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Your birthday is a special time to celebrate the gift of 'you' to the world.

>> 30 May 2010

Today Mindful Mimi celebrates its 3rd birthday.

Indeed, on 30 May 2007, my first post went live.

They have been a wonderful 3 years full of interesting meetings, mindful meanderings, creative thought processes and plenty of learning opportunities.

At first scary to be 'out there', it has now become my 'brand'. And the online life has even expanded, for example to a Facebook page on subjects I am passionate about: Mindful Creativity.

So thank you readers, followers, commentators, supporters and friends.

I hope to continue to be a source of creative inspiration.

Thank you.

Mimi

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Happiness is not the absence of problems but the ability to deal with them.

>> 28 May 2010

 The municipality of Almelo gives people who are in danger of becoming socially isolated a one-off "happiness allowance" of 450 euros. They have to use the money to do something they enjoy. The city believes that the happiness allowance is cost effective.





Money does not make you happy they say. I agree: money alone doesn't. But allowing someone to realize a dream, to think of himself for a while instead of all his problems, can bring a big change.
And it doesn't have to cost a lot of money. And as the alderman of Almelo says, in the end it's well worth giving them 450 euros to spend on making themselves happy than to have them in the social services loop.

I like the idea and think it's very creative.

I also think it could be improved.

Instead of giving them money to the people, the city could fund a non profit focused on helping such people making their dreams come true. Such an association would ensure the continuation of the dreams after the first creative class is over and the camera is broken.
It would create a community of people all working towards happiness.

So how much do YOU invest in your own happiness?

When was the last time you:

  • got a massage?
  • went for a long walk?
  • painted a picture?
  • wrote a story/song/poem?
  • enrolled in a class?
  • learned a new skill?
  • started a project you love?
  • spent an afternoon reading your favorite book?
  • sat out in the sun thinking of nothing?
And when was the last time you put some 'money' in the happiness piggy bank of someone else?

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The most successful project is one that rolls by itself.

>> 18 May 2010

"Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, is creativity."
-Charlie Mingus

When I started my creative workshops at work, trying to get some creativity into a highly administrative work environment, I had no idea where this would lead.

I did it for myself, because I was lacking creativity and I also wanted to share one of my passions which is painting.

The workshops were a success and turned into a 'Creative Thinking' pilot workshop organised with Human Resources.

What usually happens after you have been to a training?
You're all spiced up, enthusiastic and full of goodwill to apply all that you have learned. Then after a few days or weeks, the effects ebb and you're back to your old routine.

I absolutely did not want this to happen with the creativity training.

So I organised an ad hoc 'creative spark' session with the same people that attended the training. I asked them to come up with real business problems and we used the techniques that we had introduced in the training to find ideas and solutions to those problems.

The session was short (1 hour) and after a quick refresher we tackled one business problem. People came out of this sessions refreshed, full of energy and found that it not only gave them a good, creative break during the day, but also helped them to maintain and practice the knowledge level they had gained at the training.

Today we had another creative spark session. There were less people but another problem was successfully brainstormed.

The goal of the sessions has been achieved, namely to make a group of people autonomous in coming together and teach each other and learn from each other.

The project of spreading creativity has left the amorphous stage and rolled into a life of its own.

I love it when that happens.

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Our attitude toward life determines life's attitude towards us. -- John N. Mitchell

>> 12 May 2010

I recently attended a broadcasting conference where all the national players were invited, except one, who happened to be not only the number one in the market, but also the only business entity run by a non national mother company.

I thought that was odd.

After all the slapping on our own shoulder speeches were finished and the floor was opened to questions, one person did ask why that player wasn't there.

And the answer from one of the market players was going on about what had happened in the past and how that had brought about the current situation and how it was all about reciprocity.

So what he said basically came down to: you didn't invite me, so I'm not gonna invite you.

I admit I was troubled by that.

I also admit I have been reading Seth Godin's book "Linchpin" and that that might be one of the reasons why I was troubled.

In his book, Seth defines art as “the intentional act of using your humanity to create a change in another person” (p. 99) and acknowledges that when we give to others, the law of reciprocity kicks in and they will feel indebted to return our favor.

But he goes on to say that when we give to others and don't expect anything in return, that attitude of unconditional generosity changes us. It creates abundance in our lives and in the lives of those we connect with at work and in our communities.

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You have something to give

>> 11 May 2010

Do you have a dream? Like riding a firetruck? Or swimming with dolphins?

Do you have something to give? Like time to volunteer?

Then your dream may come true soon. Check out below video:

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Creativity and how to make something from nothing in order to keep it alive.

>> 6 May 2010

Who are the beautiful losers in your life?

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