Our Mind Made

One of the club members dubbed the task of this months reading as ‘Broccoli for the soul’

For some of us, who love our greens, it was a pleasure reading Ada’s poems and feeling into the words and sentiment, for others it was sad and confusing - For all of us it seems though, the words touched us in some way or another.

The poems from The hurting kind were largely written over the covid years and we certainly felt the strain of those years in Ada’s writing - the shared experience of feeling helpless, seeing the world differently and a weary longing for something more.

Ada also expressed the beauty of life’s small inconsequential moments and this was not missed on us either. We reminisced about our childhoods, family members we adored and a deep seated urge to feel and be fully in our lives

Like all good poetry, Ada left us with questions, questions for her - “Who do you want to touch you Ada?” (The end of Poetry) but introspective queries too…”who do I want to learn from??

“who and what do I want to be touched by??..”

Ada’s book The Hurting Kind can be found at the major book stores and online and for a real treat, the audible copy is read by the Author herself.

To join the our mind book club simply email; [email protected] with the subject line Let me in the club - come on..we want your juicy brain!

We hope you enjoy your soul Broccoli!

What is creativity? How can we approach creative projects and why is creative expression important?

With special guest, Kimmy Hogan – Digital artist and all round loveliest woman, we first discuss what creativity is, and get insight into what creativity is all about – from a professional creative!

Next we shine a light on Rick Rubin’s book, The creative Act – A way of being

We ponder different ways we express ourselves creatively, our barriers to creativity and even touch on the future of creative expression with artificial intelligence.

Next, we turn down our gaze to The Original Thought creative meditation for some play and inspiration.

I hope you enjoy this chat today and it leads you to appreciate your creative acts in this world both physically and on the canvas of your mind.

Head over to www.kimmyhogan.com.au to get your peepers around the magic that Kimmy creates.

To buy the book; www.readings.com.au – for this one it is worth investing in the hardback rather than audible – the notes section in the book and the time to ponder between pages makes it so worth it.

And if your wondering - This is the recipe for Kimmy’s favourite cocktail (you’re welcome)

Thai Basil Smash: INGREDIENTS- 45ml good quality Gin (i.e Four Pillars) - 15ml sugar syrup- 3 Thai basil leaves- Long red chilli, deseeded- 1-2 slices fresh ginger- 30ml lime juice

GARNISH- Thai basil leaves

METHODIn the bottom of a cocktail shaker, muddle basil leaves, chilli, and ginger. Add lime juice, sugar syrup and gin. Add ice and shake vigorously for 30 seconds. Double strain into a chilled coupe glass. Garnish with a Thai basil leaf.

The questions were simple yet thought provoking:

* Thinking of all the ‘stuff’ we have - why do you think we collect so much? What are your things your are drawn to keeping/accumulating?

and

* When we pass on there’s maybe 3-4 things that sit on the casket to represent us (this was my experience at my grandpas funeral last year) - what would your 3 things be?

Instead of AI this is OI - Organic intelligence - Real human answers which have come about by their heritage, life experience, own personal likes and dislikes

Stay tuned to the end where I ask you - yes you - these questions to ponder

If you want to join the club and read and reflect on awesome books and think a little more ‘OI’ then email me [email protected] for access x x

There's a lot of darkness; add on top of that coldness. The whether is often rainy, snowy, hailing, windy. What the Danes have done to survive that climate is invent ways of coping with it. They cope, and even look forward to long, dark, cold days by fostering cosiness and being together. These are the sentiments of Mik Aidt; Danish dad of 3 teenagers, Podcast host of The Sustainable Hour and gorgeous describer of what Hygge really is.

After our charming Hygge introduction from Mik the conversation turns to the Our Mind Book Clubs key learnings from the book - Think light, leaning into togetherness and an appreciation for the good times we already have.

We then go on to describe ways we have been threading Hygee into our moments and leaning into this cosiness for our souls.

This months meditation is a visualisation practice - In honour of Hygge its been dubbed - The care and comfort Meditation - It’s all about sinking in to those cosy feel-good feelings and taking a moment to acknowledge how content it makes us to feel.

If you want to be a part of the Our Mind Book Club think tank, touch base

Email - [email protected]

Also get your ears around Mik’s Podcast

The Sustainable Hour - https://podcast.climatesafety.info

Borrow the book from your local library or buy The Little Book of Hygge by Meik Wiking if you want [or need] the antidote to cold and dark for keeps -

https://www.amazon.com.au

In this episode we summarise our thoughts from the book - Stolen Focus by Johann Hari.

We discuss the collective key take aways

Changes we are making in our everyday lives to reclaim some focus

The over arching concern is broached about the power the big companies have over keeping us hooked in and how we may step towards a collective change for us all

There is a short and sweet mini meditation practice built around focus - un-focus - refocus and noticing just how distracted we are