Around ten years ago now I tasked myself with learning Polish. Not for shits and giggles or just to challenge myself but for the very practical reason of being able to communicate with my partner’s family who live in Poland. It was a hard slog and some even consider Polish to be the hardest ofContinue reading “Eight words in Polish that have no English equivalent”
Tag Archives: communication skills
Ancient Word of the Day: Rema
Rema (Shetland Scots) The mirror-calm surface of the sea on a calm day. A body of water with a surface as smooth as cream. Comes from the Scots word “reyme”, meaning “cream”). Rjómalogn (Icelandic) Cream-calm, used to denote profoundly tranquil weather or sea. Arafin (Welsh) Calm or slow weather in Welsh. blikkstille./ blekkstille (Norwegian) AContinue reading “Ancient Word of the Day: Rema”
Comforting Thought: If We Want to Do Something Well – We Cannot Do It All
“Opt out of the relentless pursuit of personal optimisation of our lives. Opt-out of picking and choosing a new partner when we get bored of the person we have been with for many years simply because we are bored. Opt out of trying to become a social media influencer with a million friends on InstagramContinue reading “Comforting Thought: If We Want to Do Something Well – We Cannot Do It All”
16 Self-Promotion Tips for Artists and Musicians on Twitter
This post was inspired by a music producer whom I greatly admire. On Twitter he was asking how to get more engagement with people. I thought it a good moment to give out my tips and ideas, based on my own experience in what works. 1. Find your audience across multiple disciplines Your audience isContinue reading “16 Self-Promotion Tips for Artists and Musicians on Twitter”
Ancient word of the day: Flukra
As the southern hemisphere turns now towards the colder months we are all finding comfort into our nests and getting cosy for the winter. In New Zealand and the southern parts of Australia we are experiencing snow in the alpine regions. So it seems appropriate now to talk about the many ancient words for snow.Continue reading “Ancient word of the day: Flukra”
Mark Forsyth’s Elements of Eloquence Part 2: The Cheat Sheet
Here are the classical rules of rhetoric, illustrated and made simple. Based on Mark Forsyth’s Elements of Eloquence. I hope that you enjoy them and that this handy cheat sheet helps you to improve your writing.
Comforting Thought: Within crisis is opportunity for growth, compassion and love
This crisis that everyone is in right now poses a range of unique opportunities for us as the dominant species on earth. This is the first time in human history that we as a sentient and conscious species have a three opportunities for growth as a collective: Limitless capabilities for (virtual) communication across time andContinue reading “Comforting Thought: Within crisis is opportunity for growth, compassion and love”
Book Review: The Origins of Creativity by Edward O. Wilson
Ant-lover and Professor Emeritus of Evolutionary Biology at Harvard, Edward O. Wilson has been arguing for the unity and connectedness of all human knowledge for many decades. In his latest book The Origins of Creativity, Wilson singles out creativity as humanity’s most important legacy which has allowed us to evolve and dominate other organisms onContinue reading “Book Review: The Origins of Creativity by Edward O. Wilson”
List of the week: Adult words I used as a teenager to make myself sound more intelligent
As a teenager I was incredibly precocious at times, spouting big words to make myself feel older and more worldly in high school. Later on, as my vocabulary developed at University, I dropped these intellectual bombs into conversations to make myself feel better in the company of people more middle class and posh than I was.
An indepth exploration of the aesthetics of cosiness
There’s a lovely subreddit I recently found called Cosy Places, which calls for people to submit their log cabins, hideaways and cosy loungerooms. This is a veritable treasure trove of different ideas for cosiness. Someone even parsed the photo content in the subreddit and came up with the recipe and criteria that make up aContinue reading “An indepth exploration of the aesthetics of cosiness”