NATURE : Olive Harvest / Raccolta delle Olive e l'Irpinia

Raccolta delle Olive: Darò una mano – Zona Irpinia (Ariano Irpino – Southern Italy)

E arrivato l’autunno e tra due settimane ci si comincia con la raccolta delle olive nella zona, anche se si vendemmia ancora in questo momento. La terra ci dà talmente cose buone, però richiede anche attenzione e impegno: non arriva tutto nel supermercato o nel piatto da solo, ma questo lo sapevate già ;))

Sarò in zona Irpinia per dare una mano a raccogliere le olive della mia famiglia e anche dare una mano alle persone locali per avvicinarsi sempre di più di quello che vogliono veramente nella vita.

Il ritorno alla terra è un appello indispensabile per una persona sempre vissuta in città, come me. Ed è esattamente la città, la sua grandezza, il suo inquinamento, la sua anonimità, la sua velocità, la sua competizione che mi rimanda in campagna per respirare l’aria più pura, contentarsi di poco, mangiare genuino e per il contatto con la natura e la semplicità del vivere e della gente. Ammiro gli alberi, e soprattutto gli olivi, perché possono essere un esempio per noi e il nostro futuro.

Alcune cosa sulla zona Irpinia:

La zona ha avuto forti terremoti passati. Tra l’altro quello del 1980 che aveva circa 6.5 di magnitudine sulla scala di Richter. Tante persone sono emigrate verso l'Europa, gli Stati uniti per trovare lavoro e perspettive degli anni 60-70 (come i miei genitori). Tanti sono rimasti li, però la tendenza è di lasciare la terra, visto che non c’è sempre possibilità di successione. Oggi sembra che i giovani desiderano andare verso la città mentre le generazioni più anziani pensino al riposo e non sono più in grado di lavorare la terra come prima.

Non c’è veramente turismo ma c’è spazio, non c’è il mare ma ci sono delle belle colline. Tanti palazzi vecchi sono stati purtroppo distrutti dai diversi terremoti passati nel 1962 e 1980 e dunque l’estetica non rappresenta quella che ci si pensa dei paesi tipici italiani. Ma è tranquillo e bello. E siamo localizzati su tante piccole colline di ca 600-800 m di altezza.

E nel sud dell’Italia, a ca 1 ora delle bellissime città di Napoli. C’è ancora tanta campagna e questo è un tesoro unico, che io penso debba essere sovra guardato per le generazioni future. 

Zona Irpinia e Campania: http://www.quicampania.it/indice-irpinia.html  e http://www.irpiniaturismo.it/

Benevento Tourism: http://www.comune.benevento.it

Napoli Tourism:  http://www.comune.napoli.it/flex/cm/pages/ServeBLOB.php/L/EN/IDPagina/5802

NATURE: Is the apparently dead tree still alive ?

This tree was cut in 2011 and is about 2.5 m wide at its base. It was also pretty high compared to the other trees, I remember, one of the highest in the wood I go regularly for a walk. Why this particular tree took my attention? I don't really know. But each time I was passing by in this wood, I was seeing "him" and I somehow liked him. I say "he", because I feel he is more than just a piece of wood, he is a tree. He apparently had a talent to get noticed by the people passing by during their little Sunday walks. 

One day it was gone. Forester regularly cut trees for selling purposes, so this is pretty normal nowadays. But why this beautiful old tree, is still a mystery for me. The forester, you might be able to see from the picture above, proudly incised their initials and the date when it was cut. I am convinced it was not an easy act to get rid of such a majestic and powerful tree.I forgot the tree somehow for this all these years. It was not there anymore, I thought. 

But the other day while passing by, needing fresh air and the nature to get a bit of inspiration because my heart was heavy and I felt sad, a clear picture came suddenly in my mind: I should go and lay my whole body on the base of this tree. Strange, isn’t it? Well because I love trees and I know they cannot hurt me, I did not think even a minute if I was loosing my mind or going crazy, I just did it and followed this image. Laying down on a huge wooden piece, in the nature. Well, I was a bit preoccupied the walkers passing by would spot me and think, oh my god she might be dead! Astonishingly nobody noticed me, by chance. A sign of how little attention we have of what is surrounding us sometimes, and is just there, but cannot be seen. And I could experience a special exchange with this tree. I was suddenly on the ground, on the earth, on the solid, fully immersed and as a part of the soil, part of the forest, part of the life. Through the laying, my heart was pressing hard on the base of the wooden tree and I could feel my entire body stronger than normally. I could relax in full confidence to be embraced and welcome. I also could feel a kind of vibration in my hands just after a couple of minutes. 

Yes it was really alive, even if it was cut, it was present. It was still there. He is still giving to the world his wisdom. How beautiful for me to realise this. With the lively connection even the seemingly dead can come to life again. 

And you, where would you think you could put more connection, perhaps related to a person, a project or a situation, you have given up or  abandoned? 
Try consistently and patiently, the connection can bring miracles!

COACHING: The Heroine's journey... (for women)

There is the hero's journey from J. Campbell and as well the heroine's journey from M. Murdock.
Interesting process to understand what potentially women might go through to find themselves and integrate both their feminine and masculine parts.

Have a look at this describing link.

CONNECTION: The bag of vegetables and more...

This article is about relationships, love, following what you value the most and perhaps a bit of craziness!

I just spent a wonderful weekend at my parents' place where I go from time to time to say hello. And because it is summer time my mum had harvested a lot of vegetables in her garden and handed over a full bag for me to take home. I love vegetables! So... I had this heavy bag of vegetables with me sitting beside my suitcase on the trip back home.

A trip of nearly three hours from the South to the North; time passed really fast as I read an old book about love and relationships, which I had bought when I split up from my first boyfriend, many years ago. I was really in another world, deep in thought, in my imagination, in these pleasant memories; it was like looking at a photo album and recalling all the nice experiences and feelings behind it and almost being there again, all the while realizing, while reading, how much I still needed to learn in regard to authentic relationships (The book is by Colette Portelance, a Canadian psychotherapist, by the way) . I realized how much I still have not figured out in all these years. Never mind that, it is never too late!

Arriving in Zurich, I got off the train with my rolling suitcase, jumped into the tram to go home, feeling light and happy. Just in this short transition from the train to the tram, there were so many poetic and romantic associations running through my brain, at the speed of light. Suddenly I became aware of all the people and activities I love while being in a very busy place: a train station on a Sunday evening, not a very romantic place at first consideration. Yet, I felt very happy, very grateful in that moment.

In the tram I sat down again happily and just beside me, standing, there was an older man, sending alcohol waves in my direction, evoking images of a sad Sunday afternoon sitting alone drinking. I offered him my seat, but he politely refused. We gave each other a big smile. I felt sadness when looking into his eyes, somehow I hoped that this smile was at least, saving his day. 

Finally I arrived at home, upon opening the front door, I felt light and suddenly realized. Oh nooooooooooooo!!! I had forgotten the bag of vegetables in the train. It couldn’t be true, this never happened to me! I had apparently been completely daydreaming and on another planet all during the trip. Yes, a special trip indeed! I had been in this state the whole way, and had just forgotten the bag on the train. I couldn’t believe it and was shocked. How could I have been so inadvertent and stupid? I felt suddenly very bad, a sense of guilt came over me. There was no money, no credit cards, no valuables in this bag. Oddly, it was only a bag full of different vegetables I had just picked in the garden with my mum: borlotti beans, green salad, red beets, tomatoes, zucchini blossoms, cucumber, spinach and blackberries.

I felt so sad, as I knew the work and time invested: prepare the seeds, wait for the right season, plant the seeds, grow the seeds and water the plants on a regular basis, harvest the final product, wash it, clean it, transport it…

I thought, oh my god, I knew what my mother would say, should she find out that I had forgotten this bag on the train. She would be disappointed and make me feel even more guilty than I already felt. I had somehow forgotten this bag, full of love , as I would define it, simply alone in the train. Yes I had forgotten love unconsciously on the train. I had it the whole time with me, but did not see it, did not notice it was there… how scary to realize that. Mainly when I was in this particular search of love, exactly then.

I quickly decided I wanted to find this bag again. Upon arrival at home, only 5 minutes had passed realizing all the above. I started phoning here and there to get support in the search of this bag. My partner, a very dedicated person, quickly became my chauffeur. Indeed, following the train was the best option and only he could drive me there (I was unable to drive in my daydream and in the agitated state of a person who had lost such an important part of herself!). He agreed to drive me to the next planned stop of that particular train I had just been on. By chance it was only stopping 1 hour later in the next closest city: St-Gallen. So we headed over there. And finally exactly on time, one hour later, we arrived at the St-Gallen train station just before the train was about to enter the station. I was so happy that we had managed to arrive on time, I had been worried during the drive that there would be evening traffic jam delaying us.

Upon arrival I ran from the parking lot to the arrival platform of the train. I was somehow confident to find the bag of vegetables as the train had not made any stops; therefore there was low probability that someone had noticed the bag and taken it with them, I thought. And in the end, it was only a bag full of vegetables. Who would be interested or attracted to that, really? (I was apparently the only one, who was connected to these vegetables and the emotion linked to them in relation to the love my parents had invested). Yes it was like I would be eating love, my parents' love, with these vegetables. I couldn’t imagine for a minute that these vegetables would land in the bin. No way, as it was too precious for me. Oh god, it sounds almost like eating christus corpi at church. A particular connection to food.

I found the correct wagon where I had been sitting just an hour before right away. All the passengers had gotten off. I boarded the train, went up to the higher level, and to my surprise it was empty. No bag to be found. I couldn’t believe it. It was clear to me that nobody would ever have stolen such a bag. Although … if they knew that it was full of love inside, they might have. But they hadn't, I was sure. I ran quickly to the next wagon, thinking I might again have been mixed up and still be in a daydreaming or agitated mode. Again nothing. Went to a third wagon. Again, no bag. I decided to run through the length of the train (it was almost half a kilometer) to search for the conductor. He might know where my bag was. Nobody all way through. The train was empty as it was the end station. But the cleaning crew was there. Happy to see human faces, I decided to ask one of them where I could find the conductor to ask about a lost bag. This man, in his 50’s, not speaking German very well but well enough to understand me and also communicate with me, was very helpful. He told me to wait 2 minutes as he had to do his work and empty the garbage in the train. He asked me to go to the office of the conductor just 50 m ahead and vaguely pointed in the direction. Two minutes seemed an eternity to me, mainly knowing that this train was only due to stay 10 minutes in the station. I quickly ran towards the office. I met other two cleaning men on the way, and I asked them where the office entrance was. They gently showed me the way. In the meantime the helpful cleaning man was ready and had the key to open this private office space. We went up the stairs and I arrived in a large lounge room for employees of the railway. There were two relaxed conductors in the lounge waiting for their shift. He asked them if any bag had been found in the train which had just arrived. Both of them nodded their heads no, apologizing for not being able to help me further. There was another rather bizarre conductor who was in a hurry to leave the room and was looking down the whole time. I found him somehow different than the two others in the lounge. He was apparently not willing to get into a conversation and eager to go home; it was 8 pm on a Sunday night after all. He wanted to go home as quickly as possible. Understandable. While I was already going towards the stairs, I turned when the other two conductors called me. They told me that even the conductor of the train, the strange man, had not found anything on the train. The strange conductor told me, avoiding my eyes, that noting had been found. He was focused on what he needed to do: to exit the office. So I went out of the office together with him, while he repeated not to have found anything. I gently thanked him, despite my disorientation. I had believed it was possible but apparently it wasn’t. I did the same with the cleaning man, thanking him for his gentle and dedicated support. He obviously could see my disappointment and my sad face (yes, for only a bag of vegetables!). I was wondering how it was possible that this bag had disappeared, when I had checked all possibilities: checking the wagon I had been in myself, asking the cleaning man, the conductor, having looked on the platform if it had been left there, having seen the people getting off (I would have seen this big green plastic bag weighing about 10 kg, hard to hide really).

Just to be sure again, I went back to the wagons and checked again, in case I had overlooked the bag somehow or if it had been moved. I had to pay attention to the time, as the train was about to leave again in a couple of minutes. Empty. Blackout. Surprise. I had tried everything I could think of to find this bag. So I went out of the wagon, pressing on the exit button. I told myself, now you have to accept that it is not possible to find this bag. These were sad milliseconds. Realizing: it is really lost. Realizing: I cannot find it, despite my will, my efforts in asking so many people and despite their helpfulness. Now go home, I said to myself. I got off the train. I had abandoned the search. Sad. When I was getting off the train, just in from of me I saw the gentle cleaning man with a coworker, who was, to my surprise, carrying my green vegetable bag. From a deep down feeling, a sense of deep joy reached me. The bag was found. Hurrah!! All is possible, never give up! It was true! They explained to me briefly that the bag had been taken by another worker while cleaning the wagon. Honestly I did not want to know the story, the beloved bag was there, back with me. I was so grateful to these two men, that I almost wanted to kiss them for joy. I realized it might not be very appropriate and also might be misunderstood. After all, it was only a bag full of vegetables. I thanked them from the heart and took the heavy bag with me. They left, laughing loudly … I can understand they were wondering why someone would search so eagerly for a bag apparently only full of vegetables. I was funny to them. I knew deep inside me that the answer was invaluable love!

NATURE : Communicating with trees

When you feel alone or simply upset or stressed there is a magic possibility to get back to yourself and allow you to feel more confident / relaxed again: get the support of a tree.

How can you do that ?

Situation: You need to "take fresh air" because you do not feel good (for whatever reason really)

What you need: a good pair of shoes to walk (in a forest or park), easy clothes (so that you can become dirty if you sit on the ground),  an old newspaper (to sit on :) and something to write on.

What do you do concretely?
- You head towards a forest or park around your place (the closer the better)
- When you feel it is a quiet and appealing environment, you start looking up around for a tree. Not whatever tree, but an inspiring one. One you feel attracted to or that you specially like or have noticed.
- Once you have found a tree "talking to you", go towards it.
- Observe the tree from a very close angle without touching it. Do you still feel comfortable and attracted to it? Do you feel welcome (that is a very important)? If yes...
- Then install yourself comfortably on the ground or on an old rock or old trunk very close to the tree, lets say 50 cm. Ready to start for 15-30 min depending on your available time.
- Just say hello to the tree (if you have not done this already) with words or in silence, as you wish. No need to touch it.
- You just observe the tree now for about 15-30 min (no need for a time clock, as it should be an easy time): its texture, its size, its roots, its colors, its leaves, its trunk, its height, its width... whatever you can observe with your eyes. Potentially you might want to touch the textures.
- While observing the tree, pay also close attention to your thoughts and what comes up in your mind, what touches you ? what comes up in your mind ? do you recall suddenly a special past situation or future scenario ? Just write down whatever you observe about the tree and about your thoughts. Both can give very valuable information about you.
- Once you feel it is good for you and you have sourced what you needed, you can say bye to the tree and go a bit more distant to it (5-10 m depending on the situation of the tree). Observe it again for another 5-10 min or so, standing, you might see other aspects in this new perspective. Write it down again: what you see in the tree and what are your thoughts, perhaps your feelings.
- Thank the tree for what it has given you. What are the key take aways of this encounter? What is your commitment?

NATURE : OBSERVE THE TREES around your place (in the city yes :)

What a surprise the other sunday. I was making a little walk (15 min) around the block. I had just read before that an article on old protected trees in the country. So my look was apparently programmed to look at trees. I did not put the mode on consciously obviously, it just did happen.

In these 15 min walk, I was just amazed, how many different trees there were. Despite the fact that I live in the center of town since over 10 years. Depending on the cities you might need to walk a little bit more, but astonishingly, there is alway a park around the block. In London, New York, Milan or Zurich.

This is called: "Steering the direction of the attention". In other words, what we look for, we see.

I did not count the different trees exactly, but there were at least 50 different species and I could not name them (therefore looked up in an encyclopedia at home: learning always learning).

What is potentially just beside you and you cannot currently see?
Try to look at the trees around your place for example. Perhaps it might lead your attention to something of more interest in a second step, who knows...

This is also a great exercise to practice to simply distance ourselves from the daily activities or a intense day. It allows to "LOOK DIFFERENTLY" at the world.

Good discovery I wish you!

COACHING: Take real care of your key personal projects

"You see, we don't know what our goals are. We learn our goals only in the process of getting there... You don't know what the baby is going to become. Therefore, you wait and take good care of it until it becomes what it will." Milton H. Erickson, 1979.

Your personal project is like a little baby. You need to take real good care of it in the meantime it GROWS and becomes INDEPENDENT. This is a wise advise from the greatest hypnotherapist Milton H. Erickson.What is the project you would like to pursue and are only currently in early phase ? Write it down (best would be in a place where you can always see it, again and again. Protect it very carefully (you might well select the people you share it with, to ensure they don't want to "kill" it before it is born) and continuously support its growth (very little steps by steps). All success I wish you!