In Asian philosophy, the concept of yin yang (in the West often referred to as yin and yang) is used to describe how polar opposites or seemingly contrary forces are interconnected and interdependent in the natural world, and how they give rise to each other in turn. Like night and day, ebb and flow or in the case of this Japanese proverb; vision and action. They need each other, for else they become illusionary forces – either a daydream or a nightmare. Did you notice how in the West ‘yin yang’ is referred to as ‘yin and yang’? Apparently in Asian philosophy there is no need for and in yin (and) yang, meaning: in Asia the yin yang concept is considered as one, while in the West it is perceived as two separate forces, that potentially is one, depending on the presence of the word and.
focusNjoy #121: Laugh!
Laughing is fun, free and healthy. It lowers your stress levels and strengthens your immune system. And did you know six-year-olds laugh an average of 300 times a day and adults only 15 to 100 times? Makes you think right? No wonder grown-ups risk getting all stressed out! Lets all laugh more!
focusNjoy #120: You learn more having a truly open mind
Education is a means to ‘survive’ in modern society. It gives us a frame of reference to which we all can relate. When we look closer into this frame of reference, it turns out to be a collection of rules and patterns, and modes of thinking – more or less presented like certainties on which we can build our realities. Paradoxically, in order to learn we need do let go of certainties. To make new discoveries and to gain revolutionary insights we need “think out of the box” and leave the certainties our education gave us. And is exactly that – forgetting what we know – what makes it hard to learn.
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