Wednesday 22 July 2009

So many places...



A lighthouse buried under the sand... one of the most poetical images I've seen in a very long time. Stunning!



I know there is so much to be seen in this world and despite me wanting very much to visit places like Japan and etc I tend not to be anxious about it all and that's why i feel so happy when I happen to be in places I never thought they existed and feel totally taken by the beauty and strangeness of it. That was the case coming back from Læsø, the Island I came to Love and where we spend our summers in Denmark. Me and Christian decided to drive down the coast and every little city we bumped into hid secrets (to me) that are hardly seen (I have never seen) in tourist leaflets along with the Little Mermaid and Tivoli... a Sand Buried lighthouse on the top of a cliff? A cemetery that is falling, little by little, off a huge cliff into the sea? Wow!!! There were also other surprises... Skagen, for example, known for it's light, the place where an artistic, historical shift from "post card-bucolic-cartoon like" painting to harsh, realistic and down to earth styles portraying the life of fishermen and other local practices took place. And to be hosted by, no one else but Lise Svanholm that knows every little story behind each and every painting from the likes of Krøyer, Anna and Michael Ancher and Christian Krogh, was a royal treat, to say the least. A kiss on you, Lise for unforgettable days of fun, culture and food!!! And for those of you who have not been to this part of the Globe, the Museum in Skagen is a must see!!!
Well, here are some images of this trip...



The King, Christian the IX, was misunderstood when he built such simple Summer house. Too small for a King, that's what the local society whispered... Nowadays, this house is a retreat for writers and artists. They come, occupy a room and finish their work in a very tranquil environment. The house has a chef and it is veeeery difficult to actually get a space there...


The Dinning room...



The Living room...



And THE BEDROOM...

Knock Knock... Royal Bedroom... shhhhhh...


We do not want to upset His Majesty from the eternal sleep, do we???




Yes, i am that brave, spitting on the face of death itself... just in the pictures!!!!


Waters of March? No, waters of Skagen


The Beautiful house of Lise Svanholm (a legitimate Plesner's house), our Hostess and delightful guide...

Lise, showing me the book she wrote, a delicious and enlightening book that I better read since she told me I will go through an examination next time we meet!!!


Denmark, and specially the little towns by the coast, have an elegance, a simplicity that transports me back to the 20's...




The lighthouse in Rubgerg... nature that scares, fascinates and is not so in love with human beings...

Truly, one of the most amazing places I have been to...


It is not easy to go all the way up to the lighthouse. You can't see in this picture but there is a constant sandstorm that makes it very hard to even keep your eyes open. On the other side, going down, there is the sea. Beautiful and strong... climbing back up the sandy hill was not an easy task, i am telling you!


That is the prize you get if you dare go down the cliff... Christian convinced me by saying there was even a wheelchair path. It was too late when I finally realized there was no such thing. Now I laugh when I remember I believed it!


The view from the distance...


I have heard about "living on the edge" but "Dead on the edge"? In some more weeks, as you can see, this sweet burial space will be swimming down the ocean... Enjoying the view?


Edgar Alan Poe's style...


Saturday 18 July 2009

When beauty turns creepy...


Cute can be so close to terror... the naive, ingenue and natural have an immense potential of becoming the scariest thing on earth. We all know about terrifying clowns, blond blue eyed children of the corn, fluffy animals that turn into beasts... houses made out of sweets that holds dark and frightening secrets... or even the latest Lars von Trier movie "Anti- Christ" where the scariest scenes, to me, were the ones where there was nothing happening, just shots of nature and a strange expectancy of something very wrong that is about to happen...well...
Here I am in this very cute house, surrounded by nothing and everything seems so "cozy", so natural and enjoyable... until the lights, all fo a sudden went off, the water, for some strange reason stopped running, there were heavy clouds in the sky, sounds of thunder and it is almost midnight... then, all the sweetness and the already above mentioned scenario turns around with the speed of a lightening and we are all fearing for dear life!!! I am not even joking! I actually had images of "The dawn of the Dead", or "The attack of the Zombies" pestering my mind while I tried to step outside the house to look at the dark sky, why did I have to watch so many horror movies in the eighties? All of a sudden this peaceful fishing village took the form of a Zombie colony and us, the perfect victims from the big city, were going to be devoured!!! Of course I did not mention "my plot" to the others, I suffered a quiet and silent, almost, state of panic while they messed around with their own imagination, trying to look perfectly in control. Christian then suggested: Shall we get the car and drive around the Island to see if it is all over? It sounded like a good idea to me for the car felt a bit like the most secure place since we could drive over the zombies!!! It was pitch black outside, i kinda ran into the car and as we drove through a very narrow path of bushes and trees I could not contain my inner images anymore and spoke out: imagine if a zombie smashed his face against the wind shill right now? Christian's daughter screamed in horror as if by just mentioning it I made it happen. Christian laughed nervously while turning on the radio to try to catch some important information (an atomic bomb being dropped or something like this). The antenna had to be lifted up... yeah right... who was going to step out of the car, surrounded by hungry zombies hiding behind the bushes? I opened my window and stretched my arm as far as possible but it was simply not enough! And now the news felt like the only thing that could save our lives, the contact with civilization itself! Christian stepped out of the car, faster than a bullet, fixed the antenna and came back just in time before a faceless zombie took a bite of his leg. Me and Siri screamed in a mix of joy and panic and by now the Zombie plot was the official story within our minds... we drove for 30 minutes without meeting anybody, all dark , until we bumped into a family, a father, a mother and 3 kids, walking with their faces down, in a line, they were all very blond and just added to the picture of the horror movie we were living out. We drove fast... soon we reached the local village and there were dozens of teenagers wondering around the dark streets, all was very quiet, they were probably coming back from an abruptly interrupted party... we heard sounds, there was a pickup truck with loud music playing, a hot dog stand and some more teenagers enjoying the sudden darkness... by now the panic had diminished, we were mingling around real people that only looked half alive because of the booze... thank God it was all very dark cause the three of us were wearing nothing but nightgowns adorned by rain boots!!! We came back home, lit some candles and drank delicious hot chocolate before dropping dead... of sleep...

Thursday 16 July 2009

A hut or a Castle?

I kinda like the fact that the Spa in Læsø is inside of an old church... it feels so contemporary, it gives so many interesting metaphorical readings... one could say that it represents the new religion, the adoration of ones own body, or as hindu Sages say: The honoring of one's own body as the temple of God or as Muktananda once said: "You can destroy a temple, a church, a mosque, but never hurt a human's heart for this is the real abode of God", I like that!!! And in a time where, in Brazil and South America, many art houses, cinemas and other establishments are becoming suspicious churches (where already poor devotees have to leave their monthly earnings to "enter the Kingdom of God") it is nice to see the other way around: Old and abandoned churches becoming living temples of healing and relaxation...

Well... I took some forbidden pictures cause camera's are not really encouraged inside the Spa. This one is from the biggest indoor pool with salty water...


This is a delicious and freezing cold passage for after one of the 4 Saunas...


A view form one of the windows at the Tower...



you can see myself and Christian outside of the Spa...


Now it is myself again with my step daughter Siri (far right) and her friends (from left to right) Marie, Vera and Matilda...

This is a pic from the Spa/Church, the other side of the tower and the view for the charming little town of Vesterø


A view from the first floor of the Spa


And another pic from the facade...



A hut or a castle??? That was my dilemma for so many years... somehow a hut, a simple little thing, meant to be striped of ambitions, a simple life that was carefree and earthy. Contrasting with it there was also the image of a huge house, meaning wealth and ambitions, a life that was all about acquiring and generating more wealth... It was hard for me to figure out what I really wanted from life, until the day i met one very special person and, after hearing about my dilemma, she said: Why not to have both? I had never thought it would be possible but all of a sudden, a huge blockage was undone... both... I liked it so much. It meant I could acquire, I could aim and afford expensive things but I did not have to give up the simplicity and joy of being carefree... I still like it... both... I love to come to this Island called Læsø and have a very simple life, buying vegetables from stands out in the road, swimming at midnight when the sun is still there, wearing sandals and frying Lobsters on the improvised outside kitchen... I also love that this Island has it's own luxurious Spa where, from time to time, we can simply have the most exclusive experience, floating on medicinal salty waters or soak on the outdoors Jacuzzi... yes... both!!!!

Wednesday 15 July 2009

Pictures of Læsø

Some friends have asked me to post some pictures of this Island where I am posted, posting... it is a beautiful place famous for it's Lobsters, a salt factory and a brand new, fantastic SPA!!!! So, here are some images of it...

This is a picture I took while we were coming back from a swimming session...



This is how the sky looks like at 11 pm


The inside of our house...
Myself and Malini who spent some days here with us...


This is the little light house island



This is the salt we buy being produced... very old way of doing it...


Our new trend at home at night, soft music while we draw and paint Mandalas, it is very centering...


A typical house... the roof is made out of many layers of seaweed




On the net again...


On the net again and the literal translation of "net" into Portuguese is "rede" and rede in Portuguese can both mean "the net" and a Hammock!!! So, when in Brazil, "na rede" can both mean that you are belly up looking at the sky suspended from the ground or curved on top of your laptop surfing the Internet. In my case, right now, both things could apply. I am in the net, lying in a rede...

What I hate about blogs or any other printed idea/thought is that, if you are a living creature, and not a stone, chances are the thoughts you have just written, sooner or later, will morph into something else and not rarely morph into the extreme opposite of what you have just described. Stay, stay, stay was my "yesterday epiphany" and later on, reading my own posting I felt like running away from all this self proclaimed truths... I received an email from a dear loving friend of mine and she is soooo wonderful. She said: Yes, I want to stay... stay with myself! It is true, so true because staying is not about being somewhere "period"! You can be stationed somewhere and still be so unrooted, scattered around... that is the most beautiful teaching of many Hindu philosophies I have come across with... it is within! Rooted within!!! Then who cares where we are. That is the sole reason why I meditate in my life. No matter where I am, what is going on in my life at any given moment I only need to close my eyes, follow the path I have been trailing for the past 22 years to get in touch with this familiar space...

My older sister wrote down, in a very bitter sweet note, almost a good bye note, saying that she would feel sad but understands that I would not see them anymore (OK, now I am exaggerating a bit but it almost had this "vibe" of a farewell...) No, No, NO!!!! I did not mean I am never traveling again, seeing my friends, my family... it was all about being in peace with the fact that, this specific summer Holiday I was not going to Brazil cause it has been such a difficult decision to make and I remember a dear teacher I had, when I did the "Workshop for actors at the Globo network", we were studying mythology and Silvia Morgenstein taught us about this Greek Goddess (I wish I could also remember the name of this Greek goddess) that is the Goddess of the "left behind path" and that once you chose a direction you should never look back or she would curse you. The curse of the "Unchosen path"... and so many different traditions talk about this same syndrome. "Don't look back or you will turn into salt", comes from a tale in the bible. Salt, salt... tears are salty.... don't keep on looking towards the path that you left behind or you will keep on crying over it, covered in tears, salty water... oh, I wish we could just really extract all the beautiful meanings of these biblical stories that are now so covered in Dogmas, blindness and dust... if we could only "translate" all these symbols into what they meant for real we would have such a brilliant source of inspiration and teachings...

Yes, soooooo... for the summer holiday of 2009 I have decided not to go to Brasil but Brasil is part of who I am and my goal is to create a bridge between Denmark and Brasil, having friends and family coming over, working in specific projects that would make me stay in there for months and then coming back to this strange Kingdom of Denmark that I have grown accustomed with... just because as Carmen Miranda so beautifully sang: "Na hora do chamego eu digo mesmo é eu te amo e nunca I love you"!

Tuesday 14 July 2009

One of my Workshops at Novo Nordisk

Well... little misquotes here and there... but as Adrianne galisteu (brazilian über nothing) says: there is not such thing as bad press! This is a little article about one of my workshops... I feel proud about these workshops I create, translating certain thoughts and concepts into living and dynamic experiences. Taking business people out of their desks, making them dance (without even noticing they are dancing), moving and REALLY throwing a bomb into their comfort zones... and... they love it!

How do we respond to globalisation
23/06/2009
Globalisation. The term itself sounds like something very modern and academic....
But is it really? A recent LearnShop arranged by the Global Quality Identity Programme, dealt with globalisation and how we respond to it in a - to many of the participants - entirely new and unorthodox way.
The facilitator, Brazilian actor Marcello Bosschar, took the learnshoppers on a trail around the globe. Exploring cultural traits from Brazil to India, from China to Denmark. Inviting them to take a step out of their comfort zones and into a world of exploration of cultural boundaries, assumptions and group distinctiveness.
'The key challenge', said Marcello Bosschar, is using only the right side of your brains in order to explore feelings, imagination and risk taking".
"Our goal will be to understand how different we all are and how differently we perceive the world around us", continued Marcello. "The way we perceive even the most basic things around us such as colours, words and social codes can take unexpected turns depending on the context".
And so they did on this morning in the fitness gym in the basement at Nybrovej. 24 people from Global Quality took part in the LearnShop and were in for a real challenge on working only with their bodies and the right side of their brains.
And so through theatre games and exercises, the globalisation LearnShop offered a brief moment where the learnshoppers got a glimpse of how the external influences such as the use of space, language and culture can either work in our favour or against us.
No doubt, the learnshoppers left this morning session with a whole bunch of new reflections about globalisation.
The Global Quality LearnShops have been developed as part of the GQ Identity Programme as a means to share knowledge and experiences as well as to strengthen the common Global Quality Identity.

Monday 13 July 2009


Yes, I am staying... and this is the hardest thing for me to do. To stay. For some people, to go is challenging. They stay! For me, to stay is hard (or as Sondheim wrote in one of his beautiful songs: "anyone can whistle": "What's hard is simple... what is natural comes hard... maybe you could show me, how to let go, lower my guard, learn to be free...)

This holiday I had do decide if I was going to Brazil or staying in Denmark for the summer... well... going to Brazil: Catching the metro, catching a plane, arriving in Rio, catching a bus, going to a friend's house, 2 days later going to another friend's house, 5 days later catching a bus, catching a plane, going to Recife, staying there for some days, catching a plane.. that is soooo 7 years ago in my life... and I have just come back from Poland where, to get there from Denmark, I had to catch a metro to the train station, catch a train to Malmö, catch a bus from train station to airport, catch a plane to Krakow, spend the night in an unpronounceable city (where I heard Michael Jackson turned into glitter), catch a train to Wraclaw, spend 4 days there (in an amazing festival, where I took pictures with Peter Brook and realized what soft hands he has) than catch a cab to train station, catch a train to Krakow, catch a bus to airport, catch a plane (that felt more like a bus I had to take years ago in Jakarta going to Jelekong), catch a bus from Malmö airport to Malmö train station, catch a train to Copenhagen, catch the metro, walk 5 minutes tog et home, go up 5 stores high (no elevator) get home and sleep cause I had to work the next day...

Well, maybe now you know why I decided to stay where I am. Lying in a hammock, outside our sweet little house on the beach, listening to birds and typing this very text that very few people will read but that will give me a sense of existence, somehow...

Yes, I am obsessed with staying... maybe my therapist, back in time, back in Brazil, back in Rio, so many years ago, would have been so proud of seeing that I stopped! Maybe my dear friend George Furth (that hated the fact that I came to Denmark, to begin with) is smiling in his BROADway in Heaven by realizing that I am not "making a Geographic" anymore (this is an AA terminology that stands for every time somebody changes location instead of changing attitudes and habits that are descructive.

My sister came to visit me for new year's last year, she is now living in London. The day she arrived with her husband, before even unpacking, they started to talk about where they should go after... EXCUSE ME? It was their first time in Denmark and they were already talking about Norway and Sweden... I almost had a heart attack (with my new STAYING OBSESSION) and gathering all the zen power I must have earned from previous life times, I "suggested" that maybe it was a nice idea to concentrate their minds and feet in where they were... after initial defense mechanisms got engaged and disengaged they were somehow convinced to drop their maps and routes and just relax! And then came daily brunches and relaxing biking around and late night chats steeped in hot chocolate and cakes and more brunches and biking and saunas steeped in cold sea swimming and more hot chocolate and soon the holiday was over, they were over the hill with the feeling that to put it into their own words: "we have had the best holiday ever"...

So, next time I sing this "Should I stay or should I go" song again I will probably have the answer...

AAAAAARRRRGHHHHHHH!!!!!

There! I started!!!! That is the most difficult step: the first. And it is only with this single effort that one can one day reach the Himalayas, the pyramids, the grocery store and the local Chiropractor, no matter how painful this walk might be... but now I am on holiday, in an Island called Læsø, Up North Denmark... so that means that although I will be blogging here I will also be living out my life and soon I am catching a boat to watch some sea dogs (kind of seals) so see you around and let's see where this might lead us (it almost sounds like internet dating text but I guess this is not so far from the reality).

Vi ses
(or see you around )