I love lullabies. Yesterday I stumbled upon this one, by My Brightest Diamond. It’s a wonderful song and video, filmed during a music festival in Berlin, august 2011. The filmmaker: “After the concert I finally dared to ask her what I wanted to ask her that morning, to sing us this lullaby that struck me down. It’s Sunday morning, a morning of hangovers. The whole hotel seems suspended in the air. We ask her to get to the bar, to make it sing for her, to sing for her son (for whom she had written this song). We erase ourselves. She, she doesn’t. After we’re done filming, I cry. She cries too.”

You’re about to see a 5 second film. Only 5 seconds? Yes, only 5 seconds but don’t worry, it’s a complete story. It’s about a woman looking at herself in the mirror, smiling and thinking: “I can change the world with this smile”. The next moment she walks out the door, smiles and waves to a stranger in the street, who in return gives her ‘the finger’ saying: “Fuck off…”. My first thought: “Ouch”, but then the woman says: “It worked…”. The End. Hmm, pretty intense… I looked for some information and this is what the filmmaker says: “Flip that frown upside down. You’ll never know what’ll get flipped back at you”. Now, it’s a fictional story, I don’t wanna get all psychological about it, but the fact is that any facial expression evokes some sort of a response. And whether you flip your frown or not, you never know what you’ll get back. What I do know is that whatever the response is, it tells more about that other person than about you. I once read: When someone answers your smile with negativity, look at that as if it were a present: you don’t have to accept it. By not accepting it, you don’t absorb that other persons negative energy and you can continue being you in good harmony.

Wonder around in Los Angeles at night and be amazed by all the city lights and movement. Although there’s no person in it, thousands of people pass by in cars and airplanes, helicopters, moving from left to right, people going up and down, in and out of buildings etc.. The effect of time lapse cinematography makes everything appear to move really fast: city life looks like a colony of ants. But the images, melancholic music and the subtle montage, create such a peaceful atmosphere that it makes you reflect on life. It made me very much aware of the time, space and peace that is all around us, even in the city traffic, but is so hard to see when you’re in the middle of it all.

I always thought The Beatles song ‘Help!’ was a love song. You know: “Help, I need somebody. Help, not just anybody…” and then I stopped listening to the lyrics, believing I got the message. Until I came across this video. It’s a beautifully made animation, kind of adorable actually and it made me understand and appreciate the song better. It’s really about getting older, changing times and things becoming more complicated. For instance the line: “When I was younger, so much younger than today… I never needed anybody’s help in any way”, reminded me of my childhood when life was clear and problems didn’t seem to exist. But then of course times change, as they do in the song.

Yesterday I watched this short film. It’s called ‘Move’ and tells the story of a guy traveling. He’s in a different situation, in a different part of the world almost every second of the film. A roller coaster ride? Yes, but great direction and editing makes it look tranquil nonetheless. Intrigued by the film I read some information about it and learnt the film was made by 3 guys, in 44 days and 11 countries. It took them 18 flights and they flew an astonishing 38 thousand miles… No wonder they called the film ‘Move’, I thought to myself and remembered a nice Albert Einstein quote about moving: “Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving”. If you enjoyed watching this film, I recommend you watch the other two parts as well. See them here (‘Eat’) and here (‘Learn’).

To achieve success is one thing, but how do we sustain it? “Why do many people reach success and then fail? One of the big reasons is: we think success is a one way street” Richard St. John opens his TEDtalk with these words and an interesting (and funny) talk it is. Speaking from his own experience he says: “When we become successful, we must not forget that success is a continuous journey” and he presents 8 rules to sustain success. He calls them 8 to be Great. If you like, you can download them for free as a wallpaper for your computer, press here.

Sometimes I yearn for a deep sense of connectedness with a certain moment from the past. Then I want to go back in time and relive it. This desire can be so strong that for an instant, it actually does bring me back there. Me and my memory find each other, look each other in the eyes and dance, bringing the moment back to life. But as time catches up on us, we grow apart. The memory fades away to another lifetime and I wake up to find myself, alone in the present. In a way that is a sad story, just like you’ll see in this video. Buddhism and many of its associated paradigms emphasize the importance of living in the present moment – being fully aware of what is happening, and not dwelling on the past or worrying about the future. They teach that those who live in the present moment are the happiest. I can relate to that, but I also love a little drama. Drama, to a certain degree is what makes life interesting. I hope you enjoy this video as much as I did.