Category Archives: Personal

Iktami Devaux

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When I met my friend Iktami Devaux for the first time in El Bolsón, Argentina, I immediately fell in love with him (no, I am not gay, and he was already a beardy old man in his mid fifties). With his openness, witty outlook, spirituality (yet firmly grounded in reason) and liveliness he was talking directly to my inner self. With his body slowly degrading, like a failing machine grinding to a halt, he saw his sickness (a rare form of arthritis) as his master, pushing him to take his plans with life to another level. And plans he has. To keep his sanity he has to keep writing down his thoughts, in the form of reflections, as well as full blown books.

After having read the first collection of his short stories -“Through the wilderness of love”- I also became a fan of his work. His writings were so much in line with the path I had set out for myself, being in a relationship with my fellow beings and nature, I could not get around it. But in the six years thereafter, I was distracted by my own life and work, and we found ourselves sharing thoughts only once a year sometimes.

Until he translated “El arte de no hacer nada” into “The art of doing nothing”, which I had the pleasure of reading in 2011. It immediately sparked the fire that lay dormant within me, and I asked for more. I also decided I would make him a website to sell his books. Until then he had only been selling them at the fair of El Bolsón.

Well, that work is now finally done, and I am proud to present to you his website, which is fully bilingual:

iktami.com

Because I truly believe his writings should reach as wide an audience as possible, I asked him if I could distribute “The art of doing nothing” as a PDF for free. And so he agreed! I quickly converted his rich text document to a pdf, so here’s the link to it on dropbox:

The art of doing nothing – free PDF version.

Please read it and tell him what you think (you can comment on his website). He loves to communicate and communicates love :)
(And if you really like it, you can make a donation on this website.)

The Art of Hosting

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Man am I glad that I went to The Art of Hosting workshop in Karlskrona, Sweden, last week!
130 people from all over the world joined in a circle of trust. We left our egos at home, and stepped into a safe space to learn from each other. To explore a sustainable future for our inner selves and the world we live in.

The art of hosting community consists of a growing group of people taking leadership of their own lives, to help others find theirs. To allow them to start or facilitate change. In social structures, in organisations, or whatever group of people that are bound together.
The community has no structure, and is all about self empowerment.

Some of the founders of the movement, together with many volunteers, took up their role of “stewards”, enabling us to become host to a group of souls to find their own answers.
Inspiring us with every step, they kept reminding us to differentiate our pure selves from our egos, to be truly receptive and helpful.

The first day was about “stepping in”, to become acquainted with each other and the practices. To allow us to become familiar with the tools. To know which to use for each situation, and for the different groups we might be dealing with: policy makers, managers, workers, fellows…
We ended with story telling, because each of us has a story to tell that shows who we are. Four stories were so amazing, beautiful, thrilling and inspiring, that their ‘writers’ were asked to share them with the group at large. And so they did.
Tears fell. Into an awakening pond.

The second day was about “stepping up”, to help out with the work at hand. Most of us helped in any way we could. Some helped with each days’ starting ritual, the check-in, asking us to do physical exercise or contemplate, or meditate. Others helped with the various types of “harvests” we wanted to gather. The harvesting of our experiences and insights is an essential part of the process. It not only serves as a binding memory of what we are trying to accomplish, but also as food for others not with us at that time. It was amazing to see so many artists draw up such wonderful maps of our journey, and others willing to spread the word online on twitter, facebook and websites. I started a poetry dialog, and asked others to add their part. Music was made and songs were performed. Wonderful!

The third and last day was all about being proactive. 24 people could host their own group to get help with their own questions, issues and projects. 28 came forward, and extra space was created to attend to all of them. Wow!
Many got involvement in concrete, not so concrete, small and large projects. Lots of connections were made, and many got even more inspired.
I hesitated when I was one of the last to come forward. Most of the others were so much further with their growth and visions, but I had my own personal questions, so I overcame my insecurities and was glad I did.
Since long do I wonder what the conditions are for a sincere and most open initial encounter with a fellow human being. So I asked what those were, and if we could put this into words. Into sentences that would set the stage for the rest of our interaction to be fruitful and without prejudice. But we discovered that we touched upon the magic of life, and such beauty should be left to discover by our own.
For long I felt this was the case, and with a lot of help from my friends I saw that my hopes were remnants of the old me. The logical, solution focused part in me that wanted a grip on life and the insecurities it brings. But our vulnerabilities are what binds us. They are not to be waved away with a magic wand.

Thank you my friends!

A new beginning…

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There’s always a new beginning.

And that moment came when I saw that I was heading nowhere with my cosy, comfortable life and the environment that goes with it. With tunnel vision I was moving towards a dimming light. I realised it was the shining light of my forgotten dreams, left behind, reflecting in my rear mirror.

So I started walking the walk. Slowly but steadily I lost the fake sense of security that barred me for so long. I walked into the open arena of human interaction. Allowing my intuition to be my guide once again, as I did as a child. And love prevailed. No darkness disguised as passive acceptance would hinder me now, now that I felt the love of others, and the growing love for myself.

That was a while ago now, a much needed while. I am now confident enough, about myself, and about you. That we will recognize the intention in our hearts and minds to give each other space and truly connect. For only then can we blossom, and see who we truly are. Let us not judge by assumption, but experience from genuine interest, and accept what is here right now. Only when we ask the right questions do we elicit change. From within.

And that is why I started this blog. To let my inner needs and experiences become manifest. To get in touch with my friends in the now, and those yet to come.
Are you with me?