. I was ruminating on whether I should continue editing my Bollywood-meets-Bond-style novel “Double Happiness”.

    Maybe you don’t know, but I ventured into creative writing a few years ago, and I keep putting off this life as a writer to earn an income and sustain my living. I keep falling back into the trap of being too busy to breathe. So, this year I want to change something. I want to use a half day for creation. Cancelled myself again. Took the blocker out of the calendar. Procrastinated. Asked Tom Robot, my AI buddy for help instead of JUST DOING IT.

    And then, I always “run into” C. G. Jung. Even on YouTube.

    “Synchronicity is a phenomenon in which people interpret two separate—and seemingly unrelated—experiences as being meaningfully intertwined, even though there is no evidence that one led to the other or that the two events are linked in any other causal way. Though many people perceive signs or spiritual meaning in synchronistic events, most scientists believe that such events are more likely coincidences that only seem meaningful due to aspects of human thinking, such as confirmation bias.”

    When you suddenly see kingfishers and butterflies everywhere is it synchronicity? Or is it just well-done marketing brought to you by Google and AI? OR is it really just a perception error?

     

    I never fully finished “Double Happiness.” Fear took hold of me, and I did not see immediate success, so I decided to quit. Part 1 was published, and Parts 2 to 4 are draft manuscripts on my computer. I did not even know if I still had them. And then, out of the universe, I get a sign that reminds me of India. The Kingfishers are everywhere, and my favourite Indian beer brand is “Kingfisher”. I cannot remember a time in my life that was so mellow and calm. So, if I wanted to lay my artistic eggs, this fasting period up to Easter would be the best time.

    The Lens of the Writer and the Paintbrush of the Artist

    We look at life from a different angle. As writers, we have a lens. We make the normal day-to-day visible with words, just like a painter who brushes a situation in a shopping centre into a piece of art or a photographer who captures a war story in one image. What we do with our writing is to paint a world inside your head, and sometimes we touch your soul. And when we touch your soul, we feel connected through the words. There is beauty in that.

    I did not know about C.G. Jung until their recent explorations that he painted, and I was interested in mythical topics. When I picked up the archetypes for the second time, his words about cultural separation seemed so up-to-date that they were almost scary.

    “Unser Intellekt hat Ungeheures geleistet, derweilen unser geistliches Haus zerfallen ist….Schliesslich graben wir die Weisheit aller Zeiten und Völker aus und finden, dass alles Teuerste und Kostbarste schon längst in schönster Sprache gesagt ist.” (Carl Gustav Jung, Archetypen, originally 1934, 2010 ed., p. 19)

    Can you grasp that there is a collective unconscious in this world and that we can tap into it like a radar? There is a painting in Jung’s red book that symbolizes the channel to the collective soul. For a while, when the Internet was pretty new in the 90s, and only geeks knew about it, many of them thought of it as our collective consciousness. For me, Twitter, for a long time, was my access to the collective consciousness (These days are clearly over since X has become the new Propaganda machinery that lets Joseph Goebbels look like a schoolboy. )

    Access Your Intuition

    Through intuition, I hope to access the collective unconscious, and there is one way to do that: through relationships and in connection with other human beings. The Internet is now the collective, global expression of our fears, prejudices, and biases.

    Most of us are stuck in a loop and an echo chamber, where what we put out there echoes back to us.

    Did I find Halcyon everywhere because I was looking for it? Is it just selective perception, or is Google spying on me? When we widen our perception, we can also ask better questions. We see more, and we take in more. When we connect with formerly unconnected concepts, we can be creative, find better solutions, and create what is later often considered art. (Art is original, whereas most AI art is reproduced; it would typically be considered “KITSCH”). 

    If you are looking for ways to access your unconscious and want to use synchronicities to find deeper meaning in your life’s purpose (and if you aren’t spiritual or religious), you might want to test my worldly and perception-enhancing methods below. These will help you increase and challenge your “frame of reference.

    Actual growth only happens with more self-awareness. In today’s world, I would also suggest that acquiring philosophical, religious, and mystic knowledge of the past can help form a worldview that is not just polaristic. 

    1 – Start with a Vision Board

    Finding your purpose, or your “why,” as Simon Sinek calls it, is not easy, and it’s not something you will have from the beginning. So, we usually recommend that you start with a vision board, which could be a flip chart or poster canvas in your working space. Use images posted on it and ideas from everything that comes to your mind.

    Add things that you would like to see in your future holidays that you would like to take and things you would like to have, like, you know, the best part that you always wanted or the VW hippie bus that you’re craving for the holidays in the Maldives. Add anything that brings happiness to you and add it to that vision board, and you will notice that some parts are about your life goals and relationship goals, and other parts might be about your professional goals, in determining your why, it also helps to look at pain points that you see in the world in your industry or in your immediate Community for example in your religious Circle. 

    If you then, from those pain points think about the future solution you can probably write up your vision like of the future State and where you would like to be in the future. from that you write your one page mission statement so this would be a more short-term idea for example how you know how you would like to work towards your vision and I can give you an example from our website so the vision that we defined was about peace and prosperity for all people quite – We also wanted to see peace in the world.

     

    “We aspire for peace and prosperity for all people! Through global mobility expertise, executive coaching and intercultural training, our clients build sustainable relationships across the globe and act as responsible leaders.”

    Angie Weinberger

     

    I still like the vision, and I think it is still relevant, but it’s not something that you can work towards in a short time frame. So that people understand the true purpose of being in the world, helping you know with peace, it needs to be translated into something more tangible. That’s what we usually refer to in the business world as a mission. So, what we have to find is that. For myself, I’m on a mission to bring the human touch back into Global Mobility through digitalization.

     

    2 – Define Your Mission for the Next Five Years

    What I usually recommend in workshops instead is that once you have a few ideas about your mission, and this could be a time frame five years, then you you try to word it exactly as I mentioned earlier you start with I’m on a mission too and then you add it you add your goal for the next 5 years to that sentence. believe me this is really powerful, especially for social media for LinkedIn for your bio it’s really good to have that one-sentence mission statement ideally it should fit on a Post-It note.

    “I’m on a Mission to Bring Back the Human Touch into Global Mobility through Digitalization.”

     3 – Summarize Your Seven Main Values and Principles

    It is also helpful to go deeper and better understand your values. You probably know what brought you to this stage, so I encourage you to research your values. You’re getting everything you already had when you were probably 16 and formed as a character. 

    What are my values?

    1. I Encourage Humanism and humanistic thinking,
    2. Put Clients First,
    3. Accept that relationships matter,
    4. See that Quality Counts,
    5. Interact personally,
    6. Value my Work and my Time.
    7. Approach Life with an Abundance Mindset.

    We also find it essential to check our biases and privileges regularly. 

    4 – Brainstorm Your Unique Selling Proposition

    Once you have assembled your values, mission statement, and why, or deeper, higher purpose, you could also consider how this translates into a unique selling proposition (USP) in marketing. A USP differentiates you from other providers that offer the same service or program as you do. So, if you are an expat coach, you could bring your unique experience, your academic background or research, or your target group might be exceptional. Hence, it is worth thinking a bit deeper here and defining that USP at this stage. I think it’s okay if you have a draft idea. I don’t think you need to perfect it yet, and remember that all of these things develop, so as your business evolves, your mission will evolve as well.

    5 – Turn it into a Unique Loving Promise

    As we work with human beings and because there is such a lack of “Human Touch” in an AI-driven social media world and a corporate world driven by metrics and tickets, I have decided to move from USP to ULP, which stands for Unique Loving Promise. In other words, it’s how I would like to be treated by an Expat Coach, and I have made this the way I will love my clients, with all their little quirks and issues. Tell me about your synchronicity experiences, please.

    Sign up here to be invited to my upcoming book launches and related workshops http://eepurl.com/dpfrrf.

    The Global Rockstar Album – 21 Verses to Find Your Tact as an Inclusive Leader by Angela Weinberger  https://www.angieweinberger.ch/the-global-rockstar-album/

    https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/synchronicity

     

    Kitsch – Wikipedia

    Carl Jung: What is the Collective Unconscious? 

    Carl Jung REVEALS why someone is ALWAYS on your mind

    Intuitive Introverts – “One Of The Most Difficult Types” – Carl Jung’s Typology | Jungian Psychology

    Train Your Mind: Understanding Synchronicity Will Change Your Life | Mel Robbins Podcast

    13 Signs Your Aura Is So Powerful It Can Disturb Others | Carl Jung

    How to develop an abundance mindset | Tony Robbins

     

     

     

  • Wanderer

     

    There was once a wanderer. He came across a pear and asked her if he could taste the

    sweetness of her flesh for once

    so she agreed and let him bite
    the soft skin of yellow greenish
    color.

    She then lacked a part of her
    luscious body that would never
    be given back to her and walked
    to the other fruits who started
    asking silly questions.Poor pear once a beauty was now
    bitten and damaged forever.
    Never again could she enter the
    garden and hallway of innocence.

     

  • Holiday Blues of A Writer – Why you need to take an inspirational rest once in a while

    I have been irritated with myself for not working more over the holidays.  I was disappointed that I did not write more and that I slept, ate and watched movies most of the time. Today is the first official working day of the New Year and I have started by reading and writing. I feel pressure on my shoulders as I enter January and similar to last year I feel that there is too much to do and not sure where to start. Do you know this feeling?
    I am eager to get back into a routine but also weary of all the work that looks at me and needs to be tackled today. Why is it that we procrastinate until we have too much to do? Why can we not work in moderation? I wish I had an answer to these questions. I assume that the year end calls for a break and especially since no one is productive I felt entitled to being slack as well. I know though that the only one who will suffer is myself because my bad conscience increases.
    I thought I would give myself some time to think and hoped the creative juices would flow again after the holidays but I am not sure I am there yet. I have a strong sense that something needs to emerge in 2016, that I need to let out an inner flame and that I have not been running on full steam yet even though I had been productive and busy, I feel like I did not give my best at all times. I feel like I have been cheating myself but I am not sure why I feel this way.

    Like in the past, I m waiting for a miracle while I know that the miracle is inside me.

    I could be more effective and reach my goals if I just let go of my fears and went ahead with passion. The thing is that this is the hard part about being your own boss. It’s the daily challenge to show up and be your best. When you are employed you can give 70% and it is still acceptable. When you are self-employed you want to give at least 95% or more. You need to be fresh, energetic, focused and emotionally stable. You need to create and find the atmosphere for creativity whether you are in your office or in a dodgy hotel room. You need to be up for networking with prospects and clients even if you are drained and tired.
    And that’s why you need a break once in a while. A real break where you can just be yourself and relax. I thought I would read more during the holidays  and I can tell I am really eager to tackle a few books I bought last year. I am also ready to finish a manuscript I have been dragging along for the last two years. So that’s great news.
    6 January marks the last day of the holiday season in Germany and Switzerland. In some parts of Europe it is the most important day of the holiday season. For us it means that the next day we really need to throw out the Christmas tree and all the decorations. It’s a nice ritual and the cleaning up exercise means that I can get back into full steam.
    What are you struggling with and how did you get out of your holiday blues? Let me know in the comments.
  • The everlasting energy of the spices your ex bought.

    It’s Sunday. You want to cook a meal as your friends will come by tonight after a day on the skiing slopes and then you notice this collection of spices from the last ten years of your life. You find the spices your ex brought to the family. You find the everlasting energy that is still at home in this small flacon. This spice is a symbol for a love that expired. He left and moved out with only his bare essentials about 10 years ago.

    So, I have started cleaning out those spices today. I thought I had done that with my last move but there were a few items I found where the official expiry date was before 2005. These herbs were as expired as the relationship they belonged too. I felt the urge to get rid of the content and the little glass that they came in. I remembered discussions with all of my ex-partners. Why do they love to buy herbs and spices?

    I do like their smell but I do not know where to use them. I mainly cook with pepper and salt. Adding spices is already a stretch for me. I sit there and clean out the energy of my last two relationships. It feels good to let the old spices go. I keep the good ones and taste them on my tongue. I want to use them, integrate them in my dishes. I want to celebrate the energy my relationships brought to my life. I hang on to them while I accept that the expiry dates shows to let go.

  • Writing is Life – Four lessons learnt from writing 500 words a day

    Successful writers will tell you that you need to practice writing regularly if you want to get better at it. I have recently joined a challenge where we write 500 words a day without editing. We count creative writing (novels, short stories) and blog posts. Here are four lessons learnt that I would like to share with you.

    Diary1) Move forward, don’t look back!

    Writing a book is comparable your real life (“RL”). You need to move forward and accept the past. Looking at what we have written the day before is not really necessary as it is not important in that moment. You will later edit and shape your novel in a concerted effort.

    2) Forget format, focus on content!

    Format is done last of all. Often in RL we focus more in format and presentation than content. (Also known as “management bullshit”). We produce content only and review presentation and format later.

    3) Write from the heart, let your voice take over!

    Even if you might feel a certain chapter or scene does not make sense you can delete it later but see where it takes you. As in your RL there might be stories you are not proud of but you can accept them as experiences that shaped who you are.

    4) Find a regular time and atmosphere to write ZEN-style!

    I love to write early in the morning when my brain is not distracted yet by the daily chores. If you hate meditation try writing. Maybe even before you have your first cup of coffee (or for addicts like me the second).

    With hugs

    VMSVivienne M Sharma

    PS: Thank you to @JeffGoins for starting this challenge. I have written 14k words now in my second novel which I left in the “drawer” since August.

     

  • Double Happiness – A Masala Love Story – Promotion on Amazon

    Hello!

    We will have a promotion of Double Happiness starting 12 January 2014. You can buy the book for 0.99 USD for a very short time. Check here and please leave a review.

    Thank you.

    VMS

  • Double Happiness – A masala love story – Prelaunch Information

    Dear Tributes and Fans,

    Our Queen Vivienne and her entourage are honoured to announce:

    “Double Happiness” is here to stay and “A masala love story” (Part 1 of 4) will soon be delivered throughout our kingdom by the major seller of electronic reading material (also known as amazon.com). (“Tatatataaaaa”)!

    Check your amazon site on Friday, 13 December 2013. 

    What a coincidence that a true amazon such as our Queen Vivienne will publish on amazon.

    The queen replies: “There are no coincidences.”

    (Vivienne M Sharma in “Double Happiness – A masala love story”)

    "Double Happiness - A masala love story" Part 1 of 4

    What you need to know about “Double Happiness – A masala love story” (before all your friends):

    Vivienne M. Sharma, born in 2023, is the daughter of Vivienne Wardi and Arjun Sharma. She discovers her late mother’s diary at 12 years old and is drawn into an adventure spanning generations, her parents’ circle of friends, sisters and brother. The first part of the “Double Happiness” series “A masala love story“ starts out as a Bollywood-style love story and turns into a political drama that manifests a love which should never have existed.

    Thank you from yours truly,

    VMS

    BTW: Please tell me if I am reading too much “GoT”.

     

  • Postponing life again and again

    Our lives have become so hectic. We think in terms of optimizing our time. We want to maximize output while reducing input. We give ourselves targets. We rush. We run. Sometimes we force ourselves to take a break and stop for a few minutes to meditate. Relaxation is forced upon us as well as a healthy nutrition. Sometimes I ask myself about purpose. What is the point of this? Where do we struggle the most? Breaking our own barriers, fighting against the slack persona in ourselves, the couch potato? Or is it the aggressive marketer within us that goes beyond shame, overcomes shyness and speaks to strangers on the train. I laugh when a child shouts out in the middle of a game. The child uses a swear word. It is so natural and so different from the other people on the trains. We, the professionals hide behind our laptops and smart-phones. We want to seem busy because busy equals important. Important equals successful. Successful means we will be loved. Ultimately.  BUT:

    • Tonight we are too busy to spend the evening with the man or woman we like.
    • Tonight we miss dinner again and come home when our baby is already asleep.
    • Tonight we have a pizza instead of the healthy salad we planned to have.

    Maybe we will even have a drink because our boss was unfair, our husband did not call or our client just cancelled an appointment. If I feel like this I try to do something completely different like dancing. Have you tried?

  • Life is a bollywood movie

    by VMS

    Have you ever imagined your life to be bollywood movie? You know like you sit in a café and suddenly you look into his eyes and your hands start moving towards the sky, your bangles showing up as you move your hands upwards in different mudras (handsigns). You give your loved one a sexy wink and you move your hips and suddenly both of you are in a mountain range in Switzerland dancing with different costumes in colour-coordinated style.

    The words of an Urdu song come out of your mouth and your voice is a few pitches higher. The advantage of being in a movie is that you are also very slim and wear full make up and have perfect hair when you just get out of bed.

    Your family and close friends magically appear when you need them and the special one is on your side in the critical moments of your life.

    It sounds funny and unrealistic but often I think when we start the day with a bollywood mindset, listen to the music on the way to work and keep that smile when we think of our prince…that we get more positive responses from our surroundings.

    Let’s try to have a bollywood day and please share your experience.

    Here are songs to get you into the swing:
    www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7k_U1ZXybo

    www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdyaixHYviA

     


    A family

     

  • How to speak to your brain to solve any issue in three easy steps

    This morning it took me a long time to get into work mode. Maybe the whole pizza and bottle of red last night had a bit of influence on my slack-ness. I came to my office later than normal (10 AM) and cheerfully started my day by jotting down a cool idea on my whiteboard. I wiped away small tasks from the To-Do-List in no time (despite the wine).

    And then I get a mail which tells me in the typical formal Swiss letter style (that they took over into email writing) that one of my business plans will NOT work out in the way I wanted. The writer gives me the facts only plus a suggestion what I can do. I was disappointed. Then I reflected. Maybe this extra challenge was built in so that I find a better solution.

    We Germans (and the Swiss Germans have perfected this art) tend to think and speak in a „this will not work“ manner. We often explain why certain ways will not work but usually fail to offer an alternative or a solution. I have fallen into this trap many times myself and believe it can be frustrating for people with other cultural attitudes.

    While it is acceptable to be negative or pessimistic once in a while I learnt that the „this will not work“ manner stops your brain from thinking about solutions.

    First step: Ask your brain an open ended question

    In other words when you have a problem you would like to solve you need to give your brain a task to work on while you are sleeping, ironing or cleaning. One example would be to ask your brain „How am I going to pay those bills?“ instead of saying „I am never going to be able to pay those bills.“

    Second step: Write down all solutions that came to your mind during ironing

    The next morning or after ironing your shirts you take a white sheet of paper and jot down all the solutions that came to your mind (Please note. „Suicide is not an acceptable solution.“).

    Third step: You forget what you have written and look at it with a fresh eye

    After a few hours of working on another task you look at your solutions again. You can highlight the ones that seem easy to achieve and start with those. Then you devise a plan for every week and work off that plan until you have solved your issue.

    What if your pessimist breaks through?

    The German inside of me sometimes is still hesitant, miserable and wants to ponder on the problems (even though the original problem has disappeared through above mentioned 3-Step-Plan).  I am giving this pessimist a bit of room. I allow it inside my home. I show this pessimist some achievements and I allow the pessimist to write down all of her wishes in a booklet. If that does not help I order pizza and wine. Just like „groundhog day“.

    What is your recurring challenge or limitation?

    Please share your experience with the 3-Step-Plan.