New Year, Old Spam
The latest on my business blog, on moving to NYC and fun cleansing the old inbox in 2011!
Nathalie Molina // Futurist, globalization strategist, traveler. Consummate modernist, admirer of Kali, motorbikes, clean lines & Dancemeditation. Storyteller, YPIN board member. Ted addict. ENTP. Retired photographer [in denial].
The latest on my business blog, on moving to NYC and fun cleansing the old inbox in 2011!
I found myself struggling to respond, as I thought about the essential difference between 'you're welcome' versus 'de nada'. 'De nada' means literally 'for nothing' but the intention, while generally used just as 'you're welcome' is used in English, is really more of a downplaying, an expression of humility. In Spanish there is this dance we dance, this protocol of expressing humility in the face of flattery or gratitude. It is admittedly sometimes a feigned humility, but the sentiment is nonetheless there, and the expression 'de nada' truly embodies that dance. It really begged the question, what does the bold, straightforward 'you're welcome' say about the English language, and it's cultures of origin? In contrast to 'de nada', it feels almost arrogant, as if assuming that the thank you is something more than just a polite expression, as if affirming that the person expressing thanks has reason be thankful. And yet taken more literally, there is beauty in an affirmation of being welcome, warmth in telling someone they are welcome. Don't we all ultimately want to be welcome? Simple words, so much culture embedded, so much intention to glean from language. So much that goes into receiving even simple things, like gratitude. Bottom line, this morning I concluded I want to acknowledge my own desire to be welcome by giving what I want to receive (YOU'RE WELCOME), but I want humility too, and to dance (DE NADA). So in 2010 I will choose both: You're Welcome+De Nada.This year may have started off being about gratitude, but it's the grace in receiving where the crux lies.
"Who wants flowers when you're dead? Nobody." ~J.D. Salinger
That gem of a blog you can't believe you didn't know about until this year.My discovery of Box of Crayons definitely qualifies, I discovered it early in 2009, not sure how I managed before it. Michael Bungay Stanier has rocked my world many, many times. Go Michael, be a bird, not a machine!
Was there a conference or workshop you attended that was especially beneficial? Where was it? What did you learn?This Fall, prior to heading to NYC for a phenomenal DanceMeditation intensive (I could write a small novel on that one!), I flew to Oaxaca for day of the dead, with the hopes of participating in a fabulous creativity workshop for photographers. When I got there I found that my time in Mexico was not my own, it had a momentum entirely its own and in the final tally, I...
Did you have a night out with friends or a loved one that rocked your world? Who was there? What was the highlight of the night?2009 has been a year of consistent and rather awe-inspiring serendipity, a shift from pushing things into existence to an overwhelmingly powerful sense of pulling the universe in, right up against my nose where I can smell it and relish every little morsel. While I have a long list of gorgeous nights of fun, laughter, meditation and even ecstasy...the first thing I thought of when reading this question was a night just before the warmth of Spring kicked in. I spent a long, cathartic evening with a dear friend, a sister really...letting her hold me close, and watching as things imploded around me. In the final stages of incubation, the warm embrace of a loved one is exactly what you need to break the eggsshells, once and for all. Gracias Carla.
